By Haider Abbas
There is a lot happening in Middle East, particularly even when the 11 days war between the state of Israel and Palestine resistance group Hamas ended in a ceasefire, on May 21, but there have been multiple violations from Israel, which is quite a routine, even when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had to be replaced by a unity government led by Neftali Bennett. Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on his first visit to UAE opened up Israeli embassy in Dubai as a part of diplomatic workout as on August 14, 2020 UAE had decided to formalize relations with Israel, of course, after a green signal given to it by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The obvious resonance of it came during the latest conflagration (May 11 -May 21) as there was total silence from the Arab states and the truce could come only when Russian President Vladimir Putin warmed Israel ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi of any civilian death. The war saw more than 250 Palestinians, including 66 children dead. In Israel, 13 people died including two children.
Any political analyst today knows that Israel was carved out of the Turkish Ottoman Empire along with the 22 Arab states, by the British and that Israel is an expansionist/imperialist/Zionist state which has now eaten almost a great part of Palestine but the cardinal issue is Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem which Israel wants to demolish and make Temple-Mount on it and the latest flare-up was just a part of it. Al- Asqa mosque, which is the third holiest site of Muslims, in East Jerusalem came under the control of Israel, after the 1967 war and since then the state of Jordan looks after it. But, now Yair Lapid has given a new twist to it, as according to mmnews.Tv on July 2 1, it came to light that ‘Israel has started considering handing over the management of Al-Aqsa mosque, located in Jerusalem, to Saudi Arabia. The development came during the visit of Yair Lipid to UAE. Arab media, while quoting sources, claimed that Israel has agreed to form a council to manage the Al-Aqsa Mosque, under which the Saudi government will now play its part in the management of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Sources also claimed that Al-Aqsa mosque will remain in the hands of King Abdullah II of Jordan, but it is not clear whether any country other than Saudi Arabia will be included in the governing council. Israeli’s foreign minister acknowledged that when tensions flare in Jerusalem, it reverberates across the region. “Nobody is denying the fact that tensions in Jerusalem endanger the entire area,” Yair Lapid told reporters in Dubai.’
The Israeli ploy to engage KSA is for the sake of KSA’s pivotal position in the region, as KSA already controls Islamic holiest sites Mecca and Medina, so when it would accord the same status to Al-Aqsa, the Arab states will be given an alibi to ‘formalize’ with Israel, even if the management would just amount to mere tokenism, the same way it had been with Jordon. This move will pave the pathway for KSA and other Arab states to embrace Israel when UAE, Bahrain and Sudan have already done so. KSA it can be anyone’s guess can bend backwards to any extent in order to please the new US President Joseph Biden who is a self-professed Zionist and would do anything to facilitate Israel. But, what however, puts the whole KSA exercise to mockery is that voices from inside KSA have disputed the very existence of Al-Aqsa mosque, as MoroccoWorldNews on November 16, 2020 2 confirm that, a Saudi Lawyer Claims Al-Aqsa Mosque Is In Saudi Arabia, Not Jerusalem. The lawyer claimed the real Al-Aqsa mosque is located in an area called al Ji’ranah near Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Palestine is right now again in a state of war owing to Israeli fresh attacks on Gaza. Palestinians are being forcibly evicted from their houses and protests launched against Israel, has therefore, made its President Mehmood Abbas impose yet another emergency for 30 days on July 3. It also came out that an Israeli cargo ship in Indian ocean was attacked (July 3) which was attributed to Iran and which Iran has denied, while according to SputnikNews on July 3 3, ‘Earlier in the week, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) revealed that it had conducted airstrikes against what it described as a weapons-manufacturing “Hamas terrorist site”, noting that the attack was carried out in response to incendiary balloons launched into Israeli territory.’ Israel also released a video of it which is an open violation of the truce reached on May 21. Not surprising this is perhaps the fifth such attack since then. A Palestinian has been shot dead in West Bank by Israeli forces on July 4 4 tells Reuters. The big question is why is Hamas silent? Perhaps, for the sake that Hamas wants parliamentary elections to be held which supposedly Israel does not want it happen with Mehmood Abbas help. Another important development is that Israel has released footage of its drone attack on Iran nuclear site on June 24, according to SputnikNews on July 4 5 which Iran had denied. This is yet another proof of Israel is total combat mood with its internal as well as external foes.
How the next few months are to unfold with the change of guard in Israel as well as with a new President in Iran Ebrahim Raisi is for the time to see but Middle East seem quite determined to enter into a yet another quagmire which does have the potential to let the world fall into jeopardy, more particularly so, when Qatar is set to organize the world cup football 2022 which is unarguably the world most prestigious event. As the whole world battles the COVID-19 new variants it is expected that some saner voices prevail to help survive peace even if it comes from the call for sports.
The writer is a former UP State Information Commissioner and a political analyst.
References:
1- https://mmnews.tv/israel-considers-handing-over-al-aqsa-mosque-to-saudi-arabia/