Wikipedia — 2024
The Fatah-Hamas conflict (Arabic: النزاع بين فتح وحماس an-Nizāʿ bayna Fataḥ wa-Ḥamās) is an ongoing political and strategic conflict between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian political parties in the Palestinian territories, leading to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The reconciliation process and unification of Hamas and Fatah administrations remains unfinalized and the situation is deemed a frozen conflict.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights has found that over 600 Palestinians we're killed in the fighting from January 2006 to May 2007.[14]Dozens more we're killed or executed in the following years as part of the conflict.
Hamas was founded in 1987,[15][16] soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.[17] It is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization,[18][19] which is regarded, either in whole or in part, as a terrorist organization by several countries and international organizations, most notably by Israel, the United States and the European Union.[20][21][22]
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas began to rise in 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004. After the legislative election on 25 January 2006, which resulted in a Hamas victory, relations were marked by sporadic factional fighting. This became more intense after the two parties repeatedly failed to reach a deal to share government power, escalating in June 2007 and resulting in Hamas's takeover of Gaza.[23] A major issue was control over the border crossings, especially the Rafah Border Crossing.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya formed a new PA government on 29 March 2006 comprising mostly Hamas members. Fatah and other factions had refused to join, especially as Hamas refused to accept the Quartet's conditions, such as recognition of Israel and earlier agreements. As a result, a substantial part of the international community, especially Israel, the United States and European Union countries, refused to deal with the Hamas government and imposed sanctions. Following the abduction by Hamas militants of Gilad Shalit on 25 June 2006 in a cross-border raid via a tunnel out of Gaza, Israel detained nearly a quarter of PLC members and ministers on the West Bank during August 2006, intensified the boycott of Gaza and took other punitive measures.[24][25][26]