In the wake of the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel initiated a large-scale military operation against the Gaza Strip. The asymmetric and intense military attacks ended up with genocide. So far, Israel has killed more than 42.000 Palestinians, most of which are innocent children and women, wounded more than 90,000 and displaced more than 2 million people. Israeli security forces hit civilian residential areas, including schools, hospitals, ambulances, mosques, churches, tents, refugee camps and the U.N. centers. Eventually, Israeli forces destroyed almost all of the Gaza Strip. With the unconditional support of Western countries such as the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, Israel violated all principles of international humanitarian law in front of the world.
One year has passed since the Israeli attacks. Oct. 7 is a watershed development in the history of Palestine and the Middle East. The Oct. 7 attack and subsequent developments have led to the deconstruction of the regional order. A new regional order is in the making and it seems that the future of the region is not bright. The latest wave of violence, which is the most intensive one in decades, will not bring peace and stability to the region.
Moreover, the Israeli attacks against regional states such as Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen have ended in a large-scale regional war. Israel has not been only violating the sovereignty of Palestine but also other regional states. The current Israeli attacks against certain targets in regional countries are the prelude to a regional war. If the Israeli government succeeds in drawing other regional countries into a war, the Middle East will once again be thrown into a fire that will take the lives of thousands of people.
Many observers expected that Western countries would draw a red line for Israel not to continue its atrocities for a long time. However, the world has witnessed that the Western international authorities are all taken hostage by Israel and the Zionist lobby since these Western countries cannot take any action or measure against Israel. The full support of the Western governments for the Israeli atrocities has shown that Western values are rotten. For instance, Germany's declaration that support for Israel was a historical responsibility of the German government, which provided any weapons accordingly, was requested by Israel. Likewise, by their repeated declarations of support for Israel, the EU officials indirectly encouraged Israel to attack the Palestinians.
Israel has been exploiting the weak leadership in the U.S. and receiving their full support in its attacks against nonstate actors in the Middle East. One of the most interesting indications of American support for Israel was observed when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a standing ovation from U.S. lawmakers despite the war crimes committed in Gaza. On the other hand, Israel expects direct U.S. intervention in its fight with regional states, i.e., Iran. The Israeli government is trying to draw the U.S. into a regional war.
Western countries, together with Israel, have destroyed the current international system, which was established by Western countries after World War II. The U.N. and its administration are paralyzed, and its institutions and officials are sidelined by Western countries. The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was declared persona non grata and was banned from entering Israel by the Israeli minister of Foreign Affairs. Similarly, some U.N. institutions and high-level U.N. officials were blamed for supporting Palestinians. The U.S. repeatedly used its veto power at the U.N. Security Council and prevented the institution from taking action against Israel.
From now on, principles of international law and decisions of international institutions will not be considered by other countries. Unfortunately, the lack of international order will intensify the rivalry among the global powers, which will bring more instability, insecurity and poverty.
It has also become clear that today, there is no politically relevant Arab world as it has surrendered to Western countries and Israel. They cannot dare oppose or even condemn Israeli atrocities. The Arab League could not even hold a summit meeting, which has been held as a side activity of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). As a matter of fact, some Arab countries, which had recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization before Oct. 7, welcomed the destruction of Hamas and the Gaza Strip. Correspondingly, Israel has taken advantage of the absence of the political Arab world and intensified its unilateral policies. However, the one-year developments have shown that the Arab governments have once again learned that the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli question is a precondition to the political stability and security of the region. Therefore, the Arab states have to take a concrete stance toward the Palestinians. All in all, all regional actors, including Israel, will learn that all regional states are dependent on one another. Without taking this reality into consideration, it will be impossible to reach any peace or stability.
