Worldcrunch
The Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has gone into effect and the complex prisoner exchange has started. Yet the road is still too long before it is possible to discuss who is the victor and who is the vanquished. Many factors — in Gaza, Israel and in the new Trump White House — could still revive the conflict.
The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He says it’s an antisemitic move, and is backed by the U.S., but France and other EU countries have stated they will respect the warrant, meaning the Israeli leader is now unable to visit these regions.
Iran decided on Tuesday to respond to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, at the risk of Israel’s merciless retaliation. At stake is Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel has long wanted to destroy.
Those hoping that Labour unseating the Tories could change the diplomatic dynamic in the Middle East will be duly disappointed. Keir Starmer, the new British prime minister, appears as just an updated version of Tony Blair.
A new Palestinian body is crucially needed to unify the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and across the diaspora. The organization founded by Yasser Arafat and overseen since by Mahmoud Abbas has let its people down one too many times.
The October 7 attack and Israel’s brutal response have left a trail of devastation, which materializes in very different tragedies for Palestine and Israel, a story of missed opportunity for Turkey — and a tragicomedy of U.S. leadership.
Eight months into the Israel-Hamas war, Israel has lost the battle of world public opinion. This may seem unfair to Israelis, but the right to self-defense does not authorize anyone to disregard international humanitarian law. And undermining these legitimate international bodies will only cause wider chaos.
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has created an unprecedented crisis for moderate Arab countries, mainly for those who have ties with Israel, and for Saudi Arabia that was on the verge of reaching a normalization deal with Israel. It’s hard to envision a future for Gaza without them.
Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza have given Islamists new momentum and a new outlook on their recent political setbacks.
Washington, Moscow and Beijing can all, in different ways, emerge stronger from the war in Gaza war, says French geopolitical expert Dominique Moïsi. The U.S. has been more present in the Middle East since Oct. 7 — but so has Russia, while China is keeping relatively quiet.
For decades now, the Islamic Republic of Iran has created, armed and trained paramilitary groups in several Middle Eastern states, all of which are believed to stand at the ready to strike Israel and Western targets at Tehran’s command.