The common perception in the West is that the Jews are the primary stumbling block to peace in Israel. Truth be told, the Palestinians are their own worst enemy.

Speaking in a television interview last week, Palestinian Authority (pa) leader Mahmoud Abbas warned that Hamas, the democratically elected Palestinian terrorist group in charge of the Gaza Strip, is “preparing a terrorist attack.” Was Abbas referring to Hamas plotting another attack on Israel? Not this time.

According to Abbas, Hamas was plotting to attack Fatah leaders and facilities in the West Bank.

Abbas is not the only one to voice alarm at Hamas’s efforts to eradicate its political rivals in the West Bank. Reuters quoted an unnamed source from within Fatah’s security establishment Saturday as saying, “Security forces have seized some $8.5 million in cash since March until now and have arrested a number of people who have recently purchased homes adjacent to government and military installations, mainly in the [West Bank] city of Nablus.” The men arrested, according to the source, were known to have connections to Hamas.

“Hamas’s intention is to establish a parallel security services in the West Bank,” the security official said.

Last week, an Abbas aide, Tayyeb Abdel Rahim, said that “about 10 Hamas loyalists were arrested on suspicion of planning attacks against Palestinian officials and institutions in the West Bank” (Reuters, July 4).

According to Abbas, Hamas has military cells and is “stockpiling arms, ammunition and explosives” throughout the West Bank, including in such cities as Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Kalkilya, Nablus, Ramallah and Tulkarm. Officials report that over the last year the pa has detained 700 Hamas terrorists, with security forces uncovering in one residential area a Hamas cache that “consisted of 2 tons of explosives, small arms, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and machine guns” (World Tribune,July 2).

The recent arrests and accusations have resurrected tension and hostility between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, and have made Egypt’s job of brokering some sort of peace between the two an increasingly insurmountable task. Cairo hopes to forge some sort of united platform between Hamas and Fatah, from which the joint Fatah-Hamas administration can then successfully negotiate peace with Israel.

Although some sort of reconciliation might yet occur between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas’s presence in the West Bank and its ongoing hostility toward Fatah has a couple of disturbing implications.

First, it reinforces the point that the Palestinians clearly cannot forge peace and long-term stability among themselves. How then can anyone expect them to forge lasting peace with Israel?

Second, and more dangerous, while some of Hamas’s growing stockpiles of explosives and machine guns on the West Bank might be pointed at Fatah officials, the overwhelming majority are assuredly aimed at Jerusalem. Surely it’s only a matter of time before Hamas exploits its presence in the West Bank to make a move on East Jerusalem. To learn why this is inevitable, read “Are the Palestinians About to Gain Control of East Jerusalem?”