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Source: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/hamas-and-yahya-sinwars-tough-choice
Hamas Faces Tough Choices
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Michael Milstein - Hamas is currently caught in dire straits, with a deep grass-roots protest movement inside Gaza, and alienation from a notable segment of outside Arab players. Yahya Sinwar, head of the Hamas Political Bureau in Gaza, grew out of the armed Palestinian wing (Iz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades) and demonstrates a deep attachment to jihad; yet he also understands the importance of maintaining civilian social stability in order to preserve long-term Hamas control. His attempt to warm up ties with the wider regional "resistance axis" led by Iran is foundering; Iran takes care to provide even its limited backing solely to the Hamas armed wing and not to the movement as a whole. Moreover, the violent weekly "March of Return" protests along the Gaza-Israel border, in which 350 Gazans were killed, achieved nothing significant. The writer is head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.