Israel-Palestine conflict: Which nations have been drawn in?

The deepening conflict between Israel and Palestine has seen a number of nations being drawn in. While the US has confirmed the death of ‘several civilians’ and deployed US warships and warplanes to the region as a show of force, Qatar has reportedly been mediating a prisoner swap, while Egypt and UAE met on Monday to discuss the conflict. But what have they said? And what are they likely to do? Let’s take a closer look: United States A day after it sent troops and ships to the region to support Israel, the White House said it has begun sending arms and ammunition to its ally. John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, confirmed Monday evening that the first batch of military aid in the wake of the violent assault by Hamas militants is “making its way” to Israel. The delivery came as President Joe Biden prepared to give formal remarks on the attacks from the White House on Tuesday afternoon, after he confirmed that at least 11 Americans were killed in the violence over the weekend. “I have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts,” Biden said in a statement. To underscore US solidarity with Israel, the White House was lit in the blue and white colours of the Israeli flag on Monday night. “We fully expect there will be additional requests for security assistance for Israel as they continue to expend munitions in this fight,” Kirby said. “We will stay in lockstep with them, making sure that we’re filling their needs as best we can and as fast as we can.” As the White House accused Iran of being complicit in the conflict, the United States’ top general on Monday warned Tehran not to get directly involved in the crisis in Israel. [caption id=“attachment_13225802” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] 21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q Brown warned Tehran against broadening the conflict. Reuters[/caption] General Charles Q Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did not want the conflict to broaden.

Brown had a simple message for Iran – don’t get involved.

Also on Monday, a senior defence department official warned that the US is closely watching Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups, noting that the decision to shift American ships in the region was to deter any of these groups from entering or expanding the conflict against Israel. The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive shipments. The official said the US is “flooding the zone” with calls and other messages so that extremist groups and other nations know they should not question America’s commitment to supporting the defence of Israel. However, the question of the use of the US military – colloquially called ‘boots on the ground’ – remains an open question. The official, however, would not comment on whether US military forces would be used at all, and Kirby later emphasized that “there is no intention to put US boots on the ground.” A piece in Bloomberg argued that the United States, as Israel’s staunchest ally and the world superpower, would play a ‘special role’ in the conflict. “Most obviously, it must stand by the victim of the terrorist attack, Israel. Less obviously, it must also prevent the inferno from spreading throughout the region and the world,” the piece contended. The piece noted that conflicts that ostensibly had no link converged into a wider conflagration because the people involved had similar goals. “In 1914, such a chain reaction led, in the space of four weeks, from the assassination of a Habsburg archduke by a Serbian nationalist to all-out war between the Great Powers. Nothing of that sort must happen in 2023, and it falls to the US to make sure of it,” the piece argued. Iran Tehran, meanwhile, has denied any reports of involvement with the surprise Hamas attack on its arch-enemy Israel. Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday claimed that Israel has “suffered an irrevocable defeat both in terms of military and intelligence,” Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The Iranian leader however said that Tehran was not involved in the Saturday attack by Hamas on Isreal. “But those who say that the recent great event is the work of non-Palestinians are making miscalculations” Khamenei was cited in the IRNA report. This after a report at the weekend in the Wall Street Journal, citing senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, claimed that “Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s Saturday surprise attack on Israel and gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut last Monday”

Still, Tehran did not hesitate to shows its joy at Hamas’ attack.

The Islamic republic’s backing was made manifest by billboards installed in Tehran’s major plazas, includin [caption id=“attachment_13199122” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday claimed that Israel has “suffered an irrevocable defeat both in terms of military and intelligence. Reuters[/caption] g Palestine Square. “The great liberation has begun,” proclaimed one while a second showed the black and white chequerboard of the Palestinian keffiyeh gradually subsuming the white and blue flag of Israel. The enormous images went on display just hours after Hamas launched its deadly and unexpected assault, dubbed “Al-Aqsa Flood”, on Saturday. Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi reacted on Sunday to the attack by saying his country “supports the legitimate defence of the Palestinian nation,” after phone talks with Palestinian terrorist leaders. Iran has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy and much is at stake for Tehran in the war between Israel and Hamas. A piece in Foreign Policy pointed out that Tehran views Israel as an illegitimate state. Tehran also looks askew at the US’ attempts to normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That would follow on from historic treaties with Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others. Iran has been highly critical of these efforts and on Sunday, the chief of staff for Iran’s armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri, called normalisation “desperate efforts” that will not “slow down” Israel’s “collapse”. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last week labelled them a losing gamble. The piece pointed out that Iran could pressure Hezbollah into getting further involved in the conflict. “As Iran’s closest partner in the Arab world and a major recipient of its funding, Hezbollah would have a hard time saying no if Tehran asked it to get more involved in the war, even though the group retains independent decision-making power,” the piece concluded. Ahmad Zeidabadi, a political scientist, said it appeared the Islamic republic was unwilling to get directly involved but that they “expect Hamas to be able to change the situation on its own”. However, he said, Tehran “might be interested at some point” in having its other “aligned groups” such as Hezbollah in Lebanon “reduce the pressure on Gaza by opening a new front” on Israel’s northern border. A strengthened Hamas would be a major boon for Iran, said Zeidabadi, but it would be “a debacle for the Islamic republic” if Hamas were to have “all its political, economic and military infrastructure destroyed”. “If Hamas is completely defeated, the path to normalisation of relations will open up because there is no other practical alternative to Israel,” Zeidabadi added. “But if Hamas wins, this agreement will be postponed for some time.” Lebanon Lebanon, meanwhile, has claimed that the Hezbollah will not join the conflagration. The Times of Israel quoted Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bouhabib as saying Hezbollah will not participate in the fighting unless it is ‘harassed’ by Israel. Hezbollah’s influence over Lebanon cannot be understated. Indeed, the terror group is thought to be a ‘state within a state’. [caption id=“attachment_13222912” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A Hezbollah supporter holds up a portrait of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as others wave the group’s flag as well as those of Palestinian and Lebanon during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza. AP[/caption] This, despite the Iran-backed outfit on Sunday saying it fired “large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles” at Israeli positions in a contested border area. “The Islamic resistance (Hezbollah)… attacked three positions of the Zionist enemy in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa farms…with large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles,” the Lebanese Shiiite movement said in a statement. Hezbollah claimed it directly struck Israeli positions, as per The Times of Israel. Hezbollah added this was “in solidarity” with a large-scale air, sea and land attack launched Saturday by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel. As per Al Jazeera, some Palestinian outfits in Lebanon are eager to join the fray. “Wherever [Israel] is ready for [the fight] to happen, it will happen,” Ahmed Habet, a member of the Palestinian party Fatah in Burj al-Barajneh, a refugee camp in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, was quoted as saying.

“I’m the blood of my homeland. I live for my homeland. I don’t live for the future,” he added.

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“A conflict on that scale will be much more likely if [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu is able to form a unity government,” Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow with Carnegie Middle East Center told the news outlet. Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based expert with the Atlantic Council, was quoted as saying, “The Hamas operation is bigger by far than any single operation carried out by Hezbollah [against Israel], although the tactics Hamas used were straight from Hezbollah’s guidebook. Hezbollah has been training for these kinds of border-breaching missions since at least 2007.” Blanford said a direct confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah isn’t impossible. “This is the big question. At this early stage, I would say all bets are off,” he told Al Jazeera. But according to Foreign Policy, intervention by Hezbollah in the matter is unlikely to be received well domestically. Lebanon’s myriad domestic problems of its economy in tatters, raging unemployment, massive corruption and  fractured political system would only further deteriorate if it were drawn into the fighting, the piece argued. “Hezbollah’s attacks so far appear to be an attempt to square the circle of demonstrating solidarity with Hamas while avoiding a tough Israeli response. Its rocket attacks targeted the Shebaa Farms area, a part of Israel that Hezbollah has claimed, with little justification, as Lebanese territory. Thus, the strikes were a message of business as usual, not opening up a new front. Israel’s muted response showed that Israeli leaders got the message that Hezbollah did not seek an all-out war,” the piece contended. It argued that Hezbollah’s safest avenue would be to support and encourage Palestinians from a distance. “That way, Hezbollah can keep its own fighters and constituents safe and avoid a devastating response in Lebanon in general while gaining stature because of its support for Hamas,” the piece concluded. Qatar Qatar, a tiny but wealthy energy and investment powerhouse that holds ambitious foreign policy goals, has a direct line of communication with Hamas. Qatari envoys have previously helped mediate truces between the Islamist group and Israel. [caption id=“attachment_13229092” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Qatar’s foreign ministry in a statement on Saturday said Israel alone was responsible for the ongoing escalation of violence with the Palestinian people. AP[/caption] Doha has recently been under the global diplomacy spotlight, after hosting more than a year of talks between the United States and Iran, which led to prisoner exchanges and fund releases. While Hamas’ power base is in Gaza, some leaders are based in Qatar as well as other Middle Eastern countries. Qatar’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Saturday saying that Israel alone was responsible for the ongoing escalation of violence with the Palestinian people. It said Qatar calls on both sides to exercise utmost restraint and calls on the international community to prevent Israel from using these events as an excuse to launch a disproportionate war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Qatari mediators have held urgent calls with Hamas officials to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children seized by the terrorist group and held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel’s prisons, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters. The ongoing negotiations, which Qatar has been conducting in coordination with the United States since Saturday night, are “moving positively” said the source, who has been briefed on them.

But there are no signs of breakthroughs as both sides dig in.

The source who had been briefed on the Qatar-led talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: “There has been no agreement on logistics or a mechanism for the release.” Qatar has been in touch with Hamas officials in Doha and Gaza, the source said, after the terrorist group assaulted Israel from Gaza on Saturday, storming into towns, killing more than 700 Israelis, and escaping with dozens of hostages. The exact number of Israeli women and children hostages Hamas is offering in the potential exchange of 36 Palestinian women and children prisoners Hamas identified is not clear, the source said. However, Times of Israel quoted a Jerusalem official as denying there were any such ongoing talks. Details about negotiations focusing on the release of 36 Palestinians from Israeli jails have not previously been reported. There was no immediate response to requests for comment sent to Qatar’s foreign ministry. Egypt Egypt, which is south of Gaza, has been blockading the strip along with Israel since 2007. Egypt has been in close contact with Israel and Hamas to try to prevent further escalation in fighting between them and to ensure the protection of the Israeli hostages, two Egyptian security sources said. Egypt had urged Israel to exercise restraint and Hamas to hold its captives in good condition to keep open the possibility of de-escalation soon, although Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip made mediation difficult, the Egyptian sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A Palestinian official, familiar with mediation efforts with Hamas and Israel in the past, told Reuters that Qatar and Egypt have been in contact with the group but the intensity of the fighting cast shadows over any potential breakthrough.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates leaders on Monday discussed the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror groups.

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Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Emirati president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan released a statement stressing “the importance of… advancing diplomatic efforts that aim to de-escalate violence, protect civilians, spare blood,” a statement from the Egyptian president’s office said. Such efforts should include establishing “a comprehensive, just and permanent peace.” UAE and Bahrain The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have condemned the abduction of Israeli civilians by Hamas during its assault on Israel, calling for diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. The Arab Muslim countries both established relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords. Their statements came after at least 100 hostages were seized in Saturday’s assault which left more than 700 people dead in Israel and triggered reprisal air strikes which have killed over 560 in Gaza. “The ministry stressed that attacks by Hamas against Israeli towns and villages near the Gaza Strip, including the firing of thousands of rockets at population centres, are a serious and grave escalation,” the UAE’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.

“The ministry is appalled by reports that Israeli civilians have been abducted as hostages from their homes.”

The statement is notably less neutral than the UAE’s initial reaction on Saturday, which simply “expressed great concern regarding the escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians”. “The UAE expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and urges all diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider regional confrontation,” the latest statement said, warning against “nihilistic destruction”. On Monday, Bahrain’s foreign ministry followed suit, saying the “attacks launched by Hamas constitute a dangerous escalation”. “Bahrain denounces…. the kidnapping of civilians from their homes as hostages,” the statement said, calling for immediate efforts to stop the fighting. With inputs from agencies