Michael Freund, full article at https://tinyurl.com/52dn9b9b
The article argues that the Trump
administration’s reported plan to place Turkey and Qatar on a “Board of Peace”
to oversee Gaza is fundamentally flawed and dangerous. The author contends that
both countries are not neutral mediators but active enablers of Hamas: Qatar is
described as Hamas’s main financial patron and host of its leaders, while
Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, openly defends Hamas, rejects its
designation as a terrorist organization, and uses extreme anti-Israel rhetoric.
According to the article, neither
Ankara nor Doha has ever called for Hamas to disarm, relinquish control of
Gaza, or abandon its charter. Instead, Hamas is portrayed as strategically
useful to both states as a proxy against Israel and a source of Islamist
legitimacy. Expecting them to dismantle Hamas is therefore, in the author’s
view, unrealistic and absurd.
The piece concludes that any Gaza
“peace plan” that does not begin with the complete dismantling of Hamas is
doomed to fail. By elevating Turkey and Qatar—without prior consultation with
Israel—the U.S. is said to be undermining Israel’s security and rewarding
Hamas’s backers. The author warns that this approach will not bring peace, but
rather entrench Hamas further and pave the way for future conflict.
When the next round of violence
erupts – as it inevitably will – no Board of Peace and no communiques or
diplomatic euphemisms will obscure those who enabled it or the responsibility
they bear for the consequences.
