The Daily Beast reports:

The Middle East is sitting on a powder keg and the longer the tensions continue to escalate the greater chance of the region spiraling to a point where Iran and the U.S. could be drawn into a full-blown war through their respective proxies.

Iran entered the conflict directly for the first time Monday night, hitting Israeli and ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. While U.S. and U.K. forces have carried out strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen.

The focal point of the confrontation emanates from Israel’s bloody and brutal campaign in Gaza; critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are claiming that he is prolonging the war to save his own political career.

“He is worried that if the war finishes today, streets all over the country will be full of demonstrators demanding his resignation,” Ahmed Tibi, leader of the Israeli-Arab party Ta’al, told The Daily Beast.

“Netanyahu is fighting for political survival and he is willing to pay any price in order to survive. Those that say that the excesses of the military campaign on Gaza is necessary for Israel’s security are lying,” said Tibi.

When the war in Gaza ends, Netanyahu will face court over corruption charges as well as an investigation into security failures on Oct. 7 when under his watch Hamas succeeded in infiltrating southern Israel and killing approximately 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilian. “He, together with his government, is responsible for the security failure of October 7,” Tibi said. According to foreign and Israeli media reports, the Israelis failed to take seriously warnings from Egypt and Israeli intelligence that Hamas was planning an attack. [Continue reading…]