On Jan. 23, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, delivered a lengthy statement to a group of journalists at his home, with Al-Monitor in attendance, covering developments on the Palestinian front, but mainly focusing on the possibility of convening a national Palestinian conference to develop a strategic response to US-Israeli policy on the Palestinian issue. Haniyeh said that the conference should be open to all Palestinian forces and suggested that it be held in an Arab country. He believes it could lead to an agreement for reconciling the positions and strategies of the various Palestinian factions in terms of their politics and resistance.
Of note, it remains the case that Fatah seeks nonviolent popular resistance against Israel, while Hamas considers armed military resistance as the only option in confronting Israel. Yet others seek to adopt a mix of methods. The disparities in positions have weakened the Palestinians' position. It appears that Hamas is hoping to hash out and unite strategies and positions through the proposed conference.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al-Monitor, “Hamas called for a conference when it realized how serious this stage of the Palestinian cause has become after the US decisions on Jerusalem and UNRWA. The political response of the Palestinian Authority [PA] could not keep up with the successive events. Hamas believes the PA is taking too long to implement the decisions the Palestinian Central Council [PCC] reached on Jan. 15 and which called for suspending security coordination with Israel.” The Donald Trump administration had recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December and partially withheld aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in January while threatening to withhold it altogether unless the Palestinians agree to return to negotiations with Israel.
A week after Haniyeh presented the idea of a national conference to journalists, the US State Department on Jan. 31 designated him a terrorist for having links to Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas condemned the move in a statement released the same day. The US decision could affect a potential Palestinian conference in that it might prevent Haniyeh from traveling outside the Palestinian territories for fear of being extradited to the United States.
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