IsraelNew US administration sees Middle East at "turning point"
SDA
23.1.2025 - 05:45
The new US administration sees the ceasefire in the Gaza war as a great opportunity to promote the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab states in the Middle East. If this succeeds, it would be a huge step forward for Israel and the entire region, said Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy of the new US President Donald Trump, on Fox News.
Keystone-SDA
23.01.2025, 05:45
SDA
Israel's isolation in the Middle East already began to crumble during Trump's first term in office. Now a phone call between the Republican and the influential Saudi royal family is fueling hopes of a renewed thaw in the region. In 2020, Trump initiated the so-called Abraham Accords to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab states - a historic breakthrough at the time.
Witkoff said that the ceasefire in the Gaza war, which has been in place since Sunday, and the change of power in the USA are now creating a special dynamic again. Qatar and Egypt had already been very successful as mediators in the negotiations with Hamas, and now other countries could follow suit. "I believe that everyone in this region could be brought on board," said Witkoff. "This is a turning point."
"The beginning of the end of the war"
Political normalization is "an incredible opportunity for the region" and "the beginning of the end of the war" - which in turn means that investments would become possible because banks would no longer have to hedge against war risks. The prerequisite for all of this, says Witkoff, was the painstakingly negotiated ceasefire in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia has particular political and economic weight in the region. In a telephone conversation with Trump on Wednesday evening to mark his swearing-in, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed how the two countries could work together to promote "peace, security and stability in the Middle East", the Saudi agency Spa reported. Trump also signaled his willingness to cooperate. The new US administration did not initially comment on the talks.
Far-reaching defense agreement planned?
According to media reports, it was Trump's first phone call with a foreign leader since being sworn in on Monday - at least nothing has been reported about any other conversation beforehand. The fact that he spoke first with Salman, the de facto ruler of the regional power Saudi Arabia, sheds light on the priorities of the new US administration, commented the Times of Israel newspaper. The conversation suggests that Trump is seeking a far-reaching defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and wants to expand the historic Abraham Accords.
As a Jewish state surrounded by Islamic countries, Israel was isolated in the Middle East for decades and only maintained a "cold peace" with Egypt and Jordan. The Abraham Accords concluded with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan were a milestone - they broke with the principle that Israel's conflict with the Palestinians had to be resolved before any rapprochement with Israel could take place.
Hamas terror thwarted rapprochement
Many Muslims saw this about-turn as a betrayal. This is probably why it was officially sold primarily as an economic success, although the Gulf states and Israel also share a common enemy, Iran. At the end of September 2023, Israel's government then announced that a "historic peace" with Saudi Arabia was within reach and would "create a new Middle East".
Two weeks later, terrorists from Hamas and other groups attacked southern Israel. The massacre on October 7, 2023 triggered the Gaza War and plunged the Middle East into a deep crisis. It is assumed that Hamas wanted to use the unprecedented attack to prevent the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that was taking shape at the time. In fact, the normalization process came to a standstill as a result.
Israel presses ahead with military operation in the West Bank
A ceasefire has now been reached in the Gaza war. However, there are fears that Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has been weakened by Israel's military strikes in recent months, is now arming radical Palestinians in the West Bank in order to open up another front against Israel. Hamas has called on the population to "general mobilization" and confrontations with Israeli security forces and settlers.
On Tuesday, the Israeli government ordered a large-scale military operation in the West Bank, in which around a dozen Palestinians have since been killed. There have been violent clashes, particularly in the city of Jenin, a stronghold of militant Palestinians.
The Saudi government reacted with outrage, condemning the use of force by the Israeli army and calling on the international community to stop the "occupying power's" actions, which violate international law. A UN spokesperson warned against risking the lives of innocent people and destroying civilian infrastructure.
According to reports, raids were carried out in several towns in the West Bank, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, and drone attacks were also reported. The Israeli army announced that several terrorists had been killed. According to Palestinian reports, at least twelve people were killed and dozens injured.
The military operation in Jenin is the largest in a long time. The already tense situation in the West Bank had previously deteriorated drastically due to the strengthening of Palestinian militants and increasing violence by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.
Violence and troop withdrawal in the Gaza Strip
Despite the ceasefire, there were also violent confrontations in Gaza in which a Palestinian was killed. According to a military spokesman, it was a fighter from the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. The military appealed to the Palestinians not to approach the troops.
In accordance with the agreements reached, Israeli troops withdrew with their vehicles from Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The military published images of an armored column leaving the area along the border fence. The complete withdrawal of the army from the coastal area demanded by Hamas is one of the biggest points of contention in the upcoming negotiations on the next phases of the Gaza agreement, which have so far been excluded.