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Title: | Analysis: How Arab rivalries are delaying cease-fire process | |||
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| Name: | Joseph.E Part 1 | | |||
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| City: | Givatayim | State: | Israel | | |
| Conflicting interests and power struggles in the Palestinian territories and the Arab world are largely responsible for the delay in reaching a cease-fire agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. Hamas and other Palestinians have held Israel fully responsible for the delay in forging an agreement on the Egyptian tahdiyeh [period of calm] initiative. But some Palestinians pointed out Thursday that ... the divisions among the Palestinians and Arab leaders must also be taken into consideration In the Palestinian arena, they noted, the ongoing power struggle between Fatah and Hamas, as well as rivalries within Hamas itself, have thus far foiled efforts to reach a truce. Fatah is afraid that a cease-fire would consolidate Hamas`s grip on the Gaza Strip and encourage the Islamist movement to try to extend its control to the West Bank. In addition, a truce would give Hamas time to "breath" and rebuild its civil and security institutions. While Fatah leaders have openly voiced support for a cease-fire, some have been expressing hope - quietly - that the IDF would invade the Gaza Strip and overthrow the Hamas regime. Within Hamas, differences of opinion have surfaced over whether to accept the Egyptian initiative and under what conditions. Some Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, have been strongly pushing for accepting the Israeli conditions, first and foremost that abducted IDF soldier Gilad Schalit be part of a cease-fire deal. Other Hamas leaders, however, including Khaled Mashaal, Mahmoud Zahar and Said Siam, continue to insist that the case of Schalit be dealt with only after the truce goes into effect. And then there are Hamas`s problems with other armed Palestinian factions. At least three groups - Islamic Jihad, Fatah`s Aksa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Resistance Committees - continue to express reservations about the Egyptian plan. Some Hamas leaders are worried that their movement won`t be able to persuade the three groups to honor a cease-fire agreement with Israel. "Even if Hamas accepts the truce plan, there is no guarantee that it would be able to enforce its will on the other groups operating in the Gaza Strip," said a Palestinian political analyst in Ramallah. "We will find ourselves going back to the days when Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas were in control of the Gaza Strip but were unable to stop the rocket attacks." Continuation... |
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