Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, in a May 15 interview with Fox News during U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gulf visit, called for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the establishment of calm in Gaza, and the formation of a government there that excludes Hamas.
Emirati political analyst Salem Al-Ketbi praised these remarks, describing them as part of the UAE’s “humane diplomacy” that combines strategic interests with humanitarian values.
According to Al-Ketbi, the UAE views Hamas not as a legitimate resistance group but as a destabilizing force in the region. The UAE distinguishes clearly between support for the Palestinian cause and support for Hamas, advocating a pragmatic approach to ending the cycle of violence. He emphasized that the UAE’s substantial humanitarian aid—over 42% of international assistance to Gaza in the past two years—is part of a broader soft-power strategy aimed at regional stability, not political endorsement of Hamas.
Al-Ketbi stressed that the UAE’s vision for Gaza centers on three goals: releasing the hostages, restoring calm, and forming a non-Hamas Palestinian authority. He argued that true peace cannot be achieved through aid alone but by addressing the root political and security issues in Gaza. The UAE’s approach, he said, avoids both blind support for armed resistance and meaningless normalization, offering instead a model of “active peace” focused on real results for Gazans.