Hamas seeing signs of internal stress

Volkhard Windfuhr:

The Egyptian-French cease-fire proposal for the Gaza Strip remains on the table. Hamas, though, is divided. One camp is calling for a decisive battle while others continue to negotiate. And it remains uncertain which side will prevail.

It was a minor scene that took place on Thursday in the heart of Gaza City. But it was a noteworthy one. In front of a closed chicken restaurant not far from the empty culture center, masked men in uniforms were handing out inspirational flyers. "No Peace with the Murderers of our Children," reads one. Another says, "Resist to the Death, Allah Is with You."

But very few passers-by took one of the leaflets. The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which becomes worse by the day, seemed on Thursday not to be driving Palestinians into the arms of the fanatical Hamas propagandists. "Why are you handing out paper instead of bread," a mother with her two daughters called out and hurries on.

For 14 days, Israeli bombs have been falling on the Gaza Strip -- over 700 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have already lost their lives. The Palestinians are just as tired of this war as the Israelis are. If Hamas thought they could unleash a popular uprising, they seem to have erred.

But scenes like the one above, described by a Gaza Strip resident over the phone, is just one element of a reality that is becoming ever clearer. And it is a reality that has relevance to international efforts currently being made to establish a cease-fire in the Middle East: Hamas is currently unable to speak with a single voice.

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... even within the Hamas delegation, there are conflicting views as to the negotiating path the group should follow. Given the disagreement, it is hardly a surprise that the signals sent by Hamas on Thursday were unclear.

Muhammad Nasr, a native of Hebron who has long been a prominent political advisor to Meshaal and belongs to the Hamas politburo, spoke for several hours with Omar Suleiman, head of Egyptian intelligence and potential successor to President Hosni Mubarak. The discussion focused on the conditions Hamas would have to fulfil before the Egyptian plan could be successful.

But hardliner Nasr refused to budge. Hamas, he insisted, has to be allowed control over the Palestinian-Egyptian border and cannot be forced to recognize Israel, not even indirectly.

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There is much more and there are also many more Hamas positions, but few of them seem grounded in reality. They seem locked in this mystical alternate universe that cannot accept the military and political situation they are in. That is why they keep rejecting the cease fire agreements designed to bail them out. They continue to make a gift of time to the Israelis who are grateful for that gift. Meanwhile everyday they are losing the people who backed them because of their charitable contributions and now are getting pieces of paper rather than food and medicine.