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Yoni Ben Menachem

Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as director general and chief editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas does not trust Hamas, and is concerned that its true intention is to bring down his rule in the West Bank and take control of it, as it did in Gaza in 2007.
Unprecedented protests are going on in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, caused by the current dire economic situation, with fears that a public intifada could break out.
Hamas has made a strategic resolution to escalate the situation in the Gaza Strip in a controlled manner until the embargo is removed.
Even if Mahmoud Abbas recovers and leaves the hospital, it is clear that he is living on borrowed time, and he can’t lead the Palestinian administration for too much longer.
The Arab countries do not intend to do anything to help Hamas to make its campaign a success. The P.A. hopes that Hamas will fail and not achieve anything against Israel.
Even though it’s not clear to the Gazan public which projects engineer Dr. Fadi al-Batsch was involved in, the mood in Gaza indicates that his assassination has affected the Hamas military wing’s operations and morale.
Hamas has rejected an Egyptian proposal for Hamas to calm tensions in Gaza in exchange for Egypt opening the Rafah Crossing on a regular basis.
The second week of the “return” campaign organized by Hamas ended in failure, according to IDF estimations, which the Palestinians do not deny.
Even if Hamas makes a huge media impact with its march, within a few weeks it will disappear into a cloud of oblivion.
Gaza is a pressure cooker that is about to explode at any moment. Abbas intends to fasten down the lid, but it won’t prevent the explosion.
Israel has taken Syria and the Arab world by surprise by officially admitting responsibility for the destruction of Syria’s nuclear reactor back in 2007.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are putting mounting pressure on the Palestinian Authority leader, though senior Fatah sources believe that Mahmoud Abbas will not compromise on Palestinian “red lines.”