Palestinians’ Unity Government Falters, Status Quo Endures

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The Jerusalem Post reports that “the unity government established with Fatah over the summer has ended. The unity government’s six-month term has expired, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said at a press conference in Gaza City, adding that talks would take place regarding a future government, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.” This isn’t the first time a unity government has come undone, and the unraveling is hardly a surprise given Hamas’s war against Israel in Gaza and the absence of any real cooperation in jointly overseeing the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas refuses to abandon its terrorist objectives and has found its alliance with the Palestinian Authority both politically and financially unrewarding.

“Hamas is unsatisfied with the current arrangement. They had hoped that the fig leaf of PA oversight would herald the flood of hundreds of millions in reconstruction funds,” says Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “However, funds are not flowing. The international community is concerned about diversion and leakage into Hamas coffers. This has all prompted Hamas to dispense with the charade that the latest Palestinian government was forged on a common political vision.” Where does that leave us? “We are back to where we have always been: Gaza and West Bank under two separate regimes, raising long-term questions about the viability of a Palestinian state, not to mention a two-state solution.”
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