Tensions have flared in recent weeks between Fatah and Hamas, less than a month after the two factions met in Cairo for Palestinian unity talks, amid disagreements over the disruption of humanitarian efforts and the alleged detention of released prisoners, according to official statements.
On Monday, Fatah rejected Hamas’s claims that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was failing Gaza, describing the organization’s earlier accusations that the PA was neglecting the territory’s humanitarian needs as part of a “disinformation campaign.”
In response to Hamas’s accusations, Fatah said it held the terrorist group “responsible for negligence and failure to intervene to save citizens and alleviate their suffering in the Gaza Strip.” It alleged that Hamas had summoned Palestinian Labor Ministry staff and aid workers in recent weeks and pressured them to sign pledges preventing them from carrying out their duties.
The reported disruptions to humanitarian work come as the region enters winter, with temperatures expected to fall to 11°C this week and potentially reach as low as 6°C later in the season. Five Palestinians, including children, have already died after a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in Deir al-Balah following heavy rainfall, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defense Agency. Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF’s representative for the Palestinian territories, has also warned that tens of thousands of tents have been flooded by the rain.
“The movement calls for an end to the summoning and pressuring of employees, and for an end to obstructing the work of government and relief teams,” Fatah stated. “It urges that they be enabled to fulfill their duties without threats or interference, to protect citizens, preserve their dignity, and alleviate their suffering.”
Fatah says Hamas consistently summons its employees for questioning
Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Fatah has repeatedly complained that the terrorist group has summoned its employees for questioning. In February, Fatah claimed that its members Ayman Halawa and Abdelaziz Al-Daour had been summoned by Hamas, condemning the move as divisive.
Prof. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the Misgav Institute, described the friction as “troubling,” explaining that Hamas isn’t allowing PA representatives to continue cooperating with international aid organizations to help the people of Gaza, to be better prepared for the winter, as an act of retaliation for the arrests of Hamas-affiliated individuals in the West Bank and out of fear that Fatah will be able to build a base for itself in the Gaza Strip.
Such a base, he said, would weaken Hamas and facilitate its “disarmament and decomposition.”
“Hamas has no regret or sorrow regarding its own people, and it is willing to sacrifice its people and to make their life more difficult towards the coming winter to serve its survival and political existence as well as preparation towards another starvation and humanitarian crisis campaign that the international media and community will eat with a great appetite,” Michael said. “This is another form or version of using civilians as human shields, and the world probably will continue blaming Israel.”
The anger over the reported interference in aid work also comes as Hamas and its officials have made several inflammatory accusations against Fatah and the PA. Late last month, Hamas accused the PA security forces of arresting released prisoners, activists, and civilians in a campaign across the West Bank.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, which documents the detention of terrorists by both Israel and the PA, PA security forces arrested the released Hamas terrorist Ahmed Noah Harish, Khaled Brahmeh, Muhammad Abu Farha, Muslim Yasar Ishtayeh, Fawzi Bishkar, and Muath Ardaniya.
Describing the arrests as part of a “revolving door” policy by the PA, Hamas claimed the treatment of prisoners “compounded the suffering” of Palestinians.