ASSESSMENTS

An Opening for Hamas in the West Bank

Dec 13, 2012 | 11:47 GMT

Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal (L) and Ismail Haniyeh in Rafah on Dec. 7

MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

Palestinian politics are changing dramatically. Hamas, the radical Islamist movement that has long controlled Gaza, is on the rise, while the aging leadership of secular Fatah is seeing its relevance wane.

Two recent visits by Palestinian officials illustrate the ongoing trend. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' three-day visit to Turkey, which ended Dec. 12, came two days after Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal addressed a rally in Gaza and spoke of the need for Hamas and Fatah to move beyond past hostilities. Abbas was to discuss with the Turkish leadership ways in which the two rival groups could reconcile.

Constraints could yet check and even disrupt Hamas' rise — not least among these is Israel's position on the mainstreaming of Hamas. But the current regional dynamic, triggered by the Arab uprisings and shaped by the rise of Islamist movements in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, will add momentum to Hamas' climb.

Fatah's decline relative to its Islamist rival shows that regional political changes have reached the Palestinian Territories....

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