New Delhi: In a 45-minute live interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman, analyses the implications of the Gaza-Israel war.Was the Hamas attack really unprovoked as Israel and the West have claimed? How serious an intelligence and security failure on Israel’s part is this?Will Israel’s threatened mighty retaliation be tempered by the fact Hamas holds dozens of Israeli hostages and Tel Aviv wants to avoid a supportive uprising on the West Bank?After Hezbollah, could Iran intervene in support of Hamas? Will President Biden’s rock-solid support for Israel go so far as to endanger hopes of a Saudi-Israel peace deal? Or is it already dead in the water? Where does this leave the other Abraham Accord countries?How should we read the largely silent response from Beijing and Moscow? And was Prime Minister Narendra Modi right to immediately express solidarity with Israel whilst calling the Hamas attack terrorism?Watch this interview to hear Talmiz Ahmad’s answers.
