Despite Arab and international pressure, Hamas holds ground on negotiation positions with Israel

Despite the Arab and international pressure to forego certain positions held by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group is still holding firm and has frozen indirect negotiations with Israel until further notice. 

The Hamas's decision came after the assassination of its political bureau chief Ismail Hanyieh, 62, in Iran last week, who also led the Palestinian negotiating team. Israel is accused of carrying out the killing, but has not confirmed officially. 

"Hamas will not succumb to any Arab or international political pressure to return to negotiations with the enemy before getting written guarantees that Israel will abide by the results of the talk that would lead to a ceasefire in the war-torn Gaza," a senior official of Hamas, who preferred to not be named, said to The New Arab. 

"Because the United States and some countries are aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he continues his genocidal war against our people, including assassinating of political and military leaders," the official said. 

"Netanyahu thinks he will win the battle, but the truth is that he will not achieve any of his goals even if all the [Palestinian] leaders have been killed," he added, stressing that Hamas will stick to its terms and will not return to the negotiations anytime soon. 

Since 7 October 2023, Israel launched a genocidal war on the besieged coastal enclave after the Hamas-led Palestinian militants carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli military bases and civilian settlements within and around the Gaza envelope, which Israel claims resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people and around 250 were taken captive. 

Israel's war on Gaza has killed over 39,623 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, and it has taken thousands of Palestinians captive. 

"To end Palestinian suffering, Hamas has been involved in numerous rounds of negotiations, making concessions in favour of our people," the Hamas official said. 

"However," he continues, "Netanyahu was thwarting them all to maintain his political position. He [Netanyahu] knows very well that the end of the war means the end of his political existence, and he may go to prison on suspicion of corruption."

"Instead, Israel believed that it would force Hamas to make more concessions after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, but it pushed the movement to make more decisions that would prevent the indirect negotiations from proceeding," according to the official. 

'Frozen until further notice'

Currently, Hamas members are meeting to choose a new Hamas leader to replace Haniyeh. There have been indications that this new leader may not be revealed for fear that Israel will carry out a new assassination operation, according to Palestinian sources close to Hamas. 

"As a result, Hamas will keep its negotiations with Israel frozen until further notice," the sources added. 

Meanwhile, Israel continues to issue states on new or contradictory conditions on any upcoming round of negotiations that goes against the ceasefire deal outlined by US president Joe Biden months ago. 

"The United States is willing to guarantee to Israel that it will be able to renew fighting against Hamas in Gaza after the first phase of a potential ceasefire and hostage deal, as a means to pressure Hamas into releasing all the hostages it should in the first stage," reported Israeli media.

According to the Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz dailies, "Washington hasn't yet given a written guarantee, as Jerusalem has been demanding, but has agreed in principle to provide one if a deal materialises." 

"If Israel receives such guarantees, it will mean a death sentence for the diplomatic efforts currently underway to bring Hamas back to the negotiating track to reach a deal," Hussam al-Dajani, a Gaza-based Political analyst, told TNA. 

He believes that Hamas will not yield to any pressure, no matter how difficult, to return to negotiations without receiving written guarantees that Israel is ready to reach a ceasefire deal. 

"Now, we can say that Hamas no longer has anything to lose. It has lost a lot and will not receive more severe blows than those it has received over the past 10 months," al-Dajani added. 

Al-Dajani also opined that Netanyahu wants to prolong the war until the end of the US elections, which will start next November, and the inauguration of its new president early next year, to gain time to achieve his political ambitions.

'No doubt' of a Palestinian military response

"If Donald Trump wins the US elections, it will be a victory for Netanyahu, who will show more intransigence and stubbornness in dealing with Gaza and Palestinian resistance," he added.

In contrast, al-Dajani argues, if Kamala Harris wins, Netanyahu will not hesitate to give up his illogical conditions and reach a ceasefire agreement, but after committing dozens of crimes against the Palestinian people.

Hani al-Masri, a Ramallah-based political expert, shared al-Dajani's opinion. "Hamas decided to close the file of negotiations with Israel for a long time," he told TNA. 

In turn, al-Masri notes that Israel has forced the Palestinian resistance to change its rules and commit to fighting Israeli soldiers in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. 

"There is no doubt that the Palestinian resistance will respond to the Israeli assassination of Hanyieh as soon as possible to break the Israeli deterrent force," al-Masri said. 

"We will not be surprised if the resistance succeeds in assassinating an Israeli minister, kidnap more Israeli soldiers, or direct painful blows to Israel inside and outside Gaza," he added, noting that "this will complicate bridging the gaps between the two sides in any new round of negotiations."