As First Day of Cease-Fire Passes, Hamas Faces Questions About Intentions
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, June 20, 2008
GAZA CITY, June 19 -- An anxious calm settled over the Gaza Strip and the surrounding area of southern Israel on Thursday, as the first day of a cease-fire between the Jewish state and the armed Islamist group Hamas passed without violence.
But neither side was sure how long the planned six-month truce would last, and Hamas faced a new challenge in having to explain why, after two decades of battling the Israeli occupation, the group is suddenly ready to lay down its arms, however temporarily.
Hamas leaders on Thursday were quick to claim a victory, trumpeting Israeli concessions to Palestinians and to the broader Arab world as a vindication of the movement's long-standing use of violence.
But at the same time, Hamas was attempting to use the moment to gain legitimacy in the West, projecting itself as a reasonable voice in Palestinian politics that is willing to compromise under the right conditions.
"We are a very pragmatic organization. The problem is that the Europeans, and the Americans especially, don't understand us. Hamas is not al-Qaeda," said Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas foreign affairs adviser. "Some in Israel are starting to realize that Hamas is the reality, and they need to deal with Hamas."
Hamas has also clearly decided it needs to deal with Israel.
The group was founded in the mid-1980s as an armed Islamist movement dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Unlike the rival Fatah party, it has never been willing to recognize the Jewish state or participate in peace talks. But it contested the 2006 legislative elections, a byproduct of the peace process, and won in a landslide.
After forcing its rivals out of Gaza at gunpoint a year ago, Hamas assumed authority over the strip's 1.5 million residents and allowed fighters -- including members of its own military wing -- to use the territory to conduct daily rocket strikes against Israelis.
The group has lost some of its appeal in recent months, however, as Gazans have grown weary of a crushing economic embargo and frequent Israeli attacks. With jobs disappearing and the Palestinian death toll climbing, Hamas was under pressure to bring some relief.
"Overall, the mood was turning against Hamas," said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Gaza's Al-Azhar University. "Hamas knew that its own situation would be more stable if it could get a cease-fire. Hamas needs some calm to show the Palestinians, and the rest of the Muslim world, that political Islam in Gaza is working."
The result, Abusada said, is a familiar tale.
"As a ruling party, Hamas has been totally different from when it was in the opposition, which is what happens with all political groups around the world," he said. "It has had to moderate its views on how to deal with Israel."
Israeli leaders doubt the sincerity of Hamas's conversion. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a speech before the start of the truce that it was "fragile and likely to be short-lived."
Other Israeli military and civilian officials have said they expect Hamas, or one of the armed groups in Gaza, to violate the cease-fire sooner or later. There is a widespread assumption in Israel that the groups are simply using the truce as an opportunity to rearm and prepare for the next round of battle.
The suspicions are mutual.
"I have no confidence at all that the Israelis will keep their word," said Yousef, the foreign affairs adviser.
Yousef said he had heard a loud bang early in the morning, and first thought it was an attack. It turned out to have been the sonic boom from an Israeli jet -- a reminder that the truce is tenuous. "They're still up there. The F-16s, the Apaches, the drones," Yousef said. "They're not part of the deal."
For the moment, all factions in Gaza say they support Hamas's decision to agree to a cease-fire, although some are not happy about it.
Dawood Shihab, a spokesman for the militant organization Islamic Jihad, said Thursday that his group is completely committed to the cease-fire. But he criticized Hamas's negotiating strategy, saying the group had given up too much for too little in return.
"We're not in charge, so our attitude is different from Hamas's," Shihab said as he sat in his Gaza City office, surrounded by black banners extolling armed struggle. "The crossing points should have been opened as soon as the truce went into effect, and the cease-fire should have also included the West Bank."
Those were among Hamas's original demands, but over months of negotiation mediated by Egypt, the group backed down. Israel now says it will open the border crossings gradually, assuming there is no violence. It is not expected to incorporate the West Bank into the deal, at least not in the immediate future.
Marwan Abdelhamid, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also disparaged Hamas's deal, saying that the group could have made the same arrangement long ago without forcing its people to endure a year under siege.
"I don't think Palestinians today are saying, 'Bravo, Hamas,' " said Abdelhamid, who was in Gaza on Thursday as part of an effort to reconcile Hamas with Abbas's Fatah faction.
Hamas did collect some accolades in the Arab world for getting Israel to back down -- at least temporarily.
"Hamas has emerged for the first time as a regional political force, signing international agreements, after being only a local military and political force," wrote Khaled al-Shami, a columnist for the London-based Arabic daily al-Quds al-Arabi.
Closer to home, Gaza's residents said they were relieved to have some hope that their lives will improve, however slim it may be.
"We've been through a very tough situation, and we've suffered a lot," said Mohammed Abdel Malik, an unemployed 35-year-old. "Now, we need a rest, and maybe this truce will even bring us some good news."
Special correspondent Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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