Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas continues to sputter, following the last round of meetings in Qatar on Feb. 7-8. After the meetings, Fatah issued official statements threatening Hamas that it would regain control of Gaza by unspecified nonreconciliatory means. In that regard, it should be noted that Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 following bloody armed clashes with Fatah.

During a visit to Egypt on Feb. 23, Maj. Gen. Jibril Rajoub, deputy secretary-general of the Fatah Central Committee, threatened to take decisive measures to put an end to Hamas’ continued seizure of the Gaza Strip by means that would be discussed inside Fatah. Two days later, on Feb. 25, Nabil Shaath, member of the Fatah Central Committee, affirmed that Palestinian security forces would soon reassume management of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, without specifying an exact date.

On Feb. 27, Rajoub’s statements provoked condemnation from Palestinian factions, among them Hamas, Islamic Jihad as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, all of which labeled it as detrimental to reconciliation.

However, Ziad al-Zaza, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, was even more forceful when he said on Feb. 24 that Rajoub wanted to enter Gaza riding on the turret of an Israeli tank, despite him trying to accomplish that feat on four previous occasions during Israel’s wars against Gaza in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.