The widespread war waged by the American-Israeli coalition against Iran casts dark shadows over the Gaza Strip, despite the relative calm that had recently prevailed in the area. The occupation government announced the complete closure of all crossings to the besieged strip, including the Rafah land crossing, raising fears that Tel Aviv would exploit the regional explosion as a pretext to continue tightening its grip on more than two million Palestinians.
Observers believe that the Gaza Strip has now become a hostage to the new power balances in the region, as the Palestinian street fears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will evade the obligations of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement. These developments come at a time when the strip has not yet recovered from the consequences of a devastating war that lasted for more than two years and exhausted all aspects of life.
For his part, writer and political analyst Wissam Afifa affirmed that Gaza is not an isolated arena but an integral part of the explosive regional balance network. Afifa explained that the direct escalation with American participation rearranges international priorities, which may lead to a slowdown in the implementation of withdrawal clauses from Gaza or their renegotiation under the pretext of urgent security conditions in the region.
Afifa pointed out that Netanyahu may find in the regional confrontation a golden opportunity to postpone the reconstruction and military withdrawal from the areas controlled by the occupation army. In contrast, the Hamas movement finds itself facing a new reality that requires balancing the preservation of its position in the axis of resistance with the necessity of establishing a ceasefire to protect the exhausted internal front.
On the ground, this major explosion comes after previous rounds of escalation, most notably Tehran's missile attack in October 2024 in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Those missiles then targeted the positions of the occupation army in the Netzarim axis in the heart of the Gaza Strip, reflecting the close field interconnectedness between the different arenas since the beginning of the aggression.
In June 2025, the region witnessed another wave of escalation that lasted 12 days, during which Israel targeted nuclear and military facilities deep inside Iran. That round coincided with the peak of the deliberate starvation policy practiced by the occupation against the residents of Gaza by closing the crossings, a scenario that is being repeated today in a more dangerous and comprehensive manner.
Security researcher Rami Abu Zubaida believes that the direct entry of the United States into the war means the transfer of the strategic center of gravity from Gaza to the confrontation arena with Iran. This shift will necessarily lead to a state of near-complete stagnation in the political movement related to de-escalation, putting the second phase of the agreement in a state of clinical paralysis.
Abu Zubaida warned that Gaza could turn into an arena for indirect deterrent messages, as the occupation might resort to expanding its limited operations within the strip, taking advantage of the world's preoccupation with the Iranian front. There is also another path, which is to tactically freeze military movements to avoid opening multiple fronts simultaneously that might include Iraq and Yemen.
On the humanitarian front, the numbers show the gravity of the situation, with 629 Palestinians martyred since the supposed ceasefire came into effect last October. This brings the total number of victims of the aggression since 2023 to more than 72,000 martyrs, amid the destruction of 90% of civilian infrastructure and the occupation's control over more than half of the strip's area.
Economically, researcher Ahmed Abu Qamar explained that the organic link between the Palestinian and Israeli economies makes Gaza immediately affected by any disruption in supply chains. He stressed that the closure of the Rafah crossing deprives residents of the only outlet for diversifying sources of goods, which doubles dependence on the Kerem Shalom crossing, which the occupation controls absolutely.
Abu Qamar warned that the strip's storage capacity has been completely eroded after the destruction of major warehouses during the past months of war, making markets highly sensitive to any closure, even for a single day. This reality has created a state of price distortion and a severe disruption in the availability of basic materials, threatening an unprecedented living crisis.
In a related context, field sources confirmed massive explosions in the vicinity of the Iranian Broadcasting and Television Corporation headquarters in Tehran, amid reports of hundreds killed, including high-ranking officials. Despite these strikes, the Iranian corporation announced the continuation of its broadcast, while the occupation army claimed that the headquarters was used as a cover for military operations.
The American side was not immune to losses, as the deaths of 6 American soldiers and serious injuries to 18 others were announced since the start of military operations against Iran last Saturday. Three F-15E fighter jets also crashed over Kuwaiti airspace, in what military sources described as possibly resulting from friendly fire during a state of maximum alert.
Finally, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stressed that the goal of these operations is to destroy Iran's security and missile infrastructure, not to build nations. This statement reinforces Palestinian fears that the region is heading for a wave of widespread destruction from which Gaza, which remains the weakest link in the struggle of major and regional powers, will not escape.
Washington's preoccupation with managing a broader confrontation with Iran will inevitably lead to a decrease in pressure on the Netanyahu government to complete the de-escalation requirements in Gaza.
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Gaza in the Throes of Regional Escalation: How Does the War on Iran Disrupt the Path to De-escalation?