Why did Hamas Allow Mohammad Dahlan to Return to the Gaza Strip?

How did the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” allow Mohammad Dahlan, its former bitter enemy, to return to the Gaza Strip?

Regarding the dismissed leader of the National Liberation Movement “Fatah”, the answer is clear, and it is that he seeks to succeed the current Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.

But on the other hand, Dahlan's excellent relations with Egypt and the UAE helped him to take steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Hamas was forced to “swallow the frog”, according to what the “Hebrew” websites say.

 

Roots of Hostility

The Hebrew “Regional Thought Forum” noted that on April 13, the Palestinian “Mitras” website published an article about Dahlan's activities in the Gaza Strip, 14 years after he left it.

Following the understandings of 2017, early this year, Palestinian figures and cadres affiliated with the Dahlan movement sequentially returned to the Gaza Strip.

Among them, Rashid Abu Shbak, Maher Miqdad, Tawfiq Abu Khousa, Ghassan Jadallah, these are names that have been associated in the memory of the people of Gaza with the events of the internal fighting in 2007.

The forum says that Dahlan is one of the leaders associated with the “Sedition Acts”, in reference to the incidents of division that came months after Hamas won the parliamentary elections with a “vast majority”, without being empowered to rule.

The “Mitras” website said that the roots of hostility between the two parties lie in the period in which Dahlan served as head of the Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip from 1995 to 2000.

Dahlan's Preventive Security Service pursued and arrested members, leaders and activists of Hamas, members of the Service searched their homes, mosques, and charities that they had set up, at times, armed clashes erupted between members of the two parties.

After Hamas won the 2006 elections, the movement considered that Dahlan was responsible for the armed clashes, kidnappings and assassinations in broad daylight, and about the various forms of persecution of its members.

After Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip, Dahlan moved to the West Bank and then to the Emirates.

 

Economic Situation

The “Mitras” website refers to the establishment and formation of the Islamic National Committee for Development and Social Solidarity, as a start to the change in relations between Hamas and Dahlan, it is a charitable foundation funded by the Emirates, and cooperation in that committee was carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad with Dahlan's representatives.

Later, Dahlan's wife, Jalila, came to the Gaza Strip, in order to work on several humanitarian projects funded by the UAE.

The Hebrew Forum pointed out that the difficult economic situation in which Hamas finds itself, because of the closure it has been in since 2007, and the damage caused by the war rounds with Israel, paid it to allow Dahlan's men to return to the Strip in exchange for continued humanitarian aid.

On his part, Dahlan made moderate political statements on the necessity of allowing Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In the years between 2016-2019, Hamas released some of Dahlan's supporters, but it denied that this was part of the deal with the man.

Amir Tauber, an independent Palestinian researcher, indicated that the Palestinian Authority was not satisfied with these developments, after that, Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Turkey and Qatar, the two rival countries of the UAE.

There appears to be evidence of an understanding between Hamas and Dahlan, that was in 2017, after Sinwar was elected leader of Hamas in Gaza.

After the Palestinian Authority imposed punishments on the Strip, Hamas and Dahlan signed additional agreements allowing Qatari fuel tankers to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, increased Emirati aid, and this cooperation between them continued.

In March 2021, Dahlan prepared a shipment of 40,000 doses of the Russian vaccine against the Coronavirus, and sent it to the Gaza Strip.

 

Dahlan's Motives

The author points out that Dahlan's motives are clear, he wants to return to the forefront of the political arena and succeed President Abbas, the site “Mitras” wonders about Hamas' motives for that cooperation?

The author answers that Hamas hopes to exploit Dahlan's relations with the Arab Republic of Egypt, to relieve the siege in which it found itself, and on the other hand, Dahlan is considered an ally of the Emirates, the sworn enemy of the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas belongs.

As the site wonders, if Hamas actually trusts Dahlan, and whether the results of the Palestinian elections will allow the movement to prevent the Fatah leader from achieving his ambition in power.

However, Dahlan is hated by many persons, whether from Fatah or Hamas, and those who see him as an opportunist, corrupt and traitor, “It is hard to believe that he will be able to complete his journey to the top and Authority leadership, except with the help, financing and support of foreign countries”.

 

New Friends?

In a related context, the Hebrew “Walla” website asked: “Has the enmity between Hamas and Mohammad Dahlan turned into friendship?” Alleging that until recently the news seemed fictional.

As Dahlan and two of his comrades in Fatah who were hated by Hamas’s members for decades, and those who were expelled from Gaza, in line with senior members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and next to one of the princes of the Emirates, Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed (the date of the meeting was not mentioned).

He was among those present at the meeting, Salah Al-Bardawil, Jamal Abu Hashem and Rawhi Mushtaha from Hamas, Khaled Al-Batsh from Islamic Jihad, and Majed Abu Shamala and Ashraf Jumaa from Dahlan's associates.

The Hebrew website pointed out that this picture is not a coincidence, for several months, Dahlan has been working in the Gaza Strip alongside Hamas and Islamic Jihad, he provides assistance to the needy families, the wounded, and the families of the martyrs of the Third War, including the families of Hamas victims.

This assistance comes within the framework of the “Islamic National Committee for Social Solidarity”, that meets from time to time in the Gaza Strip, and the money is distributed to all those in need.

According to documents and statements of senior members of the committee, all funding comes from the UAE, which is considered hostile to Hamas and close to Egypt, and trying to harm the Muslim Brotherhood.

The UAE is working to transfer huge amounts of money to Mohammad Dahlan, who turns it into the same committee to increase its influence in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Dahlan joined mainly Hamas’s members in Gaza to form an alliance against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian sources claim that the relationship between Egypt and Dahlan and between Israel and the same person is surprising, according to them, Cairo declares war on Hamas, but it ignores the actions of Dahlan, who works with Hamas.