For Russia, the Hamas assault is a useful distraction from the Ukraine war

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
By Grzegorz Adamczyk
2 Min Read

It’s quite obvious that in the Middle East, Russia’s foreign policy — with certain exceptions — favors the Arab world, while the USA supports Israel. However, we are unable to determine the extent of the secret Russian services’ involvement in arming, training, and directing terrorist organizations in the region.

Russia has a long tradition of coordinating terrorist activities in the Middle East. Back in the days of the USSR, the Russians were active in supporting the recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the West. In March of this year, one of the leaders of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, admitted that a delegation from his organization visited Moscow and met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

After the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow became more involved in religious issues in the Middle East, as well as in the disturbances caused by Islamic immigration in Europe, which weakened the position of, for example, France in its decisiveness toward the Middle East.

For decades, Moscow’s foreign policy in the Middle East was concentrated on acquiring assets to inflame the situation and weaken American influence. They have now armed these assets with weapons.

Even though for Poles the plight of our neighbors may be more important than the Middle East, these two matters are connected.

Americans who are becoming weary of supporting Eastern Europe will soon be preoccupied with their presidential election. But for now, Washington has to increase its efforts in stabilizing the situation in the Middle East. 

It is in Poland’s interest for the pro-Russian Muslims of the Middle East to be defeated so that the West can once more be focused on Russia, which will no doubt attempt to cause problems in other regions in the hope of launching more proxy wars.

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