US President Joe Biden stated that the intercontinental connectivity project, India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, announced last month during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, is one of the reasons Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, killing over 1,400 people. The ensuing Israeli counteroffensive into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed nearly 7,000 Palestinians, a toll that exceeds that of the previous 15 years of conflict.
The project’s goal is to connect the entire region with a railroad network. The project, too, from, and between India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe aims to provide a “reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to supplement existing maritime and road transport routes”, according to a Memorandum of Understanding signed to define the principles of India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor.
Biden told reporters while standing next to visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that his analysis is based on instinct and lacks evidence. “I am convinced one of the reasons Hamas attacked when they did, and I have no proof of this, just my instinct tells me, is because of the progress we were making towards regional integration for Israel, and regional integration overall. We can’t leave that work behind,” Biden said.
Biden has suggested the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) as a possible motive for Hamas’ terrorist strike for the second time in less than a week. Earlier, in an address from the Oval Office following his wartime Israel visit, Biden praised the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor as a project aimed at building a “better future for the Middle East” and making West Asia “more stable, better connected to its neighbors.”
Biden stated that with “innovative projects such as the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor that we announced earlier this year in the summit of the world’s biggest economies”, the region will benefit with “predictable markets, more employment, less rage, and fewer grievances.”
“It benefits the people of the Middle East. It benefits us (the United States).”
On the margins of the G20 conference in September, the leaders of the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, and the European Union jointly unveiled the new economic corridor, which many perceive as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. An eastern corridor connects India to the Gulf region, and a northern corridor connects the Gulf region to Europe.
What should we make of Biden’s comments on IMEC in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict?
According to an MoU signed during the G20 conference in New Delhi, the countries pledged to “commit to an action plan with relevant timetables” within sixty days after September 9. The Hamas strike on Israel on October 7 falls exactly in the center of these sixty days. An intercontinental connectivity project, combined with probable rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia following the historic restoration of ties between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain, would have derailed Hamas’ ostensible ambitions regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Biden stated that in recent weeks, he has spoken with leaders throughout the region, including King Abdullah of Jordan, President Sisi of Egypt, President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, about the need to work toward greater integration for Israel while insisting that the Palestinian people’s aspirations will be part, will be part of that future as well.
