Since the declaration of a final cease-fire between Israel and Hamas last month, there has been little movement to resolve the situation in Gaza. With the Middle East preoccupied by the threat of Islamic extremism as well as the growing rivalries between Arab states over how to handle these threats, there appears to be little appetite in the Arab world to deal with the Palestinian issue.
“It’s not at the top of the agenda for many Arab states at this time,” Elliott Abrams, who served as deputy national security advisor for President George W. Bush and is currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told JNS.
This relative disinterest amongst the Arab states regarding Gaza has led to a stalled situation, and there has been virtually no change to the status quo over the past few weeks.
According to the Palestinian Authority, it will cost around $7 billion to rebuild Gaza. While a major donor conference, chaired by Egypt and Norway, has been set up for October 12 in Cairo, it is unclear who will provide the necessary logistics and funds to undertake the efforts.
Looming large over any efforts to rebuild Gaza is the ongoing split between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which continues to control the Gaza Strip.
The relationship between the Palestinian factions has been strained since Hamas violently ousted the PA from Gaza in 2007. In May 2014 Abbas signed an agreement with Hamas to establish a unity government between the two Palestinian factions. But since then little progress has been made as both sides continue to feel deep mistrust.
“Both Hamas and Fatah are basically wrestling with each other to try to figure out a way forward with Gaza reconstruction,” Neri Zilber, a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told JNS.
“Abbas has told Hamas that the only mechanism for opening up Gaza for humanitarian aid, as far as the international community is concerned, is through the PA, not a through terrorist organization like Hamas,” Zilber added.
In August it was revealed by Israeli security services that Hamas planned to launch a series of riots and attacks in the West Bank in an effort to overthrow Abbas. At a meeting later that month in Qatar between Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, the PA president slammed Hamas for plotting his overthrow, as well as for provoking Israel by kidnapping and murdering three Israeli teens in June, which led to a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank by Israel this summer.
The dispute between the Palestinian factions over control of Gaza has prevented Egypt and Israel from allowing more humanitarian aid and construction materials to enter Gaza from their territories, and from other potential international donor regions like the European Union or the United States, over fears these materials will be used by Hamas to replenish its rocket arsenals or to rebuild terror tunnels.
“What they [Israel] are trying to do is establish a secure system like we have in the West for imports. Trying to set that up when Hamas doesn’t want one is going to be very difficult to do,” Abrams told JNS.
“Egypt and Israel are not willing to approve a system that lets Hamas rebuild its strength.”
Nevertheless, reports emerged on September 12 that Abbas had reached a deal with Israel to allow for the import and export of goods to and from Gaza under the auspice of the Palestinian Authority.
However, it remains unclear how other components of the August 26 cease-fire, such as Israel’s demand that Gaza be demilitarized, will unfold. Israel and Hamas agreed to indirect talks, but a date for the resumption has not been announced.