Will PLO and Hamas find common ground?

Hamas’ popularity has risen sharply, but this doesn’t help them much with the outside world. An understanding with Fatah is key to any potential role in regional diplomacy.
Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, gestures on stage during a rally in Gaza City on May 24, 2021. A cease-fire was reached late last week after 11 days of deadly violence between Israel and the Hamas movement, which runs Gaza, stopping Israel's devastating bombardment on the overcrowded Palestinian coastal enclave.
Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, gestures on stage during a rally in Gaza City on May 24, 2021. A cease-fire was reached late last week after 11 days of deadly violence between Israel and the Hamas movement, which runs Gaza, stopping Israel's devastating bombardment on the overcrowded Palestinian coastal enclave. - MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Daoud Kuttab
@daoudkuttab

If the relationship between the PLO and Hamas was on shaky grounds after President Mahmoud Abbas canceled the legislative elections, they are surely on shakier grounds after the announcement of the cease-fire between Israel and the Gaza-based Islamic movement.

National unity began on a high note this year with the Jan. 15 presidential election decree. That was made possible due to the September 2020 Istanbul meeting between Fatah and Hamas.

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