Fatah's 'sidelined' strongman back in spotlight as Mahmoud Abbas falters

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) Once seen as the Palestinian Authority's (PA) rising star for his suave image, power, and ability to get along with the Americans and Israelis, he soon saw his fortunes diminish as rivals overran his area of operations, corruption and other serious allegations against him surfaced and was eventually expelled from the Fatah.

Yet, earlier this year -- much before the unprecedented, indiscriminate Israeli backlash against Gaza following Hamas's October 7 terror attack deep inside Israel -- Mohammad Dahlan, who was largely out of the public eye for over a decade after being forced into exile, resurfaced to weigh in on the Israel-Palestine imbroglio and take potshots against his political foes.

The UAE-based Dahlan, in an interview with an Arabian newspaper in March, called his Palestinian compatriots to realise that the two-state solution "is no longer feasible on the ground" as "Israeli intransigence" and the expansion of settlements on West Bank has left "no contiguous lands on which a viable Palestinian state can be established".

He, instead, called for Palestinians to demand a "one-state solution for two peoples with equal rights, and let Israel face its responsibilities as a government".

Two weeks after the raging conflict in Gaza, Dahlan again spoke out - in a rare interaction with a Western media outlet, as per reports.

Like all seasoned politicians, Dahlan, who hails from Gaza himself, first sought to rule himself out of any role thrust on him there, and instead, pitched for a technocratic government in the beleaguered, battled enclave for at least two years before elections for a Palestinian parliament to replace the PA presidency - held by his one-time benefactor-turned-sworn foe Mahmoud Abbas.

This, he said, should have sway over both the West Bank and Gaza.

More significantly, Dahlan insisted that the new system should include his one-time fervent foe Hamas, rejecting the suggestion that Israel would be able to eliminate the group completely.

Dahlan's re-emergence and forthright views, especially on elections, which have not been held in Palestinian areas since 2006 when Hamas swept them, may not bring much cheer to Abbas, as well as Israel and the Western powers to seek to uproot Hamas entirely and seek to bring Gaza under the existing PA's rule.

However, the inability of the PA to move forward for a Palestinian state, to check the Israeli intransigence, insolence, and increasing settlements on the West Bank, and the relentless harassment, dispossession, and worse of the local Palestinians, make it an unlikely contender to widespread support of the Palestinians.

There were reports that Abbas's statements on the PA returning to Gaza after the conflict abates met vehement opposition from the local people. They cited its lack of accomplishments in its own fief, let alone in blockaded Gaza, described for long as the world's largest open-air prison and now, amid the current indiscriminate bombing. tellingly by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, no less, as a "graveyard for children".

But, is Dahlan, who earned his name as Gaza's stern security chief before being chased out by Hamas in 2007 and out of Palestinian territory itself by his own Fatah under charges including "murdering Yasser Arafat", now a spent force, using the current situation to vent his spleen at those who accomplished his downfall or does he count for something in the current configurations of the Middle East's tortuous politics.

It would be the latter.

Dahlan, in his exile in the Gulf, struck up close relations with Abu Dhabi's ruling family, and emerged as a sort of a negotiator for them in global circles, cashing on his influence earned and contacts made in his heyday as a leading Palestinian interlocutor.

He arranged Gulf investment in the Balkans, and in the process, enabled Serbian and Montenegrin citizenship for himself.

On the other hand, he is perceived to be a key player in paving the way to the UAE and Bahrain's accession to the Donald Trump-backed Abraham Accords, which saw them striking up relations with Israel. This, however, did not earn him much popularity among the Palestinians.

Then, he even made up with Hamas - whom he had dealt with quite ruthlessly during his period as Gaza's security chief in the early 2000s, united against their common foe - Abbas and his moribund PA.

He also sought to revive his influence in Gaza by channeling aid from the Gulf monarchies and while he could enter, his wife often visited it to oversee charitable work.

It would be too early to say if Dahlan will emerge as a key player in the post-October 7 scenario but given his spadework, his contacts, and his approach - both in inclusiveness and content, it would not be very wise to rule him out, given the Middle East's propensity to spring surprises.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted atvikas.d@ians.in)

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