Mutual recriminations and threats between Fatah and Hamas following the explosions that targeted the homes of several Fatah leaders in Gaza and led to the cancelation of ceremonies to commemorate President Yasser Arafat have revived fears of a return to factional violence in Gaza. A renewed security breakdown would jeopardise many crucial issues, including Palestinian reconciliation, the reconstruction of Gaza and the resumption of Egyptian-brokered ceasefire negotiations with the Israeli occupation authorities. The bombings, for which no one has yet claimed responsibility, targeted the stage for the ceremonies commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of Arafat as well as the properties of some Fatah leaders. Fatah officially cancelled the ceremonies on Sunday and blamed Hamas for the bombings and for sending threatening letters to a number of Fatah leaders. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused Hamas of carrying out the bombings. “Who committed this crime? The leadership of the Hamas movement did, and it's responsible,” Abbas shouted at a Fatah rally for Arafat in Ramallah. “These actions delay rebuilding and delay the moving of 100,000 people back into their homes ... The one loser is the people — in the war, in the rebuilding and in everything — while you sit in your homes and your hideouts with no concern except to say ‘we're staying put',” Abbas fumed, rhetorically addressing Hamas leaders. Observers fear that the bombings, letters and subsequent acrimony are propelling Gaza towards a very difficult phase. They expect the war of words intensify, straining relations between Hamas and Fatah to the point of jeopardising Palestinian reconciliation. Many worry the Gaza reconstruction process will be hampered if the internal Palestinian dispute persists. Analysts of Palestinian affairs note the commemorative ceremonies for Arafat offered an excellent opportunity for the two factions to draw closer. They note that Israel is the only beneficiary of the current conflict which it is using to cover up its crimes in the West Bank and consolidate its control over occupied Jerusalem. “Fatah accuses Hamas. As Hamas is responsible for the security agencies, only it has the ability to investigate and bring the perpetrators to light. It will have to do this quickly in order to acquit itself. [The bomb attacks] were carefully organised with the aim of delivering a strike against national unity. Hamas must expose those who carried them out,” says political analyst Akram Atallah. On Friday at dawn unknown assailants planted locally made explosive devices in front of the homes of a number of Fatah officials in Gaza, damaging the buildings and cars. The bomb targeting the podium for the commemorative ceremony for Arafat in Al-Katiba Square in Western Gaza city was detonated simultaneously. Although the bombs caused limited damage and claimed no victims, they had a profound impact on the Palestinian political community. They exploded only hours before a scheduled visit to Gaza of Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah and other ministers, accompanied by Fatah leaders, who were to take part in the commemoration of Arafat. Fatah immediately blamed its rival Hamas on the grounds that the attacks occurred in areas covered by its security agencies. Nasser Al-Qudwa, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said the incident would have “grave repercussions on the bilateral relationship between Fatah and Hamas and on the reconciliation process”. Following an emergency meeting in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, Al-Qudwa said that the explosions were deliberately intended to prevent the commemoration of the death of Arafat. Hamas hastened to condemn what it described as “the criminal incident” and immediately ordered security agencies to begin investigations in order to apprehend those involved. Hamas suggested that the bombings might be linked to internal Fatah disputes between the wing led by PA President Mahmoud Abbas and dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan. In a statement to the press Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zohri said, “Fatah has rushed to accuse Hamas without question.” Two days after the bombings Fatah officially announced the cancellation of the Arafat commemorative ceremony in Gaza, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, on the grounds that Hamas refused to secure it. In a press conference in Gaza city on Sunday Fatah Central Committee member Zakariya Al-Agha said, “After the series of bomb attacks against Fatah leaders in Gaza, under the noses of the security agencies there, we were surprised by the notification from the security and political office in Hamas informing us that they refused to furnish security for the occasion.” Al-Agha cautioned Hamas against the negative consequences that would result from cancelling the commemoration. Ayad Al-Bazm, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, confirmed that his ministry had officially notified Fatah that it would be unable to secure the commemoration. In a statement to the press he stressed that the security agencies would continue to perform their duty in accordance with available capacities. The decision to cancel the Arafat commemoration was, said Hamas, “a purely Fatah affair”. In a statement to the press the Islamist movement said, “What we most denounce in the Fatah statement which held Hamas responsible for cancelling the fair is its attempt to export the domestic crisis.” The Palestinian consensus government has not been able to assume its duties in Gaza, preventing the payment of wages to government employees in the Strip. Although Hamas has said it welcomed the consensus government and was keen for it to begin work the fact remains that there is already an existing government apparatus on the ground. Hamas had established a complete administrative and security apparatus and this makes it difficult for the new government to assert its authority. “The rift persists and all talk about reconciliation has proven not to be serious. It appears that the Palestinian parties differ over almost everything, down to the teams that will staff the crossing,” says political analyst Hassan Abdou. His prognosis for the future is grim. “The bombings, the subsequent exchanges of vituperation in the press and the fact that the real perpetrators have not been revealed presage a descent into chaos and security breakdown.” On 23 April, after a seven-year rift, Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement that called for the establishment of a consensus government for six months followed by legislative and presidential elections. Abdou fears that the obstacles to reconciliation will adversely affect issues of crucial concern to Palestinian people, including reconstruction, the electricity crisis and the payment of the salaries of civil servants. It is widely accepted among observers of Palestinian affairs that Israel is the only party to benefit from the renewal in tensions between Fatah and Hamas. Many argue recent events are a boon to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who is using them to divert the attention of Palestinians and world opinion from the drive to judaize Jerusalem. The climate in the Palestinian territories and in Jerusalem and the West Bank in particular is seething as a result of Israeli policies. Anger has manifested itself in attacks against settlers in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Tel Aviv and an assassination attempt against the extremist rabbi Yahuda Glick, architect of the incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque. Analysts predict that clashes will intensify in Jerusalem in the coming days as the result of the Israeli occupation authority's crimes against Islamic sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque. Commenting on the Israeli authorities' move to close the mosque following the shooting of Glick, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency Nabil Abu Radina said, “the continuation of these assaults and the Israeli escalation are dangerous. They are a declaration of war against the Palestinian people and their sanctities and against the Arab and Islamic nations.” The military and security analyst for Yediot Aharanot, Ron Ben Yeshai, observes that the situation in Jerusalem “has developed into our worst fears right before our eyes. The ‘third intifada' in Jerusalem has turned into a religious war between Islam and Judaism... a religious war at the centre of which stands Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Temple Mount and which has the potential to expand into a broad confrontation into which are drawn not just the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza and the Israelis, but also Hezbollah, Jordan and other countries in the region.” He concluded with the warning to the powers-that-be in Israel: “If we don't stop the process that is happening before our eyes around the Al-Aqsa Mosque we will find ourselves, due to the explosive situation in the Middle East, in the midst of a confrontation more serious than the third intifada.”
