Abraham Accord in Ashes as Israel Bombs Syria

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: A new round of Israeli airstrikes on Syria has once again ignited tensions in an already volatile region, casting doubt on what little remained of the so-called Abraham Accord peace initiatives.

The bombing, which targeted military installations and airports near Damascus and Aleppo, left behind charred wreckage, flames, and fatalities, including civilians. For many across the Muslim world, this wasn’t just another strike—it was another grim chapter in a familiar story of occupation, aggression, and impunity.

The timing is anything but accidental. The Israeli assault comes amid rising frustration over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed since October last year. The latest air raids on Syria are being seen not as isolated incidents, but as part of a broader Israeli policy—destabilize, provoke, and expand influence under the pretense of security.

Syria, ravaged by over a decade of war and sanctions, remains a soft target for these escalations, especially as it continues to struggle with reconstruction and refugee return.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/diplomacy-and-destruction-navigating-iran-israel-ceasefire/

Israel claims the strikes were aimed at preventing Iranian weapons transfers to Hezbollah, but critics see it as yet another violation of international law, sovereignty, and the UN Charter. Damascus has called on the UN Security Council to intervene and label these attacks for what they are: naked aggression. Yet history suggests little will come of such appeals. Israeli jets routinely bomb Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza without consequence. It is a dangerous precedent in a region already brimming with fury and desperation.

US President Donald Trump’s name looms large in all of this. The man who once hailed himself as the bringer of peace to the Middle East now watches as the accords that bear his legacy are turned to dust under the weight of bombs. The Abraham Accords—marketed as historic breakthroughs between Israel and Arab states—were always viewed with skepticism by many in the Muslim world. With the Gaza genocide fresh in memory and Syrian soil now burning again, that skepticism has hardened into resentment.

The Israeli attack is also a diplomatic slap to Arab leaders who had normalized ties with Tel Aviv, believing that engagement would lead to peace. Instead, these leaders now find themselves cornered—silent in the face of war crimes, watching helplessly as their own populations demand answers. In countries like Jordan, Egypt, and even the UAE, public anger simmers, and every new Israeli strike becomes a reminder of betrayal.

Iran, a long-time backer of Syria, has condemned the strikes as “state terrorism” and warned that continued provocations could spark a wider conflict. Russia, too, has expressed alarm, with its foreign ministry calling the attacks “irresponsible” and counterproductive to any peace process in the region. But in a world where condemnation rarely translates to action, the people of Syria are left to bury their dead and rebuild with dust-covered hands.

In Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels, the strike on Syria was met with grim understanding. Many see the same tactics at play: a powerful military unleashed on a weaker, sanctioned population, with the full backing of Western powers. The global Muslim community, already outraged by months of televised slaughter in Rafah and Khan Younis, now finds itself mourning another front.

What peace survives when bombs fall on hospitals? What diplomacy remains when the United States—once a self-proclaimed honest broker—turns a blind eye to war crimes? The silence isn’t restraint—it’s complicity. And Trump’s Abraham Accords echo louder with every strike, their promises buried in rubble.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/global-alarm-as-us-hits-iran/

The UN urges restraint, but its words are lost beneath airstrikes and mothers’ cries. Syria, like Palestine, is now a graveyard for accountability—where law means little, and loss is endless.

And yet, amid the rubble, the Muslim world is slowly finding its voice. From Istanbul to Jakarta, protests against Israeli aggression have intensified. Regional powers are rethinking alliances. Even within Arab states that had signed onto normalization deals, there are quiet but growing calls to reconsider those decisions. The narrative is shifting—from false peace to righteous resistance.

Israel’s insistence on militarized dominance is unraveling whatever credibility the Abraham Accords had left. The promise of economic cooperation and regional harmony now lies buried under broken glass and concrete. Peace cannot be built on the back of drone strikes and siege warfare. It cannot be signed into existence with gold pens while children die in bombed-out classrooms.

If there is to be peace in the Middle East, it will not come from photo ops or PR campaigns. It will require justice—real, visible, enforceable justice. That means holding aggressors accountable, ending occupations, lifting sieges, and allowing nations like Syria and Palestine to determine their futures free of foreign interference and bombardment.

Until that day arrives, every bomb dropped on Syrian soil, every hospital destroyed in Gaza, every tear gas canister fired in the West Bank will be a nail in the coffin of peace as imagined by the Abraham Accord. The region’s people are watching. So is the world. And history, unforgiving as ever, will remember who stood silent, who profited, and who paid in blood.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.

Asem Mustafa Awan has extensive reporting experience with leading national and international media organizations. He has also contributed to reference books such as the Alpine Journal and the American Alpine Journal, among other international publications.