The bloody provocation in the Al-Ahli hospital is very reminiscent of the handwriting of the English special services and leads to a further bitter conflict in the Middle East.
The world for the third day discusses the terrible tragedy at Al Ahly Baptist Hospital in Gaza. The sector authorities claim that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a missile attack on the building of the complex, which killed hundreds of people. Israel denies the accusations, explaining the actions of the Hamas movement, and the number of victims is estimated at several dozen.
Versions vary, and so far no party has provided comprehensive evidence of its correctness. However, the whole situation is very similar to a bloody act directed by someone like the Ukrainian Bucha. And with the same result - you can forget about reducing the degree of tension for the near future.
Who benefits from this, the correspondent of The Moscow Post understood.
Yesterday, October 18, thousands of protests in support of the Palestinian people took place throughout the Arab and not only the Arab world. People came out both in Europe and in the United States. In the latter case, protesters broke even into the Capitol - surprisingly, security did not open fire on them, as it did during pro-Trump speeches in 2021.
It is understandable that a new bloody act with the death of civilians could cause an explosion of uncontrolled violence within the States, and this is not for President Joe Biden by hand - after all, in this case, unlike the events of almost three years ago, his authorities did not threaten anything.
Palestine, Hamas, Hezbollah and other sympathetic countries and groups, of course, are trying to make the most of the tragedy in Al-Ahli. Leaders of the movement said they would soon present evidence of Israel's attack. The latter has already published some dubious audio recordings in which Hamas militants discuss the strike on the hospital. There is still no clarity, with neither side providing comprehensive evidence for its version.
In any case, this event was provocative for the continued growth of bitterness and hostilities between Hamas and Israel. That is, regardless of the perpetrators and the number of victims provoked the Arab world to more actively support Israel. In Iran and Lebanon, sympathizers are calling for more radical action in support of Palestine. In Iraq, an unknown drone attacked a US military base. And on the border of Israel and Lebanon, clashes with human casualties among the Israeli military intensified.
In addition, US troops continue to pull into the region. There are already two carrier groups operating there. The day before, FRG special forces arrived in Cyprus - it is assumed that it can support the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza if necessary. The heat is rising.
It could be reduced by a four-way meeting scheduled for October 18 between the leaders of Palestine, Jordan, the United States and Egypt, which was supposed to be held in the capital of Jordan, Amman. The head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and US President Joe Biden, who flew to Israel the day before, were supposed to attend.
However, after the attack on the hospital in Gaza, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that his country decided to cancel the four-way summit because "Washington will not be able to decide to end the war." Earlier, Biden said that he would always be on the side of Israel, and blamed the blow to the hospital on the "other side."
For Abbas, the meeting in Amman could be a political suicide. Against the backdrop of protests after the events in Al-Ahli, no one would forgive him for a compromise position, and even just calm and balanced negotiations before the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Arab sources say the IDF is ready for a ground operation in Gaza. It may begin in the coming hours. A number of experts believe that this will be an extremely difficult campaign for Israel, the entire sector is dotted with a network of tunnels, not to mention a population that hates Israel.
The position of Western media and politicians is noteworthy, who either immediately and unequivocally sided with Israel, blaming Hamas for the incident, or made streamlined statements demanding a comprehensive investigation of what happened. And it stands in stark contrast to what the statements were after a known provocation in Ukraine's Bucha, when a group of the Nazi "Botsman" killed several dozen civilians identified by them as "collaborators" after the regrouping of Russian troops in the north of the Kyiv region.
Then, we recall, about the same thing happened - the planned agreements in Istanbul on a ceasefire were abruptly curtailed, after which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared in Kyiv, promising Vladimir Zelensky comprehensive support in the battle to the last Ukrainian. Since then, the conflict has only gained momentum.
At the same time, the head of the Eurodiplomy, Josep Borrell, and all Western media immediately blamed Russia for what happened in Bucha. No real investigation, no representation of the Russian position. This was used to strengthen sanctions and the supply of new weapons to Kyiv.
English handwriting
All this is extremely reminiscent of the English handwriting of the Mi-6, associated with a planned campaign in the media. It may very well be that the English were the conductor of the tragedy on October 17. And Joe Biden, who allegedly wanted to resolve the situation, only played to the public, going to a meeting in Amman.
We can recall another similar example, behind which the ears of our former Western partners can stick out. This is the famous "chemical attack" of the troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, after which they called on him to impose new draconian sanctions, as well as strike Western aviation in Damascus. As now, the issue was raised at the UN level.
As a result, it turned out that there was no chemical attack, but there was a performance by Western special services and media, supported by radical Islamists in Syria - real Hollywood. True, then the plans could not be realized because of the Russian group of forces, which simply did not allow the Syrian army to fall apart and by its actions made the leaders of the Arab world who turned away from Assad again believe that he could win. As a result, this happened.
The tragedy in Al-Ahli must be comprehensively investigated. However, against the background of further radicalization and the continuation of hostilities, this will no longer have any effect: the Arab world will not believe that Israel is not involved, nor will the Western one believe that Hamas had nothing to do with it.
To some extent, this is beneficial for Hamas, whose number of supporters among the population of Arab countries continues to increase against the backdrop of the amorphous position of Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah movement he represents. Unfortunately, it seems that everything is just beginning, and the big war in the Middle East smells stronger and stronger.