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If Israel Is Forced to End Gaza Ground Operation Prematurely, Arabs May Perceive Hamas as Winner
(Jerusalem Post) Ely Karmon - Hamas is wracked by internal divisions between military and political cadres, extremist and pragmatic politicians, and Gaza-based and external leaderships. Hamas' isolation in the regional context is greater than ever. Saudi Arabia and most of the Gulf countries support Egypt's fight against the Muslim Brotherhood and by extension against Hamas. Qatar, one of the main providers of funds to Hamas, is much more cautious since the advent of the young Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and in light of the intense pressure by its powerful Gulf neighbors to cut off support for Brotherhood and jihadist forces in the region. If Israel is forced to end its ground operation prematurely, part of Palestinian and Arab public opinion may perceive Hamas as the winner, due to its successes in massive rocket firing towards most of Israel without suffering heavy casualties among its military-terrorist ranks or its political leaders. The writer is a senior research scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.