Putin: Current Situation in Middle East Serves as Example of US Policy Failure

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his regrets about the recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and described it as a failure of the US policy in the Middle East.

Vladimir Putin made remarks about the current volatile situation in the Middle East as he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani in Moscow to discuss relations between Russia and Iraq.

Commenting on the events that transpire in the Gaza Strip and at the adjacent Israeli territories, Putin described it as a "clear example" of the US foreign policy in the Middle East.

According to the Russian president, the US government actively sought to "monopolize" the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but instead of seeking a compromise, solutions that would have been acceptable for both sides, pushed their own vision of how this decades-old conflict should be resolved.

"The Ukrainian crisis continues, and, unfortunately, we see a sharp escalation of the situation in the Middle East. I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failure of the policy of the United States in the Middle East, which tried to monopolize the settlement, but, unfortunately, was not concerned with finding compromises acceptable to both sides, but, on the contrary, promoted its own ideas about how it should be done," Putin said.

The US put pressure on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, each time without taking into account the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people, the president said, referring to the need to implement decisions by the UN Security Council on the creation of an independent sovereign Palestinian state.

Roots of Israel-Hamas Conflict

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to establish two states – a Jewish one and an Arab one – on the West Bank of the Jordan River, with Jerusalem retaining its status as an international zone. On May 4, 1948, Israel declared independence. Immediately thereafter, the Arab countries - Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq - started a war against the newly established state.

During the Six Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan River, including East Jerusalem. The Jewish population began cultivating Palestinian land, resulting in a mass displacement of Palestinians.

After the first Intifada (the Palestinian uprising against Israeli authority in the occupied territories), the Declaration of Principles for the Provisional Self-Government of Palestine was signed. The document established a transitional period of five years, which was to begin with the relocation of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and Jericho (West Bank). Then, the permanent status of the Palestinian territories was to be determined.

In 1996, Palestine held the first election. Yasser Arafat was elected as the president of the Palestinian National Authority. In 2002, after the second intifada, the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations proposed a peace plan called the Road Map. It stated the resumption of negotiations, conflict resolution, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

In 2005, Israel completely withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip unilaterally and without any political agreement. On January 25, 2006, a second election was held. Hamas swept to victory, gaining 80 seats, while Fatah took 43 in the Palestinian Legislative Council. In June 2007, Fatah (which no longer ruled according to the results of the 2006 elections) and Hamas fought each other in a military conflict in the Gaza Strip. The confrontation resulted in Hamas gaining full control of the Gaza Strip, after forcing most of the Fatah activists out of the Strip.

The situation escalated dramatically again when US President Donald Trump announced in 2018 that he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy there. On November 29, 2012, Palestine was granted observer state status at the UN, which many see as a de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood by the international community.

Since 2008, Israel has been retaliating to artillery strikes on its territory by conducting military operations against Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The last one occurred in May 2023. Russia urges Israel and Palestine to stop hostilities and return to the negotiating table.