Region | Palestinian Territories
Palestinians 'are taking road to hell with continued fighting'
Rival Palestinian factions are waging a "civil war" on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with no end in sight to the power struggle. Unless Hamas and Fatah admit their mistakes, the situation is likely to get out of hand, analysts said.
- By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor
- Published: 23:35 August 3, 2008
Dubai: Rival Palestinian factions are waging a "civil war" on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with no end in sight to the power struggle. Unless Hamas and Fatah admit their mistakes, the situation is likely to get out of hand, analysts said.
"What is happening is a form of a civil war," said Hani Al Masri, Palestinian columnist and director of a research centre in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "It is a war between factions, families ... more like the law of jungle", he told Gulf News.
"We are facing an open war," said Basem Al Zubaidi, a professor of political science at Birzeit University in the West Bank. "I will not be surprised if tensions rise further ... [and] the Palestinian cause will be casualty and Israel will emerge the biggest winner."
Increasing number of Palestinians is refusing to takes sides with either of the factions as the street battles took a turn for the worse on Saturday. Nine people were killed and nearly 95 were injured in the clashes, which were the deadliest in nearly a year.
As Hamas seized control of Gaza, about 30 Fatah members fled to Israel. They were among 180 supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction who were granted refuge in Israel. They were sent back to Gaza on Sunday, and Hamas said its forces have detained them.
According to the polls, between 40 per cent and 47 per cent of Palestinians have became sceptical. They think the conflict between Hamas and Fatah is a game between two groups, fighting for narrow causes and self-interest, he said in an interview with Gulf News.
According to Al Zubeidi the decreasing trust between the two groups represents "a positive development" for the Palestinian people. It could be the deciding factor to end their fighting, he said.
Stubborn
"Each side is stubborn," said Hani Al Masri, a columnist and Director of the Badael Centre for Research and Studies in the Western Bank city of Ramallah.
"Each party tries to eliminate the other, and this won't work. Neither of them will be alone in leading the Palestinian people," Al Masri told Gulf News.
Bloody fighting in the Gaza Strip erupted between Hamas and Fatah on Saturday when Hamas forces surrounded the Al Shejai district in Gaza to arrest 11 suspected bombers. One of the arrested was a member of Fatah on the run, whom according to Hamas security officials, was behind the bomb blast on July 25 that killed five members of Hamas and a girl.
The man had taken refuge in the Helles clan's "security compound," where Hamas officials said they discovered weapons and explosives workshops, as well as a training base for clan fighters and Fatah fugitives.
The fighting in the Al Shejai district, which is considered the bloodiest in 14 months when Hamas took control over Gaza, ended with nine killed and nearly 100 injured. Nearly 30 members from the Helles clan, all pro-Fatah, fled to Israel after the fighting.
They were among 180 supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction granted refuge in Israel on Saturday.
Reuters quoted a spokesman for Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak as saying Abbas had asked Israel to send the Fatah fugitives back to Gaza. The spokesman said the wounded would stay for treatment in Israel and the rest would be returned to the Gaza Strip. Abbas's office declined to comment on whether he had approved the return of the Fatah supporters to Gaza.
The inter-Palestinian fighting was condemned in many Arabic-language newspapers in the region.
"Have a little shame," wrote the Arabic daily Al Khaleej in a front page editorial, calling both parties to end the "dreadful fighting".
"There is a new level of deterioration between Hamas and Fatah: the return of militias, kidnapping and execution threats," wrote the Pan-Arab Al Hayat newspaper.
"What is happening is a form a civil war," commented Al Masri on the ongoing fighting between the two groups for more than a year. "It is a war between factions, families..... as if it is a jungle."
To Al Masri, the Palestinians are taking the "road to hell" with the continuation of the fighting, saying the only way out of the current crisis is through drawing a "new unified strategy for the Palestinian people," with the help of strong Arab countries where the "interest of the homeland and the cause would be higher than self-interest".
Until then, other analysts say they won't feel "surprised" if tensions rise further.
"Each of the two parties should admit wrongdoing. Hamas is mistaken if it believes it can rule Gaza alone, and President Abbas is wrong if he believes he can overpass Hamas. There is a need a return to consensus and agreement."
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