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Middle East conflict

Israel-Palestine escalation testament to failure of US policy — expert

Stephen Walt stressed that the US has long defended Israel's position in the conflict, contrary to statements about wanting to find a solution that would suit both sides

WASHINGTON, October 9. /TASS/. The latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows that the US’ policy in the Middle East has failed, said columnist for Foreign Policy and Harvard University professor Stephen Walt.

"This latest tragedy confirms the bankruptcy of US policy toward the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the columnist wrote.

He stressed that the US has long defended Israel's position in the conflict, contrary to statements about wanting to find a solution that would suit both sides. In his opinion, "instead of acting as an evenhanded mediator and exploiting the enormous leverage at their disposal," the United States authorities "turned a blind eye" to Israel's "decades-long effort to gobble up the lands supposedly reserved for a future Palestinian state."

Walt notes that the US is trying to "studiously ignore the broader context in which this is occurring," including the fact that the Palestinian side's actions are a "violent response to the conditions that Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere have faced for decades." "If US politicians from both parties were less craven, they would rightly condemn Hamas’s actions and at the same time denounce the cruel and illegal acts that Israel routinely inflicts on its Palestinian subjects," Walt believes.

He said a return to the status quo and the start of negotiations with the participation of the United States and other countries could resolve the conflict, but that will not happen because it has been some time since either side has taken any "smart or farsighted" steps. "Israel will go to great lengths to deny Hamas even the appearance of a tactical success, and it may even try to expel Hamas from Gaza once and for all. The U.S. government will stand firmly behind whatever Israel decides to do. Voices calling for moderation will be ignored, and the cycle of vengeance, suffering, and injustice will continue," the specialist added.

Israel came under missile attack from the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7. According to the latest data, about 500 Palestinians have been killed in this latest outbreak of tensions, and another 2,700 have been wounded. More than 800 people have been killed and over 2,500 wounded in Israel, according to the country's authorities. Hamas militants have taken hostages, including citizens of several different countries.

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