Middle East - Report: Hamas political wing for end of war
After more than two months of war in the Gaza Strip, differences are increasingly emerging within the leadership of the Islamist Hamas over the future course of action, according to a media report.
While the military arm of Hamas under the leadership of Jihia Sinwar continues to fight with Israel's army, representatives of the political arm of Hamas are talking about an end to the war and with Palestinian rivals about the time afterwards, according to a report in the "Wall Street Journal". "We want the war to end," Husam Badran, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told the newspaper in Doha.
Talks about the time afterwards
"We are not just fighting because we want to fight. We are not supporters of a zero-sum game," Badran told the newspaper on the outskirts of the Qatari capital. While the political leadership of Hamas based there is now holding talks with its Palestinian rivals about how the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank should be governed after the end of the war, the militant arm under Sinwar continues to wage war in Gaza. Such negotiations threatened to turn into a conflict with Sinwar's militant wing, it was said.
"We want to establish a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem," Badran told the newspaper. The Hamas leader's remarks marked a clear turnaround from October 7, when the militant wing led a massacre in Israel. More than 1200 people were killed on the Israeli side. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has already risen to almost 20,000 since the start of the war.
The USA's plan
The USA is banking on a revitalized and reshaped Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the period after the Gaza war. The USA wants the PA, which governs the West Bank, to take back control of the Gaza Strip. Israel rejects this and accuses it of supporting terror. Hamas forcibly expelled the PA from the coastal strip in 2007.
Abbas heads the PA as well as the secular Fatah faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Fatah and Hamas are the two largest Palestinian organizations - and bitter rivals. Some representatives of the Fatah party had expressed understanding for Hamas' terrorist attacks in Israel. There have been reconciliation talks between the two groups for several years.
The most recent talks between the political leadership of Hamas and Fatah had led to tensions with Sinwar, it was said. Sinwar did not want Hamas to continue to rule Gaza, but believed that the war was not yet lost. It was too early for a compromise.
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- Despite the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, representatives of Hamas' political wing are discussing an end to the war with their Palestinian rivals, as reported in the "Wall Street Journal."
- The future governance of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is a topic of discussion between Hamas' political leadership and their Palestinian rivals, according to the media report.
- Husam Badran, a member of Hamas' political bureau, stated in Doha that they want an end to the Gaza war, and their goal is to establish a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Jerusalem.
- The USA is hoping for a revitalized Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas to regain control of the Gaza Strip after the war, but Israel rejects this plan and accuses the PA of supporting terror.
- The Hamas-led militant wing in Gaza continues to engage in warfare against Israel's army, creating tension with the political wing that is negotiating with Palestinian rivals.
- The Gaza war has resulted in over 20,000 Palestinians killed, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities, and Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive following a series of terrorist attacks.
- The leadership of Hamas in Gaza is facing internal divisions over the future course of action, with some advocating for an end to the war and others believing that the conflict is not yet lost.
Source: www.stern.de
