A military airport near Damacus, Syria, is bombed. (photo: CNN)

The latest negotiations between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip failed on Wednesday to reach any concessions. In the 14 months since the Gaza fighting erupted and spread throughout the Middle East, challenges to peace and stability in the region have consistently defied resolution.

A political solution urgently needed for Gaza

The fighting in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 45,000 people and devastated infrastructure. The Israeli army has destroyed most of Hamas's strength and established a new partition corridor separating Gaza City from the northern towns of the Gaza Strip.

The weakening of Hamas's key allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, rebel groups in Syria and Iraq, and Iran, has left Hamas with very few military options to continue its conflict with Israel.

For Israel, military victories have come at a high diplomatic and political price, as the devastation and prolonged humanitarian crisis in Gaza has brought Israel a flood of criticism and growing isolation in the international arena. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Israel should prioritize its political efforts to avoid worsening the misery of millions of Palestinians in Gaza.

“The best way to do that in my judgment is to have a political solution, a political track alongside the military track, that starts with the basic concept of essentially trying to make sure that the ordinary civilians of Gaza, the innocent people of Gaza are not being put in a position where things are so bad that they all become radicalized,” said Sullivan.

At a UN special session on Israel and Palestine on December 19, many countries and international organizations called for a political solution.

“We must establish political and security frameworks that can address humanitarian catastrophes, start early recovery, rebuild Gaza and lay the groundwork for the political process to end the occupation and establish a viable two-state solution as soon as possible,” Khaled Khiari, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, said.

Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip is destroyed in an Israeli attack on April 1, 2024. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Israel’s intentions and Syria’s new situation

Besides the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza to deliver humanitarian relief to millions of people facing famine and disease, a sustainable political solution is essential to stabilize other hotspots in the region.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon keeps flaring up, as each side repeatedly accuses the other of violating the 60-day ceasefire established on November 26. Bader Al-Saif, an expert with the Middle East and North Africa Program at the UK’s Chatham House Institute, said the security environment in Lebanon is extremely fragile.

The sudden political upheaval in Syria triggered by the collapse of Al-Assad’s regime on December 8 is pushing Israel to take bolder actions, including sending troops to occupy more locations in the Golan Heights, a strategic area bordering southern Lebanon. Al-Saif said these moves may help Israel gain some short-term advantages in establishing a new regional order, but may create more fuses for instability in the Middle East in the long term.

“By long term they would need to tread the path of peace. I think that the other stable countries in the region like the Gulf States would line up with others and they've been talking to Iran trying to balance out Israel. I think the Israelis need to be mindful of this. They’re not living in the region alone,” said Al-Saif.

The future of Syria after the political upheaval is an unknown for peace and stability in the Middle East. Chatham House expert Haid Haid said that if Syria’s rulers and other regional powers can develop a clear peace roadmap for Syria, including a smooth transition of power and free elections, it could have a positive effect on the region, like the events of 2011, when people in some countries were motivated to fight for broader social progress.