Leaders of the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Hamas movement completed an agreement to end an almost four-year rift and establish a unity government.

Israeli officials say the accord will harm the peace process. And Osama bin Laden’s death has already caused a public relations storm as the fragile deal comes to fruition. While the Palestinian Authority welcomed the news of bin Laden’s killing, Hamas leaders called bin Laden “an Arab holy warrior” and condemned the U.S. action.

Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, tells us what this accord means for peace in the Middle East.

Bonus Material: Recent Worldview guest and independent journalist, Max Budovitch, conducted five interviews on the Palestinian unity agreement with Hanan Ashrawi, Ghassan Khatib (P.A. Spokesman), Mazen (protest leader in Gaza), Hassan Khreisheh (Deputy Speaker of the PLC), and Radii Aseedii (Military Commander). Several of the interviews are in Arabic and have English voice-overs.