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Hamas Informs Mediators it Doesn't Want New Conflict in Gaza

Palestinian Hamas and "Islamic Jihad" supporters protest following clashes at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Israeli police and Palestinians, east of Gaza City, 15 April 2022. (EPA)
Palestinian Hamas and "Islamic Jihad" supporters protest following clashes at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Israeli police and Palestinians, east of Gaza City, 15 April 2022. (EPA)
    Ramallah, Rabat and Dubai - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Hamas Informs Mediators it Doesn't Want New Conflict in Gaza

Palestinian Hamas and "Islamic Jihad" supporters protest following clashes at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Israeli police and Palestinians, east of Gaza City, 15 April 2022. (EPA)
Palestinian Hamas and "Islamic Jihad" supporters protest following clashes at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Israeli police and Palestinians, east of Gaza City, 15 April 2022. (EPA)

The Palestinian Hamas movement is not seeking escalation in the Gaza Strip, revealed informed sources.

Hamas held a meeting with the "Islamic Jihad" group, which was on the verge of carrying out an escalation, they told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hamas warned the group that the political situation and time are not right for a new confrontation in the coastal enclave, which is ruled by the movement.

The time is not right for a new conflict in Gaza due to the humanitarian and economic situation in the Strip and the world's preoccupation with the Ukrainian Russian war.

The sources said Hamas officials wanted to spark a confrontation with Israel in Gaza in wake of the tensions between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem to exhaust the Jewish state.

Hamas decided, however, to rein in this impulse, but it warned mediators that it could change its position if the violations at the al-Aqsa continued.

The movement cannot stand idly by as the situation unfolds in Jerusalem, it stressed, according to the sources.

The mediators have pressed Hamas against escalating the situation in Gaza, asking that the factions wait for calm to be restored in Jerusalem.

Hamas, in return, demanded that Israel halt its assault on Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel said it does not want escalation, while blaming Palestinians for stoking tensions in Jerusalem.

Hamas on Friday said no truce agreement had been struck with Israel.

Politburo official Izzat al-Rashq stressed that the movement has always been clear in informing mediators that Jerusalem and al-Aqsa were "red lines."

He revealed that Hamas was contacted by several countries in the region and the United Nations chief, who feared the movement would resort to escalation in Gaza due to Israel's ongoing violations in Jerusalem.

The movement stressed to them that it was not seeking a new war in Gaza, but it was closely monitoring the situation and "it has its finger on the trigger".

"We are one people and if our holy sites are violated, then our people throughout the territories will carry out their duties in defending them," he remarked.

On Friday and Saturday, Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh held phone calls with Egyptian, Qatari and Omani officials and the UN to discuss the situation at the al-Aqsa.

Meanwhile, Morocco, whose King Mohammed VI chairs the Al Quds Committee under the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, voiced its strong condemnation of the Israeli raid of the compound and the attack on unarmed worshippers.

"This blatant aggression and methodical provocation during the holy month of Ramadan against the sanctity of the mosque and its place in the heart of the Islamic Ummah will only fuel feelings of hatred and extremism and destroy the chances of reviving the peace process in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Dr. Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President, stressed his country’s condemnation of Israeli violations in al-Aqsa.

In a tweet, he said that resorting to violence will only hamper joint efforts to reach a political solution to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

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Arab World

Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
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Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)

Israel is considering options to respond to repeated attacks fired from Yemen in the past few days, the latest of which was a Houthi missile strike that injured more than a dozen people in Tel Aviv.
But military experts say Israel should first consider an intelligence plan for confronting the new front after it faced significant difficulties in both defending against and responding to the Houthi attacks.
On Saturday morning, Houthis launched a missile that triggered sirens throughout central Israel at 3:44 am. It was the second attack since Thursday.
Israel's military said the projectile landed in Tel Aviv's southern Jaffa area, adding that attempts to intercept a missile from Yemen failed.
“The incident is still being thoroughly investigated,” the army said, adding that following initial investigations by the Israeli Air Force and Home Front Command, “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, both regarding interception and early warning.”
Israeli military experts say the recent Houthi attacks have revealed serious security gaps in Israel's air defense systems.
“The pressing question now is why none of the other of Israel’s air defense layers managed to intercept the warhead,” wrote Yedioth Ahronoth's Ron Ben-Yishai. “The likely explanation is the late detection and the flat trajectory, which prevented the operation of all available defense apparatus.”
He said these incidents might expose a critical vulnerability in the army’s air defense system protecting Israel’s civilian and military home front.
According to Ben-Yishai, two main reasons might explain Saturday’s interception failure.
The first is that the missile was launched in a “flattened” ballistic trajectory, possibly from an unexpected direction.
As a result, Israeli defenses may not have identified it in time, leading to its late discovery and insufficient time for interceptors to operate.
He said the second, and more likely scenario is that Iran has developed a maneuverable warhead.
Such a warhead separates from the missile during the final third of its trajectory and maneuvers mid-flight—executing pre-programmed course changes—to hit its designated target, he wrote.
And while Israel has launched initial investigations into the failure of Israeli defense systems to intercept the missiles, it is now examining the nature, date and location of its response.
When Houthis launched their first missile attack on Israel last Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned them, saying, “The Houthis will learn the hard way.”
But Israeli political analyst Avi Ashkenazi wrote in the Maariv newspaper that Israel should look at reality with open eyes and say out loud that it cannot deal with the Houthi threat from Yemen, and has failed to face them.
Last Thursday, 14 Israeli Air Force fighter jets, alongside refuelers and spy planes, flew some 2,000 kilometers and dropped over 60 munitions on Houthi “military targets” along Yemen’s western coast and near the capital Sanaa.
The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
But the Maariv newspaper warned about the increasing involvement of Iran in supporting the Houthi forces.
“Iran has invested more in the Houthis in recent weeks following the collapse of the Shiite axis, making the Houthi movement a leader of this axis,” the newspaper noted.
Underscoring the failures of Israel’s air defense systems, Maariv said the “Arrow” missile defense system, Israel's main line of defense against ballistic missiles, had failed four times in a row to intercept missiles, including three launched from Yemen and one from Lebanon.
Yedioth Ahronoth's Ben-Yishai also warned that the threat posed by maneuvering warheads on Iran's heavy, long-range missiles would become existential for Israel should Iran succeed in developing nuclear warheads for these missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 said that in recent months, the Middle East has changed beyond recognition.
The channel said that for the first time in more than half a century, a direct and threat-free air corridor has been opened to Iran through the Middle East. Israel will benefit from this corridor to launch almost daily attacks on the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, it said.
Channel 12 also reported that according to the Israeli military, the new threat-free corridor will help Israel launch a future attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“From Israel's perspective, the fall of the Assad regime and the collapse of the Iranian ring of fire are changing the balance of power in the Middle East,” the report added.