THE FIRES STILL BURNING

From Golan Heights to the West Bank, the conflicts across Israel's borders have acquired lives of their own. THE WEEK travels across the fault lines of a war that refuses to end

- BY NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

Who wants to end the US-Iran war?

The popular belief is that the ball is in US President Donald Trump's court. There is endless debate on whether Trump can break the deadlock with Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who continues to play hardball. Washington wants Tehran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, severely restrict its enrichment activities, and curb its ballistic missile programme as part of a lasting agreement. Iran has resisted, leaving the prospects of a breakthrough uncertain.

With continued disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the economic cost of the war is adding urgency to the negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has even signalled flexibility by proposing a phased framework sans a rigid deadline.

Yet there remains a fundamental flaw in the Trump plan to bring peace. Like most protracted conflicts, the US-Iran confrontation has ignited smaller fires along the borders of West Asian states already struggling to retain territory, preserve demographic balances, and maintain political stability. These tensions have intensified since Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The problem is twofold. First, the two countries seemingly fighting Iran together—the US and Israel—are no longer on the same page, even if Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seem personally aligned. Political leaders can only partially control the institutions they command; history is replete with examples of militaries becoming more demanding than their civilian rulers.

In Israel's case, the war has reinforced a long-running battle on its northern frontier, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), backed by broad public support, remain locked in a war of attrition with Iranian-backed proxies led by Hezbollah in Lebanon—lighting the most volatile of the region's fires, one largely immune to diplomatic intervention.