The Internal Hamas Squabbles That Are Making Negotiations Harder

Western analysts examining Middle Eastern regimes and movements love to identify “moderates” and “hardliners,” often producing explanations that obscure more than they reveal. Nonetheless, Ehud Yaari argues, Hamas indeed has competing, loosely defined factions—although they have little disagreement about their goal of destroying Israel and their enthusiasm for terror. In Qatar, the two factions are led, respectively, by Khaled Meshal, who served as Politburo chief from 1996 to 2017, and by Khalil al-Hayya, who has been jointly leading the organization with Meshal since the death of Yahya Sinwar in October.