The incident could accelerate suspicions the police are linked with Israel, writes MICHAEL JANSEN
THE QALQILIYA shootout, the most serious clash since Hamas seized control of Gaza last June, is likely to deepen the rift between Fatah and Hamas and reinforce the suspicion among Palestinians that police loyal to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas are acting on behalf of Israel to put an end to all resistance to the Israeli occupation.
Qalqiliya, the site of the clash, is a small Palestinian town located near the 1948-49 ceasefire line amid Israeli West Bank settlements built since Israel occupied the area in 1967.
The town is bottled up by Israel’s wall and fence complex, and the only way in and out is a checkpoint at the end of a narrow neck controlled by Israeli troops.
Therefore, the Palestinian police had to co-ordinate their raid with the Israeli military in order to enter and exit the town.
At the same time, Israel had to allow the policemen to carry their weapons in and out of the town and also to transport 22 prisoners taken through Israeli-controlled territory to the main Palestinian prison in Jericho or to some other holding facilities.
The arrest campaign is a risky strategy for Mr Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.
This is all the more so in a situation where there have been fatalities.
First, since veteran officers and men have been retired or fired, most police serving in Mr Abbas’s forces are youngsters who have been trained, equipped and armed by the US under the command of Gen Keith Dayton.
However, Gen Dayton warned that the window of opportunity is closing for the new police force to succeed in operations against Hamas and other elements favouring armed struggle.
In a recent address to the US pro-Israeli lobby group, the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, Gen Dayton said Palestinian policemen, told they are working for a Palestinian state, could change sides if this state does not materialise within two to three years.
Second, by conducting an arrest campaign against Hamas, Mr Abbas risks the collapse of ongoing Egyptian-brokered Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks. Since the overwhelming majority of Palestinians demand an end to factional rivalry and a unity government, Mr Abbas, who is regarded by Palestinians as a weak leader, could undermine whatever credibility he still enjoys by escalating operations against Hamas.
According to recent polls, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the de facto premier of Gaza, would defeat Mr Abbas in a presidential election, while Hamas is more popular than Fatah in the Fatah-run West Bank.