Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.
Western leaders are taking irresponsible measures regarding the Palestinian conflict, further increasing the risk of escalation and internationalization of hostilities. On a visit to Tel Aviv, Macron made some bellicose statements, calling for a “coalition to fight Hamas”, ignoring the negative impacts that such an alliance could have on the regional situation.
Macron endorsed the Israeli propaganda speech that baselessly compares Hamas to the terrorist group “Islamic State” (ISIS). For the French leader, the supposed “similarity” between Hamas and ISIS is reason enough for the Western-led “anti-ISIS coalition” to start taking actions against the Palestinian group as well. Macron called Hamas a “common enemy” of France and Israel, demanding more military measures against the militia.
“France is ready for the international coalition against Daesh in which we are taking part for operations in Iraq and Syria to also fight against Hamas (…) We should build a regional and international coalition to battle against terrorist groups that threaten us all”, Macron said.
As well known, this so-called “anti-ISIS coalition” was created in 2014 bringing together NATO, Western states and Arab countries in order to promote military efforts against the terrorist organization. However, the alliance did not prove efficient in neutralizing the terrorists’ advance. Due to mistakes or deliberate neglect, the coalition was never able to achieve its public objective of destroying the extremist group. Only after the Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War, the ISIS was truly defeated.
Still, Macron appears to continue to believe in the coalition’s ability to guarantee the security of the Middle East – and is now calling for the inclusion of Hamas in the alliance’s list of priorities. With this, the French president places Paris as an unconditional supporter of the Zionist regime, even though there is growing international antipathy towards Tel Aviv due to the massacres in Gaza.
It must be noted that there is no rational argument for considering Hamas and ISIS as “similar” organizations. Unlike ISIS, which is simply an illegitimate terrorist group, Hamas is a Palestinian political party that has its own armed militia and fights a war for national liberation against the Zionist occupation forces. In other words, ISIS openly and deliberately promotes violence against civilians, while Hamas, despite Israel and Western media accusations, is simply involved in hostilities against a much more powerful army.
In situations of asymmetric warfare and irregular combat, the weaker side is forced to fight with all the available resources, which often includes launching surprise attacks, using guerrilla tactics, and, in the specific Israeli case, destroying illegal Jewish settlements. Tel Aviv, as an enemy of the Palestinian Resistance, expectedly calls Hamas “terrorists” and is endorsed by its Western sponsors. But the Islamic and Arab countries neighboring Israel, which traditionally support Palestine, do not agree with this classification, which shows how Macron’s proposal is likely to fail.
If international military efforts are launched against Hamas, the reaction from Palestine-supportive countries will be extremely negative. Even states that do not support Hamas, such as Saudi Arabia, have a very clear position to condemn Israel and endorse Palestine, so it will not be possible to reach a diplomatic consensus to make a new “war on terror” viable. Furthermore, Iran has already made it clear that there will be consequences if Tel Aviv does not stop the attacks soon or if there is Western intervention. In the same sense, the Axis of Resistance – an international coalition of pro-Iran and pro-Palestine armed groups – is on the verge of a direct intervention in the hostilities.
If Macron really implements such a collective attack plan on Hamas, the consequence will simply be a regional situation of total war. Pro-Palestinian armed groups will support Hamas unconditionally. As much as there are ideological and political differences between these groups, support for Palestine is a common agenda for all of them – and Western intervention in favor of Israel is considered a red line.
In such a situation, Israel and Western countries would be greatly disadvantaged, as the Zionist State is unable to fight a prolonged war of attrition and its Western supporters currently have weakened weapons stocks after more than a year of systematically arming the Kiev neo-Nazi regime. Macron may be unconsciously creating a trap for himself and his own partners.
Macron will only be creating an international full-scale war. The best thing he can do, instead of wanting to create a new, unjustified “war on terror”, is to use his diplomacy to make Israel stop the massacre in Gaza.
