Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem | January 13, 2009
THE battered Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is seeking an immediate ceasefire with Israel and is demanding that the organisation's political leader in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal, make the necessary concessions, according to Israeli television reports.
The Arab affairs analyst on Channel Two, Ehud Ya'ari, said last night the dispute amounted to a virtual split between the two Hamas centres of power.
Sharp differences emerged at a meeting in Cairo yesterday between two Hamas representatives from Gaza and a delegation from Mr Meshaal in Damascus.
They had come to hear an Egyptian ceasefire proposal outlined by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Mr Suleiman said the agreement included the creation of a mechanism to prevent further smuggling of rockets and other armaments to the Gaza Strip in tunnels from Egypt, and a demand that Hamas hold political talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which it has been refusing to do.
"The Gazans not only accepted it," said Ya'ari, of the ceasefire proposal, "they demanded it."
However, the delegation from Damascus reiterated Mr Meshaal's rejection of the conditions set out in the Egyptian plan.
The Gazans travelled from Cairo to Damascus immediately after Monday's meeting to present their case to Mr Meshaal, and were to return to Cairo last night with his reply.
Mr Suleiman was to meet afterwards with a senior Israeli negotiator, retired general Amos Gilad, to pass Mr Meshaal's reply on to him.
A negative answer, presumably, would mean a continuation of the Israeli attack on Gaza.
In a speech on Saturday night, Mr Meshaal called the Israeli attack "a holocaust" and said it had put an end to any chance of compromise. He said there would be no end to rocket attacks until Israel pulled out of Gaza.
"The Gazans will tell Meshaal to knock off his rhetoric and agree to an immediate ceasefire," said Ya'ari, whose sources in Israel and the Arab world have made him one of Israel's most credible commentators.
A similar report was given on Israeli television's Channel One by the station's Arab affairs reporter, Oded Granot.
Israeli military intelligence chief Major General Amos Yadlin said earlier in the day that Hamas's resilience in Gaza was beginning to give way after the shock of the fierce Israeli attack and the lack of support for Gaza from the rest of the world, including Arab leaders.
But he said Hamas was still capable of putting up a fight and would not "raise a white flag".
Ya'ari, on the other hand, said Hamas in Gaza was eager to raise a white flag as quickly as possible by agreeing to accept the Egyptian ceasefire offer - without conditions, if necessary.
However, he said the Gaza delegates did ask Egypt if it would grant it two requests so Hamas could say it had won concessions.
One was for Egypt to temporarily open its crossing point to Gaza at Rafah until a permanent arrangement could be made. Egypt is insisting the crossing be manned not by Hamas but by the Palestinian Authority.
The second request, Ya'ari said, was that the ceasefire agreement be limited to six months. The Egyptian interlocutor replied that he would discuss the requests with Israel's General Gilad - perhaps the ultimate put-down for the Hamas delegation.
At a meeting of the Israeli cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the army in Gaza was getting close to the objectives Israel had set.
"But we require further patience, determination and effort," Mr Olmert said.
Referring to Israel's decision not to abide by the UN Security Council's call last week for a ceasefire, he said: "We have never agreed that anyone decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who send missiles into our kindergartens and schools, and we never will."
THE battered Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is seeking an immediate ceasefire with Israel and is demanding that the organisation's political leader in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal, make the necessary concessions, according to Israeli television reports.
The Arab affairs analyst on Channel Two, Ehud Ya'ari, said last night the dispute amounted to a virtual split between the two Hamas centres of power.
Sharp differences emerged at a meeting in Cairo yesterday between two Hamas representatives from Gaza and a delegation from Mr Meshaal in Damascus.
They had come to hear an Egyptian ceasefire proposal outlined by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Mr Suleiman said the agreement included the creation of a mechanism to prevent further smuggling of rockets and other armaments to the Gaza Strip in tunnels from Egypt, and a demand that Hamas hold political talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which it has been refusing to do.
"The Gazans not only accepted it," said Ya'ari, of the ceasefire proposal, "they demanded it."
However, the delegation from Damascus reiterated Mr Meshaal's rejection of the conditions set out in the Egyptian plan.
The Gazans travelled from Cairo to Damascus immediately after Monday's meeting to present their case to Mr Meshaal, and were to return to Cairo last night with his reply.
Mr Suleiman was to meet afterwards with a senior Israeli negotiator, retired general Amos Gilad, to pass Mr Meshaal's reply on to him.
A negative answer, presumably, would mean a continuation of the Israeli attack on Gaza.
In a speech on Saturday night, Mr Meshaal called the Israeli attack "a holocaust" and said it had put an end to any chance of compromise. He said there would be no end to rocket attacks until Israel pulled out of Gaza.
"The Gazans will tell Meshaal to knock off his rhetoric and agree to an immediate ceasefire," said Ya'ari, whose sources in Israel and the Arab world have made him one of Israel's most credible commentators.
A similar report was given on Israeli television's Channel One by the station's Arab affairs reporter, Oded Granot.
Israeli military intelligence chief Major General Amos Yadlin said earlier in the day that Hamas's resilience in Gaza was beginning to give way after the shock of the fierce Israeli attack and the lack of support for Gaza from the rest of the world, including Arab leaders.
But he said Hamas was still capable of putting up a fight and would not "raise a white flag".
Ya'ari, on the other hand, said Hamas in Gaza was eager to raise a white flag as quickly as possible by agreeing to accept the Egyptian ceasefire offer - without conditions, if necessary.
However, he said the Gaza delegates did ask Egypt if it would grant it two requests so Hamas could say it had won concessions.
One was for Egypt to temporarily open its crossing point to Gaza at Rafah until a permanent arrangement could be made. Egypt is insisting the crossing be manned not by Hamas but by the Palestinian Authority.
The second request, Ya'ari said, was that the ceasefire agreement be limited to six months. The Egyptian interlocutor replied that he would discuss the requests with Israel's General Gilad - perhaps the ultimate put-down for the Hamas delegation.
At a meeting of the Israeli cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the army in Gaza was getting close to the objectives Israel had set.
"But we require further patience, determination and effort," Mr Olmert said.
Referring to Israel's decision not to abide by the UN Security Council's call last week for a ceasefire, he said: "We have never agreed that anyone decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who send missiles into our kindergartens and schools, and we never will."
Source: The Australian
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