The Fatah-Hamas Conflict in the Palestinian Authority

By David Schenker

There have been some very interesting developments in the Palestinian Authority (PA) of late as fighting has escalated between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) faction Fatah and Hamas. Intra-Palestinian violence in the PA has reached unprecedented levels not necessarily in the quantity, but in the quality of attacks. In recent weeks, Palestinian factions have started targeting not only their rivals, but also their rivals’ families.

The crossing of this line has raised the concern that the PA will degenerate to full scale civil war. In the meanwhile, the violence has exposed extant cleavages in Palestinian society and, on a more basic level, the primal fears and concerns of many Palestinians. In this context, two developments bear mention:

Sunni-Shia Tensions in the Palestinian Authority: Although the number of Palestinian Shiites is negligible, a few weeks ago—after the killings of several high ranking Fatah officials and their families—signs of Sunni resentment toward Shiites started to emerge in the PA. In mid-December at a rally, Fatah loyalists chanted “shia, shia, shia,” referring to their Hamas rivals’ close ties to Iran. These chants materialized again on January 7, during a Fatah rally in a Gaza soccer stadium. Although both Fatah and Hamas are Sunni organizations, Fatah loyalists appear to be starting to view Hamas as tools of Iran, aligned with the Shia. Given some of the fatwas (religious edicts) emanating from Saudi Arabia—characterizing Shiites as “infidels”—the consequences could be profound in the PA.

Family Matters: Too often in the West, we try to understand the Middle East in terms of ideological alignments. More often than not, though, family and tribe are the most important allegiances in the region. Lately in Gaza, we’ve seen tribal loyalty play an increasingly important role. The Daghmoush clan is a good example of this phenomenon. Until recently, this large clan had largely been supporters of Hamas (some members of the family were commanders of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza). But a few weeks ago, Hamas killed two members of the Daghmoush clan who were affiliated with Fatah. Since then, the clan has started attacking Hamas: on January 6, the clan killed three Hamas members and abducted four others. There are reports that Damascus based Hamas leader Khalid Meshal called a Daghmoush clan member in an unsuccessful effort to mend fences. Now, it appears that many in the clan may have changed allegiance to Fatah.

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