Establishment of the unity government will not eradicate the Palestinian internal contest for leadership, and neither will it guarantee immediate and comprehensive implementation of security calm in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Nevertheless, the possibility of improving the chances of consolidating the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, reached in November by President and Hamas and then agreed on by Abbas and Israel, should be examined through security coordination between Israel and an official Palestinian team that would include Hamas representatives. A Palestinian unity government may serve as a basis for putting together such a team.
The potential use of the ceasefire by Hamas and other factions to redeploy for continuing the struggle against Israel is a real danger. However, the immediate dangers and long term threats - which may result from Hamas’ continued civilian and military consolidation, against a background of social and economic crisis in the territories and the unchecked empowerment of militants while the central government collapses - are present even without any alleviation of the military and economic pressure applied by Israel. Read more>>
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