Source: NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook
Hamas’s situation is different now than it was during their last big conflict with Israel in 2012, said Carnegie’s Michele Dunne on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook. Hamas had a falling out with Syria and Iran and now has worse relations with Egypt than in 2012. Qatar and Turkey are their only friends in the region and that makes a difference in terms of who can possibly mediate this conflict and bring about an end, Dunne explained.
The United States has made the argument to Israel that the changed regional context should make Israel more eager to make peace with the Palestinians, Dunne said, and that resolving the Palestinian question would deflate radicalism and extremism in the region. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been receptive to those arguments and the Israelis seem less willing to negotiate peace with the Palestinians because of what’s going on elsewhere in the region.
The interview was originally aired on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook.