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Hamas' Tight Spot

Mahmoud Abbas has given Hamas until midnight tonight to agree to negotiate with Israel, or else face a public referendum on the issue. Polls show Palestinians are overwhelmingly in favor of the deal, but Hamas—which leads the Palestinian Authority government—still refuses to recognize Israel. The group's intransigence is causing widespread hardship.

Read this analysis [here] from the Council on Foreign Affairs, on where the main players - Hamas, Pres. Abbas and the Palestinian people - sit in this seeemingly endless conflicted area.

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