Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Adnan Abu Amer
-
The Hamas-Iran alliance remains and expands
Iranian-Palestinian relations – specifically with the resistance factions led by Hamas and Islamic Jihad – are gradually growing and developing in what seems to be an attempt to make up for the coldness between them during the Syrian crisis. This development manifested itself on two levels over the last few…
-
Ideology and politics compete in Hamas pronouncements
In an area where international and regional affairs are now often one and the same, the local dimension no longer plays a sole major role in managing events and developments. This applies to relationships as much as anything, and has been manifested in more than one case on more than…
-
Gaza’s tunnels: The future battlefield
The recent death of seven Al-Qassam Brigades members after the collapse of a tunnel highlighted the new combat style created by Hamas in the Palestinian territories a decade ago, when the Israeli army was in the heart of Gaza before it withdrew. Early digging The tunnel war is considered one…
-
When Israel tries to export its crisis from the West Bank to Gaza…
January 1st was not a good start to the year for the Israelis, as it was the day that Palestinian Nashat Melhem carried out an armed attack in the heart of Tel Aviv in broad daylight, killing and injuring Israeli citizens. The occupation state and its security, military and political…
-
The parameters of the relationship between Israel and Egypt
Israel has shown unrivalled enthusiasm for the survival of the government currently ruling in Egypt, until further notice, at least. It may not be an exaggeration on my part to say that Israel is almost the only country in the world to give the Egyptian government a blank cheque, without…
-
Israel’s objectives for its wall on the Gaza border
Since the end of the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, the enclave’s borders have been witnessing mutual mobility by the Israeli army and Hamas fighters, with each sending the other messages to warn against the imposition of new realities on the ground. Such messages are represented by the digging of…
-
The Palestinian and Israeli options for the intifada
At the climax of the intifada’s successive developments on the ground, the political position surrounding the events seem to need much clarification and reading. This is despite the fact that the political vagueness of the forces and parties associated with the intifada is deliberate and is not necessarily spontaneous. The…
-
Israel’s decision to ban the Islamic Movement may just be the tip of the iceberg
Israel’s decision to ban the Islamic Movement, led by Shaikh Raed Salah, has opened a new door to confrontation. It also sheds light once again on the reality of their turbulent relationship over the past few years after voices from within the government, parliament and security services have called for…
-
Intifada without a leadership… until when?
Since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli clashes at the beginning of the month, one distinction was highlighted: the absence of a political and field leader. Meanwhile, the Palestinian youth continue to face the Israeli army individually, even in carrying out their armed operations, as well as the stabbings and hit-and-runs.…
-
Is the security coordination limiting events in the West Bank?
At a time when political relations are becoming increasingly strained between the Palestinians and Israelis, the two sides are looking into the future of the security coordination between them with caution and concern. This is in light of the Palestinians’ demands to end the coordination because it only serves Israel’s…
-
Israel anticipates the expansion of ISIS
Israeli security and military circles are monitoring the expansion of ISIS closely, especially its control of Tadmor and Al-Ramadi. This is due to the fact that it opens the door to the possibility of ISIS expanding towards other areas of Iraq, Kurdistan and perhaps even Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The…
-
There are common interests in a Gaza truce
Israelis, especially in military circles, are preparing to launch a new war on Gaza after several Palestinian groups decided to launch rockets into Israel. The Israeli army cannot otherwise break the rules of the game with Hamas and launch another war against Gaza without such an excuse. From an Israeli…
-
How Hamas is dealing with the Amnesty report
Since the end of the Israel’s offensive against the people of Gaza last summer, Hamas has spent a great deal of its energy on proving to human rights organisations and international law bodies that Israel has committed war crimes against the Palestinians. One of the most important reports supporting that…
-
Hamas and the complementary roles of politicians and the military
With ever more visits by Arab and foreign envoys to Gaza to discuss the truce between Hamas and Israel in efforts to lift the siege, discussions within Hamas and what is said about the differences between politicians and the military have increased. Rumours about such differences of opinion abound following…
-
Seeing regional alliances through Israel’s eyes
One could possibly argue that the Arab world has experienced more dysfunctional situations, ambiguous alliances and contradictions in the past few years than in any other period in the region’s history, which makes it difficult for any decision-maker to draw out a well thought out plan that would take into…
-
The shock of the Gaza war is still affecting Israel
Since the beginning of this month, Israeli media outlets have been publishing a day by day account of the Gaza war last summer, which mentions the Israeli army’s failures. The most serious admissions were those made on video by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee member Ofer Shelah, and before…
-
Hamas: Opportunities and risks in a volatile region
Since the beginning of March of this year, Hamas has conducted a series of political phone calls in various diplomatic directions. Head of the Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal met up with the Iranian Parliamentary Chairman Ali Larijani where the two men discussed the Palestinian issue and the siege on…
-
Israeli sanctions against the PA will continue until after the elections
PA employees have not received their full salaries for the second month in a row after Israel froze $127 million in Palestinian tax revenues in response to the PA’s submission of a request to join the ICC. The Palestinians reacted angrily to Israel’s decision, and Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian senior…
-
Iran’s pressure on Meshaal unifies Hamas in support of him
The rapprochement between Hamas and Iran recently peaked as the two sides began their preparations for the visit of Khaled Meshaal to Tehran in late December 2014. Without warning, however, the planned visit experienced a setback when media outlets close to Hezbollah and Iran published press reports that contributed to…
-
How Hamas views the new Saudi Monarchy
It was rather unprecedented when the Saudi national press agency published Hamas’s condolences to the Saudi monarchy over the loss of their monarch, the late King Abdullah. Meanwhile, in Doha, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal praised the Saudi monarchy for its continued support for the Palestinian cause; while Hamas representative in…
-
The Buffer Zone in Rafah increases estrangement between Hamas and Egypt
While Hamas has had faith in the possibility of improving relations with Cairo, the border area between Rafah and Sinai has recently witnessed a number of successive developments on the ground at the hands of the Egyptian army. The buffer zone area on the border between Gaza and Egypt has…
-
Attack on Gaza… An inventory
On the first day of its attack on Gaza, Israel announced a number of goals, the most important of which was to deal a harsh blow to Hamas, stop the rocket fire, hit the network of tunnels and restore calm to the population in southern Israel. However, almost a month…
-
Gaza prepares for expected Israeli aggression
In June, the uncertainty of the fate and whereabouts of the bodies of the kidnapped Israeli settlers led Israel to accuse two Hamas officials of being responsible for the kidnapping, namely: Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisha. Israel eventually found the bodies of the kidnapped settlers and this led them…
-
Israel has to plan the war to end all war
The Middle East is in a state of constant tension, spreading from country to country. The cause is often Israel and its policies, including the main focus of the next confrontation; it will either initiate a conflict or push another party to act as the trigger. Israel is studying the…