Word: hizballah
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...prospect of peace. Today dialogue amongst the various parties is rare, even as the prospects for U.S. success on key issues such as stabilizing Iraq, fighting al-Qaeda and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons may hinge in no small part on its ability to stop the Israel-Hizballah crisis from spinning out of control. But having dispensed with the traditional U.S. role of shuttling between warring parties, the Bush administration finds its ability to keep a lid on their clashes quite limited...
...Elsewhere, Iran provides crucial support to Syria, Hamas and Hizballah, the three Arab players most visibly defying American and Israeli designs for the Middle East. Syria may prove another tempting target for Israeli forces, which buzzed President Bashar Assad's palace last month as a warning to end its backing for terrorist groups. Jordanian authorities recently accused Hamas of smuggling weapons into Jordan from Syria with the intention of staging terrorist attacks against King Abdullah II's rule. But any military action against Damascus could backfire by plunging Syria itself into a sectarian conflict between Alawite loyalists and the Sunni...
...withdrawal from the Gaza Strip a year ago, Israeli and U.S. policies of shunning negotiations have not produced much new hope of lasting progress. In fact, Palestinian voters six months ago ousted the late Yasser Arafat's secular Fatah group from power and elected a Hamas government - which, like Hizballah, is backed by Iran and is sworn to destroy the Jewish state...
...nudged Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas toward starting peace talks, but now that appears off the table. Other moderates, including Egypt's Mubarak and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, also seem eclipsed. In contrast, it is Khaled Meshal, the militant leader of Hamas in exile, and Hassan Nasrallah, Hizballah's chief in Lebanon, both backed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and Assad in Syria, who are driving current developments...
...what they have always done best. Militants possibly affiliated with one of those two groups launched a missile strike at the Northern Israeli city of Haifa on Thursday in another move that risked severe Israeli retaliation. Such an escalation would only further reduce the already slim odds that Hizballah, Hamas and other militant groups are likely to release their captives unconditionally as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has demanded. So with the battle lines drawn, from Baghdad to Beirut, the summer in the Middle East may yet get a lot, lot hotter...