Doaa El-Bey looks at the aftermath of the war in Gaza After Gaza, writers are analysing the impact of the Palestinian division and the role Hamas and the US could have played before, during and following the battle. The Palestinian political daily Al-Quds wrote that although there are differences between Israel and Hamas, and that Tel Aviv's official stand is that it will not negotiate with Hamas, declarations from Cairo, Hamas and Israel say a truce is imminent. Meanwhile, and to the surprise of Palestinians, national reconciliation is still in limbo. The newspaper's editorial questioned how Palestinians can digest the paradox of a Palestinian faction reaching an agreement with Israel while failing to bridge the gap with another Palestinian faction, especially at a time when the Israeli aggression should have presented a strong incentive for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. They should have been prompted to reach a quick agreement on reconciliation, rebuild Gaza and face future challenges hand in hand. "Why have we been working to reach a truce with Israel for 18 months when it is still sticking to its practices in the West Bank and Jerusalem? Do we tend to forget our rights and political demands for freedom and independence?" the editorial asked. These questions and the situation on the ground, according to the newspaper, should lead us to the fact that reconciliation and reunion are the best solutions for the current Palestinian situation. The Omani political daily Oman wrote that ever since the ruthless Israeli aggression on Gaza ended, there has been huge efforts to reach a long-term ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. However, there are signs of Israeli procrastination and blackmailing in an attempt by Tel Aviv to link the truce to an agreement to release Palestinian prisoners of war in return for freeing the detained Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit or in taking steps to lift the blockade and open the crossings. It is obvious, as the newspaper's edit argued, that Ehud Olmert's government is reluctant to reach a truce with Hamas just a few days before the elections. On the other hand, the government is making use of the pre-election period to carry out more aerial attacks against Gaza regardless of all international resolutions that stipulated it shouldn't. Given the fact that a truce would pave the way to rebuilding Gaza, ending the blockade and opening the crossings, Israel's readiness to respond to Palestinian demands depends to a great extent on the resumption of a Palestinian dialogue and consequent reconciliation, as well as ignoring the present argument on the performance of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). "Uniting Palestinian ranks and bridging the rift between Fatah and Hamas is the most effective way to put pressure on the present and future Israeli government. Will the two Palestinian factions work to reach reconciliation or sink in more rifts?" the edit asked. Orayeb Al-Rantawi showed concern over the PLO in helping keep the Palestinians from falling into more fragmentation. He wrote that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal's call for founding another representative for the Palestinians should not raise any alarms as long as it is not presented as a substitute to the PLO. After Meshaal's call, other Hamas leaders issued a number of statements saying that the new framework is a mere coalition of a number of Palestinian factions and parties. "Whether Hamas erred in its initial call or we misunderstood it, the end is the same," Al-Rantawi elaborated in the Jordanian independent political daily Addustour. "We are not going to witness a conflict in Palestinian representation. Not only because Hamas would not want to do so, but because it will never succeed in competing with the PLO. Hamas will never be a substitute to the PLO. A substitute would be a political vacuum," he added. Ahmed Omrabi tried to keep the memories of the Israeli atrocities against Gaza alive by reiterating calls to try Israel for committing war crimes in Gaza. He also wrote about the stand taken by the UN after Israel hit an UNRWA school killing at least 40 children who went to the school for shelter from the Israeli raids. Although the incident was denounced by an UNRWA official as an encroachment on international law and a war crime, three weeks later, the humanitarian affairs coordinator declared that the Israeli shooting took place outside the school. The writer failed to understand how corpses of dozens of victims were found inside the rooms and playground of the school and not outside. Moreover, according to the UN charter, the international organisation is required to carry out an official investigation into the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza. However, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon did not appear enthusiastic, instead accepting an Israeli pledge to run an investigation. "How can the accused conduct an investigation of itself?" Omrabi asked in the United Arab Emirates political daily Al-Bayan. Amr Gifteli looked at the repercussions of the Israeli aggression and how it underlined Arab deficiency and clear US and Western collusion with Israel. He called on the Arab states to try harder to resolve the Palestinian issue rather that leaving it in the hands of international envoys. "As Arabs, we should work hard to resolve our issues. International envoys cannot do the job for us," Gifteli wrote in the Syrian political daily Tishreen. Khaled Al-Harroub disagreed with those who want to hold Hamas responsible for the Israeli aggression against Gaza. He wrote in the London-based independent political daily Al-Hayat that Hamas and all Palestinian factions were ready to extend the truce in December, but Israel was not because it had already taken the decision to wage a war against Gaza. However, the writer agreed with those who argued that Hamas should have eliminated all the pretexts that could have made Israel wage the war. But, given that Israel has always stuck to the strategy of concocting more pretexts to procrastinate in carrying out its obligations towards the Palestinians, according to signed peace agreements, that would not have changed the situation. Israel, for instance, has failed to meet its obligations to the Palestinians -- which the writer described as a "national scandal" -- despite a strong and united Palestinian leadership since the 1991 Madrid conference, until Hamas took over Gaza. Nevertheless, throughout these years, Israel came up with other pretexts to not meet its commitments. That strategy put the PLO before nearly impossible options that eroded its legitimacy. Now Israel is putting Hamas in front of the same options: either accept a series of endless Israeli conditions and lose its legitimacy, or reject them and leave the Palestinians to pay the price like they did in the recent Israeli aggression against Gaza.
