PLO official explains speed of reconciliation in exclusive interview with Arab News

Mahmoud Ismael

AMMAN: A senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official has argued that the sudden collapse of the Hamas movement in Gaza is due to regional shifts and a new Middle East order.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Mahmoud Ismael, a veteran member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said that the speed of the reconciliation was due to the new order in the region. “There is a new regional order that everyone must be aware of,” he said by phone from Ramallah.
Ismael, the deputy secretary-general of the pro-Iraqi Baathist Arab Liberation Front, says that the foundations for this new order began with the American-led invasion of Iraq and has culminated with the events in Syria and the arrival of the Trump administration.
“The fall of Iraq brought sectarianism and division to us and rocked the entire region,” he said.
Ismael pointed to the visit of Saudi King Salman to Moscow as the culminating event that will translate to major changes on the ground. “When King Salman met Putin in Moscow they announced their support for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which was initially put forward by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.”
It is within these regional developments that the PLO official views the reconciliation effort and the speed at which Hamas has fallen in line. “After 10 years of a siege by Israel and Egypt, we are now seeing the results of the creative chaos that was promised by the Americans under the Bush administration.”
The senior PLO official told Arab News that the Egyptians had been asked to take care of the Palestinian issue. “Egypt is directly hurt by Hamas and its national security, especially in Sinai, is threatened by their continued rule over Gaza,” Ismael said.
Ismael, a veteran of the PLO and a close confidante of the Palestinian president, said that after US President Donald Trump took over, Mahmoud Abbas read the regional map correctly and moved at the right time against Hamas in Gaza. “President Abbas understood that Palestine needed to be part of the new regional order and for that to happen, it had to be able to represent all Palestinians, both geographically and politically.”
The veteran PLO official argues that the split in Gaza was not simply a Hamas versus Fatah problem but had many regional sponsors which delayed and put obstacles in the way of reconciliation. “These sponsors have been weakened since Trump took over and the road was paved for the Palestinian leadership to move into Gaza with the support of Egypt.”
Arab countries entrusted Egypt with the matter and the timing of the reconciliation came quickly after Qatar and Turkey, the remaining sponsors of Hamas, were isolated by Arab countries and the US. “What has been taking place in the last few months has not taken the PLO by surprise; we have been expecting the breakdown (of Hamas) and have tried to be ready when it occurred.”
When Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas tightened the pressure on Gaza, Ismael said, some low-level Arab, American and European officials started to complain to Abbas, but the Palestinian president had a much wider view of the entire picture and stayed on course until the reconciliation was complete.
Ismael expects that there will be some obstacles on the way to full reconciliation but is certain that they will be overcome. “There will be problems and obstacles, but we are moving in the direction of having one government, one arm, and one leadership for both Gaza and the West Bank and no one will stop this effort.”
He said municipal elections might take place soon in Gaza and that the Palestine National Council (PNC) will convene “within a year” and will be able to unite all Palestinians following presidential and parliamentary elections that will take place prior to the convening of the PNC.