As the Hamas delegation heads to Cairo for talks with Fatah ahead of the upcoming election, there are serious disagreements among the Hamas leadership.
The delegation includes Saleh Aruri, Yahya Sinwar, Khalil al-Haya, Izzat Rashek, Hussam Badran, Muhammad Nazal, and Ruhi Mishtahah.
According to various sources, Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, as well as Hamas clerics and members of its political bureau, all oppose running on joint lists with Fatah, but the controversy is not limited to this issue.
Hamas arrives in Cairo under pressure from Qatar and Turkey, which are demanding that it accept the Fatah’s terms and go to the polls. Qatar is pressuring Hamas leadership to adapt to future changes in the Middle East and turn from a jihadist movement into a moderate “political Islam” movement.
A PA Arab source claims that the Qataris have recently warned Hamas not to become a “religious militia like the other extremist militias in the Middle East.” Sources in Ramallah claim that Qatar has, in any case, led Hamas to agree to elections in stages in accordance with Fatah’s position and is also the one behind the contacts that led to the agreement between Aruri and Fatah senior official Jibril Rajoub.
For now, pressure from the Qataris is bearing fruit, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said Sunday that “his movement will ensure the success of the elections in the Gaza Strip and will act in accordance with the Istanbul agreements.”
It was learned that Cairo is demanding and may have received in advance Hamas’ commitment in principle to accept the Ramallah government’s right to control border crossings in the Gaza Strip before the election and even to agree to deploy 3,000 Palestinian Authority policemen from the PA in the Gaza Strip to secure the elections.
This condition will also allow the sending of international observers on behalf of the UN and the European Union.
Rajoub was instructed to extract from Hamas a series of agreements and guarantees and submit them to the Egyptians. The guarantees are intended to ensure that Hamas will respect all agreements and especially the election results, whatever they may be. However, Rajoub’s mission, in the opinion of officials in Ramallah, may be a trap for Abu Mazen and turn out to be a double-edged sword, precisely because of the split in Fatah.
They believe that only the regrouping of the Fatah camp while uniting the factions loyal to Marwan Barghouti and Muhammad Dahlan, will be able to prevent the defeat of the organization vis-à-vis Hamas.
In the Fatah camp, the internal political rivalry continues and in Ramallah, they are well aware of the growing power of the political alliance between Marwan Barghouti and Muhammad Dahlan. “This alliance threatens the continuation of Abu Mazen’s rule and Fatah’s chances to win and yet it will face a separate list and even run the Barghouti for the presidency, “says a Fatah member from this camp.
It has become known that dozens of public figures are already discussing the possibility of running on these separate Fatah lists or independent lists.