Israel is asserting its dominance in the Middle East through its bold, defiant, aggressive and illegal actions against the neighbouring nations in the region.
Besides Gaza, it has carried out military actions against Syria, which is recovering from the destruction caused by 12 years of civil war that ruined the country’s future. Israel has carried out illegal actions against Damascus and occupied the Golan Heights, which it has never returned to the country.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched military strikes against Lebanon in the southern part, which was previously considered a stronghold of the Iranian proxy Hezbollah, which has agreed to a ceasefire that Israeli forces continue to violate to this day.
Air strikes on Qatar
Meanwhile, in a much broader escalation, Israel launched military strikes on one of the mediators between Hamas and Israel. The Israeli air force conducted air strikes on Doha on Tuesday evening in a reported attempt to take out Hamas leadership. To put this in perspective, Israel, according to Arab leadership, has clearly crossed the line and violated international law by launching military strikes on a sovereign state without any warning.
International law
According to International law, this is an act of war and a clear violation of modern international order. However, what is more astonishing in this case is that Steve Witkoff and his negotiating team were discussing the ceasefire proposal in Gaza with the Hamas leadership.
Also read: Israel targets Hamas leadership in Qatar, blasts rock Doha
Striking inside Doha is an insane act, or one of the bravest, if not foolish; the entire Middle Eastern region has erupted in chaos. Israel crossed all limits, Qatari and Saudi officials have been reiterating.
Did the US compromise Hamas’s leadership?
However, this leads to another question: did Witkoff and his team compromise Hamas leadership’s position, or did it all happen with the permission of the United States?
Seems like Witkoff and his support team, along with insider sources familiar with the meeting locations, have disclosed the locations of the Hamas leaders to Israeli intelligence Shin Bet.
Shin Bet claimed that Israel acted independently and carried out the strikes, but it’s not hard to think that US tech support, GPS positioning systems, and satellite systems assisted the Israeli air forces while they carried out these attacks.
Classic book of Israeli assassination plots
Israel has been using such tactics for decades while targeting the leadership of Hezbollah, the Houthis, ISIS, Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra front and Hamas. This is a classic Israeli rule book: lure the enemies with the bait of negotiations, and then carry out a strike with pinpoint accuracy against the leadership of the enemy groups.
It appears clear that the American government and its top leadership, be it Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, State Secretary Marco Rubio and even President Donald Trump were kept in the loop during the attack.
Earlier, Rubio had issued open threats to Hamas leadership. Rubio’s attitude signals a stance change as he reiterates Israeli narratives in the Gaza war.
Similar expressions were also given by Trump during his recent press briefing at the White House, in which he told the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finish Hamas, as they were not agreeing to a ceasefire.
If the US were involved in this act, it would risk the possibility of all-out war in the already war-torn and devastated region.
Regional chaos
This will once again fuel the nuclear race between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as Israeli ambitions transgress and disrespect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation-states.
Actions like these give nations like Iran a valid justification to build and seek nuclear weapons. The US and Israel are up to something that only they can explain.
Also read: Oil prices climb after Israel’s attack on Qatar
The markers in the Doha strikes show the American footprints behind, as the state of Israel behaves roguishly without respect for international law.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Qatar said the US President informed Doha about the possible strike on the Hamas leadership, but has he? Qatari officials outrightly denied Trump's claims about the strikes.
Survival of Hamas leadership
Further, the survival of the Hamas leadership in the assassination attempt and the response from Qatar would decide the future of the ongoing war in Gaza. Hamas would possibly reject further ceasefire talks. In both ways, that works for Netanyahu, because he has been benefiting from the Gaza war more than anyone else.
Breather for Netanyahu
His court hearings are constantly getting postponed and delayed due to excuses and under the guise of the ongoing war against Hamas. On several occasions, the Israeli Supreme Court came close to convicting him, his wife and associates in a corruption scandal popularly known as the “Qatargate scandal”. Divine intervention seems to work at the right time and right moment for Netanyahu.
The region is descending into chaos with each passing day, and Israel is risking massive escalation with the Arab world, with the majority of the populace spread across the peninsula embroiled in the ongoing Gaza crisis.
By Waseem Ahmad Ganie
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