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Why Did Abu Marzouk Retract Statements on ‘Hamas Recognizing Israel’?

Ismail Haniyeh, Hanna Nasser, and a bottle of Palestinian oil during an election committee meeting with Hamas, October 2019 (Reuters)
Ismail Haniyeh, Hanna Nasser, and a bottle of Palestinian oil during an election committee meeting with Hamas, October 2019 (Reuters)
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Why Did Abu Marzouk Retract Statements on ‘Hamas Recognizing Israel’?

Ismail Haniyeh, Hanna Nasser, and a bottle of Palestinian oil during an election committee meeting with Hamas, October 2019 (Reuters)
Ismail Haniyeh, Hanna Nasser, and a bottle of Palestinian oil during an election committee meeting with Hamas, October 2019 (Reuters)

Hamas senior official Mousa Abu Marzouk has retracted statements in which he hinted at his movement’s readiness to recognize Israel, asserting that the Palestinian group does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the occupation.

“I confirm that the Hamas movement does not recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, and does not accept giving up any of the rights of our Palestinian people,” said Marzouk in a statement distributed by Hamas.

“We affirm that the resistance will continue until liberation,” he added.

Marzouk had said in an interview with Al Monitor that Hamas “wants to be part” of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and respects its obligations.

The PLO, a coalition of Palestinian factions, recognized the state of Israel more than 30 years ago.

Respecting the principles and commitments of the region has been a longstanding point of contention for decades between the PLO and Hamas, which has consistently refused to adhere to the region’s commitments, as doing so entails recognizing Israel.

The PLO acknowledged Israel in 1993 as part of its efforts to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.

For a long time, Hamas rejected the idea of establishing a state along the 1967 borders.

However, its rhetoric has shifted in recent years, with the group now stating that it accepts such a state, albeit without recognizing Israel.

Marzouk affirmed that Hamas seeks to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.

“Israelis have rights, but not at the expense of others,” he said in the interview.

Marzouk’s retraction of his statement, a departure from typical Hamas rhetoric, was expected, as it challenged a fundamental principle of the movement.

But did Marzouk truly not mean what he said?

Observers see Hamas joining the PLO as a crucial move amid Gaza’s devastation by Israel and the US-Israel collaboration advocating “the day after the war without Hamas.”

Therefore , Marzouk’s statement may be seen as a trial balloon.

It came hours after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh announced that the movement is open to discussing any initiatives that lead to a ceasefire in Gaza.

For decades, Hamas and the PLO remained at odds, and a series of agreements failed to alter the reality.

Hamas consistently refused to cede control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, relinquish its governance, and disarm.

Conversely, the Palestinian Authority rejected incorporating Hamas into the PLO without genuine reconciliation.

Disputes persisted on all matters related to the PLO, including representation percentages, elections, its structure, program, commitments, and reform.

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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)

In deserted villages and communities near the southern Lebanon border, Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have watched each other for months, shifting and adapting in a battle for the upper hand while they wait to see if a full scale war will come.

Ever since the start of the Gaza war last October, the two sides have exchanged daily barrages of rockets, artillery, missile fire and air strikes in a standoff that has just stopped short of full-scale war.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border, and hopes that children may be able to return for the start of the new school year in September appear to have been dashed following an announcement by Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Tuesday that conditions would not allow it.

"The war is almost the same for the past nine months," Lieutenant Colonel Dotan, an Israeli officer, who could only be identified by his first name. "We have good days of hitting Hezbollah and bad days where they hit us. It's almost the same, all year, all the nine months."

As the summer approaches its peak, the smoke trails of drones and rockets in the sky have become a daily sight, with missiles regularly setting off brush fires in the thickly wooded hills along the border.

Israeli strikes have killed nearly 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, while 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Even so, as the cross border firing has continued, Israeli forces have been training for a possible offensive in Lebanon which would dramatically increase the risk of a wider regional war, potentially involving Iran and the United States.

That risk was underlined at the weekend when the Yemen-based Houthis, a militia which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran, sent a drone to Tel Aviv where it caused a blast that killed a man and prompted Israel to launch a retaliatory raid the next day.

Standing in his home kibbutz of Eilon, where only about 150 farmers and security guards remain from a normal population of 1,100, Lt. Colonet Dotan said the two sides have been testing each other for months, in a constantly evolving tactical battle.

"This war taught us patience," said Dotan. "In the Middle East, you need patience."

He said Israeli troops had seen an increasing use of Iranian drones, of a type frequently seen in Ukraine, as well as Russian-made Kornet anti tank missiles which were increasingly targeting houses as Israeli tank forces adapted their own tactics in response.

"Hezbollah is a fast-learning organization and they understood that UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are the next big thing and so they went and bought and got trained in UAVs," he said.

Israel had responded by adapting its Iron Dome air defense system and focusing its own operations on weakening Hezbollah's organizational structure by attacking its experienced commanders, such as Ali Jaafar Maatuk, a field commander in the elite Radwan forces unit who was killed last week.

"So that's another weak point we found. We target them and we look for them on a daily basis," he said.

Even so, as the months have passed, the wait has not been easy for Israeli troops brought up in a doctrine of maneuver and rapid offensive operations.

"When you're on defense, you can't defeat the enemy. We understand that, we have no expectations," he said, "So we have to wait. It's a patience game."