Date
Author
Александр САМОХОТКИН; Дмитрий ДУБОВ; Иерусалим
Source
Preserved copy
Translated material
Palestinian half-life
There are two governments in a divided autonomy
Torn by internal conflict , the Palestinian Authority yesterday found itself in a situation of dual power . The head of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, outlawed the armed groups of the Islamist movement Hamas, which captured the Gaza Strip by the end of last week, and swore in an “emergency government” that replaced the Islamist-dominated government of national unity . As one might expect, Hamas leaders refused to recognize either the legitimacy of the dissolution of the government of national unity established in March led by Ismail Hanniyeh, one of the leaders of Hamas, or the creation of a new cabinet. Hanniyeh himself still considers himself the Palestinian prime minister.According to the deputy head of the Hamas Politburo, Musa Abu Marzouk, Palestinian law only contains the concept of a “state of emergency”, but not an “emergency government”: “This government will not last more than a month, because it needs to get approval from the Palestinian parliament.” Abbas, who dismissed Hanniyeh's cabinet on Thursday and declared a state of emergency throughout the region, issued a decree on Saturday allowing him to appoint ministers bypassing parliament.
Abbas appointed 55-year-old Salam Fayyad, the non-partisan head of the Ministry of Finance in Hanniyeh's cabinet, as the new prime minister. In the past, this prominent economist worked at the World Bank in Washington and represented the International Monetary Fund in the autonomy. Now, de facto, only one part of the autonomy is under his authority - the West Bank of the Jordan River with an area of 5.6 thousand square meters. km, where approximately 3 million Palestinians live. Under Hamas control in the Gaza Strip on an area of 365 square meters. km there are about 1.5 million people left.
The Palestinian split encouraged Israel, which announced the possibility of negotiations with a new government. The US and EU countries also promised to resume cooperation with the autonomous government, which was interrupted after Hamas came to power in January 2006. Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, before leaving for the United States, said that the new Palestinian cabinet, in which there are no Hamas representatives, “is a partner whose emergence will bring peace to the Middle East closer,” and therefore Israel is ready to deal with it.
At the same time, as a means of putting pressure on Hamas, the Israelis stopped fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip, maintaining only the supply of fuel to the local power plant. The population there is already experiencing food shortages, to which Israel says it is not opposed to humanitarian aid supplies. But even if the West keeps its promise and resumes aid to the Palestinian government cleared of Islamists, money and goods are unlikely to reach the isolated Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas control.
Recently, information appeared that the new Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak , appointed to this post on Friday, seems to be planning a military invasion of the Gaza Strip. According to the British newspaper The Sunday Times, the operation could begin in the coming weeks. But as Vremya Novostei learned from an informed source close to the Israeli government, no military action will be taken in Gaza until Olmert’s meeting with US President George W. Bush tomorrow.
As Moshe Marzuk, an employee of the Institute for Combating Terrorism in Herzliya, explained to Vremya Novostey, “the Israeli army is not interested in interfering in what is happening.” In the West Bank, Fatah, led by Abbas, “deals with Hamas on its own, and in the Gaza Strip, the Islamists, who just a few days ago were shooting not only their political opponents, but also innocent people in front of everyone, need to show themselves as legitimate power. This can only be done through shelling of Israel or terrorist attacks against it. So Israel will not remain neutral in this conflict,” our interlocutor is sure.
The head of the PNA, who was forced by recent events at home to postpone his visit to Moscow planned for yesterday, in a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, asked for assistance in resolving the crisis and assured his interlocutor of his intention to “act within the legal framework.” To this, the Russian minister replied that now “all international mediators, all those who can influence the situation, must avoid any steps that drive a wedge between the Palestinians”: “We need to promote their unity, and not allow any actions that could cause split, especially to do it consciously.”
Obviously, the Palestinian split creates a temptation for the West, especially the United States, to cooperate with the “good” government in the West Bank and strangle the “bad” Islamist authorities in the Gaza Strip. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, attempts to forcibly change the political situation in part of the Palestinian territories are fraught with the collapse of autonomy, “separation of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank of the Jordan River,” which could “cross out the hopes of the Palestinians for the realization of their legitimate rights, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state.”
Moscow considers the main task of the international community, and first of all the Middle East “quartet” of international mediators for the Middle East settlement (Russia, the European Union, the UN, the USA), to help overcome intra-Palestinian strife “while respecting the democratic choice made by the Palestinian people,” who voted for the Islamists in 2006 from Hamas. The Quartet, which spoke via teleconference on Friday, “taking into account the difficult circumstances”, expressed support for Abbas’s decisions to dissolve the government and introduce a state of emergency. They were considered "necessary and accepted in accordance with Palestinian law."
According to Sergei Lavrov, whose interlocutors included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, international assistance cannot be limited to the immediate goal of establishing order in the autonomy. We must “not lose sight of the ultimate goal—a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.” As for the Israeli idea to send international peacekeepers to Gaza, this too has the right to be discussed, but again “in the context of promoting a Palestinian-Israeli settlement.” In any case, for its implementation “the consent of all Palestinian representatives - both Fatah and Hamas - will be needed,” Sergei Lavrov emphasized.
Ahmad Aboul Gheit, the foreign minister of Egypt, the only country other than Israel bordering the Gaza Strip, said that Hamas's actions are illegal, but Egypt will not refuse to mediate peace talks between the Islamists and Fatah. Aboul Gheit added that the Quartet meeting in Cairo scheduled for June 26 will likely be postponed, since a meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert was planned within its framework. But for it to take place, it will be necessary to first clarify the situation in Palestine.