Arab analysts criticise Palestinian factions

Jun 15, 2007, 13:11 GMT

Cairo - Arab analysts warned Friday that the dispute between the rival Palestinian Fatah and Hamas factions will bring further chaos to the Gaza Strip.

'After Hamas militants gained full control on the Gaza Strip, the pressing question now is how Hamas could manage the situation in the Gaza Strip where one million and a half people live,' asked Abdul- Bari Atwan, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.

Atwan further wondered in his commentary published Friday on saudiinfocus.com, a website covering news in the Arab world, 'How can Hamas provide food, power and water and other life needs?'

Part of the expected scenario, Atwan suggested, is that the ministers belonging to Fatah will pull out from the unity government, and maybe other independent ministers will do the same.

'The senior security leaders already resorted to a safe haven in Cairo and their men are no longer obligated to fight defending security strongholds of no value,' Atwan wrote.

Atwan said he believes that what is going on now in the Gaza Strip is 'absolute madness and the result of miscalculations' by the two factions.

Meanwhile, in Friday's issue of the pan-Arab al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Egypt's former foreign minister Ahmed Maher described the situation in Palestine as 'tragic and ridiculous' in a commentary entitled 'What's going on to the Arabs?'

Maher, foreign minister from 2001-2004, believes that 'Arabs are responsible for such situations with their mistakes, disputes and struggles.'

'Palestinians, or some of them, chose to direct their financial, political and promotional weapons to their fellow brothers rather than targeting those who deprived them of their rights, including the right to live,' Maher wrote.

'The number of the Palestinians killed by Palestinians is now bigger than that of the victims of the Israeli terrorism.'