‘Insurmountable obstacle’ of peace plan’s phase 2: Positions of Israel, Hamas ‘cannot be reconciled’

Joining Annette Young, Hassan Mneimneh argues that what we are now witnessing in Gaza is not a sudden eruption but the continuation of a long-standing internal logic: Hamas’s drive to police collaboration, suppress the slightest dissent, and maintain its own version of “law and order” rule across the Strip. The renewed crackdown on perceived collaborators, he says, does not reflect suppressing a popular uprising. Are the peace plan’s two key demands: disarmament and an end to occupation, unachievable? And here is where the deal unravels: Israel demands demilitarization but cannot relinquish security control; Hamas regards armed resistance as an inalienable right under occupation. With neither side willing to compromise, Mr. Mneimneh concludes, the second phase of the peace plan might be doomed to fail. Mr. Mneimneh is a Researcher at The Washington Institute and a Scholar at the Middle East Institute.