{"id":122616,"date":"2026-07-22T14:55:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/?p=122616"},"modified":"2026-07-22T14:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:56:24","slug":"bahbah-washington-holds-the-key-to-gaza-not-tel-aviv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/bahbah-washington-holds-the-key-to-gaza-not-tel-aviv\/","title":{"rendered":"Bahbah: Washington Holds the Key to Gaza, Not Tel Aviv"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bahbah: Washington Holds the Key to Gaza… and Reaching an Understanding with It Could Change the Course of the War<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The President of the Arab Americans for Peace Council, Bishara Bahbah, offered an analytical assessment of developments in the war in the Gaza Strip, highlighting a number of factors that he believes shape the course of any potential ceasefire agreement. Speaking to a news network, Bahbah discussed the role of Khalil Al-Hayya, head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, the nature of the U.S. position on the proposed agreements, and the impact of Israel’s political landscape on the future of Gaza, emphasizing that no comprehensive settlement can be separated from Washington’s decisive role.<\/p>\n

Bahbah recalled his last meeting with Khalil Al-Hayya in the Qatari capital, Doha, nearly a year ago, when negotiations were focused on a sixty-day truce, to be followed by a second round aimed at bringing the war to a complete end.<\/p>\n

He noted that Al-Hayya has effectively led Hamas since last year, following the assassination of Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. He suggested that the movement’s policies are unlikely to undergo a fundamental shift under Al-Hayya’s leadership, while describing him as “a pragmatic man,” citing his agreement, together with Sinwar at the time, to release the American-Israeli soldier as a gesture intended to demonstrate goodwill and advance the negotiations.<\/p>\n

He affirmed that this initiative had indeed helped create the conditions necessary to reach a ceasefire agreement.<\/p>\n

Continued Violations and Double Standards in U.S. Policy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bahbah went on to describe the situation on the ground, arguing that Israel has continued to violate the ceasefire agreement almost daily since October 9 of last year. He pointed out that the number of casualties ranges between five and ten deaths per day, adding that Israel appears to treat this as routine.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he criticized what he described as U.S. double standards in implementing the agreement. He said that during meetings in Washington, he was told that the U.S. administration expects Hamas to fully implement every provision of the agreement, while regarding Israel’s implementation of roughly half of its commitments as acceptable progress. In his view, this approach reflects a clear bias in favor of Israel and does not help establish the trust necessary for the success of any agreement.<\/p>\n

Regarding Khalil Al-Hayya’s position within Hamas, Bahbah explained\u2014citing multiple sources outside the movement\u2014that most of the votes that brought Al-Hayya to the leadership came from the military wing. He added that Al-Hayya is known to be closer to Iran than Khaled Meshaal.<\/p>\n

As for speculation that Al-Hayya may continue leading the movement for another term, Bahbah said he has no confirmed information on the matter, noting that Hamas’ internal elections have been postponed several times due to the absence of consensus over who should lead the movement.<\/p>\n

Weapons, Guarantees… and the Israeli Dilemma<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bahbah argued that the most complicated issue is Hamas’ weapons, noting that Israel is demanding the movement surrender them while continuing to carry out assassinations and target its members despite discussions of a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

He questioned the fate of Hamas members and leaders inside and outside the Palestinian territories if the weapons were surrendered without clear guarantees. He argued that any realistic settlement should be based on a formula involving the “handover or storage of weapons,” rather than simply discussing disarmament, alongside guarantees preventing the future targeting of the movement’s cadres.<\/p>\n

In his assessment of Israel’s domestic political scene, Bahbah predicted that Tel Aviv is unlikely to make major strategic decisions before resolving the upcoming elections. Citing Israeli figures he had met, he said the opposition may fail to secure the 61-seat majority in the Knesset needed to form a new government, and also appears unwilling to rely on the votes of Arab lawmakers. This, he said, could lead to new elections while allowing a caretaker government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu to remain in office for several more months.<\/p>\n

He argued that tying Gaza’s future solely to Israel’s domestic political calculations carries significant risks, emphasizing that the solution should not remain hostage to internal developments in Israel.<\/p>\n

In this context, Bahbah revealed advice he had conveyed to Hamas, urging the movement to engage in direct dialogue with the United States regarding the unresolved issues, similar to the approach taken by Syria and Lebanon. He argued that Washington’s involvement in negotiations had been an important factor in achieving tangible results.<\/p>\n

He cited a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, in which Trump called for Lebanon not to be targeted, saying this prompted Israel to refrain from carrying out such action and later led to its partial withdrawal from three villages in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Bahbah concluded by saying that the same scenario could be repeated in Gaza if Hamas and the United States reached direct understandings on the issue of weapons and the remaining unresolved matters. He argued that Washington has the ability to exert pressure to halt military operations, summarizing his position by saying, “The decision is in Washington, and the wise one is the one who has it on his side rather than against him.”<\/p>\n

United News Network \u2013 UNN Arabic<\/strong><\/p>\n

An independent media platform providing reliable news and objective analysis, striving to promote peace and intercultural dialogue around the world, convey the truth, and build bridges of understanding among peoples.<\/p>\n

For more news, please visit our homepage:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/un-news.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong> Counselor Faisal Al-Mutairi.<\/p>\n

Publication Date:<\/strong> July 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

Last Updated: July 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bahbah: Washington Holds the Key to Gaza… and Reaching an Understanding with It Could Change the Course of the War The President of the Arab Americans for Peace Council, Bishara Bahbah, offered an analytical assessment of developments in the war in the Gaza Strip, highlighting a number of factors that he believes shape the course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"tmauthors":[74],"class_list":{"0":"post-122616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122621,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122616\/revisions\/122621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122616"},{"taxonomy":"tmauthors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tmauthors?post=122616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}