Over time, the Brotherhood's rise to power in the Arab world's leading nation could reshape the Palestinians' two long-running conflicts ? with Israel over land and between Hamas and the rival Fatah movement of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over political supremacy. Negotiations with Israel, reconciliation with Hamas and a bid to win U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine are frozen, while his self-rule government in the West Bank faces financial collapse. Israel eased the closure two years ago, allowing most imports of consumer goods, and Egypt's post-Mubarak interim government allowed more travel through the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border. Morsi met several times over the past year with Hamas leaders from Gaza, most recently two months ago, said a senior Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the contacts. A complete opening of the Gaza-Egypt border, including trade, would also have the unintended consequence of deepening the separation between the West Bank and Gaza, which flank Israel but are supposed to be part of a single Palestinian state in the future, along with east Jerusalem. Morsi's victory is expected to strengthen the hand of Hamas pragmatists, including the movement's supreme leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal who is seeking re-election and in recent months faced off against hard-line Hamas leaders in Gaza. Formed in Gaza in the late 1980s, Hamas adopted a militant ideology as part of its conflict with Israel, sending suicide bombers and other attackers into Israel, and in recent years has become increasingly beholden to anti-Israel Iran.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment