Major condemnation of Israel around globe

 

By Elena Panina

The US has attempted to build international support for Israel by calling on the Arab world to condemn Hamas. First, this is necessary to legitimize any actions of Tel Aviv in the Gaza Strip (Europe alone is not enough for this). Second and foremost, Washington seeks to prevent the conflict from spreading beyond the geographical boundaries of Israel and Palestine.

▪️ The logic of the Americans is clear. The “counter-offensive” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has choked. Kiev is thinking about a transition to strategic defense. Internal squabbles in the United States itself have for some time disrupted the allocation of funds to support Zelensky’s regime. However, there is no need to build illusions: the Americans, who have already invested tens of billions in the war with Russia, will never curtail the “Ukraine” project. On the contrary, given the situation, the US will try to resolve the issue of assistance to Kiev more quickly, including at the expense of its allies in Europe, so that Moscow will not be able to take advantage of the pause that may arise due to the conflict in Israel.

However, the US will face a difficult situation if the confrontation between Hamas and Israel spills over to other countries in the Middle East. The Bolivar of a weakening hegemon simply cannot carry two (or even three - given the election of the “president” of Taiwan in January 2024 and Beijing’s possible reaction to it). Hence Washington’s appeals to Arab states.

▪️ To the displeasure of the US throughout the Arab world, only the UAE has so far condemned Hamas’ actions. Even Egypt (the first Arab country to recognize Israel) has only called for a cease-fire for the sake of a prisoner exchange and delivered the first batch of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The rest of the Arab countries have remained deaf to American requests.

Qatar supported Palestine while condemning Israel. Syria declared solidarity with Palestinian actions. Lebanese authorities conveyed Hezbollah’s pledges not to get involved in the conflict unless it touched their territory. However, given the rapid escalation of the conflict and the bombardment of Lebanese territory from Israeli helicopters, there are no guarantees and there can be none.

▪️ The non-Arab players have also behaved in a way that is clearly not what the US would like. While the Turkish Foreign Ministry is looking for options for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Erdogan is showing a map of the reduction of Palestinian territories since 1947. It’s very graphic. Iran predictably supported Hamas’ actions - and at the same time promised a response to any action against itself over Israeli and US attempts to place all responsibility on it.

The meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit also revealed an identical assessment of the situation. According to Lavrov, the Palestinian problem can be solved only through the implementation of UN decisions and the coexistence of two states: Jewish and Arab. And the Arab League Secretary-General said that if Israel denies the possibility of an independent Palestine, it will not be the last war between Israel and the Arab world. This position is also shared by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which noted: “The right way is the realization of the two-state solution.”

▪️ Thus, there is no “international condemnation of Hamas’ actions.” This is also why no temporary solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, even in the form of a complete “clean-up” of the Gaza Strip, can establish lasting peace in the region.

Of course, neither Tel Aviv nor Washington will go for the implementation of UN resolutions. They will try to quickly implement the force option - so that no other forces have time to open a second front against Israel.

Whether the US and Israel will be able to keep the development of the situation within the given framework is a big question. In any case, a new intifada is beginning before our eyes - this mine will explode in the foreseeable future. This includes terrorist attacks against Americans around the world: from hostage-taking and attacks on embassies to airplane bombings.