Meanwhile, Ahmed Yusuf, a political adviser to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a member of Hamas, announced Monday that there is a possibility of a general cease-fire that all the Palestinian factions would accept, if Israel would agree a tahdiyeh, or "lull," in the West Bank as well.
A tahdiyeh had been in place in the Gaza Strip, but while Hamas largely adhered to it for about six months, other, smaller organizations did not, and Hamas made no move to enforce it. Israel therefore refused to extend it to the West Bank, arguing that only the IDF would or could curtail extremist Palestinian groups operating there.
In a conversation with Haaretz, Yusuf said that "Israel's agreement to extend the tahdiyeh to the West Bank will enable the government headed by Haniyeh to convince the groups to cease firing Qassam rockets. We have the tools to enable us to do this."
Urging Israel to offer a political solution to the recent escalation, he added: "We are interested in a general cease-fire, and the question is whether Israel is also interested in this," Yusuf said. The Hamas official called on Israel to negotiate a solution to the crisis with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Seconding this call, Palestinian Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouti said that expanding the cease-fire to the West Bank is necessary in order to restore calm to the Gaza Strip.
I have to hand it to Hamas - they may be homegrown terror organization but their political cunning knows no end. There is also a good chance that the events of the last week will only serve to further their own political agenda. Do not think for a minute that any “truce” for the suspension of counter-terror operations by the Israelis in the West Bank would not be fully exploited by Hamas to win further favour with the West Banks clans. Hamas would be able to point with pride that Hamas accomplished what Fatah has never been able to do.
If the Israelis were to concede to Hamas’ demands then it is only a matter of time before rockets will be launched via the West Bank instead of the Gaza Strip. Those very couter-terror operations which Hamas seeks to surpress are responsible for the relative calm in the West Bank.
The bigger question should be just how desperate is the Kadima administration? And will Kadima seek short-term gain for long-term pain?
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