Word: fatah
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...spokesman, Sean McCormack, declined to last weekend to offer specifics on why such an opportunity may now present itself, but plainly, the conditions for peace can't be divorced from the state of Palestinian internal politics - and the escalating confrontation, if not a brewing civil war, between the Fatah movement of President Abbas and Hamas, the democratically elected governing party...
...Abbas on Sunday declared Hamas's main Gaza security force illegal, while his key security strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, vowed that for every Fatah member killed in the internecine confrontation, his own men would kill two Hamas men. The Islamists responded by vowing to double the size of their security forces and to fight any attempt to disarm them or to oust the government. Following Fatah's mass rally on Sunday in Hamas's Gaza stronghold, Hamas is planning later this week to hold similar shows of strength on the streets of key West Bank cities, traditionally Fatah's stamping ground...
...Washington is not the only group putting pressure on Abbas to confront Hamas: Much of the leadership of Fatah responded to their electoral rebuke by insisting that Abbas simply oust the Hamas government and restore them to power. Abbas, however, preferred negotiation, seeking a government of national unity with Hamas in the hope of averting a civil war - despite the skepticism of many Fatah leaders and of the Bush Administration. But the slow, grinding poverty brought on by the financial blockade has prompted much of the Fatah rank-and-file - many of whom are employed by the PA, and therefore...
...unity government, Abbas called for new elections. He did not, however, name a date, and it remains unclear whether he has the constitutional authority to demand an early poll. So, while Hamas accused him of carrying out Washington's orders and vowed to boycott and disrupt any such poll, Fatah hawks complained that his failure to actually name a date or put the election process in motion signaled continued indecision. Meanwhile, on the ground, the militants of both organizations began trading fire as never before...
...alarmed at the prospect of a Palestinian civil war. Even Israeli intelligence officials are reported to have warned their government that any attempt to hold new elections or try to forcibly replace the Hamas government is doomed to fail - for the simple reason that Hamas is more popular than Fatah, especially now that the U.S. is so strongly perceived as backing Abbas...