(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas' surprise meeting in Qatar with Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal last week coincided with an unprecedented wave of armed clashes between PA security forces and gunmen in a number of Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank. Palestinians say the confrontations are the worst in many years and pose a serious and open challenge to Abbas. Some PA officials have privately criticized Abbas for failing to realize the degree to which his Fatah faction represents a threat to him. They expressed surprise that he has not yet abandoned his globe-trotting and remained in Ramallah to tackle what they call the "Camp Intifada" against him. If Abbas is unable to make peace inside his own Fatah faction, how will he ever be able to end the dispute with Hamas? Israel currently faces two Palestinian camps: one (Hamas) that does not want to make peace with Israel because it believes Israel ought not to exist, and the second (Fatah) that cannot make peace with Israel because it is too weak to do so.
2016-11-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive