Ramallah: The Palestinian rival factions, Fatah and Hamas, agreed on Monday in the Qatari capital of Doha that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lead a unity government which is commissioned to make all the necessary preparations for the Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections.

Both Abbas and Hamas's Chief of Political Bureau Khaled Masha'al signed the Doha Declaration brokered by H.H Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Naming a Palestinian prime minister to lead the unity government has been the key source of dispute between Fatah and Hamas where Salam Fayyad has been Fatah's only candidate for the premiership, but Hamas strictly rejected his candidacy under the pretext that Fayyad does not enjoy any Palestinian legitimacy as he was appointed by Abbas after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 and had not been elected by the Palestinian Public.

Abbas said that the Doha meeting was not meant as a signing ceremony. "What counts and matters is the implementation of the deal not the signing of it," he said.

Speaking to Gulf News, Jamal Muhaisen, a member of the Fatah Central Committee said that the next step will be setting up the unity government of technocrats.

"This is a key achievement for the Palestinian people especially after the total failure of the Amman exploratory meetings," he said.

"Israel has taken great advantage of Palestinian division over the past few years, and the Palestinians have been busy with their own internal problems," he said, stressing that both Fatah and Hamas showed they are serious about Palestinian reconciliation.

"The deal should be translated on the ground, despite the fact that implementing the deal on the ground in the Gaza Strip seems to be difficult, but we still hope the deal will be implemented instantly so that the Palestinian presidential and parliament elections are conducted at the earliest," he said.

"The Palestinian reconciliation is a slap in the face of Israel," Muhaisen, said. "Hamas has joined the political program of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the ball is in the Israeli court," he said. "It is Israel that has a problem not the Palestinians," he said.

The Palestinian rival parties agreed to hold further discussions to implement the reconciliation deal in the coming days, where a key meeting on reactivating amending the PLO will be held on February 18th in Cairo.

Fatah official sources told Gulf News that once President Abbas returns to Ramallah, he will appoint his cabinet ministers, stressing that the members of the unity government will be chosen by the president. The sources stressed that heading a unity government is yet another burden to be added on the shoulders of Abbas.

The sources said that once the reconciliation deal is initially implemented in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Fatah and Hamas will agree upon a new date for the Palestinian Presidential and parliamentary elections, stressing that the earlier date scheduled for May 4th will be illogical where the Palestinian Central Election Committee will not have the necessary time to make all the necessary preparations especially in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Fayyad praised the deal and urged the parties to implment it on the earliest.

"It is time to turn the page of the Palestinian divisions once and for all," he said in an official statement. "Reconciliation is the only way to bring the Palestinian dream of an independent state true," he said.