I have to say that several "old men" in the Middle East are very stubborn!
The main theme of the "75-year-old" Israel is that it does not listen to the persuasion of the "82-year-old" United States.
The "85-year-old" Iran also did not admit defeat, and after asking for an explanation to no avail, it decisively began to retaliate.
Two "old men", you punch me, I kick you back, and you must not suffer.
However, the "old man" is an old man after all, and his "physical strength" is obviously insufficient, and the "damage" of his fists is limited. It's just that they all want to be able to punch each other for the last time.
Let's take a look at the basic situation of the "old man" players in the Middle East:
1. Ayatollah Said Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran and the spiritual leader of the Shiites, was born in 1939 and is now 85 years old. Yesterday on the 19th, it happened to be Khamenei's 85th birthday, Netanyahu was quite "interesting", "whoosh" brushed several rockets, and became the "big brother on the list". In 1982, when the Iraqi army in the Iran-Iraq war was repulsed on Iranian soil, Khamenei judged the situation and did not approve of a counterattack on Iraqi soil. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's most famous assertion that "oil and gas reserves will always run out" affirms the development of civilian nuclear technology and leads to the growth of Iranian industry.
2. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, born in 1949, is 75 years old. It was Khamenei's 85th birthday yesterday, and he was the "big brother" of the rockets. Netanyahu is a representative of the hard-line wing of the Israeli right, advocating a hard-line policy on the Palestinian issue. Emphasizing security first, opposing the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, opposing the emergence of any foreign sovereignty in the West Bank, and opposing the return of Arab residents to their homeland. During his reign, Israelis ranked 11th happiest in the world. However, the 2023 "Palestinian-Israeli conflict" led by him has so far killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.
3. U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., born in 1942, is now 82 years old. Netanyahu attaches great importance to diplomatic relations with the Biden-led United States, believing that the United States is Israel's most important ally, providing a cornerstone for resolving all problems by force, consolidating American influence in Israel and the Middle East, and deterring Iran. But Biden still can't control Netanyahu, who has gone his own way on the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and doesn't take Biden seriously at all. Biden is angry, but he is helpless, and the United States cannot afford to lose this "die-hard fan" in the Middle East.
4. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement), was born in 1938 and was killed in an Israeli airstrike in March 2004. When he was a teenager, he was paralyzed by injuries and was keen on religious propaganda and religious welfare activities to help the poor, and gradually became an influential figure in the occupied Palestinian territories, and was respectfully called "Sheikh". If Yasin hadn't been killed, he would have been 86 years old this year.
The second supreme leader of Hamas, Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi, was born in 1947. Rantisi took over after Yassin was killed by Israeli forces in March, but he was also killed in an Israeli missile strike in April of the same year. Al-Rantisi is seen as a hard-line figure in Hamas, advocating the liberation of all occupied Palestinian territories through violent attacks. But he has only been in power for a month and is Hamas's shortest-serving supreme leader. If Rantisi hadn't been killed, he would have been 77 years old this year.
The current supreme leader of Hamas, Ismail Hania, was born in 1963 and is 61 years old. Born in a refugee camp in Gaza, he didn't even know his exact date of birth because of poverty and unrest. In April 2004, after Yassin and Rantisi were killed in attacks one after another, he was one of only two members of Hamas's five-member core leadership. After the Hamas government led by Haniyeh came to power, Palestine was blockaded by Israel and some Western countries, and the political, financial and social crisis became increasingly serious. In 2018, it was included in the "blacklist" of terrorist suspects by the U.S. government.
5. Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, born in 1944, is now 80 years old. He was born in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq, in Sulaymaniyah province. In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Rashid became president of Iraq in 2022 and expressed his hope that a strong, efficient and unified government would be formed as soon as possible to meet the people's expectations for security, stability and service. Rashid attaches great importance to diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey.
6. Mahmoud Abbas, the second president of the State of Palestine, was born in 1935 and is now 89 years old. Leader of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and current President of the State of Palestine. In 1959, he assisted Arafat in preparing for the establishment of Fatah, succeeded as chairman of the PLO Executive Committee after Arafat's death in November 2004, was elected as the supreme leader of Fatah in November 2006, and was elected president of the State of Palestine on November 23, 2008. Abbas condemned Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements, the continued Judaization of Jerusalem, and the obstruction of Palestinian statehood by the United States and Israel.
7. Lebanese Allah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, born in 1960, is 64 years old. Born into an ordinary Shia Muslim family. In February 1992, after Mousavi was killed by Israeli warplanes, he was elected leader of Allah. In January 1995, Nasrallah was listed as a terrorist by the United States and has been subject to constant sanctions. In November 2023, Nasrallah made a public statement on the new round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that if Israel does not stop attacking the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may escalate into a regional conflict. Efforts are made to make the alliance between Allah, Jihad (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) and Hamas "a real victory for the resistance."
The new round of "Palestinian-Israeli conflict" that began in 2023 is gradually evolving into a "regional conflict", and these "old men" in the Middle East are not willing to be lonely, and they are not soft at all.
On April 19, Israel retaliated against Iran's "retaliation" and staged a "one-night bombing of three countries". However, it is strange that Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack until now.
Will Iran retaliate against Israel's "retaliation"? Will this round of "old men scolding each other" in the Middle East develop into a "dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East"? Let us wait and see.