Scathing criticism by the Fatah movement, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, against Iran has raised local and regional questions about its reasons and messages, especially since it coincided with the ongoing Israeli war against the Gaza Strip.
Fatah accused Iran of “instigating chaos and meddling in internal Palestinian affairs in a way that benefits only the Israeli occupation.”
In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Palestinian movement said it “rejects these Iranian interventions, and will not allow the cause and the blood of the Palestinians to be exploited or used as a card for the benefit of suspicious projects that have nothing to do with our Palestinian people or our national cause.”
The statement came in the wake of violent clashes between Palestinian militants affiliated with the so-called Tulkarm Brigade and the PA’s security services in the northern West Bank, leading to deaths and injuries, and deepening tensions in the area.
The security services accused gunmen of shooting at them. The Tulkarm Brigade, which is affiliated with the Jerusalem Brigades (the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement), mourned one of its field commanders whom it said was killed by the security forces.
Scenes broadcast by local Palestinian platforms showed violent armed confrontations between the two sides, in a repeat of clashes that broke out two weeks ago in Jenin in the northern West Bank after Israel assassinated two wanted persons.
Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazzal said: “Iran’s fingerprints on the Palestinian reality are present and destructive,” pointing to the presence of “Iranian outposts in areas of the West Bank, such as Tulkarm.”
A senior security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hamas “is inciting against the authority in the West Bank, just as it is provoking the authority in the Kingdom of Jordan and everywhere.”
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, Hamas has worked to push the West Bank towards a greater confrontation with Israel, and has issued explicit calls for an open war.
