With the recent relegation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back to that of outright war, it’s important that a resolution be found quickly to minimize civilian casualties, and bring some semblance of peace, however tepid it might be, back to the region.

Despite the attempts to bifurcate the analysis to one of Arab-Israeli interests, the reality is far more complex- a deadly game of Chinese Checkers has begun, with four interests at the helm, and the Gazans as pawns.

To understand this convergence of interests, you must recognize the different players involved, and the goals of each.  Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to identify those interests and bring some background that is so lacking in much of the narrative as told by the press.

Hamas comes to power

In 2006, with the election providing a majority of parliamentary seats to Sunni Hamas, widely regarded as a terrorist organization, the Palestinian Authority found itself in a precarious position.  Much of the headway that had been made by the likes of Arafat began to unravel, and prognostications of war once again filled the airwaves.

Although Hamas was democratically elected, it was due in no small part to Iranian support.  Experts, however, disagree on whether this support was merely financial, or whether it included smuggled munitions as well.  Although Iranian weapons have been found in Palestine, and used against the IDF, the direct source of the weapons hasn’t been established.  This point, however, is largely moot - money for the purpose of armament is de facto identical to direct armament.

The PA favored a two-state solution to the conflict, and Hamas favored the outright destruction of Israel.  In fact, their charter says just that.

“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”

Before the election, references to the destruction of Israel were removed from their “election manifesto”, similar to a political platform, to make the possibility of their rule more palatable.  However, its paradigms were still emblazoned in their charter, and the coming year would elucidate the reality of their intentions beyond question.

Although many have distinguished Hamas from Fatah by citing their destructive intent - it is worth noting that Fatah is not wholly dissimilar.  In fact, one need look no further than the origin of their name for this fact to become abundantly clear.  Fatah’s full name is “Harakat at-taHreer al-waTani al-filasTeenee”, which has a loose acronym of hataf, an Arabic word for violent death.  Reverse that, and you have fatah, an Arabic word that, roughly translated, refers to the nascence of victory.

Hamas and Fatah

As a result of the elections, sanctions were placed on Gaza by a multitude of states, including the US, EU, Israel and Egypt.  Hamas was given a triad of ultimata before the crossings would be opened again; recognize Israel, denounce terrorism, and conformance with Fatah forged agreements.  Hamas declined, choosing instead to funnel money in to sustain itself.  In response, the US eventually began funding and arming anti-Hamas forces.

A military backed police force was constructed in May of 2006, mostly made up of members from Hamas paramilitary group, al-Qassam. Although al-Qassam had originally been a formidable force in the West Bank as well, IDF raids in 2005 had destroyed much of their infrastructure, and they were forced to maintain operations in Gaza, which was considered their home base.  The Hamas-loyal police force soon found itself in conflicts with rival party, Fatah, militias.  The tensions wouldn’t come to head, however, until Abbas called for another Palestinian general election in December of 2006.

Sporadic firefights between the two factions would continue, with ceasefire attempts on both sides never lasting long.  Finally, in June 2007, tensions culminated as civil war took hold of Gaza, and Hamas started a bloody coup. The campaign began with Hamas militants throwing Fatah members off of a 15-story apartment building. Beginning in the north, over the course of four days, Hamas would take over Gaza and establish their own government.

In response, Abbas’ declared a state of emergency, and took over the government of both the West Bank and Gaza.  Israel had already shut down all crossings into Gaza.  Rafah would become a different issue, as the EU, and thus EUBAM had a policy of no contact with Hamas.  To the chagrin of Israel, Egypt worked with Hamas to open the crossing for 2 separate days to allow for civilian passage.  Because of Israeli strategic concerns regarding terrorist training, and Egypt’s own concerns about collusion between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood- the Rafah closing has remained effectively closed to this day.

Although both regions are considered as governed by the PA, it remains two exclusive entities, with only the West Bank under de facto control of the Palestinian Authority.  The EU, US and Israel have since created diplomatic ties to the new PA government, and resumed aid.

Hamas rule has made some changes in governance as well.  Most recently, with a push towards the imposition of Sha’ria law, reports have been made of crucifixion making its return as well.  Although the imposition of more puritanical elements of Islamic governance has drawn praise from Wahhabi groups, these same groups have referred to Hamas as “sell outs”.

Hamas members have since been ousted out of the parliament in the West Bank, and governance is largely mutually exclusive between the two states.  Gaza remains a hotbed, with infighting not only directly between Fatah and Hamas factions, but also groups like Islamic Jihad, and PRC.

Please return for other posts in this ongoing series regarding the war in Gaza.  In the next post, we will look at the 2006 elections further.