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Prospects of a Long-Term Armistice with Hamas
(Fathom-BICOM-UK) Ehud Yaari - Hamas' agreement that economic aid for Gaza can be handled by others, such as the Palestinian Authority, mirrors its invitation to Abbas to take over the civilian management of Gaza. Hamas aims to copy the Hizbullah model in Lebanon - to be the strongest military player in the arena but to let others deal with the civilian population. Within Hamas, there is a deepening divide between people like Yahya Sinwar, who believe that Hamas can no longer escape the reality of their responsibility for the civilian population in Gaza, and the military chiefs like Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa, who believe that Hamas is not about serving the people but is about Jihad. Israel and the U.S. have no solution to prevent dual-use items such as cement, iron, and other equipment from falling into Hamas' hands and helping it to rearm or rebuild its tunnel network. Even were the PA to supervise the effort, I believe they will eventually be frightened, bribed and coerced by Hamas and it wouldn't be effective. The writer, a fellow with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is a veteran commentator for Israeli television.