Is Fatah's Armed Wing Making Comeback?
Attacks on Israeli soldiers on Sept. 20 and Sept. 22 reveal a deep split within Fatah between those who desire a return to armed resistance and those who prefer negotiations.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The deaths of two Israeli soldiers last weekend, in the West Bank towns of Qalqilya on Sept. 21 and Hebron on Sept. 22, significantly added to the insecurity that has prevailed in the West Bank since the resumption of negotiations on July 30. The West Bank witnessed a number of incursions in August by Israeli occupation forces that left six martyrs.
The succession of events now gives the impression that the third intifada is drawing near, presaging the collapse of peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. It also indicates that the armed Palestinian resistance movement had resumed its activities, with Israel holding Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades responsible for the death of the Israeli soldier in Hebron. But, Fatah al-Intifada, which broke away from Fatah decades ago, quickly claimed responsibility for this operation, the circumstances of which remain unclear.
Omar Abu Arkoub, a journalist specializing in the Hebrew press, told Al-Monitor that the Israeli media “had hastened to hold the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades responsible for the Hebron operation, and began inciting against Fatah and the Palestinian Authority [PA]. [Israeli media outlets] accused the PA of not condemning the killing of Israelis, and even claiming that some of the PA’s leaders were also guilty of incitement.”
Fueling this Israeli incitement campaign were fiery statements that spread among the Palestinian populace by Hebron native and member of Fatah’s Central Committee, Abbas Zaki, who affirmed in press statements that the Israeli soldier killed in Hebron was not there on a picnic.
