Truce in Gaza? Hamas increasingly alone ready to give in: the background

Increasingly isolated, after Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement with Israel, Hamas would be ready to give in to Israel, to accept compromises on a truce in Gaza that were unthinkable with Yahya Sinwar alive. But not wanting to give inproving adamant regarding any concessions, It’s Israel. This was revealed by the New York Times, which cites Israeli, American and Hamas sources.

“Hamas completely alone, but now Israel will not make concessions”

“Hamas is completely alone now,” said Tamer Qarmout, a professor of politics at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. “His position was seriously weakened” after the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. Even Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, seems intent on avoiding a direct clash with Israel and giving up the threatened reprisal for the attack suffered in October.

Hamas is therefore alone and significantly weakened, as it has lost dozens of commanders and thousands of fighters. And it no longer fully controls the territory it has administered since 2007. But a ceasefire in Gaza appears to be still far away. Yet before Hezbollah made the deal with Israel, US and Palestinian officials believed that Hamas’ political leadership was open to a ceasefire if Israel would compromise, particularly on the withdrawal of forces from Gaza.

Now some American officials say Hamas could withdraw its demands and move toward a ceasefire agreement acceptable to Israel’s government. But Western officials believe Israel does not appear interested in concessions at this point. Furthermore, it would appear that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to wait for Donald Trump to take office before changing his stance on talks with Hamas. Western officials, quoted on condition of anonymity, later said that Netanyahu is skeptical of Washington’s plans for the day after, believing that the Palestinian Authority’s return to Gaza is doomed to failure and that Hamas will quickly reassert control.

New barrier in Gaza, Strip divided for better control

Israel is meanwhile building a new military demarcation barrier in the Gaza Strip, to separate the northern part of the Palestinian enclave from the rest of the area. The BBC stated this after having viewed satellite images in which Israeli soldiers can be seen busy clearing up and establishing control over a large area in the north of the Strip.

Videos and satellite images show hundreds of buildings demolished between the Mediterranean Sea and the border with Israel, most of them via controlled explosions. The images also show Israeli army vehicles stationed along the new demarcation line which extends about nine kilometers across Gaza. That is, from east to west, dividing the city of Gaza and the cities of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip.

According to analysts cited by the BBC, it would appear that Israel intends to divide the Gaza Strip in order to better control it. Ha Hellyer, a Middle East security expert at the Rusi think tank, said satellite images shown by the BBC indicated that Israel was preparing to prevent Palestinian civilians from returning to northern Gaza. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have already been displaced from northern Gaza.

From the images released online by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), several multi-storey buildings can be seen systematically destroyed since October. An IDF spokesperson told the BBC that there was no intention to destroy civilian infrastructure “without operational necessity” to neutralize Hamas. Other footage shows IDF Humvee vehicles driving through the cleared area, showing that Israeli troops are in control of the area. And they intend to keep it for a long time.

In short, the Israeli military “is working for the long term. I would expect the separation in the north to develop exactly like the Netzarim corridor,” Hellyer said. The Netzarim corridor, completed in May, divides the area south of Gaza City, while the Philadelphi corridor gives the IDF control of territory running along Gaza’s border with Egypt.