Arab Leaders Split Over Role of Hamas

BY SUMMER SAID AND BENOIT FAUCON

DUBAI—As Arab leaders look to extend the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and come up with an alternative to President Trump’s plan to depopulate the enclave, they are being forced to deal with a question they have long kicked down the road: What to do with Hamas.

The first phase of the cease-fire, which saw the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, is set to end Saturday. Looming ahead are talks concerning the next phase, which is supposed to lead to the release of the remaining hostages, a perma nent end to the fighting in Gaza and reconstruction of the war-ravaged enclave.

The rub is if Hamas remains in Gaza, Israel isn’t willing to end the war, and Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates aren’t willing to fund its reconstruction. Egypt, meanwhile, thinks it is unrealistic to talk about eliminating Hamas and is looking for a solution that would at least dilute the authority of the group, which ruled Gaza for a decade and a half before leading the Oct. 7,

2023, attacks on Israel that left about 1,200 dead and about 250 taken as hostages, and sparked the war.

Arab countries appear divided about how to address Hamas’s continued presence in Gaza, recognizing that the militants remain in a position to spoil any reconstruction plans, said William Wechsler, a former senior counterterrorism official at the U.S. Defense Department. Any proposal they put on the table “cannot just be a reconstruction plan but a political and security plan,” he said.

The question has gained urgency after Trump laid out a proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and redevelop it as an international destination while its Palestinian population is relocated to other countries.

Arab states are united in opposition to the idea, but they still disagree about how Gaza should be run.

Arab leaders are set to meet in Cairo on Tuesday to craft a plan for Gaza’s future, after failing to agree on one at a summit in Riyadh on Feb. 21. Yet it is far from clear that they will agree to a unified approach.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar back an Egyptian plan that would see Hamas disarm but play a political role running postwar Gaza along with other Palestinian factions. The U.A.E. wants Hamas completely out of the strip and is leaning on the U.S.-designated terrorist group’s rival, the Palestinian Authority, to govern it. They also disagree on whether the Arab states should send troops to help secure the enclave.

Israel has told mediators it doesn’t want Hamas playing any role in postwar Gaza, a demand backed by Washington.

Complicating matters further, Hamas has used the cease-fire to show that it remains strong in Gaza. That has strengthened the position of those in Israel who argue for continuing the war.

Most Hamas officials concede that the group is unlikely to survive as ruler in Gaza. But having weathered 15 months of brutal fighting, the group’s Gaza-based hard-liners want it to remain an armed force that can exert influence behind the scenes and potentially return to fighting Israel, said Arab and Hamas officials.

Egypt’s proposal for postwar Gaza involves bringing in thousands of mobile homes to house Palestinians in safe zones, while the debris is cleared and water and electricity services are restored. Backed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt has encouraged talks between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, which governs most Palestinians in the West Bank, to form an independent committee that would run Gaza while it is being rebuilt, said Egyptian and Palestinian officials.

The program envisions a technocratic cabinet representing all Palestinian factions that eventually would negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state, they said.

Hamas officials have indicated that the group isn’t opposed to the Egyptian proposal. But Hamas remains at odds with the Palestinian Authority, with which it has a long history of animosity.

Egypt also wants Hamas and other Palestinian factions to hand over missiles and rockets that could be used to attack Israel, said Egyptian officials and other people familiar with the talks. The arms would be stored at depots under Egyptian and European supervision until a Palestinian state is established, they said.

But Hamas’s senior negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, categorically refused the proposal during a meeting with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Hassan Rashad, in February, said Egyptian and Hamas officials.

The U.A.E., which is expected to play a big role in financing Gaza’s reconstruction, is staunchly opposed to any solution that would involve a Hamas presence in the territory, according to Emirati and other Arab officials. It instead wants a reformed Palestinian Authority to be recognized as the sole legitimate governing body for Gaza, the Arab officials said.

That option is opposed by Qatar, which blocked an invitation for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the Arab summit in Riyadh, arguing Hamas should be invited too, said current and former Arab officials.

Hamas’s persistence is also complicating talks to move forward with the cease-fire, which has resulted in six weeks of relative calm. With discussions about moving toward a permanent end to the conflict deadlocked, mediators on Friday called on both sides to extend the first phase by at least a few more weeks, swapping more Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Teams from Israel and Hamas were in Cairo on Friday to work out the terms, said Arab officials involved in the talks. Both sides have indicated they are open to an extension, they said.

After Thursday’s release of four bodies, 58 hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attacks remain in Gaza—more than half of whom Israel believes are dead.

Hamas is also holding the body of one Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war.

Many recently returned hostages have spoken about poor conditions in captivity, creating more urgency to free those who remain.