Can Hamas Cut a Deal for Peace?

There are two views. One holds that because the Hamas charter commits the organization to the establishment of an Islamic state of Palestine in not only the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, but in all of Israel as well, no compromise can be reached with it, and the group must be fought relentlessly. To this group, Hamas' methods, including suicide attacks on Israeli civilians, only make it more unacceptable as a potential interlocutor.

But there is a second point of view. This view draws on repeated statements of Hamas leaders, including Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the group's spiritual leader, to conclude that Hamas would halt attacks on Israeli civilians if Israel halted its operations against Palestinian civilians and that it would even be willing to coexist with Israel if it were to withdraw entirely from the occupied territories.

The truth may lie somewhere in between.

Some leaders of Hamas are more uncompromising than others. Some argue that the most the Palestinians can accept is a hudna, a truce with Israel similar to the truce Muhammad agreed to -- and later annulled -- in AD 628. Others, like senior Hamas spokesman Ismail abu Shanab, are willing to accept a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

I believe a cease-fire may be possible and that a long-term arrangement could be made with Hamas. It is clear that there are many important leaders representing the different factions within Hamas who are publicly committed to stopping attacks on Israeli civilians if Israel stops the assassinations of their militants -- attacks that have killed nearly 2,000 Palestinian civilians. (The U.S. media regularly fail to mention that three times as many Palestinians as Israelis -- most on both sides civilians -- have been killed since September 2000, when the second intifada began.)

Further, if Hamas had a share in Palestinian governance, it would have a stake in keeping the peace.

And this much is clear: Israeli repression alone cannot force Hamas or other militant Palestinian factions to stop their attacks. On the contrary, that repression is probably a major factor in provoking many of these attacks. In fact, Israel's repeated assassination attempts -- including last week's attempt to kill Abdulaziz Rantisi -- have systematically undercut numerous attempts to bring about a cease-fire.