The war of nerves between the two Palestine factions continues. Fatah has the blessings and resources of both Israel and the US. The Hamas has nothing, except perhaps of purity of its conviction, political guile and the support of most of Palestine people who admire Hamas’ guts for standing up to Israel.
Fatah, Israel, the US and European nations have left nothing untried to bring Hamas to its heels. Gaza has been blockaded. Only the barest minimum of food and provisions are allowed to pass into it by Israel. These parties are waiting and watching as they slowly tighten the squeeze on Gaza. It is a real test of Hamas, whether it will be able to pass these trying times. If it is able to withstand whatever its opponents throw at it; Hamas will prove to the world that it is a force to reckon with and the west and Israel will be forced to talk business with it.
The toughest part for Hamas is to keep the Gaza residents on its side. Poverty and deprivation has the capacity to break the hardest of people and maybe, in the acute hardships, they will turn against Hamas for survival.
The income from remittances from Israel and abroad, by Gaza people settled there, has dried up with the sealing of the borders. Factories and businesses are closing in large numbers and number of unemployed is increasing all the time. There is shortage of everything, including basic medicines. Children in Gaza are becoming increasing malnourished.
Despite all these hardships there have no reports of the populace protesting against Hamas. Cynics will say that the brutal Hamas is stifling any voice of protest, but the fact that many government employees continue to work despite their salaries being withheld by the Fatah authority in West Bank [Fatah continues paying the salaries but the order is to sit at home. If an employee goes to work the salary is stopped. Fatah wants it be known who is boss], shows that people of Gaza are with Hamas in their struggle for Palestine.
