It’s unfortunate that an errant rocket, presumed to be Israeli, which killed a Palestinian family in Gaza last week has turned out to be a catalyst for renewed violence in the region. Despite Israel’s pledge to investigate the incident, Hamas called off its 16-month ceasefire and resumed rocket attacks on Israel. In turn, Tel Aviv has threatened to assassinate Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh if suicide bombings start again.
All this couldn’t be happening at a worse time, since the US, showing unseemly haste, has cut off desperately-needed funds to the Palestinians, precipitating a humanitarian crisis. Reservations about giving funds to Hamas are understandable. But Washington should have foreseen Hamas’ electoral victory and devised a way to continue with the aid flow without it going to the Hamas. Factions of Hamas and Fatah are fighting each other over the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for a referendum on negotiating with Israel. With talks between Mr Abbas’s once-dominant Fatah group and Hamas going nowhere, factional violence now threatens to spiral uncontrollably. That said, Mr Abbas’s call for a two-State negotiated solution — creating a Palestinian State next to Israel — appears to have taken both Hamas and the Israelis by surprise. For a man who has staked his political career on Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, Mr Abbas has every reason to be pleased with the way his plan apparently straitjackets both the Hamas-led government and Israel. For opinion polls clearly show that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians are likely to endorse a two-State solution.
Israeli assertions of being ‘willing to negotiate with the Palestinians’ are likely based on the assumption that no such talks would ever take place in the absence of a negotiating partner. So a referendum that proves most people want a two-State solution would leave Israel no choice but to engage in serious negotiations with Mr Abbas.
{{/usCountry}}Israeli assertions of being ‘willing to negotiate with the Palestinians’ are likely based on the assumption that no such talks would ever take place in the absence of a negotiating partner. So a referendum that proves most people want a two-State solution would leave Israel no choice but to engage in serious negotiations with Mr Abbas.
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