Palestinian Authority Loses Gaza and Rafah to Hamas Militias

What may someday be called the “Palestinian Civil War” has been raging for about a week, now, and it looks like Hamas has beaten the pants off Fatah in Gaza. Yesterday, Hamas combatants marched into Fatah’s Preventive Security force headquarters. Hamas also took the town of Rafah, the second after Gaza City in the strip right next to Egypt. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah has dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government and declared a state of emergency. Palestinian legislator Saeb Erakat of Fatah said yesterday, “Gaza is now officially out of our control as the Palestinian Authority.” Peace in the Middle East, anyone?

With Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip, dubbed “Hamastan” in the Israeli media and elsewhere, Chairman Abbas has taken the last step in retaining some semblance of power. He can now appoint an emergency cabinet (of Fatah-ites) and doesn’t need the approval of the Palestinian Legislative Council for 30 days. While his writ no longer runs to Gaza, Fatah will wind up in control of the West Bank. Indeed, one may expect purges of Hamas friendly individuals on the West Bank.

If the Hamas’ post-victory murders in Gaza are anything to go by (reports of Fatah fighters and sympathizers being shot gangland style in the street have been confirmed), the West Bank is going to get bloody as well. The number of dead in the last week of Palestinian-on-Palestinian killing is around 80, but firm figures are hard to come by. It is certain to go higher. And then what?

In effect, there will be two Palestinian regimes, an Islamic, Hamas-run Gaza, and a more secular Fatah-run West Bank. Both will engage in intrigues against the other, and they will likely wind up proxies for other powers (Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel). Aid agencies will have to navigate internal Palestinian politics more carefully than ever, and the people in both Gaza and the West Bank have a lot more suffering ahead of them.

However, wise Israeli (and American) policymakers could use this division to advance the cause of peace. Fatah is much more amenable to a settlement, and it is possible to envision a West Bank purged of Hamas coming to some sort of arrangement with Tel Aviv. Hamastan is probably lost to the peace process for a generation. That is not, however, a reason not to try a settlement with Fatah. This will require a softly, softly approach for quite some time, though, as both Fatah and Hamas have bigger problems than the Zionist entity next door. They’re too busy killing each other.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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