Q&A: Palestinians in conflict
Updated on 17 June 2007
Why did violence erupt between Hamas and Fatah this week? And who are the main parties involved?
Last weekend violence broke out in the Gaza Strip between supporters of the rival Hamas and Fatah factions.
By the end of the week more than 100 Palestinians had been killed in the fighting.
Why has the present conflict arisen?
The parliamentary elections to the Palestinian Authority in January 2006 produced a Hamas majority. Since then a Hamas-led authority has had to coexist with Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen), the Fatah president, and Fatah-affiliated security forces within the authority.
The fighting between Hamas and Fatah factions which broke out last weekend was the culmination of months of spiralling violence between the two groups. Hamas targeted supporters of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Force, led by Mohammed Dahlan, who they blamed for a series of killings of Hamas supporters.
Since Saturday Hamas, led by Ismail Haniyeh (sacked as PA prime minister by President Abbas on Thursday), has used its Gaza Strip power base to assert its domination there. More than 100 people have died in six days of clashes.
Meanwhile Fatah has moved to consolidate its power in the West Bank. After firing the government and imposing a state of emergency in response to the violence in Gaza, President Abbas on 16 June appointed Salam Fayyad, a former finance minister in the Fatah-controlled administration, as prime minister.
Who are Hamas?
Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) was founded in 1987 at the start of the first intifada (uprising) against Israel in the West Bank and Gaza. It is opposed to the existence of Israel, and advocates its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state.
The support that Hamas enjoys, particularly in the Gaza Strip, is in part the result of its extensive programmes of social welfare and education. It funds schools, orphanages and healthcare clinics, and is thought to be better organised that its Fatah rival.
After the events of the last week, there is a question mark over how Hamas now proposes to finance its operations in Gaza.
Nevertheless Hamas has been subect to a financial boycott by the international community for its opposition to the existence of an Israeli state.
After the events of the last week, there is a question mark over how Hamas now proposes to finance its operations in Gaza. It is known to receive financial support from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and Iran has also pledged money.
In 2006 Hamas decided to stand in parliamentary elections to the Palestinian Authority. Of the available 132 seats, it took 74 to the ruling Fatah's 45.
On 19 February 2006 the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, formed the new government. Haniyeh was sacked as prime minister by President Abbas on 14 June 2007.
Who are Fatah?
Fatah (in Arabic, a reverse acronym for Palestinian National Liberation Movement) was founded as a secular Palestinian nationalist political grouping in 1958 by a group including Yasser Arafat.
Six years later, with the backing of Arab leaders, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was founded with the aim of representing all Palestinians.
In the wake of Israel's success in 1967 Six-Day War, Fatah became the dominant force in Palestinian politics. A weakened PLO approached Fatah for help in reviving the organisation. In 1969 Arafat was elected chairman of the PLO's executive committee.
A 1974 Arab summit in Rebat declared the PLO the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
After the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Fatah's leadership moved to Tunisia, where it remained for the next decade.
In 1993 Mahmoud Abbas, representing the PLO, and Simon Peres, representing the state of Israel, signed the Oslo accords, which allowed for the creation of a Palestinian Authority incoporating the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In the years after 1993, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority become mired in corruption and inefficiency.
The al-Aqsa intifada against Israel broke out in 2000, during which Marwan Barghouti, head of Fatah on the West Bank, emerged as leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The Martyrs' Brigades were responsible for a numerous attacks on Israelis over the next two years.
In the years since 1993, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority had become mired in corruption and inefficiency. The effect of Israel's response to the al-Aqsa attacks was to further to weaken Fatah's standing and undermine the status of the Palestinian Authority.
After Yasser Arafat's death in November 2004, Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005. A year later Hamas overtook Fatah to win a majority of seats in the legislative elections.
