Location at a glance
New US administration sees Middle East at “turning point”
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy sees the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as an “incredible opportunity for the region” – and financial gain. Will a historic agreement now be expanded?
The new US administration sees the ceasefire in the Gaza war as a great opportunity to promote the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab states in the Middle East. If this succeeds, it would be enormous progress for Israel and the entire region, said Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy of the new US President Donald Trump, on Fox News.
Israel’s isolation in the Middle East began to crumble during Trump’s first term in office. Now a phone call between the Republican and the influential Saudi royal family is fueling hopes of a renewed thaw in the region. In 2020, Trump launched the so-called Abraham Accords to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab states – a historic breakthrough at the time.
Due to the ceasefire in the Gaza war that has been in effect since Sunday and the change of power in the USA, there is now a special dynamic again, said Witkoff. Qatar and Egypt have already been very successful as mediators in the negotiations with Hamas, and now other countries could follow. “I think you could get anyone in this region on board,” Witkoff said. “This is a turning point.”
“The beginning of the end of the war”
Political normalization is “an incredible opportunity for the region” and “the beginning of the end of the war” – which in turn means that investments become possible because banks no longer have to insure themselves against war risks. The prerequisite for all of this, says Witkoff, was the laboriously negotiated ceasefire in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia has particular political and economic weight in the region. In a phone call on the occasion of his swearing-in on Wednesday evening, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed with Trump how both countries could jointly advance “peace, security and stability in the Middle East,” reported the Saudi agency Spa. Trump also signaled his willingness to cooperate. The new US government initially had no comment on the conversation.
Far-reaching defense agreement planned?
According to media reports, it was Trump’s first phone call with a foreign leader since being sworn in on Monday – at least nothing has been known about another conversation before that. The fact that he first spoke to Salman, the de facto ruler of the regional power Saudi Arabia, provides insight into the priorities of the new US government, commented the Times of Israel newspaper. The conversation suggests that Trump is seeking a far-reaching defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and wants to expand the historic Abraham Accords.
As a Jewish state surrounded by Islamic countries, Israel was isolated in the Middle East for decades and maintained a “cold peace” only with Egypt and Jordan. The Abraham Accords concluded with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan were a milestone – they broke with the principle that the conflict with the Palestinians must be resolved before rapprochement with Israel.
Hamas terror destroyed rapprochement
Many Muslims viewed this turnaround as a betrayal. This is probably why it was officially sold primarily as an economic success, with the Gulf states and Israel also being united by their common enemy Iran. At the end of September 2023, Israel’s government announced that a “historic peace” with Saudi Arabia was within reach and would “create a new Middle East.”
Two weeks later, terrorists from Hamas and other groups attacked southern Israel. The massacre on October 7, 2023 triggered the Gaza War and plunged the Middle East into a deep crisis. It is assumed that Hamas wanted to use the unprecedented attack to prevent the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that was clearly emerging at the time. In fact, this brought the normalization process to a standstill.
Israel is pushing ahead with military operations in the West Bank
A ceasefire has now been achieved in the Gaza war. However, there are fears that Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has been weakened by Israel’s military strikes in recent months, is now arming radical Palestinians in the West Bank in order to open another front against Israel. Hamas called on the population for “general mobilization” and for confrontations with the Israeli security forces and settlers.
On Tuesday, the Israeli government ordered a large-scale military operation in the West Bank that has since killed around a dozen Palestinians. Violent clashes broke out, particularly in the city of Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian militants.
The Saudi government reacted with outrage, condemned the Israeli army’s use of force and called on the international community to stop the “occupying power’s” actions, which violated international law. A UN spokesman warned against putting the lives of innocent people at risk and destroying civilian infrastructure.
According to reports, there were raids in several cities in the West Bank, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, and drone attacks were also reported. The Israeli army said several terrorists had been killed. According to Palestinian information, there were at least twelve dead and dozens injured.
The military operation in Jenin is the largest in a long time. Previously, the already tense situation in the West Bank had worsened dramatically due to the rise of militant Palestinians and increasing violence by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.
Violence and troop withdrawal in the Gaza Strip
Despite the ceasefire, there were also violent confrontations in Gaza, in which one Palestinian was killed. According to a military spokesman, it was a fighter from the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad. The military appealed to Palestinians not to approach the troops.
In accordance with the agreements reached, Israeli troops withdrew their vehicles from Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The military released footage of a column of tanks leaving the area along the border fence. The complete withdrawal of the army from the coastal area demanded by Hamas is one of the biggest points of contention in the upcoming negotiations on the next phases of the Gaza agreement, which have so far been left out.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
