Hamas Prepares for War as Abbas Talks Peace

by Khaled Abu Toameh • June 26, 2014 at 5:00 am

The Fatah-Hamas reconciliation accord has had no moderating effect on the Islamist movement. On the contrary, Hamas seems headed toward more extremism, and its recent actions and statements show it is preparing for war against Israel, despite Abbas's assurances that the new government would reject violence.

Former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced this week that, in the West Bank, the intifada against Israel has already begun.

As in previous years, summer camps are being used to give Palestinian schoolchildren training in guerrilla warfare.

Abbas has thus far failed to condemn his Hamas partners for threatening to fire rockets at Israel. Like many in the international community, Abbas is continuing to bury his head in the sand by refusing to see what his Hamas partners are up to.

Masked Hamas gunmen during military drills this month in Gaza.

As Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continues to talk about his commitment to the peace process and security coordination with Israel, his new partners in the "national consensus government," Hamas, seem to be preparing for war against the "Zionist enemy."

For the first time, Hamas has chosen not to prevent other Palestinian groups from launching rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Until recently, Hamas had moved to stop Islamic Jihad and other terror groups from launching rockets at Israel, to avoid an Israeli reprisal.

Hamas did so not because it believes in the peace process with Israel or is opposed to harming innocent civilians. The only reason why Hamas made an effort to stop the rocket attacks was its desire to remain in power and keep its leaders alive.

But after it signed the reconciliation agreement with Fatah, resulting in the formation of the "national consensus government", Hamas's strategy appears to have changed.

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