Reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah are gaining momentum with both sides taking steps to build confidence. Hamas freed five prisoners belonging to the rival Fatah party yesterday and the West Bank-based Palestinian Prime Minister, Rami Al Hamdallah, and other officials are scheduled to visit Gaza today for talks. With the Middle East in turmoil and the geopolitical dynamics of the region undergoing furious changes, the Palestinian unity has become a necessity. Divisions between Hamas and Fatah have been one of the biggest impediments to the goal of achieving Palestinian independence, which Israel exploited fully to its advantage to kill the peace process and confiscate Palestinian land for settlement construction, and the latest reconciliation efforts offer fresh hopes to both Palestinians and the Arab world.
There are several reasons for the current unity efforts. The main reason is the turmoil and crises in the region sparked by the Arab Spring which has made the Palestinian issue less of a priority to the region and the Arab world. Both Hamas and Fatah have been relying on their Arab brothers for financial and political support though this support has come from disparate countries, but the several, severe crises convulsing the region made the Palestinian issue a lesser concern to these supporters compared to the larger issues. Secondly, Israel, under the destructive leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, successfully used the Palestinian and Arab disunity to kill the peace process and expand settlements, denying Palestinians even their legitimate rights. Third, the election of Donald Trump as American president changed the landscape completely. Trump, with his brazen support for Israel and his hostility towards Arabs and Muslims, made it abundantly clear to Palestinians that they don’t have a peace broker in Washington, even if imperfect, and that they need to plan their own future instead of leaving the task to others.
The rapprochement talks between Hamas and Fatah are intended to prepare for a transfer of power in the Gaza Strip from Hamas to Abbas’s Palestinian Authority. A final deal is expected to benefit the two million residents of Gaza in the form of an improvement in their living conditions. Gaza has been under Israeli and Egyptian blockade and suffers from severe water and electricity shortages, an economic slump and huge unemployment. The only crime Gazans committed was that they chose a Hamas government through a democratic process, which Israel, the US and their allies in the region didn’t like.
Though the hopes are high this time about the unity initiative, several challenges remain which both sides need to overcome. Even if the current efforts succeed, a unity deal will last only if it comes from a genuine desire for reconciliation rather than outside pressure.
