Considering Hamas Urges Public Action Against Palestinian Authority Security Forces – What are China’s Intentions?

There are times when contemplating a possible conflict, it’s OK to hope both sides lose.

Case in point: Hamas is now, according to a press release issued on Friday, reportedly calling for a mobilization against the Palestinian Authority. 

Hamas issued a statement urging all sectors of Palestinian society to unite and resist what it described as an unprecedented level of aggression from the Palestinian Authority (PA) towards it and other terrorist organizations in the West Bank. The Friday press release confirmed Hamas’ call for mobilization.

In the press release, Hamas accused PA security forces of using brutal tactics to force the Palestinian population to support the recent crackdown on terrorist groups in the West Bank.

Fatah, the governing body of the PA, asserts that it does not support terrorist organizations, although it has been classified as a terrorist group in the past by both the United States and Israel. However, the notion of Hamas criticizing another group for aggression raises eyebrows, to say the least.

Pot, meet kettle:

Hamas regularly faces accusations regarding its own abuse against Palestinians. A September New York Times article highlighted Palestinian activists and whistleblowers in Gaza who complained of the brutal treatment they faced for speaking out against the terror group. In November, the IDF also released a 45-minute video exposing Hamas beating and torturing Palestinians.

The statement comes amid an ongoing PA counter-terror campaign in the West Bank, particularly in Jenin, which has seen a number of clashes between PA security forces and local insurgents.

On Saturday, a Palestinian Security Services officer was killed in one of these clashes in Jenin. Another officer was killed on Friday as well.

The timing of this is interesting, as only last summer the PA and Hamas met, in Beijing of all places, along with several other factions, to form some kind of Palestinian unity government. 

Various Palestinian factions, including rivals Hamas and Fatah, agreed to end their divisions and form a national unity government during negotiations in China that ended Tuesday, according to Chinese state media.

The Beijing Declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in China’s capital from July 21-23, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Senior Hamas official Hussam Badran said the most important point of the Beijing Declaration was to form a Palestinian national unity government to manage the affairs of Palestinians.

That goal would appear to be going by the wayside now.