Israel targets Hamas-Fatah unity in Gaza
Israel's open opposition to the Palestinian reconciliation agreement is the driving force behind its offensive on the Gaza Strip.
After his July 10 speech at the UN Security Council, Israel’s representative Ron Prosor said, “It’s time for the international community to right the wrong of the embrace between Hamas and Fatah. … Unity does not equal impunity.”
While Israel repeats that it is conducting a defensive war to stop the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, it has publicly declared its opposition to the Fatah-Hamas unity government. Ever since the agreement was announced, the Israelis have been attacking it as an act of legitimization for the Islamic movement. The new unity government includes no members of Hamas and the government’s program adheres to the conditions put forth by the Quartet following Hamas' victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections.
Hamas' security control of the Gaza Strip has for some time been the Achilles' heel of the Palestinian negotiating team. Israel has often rhetorically asked the Ramallah-based negotiators whether they also speak for Palestinians in Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been pushing for a reconciliation that will end up in new elections as the best way to cease Hamas rule in Gaza. When Hamas’ political leadership capitulated and accepted all the PLO’s conditions, the unity government was formed without any Hamas members. Israel felt that this gave a new life to the Islamic movement.
