BICOM

Despite their ongoing dispute, Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas have both voiced their public opposition to potential Western military action in Syria. Both have claimed that such intervention would serve Israel’s interests.

Hamas violently removed Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007 and despite various initiatives since then, attempts to reconcile the two Palestinian factions have so far proved fruitless. However, they appear to be united over the issue of Syria. Although both factions have previously criticised President Assad’s repression of the Syrian people, they have this week condemned potential Western action against Assad. According to the Jerusalem Post, Fatah official Abbas Zaki said that “Targeting Syria would mean targeting all Arabs… This would only benefit Israel,” adding “the West is using this [chemical weapons] as an excuse to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs.” Meanwhile, Xinhua news agency quotes another Fatah official, Jamal Muhissen, who commented that a strike against Syria “will destroy its [Syria’s] military power so that Damascus won’t be able to restore the Golan,” which is under Israeli rule.

Hamas is thought to have removed its representatives from Damascus following the start of the Syrian civil war in a show of disapproval against Assad. Nonetheless, Hamas spokesman Salah Bardaweel said yesterday, “The Americans do not want the good of Syria or the Syrian people… The Americans only want to serve American and Israeli interests.” Another Hamas representative, Mushier Al-Massri told Xinhua that “Despite atrocities committed against the Syrian people [by Assad’s forces], Hamas renews its rejection of any external meddling in the Arab world’s affairs.”

The Jerusalem Post also reports that Palestinian terror groups Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad both claimed that the West is aiming to divide Syria in order to weaken “resistance” against Israel.