Does he get along with Hamas at all?
20 December 2006
Some (click here) have called Mohammad Dahlan the Palestinian Ahmad Chalabi, because he reportedly negotiated with the US and Israel about taking control of Gaza after the August 2005 disengagement plan. In April 2002 testifying before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said he had offered control of the Gaza Strip to Dahlan. In exchange, Dahlan, who had control of the most significant military force on the Gaza Strip, would be obligated to ensure complete quiet along the border.[1] He is believed to have drawn up an early agreement at a January 1994 meeting in Rome with senior Israeli military and Shin Bet officials to contain Hamas, and was actively involved in subsequent negotiations with the Israelis.[2]...
...Last week, Hamas accused Dahlan of planning an attempted assassination of prime minister Ismail Haniya of the Hamas movement....
Hamas doesn't trust anyone, so Mr. Dahlan should no take offense to any faux accusations.
Rather than controlling Hamas it is at all possible to offer them help in solving their problems? Or are the circumstances with Hamas simply intractable? If they wanted a ceasefire and I believe they did, then they value something. They are not lost forever.
Are they approachable without finding people dead in a ditch somewhere?
Those tunnels are not new. They have been there since 2003 and have not caused Israel problems. Until recently, the tunnels were never an issue, now Hamas has lost the tunnels, too and must be feeling more trapped than ever. Someone has to meet their terms.
