UAE Political Analyst's Searing Critique: Hamas Must Apologize to the Palestinians

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla stands as one of the United Arab Emirates' most prominent political scientists, a sharp-eyed chronicler of Gulf dynamics whose insights have shaped global discourse on the Arab world's evolving power centers. Born in 1953 as a UAE national, Abdulla's career spans academia, think tanks, and media, blending rigorous scholarship with bold commentary on everything from regional security to the rise of Gulf states as global players.

Now retired, he remains a fixture in international forums, his voice a bridge between the opaque world of Gulf diplomacy and Western audiences.

In a blistering takedown that has reverberated across Arab media and social platforms, he unleashed a scathing indictment of Hamas and Hezbollah, slamming the groups for catastrophic missteps that have only deepened suffering.

Abdulla's remarks cut to the bone of Iran's faltering "Axis of Resistance," urging Lebanon to follow Egypt and Jordan's lead toward peace with Israel and dismissing Hezbollah's new leader as irrational and out of touch."The Palestinian cause has not lost [but] the loser here is Hamas ... In truth, it was defeated, and we must admit that. Hamas should apologize to two million Palestinians, six million Palestinians, and all Arabs for this folly it committed."

This echoes Abdulla's recent X posts, where he lambasted Hamas for holding 20 Israelis captive for 733 days, resulting Palestinian deaths and Gaza's regression "5,000 years," all while prioritizing its survival over the people's. In another, he proclaimed Hamas "finished politically and militarily," its era marking "the worst phase" of Palestinian struggle, yielding "not an inch" of liberation.

Turning to Lebanon, Abdulla drew stark parallels to its neighbors, questioning why it resists the peace path blazed by Egypt, with its 110-120 million citizens and Jordan. "Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt... and with Jordan. How is Jordan different from Lebanon?" he pressed, arguing, "The choice of peace is not just Lebanese or Syrian, but four surrounding states – two of the states bordering Israel – saw that peace with Israel is best for Jordan, best for Egypt. Why wouldn't it be best for Lebanon?" He added unflinchingly, "I believe there is no shame in Hezbollah surrendering its weapons."

Abdulla's call aligns with mounting pressures on Hezbollah post its 2023-2025 war with Israel, which left the group "badly weakened" militarily, politically, financially, popularly, and in leadership, per reports from The National and UK Commons Library briefings. The Lebanese government, backed by a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November 2024, approved a "Homeland Shield Plan" in August 2025 to disarm militias by year's end, with the army making strides in southern strongholds aided by Israeli intelligence.

Hezbollah's new chief, Naim Qassem – who succeeded the slain Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 – rejected the push on the first anniversary of Nasrallah's death, vowing to maintain capabilities.

Abdulla spared no scorn for Qassem, labeling him "not a rational leader" based on "all we've heard since he took this position." He mocked the "daily or weekly Karbala speeches" – inflammatory, ritualistic rhetoric evoking Shia martyrdom – and the "screaming and bravado," saying, "This doesn't indicate a rational man you want to deal with... If it were someone else, perhaps, but speaking of him personally."

He portrayed Hezbollah as "weaker than it was a year ago" across fronts, yet delusionally extending hands to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states. "Tone down your exaggeration a bit, tone down your victory, tone down your ability to deal with countries," Abdulla advised. "Leave the state of Lebanon to deal with Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries, not you. No one in the Gulf listens to this speech; there's definite resentment from his Karbala speeches and exaggerated talk of victory. And more than that, he doesn't want to separate from Iran. He remains Iran's man in Lebanon."

This dovetails with Abdulla's recent writings. In an August 2025 National op-ed, he noted Iran's "retreat" amid Hezbollah's "political and military degradation" and Hamas's diminished power in Gaza. A October 12 X post highlighted an Iranian paper calling October 7's "Al-Aqsa Flood" a "strategic error" devastating the axis in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen, and Iran itself. He amplified The Economist's view that Gaza's truce could end Hamas and Iran's era, unify Palestinians, halt annexation, expand Abraham Accords, and birth a "post-Iran" Middle East.

Abdulla's words, from a UAE lens aligned with normalization pacts, strike a nerve in a region reeling from two years of war: Hezbollah's cross-border rockets in Hamas solidarity, Nasrallah's 2024 assassination, and a fragile 2024 ceasefire marred by Israeli incursions.

As Gulf states, wary of Iranian proxies, eye deeper Israel ties, his unvarnished call for accountability and peace challenges the resistance narrative, signaling a potential realignment where pragmatism trumps provocation.