The US and Israel entered the war with three goals, and these goals were in tension from the start.
When the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran a month ago, the Middle East was plunged into debilitating conflict. Nevertheless, Syria has remarkably just completed its most stable month in 15 years. Damascus and its international partners must capitalize on this opportunity.
MEI Senior Fellow Jaser AbuMousa joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to unpack how Hamas is navigating the US-Israel conflict with Iran and its impact on Gaza. Nearly two and a half years after the start of the Gaza war, international attention has shifted away from the humanitarian crisis in the devastated coastal strip. Meanwhile, Hamas’ primary state sponsor, Iran, has been severely weakened by US-Israeli military strikes and the death of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. AbuMousa examines how this could affect Hamas’ trajectory moving forward and its place within the Axis of Resistance, as well as what it all means for the Palestinian people.
The results of last month’s elections seemed to crystallize a fundamental divide between two competing visions for Hamas’ future. But the US-Israeli war against Iran has cast a heavy shadow over the group’s leadership selection process, shifting it from a contest between personalities to a wider struggle over Hamas’ strategic identity, ideological orientation, and relationship with the broader Middle Eastern order.
The US and Israeli conflict with Iran is currently just past the halfway mark, according to US President Donald Trump’s initial estimate that it would take four to six weeks to achieve his objectives, but for now there is no end in sight. Here are five fundamental, strategic questions that require more attention as the media and political debates fixate on the day-to-day breaking news and tactics of this war.
The United States and Israel both hope for the grand prize: the emergence of a new regime in Iran to replace the Islamic Republic. For the US, this would close the chapter on a hostile and at times violent relationship that has endured since 1979. For Israel, this would see the end not only of a regime with a deep ideological commitment against it but also the foe that Israel sees as behind all fronts of the war it has fought since October 7, 2023.
Despite a dazzling military onslaught, an Iranian regime that faces a threat to its very existence is demonstrating an entirely predictable willingness to stay the course at all costs. As things stand now, the joint US-Israeli war risks ending in military victory but becoming a strategic failure.
Brian is joined by Amir Tibon, a journalist for Haaretz and the author of The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands and The Last Palestinian: The Rise and Reign of Mahmoud Abbas. On October 7, 2023, the Tibon family’s lives were changed forever when Hamas militants invaded Nahal Oz kibbutz, destroying their community, brutally killing their neighbors, and taking others hostage. Together, Brian and Amir examine the fallout from the events of October 7th, how public opinion in Israel and the United States has shifted over the past two and a half years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political strategy, and what this all means for the future of Israel and its relationship with Palestinians and the broader region.
As the war with Iran consumes regional attention, Gaza is again being pushed aside. That is not just a humanitarian failure. It is a strategic mistake that could squander a rare opening for political transition while allowing Hamas to weaponize abandonment once more.
Disarmament is necessary in Gaza. It is the only way to realize the goals articulated in the internationally endorsed 20-point plan laid out by the Trump administration. But a policy approach that makes disarmament a prerequisite for action on governance, recovery, freedom of movement for Gazans, and any credible political horizon is structurally and strategically counterproductive.
Brian is joined by Dana Stroul, Director of Research and Shelly and Michael Kassen Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to examine US objectives in the Middle East in the midst of the ongoing war between the US, Israel, and Iran. Drawing on her extensive experience in US policymaking, most notably as the Pentagon’s top civilian official responsible for the Middle East from 2021 to 2023, Dana offers an insider’s perspective on this strategic moment. Together, Dana and Brian unpack the rapidly developing situation in Iran, the fragility of the ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, the shifting landscape in Syria after Assad, and the United States’ role in a region that may be on the cusp of transformation.
Today’s decision taken by the Lebanese government — to declare all of Hizballah’s security and military activities illegal — is a landmark development. But how the government and the Lebanese Armed Forces implement this directive now that a new round of attacks has actually taken place will be the ultimate test of their credibility.
On February 28, the US and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on Iran. MEI defense experts weigh in on the military and regional consequences.
While it may not have been perfect, the Trump administration achieved a considerable amount in the first year of its second term, and there is reason to be optimistic that additional dividends will accrue in 2026.
The United States’ rapid military buildup across the Gulf has triggered a familiar anxiety in Tehran, but the Iranians’ reading of American intentions has grown sharper and more layered than at any point in recent years.