What’s next for terrorist group Hamas amid ceasefire deal with Israel
Experts have cast doubt on Donald Trump’s ‘new Middle East’ vision, warning it’s “not the end” for the terrorist group which is battling rival militias for control of the Gaza Strip.
Four rival militias are in a tug of war for control on the Gaza Strip, as experts warn terrorist group Hamas is “not going away completely” despite this week’s peace deal.
US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire, which was heralded as the beginning of a “new Middle East” in the war-torn region, has been plagued by fighting, executions and the failure by Hamas to hand back all the bodies of the dead hostages, begging the question: is finally the end for the rogue Islamic operatives?
Alan Pino, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who spent 37 years working for the CIA, said peace in the region was a “long, complicated and difficult process”.
He doesn’t believe it’s the end for Hamas just yet.
“This is not the end of Hamas, they are not going away completely,” Mr Pino said in an exclusive interview with this masthead.
“There’s a lot of hard work for all the parties involved, the US, the Five Eyes, the Arab states, the Europeans if we’re going to make this thing work.
“I think success is still in doubt – for those who want to prevent the war from restarting, what they have going for them is the exhaustion on both sides right now.
“Plus there’s enormous pressure that Arab states have been putting on Hamas and the US has been putting on Israel to end this thing and commit to it being the end and working out a post-war solution”.
With just nine of the 28 dead hostages being returned to Israel so far and Israel’s military opening fire early in the week in Gaza – shooting dead six Palestinians they said posed a threat to their forces – peace in the region is some time away yet.
Sky News UK reported this week that Hamas was battling rival militias in the region for control of the Gaza Strip.
“Members of three anti-Hamas militias operating from areas still controlling Gaza … have no intention of laying down their arms and plan to fight Hamas to the end,” the broadcaster said.
The leader of a fourth group, Ashraf Al Mansi, also shared a social media post on Tuesday warning Hamas to stop approaching areas under their control.
But Mr Pino said many militia groups were “clan-like groups” operating in the region and the complete disarmament of Hamas cannot occur until there are clear terms that state Israel must completely withdraw from Gaza.
No timeline for this has been set.
Earlier this week, Hamas’ senior political leader and main negotiator Khalil al-Hayya – whose son died in an Israeli attack – gave a victory speech, declaring Gaza would not give up fighting Zionists.
“Al-Hayya read a speech declaring the ceasefire that also served as Hamas’s ‘victory address’, vowing that Gaza will never bow down and repeating familiar talking points about martyrdom, jihad and fighting the Zionist enemy,” the Times of London reported on Thursday.
“Despite its supposed agreement to President Trump’s deal, Hamas is insisting that it will not disarm and that it will not surrender the right to take on the Israeli occupation through violent means”.
However the University of Westminster’s Dr Catherine Charrett, a senior lecturer in international relations in London, told this masthead that given Hamas was prepared to stop fighting, the focus should instead be on what the “governance structure” looks like in the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas has made it clear that they are willing to step aside and allow for a broad movement that represents the Palestinian National Movement – a coalition of different actors to act as the governing body there,” she said.
Dr Charrett said there needed to be assurances for the Palestinians “that their safety and security will be assured going forward”.
She said there needed to be a “phased approach that includes confidence building measures for both sides” and the decommissioning of offensive weapons and the maintaining of defensive weapons to ensure Palestinian safety remains a key focus.
Despite Mr Trump flying to Israel this week for the ratification of the peace deal, experts say it will be many months before complete peace can be achieved in the region.
“It’s the start of a grand concord and lasting harmony for Israel and all the nations of what will soon be a truly magnificent region,” President Trump said this week.
“I believe that so strongly. This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East”.
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