Israel’s US-backed assault on the Muslim world is reshaping old hostilities in the Gulf

“The perception that the U.S. is currently unable or unwilling to engage” has led to an uptick in regional diplomacy as Gulf leaders “react and react,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at the think tank Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, USA.

But the West’s collective refusal to pressure Israel to end hostilities in Gaza and subsequent support for its goals in Lebanon have heightened GCC leaders’ fears that their longstanding oil-for-security agreements could be unraveled.