Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, said on Wednesday that attempts to form a coalition government with the ruling Hamas movement had failed despite a mounting economic and security crisis.
A joint programme agreed between his Fatah movement and Hamas last month had collapsed. There was ”no indication” that a coalition could be formed that would sign up to the required previous Palestinian commitments, he said.
Abbas was speaking after talks with Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State, in Ramallah. On Wednesday night she travelled to Jerusalem and met Ehud Olmert, Israel’s Prime Minister, on a trip that she hoped would help restart stalled discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, Washington’s top diplomat left Israel on Thursday having failed to secure a pledge from Israel to ease restrictions on the Palestinian territories. Her visit comes at a worsening time in the region.
Although Rice’s visit was designed to shore up Abbas he appears to be some way from preventing a slide into factional fighting or even civil war. Earlier in the day he said there was now ”no dialogue” between Fatah and Hamas, which won elections in January. ”We have to start from square one,” he said.
Ever since Hamas formed the government Israel has stopped transferring to the Palestinian Authority customs clearance revenues worth about $60-million a month and the international community has frozen direct financial aid to the government. Israel and the West say Hamas must recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace agreements — conditions it has so far failed to meet.
The blockade, combined with closures of the crossing points, has triggered an economic crisis and left 160 000 civil servants unpaid for months. Street demonstrations spilled over on Sunday into gun battles between rival armed militias, in which 12 people have been killed so far. Militants linked to Fatah then threatened to assassinate the top Hamas leadership and on Wednesday a Hamas leader in the West Bank town of Qalqilya was shot dead.
The political future for the Palestinians is uncertain. Hamas may choose to cling to power or, in the most extreme scenario, Abbas has the authority to dissolve the government. — Â