WASHINGTON, April 30, 2011 (WAFA) – Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomed on Thursday news of a Fatah-Hamas deal and urged US President Barack Obama and his administration not to squander this opportunity, according to a statement.

APN President and CEO Debra DeLee said that the deal to form a government and to hold new elections “is good news, and we hope that the agreement is implemented.”

She said that “While we still don't know all the details of the agreement, we know that a Palestinian government representing all Palestinians, with security and governance capacity in both the West Bank and Gaza, is vital to the achievement of a peace agreement.”

APN said that “five years of US, Israeli, and international efforts to sideline Hamas have failed. The reality today is that the Gaza-West Bank split is a hurdle to peace efforts, raising questions about the capacity of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to implement an agreement.”

It said, 'For years the U.S. has made the mistake of opposing Palestinian reconciliation rather than encouraging it; it should not compound this mistake by wasting this opportunity to engage a new Palestinian government. It should do so making clear that U.S. relations with this government -- including decisions about the future of our foreign assistance program for the Palestinians -- will be based solely on the positions and actions of the government.”

APN called on Obama to “redouble his own commitment to peace by laying out his own plan for peace -- including presenting substantive peace parameters and his plan of action for moving forward.”

It said, “Obama has the opportunity to re-assert credible U.S. leadership, to forestall action at the UN in September, and to take the true measure of both the Israeli and the Palestinian governments' commitments to peace. He should not miss this opportunity.'

M.A.