MESOP MIDEAST WATCH : MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10135 – Hamas Member: We Should Consider A Three- To Five-Year ‘Hudna’ (Truce) Between Israel &The Resistance In Gaza 

In an article published August 10, 2022 in the Palestinian Al-Quds daily, Hamas member Ahmad Yousuf, a former advisor to Hamas political bureau head Isma’il Haniyeh, called for an internationally sponsored three- to five-year hudna (truce) between Israel and the Gaza resistance factions.

Yousuf stated that because Gaza is currently weak and besieged, the Palestinian resistance should recognize its diplomatic failures in the Arab and international arena and consider the option of a hudna instead of the recurring ceasefires after conflicts in which Israel always has the upper hand.

Such a hudna, he wrote, would give the Palestinians a chance to catch their breath, and at the same time allow the resistance to reexamine its military and diplomatic options and come up with a policy that is acceptable to the general Palestinian public. He also suggested that the one-state option be examined, which he said could give the moral high ground to the Palestinian people’s struggle and gain Western support for their cause.

Defining the recent Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)-Israel conflict as a political stratagem hatched by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Ganz as part of their election campaign, he said that the PIJ had been dragged into a battle in which Israel set the rules of the clash and inflicted a decisive blow on the PIJ.

Below are excerpts from Yousuf’s article.Ahmad Yousuf (Source: Al-Quds, Jerusalem)

“There is nothing to prevent Israelis from firing on Palestinians whenever and however they wish. It is already customary, during election campaign seasons [in Israel], to provoke the Palestinians in order to drag them into a military conflict. [These conflicts are] political investments by those in Israel’s ruling circles and decision-making [centers]. Furthermore, the [candidates’] rivalry in spouting extreme slogans and [making] security threats eventually reaches the battlefield, and serves as a standard for a particular candidate’s ability to maintain security – an issue that is generally a decisive factor [in the choice] between the most important contenders on the right and the extreme right for the governmental and political leadership in Israel…

“If we look at the most recent military conflict, between the Israeli occupation army and the Islamic Jihad movement [PIJ] in the Gaza Strip – in an arena set up by [Yair] Lapid and [Benny] Ganz ­– we clearly see that the [pre-conflict] tension emanated from [Israel’s] fraud and provocation against the PIJ through its arrest and direct humiliation of [West Bank PIJ official] Sheikh Bassam Al-Saadi. This was a stratagem hatched by those who lust after the premiership in the November elections – that is, Yair [Lapid] and [Benny] Ganz…

“We cannot ignore the fact that Israel landed a painful blow against the PIJ and [its military wing] the Al-Quds Brigades by striking the movement’s two most important military figures in the Gaza Strip – Tayseer Al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour – and other officials… This was in addition to the destruction of many military targets – that is, PIJ outposts and property.

“Despite the heroism of the PIJ fighters and the heroic and qualitative activity shown by the Al-Quds Brigades in the field; despite their successful launch of hundreds of missiles at [Israel’s] Gaza perimeter communities and at Tel Aviv, Netanya, Ashkelon, and Ashdod; and despite the fact that they [the PIJ and Al-Quds Brigades] are under round-the-clock security and electronic surveillance – what is seared into the consciousness of the Israeli voters is that Lapid and Ganz successfully reached and eliminated top-rank PIJ Al-Quds Brigades commanders in Gaza. [This achievement] will be added to the resumes of Lapid and Ganz, and they will be seen as the men of the hour. Three months from now, they may even be the political option preferred by [the voters] as secure and stable leadership for Israel.”

Read The Full Report  www.mesop.de