OPINION
By: Musa Bassadi Jawara
The IDF continues relentless aerial bombardment of Gaza as Hamas’ brutal assault in Israel laid bare. The scale and scope of Hamas’ surprise attack is being uncovered and it’s gruesome and
horrific. Aggression must be condemned in all its ugly forms from all sides of the conflict.
I am afraid this conflict will not be localized within Israel and Gaza borders as fighting rages on. Prime Minister Netanyahu is under pressure to unleash the wrath of Israel’s military might that has not been seen since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Already, the IDF is massing troops for ground invasion of Gaza which will be horrific and cataclysmic in nature. Israel must consider the plight of the vulnerable population of Gaza and exercise restraint. This is a humanitarian nightmare, and it compounds the suffering and misery the Palestinian people endured for decades. Strangulation of Gaza must cease immediately, Palestinian people are being slaughtered from indiscriminate aerial bombardments of IDF Air Force jets!
This is not hyperbole: World War III is about to start, and it’ll be brutal in apocalyptic proportions!
From geopolitical and military stand points, there’s every indication this conflict will morph into a regional war with catastrophic consequences. The aircraft carrier Gerald Ford is being moved to the eastern Mediterranean as part of U.S. response to Hamas’ attacks on Israel. Gerald Ford is the newest US aircraft carrier, the world’s largest with more than 5,000 sailors. The Ford has a nuclear reactor that can hold more than 75 military aircraft, including fighter aircraft. As if the Gerald Ford has not conveyed the message in grandiloquent terms to Israel’s foes in the region, the Pentagon is sending USS Dwight Eisenhower carrier as well. Eisenhower is a nuclear-powered carrier. Washington is flexing its muscle in the form of naval sabre-rattling, a move directed at Iran for all intent and purposes.
The Ukraine-Russia war complicates the Middle East conflict this time. The Kremlin’s military campaign in Ukraine is a disaster with catastrophic Russian casualties. Russia blames the U.S. and NATO for a proxy war against it. If the Israeli-Hamas War degenerates into a wider regional conflict, principally Iran, Russia’s “sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander” moment will be a kiss of the beloved. A payback time for the NATO military alliance; Russia needs fresh oxygen to breathe after the suffocating war in Ukraine.
The world is facing very perilous times. The coming days and weeks will be a huge challenge to the global economy and security.
PS// HAMAS IS JUST A TINY FRACTION OF GAZA POPULATION & MAJORITY HAVE ABSCONDED THE TERRITORY & FLED AFTER THE TERROR ATTACKS IN ISRAEL. THIS MUST WEIGH HEAVILY IN IDF’S MILITARY STRATEGY & AVOID CIVILIAN CASUALTIES BY EXERCISING MAXIMUM RESTRAINT!
