After the failure of former US Secretary of State John Kerry’s mission in 2014, to the great dismay of the Obama administration, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas established a national unity government with Hamas. Visiting Ramallah these days one gets a sense of deja vu. In the Fatah movement there is no love lost for Hamas — it is still the archenemy. Hamas wants the Palestinian Authority to spend more resources in the Gaza Strip; Abbas wants to curb this support. Yet these two parties declared Oct. 3 the establishment of a national unity government.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his administration are now in favor of Palestinian unity. If it is up to Cairo, a national unity government with the participation of the two rival factions will be operating sooner rather than later, and with their protege former Fatah senior official Mohammed Dahlan pulling the strings. Such a move could actually close the window of opportunity for any US peace effort. At the same time, there is little belief anywhere on the Arab side in such an effort.

A senior PLO official close to Abbas told Al-Monitor that today a majority within the Fatah movement supports such a national unity move for a variety of reasons.

In fact, US President Donald Trump's reluctance to move ahead on a two-state solution process is one of these reasons. This lack of hope on the political horizon has pushed Fatah into Hamas’ direction. And there is more. The Palestinians have little hope for any policy move on the part of the European Union. French President Emmanuel Macron chose not to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Francois Hollande, and will not convene a continuation of the Paris Middle East peace conference. And so, West Bank public opinion is radicalizing. And while Palestinians feel despair over the diplomatic stalemate, Abbas perceives the economic crises in the Gaza Strip as an opportunity to strengthen his foothold in Gaza.