Can Hamas' Haniyeh accept Egyptian demands?
During their trip to Cairo, Hamas officials heard a long list of Egyptian security demands in exchange for mending ties, and now incoming leader Ismail Haniyeh must sell the deal or be left to rule the Gaza Strip without Egypt's help.
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh went home to the Gaza Strip after a 4½-month sojourn in Qatar. Haniyeh decided to return from Qatar even though the process of his appointment as Hamas leader had not yet been finalized. Hamas' supreme body, the Shura Council, had elected Haniyeh to replace current political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal.
Residents of the Shati refugee camp in Gaza welcomed Haniyeh with great excitement on Jan. 27, hoping to hear good news from him regarding Hamas-Egypt relations after the series of meetings he held with Egyptian intelligence heads in Cairo. However, Haniyeh kept mum. In the near future, he will have to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life: whether to accept the conditions dictated to him by Egypt for a significant easement of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, or remain entrenched in his position and continue to cope with the harsh situation there.
