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Another massacre, another senseless tragedy. This time, it’s the innocent lives of twelve children and teenagers that have been claimed by a missile strike in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights under Israeli sovereignty. They were participating in, or merely watching, a soccer match. This horrific event underscores the insatiable geopolitical ambitions of a theocratic regional power whose hegemonic designs know no bounds. Words fail to convey the depth of horror at this abominable act.
The photos of these children, boys and girls aged 11 to 16, lying lifeless in their sports gear on the soccer pitch are unbearable and repulsive. They serve as a stark reminder of an ugly reality that the Land of the Cedars has endured for decades: civilian populations taken hostage or reduced to cannon fodder by lawless regimes seeking to dominate the region’s power dynamics.
The tragedy of the Majdal Shams children is a direct consequence of this expansionist strategy and Hezbollah’s unilateral decision, following the October 7 attack on Israel, to reopen the southern Lebanon front. This decision was justified under the dubious pretexts of reducing military pressure on Gaza and advancing on “the road to Jerusalem.” As a result of this supposed diversion by the pro-Iranian group, Gaza and southern Lebanon are largely destroyed, with no tangible or rational outcome or gain. As for the road to Jerusalem…
Iran’s leaders often seem like adept chess players, yet their strategies come at a grave cost. By orchestrating Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on Israel from afar, they have managed to halt normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and reassert themselves on the Middle East political scene. But at what price? Thousands of Palestinian deaths, the transformation of Gaza into vast fields of ruins, the destruction of Hamas’ military infrastructure, the loss of a significant portion of the organization’s leadership and fighters, the forced exodus of Gaza’s population, Israel’s control of the passageways to Egypt and the occupation of nearly all territory once governed by Hamas. For Iran’s regime, these consequences are merely collateral damages, insignificant as long as Iran’s territory and infrastructure remain unscathed.
Collateral damage is also evident in southern Lebanon, where, as part of its strategic game with Tel Aviv and Washington, Tehran advanced its pawns by opening up a front with Israel through Hezbollah. This was done cautiously, skillfully “dosing” the war of attrition to avoid a full-scale confrontation. And what about the 400 Hezbollah cadres and militiamen killed in meticulously targeted drone attacks? Or the destruction of villages in southern Lebanon and the forced exodus of 100,000 inhabitants?
Meanwhile, Iran has succeeded in seriously disrupting maritime and commercial traffic in the Red Sea by exploiting the Houthi militia in Yemen. But in this game, the big loser is not so much Israel, but Egypt, suffering from a drastic drop in Suez Canal revenues. Additionally, Yemen’s main port, Hodeidah, has been completely destroyed by the Israeli air force. But who cares? What matters is that the Iranian Pasdaran hold the key to international traffic in the Red Sea.
To consolidate its regional foothold, the Islamic Republic is methodically extending its influence in Syria and Iraq, infiltrating vital sectors of both countries.
Faced with Iran’s rampant and fundamentally destabilizing expansionism, Western leaders are falling for the game, with some sources suggesting they are attempting to compromise and negotiate with the mullahs’ regime. This approach underestimates the Pasdaran’s ideological project which, since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, has been centered on “exporting the revolution” throughout the region. Except that this threat is no longer confined to the Middle East. It also poses a danger to major Western capitals, where Hezbollah sleeper cells – undoubtedly subversive – have been dismantled in recent years, notably in France, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Bulgaria and, most recently, in Germany.
Today, more than ever, it is vital to acknowledge that ensuring security and stability in the region, and in Western countries, requires imposing on the Iranian mullahs’ regime an unavoidable solution, one it cannot refuse. Failing this, the risks of tragedies like the one in Majdal Shams recurring in various circumstances remains alarmingly high, given the behavior of such lawless actors.
