A rumor is going around that Gaza Strip Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is considering resigning. Is there any truth to this rumor? It all depends on who you ask.
One Hamas source completely denied it. He said that while Sinwar is very frustrated over the failure of the reconciliation efforts with Fatah, a goal that is high on his priority list, the Hamas leader still remains at his post and regularly holds discussions on how to extricate the Gaza Strip from the blockade it is subject to. By contrast, a high-ranking Palestinian security source told Al-Monitor that the Hamas leader in Gaza is sick and tired of his position following the collapse of the negotiations with Fatah. According to the source, Sinwar knows that reconciliation is the only way Hamas can survive in the long run. Testimony to the fact that the Hamas leader reached this conclusion is Sinwar’s dramatic announcement in the speech he delivered in Gaza on Dec. 20, 2017. He said that his movement is willing to relinquish civilian control over the entire Strip. “This decision is a strategic one, and there is no going back. Hamas will be completely out of the picture,” Sinwar declared emphatically.
