Middle East in flames again over murder of teenagers

The Middle East is again in flames over the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager. Israeli air attacks killed seven Palestinians and the Hamas threatened "adequate retaliation". The killing of the militants by Israeli air attack is the worst bloodshed in the area since the current cycle of violence began on June 12 over the alleged kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers. Extremist Jewish avenged this by kidnapping and killing a 16-year-old Palestinian.
 In another development, cracks have emerged in the Tel Aviv government as foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman's party broke away from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party taking a hard line stance on ways to deal with the Gaza situation.
The Palestine-Israeli ties have nosedived in recent times. When Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in the last national elections with a reduced majority, the outcome had surprised and shocked his supporters. In fact, the Israeli voters appeared to have clipped his wings. The result raised many questions. Would he soften his hawkish policy on the Middle East crisis? General impression was that he is unlikely to do that since he would still be encouraged to go for expanding Jewish settlements and remain lukewarm to peace talks with the Palestinians. However, the outcome of the polls also served a warning to him - Israelis are wary if the prime minister's extreme rightwing policy is isolating them from their key ally United States and in the process from the West and the international community. This seemed to have an effect on him when Netanyahu started a fresh term in the office. On the other hand, the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman maintained a relatively hawkish policy.
The Israeli prime minister's stubborn attitude had scuttled the ME peace talks that now remains dormant, creating further hurdles towards a possible settlement of the crisis. His earlier comment that he cared little about international criticisms on his government's plans for new Jewish settlement drew criticism even from their closest ally United States. "I don't care what the United Nations says", said he on new settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This had clearly showed his intransigence that is potentially dangerous to queer the pitch of any possibility of a settlement of the ME imbroglio that broadly involves the Palestinians, Arabs and Israel. Needless to say, world peace and stability largely hinges on this triangle - one of the most complicated international   flashpoints.    
The hawkish Tel Aviv government's belligerence definitely soared following the massive support by the UN general assembly on the status of the Palestinian Authority in the world body. The development in the form of the upgradation of the status of the Palestinian Authority in the United Nations on November 29 last year, did not come as a surprise when a proposal was placed in the General Assembly session of the world body in this regard. The Palestinian Authority was upgraded as a "non-member" observer status in the UN from the earlier "Observer" status and this evidently came as a shot in the arm for the Palestinians. The voting in favour of the resolution had been overwhelming since 138 members endorsed it and only nine opposed with 41 choosing to abstain. Such an outcome was in the line of expectation. In fact, the number of votes favouring the resolution surpassed estimation since several European nations, including France, Norway and Denmark, parted ways with their NATO allies United States and Britain to support the resolution. The US and Israel, not surprisingly, opposed it. Britain's coalition government was split on the issue and finally, abstained from voting. Indeed, it had been a remarkable show of support for the Palestinians. Their nemesis Tel Aviv was crestfallen with the development and Washington too was upset by the turn of events. This condition in the UN had some effect on the Israeli prime minister, who sought to be little less hawkish though his stubbornness remained unaltered.
The upgradation of the status of the Palestinian Authority would not make it full member of the UN. But what is significant is the greater access that Palestinian Authority, like the Vatican, now enjoys in the international organisations because of the new status. This is what badly disturbs Tel Aviv.
But the Israeli prime minister is making things difficult with his increasingly vociferous approach on the new Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It needs no elaboration to underline that it is precisely this settlement issue that has stalled the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations which was re-launched at the mediation of the Obama administration after painstaking efforts. Its support to Tel Aviv notwithstanding, Washington has not shied away from severely criticising Israeli government's decision to construct new Jewish settlements. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and US secretary of state John Kerry have disapproved the stance of Tel Aviv on the settlement issue. Consequently, the ME situation is witnessing further complications mainly because of this settlement issue.
In the meantime, the recent formation of the unity government in Palestine, largely burying the differences between the rival Palestinian factions - Fatah and Hamas - came as a jolt for the Tel Aviv authority. The killings of the Israeli teenagers and the subsequent murder of the Palestinian boy suddenly exacerbated tensions in the region and both sides are preparing for bigger conflict. Hamas has thrown several rockets in the southern Israel while Tel Aviv has launched air attacks. It appears that Netanyahu's actions so far in tackling the dangerous condition have been measured. This "soft" approach is being opposed by the foreign minister, whose party would, however, remain in the government despite breaking away the alliance.
The developing situation needs caution on the part of all concerned and the big powers should bring into play their goodwill to prevent the dangerous condition from deteriorating further. The Middle East is once again at the crossroads.
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