Hamas has so far not taken an active part in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Sure, the leader of Hamas – Ismail Haniyeh – blamed Israel for the escalation that started on Friday and threatened that “all options are open”. But his military commanders They stayed in the tunnels under the city of Gaza while its “throwers” waited for orders that never came. Hamas seemed unconcerned about being drawn into a protracted confrontation with Israel. Descending to the field could have turned the battle into an all-out war. The Israeli bet to split the Islamist front in Gaza has so far seemed successful.
Islamic Jihad, which is firing rockets during these hours, is the smaller of the two main players Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip, far outstripped by Hamas in resources and men. but enjoys direct financial and military support from Iran and has become the driving force behind rocket attacks and other confrontations with Israel. Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007, seized it militarily from the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazenis often limited in his capacity to act due to the responsibility of running the day-to-day affairs of an impoverished territory, and always on the fringes of one humanitarian catastrophe. Islamic Jihad has no such duties and has therefore emerged as the most militant faction, which has also repeatedly challenged Hamas’ authority.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad maintain a joint operational headquarters where military and political decisions must be agreed. At first glance, the two organizations share a common goal: to end the occupation and wipe out Israel. However, the ideological divisions prevent them from joining. Hamas built itself as a branch of the Islamic Brotherhood populist social movement based on winning hearts and minds, which will lead to the creation of a state governed by Islamic religious law. The ideology of Islamic Jihad is to continue fighting and eliminating unworthy regimes before establishing one rule of Islamic law.
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While Hamas sees the rebuilding of Gaza, the economic betterment of its citizens, and the creation of broad public support as essential steps towards achieving its ideological goal, Jihad has no interest in rebuilding the Gaza Stripcreate public institutions and charities or carry out political activities abroad
absolutely necessary to obtain money and weapons. In this context, profound differences have arisen between the two organizations over the years, although they have been forced to work together. While Hamas has a major military and economic advantage, Islamic Jihad has the ability to attack Hamas’ monopoly and undermine its control by exploiting the Israeli army’s instinctive reactions.
This rivalry also binds Israel and leads to contradictory actions interpreted as one confusing politics. On the one hand, Israel sees Hamas as the supreme authority responsible for everything that happens in Gaza, and therefore assumes that Hamas must pay the price for any hostile military action, even if it comes from other groups. At the same time, so that Hamas can exercise its control – and is the only one to whom Israel addresses with all its demands, especially when it comes to gratification Be quiet – must be equipped with the necessary tools to manage civil affairs. This also includes the money transfer for payment wages (arrive from Qatar in agreement with Israel) and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, thereby increasing public support for Hamas.
The roots of this contradiction lie in Israel’s decision to do so exploiting the strong rivalry between Fatah and Hamas, and between the Palestinian Authority and the leadership of the Gaza Strip groups to quash any possibility of diplomatic negotiations. Since, according to Israel, the PNA cannot control Hamas or prevent its terror, it does not represent the entire people anyway
Palestinian, so it cannot be a negotiating partner. This policy has so far achieved its goals, but at the same time it not only strengthens Hamas’ position in Gaza, but also lends it Right of veto over any diplomatic step. The need to maneuver between these conflicting considerations presents Israel and Hamas with a serious dilemma, the core of which is how to respond in a way that does not force Hamas to cooperate with Islamic Jihad.
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During these three days of fighting, Israel did not damage civilian infrastructure, Hamas bases, or weapons production facilities. She has not threatened to kill her leaders and continues to spread messages across Egypt that the Group is not on his target listthat. Ironically, this position forces Israel to differentiate between organizations and target its military capabilities against only a second-tier organization, contrary to its claim that Hamas is solely responsible because Israel now really needs Hamas to expand the scope of the fight and not turn it into another war.