FATAH OFFICIAL: PALESTINIAN UNITY GOVERNMENT TO BE ANNOUNCED MONDAY: The Palestinian unity government with Hamas will be announced on Monday "despite Israeli threats,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday. Abbas told a visiting French delegation in his office in Ramallah that Israel has threatened to boycott the PA because of the unity government with Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization and believes the state of Israel should be destroyed. Palestinian lawmaker Azzam al-Ahmad said the joint Fatah-Hamas government would consist of 15 to 17 ministers, who would be sworn in Monday in Ramallah, with the new unity government to be announced this week. Israel vehemently opposes the formation of a Palestinian unity government that includes the Hamas terrorist organization. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State John Kerry both said they have not given up on the possibility of peace between Israelis and Palestinians even as Fatah moves forward with plans to unite itself with Hamas. “I have not yet given up on the possibility that both Israelis and Palestinians can see their self-interest in a peace deal that would provide Israel security that’s recognized by its neighbors and make sure that Palestinians have a state of their own,” Obama said in an interview. (Jerusalem Post)