The Hamas-Fatah rift shows signs of becoming wider, as Fatah Chief Abbas calls Hamas a front for Al-Qaeda.
Speaking on Italian television Monday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, known also as Fatah chief Abu Mazen, says he has no intention of partnering up with Hamas. He says he has no plans to even talk with Hamas on the topic.
The Fatah leader attacked Hamas for being a "defensive shield for the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda." He said Hamas "enables Al-Qaeda terrorists to enter Gaza, thus endangering Gaza and causing it to require urgent aid."
Some say the Hamas-Fatah war is not a sign of genuine differences, however. Even Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak predicted recently that Fatah and Hamas would soon patch up their dispute and resume dialogue. Some commentators see the situation as a "good cop, bad cop" routine, with both Fatah and Hamas having the same end goal.
Commentator Emanuel A. Winston, for instance, writes this week that Fatah's inexplicable and sudden loss to Hamas can be explained as being a system by which Hamas seizes armaments that it otherwise would not have received, and the "moderate" Fatah is later reimbursed by the U.S. and other donor countries. They will then re-unite into one happy Palestinian Authority, the theory goes, and will receive ever-stronger world sympathy for their demands that Israel evacuate Judea and Samaria.
Abu Mazen is set to meet with visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi Tuesday. Prodi met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday night.