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The United States government recently claimed that there is an “elevated risk” of the recent Israel vs. Hamas conflict turning into a regional conflict. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made this announcement during an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation on October 29, 2023.
Sullivan also declared that the US government will respond to any attacks on its military units by Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq.
“If they’re attacked again, we will respond again,” Sullivan stated.
“And we are vigilant, because we are seeing elevated threats against our forces throughout the region and an elevated risk of this conflict spreading to other parts of the region,” he added.
Sullivan stressed the need for Israel to take measures that preserve the lives of innocent civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced that Israel is entering the “second stage” of its military operation to destroy Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
The US national security adviser also accused Hamas of using Palestinians in Gaza as human shields. Nevertheless, Sullivan stressed the importance of Israel not taking measures that increase civilian casualties.
The US government supports the push for “humanitarian pauses” that could facilitate the release of hostages held by Hamas, the exit of Palestinians who want to flee Gaza, and the deployment of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Sullivan noted. “We will continue to work toward that end,” he stated.
Sullivan noted that Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman’s visit to Washington, DC on October 30 will be an opportunity to “dive deep not just on what’s happening today, but on what tomorrow could bring.”
The US national security advisor stressed that Arab nations, which includes Saudi Arabia, have an obligation to play their part in creating a “political horizon” for Palestinians, which includes a two-state solution with Israel and their right “to live in safety, dignity and equality.”
Hamas has received funding and military aid from Iran, which many interventionists in DC allege helped train Hamas militants to be able to carry out the October 7 attack against Israel. The growing tensions could potentially be used as a pretext by neocons to launch attacks not only against Iranian-backed proxy groups but also Iran itself.
Such attacks could provoke a major regional conflict that could draw in not only other Muslim countries, but also Eurasian powers such as China and Russia, both Iranian allies. Should Iran be directly attacked by the US and Israel, Iran could find itself being armed to the teeth by the aforementioned Eurasian powers in an effort to draw the US into a massive military quagmire.
Nothing is set in stone in geopolitics, though. The US can still avoid this disastrous fate if it exercises restraint by fully extricating itself from Israel and focusing more on its own domestic affairs. This is the America First approach to handling this crisis.
