Hamas expands international outreach
Recent meetings between Hamas and international figures suggest that ties are deepening between the movement and Western diplomats, who are quietly meeting to discuss Gaza’s future, the reconciliation with Fatah and a proposed truce with Israel.
In the context of a new initiative to solve the crisis in the Gaza Strip that includes a five-year truce between the Palestinians and Israel, it was revealed on March 9 that a truce between Hamas and Israel was being discussed by European diplomats. During this period, Gaza would be reconstructed, ground and air military activities halted, the siege lifted and crossings opened.
Although Hamas denied ever presenting such a proposal, recent meetings between both sides suggested deep ties between the movement and European and Western diplomats. There have also been regular visits by European consuls and diplomats to Gaza, where they meet with Hamas leaders and others to discuss Gaza’s future, the reconciliation with Fatah and a truce with Israel.
Hamas had no interest in international relations when the movement was first founded in late 1987. Its founding charter, issued in August 1988, included no international dimension, as the movement had not yet realized the importance of international relations to promote its political positions.
However, Hamas realized this lack during the past few years and has initiated political relations with European and Asian countries and welcomes visits and other gestures. This openness technically started when Hamas won the 2006 legislative elections, though it still remains afraid of taking the same path as the PLO in the 1970s and the 1980s, which the international community succeeded in taming and luring into a peace process and ending its armed struggle.
