In light of the ongoing war between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation, the so-called “axis of resistance” in the Middle East is facing moments that may be the most difficult in its history, which may spell the end of this bloc that Iran built for 40 years and from which it penetrated into several Arab capitals.

The “Axis of Resistance” refers to an informal, anti-Western, anti-Israel military-political alliance between Iran, the Syrian regime, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthi movement, as well as the Iraqi Shiite militias, which are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, officially linked to the government.

Although the coalition has different ideologies, such as secular Baathists and Shiite Islamists, they are united by their goal of opposing the activities of pro-Western parties, Israel, the Gulf states, and Sunni Islamists in the region.

The current war has shown that the unification of the arenas, even at the level of the popular movement, was only a rhetorical issue for Iran and its allies, and this may later leave its impact on the orientations of the Palestinian factions, and the danger of sacrificing the Sunni axis in favor of the so-called “resistance axis.”

A threatened fate

With the outbreak of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7, 2023, in response to the crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, Muhammad Al-Deif, Commander-in-Chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas, called on what is known as the “Axis of Resistance” to Enter the battle.

The guest said in his audio speech, “I call on our brothers in the resistance in Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria to unite with the resistance in Palestine, so that this terrible occupier understands that the era of assassinating scholars and leaders and the almost daily bombing in Syria and Iraq has ended.”

In response to a question about southern Lebanon and the statements of Iranian officials about the expansion of the war front if the aggression on Gaza continues, Meshaal said, “There is preoccupation in southern Lebanon from the factions and Hezbollah, but in my estimation, the battle requires more than that.”

He stressed that “Israel poses a danger to everyone, and part of its military strategy is to monopolize its enemies, and the war must be fought together.”

Meshaal believed that what is happening from the resistance axis “is not enough, and that history is not made by games and specific, timid, and hesitant steps, but rather by well-thought-out adventures, such as the October 7 storming that was carefully prepared for.”

He added: “Today the war has occurred, and Iran has two choices: Either it implements what it has been saying for 40 years, and if it does, then what it said is true. The second thing is that if it does not do that, it cannot come and say that it defends Jerusalem and Palestine, because “This is our neglect.”

Khanfar believed that their non-participation in the battle now “means the end of all the theory that Iran has built for itself, because today’s war is on the ground. Either it applies its theory, or after that each of these parties finds its own alliances in the region, because there is no longer a narrative called the axis of resistance.” “.

Continuous threat

But Iran and the so-called “Axis of Resistance” respond to all these calls made by the leaders of the “Hamas” movement, by issuing threats and talking about not allowing the Israeli occupation to be alone in Gaza, and that if the Israeli crimes there do not stop immediately, new fronts will be opened against the Zionist entity.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said, during a speech before Iranian elites, on October 17, that “no one can prevent Muslims and resistance forces (from responding) if the crimes of the Zionist entity in Gaza continue.”

Khamenei added, “The Zionist entity, no matter how many crimes it commits, will not be able to compensate for the scandalous defeat it suffered,” stressing that “this entity is committing genocide in Gaza before the eyes of the world, and its leaders must be tried.”

The Lebanese Hezbollah also vowed to expand the arena of war against Israel, which resulted in some guided missile launches, which were launched by the former towards targets of the latter in the occupied areas of northern Palestine, during which an Israeli officer was killed, compared to about 5 deaths from the Lebanese militia until October 18.

As for the Shiite militias in Iraq, the military spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, Jaafar al-Husseini, announced on October 18 that the “resistance” in his country had entered the battlefield from today and directed its strikes at American bases.

Al-Mayadeen TV, which is close to the Lebanese Hezbollah, quoted Al-Husseini as saying, “The resistance in Iraq today achieved the first casualties,” stressing that “operations will continue at a higher pace.”

“Iranian deception”

Regarding the extent of Iran’s participation, which leads the so-called “resistance axis,” in the war against the Israeli occupation, the Iraqi researcher interested in Middle East affairs, Maytham Muhammad Sahib, said, “This axis will not enter into any open war with the Israeli occupation, for several reasons.”

He explained, “As for Iran, it is betting on the victory of Hamas without participating directly, for religious and geopolitical reasons. It wants to throw stones at the Palestinian resistance on more than one side, but the latter, I believe, is aware of such a matter.”

He continued: “It is true that Hamas called on the axis of resistance to participate in the fighting, but individual attempts do not change Iran’s policies, at a time when Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Syrian regime army, and the Popular Mobilization Forces have an opportunity to polish their ugly face, and they must move, even by bombing from a distance.”

Since the 1980s, and for more than four decades, both Iran and Syria have considered themselves representatives of the resistance in the Middle East region, and they claimed that one of their priorities was to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people against the Israeli entity, until the liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

But this axis committed several tropes, starting with Iraq after the American occupation of the country in 2003, and passing through the Syrian revolution in 2011, until the stage of ISIS’s invasion of these two countries in 2014, by displacing millions of residents and killing hundreds of thousands on a sectarian basis, targeting Sunnis and those opposed to the Syrian regime.

Source: Aqlam Al Hora