The Israel-Hamas war is now in its sixth week. Like the proverbial landlord, West Asians and much of the world, are currently in suspended animation wondering when and where the “second shoe” will drop and how big a crater it would cause on regional and global geopolitics and the economy.
Editorial | Bridge to nowhere: On India’s voice, Israel and the Palestinian cause
While West Asia is no stranger to such shoe falls, several aspects of the current scrimmage are familiar, although some are new. We need to dwell on them briefly before making any prognosis of the crisis. It has been just over 50 years since the 19-day Yom Kippur War of 1973, 41 years since Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and 17 years since a 33-day inconclusive war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
