The contours of the new Middle East were observable as early as 2014, when the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas inaugurated some of the fiercest fighting between Israel and Palestinian factions in the decade leading up to this war.
At the time, even the rote statements of solidarity with the Palestinian cause from Sunni Arab capitals that traditionally accompanied flareups were few and far between. Egypt, which had styled itself a mediator in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since the Camp David accords, quietly tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Saudi regime held Hamas responsible for whatever bloodshed followed the terrorist group’s rejection of a cease-fire proposal. Jordan lobbed some perfunctory protests against Israel’s actions while maintaining its economic ties to and intelligence-sharing relationship with Israel.
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