Tensions between Fatah and Hamas have dominated Palestinian politics since 2006, when Hamas was victorious in the Palestinian Authority’s last parliamentary elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, ending the era of Fatah’s dominance.

Coalition talks were frozen on Monday after violence exploded in Jerusalem and Gaza.įor Palestinians, meanwhile, the ongoing crisis of leadership has been encapsulated in Hamas commandeering the resistance, further sidelining Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and the Palestinian Authority, of which he is president. The most recent election, held on March 23, is still mired in wrangling between various parties and factions. But the dynamics of the violence also underscore internal divisions and crises of leadership on both sides.įor Israelis, this has manifested itself in four elections in two years that have so far failed to end in the formation of a stable government. The deadly escalation of violence across Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, in which at least 40 people have been killed and hundreds injured, has demonstrated how the core fault-lines of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians still run deep.

Political trust after armed conflict