{"id":129647,"date":"2026-04-10T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=129647"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:50:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:50:48","slug":"15-09-113","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=129647","title":{"rendered":"Hamas Signals No Retreat: The US Fantasy of Disarmament and Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"50%\"><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><span><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/22424\/hamas-signals-no-retreat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hamas Signals No Retreat: The US Fantasy of Disarmament and Peace<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong> Khaled Abu Toameh<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\">\n<ul class=\"content_preface_bullets\">\n<li><strong>Hamas remains fully committed to&nbsp;<i>jihad<\/i>&nbsp;(holy war) and rejects disarmament.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Board of Peace&#8221; is therefore confronting a harsh reality: Hamas, like Iran, is not motivated by deadlines, incentives, or promises of reconstruction. It is motivated by ideology and by war.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>In Hamas&#8217;s worldview, the war is not about the Gaza Strip. It is about reshaping the Middle East &#8212; and beyond &#8212; in its own image.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Any policy based on the assumption that Hamas can be&nbsp;<i>persuaded<\/i>&nbsp;to disarm is simply detached from reality.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The danger is that this rhetoric is designed to inflame public opinion in Arab and Islamic countries against their own governments, potentially destabilizing countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that have chosen a path of pragmatism, normalization, and cooperation with Israel and the West.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Hamas remains a partner of Iran&#8217;s regional war machine, a committed enemy of peace, and a direct threat to the stability of the Middle East.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The question is whether the US is ready to listen.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/5670.jpg\" width=\"100%\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>An April 5 speech by Hamas military spokesman Abu Obaida (pictured) leaves no doubt: Hamas remains fully committed to jihad (holy war) and rejects disarmament. Hamas remains a partner of Iran&#8217;s regional war machine, a committed enemy of peace, and a direct threat to the stability of the Middle East. (Image source: Hamas via X)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">An April 5&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EternalFilastin\/status\/2040831687496528099?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">speech<\/a>&nbsp;by Hamas military spokesman Abu Obaida leaves no doubt: Hamas remains fully committed to&nbsp;<i>jihad<\/i>&nbsp;(holy war) and&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/thearabweekly.com\/hamas-armed-wing-rejects-disarmament-israeli-exit-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rejects<\/a>&nbsp;disarmament.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Meanwhile, US President Donald J. Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Board of Peace,&#8221; an initiative to stabilize and rebuild the Gaza Strip, seems to be increasing pressure on Hamas. According to a&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/article\/bj9dcubhbl#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a>&nbsp;published in&nbsp;<i>The New York Times<\/i>, the board has set a deadline for the terror group to agree to a disarmament framework in the Gaza Strip by the end of the coming week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Abu Obaida&#8217;s speech, unfortunately, is an emphatic warning that Hamas has no intention of&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/thearabweekly.com\/hamas-armed-wing-rejects-disarmament-israeli-exit-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complying<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;What the enemy is trying to push through today against the Palestinian resistance, via our brotherly mediators [Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey], is extremely dangerous. Raising the issue of weapons in this blunt manner is nothing but an overt attempt to continue the genocide against our people, something we will not accept under any circumstances. What the enemy failed to take from us through tanks and war, it will not be able to take through politics or at the negotiating table.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Far from preparing to disarm, Hamas is publicly declaring its commitment to continued<i>&nbsp;jihad<\/i>, praising the Iranian regime and its proxies, and inciting Palestinians to escalate attacks against Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The &#8220;Board of Peace&#8221; is therefore confronting a harsh reality: Hamas, like Iran, is not motivated by deadlines, incentives, or promises of reconstruction. It is motivated by ideology and by war.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The speech, in fact, is a manifesto of defiance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">From the outset, Abu Obaida frames the conflict in explicitly religious terms. Portraying the war not as a territorial dispute, but as a religious obligation, he&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EternalFilastin\/status\/2040831687496528099?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">calls<\/a>&nbsp;on Muslims to &#8220;unite their ranks in confronting the disbelievers.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">He goes further by&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EternalFilastin\/status\/2040837160119533885?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">describing<\/a>&nbsp;the current war as a &#8220;decisive phase in the history of this&nbsp;<i>Ummah<\/i>&nbsp;[Islamic nation],&#8221; a turning point meant to restore Islamic dominance and reverse what he calls the humiliation of Muslim lands:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;For even if the balance of power is disturbed, our truth is stronger than their falsehood, and our&nbsp;<i>Ummah<\/i>&nbsp;is one, its enemy is one.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In Hamas&#8217;s worldview, the war is not about the Gaza Strip. It is about reshaping the Middle East \u2013 and beyond. It is a call for&nbsp;<i>jihad<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Equally revealing is the Hamas spokesman&#8217;s repeated reference to the &#8220;Zionist-American assault&#8221; on Iran. By fusing Israel and the US into a single enemy, Hamas is openly declaring that the&nbsp;<i>jihad<\/i>&nbsp;is not directed only at Israel, but also at Washington. This is a direct message to American policymakers: Hamas does not distinguish between Israel and the US. It sees both as legitimate targets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The implications are worse than they might at first look.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">For Israel, the speech confirms that Hamas, like Iran, has not changed ideologically, despite the heavy military blows it has suffered since its October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel. On the contrary, the terror group remains as committed as ever to Israel&#8217;s destruction. Abu Obaida&#8217;s praise for Iran, Hezbollah, and Yemen&#8217;s Houthis underscores Hamas&#8217;s integration into a broader Iran-led war effort. Israel is not facing an isolated terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, but a coordinated regional &#8220;Axis of Resistance.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">For the US, the message is equally clear. Hamas is rejecting any notion of compromise or disarmament. Despite repeated calls from Trump to lay down its arms, Hamas is doubling down on its strategy of armed struggle. The&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MiddleEast_24\/status\/2040818299852804312?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">speech<\/a>&nbsp;makes clear that Hamas views American pressure not as a reason to moderate, but as a further justification for<i>&nbsp;jihad<\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;The [US-Israeli] aggression will not achieve its results. The illusion of normalization they seek is doomed to failure. Those who hope to impose foreign ideologies from across the seas on our nation do not know the heritage, civilization, and power that the nation possesses.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Any policy based on the assumption that Hamas can be&nbsp;<i>persuaded<\/i>&nbsp;to disarm is simply detached from reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The speech also contains an unmistakable warning to pro-Western Arab states, particularly in the Gulf. By&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EternalFilastin\/status\/2040837160119533885?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accusing<\/a>&nbsp;unnamed actors of seeking to &#8220;alter the concepts of the Islamic religion&#8221; and impose foreign systems of governance, Hamas is effectively attacking Arab regimes aligned with the US. These countries are portrayed not as partners, but as part of the problem \u2013 complicit in what Hamas describes as a campaign to subjugate the Islamic world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The danger is that this rhetoric is designed to inflame public opinion in Arab and Islamic countries against their own governments, potentially destabilizing countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that have chosen a path of pragmatism, normalization, and cooperation with Israel and the West.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">At the same time, Hamas continues to incite violence on the ground. Abu Obaida&#8217;s call for unity and confrontation, regrettably, is not &#8220;just talk.&#8221; It is a direct appeal to Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem to escalate their confrontation with Israel into deadly terrorist attacks. The speech&#8217;s portrayal of the war as a global crisis \u2013 claiming that Israel is plunging &#8220;the region, and indeed the world, into its furnace,&#8221; is, in addition, part of a broader propaganda effort by Hamas to shift blame for regional instability onto Israel and the US.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Stripped of its religious and ideological language, the message is simple: Hamas has no intention of ending the war. It is preparing for more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The speech by Abu Obaida is a loud wake-up call. Hamas is planning escalation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">For Israel, the US, and pro-Western states,&nbsp;<i>any<\/i>&nbsp;strategy that assumes Hamas can be integrated, moderated, or coaxed into abandoning its weapons is not only unrealistic; it is na\u00efve and dangerous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Hamas at least is being honest. Hamas is not negotiating. Hamas is not moderating. Hamas is not preparing for peace. October 7, 2023, was not an isolated attack. It was part of an ongoing<i>&nbsp;jihad<\/i>: &#8220;The strikes [against Israel] by the fighters of Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen are an extension of the Al-Aqsa Flood [Hamas&#8217;s October 7 massacre].&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Israel, the US, and the Arab states aligned with the West might recognize the simple truth: Hamas remains a partner of Iran&#8217;s regional war machine, a committed enemy of peace, and a direct threat to the stability of the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The question is whether the US is ready to listen.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><i><strong>Khaled Abu Toameh<\/strong> is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\">\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hamas Signals No Retreat: The US Fantasy of Disarmament and Peace Khaled Abu Toameh Hamas remains fully committed to&nbsp;jihad&nbsp;(holy war) and rejects disarmament. The &#8220;Board of Peace&#8221; is therefore confronting a harsh reality: Hamas, like Iran, is not motivated by deadlines, incentives, or promises of reconstruction. It is motivated by ideology and by war. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129647"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129667,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129647\/revisions\/129667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}