Will Gaza change the region's fortunes?

The Gaza war changed the face of the region, eliminated most of Hezbollah’s power and leadership, led to the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and ended the dream of Iranian expansion and the Tehran regime’s dominance over the eastern Arab world. We are also facing a new and real opportunity to move towards regional peace projects and an end to major threats and wars.

All eyes are on Iran, which is still in a state of shock from the major events that have befallen it and are still facing. What it built in forty years and obtained by force, from lands, influence and agents, has evaporated in the past year. Today, Iran is in a phase of review reflected in the frank discussions in its media, and it must be discussing it more deeply behind closed doors, about: What should it do tomorrow? It has only two paths, the first is to deal with the new reality by approaching it peacefully, and engaging with the Arab countries to support the Palestinians in the peace project. Iran’s entry will increase the weight of the Palestinian balance and help its people achieve their ambitions without the need for blood, destruction and billions that were lost in the name of Palestine, of which it has not recovered a single inch.

The second way is to rebuild its military capabilities and ignite the region with wars to reclaim Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. This scenario will be costly for it and this time Tehran will not find any support from its people who are at the heart of further tightening of economic sanctions that US President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are threatening them with, and the very existence of the regime will be in danger.

Faced with the new situation, we must think realistically. This year has started positively. There is a new regime in Lebanon, a different leadership in Syria, Hamas will become part of the unified Palestinian Authority, and there are indications that Iraq is seeking to restrict the militias if it is not possible to get rid of them.

Changes have cost a lot, as we have seen in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as in Syria over two bloody decades. Will the harvest come with a project that ends unrest, chaos and occupation and achieves regional consensus?

This was impossible before the Gaza war, today it is not impossible at all.

*Quoted from Asharq Al-Awsat