In April 1986, then US President Ronald Reagan labelled Muammar Gaddafi as the mad dog of the Middle East. This was in the aftermath of a bombing in Berlin that killed two US military officers with Gaddafi’s residence targeted a few days later resulting in the death of her adopted daughter. Libyan nationals were believed to have masterminded the attack that targeted a discotheque. Reagan, in his typical American Exceptionalism war-mongering paranoia, claimed Gaddafi intended to create a global Muslim fundamentalist revolution. Anyway, while the context of the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East then is somewhat different from the current one, there is a constant. Israel continues to dictate what is right and wrong in the region. Its conflicts with Palestine and Lebanon linger. Obviously, the regional and global powers, including Israel’s closest ally the US, have never been genuine in pursuing peace. Perhaps Reagan would go ahead and praise Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military offensives in Palestine and Lebanon with some soothing melodies. After all, Israel is graciously protecting itself and the interests as well as values of its allies. Such a fabricated pun; polished, packaged, and sold. Well, Netanyahu aptly fits Reagan’s words of the mad dog of the Middle East. I mean, Netanyahu fantasizes about Israel’s expansionist agenda in the region; a rugged, amorphous revolution of sorts. Israel’s extension of its military operations northwards into Lebanon demonstrates Netanyahu’s pursuit of his fantasies. And this is the problem of giving power to obsessive and arrogant egomaniacs. While wars are as old as humanity, it is illogical to kill innocent civilians in the name of targeting Hezbollah and Hamas militants. Of course, pro-Israel chaps will come out arms up chanting Israel’s right to self-defence in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks. Well, fair enough. But where are the limits of Israel’s aggression in the region? Most people – obviously the pro-Israel camps – conveniently forget that the events of October 7 did not occur in a vacuum. In 2023, before October 7, the Israeli military had killed 205 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while the Israeli settlers killed nine. On July 3, Israel conducted a 48-hour military operation targeting the Jenin refugee camp with drones and fighter jets. Earlier on June 19, the Israeli military targeted the occupied West Bank with airstrikes for the first time since the early 2000s. Based on these facts, Netanyahu’s Israel was simply obsessed with provoking retaliatory attacks and a war. But why is Netanyahu pre-occupied with the petulant fantasies of triggering wars in the region? The primary aim of a colonial, apartheid state is to use violence to further its expansionist agenda. The devil certainly lies in the details! In 2023, the total number of settlement plans and tenders initiated by Israel in the occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank was higher than in 2022; in fact, the highest ever since 2012. The total number of Israeli settlement advancements increased by 180% in 2023 in a span of five years. Israel had illegally seized 23.7 km2 of Palestinian land from January to July this year surpassing the total land size grabbed by Israel in the last 20 years collectively. As such, 2024 is historically significant in the course of the Israel-Palestine conflict as it represents the year with the highest ever illegal land grabs by Israel. I am almost certain Netanyahu’s Israel may attempt to re-occupy parts of southern Lebanon like it did from 1985 until 2000. The recent Israeli evacuation orders directed at Lebanese nationals in southern Lebanon strongly signal such a possibility. Wars serve as golden distractions in the game of power. This is why generational economic heists, racketeering, pilferage, looting, and such always occur during wars. Think of any ongoing or past wars – Sudan, the DRC, Russia-Ukraine, Libya, Iraq, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and others – and you’ll clearly visualise the battle for resources. Thus, Netanyahu has never been interested in a ceasefire with Hamas. This instinctually and logically informs you that he is obsessed with his expansionist motives to completely dash any hopes of a sovereign Palestinian state. Prolongation of the Israel-Hamas war and possible escalation of Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah aim at generating obscene profits for the Israeli military-industrial complex. Defence companies form the basis of the military-industrial complex and a war economy is the lifeblood of these firms. In March this year, the Israeli defence company Elbit Systems disclosed an increase in its revenue in the fourth quarter from USD 1.5 billion to USD 1.6 billion on a year-on-year basis thanks to the offensive in the Gaza Strip. Elbit projected to hire an additional 2,000 workers this year compared to 1,000 in 2023. Furthermore, Elbit predicted an increase in sales to the Israeli government in the course of 2024 beyond its USD 1.2 billion usual annual sales. This is against the backdrop of the Israeli government approving a budget anticipated to increase defence spending by USD 5.5 billion annually. Elbit is a microcosm of the profits to be reaped by other defence companies due to the wars. The prospects of peace are currently narrow in the region. Netanyahu understands he will be ejected out of office if the wars end, especially the Israel-Hamas war. Israel’s allies led by the US cannot force Netanyahu to halt the wars. The US may never want the wars to end for obvious geostrategic reasons. The UN and other multilateral institutions are toothless to push for any meaningful end of the conflicts. But certainly, a wider conflict is in the offing across the region though the firepower of Hezbollah’s allies cannot match that of Israel and its allies. In Clausewitzian sense, war is a continuation of politics by other means. In Machiavelli’s world, there are no morals in politics. However, morality should be enforced when wars degenerate into genocidal ventures. Another Gaza should not be allowed in Lebanon. By Sitati Wasilwa The author writes and speaks about geopolitical and governance-related issues.