Moral judgments notwithstanding, the suicide bombing in Dimona on Monday is another chink in the siege imposed on all Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and it represents a continuity of the Palestinian rebellion that breached the wall between Gaza and Egypt last week.

The fact that two fighters succeeded in reaching Dimona in the south of Israel after crossing over to Egypt last week and then returning to conduct the operation is a blow to Tel Aviv’s claims that its siege of Hamas supporters is working.

The attacks were carried out by fighters — from Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — well outside the influence of Hamas, but who felt solidarity with the besieged group and the people of Gaza.

The involvement of non-Hamas fighters indicates that groups outside Gaza are entering the Israel-Hamas conflict. This effectively undermines Tel Aviv’s position that it is targeting Hamas only and Israel will now be seen as waging war on all Palestinians.

Strangled by closures, military incursions and killings, it was just a matter of time before Palestinian groups would resume attacks inside Israel.

In spite of divisions between Fatah and Hamas, the rival movements find a commonality in that they are both targeted by the Israeli military.

Scenes broadcast around the world of a besieged Gaza, and more significantly, those of its residents breaching the wall between the strip and Egypt, stirred and inspired Palestinians across the political and geographic divide.

Disgruntled within

But what is most striking about the Dimona attack is that the Fatah-aligned Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are forcefully challenging Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and his policy of accommodating Israeli and U.S. interests.

In their statement, the brigades saluted both Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian president, and present leader Abbas, but in effect the deference to the president is an implied protest against Salam Fayad, the current prime minister.

The Dimona attack itself is an indication of growing disgruntlement within Fatah and the increasing view that continued Israeli-Palestinian talks are futile, if not a cover for Israeli acts against Palestinians.

In statements issued three weeks ago, the Brigades called for Fayad’s resignation, holding him responsible for disarming their members. 

The so-called Fayad security plan involved convincing the Brigades to turn in their arms and join the official security forces in order to “deprive Israel from a pretext to bomb West Bank towns”.

The plan collapsed in early January, when Israeli forces launched a three-day military operation in Nablus, killing and wounding Brigades members and civilians and rounding up former Fatah fighters.

At the time, a Brigades spokesman in Gaza criticized Fayad and threatened his life.

Undermined leadership

Abbas has been criticized by fighters for meeting Israelis during the Gaza siege.

It is no secret that Fatah leaders had decided to halt suicide bombings and attacks inside Israel. But the leadership ability to enforce such directives was undermined by continued Israeli raids and the strangulating siege of Gaza.

Moreover, Fatah’s Al Aqsa Brigades do not answer to a unified command, which is a sign of internal divisions, chaos and disagreement with the political leadership.

According to well-informed Fatah sources, the Brigades felt impotent and dispirited by the reluctance of the Palestinian Authority to take action or even at the very least to suspend talks with Israel over the unfolding strangulation of the Gaza Strip.

The Brigades have felt partly deceived by Fayad, who trusted Israeli promises that their military would stop hunting them.

They have also felt that promises of concrete steps towards peace and the alleviation of Palestinian suffering had been broken.

This has contributed to building resentment within Fatah. Supporters watched their political leaders smile alongside their Israeli counterparts in photo opportunities while the number of Palestinian casualties mounted.

So while Israeli and even official Palestinian statements condemned the Dimona attack and expressed concern about “peace negotiations” — supposedly revived by the Annapolis conference last December — a majority of Palestinians say they have seen no evidence yet of peace or security.

Hamas, meanwhile, has been asserting itself — even among its critics and opponents — as siding with the Gazan people, and taking part, if not outright leading the breach of the Rafah border last week.

This was an act that deeply touched the pride of the Palestinians.

Annapolis — the facade

Many in the Occupied Territories now view the Annapolis meeting as an international facade, ushering in a new phase of fiercer — and with increased impunity — U.S.-backed Israeli aggression and subjugation.

Israeli “incursions” and bombings in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have killed more than 141 Palestinians since the Annapolis meeting.

Israel has also been conducting an average of 20-30 weekly incursions into the West Bank, rounding up and killing members of Palestinian groups, including Fatah.

Given the above, it is no surprise that a member of Fatah executed the Dimona suicide bombing attack.

In addition to expressing Palestinian anger, Fatah has now partly reasserted its credentials as a resistance movement.

The attack itself could still be an isolated accident, but it is not isolated in its expression of a building Palestinian rebellion — reminiscent of the actions that led to the 1987 and 2000 uprisings.

The difference today is that Palestinians not only have to grapple with the separation wall but must also challenge the internal walls that divide them.

This could transform the stirrings of a popular uprising into an outburst of anger without vision and political leadership.

Source: Al Jazeera