Fatah pact with Hamas breaksdown

BOTH MAIN Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, are under increasing pressure as the reconciliation pact they signed nine months ago appears to have broken down.

Although the agreement led to the formation of a Palestinian unity government, which is still in office, there is no real co-ordination between the Fatah-dominated West Bank, and Gaza under Hamas rule, and no date has been set for new Palestinian elections.

Last week, demonstrations broke out in Gaza over living conditions and unpaid salaries. The anger was directed at the four members of the cabinet who live in the Strip.

Hamas convened a symbolic session of the Palestinian Legislative Council to challenge the PA but its main frustrations are now directed at the Egyptian government, which has continued its operation to destroy smuggling tunnels under the Rafah border.

The tunnels were a main source of income for Hamas. The Egyptians have also suspended the indirect talks between the Israelis and Palestinians over a long-term solution for Gaza.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is now focused on his diplomatic campaign to push forward Palestinian statehood. His repeated accusations in recent months that Hamas were planning a coup in the West Bank, similar to the one they carried out in 2007 in Gaza, indicate that he has little interest in working with the Islamist movement.