Khaled Meshal

Hamas Summit in Cairo this weekend

According to Ma'ariv, a Hamas summit will take place in Cairo this weekend, with a delegation from Gaza and from Damascus. There is speculation that the main topic of discussion is a deal over Gilad Shalit, though this has not been confirmed.

Amit Cohen reports:

Possible Prisoner Exchange

With the mediation of a German intelligence official, talks are under way to secure a deal to release IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Ha'aretz reports that Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal will fly to Cairo next week to discuss the deal.

Ma'ariv quotes Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Damascus as saying "We trust the German mediator."

A Second Glance At Hamas

In this month's edition of Foreign Affairs, Michael Bröning argues that western diplomats must acknowledge the symbolic changes in Hamas' language and abandon the historical tendency to dismiss the organization. 

Bröning, director of the East Jerusalem office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, analyzes the development of Hamas throughout the last few years and argues that there is reason to believe that Hamas could be part of the two-state solution:

Hamas Again Accepts a Palestinian State on The 1967 Lines

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal told Jay Solomon and Julien Barnes-Dacey in an interview that "We along with other Palestinian factions in consensus agreed upon accepting a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines. This is the national program. This is our program.

Dr. Stephen Cohen: Obama may set deadline

I sat down yesterday with Dr. Stephen P. Cohen, a longtime advisor to Israel Policy Forum who serves as President of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development. In the 1970's, Dr. Cohen was able to become one of the first to lecture in Egypt on the potential for peace with Israel and to serve as a behind-the-scenes confidant of Israel's Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and President Sadat in the launching of the peace process.

A Palestinian View: The stick-and-stick approach has failed

As attempts to revive a political process between Palestinians and Israelis gather steam, it is useful to look at past, failed attempts to draw lessons. One conclusion that can be reached is that not only should Hamas be part of a political process; any such process will not be successful without the movement.

An Israeli View: Test Hamas intentions separately

On June 25, Hamas leader Khalid Mishaal gave an important speech, one seemingly designed to follow up on major policy pronouncements regarding the Middle East delivered earlier by US President Barack Obama and Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu.

Khaled Mashal's Response Speech

INSS Insight No. 117, July 1, 2009

Adopting the current fashion inaugurated by President Obama with his June 4 Cairo address, Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashal joined the list of political leaders delivering major policy speeches in the Middle East. On June 25, Mashal delivered a response to the speeches of Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. His address presents Hamas' comprehensive, updated political approach, thus also deciding the internal debate within Hamas between the so-called moderates and the so-called radicals - in favor of the moderates.

The Best Hope–Still?

Despite large obstacles, Obama is right to push the two-state solution 

A core element of President Barack Obama's much-anticipated speech in Cairo was an old idea: a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As expected, he argued strongly on its behalf, saying it "is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, America's interest, and the world's interest." He pledged to "personally pursue this outcome with all the patience and dedication that the task requires."

Reading Meshal in Damascus

Khaled Meshal's comments to the New York Times provide a Rorschach test for those following Hamas:

On the two-state solution sought by the Americans, he said: "We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes East Jerusalem, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees." Asked what "long-term" meant, he said 10 years.