Hamasek Gaza osoa hartu du
Originally uploaded by 2007. urtea If the plight of the Palestinians wasn't already painfully complex, the events that have unfolded in the last couple of days have certainly made it so. The unity government formed between Fatah and Hamas has violently vanished, and any hopes of a unified Palestinian state comprised of the West Bank and Gaza have been dealt an aching body blow.
Hamas has come up trumps and essentially taken control of Gaza, securing key Fatah institutions and infrastructure, declaring that, "All of the headquarters of the security services in the Gaza Strip are under control of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades."
Economic sanctions directed at Hamas by Israel and the Quartet on the Middle East have failed to achieve their objectives. "The financial sanctions they imposed ... were designed to either force Hamas to recognise Israel or to push it out of power," reported the BBC. Today, however, Hamas has effectively pulled off a "military coup", according to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Hamas has also managed to reinforce that it is an organisation that wilfully brings about its aims through violence, even if that violence means the deaths of their fellow Palestinians.
The Arab League has condemned Hamas’ moves as criminal. ""We are seeking a national unity in Palestine and we stand against the events that we have witnessed in the last days," declared Amr Moussa, the body's spokesperson.
These actions by Hamas have already led to retaliatory attacks by Fatah, but it is the actions of the external actors that may prove the most decisive. Israel has signalled that it may release funds it has withheld from the Palestinian Authority to Fatah in hopes this may help undo what has been done. The US will undoubtedly have to provide extra resources if it wants to avoid Gaza descending into what some media organisations have suggested is “hell”. Egypt, bordering Gaza, surely won’t tolerate a radical, lawless Hamas running amok next door. The Palestinian plot thickens, and this may turn out to be a key chapter in this ongoing struggle.
How will these events impact on the domestic fates of Fatah and Hamas? Do economic sanctions only serve to embolden and radicalise those at the mercy of such punishments? Does this put the Palestinian cause on a road that has just forked into two one-way streets?
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