Hamas chief Khaled Meshal will not seek reelection as the organization’s political leader in forthcoming elections, he told a meeting in Khartoum three weeks ago.
There has been a widening rift between Hamas leaders in Gaza and those abroad. Palestinian analysts say Meshal recently realized that the Gaza leadership was determined to prevent his reappointment and decided instead to preempt them and quit.
However, the move may be intended to exert pressure on the Gaza leadership, which is demanding an increase in its power, and objects to the significant agenda changes advanced by Meshal.
The controversy between Hamas’ leaders in Gaza and abroad focuses on the approach to Israel, the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, establishing a Palestinian state and, above all, the relations with Syria and Iran.
Hamas’ Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and his men decided to prove to the organization’s leaders who recently fled Damascus they could no longer impose their decisions on Gaza.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
