The war in Gaza is troubling much of the Arab world, including countries that had good relations with Israel and were on the path to reconciliation with Israel before the Hamas massacre. An overview.
Lebanon – the front in the north
On October 8, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, Shiite Hezbollah fighters began shelling Israeli targets from southern Lebanon, according to Islamists. The Israeli military then targeted targets in Lebanon. On both sides of the border, tens of thousands of people fled their villages and towns due to mutual shelling.
The conflict escalated in late July after 12 children were killed in a town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, apparently by a Hezbollah rocket. The Israeli military intensified its airstrikes, targeting top commanders of Iranian-backed militias.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in open warfare since late September. The Israeli military is now deploying ground forces in Lebanon after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a heavy shelling at the militants’ headquarters south of the capital Beirut.
Although the Israeli government insists it is only fighting Hezbollah, many Lebanese, regardless of their faith, see it as a war against their country – millions of Lebanese have fled, stayed in emergency camps or fled the country. Syria
Concerns about Egypt’s own borders
Egypt and Israel have been at peace for 45 years – but for a year it has been put to the test. Besides Israel, only Egypt shares a border with the Gaza Strip. Israelis blame: The failure of Egyptian border guards may have led to the rise of Hamas and ultimately the October 7 terrorist attack. Stephen Roll of the Science and Politics Foundation said a large number of weapons were believed to have been smuggled into Gaza from Egypt.
Egypt denies this, but the allegations put a strain on Israeli-Egyptian relations. Egypt sees the Gaza war as a threat to its own security, with tens of thousands of deaths and injuries. After the war broke out, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi quickly clarified: Send aid to Gaza? Yes, but the mass exodus of Palestinians towards the Sinai Peninsula: no, Egypt certainly wants to prevent that. If everyone leaves Gaza, Israel can take over the country. The Egyptian president argued that this should be prevented.
Critics say this is also a pretext, as Egyptians also fear that their economically struggling country will be overwhelmed by the permanent influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Egypt allowed a few thousand wounded and orphans to cross the border in a highly publicized manner so that they could receive treatment in hospitals. Nevertheless, there are now tens of thousands of Palestinians in the country. There have been reports of corrupt border officials and smugglers charging huge sums of money to bring people in need or refugees into the country.
Egypt actively pushed itself to mediate between Israel and Hamas, along with the Emirate of Qatar and the US government. As an intermediary, the government in Cairo also represents its own interests. The country continues to oppose Israel’s demand for a permanent military presence along the border between Egypt and Gaza. Many in Cairo see this as an infringement on their own sovereignty.
Confusion of the Jordanians
Jordan, Israel’s eastern neighbor, has seen regular anti-Israel protests since the Gaza war began. The suffering of Palestinian citizens is especially close to many Jordanians: this is because many Jordanians have Palestinian roots: “We grew up knowing that we are one. Most Jordanians are half Jordanian, half Palestinian – we are like brothers and sisters,” says a cafe owner in Amman.
Although the Jordanian people are clearly on the side of the Palestinians in Gaza, the 1994 peace with Israel is not in jeopardy, experts say. The two countries share a long border with each other, and water-poor Jordan relies on Israel’s drinking water.
Jordan’s government is closely allied with the United States and relies on money from Washington and the European Union. For months he has been pushing for a ceasefire between Israel’s military and Hamas and a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
King Abdullah of Jordan recently said that no country in the region would benefit from expansion. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi is even more vocal in his criticism: The only real danger in the region is the actions of the Israeli government and the failure of the international community to prevent further suffering.
The country’s leadership is in dire straits. As a close ally of the United States, Jordan recently helped thwart Iranian missiles aimed at Israel. But: pressure is mounting from our own people. The longer the Gaza war drags on, the harder it will be to counter the anger against Israel — especially among young people.
Attacks from Yemen
In Yemen, the Houthis show their solidarity with the Palestinians by firing rockets at Israel. The militants are affiliated with Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. A Houthi spokesman said a rocket was fired at Tel Aviv airport after learning that their boss Nasrallah had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. “Our armed forces,” he threatened, “will not shy away from increasing the scale of escalation.”
For a year now, the Houthis in Yemen have been rhetorically and militarily supporting the Palestinians. Anti-Israel attitude – This is the consensus in Yemen, especially among the Houthis, whose flag even bears the scathing anti-Semitic slogan “Death to Israel, Curse the Jews”.
More than 1,600 kilometers away, they are not a major threat to the Jewish state.In mid-September, two ships were sunk, one was hijacked and at least three sailors were killed in more than 70 attacks.
The number of merchant ships plying the dangerous route has now halved. The United States, Great Britain, Germany and other countries have intervened militarily since January to protect the ships, and Israel has also struck Houthi targets in Yemen on several occasions.
The Saudi-Israeli rapprochement is over for now
Some of the Gulf’s oil-rich autocracies have long worked to improve their relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman indicated shortly before the October 7 assassination by Hamas that the establishment of diplomatic ties was only a matter of time.
A year later, he sounds completely different: “The Palestinian issue is our top priority. We condemn the crimes of the Israeli occupation authority against the Palestinian people.” Although Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has never tired of talking about the Saudi-Israeli axis, a rapprochement is now in question.
The Gaza war has also fueled the anger of many in the Gulf states against Israel. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have not severed ties with Israel. In 2020, they added these as part of the so-called Abrahamic covenants. In the current situation, this is also an opportunity for the Emirates, says Sebastian Sons, an expert on Gulf states at the Bonn-based think tank Garbo: “They are using access to the Israeli government to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza.”
Of all the Gulf states, Qatar has tried most strongly to influence the Gaza war: as a mediator on the part of Egypt and the United States in negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages from the hands of Hamas.
However, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani made it clear that his country, which has been represented by Hamas for years, is not neutral. He blames only the Israeli government for the lack of success in negotiations. He is not a partner in peace: “We are not currently experiencing a peace process, but rather a genocide.”
Harsh words that troubled many in Europe, but were recognized by many in the Arab world after a year of war in Gaza.
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