Haniyeh: 'We had the global media eating out of our hands'
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh tells al-Jazeera Arabic that Hamas controlled the media narrative in Operation Protective Edge.
Let's go to the videotape. More after the video.
It was most definitely not the case that Israelis believed Hamas' narrative over the one presented by our own media. However, unfortunately, with respect to the international media (especially in the West), he is largely correct.
Labels: anti-Israel media bias, foreign media, Gaza, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Operation Protective Edge
'Palestinians' voting Hamas
A new 'Palestinian' poll says that if elections were held today, Hamas would win. In fact, they would
win by even more in Judea and Samaria than in Gaza.
PSR observes that, “as we saw in previous instances during and
immediately after Israeli wars with Hamas, findings show a spike in the
popularity of Hamas and its leaders.” PSR adds:
It is worth noting that the size of the change in favor
of Hamas is unprecedented since 2006. Indeed, if presidential elections
were to take place today, Ismail Haniyeh would easily win over Abbas and
Hamas would win the largest percentage of the popular vote in
parliamentary elections. … Indeed, an overwhelming majority of West
Bankers wants to transfer “Hamas’ way” to the West Bank and rejects the
demand to disarm the Islamist group or to disband the other Gazan armed
groups. Findings also indicate that the public see Iran, Turkey, and
Qatar as the most instrumental in supporting Hamas and helping Gazans
remain steadfast against the Israeli attacks. By contrast, Egypt’s role
is seen as week and unhelpful. Indeed, a majority believes that Egypt
played a negative role in the ceasefire negotiations.
The Times of Israel provides some numbers and related context:
That change is clear in the approval ratings given to
Hamas and its leaders compared to those given to the Palestinian
Authority. Hamas received 88% approval for its performance during the
war, and its political chief Khaled Mashaal won 78% approval. The
Palestinian Authority came in significantly lower, with just 36%
approval; its leaders, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami
Hamdallah, received 39% and 35%, respectively. …
Paradoxically, and worryingly for Israel, Hamas received higher
support in the PA-controlled West Bank than it did in Gaza. The poll
found that if elections were held today, former Hamas prime minister
Ismail Haniyeh would easily defeat Abbas with 61% of the popular vote
versus 32%. Sixty-six percent of respondents in the West Bank said they
supported Haniyeh, compared to 53% in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank,
Abbas received just 25% approval, as opposed to 43% in Gaza. Overall
support for the Palestinian Authority president plummeted 11% points in
two months, from 50% in June to 39% in August, the poll found
The Times also notes that this is the first time that Hamas leader
Ismail Haniyeh outpolled convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti, with the
former favored by 49% to 45% for the presidency of the Palestinian
Authority.
Well, at least this ensures that there won't be 'Palestinian elections' for a while.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Fatah, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Marwan Barghouti, Palestinian elections, Palestinian polls
Today's edition of separated at birth....
Heh (Hat Tip:
Yonatan H).
Labels: humor, Ismail Haniyeh
Hamas leaders at odds over 'cease fire'
The
split between Hamas' leadership in Gaza and its political leaders in Qatar that manifested itself during Operation Protective Edge is continuing (Hat Tip:
Honest Reporting).
Unlike the Gaza leader and former Hamas Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh, Mashaal has not welcomed the cease-fire and according to
some reports he has been telling his associates that the cease-fire
underscored a colossal failure on the part of Hamas. Mashaal's deputy,
Moussa Abu Marzouk, who is close to the Egyptian regime, has sided with
Haniyeh in the ongoing internal feud.
Only several thousand Palestinians attended a
Hamas rally celebrating the cease-fire on Wednesday, a significant drop
compared to the celebration following other rounds of hostilities. "The
Palestinian resistance, its courage and determination surprised the
Zionist occupation forces," Haniyeh told the Gazan crowds. "No words can
truly capture the scope of the victory; it is beyond time and space,"
he continued. "This campaign is not like any war we have seen in this
conflict with our enemy," he said.
This was the first time Haniyeh appeared in
public in more than 50 days, having chosen to lay low during Operation
Protective Edge. According to unverified reports, Haniyeh was admitted
to a Gaza hospital on Wednesday.
A senior Gazan official told the Arab media outlets
Wednesday that in light of significant damage to schools, there was a
real possibility that the start of the school year would be delayed. He
said many schools had been damaged and those that have remained in tact
were now occupied by displaced Gazans. A senior Palestinian official
told Israel Hayom on Tuesday that it would take at least 10 to 15 years
to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
The rumor is that Haniyeh had a heart attack and is back in Shifa where he's been for the last seven weeks. Poetic justice.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Operation Protective Edge
Captured terrorist: 'Everyone knows Hamas leadership under Haniyeh hiding in Shifa Hospital'
The Shin Bet (General Security Service) has published interviews that it has done with Hamas terrorists who were captured during Operation Protective Edge. It has also taken the unusual step of
publishing their names.
The ISA said that interrogation of captives taken in Operation
Protective Edge gave a “somewhat disturbing” picture of Hamas's use of
civilians and public buildings to carry out military activity, “out of
an assumption that Israel will avoid hitting them.”
In an unusual step, the ISA quoted captives and provided their names.
Abd el-Rahman Baalusha from Khan Yunis said that the mosques Al-Safa
and Al-Abra in Gaza City serve as staging and gathering points for
terrorists.
Two captives from Bayt Lahya, Afif Jarah and Amad Jarah, said that an
attack tunnel from a Bedouin village was dug from a point adjacent to a
kindergarten. In case of a successful operation to abduct an Israeli,
the abductee was to be broguht to the kindergarten and taken elsewhere
from there.
Muhammad Kadra of Khan Yunis told interrogators that “everybody
knows” that the Hamas leadership in Gaza under Ismail Haniyeh is hiding
out inside Shifa Hospital, apparently in an area that is out of bounds
to ordinary civilians.
If Netanyahu wants to raise his rating from
38% back to 82%, going after that area of Shifa Hospital would go a long way.
Labels: Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Operation Protective Edge, Shifa Hospital, Shin Bet
Report: 3 Hamas commanders were in a tunnel 30 meters underground when they were killed
If you have any doubts that Thursday's hit of three senior Hamas commanders in Gaza indicates that Israeli intelligence has
penetrated to the highest levels of the Hamas command, read the article below in conjunction with the tweet above from Khaled Abu Toameh.
This was not just another strike, not just
another assassination. The killing of the three constituted an
indication that something in the intelligence discipline at the very top
of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades has cracked.
The Shin Bet, as the intelligence behind the
strike, and the IDF, as the operational arm, targeted the trio in a
building in a crowded Rafah neighborhood on one of the heaviest days of
fighting thus far. Thus this was a very different strike from the one at
the start of the Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 when the
Hamas military commander, Ahmed Jabari, was assassinated in a surprise
attack that marked the beginning of that operation. Given that the
fighting had re-escalated since Tuesday, and that Israel was known to be
trying to hit the Hamas military leadership, the three had taken every
possible precaution to evade Israeli intelligence. Those precautions
simply were not good enough.
It can be assumed that whether or not Muhammad
Deif is still alive, those members of the Hamas military leadership who
have survived are now desperately trying to figure out what went wrong.
How could it be that after long weeks in which Israel was unable to get
to any of the heads of the military wing, now, within 48 hours, the
Shin Bet located one of Deif’s hideouts and killed three other members
of the Hamas general staff?
It should be stressed again: Two of the three
were not mere senior commanders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Muhammad Abu Shamala, the “head of the southern command” and Raed
al-Attar, the commander of the Rafah area, were part of the founding
generation of the Hamas military wing — along with Deif and several
others who are no longer with us, including Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh and Emad
Akel. They were among Deif’s closest brothers-in-arms — long-term
veterans with experience and knowledge that cannot be easily replaced.
Abu Shamala and al-Attar are tied to almost
every major attack in and from the Rafah area since 2001. These include
the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit on a tunnel raid into Israel in which two
other soldiers were killed, and even the killing of 16 Egyptian
soldiers on the Gaza-Sinai-Israel border two years ago. Thus the two had
tangled not only with Israel, but also with Egypt, which knew of their
ties to terrorist organizations in the Sinai.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Gaza, Hamas, intelligence, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mohammed Deif
Hamas breaks cease fire
The alarms started sounding again shortly after 9:00 this evening as Hamas violated the cease fire (which was supposed to end at Midnight) by firing rockets into southern Israel. The Israeli delegation has left the Cairo talks (which once again went nowhere) and returned home. It looks like
the war is starting up again.
Sirens sounded in southern Israel after 9:00 p.m. and at least
one rocket that was fired from Gaza exploded harmlessly in the Hof
Ashkelon area. Sirens were reported in Hof Ashkelon, Lachish, and the
Eshkol regions, as Hamas terrorists broke the truce with Israel more
than two hours before it was scheduled to end.
A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said however that Hamas did not fire any rockets at Israel.
MK Motti Yogev (Jewish Home) said following the renewed fire
from Gaza that Israel must “Hit Hamas with all our might, until it
screams.”
MK Danny Danon (Likud) said: “Stop stuttering, eliminate the heads of Hamas.”
Thousands of IDF reservists were deployed to the Gaza front Wednesday, reported Israel Hayom,
which said that the deployment is in preparation for a possible
resumption of hostilities.
In addition, reported the daily, hundreds of
other reservists were told to prepare for possible deployment later
tonight.
The IDF says the reservists deployed to Gaza Wednesday are simply replacing other troops who are going home.
Arutz Sheva has learned that many of the reservists who were sent home from Gaza are still on call and can be redeployed at short notice.
Arab sources gave contradictory reports on progress at the Cairo
ceasefire talks in which Israel and Hamas are negotiating indirectly
through Egyptian mediators.
The Israeli delegation to the talks flew home Wednesday evening. The
Palestinian team is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 p.m.
local time.
But that press conference was
postponed indefinitely.
However, the press conference was postponed until further notice, apparently at the request of the Egyptians.
Palestinian sources said the Egyptians were exerting heavy pressure on the Palestinian team to accept the proposal so as to allow more time to achieve a long-term cease-fire.
Earlier, the sources said that the Palestinian delegation might lave Cairo in wake of the failure of the cease-fire talks.
The sources quoted members of the Palestinian delegation as saying that little progress has been achieved so far in the last three days.
Meanwhile, a Hamas website reported that talks in Cairo had hit obstacles and Palestinian delegates were preparing to leave.
According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli team returned home earlier Wednesday evening from the indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital.
Former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that a any permanent cease-fire with Israel should include the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“The sacrifices of our people don’t allow for compromises on the rights and demands of the Palestinians,” Haniyeh said.
He expressed support for the Palestinian team in Cairo and urged its members not to “succumb to blackmail.”
Haniyeh’s statements were broadcast on Hamas’ Aqsa TV station shortly before the expiration of the cease-fire at Wednesday midnight.
Also on Wednesday, the United States said it wanted a long-term cease-fire secured between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but will settle for an extension of the current, short-term truce if a larger accord cannot be reached tonight among negotiators in Cairo.
US President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu by phone on Wednesday to express that message, urging the Israeli premier to seal a deal that would end the violence, after a month-long war led to extensive destruction in the Gaza Strip.
Where did Haniyeh make this statement? From the safety of his bunker under Shifa Hospital. What a coward standing behind women and children to shield himself below ground. And by the way, why is Obama
suddenly telling us 'make peace no matter what the cost? Why should we?
Sorry for all the quiet this afternoon. I had a lot of work, then dinner with some friends this evening, and now I am totally wiped out (about three hours of sleep every night this week).
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Operation Protective Edge
Marzouk, Meshaal and Haniyeh lead Hamas billionaires
I meant to post this when it came out and got too involved in other things. Fortunately, I saw it again today. Hamas' leaders - who are either hiding in Qatar or in a bunker under Gaza City's Shifa Hospital have
gotten rich from their activities in Hamas. Far richer than you or I could possibly ever hope to be.
Col. (res.) Dr. Moshe Elad, a lecturer in the Middle East Department
of the Western Galilee Academic College, who served in senior positions
in the territories for 30 years, is attempting to answer these
questions.
"The vast majority of Hamas founders and leaders were
refugees or second generation refugees, and some of them were the
product of marriages between Egyptians and Palestinians. They had no
money at all. When they and Hamas were just starting out, the
organization (not in its own name) was nurtured by the Israeli military
government, which fostered the Islamic associations working in the Gaza
Strip as a counterweight to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Their phenomenal wealth started accumulating when they decided to
disassociate themselves from Israel and search for alternative financing
sources."
Elad explains that the money came from two directions:
"Legacies from the deceased; money from charity funds; a donation
called zaka, one of the six pillars of Islam; and donations from various
countries. It started with Syria and Saudi Arabia, with Iran added
later and becoming one of Hamas's biggest supporters, and ended with
Qatar, which has now taken Iran's place."
Together with the
donations from various countries, fundraisers began operating in the US
to collect money for Hamas. Here, the Hamas leaders began to get their
hands on some really big money. "One of those fundraisers was Dr. Musa
Abu Marzook, the number 2 man in Hamas," Elad says. "At the beginning of
the 1990s, he began a fundraising campaign in the US among wealthy
Muslims, while at the same time founding several banking enterprises. He
himself became a conglomerate of 10 financial enterprises giving loans
and making financial investments. He's an amazing financier."
The
US administration ordered Marzook's arrest in 1995 on charges of
supporting terrorism. After he spent two years in a US prison, it was
decided to expel him without trial. He kept the money. "When he was
expelled from the US in 1997, he was already worth several million
dollars," Elad says, adding, "Somehow he evaded the clutches of the US
Internal Revenue Service and was not charged with financing terrorism.
People in the know say he probably became connected to the
administration and cooperated with it. There is no proof, but it's hard
to think of any other reason why he escaped punishment for such serious
offenses. In 2001, in the investigation of the September 11 events, it
turned out that he had extensive financial connections with Al Qaeda,
including the transfer of funds to the 21 Al Qaeda operatives accused of
the attacks."
Today, Marzook is considered one of Hamas's
wealthiest billionaires. "Arab sources estimate his wealth at $2-3
billion," Elad says.
Another Hamas leader-turned-tycoon is Khaled
Mashaal. "Estimates around the world are that Mashaal is currently
worth $2.6 billion, but the numbers mentioned by the Arab commentators
(based on their many sources) are much higher, varying from $2-5 billion
invested in Egyptian and Persian Gulf banks, and some in real estate
projects in the Persian Gulf countries," Elad adds.
The next
tycoon on the list is Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. "He is a
scion of a family from the Al-Shati refugee camp, and his capital is
estimated at $4 million," Elad says, adding, "He registered most of his
assets in the Gaza Strip in the name of his son-in-law, Nabil, and in
the name of a dozen of his sons and daughters and a few less well known
Hamas leaders. They all have homes in good neighborhoods in the Gaza
Strip, where the value of every home is at least $1 million."
Thank you Bill Clinton (it was Clinton who released Marzouk).
Read the whole thing.
Labels: follow the money, Gaza, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mousa Abu Marzouk
Report: Netanyahu vetoed targeting Hamas leaders
Prime Minister Netanyahu
vetoed targeted attacks on Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmud a-Zahar according to a report in Yisrael Hayom.
According to the newspaper, Lapid said that the IDF should “take down
the heads of Hamas,” including Hamas-Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh and the
head of the organization's political bureau, Khaled Meshaal.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Chairman of Yisrael Beytenu) and
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Chairman of Jewish Home) supported
the idea.
The prime minister opposed it.
It was decided instead to bomb the homes of the Hamas leaders even though it is known that they are not residing in them.
Diplomatic sources explained that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
wants to behave in a more “measured” way, “in order to give Israel
international maneuvering room.”
Netanyahu ordered the elimination of Meshaal by poison in Jordan in
September, 1997, but the assassination bid failed. Jordanian security
forces arrested two of the Israeli agents involved and the Mossad team
found itself trapped in Amman. Israel ended up supplying an antidote to
the poison that was killing Meshaal and freeing 70 jailed terrorists,
including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas.
I think Netanyahu is spooked because of the Meshaal thing seventeen years ago. IDF helicopters eventually took care of Yassin.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mahmoud al-Zahar, targeted killings
Ismail Haniyeh's new dining room
This is likely former Hamas 'Prime Minister' and Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh's new dining room, after the IAF - finally -
took care of his house on Monday night.
Israeli aircraft hit the home of Hamas's top leader in Gaza, Ismail
Haniyeh, inside the Shati region of Gaza on Monday night, his son said.
"The Israeli enemy struck our house twice," Abed Salam Haniyeh said in a statement quoted by AFP.
The Reuters news agency quoted Gaza’s interior ministry as having said that the airstrike caused damage but no casualties.
An IDF spokeswoman had no information on the report but was checking for details.
Maybe Haniyeh should just get a real job. I hear there's an Emir in the Gulf looking for a driver.
Heh.
Labels: Emir of Qatar, Gaza, Hamas, IAF, Ismail Haniyeh, Operation Protective Edge
Phase 3: The end of Hamas
The IDF may soon move into Phase 3 of Operation Protective Edge, which would mean
the systematic destruction of all of Hamas' military assets.
But Hamas’s leadership structure – Khaled Mashaal in Qatar
and Ismail Haniyeh (head of the political wing) and Muhammad Deif
(commander of the military wing) in Gaza have taken the decision to
continue to confront Israel.
By doing so, the leaders are
inviting Israel to launch the third phase of the offensive, and to lose
any control of when Israel ceases its large-scale military offensive
against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas has lost more than half of its
rocket arsenal through Israeli air strikes and depletion from its own
use. Should Israel launch its third phase, deterrence will become a
secondary goal, and the IDF will be instructed to attack and destroy
Hamas’s military assets all over Gaza.
Although the targets of
such a phase are unknown, it would not be unreasonable to assume they
would include Hamas’s senior military leadership structure, the
remainder of its weapons factories and rocket stockpiles, regime
buildings, Hamas posts, and large swaths of its territorial divisions
and battalions.
That would necessitate a deeper presence of ground forces inside Gaza, and a further, controlled escalation of the conflict.
Hamas
could hope to stay on its feet and be able to fire rockets until the
last day of the war, thereby claiming a hollow “victory.” But that
assumption ignores the very real possibility that Hamas’s military wing
may be dismembered by the end of the conflict.
Faster, faster....
Labels: Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mohammed Deif, Operation Protective Edge
Unbiased headlining, al-Reuters style
This is what al-Reuters considers
an unbiased headline (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum):
Israel pounds Gaza despite international peace efforts
Excuse me? Israel has accepted every cease fire offered over the last two weeks. Hamas has refused every one. Within the last hour, Israel Radio reported that John Kerry has given up and that Ban Ki-Moon is about to admit that the reason there is no cease fire is because Hamas is not backing off demands that would turn a rout into a victory and make Israel pay a penalty for winning.
So Israel continues to pound Hamas in the hope that it will agree to a cease fire (or will lose all of its strategic assets if it fails to do so), and al-Reuters makes it sound like we should stop fighting and wait for Hamas to come to terms?
Parts of the article aren't much better. The headline reflects the tone of the article. And that is precisely the problem. You would have no clue from reading the article that the reason that there is no cease fire is that the Hamas leadership in Gaza - safely ensconced in its bunker underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City - does not want one. They would rather fight to the last civilian. But don't expect Reuters to clue you in on that.
Shameful. Absolutely shameful.
Labels: Ban Ki-Moon, cease fire, civilian casualties, Gaza, Gaza City, Hamas, human shields, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, John Kerry, Operation Protective Edge, Shifa Hospital
Oh my... Egypt refuses to add Hamas' 'ridiculous' conditions to cease fire arrangement
The number in the picture is surely incorrect by now but you get the idea.
With a 'humanitarian cease fire' rumored (unconfirmed) to be going into effect from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm today, Hamas is holding up a real ease fire by demands that are far beyond what's been reported in the media and that are so '
ridiculous' that
Egypt refuses to put them in the agreement.
Hamas, which has rejected not one, but three separate ceasefire
attempts, called on Israel over the past week to submit to a number of
'conditions' - or demands - in return for an end to the violence against
Israelis. The calls were accompanied by threats against the Israeli
people, made through a series of weakly-worded text messages.
These 'conditions' include, among other things, greater access to
international waters, reopening of border crossings, and relaxation of
trade restrictions; release of terrorists who were re-arrested during
and after Operation Brother's Keeper earlier this month; and the
possibility of constructing an international airport from Gaza. Israel
rejects these demands for their potential to re-arm Hamas and enable it
to make stronger ties with its Iranian and Arabian contacts.
According to Tuesday's report, Palestinian Authority (PA)
"Intelligence Chief" General Majid Faraj and representatives of Egypt
met late Monday night to discuss a possible deal.
Faraj, who attended the meeting in Qatar between the head of
the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshaal and PA Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas, left hastily after the Cairo meeting.
Sources close to the negotiations claimed to the Israeli daily
that Hamas's demands are even more than what was leaked to the media
last week, and are so pretentious that even Egypt has balked at adding
them to terms of the deal.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports continue to circulate Tuesday morning
that yet another "humanitarian ceasefire" has been called for a
five-hour period, between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm.
It should be noted that Israel has denied these rumors, and has not
admitted to being in cease-fire talks with Hamas in any event. However,
the existence of indirect contacts, through mediators, is undeniable.
This has been the Arabs' problem since the War of Independence. They have lost every war, and then they expect to be treated as if they were a victor making conditions of surrender. Yes, they've lost again. But we're happy to keep going until their entire terror infrastructure is destroyed and the Hamas leadership is killed. And no one can say that we kept the war going.
What could go wrong?
Labels: cease fire, civilian casualties, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, human shields, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Shejaiya, terror tunnels
Egyptian TV Hosts Slam Hamas Leaders: We Are Sick and Tired of You
This is a great video - I actually sent it to MEMRI and asked them to translate it.
Let's go to the videotape.
Labels: Egypt, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Operation Protective Edge
Until the next coup
Hamas 'President' Ismail Haniyeh and his 'cabinet' have
resigned to make way for the 'unity government.'
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his "cabinet" in Gaza have resigned, Hamas spokeswoman Israa al-Mudallal said, "paving the way for the new ministers of the consensus government."
Haniyeh welcomed the new cabinet as "a government of one people and one political system."
"We're leaving the government, but not the nation. We're leaving the ministries but not the question of the nation," Haniyeh said in a televised speech.
...
Haniyeh's step down, meanwhile, is a dramatic about-face, after Hamas was adamant over
its full control of a "unity" government, expressing over and over
again that it would remain in control of both Gaza and the PA after
elections and insisting that Haniyeh would rule the government.
More recently, Hamas announced that any "unity" government would be unequivocally subject to their approval before being established.
The group’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel, and at least one top official has ruled out the possibility that Hamas will recognize “the Zionist entity,” even after the unity pact with Fatah.
Until the next coup.... So when will Rami Hamdullah be visiting Gaza? Heh.
Labels: coup d'etat, Gaza, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Ismail Haniyeh, Rami Hamdullah
US 'changing its position' on Hamas-Fatah unity deal?
You didn't really think that a little thing like a
pact with the devil was going to stop President Hussein Obama from talking to the 'Palestinians' did you?
Abu Marzouk also revealed that Hamas recently held talks with the European Union (EU) and an unofficial American representative.
Hamas officials "sensed a change in the American position," he said - hinting that the US is becoming more open to the idea of a Hamas-led "unity" Palestinian Arab government. A senior US administration official had said last month that the United States would have to reconsider its assistance to PA if Fatah and Hamas form a government together.
Hamas officials, meanwhile, continue to debate over how the unity
pact will affect the "struggle against the Occupation." Abu Marzouk
stated that "there is a need to diversify" Hamas's approach to the
"Palestinian problem," but Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh disagrees.
Haniyeh stressed over the weekend that an armed struggle is the only relevant answer to establishing a Palestinian Arab state.
"Reconciliation comes only to strengthen and maintain the armed
struggle to deter the ongoing occupation, and the crimes that harm our
people," Haniyeh claimed, in a speech Saturday to a Gaza mosque. He
reiterated Hamas's commitment to "restore the liberation of Jerusalem
from the taint of occupation."
What could go wrong?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Ismail Haniyeh, Mousa Abu Marzouk, US foreign policy
President of 'Palestine'?
A 'Palestinian' poll shows that murderer Marwan Barghouti would handily win 'Palestinian elections' against either '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen or Hamas 'President' Ismail Haniyeh. The poll also shows that Barghouti's and Mazen's
Fatah terror organization would defeat the Hamas terror organization in 'elections.'
The poll, was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion
(PCPO) among 1015 residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza with a 3% margin
of error.
Barghouti is currently serving multiple life sentences in an
Israeli prison for his role planning numerous deadly terrorist attacks.
The poll found that if he was free, he would enjoy an advantage in the
race for president, regardless of who he was matched against.
When posed against Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas, 33% said they would vote for Barghouti with 29% going for Abbas.
Likewise, when compared against Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Barghouti
bagged almost 50%, with Haniyeh at a mere 16%.
PCPO president and founder Nabil Kukali, ignoring Barghouti's lethal terrorism, remarked "it's time that Mr. Barghouti should be released from prison to give him the opportunity to contest the elections."
Abbas in March demanded Barghouti's release as a condition of the
peace talks, in what was speculated as indicating that Abbas, whose term
in office ended in January 2009, saw the arch-terrorist as his successor.
The poll also compared Fatah, the faction of Abbas and Barghouti, and Hamas, which violently forced Fatah out of Gaza in 2007.
According to the results Fatah would get 39% of the vote, with Hamas
far behind at 15%. 80% of respondents felt elections would "certainly"
or "likely" be held within six months of the unity government's
formation.
It's surreal to even be talking about this as if it's going to happen. What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Ismail Haniyeh, Marwan Barghouti, Palestinian elections, Palestinian polls
Breaking: PLO and Hamas announce agreement
Note that it's the PLO and not the 'Palestinian Authority.' That technicality may be jumped on in an attempt to salvage the 'peace process' with Israel. Hamas and the PLO have signed a '
reconciliation agreement.'
The move envisions forming a unity government within five weeks and
holding national elections six months after a vote of confidence by the
Palestinian parliament.
Previous agreements to form unity governments between the factions have failed to bear fruit.
...
The two sides were also discussing details of potential presidential
elections, parliamentary elections and the reconstruction of the PLO.
Anyone know how to watch the State Department briefings before they get posted on the web page (which happens after 11:00 pm here)?
What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Ismail Haniyeh, Middle East peace process, PLO
'Me or Haniyeh'
With reports indicating that there could be a
Hamas-Fatah unity government within five weeks, Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen that he faces a choice:
Netanyahu or Haniyeh.
Netanyahu, at the outset of a meeting in his office with visiting
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, said that instead of moving
peace forward with Israel, Abbas is moving toward reconciliation with
Hamas.
"He must choose," Netanyahu said. "Does he want reconciliation with
Hamas, or peace with Israel? Only one is attainable, not both. I hope he
chooses peace, until now he has not done so."
Regarding efforts
to negotiate a continuation of the diplomatic talks with the
Palestinians beyond their April 29 deadline, Netanyahu said that every
time the sides get close, Abbas adds new conditions "knowing that Israel
cannot accept them."
Let's go to the videotape.
But for now at least, Abu Mazen seems
much more interested in Hamas.
Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a unity government within five weeks, Al Jazeera reported Wednesday.
According to the report, the agreement was reached during a Tuesday meeting
between a Fatah delegation to Gaza led by Azzam al-Ahmad and Hamas
leaders, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and senior official
Musa Abu Marzouk.
Al Jazeera quoted Haniyeh as telling the Fatah delegation that "the
possibility for further separation between the two movements is no
longer possible given the current circumstances."
The reconciliation talks between the factions were scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
Matt Lee should have a field day at the State Department on Wednesday.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Fatah, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Middle East peace process
