On Nov. 10, Saudi Arabia hosted a gathering of 57 Arab and Muslim leaders to address the Hamas–Israel situation. The conflict’s intensity has sparked controversy, leading some Muslim-majority nations to distance themselves from their Western allies. Interestingly, it has also prompted a temporary suspension of longstanding disputes between certain Muslim countries.
Turkey, a NATO member, participated and aligned with the group’s condemnation of Israel, indirectly implicating the United States. In a historic meeting, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, marking a significant moment for two countries that have been engaged in proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.
The diplomatic collaboration between Iran and Saudi Arabia is seen as a win for China, which brokered the peace deal between the two nations. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in his remarks, took a direct swipe at the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, criticizing normalization agreements with Israel.
The forum will demand that the U.N. Security Council immediately end the fighting. The council’s 15 member countries include five permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the United States) and 10 nonpermanent members elected for two-year terms by the U.N. General Assembly. The nonpermanent members include Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Although several of those countries may vote in favor of a U.N. intervention in Gaza, the United States could use its veto to prevent it.
Egyptian army soldiers stand guard ahead of a press conference by the U.N. secretary-general on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 20, 2023. (Ali Moustafa/AFP via Getty Images)
Qatar is reportedly in talks with Hamas to secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages. The negotiations come amid Qatar’s longstanding ties with Hamas, whose political leaders operate from Doha. Representatives from Hamas frequently appear on Qatar’s state-run satellite TV network Al Jazeera. However, Qatar’s close relationship with Hamas previously led to a blockade imposed by four Arab countries—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain. This blockade persisted from 2017 until 2021. The Hamas–Israel conflict, however, has upset previous relationships and enmities, galvanizing the Islamic world against Israel and, by extrapolation, against the United States.
Mr. Raisi praised Hamas for attacking Israel and asked the attending nations to impose sanctions on Israel. Additionally, he lashed out at Washington for providing military assistance to Israel. Apart from backing Hamas in Gaza, Iran is the patron of Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim terrorist organization in Lebanon, which has been launching daily drone and missile attacks on Israel. In response, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened the same type of response on Lebanon as Israel is currently unleashing on Gaza. At the same time, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another recipient of Iranian support, have also been attacking Israel.
Both China and Russia have seized the opportunity to criticize what they perceive as U.S. diplomatic shortcomings in the region. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has emphasized that Washington may struggle to handle multiple conflicts simultaneously, pointing to the situations in Ukraine and Taiwan and the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict as additional strains on U.S. resources. Therefore, he may begin testing U.S. resolve with increased aggressive actions in the South China Sea directed at Taiwan, the Philippines, or other U.S. allies.
China has forged closer ties with Iran in recent years and is likely to use its connections with Iran and Russia to position itself as a mediator in the conflict. However, Mr. Xi’s proposed solutions, including a ceasefire and a two-state resolution, will never be accepted by Israel.
The conflict may result in an escalation of terrorist activity. Neither China nor Russia has applied pressure on Iran to halt its support for regional terrorism. This lack of intervention suggests that attacks by groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthi militias on U.S. and Israeli targets may persist and potentially intensify.
While escalation is a concern, it’s unlikely that Russia or China will directly involve themselves in the conflict. Both nations have little to gain from a significant escalation that might draw the United States into active combat. Consequently, China may continue positioning itself as a sensible alternative to American influence. Meanwhile, as terrorist attacks on U.S. targets persist and Israel remains in conflict, the United States could find itself increasingly entangled in the situation. Simultaneously, China’s communist regime may seek to assert its leadership by forming a coalition of countries from the Global South that oppose Israel.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Antonio Graceffo, PhD, is a China economic analyst who has spent more than 20 years in Asia. Mr. Graceffo is a graduate of the Shanghai University of Sport, holds a China-MBA from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and currently studies national defense at American Military University. He is the author of “Beyond the Belt and Road: China’s Global Economic Expansion” (2019).
