Palestinian Journalist: Arab Countries Should Impose Sanctions On Hamas Leaders Abroad To End The Gaza War

Memri

29-05-2025

In an article published May 26, 2025 on the Saudi news website Elaph, Palestinian journalist Hamid Karman, who resides in Amman, Jordan, called on Arab countries to impose sanctions on Hamas leaders abroad, as a move that will lead to a shift in the equation of the confrontation and an end to the Gaza-Israel war.
Expressing harsh criticism of the Hamas leaders abroad and describing them as living in luxury hotels in Doha, Istanbul and Teheran and accumulating money while Gazans bear the burden of the war on their own, Karman wrote that these leaders are impervious to the cries for a realistic solution. There is an urgent need, he stated, to bring Arab pressure to bear on Hamas by means of sanctions – which he said should include restricting the movement of its senior officials and cutting off its funding and its access to fundraising – so as to compel the organization to change direction and bring an end to the war. He contended that such a step would not only help to end the fighting and suffering in Gaza, but would also advance solutions to additional regional crises, such as disarming the Palestinian organizations in Lebanon, and would prevent Hamas from obstructing Arab and international plans aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution for stability in the Middle East.
Hamid Karman (Source: Alarab.co.uk)
The following is the translation of Karman's May 26, 2025 article on Elaph:
"It is known that the equation of the war in Gaza relies on the continued [existence] of its two sides – the Israeli right led by Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, and the Palestinian right, as represented by the Hamas movement – and there will be no end to the war without one of them surrendering...
"The war will not end as long as the Hamas leaders abroad enjoy all their creature comforts in luxury hotels in Doha, Istanbul, and Teheran, accumulate money that they distribute amongst themselves, and give TV interviews, making demagogic declarations that show the movement's bankruptcy in the face of the suffering of the unarmed Palestinian people...
"The senior Hamas officials close their ears to the clamor of the many voices calling for adopting a realistic [approach] to deal with the consequences of the struggle, by finding a political formula to impose a solution that will contribute to stopping the plans of the right-wing Israeli government. This is because the price being paid by the Palestinians, in its children and in its infrastructure, is greater than any amount that the movement may gain from holding the Israeli hostages. The truth is that Hamas has no more options, or room for political maneuvering...
"At present, the vacuum in the [Hamas] military leadership in Gaza, following a series of killings carried out by Israel, will lead to a freeze in Hamas's positions in negotiations. This necessitates sanctions by Arab [countries] on the leaders of the movement abroad so that things will move forward. These sanctions [must] include preventing, and restricting, their [the Hamas leaders'] movements among Arab countries or through their airspace and their airports, and [must] hobble the movement's efforts to acquire funding by [imposing] an embargo, cutting off [its] financial support networks, and stopping the fundraising on which it relies by means of straw companies...
"There is a pressing need to tighten the political and financial noose on the Hamas leaders abroad. This will not only bring an end to the war in the Gaza Strip, or to the tragedy of its inhabitants, who have had enough of the conflict and long for an end to the 18 months and more of violence and scarcity – it will also will also lead to a solution to the crises that we see on the horizon for several Middle Eastern countries, and in particular the matter of the weapons of the factions in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. In this context, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has shown unprecedented responsiveness to Lebanon's official demands in order to conclude this complicated issue. This necessitates bringing swift pressure to bear on Hamas and on the factions that support it, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Osbat Al-Ansar [operating out of the Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon] so that they will surrender their weapons, without armed confrontation with the Lebanese Armed Forces. This will allow Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his government led by [Prime Minister] Nawaf Salam to lay the foundations of the nation state with one regime, one law, and one weapon [i.e. held by only one body], as a prelude to actually tackling the issue of disarming Hizbullah.
"The move [to impose] Arab sanctions is crucial to framing [our] relationship with Hamas the militia – which after October 7 has deluded itself that it can impose its equations on the region and change the international balance of power. Hamas is also betting on the overthrow of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu by the Israeli street, and thus will not hesitate to drag out [the negotiations] in the expectation that circumstances will turn in its favor as the de facto government in Gaza. This means that it will continue to be a stumbling block for the emerging Arab and international plans to reach a comprehensive solution that will lead to the stability of the Middle East...[1]"