Name: Rising Israeli attacks cast doubt on regional peace initiatives
Uploaded: 2025-11-23T16:01:56.723Z
Duration: 2 min 52 s
Description: Israel has intensified attacks on Gaza and southern Lebanon in recent weeks. Its actions appear to undercut ongoing regional peace efforts with Syria and Saudi Arabia. This escalation contrasts sharply with Washington’s narrative of progress toward peace.

Israel has intensified attacks on Gaza and southern Lebanon in recent weeks. Its actions appear to undercut ongoing regional peace efforts with Syria and Saudi Arabia. This escalation contrasts sharply with Washington’s narrative of progress toward peace.

Jerusalem

The U.S-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza is holding, after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages.

Middle East Conflict

Israeli military strikes have intensified across Lebanon nearly a year after a ceasefire, with the Lebanese president expressing readiness for direct negotiations. However, Israel's response has signaled that renewed conflict with Lebanon may be imminent, while continued operations in Syria and Gaza further complicate the regional situation. 

Israeli officials have reiterated opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and have downplayed the importance of normalization with Saudi Arabia if it requires ending the occupation. Meanwhile, the United States has refrained from commenting on Israel's actions, maintaining that a historic peace is in place, as Israel continues to receive military support and resists international pressure for accountability.

Rising Israeli attacks cast doubt on regional peace initiatives

Daily, Israeli strikes escalate across Lebanon, nearly a year after the ceasefire. The Lebanese president makes an unprecedented announcement. Lebanon is ready for direct negotiations with Israel. Israel's response? Renewed war on Lebanon is only a question of time. The last thing that Netanyahu needs now, a year before the elections, is that the atmosphere in Israel will normalize. So it's good for him to keep the atmosphere of threat, of fear. In Syria, Israel wants it all. Continued occupation of Syrian land, demilitarization in the south and normalization with Damascus A position Netanyahu made clear during a recent appearance in occupied Syrian territory, along with senior ministers and security chiefs. Meanwhile, Gaza is trapped in torment. Israeli strikes and widespread demolitions continue. Two million people still deprived of safety, shelter and other essentials. And the threat of renewed carnage is ever present. We no longer have to be precise. We can attack without mercy. We must be merciless. Even the possibility of Saudi-Israeli normalization, once coveted by Netanyahu, is now expendable if it's tied to ending the occupation. Regarding the Palestinian state, there will be no Palestinian state. The simplest. There will be no Palestinian state. Even if it will be normalized? I think, listen, my answer is, there will be no Palestinian state. Washington does not comment on Israel's actions. It insists a historic peace is in place. How much the world is willing to go along with a make-believe is, I think, precisely what the Trump administration and the government in Israel are going to be testing. And the rewards keep coming, eclipsing calls for accountability and the pursuit of stability. A cargo plane lands in Tel Aviv to replenish Israel's stockpile of bombs and military equipment, bringing to 1,000 the number of such planes to arrive in the past two years. The bottom line is that the status quo of tension and possibly renewed war is convenient for Israel. Under the banner of a peace yet to materialize, Israel has shrugged off international pressure and geared up for completing the unfinished business of becoming the region's unrivaled hegemon. Noura Odeh Al-Jazeera, Ramallah, Palestine.

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Rising Israeli attacks cast doubt on regional peace initiatives

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