In the Middle East, a region perennially marked by intricate geopolitics and simmering tensions, recent events had hinted at a glimmer of hope for stability.
Efforts appeared to succeed in mending relations between historical adversaries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and negotiations for the normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel were also in progress.
Yet, this fragile détente was abruptly shattered on the morning of October 7, 2023. Backed by a relentless barrage of rockets, Hamas militants launched an audacious assault from the blockaded Gaza Strip into Israeli towns nearby. This attack, carried out during a major Jewish holiday, resulted in the tragic loss of hundreds of Israeli civilian lives and the capture of more than 100 hostages, leaving Israel and the world in shock. Israel swiftly responded with airstrikes on Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians and seemed certain to kill many more.
In the wake of the attack, some commentators were quick to draw parallels with the terrorist strikes on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. While the contexts and actors involved are not the same, there are significant parallels.
The most striking similarity lies in the element of surprise. Although the U.S. intelligence community predicted an assault on the U.S. homeland by al-Qaeda, it failed to anticipate the use of hijacked civilian airliners as suicide bombs. The Hamas assault on Israeli settlements during a major Jewish holiday also caught Israeli security authorities by surprise. The shock factor, the sense of vulnerability, and the disbelief that such an attack could occur were shared sentiments in both instances.
Another common thread is the presence of ideological extremism driving the violence. In the case of September 11, 2001, it was al-Qaeda’s radical interpretation of Islam that fueled the attacks on the “far enemy” – the U.S. homeland. Meanwhile, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict pits Hamas militants who harbor deeply entrenched ideological beliefs — including the goal of destroying Israel and liberating all of Palestine — against the Israeli government and population, who Hamas perceive as fundamentally racist against Muslims and anti-Palestinian.
Both ideologies employ apocalyptic rhetoric. In the aftermath of 9/11, some extremist groups celebrated the attacks as a precursor to a cataclysmic showdown between Islam and the West, while others framed it as a modern-day crusade.In the Middle East, messianic and apocalyptic narratives are common. These narratives can make negotiations and finding common ground extremely challenging, as any compromise may be perceived as a betrayal of an ideological and religious mission.
The current Gaza war, like the 9/11 attacks, is likely to have global ramifications. The latter attacks had far-reaching consequences for international security, leading to the Global War on Terrorism, the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the reshaping of U.S. foreign policy for years. Similarly, the Hamas attack and the Israeli response have the potential to escalate regional tensions and draw in external actors, affecting the entire international community.
Just as al-Qaeda developed in part as a result of a U.S. and Saudi-backed war by jihadis against Soviet control of Afghanistan, so the Hamas attack is a manifestation of intricate power struggles in the Middle East. The involvement of various actors, including Iran, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, opens possibilities for mediation or further escalation.
In the short term, overwhelming sympathy has been expressed toward Israel. A devastating massacre of Israelis occurred along a single road, leaving a trail of devastation as young people fled a concert in the desert. Other videos show Hamas militants capturing Israeli soldiers and insulting them.
These gruesome pictures will soon be replaced by videos of dead Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Hamas has named its operation the ‘Al-Aqsa Storm,’ alluding to a perceived Muslim fury against the right-wing Israeli government’s decision to allow Jewish fundamentalists to enter Islam’s third holiest site. They believe these fundamentalists want to dismantle the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuild a Jewish temple on the land that Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary, and that Jews call the Temple Mount.
The fight over Al-Aqsa has ignited eschatological sensitivities among Muslims, encompassing both Sunnis like Hamas and the majority of Palestinians, as well as Shi’ites like Iranians who also hold apocalyptic beliefs in a final battle at the end of the world.
These ideological narratives propagate hatred, providing a justification for the tragic events in the minds of both Muslims and Jews. Hardline governments on both sides seek to use these narratives to distract attention from numerous internal challenges.
In the short term, Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using the war with Hamas to rebuild ties to the Biden administration and other Western governments. However, Netanyahu is already receiving severe criticism in Israel for failing to anticipate the Hamas attacks and focusing instead on the agenda of members of his right-wing coalition to reduce the independence of the Israeli judiciary and expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s hope to promote stability in the Middle East by fostering Israeli-Saudi normalization also look to have been dashed.
In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, many Israel supporters are also blaming Iran, which has supported the group for decades with money, weapons, and training. The Iranian government of President Ebrahim Raisi had been trying to overcome regional isolation following mass protests after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini last year. As the repercussions of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement continue to reverberate within Iran’s political and social landscape, the Gaza war is likely to increase regional polarization and regime’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Iran.
Mohammad Mazhari is a political scientist who served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic MehrNews Agency (2013- 2020) and as a journalist at the Tehran Times (2020-2021).
Ideological and Religious Extremism Underlie the War Between Israel and Hamas
By Mohammad Mazhari
Middle East & North Africa
In the Middle East, a region perennially marked by intricate geopolitics and simmering tensions, recent events had hinted at a glimmer of hope for stability.
Efforts appeared to succeed in mending relations between historical adversaries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and negotiations for the normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel were also in progress.
Yet, this fragile détente was abruptly shattered on the morning of October 7, 2023. Backed by a relentless barrage of rockets, Hamas militants launched an audacious assault from the blockaded Gaza Strip into Israeli towns nearby. This attack, carried out during a major Jewish holiday, resulted in the tragic loss of hundreds of Israeli civilian lives and the capture of more than 100 hostages, leaving Israel and the world in shock. Israel swiftly responded with airstrikes on Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians and seemed certain to kill many more.
In the wake of the attack, some commentators were quick to draw parallels with the terrorist strikes on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. While the contexts and actors involved are not the same, there are significant parallels.
The most striking similarity lies in the element of surprise. Although the U.S. intelligence community predicted an assault on the U.S. homeland by al-Qaeda, it failed to anticipate the use of hijacked civilian airliners as suicide bombs. The Hamas assault on Israeli settlements during a major Jewish holiday also caught Israeli security authorities by surprise. The shock factor, the sense of vulnerability, and the disbelief that such an attack could occur were shared sentiments in both instances.
Another common thread is the presence of ideological extremism driving the violence. In the case of September 11, 2001, it was al-Qaeda’s radical interpretation of Islam that fueled the attacks on the “far enemy” – the U.S. homeland. Meanwhile, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict pits Hamas militants who harbor deeply entrenched ideological beliefs — including the goal of destroying Israel and liberating all of Palestine — against the Israeli government and population, who Hamas perceive as fundamentally racist against Muslims and anti-Palestinian.
Both ideologies employ apocalyptic rhetoric. In the aftermath of 9/11, some extremist groups celebrated the attacks as a precursor to a cataclysmic showdown between Islam and the West, while others framed it as a modern-day crusade.In the Middle East, messianic and apocalyptic narratives are common. These narratives can make negotiations and finding common ground extremely challenging, as any compromise may be perceived as a betrayal of an ideological and religious mission.
The current Gaza war, like the 9/11 attacks, is likely to have global ramifications. The latter attacks had far-reaching consequences for international security, leading to the Global War on Terrorism, the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the reshaping of U.S. foreign policy for years. Similarly, the Hamas attack and the Israeli response have the potential to escalate regional tensions and draw in external actors, affecting the entire international community.
Just as al-Qaeda developed in part as a result of a U.S. and Saudi-backed war by jihadis against Soviet control of Afghanistan, so the Hamas attack is a manifestation of intricate power struggles in the Middle East. The involvement of various actors, including Iran, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, opens possibilities for mediation or further escalation.
In the short term, overwhelming sympathy has been expressed toward Israel. A devastating massacre of Israelis occurred along a single road, leaving a trail of devastation as young people fled a concert in the desert. Other videos show Hamas militants capturing Israeli soldiers and insulting them.
These gruesome pictures will soon be replaced by videos of dead Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Hamas has named its operation the ‘Al-Aqsa Storm,’ alluding to a perceived Muslim fury against the right-wing Israeli government’s decision to allow Jewish fundamentalists to enter Islam’s third holiest site. They believe these fundamentalists want to dismantle the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuild a Jewish temple on the land that Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary, and that Jews call the Temple Mount.
The fight over Al-Aqsa has ignited eschatological sensitivities among Muslims, encompassing both Sunnis like Hamas and the majority of Palestinians, as well as Shi’ites like Iranians who also hold apocalyptic beliefs in a final battle at the end of the world.
These ideological narratives propagate hatred, providing a justification for the tragic events in the minds of both Muslims and Jews. Hardline governments on both sides seek to use these narratives to distract attention from numerous internal challenges.
In the short term, Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using the war with Hamas to rebuild ties to the Biden administration and other Western governments. However, Netanyahu is already receiving severe criticism in Israel for failing to anticipate the Hamas attacks and focusing instead on the agenda of members of his right-wing coalition to reduce the independence of the Israeli judiciary and expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s hope to promote stability in the Middle East by fostering Israeli-Saudi normalization also look to have been dashed.
In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, many Israel supporters are also blaming Iran, which has supported the group for decades with money, weapons, and training. The Iranian government of President Ebrahim Raisi had been trying to overcome regional isolation following mass protests after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini last year. As the repercussions of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement continue to reverberate within Iran’s political and social landscape, the Gaza war is likely to increase regional polarization and regime’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Iran.
Mohammad Mazhari is a political scientist who served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic MehrNews Agency (2013- 2020) and as a journalist at the Tehran Times (2020-2021).
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