Between the insistence on resistance on the one hand and the willingness to agree to a long truce and lay down arms on the other hand, the recent statements of Hamas political official Khalil al-Hayya and the spokesman for the movement’s military wing, Abu Ubaida, seemed mixed and contradictory.
In a video recording marking the 200th day of the war on the Gaza Strip, the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Abu Ubaida, stressed the continuation of the fighting, which he said would take new and diverse forms.
He also stressed that “the hysterical reaction to the resistance action on various fronts indicates the importance of resistance action.”
On the other hand, Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya revealed that the movement is ready to agree to a truce for a period of 5 years or more with Israel, and that it will lay down its weapons and turn to political action if an independent Palestinian state is established on the 1967 borders.
Al-Hayya said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency, “Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is headed by the Fatah movement, to form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank.”
The speeches of Abu Ubaida and Al-Hayya reflect clear contradictions in Hamas’s orientations, more than 6 months after the devastating war waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip.
Observers believe that the contradictory statements between the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing and the leader of its political wing “may be an indication of internal divisions in the movement.”
The military wing shows a clear commitment to resistance and the continuation of fighting, while the political wing hints at searching for political solutions to the conflict, including readiness for negotiation and a truce for a long period.
These contradictions may also reflect the pressures facing Hamas, at a time when ceasefire talks have not yielded any results.
To date, there has been no reaction to Al-Hayya’s statements, from Israel or the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized government.
After Hamas took control of Gaza, it left the Palestinian Authority to administer semi-autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority hopes to establish an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, areas occupied by Israel during the 1967 war.
While the international community overwhelmingly supports the two-state solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government steadfastly rejects it.
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