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Optimistic assessments by senior Hamas leaders that their arrangement with Israel would soon go into effect were dashed last week. An agreement to ease the siege on the Gaza Strip now seems even farther away than before.
On the eve of Eid al-Adha, Aug. 21, Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh had promised Gazans that the siege would soon be lifted. He congratulated them on standing firm against the siege, saying that strength had led them to victory.
