Hamas Has Fractured the Arab World

Oct 13, 2023

Also published in Foreign Affairs
About the Authors
Ghaith al-Omari
Ghaith al-Omari

Ghaith al-Omari is the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship.

Articles & Testimony

A closer look at the political and security dilemmas that Arab leaders will face as the Hamas-Israel war intensifies.

In the days since Hamas launched its ferocious October 7 terrorist attack and Israel began its massive response in the Gaza Strip, Arab governments have been caught in a difficult bind. Several Arab countries had entered, or were in the process of making, historic normalization agreements with Israel, while others are long-standing peace partners who enjoy mutually beneficial diplomatic and security relations. At the same time, support for the Palestinian cause runs high among Arab populations, and amid a war that seems likely to cause massive destruction in Gaza, Arab leaders must walk a careful line to avoid triggering a domestic and diplomatic backlash. Meanwhile, the floundering Palestinian Authority, long in power in the West Bank, faces escalating challenges of its own. And with a months-long security breakdown, the PA now faces the real possibility that the West Bank could be drawn into Hamas’s war...

Read the full article on the Foreign Affairs website.

To top

Recommended