Internal Palestinian rift will end only if PA ends ties with Israel

Professor of political science Abdulsattar Qasem downplayed the chances of reaching a genuine national reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah factions if the Palestinian authority (PA) did not end its security cooperation with Israel and its financial dependence on the West.

Qasem told Quds Press that Hamas and Fatah could repeat the past mistakes if the real causes of their dispute were not addressed from the roots, mainly with regard to the agreements the PA signed with Israel.

"I believe there is great potential for achieving the reconciliation if the real causes of the division and strife between Fatah and Hamas factions have been tackled," the professor underlined.

"The main reason is the agreements signed with Israel, specifically the security coordination which means that the Palestinian should arrest the Palestinian and provide Israel with information about the Palestinian; therefore, if this security coordination did not stop, there could be no reconciliation, and this was evident in the agreements of Cairo in 2005 and Makka in 2007," he added. 

"If the PA decided now to halt the security coordination, it would certainly sacrifice the western funds; it has to choose between the western money or the Palestinian unity, and so far it is clear that the PA has chosen to sacrifice the national unity, but in case it decided to forfeit the western money, it would have to look for alternatives to it," the professor stated.

"The crux of the matter is about funding and whether the Palestinians would remain hostage to the western money or they would set themselves free from that, because the funds we receive from the west are paid in exchange for the national will, he stressed.