Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit was quoted as saying on Thursday that months of Egyptian-mediated talks between rivals Hamas and Fatah failed in November because of “Hamas’s lack of enthusiasm toward reconciliation.”

As the only Arab nation bordering the Gaza Strip, Egypt has been trying to achieve a detente between Fatah and Hamas and end their conflict, which saw Hamas violently eject Fatah from Gaza in June 2007, spilling into Egypt.

Cairo is worried about a repetition of the chaotic scenes last January, when hundreds of thousands of Gazans broke through the Rafah border crossing and the Israeli lockdown on the territory, to spend a few days shopping in Egypt.

Following the breach, in August Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman began hosting inter-Palestinian talks involving 13 factions, including Fatah and Hamas, in the hope of reaching a consensus on a unity government.

A deal was almost reached that would have seen a technocrat government set up without Fatah or Hamas figures that would be acceptable to the international community, much of which boycotts Hamas.

Yousif Al Qassar

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“They were probably being prepared for smuggling into Gaza,” the official said. This year, Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, has destroyed dozens of underground tunnels, through which smugglers sent food, fuel and weapons to the impoverished coastal strip. Israel blockaded Gaza last year when the Islamist movement Hamas seized power after days of deadly fighting with the rival Fatah party.

Ahmad Aljoaan

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The demonstration consisted of nearly 400 Fatah members with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, marching down a main road in the camp while being watched by a large crowd. Two vehicles with anti-aircraft guns were also paraded inside the camp for the first time since the end of Lebanon’s civil war from 1975-1990. This demonstration also commemorated the fourth anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Refugee camps such as Ain el-Helweh are known to be breeding grounds for extremists and this particular camp has been linked to the terrorist extremist group, Al-Qaeda.  One reason for the hostile atmosphere within these refugee camps is believed to be the fact that the Lebanese army does not monitor camp activity, therefore leaving camp security up to the Palestinian factions.

Venus Vahedi

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Talks should start on November 9 and both Fatah and Hamas representatives will attend the negotiations although Abbas has shunned Hamas since the group seized Gaza in June 2007.

The two sides are to talk about forming a joint government, rebuilding the security forces and setting a date for presidential and legislative elections. Several rounds of power-sharing talks have failed since Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006.

Yousif Al Qassar

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These prisoner releases are significant, in that Palestinian factional unrest is a major impediment to the peace process. Fatah has accused Hamas of politically motivated arrests in the wake of the June 2007 power struggle in Gaza, while Hamas maintains this is untrue.

Gavin Yerxa

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This training has caused tension between Abbas’s Fatah faction and Hamas, currently controlling the Gaza Strip.

Kasey Malcoun

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This phase of the ongoing Fatah-Hamas conflict stems directly from Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian National Authority legislative elections and its subsequent forceful armed takeover of Gaza in June 2007 – a week-long battle that left an estimated 161 Palestinians dead (including 41 civilians) according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. With Hamas establishing a separate government in Gaza and Fatah in control of the West Bank, the existence of two distinct Palestinian power structures essentially propelled the two parties into civil war.

Since that time, medical doctors operating in hospitals located throughout Gaza have made allegations that Hamas is abusing its authority. They claim that the leadership systematically removes qualified professionals from positions of power and replaces them with individuals supportive of Hamas in order to exert a larger sphere of influence.

Earlier this month, in retaliation for these politically motivated dismissals, hundreds of doctors throughout Gaza went on strike to protest Hamas’ actions, which they characterize as a severe abuse of power and unwarranted interference. In some hospitals, those participating in the strike comprise more than half of the medical staff. At the same time, Hamas politicians have leveled criticism against Fatah claiming that the West Bank-based government has been issuing ultimatums to doctors practicing in Gaza, threatening to stop paying the doctors’ salaries unless they participate in the strike (doctors’ salaries are financed by international funds over which Fatah has exclusive control). As a result, many doctors continuing to work in Gaza have had their salaries cut, while others comply with the order, thereby risking reprisal from the hostile ruling party. While accusations continue to fly back and forth between Hamas and Fatah, the groups have clearly dug in their heels, each side having adamantly committed to pursuing its objective.

Back in Gaza, the true impact of these recent developments is felt. Doctors working in extremely understaffed hospitals are simply unable to provide patients with proper medical care. Dr. Ahmed Shatat, who works in the neonatal intensive care division of a Gaza City hospital, makes the consequences obvious: “It’s very hard to work during this strike … of course, it affects the quality of service, our mortality rates have increased.” This hazard pertains especially to newborn babies who require constant attention from medical personnel. When one considers additional key issues such as the shortage of necessary equipment, fatigue from frequent double-shifts, and the circumstantial psychological pressures, it becomes clearer how prohibitively demanding this position really is for the doctors.

Now, while this political narrative plays out between two conflicting administrations, health concerns for the general public are pushed to the periphery, and innocent casualties continue to mount up. “These days, people may not be getting killed in the cross-fire of Fatah-Hamas gunfights on the streets of Gaza, as they used to, but the political wrangles are still hurting them…” writes BBC correspondent Aleem Maqbool, “…For the population of the Gaza Strip, more than half of whom are under the age of 16, there is now a new dimension to their suffering.”

Paul Shapiro

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Support for the current consensus solution under discussion, which proposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, is waning due in part to the fact that Hamas (whose political apparatus controls the majority of seats within the Palestinian National Authority’s Legislative Council) already controls the Gaza Strip—one of the territories, along with parts of the West Bank, designated for the establishment of a Palestinian state according to the terms of current peace talks.

Pressure for a resolution continues to mount as chief negotiators for the Palestinian nationalist movement Fatah warn that the continued Israeli rejection of Palestinian terms would result in a Palestinian demand shift to the creation of a binational state—a proposition which Israel would no doubt vehemently oppose.

Paul Shapiro

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