CIA Boss William J. Burns and head Mossad of David Barnea have travelled to the capital of Qatar Doha for the resumption of ceasefire dialogue in Gaza with Hamas amidst the smoke of escalating regional war as Israel continues to bombard Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yamen and Iran. Despite the fragility of talks and the absence of a clear mandate from Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for any concession towards Hamas, many experts opined a breakthrough as both parties are willing to negotiate a deal to end the heinous war against humanity by Israel and its allies in the region.
It is quite interesting that there is mounting pressure on the Israeli government from families of captives to strike a deal with Hamas for the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas. There are still more than a hundred captives in the hands of Hamas even after one year of war which decimated almost 43,000 Palestinians, half of whom were women and children. Besides, the critical infrastructure of Gaza from homes to schools is grounded due to the non-discriminated bombardment of Israeli Defense Forces as many international humanitarian organizations viewed the “safe zones of Gaza eventually become death trap”.
Furthermore, some of the demands of Hamas are non-negotiable for Israelis. For stance, Hamas wanted a complete and comprehensive withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, which is at odds with the stated policy of the Israeli PM who tried to occupy the Gaza Strip for an unknown period in the name of elimination of Hamas and other terrorist outfits that are posing a serious threat to sovereignty and existence of state of Israeli.
It is also quite crystal clear that despite one year of intense and brutal campaign in Gaza, Israel has been unable to bow down to Hamas as much of its military and organizational parts are still active and live, and even its top-tier leadership has been assassinated by Israelis. Ismail Haniyeh was killed on Iranian soil when he was taking part in the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected Iranian President on 31st July 2024, although Haniyeh was part of a soft-leaning group of Hamas who wanted to have some co-existence with the state of Israel. However, the killing of Haniyeh was pinpointed in breaking down peace talks that were going on in Doha which caused much more irk and anguish outrage from Qatar and Egypt who were chief dealers in the negotiation between Hamas and Israel. In addition to that, recently, Israel assassinated the new chief of Hamas Yahya Sinwar on 16th October 2024, who was part of the hardliner group Hamas. Even the killing of the top leaders of Hamas didn’t soothe the anger of Israel, although many experts opined that the decapitalization of the top leadership of Hamas did not help Israel to go ahead with any military or long-term success in the Gaza strip.
However, the killing of high-profile leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah indicates a bizarre pattern of Israeli strategy which capitalizes on the assassination of the top political leadership of the Axis of Resistance for provocation of Iran. Not to mention that the killing of Hassan Nasrallah on 27th September 2024 in the capital of Lebanon Beirut was one of the brightest red lines for Iran which prompted Tehran to strike Israel for the second time with 200 ballistic missiles on 1st October, many of them were able to penetrate Israel, despite high-alert of Iron-dome, Israeli Defense System. Last Saturday, in retaliation for the Iranian missile strike, Israel launched missiles and drones towards Tehran, much of its missiles hit military bases in Tehran and elsewhere, killing at least four Iranian soldiers. Initially, Israel vowed to strike on nuclear or oil facilities of Iran but later showed restraint due to pressure from the American administration and chose to hit military bases in Tehran. For now, Tehran has vowed to respond and retaliate Israeli strike on military assets Tehran; however, experts are divided on the response of Tehran as Iran has already established a deterrence against the growing aggression and jingoism of Israelis towards Tehran
Meanwhile, Israel continues to penetrate Southern Lebanon for the mission of decapitalization of Hezbollah, which is one of the strongest allies of Tehran and one of the deadliest non-state militant actors in the world. As per the latest reports, the onslaught of Israel on Southern Lebanon resulted in the killing of more than a hundred Lebanese, including thousands who are critically injured. Yet, the decapitalization of the top leadership of Hezbollah does not necessarily yield to the elimination of the organization as its purpose and ideological linkage along with financial and military capital largely remain intact.
The intentions and actions of Israelis indicate that Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in any meaningful peace dialogue with Hamas and other neighboring countries as it continues to expand the theatre of war beyond the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the domestic politics of Israeli demands continuous war as without it the political survival of Netanyahu’s government remained dim and dark.
Additionally, with the arrival of the American Presidential Election on 5th November 2024, the natural friend and better ally for Israel is Donald Trump who remained brutally hostile towards the Iranian regime and Palestine Cause. Trump, many times, privately claimed that he does not like Arabs or Palestine which resonates with Israel which largely runs an apartheid state since the 7th October 2023 military campaign against Palestinians, many Israeli government and security officials viewed Palestine as an animal or sub-standard human being who does not entitle to any human rights. Furthermore, with the possible arrival of Trump at the White House, he might resume a “total pressure” campaign against Tehran which included tight economic coercion and economic stagnation of the Iranian regime and its people. Some also feared that American soldiers might be on Iranian soil for the fight against Iran alongside Israeli Forces, an ultimate dream of the Israeli PM. Others hoped that President Trump might neutralize the Iranian nuclear program which poses a direct threat to the existence of Israel. It is quite bizarre that Trump who has become a champion of global peace and wanted to end the war with Russia on the Ukraine front has different views when it comes to the Middle East, Iran and Palestine in the support of Israel. Therefore, one must be thoughtful that the Jewish lobby, which has a strong presence and influence over the White House, the American State Department, the Pentagon and the American Press, has chosen President Trump for the upcoming election.
On the other hand, vice President Kamala Harris who is running for Democratic Candidate in the American Election is somewhat ambivalent towards the Middle East and growing concerns of regional war. Although she is an ardent supporter of a ceasefire and ending Gaza atrocities by Israel, yet made no promise to revise USA-Israel ties after winning the White House or making accountable to Israel what it has been doing in Gaza and somewhere else. Instead, she put her support behind the safety and security of the state of Israel without giving any concession to Palestinians in the name of “Two State Solution”. This indicates that despite anyone winning of White House, atrocities and war against the Palestinian people will not cease to end.
Meanwhile, it is quite astonishing that despite championing the cause of human rights and democratic values, the USA continue to remain silent on the atrocities of Gaza and continues to lecture the world on the Ukraine front. Furthermore, the core international law principle has been continually violated by Israel by attacking its neighboring countries, which clearly transgression the principle of sovereignty, but the USA kept its silence despite claiming of protector of the world order.
It is quite remarkable that China and Russia, who are autocratic states, have chosen to take the right path in history by condemning Israeli atrocities and war crimes against the People of Palestinians. In the latest summit of BRICS Plus in Kazan, Russia, on 22-24thOctober 2024, both countries called for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and asked the USA to halt its unabated support of Israeli; furthermore, both countries pledged to support the “Self-determination of Palestinian People” in the establishment of sovereign and independent state of Palestine. Besides, major countries of the Global South stand with the people of Palestine in their right to self-determination, which reflects that the majority of the world population stands on the right side of history.
Nonetheless, the intentions and tactics of Israel and its allies clearly stated that they are not in favor of a lasting ceasefire agreement and establishment of the state of Palestine and peace with neighboring states, which highly states that Israel with the help of its allies playing with fire and bent on initiating a regional war that would eventually undermine global peace, stability and economy.