Hamas promotes relief work of Abbas' Fatah rival
Hamas has allowed relief organizations affiliated with dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan to expand their activities and work in the Gaza Strip, in a bid to relieve social pressure from the movement.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas is working on cementing its ties with the Democratic Reformist Current led by dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, by granting him more leeway for the work of relief and charity organizations affiliated with Fatah in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Center for Human Perseverance (Fata) announced Jan. 19 that it would fund 100 small projects for unemployed graduates in the Gaza Strip.
Dahlan’s wife, Jalila, established Fata in 1999 with Belgian support operating in the Palestinian territories and refugee camps in host countries. Fata offers financial and moral support for thousands of Palestinian families by providing food baskets and funding small community projects and hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
Fata’s work in Gaza came to a halt when Hamas took control in 2006, but it resumed its activities after relations between Fata and the Hamas government were restored in 2014. When relations between Hamas and the Reformist Current developed, Jalila started entering and exiting the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.
