However, Hamas, which dominates the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the parliament of the Palestinian National Authority will temporarily keep in power for six months until the presidential and parliamentary elections are held.

Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections and ousted its rival Fatah Party. In 2007, it had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip. This time Hamas will certainly join the parliamentary elections, but still it is unclear if it will join the presidential elections or back another candidate.

"I believe Hamas will loose power only in ruling Gaza as a government, but it will remain in the PLC and will keep its control on security apparatuses," said Abu Se'da, adding that " this will help the movement get out of its crisis resulting from Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip."

Power sharing

For Hamas, sharing power with Abbas and his Fatah Party serves its interests and much better than keeping the lone power in Gaza.

"Power sharing between Hamas and Fatah is good for both rivals. It will exempt Hamas from paying the salaries of 40,000 of its employees in Gaza, will lead to open the crossing points and end Hamas isolation," said Hani Habib, a Gaza-based political analyst.

Hani Habib further said that Abbas and Fatah also have an interest to go for reconciliation, mainly after the failure of the direct peace talks with Israel, adding that "Abbas wants to unite the Palestinian territories under his command to make it easy for establishing the future Palestinian state."

Hamas still refuses to recognize Israel, but observers said that if Abbas will be the Prime Minister of the unity government, Hamas will be pragmatic, where the new government will accept the world's requirements.

Samer Anabtawi, a political analyst from the West Bank city of Nablus told Xinhua that following the political developments and confusions that occurred in the region over the past four years, the Palestinians are now in need to overcome their differences and create a new political situation.

"Reconciliation for both Hamas and Abbas is a lifeline. Each side has to make concessions to gain back the popularity they lost during seven years of division, even if this concession includes loosing part of the power of each group," said Anabtawi.