Translation by "Jerusalem" dot com - The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said today, Friday, that Hamas prefers the continuation of calm in the Gaza Strip, and an attempt to improve the economic situation through the facilities recently provided by the Israeli government , rather than initiating any escalation during the current period or Nearby, while the Islamic Jihad Movement will find it difficult to initiate or enter into a new round of fighting without the participation of Hamas, after its failure in the last round.

The newspaper says, in a report by its reporter and military analyst, Amos Harel, that the Israeli army is satisfied with itself after the achievements made in the recent operation in Gaza and neutralizing Hamas from it, and optimism about the continuation of calm by Hamas, and tolerance of its behavior with more civilian steps, in addition to the successful operations in West Bank to eliminate armed cells, despite the growing concern about what is happening in the region.

According to Harel, the Israeli army mainly refers to the success of the operation in Gaza to the accurate intelligence provided by the Shin Bet about the intentions of the Islamic Jihad, as well as determining the locations of its leadership and the rapid preparation to launch a sudden and preemptive strike, in addition to the success of the defense system in thwarting the intentions of the jihad by paying the price for Israel, and depriving the movement of Launching any anti-tank missiles or drones, and countering their missiles by the Iron Dome system.

According to Harel, from the moment the leader of the Islamic Jihad, Bassam al-Saadi, was arrested, and what he was exposed to during the operation and the publication of video clips of that, the assumption was that the Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhala, who was in Tehran at the time, made the decision to prepare for revenge, and it was an emotional decision in front of what happened. He published scenes of Saadi's arrest and assault.

He considered that the Islamic Jihad had agreed to a cease-fire because its firing of 1,200 rockets and missiles did not cause any real damage in Israel, while the Israeli Army General Staff believes that the damage caused to the movement increases the damage inflicted on Hamas in Operation “Guardian of the Walls.” Saif al-Quds" last May, which is still very reluctant to enter into a confrontation.

And he says: The current hope within the Israeli security system is that the failure of the jihad, and the price incurred by the movement by killing two of its senior leaders, who were subordinate to al-Nakhala and his deputy, Akram al-Ajouri, who live abroad, will help ensure calm for another period, and the jihad will find it difficult to initiate a movement. Another attack without enthusiasm, after its relatively limited ability became clear.

And he adds: According to this approach, Hamas currently prefers to promote more economic measures to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip, and is not currently looking for violent confrontation.

An Israeli security source told Haaretz: Hamas is sovereign and responsible for the Strip, and there was a question about dealing with the post-ceasefire phase, and the political echelon adopted the Israeli army's recommendation to immediately remove all restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip in light of the intensification of the scene. Allowing the passage of goods and the entry of workers and other things.

Harel refers to an article published by the former officer in "Aman / Israeli Military Intelligence" Michael Milstein, who said that the recent operation revealed a sharp strategic gap related to Israeli policy in Gaza, and according to him, the economic relief and the entry of workers were based on 3 basic assumptions, that Hamas is the sovereign. And that improving the civilian situation will reduce the risk of escalation with Hamas, which is afraid of losing what it has already gained, and that any serious security breach will be met with a strong response, which will be directed first and foremost at the movement that controls the Strip.

Milstein believes that, in practice, Israel's behavior during the last round was contrary to the strategy it had defined and left Hamas in the position of observer, although the movement did not abide by its commitments under the cease-fire at the end of Operation "Guardian of the Walls / Sword of Jerusalem", to prevent any attacks in Gaza, which is It did not intervene to prevent the jihad from working, and Israel had to intervene to stop it.

And unlike senior officials in the Israeli army - as Harel reports - Michael Milstein believes that Hamas's policy was not the result of coercion, but rather an option. To keep the operation open and that it is not responsible for everything that happens in the Strip, while Jihad and the smaller factions do not feel that the movement is setting any red lines, including preventing any action against Israel.

Harel believes that Hamas is also trying to be the biggest beneficiary of the last round in Gaza, by strengthening its position at the expense of the Palestinian Authority and not just the Islamic Jihad, noting that the Authority's control over the West Bank is diminishing and Hamas is seeking to exploit this, in light of the presence of armed cells in Some areas such as Nablus and Jenin.

He points out that the General Staff of the Israeli army admits that the situation in the West Bank is not encouraging and disturbing, but there are those who claim that the slope of the weak current of the Palestinian Authority is not steep, and that the Israeli security services see that this can be compensated for through economic and civil gestures, in the hope of strengthening its position a little. in the West Bank.

According to Harel, the IDF General Staff hopes that the successes achieved in Gaza against Islamic Jihad will also resonate with Hezbollah and Hamas as well to discover the Israeli offensive initiative and take unexpected steps such as a surprise preemptive strike at the beginning of the round, accurate operational intelligence and ability to carry out surgical strikes, and improve missile defense, all of which will help deter Israel and prevent escalation from other fronts.

For his part, the political analyst for Haaretz newspaper, Zvi Barel, says that the last round showed the collapse of the alliance between Hamas and Islamic Jihad after the former decided not to join the last round, indicating that social networks did not stop asking questions about this discord and how Hamas stopped being a resistance movement. To a movement that thinks about its interests, and how it did not help the slogan that it raised that Hamas and Jihad are brothers in the arms of the resistance.

Barrell considered that all the questions that were raised during the round of fighting indicate that Hamas thinks rationally and sought to preserve its achievements after Operation "Guardian of the Walls / Sword of Jerusalem". Which has permanent levers of pressure through the Rafah crossing, and perhaps even wanted to leave the Islamic Jihad movement alone and shed its blood to prove that no organization can wage an independent struggle without it against Israel.

He says: But these interpretations specifically shed light on the depth of the dilemma in which Hamas finds itself on the conceptual and ideological level from which it feeds and which is the reason for its existence.

Barrell referred to Hamas's decision regarding renewing the relationship with the Syrian regime, pointing out that there are supporters and opponents of this step inside and outside the movement, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its components from Islamic bodies such as the Syrian Islamic Council, which includes Muslim scholars, and they turned to the leader of the movement, Ismail Haniyeh, and told him Renewing relations will harm the Islamic nation and put the organization on the Iranian axis that is hostile to the nation and trades in the blood of its children and the Palestinian cause, while Turkey described this intention of Hamas as "disgusting", while Qatar was less interested but did not encourage it, referring to the positions of writers and scholars affiliated with the Brotherhood Muslims are between those who justified this relationship and those who categorically rejected it.

Barrell says: For Hamas, which is engaged in a dual conflict, religious and national, this is not only an ideological dilemma. It is unique to the Palestinian people and a spearhead in fighting the occupation, and this requires it to adopt a religious and political consensus not only in Palestine but also in the Arab and Islamic world.

And he considered that here lies the fundamental difference between Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as the latter aims to fight the occupation and liberate Palestine, while Hamas presents a much broader global vision, so that Palestine is just one stage in building the unified Muslim nation, and that there is no place for independent nation-states, which are visible in their view. A product of colonialism, and that the struggle against Israel can bear a great deal of flexibility as long as this flexibility and pragmatism serves the supreme utopian idea. according to his expression.

He adds: Hamas uses religion for political reasons, while Islamic Jihad practices politics on a religious basis, citing statements by Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar that Palestine has no priority at the expense of other Islamic countries and the unity of the nation and its components, considering that this is a unique position that determines the priorities of the national struggle that It must serve religious ideological conflict. as he says.

And he considered that the question about what is best to serve the resistance and the struggle, allowed Hamas to adopt the position it took in the last round, and apparently this is an opportunistic approach that stems from considerations of cost and return that are not related to its position, which can be justified under the pretext that "necessities allow for prohibitions." But it is the same concept that describes cooperation between it and jihad when necessary, or brutal fighting against political and religious opponents such as Salafist organizations, and it is also the one that paves the way for indirect agreements with Israel regarding the exchange of prisoners and detainees and the implementation of reconciliation or a long-term truce, as long as it is not related to recognition. With Israel, but in a temporary situation, it will continue as long as it is on its way to realizing the idea of the Islamic nation.

He says: The political translation of this concept is evident not only in confronting jihad or Israel, but also in the relations that the organization was able to establish with competing countries such as Turkey and Qatar on the one hand, and with Egypt on the other, so that Hamas was able to liberate itself from Saudi tutelage and from Iranian dictates that It (i.e., Iran) imposes it on Islamic Jihad, as if it is a country that can consider without pressure whether to renew its relations with Syria or not, and it succeeded where its mother movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, failed. Patriotism, and it controls its lands in Gaza, and is not committed to partnership with its political opponents such as the Fatah movement, and at this time it considers itself the vanguard force of the Islamic nation.