Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, is currently conducting a round of visits to Muslim countries after receiving special permission Egypt – which for a year and a half had banned him from leaving the Gaza Strip – to do so. On Tuesday, he was in Turkey, and he is expected to continue on to Qatar and other nations, including Malaysia.
Palestinian researcher Majid Abu Diq thinks that Egypt allowed Haniyeh to travel because of the flexibility Hamas showed in recent Egypt-brokered attempts to negotiate an intra-Palestinian reconciliation. (Egypt sees Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the stumbling block to reconciliation talks.) The researcher also argues that Hamas demonstrated a willingness to help Egypt fight terrorist cells and keep Gaza-based terrorists from crossing the Egyptian border, which helped convince Egypt to authorize Haniyeh's tour.
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According to reports, a Hamas delegation met with senior officials in Egypt's security apparatus to discuss "understandings" with Israel and ways to implement them, thereby easing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. However, reports say that Haniyeh has yet to respond to the proposed understandings and is expected to do so only after he returns to Cairo after his present round of visits is over.
Abu Diq believes that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi wants to highlight his role as an international mediator, hoping to play down accusations of violations of human rights and oppression of a recent wave of popular protests in Egypt.
What's more, Russia was in favor of Egypt allowing Haniyeh to travel, having invited a Hamas delegation to visit in order to discuss reconciliation between it and Abbas' Fatah, and Egypt wanted to please the Kremlin.
The last reason why Egypt allowed Haniyeh to take his trip lay in the realization that Hamas would never be able to make any breakthroughs in the region in light of Arab nations' increasing willingness toward normalizing relations with Israel, even if that happens behind the scenes. So Egypt thought that Hamas would opt not to visit Iran so as not to arouse the ire of the Arab countries. Hamas appeared to have realized the extent to which it depends on Egypt.
Some Palestinians think that Hamas wants to preserve its foreign relations and even develop it, by having Arab and Muslim countries assist in various initiatives, due to the increased blockade measures on the Gaza Strip following the destruction of most of Hamas' smuggling tunnels on the border. According to Abu Diq, the tighter blockade on Gaza has made it easier for Arab countries to move closer to Israel ahead of the US administration's "deal of the century" – such as Saudi Arabia, whose crown prince has spoken positively about Israel and whose regime recently arrested dozens of Palestinians identified with Hamas.
Aside from the political benefits of his tour, Haniyeh is hoping to drum up funds for his organization, even if they are only temporary. This will allow Hamas to handle the economic crisis it faces in Gaza.
Abu Diq believes that Haniyeh will be abroad for some time in hope of achieving these goals and raising his personal status in Hamas. The group as a whole is also hoping to strengthen its status among Palestinians ahead of an election and arrange a prisoner exchange deal with Israel.
The Hamas delegation is slated to depart from Turkey for Qatar, Russia, and Malaysia. Some senior officials might also visit London, but the tour will apparently skip Iran. In Malaysia, Haniyeh is expected to participate in an international forum from Dec. 18-21.
