IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi spoke to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday and explained that Fatah and Hamas will reconcile in the future.  While there is no communication between the groups at this time, he said, communication will resume due to the groups’ mutual interests.

Colonel Ronen Cohen, a senior intelligence official, spoke at the meeting as well, and told the committee that Hamas could continue to win elections in Judea and Samaria.  Fatah’s crackdown on Hamas has slowed down, Cohen said.  While he estimated that the group could maintain its political strength in Judea and Samaria, Cohen said Hamas’s military strength in the area would be limited as long as the IDF continues counter-terrorist operations.