ABSTRACT
Hamas’ decisive victory, and the subsequent creation of an exclusively Hamas-dominated government, deepened the crisis over the security forces. Previously the central concern was the ability of the security offices to deal with a rapidly deteriorating internal security situation, to the point where the Palestinian public questioned whether the forces were part of the problem rather the solution. After Fatah’s defeat, the question of whether control of the security agencies would be in the hands of the popularly elected presidency or the newly formed government now loomed large.
