Arabs Not Interested in Seeing Hamas Disarm
by Khaled Abu Toameh • September 2, 2025 at 5:00 am
It was Qatar, in fact, during the entire Trump administration's supposed "mediation," that repeatedly instructed Hamas to keep attacking Israel and not to disarm.
Even after joining the Arab League's request for a ceasefire, Qatari government journalists are urging Hamas to kidnap more Israeli soldiers, to "[f]ight the Jews and kill them," and that "Jihad victory in Gaza will end Zionism." After the January 2025 ceasefire came into effect, Qatar's government media called the ceasefire a "crushing historic victory" for Hamas, a "significant defeat" for Israel, and like the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, "which the Prophet Muhammad signed with his enemies in the Quraysh tribe" for ten years, but "which he violated after approximately two years," and proceeded to conquer Mecca.
If 22 Arab and Muslim countries do not have the courage to speak out against Hamas, how can they be expected to play any role in ending the war in the Gaza Strip?
Qatar has so far failed to pressure the terror group [Hamas] to lay down its weapons and relinquish control over the Gaza Strip. Qatar's government journalists, as noted, are still actively encouraging Hamas to continue the war.
If the two countries [Egypt and Qatar] really wanted to pressure Hamas, they would at least threaten to deport the terror group's leaders and their families and seize their bank accounts. Not only has this not happened, but Hamas leaders continue to lead comfortable lives in Doha and are warmly received each time they fly to Egypt.
Hamas leaders simply feel no pressure whatsoever from the Arabs to end the war in the Gaza Strip. That is most likely why Hamas leaders are determined to fight to the last Palestinian. From their safe homes and offices in Qatar and Turkey, Hamas leaders continue to glorify the Palestinian "resistance" and threaten Israel with more terrorism.
The fastest way to end the war is by demanding -- with consequences for dawdling -- that the Arab countries, especially Egypt and Qatar, take a truly tough stance against Hamas. The Trump administration is probably the only party that can pressure Egypt and Qatar to force Hamas to release the hostages and lay down its weapons.
In an unprecedented move, the Arab League, which represents 22 Arab countries, on July 30 called on the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas to lay down its weapons and relinquish control of the Gaza Strip. Hamas rejected the call. How did the Arab countries respond to Hamas's rejecting their request? Instead of calling out Hamas for causing death and destruction in the Gaza Strip, they condemned Israel.
Earlier this year, a senior Arab League official, Hossam Zaki, was quoted as saying that it would be in the interests of the Palestinian people if Hamas ceded control of the Gaza Strip. As usual, Hamas rejected the call. Since then -- and before -- the Arab League has repeatedly denounced Israel for fighting against the terror group responsible for the October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel, the worst crime against Jews since the 1940s.
