Tony Blair leads talks with Hamas
There appear to be ripples of movement in the Middle East, some open and reported, some secret and denied. Denied by Israel are the reports that Israeli negotiators are talking to Hamas in Doha. Khaled Meshaal, Hamas political leader, has openly been in Turkey for talks about ending the Gaza siege, as Turkish and Israeli diplomats have been negotiating over the Mavi Marmara deaths; Tony Blair has been flitting about, talking with Hamas and Egypt; Hamas has been talking with Islamic Jihad. Ma’an says Hamas fears that Israel hopes to separate Gaza from Palestine, which makes the talks with Hamas a bit odd. Perhaps someone should tell Jeremy Corbyn’s critics that it’s good to talk. This selection of the many reports.
1) Electronic Intifada: Are Israel and Hamas really talking about ending Gaza siege?, Ali Abuminah wonders what’s really going on;
2) Times of Israel: Israel would lift Gaza blockade for truce — report;
3) Telegraph: Tony Blair ‘holding secret talks with Hamas over peace deal’;
4) i24: Israeli Prime Minister’s Office denies reports of talks between Israel, Hamas;
5) Ma’an news: PA accuses Hamas of ‘Gaza split’ talks with Israel;
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal mets with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Are Israel and Hamas really talking about ending Gaza siege?
By Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada
August 18, 2015
Israel and the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas may be close to a long-term truce for Gaza, an advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said.
Although murmurs of a such a deal have appeared in media for months, the official’s comments would appear to give them slightly more weight.
In an interview with Alresalah, a Gaza-based newspaper close to Hamas, on Monday, Yasin Aktay also said that Israel and Turkey were nearing a deal over Israel’s attack on the Mavi Marmara.
Israel’s May 2010 assault on the ship, part of a Gaza-bound flotilla, killed nine Turkish citizens and a Turkish teen who held US citizenship, badly damaging relations between the two countries.
The Turkish official said there had been significant progress toward a long-term truce that would end Israel’s 8-year blockade of Gaza.
Aktay, deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling AK party, said that the recent visit of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to Ankara was related to the effort.
Up until now there has been no visible progress on the long-term truce that was supposed to be discussed within weeks of the 26 August 2014 ceasefire that ended Israel’s 51-day assault on Gaza.
More than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children, were killed in Gaza last summer and more than 100,000 people remain in need of permanent shelter due to the lack of reconstruction since then.
Maritime link
“The talks about the Mavi Marmara are taking place in a manner that is linked and intertwined to Hamas’ talks about the truce,” Aktay told Alresalah, adding that the siege of Gaza had become a “Turkish issue.”
In September 2011, Turkey imposed unprecedented sanctions on Israel, reducing diplomatic and military ties over the Mavi Marmara attack.
Turkey has demanded an Israeli apology, compensation for its victims and an end to the blockade of Gaza.
Aktay said that Turkey had pledged to build a seaport and rebuild Gaza’s airport if an agreement is reached.
He also said that there had been talks between Turkey and the government of Cyprus over the establishment of a maritime corridor to Gaza via Cyprus.
A working paper proposing such a link was published by the Gaza-based human rights organization Euromid last year.
But Aktay acknowledged there have been significant obstacles: “Every time we reach an advanced stage in the negotiations on Mavi Marmara, Israel attacks Gaza again and things go back to zero.”
Aktay added that improvement in Turkey’s ties with Israel would necessitate the lifting of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
Dubious Israeli denial
In a strange twist, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was recently eased out as Quartet peace envoy, has assumed a mediating role.
Blair met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in the Qatari capital Doha earlier this month for the second time since June.
Blair has long been criticized by Palestinians for his hardline pro-Israel positions.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically denied its involvement in any such negotiations.
“Israel officially clarifies that there have been no meetings with Hamas,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. “Not directly, not through another country and not through intermediaries.”
“The denial published by the prime minister’s bureau is not false,” a report in the Israeli daily Haaretz observed. “However, from conversations with a number of Israeli figures – those with official functions and those without but involved in the issue – it emerges that the picture is more complex.”
“Israel is not holding negotiations on a ceasefire with Hamas, but it is certainly checking the feasibility of the matter,” an Israeli source told Haaretz.
The newspaper also revealed that while Blair is not officially regarded as an intermediary by Israel, his efforts have received the blessing of Netanyahu.
“Senior Israeli officials and unofficial Israeli figures involved in the issue said that Blair has made no significant progress so far in his two meetings with Meshaal,” Haaretz reported.
PA panic
Meanwhile, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority appears to be treating the reports of the truce efforts with growing panic.
A spokesperson for Fatah, the political faction headed by PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, accused Hamas of wanting to set up its own state in Gaza.
Ahmad Assaf said that any agreement along the lines mentioned in media reports would violate the “Palestinian national consensus.”
Ahmad Majdalawi, a member of the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, denounced the reported talks as a “conspiracy” aimed at setting up “another Muslim Brotherhood-run entity” in the region.
Abbas, who is militarily allied with Israel, may fear that any agreement could make his role as the Israeli occupation’s chief Palestinian enforcer even less relevant.
In March, Abbas called for Arab military intervention to overthrow Hamas in Gaza.
PA documents leaked to Al Jazeera in 2011 showed that Fatah and PA officials supported the Israeli siege of Gaza from its earliest days, hoping it would generate popular discontent against Hamas.
Lifting the siege and an improvement in the lives of the population in Gaza could boost Hamas’ standing and reduce even further Abbas’ chances of restoring his Israeli-backed rule in the territory.
Hamas mobilizes
In a speech on Monday, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, dismissed the PA’s attacks, saying Hamas would never accept a state limited to Gaza.
Haniyeh and other senior Hamas leaders from Gaza are preparing to travel to Cairo in coming days for talks with the Egyptian military and intelligence.
Egyptian agreement would be needed for any plan that involved an end to the closure of the Rafah crossing, currently the only link to the outside world for the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that Haniyeh has requested Egyptian permission to travel onwards for an international tour “whose most important stops will be Qatar and Turkey to discuss the ideas recently presented by [Blair] in his meeting with [Meshaal].”
Tony Blair as Quartet envoy meets with Egypt’s President Al Sisi during last year’s Operation Protective Edge. Photo by Reuters.
Hamas leaders in Gaza also met this week with their counterparts from Islamic Jihad, who are said to be supportive of the thrust of the truce talks.
The distance from these opaque manoeuvres, on the one hand, and an end to the catastrophic situation on the ground for 1.8 million people in Gaza, on the other, still looks vast.
Israel would lift Gaza blockade for truce — report
In negotiations being brokered by Tony Blair, Hamas said to offer a long-term ceasefire in return for naval passageway
By Elhanan Miller, Times of Israel
August 13, 2015
A leading Arab daily reported on Thursday that Israel has agreed to “entirely” remove its blockade on the Gaza Strip and establish a naval passageway between the Hamas-controlled territory and Cyprus, in return for a long-term ceasefire lasting seven to 10 years.
Quoting “trusted Palestinian sources,” the London-based al-Hayat said that the agreement was reached through indirect negotiations conducted by outgoing Quartet representative to the Middle East Tony Blair, a former British prime minister. According to the report, Israel has rejected a Qatari offer to fund a new Israeli airport in return for the reopening of an international airport in Gaza.
Reports of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas through European mediators following last summer’s war in the Strip have been confirmed by both Israeli security sources and Hamas officials. Hamas has consistently demanded the construction of a seaport and airport, as well as the release of dozens of the movement’s prisoners arrested following the killing of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists in the West Bank in June 2014.
But a final agreement between Israel and Hamas is still far off, the sources told al-Hayat.
Sheikh Hassan Youssef, a Ramallah-based Hamas leader who endorsed a long-term ceasefire in an interview with The Times of Israel last week, said on Thursday that he had no information of the new deal.
“I heard about it this morning, but I can neither confirm nor deny,” he said in a phone conversation.
Blair finalized the details with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal during a meeting in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday, the al-Hayat report said, noting that it was the second meeting between the two in six weeks. Blair, the newspaper argued, had resigned as Quartet representative in late May so as not to embarrass its constituent bodies — the US, EU, UN and Russia — which officially refuse to engage Hamas as long as it does not recognize Israel, reject violence, and accept previously signed agreements between the PLO and Israel.
Asked to comment, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not initially provide a response to the report.
Tony Blair ‘holding secret talks with Hamas over peace deal’
Former prime minister has reportedly met Khaled Meshaal, Hamas leader, in bid to negotiate ceasefire with Israel
By Our Foreign Staff, Daily Telegraph
August 19, 2015
Tony Blair has become a go-between in talks with Hamas aimed at securing a peace deal for Israel, it has been reported.
The former prime minister was banned from meeting Hamas officials in his role as head of the Quartet group of Israeli-Palestinian mediators.
However, he resigned in May and has since reportedly held two meetings with the Hamas’s leader, Khaled Meshaal, in Doha.
The talks are apparently aimed at securing a deal that would guarantee Israel an eight or 10 year truce in exchange for the Gaza Strip blockade, that has been in place since 2007, being lifted.
Israel on Monday denied it was engaged in any talks with Hamas.
“Israel is officially clarifying that it is not holding any meetings with Hamas, neither directly, nor via other countries or intermediaries,” the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday insisted talks were underway and accused Hamas of effectively endorsing the separation of Palestinian territories.
“There have been negotiations and they are on the verge of reaching an agreement about a truce of eight to 10 years,” Riad al-Malki, Palestinian foreign minister, said.
The agreement would see Israel lift its blockade of Gaza and “allow maritime passage” to nearby Cyprus, Mr Malki told France 24 television.
“We don’t know if it will happen tomorrow or in a month,” he said, adding that “there are mediators who are doing their utmost to reach this agreement”.
The Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’s rival, said Mr Blair was acting as a mediator in the talks.
“The Hamas-Blair agreement … paves the way for division and the isolation of the Gaza Strip,” said Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf.
Ahmed Assaf, long-standing antagonist of Hamas. Photo from Al Arab24
This, he added, would help “Israel to achieve its goal of preventing the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders” and including Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, he told Palestinian radio on Monday night.
Since 2007, Gaza and the occupied West Bank have been under the control of the rival administrations of Hamas and Fatah, respectively.
Hamas sources recently admitted an “exchange of ideas” via third parties, but officials have told AFP on condition of anonymity that the topics discussed were “solely humanitarian, not political”.
Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, reported that Mr Blair held talks with Mr Netanyahu before his first visit to Doha to meet Mr Meshaal.
A 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in July-August 2014 killed about 2,200 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side, and destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of homes in Gaza.
Israel says its nine-year blockade on the impoverished territory is essential to prevent militants from obtaining materials to fortify military positions and build rockets they could fire at the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister’s Office denies reports of talks between Israel, Hamas
Abbas: direct talks between representatives of both parties recently took place in an African country
By i24 staff with AFP
August 17, 2015
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement denying any direct, or indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, only hours after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed that direct talks between representatives of both parties recently took place in an African country.
“Israel officially clarifies that there have been no meetings with Hamas,” a statement by the PMO said. “Not directly, not through another country and not through intermediaries.”
Earlier Monday an unnamed Israeli official also denied recent reports in Hebrew and Arab media.
“There are no negotiations on a long-term cease-fire with Hamas,” the official said, according to the Walla news site. “Not with the help of Turkey, not with the help of Qatar, not Tony Blair nor any other parties,” the official added.
Despite this denial, a member of the political office of the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP), said that a deal was being discussed, according to The Times of Israel. “This agreement is no longer just rumors or blabber, but will be signed any minute,” Walid Awadh said.
Awadh told The Times of Israel that officials of PLO factions, such as PPP, formerly the Communist Party, have been receiving updates from Hamas on the talks with Blair over the past month.
A day after a senior Turkish official said that a long-term ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was currently being negotiated, a senior Hamas delegation is preparing to head to Egypt, reported The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
In an additional sign of a thaw between the Islamist party ruling the Strip, the delegation, led by the group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh, will meet with the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service to discuss the truce.
The delegation will also be visiting Qatar and Turkey.
In late July, Palestinian news site Al Quds al Arabi reported Hamas’s representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka as saying that there were improvements in the group’s relationship with Egypt.
“Egypt’s security is a Palestinian interest,” Baraka said.
Relations between Egypt and Hamas remain tense, as an Egyptian court ruled that the group, both the political and military wings, are terrorist entities.
Yasin Aktay: ‘Gaza is heading towards a comprehensive agreement’. Photo from Haber.sol.org
On Sunday, a senior adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Yasin Aktay, said that “Gaza is heading towards a comprehensive agreement on the issue of lifting the blockade and opening the [border] crossings in a long-term ceasefire deal with Israel.”
“The issue was discussed during [Hamas chief] Khaled Meshaal’s visit to Ankara last week,” he added, noting that Meshaal discussed the detail of an agreement mediated by former British prime minister and Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair.
Hamas recently held meetings with representatives from the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip during which it updated them with the details of talks with European and American officials about a ceasefire with Israel.
A spokesperson for Hamas said that any proposal offered regarding a ceasefire will be presented to the Palestinian factions.
Hamas representatives also gave details of the meeting between Blair and Meshaal in Doha, which was reported by Palestinian and Arab media on Thursday.
According to the reports, Blair met Meshaal for the second time in a month and a half and the two discussed the implementation of the ceasefire with Israel in exchange for lifting the blockade on Gaza.
According to London-based Arabic-language daily al-Hayat, Israel agreed to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed in 2007, “entirely” as well as establish a naval passageway between the strip and Cyprus. In exchange, Hamas would agree to a long-term ceasefire which would last between seven to 10 years.
Both Israeli and Hamas officials have confirmed indirect talks have been occurring through European mediators, and similar reports in March of a a long-term ceasefire by Hamas in exchange for the lifting of the blockade were strongly denied by the group.
Blair has recently consulted with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and the head of Egyptian intelligence on the issue, along with Jordanian, Saudi and Israeli officials, according to reports.
Isaac/Yitzhak Molho/Molcho, Israel’s chief negotiator with Palestinians, formally meaning the PA. Photo by AFP.
The reports of the meeting between Blair and Meshaal come after a top-level delegation led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy, Isaac Molho, held talks in Cairo on Tuesday with Egyptian military representatives.
The visit by the five-person delegation reflects the greatly improved ties between Israel and Egypt since Sisi came to power two years ago. No details of the talks were divulged.
In May, ahead of Egypt’s presidential election, Sisi declared that his country’s peace pact with Israel was stable and offered to mediate talks between Israel and the Palestinians aimed at reaching a negotiated agreement.
One of Israel’s warships which is on permanent patrol along the Gaza coast, preventing Palestinians from leaving or other ships from arriving. Photo July 2014 by Edi Israel/Flash90
PA accuses Hamas of ‘Gaza split’ talks with Israel
By AFP / Ma’an news
August 19, 2015
RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday accused Hamas of holding secret talks with Israel that would endorse the separation of Palestinian territories.
Arab and Turkish media have carried reports, picked up by Israeli media, claiming Israel and Hamas were holding talks.
The talks were reportedly aimed at reaching an eight- or 10-year truce, with Israel removing its blockade on the coastal Palestinian territory.
Israel on Monday denied it was engaged in “any meetings with Hamas, neither directly, nor via other countries or intermediaries”.
But the PA weighed in on Tuesday, insisting there were talks that would cause Palestinian disunity.
“There have been negotiations and they are on the verge of reaching an agreement about a truce of eight to 10 years,” PA Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said.
The agreement would see Israel lift its blockade of Gaza and “allow maritime passage” to nearby Cyprus, Malki told France 24 television.
“We don’t know if it will happen tomorrow or in a month,” he said, adding that “there are mediators who are doing their utmost to reach this agreement.”
The Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’ rival, said former British prime minister Tony Blair was acting as a mediator in the talks.
“The Hamas-Blair agreement … paves the way for division and the isolation of the Gaza Strip,” said Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf.
This, he added, would help “Israel to achieve its goal of preventing the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders” and including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he told Palestinian radio on Monday night.
In Gaza, Hamas number two Ismail Haniyeh once again rejected any possibility of a Palestinian state in Gaza alone.
Hamas sources recently admitted an “exchange of ideas” via third parties, but officials have told AFP on condition of anonymity that the topics discussed were “solely humanitarian, not political”.