In recent years, however, there has been a trend among Arab states in viewing their relations with Israel in a more pragmatic way. This culminated in the Abraham Accords of 2020, which marked the recognition of the state of Israel by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. At the same time, senior members of the Saudi royal family began to openly criticise the Palestinian leadership, and showed an interest in joining the Accords. 

All of this drove the Sunni Hamas further into the arms of the major Shia power in the region: Iran. An Arab world in search of a normalisation of relations with Jerusalem would soon grow tired of a political actor only interested in a violent confrontation with Israel. Yet, just like the Hamas leadership in Gaza, the Mullahs in Tehran know that their play for regional dominance would be severely weakened by a US-Israel-Saudi alliance.

They are also aware, however, of something the Western media tends to miss. While parts of the Arab elite might be willing to consider more pragmatic approaches towards a former enemy, the general public still sees things differently:

In a recent poll of Saudis, “only 14% of respondents agreed to allow Israeli civilian airplanes to fly over Saudi Arabia, and just 13% would permit Israeli sports teams to participate in events in Saudi Arabia.” What’s more, “a mere 7% would welcome Israel’s prime minister to an international conference in Saudi Arabia.” Both Iran and Hamas know full well that if they can provoke Israel into severe retaliation, pictures of killed Palestinians could force recently pragmatic Arab governments to return to a more anti-Israel stance in order to avoid public ire. 

It is a deliberate ploy to use the atrocious murder of Israeli civilians to force the Netanyahu government to authorise a massive use of force that will lead to the killing of large numbers of Palestinians. The next few days will show if that cynical plan bears fruit.