Israel chose war in order to try to affect on Hamas’s power. The main object of the Israeli operation in Gaza was not to weaken Hamas’s militant force and the result of the war empowers this view. The real object was to try to affect on the Palestinian public opinion in Gaza since they elected Hamas and support its agendas.

                Although Israel claims that it achieved victory in this war nothing changed in reality; Hamas still have power, the tunnels are being built again at this moment, and the people are still supporting it not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, and in the Arab World. The Israeli war choice was not good as the Israeli leadership thought it will be. The American administration does know this fact now especially that the last UNRWA report said that the war empowered Hamas between the Palestinians in Gaza.

                The next strategy in dealing with Hamas will be decided depending on who will win the Israeli elections in February and how far the next Israeli new Prime Minister will agree to accept the new American administration strategies.  President Obama made it clear that the United States will not negotiate with Hamas before it agrees to recognize the Israeli state and stop its use of force in the conflict. However, President Obama did not say anything about the Israeli ongoing settlements building, the occupation, and the no improvement that Israel shows in the ongoing negotiations that started two years ago under the Bush administration.

                Although President Obama was accurate about his position regarding Hamas; he made changes in his new administration that includes Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East. Mitchell may help in changing the situation in the Middle East because of his experience in solving conflicts. The current two options that President Obama will have to choose from are: Either to continue the pressure on Abu Mazen to prevent him from making a United government with Hamas and keep on isolating it as before, or to accept the idea of Palestinian Unity government that gives the right for the PLO to continue its negotiations with Israel and admit its existence while Hamas keeps the right for itself as a political party not to recognize Israel. This is a choice that can get all the sides out of the current dilemma. Beside that one should remember that if the United States will accomplish any kind of agreement with Syria or Iran through diplomatic channels, this will help in creating more pressure on Hamas.

                The real question now is whether the United States will really play fairly with the two sides and will create real pressure on both sides to agree on a fair peace agreement. The negotiations in the past did not bring any result even when there were no attacks on Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is considered sensitive in the United States because Israel is considered an ally and an eye for America in the region, and therefore any decision to make pressure on Israel to disclaim some of what it occupied in the past will not be welcomed easily.

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

A Palestinian-Arab living in East Jerusalem, Ziad graduated from College Des Freres in Jerusalem in 2003. Ziad finished his major in International Relations and English Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ziad is a former President of the Watan student movement at the university. He is interested in Middle Eastern political issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Founder of the Middle East Post and MEL (Middle East Future Leadership Network), he represents Palestinian youth at several international conferences.

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