The motivated US support to Israel has prompted it to reject any kind of political settlement accommodating the rights of Palestinians

The discourse on Israel-Palestine war must target both 'who of the immediate players, the obvious, in the war is at fault' and 'who, the real but obscure catalytic force, benefits the more from the war'.  To capture the complex multifaceted nature of the challenges, the discourse must extend beyond the facile factsheet

The current three month long war between Zionist Israel and Arab Palestine has a history and also essentially has third party regional players bearing existential compulsion, affected by whatever happens in the region.  The war also has other external  players acting as a catalytic turning 'conflict' in to 'war' for their geopolitical, economic interests.

Although in the present post-modern global market, every country gets positive or negative share from this war, most states of the world are in a state of procrastinating ambivalence watching the Israeli Zionists and Palestinian Arabs engaged in a fierce cockfight with the metal spurs fitted to the former.

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas i.e. Palestinian war, the Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas who are fighting it back, while the Palestinian population experiences displacement and death under the dictates and bombing by the Israeli army. Most watch the game and theatre of war with emotional immunity while others showing moral support to the Palestinian people chant slogans like “Palestine will be free, From the river to the sea”.

The most notable external third party player, the US, has been unequivocally supporting Israel to bombard the Palestinian region resulting in dislocation of the Palestinian civil population and destruction of infrastructure in the name of eliminating and ‘dislodging’ the Hamas and dismantling their hideouts. The US vetoed the UN proposal for ceasefire and sanctioned heavy sale of armaments bypassing its congress citing an emergency for Israel.

Powered and encouraged by the US, the Israeli Defence Forces have killed Hamas leaders but more Palestinian civilians; the army has ordered the civilians to disperse from one place to another while the two Israeli ministers have openly advised Palestinians to voluntarily migrate to the countries that welcome them. Fearing the war to engulf them, most local players have raised the alarm. Fearing the multi-faceted war to take over the globe, many countries under the public pressure have raised concerns. Sensing necessity, the US has responded as a ready-to-be arbiter.

The US secretary of State, Antony Blinken who exercised his special powers to sanction the sale of weapons to Israel about a week ago is on his fourth diplomatic tour to the Middle East to assess the situation and register US visibility. 

During the tour he has been holding diplomatic meetings with all the local players on the fence. He criticised Israeli Minister's statements in a press conference alongside the Qatar Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, saying: “They [Palestinians] cannot... must not be pressed to leave Gaza,” and they be allowed to "return home as soon as conditions allow". Sensing the mood of his supporters, the Israeli President has also rejected his Ministers'  'resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza' proposal. The game of ‘evict and reinstate’ is more tragic than the tragedy itself.

Contradicting its 'peace' and 'humanitarian' missions, the US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticised South Africa for filing a case against Israel in The International Court of Justice, seeking to institute proceedings against Israel for committing ‘genocide’ against Palestinians and to direct the immediate suspension of Israeli military campaign. .

Since 1948, USA has been pampering the Zionist Israel to keep Arab Palestine in control. It is the US more than anyone else that has given Israel enough space to continue the war in Gaza. With Russia caught in its own conflict with Ukraine, USA is the only major third party external force in the Gaza war.

Israel's actions in Gaza have drawn strong criticism from Jordan and other Arab states. To seek buy-ins for the US plan from these regional players, the US Secretary of State, in his current visit to the region, has met Jordan's King and its Foreign Minister on Sunday after meeting the Turkish President in Istanbul on Saturday. His trip to the Middle East is being flagged as a mission to reduce tensions in the region- ironically a game of first igniting and then fighting the fire. To Israel both Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank are the two versions of the same enemy. To them defeating and finishing Palestinians is defeating and finishing Hamas and the ‘two state solution’. To the Israeli government, the Gaza war is a military operation without aiming to reach any political resolution. The motivated US support to Israel has prompted it to reject any kind of political settlement accommodating the rights of Palestinians. The dual policy of continued yearly US support in Billions of dollars to Israel for years and the criticism of its policies bares its seamy side. After all Israel has been using the US support for occupying Palestinian territories and dispersing the Palestinian population.

(The writer is a retired professor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and a Member, of the governing council, INTACH, views are personal)