Fatah dismisses Hamas papers as fabrications

Members of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council have hit back at political rivals Hamas, claiming documents aired by the movement are “fabricated and falsified”.

Hamas members had held a news conference on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, in which they displayed documents (Arabic) they claimed proved Fatah and members of the Palestinian Authority, the governing body in the occupied West Bank, were working with elements of the Egyptian government on a malicious campaign to tarnish the movement.

“We believe that Hamas came up with these documents as a step to launch a campaign against the leadership of Fatah, because they believe that Fatah may lead an uprising against the status quo imposed by Hamas in Gaza,” Muwafaq Matar, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, told Al Jazeera from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

One document, allegedly sent by Fatah to the media attache at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, stated: “it has been decided based on recommendations from security agencies and the Palestinian leadership to establish media cells to take part in hte fabrication of news that would embarrass Hamas.”

Another document, allegedly sent to the security attache at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, stated: “with regards to an earlier cable please note that the four bombs have arrived in Egypt. And they need to be used as evidence to implicate Hamas in the recent acts of violence in Egypt.”

Producing two documents to the camera, Matar showed differing letterheads, highlighting the “real” one against the one revealed by Hamas.

“I am in possession of two documents. If you look at the top one, the letterhead, this is the official letterhead used by us, and below is the one used by Hamas to come with its fabricated and falsified stories,” he said.

“We believe that Hamas is taking a new political course at this moment. Hamas wishes to steer away from the reconciliation among the Palestinians.”

Ghazi Hamad, deputy minister for foreign affairs for Gaza, refuted the claims made by Fatah over the documents being fake, saying they “truly believe” they are true, but erring on the side of caution, they are ready to “set up a neutral committee to check the documents and get an expert opinion.”

When asked what Fatah would have to gain by sending such documents, Hamad told Al Jazeera: “Maybe they think they can get a victory from Hamas….but what they are doing is very dangerous” for the Palestinian people.

Since the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi on 3rd July through a popular military coup, the interim government and Egyptian media holds Hamas responsible for a prison break during the January 2011 revolution, also accusing the deposed president of spying for the group.

Egypt’s military has also blamed members of Hamas of involvement in stoking tensions in the Sinai peninsula.

Hamas has denied involvement in Egypt’s affairs.