Gaza’s Siege and Global Complicity

Behind the Gaza Crisis: Global Complicity and the Push for a New World Order

May 8, 2025 by

THE MARKH FOUNDATION, Iftikhar ul Haq

The brutal Israeli assault on Gaza – launched in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack – has been sustained by a network of global alliances and policies. From Washington to London to Riyadh, world leaders have rallyed behind Israel’s campaign, providing arms, political cover, and diplomatic backing. U.S. and European officials have repeatedly insisted on Israel’s “right to defend itself” while quietly facilitating military supplies. Saudi and Gulf monarchs – once cheerleaders of Palestinian rights – have quietly pursued closer ties with Israel, normalizing relations and sidelining Palestinian demands. Taken together, these behind-the-scenes developments reveal a broader realignment in Middle East geopolitics. Critics argue this alignment reflects an emerging “new world order” of authoritarian blocs – a point underscored by analysts who note that Washington’s drive to deepen ties with Riyadh and Jerusalem serves U.S. interests “in the struggle for the new world order, in competition against China and Russia”jns.org. As Gaza endures widespread devastation and civilian suffering, an activist surge is growing to hold these global powers accountable and demand justice for Palestinians.

Abraham Accords and the Middle East Realignment

In 2020, the U.S. brokered the Abraham Accords, a series of treaties normalizing relations between Israel and several Gulf Arab states (UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco). Reuters reported that when UAE and Bahrain signed, it marked a “strategic realignment of Middle East countries against Iran,” with Trump boasting of many more nations to comereuters.com. The deals explicitly sidestepped the Palestinian issue, angering Palestinians who denounced the accords as a betrayal. Nevertheless, former President Trump heralded the ceremonies as “changing the course of history,” predicting even Saudi Arabia would join “at the right time”reuters.com. Indeed, Riyadh’s tacit approval was deemed “crucial” in that periodreuters.com. Behind the scenes, Saudi negotiators and U.S. officials were working on a multi-part agreement – offering Saudi security guarantees and nuclear aid in exchange for ties with Israel – essentially subsuming the Palestinian question under great-power politics.

By mid-2022, the U.S. push to cement this alliance became overt. President Biden’s first trip to the Middle East in July 2022 made headlines as he flew directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia – an unprecedented itinerary for a U.S. presidentreuters.com reuters.com. U.S. officials said the trip was explicitly aimed at “perused Gulf allies… to bring Israel and Saudi Arabia closer together” and to “deep Israel’s integration in the region”reuters.com reuters.com. An Israeli official later noted that Biden’s direct Jerusalem-to-Jeddah flight “encapsulates a lot of the dynamics” that had been evolving – signaling that an Israel-Saudi rapprochement was becoming a centerpiece of U.S. Middle East policyreuters.com reuters.com.

By September 2023, the Saudi Crown Prince publicly acknowledged these warming ties. In a Fox News interview, Mohammed bin Salman admitted his country was “moving steadily closer” to normalizing relations with Israelreuters.com. He said Saudi negotiators hoped a deal would “ease the life of the Palestinians” while bringing Israel “as a player in the Middle East,” even as he warned Iran not to obtain a nuclear weaponreuters.com. These admissions were part of intense U.S.-backed diplomacy: Biden officials pressed for a landmark Israel-Saudi normalization and even offered a U.S.-Saudi defense treaty in return, as Reuters reportedreuters.com reuters.com. All of this set the stage for a new regional order where Washington, Riyadh, and Jerusalem formed an axis – one prepared to advance normalization even without solving the Palestinian question, as long as it served broader strategic aims.

United States: From Trump’s Gaza Plans to Biden’s Support

U.S. leaders have been deeply implicated in Gaza’s fate. Former President Donald Trump planted many of these diplomatic seeds. His 2020 Abraham Accords press conference at the White House celebrated the new deals as Arab states “revers decades of ill will” toward Israelreuters.com. More provocatively, in February 2025 Trump stunned observers by proposing that the U.S. should “take over” Gaza after forcibly relocating the Palestinian population and turn the Strip into a development projectreuters.com. Netanyahu himself called Trump’s plan a “historic opportunity”aa.com.tr. The Saudi government immediately rejected any notion of Palestinian displacement, reaffirming that “its stance towards the Palestinians is not negotiable” and that normalization cannot proceed without a Palestinian statereuters.com reuters.com. Trump’s proposal echoed Israel’s most extreme colonial fantasies and laid bare how some world leaders have openly entertained plans that amount to ethnic cleansing.

Under President Biden, Washington has become Israel’s staunch supporter in the conflict. On Oct. 7, 2023 – the day of the Hamas attack – Biden publicly vowed to provide Israel “all appropriate means of support”reuters.com. He warned any country “hostile to Israel” against exploiting the situationreuters.com. U.S. officials immediately began coordinating military aid to Israel. For example, on Oct. 7 Reuters reported that the U.S. was preparing to offer Israel “all appropriate means” of support, and would ensure the conflict did not spread beyond Gazareuters.com reuters.com. Domestically, Biden maintained vetoes and diplomatic cover for Israel at the UN. And behind the scenes, the U.S. agreed to massive arms transfers. Reuters disclosed that in April 2025 the State Department quietly advanced a $24 million sale of 20,000 Colt assault rifles to Israel – weapons Biden had previously delayed over human-rights concernsreuters.com. That delay meant little: Trump had already rescinded sanctions on Israeli settlers, and since taking office his administration had approved “billions of dollars worth of weapons” for Israelreuters.com. In sum, the United States – under Trump and Biden alike – has provided Israel with diplomatic immunity and a surfeit of arms. This unconditional backing is widely seen in the Arab world as the key enabler of the Gaza onslaught (50% of Arabs surveyed cited U.S. military-political support as the main factor fueling Israel’s campaignarabcenterdc.org).

Britain’s Double Game: Arms, Apologies, and Advocacy

In London, too, government policy has largely sided with Israel’s war effort. The British government claims it applies a “very careful licensing regime” to arms exports, yet it continues to supply weapons and components. Reuters analysis found that UK licenses for arms sales to Israel plunged by 95% in late 2023 – mainly because Britain doesn’t directly manufacture many of the high-tech items Israel buysreuters.com. But that 13-year low still represented grants worth nearly £0.86 million in the first three months of the warreuters.com. Licenses were issued for aircraft parts, training ammunition and even some advanced equipment – as officials quietly noted the legal advice still permitted sales.reuters.com reuters.com.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has publicly defended this stance. He told Parliament that Israel had a “right to self-defense” and that Britain’s arms exports would remain under reviewreuters.com. He resisted opposition calls to suspend sales even after a tragic Israeli strike killed British aid workers in Gaza, insisting the UK has “a very careful export licensing regime”reuters.com. On other fronts, Sunak has aligned fully with Israel’s narrative. In June 2024 Reuters reported him as “one of Europe’s strongest advocates of Israel’s right to respond with overwhelming force” against Hamasreuters.com. He flew Israel’s flag at Downing Street on Holocaust Remembrance Day and repeatedly condemned Hamas and Iran, while stopping short of any demands for Israel to halt bombardment. In short, the UK leadership has offered Israel diplomatic and moral backing, even as human-rights groups urged an arms embargo. According to Reuters, Britain has sold more than £570 million of military kit to Israel since 2008, and in 2022 alone approved £42 million of new exports – including rifles and aircraft partsreuters.com. Many Britons support an arms ban (a Guardian poll found 56% in favor), but ministers have refusedreuters.com.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: From Public Protests to Quiet Deals

Saudi Arabia’s role has been perhaps the most contradictory. For decades the kingdom officially championed Palestinian rights, and in early October 2023 it was quick to condemn Israel. Saudi state media reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Israel to “stop any attack” on Gaza, and vowed “unremitting efforts” to halt the bloodshedreuters.com. At an Arab League summit in Riyadh in November 2024 he denounced the Gaza campaign as a “massacre” and demanded that Israel “immediately” cease its aggressionaljazeera.com. These words align with popular outrage in the Arab street.

But behind the scenes, Riyadh had been steering a very different course. For years Saudi officials quietly coordinated with U.S. and Israeli back channels. Even in the first week of the war, Reuters noted that the Hamas attack “coincides with U.S.-backed moves to push Saudi Arabia towards normalizing ties with Israel” in exchange for a defense pactreuters.com. In fact, just days before October 7 Reuters sources reported that Saudi leaders were “putting [the Israel] deal on ice” as violence flaredaljazeera.com. Yet those same sources made clear the pause was temporary – Riyadh still wanted the U.S. security guarantees that came with normalizationaljazeera.com. In other words, MBS’s public outrage over Gaza had to be balanced against his palace’s private pursuit of American arms and regional influence.

This balancing act dates back years. In early 2024, just months before the war, Reuters cited a senior Saudi official saying that normalization could only come “if Palestinians get a state”reuters.com. The statement insisted Saudi policy was clear: no links with Israel without an independent Palestine. Yet the same journalist noted that this stance contradicted President Trump’s suggestion to “take over Gaza,” highlighting the gulf between public rhetoric and covert negotiationsreuters.com reuters.com.

Other Gulf states have also shown this duality. The United Arab Emirates – long Israel’s closest Gulf ally – is now deeply involved in Gaza’s aftermath. Reuters reports that Abu Dhabi is working with the U.S. and Israel on Gaza’s post-war future, insisting a reformed Palestinian Authority must govern any revived Gaza statereuters.com. Emirati officials even floated deploying private military contractors in Gaza to keep the peacereuters.com, a controversial idea that would replace direct Palestinian control with mercenary forces. On the one hand, the UAE has publicly criticized Israel’s tactics – even questioning Prime Minister Netanyahu by namereuters.com – but on the other hand it seeks a leading role in the new regional order. Israel, for its part, welcomes the Emiratis as key mediators and financiers.

In contrast, Qatar has channeled aid to Gaza and hosted hostage negotiations, reflecting its independent stance. But most Arab governments (Egypt, Jordan, Oman) have fallen in line. Egypt’s President Sisi has held up the 1979 peace with Israel as a “model,” and Cairo has coordinated its military operations with Israel along the Gaza borderynetnews.com ynetnews.com. Egypt was officially outraged when Israel shut the Rafah crossing, insisting Israel pay “full responsibility” for Gaza’s crisisreuters.com. In practice, however, Egypt’s security services have long worked quietly with Israel to police Gaza and prevent spillover. Likewise, Jordan’s King Abdullah II has affirmed “steadfast” support for the Palestinian cause – in February 2025 he explicitly rejected Trump’s plan to displace Gazansnewarab.com. But Amman also maintains its 1994 peace treaty with Israel and relies on U.S. aid.

The picture that emerges is a region in flux: public condemnations of Israel’s violence coexisting with secret diplomatic bargains and military cooperation. The Abraham Accords and follow-on negotiations have integrated Israel into a U.S.-aligned bloc of Gulf monarchies, sidelining the Palestinian issue. As one Israeli strategist put it, expanding ties between Washington, Riyadh and Jerusalem are about “mega-projects” and the geopolitical competition shaping a “new world order”jns.org. Projects connecting Asia to the Mediterranean and shared security pacts are touted as goals, even as millions of Palestinians suffer under blockade and bombardment.

“New World Order” and Authoritarian Alignments

Analysts warn that the Gaza war and the normalization drive are symptoms of a larger shift in global power. The phrase “new world order” has surfaced repeatedly in this context. For example, former Israeli security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat (who helped negotiate the Abraham Accords) told JNS News that the U.S.-Saudi-Israel pact is aimed at establishing “stability arrangements” not just in Gaza but across the regionjns.org. He explained that for Washington, such deepening ties serve “American interests: political, security and economic, in the struggle for the new world order, in competition against China and Russia, and in the fight against Iran.”jns.org. In other words, Israel’s Gulf strategy is explicitly linked to global great-power rivalry, and not merely a local peace process.

This alignment has an authoritarian character. The same Gulf states that once demanded Palestinian rights have increasingly preoccupied themselves with suppressing dissent at home and combating Islamist movements abroad. Their Israel deals reflect a shared interest in surveillance, counterterrorism and centralized power. Indeed, observers note that the UAE and Saudi regimes celebrated Israel’s success in quashing Hamas (a secular Islamist movement) as affirming the region’s broader fight against “extremism.” U.S. and European leaders have encouraged this outlook; President Biden and British ministers regularly cast Hamas and Iran as the real enemies, while emphasizing stability and economic integration.

To many activists and scholars, this spells a grim vision of a new order: one of entrenched blocs of authoritarian states and Western-aligned monarchies, united against popular movements. The Palestine issue has become a bargaining chip rather than a cause. Meanwhile, Palestinians are increasingly isolated: an Arab Center Washington poll found that only 13% of respondents still believe a peaceful solution with Israel is possiblearabcenterdc.org. Over half said U.S. support was the main factor enabling Israel’s war, while about 11% even blamed the Arab normalization deals themselvesarabcenterdc.org. The vast majority of Arabs now view Western and Israeli positions on Gaza very negativelyarabcenterdc.org.

This convergence of policies – militarized, elitist, and mutually reinforcing – is exactly what critics of a “new world order” warn about. What began as a war for Gaza has been set within a global framework of competition and control. Yet it’s also spurring a cross-border movement in response. From Paris to New York to Manila, people have taken to the streets in solidarity with Gaza. Al Jazeera notes that the university protests which began in the U.S. have “spread… from France to Australia”aljazeera.com. Students are camping out and demanding divestment; union members, faith groups, and anti-war activists are mounting marches and sit-ins. In country after country, popular sentiment is breaking with governments: in Britain, France and elsewhere, large majorities support an arms embargo on Israel.

Global Solidarity: Steps to Resist

There is a growing sense among activists and human rights defenders that only collective action can counter this tide of oppression and realignment. In practical terms, that means organizing and mobilizing on multiple fronts:

Mass Protests and Demonstrations: Join or organize peaceful protests, rallies and sit-ins calling for an immediate ceasefire and for world leaders to stop arming Israel. From city squares to university campuses (e.g. the student encampments spreading worldwidealjazeera.com), visible public pressure can shift the discourse.
Political Advocacy: Urge legislators and officials to suspend arms sales. Citizens across Europe and North America are petitioning parliaments to halt weapons exports and to hold leaders accountable for their Gaza stance. Pressure opposition parties and union leaders to take a firm stand, as seen in the growing calls to sanction Israel in some Arab capitals.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS): Support targeted economic measures against companies that profit from the occupation. Universities, pension funds and consumer campaigns can cut ties with firms supplying military or surveillance technology to Israel, or facilitating settlement expansion. Broad civil society coalitions have used boycotts effectively in the past to challenge apartheid policies.
Humanitarian Solidarity: Mobilize resources and support for Gaza’s civilians. Donate to vetted medical and relief organizations, or organize aid convoys. Publicize the plight of refugees and victims – breaking the media silence can save lives. Pressure authorities to open borders for humanitarian corridors, citing international law and basic human decency.
Legal and UN Action: Work with human rights groups to pursue legal accountability. Support investigations into war crimes at the International Court of Justice or through UN special rapporteurs. Advocate for UN bodies to place travel bans and asset freezes on officials complicit in aggression. Use diplomatic channels – even if Western governments veto UN actions, letters and resolutions can isolate perpetrators politically.

At the heart of all these actions is solidarity – believing that ordinary people, united across borders, can block authoritarian projects. The Gaza catastrophe did not happen in a vacuum; it was enabled by policies that can, in turn, be challenged by citizen movements. Global activists have already demonstrated their potential, as news outlets report rallies of thousands worldwide against the war. Now is the time to build on that momentum, connecting local struggles with the larger fight against imperial aggression and injustice.

The Gaza civilian population needs not just sympathy but concrete help. Political change requires global pressure on the corridors of power. By uniting in the streets, at campuses, and online – by disrupting business-as-usual with the demands of justice – the world’s people can remind their leaders that rights and humanity cannot be bargained away. As Arab League officials have warned, “words cannot express the plight” of Gazaaljazeera.com, and only concerted action will. We call on defenders of human rights everywhere to stand together: demand an end to the bombing, call for accountability, and refuse to normalize oppression. History shows that when people organize with passion and purpose, even the mightiest powers can be challenged. Let the global movement against Gaza’s occupation become unstoppable.

Sources: We have drawn on international reporting from Reuters and other outlets to trace these events, including statements by Trump, Biden, Sunak, MBS, and othersreuters.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com jns.org. The accounts are corroborated by experts and polling dataarabcenterdc.org reuters.com. All cited sources are listed above in the text.

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