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Arabs and Muslims have signaled their commitment to stopping the Iranian regime from using them as puppets in its plan to destroy Israel and take over the Middle East.
By Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute
Fourteen months after the Iran-backed terrorist group, Hamas, attacked Israel, murdering 1,200 Israelis and wounding thousands more, Hamas has finally acknowledged that it has been abandoned by many Arabs and Muslims.
When Hamas launched the October 7, 2023 assault on Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip, its leaders were hoping that many Arabs and Muslims would join the fight to murder as many Jews as possible to eliminate Israel. Hamas officials expressed hope at the time that the October 7 atrocities would prompt the formation of a large Arab-Islamic battlefront against Israel. The hope was that the Iran-backed Hezbollah organization in Lebanon would launch a similar invasion of Israel, that Iran would unleash thousands of ballistic missiles against Israel, and that tens of thousands of Muslims would invade Israel from Jordan.
The only parties that chose to join Hamas’s war on Israel were Iran’s other terror proxies: Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and some Shiite armed groups in Iraq. Several Iran-backed armed groups, consisting mostly of Palestinian Islamic Jihad members in the West Bank, also joined Hamas’s Jihad (holy war) against Israel by unleashing a wave of terrorist attacks against Israelis.
Israel’s military and security operations against Iran’s terror proxies in Lebanon, Yemen and the West Bank during the past year have been harsh. Hezbollah’s political leadership and military infrastructure have been almost entirely destroyed, forcing it to accept a US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Israel. Hezbollah was also forced to disconnect itself from the Hamas war against Israel in the Gaza Strip. When Hezbollah joined the war against Israel just one day after the October 7 attack, its leaders stressed that they would stop firing rockets, missiles and drones only when Israel halted its “aggression” against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The Houthis in Yemen have also been targeted by the Israeli Air Force at least twice in the past year. The airstrikes focused on key military infrastructure in Yemen’s Ras Issa and Hodeida regions, including power stations and a port used for importing oil. These facilities were being used by the Houthis to transfer weapons and military supplies, including oil, to their forces.
The West Bank’s Iran-backed terrorist groups have also suffered casualties during the past year. Hundreds of Palestinian gunmen have been killed, wounded or arrested by Israeli security forces, especially in the northern cities of Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem.
As far as Hamas leaders are concerned, the involvement of Iran’s other proxies in the Jihad against Israel has been insufficient. Hamas leaders were hoping to see Arab and Muslim armies march on Israel and fulfill their dream of replacing it with a jihadist terror state.
They were also hoping that the Arab and Muslim masses would revolt against their governments and replace them with regimes that support the annihilation of Israel and serve as puppets in the hands of Tehran’s mullahs. Much to the dismay of its leaders, however, Hamas’s dreams have not been fulfilled.
“We truly feel let down by the [Islamic] nation in an unprecedented manner,” said senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, expressing Hamas’ deep disappointment with Muslims for failing to join the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance” against Israel. Moreover, al-Hayya’s statement reflects the sentiments of many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have also been complaining that their Arab and Muslim brothers have chosen to sit on the fence since the beginning of Hamas’s October 2023 war on Israel. Many Palestinians and Arabs, in a reference to the Arabs’ failure to intervene in the Israel-Hamas war, are openly talking about the “betrayal” of the Arabs and Muslims.
Yemeni political analyst Wafaa al-Kabsi wrote:
“The Gaza war has not only exposed the failure of the Arab and Islamic regimes, but it has also exposed the failure of their silent people and revealed their deteriorating reality and weak and shameful positions…. Where are the Arabs who go out en masse to attend a music festival for a trivial singer? Where are the Islamic masses that gather for the most trivial football match? Why did the [Arab and Muslim] people fail to support the Palestinian people who turn a blind eye to them? Where is the Arab and Islamic dignity, if they have any dignity at all?”
The answer to such questions is simple. Many Arabs and Muslims are aware that Iran’s mullahs want to use them to export the Iranian “Islamic Revolution” to their countries. They are also aware that Iran wants to use them to expand its control over the Middle East. Iran already occupies three Arab countries – Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, and until last week, Syria as well – and has brought nothing but death and destruction to the people there.
On a more optimistic note, it appears that a large number of Arabs and Muslims are tired of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations constantly entangling the Palestinians in pointless and lethal conflicts with Israel. The “betrayal” of Hamas by Arabs and Muslims is a sign that these people are committed to stopping the Iranian regime from using them as puppets in its plan to destroy the “Zionist entity” and take over the Middle East. Donate to vital charities that help protect Israeli citizens and inspire millions around the world to support Israel too! Now more than ever, Israel needs your help to fight and win the war -- including on the battlefield of public opinion. Antisemitism, anti-Israel bias and boycotts are out of control. Israel's enemies are inciting terror and violence against innocent Israelis and Jews around the world. Help us fight back!
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