Dahlan encouraged to form Palestinian party outside Fatah

As the supposed reconciliation between Palestinian parties Hamas and Fatah appears to be going nowhere after more than four months, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are encouraging dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan to form a new Palestinian party to challenge President Mahmoud Abbas.

Raising another potential scenario, Dahlan’s representatives met Feb. 28 in Cairo with a Hamas delegation to discuss the possibility of Dahlan getting involved in administering the Gaza Strip. Abbas had assumed that responsibility as part of the reconciliation agreement signed in October, but that process stalled, leaving Gazans in a humanitarian crisis.