Egypt's Dangerous Palestinian 'Unity' Project to Legitimize Terrorists
by Khaled Abu Toameh • August 31, 2026 at 5:00 am
The real question, however, is: Unity with whom, and against whom?
Why is Hamas being treated as a legitimate political organization rather than a terrorist group that needs to be disarmed, dismantled, and removed from power?
Egypt, a key ally of the United States, should be asking these questions. Instead, Cairo appears to be doing exactly the opposite.
The Trump Administration and the Board of Peace might make clear to Cairo that Hamas cannot be both a terrorist organization that needs to surrender its weapons and a political partner invited to negotiate the future of the Palestinians. One approach eliminates Hamas. The other rehabilitates it.
Even more alarming are reports of a possible electoral alliance involving former Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan's Democratic Reform Current, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – all terrorist groups that do not recognize Israel's right to exist.
What possible role should these terrorist organizations have in Palestinian elections or a future Palestinian government?
If Egypt welcomes the designation of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, why is it simultaneously trying to give Hamas – which emerged from the same organization – renewed political legitimacy?
The Trump Administration would do itself a great service to tell Cairo that Palestinian reconciliation cannot include organizations that retain weapons, embrace terrorism, and seek the destruction of Israel. There is no need to unify the Palestinian ranks around Hamas. There is a need immediately to remove Hamas from those ranks.
Egypt should be using its considerable influence not to persuade Fatah to reconcile with Hamas, but to pressure Hamas and other terrorist groups to surrender their weapons and permanently leave the Palestinian political arena. A politically rehabilitated Hamas, still armed and still committed to its Islamist ideology, will only strengthen the very ideological current that the Egyptian government has spent more than a decade trying to suppress.
Egypt is reportedly preparing to host another round of talks between the Palestinian factions, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction and the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group.
The stated goal sounds appealing: achieving Palestinian "national unity."
The real question, however, is: Unity with whom, and against whom?
Nearly three years after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, why is anyone still talking about bringing Hamas back into the Palestinian political system? Why is Hamas being treated as a legitimate political organization rather than a terrorist group that needs to be disarmed, dismantled, and removed from power?
Egypt, a key ally of the United States, should be asking these questions. Instead, Cairo appears to be doing exactly the opposite.
