It is important to note that Israel, the Arab League, Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas, and the US have all endorsed the apprehensive proposal, wrote the English-language newspaper in its Viewpoint column on Thursday, IRNA reports.
Several reasons prevail why Hamas has rejected the deal, though, the paper believes. For instance, there is no mention in the proposal of oft-repeated demand by Hamas for the release of the Palestinians freed in the 2011 Shalit deal - who were rearrested in recent weeks by Israeli forces in the West Bank in the wake of the alleged murders of three Israeli settlers.
There is also no concrete Israeli commitment regarding the opening of the Rafah border crossing or the payments of the salaries of 40,000 Palestinian clerks in Gaza. And there is no mention whatsoever of the situation in the West Bank. That explains why Hamas has called Egyptˈs proposal tantamount to ˈsurrenderˈ, Kayhan International daily noted.
Indeed, there are many other reasons to reject the ˈsurrender” proposal: For decades, Palestinians have tried almost every method possible to secure freedom and liberty for their people and lands.
PLO guerrillas tried the armed struggle in the 60s and 70s of the last century. Palestinian youths used stones and boycotted Israeli products in the first Intifada (Uprising) of 1987, and Yasser Arafat and his negotiators tried secret talks in 1993. All failed to produce liberation, added the daily.
In 2000, a wave of resistance led by Hamas included armed attacks and bombings of Israeli military targets. The usurper regime’s decision to dismantle all illegal settlements in Gaza and the withdrawal of its invading army is a direct result of Hamas tactics.
While Zionists may dispute this argument, the fact that it did come while Hamas was carrying out bombings and rocket attacks, makes it hard to totally reject such argument.
It is evident that Israel is currently attacking a population that has no army, no navy, no air force, no mechanized military units, no command and control and no heavy artillery.
The criminal regime pretends that this indiscriminate slaughter is a war. But only the most self-deluded supporter of Israel is fooled. It is crimes against humanity in broad daylight. Period.
As things stand, any new deal has to make a world of difference to the lives of millions of Palestinians under the brutal occupation of Israel. It has to stop the destruction of the basic Palestinian infrastructure; the growing food and water shortages; and the massing of military forces for a possible major ground assault on Gaza. In other words, it has to stop Israel’s incremental genocide in Gaza before anything else.
A deal as such should equally give international guarantees that the criminal army of Israel would never again attack the defenseless Palestinian cities and towns with American fighter jets, Apache attack helicopters, rocket firing drones, white phosphorus dense inert metal explosive bombs and/or other experimental weapons.