USS Eisenhower: Iran Releases ‘Alarming’ Footage Of Its UAVs Detecting, Tracking US Warship

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Will Israel’s vengeful reaction to October 7 Hamas’ savagery subside following the truce interjection or get revitalized with the end of the truce period? This disquieting question is uppermost in the minds of prime actors in the Middle East problem.

The reason is that the case’s pros and cons are weighty and far-reaching. According to the UN Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), almost 1.7 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since October 7.

UN officials also speak of already desperate conditions, with tens of thousands of people sheltering in schools, hospitals, and, in some cases, tents.

Early winter rains have already caused flooding, adding to the misery. For several weeks, Israeli officials have been talking about a solution — a safe area — at al-Mawasi, a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast, close to the Egyptian border.

IDF spokesman for the Arabic media told Gazans, “al-Mawasi would provide the appropriate conditions to protect your loved ones.” It suggests that Israel has plans for the resettlement of the migrants at al-Mawasi, precluding a chance of their return to their original homes in northern Gaza.

Israel’s Standpoint

The indications are that Israel is determined to resume the fighting in Gaza even after the truce period is over. Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to decimate Gaza and uproot the recurring threats and violence from Hamas, once or all. He is not talking about the hurdles to pursue this extreme course of action.

The October 7 carnage has shaken him severely because, besides the prestige of the Israeli nation, his credentials come under a cloud. He must do all that he can to reverse the fractured image. The situation has strengthened the Hawks, who will not relent.

Secondly, Netanyahu is aware that even if the ongoing truce exercise is extended indefinitely, the root cause of the volatile situation in the region will not go away for all times to come. The Hamas will regroup, reequip, and return even more energetically to the path of war.

External Elements

To hardliners among the Islamists, Palestine is an Islamic issue and the creation of Western powers. So far, Iran has been pioneering the anti-Israel propaganda machine, but more recently, a more energetic entity has been added to the arsenal of anti-Israel gangs. It is Qatar.

This tiny island at the closing tip of the Persian Gulf has, in recent years, attained notoriety for being a patron of Islamic terrorism. The island’s Sultan uses his fabulous income from natural gas deposits, the largest in the world, to feed Islamic terrorism and its terrorists.

The US raised the image of Qatar in the Gulf region, perhaps to cloud the significance of Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince had shown signs of letting his perceptions and decisions supervise those of Washington.

It is important to note that the CEOs of two significant terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, both creations of Ayatollahs of Iran, are living in palatial residences in Qatar. The Afghan Taliban have also an office in Qatar, and Pakistani military echelons are also reported to be in cahoots with Qatar authorities.

Real Culprit

But rightly, in the calculus of Netanyahu, it is not the Sultan of Qatar who is to be held culpable for the October 7 carnage, though, of course, in the hatching of the conspiracy, his role cannot be put out of sight.

The real culprit is Tehran’s complex ecclesiastical structure, which must be dismantled. The oddity of the Ayatollahs, who foremostly are the enemies of their people of liberal disposition, must go for good.

Unfortunately, when the time for action had come, a weak and schematically witless President was adorning the White House. He let Israel down, not wanting to risk his candidature for the second presidential term. But the duo cannot escape the day when Iranian turbaned bugbears must go into hiding.

The Pressure

We are aware Biden’s pressure will mount to desist Israel from resuming the offensive. Along with that will come coercive pressure from the EU, which wants clandestine oil supplies from Iran never to end.

Pressure will also come from moderate states like the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Will Tel Aviv have enough space to resist these pressures? Will this pressure group take responsibility for warranting no attack and no violence by the Iranian proxies in the Middle East?

Conclusion

The two sides, in general, but the Palestinians in particular, have to understand and accept that the two nations have to live where they are living and live in peace. The warlike mindset that the Islamists have inherited from the stories of their great wars of early Islam has to be forgotten, and eyes have to be opened to the times and the world in which we are living.

They must pull themselves away from the fallacies propagated by maniacs moving in the garb of so-called revolutionaries and revivalists. Most people in the Middle East and other regions acknowledge the power of reason, science, and technology over blind orthodoxy.

• KN Pandita (Padma Shri) is the former director of the Center of Central Asian Studies at Kashmir University. Views Personal.
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