A Victory for Hamas; A Step Back for Peace Talks?
Another chapter on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was written today as both countries agreed on exchanging one Israeli soldier for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners. The terms of the trade are 1,027 Palestinian prisoners— of which hundreds have already been released— in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a recently promoted first class sergeant. The exchange done between Hamas and Israel was motive enough of celebration on both sides, however Hamas may be attaining more political power in Palestine, making it more difficult for future peace talks.
Sgt. Shalit was freed today amid a lot of jubilant expectation. He was taken from Gaza, where he was abducted in 2006, to Egypt where he was interviewed by Egyptian television. Finally he arrived to Israel where he was given a medical check and declared healthy. Sgt. Shalit looked considerably pale and skinny, which is no surprise, given that he was imprisoned for nearly five years.
The underlying political motives for the prisoner trade between Israel and Hamas are still not completely clear. Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel although having rejected similar deals in the past said, “I don’t know if the future would have allowed us to get a better deal—or any deal at all for that matter, “ but many of his detractors accuse Mr. Netanyahu of using populist measures to gain sympathy of the public. The unrest in Syria may have been a factor for this decision given that Hamas may be seeking to move its leadership from Damascus to Egypt, which was one of the key brokers of the deal, and it might have set the deal as a precondition to host the Hamas headquarters.
Though Hamas and the Palestinian government led by Mahmoud Abbas aren’t exactly in good terms, the release of the prisoners was taken well by both sides. Children in Palestinian schools were also freed from their duties to participate in the celebration. Hamas has certainly scored a political victory in Palestine. For Mr. Abbas, the feeling may come somewhat bittersweet given that Hamas doesn’t support any plan to coexist with Israel in any manner.
Peace talks and the Palestinian statehood bid are both being constantly rejected by Hamas even to the point of it stating that it would only back a plan for statehood that does not recognize Israel as a state, hence having a more politically entrenched Hamas throughout the land will deteriorate the Israeli-Palestinian relationship even more and the little successes Hamas is amassing are certainly painting the picture much darker.
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