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Do Hamas' Leaders Abroad Have a Mandate to Negotiate?

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Khaled Abu Toameh - The Egyptians and Qataris are negotiating with Hamas leaders in Qatar and Lebanon to reach an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. In 2017, Yahya Sinwar was secretly elected Hamas leader in Gaza, taking over from Ismail Haniyeh, who is the current chairman of Hamas Politburo and has been living in Qatar for the last five years. In recent years, several other senior Hamas officials have also left Gaza after falling out with Sinwar and his brother, Mohammed, a commander of Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades. "The Sinwar brothers carried out a silent coup against the veteran political leadership of Hamas," Palestinian sources in Gaza said. "Yahya and Mohammed did not tolerate any competition and ruled Gaza as if it were their private fiefdom." The Sinwar brothers, with the help of Hamas military commanders Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa, often refused to accept dictates from Haniyeh and other senior Hamas officials outside of Gaza. The Sinwar brothers opened direct channels with Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In return, the Iranians rewarded the Gaza-based Hamas leaders with financial and military aid. Haniyeh and the other Hamas leaders silently watched as the Sinwar brothers pushed them to the sidelines. In the aftermath of the Israeli military operation in Gaza, the disconnect between the Sinwar brothers and the Hamas leadership abroad has only deepened. According to an Arab diplomatic source, Yahya Sinwar recently sent an urgent message to the Egyptians that any deal brokered by Haniyeh would be turned down by the Gaza-based leadership. The tensions between Hamas' leadership in the Gaza tunnels and the terror group's leaders in Doha and Beirut are the main reason why the ceasefire negotiations remain stalled. The Sinwar brothers are worried that the group's leaders abroad are prepared to make unacceptable concessions to Israel as a result of immense pressure from Qatar and Egypt. Given the mistrust (and disconnect) between the Gaza-based Hamas leadership and the terror group's leaders abroad, one can only wonder whether the Qataris and Egyptians are not wasting their time negotiating with representatives who do not represent the Sinwar brothers and what remains of the al-Qassam Brigades. The writer, a veteran Israeli Arab journalist, is a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center.
2024-04-11 00:00:00
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