While local and international attention is focused on the imminent Israeli pull-out from Gaza, a multi-faceted struggle among Palestinian groups has entered a critical stage. It pits Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, against Ahmed Qurei, the PA prime minister; the "old guard" of Fatah, the dominant nationalist movement, against its "young guard'; and all sides against Hamas, the militant Islamist group.

The Fatah old guard, whose most prominent figure is Mr Qurei, is making a potentially fateful bid to block internal reform and democratisation, and to deny Hamas any chance of sharing meaningful power should it perform well in planned general elections.