As Israel and Hamas talk, Mahmoud Abbas is sidelined
Dec 1st 2012 | GAZA | from the print edition
EVEN as Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, hopes to restart negotiations with Israel after a four-year hiatus, bolstered, perhaps, by an upgrade in status at the UN, the talks have begun without him. Within days of the ceasefire that ended a week-long war, officials from Israel and Hamas, the Islamists who run Gaza, arrived in Cairo to flesh out the agreement. Loth to recognise each other formally, officials from the two sides are meeting in Egypt’s intelligence headquarters and communicating through intermediaries.
The results can already be seen at Gaza’s port. Markets heave with rarely seen sea bass, red mullet and devilfish, thanks to Israel’s decision to double the distance that Gaza’s fishermen can sail from shore. “For years we went to the UN, to international organisations and the Red Cross in search of a few metres more to fish in to no avail,” says a senior agriculture-ministry official, who was recruited by Mr Abbas’s Palestinian Authority. “Only the resistance worked.”
Having promised a complete end to Israel’s siege, Hamas has struggled to convince some Palestinians that their hopes will not be dashed again. Officials say that the ceasefire cancelled the buffer zone, restoring a quarter of the enclave’s farmland. But this correspondent, together with a delegation from Hamas’s Agriculture Ministry, beat a hasty retreat from there after Israeli troops began firing tear-gas. Others are less fortunate. Palestinians have been killed and injured while pinning flags to the frontier wire or clambering over it.
Yet Gaza’s merchants—who with their prized permits to travel to Israel are an early indicator of progress—are optimistic. “It took 30 years to bring the PLO to the negotiating table, Hamas has got there in less,” notes one. Israeli security men who once talked of toppling the Islamists now say they are the best bet for quiet. By Israel’s elections in January, Gazans could again be selling produce in the West Bank.
After a week spent lobbing rockets, Hamas has switched quickly to negotiations and development. Unlike Mr Abbas, Hamas has not demanded a halt in Jewish-settlement expansion as a condition of talks. Although placards across Gaza thank Iran for its missiles in Arabic, Farsi and even in Hebrew, its clerics have blessed the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Qatar plans to give Gaza $400m in aid.
For Israel too, talks with Hamas mark something new. By recognising Hamas as Gaza’s rulers, Israel hopes to strip Mr Abbas of half his kingdom. The talks might improve relations with Egypt’s Islamist government. But they may also hint at a deeper realignment. Likud, the party of Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has yet to revise its charter claiming all of historic Palestine. Both parties currently prefer de facto arrangements to ones that would divide the land in perpetuity.
The results can already be seen at Gaza’s port. Markets heave with rarely seen sea bass, red mullet and devilfish, thanks to Israel’s decision to double the distance that Gaza’s fishermen can sail from shore. “For years we went to the UN, to international organisations and the Red Cross in search of a few metres more to fish in to no avail,” says a senior agriculture-ministry official, who was recruited by Mr Abbas’s Palestinian Authority. “Only the resistance worked.”
Having promised a complete end to Israel’s siege, Hamas has struggled to convince some Palestinians that their hopes will not be dashed again. Officials say that the ceasefire cancelled the buffer zone, restoring a quarter of the enclave’s farmland. But this correspondent, together with a delegation from Hamas’s Agriculture Ministry, beat a hasty retreat from there after Israeli troops began firing tear-gas. Others are less fortunate. Palestinians have been killed and injured while pinning flags to the frontier wire or clambering over it.
Yet Gaza’s merchants—who with their prized permits to travel to Israel are an early indicator of progress—are optimistic. “It took 30 years to bring the PLO to the negotiating table, Hamas has got there in less,” notes one. Israeli security men who once talked of toppling the Islamists now say they are the best bet for quiet. By Israel’s elections in January, Gazans could again be selling produce in the West Bank.
After a week spent lobbing rockets, Hamas has switched quickly to negotiations and development. Unlike Mr Abbas, Hamas has not demanded a halt in Jewish-settlement expansion as a condition of talks. Although placards across Gaza thank Iran for its missiles in Arabic, Farsi and even in Hebrew, its clerics have blessed the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Qatar plans to give Gaza $400m in aid.
For Israel too, talks with Hamas mark something new. By recognising Hamas as Gaza’s rulers, Israel hopes to strip Mr Abbas of half his kingdom. The talks might improve relations with Egypt’s Islamist government. But they may also hint at a deeper realignment. Likud, the party of Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has yet to revise its charter claiming all of historic Palestine. Both parties currently prefer de facto arrangements to ones that would divide the land in perpetuity.
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