A March 25 Security Council stop- fireplace resolution highlighted again suddenly the , great gap , between the US and China on Israel’s war on Gaza. US authorities were quick to note that the Biden presidency considered the solution “non- bound” – which China swiftly contradicted, pointing to the UN contract.
Almost six months into Israel’s conflict in Gaza, US coverage in the Middle East has a significant political benefit for China, despite Beijing’s lack of substantial commitment to promote peace. This is not only harming its interests in the region but also provides significant political benefits. In Washington, contest with China is typically considered the main US foreign policy problem. However, US Middle Eastern plan is undermining this corporate priority.
A State Department official who recently resigned over US coverage toward Gaza questioned why support for Israel was seen as more important than “very important interests” like tackling China, defending human rights, and addressing climate change in a recent interview.
Washington has reevaluate and reevaluate its connection with Israel and, in turn, its overall position in the Middle East if it wants to compete with China.
Beijing is pleased that Washington is paying so little consideration to the conflict in Gaza, leaving less time to concentrate on outposts in the Indo-Pacific like Taiwan and the South China Sea, as it has in the event of the conflict in Ukraine. The conflict in Gaza has been a benefit for China because of the wider geopolitical struggle for control.
Beijing has been content to sit up and let the U. S. distract itself from the dozens of no- American countries , that are brutally essential of Israel’s war on Gaza. China has not made a serious effort to broker peace. However, it has attempted to unite itself with nations like Brazil and South Africa by calling for a two-state solution, rejecting Hamas, and backing efforts to secure a cease-fire.
In doing so, China “has taken advantage of global anti- Israeli sentiment … to elevate its own standing in the global South” , , argued , Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
An editorial in Chinese state media  stated that the orders should also prompt some major nations to stop blinding Israel’s actions in Gaza in response to the International Court of Justice’s initial ruling on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
After the US vetoed a December Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease- fire, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun , expressed , “great disappointment” in the US veto. Submitted by the United Arab Emirates, that draft resolution had nearly 100 co- sponsors, including China, demonstrating where much of the international community stands. ” All this shows once again what]a ] double standard is”, Zhang said.
The “double standard” charge resonates with many countries outside the West, particularly in light of Washington’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington has vociferously condemned Russian violations of international law in Ukraine, with the Department of Justice even , charging , Russian military personnel with war crimes.
Meanwhile, Washington has said that Israel , has not breached international law, despite the , killing of nearly 200 humanitarian aid workers, assaults on medical facilities and limiting of desperately needed aid. The Biden administration’s decision to find Israel in compliance with international law and to issue a national security memo mandating that recipients of US weapons must not be in violation of international law or to not be impede humanitarian aid will surely embarrass Global South nations that consider this to be hypocrisy.
Prior to the terrorist attack on October 7, China had already gotten more powerful in the Middle East. In fact, many observers think that Riyadh’s primary motivation for the US’s efforts to broker a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is to entice Washington more firmly into its orbit and detach from Beijing.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, and Egypt were all added to the BRICS bloc by China in the last year alone, and business ties across the Middle East, particularly the Gulf, have grown. It is now using the Gaza crisis to strengthen its presence in the area. When Arab foreign ministers went on a , tour of Security Council countries in November , in a bid to end the Gaza war, they chose to go to China first.
The Biden administration must reevaluate its strategy toward Israel, Palestine, and the region in light of the shocking, dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The US should consider reconsidering its long-standing, unwavering support for Israel and a wider militaristic strategy in the area given the current circumstances in Gaza. However, it also comes down to a complex issue of hard geopolitical interests: the US’s handling of the Gaza conflict is putting strain on China’s standing on the global stage.
It would be strategically wise to condition aid to Israel and restore the US-Israel relationship to its original state. More broadly, the US should reconsider its military posture in the region. US troops in the area have been the target of a lot of attacks even before the Gaza war, and why? Military retrenchment could be a good first step in repairing America’s damaged image and restoring relationships with key regional players, which would advance the United States ‘ interests in its conflict with China.  ,
Adam Gallagher writes about geopolitics and US foreign policy in the Middle East. For more of his writing , and , analysis, follow him on , Linked In.  ,