By Andrew L. Jaffee

The civil war raging between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah shows no sign of abating. Indeed, today nine Palestinians killed each other. Yesterday, “two militants from the rival sides were dragged onto high-rise rooftops and thrown to their death.” One may be tempted to draw the conclusion that Palestinians are “sorting things out.” This is not the case. There is no hope for stability as Hamas and Fatah are both terrorist groups — and Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah is not “moderate.” From the AP:

Rival Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire at two Gaza hospitals on Monday and Cabinet ministers fled their weekly meeting after the government headquarters was caught in the crossfire in the latest round in an increasingly brutal power struggle between Hamas and
Fatah.

In all, nine Palestinians were killed Monday, including three shot dead in Beit Hanoun Hospital in northern Gaza. At Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, combatants fired mortars, grenades and assault rifles. … [Continues below…]

The rival factions have differing ideological origins, i.e. Hamas in Islamism, and Fatah in secular/socialist, pan-Arabism. The West and Israel seem to favor Fatah in the conflict precisely because of its secular roots, and this probably irks Hamas. Some of the fighting between Fatah and Hamas has had a tribal aspect, also. According to the BBC, “Hamas considers Fatah to be corrupt, Fatah regards Hamas as militants still learning the ropes as politicians,” but does this justify a civil war? I have been trying to find a simple explanation for the rift between the two sides but, after studying myriad sources, can only conclude that their conflict is mostly a play for total control of the Palestinian territories — an internecine mob/turf battle.