|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://jcpa.org/article/hamas-policy/
Hamas Policy after the Gaza War
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi - On Sep. 13 in Tunisia, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal stressed the importance of rapid rehabilitation of the civilian infrastructure damaged in the war. This goal takes into account the fact that Hamas' use of violence and terror does not incur punitive measures by the international community. Indeed, the aid that the international community extends to Gaza after a terror offensive constitutes an economic safety net for the Hamas government. Mashaal also called for completing the Palestinian internal national reconciliation, whose main objective is to mobilize all forces for the campaign to liberate Palestine and bring back the refugees. He includes a role for Israeli Arabs in this campaign. Hamas' real aim is to use the national reconciliation to infiltrate the PLO and wrest control from within. Since the international community recognizes the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, Hamas would thereby take the reins of the Palestinian national movement. "The enemy only understands the language of force," Mashaal declared. "Everything must be based on the struggle/resistance, which creates the conditions for victory and forces the enemy to leave our land as it left Gaza and before that southern Lebanon." The leader of Hamas, a terror organization that shelters a long list of other terror organizations including branches of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, emphasizes the use of international legal instruments to weaken Israel. Mashaal demanded that the Palestinian Authority sign the Rome Convention so that the Palestinians can press "war crimes" charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.