Top Highlights

• Meanwhile, not a single one of the six Arab governments “at peace” with Israel even bothered to recall its ambassador or freeze its normalisation, let alone close its embassy
• The Biden administration has warned regional players against attacking its foremost ally and deployed not one but two aircraft carriers to back up its words.
• Washington also dispatched Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin to reinforce the message to state and non-state actors alike.
• The US envoys doubled down on equating Hamas to ISIL (ISIS) to emphasise the brutality of the October 7 attack and make clear that there is no diplomatic solution to pursue, only a military one. The analogy with ISIL goes a long way to providing Israel with carte blanche to wage a “long and painful war” against Gaza
• The Biden administration has rejected Arab calls for de-escalation or a ceasefire, rendering the US complicit in present and future Israeli war crimes.

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