TEHRAN - After committing genocide for 23 months in Gaza with Western support, especially from the United States, and killing a number of top Hamas leaders in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, and finally attempting to assassinate Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya in Doha, Israel has proven that it is seeking to become a hegemon in the region with U.S. backing.

Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 served as a pretext that expedited Israel’s move to realize its vision of regional hegemony. While the Hamas team was meeting in Doha to assess the United States’ ceasefire plan for Gaza and a prisoner exchange, Israel struck the Hamas office. The attack on Hamas leadership clearly proves that Israel is not seeking peace; rather, it is pursuing dominance in the region.

The attack on Qatar’s capital, which has been hosting dialogue between Israeli and Hamas delegations for over two years to end the conflict in Gaza, was astonishing and alarming. Qatar, a close U.S. ally hosting the largest American airbase in the Persian Gulf, was targeted despite its role as a mediator. Instead of being rewarded for hosting peace talks, Qatar’s capital came under attack by Israeli fighter jets.

Israel has become emboldened after killing Hamas leader Ismaeil Haniyah in Tehran, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy Sheikh Saffiedin in Beirut, and destroying Syria’s military infrastructure following the fall of the Assad government in December 2024.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become so confident that he openly talks about changing the map of the Middle East and claims a spiritual mission to establish a “Greater Israel” that would include parts of Arab lands.

All these genocidal attacks in Gaza, settlement expansion in the West Bank, attacks on Lebanon, and the recent airstrike on Doha are carried out with Washington’s approval. To turn Israel into a regional hegemon, the U.S. even allows attacks on Doha, violating the sovereignty of a close ally in the Persian Gulf. It is false that President Donald Trump was informed that Israel was attacking the Hamas headquarters in Doha while Israeli jets were en route.

Even Israel’s and the United States’ 12-day war on Iran in June fits within the plan to establish Israel as a regional hegemon. Netanyahu sees Trump at the White House as a golden opportunity to assert dominance. Trump’s first-term policies, including moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory, laid the groundwork for this vision.

Even now, with Bashar Assad’s government toppled in Syria and Mohammad al-Shaara taking over and expressing willingness to establish ties with Israel, the country remains vulnerable to Israeli attacks as forces advance near Damascus.

The region now faces a bitter reality: countries must either remain passive in the face of Israel’s military actions or actively resist this occupation regime.

Muslim and Arab nations must unite against Israel’s expansionist moves, or no Arab capital will remain safe. A coordinated front, including the consideration of an oil and gas embargo against the West, may be necessary to counter this threat.