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Gaza Reconstruction Stalled by Fatah-Hamas Deadlock
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Neri Zilber - The UN-designed postwar reconstruction of Gaza after last summer's conflict has effectively ground to a halt, due to continued divisions between Hamas and Fatah. According to the deal reached at war's end, the prerequisite for any wide-ranging reconstruction was the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority returning to Gaza. However, the PA has shown no inclination to make good on its commitments, and Hamas has yet to relinquish real authority over the territory. While some have taken to blaming donors for their paltry financial support, the lack of which UN Middle East peace process coordinator Robert Serry termed "scandalous," the real scandal is why the international community should feel compelled to care about the people of Gaza when their own self-selected leaders, both Fatah and Hamas, so clearly do not. The writer is a visiting scholar at The Washington Institute.