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RAMALLAH, West Bank - Rivalry between Iran and Syria on one side and Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the other is hampering efforts to reconcile secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza.
Following Israel's 22-day offensive, which killed more than 1,330 Palestinians and reduced government buildings and many homes to rubble, Hamas proclaimed victory and left little doubt it intended to further consolidate the power it seized in Gaza when it ousted forces loyal to Abbas in 2007.
Hamas, which holds a majority in the Palestinian parliament, is backed by Syria and Iran, two countries seen as Washington's nemeses.
Abbas, meanwhile, enjoys the support of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, regional powers allied to Washington, which brands Hamas as a terrorist faction.
Paradoxically, Qatar, a wealthy Gulf emirate that is home to a US military base and an Israeli office, has aligned itself with the Tehran-Damascus axis.
The small country's influence is magnified by its powerful pan-Arabic television station Al Jazeera, which critics accuse of acting as a mouthpiece of Hamas.
It was in Doha that Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal last week called for a new movement to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which is headed by Abbas and has been considered for decades the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
The announcement has seriously compromised prospects for the Palestinian reconciliation talks Cairo has planned for February 22.
'The region has become so polarised and that makes reconciliation extremely hard to reach,' says Nicolas Pelham, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
'All sides have seized on Gaza. It has become a pivotal issue,' says Pelham.
'There is a great game taking place across the region that has to be resolved and the Gaza issue has intensified the polarisation'.
One day before he declared his plan to replace the PLO, Meshaal held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who urged him to 'politically exploit the Gaza victory.'
Ahmad Abdelrahman, a spokesman for Abbas's Fatah -- the largest faction in the PLO -- denounced what he called 'an interference in Palestinian national affairs.'
Zakaria al-Qaq, an international relations expert at Jerusalem's Al Quds university says that 'as long as the Arabs remain at odds, Palestinian reconciliation will be impossible.'
Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which in Egypt is the main opposition to President Hosni Mubarak's government. Qaq says it was Cairo's mistrust of Hamas which pushed the Islamist movement into Tehran's arms.
'The Palestinian divisions play in favour of Israel as the lack of a unified Palestinian leadership gave it a pretext not to make any concession' in the peace negotiations, he says.
Amid the Palestinian factional infighting, foreign ministers of Arab states that back Abbas are to meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to discuss Palestinian unity, a diplomatic source said.
Among those attending the meeting will be Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Abul Gheit, the source said, adding that Abbas is also expected.
Khaleej Times Online - Palestinian rift deepened by regional rivalries
Following Israel's 22-day offensive, which killed more than 1,330 Palestinians and reduced government buildings and many homes to rubble, Hamas proclaimed victory and left little doubt it intended to further consolidate the power it seized in Gaza when it ousted forces loyal to Abbas in 2007.
Hamas, which holds a majority in the Palestinian parliament, is backed by Syria and Iran, two countries seen as Washington's nemeses.
Abbas, meanwhile, enjoys the support of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, regional powers allied to Washington, which brands Hamas as a terrorist faction.
Paradoxically, Qatar, a wealthy Gulf emirate that is home to a US military base and an Israeli office, has aligned itself with the Tehran-Damascus axis.
The small country's influence is magnified by its powerful pan-Arabic television station Al Jazeera, which critics accuse of acting as a mouthpiece of Hamas.
It was in Doha that Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal last week called for a new movement to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which is headed by Abbas and has been considered for decades the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
The announcement has seriously compromised prospects for the Palestinian reconciliation talks Cairo has planned for February 22.
'The region has become so polarised and that makes reconciliation extremely hard to reach,' says Nicolas Pelham, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
'All sides have seized on Gaza. It has become a pivotal issue,' says Pelham.
'There is a great game taking place across the region that has to be resolved and the Gaza issue has intensified the polarisation'.
One day before he declared his plan to replace the PLO, Meshaal held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who urged him to 'politically exploit the Gaza victory.'
Ahmad Abdelrahman, a spokesman for Abbas's Fatah -- the largest faction in the PLO -- denounced what he called 'an interference in Palestinian national affairs.'
Zakaria al-Qaq, an international relations expert at Jerusalem's Al Quds university says that 'as long as the Arabs remain at odds, Palestinian reconciliation will be impossible.'
Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which in Egypt is the main opposition to President Hosni Mubarak's government. Qaq says it was Cairo's mistrust of Hamas which pushed the Islamist movement into Tehran's arms.
'The Palestinian divisions play in favour of Israel as the lack of a unified Palestinian leadership gave it a pretext not to make any concession' in the peace negotiations, he says.
Amid the Palestinian factional infighting, foreign ministers of Arab states that back Abbas are to meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to discuss Palestinian unity, a diplomatic source said.
Among those attending the meeting will be Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Abul Gheit, the source said, adding that Abbas is also expected.
Khaleej Times Online - Palestinian rift deepened by regional rivalries
