Saudi Arabia eyes role in Gaza to marginalize Hamas: Report
Iran Press TV
Friday, 24 October 2025 9:19 AM
Saudi Arabia, a major ally of the United States, reportedly plans to take a leading role in post-war Gaza and help to disarm and marginalize the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, an internal foreign ministry document reveals.
According to the document, which was seen by Middle East Eye, Riyadh intends to "support the deployment of an international peacekeeping mission in Gaza".
Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab and Muslim-majority countries, has been suggested to contribute to such a force.
The document claims that the kingdom, which seeks to establish formal ties with Israel, aims to present its "vision for enhancing stability in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories."
This will be done, the report dated 29 September said, "by marginalizing the role of Hamas in governance" and reforming the Palestinian Authority (PA) "in a manner that serves the aspirations of the Palestinian people for an independent, sovereign state on the 1967 borders, with al-Quds as its capital".
Saudi Arabia argues that Hamas has an "impact on obstructing peace efforts and deepening divisions" and therefore should be sidelined through "progressive" disarmament "through international and regional agreements that guarantee neutrality."
The report alleged that gradually handing governance to the PA will also help reduce Hamas's role in Gaza, suggesting "linking these efforts to the two-state solution".
This will be done in consultation with Egypt, Jordan and the PA, the document said, citing instructions from Manal bint Hassan Radwan, an increasingly influential foreign ministry official.
Gaza has been governed by Hamas since its victory in legislative elections in 2007.
Beyond Gaza, Riyadh also seeks institutional reforms of the PA to fight corruption, improve efficiency and ensure better representation of all Palestinian factions, the document reads.
"Reforming the Authority is a fundamental pillar for achieving national unity and ensuring effective and transparent governance," the report claims.
Saudi Arabia's push for the disarmament of Hamas comes in line with US President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan.
The first phase of the ceasefire plan, which was signed off on by Hamas and Israel earlier this month, saw a prisoner exchange and a partial Israeli troop withdrawal from the strip.
The other issues mentioned in Trump's 20-point plan, including the disarmament of Hamas, are yet to be discussed.
The resistance movement's officials, however, stressed that they will not lay down arms until the Israeli occupations ends and an independent Palestinian state is established.
Washington is keen for Saudi Arabia to join other Arab state that signed normalization agreements with Israel, including its Persian Gulf Arab allies: the UAE and Bahrain.
'Keep riding your camels'
ar-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich said his regime should refuse any such deal with Riyadh if it is done in exchange for a Palestinian state.
"If Saudi Arabia tells us that it is normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state, then no thank you, my friends," Smotrich said at a conference on Thursday.
"Keep riding your camels in the Saudi desert. We'll continue to develop our economy, society, and state with all the great things we know how to do."
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