Brussels, 16/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The rival Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah managed to agree on a national unity government on Thursday, under the power-sharing agreement signed in Mecca last month. Israel immediately announced that it would not deal with the new government, but the international community is taking a prudent line, waiting to see what would happen with the new government and whether its programme respects the three criteria set by the Quartet - recognising the state of Israel, forswearing violence and accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. A spokesman for Javier Solana said the EU's position was in principle favourable to the establishment of the unity government, which was a step in the right direction and would make it possible to adapt the mechanism whereby aid it provided to Palestinians. 'As we have said many times, we are going to wait a and see,' said Solana, the EU's High Representative for CFSP, speaking in Nuremburg, Germany, on Thursday on the fringes of a meeting between the EU and ASEAN. The European Commission says it is too early to say whether direct aid to the Palestinian government would be renewed. A spokesperson for the EU External Relations Commissioner, said the Commission would be monitoring the government's programme and actions very carefully and consulting with its partners to decide on whether and how to gradually re-commit itself. The Quartet (the EU, US, Russia and the United Nations) will be meeting in the second half of April. The Palestinian parliament will be voting in the new ministers on Saturday. They include twelve representatives of prime minister Ismael Haniyeh's group Hamas, six from President Mahmoud Abbas' group Fatah and seven independents. (ab)