Palestinian-Israeli War Spreads To Wider Middle East As WW III Looms
Both Israel and Hamas have always been at war since the establishment of the Palestinian group. Tensions have always been between the Jews and Palestinians as they fight over land. But the current Palestinian-Israeli war has spread beyond Gaza, beyond the occupied West Bank to the wider restive Middle East.
The third world war looms because other actors and interest groups have taken active roles and engage one another in gunfire. The current Palestinian-Israeli war started on 7 October when Hamas fighters carried weapons and attacked southern Israel. They were able to inflict casualties on Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu then ordered invasion of Gaza. It looked like the battle would be brief, but Israeli forces say they want to eliminate Hamas fighters and reshape Gaza. The death toll keeps soaring as civilian infrastructure are in ruins.
Hezbollah, one of the main members of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, joined the battle almost immediately. It used southern Lebanon, its base, to attack northern Israel. A number of Hamas leaders stays in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
Both Israel and Hezbollah exchange fires and there are casualties from both sides even though Israel has an edge. Killing of Saleh Al-Arouri, a Hamas deputy leader, finally moved Lebanon into the Palestinian-Israeli war.
Yemeni Houthi group, another key member of the Axis of Resistance, took its weapons to attack ships going to Israel. The group says it wants to force Israel to stop the attacks on Gaza, which has become a wasteland.
The activities of the group, which now controls almost all Yemen, irked the United States of America, a strong ally of Israel, and the United Kingdom to target Houthi in Yemen. There were casualties, but the group says it will continue to carry out attacks, and invariably be part of the Palestinian-Israeli war.
It’s surprising that Pakistan and Iran would be involved as well. Iran has taken up the role of commander so far ordering the members of the Axis of Resistance including those in Syria and Iraq. Iran itself has stopped sort of firing missiles or rockets (which it regularly supplies the members).
But Tehran argued that there were some groups spying for Israel in Pakistan, hence, an attack was carried out. Pakistan, a nuclear weapon country, immediately retaliated and nine people were killed right in Iran. The two sides have so far de-escalated, but they have taken part in the Palestinian-Israeli war.
Iran has always used Syria as the launchpad. Weapons are also passed on to the Hamas fighters and other members of the Axis of Resistance from Syria. But on Saturday, Israel fired missiles targeting some key members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The guards have been providing training and logistics to the axis.
The Palestinian-Israeli war has now gone beyond the enclave and Israeli territory. The spillover that the United States, United Nations have been avoiding has finally happened.
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