Year of Turmoil: How 2024 Will Be Remembered in the Middle East
The super moon rises behind the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, Aug. 19, 2 
2024 proved the old axiom that the Middle East is the perpetual home of instability and strife, with a series of militia vs. state, state vs. state and bloc vs. bloc conflicts plaguing the region, virtually all of them involving Israel. Sputnik asked a pair of top regional affairs experts to sum up 2024, and provide forecasts for the coming year.
Israel vs. Hamas
The hot phase of the perpetual conflict between Israel and Palestinian militia group Hamas that erupted on October 7, 2023 continued unabated through 2024, with ceasefire talks dragging on, and the conflict continuing to claim lives (over 45,000 mostly civilian deaths in Gaza to date, and hundreds of IDF casualties).“I think that the coming year will be a year where the Israeli regime will face a world which sees it as increasingly illegitimate because of its genocidal behavior and its genocide in Gaza,” renowned Iranian-American political analyst Mohammad Marandi told Sputnik.“It’s been going on for almost 15 months now, and the West fully supports it. They continue to provide weapons, ammunition, political cover and media support for these outrageous and barbaric attacks,” Marandi said.
WorldIsrael Demolishing Gaza Residential Areas, Building Fortifications There – Reports24 December 2024, 04:36 GMT
Israel vs. Hezbollah
2024 will also be remembered as the year Israel went aggro on Hezbollah, launching a massive bombing campaign and ground incursion in south Lebanon, targeting militia leaders with boobytrapped pagers and walkie talkies, and murdering Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a September airstrike.“It reminds me [of the situation] after the Beirut port explosion which took place in August 2020,” Beirut-based political analyst Yeghia Tashjian recalled to Sputnik about the pager attacks. “There was panic in the streets. People were not aware of what had happened until late in the night.”“This was not just targeted assassinations, but preparation for a war. First they started with a psychological attack, intelligence penetration, and then it was all-out war. Beirut’s southern suburb was almost destroyed. In south Lebanon, the border villages were completely destroyed,” Tashjian said.
WorldEx-Mossad Agents Reveal Grisly Details of Israeli Pager Terror Attack Against Hezbollah23 December 2024, 16:37 GMT
Israel vs. Iran
The past year saw the first-ever direct clash between Iran and Israel, with an attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus on April 1, 2024 triggering a massive Iranian drone and missile response, and the murder of Hezbollah, Hamas and IRGC figures later in the year prompting a second retaliatory attack in October, with dozens of missiles finding their targets at Israeli military bases and intel sites.“At this stage, we are waiting for the Iranians to retaliate once again. The conflict between [Iran and] the Israeli regime and the United States supporting it has been going on for many years. But the direct and open strikes on Iran began with the bombing of the Iranian Embassy,” Dr. Marandi said.
WorldIran Showed Israel Only ‘Small Part’ of Its Retaliatory Capabilities in October Strike: IRGC Chief8 November 2024, 19:09 GMT
Israel vs. Houthis
2024 also saw the continuation and expansion of the David vs. Goliath struggle between Israel and Yemen’s Houthi fighters, whose campaign of missile and drone attacks in support of Gaza was ramped up to effectively block the Red and Arabian Seas to Israeli-linked shipping, and include numerous strikes on Israel itself.The deployment of vast US military assets to the region and the launch of airstrikes targeting Houthi infrastructure failed to deter the militia, with the indefatigable group only ramping up its strikes, and prompting some pundits to warn that the mighty US Navy is losing to the fighters.
AnalysisHouthis Likely Shot Down US Jet Over Red Sea – Former Pentagon Analyst23 December 2024, 17:54 GMT
Israel vs. Syria
A surprise offensive by militias in northwest Syria in late November quickly overwhelmed defenses, culminating in the collapse of the Assad government. Israel took advantage of the chaos by occupying wide swathes of southern Syria, and wiped out vast stocks of equipment, including the nation’s once-powerful air defenses.
With attacks on Iran’s allies, “basically, the Israelis are trying to cut the military wings of Iran to isolate Iran in the region,” Tashjian posited.
WorldSyria Will Not Be Used as Launchpad for Attacks on Israel – Armed Opposition Leader17 December 2024, 04:46 GMT
What Does 2025 Have in Store?
“I think the Middle East to some extent reminds me of 2011,” Tashjian said, referring to the transformative but violence-filled year of the so-called Arab Spring.“The shockwave, the illusions and delusions to some extent, are huge. It will impact not just the current generation, but the generations to come,” the observer emphasized.“Whether this change or these geopolitical developments will lead to peace or to new confrontations, we will have to see. I’m a bit skeptical because my experience comes from the 2011 protest, and how the Arab Spring later turned into violence, oppression by the regimes, religious radicalism in the region,” Tashjian summed up.
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