Hamas does not trust the Palestinian Authority regarding the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, said over the weekend.
Hamas rejects any attempt to link Gaza reconstruction to the issue of a prisoner-exchange agreement with Israel, he said.
Abu Marzouk’s remarks in an interview with the Arabi 21 online newspaper are another sign of the ongoing dispute between Hamas and the PA over reconstruction efforts in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, following last month’s fighting with Israel.
The PA insists that its Ramallah-based government be in charge of the reconstruction, including the funds channeled by various countries and international parties.
“The State of Palestine” is the only address for any effort to rebuild the houses and buildings that were destroyed during the Israel-Hamas fighting, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Fatah leaders in Ramallah last week.
The PA could play a role in the reconstruction effort, but only through a body consisting of representatives of several Palestinian factions, Hamas has informed Egyptian and United Nations mediators.
Tensions between the PA and Hamas have also been running high since the death of Hebron activist Nizar Banat, who was allegedly beaten to death by Palestinian security officers who came to arrest him last Thursday morning.
Several Hamas leaders and officials have accused the PA of “assassinating” Banat because of his outspoken criticism of rampant corruption among the Palestinian leadership. They have also called for the resignation of the PA government headed by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and for an end to security coordination between PA security forces and the IDF.
Banat, a former candidate for the Palestinian parliamentary election that was supposed to take place on May 22, died after his health “deteriorated” during his arrest, PA officials said.
The PA government said it has formed a special committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Banat, who was wanted on suspicion of “insulting” senior Palestinian officials, including Shtayyeh, in a series of videos he posted on Facebook.
“The Palestinian Authority is placing obstacles [to the reconstruction effort] by demanding that the money pass through it,” Abu Marzouk said in reference to the PA’s demand that all funds earmarked for the Gaza Strip, including the Qatari cash grants, be delivered only through the Shtayyeh government.
“Although we [Hamas] will not receive a single dollar, and we will facilitate any reconstruction process, we do not feel confident about the money going to the treasury of the Palestinian Authority,” he said. “Just a few days ago they squandered $27 million on a deal of corrupt vaccines. What prevents them from wasting funds for the reconstruction of Gaza?”
The Hamas official was referring to the recent botched vaccine-exchange agreement between the PA and Israel. Under the terms of the agreement, which was later canceled by the PA government, Israel would provide the Palestinians with more than a million soon-to-expire Pfizer vaccines. In return, Israel would receive the same number of vaccines from a shipment bought by the PA and scheduled to arrive later this year.
“The Palestinian Authority is not an active party in the Gaza Strip until it plays this role,” Abu Marzouk said, adding that the rivalry between Hamas and the Fatah-dominated PA would have a negative impact on the effort to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
“We will not stand idly in the face of the disruption of the reconstruction process,” Abu Marzouk said. “The state of frustration may lead to an explosion of the situation again.”
Hamas welcomes anyone who wants to contribute to the reconstruction “with our brothers in Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and others, or the United Nations and through its representatives in Gaza, as it is responsible for 75% of the population as refugees,” he said.
Regarding the prospects of ending the PA-Hamas rift, Abu Marzouk said recent statements issued by Fatah leaders and their institutions “do not bode well.”
“It is not possible to talk about an intra-Palestinian dialogue to end the division sponsored by President Abbas, as he is a key party to this division,” he said. “And when we talk about the division, we do not mean the political division between Fatah and Hamas, but rather the multiple Palestinian divisions that have emerged since President Abbas took power in 2005.”
The last rapprochement between the PA and Hamas was sabotaged by Abbas’s surprise decision to resume security coordination with Israel and call off the parliamentary and presidential elections, Abu Marzouk said. Abbas delayed the elections because of his assessment that Hamas was going to win the parliamentary vote, he said.