JERUSALEM — Turning the streets of Gaza City into a swarm of yellow flags, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians celebrated the anniversary of the Fatah faction Friday in the heartland of its militant Islamist rival, Hamas, the latest in a series of signals heralding possible reconciliation between the parties after their bitter five-year rift.
The rally, which came on the heels of a Hamas celebrations last month in the Fatah-dominated West Bank, added momentum to what Palestinian leaders consider their twin victories in November: Hamas’ firing rockets into Israeli population centers of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and Palestine upgrade to nonmember observer state status at the United Nations. Though it is unclear the two sides will ultimately overcome real differences, the show of unity creates a diplomatic quandary for the United States, which has urged Israel to return to negotiations with the Palestinians but has pushed to exclude Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization.
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This article provides additional evidence, if it was needed, that Israel should be very cautious about making additional territorial concessions to the Palestinian Arabs in the name of the "peace process.". If the West Bank were controlled by Hamas and Fatah, rockets and artillery shells would rain down on Tel Aviv, Haifa and other cities of central Israel.