Shahruk Ahmed Mazumdar*
The Middle East is experiencing unparalleled turmoil. The region remains a war zone as ballistic missiles and rockets wreak damage, with the possibility of an expanded conflict looming. A year after it started as a war in Gaza, a conflict in southern Lebanon is now firmly established, and the possibility of it spreading to Iran and Yemen is becoming more and more real. The last year has brought tremendous devastation to Palestinians and Arab populations around the area.
For a year, conflict has raged in the West Bank, Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon. This rising violence has now culminated in a full-fledged regional war, with hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, injured, or displaced from their homes. Children have been hit the hardest, with many still suffering from disease, starvation, and the long-term impacts of war a year later. In Gaza, more than 42,400 people have been killed, along with 1,000 healthcare workers, and more than 400 foreign volunteers were also killed by the bombardment.
Over 90% of Gaza’s population was forced to leave their homes as the humanitarian crisis worsened, and 2.5 million children in Gaza and the West Bank now faced existential dangers. An estimate supported by the UN claims that 3,45,000 Gazans would experience “catastrophic” levels of hunger this winter. With Israel attacking and asking the UN peacekeepers to leave, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems in no mood to stop the genocide. Israel’s killing of Haniyeh, a crucial negotiator in the ceasefire negotiations, was more evidence that it had no intention of stopping its bombardment of Gaza. If not, why would you murder the individual you are negotiating with?
Iran attacked Israel with huge ballistic missiles on October 1. Dozens of the 200 Iranian missiles struck at least two Israeli air bases, but the majority were intercepted by American and Israeli systems. The Biden administration’s choice to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system to Israel, along with personnel to manage its operation, signifies a notable indication of the U.S. becoming increasingly involved in the developing conflict in the Middle East.
The action also reinforces the premise that Israel is largely reliant on the United States for security and defence, giving Washington significant clout over Tel Aviv. For whatever weird reason, the Biden administration has declined to use that influence while Israel has gone rogue in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. This escalation cycle could drive the United States farther into the conflict, with terrible repercussions for all parties, unless Washington controls its closest partner.
Following Hamas’s October 7 strike on Israel, which sparked the most recent conflict here, the United States has made it discernible that it does not want a regional conflict. Israel still hasn’t met its goals after a year of conflict. Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel. After Israel invaded Lebanon, Hezbollah launched more drone and missile attacks. The international community acknowledges that the conflict and the suffering of civilians will not cease as long as weapons are still entering.
Israel and other armed groups in the area. Without a doubt, the countries who provide these weapons—the US, Germany, and others—are largely to blame for the continued Palestinian catastrophe. Following the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, Biden declared that it was time for peace. However, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is moving on with its plan to use weapons provided by the US to depopulate northern Gaza.
To avoid an escalation, the US President used both military and diplomatic resources while also allowing Israel to continue its bombardment on Gaza. When Israel launched a disastrous, disproportionate attack on Gaza, prompting claims of genocide, Mr. Biden sent Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to the region many times to hold the American alliance together. However, Mr. Biden failed to apply serious pressure on Israel, which is now accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza by a UN probe. With three of the most important energy chokepoints in the world – the Suez Canal, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Strait of Hormuz – the Middle East is a region of special geopolitical importance. Taken together, these chokepoints handle about half of the global maritime oil trade. Their interruption would seriously jeopardise the stability of the world’s energy markets.
This is an existential struggle for Palestinians. Western inaction amounts to involvement in the ongoing genocide, not just a breach of international norms. Israel has bombed UN-run schools, charged that the UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees is a front for Hamas, and made UN Secretary-General António Guterres persona non grata recently.
In an October 4 speech to worshippers in Tehran, Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared that all countries, including Palestinians and Lebanese, had the right to defend themselves against the aggressors. The October 7 attack on southern Israel was completely justified, he said. He made these remarks soon after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) retaliated for the killings of Nasrallah and Haniyeh by firing missiles at Israeli military sites.
As Israel continues to violate international law with impunity, a sizable segment of the international community remains trapped between complicity and indifference. This inaction is frequently excused as political pragmatism, yet it ignores the blatant disdain for human life and the violation of international commitments. Many countries are turning to China and Russia as the global balance of power shifts and their influence grows.
Furthermore, there was no consensus on what to do with the Palestinian refugees who had been uprooted after the division, not even among Arab nations. The Palestinian cause was further undermined by Arab countries’ frequent preoccupation with their political interests. The difficulties that Palestinians currently confront have been made worse by these divisions, which have consistently weakened their fundamental right to return to their homeland.
In many nations, however, this widespread indifference indicates further mobilisation. People have united in opposition to the genocide in Palestine over the past year due to massive protests in the US and Europe. The United States’ domestic support for Israel is becoming more complex. There has been a discernible change in American public sentiment since the October 7, 2023, Hamas strikes, which led to a resurgence of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian organisations.
Protests on campuses and increasing calls for the creation of a Palestinian state are signs that younger generations, in particular, are becoming more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Netanyahu bombed banking institutions connected to Hezbollah, which provided a lifeline to millions of Lebanese all over Lebanon. Israel is getting ready to launch a huge counterattack against Iran. Furthermore, Iran has already promised reprisal. At least four soldiers were killed and numerous others were injured in Hezbollah’s successful strike on an Israeli military base.
We have to remember a civilisation is being wiped out on our watch.
*The author is an Assam-based columnist and can be reached at: shahruktechnical@gmail.com and tweets on X @Shahrukhahmedsk
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