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Israel’s disproportionate response to Hamas attacks is no less. In addition to the hostage deaths, 405 Israeli soldiers have been killed in ground operations in Gaza alone.
Last week, the Israeli business newspaper calcalist The report said the cost of Israel’s war in Gaza could reach about 250 billion shekels ($67.57 billion) by the end of 2024. Israel has lost out on foreign investment and tourism. Furthermore, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu Accused of genocide, and many Israeli soldiers are also at risk of being arrested for war crimes.
In the coming days, we will have more details about how, why and how the deal was done. Of course, this would be a victory of sorts for the Trump administration, who, if the agreement holds, would not have to deal with enforcing the ceasefire. Trump may also claim that his warnings for the release of the hostages were ignored.
However, there are other factors that should be taken into account.
If Israel had not received the tacit support of the Arabs, it would not have been able to continue its siege and attacks in Gaza. Hamas was supported by Iran and Qatar, both regional rivals of Sunni Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Along with Hamas, other Shia disciples of Iran such as Hezbollah had also become paranoid in the region. In a domino effect, this led to the collapse of Iran and Russia-backed regimes. Bashar Al Assad in Syria, and Israel managed to capture a significant part of Syrian territory. Iran has been effectively pushed out of the Levant, at least for now.
There is no alternative for lasting peace in the region.
(Aditi Bhaduri Is a journalist and political analyst. She tweets @aditijan. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint Neither endorses nor is responsible for it.)
