Khaled Abu Toameh

Hamas is not agreeing to disarm. It is bargaining. The Cairo meetings reportedly focused heavily on what mediators described as the "restriction of weapons" rather than outright disarmament. Some proposals reportedly envision Hamas and other armed groups

Hamas. The Iranian-backed group responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel is openly calling to escalate attacks against Israel and signaling its intention to shift the center of its jihad (holy war) from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank.

[The Arabs'] objections are... the agreement strengthens Iran, weakens America's credibility, ignores Tehran's regional proxies, and leaves America's allies vulnerable.

As the Trump Administration seeks to stabilize the Gaza Strip through its "Board of Peace" initiative, one participant stands out as particularly ill-suited for the role of mediator: Turkey.

Unfortunately, like the Gaza initiative before it, the Lebanon agreement risks becoming another document that looks impressive on paper but proves impossible to implement because it rests on a false assumption: that terrorist organizations honor agreements and voluntarily disarm.

The Trump Administration is making a big mistake by engaging in negotiations with Hamas — as well as Iran.

Unlike the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which seeks durable solutions by resettling refugees and helping them rebuild their lives, UNRWA has institutionalized refugee status across generations.

The key question is not who sits in ministerial offices in the Gaza Strip. The key question is who holds the guns.

Western governments and donors will undoubtedly welcome the announcement [of presidential elections] as a sign that Abbas is finally responding to long-standing demands for reform. They should not.

The documents, recovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip and published by the Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute, reveal that Hamas had meticulously planned the October 7 massacre more than a year before it was carried out. They also expose Sinwar's unwavering commitment to Hamas's founding objective: the destruction of Israel through mass murder and conquest.