Quote: "Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said in the afternoon that a complete deal could be reached as early as Thursday or Friday. "We have achieved progress in some points, and there are no points that can hinder reaching an agreement," he told a press conference. "We have a clear decision not to let the Mecca dialogue fail. We have no option: either to succeed or to succeed." On the second day of their marathon summit, Fatah and Hamas were still working on the second part of the agreement: to what degree a new government will recognize previous peace deals with Israel.

Of course Hamas are simply being true to their own charter. It claims that all of the region called Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to Jordan, belongs to the Palestinian people. It also calls for Israel's destruction. But my guesses are the world will now accept any sort of peace in the Middle East, at virtually any price. The US certainly doesn't want to be seen as hindering efforts for peace by rejecting the unity government, especially with the Palestinian infighting and the length the Saudis have gone to in order to get both sides to agree. In the meantime, Egypt has now stepped up pressure on Olmert over the excavations at the Temple Mount. Earlier in the week, King Abdullah II of Jordan expressed concern that the Israeli action could derail the peace process. The Islamic Waqf that administer the Temple Mount are claiming that two underground rooms are underneath the mound the Israeli's are working on. Of course the Muslims have always protested, no matter what Israel has done at the Temple Mount.

Quote: "The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement it told the Israeli ambassador, Shalom Cohen, that the excavations could hurt efforts to revive the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. "The Foreign Ministry also stressed that the sacredness of the site makes any movement inside or around it a very sensitive issue for Arab and Muslim peoples, in a way that could cause the situation to explode," the statement said.

But it's the Muslims have desecrated the holy site themselves, in an effort to erase any Jewish claim to the area. The Bible states that during the first half of the seven year tribulation period, the Jews will be permitted to build a Third Temple on the Mount, which the Antichrist will later desecrate (2nd Thessalonians 2:4). It's hard to understand how this will come about, whether by force as a result of the conflict with Gog and his Islamic allies, or whether it is through a peace agreement confirmed by the Antichrist. In any case it will happen, just like the Bible states. 

Source Jerusalem Post, YNet News, BBC