October 20: A global war comes to Gaza?

In which, the war between Israel and Hamas takes on global proportions, China touts its Belt and Road “success”, and the Speaker’s gavel remains unclaimed.

A global war comes to Gaza?

As fighting intensifies in Israel and Gaza, global attention is getting focused on hostages being held by Hamas (with dozens of foreign nationals among them), and the unfolding humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands flee towards the Egypt-Gaza border. Despite US-Israeli agreement on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza via Egypt, Egypt and Jordan have both dug in their heels on taking in refugees, and Egypt appears to be getting very parsimonious with allowing aid through. 

On the battlefront, the IDF continued to pound Hamas targets inside Gaza while mopping up some Hamas fighters still operating in southern Israel, and trading fires with Hezbollah along the Lebanon border.

Even as Israel readies its ground offensive and Hamas prevents residents from fleeing, Iranian leaders are making a lot of noise threatening to turn their regional terror proxies loose on Israel and anyone willing to help them, even appearing to threaten direct Iranian involvement. It’s not an empty threat either. American troops in Syria were targeted with a drone attack this week and the US Navy took out missiles fired from Houthi positions in Yemen that appeared to be on a trajectory for Israel.

After a high profile visit to Israel to pledge American backing and support, President Biden was back in Washington to address the nation, urging Congress to approve a $100 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and … border security?

Clearly, President Biden is trying to take advantage of a GOP Congressional caucus in disarray (more on that below) to push through an aid package to shore up a tattered foreign policy program. Political opportunism aside, it’s clear that the Israel-Hamas war has deeply shaken the Biden administration and its efforts abroad. Like the administrations before it, the Biden administration has sought to deprioritize the Middle East only to find itself caught in the regional riptide.

Whether it's Biden’s attempt to tie security aid packages together, the multinational makeup of Hamas’ hostages, Iranian saber rattling, or the multilateral diplomacy working to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, this fight has taken on a decidedly global outlook, which also raises the risks of miscalculation and an expanded conflict.