(Politico) Neri Zilber - More than three months after the guns fell silent in Gaza, its postwar reconstruction has moved forward at a snail's pace. The deal that ended the fighting in August foresaw reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah as a precondition to reconstruction, but all plans are on hold as Hamas and the PA engage in a game of political chicken, staring each other down. The actual welfare of those Palestinians living in Gaza has apparently been deemed secondary to the considerations of power politics. All sides, including Hamas, agreed that the PA should return to Gaza - initially to take over the border crossings as well as the government ministries there. To date, the PA has done none of these things as Hamas has resisted surrendering control. The writer is a visiting scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2014-12-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive