![Supporters of Hamas wave flags during a rally in Gaza City on May 24, 2021 [AFP/Mahmud Hams]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/000_9AN8H3.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The latest confrontation with Israel saw Hamas emerge victorious and Fatah appear weaker than ever.
![Palestinian policemen guard the Palestinian legislative council in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on January 16, 2021 [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-01-16T095621Z_440309532_RC2X8L9N5NVO_RTRMADP_3_PALESTINIANS-ELECTION.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Several foreign players are seeking to influence the outcome of the Palestinian elections.
![Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the presidential palace in Cairo. [AFP/ Thaer Ghanaim/handout]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/000_8W73YF.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The Palestinian president hopes to restore the Palestinian Authority’s international standing. But will it work?
![Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo on the Blue Room Balcony at the White House in Washington on September 15, 2020 [AP Photo/Alex Brandon]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AP_20265719189012.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Arab normalisation of relations with Israel could accelerate the advent of the one-state solution in Palestine.
![Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas heads a meeting at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 7, 2020. [File: AP/Nasser Nasser]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/affa899120f044ab9788e8cd69e04cbe_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Several developments in recent months show the PA may be edging closer to its own end.
![Palestinian women pose with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal after their release from Israeli jails as part of a prisoner swap deal for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on October 18, 2011[Reuters/Jamal Saidi]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/bfb0c0d5d0f8497ab3c3b80d5f6858c3_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Both Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu need the political capital that such a deal would bring them.
![Hamas Chief Ismail Haniya embarked on his first foreign tour on December 2, 2019 [File: Reuters/Mohammed Salem]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/b54e05679124420ca2e1a3259dbfef91_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Egypt’s decision to allow the Hamas leader to travel signals progress on ceasefire negotiations with Israel.
![Fatah and Hamas officials wait for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during intra-Palestinian talks in Moscow, Russia Feb 12, 2019 [Pavel Golovkin/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/6967be12f5a54a77862f1fdcc3d411bc_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Hamas hopes Russia could help break its international isolation. But will it work?
![File: US President Donald Trump gestures as he and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deliver statements at the White House in Washington, US, March 25, 2019 [Carlos Barria/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/82c3cb4d276e41e09d95e7d19ad7c360_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
By allowing Turkey to attack the Kurds in Syria, Trump made Tel Aviv question Washington’s reliability as an ally.
![Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei meets Saleh al-Arouri, deputy leader of Hamas, in Tehran on July 22, 2019 [Anadolu Agency]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ee51e6d1c15b4fa68821e4dc21a9c0a8_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
By launching arrests of its supporters and cutting off financial flows to Gaza, Riyadh aims to corner Hamas.