Palestinians Say Abbas Weakened, Unsure On Hamas

Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas`s Fatah faction in fighting in 2007.

The standing of U.S.-backed leader Mahmoud Abbas might have been hurt over the war in Gaza, but many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank said it did not mean that Hamas had won more support.

"We are restless. It's hard to trust Abbas after what happened in Gaza and even harder for us to believe in the Hamas project," said Abu Ahmed al-Nazer, 42, a schoolteacher in Hebron. "Abbas did nothing for his people in Gaza during the war while Hamas declared victory over the bodies of innocent kids."

Hamas, an Islamist group that has rejected Western demands to recognise Israel, wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's Fatah faction in fighting in 2007.

Israel launched the offensive with the declared aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks on its southern communities.

About 1,300 Palestinians, at least 700 of them civilians, were killed during the 22-day offensive, while Israel put its death toll at 10 soldiers and three civilians.

Analysts say the crisis weakened Abbas's standing among Palestinians and was bound to cause many in the West Bank to reconsider whether taking up arms against Israel again was the way forward.

"Some people look at (Gaza) as an alternative that we should see if we can utilise if the peace process reaches nowhere," said political scientist Bassem Izbedi.

DEMONSTRATIONS

In the West Bank, where Fatah holds sway, security forces loyal to Abbas kept pro-Hamas demonstrations in check during the conflict.

"I don't like Hamas but I respect them, they are better than the people we have now," said a Jerusalem resident who gave her name as Wafa, citing the accusation of corruption directed at the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

"We were expecting another Intifada (uprising), but Palestinian police were hitting and jailing people in demonstrations," she said.

Ibrahim, a taxi driver in the West Bank city of Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, also said protests were limited by Fatah for fear that sympathy for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would be seen as support for Hamas.

But he added: "We had two Intifadas -- a third could have a downside. The PA insists we continue with negotiations. Peace and talks are better because there is a return in that for the people ... there is an economic interest."

Palestinians launched two uprisings, in 1987 and in 2000. The second, in which more than 4,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed, was marked by more suicide bomb attacks inside Israel that were condemned internationally.

Hamas says Abbas has won little since U.S.-sponsored Palestinian statehood talks with Israel resumed in 2007.

"The two parties are losing. We'll decide on resistance or negotiations after we have national unity. We have to be united above all else," said Abdelsalam Qabaha, a schoolteacher in Jenin, scene of fighting during an Israeli sweep of West Bank cities at the height of the last Intifada in 2002.