Until now, Hamas has refused direct negotiations with Israel which is why mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Washington and Europe had intervened to negotiate the recent ceasefire. Now that Operation “Guardians of the Walls” is over, Hamas leaders are slowly venturing out of their hiding places to breath fresh air again. They have remained in bunkered-down as Israel made it clear to Hamas leadership that none of them would be spared a targeted killing. Meanwhile, Hamas remains unsure whether the Egyptians can guarantee that the targeted killings will not continue even after the ceasefire.

Hamas understands that it must now rethink its future political and military strategy. To survive as a popular movement, Hamas must reconcile with the alienated Syrian government of Assad in Damascus and find a way to negotiate directly with Israel. Otherwise, the extremist movement faces total isolation in the region, except with pariah Iran.

In addition, Hamas is concerned that Western nations, and some pragmatic Arab governments, will only support the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip on condition that...

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