Three-state reality emerges as Hamas-Dahlan leadership takes shape in Gaza
Samir Mashrawi is coming back to Gaza. And his return suggests a political earthquake is about to strike the Strip.
Mashrawi is a loyalist of former Fatah leader and Mahmoud Abbas rival Mohammad Dahlan. Dahlan, the Fatah Preventive Security chief in the Strip, was once emphatically persona non grata for Hamas, and was ousted in the coup that put the Islamist terror group in power there 10 years ago
Mashrawi, regarded as Dahlan’s right-hand man and his key aide during periods of intense conflict with Hamas, was particularly loathed because of the central role he played in pursuing Hamas activists in 1996 and 1997. Notorious for shaving their beards off and arresting them for long periods, Mashrawi was one of the first to leave Gaza when tensions between Hamas and Fatah really heated up, during 2007.
But it was Hamas who announced his imminent homecoming. Top Hamas official Ahmad Yusuf conveyed the news Monday in an interview with a Jordanian newspaper. His return is part of an agreement taking shape between Dahlan, Hamas and Egypt, ostensibly to monitor the operation of a committee set up to help families with members who have been killed or injured.
In reality, Mashrawi’s return signifies reconciliation — not between Hamas and Fatah, but between Hamas and Dahlan’s Fatah faction.
What does this mean for Israel? Three points.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-state-reality-emerges-as-hamas-dahlan-leadership-takes-shape-in-gaza/