At the advice of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has dissolved the Hamas-led unity government and declared a state of emergency in both occupied territories. The executive committee also recommended that Abbas, the leader of Fatah, seek international protection from the armed wing of Hamas, taking “whatever decision he judges appropriate”.

The Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City, which had detained a number of Hamas leaders in the previous years, was taken over by Hamas. A spokesman for Hamas said the capture of the headquarters marked its liberation from Fatah which has been backed by Israel and the US. “It was liberated from the herds of the collaborators,” he said. Hamas radio also reported that its forces have taken control of Abbas’ presidential compound, and seized the last security bases of Fatah loyalists in Gaza. Meanwhile, the European Commission has suspended humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Nearly every media outlet has incorrectly reported that “vicious factional fighting” has left Hamas in “control” of occupied Gaza. However, it’s an oxymoron to state that any Palestinian force has “control” over occupied territory. Any control which such an authority claims to have must be allotted to them by Israel. As Israel is not the reactionary victim of oppression it paints itself as, we should not rule out the possibility that agent provocateurs are working within both factions to elicit a divisional response favorable to the interests of the Jewish state.

What Israel, the US, and Abbas have wanted for Fatah is complete dominance over the Palestinian territories, contrary to the democratic will of the Palestinian people. Now Abbas seems to be moving towards that goal by dissolving the unity government. Still, Hamas has rejected Abbas’ move, claiming that he does not have the authority to make such decisions. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, said, “In practical terms these decisions are worthless. Prime Minister Haniya remains the head of the government even if it was dissolved by the president.” Yet, as stated above, the only true authority needed is handed down from the might of Israel and the US.

President Abbas has also indicated that he may call for early elections, a move strongly supported by the US, which funded his Fatah party in 2006 but failed to hijack the legislative election in their favor. In October, the US State Department and National Democratic Institute projected that it would cost $42 million of your tax dollars to overthrow the Hamas-led government in an early election. Certainly, this “factional fighting” which supposedly has nothing to do with the US or Israel is awfully convenient.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Haniya said he wanted full control of Palestinian security forces under the terms of the Mecca agreement forged in March, which led to the creation of the unity government. However, President Abbas insisted that the fighting must stop before he would negotiate, threatening to abandon the unity government, allowing him to rule by decree. That threat was finally realized. Since Abbas has limited authority in Gaza, this Fatah break with Hamas’ unity government could divide the West Bank and Gaza Strip into two separate Palestinian states.

A fully Hamas-run state in Gaza will undoubtedly lead to an increase in Israeli aggression - perhaps a heightened version of what was seen last year. Israel has been ethnically cleansing Gaza, systematically annihilating Palestinians, while making more land grabs with illegal Israeli settlements and walls. Israel and the US consider Hamas a “terrorist organization,” and thus refuse to engage in diplomacy with them. With Hamas’ domination of Gaza, we are sure to see more Hamas leaders being kidnapped, an increase in the killing of civilians, a dramatic tightening of Israeli authoritarian control, and the standard bombing of civilian infrastructure. Even previous to this takeover, money changers and supermarkets were targeted in Gaza because, as the Israeli army general says, they had simply run out of “legitimate targets” to bomb. Now the entire territory may become a “legitimate target” as the Zionists aim to wipe Palestine off the map.

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