Hamas: Senior officials oppose US mediator, putting ceasefire at risk

Disputes at the top of Hamas threaten progress in the negotiations with Israel, including disagreements regarding the authority of Bishara Bahbah, the Palestinian-American mediator, i24NEWS learned on Wednesday.

Well-informed sources claim that one of Hamas's senior leaders, Zaher Jabarin, the leader of "Hamas in the West Bank," opposes any deal that would lead to the exile of the terror organization's senior members from the Gaza Strip and to its disarmament. Jabarin is currently considered the leader of Hamas in the West Bank after inheriting the role from Saleh al-Arouri, and he is regarded as the head of the Iranian camp within Hamas.

Jabarin has been in conflict with Khalil al-Hayya since the latter was given the authority to lead negotiations with Israel.

Although Jabarin is part of the current ruling leadership quintet in Hamas, he remains without an executive position. The conflict between the two also stems from the rivalry between Hamas in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, which is currently headed by al-Hayya as the deputy of the late Yahya Sinwar.

Sources claim that Jabarin threatened to resign from Hamas but agreed to remain in his position only if Mohammad Darwish, head of the organization's Shura Council, was appointed as head of the leadership – which indeed happened. The sources claim that Jabarin repeatedly says that Hamas must preserve its weapons just as late Palestinian Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat, who withdrew from Beirut in the first Lebanon war in the 1980s, preserved his weapons.

But this dispute is only part of a series of conflicts within Hamas that intensified when al-Hayya agreed to Bahbah’s request to release American-Israeli Edan Alexander as a gesture to the US. Jabarin, along with the heads of Hamas's military wing in Gaza, opposed this but accepted al-Hayya’s directive. For this reason, several Hamas leaders have recently spoken out against Bahbah, claiming that he is not an honest mediator.

Tahar al-Nunu, one of Hamas's senior members, reportedly lacks mediation skills, and he stands accused by some of taking the Israeli-American side. He previously published a post blaming Hamas for the stalling in negotiations. The post was removed after a reconciliation conversation with Razi Hamad, also a senior Hamas official, who is in Turkey alongside Jabarin.

Now, sources claim that amid the developing conflict within Hamas, Ezzedin al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas's military wing in the Gaza Strip, will have to make the decisions, and they note that he is maintaining positive channels with the Egyptians.

Al-Nunu said that the organization is willing to sign a ceasefire deal if it provides a clear path for ending the war.