The Gaza inferno: The US ‘returns’ to the Middle East, warns Iran, Hezbollah…and others
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The bottom line of the 12-day-old Hamas-Israeli conflict is that the United States, which had in recent years gradually ‘abandoned’ the Middle East—prompting China to try its luck in March 2023 to fill the supposed vacuum—has returned in full force to the planet’s biggest geopolitical cauldron.
“I want you to know that you are not alone…We will continue to work with you…75 years ago your founders declared that this nation will be based on freedom justice and peace. The US stands with you on this…for that justice and peace,” declared President Biden after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led war cabinet at the Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, according to the media reports.
He said the US will work with Israel to prevent civilian deaths in the ongoing conflict. “We will continue to have your back. As you work to defend your people, we will continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy for innocent civilians.”
With this, America returned to the Middle East as its chief policeman.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also visited Israel on Wednesday while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to come next week to bolster support for Israel’s no-holds-barred war against Hamas.
As it did in the past, the US has already rushed half a dozen aircraft carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to shield Israel and keep its enemies at bay as the Gaza Strip continues to burn. Washington has also despatched senior generals and over 2,000 crack commandoes to assist Israel in coping with the rapidly changing situation.
Besides, France, Italy, and other NATO members are also rushing arms and ammunition to Israel as the situation may spiral out of control.
Just six months ago, it appeared that America was withdrawing its security umbrella from the Middle East, which forced the sheikhdoms to look to China as a replacement.
In March, China tried to replace America as the chief policeman in the Middle East when it brokered a deal between arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran after decades of bitter enmity. This was seen as the Dragon’s first move to spread it wings in this volatile region’s politics.
For nearly a century, monarchies in this region—Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrein, and others– survived mainly because of the protective shield the British and then Americans provided them. Even after America’s ‘withdrawal symptoms’, they depended heavily on the West for weapons.
Now, the US has reminded them of what they could face if they lose this umbrella, at a time when the Muslims are on the roads across the world against Israel and threaten to overthrow the remaining monarchies 12 years after the first season of the ‘Arab Spring.’
This American strategy became apparent on Wednesday amid the rapidly shifting alliance partnerships in Middle East politics, when the US directly warned of using military force against Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia terror group, if they poked their nose any further into the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip.
Indirectly, this was also seen as a warning to other fence-sitting Muslim sheikhdoms in the Gulf region, which are testing waters which way to go. So far, they have taken no steps to stop the public anger spilling out on the roads against Israel and may jump the American ship if this pressure forces them to side with fellow Palestinians, now led by Hamas.
The US warning came after Jordan called off an urgent meeting that US President Joe Biden was scheduled to hold in Amman with the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday, before returning to Washington.
Meanwhile, a Russia-sponsored UN Security Council resolution aimed at establishing a ceasefire failed to win consensus on Tuesday as Moscow did not condemn the terror acts of Hamas in Israel on October 7.
