News materials： The sixth ＂Middle East War＂ that did not break out (May 2001)

　　May 27, 2001 news: Since September 28 last year, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated step by step, and Israel and Arab countries are sliding to the brink of war.

　　In retaliation for a suicide bombing by an "Hamas" in the central city of Netanya, on the afternoon of May 18th, Israeli F-16 fighter jets and helicopter gunships were simultaneously dispatched to carry out fierce air strikes on Palestinian targets in the West Bank and the Gaza, killing 11 Palestinians and injuring more than 100 others. Over the past few months, Israeli air force helicopter gunships have fired missiles at Gaza many times, but this time the situation is completely different, because the power of F-16 fighter jets is incomparable to Apache helicopter gunships.

　　Sharon has always been called the "War Horse", and his consistent tough attitude makes people worry that if this "War Horse" gets out of control one day, it will bring new disasters to the Middle East.

　　Arab countries will never back down.

　　On the 19th, the Follow-up Committee of the Arab Summit held an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Cairo. Foreign ministers and representatives from 10 Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Syria attended the meeting. The statement adopted at this meeting stated that the Arab countries will spare no effort to support the struggle of the Palestinian people.

　　In the face of Israeli aggression, Pakistan indicated that it would continue to fight against Israeli aggression. In his speeches on different occasions, Arafat has repeatedly said that Israel is trying to conquer the Palestinian people by force, but the Palestinian people will never give in, and Palestine will definitely establish its own independent country and plant the national flag in East Jerusalem.

　　Syria and Lebanon are ready

　　Recently, the Israeli army has frequently dispatched helicopter gunships to attack the targets of Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, and bombed the Syrian radar station in the Bekaa Valley. Israeli military aircraft have repeatedly invaded Lebanese airspace, including the capital Beirut, and carried out threatening flights. Israeli Defense Minister Ben eliezer recently threatened that if Hezbollah guerrillas did not stop attacking Israel, the Israeli army would attack Syria, its "responsible party", instead of Hezbollah’s target.

　　After learning of the Israeli threat, Bashar, who was visiting Egypt, immediately decided to return home early and hold a high-level leaders’ meeting to study countermeasures. Bashar also called Lebanese President Lahoud on the 17th to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and coordinate the positions of the two countries. People are worried that if all parties do not exercise restraint, the tension between Lebanon and Israel and Syria and Israel may be further aggravated. The prospect of the situation in the Middle East is unpredictable.

　　The intensified Palestinian-Israeli conflict has aroused widespread concern in the international community. The international community is stepping up its efforts to restore peace in the Middle East. At present, there are two international suggestions on ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: one is the Egyptian-Jordanian peace talks plan jointly put forward by Egypt and Jordan, and the other is the Mitchell report submitted by the International Committee on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, which puts forward a set of suggestions on ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

　　But a cruel fact is that after nearly eight months of conflict, the mutual trust between Palestinian and Israeli leaders has been completely destroyed, and the opposition and hatred between the people of the two countries are getting deeper and deeper.

　　At the beginning of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, I’m afraid no one could have thought that the conflict would last so long and develop to such a fierce level. Similarly, people can’t predict what will happen tomorrow in the volatile Middle East.

Editor: Wang Yuxi