Your editorial on the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah (29 April) did not mention the pronouncement of Hamas leader Dr Mahmoud al-Zahar on the accord. He said: "Our programme does not include negotiations with Israel or recognising it" and "It will not be possible for the interim national government to participate or bet on or work on the peace process with Israel." A few months ago he said: "Palestine means Palestine in its entirety – from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan river … we will not recognise the Israeli enemy's right to a single inch." In view of this statement, it should be very clear why Israel feels the Palestinian factions' reconciliation is an obstacle to peace. Contrary to your assertion, Israel has no intention to dictate what kind of state the Palestinians will build. But it has every right to request that this state recognises the legitimacy of Israel.
Dr Jacob Amir
Jerusalem, Israel
• As soon as Hamas and Fatah appear to be on the verge of reconciliation, we get the same impossible demands on Hamas from the US and Israel. How about some even-handedness? How about the US demanding Israel renounces violence and recognises Palestine's right to exist, within the 1967 borders? A suspension of military and other support for Israel until it does so would help, too. Then we might get a peace process worthy of the name, instead of the charade we've had for decades, the pretence of seeking peace, designed to allow Israel to carry on colonising the occupied territories.
Richard Barnes
Windermere, Cumbria
• Jews worldwide should welcome the deal between Fatah and Hamas, which clearly follows in the wake of the democratic wave sweeping the Arab world and which, if it solidifies, will result in new elections and the establishment of a Palestinian national unity government. Equally, it should be regarded as good news by the government of Israel, which for years has complained, with some justification, that it has had no Palestinian partner with whom to do business; a national unity government with genuine credibility as representing all Palestinians will put paid to any such pretext.
Benedict Birnberg
London
• Ian Black (A Palestinian form of Arab spring, 28 April) failed to mention the extraordinary lengths to which the US went in 2007 to destabilise the short-lived Hamas-Fatah coalition government and bring the two factions back into conflict. As Black puts it, "the last attempt at [Fatah-Hamas] unity … ended with Hamas seizing power in Gaza." Simply seizing power is one thing; seizing power in order to pre-empt a US-sponsored coup is another altogether, especially when the seizer in question possesses an undisputed democratic mandate.
Ben Judah
London