Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The EU’s hollow statements expressing “concern” over the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflagration will not deter either party. Unless the Europeans use what little leverage they have, they can forget about having a strategic role in the region.
Violence between Israelis and Palestinians escalated alarmingly last week spiraling across three fronts: within the city of Jerusalem; throughout Israel between its Arab and Jewish citizens; and in an escalating conflict between the government of Israel and Hamas.
There is a role for robust American diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict even now, and there is a way to implement it that could make meaningful changes on the ground in the Middle East.
The renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas should be a catalyst for ending the unsustainable status quo in the region. Negotiating a ceasefire and rebuilding trust will require an immense diplomatic effort by the United States and regional actors.
The fighting in Gaza has allowed the Islamist movement to advance its political aims, at Fatah’s expense.
Israel continues to argue that these attacks are a defense mechanism being directed at Hamas, which has fired rockets into Israel.
While unrest in the occupied territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza is not uncommon, the current outpouring of support among Palestinian citizens of Israel for Palestinians in Jerusalem and Gaza, poses a marked change in the effects of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.
In an interview, Marwan Muasher explains what the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians means.
Middle East experts discusses the Israeli strikes that destroyed the building that house Al Jazeera and the Associated Press offices.
After seven days, it's possible that we've reached the point where both Hamas and the Israelis have essentially accomplished everything they want to, and they risk losing the gains that they have accomplished.