According to a Middle East researcher, the cooperation of Palestinian organizations is an unfortunate development for Israel. Israel has tried to separate the ruling parties of the West Bank and Gaza from each other.
Disputed Palestinian organizations quietly gathered in China over the weekend to seek a mutual agreement.
The three-day negotiations yielded results. The ruling party of the West Bank, the moderate Fatah, and the extremist group Hamas, which runs Gaza, agreed to cooperate.
Several other, smaller organizations also participated in the settlement.
– This is a huge and surprising turning point in the war, characterizes the researcher of the Middle East Institute Antti Tarvainen.
The long rift between Hamas and Fatah
According to Tarvainen, Israel has long tried to keep the Palestinian territories separate from each other with divide-and-conquer tactics.
Fatah and Hamas broke up almost twenty years ago, and the rift even led to armed clashes in Gaza.
Since 2007, Hamas has led the authoritarian Gaza and the moderate Fatah the so-called Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
– The era of Israel’s divide-and-conquer tactics seems to be over now, with China as its midwife.
A nasty surprise for Israel
According to Tarvainen, Israel’s military operation in Gaza is unexpectedly leading to arch-enemies Fatah and Hamas finding each other, although Israel probably hoped otherwise.
The inclusion of China also increases the room for movement of the Palestinians.
– This is a new playing card for the Palestinians. Suddenly they have a superpower to turn to for support. Time will tell if China is really ready to use its power in this matter.
According to Tarvainen, the West has long been the only party that the Fatah of the Palestinian Authority has been able to turn to.
– However, Western countries have not succeeded in forcing Israel to the negotiating table. Now China is driving the process. China also supports the two-state model.
Fatah unpopular in the West Bank
Tarvainen estimates that in the mutual struggle between Palestinian organizations, the settlement is a loss of prestige for Fatah and a victory for Hamas.
– Hamas gets to show itself as the creator of Palestinian unity.
Fatah is unpopular with many Palestinians in the West Bank. They accuse Fatah of corruption, authoritarianism and cooperation with Israel.
The post-war period in the background
The Palestinian organizations’ desire for reconciliation is related to the time after the Gaza war and the negotiations to end the war. The big question is who and how Gaza will be administered after the war.
In the statement issued in China, the organizations promise to create a unity government that could manage both the West Bank and Gaza.
In the first phase, there could be technocrats in the government. Later, elections would be held in the Palestinian territories, the participants in the meeting paint.
The roots of the conflict are still deep and cooperation is on a fragile foundation.
Hamas and Fatah have made reconciliations in the past, but they have always failed.