Why West Asia is not talking ‘Palestinian cause’ now

So, there’s a war again in West Asia. But where do its countries stand? For Arab nations - the Palestinian cause has been a rallying cry. For long, most of them have argued one thing - recognising Israel must come with the creation of a Palestinian state. This has been the red line in West Asia. A line that has now disappeared in the sand. In 2020, Israel normalised ties with Arab nations, namely Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE. It was called the Abraham accords. The focus was economy and peace. It was supposed to be a dawn of a new West Asia. But Palestinians were left behind.

Then, there were reports of an Israel-Saudi peace deal. There was talk of concessions, regional security and even nuclear projects, but the Palestinian cause was on the backburner once again. It was like the Arab nations had switched sides. They chose security and economy over Palestinians, which brings us to the Hamas attack on Israel. Hamas says it was a retaliatory attack, an attack to hit back against Israel’s actions in Gaza. But many believe it is bigger than that, it is a ploy to destabilise the region, to put a halt to the Saudi-Israel peace deal. The ‘no support’ So, did they succeed? When the attack happened, all eyes were on Saudi Arabia. How would they react? What would they say? And soon, Riyadh came out with a statement. The starting of the statement sounded like any other. It noted the unprecedented situation, it called for restraint on both sides and then there was the part about Palestine - the need to resolve the conflict, the need for a credible peace process. So, restraint and need for peace was the crux. No clear support for one side and that was telling. Then came the statement of the United Arab Emirates. They took it one step further, they called it a serious and grave escalation. Plus, they slammed the hostage-taking of Israeli civilians. So, no support from the Saudis and condemnation from the UAE. The ‘peacemakers’ What about the other players in the region - Turkiye, Egypt and Qatar. All three are vying for the same role - the role of peacemaker. Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Ankara is ready to do what it takes to lower tensions. “Turkey is ready to do what it can for the clashes to end as soon as possible and lower the tensions that have further increased with the latest incidents. We are determined to intensify and continue the diplomatic efforts we have launched for the calm to be established again,” he said. That brings us to Egypt, which shares a border with Israel and Gaza. The country faces elections in two months so it cannot afford mayhem in the region. It played the role of peacemaker in the 2021 war and it is likely to try again. In fact, other groups are already sending signals through Cairo. Hezbollah has sent a message to Israel through Egypt. The Hezbollah are a Lebanese militant group. It has warned against a full-blown assault in Gaza. So, Eygpt is already playing the role of messenger and it could soon play the role of peacemaker. That brings us to Qatar, a country that seems to be doing a lot of mediation and they do have an upper hand. Hamas’ power base may be in Gaza but a lot of its leaders live in Qatar, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He is said to be leading a life of luxury in the Gulf nation. This makes Qatar a crucial negotiator and they are already talking. What’s next? Qatar is in touch with Hamas to negotiate the release of Israeli hostages. What they are proposing is a swap - free the Israeli women and children, and in return Israel will free Palestinian women and children in their prisons. Almost like a prisoner swap. Qatar says the negotiations are positive but there has been no breakthrough yet. Israel too hasn’t commented on this. So Egypt and Qatar are both negotiating for peace, Turkiye says it will do what it can and Saudi and UAE are condemning but not supporting. This is a region that once fought wars for the Palestinian cause. Now, they are limiting themselves to statements about restraint and peace, but can they continue this for long? How will they react if Israel invades Gaza? It’s test of their diplomacy and the peace deals they signed. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.