Mahjoob Zweiri, a Middle East analyst at Qatar University, has said that there is “some hope” from the largely positive response from Hamas towards a potential truce, and added that talk of further normalisation with Israel would remain largely unpopular as long as the war in Gaza continues.
“No one is ready to listen to this at the moment, without stopping the war on Gaza,” Zweiri told Al Jazeera, adding that Israeli-Saudi normalisation would be a victory for both Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the administration of US President Joe Biden as their approaches to the region face heavy criticism.
“This is the context of normalisation. It has to do with fixing the failures of Biden’s foreign policy in the Middle East, and giving a reward to Netanyahu,” Zweiri said.
