There is no doubt that the present turbulence in the Middle East and the region's proneness to violence is to be attributed to the terror attack of Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1200 Israelis were killed and 250 others, including women and children, were abducted as hostages. India was among the first nations to condemn the attack.&nbsp;
The incident evoked a justifiable disciplinary counter-attack by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which became a lengthy attack on Gaza, where Hamas had taken to operating from underground tunnels using these as a shield.&nbsp;
The sustained armed campaign of Israel in Gaza aimed at 'destroying' Hamas has resulted in the killing of over 50,000 Palestinians, including Hamas members, and has now created a deep humanitarian crisis with thousands of people, including children, being exposed to stark hunger, the world finds this situation becoming increasingly unacceptable.&nbsp; 
Israel's derogatory today is on the verge of becoming 'unjust and immoral' and this has shifted the responsibility for the human catastrophe in Gaza from Hamas to Israel. It is true that Israel had faced an existential crisis because of the 'non-acceptance' of the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine, among the Arab states of the region, but it is equally important that Israel and its chief backer, the US, moved towards recognising the need for Palestinians to have a homeland too.&nbsp;
The concept of a Palestinian state on the border of Israel can be modified suitably to address the concerns of Israel about a standing security threat from such a state. The world must quickly work for a peaceful coexistence of the two states in Palestine. 
It is relevant to recall that the Arab Spring of 2010 changed the dynamics of Middle East regimes by empowering street movements and compelling a shift towards democratisation in authoritarian Arab states. In the process, however, this set the trend of radicalisation, giving birth to many Islamic terror organisations. 
Hamas had originated as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928 in Egypt and Syria by the Islamic thinker, Hasan Al Banna, with the aim of opposing the pro-Soviet 'nationalist' regimes there and demanding Islamisation of the state. 
The US-led West politically endorsed the Muslim Brotherhood, and many years later, in 2011, the latter succeeded in ousting the dictatorial regime of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the US appreciated it on the quiet.
Over the years, however, Hamas once a moderate Islamic outfit became revolutionary because of the perceived Israeli dominance in Gaza and took to terrorism. Radical Islamic forces carried the historical memory of the 19th-century Wahhabi revolt against the 'Western encroachment on Muslim lands' and remain extremely harmful to the US. This is the reason why in the current military confrontation between Iran and Israel, Iran was able to take Hamas in its embrace, the shared political antagonism towards the US binds them together, notwithstanding the fundamental Shia-Sunni divide dating back to the Kharijite rebellion against Caliph Ali.&nbsp;
There is a lesson to be drawn by the democratic world from the fact of a Sunni reforming Hamas joining up with a fundamentalist Iran. Faith-based militancy in any part of the Muslim world should not be allowed to turn into Islamic terrorism resulting from the sense of distress amongst Muslims that made them vulnerable to the pull of Jehad. Gaza should be looked at by the world from that angle.&nbsp;
The Middle East is presently overshadowed by the 'war-like' confrontation between Iran on one hand and the US-Israel axis on the other, even as the Hamas-Israel conflict remains unresolved. Iran has powerful proxies working for it -- Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) active in many Middle East countries, Houthis in Yemen and Shiite militants of Iraq and Syria, besides the Hamas of Gaza. Iran joining hands with Hamas has the potential for further aggravating the Palestinian chaos -- it is rightly said that 'wars without a clear political goal cannot be won' and can only lead to a catastrophe. 
A significant matter of concern in the Middle East is that the Iran-Israel confrontation is developing signs of a 'civilisational clash' between Islam and Zionism. Hamas once called for the 'rise of the Islamic state between the Jordon River and the Mediterranean governed by Shariat law'. 
Israel has become even more distrustful of the Arab states around it after Hamas was taken by Iran into its fold militarily, thus strengthening Iran's fighting power against Israel. The Palestinian cause has long served as a unifying factor for disparate entities such as Sunnis and Shiites or Arabs and Persians in the name of faith. Even Arab states friendly to the US would not find it possible to strike any kind of normal relationship with Israel unless the issue of Palestine was resolved. 
The so-called Abraham Accord sought to be promoted by Donald Trump during his first tenure between some Arab states like the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, did not make advances after the outbreak of the Iran-Israel 'war'. Even the closest allies of the US, such as Saudi Arabia, are distressed over the escalation of the US-Iran conflict, resulting in the America bombing the nuclear sites of Iran.&nbsp;
The international community has to step in and support a peaceful initiative around the idea of Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side with mutual respect. More than one state entity for Palestinians may have to be created along the Israel border, and positioning of an international Peace Keeping Force for some time may have to be considered. A ceasefire in Gaza and release of all Israeli hostages have to be the first steps, taking hostages and using them for political bargaining is a classic terrorist act and is totally unacceptable.&nbsp;
US-Saudi combine should move to provide a stable administration in Gaza, organe relief work and give a start to the 'reconstruction work' there. Democratisation of the Middle East will be conducive to restoring peace, as it will check the rise of faith-based militancy, equal treatment of all communities is implicit in a democratic dispensation.&nbsp;
Israeli security and Jewish democratic identity must go with a similar transition of Islamic fundamentalist rule anywhere to an enlightened Islamic democracy where minorities would be treated at par with the Muslim majority. A Muslim majority should make it easier for the regime to even adopt the ultimate principle of democracy, the idea of 'one man one vote', because it does not come in the way of the rule of the majority. As regards the current US-Iran confrontation that is rooted in the Israeli distrust of Iran's proclaimed commitment to producing only nuclear energy for peaceful usage, it can be said that it is Iran that first leveraged an ideological narrative of 'Islamic resistance' through a network of 'proxies' to deal with an aggressive US.&nbsp;
Moreover, IRGC has developed a sophisticated ballistic missile system for use as a deterrent by upholding the promise of a strong retaliatory action. 
In the cycle of action and reaction, Israel's attack on Iran with the aim of destroying the latter's nuclear establishments on June 13, 2025, was responded to by Iran through a missile and Drone attack on Tel Aviv and Haifa. This was followed by a direct attack by the US on Iran's nuclear sites in which even bunker-buster bombs were used, making it the first American military intervention in the Middle East since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. 
Israel, meanwhile, has focused on degrading the leadership of the Iran-led 'axis of resistance'. President Trump has openly called for the 'surrender' of Iran in the context of the signing of a new nuclear deal. A formula for peace has to be worked out between Iran and the US in which emphasis will have to be placed on complete transparency about Iran's nuclear programme being kept totally open to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 
Iran's posture so far can be said to be 'defensive' and hence care should be taken not to do anything at the cost of the 'civilisational pride' of Iran. Wisdom lies in not letting a turbulent Middle East precipitate a 'war of religions' that is marked by attrition, degeneration into faith-driven terrorism and a potential for spreading to other regions as well. 
Developments in the Middle East cause concern to the democratic world as a whole, and initiatives for restoring peace should come from the leading democracies putting their heads together. 
It is to be noted that China and Russia are siding with Iran because of their political opposition to the US. The Middle East should not be allowed to become the reason for a possible return of the Cold War. 
[Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed.]
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The Third Eye: Why a Palestinian State Matters

A two-state solution may be the only way to end the cycle of violence in the Middle East

The Third Eye: Why a Palestinian State Matters

A two-state solution may be the only way to end the cycle of violence in the Middle East

August 17, 2025 | 17:03 IST