Situation Report by PALM Strategic
The Head of the Political Office of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh visited Lebanon a week ago after a year since his last visit last year. During the visit, he met several leaders of the Palestinian national factions, most importantly, Ziad Al-Nakhala; the General Secretary of the Islamic Jihad, and Jameel Mezher; the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in addition to a number of Lebanese leaders, headed by Michel Aoun; President of Lebanon, Najib Mikati; Prime Minister of Lebanon, and Hassan Nasrallah, General Secretary of Hezbollah.

Hamas stated that the main goal of this visit comes in two dimensions. First, rearranging the internal Palestinian house and reaching a consensus on building a national background that compiles all the Palestinians. Second, coordinating the resistance work between the movements and the components of the axis of resistance, which includes Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, and strengthening the political and military cooperation in a way that is more efficient and effective. 

The positions on Haniyeh's visit have ranged. Although a large wide of the Palestinian factions and forces have supported it as it is a way to strengthen the Palestinian presence and organize its popular and resistance bases, some others have attacked it as it is a way to empower the Iranian role in the region and an endeavor for Hamas to build an alternative to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. 

Analysis and Insight of the Scene:
• Haniyeh's visit to Lebanon comes in a quite sensitive time, as it precedes the American President's tour in the Middle East and his intention towards building a political and military alliance that compiles the Israeli occupation and the normalizing nations. Thus, Hamas is obliged to build an opposition coalition and arrange the relationship between its components. 
• The visit included a wide mix of meetings with Palestinian national figures, factions' leaders, Lebanese personnel, and resistance icons, and popular and public meetings. 
• Haniyeh's visit to Lebanon was accompanied by some leaks about Hamas' intention to rearrange the relationship with Syria under the mediation of Hezbollah, and open offices for Hamas there in case the Syrian internal conflict ended. 
• The visit parallels with the increasing discussion of the fate of the Palestinian Authority after Abbas' term, the alternative suggestions following his death or resignation, and the latest developments in the distribution of the leading posts of the Executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. 

Possible Scenarios: based on the abovementioned and reading of the scene
1. Haniyeh's visit to Lebanon might establish, as Hamas and the resistance factions call, the term of "the new phase" of the relationship between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian people, end the coordination and collaboration with the Israeli occupation, and strengthen the Islamic coalition to confront the occupation. This scenario is supported by the realization of the seriousness of the Israeli-American-Arab normalization and the serious endeavors to melt the Palestinian cause.
2. Haniyeh's visit might not exceed routine coordination and communication between the Palestinian resistance factions and the actors in the Lebanese arena without translating this coordination into an operational cooperation that efficiently affect the occupation. What supports this scenario is the repeated attempts and the stagnation in the relationship between the Palestinian factions and the resistance fronts. 

In general, all scenarios are present. However, the first scenario is preferable, especially in the current period which witness a serious shift in the national awareness, shown by the resistance after Al-Quds Sword Battle, to confront the Israeli and American challenges and endeavors to expand the circle of normalization and build a deterrent force in the region.