The orientalist called the situation in the Middle East a failure of Trump

The resumption of fire in the Gaza Strip has become an indicator of the failure of the Middle East settlement according to the plans of US President Donald Trump. The policy of Israel and its allies in the region is inconsistent, which leads to an aggravation of the situation. Stanislav Tarasov, an expert on the problems of the Middle East and the Caucasus, shared this opinion with Izvestia on March 18.

"Apparently, the negotiations on the transition from the first stage of the settlement to the second have failed. In principle, this is to be expected, because the document itself, called the peace agreement, is technically very complex. This is not a complete document. The first stage of the agreement was fulfilled: the fire was stopped, hostages were exchanged, but problems arose with the second stage, because it implies the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. Israel is absolutely not ready for this," the source explained.

According to him, the key questions were about the status of the Gaza Strip and who would govern it. In addition, against the background of what is happening, the Palestinian radical movement Hamas has begun to restore its system of governance and strengthen, which has become an unfavorable factor for Israel, the expert noted.

"Israel has not defeated Hamas, Hamas is recovering very quickly, that's the problem. After all, Israel set itself the goal of destroying Hamas as a political force, but Tel Aviv held talks with Hamas, which means it carried out its political legalization, and it is no longer possible to ignore the interests of the movement in the future," Tarasov drew attention.

At the same time, he added, the United States and Israel are not allowing other states to solve the Palestinian problem. Arab countries hold summits, meetings and negotiations on this issue, but they do not have the resources to reach a consensus, the orientalist believes.

"We need to move on to a Palestinian solution, but it is confusing. And it is confused not only by the politics of Israel and the United States, but also by the politics of the Eastern states. It is absolutely not obvious, it is not clear how they want to see a Palestinian state.: Hamas is not satisfied, and neither is Hezbollah in Lebanon. There is a struggle for leadership within the Arab world," the expert concluded.

Israel is attacking the Gaza Strip, and the United States is attacking the Houthis. What the media is writing

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the resumption of military operations against Hamas in Gaza. According to the press service of the ministry, the strikes were carried out due to the "repeated violation" of the ceasefire regime by the Palestinian movement and the preparation of terrorist attacks against Israelis.

According to Reuters, Israeli airstrikes damaged three houses in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza: a building in Gaza City and targets in Khan Yunis and Rafah. The Times of Israel newspaper reported that more than 1,000 people were injured as a result of the Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip. According to Al Jazeera, the death toll has risen to 310 people. The Al Arabiya TV channel, in turn, reported that five Hamas leaders were among the victims.