Palestinian security forces round up Dahlan supporters in West Bank
Palestinian security forces are arresting supporters of exiled Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan following Israel's normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain.
The decision by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel has prompted an internal political realignment in the Palestinian territories, especially in the West Bank.
The two gulf countries' decision to turn away from the Arab Peace Initiative has brought Hamas and Fatah closer than ever to each other, at least for now, and has increased the chances of general Palestinian elections. At the same time, it has increased tensions within the ruling Fatah movement. Supporters of exiled Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan appears to be taking the brunt of the Fatah leadership's anger.
Dahlan has been living in the United Arab Emirates since 2011. His ambition of one day becoming the leader of the Palestinians has fed concerns of a coup.
When US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman was asked if Washington supports the replacement of President Mahmoud Abbas with Dahlan, the US official initially answered in the affirmative, but later insisted that he meant to say the opposite. The pro-Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom, which had published the initial statement, printed a retraction, but by then the damage to Dahlan and his supporters was done.
