A Fatah activist who lives in Ramallah goes to visit his family in the Gaza Strip every couple of weeks. Like many of his friends who fled Gaza during the June 2007 coup, he feels that since the establishment of the Palestinian national unity government last June, his life is no longer in danger. During his last trip to Gaza, he got a surprise visit from former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the current head of the Hamas Gaza political bureau, who came to his family’s home to meet with him.

Haniyeh asked him, “Maybe you can explain to us what [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas wants?” Describing the talk to Al-Monitor, the Fatah member felt that he was caught in a dilemma. The person who used to head the Hamas government was making a touching gesture, asking him to unveil the inner thoughts; still, he feels a much deeper responsibility and commitment to the Palestinian president.

“We’ve given him everything he demanded,” Haniyeh went on in a bid to pry an explanation from him, “yet he continues to raise problems and is not interested in pursuing the reconciliation process with us. Why?”

The Fatah member replied that he did not know exactly what motivates Abbas, laying blame for the crisis between the two sides — on Israel and the president’s close aides. The real explanation, however, he kept to himself.