Can an international force end the infights in Palestinian territories?

Hamas militants have hailed a series of military victories victories over rivals Fatah in the Gaza Strip as a new "liberation" of the territory.

Hamas being internationally isolated has no choice but to impose itself internally. First, it is working to weaken Fatah through armed battle. Hamas is relatively in a strong position compared to Fatah which appears to have lost political and security control of the situation. Hamas is unlikely to accept any international force (IF) as it feels let down by the international community that deprived it from the financial aids Fatah used to get generously. An IF will be advantageous just to Fatah, which appears unable to winningly confront Hamas in the raging battles.

Ironically, when Gaza and the West Bank were under direct Israeli occupation Hamas and Fatah never came to such armed conflicts. Now they are left alone, they have only themselves as first enemies. An international force will do little to stop them fighting. Hamas is likely to consider it as a new form of occupation. It will turn its guns at it. As Gaza is an unruly land accustomed to armed fighting, international force will have the highest casualties in a lawless land rife with suicide bombers. Hamas will have little to lose in an unchained situation.

It seems the Palestinians haven’t qualified yet for a state as it doesn’t have leaders qualified to run it through the usual institutions like parliament and cabinet. A Palestinian state will look just like Lebanon during its years of the civil wars. The Palestinians through Hamas and Fatah have more to disunite than unite them. With the death of Yasser Arafat who was somehow a unifying force, the dream of a Palestinian state is dying.

What doesn’t make sense is that the Palestinian factions talked of brotherhood when they were under the direct occupation of Israel in Gaza and the West Bank to show unity. Now Israel having left them alone, they are changing brotherhood with fratricide.

Each time, they turn the clock back when they must move on to consolidate their dream of an independent state. With their broken agreement and promises, things just go to square one. Maybe their struggle will be a forgotten one as their cause is no longer the focus of international attention as it used to be due to the new situation in the Middle East like that of Iraq and Iran. As things stand, the Palestinians are to blame. Nobody is currently killing them in massive numbers. It’s they who are killing each other under the smiling eyes of Israel, which is benefiting most from their deadly behaviour.

Perhaps, Israel should do the Palestinians a favour. It should reoccupy Gaza and the West Bank. This will be a chance for Hamas and Fatah to turn their struggle against Israel as in the “old good days”. At least there will be more Palestinian casualties from Israel rather than from Palestinian factions. Does it make sense? It may make some sense in a land where common sense is a rare commodity, a land becoming a laughing stock and a source of pity for anyone trying to understand why factions struggling to free their land from Israel can't free themselves from ruthless rage against one another.