Rabat mediation can ease tensions between Tel Aviv and Hamas: Israeli official

David Govrin, head of Israel's liaison office in Morocco, says Rabat's mediations with the Palestinian movement Hamas could ease tensions between the two parties, reported The Media Line.

"We truly believe that Morocco can play a very significant role [as a mediator between Israel and Hamas], as it used to play during the 80s and the 90s. We believe Morocco can play this role once again, as it enjoys very good relations with Israel and with other Arab countries," Govrin told the Israeli newspaper in an interview published on 26 May.

Under the reign of former King Hassan II, Morocco has reportedly convinced Yasser Arafat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), to negotiate with the Israelis, ultimately leading to the Oslo Accords in September 1993.

Morocco maintained a good relationship with the Palestinian Authority despite joining the normalisation accords in December 2020. 

Today, the Moroccan King Mohammed VI continues to head the Jerusalem committee, an Arab-Islamic institution that aims to protect Al-Quds, by confronting the Israeli attempts to obliterate the Arab-Islamic character of Jerusalem.

Notwithstanding the normalisation, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, visited Rabat in June 2021 and met Saad Eddin El Othmani, the Islamist leader and the head of the Moroccan government at the time.

At the time, Haniyeh said that his visit "comes under the auspices of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and with the embrace of the dear Moroccan people".

The visit of the Hamas leader fueled speculations about a possible Moroccan mediation between Israel and the Hamas movement.

Presently, as tensions mount in Jerusalem, Hamas refuses to give guarantees not to escalate the situation with the Israeli army in the Palestinian Territories, promising not to tolerate "what happened in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque by the settlers."

The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 40 Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupying forces and settlers using rubber bullets, truncheons and pepper spray, during the nationalist "flag march" that stormed Jerusalem alleys on Sunday.

The settlers chanted "Death to Arabs" as they carried out their aggression under Israeli forces' protection.

The settlers' attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims, may trigger a new military conflict between the Palestinian group and Israel in a similar scenario of May last year.

In May 2021, Hamas launched a barrage of rockets from the besieged Gaza Strip in response to Israel's encroachment on the Al Aqsa Mosque. Israel responded by 11-day military campaign on the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Israel reached an armistice on May 21, thanks to mediation by Egypt.

Egypt, Qatar and Turkey have played for years a key role in easing tensions between the Gaza-based armed group and the Israeli authority.