The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, is being accused by Israel of working hand-in-glove with the self-ascribed Islamic State (IS) or Daesh launching attacks on Egyptian Security Forces in the northern Sinai Peninsula. At the same time, reports suggest that Daesh has announced that it is working to takeover Gaza, which means the truth is clouded by confusing media messages.
Hamas denies both charges; its claim supported by its actions against the Omar Brigades — a militant group that has pledged its allegiance to Daes — and is accused of firing rockets at Israel thus risking retaliation, which would be devastating for the citizens of Gaza struggling to recover from last year’s Israeli onslaught.
The Omar Brigades accuses Hamas of being too soft and of abandoning the path of resistance. A video disseminated by Daesh shows a masked man swearing to “uproot the state of the Jews and you and Fatah, and all of the secularists are nothing and you will be over-run by our creeping multitudes…We swear that what is happening in the Levant today, and in particular, the Yarmouk Camp will happen in Gaza.”
Hamas has arrested hundreds in response to a series of bombings. However, despite the efforts of Hamas’ to control the situation, Israel still holds Hamas accountable for the rockets that are coming its way.
Moreover, Israel’s well-oiled propaganda ministry has gone into overdrive with announcements that Hamas supplied weapons and logistical support to an Al- Qaeda-inspired terrorist organization, known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis before it opted to become the Sinai branch of Daesh.
Yoav Mordechai, an Israel army official, says Israel has proof that named Hamas commanders played an active role in the July 1 attacks on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai that ended the lives of 17 and smuggled wounded militants into Gaza.
Hamas denies any such involvement; its Political Bureau’s Deputy Chairman, Moussa Abu Marzouk has condemned the attacks as “detrimental to the security of Palestinians, especially those living in Gaza since Sinai is the only exit for Gaza residents.” Relations between Hamas and Egypt (frozen when a Cairo Court declared Hamas “terrorist,” a ruling that was later overturned) have recently improved,” he maintains.
In spite of Israel’s best efforts to portray Hamas and the Daesh as one, few are buying it when a Daesh affiliate is challenging Hamas within Gaza while its Syrian HQ is threatening to takeover the Strip.
Marzouk definitely has a point. If Israel’s accusations were found to be true, Cairo would seal the Rafah crossing for the foreseeable future and current attempts by Egypt and its western partners to revive the close-to-death peace process would be hobbled.
Hamas is also coming in for a battering on the West Bank where its relations with Fatah have soured to an all-time low. In recent days, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has arrested over 120 individuals, most members of Hamas or sympathizers, due to concerns they were planning attacks on Israeli settlers among others
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority declared that the West Bank would not be allowed to “disintegrate into carnage and wars just because Hamas wants escalation.”
It appears that reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is further away than ever even though the feuding factions signed an agreement last year as a precursor to a power sharing deal.
Hamas charges the PA of giving in to Israel’s security demands and accuses President Mahmoud Abbas of working on Israel’s behalf while pledging to continue its attacks against “Israeli occupiers in the West Bank.”
When Hamas is running out of friends in the immediate neighborhood and is being targeted by Daesh, its ability to serve the long-suffering people of Gaza is severely hampered. As a political party that swept to victory in the free and fair 2006 parliamentary elections, it never had a chance from the start. The international community, that congratulated Palestinians for pursuing a democratic path, promptly punished them for their choice by isolating Gaza and cutting off funding.
Furthermore, although many would hail its set-in-stone policy of resisting Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, it isn’t powerful enough to be effective, and tragically, Palestinian civilians have been made to pay the price. For the sake of all Palestinians and the remaining fragile hopes for a two-state solution, Hamas should evaluate whether or not its stances have borne fruit and be open to change else the people of Gaza are destined to more of the same – or worse.
