Fatah Enters The Fray

Now that we have reached the month ‘anniversary’ of the bloodshed in Gaza, let us review the political implications of the now (failed) attempt of Israel to depose Hamas in the disputed region. Not only has the death count exceeded 1,200 Palestinians (an enormous percentage of which have been confirmed by all major International Aid Agencies as civilian women and children), but the fragile ceasefire is all but a mirage - with the dramatic introduction of Fatah’s military wing (the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade) claiming responsibility for Wednesday night’s rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. 

As expected, news coverage is beginning to tire of the images and repetitive daily updates of Gaza militants firing rockets into Israel/of the Israeli response (always overwhelming and disproportionate), and of the cries of NGOs and aid workers declaring an ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Bo-ring. 

What is perhaps ‘new’ and important to recognize, is the participation of the predominantly West Bank-based Fatah Party in the recent rocket attacks emanating from Gaza. Long viewed by the West as the ‘legitimate’ Palestinian faction and led by a recognized leader in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah is universally regarded as the only partner capable of continuing the almost non-existent peace process. In other words, the West’s preferred partner is turning militant. Not only that, the desired (and Western cultivated) belligerence between Hamas and Fatah is clearly melting away.

This leaves Israel - and the fate of the Middle East - in a precarious situatuon indeed. With Fatah’s military wing aligning with Hamas (perhaps signifying a precursor to a similar accord between the factions’ political segments), Israel is becoming surrounded. Worse, the West’s chosen partner (puppet?) is turning against them - and in the process, eliminating a key leadership with which to negotiate peace. 

It doesn’t take a soothsayer to predict what will happen next. A wider Intifada? Or perhaps a wider regional Arab conflict?

Sadly, both are becoming more probable.