Asharq Al-Awsat has learned that the Hamas delegation that arrived in Cairo on Tuesday handed mediators its response to amendments submitted to the movement on June 17 by Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza. Two senior Hamas sources and two sources from Palestinian factions involved in the talks told Asharq Al-Awsat about some details of the response. One source described the changes as mainly “minor amendments” to the reply Hamas and the factions had submitted to mediators and Mladenov on June 15. Mladenov later amended that reply and returned it to the movement and the factions for further review. The sources, however, did not sound optimistic that Mladenov would respond positively or accept the latest changes. Among the initial details obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat from the four sources, who spoke separately, was that Hamas renewed its demand for “all dues to be paid to employees who had worked in its government.” The demand rejects Mladenov’s earlier amendment, which limited the commitment to those who would work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza from the moment it begins its duties, rather than to any previous period. ‘Infrastructure’ The sources provided consistent accounts of the response to Clause 8, which addresses the inventory and storage of weapons. They said Hamas removed the term “infrastructure,” which Mladenov had added in his amendments and defined at the time as including “tunnels, weapons depots, and weapons manufacturing workshops.” The sources said the factions want the weapons clause implemented in a “gradual and sequential” manner, according to a timetable to be carried out within 14 days of agreement on the paper. Hamas also stressed in its response that the issue should be tied to “a clear political track on Palestinians’ self-determination and guarantees of their sovereign rights.” A Hamas source and a Palestinian factional source said the amendments to those two clauses, along with other provisions, were made “slightly,” following Hamas contacts with factions over the past few days aimed at producing a unified response. But the factional source said Hamas “did not actually consult the factions directly,” although a meeting in Egypt had been placed on the agenda before the response was submitted. They added that “a meeting between Hamas and the factions will be held within two days.” Notably, Hamas sent a leadership delegation to Cairo headed by Zaher Jabarin, a member of the movement’s political bureau, a member of the negotiating delegation and head of its West Bank bureau. Such a move was unusual, and faction activists saw it as a sign of Hamas frustration with Mladenov’s repeated amendments. A senior Hamas source told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Either we reach new approaches, the mediators find other solutions, or we return to disputes as before.” Another factional source struck a similar tone, saying they expected “Mladenov, as well as Israel, to reject these amendments from the factions.” That, they said, could return the situation to where it was, despite Israel’s threat to expand its operations in Gaza and what the Board of Peace has promoted as steps it could take separately from any agreement with Hamas.
