Not a day goes by without Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas hitting the people of the Gaza Strip with something new. In June, the power supply was cut, leaving Gazans with two to four hours of electricity per day. Later that month, tens of thousands of PA public servants -- who have been sitting idly in their Gaza homes since Hamas' hostile takeover a decade ago -- had their salaries slashed. Around a week ago, several thousand of them were forced into early retirement. Meanwhile, monthly stipends for released Palestinian prisoners have been frozen, and in the coming weeks the PA plans to reduce or even cease altogether the transfer of welfare stipends to thousands of people in need. More cutbacks could yet be in store. These unrelenting blows are falling on the people of Gaza, many of whom have remained loyal to the PA over the years. But the address is, of course, the Hamas government, which Abbas wishes to defeat and bring to its knees. To that end he is trying to exploit Hamas' weakness in Gaza but also, primarily, its weakness in the region. To be sure, if the Saudis and Egyptians are allowed to hammer away at Qatar, Hamas' benefactor, why can't Abbas do the same- The Palestinian leader has decided to take off the gloves, but as usual he is trying to avoid a direct clash. Instead he is gradually increasing the pressure on the people of Gaza, more than once through Israel, in the hope that it will compel Hamas' leadership to throw in the towel and perhaps even hand over influence and control in Gaza to the PA, even if only partially. Israel, for its part, is being dragged against its best interests into a conflict that Abbas is forcing on Hamas, and it has to strike a balance between its desire to strengthen Abbas and weaken Hamas, and its obligation to preserve the peace and quiet along the border with Gaza. In the meantime, the Gaza Strip is becoming hell for the people who live there. According to the United Nations, the coastal enclave will soon be considered uninhabitable. Abbas doesn't want to disengage from Gaza, but the opposite: He wants to bring it back under his control. However, he must consider the possibility that Hamas will choose subjugation not to him but to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. In doing so, Hamas would effectively accept Abbas' bitter rival, Mohammed Dahlan, as a ruling partner in Gaza, if only just to loosen the noose from around its neck by virtue of Dahlan's good relationship with Jerusalem and Cairo.
