Alon Liel, member of the "Kol Ezrahia" (All Its Citizens) council: Turkey may be able to force Hamas to lay down its arms as the Kurds laid down theirs

Alon Liel, a member of the Kol Ezrahia council, in an interview with i24News:

The Americans know exactly what is happening on the ground. They know that Hamas is still standing. Their basic assumption — and not only theirs — is that to disarm Hamas by force they would have to renew the war. They do not want to renew the war. Therefore they want to reach a situation that will be some kind of long-term deal in which Hamas will willingly lay down its arms and integrate in a different form, not as the Hamas we know. That is why it is important for them to bring in Turkey, because the mediation triangle is built in such a way that they bring Netanyahu, and Turkey and Qatar bring Hamas.

Two weeks have passed since the first signing of the deal. In those two weeks the picture has changed dramatically. In those two weeks Hamas eliminated some of the clans that opposed it. But it should be remembered now that Israel is not the one making the decisions on this matter. Israel can make one decision: whether to blow up this deal and return to war or not. But if it does not blow it up and leaves the ceasefire and the end of the war for the second phase, it is not alone — we are not alone with the Americans and not even with the Europeans. There is a whole package here that includes the Arab world and includes Turkey. It is not that they are being put on the train now. There has been no “on the train” since the day of the signing.

I certainly understand the concern about the force that will be in Gaza, which may also include Turks — Erdoğan is a very hostile figure. In Syria we also have a confrontation with the Turks who control the north of the country, while we have a foothold in the south; we will have more problems with them there as well. But I repeat: it is not only the Americans’ feeling that Turkey and Qatar should bring Hamas — that is also how the deal is structured. They made a brilliant deal: it would not have been possible for Trump to bring this deal, to free the hostages alone. He had to bring in actors acceptable to Hamas and influential on Hamas. There is no actor in the world ideologically as close to Hamas as Turkey. Turkey effectively created the political Hamas, and therefore it now has the possibility to reach a point where it will pressure Hamas to lay down its arms. In Turkey, the Kurds laid down their weapons — the Kurds were thousands of fighters who, over 40 years, entered into negotiations with Erdoğan.