Egypt supported Abbas because it is concerned about agitating the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest Islamic group, if Hamas wins the administration in Gaza. Egypt had to support Abbas and weaken Hamas in order to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from joining forces with Hamas to fight for an Islamic republic.

New crisis without Hamas

The four-party summit's decision to support Fatah and deter Hamas has accelerated the two parties' separation, and has been detrimental to settling the situation through negotiations. Although it is one of the parties involved in the conflict, Hamas officially was left out of the new strategy, which suggested that the four parties were not sincere about resolving Palestine's domestic problem through talks.

After occupying the Gaza Strip, Hamas leaders said they would talk with Fatah leaders from time to time, but Abbas refused to do so. Abbas believes that those who incited the riots and attacked legal institutions in the Gaza Strip must be punished. Although some inside Fatah also consider talks without any preconditions from domestic parties inside Palestine the only way to settle the current crisis, neither Fatah nor Hamas have gone out of their way to create a peaceful atmosphere for negotiations.

From the very beginning, the two parties have fought each other. The Palestinian Authority was practically under dual leadership with Abbas assuming the presidency and Hamas leader Haneya as prime minister along with Hamas' control of the Constitution Committee.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza and the Fatah-controlled West Bank have been separated geographically by Israel. But politically, the two lands are indivisible to the Palestinians, because if one group sets up its own government in either of the two lands, they will not be able to realize the goal of establishing a single Palestinian state.

Since June 8, at least 200 people have been killed in Fatah-Hamas military conflicts. Haneya insisted that Hamas' commando force be admitted and guarantee the status quo of the commando force. However, Fatah has stuck to dismissing the commando force, but permitting approved commando members to join the Palestinian security force. Fatah announced that it would not admit the commando force if the commando force was deployed independently by the Hamas.

Haneya said that he would not attempt to establish a separate state in Gaza. Based on this, it can be presumed that neither of the two parties wants to set up its own state, so that negotiations between them are still possible. Because Fatah and Hamas each have the means to destroy the other, they have no choice but to cooperate. They will have to spend a considerable amount of time and make great effort to reach an agreement on creating a joint government.

Future trend

In January 2006, Hamas defeated Fatah during the parliament elections to become the reigning party. Two month's later, a Hamas-led administrative government was established, at which time the two parties' conflicts began. Fatah leader Abbas has demanded an end to both the Palestinian violence and the fights with Israel through peaceful negotiations. He also has called for the establishment of a Palestine state and new talks between Israel and the Palestinian.

Hamas leader Haneya, however, has refused to change his hard-line stance and accept the three principles of Mideast Quartet mediators. These include giving up violence, admitting Israel as a country and accepting the agreements that Palestine previously signed with Israel.

Since Hamas has been in power, the Palestinian has been mired in political isolation and economic blockage. Although the Mecca Agreement signed on February 8 held Fatah and Hamas together for a while, the two parties' political beliefs have never changed, and are the root causes of the new round of conflicts.

The bottom line of the fight between Hamas and Fatah is to maintain the country's sovereignty. Both groups are aware that if they establish their own political entities in the two separate areas, they will not achieve their goal of creating an independent Palestinian state. Only peaceful dialogues and negotiations can end the violence and foster a joint administration.

The author is a research fellow with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences