Hamas feeling the strain, analyst says

Channel 2’s Arab affairs analyst Ehud Ya’ari reports that Hamas feels under siege.

“There are no delegations in Cairo” to discuss any potential ceasefire as yet, he explains. The reason: “Egypt is unwilling to receive a Hamas delegation until the shooting ends.”

Hamas sees the Egyptians as “very, very hard on them. The Egyptians are making it difficult for foreign aid delegations to pass through Rafah. Hamas interprets this as partnership with Israel. They’re blaming the Saudis as well.”

One Hamas spokesperson, Hamad al-Rakab, has already declared victory, saying “It’s only a matter of time before the start of celebrations…. I want to tell you, the war is ended. The enemy is establishing investigative committees to understand why its fighters have lost so badly.”

Hamas has also complained bitterly about its isolation in the Arab world, openly directing complaints at Hezbollah and Iran. “What are all these declarations of support from [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah?” Ya’ari quotes a Hamas statement. “We need a new front in the north!”

There is also anger and frustration at the continued quiet in the West Bank and among Israeli Arabs.

Hamas has seen the destruction of almost all its tunnels, one-third of which reached into Israel, he reports. They have only a few dozen long-range rockets, and a few hundred of the medium-range kind that can reach Ashkelon and Ashdod.

“So you see an effort to conserve the arsenal, a lowered rate of fire in recent days,” Ya’ari notes.

Meanwhile, much of the Gaza Strip east of the main north-south road, Salah A-Din Street, is empty of population with IDF forces operating there virtually freely.

Taken together, Hamas believes its situation is dire.