A team from the Israeli occupation army has been preparing for months for what may happen in the territories the day after Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is no longer in power.
According to Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli army is making preparations to deal with various scenarios after Abbas is gone, including a large-scale armed Palestinian conflict over the replacement of Abbas, “who is clearly living on borrowed time.”
The newspaper highlighted the political strife between Abbas and his arch rival Mohamed Dahlan, which recently turned into armed violence in Fatah-controlled areas of the West Bank.
“There is undeniable paranoia toward Dahlan in the Palestinian president’s office, but lately some of that feeling seems to be justified. This week the conflict between Abbas and Dahlan spilled over into violent protests in Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin, Balata in Nablus and al-Am’ari in Ramallah,” the newspaper said.
It also pointed to Egypt’s unhidden support for Dahlan, who was once in charge of the Gaza Strip and whose violations there led to a military revolt in June 2007, saying that Egyptian officials declared that openly in conversations with Israelis.
