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Since antiquity, a myth has existed in physics, entirely chimerical and unattainable, known as “perpetual motion,” which would entail motion lasting indefinitely without external input. If we transpose this purely theoretical notion to our present-day reality, it becomes evident that certain political players influencing the geopolitics of the Middle East have “conceived” a somewhat similar idea: that of “perpetual war,” giving the impression of playing war outright.
There is “art for art’s sake,” and now there is “war for war’s sake.” Without visibility or purpose. How else can we explain the recent decision by Netanyahu’s government to build 3,500 new settlements in the West Bank, at a time when the entire international community and Arab nations consistently emphasize that the only reliable solution to the Gaza conflict and the protracted Middle East conflict lies in a process leading to the coexistence of two states – Israeli and Palestinian? Increasing Israeli settlements in the remaining unoccupied West Bank further diminishes the already limited territory for the Palestinian State, making a final settlement even more challenging.
A book published in 1968 by writer and journalist Marc Hillel had a particularly explicit and prophetic title, “Israel in Danger of Peace.” Has the Israeli right wing, led by Netanyahu, adopted this title as the motto of its political conduct? The question is not as absurd as one might think, judging by the events since the initiation of the Oslo peace process in 1993, under the bold initiative of the Israeli Labor party and Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Concurrently with the assassination on November 4, 1995, by a young Israeli far-rightist, of Yitzhak Rabin, chief Israeli architect of this peace process, the faction led by Netanyahu spared no effort to bolster Hamas, a staunch Palestinian opponent of peace, at various levels. The objective being to sabotage the Palestinian state project and weaken the other partner in the Oslo process, namely the PLO. Governments formed by Likud facilitated transfers of funds – several hundred million dollars – over the years from Qatar, via Israeli channels, to Hamas in Gaza.
These same Likud-controlled governments turned a blind eye to extensive infrastructure works carried out openly, for many months, by Hamas to construct the famous tunnels crisscrossing the Gaza Strip. These specific tunnels now enable Hamas militants to wage a war of attrition against… the Israeli army! To establish this impressive infrastructure smoothly, Hamas engaged in a bloody outright elimination of Fateh’s presence in Gaza, with several of its leaders being assassinated or ruthlessly thrown out of windows!
To complete this grim picture, it is legitimate to wonder how Hamas was able to prepare and execute, with such ease a large-scale deadly attack on October 7, by smoothly penetrating Israeli territory. They did so despite a sophisticated security apparatus, even when foreign parties – notably the Egyptian Services, according to several sources – had warned Israeli authorities of a pending major operation. But what does it matter! Isn’t Israel in danger of peace?
The crux of the matter lies in the Israeli right-wing efforts to undermine the Oslo peace process without ever proposing an alternative solution, much like Hamas. For the Palestinian fundamentalist organization, all means are fair to hinder settlement projects, without any alternative proposal being put forward. The October 7 attack was hailed as a coup, a “remarkable act of war.” The resulting suffering of Gaza’s population, endured daily for over five months, is enlightening…
In such context, Hamas not only obstructs any peace process but also, true to the option of “perpetual war,” endeavors to maintain or even escalate tensions and destabilization in Arab countries, colluding with other factions labeled “obstructionist” axis (al-Moumanaa), which are essentially remote-controlled instruments of the Iranian Pasdaran. Within this perspective, a meeting for consultation and coordination was recently held, in the southern suburbs (sic!), among Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (a comeback!) and the Houthis, who, in this same perspective of extreme destabilization, are extending their attacks to the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea having likely become somewhat “banal” and routine for them. War for war…
The most tragic aspect of the challenges faced today by Lebanese and Palestinian populations is that the actions of these warmongers, including Hezbollah, ultimately aim not at some utopian liberation but rather at bolstering the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in negotiations with the United States, to secure a predominant role in the Middle East.
The pragmatic peace process – that of Oslo – versus the strategy of irrationality and disregard for the most elementary interests of civilian populations: such is the pattern that can be discerned in the profound existential crisis currently shaking the region. It should not be difficult for the average citizens in Lebanon to clearly choose their side in this context, especially after the sterile and fundamentally vain trials endured by the Lebanese people, against their will, for more than half a century…
Both right-wing Israeli governments, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hamas share the perception that they are “endangered by peace.”
Perpetual war: such appears to be the motto of the Israeli right and Hamas.
