Hamas has been positioning itself for the January 2006 legislative election and, until now, has not wanted to cause Palestinian voters any discomfort from Israeli responses against Gaza. But, that has all changed. The news that Hamas will end the nine-month informal ceasefire with Israel comes as no shock. Politically, Hamas has not achieved an end to the targeted assassinations of its leaders and has seen Israel release fewer than 1,000 of the more than 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. With the assassination of another Hamas leader on November 1, one can expect Hamas to execute more attacks in 2006.

Fawzi Abu al-Qara, the leader of the Izz al-Din Qassam brigades, and Hassan Madhun, a senior commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades , were killed by Israeli missiles as they drove through the Jabaliya refugee camp on November 1. A Hamas spokesman stated that Hamas will not extend the informal ceasefire that is set to expire at the end of this year due to the continued violence by Israel. Hamas has not taken part in the fighting in the last nine months but has supported Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as they continued to attack Israel.