Moderates must speak out to save us from disaster

‘Extremism is casting its shadow over our societies’

- Leo McKinstry

AS September ended, Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, declared that "the Middle East is quieter today that it has been in decades." It was a statement of spectacular complacency. Just days later, the terrorists of Hamas, whose brutal but incompetent regime has controlled Gaza since 2006, launched its murderous assault on Israel.

Faced with this lethal challenge, the government of Tel Aviv has had little alternative but to prepare for the destruction of the Hamas killing machine, which will require not only sustained air strikes but also an Israeli land invasion.

Added to Israel's burden is the uncompromising antipathy of its neighbours in the region, which both leaves the Jewish state badly isolated and could result in an apocalyptic escalation in the conflict.

The theocracy of Iran, which is confronted by economic crisis and mass human rights protests at home, sees a clash with Israel as a way of uniting the country.

In addition to bankrolling Hamas as a proxy force, Iran has built up Hezbollah in Lebanon as another Islamist terror organisation with 60,000 troops and 150,000 rockets.