Escalation is on the rise in the Mideast, and seems to be inching towards a disaster. After more than 100 days of carnage by Israel in Gaza, claiming over 25,000 innocent lives of Palestinians, the skirmishes are broadening and now it’s Iran versus the rest in the region. Tehran’s proxies are leading from the front and have reportedly flown drones and missiles over specified ‘terror sanctuaries’ inside Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. As a mark of tit-for-tat, the killing of five Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Damascus allegedly by the Jewish intelligence agency, and a Hezbollah soldier in Lebanon, has come as a major upset, and is fraught with serious consequences.
To further compound the situation is the silent war-mongering in the Straits of Hormuz and Red Sea, where the Houthi rebels are swinging surprises on Israeli vessels. The retaliatory flying of sorties on Yemen by the American and British aircraft confirms the premise of feuding parties climbing the escalation ladder. Apparently, the admission of the Biden administration that the region cannot go back to normalcy until and unless the fate of the State of Palestine is decided is on the spot, and the onus rests with the White House to prevail over the far-right junta in Tel Aviv to make that happen. With American diplomacy being scorned by even its allies in the region, there is a need for some introspection, and the earlier it is done the better.
The ‘axis of resistance’ with Syria, Iraq and Yemen, with the addition of muscles by Hamas is, indeed, a scary scenario. It gets flabbergasted as Israel operates beyond the occupied territories deep inside Syria and Lebanon. It boils down to the conclusion that none are reading the fine-print of devastation, and are busy in playing to the gallery or waiting for a rundown of terror. Time to deescalate the situation and usher in some tangible diplomacy. Fighting it out on fields is always counterproductive.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2024.
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