Word: fatah
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...intended as a stern message to Hamas: Stop fighting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, or we'll launch a political war against you. But the sources say that the goal of the Arab regimes is to press for Hamas to join a new Palestinian unity government along with Abbas's Fatah party. Explains a senior Arab official, the decision to hold a meeting between Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "is a diplomatic warning to Hamas: If you try to strip Abbas's authority, think twice. We'll throw...
Privately, Arab leaders are steering some of the blame for the Palestinian political meltdown towards the Bush Administration and Olmert's government. They say the U.S. and Israel have effectively encouraged Hamas and Fatah to resume their bloody power struggle, which resulted in Hamas's armed takeover of Gaza and the collapse of the three-month-old Palestinian national unity government. First, Arab sources say, despite a symbolic resumption of the peace process in January, neither the U.S. or Israel provided any tangible political or financial support to bolster Abbas's increasingly shaky leadership against Hamas's growing political...
Second, the Arab sources add, by refusing to recognize the Palestinian unity government formed in February in the hope of ending the financial siege, the U.S. and Israel handed Hamas and Fatah an excuse to resume their turf battles. In a TIME interview last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal hinted at his government's disappointment. "Palestinians bear the main responsibility, but I think the Western countries and United States could have acted more positively," he said. "For an agreement like that, if you don't show signs of acceptance, and of inclusiveness, it does damage the effort...
...Hamas is trying to avoid provoking Israel into attacking the Gaza Strip. Instead, say Hamas officials, they are trying to restore order and calm after what one human rights activist described as the "organized, orchestrated chaos" that reigned during the power struggle between Fatah and Hamas. And to gain a breather, Hamas leaders say they are willing to observe a truce with Israel. But Hamas knows that the cease-fire will never succeed unless Islamic Jihad also signs...
During the fighting last week in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah gunmen, he said that Islamic Jihad had refrained from firing rockets at Israel. "We decided to stop launching rockets until we could see what developed," he explained. His organization's penchant for brave but foolhardy attacks has made it immune to realpolitik, and it may take some persuading by Hamas to convince Islamic Jihad to hold off its attacks...