GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The success of the internal Palestinian reconciliation hinges in large part on how the parties involved handle their highly sensitive security issues. For years — since their violent split in 2007 — security has posed the biggest stumbling block for both the Fatah and Hamas rival political parties and has hampered all Arab and regional efforts toward their reunification.
The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has always refused to allow Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip to merge with its own.