In the aftermath of October 7th, many pundits grappled with the timing behind Hamas’s brutal assault on Israel. 

Why now? The answer, as perplexing as it may sound, is that Hamas chose this moment to derail the momentum of the Abraham Accords—a monumental shift in Middle East geopolitics engineered by Donald J. Trump. 

By inciting chaos and drawing Arab public opinion against Israel, Hamas aimed to halt the growing rapprochement between Israel and Arab states, particularly the looming Saudi deal that could have sealed a historic peace framework.