Israeli society is currently extremely consolidated and firmly behind the ultimate goal of ending the threat posed by the Hamas organization. The danger of this war in Israel spilling over regionally still exists. I wouldn’t say that Iran is in a state of uncertainty about what and how far it would go to protect its ideological allies. China is quite a pragmatic player and is currently offering help to resolve the conflict and certain messages have been sent to Hezbollah and Iran by Beijing in favor of seeking a compromise. This was said by Miroslav Zafirov, career diplomat and expert on the Middle East, in the program “The World is Business” on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria with host Ivaylo Lakov.
The aim of the second phase of the military operation in the war that Israel has been waging against Hamas since the crimes committed on October 7 is to establish full control over the Gaza Strip and to completely destroy the military potential of Hamas. That full-scale entry is not yet underway, the diplomat said.
Regarding humanitarian aid, the guest said that there are currently agreements between the countries that operate the humanitarian corridor and “trucks continue to come in”, but “we will not limit ourselves to trucks. We also have other plans to help the population of Gaza, which is exposed to the circumstances of this war’.
What is currently being negotiated is for the humanitarian corridor to continue to be opened through the only land border that is formally open – the Egyptian one through the Rafah point, the interlocutor added, specifying that the aspiration is to open this corridor a little more, for for more humanitarian aid to come in.
“At the same time, there are negotiations going on about the fate of quite a few foreign nationals who, for one reason or another, are in the territory of Gaza. This is something that we regard as a matter of enormous priority. And we should not forget, of course, that the most -severe sentences are those that will affect the issue of the Israeli hostages who are in the territory of Gaza, in the hands of “Hamas” and “Islamic Jihad”.
To the question of whether there are direct talks between the Israeli side and Hamas or the Palestinians, the guest answered categorically: “No. Everything goes through an intermediary at the moment, and that’s how it will be!”
Commenting on the degree of stability of Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule, the guest emphasized that Israeli society is currently extremely consolidated. “I’ve lived in the Middle East for 20 years and I’ve never seen a more consolidated Jewish community.”
“Israeli society was placed on October 7th in indescribable conditions. We witnessed something that no one expected and which led to an extraordinary consolidation. Let there be no doubt as to what the ultimate goal of military action is and that Israeli society stands firm behind this approach – to point out the danger posed by the organization “Hamas”.
Regarding the main concerns at the global geopolitical level, namely that this military conflict could go beyond the borders of Gaza, Zafirov stated that “part of the efforts we have been making in the last two weeks are precisely to prevent this from happening.”
“And this dialogue will continue. The danger of this war in Israel spilling into a regional plan still exists. Let’s see, against the background of the next phases of the war, what will happen, for example, to the north of Israel – in Lebanon.”
Just two days ago, we returned from Cairo, where we attended a major forum organized by Egypt, where regional and world leaders discussed the fate of this conflict after its end, the interlocutor added. “At the moment we are not yet at that level. The operational tactical objective is the destruction of the military capacity of the Hamas group, the rescue of the people who are in the territory of Gaza and the evacuation of the hostages, as well as achieving guarantees that the conflict will not escalate.”
“Iran operates on the territory of the Middle East by projecting its power through its allies. In the specifics of the developing war, one of Iran’s allies – “Hamas” – is waging a war of destruction with Israel. The other – Iran’s biggest ally – ” Hezbollah” is an organization that, perhaps under certain conditions, will also join the conflict. You see what is happening on the border with Lebanon. “Hezbollah” likes to constantly remind that it is there and that it is ready to participate in some form in the conflict “.
Iran is a country that monitors what is happening extremely carefully and assesses to what extent it could have any involvement, the diplomat emphasized. “We had the opportunity to speak with the Iranian foreign minister just a week ago, and I wouldn’t say that Iran is in a state of uncertainty as to what and how far it would go to protect its ideological allies.”
China played a key role in the reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran for its own, pragmatic reasons, the guest also said. “China is quite a pragmatic player and is currently offering help to resolve the conflict.”
“We are in contact with Beijing and certain messages have been sent to Hezbollah and Iran by Beijing that are in favor of seeking a compromise. But yes, China is here.”
See the full comment at the video of Bloomberg TV Bulgaria
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2023-10-25 19:50:00
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