This time, Gaza fighting is 'proxy war' for the Mideast
The conflict raging in Gaza is different this time.
While Hamas’ rocket attacks and Israel’s military actions may look familiar, they’re taking place against a whole new backdrop.
“This is unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” says CNN’s Ali Younes, an analyst who has covered the region for decades. “Most Arab states are actively supporting Israel against the Palestinians – and not even shy about it or doing it discreetly.”
It’s a “joint Arab-Israeli war consisting of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia against other Arabs – the Palestinians as represented by Hamas.” As the New York Times put it, “Arab leaders, viewing Hamas as worse than Israel, stay silent.”
One of the outcomes of the fighting will likely be “the end of the old Arab alliance system that has, even nominally, supported the Palestinians and their goal of establishing a Palestinian state,” Younes says.
“The Israel-Hamas conflict has laid bare the new divides of the Middle East,” says Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s no longer the Muslims against the Jews. Now it’s the extremists – the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey – against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.”
“It’s a proxy war for control or dominance in the Middle East,” says CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.