Hamas understood long before the Palestinian Authority the strategy of Jihad leader Ziad Nakhallah, to strengthen the Jihad in the Palestinian territories and to strengthen Iran in them as well. The head of Jihad, on the one hand, strengthened his organization until the Hamas leadership began to fear the new power, and on the other hand, and at the same time, Nakhallah has been helping Iran in recent times to establish an Islamic organization that will be under its auspices in the style of Hezbollah (see exclusive report here in the previous issue). In tactics to achieve his goals, the leader of the jihad made one serious mistake that brought Hamas upon him: he did not moderate the strengthening of the jihad in Gaza, while the establishment of the new Iranian organization, which will be composed of terrorists who now have no organization, he managed to lead under the radar.  It is possible that he managed to do it even under the Israeli radar, although the intensity of Israel's action in the West Bank in recent months makes it clear that Israel has come upon something new, which it did not know until then, and whose results surprised it with their strength.

Islamic Jihad money was seized by Israel in Nablus, but what is surprising is that such money was also recently seized in Ramallah, by the Palestinian Authority, a perception that points to the strength of Iran's intrusion into the West Bank, and into the heart of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. About three months ago, the Palestinian Authority also seized the organization of 19 Hamas members in Ramallah.

Following the strengthening of the Jihad, Hamas stood against it, resulting in Israel attacking the Islamic Jihad (see our reports in previous issues). About a week after the cease-fire between Israel and the Jihad, Nakhallah bowed to Hamas, and told his men in Gaza, according to Hezbollah, that Palestinian unity with Hamas is the clear desire of the Palestinian people. In doing so, Nakhallah tried to remove the pressure of Hamas from him. The main question now is whether Hamas has indeed reconciled, or whether it also sees a challenge in the organization that Nakhallah is trying to establish for Iran, the organization and financing of the terrorists who do not have an organization now, whom, as mentioned, Jihad wants to place under the auspices of Iran. The tension between Hamas and Iran is probably also based on this background. Our assessment is that Hamas will not allow an Iranian entity to rise in the West Bank and join the Jihad against Hamas; Hamas considers itself a governing body that legally represents the Palestinians since it won the parliamentary elections in 2006. About two months ago, a Palestinian source told us that Fatah stopped negotiations with the head of Hamas in the West Bank over this background, because Fatah realized that Hamas was talking to Fatah as the representative of the Palestinian people and not as a Palestinian faction that wants to enter as a member of the PLO. This negotiation, a Palestinian source told us, has not been renewed since.

Ziad Nakhallah is playing a double game, Palestinian and Iranian, so he is now not only in Israel's crosshairs, but also in the crosshairs of the PA, and probably also of Hamas. Surprisingly, the interest of Israel and Hamas now seems similar, to push Iran out of the West Bank and Gaza and to reduce the jihad. Nahallah knows that his organization is being persecuted, and he was quoted about two weeks ago in Al Manar as saying that the Palestinian Authority is handing over Jihad operatives to Israel.