Hamas has offered to help solve the crisis around the Gaza-Egyptian border. The Islamist militant organisation, which controls the Gaza Strip, is keen to end its current isolation. By working together with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, Hamas aims at being taken seriously again.
Thousands of Palestinians have breached the Gaza border barriers in recent days to stock up on supplies in Egypt. They escaped the Israeli lockdown of the territory, imposed in response to yet another barrage of rockets fired from the enclave.
Hamas took sole control of Gaza last year, after falling out with the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which controls the West Bank. With basic supplies running dry and a humanitarian catastrophe looming, Hamas blasted the frontier barricades - a coup for the Islamists in the struggle with Mr Abbas.
|
|
Now, Egyptian and Hamas forces have jointly used closed two gaps, using concrete and fencing. Two other breaches in the frontier remain open, an entry and an exit, under joint Hamas and Egyptian guard.
A Hamas source said those openings would be closed on Wednesday provided talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials "prove positive" for Hamas by giving it a say on the border in future. Both Hamas leaders and Mr Abbas, who won Arab League backing on Sunday for a proposal to send his own forces to police and keep open Gaza's borders, are expected in Cairo on Wednesday.
Egypt is uncomfortable about Islamist militants moving freely from Gaza. It's under pressure from Israel to seal the border. But the government in Cairo refused to crack down hard on needy civilians from Gaza, who enjoy deep popular sympathy among fellow Arabs in Egypt and elsewhere.
Respectability
Observers believe Hamas wishes for nothing better than to reach a solution in collaboration with other parties, and thus gain respectability. The Hamas leaders realise they won't get very far on their own. They are even prepared to have the Palestinian Authority play a role at the borders.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Mr Abbas to negotiate with Hamas. However, the Palestinian president remains reluctant. Fatah has never come to terms with losing control of the Gaza Strip and only wants to talk with Hamas if the Islamists give up their hold over Gaza. Which they won't.
Egypt, on the other hand, has never been too keen on helping Hamas either. Originally, Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the radical movement which the Egyptian President Mubarak has been fighting so hard.
Foothold
Hamas has rejected Mr Abbas's proposal to run the border himself: "Rafah is an Egyptian-Palestinian crossing," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. "It must be reopened under a new arrangement."
By pressing for control of the crossings, Mr Abbas and his Western-backed government hope to establish a strategic foothold in Hamas-run territory. Like Hamas, Israel is resisting Mr Abbas's bid to take control of the crossings. It believes that, even under Mr Abbas's auspices, free traffic would bolster Hamas and its ability to arm itself.
Tags: Abbas, Egypt, Fatah, Gaza, Hamas, Islamists, Israel, Muslim Brotherhood, Palestinian Authority, Palestinians