by Andrew Pena
Over a year since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023, the conflict in the Middle East has only increased in intensity.
At about 6:45 PM (EST) on Friday, Oct. 25, Israel launched an attack on Iran which struck Tehran (Iran’s capital) that lasted for over three hours in which groups of jets and drones targeted Iranian military bases.
After the attack, Israel openly announced the attack on Iran which marks the first time in 40 years that Israel has directly acknowledged that they have launched an attack on Iran. For decades Israel has been fighting Iran using indirect methods such as assassinating influential Iranian political figures behind the scenes; the acknowledgement of this attack may possibly mark the beginning of an increase in the intensity of the conflicts in the Middle East.
Israel is already openly at war with Palestine and is launching military operations in Lebanon so a third opponent for Israel to engage in active combat with may strain its resources.
Initially, the Iranian government downplayed the magnitude of the attack but has now begun to acknowledge the severity of the attack. Iran has declared that many military bases were damaged and four soldiers were killed.
Iran has been pressured to take action against Israel soon due to Israel’s Friday night (Nov. 1) attack on Lebanon, an ally of Iran, which is claimed to have killed at least 54.
In response to the attack, the Iranian government has declared that they will retaliate with as much force as possible to get revenge on Israel for the attack on the 25th.
President Joe Biden, in an official statement, pleaded to all of the countries involved in the conflict to immediately stop the conflict in an attempt to lessen the amount of innocent lives harmed and lost in the conflict.
If this conflict worsens, foreign powers may take action against either side, which may further escalate the situation.
So how does this affect the United States?
The general population is going to expect politicians to give their opinions on the wars taking place in the Middle East. The United States is allied with Israel and if the government of the United States chooses to maintain their alliance with Israel then American troops may be deployed in the Middle East en masse since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Columbus AP United States History teacher, Javier Hermida, highlights another concern if this conflict escalates any further. “If the U.S. gets involved in any way then Russia may respond or get involved in the conflict.”
The United States has had a poor relationship with Russia since the end of the Second World War. The conflict with the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the United States became the Cold War which lasted around 45 years. Even after the end of the Cold War, the relationship between Russia and the United States has not gotten much better.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for almost three years now. After the declaration of war, the relationship between the United States and Russia has soured since the United States gave aid to Ukraine. If the United States were to help Israel by going to war with Iran, Palestine, and Lebanon; Russia may take action and offer help to Iran and its allies.
If both the United States and Russia are on conflicting sides of a major conflict like the war in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine the conflict may become more than just a territorial war in the Middle East.
However according to Reuters, "Palestinians, locked in war with Israel for more than a year, expressed fear at Donald Trump's return to the White House, while the leaders of the militant group Hamas and the Palestinian Authority urged him to act for peace."
With Donald Trump winning the 2024 election, time will tell what other effects this will have on Middle East unrest.
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