MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Over the past couple of months, three separate Middle East conflicts calmed down. Not peace, exactly, but the daily shooting had largely stopped in Gaza, also Yemen and in Syria. Yet in recent days, all three have returned with a vengeance. To break this down, I want to bring in NPR's Greg Myre, who was recently in the region, Hi, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Take this one piece at a time. Start with Gaza - the renewed Israeli offensive against Hamas. Are we back now to all-out, full-scale war?
MYRE: Well, the Israeli air and ground campaign looks very similar to Israel's military operations before the ceasefire. Hamas is severely weakened, but today they were able to fire rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in months. Now, I was in Israel when the ceasefire took effect in January, and there was this overwhelming relief on both sides. Israelis and Palestinians welcomed the halt to the fighting. Both sides were thrilled to see the release of their hostages, prisoners and detainees. But even then, these dark clouds were on the horizon.
The initial truce didn't address the very tough issues of Israeli forces fully withdrawing from Gaza or Hamas giving up control of Gaza. Neither side has budged, and now we're seeing this intense Israeli campaign - hundreds of Palestinians dead, Palestinian civilians uprooted yet again. Even if a ceasefire is restored, like we had for the past two months, these larger issues remain.
KELLY: OK, let me turn you next to Yemen, where the U.S. Navy is waging daily airstrikes against the Houthis. What is the U.S. goal?
MYRE: Well, President Trump wants to completely destroy the Houthis. He said on Truth Social, quote, "tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians, and watch how it will get progressively worse. It's not even a fair fight and never will be. They will be completely annihilated." Now, the Houthis are, of course, outgunned, but they're also very resilient, and it's far from clear whether airstrikes alone will stop Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Here's retired U.S. Army General Joe Votel, who previously commanded U.S. forces in the Middle East.
JOE VOTEL: The definition of success is about stopping attacks on shipping and ships that go through the Red Sea. I think that has to stop. The flow of commerce and navigation needs to return to its, you know, pre-October '23 levels.
KELLY: The - General Votel's referring there - October 2023, meaning the start of the war in Gaza, right?
MYRE: Right. That's right. And Votel is noting this clear link between the Gaza war and Yemen. The Houthis say they're attacking in solidarity with the Palestinians. And the Houthis did halt these attacks when the Gaza ceasefire took effect two months ago. But as that truce unraveled, tensions rose in Yemen as well, and the U.S. launched this open-ended bombing campaign last weekend.
KELLY: OK, to conflict No. 3 on our radar - Syria. Back in December, when rebels seized power, it looked - there were hopes that that long civil war was over. Why a resurgence in fighting there now?
MYRE: Well, short answer, the groups that were defeated back in December have not completely gone silent. A major battle erupted a week or so ago between forces that are part of the new government and remnants loyal to the old regime of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. Hundreds of people were killed - many civilians - along Syria's Mediterranean coast. There's sporadic fighting elsewhere, and it's raising questions about whether the new government, led by the Islamist group HTS, can establish full control. Right now, it's hard to tell if these are isolated spasms of violence or signs of the civil war reigniting.
KELLY: The thing is, President Trump insists he does not want to be involved in endless Middle East wars. Why is he being so active in the region?
MYRE: Well, the best we can tell, he seems to believe he can wrap some of these conflicts up quickly and then move on. But they all have very long history, and there's really no solid reason to believe they can be resolved in the near term. And as a quick reminder, President Obama wanted to shrink the U.S. role in the region, as did President Trump in his first term, as did President Biden. But for recent U.S. presidents, the Middle East is just like the "Hotel California." They may want to check out, but they can't seem to ever leave.
KELLY: Wisdom from the Eagles and NPR's Greg Myre. Thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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