NO, I DON’T think the Israel-Hamas war will lead to World War III.
There has been a lot of speculation that the conflict will escalate to another world war. The argument is that if Israel escalates past a certain point, Iran and her allies will get involved.
If Iran gets involved, the US will join the fray.
Once that happens, Russia will step in to protect Iran from the US.
If Russia is involved then China gets involved, and from there, the situation escalates into Europe and then Asia, which will lead to a nice and proper world war.
It’s a plausible scenario, but one that is less likely than most other scenarios.
At worst, I see the situation lasting for years. But I don’t think it will lead to a world war, and this is because governments also need to think about self-preservation.
Iran or any of the Middle Eastern states aren’t likely to risk their population over a few dead Palestinians, nor is China or Russia willing to sacrifice their primary concerns over what may or may not happen in the Middle East.
They may despise the US-Israeli faction. They may even have genuine affection for the Palestinians. But at the end of the day, they will take the least costly action with the most optimum pay-off, which is to say they will fund and supply Hamas indefinitely.
But I doubt they would actually start anything. In a way, they will be doing what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is doing with Ukraine, and NATO has been relatively successful in forcing Russia to expend arms and resources (at Ukraine’s expense).
Of course, there’s a very good chance that I could be wrong, but so far, most of what is coming from both sides is blustering and whining.
If there is going to be any escalation, I think it will come in the form of aid and an attempt at prolonging the war, not World War III./PN
