Shunned by Israeli political leaders, former US president Jimmy Carter met with a Hamas representative in the West Bank and says he will go ahead with plans to meet with the leader of Hamas and the Syrian President in Damascus to promote peace in the Middle East.
More than 20 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed in a bloody week of heavy fighting in the Gaza Strip. The surge in violence came after a relatively quiet month and threatens to unravel an Egyptian effort to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Hamas has also recently changed its military tactics towards Israel, emulating Hezbollah's methods, with hit-and-run operations across the Gaza- Israel border. According to an Israeli official, Hamas has also been plotting to kidnap Israeli soldiers using methods learned from Hezbollah.
Hamas officials said that Jimmy Carter's meetings with the Palestinian militant group will boost its legitimacy.
According to my insider source, Carter will try to mediate the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit as a goodwill gesture on Hamas' part in order to gain international acceptance. Hamas is seriously considering Carter's proposal.
So is former President Carter on a peace mission or a mission impossible?
Carter's meeting with Hamas officials has not outraged just the Israelis. It has been criticized by the US Administration and presidential hopefuls including Barack Obama. It has also embarrassed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as several members in the Palestinian authority I've spoken to believe that any negotiations with Hamas would effectively undermine his authority and the credibility of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Meanwhile, according to the London based newspaper Asharq Alawsat, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered the Palestinians 64 percent of the West Bank as part of a future peace agreement. Olmert told the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinians could "forget about territory west of the security fence." When I asked a journalist colleague working in the West Bank to confirm the report, his response was, "did Abbas just find this out? Even the kids here know that the 'Wall' is Israel's borders."
Jamal Dajani produces the Mosaic Intelligence Report on Link TV