So many important events happened in the past week over the past week that it is not clear how it will be remembered, but there may be several regional trends which are reshaped by the events.
The week of September 7 to September 13 should be remembered as one marking a possible turning point in the Middle East.
That said, so many important events have happened during those few days that it is unclear how they will be recorded in history. The September 9 strike on Qatar by Israel was that week’s major event, one that may reshape several trends in the region.
However, that attack on Qatar was not the only significant trend unfolding in the region. Israel was also pressing ahead with its policy in Gaza of leveling high-rise buildings.
Dozens of buildings have been destroyed. Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned that Gaza City could end up looking like Beit Hanun or parts of Rafah.
This essentially means that Israel will likely level Gaza City, completely destroying it. While some say that this is part of a military campaign aimed at wrecking Hamas’s infrastructure, the current campaign of leveling buildings seems more and more like a systematic doctrine of destroying civilian homes. If it were about hitting Hamas sites within such compounds, then this could involve precision strikes.
Still more developments unfolded during that same week. Videos appeared showing Hamas continuing its reign of terror, breaking the legs of people in Gaza who the terrorist organization had detained.
Hamas continues to harm civilians. It controls the two million civilians in the enclave who Israel has told to evacuate. Meanwhile, the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has reported increased challenges at the sites where it distributes aid.
On September 11, the organization said, “Unfortunately, these Hamas threats are forcing us to change how we operate. Today, after successfully serving 4,000 women, we were preparing to serve another 1,500 when we made the tough call to shut down SDS3 early due to these escalating threats. As of now, we will not be operating a women-only distribution center tomorrow anywhere.”
10 Israelis killed in a single day
Separately, on September 8, four soldiers were killed in Gaza. These are the latest casualties in the 700-day war in the enclave. The war does not appear to be ending anytime soon. As for the 48 hostages still in Gaza, they are not getting as much media attention as they did before.
The four soldiers who were killed did not make many headlines either because this occurred on the same day as a terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
In the days before October 7, 2023, the murder of six people in a Jerusalem terrorist attack would be a big deal, as would the killing of four soldiers. Yet, Israelis have been conditioned to accept death on multiple fronts now. With more than 900 soldiers killed in the war, there is a sense that this is normal.
Then, om Friday, September 13, the UN General Assembly backed a French and Saudi initiative to recognize a Palestinian state. Israel has objected to this move.
France24 noted that “the text was adopted by 142 votes in favor, 10 against – including Israel and key ally the United States – and 12 abstentions. It clearly condemns Hamas and demands that it surrender its weapons.”
This kind of UN move would have also been seen as necessary in years past. Nowadays, it is regarded not only as typical but also as a move that is unlikely to have much of an effect.
Many European countries are moving toward recognizing a Palestinian state. While the move seeks to exclude Hamas, this terrorist organization continues to control Gaza despite undergoing 23 months of war.
Simply put, Israel has been unable to remove Hamas or support an alternative government. The unwillingness to support an alternative to Hamas suggests that it will remain in control of Gaza in some form.
At the same time that France and Saudi Arabia were pushing in the UN for the two-state solution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on September 11 that there would be no Palestinian statehood.
He made these comments while pushing for construction in E1, which is east of Jerusalem in an area of the West Bank near Ma’aleh Adumim, essentially between that area and Mount Scopus. Critics claim that resettlement in this area would essentially split the West Bank in half. Notably, this same criticism was made regarding Har Homa and Ma’aleh Adumim.
Turning back to the strike on Qatar, this also came after US President Donald Trump had said he was issuing a “final warning” to Hamas.
This was supposed to get the terrorist organization to cut a deal. Trump made the push on September 8. Hamas members apparently gathered in Qatar to discuss the deal. The airstrike then took place.
It is unclear if the strike was timed to eliminate Hamas members who oppose making an agreement. However, the result may be the derailment of yet another opportunity to bring Israeli hostages home and end the war.
Abraham Accords partners cool relations amid upcoming fifth anniversary
Qatar is angry and is seeking to get other countries together to oppose Israel. This may, potentially, chill relations with the Abraham Accords countries. The fifth anniversary of those accords is coming up soon, but the UAE and Bahrain do not seem inclined to celebrate them.
In the interim, reports about the Doha strike made it unclear if any Hamas leaders had actually been killed. Other reports discussed how Israel may have conducted the strike and whether there were disagreements within Israeli security circles about conducting the strike.
While the UN Security Council did condemn the attack, Israel was not mentioned. Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, visited Washington on September 12 to meet US officials after the strike.
Some good news did take place that very same week. Kidnapped Israeli Russian Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was held for over 900 days by Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, was finally freed. She arrived in Israel several days later, where footage showed her walking with difficulty at a local hospital. The Trump administration had played a significant role in freeing her. It has also sought to set hostages in Gaza free.
Lastly, Egypt said it was toning down security coordination with Israel.
“Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reported that Egypt decided to scale back security coordination with Israel ‘until further notice’ in response to the Doha strike. Sources cited by the network said Cairo was carrying out a ‘reorganization’ of its security communications with Israel,” according to Ynet.
Similarly, Iraqi officials said that they feared Israeli strikes and, therefore, they were seeking to get Egypt and other states to stand against Israel.
Meanwhile, in Syria, the president of the Syrian transitional government met with the head of the US Central Command. Ahmed al-Sharaa is heading to Washington next week to deliver speeches, showcasing how Syria has reengaged with the international community.
Significantly, pro-Israel supporters are messaging more about Qatar and also against the moves for a Palestinian state. The new narrative is that Israel will hunt Hamas members wherever they are.
In essence, what this means is that Syria, which went through a decade of civil war, will be pushing for stability in Washington. In juxtaposition, Israel will be viewed as a country pushing for the possibility of expanding the conflict to include not only Gaza, but also Doha.
It should be mentioned that Qatar is a major non-NATO ally.
What this adds up to is the prominence of several essential trends. Many of these incidents would have been considered unprecedented in the past, such as the cooling of ties between Israel and Egypt and Israel and the UAE.
The attack on Qatar, the E1 move, Iraq openly talking about possible Israeli strikes, and trying to coordinate against Israel – these are all singular developments.
Moreover, Iraq releasing Tsurkov, Trump sending a final warning to Hamas, Israel’s continued airstrikes on Lebanon, the destruction of high-rises in Gaza, the outwardly overlooked death of four more soldiers, six people being killed in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem – these are all abnormalities, especially considering they all occurred within one single week.
September 7 to September 13 was an unprecedented week, but so many important events were seemingly buried as part of the continuing chaos and war unleashed by Hamas’s October 7 massacre.