In an interview to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, which has now continued for 110 days, one of India’s foremost experts on West Asia suggests that there is a danger that the war could spread to Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq as missiles are fired by Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran-supported factions in Syria and Iraq. Talmiz Ahmad says: “There’s a possibility of the region sleepwalking into a larger conflict. That is a danger.”
In a 35-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Ahmad, who has twice served as India’s ambassador in Saudi Arabia as well as Oman and the UAE, accused “American cowardice” of being “directly responsible for thousands of Palestinian deaths in Gaza”. This is because America has vetoed UNSC resolutions calling for a ceasefire and refuses to put pressure on Israel to end the war.
He said “Israel runs US policy in West Asia,” adding “the US will never turn its back on Israel”. He said, “I cannot recall a single instance in the last 30 years when America has made Israel do something it did not want to do.”
At one point in the interview, Ahmad, while referring to US President Joe Biden’s stand on the Israel-Hamas war, called him “pathetic”.
Speaking about the European Union and other European countries, in the wake of the British defence secretary calling Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stand on a two-state solution “very disappointing”, Spain’s call for a peace conference, and the European Union Foreign Policy Chief questioning whether Israel wants to kill all Palestinians, Ahmad said: “Israel has supreme contempt for the EU”.
He dismissed claims made by Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant that the intensive phase of the ground offensive in northern Gaza has ended. “That has not happened,” he said. He added that 175 people were killed in Gaza.
