Hostilities in the Palestine-Israel conflict have remained at an all-time high going on nearly two months since Hamas launched its October 7 surprise attack. An analyst has said Israel is becoming \u201cbogged down indefinitely\u201d in Gaza and claimed US military involvement would be \u201cmuch costlier\u201d than predicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States may be hoping for a broader conflict to break out amidst Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza in order to damage Iran and other foes, according to author Jeremy Kuzmarov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The claim was made<\/a> on Sputnik\u2019s Political Misfits on Monday as Kuzmarov discussed the geopolitical situation in the Middle East with hosts John Kiriakou and Michelle Witte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe leadership in the United States and Israel are hardline neoconservatives,\u201d said Kuzmarov, who also serves as the managing editor of CovertAction Magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they have their own desires in the Middle East,\u201d he added. \u201cThey may want to draw in other countries and have a wider war so they can finally take out Iran.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n While Kuzmarov suggested US President Joe Biden may be slightly less hawkish than politicians such as former US Vice President Dick Cheney, he insisted the US commander-in-chief should still be considered a \u201cneoconservative,\u201d a political movement traditionally associated with an interventionist foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kuzmarov said the Israeli government also favors an aggressive military stance in the region. \u201cIsrael wants to control southern Lebanon,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they have plans for \u2018greater Israel,\u2019\u201d the military analyst added, referring to the belief by some in the country that Israeli land should extend into Gaza and the West Bank. Some Israelis use the term to advocate for control of the full extent of territory ruled by the Biblical Israelites, which would include portions of modern-day Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel currently occupies a portion of Western Syria known as the Golan Heights and frequently engages in bombing campaigns in the country. The Middle Eastern nation has been involved in periodic wars with its neighbors since its founding in 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they [Israel] feel emboldened that the US is behind them and they can go forward with their plan until the Palestinians are crushed,\u201d said Kuzmarov. \u201cI think they\u2019re excited, this is their moment they\u2019ve been waiting for for years, to crush the Palestinians and take over everything. And that\u2019s what they\u2019ve always wanted, certainly the Likud Party.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey have plans for how they can transform the whole area economically,\u201d Kuzmarov added. \u201cAnd I think they\u2019re pursuing those goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden also spoke of \u201ca better future for the Middle East\u201d during his recent Oval Office address<\/a>, referring to a US-led plan to build a rail corridor through the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some analysts have suggested<\/a> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to formally annex Gaza in order to ensure control over natural gas discovered off the coast of the disputed territory, which would be transported via a new pipeline. Access to the deposits would increase exports to the United States and other allies, where energy costs have soared due to sanctions on Russia and Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Iranians in my view have played this whole thing over the last six weeks perfectly,\u201d said Kiriakou, noting the country\u2019s restraint after the Israeli prime minister called for an attack on their historic foe in the hours after Hamas\u2019 October 7 operation. Kiriakou also praised China\u2019s attempts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, claiming the Asian superpower is \u201cserious about being the peacemakers in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe likes of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan appreciate that, with the US\u2026 not seen as an honest broker in the region,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kuzmarov agreed that China is \u201cstarting to build its stature in the world arena\u201d by attempting to navigate tensions between world powers, such as when they\u00a0negotiated an historic agreement<\/a>\u00a0between Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they [China] are gaining a lot of capital,\u201d Kuzmarov said. \u201cThere is respect for them in developing world countries given their history. And China\u2019s always empathized with groups that have experienced colonialism. So there\u2019s identification with the Palestinians.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kuzmarov speculated Israel\u2019s military action in the besieged Gaza Strip could end poorly for the US ally, despite the advantage of American largesse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to be bogged down indefinitely in Gaza,\u201d said Kuzmarov. \u201cThey may be overconfident. The hubris of Israel you can compare perhaps to the United States in Vietnam. It may be a lot harder for them to wipe out Hamas and achieve their goals there than they thought.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe whole population [in Gaza] has been geared toward opposing Israel. They hate Israel and they\u2019ll fight for their lives to the death. If Israel\u2019s bogged down in a long Gaza campaign, they can\u2019t fight on so many fronts at once, just like any other army. They have to be realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kuzmarov also noted Hamas\u2019 expertise in sabotage and tunnel warfare. \u201cThey [Israel] are not going to succeed in the way they envision,\u201d he concluded.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kuzmarov and Kiriakou agreed the United States has only offered perfunctory criticism of their Israeli ally. Kiriakou claimed the US is \u201cjoined at the hip with Israel\u201d and called Israel\u2019s attacks against Gaza\u2019s Al-Shifa Hospital a \u201ccrime against humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been talking about these tunnels for years,\u201d said Kiriakou, expressing skepticism over Israeli claims the hospital served as a covert \u201ccommand and control center\u201d for Hamas. \u201cThere are no independent observers who have seen these things, at least not for any length of time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve struggled with this news over the weekend because when I was at the CIA we would routinely falsify evidence against our enemies and release that false information to the public through the media,\u201d said Kiriakou, a former officer at the US Central Intelligence Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kiriakou served as an analyst<\/a> at the CIA for 14 years, joining the agency after being recruited by a graduate school professor at George Washington University. The whistleblower is known for publicly revealing the CIA\u2019s secret torture program in December 2007. The agency retaliated by seeking his indictment and incarceration, and he was sentenced to 30 months in US federal prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey [Israel] are obviously in damage control mode because they\u2019re losing the PR war,\u201d agreed Kuzmarov. \u201cThis bombing of the hospital is just outrageous, it\u2019s caused horrific suffering and it\u2019s a violation of international law.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven the BBC\u2026was contradicting that,\u201d said Kuzmarov of Israeli assertions of a vast tunnel system beneath Al-Shifa Hospital. Various other prominent news outlets have also expressed skepticism<\/a> towards Israeli claims in recent days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n