The current windfall of the Middle East crisis, as we know, began with a Hamas terrorist attack against Israeli civilians. However, the current Israeli government, encouraged by the US administration, commenced to retaliate on the basis of collective responsibility rather than punishing terrorists and criminals. Gaza is constantly bombarded. It is inexcusable what is happening to hundreds of innocent people in that Palestinian enclave, where they are being slaughtered without cause and have nowhere to go.
Every day, more people are killed or injured, and the number of youngsters is approaching 4 thousand. The screens in our homes are constantly filled with pictures of elderly people, women suffering, and damaged structures. Horrifying footage of the conditions in the hospitals.
The majority of people on the planet are in favor of putting an end to hostilities, establishing channels for humanitarian help, and ultimately coming up with a solution that protects the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians.
A truce, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, is not possible. The American authorities supported it, arguing that massive civilian casualties were an acceptable price for a military campaign, citing the fact that the US and other Western powers had used devastating bombing raids on Germany and Japan to try to defeat those countries during World War II, including the dropping of two atomic warheads on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The United States has used its veto power on multiple occasions to prevent the Security Council from passing resolutions calling for an immediate cease of hostilities and the creation of humanitarian corridors. The US voted against the Arab countries’ decision to call a UN General Assembly session in an attempt to save the Palestinian people from impending disaster. It is remarkable that while 120 governments supported the UN General Assembly resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities, 14 nations—including the US and Israel—openly opposed it, and 45 states chose to abstain.
Around the world, there has been a massive upsurge in speeches and protests in favor of the Palestinian people. In the United States itself, there is a growing movement criticizing the unilateral actions of the US administration. As Le Monde put it on October 30, “diplomatically, the United States has found itself isolated.
in its unconditional public support for Israel.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated at a massive rally in Istanbul on October 28, stated that Israel was “a pawn in the region” that was being used by Western powers to stamp their authority on the Middle East. Thus he epitomized the feelings prevalent in the Global South,
“The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West.” He claimed that Israel’s allies were inciting Christians and Muslims against one another in a crusade-like manner.
Even in the American press, reports are surfacing that Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing for a protracted ground operation by Israeli forces in Gaza because he thinks doing so will help him keep his position of authority. Many Israelis openly blame Netanyahu for the army’s, intelligence agencies’, and security services“ disastrous lack of readiness to repel the October 7 Hamas attack. He is also chastised for not reaching out to Palestinian authorities to arrange the release of the hostages. According to the press, Hamas proposed that 6,000 Palestinian detainees be released in exchange for the release of all Israeli hostages.
Three Israeli leaders wrote an article titled “Why Netanyahu Must Go” that recently appeared in Foreign Affairs, one of the United States’ most influential magazines. It conveys the idea that in order to construct a two-state solution in Palestine, negotiations between the two parties will need to take place in accordance with international rulings. The prime minister at the moment is unable to accomplish this.
In other words, the impending Middle East crisis will significantly influence Israel’s political landscape and, to a certain extent, the domestic landscape of the United States.
Vladimir Putin recently stated that the primary benefactors of the current state of global instability are the governing elites in the US and their satellites. From it, they take their blood rent. An American-style world with a single hegemon is disintegrating, disappearing, and eventually becoming a thing of the past. However, the USA doesn’t want to accept it; rather, it wants to maintain and extend its global dictatorship and supremacy, and it is more convenient to do so in an environment of general disorder.
It is indicate that every contender running as a Republican presidential candidate is denouncing the present administration’s course of action as dangerous and escalating tensions in the region, as well as endangering American interests.
According to some EU diplomats, Washington is to blame for the current Middle East crisis, and if military action continues, things could get even more volatile.
The Global South has been criticizing Washington’s policies more and more, and a large portion of the world now feels that American power is waning. Late in October, The Economist, a British weekly newspaper, underlined that America is dealing with a hostile and complicated foreign environment.
Surprisingly, a number of Washington’s most ardent allies, including France, Belgium, Norway, and Portugal, backed the UN General Assembly Resolution adopted on October 27, 2023.
The UN Secretary General, who is also in favor of ceasing hostilities in Gaza, is forced to represent the sentiment of the vast majority of humanity to some extent. Israeli figures, irritated by the demand of the Global South, even demanded the resignation of Gutteres, and the Czech Minister of Defense, in order to please her overseas patrons, even offered to withdraw from the United Nations.
Note that US policy in the Middle East is increasingly widely condemned in the developing world. Last week, President Biden stunned Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims by openly questioning the number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza.
Sympathy for the Palestinian cause is spreading even throughout Latin America: the Bolivian government has broken diplomatic ties with Israel and Colombia and Chile have pulled their ambassadors.
Many political observers have come to the conclusion that Washington’s policies are to blame for the current Middle East standoff and the unprecedented trade war afflicting both Israelis and Palestinians.
Veniamin Popov, Director of the “Center for Partnership of Civilizations” in MGIMO (U) MFA of Russia, Candidate of Historical Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.