Israel prevented the meeting between Al-Hayya and Witkoff, which we reported exclusively here, and thereby halted progress on Phase 2 of the negotiations
Is the move justified in the context of the war, or is it once again tainted by irrelevant political considerations?
The Arab source who gave us the golden news last week about the expected Witkoff-Al-Hayya meeting told us this week that Israel prevented the meeting, and that "no new date is currently known for the meeting between the two." From the source's words, it is not at all clear whether the meeting will ultimately take place or whether it will be cancelled. The importance of the meeting is also related to the report we brought about a year and a half ago, according to which Hamas would be interested in granting the US its compromise agreement and not directly to Israel, with the aim of deepening the direct dialogue with the US that began to develop about two years ago. We reported exclusively here about the secret dialogue between the US and Hamas during President Biden's term; And when Trump took office, we reported that President Trump embraced the direct dialogue that Biden initiated with Hamas. It is now completely clear that our information was accurate, despite the denials, and that direct negotiations between Hamas and the United States are taking place and developing to the point of a meeting scheduled between the American president's envoy and the head of Hamas. This move by the United States joins the policy that also began during the Biden era, to reduce Israel's place in the Middle East in the context of the world's blocs, a move that Trump and the European countries have recently deepened greatly, when they gradually turned Turkey into their main ally in the Middle East, over Israel. Here we reported that the reason for the Western move is the fear of the outbreak of World War III, and the West's need for a friendly logistical rear with regional power in the Middle East. An analysis of the current moves by Israel and Hamas makes it clear, in our assessment, that Israel has a clear political justification for preventing direct American dialogue with Hamas, since the current dialogue stems from Turkish pressure to allow Hamas a symbolic presence in power in the Gaza Strip (a news item that we reported on exclusively here), and thus an indirect grip on weapons, and of course an indirect demand from Israel to turn a blind eye to the existence of Turkish influence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and among the extremist Islamic entities that call for the destruction of Israel. Israeli silence and turning a blind eye could qualify the new axis that Turkey is establishing, which intends to revive and strengthen the organizations that work to destroy Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syrian and Iraqi organizations, on Turkey's path to its imperial past. However, it is clear in our assessment that Witkoff would not have met with al-Hiya if he had not had prior assurances that Hamas would disarm and relinquish power.
The Israeli Palestinian Post
Hamas's main demand, following Turkish pressure on it and the US to present the demand and achieve it, is that the organization have a symbolic presence in power in Gaza, in a manner that will be agreed upon by the Americans. This is why the organization is now blurring its agreement to disarm, to pressure Israel to agree to such a symbolic presence. Hamas will soften the wording, which does not clarify its intention to disarm, if Israel agrees to the Turkish demand that Hamas remain symbolically in power in the Gaza Strip, as well as to Turkey's demand to send a Turkish military force to the multinational force. It should be noted that Hamas' demand for a symbolic governmental presence and the Turkish demand to be present on Israel's border appear at the same time. Therefore, in our assessment, even if the Israeli government's course is tainted by political considerations, of prolonging the war until the elections in 2026, it is still a matter of objective consideration of the Israeli interest to distance Turkey from its borders, and to prevent Turkey from using Hamas (as well as Hezbollah, as we reported in our main headline last week) to threaten Israel with destruction, makes it clear that the Israeli interest is indeed clear, and that Israel is acting as any other democratic country would act under the current circumstances.
Hamas wants to be part of the new world that Turkey is creating with the consent of the US and European countries, in the Middle East, and it wants to integrate into the new wind blowing from the West towards the Islamic Middle East, in light of the US and European fears of a world war, in which they will need a friendly logistical rear in the Middle East. In this sense, Israel's interest is being updated, and it is no longer examining only the Middle Eastern environment, but it must examine Israel's place in a new world that foresees fundamental changes between blocs. And in this sense, the new Western Turkish wind is bringing Hamas back to life, after it had already been beaten to the ground militarily and morally.