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“The 100-day anniversary of this war is fast approaching, and Hamas is still firing rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel has been unable to capture any of the senior leaders (in Gaza) or kill them. Hamas seems to be very much intact,” noted Prof Hashemi, adding that this is a “major military defeat for Israel”.
“One way of trying to shift attention from Israel’s military failure in Gaza, and also the humanitarian catastrophe which some people are saying is a genocide, is to try and broaden the war, try and perhaps get Iran to respond to some of these Israeli provocations, hoping that the United States will then enter the conflict, and it will shift into a very different dimension,” he said.
“That’s part of the strategy here, whether it’ll play itself out remains to be seen.”
Israel’s response to the Oct 7 attacks – relentless bombardment and ground invasion supported by aid from the US – has reduced swathes of Gaza to rubble and claimed about 23,000 lives, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
US’ INTERNATIONAL STANDING
Prof Zunes said that while the US is supporting Israel’s right to self-defence over the Oct 7 attack, “vetoing UN Security Council resolution simply calling for a ceasefire or even humanitarian pause, and the insistence that US military aid be unconditional despite it being used in war crimes, has really hurt America’s standing in the world”.
“How can we (the US) in good conscience say that Russia has no right to bomb those apartment blocks and engage in terror bombing of Ukrainian cities? We’re defending an ally doing the same sort of things. So I really think it’s hurt our moral standing and in doing so, I think has hurt our standing diplomatically as well,” he said.
The US has been stalwart in its support of Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a trip to Israel and the West Bank, as well as nearby countries like Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as Washington continues diplomatic consultations on the conflict.
While the US has continued to back Israel diplomatically and militarily, there is concern about the “enormously high civilian death toll” from the Israel-Hamas war and the shock and horror that has resounded around the world and how it is damaging America’s reputation, Prof Zunes said.
Apart from reiterating support for Israel and cautioning Israel not to go too far, Mr Blinken’s agenda also involves damage control “to make sure that the reputation of the United States and its leadership in international affairs (are not) damaged further”, he said.
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