Efforts by Abu Mazen and senior Fatah leaders to prevent divisions in the movement before the May 2021 Palestinian Legislative Council elections have failed. The movement split into three separate lists following multiple disputes, power struggles, and anger directed at the leadership. These splits challenge the status of Abu Mazen, who over the past 16 years was the sole, unchallenged leader of the Palestinian national movement. They cast a shadow over Fatah’s hegemony in the Palestinian theater, accelerate the inheritance wars, undermine security instability in the West Bank, and bolster the status of Hamas as an alternative to the Fatah movement. These developments are liable to lead Israel to increase its intervention in the Palestinian territories, which could lead in turn to a major increase in friction with the local population and growing tension between Israel and Arab countries. This could have a negative impact on efforts to move the Abraham Accords forward.
Palestine – Fatah and the Legislative Council Elections: The Split and Its Implications (INSS)
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