Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
03 August 2024 | 12:00 CAT
2 min read

Israeli forces have raided Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank following an airstrike on a car that killed at least five people, including Hamas military leader Haitham Balidi. In response, the US Pentagon announced the deployment of additional jet fighters and warships to the region, anticipating possible Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Thousands mourned Haniyeh across the Middle East, with rallies in Lebanon, Yemen, and Jordan, and his burial in Qatar. The United Nations reports that nearly two-thirds of buildings in Gaza, over 151,000 structures, have been damaged or destroyed since October 7.

Speaking to Radio Islam, Dr. James M. Dorsey highlighted that since October 7, Israel has vowed to kill Hamas leaders whenever the opportunity arises. He noted that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was important because Haniyeh was viewed as a pragmatist and a moderate within Hamas.

“Hamas is going through a transition whether to come to grips with Israel’s existence. Hamas is debating a long-term ceasefire without recognition. Haniyeh was an important figure in that discussion, this was about killing a moderate as much as it was about killing a Hamas leader,” he said.

Dorsey stated that the key to decreasing tension is achieving a permanent end to the Gaza war. In the meantime, the focus is on how Hezbollah and Iran will respond. “Both need to be seen to respond to the killings of a senior Hezbollah military commander and Ismail Haniyeh but there has to be a very calibrated response because both of them have constraints,” he said.

Dorsey pointed out that Iran set a deterrent benchmark in April, which clearly did not work as Israel operated in Tehran this week. Consequently, Iran needs to set a higher benchmark but aims to avoid an all-out war. “Israeli actions have put Hezbollah and Iran in a difficult bind,” he added.

There is one school of thought that Benjamin Netanyahu now has two major victories: the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the Israeli claim that they have killed Mohammed Deif, the military commander of Hamas. However, this has yet to be confirmed by Hamas’s military wing.

“On the back of that Netanyahu could be more flexible in the ceasefire negotiations. Netanyahu’s far-right partners are vehemently opposed to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and want a very aggressive policy towards Lebanon. Parliament or no parliament, his far-right partners can walk out of government anytime,” said Dorsey.

Dorsey mentioned that Netanyahu has seen a significant boost in public opinion polls over the last week: The attacks in Lebanon and Iran, along with the killing of senior officials, have enhanced his popularity, which may reduce his inclination to become more flexible.

“As counterintuitive as this may sound, historically the far-right was intellectually one of the most honest forces between Israel and Palestine, they recognised Palestinian rights but what they did not recognise was that there was room in historic Palestine for both of their aspirations, and in their case it had to obviously be the Zionist movement and juxtapose that with what the far-right represented in Netanyahu’s cabinet is today, it is racist, supremacist and refuses to recognise Palestinians not only as an entity but as human beings and therefore in many ways it is totally intellectually dishonest and makes any conversation very difficult,” said Dorsey.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Habib Bobat and Dr James M. Dorsey, here. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist, scholar, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. He is the author of ‘The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer’.