Lessons from Doha: Eject Hamas now 

Excerpt

Israel’s strike on Doha shattered the illusion that Hamas’s leaders could hide safely behind Gulf skylines. But a look further back shows this immunity had gaps.  

The Mossad’s botched 1997 attempt to kill Khaled Meshaal in Jordan and the 2010 assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai had already shown Israel’s long arm. However, what is striking is not Israel’s reach or boldness, but the folly of Arab states that continue to shelter and facilitate a movement that has brought them nothing but ruin. Hamas has exported conflict and invited chaos into these states. The correct lesson for Arab states to learn from the Doha airstrike is that none of them should welcome Hamas onto their soil.

Nevertheless, Jordan still tolerates public demonstrations in Hamas’s favor; Egypt has taken a similar approach. Despite its bitter clashes with the group during the peak of the Sinai insurgency between 2013 and 2017, Cairo has accommodated Hamas delegations throughout the years and ignored weapons smuggling into Gaza.

Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he focuses on Middle East affairs and the Levant.