Why Turkey Can’t Bring Peace to Gaza
Excerpt
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to co-broker the Gaza peace process for his own prestige, to Hamas’s benefit, and at Israel’s expense.
Orientul Mijlociu
Palestinians Still Prefer Hamas and ‘Armed Struggle’ Against Israel
Those who thought that Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the ensuing war in the Gaza Strip have made Palestinians change their minds about the terror group are in for a rude awakening.
More than half of Palestinians continue to support the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7. Moreover, the terror group remains popular among a large number of Palestinians. Support for Hamas means support for the destruction of Israel through Jihad (holy war).
A poll published on October 28 by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed that 53% of the Palestinians think that Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7 attack was “correct.” A majority of 54% of Palestinians blame Israel for the current suffering of Gazans, while 24% blame the US. Only 14% blame Hamas.
These findings contradict claims by some Western media outlets that a growing number of Palestinians were disillusioned with Hamas because of the death and destruction it has brought on its people as a result of its October 7 attack.
Asked about their perception of Hamas two years after the Gaza war began, 18% of the Palestinians said their support for Hamas was big and it has not changed, while 19% said their support for the terror group increased a lot. Another 17% said their support for Hamas increased a little. By contrast, 16% said they did not support Hamas before the war and that their opposition to the terror group has not changed; 12% said their support decreased a little, and 10% said their support for Hamas has decreased a lot.
“The conclusion from these numbers is that the past two years have led to greater support for Hamas rather than the opposite,” according to the poll.
The poll showed that a vast majority of the Palestinians are still in denial over the crimes committed by Hamas on October 7. Asked if Hamas had committed the atrocities seen in the videos shown by international media displaying atrocities committed by Hamas members against Israeli civilians, 86% said the terror group did not commit such atrocities. Only 10% said Hamas did commit them.
As for the disarmament of Hamas, as stipulated in the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for peace to end the Gaza war, the poll found that an overwhelming majority of 69% oppose the idea. Only 29% said they support disarming Hamas.
Regarding public satisfaction with the role played by various Palestinian actors during the Gaza war, the poll showed that satisfaction with Hamas’s performance has risen from 57% (in May 2025) to 60%.
A majority of Palestinians, the poll showed, are extremely supportive of Iran, Hezbollah, Qatar and the Houthi militia in Yemen, a terror group that fired dozens of missiles and suicide drones at Israel during the war. The highest satisfaction rate went to the Houthis (74%), followed by Hamas’s main sponsor Qatar (52%), Hezbollah (50%), and Iran (44%).
If elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) were held today, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would win 63% of the votes, as opposed to 27% for incumbent PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
The 89-year-old Abbas, who is in the 20th year of his four-year term in office, remains as unpopular as ever among his own people, who view him and his PA as incompetent and corrupt.
According to the poll, dissatisfaction with Abbas stands at 75%, while 80% want him to resign.
Asked which political party they support, the largest percentage (35%) said they prefer Hamas, followed by Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction (24%). Nine percent selected third parties, and 32% said they do not support any of them or do not know. Five months ago, 32% said they supported Hamas and 21% said they supported Fatah.
“These results mean that support for Hamas over the past five months has increased by three percentage points,” the poll noted.
Another inconvenient finding: If parliamentary elections were held today, 44% of the Palestinians say they will vote for Hamas, 30% for Fatah, and 10% for third parties. The remaining respondents said they have not yet decided for whom to vote.
The number of Palestinians who believe that Hamas most deserves to represent and lead the Palestinians has risen from 40% five months ago to 41%.
Also unexpected is the ongoing Palestinian support for the “armed struggle” (terrorism) against Israel. The latest poll found that 41% of the Palestinians support the “armed struggle” as opposed to 36% who said they prefer negotiations.
The results of the poll demonstrate that a significant number of Palestinians continue to support the Jihadi group that murdered 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and brought death and destruction on the two million residents of the Gaza Strip.
Those who are pushing for reforms and presidential and legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip need to take into consideration that the future Palestinian government or state would be dominated by the same terrorists who brutally tortured and murdered hundreds of Israelis, including Arab citizens of Israel, on October 7, 2023.
The results of the poll also show the challenges facing the implementation of the Trump plan, especially disarming Hamas and deradicalizing Palestinian society. Most Palestinians are openly opposed to disarming Hamas – a situation that will make it effectively impossible for any Arab or foreign party to confiscate the terror group’s weapons by force.
Any Palestinian or Arab leader who sees that most Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas will think twice before he undertakes such a mission: he would not want to act against the wishes of the Arab street — such a move would be regarded as treason.
As for deradicalization, it is clear from the poll that Palestinians are moving in the opposite direction. This is mainly due to continued incitement against Israel in the Palestinian and Arab media, mosques, social media platforms and the rhetoric of Palestinian leaders and officials. Deradicalization requires brave leaders who will stand up and speak out about the need to stop poisoning the hearts and minds of young Palestinians. Many Palestinians are afraid to speak out for fear of being labeled as traitors or collaborators with Israel. We have seen how Palestinians who challenged Hamas were tortured and executed in public squares in the Gaza Strip as soon as the ceasefire went into effect.
Radical change in Palestinian society will come only when Palestinians rise up against destructive leaders who, over the past few decades, have been dragging them from one disaster to another.
Arab states deepened military ties with Israel while denouncing Gaza war, leak reveals
Israeli and Arab military officials have come together for meetings and trainings, facilitated by U.S. Central Command, on regional threats, Iran and underground tunnels.
Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military, leaked U.S. documents reveal. Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, but could now play a key role in overseeing the nascent ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamas Attacks IDF Troops in Rafah, Drawing Israeli Response
Latest Developments
- Hamas Attacks in Rafah: Hamas terrorists attacked IDF troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on October 28, violating the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group. During the attack, the terrorists reportedly used small arms and an anti-tank missile to fire at Israeli forces. The attack marked the second incident of its kind since October 19, when two IDF soldiers were killed by a Hamas cell operating in the area. In the aftermath of the attack in Rafah, Hamas released a statement denying responsibility.
- Renewed Airstrikes After Attack: In response to the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip.” Airstrikes were reported in both Deir al-Balah and Rafah in the hours following the Hamas attack. An Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post, “The response to the current violations by Hamas will be significantly greater than the response last time,” referring to a series of airstrikes carried out by Israel following the October 19 attack in Rafah.
- Israel Set to Expand “Yellow Line”: Israeli media reported later on October 28 that Netanyahu had ordered the expansion of the “Yellow Line,” which delineates Hamas-controlled areas of Gaza from territory under IDF control. In future negotiated phases of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, the IDF is expected to gradually relinquish control of the territory to a transitional authority in Gaza, handing it over to be secured by the International Stabilization Force.
The Sojourners of Jihad: Foreign Fighters and the Fabric of the New Syrian State
In the quiet corridors of Syria’s emerging republic—where the embers of revolution still flicker beneath the veneer of reconstruction—the saga of the so-called “Strangers’ Brigade” has once again resurfaced. Far from a transient disturbance, it remains a persistent quandary that continues to haunt the evolving Syrian polity. First surfacing in late 2024, the issue drew attention when the nascent General Command integrated several senior military officers into the army’s leadership ranks, including six foreign nationals—a move that symbolised the formal absorption of once-transnational fighters into the structure of a newly envisioned state.
Crackdown on French Fighters in Syria: Is the Sharaa Government Targeting Its Own Backbone? – The Syrian Observer
A fierce standoff between Syrian security forces and a French-led jihadist battalion has reignited questions about the future of foreign fighters in post-war Syria—and about whether President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s government is turning against the very elements that once underpinned its military ascendancy.
The Avalon Project : Hamas Covenant 1988
The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement
In The Name Of The Most Merciful Allah
“Ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in Allah. And if they who have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for them: there are believers among them, but the greater part of them are transgressors. They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you, and they shall not be helped. They are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found; unless they obtain security by entering into a treaty with Allah, and a treaty with men; and they draw on themselves indignation from Allah, and they are afflicted with poverty. This they suffer, because they disbelieved the signs of Allah, and slew the prophets unjustly; this, because they were rebellious, and transgressed.” (Al-Imran – verses 109-111).
Profile: Who was Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi?
Al-Qurayshi was a shadowy and brutal figure who led ISIL when under intense military pressure from the US and allied forces.
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi led ISIL (ISIS) from the shadows for a little more than two years before he was killed during a raid by US forces on a house in northern Syria.
UAE Political Science Professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla: Hamas Has Lost, It Should Apologize For Its Act Of Stupidity; Lebanon Should Sign Peace With Israel Like Jordan And Egypt; Hizbullah Is Weak, Naim Qassem Is Not Rational, Gulf States Reject His Rhetoric
In an October 4, 2025 interview on Spot Shot on YouTube, UAE political science professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla said that Hamas has lost, not the Palestinian cause, and that it must admit its loss and apologize for its “act of stupidity.” He suggested that Lebanon sign a peace agreement with Israel, like Jordan and Egypt, which both border Israel and have benefited from such agreements.
Fatah Official Abdallah Kamil: Hamas Has Emerged From The Tunnels Only To Crack Down On Its Own People; Gaza Is The Only War Where The Fighters Hide Underground While The Population Remains Above, Suffers The Casualties
In an October 11, 2025 show on Palestine TV, Abdallah Kamil of the Fatah Revolutionary Council reacted to Hamas’s crackdown on suspected “collaborators” following the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He slammed Hamas for spending the war below ground in tunnels while the population remained above ground, saying that the Gaza Strip was the only place where civilians were above ground and the army was underground during a war. Kamil said that during the war in Beirut, under Yasser Arafat’s instructions, the fighters remained above ground while civilians stayed in underground shelters – which is why most casualties were among the fighters. He added that now, after the ceasefire, Hamas has emerged from underground only to turn on its own people.
Abdallah Kamil: “Where were [Hamas]? In bomb shelters, in the tunnels.
[…]
“Never in my life have I heard about a war in which the army was below ground, while the people were above the ground, except for the Gaza Strip. We heard about the Battle of Stalingrad. The entire Russian army was above ground, and the people were below ground.
“Let me tell you something. During the Beirut War, Yasser Arafat gave clear instructions. There was a bomb shelter in every building. This is the reason that the overwhelming majority of the martyrs were from among the Palestinian fighters in Beirut – because they were the ones above ground, and the people were below ground.
“The people [in Gaza] were above ground, and they were hit. Their homes, schools, mosques, universities – everything is gone, as a result of this adventure.
[…]
“You emerged from under the ground only to turn on your people? The people have sacrificed more than 70,000 martyrs. Do they need these scenes? This is a disgrace.”