Recruiting and building rockets, Hamas determined to retain Gaza grip
The Islamists were sidelined from the Cairo rehabilitation conference, but
they don’t intend to be dislodged from the Strip
By Avi Issacharoff The Times of Israel October 15, 2014, 3:59 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/recruiting-and-building-rockets-hamas-determined-to-retain-gaza-grip/

On Tuesday, the first supplies of building materials for the reconstruction
of Gaza entered the Strip as part of an agreement between Israel, the
Palestinian Authority (and Hamas), and the United Nations. The ambitious and
closely monitored program to rehabilitate the Strip has begun.

According to this plan, reconstruction may take years — possibly even a
decade. For now, not much has changed in the Palestinian enclave, and
nothing significant is likely to change any time soon.

Things are as they were: Poverty, desperation, extremism and tens of
thousands of displaced people. The sea is the same sea, and Hamas is the
same Hamas, with the same aspirations.

There is one major difference, though: Hamas is poorer. Without the income
from the Gaza-Egypt tunnels, and having stopped collecting taxes, its funds
are dwindling. While the PA will oversee the actual reconstruction of the
Strip, Hamas’s top priority is the reestablishment of its internal
infrastructure — including its financial infrastructure.

This will be no simple task. While the group is not bankrupt yet, it is in
the midst of a budgetary crisis, and is forced to beg for funds from the
Arab world. At present, to some degree, this strategy is working. Hamas is
managing to pay the salaries of members of its military wing thanks largely
to donations from Qatar, Turkey and businessmen from the Gulf States,
funneled into the Strip via the handful of Egypt-Gaza tunnels still
functioning. (The UN has established a mechanism to pay the salaries of
Hamas civil servants via donations.)

Hamas’s financial plight stems in part from it being sidelined when it comes
to the reconstruction of Gaza. It wasn’t only Israel that was excluded from
the “Rehabilitation of Gaza” conference in Cairo on Sunday; Hamas
representatives were also absent. Only the Palestinian Authority sent a
delegation, according to the instructions of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
el-Sissi.

Some of the same Gaza officials who greeted PA Prime Minister Hamdallah in
the morning attended a Hamas military brigades’ rally in the afternoon — a
rally intended to convey a clear message: the ‘resistance’ is not about to
disarm

Hamas had no choice but to let PA President Mahmoud Abbas take the public
credit for raising the approximately 5.4 billion in promised aid, most of
which is intended for the Gaza Strip. And Hamas has stated that the
Palestinian unity government will oversee the reconstruction of Gaza.

As always, however, the reality is more complicated. Hamas has lowered its
profile, but financial problems or not, it has no intention of relinquishing
practical control over the strip. Gaza’s government and social services will
formally be run by the Abbas-led administration, but Hamas is not going
anywhere. Its police and military hierarchies will continue to operate
throughout Gaza, and Abbas’s PA security forces will not, except perhaps at
the border crossings.

Furthermore, despite those budgetary constraints, Hamas is already busily is
trying to revive its military industry. Since the end of Operation
Protective Edge on August 26, it has managed to conduct a series of rocket
tests into the Mediterranean, underlining that a new line of rockets is
being produced. It is not clear whether the tests have been successful.

Hamas is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that it is having trouble obtaining
the dual-use materials it uses to manufacture rockets, and some of the
machinery and chemicals that are needed for the process. Still, it has
proved its resourcefulness in the past.

Meanwhile, the Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has
launched a recruitment drive. Last Thursday, the very day that the “national
reconciliation government” held its much-hyped first meeting in Gaza, the
brigades held a large military parade in Shejaiya. Some of the same
officials who greeted PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in the morning
attended the brigades’ rally in the afternoon — a rally intended to convey a
clear message to the residents of Gaza: the “resistance” is not about to
disarm.

It was almost comical to see UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaking in
Tuesday from Gaza about building a “unified Palestine.” He apparently has
not internalized the hollow nature of the unity talk.

The reconstruction of the military wing is being overseen by those
commanders who survived Operation Protective Edge, notably Marwan Issa and
Mohammed Sanwar. Mohammed Deif is apparently out of the picture, whether
alive or dead. Issa and his colleagues are trying to find worthy substitutes
for the group’s southern region commanders, Raed Al-Attar and Mohammed Abu
Himalaya, who were killed by Israel toward the end of the operation.

The balance of power between the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the Hamas
political leadership remains as it was during the war. Some figures stepped
up during the fighting, and continue to take part in Hamas decision making.
Apart from Khaled Mashaal in Qatar and his deputy Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza,
the generation of leaders who have grown up in Israeli prisons have been
making their voices heard — people like Salah al-Aruri in Turkey, Yahya
Sanwar (Mohammed’s brother) and Rawhi Mushtaha in Gaza — as have some who
are still imprisoned, including Jamal Abu al-Hija, Hassan Yousef, and
Mohammed Jamal Natsha. The war, and astute use of Twitter and Facebook, also
highlighted a new layer of leadership abroad, including Muhammad Nasr, Izzat
al-Rishak and Osama Hamdan.

And so Gaza remains the same bleak Gaza, and Hamas anticipates maintaining
its grip. Yet the PA, because of its oversight role in economic
rehabilitation, will be hoping to change that.

The enthusiastic reception accorded Hamdallah during his visits to Beit
Hanoun and Shejaiya seemed authentic. The Gaza public wants change, and
seeks reasons for optimism. Sidelined from the reconstruction process, is it
wishful thinking to believe Hamas just might be gradually sidelined in Gazan
public opinion as well?