[Ma'an] The exiled leader of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, said Wednesday that Fatah's move toward ousting former party leader Muhammad Dahlan was good for the Paleostinian cause. Khaled Mashaal told the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab Al-Youm that ousting Dahlan is "good for the Paleostinian cause," but President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas "resolves this dispute for his own benefit; he will be marginalized in the end."
"Hamas will recover in the West Bank," the Damascus-based leader predicted, saying he was pessimistic about resolving the years-long state of political disunity. "Reconciliation is now less likely than any time before."
Yeah, I'm "based" in Damascus. I could be in Gaza, but...ewww.
"You don't think the Zionist drones will find me here, do you?"
"Hamas leaders are pessimistic about achieving reconciliation under the current circumstances, however, they still insist that it is a necessity so they will continue to work to achieve it."
Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
Fatah leaders heard the preliminary findings of a committee investigating what the Israeli media said were attempts by Dahlan to engage a private militia in the West Bank.
The two-day meeting, which ended Wednesday in Ramallah, saw Abbas and his top Fatah officials decide to appoint an expanded committee to open a deeper investigation.
Fatah officials remain tight-lipped about the exact nature of the probe. Party members have confirmed that the investigation centers on Dahlan, but have not explained further.