A show of support for Hamas in a rival's backyard

Jerusalem: On the day that Hamas’ political leader was assassinated in Iran, small groups of Palestinians in a number of West Bank cities turned out to protest, some chanting pro-Hamas slogans and waving the armed group’s green flag.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned the July 31 killing of the leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The Palestinian Authority, a political adversary of Hamas, ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff and called for a day of strikes and business closures, while a wake for Haniyeh drew political leaders from across the West Bank.

This outpouring of sympathy was notable because unlike the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has controlled for most of the past two decades, the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority are dominated by Hamas’ main rival, the more moderate Fatah faction. And the Palestinian Authority generally has shown little tolerance for such open shows of support for armed groups in the past, at times using force to break them up.

In the 10 months since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the Palestinian Authority has been losing support to factions like Hamas that favor armed struggle and are actively fighting Israel, according to a recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. At the same time, deadly Israeli raids and attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank have escalated.

Israeli officials say the raids are aimed at preventing a second front from opening up in the West Bank while the war in Gaza is ongoing. Israel also accuses some of the armed groups in the West Bank of plotting attacks against it.

“The PA is reading the room right now,” said Tahani Mustafa, a senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group. “If they were to clamp down on Hamas supporters, it would be absolutely disastrous,” she added.

“The PA recognizes that it is deeply unpopular, which has been evidenced by opinion poll after opinion poll, especially since the 7th of October,” Mustafa said, adding that repressing shows of support for Hamas during a period of mourning for a leader who is arguably more popular than Abbas “would be political suicide.”

The hands-off approach to the demonstrations last week signaled a political balancing act by the Palestinian Authority, which has suffered from low approval ratings and a crisis of legitimacy while Hamas — designated as a terrorist group by the United States and Israel — has gained supporters.

Haniyeh was assassinated last week in the guesthouse where he was staying in Tehran, where he was visiting to attend the inauguration of the new Iranian president. Iranian officials and Iran-backed Hamas blamed Israel, an assessment also reached by several US officials. Israel has not publicly taken responsibility.

“Assassinating Palestinian political leaders is something the Palestinian Authority is going to speak out about,” said Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, which represents Palestinians internationally and is dominated by Fatah.

Tolerating expressions of sympathy for Hamas “is a way of allowing people to express sentiment and let out anger,” she added. “But also, I genuinely think this is something that saddens them. It is part of Israel’s history of assassinating our leaders.”

The political chasm between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority has divided Palestinians for nearly two decades as each has tried to position itself as the legitimate leader. In 2006, Fatah lost a legislative election to Hamas. The next year, Hamas fighters routed Fatah security forces from the Gaza Strip and forcibly seized control of the territory.

Over the years, multiple efforts to reconcile the rival factions have failed.

But last month, in an unusual show of unity, Fatah and Hamas signed a joint statement in Beijing. And though it is clear that the prolonged war and questions over who will govern postwar Gaza have made Palestinian unity even more urgent, there are few other signs that the factions are actually bridging their differences.

The joint statement, which was also signed by other smaller Palestinian factions, supports the formation of a temporary government for Gaza and the West Bank, and said the new government should begin working on uniting Palestinian institutions in both territories, reconstructing Gaza and preparing for national elections.

The Biden administration has said repeatedly that a revamped Palestinian Authority should play a role in postwar Gaza.

But even those Palestinians who saw the development in Beijing with a measure of hope have low expectations, as previous attempts to broker unity have also resulted in joint statements and agreements without any lasting progress.

Some Palestinians have long been critical of the Palestinian Authority and its security forces, which have quietly helped Israeli intelligence agencies target Palestinians accused by Israel of militant activity, including Hamas members.

The critics argue that these institutions have become little more than subcontractors for an occupying power, exerting authoritarian control and, at times, violently cracking down on dissent.

Mustafa said the somber mood among many Palestinians in the West Bank on the day Haniyeh was killed was evidence of the growing support for Hamas.

In a video of one protest in the West Bank city of Jenin on the night of July 31, one Palestinian man yelled, “We from the land of Jenin affirm that we are all Hamas,” as he led dozens of people walking through the streets.

“In terms of Hamas’ popularity, yes they are the de facto leaders of Palestinians, whether we like it or not,” Mustafa said. “They are the only ones fighting for Palestinians in the face of no international protections.”