Hamas, the chief Palestinian terrorist organization, refuses to join forces with the Palestinian government. Part of the reason why has to do with corruption. The Palestinian Authority, which has ruled the Palestinian territories for over a decade, is very corrupt, and new investigations by European contributors has produced more evidence. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza begins on August 17th, the Palestinian Authority will receive several billion dollars in "aid" (another word for the large bribe required to get the Palestinians to go along with the terms of the Gaza withdrawal). Hamas expects much of this aid to be stolen by Palestinian Authority officials, and this will give Hamas, which is relatively corruption free, to gain more popular support among Palestinians, and eventually take over control of the Palestinian government.