INNS: Recent events strengthened Hamas’ control over Palestinian scene

The Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INNS) published a report on the latest developments that took place on the various fronts surrounding Israel, noting that Hamas has over the Palestinian scene at the expense of the Palestinian Authority after the recent events.

The report, written by a researcher at the institute Udi Dekel, showed that Hamas has recorded significant achievements in recent weeks, as the movement gained great momentum and dominated events in the arena.

Hamas, Dekel said, “leveraged the events on the Temple Mount [Al-Aqsa Mosque compound] for a dramatic increase in the scope of attacks and completely took control of the Palestinian and regional agenda, while at the same time illustrating the irrelevance of the Palestinian Authority. And this, despite the summit meetings held recently in Aqaba in Jordan and Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, with the aim of coordinating moves that would prevent escalation.”

He added that Hamas succeeded in launching rockets from Lebanon, which raises the movement’s support in the Lebanese camps, while there was silence from Fatah.

The writer pointed out that the armed resistance raging in the occupied West Bank is occurring on orders from Hamas’ second-in-command, Saleh Al-Arouri (deputy head of the movement’s political bureau).

Dekel noted that the strategy of the unity of the fronts has several goals for Israel, namely: strengthening the state of instability on the borders with Israel, reinforcing the strength of the hawkish wing in Hamas, which is based in Lebanon under the support of Hezbollah, accelerating the end of the era of the PA in its current system, inciting the Palestinians at home in order to ignite the streets against Israel, while focusing on the Al-Aqsa issue, hindering steps towards normalisation between Israel and the Arab countries, and creating a rift in the peace agreements between the Israel on the one hand and Egypt and Jordan on the other.

The author recommended damaging the status of Hamas in Palestine, working against the military infrastructure of Hamas in Lebanon and reducing tensions within Israeli society which are “being interpreted  by Israel’s enemies as undermining its ability to deal with them in all arenas.”

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