Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is working to revive the United National Command, the body behind the first intifada that broke out in late 1987.
This issue is on the agenda of the conference to be held early next week (Sunday) in Cairo, which will be attended by the leaders of the various Palestinian factions, led by Fatah and Hamas.
Mahmoud Abbas meets with Erdogan and Hamas delegation | Arab networks
According to Palestinian sources, Mahmoud Abbas will ask during the conference that the other factions agree to be part of the United National Command, which will operate in Judea and Samaria and will be responsible for everything related to conducting the "popular resistance."
Renewal of the popular struggle
The sources said that the PA chairman raised the issue of the popular struggle during his meeting last week with Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Turkey.
The two Palestinian leaders held two meetings, one separately between Fatah and Hamas delegations, and the other under the auspices of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In recent years, Mahmoud Abbas has often spoken of his support for "popular" resistance, a code name for demonstrations and confrontations with Israeli security forces and residents of Judea and Samaria without the use of firearms. However, there are those who interpret the call for popular resistance as a green light to harm Israelis by other harsher means.
The meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and Haniyeh, mediated by Erdogan, photo: AFP
The sources noted that during the meetings in Turkey, Mahmoud Abbas suggested that Hamas join a national unity government on condition that the organization accept the path of popular resistance and agree to recognize UN resolutions and agreements between the PLO and Israel. Hamas rejected the demands.
Representatives of the terror group said they would agree to support a Palestinian government whose guidelines stipulate that resistance can be used in all forms, including armed struggle, not just popular resistance. They also refused to recognize the agreements signed by the PLO with Israel, fearing that this would be interpreted as recognition of it.
Intensifying the struggle in the face of "settler terrorism"
The United National Headquarters was established shortly after the outbreak of the first intifada, and included representatives of various Palestinian factions, the dominant of which was Fatah. The body used to issue leaflets instructing the Palestinian residents on how to act, while distributing calls for general strikes and civil disobedience.
Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo with Sisi, photo: AFP
Although most of the members of the command were detained by Israel, it continued to operate until the last days of the intifada.
Last week a leaflet was published on behalf of the United National Headquarters in Ramallah calling on Palestinian residents to increase their participation in the popular resistance in light of "settler and army terrorism, and the Israeli government's policy of annexation and destruction." It should be noted that Hamas and Jihad have so far renounced this body, claiming that it had abandoned the armed resistance.
The meeting in Cairo is the second of its kind to take place on this scale in the past three years. In 2020, representatives from 14 Palestinian factions participated in a conference held in Ramallah and Beirut via video conference during the COVID-<> pandemic.
Mahmoud Abbas and Erdogan met in Ankara to discuss Israeli-Palestinian Authority relations
The organizers were senior Fatah figure Jibril Rajoub and senior Hamas figure Saleh al-Arouri, when the initiative came from Mahmoud Abbas in response to the policies of the Israeli government and the Trump administration against the backdrop of talk of annexation and the deal of the century.
Even then, there was talk of the need to act to end the internal Palestinian rift, but beyond the joint statement that concluded the conference, no actual steps were taken to help achieve this.
Despite the tension
Many attempts in the past to mend the rift between Fatah and Hamas have failed. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants to consolidate his status and maintain his rule, and therefore the effort to promote formulas for national unity and alleviate the rift stems mainly from his fear of an increase in the phenomenon of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the West Bank.
Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Photo: AFP
Ismail Haniya arrived in Egypt on Saturday at the head of a delegation that included his deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, and other members of Hamas' political bureau.
Mahmoud Abbas also landed at Al-Alamein Airport with members of his entourage, General Intelligence Director Majed Faraj and Hussein Sheikh, secretary of the PLO's Executive Committee, and is expected to hold a meeting with President Abdel Fattah Assisi.
It should be noted that the conference will be held in the shadow of record tension between the PA and Islamic Jihad over the arrests of the organization's operatives in the West Bank. Jihad leaders decided to boycott the meeting after attempts to reach an agreed solution with the Palestinian Authority on the matter failed.
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