Hamas and Fatah bicker over who has direct talks with US

As the crises facing the Palestinian people intensify, with existential challenges on the ground and in politics, the intransigence of the Israeli occupation and its refusal to end the war leave little room for hope. Yet, ignoring the “catastrophe” unfolding before them, Hamas and Fatah seem determined to deepen their divide.

This past Tuesday, 11 March, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) presidency criticised Hamas for opening direct channels of communication with “international parties”, including the United States, in negotiations not authorised by “national institutions” and “bypassed Arab and Palestinian consensus”. 

In a press statement, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian presidency’s spokesperson, described these acts by Hamas as a “serious violation of the Palestinian national consensus” and “threaten to undermine Palestinian political unity”. 

“This revelation comes at a very sensitive time, following the emergency Arab summit in Cairo, which was a golden opportunity to unify Arab positions and affirm support for the Palestinian cause, particularly regarding Gaza’s reconstruction and preventing the displacement of its population,” Abu Rudeineh said. 

On 5 March, the Trump administration said it held talks with Hamas over the return of US captives still held in the Gaza Strip. They were led by US presidential envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler and came as a surprise given that Washington has designated Hamas as a “terrorist group” since 1997.

‘Securing political gains’ or ‘ending a genocidal war’?

But Fatah, which dominates the PA, quickly condemned Hamas’s direct engagement with the US as “attempting to secure political gains at the expense of Palestinian rights”. 

“These meetings do not represent the Palestinian people and fail to reflect the national consensus that rejects any negotiations outside the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organisation,” Fatah declared in its press statement.

Fatah also accused some Hamas leaders, especially those residing outside Gaza, of trying to impose a new political reality that served their own organisational interests while the people of Gaza continued to suffer under siege and destruction. 

Fatah warned that any agreements reached outside the national framework would lack legitimacy, asserting that the Palestinian people would reject any concessions that jeopardised their rights.

Munzer al-Hayek, a senior Fatah official based in Ramallah, told The New Arab that any talks with the US should happen within a united Palestinian framework that includes all political groups, not through separate deals that serve narrow interests.

“Such a controversial approach between Hamas and the US goes against national unity,” al-Hayek argued, warning that it could harm Palestinian unity.

“Engaging with the US without a broad Palestinian agreement could weaken our position and allow Israel to exploit internal divisions,” he added, accusing Hamas of trying to gain political advantages from Washington. 

For its part, Hamas rejected the Palestinian presidency and Fatah’s accusations of collaboration with foreign powers, calling the allegations “unacceptable.”

Abdul Hakim al-Hanini, a senior Hamas official, released a statement to the press criticising the Palestinian Authority for “making such allegations while it continues security coordination with Israel”.

“The Palestinian Authority must stop its security coordination with the occupation before accusing us of collaboration,” the statement said.

Mushir al-Masri, a Gaza-based senior Hamas official, told TNA that holding direct negotiations with the US aims to bring stability to the region, end the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, and stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in general. 

“We held negotiations with the US because we know that it has its own power on the Israeli enemy […] We have not ignored our people’s interests or even the other Palestinian factions,” he said. 

“Our main goal is ending the Israeli war in Gaza. So, Hamas is open to negotiate over the issue of the dual US-Israeli captives in Gaza,” al-Masri added. 

Palestinians in Gaza disappointed 

Meanwhile, on the ground in Gaza, battered by Israel’s genocidal war, Palestinians are frustrated about the return to tit-for-tat between Hamas and Fatah. 

“How can we Palestinians live under this division? Do we have time to fight each other?” Ahmed Abu Ras, a government employee from Gaza City, said to The New Arab. “The Israeli war is ongoing, the siege is merciless. We want unity.”

“This division will kill us more than Israel,” he added sarcastically. The Israeli army had killed Abu Ras’s son. He currently lives in a makeshift tent near the rubble of his house. 

However, he still hopes that Palestinian political movements will unite. “We need a single leadership. We don’t have time to waste. We must stand united,” he insisted. 

“I’ve lived under [Israeli] occupation all my life, and now I see a new generation impacted by the same political conflicts between these two movements. I live in a tent, suffering during the cold in winter and the heat in summer, and neither of the political movements have been able to save us from [Israeli] bombing and death,” Zainab al-Nakhala, an elderly woman from Rafah, in south Gaza, told TNA. “What are they fighting over? What do they want to rule? Israel has destroyed everything Palestinian in Gaza.”

“[Israel] doesn’t differentiate between Hamas and Fatah. We live together under the same oppression. But Hamas and Fatah are different; they only see each other as threats,” said Mohammed al-Safadi, a young man, from Gaza City.

“What is happening now in the Palestinian arena is the result of the absence of a clear strategy, with the two movements preoccupied with settling political scores at a time when the Palestinian cause is experiencing its most dangerous moments,” Palestinian political analyst Tariq al-Hajj told TNA.

“Israel is benefiting from this division, strengthening its international position while weakening the unified Palestinian stance,” he added, sharing fears that these differences could fragment international efforts to rebuild Gaza after the massive destruction caused by Israel’s genocidal war. 

“Political bickering at this sensitive stage could lead to the marginalisation of the Palestinian cause in international forums, which serves Israel’s interests, since it seeks to dismantle Palestinian consensus and impose a new reality on the ground,” noted Mustafa Ibrahim, a Gaza-based political analyst. 

He also warned that negotiations with foreign parties, particularly the United States, could be a misstep by Hamas. “This is not the time to negotiate political quotas between the movements. Israel does not stop killing and destroying us, and we are living through a profound humanitarian crisis. This division must end because Israel is not affected by it. We are the ones paying the price,” he argued.