Agencies-Gaza post
150 International mediators press Hamas to prevent war with Israel
The Palestinian Hamas movement obtained 150 calls in 48 hours from different parties as ongoing mediation efforts endeavor to stop the war in the Gaza Strip following recited violent Israeli invasions across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem according to Hamas sources.
Sources close to Hamas in Gaza told Middle East Eye that the United States, a group not traditionally interested in mediation, has indirectly come to the movement with the aim of keeping calm on the Gaza front.
Over two million Palestinians are packed into Gaza, an area the size of the US city of Detroit. Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring a brutal Israeli economic and military blockade since 2006, with the Strip described as “the world’s largest open-air prison”.
A rocket was launched from Gaza into Israel on Monday, to which Israel responded a few hours later with airstrikes targeting Hamas locations, extending fears of the collapse of mediation efforts, which have so far succeeded in keeping the blockaded enclave away from any immediate engagement amid heightened tensions elsewhere.
In the past month, Israeli forces have killed at least 16 Palestinians in various military raids in the occupied West Bank while 14 Israelis were killed in four lone-wolf attacks by Palestinians.
In the past month, Israeli forces have killed at least 16 Palestinians in various military raids in the occupied West Bank while 14 Israelis were killed in four lone-wolf attacks by Palestinians.
Tensions are at a high this week as Israeli forces continue to assault worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and remove them from the complex daily to allow Israeli settlers to tour the revered site.
According to sources and political analysts with knowledge of the matter, Hamas is not interested in a new war and is content with only escalating the “language of threat”, a position demonstrated by its rapid communication with Egypt to relay that it was not responsible for the missile attack.
Hamas, sources say, has been trying to contain the activities of its ally the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), using “sharp language” and warning against unilateral escalation following threats against Israel made by its Beirut-based secretary-general, Ziad al-Nakhala. Hamas’s efforts appear to have paid off, they added, as the PIJ has so far shown restraint.
In talks with Egyptian mediators, the PIJ rejected responsibility for the missile fired from Gaza and confirmed its commitment to the decisions issued by the Joint Operations Room, which consists of all the main armed factions in Gaza.
A source close to Islamic Jihad told MEE that the group learned its lesson when Hamas left it alone to deal with the assassination of its military commander, Baha Abu al-Atta, by Israel two years ago, an experience he described as harsh.
Now, he added, Islamic Jihad has come to realize that any war with Israel must be with the full participation of Hamas and through a judgment given by the Joint Operations Room.
