Admit It..."Israeli" Effort to Topple Hamas Has Failed

Hamas Monday rejected an "Israeli" offer that linked the opening of Gaza's crossings to the release of captured "Israeli" occupation soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that under no circumstances would the resistance organization accept such a linkage. First, "Israel" must open the crossings, he said; then the parties can talk about Shalit.

A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, Ayman Taha, told the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram that "Israel" had offered to free 1,000 Palestinian detainees and open the crossings in exchange for a cease-fire and Shalit's release. The pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, citing "Israeli" sources, said the offer was for 1,050 detainees, including 280 of the 350 senior members whose release Hamas has demanded by name. Prior to the Gaza offensive, "Israel" had agreed to release only some 220 people on this list.

In practice, the talks have been stalled in any case by a dispute between Hamas and Egypt, the chief mediator, over the former's rejection of the latter's proposals for a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and a long-term truce with "Israel". And "Israeli" war sources said it was "not certain" that the figures given by the Arab newspapers would indeed be the final formula.

If it is, however, the deal will provide Hamas with significant gains. The organization's main rationale for ending its last truce with "Israel", in December, was to end "Israel's" blockade of Gaza, so "Israel's" offer allows Hamas to achieve the primary goal for which it went to war.

Additionally, Hamas would receive a massive prisoner release, including many of the people it specifically demanded. It would thereby have bested the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in terms of both the number and the "quality" of the prisoners whose freedom it was able to secure. While "Israel" has released prisoners to the PA several times in recent years, it has always decided whom to release, rejecting any input from the PA.

Finally, the prisoner release, coupled with the reopened crossings, would essentially constitute de facto "Israeli" recognition of "Hamastan," since it would bolster Hamas' grip on Gaza by giving it the image of a winner. It would also boost Hamas' popularity in the occupied West Bank. Effectively, therefore, it would constitute an "Israeli" recognition that its three-year-old effort to topple Hamas has failed.