February 28, 2025
By Nasser Kandil
• While the official Arab order, led by Riyadh and Cairo, awaited the end of the war following Al-Aqsa Flood in hopes that it would pave the way for Saudi Arabia’s envisioned equation – normalisation paired with a Palestinian state, Lebanon, under its pro-Washington presidential and governmental leadership, anticipated a firm Israeli stance against Israeli violations and expected a swift facilitation of reconstruction funding, accelerating discussions on the Resistance’s weapons. Meanwhile, Turkey, Qatar, and the new Syrian government awaited U.S. sponsorship to celebrate the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, backing the new leadership that had expelled Iran and Hezbollah from Syria. They hoped this would be achieved through restraining Israeli incursions and expediting the lifting of sanctions on Syria. Simultaneously, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah expected a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza to culminate in its takeover of Gaza’s administration as a “practical solution”. Then came Washington’s new position, met with enthusiastic Israeli applause, delivering a shock to the Arab, Lebanese, Turkish, Qatari, Syrian, and Palestinian expectations.
• The U.S. tossed the burden of Gaza’s displacement crisis onto Riyadh, Cairo, and Amman, then stood back and waited. Israel discarded all agreements and understandings, declaring its intention to establish security belts that would expand and contract as needed, inside Gaza, particularly along the Philadelphi Corridor, in Syria across the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and Suwayda specifically, and in Lebanon, covering the five occupied hills, the Lebanese side of Ghajar, Shebaa Farms, and the disputed points still under occupation. Washington stated that it would not facilitate the reconstruction of Lebanon or Gaza outside of Israeli conditions, despite being the architect and guarantor of previous agreements. Similarly, it declared that sanctions on Syria would not be lifted unless Israeli demands were met, including the recognition of the occupied Golan Heights as part of the occupying entity.
What will the Arabs do at their summit beyond lamenting to one another? What will the Palestinian Authority do? What will Turkey, Qatar, and the new Syrian government say? And what will Lebanon’s leadership declare now that everything is clear?
• Everyone can waste time, evade responsibility, and adopt a wait-and-see approach, hoping that time alone will resolve matters. But history has shown that when rulers fail in their duty to defend and liberate, nations do not wait, they rise. The exclusive right of states to bear arms collapses when they fail in their fundamental obligations to defend and liberate, and the people’s right to resist occupation emerges once more.
