As I have said so many times before, the problem in the Middle East is not so simple.
It is complex.
...
Palestinian politics have been rife with divisions since the pursuit of an independent state began in the 1960s. But the national movement formally split"politically, geographically and strategically"after Hamas, an Islamist party, beat Fatah, a secular movement, in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections. Factional fighting erupted after the two parties failed to reach a power-sharing agreement. Hundreds died. The Palestinian Territories divided into two polities: Hamas ruled Gaza, and Fatah led the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.
Between 2007 and 2018, seven reconciliation efforts floundered. The split had rippling repercussions: Diplomatic efforts between the Palestinians and Israel stalled. Israel and Gaza engaged in three major armed conflicts"the three-week war over the new year in 2008-9, the eight-day war of 2012, and the two-month summer war of 2014. Gaza faced blockades from both Israel and Egypt due to both countries' security concerns. Conditions in Gaza deteriorated, with rampant poverty, growing unemployment and deepening public health problems.
The 2011 Arab uprisings inspired demonstrations in the Palestinian Territories. Both the West Bank and Gaza witnessed protests by Palestinians fed up with the years-long strife between Fatah and Hamas. The main flashpoints, however, were economic policies and living conditions; protesters did not call for the ouster of the major parties, as in other Arab states. Fatah and Hamas responded to public pressure by signing a unity deal that brought together 13 factions. But it was short-lived.
Conditions deteriorated further in Gaza, where two million people live in an area only twice the size of Washington, D.C. A 2012 U.N. report questioned whether the enclave would be livable by 2020, given the existential challenges to its water, electricity, health, and education infrastructures.
The rise of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in 2012 boosted the profile of Hamas, as with other Islamist parties in the Middle East. But the momentum soon dissipated; the Brotherhood was forcibly ousted in mid-2013. Hamas was further isolated.
Between 2012 and 2017, tensions escalated internally between Fatah and Hamas and regionally among Hamas, Israel and Egypt. In 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge after rocket attacks from Gaza. More than 2,100 Palestinian and over 70 Israelis died during the seven-week conflict. ...
One of the better descriptions I have read about the issue.
And Saudia Arabia and Israel were on the way to resolving an issue between them. Iran, apparently, was aghast of those discussions for peace and prompted Hamas to strike.
