Leadership tussle for Gaza Strip revealed
THE LEAKING of a secret but unconfirmed document has revealed that former Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan and Hamas, with the support of Egypt, are conspiring to outmanoeuvre Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for control of the Gaza Strip.
The paper, titled “A national consensus document for trust-building”, details an agreement allegedly made between the Hamas movement, led by Yahya Sinwar, and Dahlan during recent Egyptian-sponsored talks when Palestinian officials established a political front to challenge the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Authority in co-ordination with Dahlan, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.
Hamas and the PA have been involved in a power struggle for control of the Gaza Strip, which is under a tight Egyptian-Israeli blockade. According to the unverified document, Dahlan could be appointed head of Gaza’s government as a result of the Cairo talks, while Hamas, for its part, would retain control of the powerful interior ministry, under which security falls. Dahlan was a former high-ranking leader of Fatah in Gaza before he fled to the PA-controlled West Bank after Hamas’s military overthrow of the joint PA-Hamas unity government in Gaza in 2007. The Hamas coup pre-empted a planned coup by Dahlan and Fatah, supported by Israel and the US, to take full control of Gaza after Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian elections.
After fleeing to the West Bank, nominally ruled by the PA but under Israeli occupation, Dahlan worked consistently to undermine Abbas politically and for control of Fatah.
However, he was forced to flee to neighbouring Jordan after he was kicked out of Fatah and shortly before Palestinian security forces tried to arrest him for corruption.
In exile the former Fatah strongman has continued to agitate against Abbas, who is also leader of the PA, and the feud between the two has continued to escalate.
Now their dispute has become part of Abbas’s power struggle with Hamas for control of Gaza, the Palestinian street and the Palestinian narrative. – ANA