The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
A week or so ago, the presidents and potentates of all the Arab nations were watching and listening to their news screens, just like we all were. And, like us, they were trying to figure out what they could believe in the confusion of claims they were seeing and hearing live from the White House.
With an expressionless Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu at his side, President Donald Trump wandered through an imprecise, inconsistent, unscripted but mega-enthusiastic vision for his kind of Gaza. As world visions go, Trump’s seemed mondo bizarro.
Now all the Arab leaders are preparing to attend a hurriedly arranged Feb. 27 Emergency Arab Summit to decide what they must do about Trump’s plan to somehow relocate 2 million Gazans. He’ll build or find them new housing somewhere — maybe Egypt or Jordan. Then Trump will remake their sand-and-rubble boneyard into a touristy “Riviera of the Middle East.” He says he can do this because, somehow, America will “own” Gaza by then.
So far, Arab leaders are saying they all oppose Trump’s effort. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who will host the emergency summit, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have firmly opposed it. They fear that the influx of Gaza Palestinians will destabilize their countries. Saudi Arabia has scheduled a pre-summit leaders planning session.
But as Arab leaders begin to draft solutions for Gaza’s shattered Palestinian population, here is one idea that apparently hasn’t been tried. It is way past time for the Arab leaders to tell themselves — and each other — the toughest truth about what Hamas was really trying to achieve in its Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack.
Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, perpetrated vile war crimes (rapes, killing babies in cribs), and took hundreds of hostages into underground tunnels and chambers. Hamas fighters hid beneath apartments, schools and hospitals — transforming Gaza’s innocent Palestinian population into human shields.
After the Oct. 7 brutality against innocents, I was sure Israel’s shamed and outsmarted leaders would retaliate with maximum vengeance. Israeli troops would pursue Hamas fighters into their cowardly hideouts beneath their civilian Palestinian human shields. Innocents would die.
Yet Gazan and West Bank Palestinians apparently didn’t know the awful truth of what their protectors were doing to them. Hamas gained support among Palestinians, according to (not always reliable) polls.
So now we ask: Was Hamas’ chief military planner, Yahya Sinwar (who was ultimately assassinated), as certain that Israel’s leaders would retaliate excessively? Did Hamas’ leaders hope to trigger a retaliation in which the world would see Israel killing masses of Gazan civilians? And would the world probably hate Israel — more than ever — for the killing and wounding of civilians they saw on their screens?
That hardcore answer can only be yes. That’s pretty much what the world just did.
Now, Hamas leaders and their Iranian funders and trainers hope Saudi Arabia would never dare to normalize relations with Israel after the world saw videos of Israel’s devastating retaliation. Today, the Saudis’ planned normalization with Israel has been delayed.
Meanwhile, we all should condemn the failure of the United Nations and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to see the truth and move against Hamas for its abuses against civilians — especially the reality that Hamas actually took not just one but two sets of hostages: Israelis, and Palestinian Gazans.
Last year, the Wall Street Journal obtained a number of messages Sinwar sent to his Hamas compatriots. On June 10, 2024, it reported what it found. The article was headlined: “Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas.”
And lo, that too came to pass. Now it is time for the Arab leaders to recognize the tough, tragic truth that has been there for them to see all along.
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