The power struggle between Hamas and Fatah in the Palestinian territories has resulted in huge losses for ordinary civilians.

Rivalry between the two parties started in January 2006, when Hamas won a surprise victory in the legislative elections, gaining 76 seats in the 132-seat parliament and leaving Fatah with only 43 seats.

For over a year, Hamas and Fatah have fought in their attempt to push the Palestinians to follow their beliefs. June 2006 witnessed a new agreement between the two parties to form a national unity government and on February 8th, 2007, Hamas and Fatah signed a deal to form a coalition and end factional warfare that killed nearly 200 Palestinians, hoping this deal would lead Western powers to lift crippling sanctions imposed on the Hamas-led government.

But hopes of national unity were dashed following Hamas’ recent seizure of the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian civilians are now uncertain about their future, according to an article on the Washington Post.

In Gaza, Hamas moved to restore law and order, collecting weapons, directing traffic and enforcing municipal codes at vegetable stands. But with Israel in control of its borders, coastline and airspace, and with Fatah ignoring its pleas for a return to negotiations, Hamas admits that it won't be able to go it alone in the poverty-stricken territory.

People are not sure about the quietness of the situation between Hamas and Fatah; however, they went to the beaches, the streets and markets last weekend, hoping that this relative calm is a good sign. "This quietness is emerging from people's fear and trying to understand what has happened rather than an acceptance of what has taken place," said Ibrahim Ibrach, a political science professor at Gaza's al-Azhar University.

As a matter of fact, Palestinians didn’t initiate fixing the damages that resulted from the fights since they are still unsure whether factional clashes are over or not.

But you can now see children wearing green headscarves marching through Gaza's streets and declaring loyalty to Hamas, which is trying to send strong signals to the world that it can rule better than Fatah, particularly after it secured the release of kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston, nearly four months after he was kidnapped.

The resistance movement also insists that it has no intentions to apply Islamic law in Gaza. “Hamas will not remain central to everything," said Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad. "I think we are not able to isolate Gaza ... or to build an Islamic emirate in Gaza. We are not considering this."

However, Israel is determined to isolate Hamas, and by default, Gazans. The Erez border crossing is a very clear evidence for Israel’s plans. The closure of the territory’s border has hindered the delivery of tons of humanitarian aid after Hamas’ takeover.

Knowing that Israel would never trust it enough to conduct the required security checks at the crossing, Hamas suggested that Fatah be responsible of Gaza’s borders. Surprisingly, their request was denied by senior Abbas’ aide, Saeb Erekat, who is responsible for coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid with Israel. “What do I have in Gaza? I was defeated. I don't exist in Gaza," he said. "This coup d'etat must end in order to speak about an economy and a future."

Erekat’s rejection of Hamas’ request came as John Ging, the head of UN aid operations in Gaza, said the world must find a way to keep Gaza's borders open for trade. "Already we are feeding 1.1 million out of Gaza's 1.4 million people," he said. "But we'll be feeding the rest of them if the economy is killed."

Israel’s recent decision to release monthly transfers of up to $60m worth of customs duties to the Western-backed Palestinian government in the West Bank has further isolated Hamas’ in Gaza after President Abbas refused to pay thousands of Hamas’ supporters.

Earlier this week, an estimated 170,000 employees of the Palestinian Authority have begun receiving their first salaries since March 2006, days after Israel transferred $117m to the new emergency government. This is good for West Bank residents, but what about Gazans? Hamas says 23,000 civil servants were still not being paid because of links to the resistance movement.

This power struggle between Hamas and Fatah only magnifies the Palestinians’ dilemma by isolating Gaza and therefore preventing any kind of aid from reaching ordinary civilians, who are always the ultimate losers.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian boy looks from the window of his house in Gaza