Palestinians call on Fatah and Hamas to unify to confront Israel

Several Palestinians have called on Fatah and Hamas to work toward national unity in the Palestinian Territories as soon as possible in a bid to confront the ongoing Israeli threat to Palestinian existence.

Speaking to The New Arab on Monday, many Palestinians pointed out that the internal division between the two movements has negatively affected the ability of Palestinians to confront the illegal Israeli occupation.

On Sunday, thousands of Israelis launched an annual, extremist "flag march" through occupied Jerusalem, chanting "Death to Arabs" and insulting the Prophet Mohammed, as well as attacking Palestinians in the area.

At least 40 Palestinians were injured by the Israeli occupying army and settlers, who used rubber bullets, truncheons, and pepper spray, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Around 3,000 Israeli police were deployed to the event which marks the start of Israel's illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, home of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

On the other hand, the Palestinian areas have not witnessed unified marches with a large crowd of participants because each faction have followed their own policy and strategy, as if "they were only the right ones and the rest are wrong," Mohammed Hamdouna, a Gaza-based resident, said.

The 42-year-old father of six told The New Arab that "the extremist Israeli flag march should alarm the leaders of the Palestinian factions, mainly Fatah and Hamas, that we will not be able to confront Israel if the internal division continues."

"We have seen that all Israelis, right-wing, left-wing and extremists, are united in order to implement this controversial march, despite their political differences," Hamdouna said

"It is a real warning to us that the Israeli occupation has one goal aiming at ending our existence, he added. 

Hamas chief says no guarantees to not escalate against Israel https://t.co/rDfLw5YqJv — The New Arab (@The_NewArab) May 30, 2022

Rizek Shomar, another Gaza-based resident, expressed his dissatisfaction with the failure of all segments of the people to participate in the popular marches that took place yesterday in order to express their anger towards the provocative practices carried out by the Israelis in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"We heard many local voices encouraging the armed factions to attack the Israeli towns in response to the Israeli continuous violations (...), but they forgot that we have been living in a state of division for years. Therefore, even if the resistance seems strong, we are weak before an enemy united to destroy us," the 39-year-old father of two said to The New Arab.

"We have a primary goal, which is to liberate our land from the Israeli occupation, and this will not happen until we restore our national unity and form a strong, united army that will be able to defeat Israel," Shomar added. 

On her part, Samah Jaradat, a mother from the West Bank city of Hebron, said to The New Arab that "because of the Palestinian division, we do not have an entity and strength in front of the international community (...) No one cares what the Israelis are doing against us in Palestine because we have simply lost the world's trust."

"There are two different political and strategic entities. Each of them considers himself right and capable of liberating Palestine, while the opposite is true. Neither Fatah nor Hamas will be able to confront the Israeli dangers alone," Jaradat said.

Arab states including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have tried in vain to reconcile Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's nationalist Fatah faction with its bitter rival Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that opposes any negotiations with Israel. No Palestinian general elections have been held for 16 years.

In 2007, the Palestinians in the coastal enclave of the Gaza Strip, which has been under a tight Israeli blockade since then, witnessed the tragic and bloody scenes when Hamas and Fatah militants fought each other for weeks.

Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections in 2006 and was listed as a terrorist organization by Israel and some other countries, refused to abide by the international requirements of recognising Israel or condemning violence, therefore Israel and the United States refused to allow Hamas to be involved in any Palestinian government.

Since then, all Arab and international mediations aiming to end the split had failed so far.

Egypt, Qatar, Yemen, Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, and several European mediators have failed over the past ten years to bridge the gaps and end the status of political and physical hostility between the two rivals in the two territories, although several agreements and understandings had been reached, yet never implemented.