Netanyahu’s Plan for “A New Middle East” 

Either the Resistance Axis and the Global South decolonize the Middle East, or “Israel” and the US will continue occupying the region, choking off the New Silk Road, plundering Syria’s oil, and keeping Russian, Iranian, and Arab gas cut off from the world market.

Two weeks before Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, Netanyahu went to the United Nations General Assembly, held up a map, and declared his plan for a “New Middle East”: an economic corridor, stretching from India to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, “Israel”, and finally to Europe. This is one of the main geopolitical reasons behind “Israel’s” massacre in Gaza.

[Link to graphic: www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/india-middle-east-europe-corridor]

The United States, “Israel’s” main backer, is desperate for a way to try and contain BRICS, and more specifically, to counter China’s New Silk Road. Building a rival corridor would hit two birds with one stone: contain China, Iran, and Syria and help “Israel” and the United States maintain economic and political dominance against a multipolar world.

It was a rough year for Washington and “Tel Aviv” as sanctions against Russia failed miserably. Saudi Arabia made peace with Iran and Syria and held talks with Yemen – countries the US and “Israel” have tried isolating for years. After seeing the US steal $300bln from Russia’s Central Bank, not only did the Dollar’s relevance begin to recede, but dozens of countries applied to join BRICS, the group of emerging economic giants, with its membership doubling from 5 to 11 members, to include Iran.

The ancient Silk Road was the most important trade route in human history, stretching all the way from China to Syria and into the Mediterranean Sea. China and 150 other countries understand its importance and seek to revive it. It is the future of world economics and politics.

In the weeks leading up to Netanyahu’s announcement, Iran and Iraq signed a railway deal, and President al-Assad of Syria visited China to sign a strategic partnership with the world’s largest economy. This is pivotal. Not only has the West failed in isolating these countries, but now the New Silk Road has expanded its rail infrastructure and obtained access to the Mediterranean Sea through Syria’s Latakia port; crucial goals for land and maritime trade.

As important as these developments are, they are just one aspect. You then have the gas.

Cutting Off Russian Gas to Europe

When the United States instigated the Maidan Coup in Ukraine in 2014, it wasn’t just about NATO expansion and encirclement of Russia. It was also about surrounding, controlling, and cutting off Russian gas to Europe. Russia is the country with the largest proven reserves of natural gas. Control Ukraine and you control the pipelines that supply Russian gas to Europe.

There was, however, another major route for Russian gas into Europe, but from the north: the Nordstream pipelines. For decades, US politicians from every administration have said repeatedly how much they dislike the Nord Stream pipelines. In 2022, before the war in Ukraine exploded, Biden delivered an ominous threat that he would “bring an end” to Nordstream – despite the pipeline being a Russian-German project, and the German Chancellor Scholz standing next to him, silently.

Then, all of a sudden, Nord Stream 1 and 2 were conveniently blown up in 2022. This remains, without question, one of the largest, most egregious terrorist attacks on European infrastructure in modern history. Only three countries in the world can pull off such an operation: Russia, Britain, and the United States – and it certainly wasn’t Russia, who owns the pipeline and had already turned the gas off anyway.

This attack, in addition to sanctions banning Russian oil and gas, made sure that no more Russian gas could flow to Europe. And just like that, the United States achieved a longstanding foreign policy objective: keep the Russians out and the Germans down.

Next Objective: Iranian Gas and Oil

The only other country with enormous gas reserves – the second largest in the world – is Iran. The Iran Nuclear Deal was signed in 2015. Iran complied in every way, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) couldn’t be happier. However, the United States went back on its word, reimposed sanctions on Iran, and violated the agreement. This effectively barred Iran from selling oil and gas to Europe and others.

Now with both Russia and Iran out of the picture, “Israel” suddenly proposes itself as a solution to the European Union’s gas shortages, signing a gas deal with the bloc in June 2022.

The Leviathan Gas Field

A geological survey conducted in 2010 found a monstrous gas field in the Middle East: the Leviathan, located in the Levantine Basin, off the coast of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.

Ultimately, Syria would not allow Western corporations to extract its gas, nor would Qatar’s ambitious oil pipeline, meant to pass through Syria, ever materialize. Coincidentally, soon after, war broke out in Syria, with Qatar and “Israel” being two of many parties funding terrorist groups to try and overthrow Damascus.

Today, the United States, who also worked to inflict harm on Syria, controls all of Syria’s oil fields, and “Israel” has bombed Syria’s most vital port, Latakia, several times. All this was done to cut off oil revenue and cripple maritime activity, including gas exploration.

‘Israel’ Putting Rival Ports Out of Action

Another major port on the Levantine coast is the Beirut Port, which mysteriously exploded in 2020. Then “Israel” showed up in 2022 with an enormous vessel to try and extract gas from the Karish gas fields in Lebanon, reigniting a dispute about maritime borders with Lebanon. Only after Hezbollah threatened to fire on the ships did “Israel” back off and get the US to settle the issue on its behalf.

Gaza, a coastal enclave, also with its own unexplored gas fields, has been under an Israeli and Egyptian naval blockade since 2007. The siege and numerous wars “Israel” launched against Gaza make sure that Palestinians can’t even fish properly, let alone extract gas. So now, with all the Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian ports out of action, the only working port left on the coast is the port in Haifa, controlled by “Israel”.

This makes “Israel” the only one able to extract gas and implement an economic corridor. In other words, “Israel” and the United States killed off all the competition (Iran, Russia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine) stole their goods, and cornered the market.

Lo and behold, while “Israel” was bombing Gaza, on October 29, it handed out 12 licenses to companies to begin gas extraction in the Leviathan basin in the Mediterranean Sea.

No Stability in the Region Without Solving the Palestinian Question

As winter approaches, “Israel” desperately needs to deliver on its promise of gas to Europe. And the United States is growing desperate as BRICS and China’s Belt and Road Initiative grow ever more popular. However, there can be no stability in the region without solving the Palestinian question.

When Netanyahu announced his plan at the UN, the Israelis thought it was a done deal by getting Saudi Arabia to normalize ties, and thereby extinguishing the Palestinian issue once and for all. But it isn’t over, and the Palestinians aren’t going anywhere.

This explains why “Israel” is slaughtering Palestinians in such a hysterical, maniacal fashion. “Israel” occupied and attacked Gaza many times before, but the current level of violence surpasses anything we’ve ever seen. “Israel” is trying to kill as many Palestinians as it can in Gaza and scare the rest into abandoning their homes and going to Egypt. A recently leaked document from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence confirms that “Israel” is trying to ethnically cleanse Gaza by pushing Palestinians into the Sinai Desert. The United States even offered to wipe Egypt’s national debt, in exchange for allowing Palestinians to live in make-shift tents in the desert; an insulting and outrageous proposal.

This is genocide and ethnic cleansing without question. Hundreds of lawyers are currently trying to prosecute “Israel” at the International Criminal Court for what it is doing in Gaza – a sight reminiscent of the Nakba in 1948.

Yes, Zionism is anti-Semitic and racist, but there are also huge economic and geopolitical implications behind “Israel” and the United States’ genocide in Gaza.

When Hamas and the collective Resistance found out about Netanyahu’s plan for a “New Middle East” and Saudi Arabia’s wishes to normalize ties with “Israel”, they understood that this would destroy any hope of a Palestinian state. It forced their hand and they understood they must act immediately, or Palestine would be lost forever.

For the Palestinians, it is a matter of life and death. To be or not to be. Either the Resistance Axis and the Global South decolonize the Middle East, or “Israel” and the United States will continue occupying the region, choking off the New Silk Road, plundering Syria’s oil, and keeping Russian, Iranian, and Arab gas cut off from the world market.

This is a decisive moment – and not just for Palestine – for the vanquishers will draw the new map of the world to come.

The original source of this article is Al Mayadeen English. Copyright © Richard Medhurst, Al Mayadeen English, 2023. Courtesy

https://www.globalresearch.ca/hidden-reasons-behind-war-gaza/5842066