Israel Matzav

Fatah: Hamas ready to accept a deal in Gaza

HaAretz is reporting that 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah is claiming that a deal has been reached among the 'Palestinian' groups through Egyptian mediation that will see kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit released and a cessation of rocket fire into Israel in exchange for Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza and stopping targeted assassinations. The Egyptians will 'guarantee' the 'Palestinians' that Israel will release prisoners terrorists at a later date.

But according to HaAretz, it is not clear whether Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader in Damascus, will sanction the Egyptian-brokered deal.

The deal also includes the establishment of a 'national unity' government.

Abu Mazen met with Hamas parliament members and leaders in Gaza, urging them to accept the deal before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival this week.

According to HaAretz, most Palestinian factions, including the Hamas leadership, agreed to the deal in principle, but argued that Israel is not ready for a cease-fire as long as Shalit is held captive. Fatah's leadership also rejects a unilateral cease-fire at this stage. I have no idea what these two sentences mean - I just copied them from HaAretz. After all, Shalit's release is supposed to be part of the deal. "The Hamas leadership" probably refers to the local leadership in Gaza and not to Khaled Meshaal. And I'm not sure what they mean by rejecting a unilateral cease fire - that's essentially what they're proposing since Israel has not been a party to these negotiations.

But here's the interesting part because it could symbolize a coming break of the local Hamas leadership in Gaza from Khaled Meshaal and Iran:

Hamas leaders in Gaza are interested in separating the negotiations over the Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit from Hezbollah's negotiations over Lebanese prisoners. [Dr Salah al-] Bardawil [Head of the Hamas 'parliamentary faction'] stressed that there is no cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah about the prisoner exchange negotiations.

"We don't intend to reach a joint deal. Hezbollah entered the picture after Hamas was already in it, they want their prisoners and we have ours," he said.

It is not clear whether Meshal is also in favor of a separate Hamas deal with Israel.

Fatah sources said that Hamas' Gaza leadership does not want its name mixed up with the fighting in Lebanon, especially in view of the sharp international criticism of Hezbollah.

Hamas leaders believe Hezbollah has harmed the Palestinian cause by its actions and are striving to reach a separate deal with Israel.

However, Fatah officials are doubtful about the chances of reaching an agreement, due to the unclarity of the position of Hamas' overseas leadership, headed by Meshal.

If the Iranians lose Hamas due to Hezbullah's actions, that could be a big blow.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:48 AM