Diminishing returns Israel lost its 'good guy' name in Gaza. Now it wants it back

There are two ways of looking at events in the Middle East over the past year and a half.

- Nesrine Malik

One is that the response to 7 October 2023 was a break from the past. The attack by Hamas triggered an Israeli response so vengeful that it has been impossible to fit within the boundaries set by international laws or contain geographically - the genocide in Gaza, the invasion of southern Lebanon, the occupation of the buffer zone in south-western Syria and airstrikes across that country, and now its attacks against Iran.

Then there is the explanation that these events are part of a historical continuum. Regional peace was the result of a volatile status quo. This fine balance has been tipped by an Israeli government that is now fixated on pursuing its own agenda, singlehandedly rewriting the future of the region in ways that it is unable to explain and unwilling to control.

One of the elements of this brittle peace was the presence of the Gulf powers as mediators. These countries now find themselves caught between two feuding sides and at risk of alienating Israel's main ally, the US.

The status quo also relied on suppressing Palestinian rights to a degree that everyone was happy with; except the Palestinians, of course. In a sense, the Palestinian problem had also been neutralised. When the assault on Gaza began, it exposed Israel's intentions to the world.

Once Iran and its proxies entered the frame, and Israel felt empowered to act, there was no going back.