Palestinian disunity
In June 2007, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new emergency government that excluded his Islamist rivals, Hamas, who had seized control of Gaza after intense fighting between the rival factions. Abbas also issued decrees enabling new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to rule without parliamentary approval and outlawing all of Hamas's armed forces. Fayyad's predecessor, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called the new government illegal, while the United States and the European Union declared their support for the emergency government.
The collapsed Palestinian unity government which included Hamas had only been agreed in February (2007)after several months of fighting between the factions but mistrust between Hamas and Fatah continued. Armed clashes in Gaza in December 2006 and January 2007 had already brought the Palestinian rivals to the brink of civil war. Only after crisis talks hosted by Saudi Arabia did Hamas and Fatah agree to form the unity government.
However Western nations continued their aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority at the time because the Hamas movement refuses to renounce violence against Israel. The United States, the UN, the European Union and Russia - the so-called Quartet - repeatedly said that Hamas must meet three conditions before the financial blockade can be lifted: renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
Factional tensions between Hamas and Fatah first erupted into deadly armed clashes in the Gaza Strip in December 2006, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for early elections. Relations between Fatah and Hamas have been poor since Hamas won a shock election victory in January 2006, ousting Fatah from power. Fatah leader Abbas stayed on as president, while Hamas initially formed a government without Fatah. Western nations subsequently imposed an aid boycott on the Hamas government because the militant group has not renounced its aim of destroying the state of Israel. Up to 400 people have died in clashes between the two factions since the militant Hamas movement won last year's parliamentary elections.
Timeline of Conflict
2006
Dec 9 - Abbas suggests early polls; Hamas denounces the idea
Dec 11 - Three sons of a Fatah security chief are shot dead on their way to school
Dec 14 - Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya's convoy comes under fire; Hamas blames Fatah
Dec 16 - Abbas says he will call early elections; Hamas speaks of "coup"
Dec 19 - Formal truce between Hamas and Fatah
2007
Jan 1 - New clashes between Hamas and Fatah erupt in Gaza
Jan 21 - Abbas and Hamas political chief Meshaal meet in Syria
Jan 25 - Armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah flare up again
Jan 30 - Another truce between Hamas and Fatah becomes effective
Feb 2 - Truce collapses amid fresh clashes, followed by another cease-fire agreement
Feb 8 - Hamas and Fatah leaders agree to form a unity government at crisis talks in Mecca
Mar 15 - Palestinian unity cabinet unveiled
May 13 - Several days of fighting between Hamas and Fatah, at least 50 people die
May 15 - Israel resumes air strikes on Gaza following Palestinian rocket attacks
May 24 - Abbas calls on militants to cease their rocket attacks on Israel
Jun 12 - More heavy fighting between Hamas and Fatah despite cease-fire agreement
Jun 14 - Abbas declares state of emergency and dissolves the unity govt, Hamas captures Gaza.
Jun 15 - Abbas appoints new prime minister
Jun 17 - Abbas swears in new emergency govt that excludes Hamas
Jun 18 - US and EU declare support for new Palestinian govt
Aug 2 - Secretary of State Rice signs an agreement giving the Palestinian Authority $80m
Sep 19 - Israel declares Gaza Strip "hostile entity"
2008
Jan 17 - Israel seals off Gaza Strip after Palestinian rocket attacks
Jan 23 - Palestinians breach the border fence and cross into Egypt
Jun 19 - Cease-fire agreed between Israel and Hamas
Dec 19 - Cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expires
Dec 27 - Israel launches air strikes on Gaza Strip
2009
Jan 3 - Israel launches ground offensive into Gaza Strip
Jan 17/18 - Israel and Hamas declare new cease-fires after 3 weeks of hostilities
Key Players in the Conflict
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya
Haniya had been Palestinian prime minister since March 29th, 2006, after his militant Hamas movement won a clear majority in the parliamentary election in January. In March 2007 he became the prime minister of a government of national unity which included Fatah members. After gun battles in Gaza, the unity government collapsed in June 2007 and President Abbas appointed a new prime minister, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal, describing the new emergency government as "illegal".
Ismail Haniya
Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant Islamist movement, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Israel, all of which have refused to deal directly with Hamas officials.
Hamas pursues the long-term aim of establishing an Islamic state on all of historic Palestine - most of which has been contained within Israel's borders since its creation in 1948. The grass-roots organization - with a political and a military wing - has an unknown number of active members but tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.
The decision to stand in Palestinian elections was a major departure for Hamas at the time. Top figures say it reflects the importance of the movement and the need for it to play a role in a failing Palestinian political sphere rife with corruption, inefficiency and lost credibility. But Hamas' armed wing remains the epitome of the "terrorist infrastructure" which the Palestinian Authority is called on to dismantle under the international peace plan known as the roadmap.
Hamas Political Chief Khaled Meshaal
Meshaal was named a Hamas leader following Israeli's killing of the group's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in March 2004. The organization's covert structure means it is unclear what authority he wields, but from his exile in the Syrian capital, Damascus, he has played an important role since the group won a majority in January's Palestinain parliamentary elections.
Khaled Meshaal
Unhindered by the travel restrictions imposed by Israel on Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank, Meshaal has represented the group at meetings with foreign governments and other parties throughout the world. After talks with the Egyptian government and the Arab League in Cairo in February, Meshaal said that Hamas would be willing to take a serious step towards peace if Israel did the same. However he said resisting an occupation was legal and Hamas would not renounce violence. But he said a long-term truce would be possible if Israel accepted conditions, including a return to its 1967 borders.
Meshaal survived an Israeli assassination attempt on his life back in 1997 and he has always supported Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Like many Palestinians, he believes that such attacks are a legitimate act of resisting the Israeli occupation.
Israel has accused Meshaal and the Syrian-based leadership of Hamas of being behind the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Cpl Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid by militants in June 2006, sparking an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehut Olmert (Kadima)
Ehud Olmert
Olmert became acting prime minister after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke on January 4th, 2006. He also took over the leadership of Sharon's new Kadima party and led it to victory in the Knesset elections in March 2006. However Kadima won only 29 of 120 seats and Olmert formed a coalition goverment with Israel's Labor Party and two smaller factions. A major element of the Kadima platform is Olmert's plan to fix permanent borders for Israel by 2010. Olmert joined the Israeli cabinet in 2003 and was appointed finance minister last year before becoming prime minister. He has been a strong supporter of Sharon's plans to withdraw Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Despite widespread protests by settlers, the Gaza withdrawal went ahead in late August and early September 2005, with emotional scenes as Israeli troops removed some settlers by force.
Tzipi Livni
In September 2008 Olmert, who faces several corruption inquiries, announced his resignation and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was asked to form a new government. Livni quickly urged Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu to join a national unity cabinet - a call the Likud leader has rejected before. Livni replaced Olmert as leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Israeli Knesset. If Livni, a former Mossad spy, is successful in building an administration, she should be able to govern until elections in 2010.
Olmert is likely to remain as caretaker prime minister while Livni tries to form the new government. Olmert denies any wrongdoing, but police have recommended he be indicted over two of the inquiries - allegations that he misused cash payments from an American businessman, and accusations that he double-billed government agencies for trips abroad.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (FATAH)
Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) is the leader of the Fatah Party and was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, to succeed the late Yasser Arafat. President George W. Bush praised the election of the moderate PLO leader as a tribute to the power and appeal of democracy and an "inspiration" to the region. In May 2005 Abbas became the first Palestinian leader to be given the red carpet treatment in Washington during the Bush presidency.
Abbas and then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had earlier announced a mutual cease-fire at a summit in Egypt. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was the best chance for peace in years.
Mamoud Abbas
However the militant Hamas group gave a lukewarm reaction to the summit, with its representative in Lebanon saying the cease-fire declarations were "not binding" on its members. Abbas' position as Palestinian leader became very complicated after the rival Hamas movement defeated his Fatah party in the parliamentary election on January 25th, 2006 and formed a cabinet without the participation of Fatah. The secular nationalist Fatah movement founded by Arafat in the 1950s had dominated Palestinian politics for many decades.
In December 2006 the tensions between Fatah and Hamas escalated into armed clashes in the Gaza Strip, further heavy fighting in June 2007 resulted in Hamas taking over the entire Gaza strip and ejecting Fatah. Abbas declared a state of emergency, appointed Salam Fayyad prime minister (see below) and fired Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal.
Fatah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad is considered a liberal and widely respected among the international organizations and donors. He worked at the World Bank in Washington from 1987-1995 and then served as the International Monetary Fund's representative to Palestine based in Jerusalem until 2001. He served as the finance minister under the Fatah-controlled administration from 2002-2005 and won praise from the international community for introducing economic reform. He is also credited with cracking down on official corruption.
He resigned from the cabinet in late 2005 to found and run the Third Way Bloc, an independent party. The party won two seats in the parliamentary election in January 2006. After the formation of the Palestinian unity government in February 2007, it was Fayyad who met US diplomats and then lobbied the European Union for a resumption of aid to the Palestinian Authority. In April, he met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice informally - the highest-level contact between a US official and a minister in the Palestinian unity government. Born in 1952 near the West Bank city of Tulkarm, he holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas. He began his career teaching economics at Yarmuk University in Jordan.
From the BBC:
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