Open questions | Middle East ‘the best place’ for China and US to cooperate, observer says

Professor Pan Guang has spent decades focused on Jewish studies, the Middle East and ties with China. Among his many roles, Pan is founding director of a research centre on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.

Many now say that the conflicts in the Middle East will expand. I think there will definitely be some escalation, but it is unlikely to reach the scale of the Lebanon wars in 1982 or 2006 with Israeli troops surging into the country.

Hezbollah will definitely retaliate and continue to launch missiles and rockets at Israel. Hamas will definitely take some action too, but Hamas really does not have the strength to fight any more. Although its leader has been killed, it is unable to make any major moves.

Under the current circumstances, Israel may also not want to fight on two fronts – attacking Gaza and Lebanon at the same time. This is very difficult, but it is also prepared [for any attack].

The US presidential election will start soon, and both candidates have told [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu that they want the war to be stopped as soon as possible.

Although Iran has very tough rhetoric, how is it able to [retaliate] when it is so far away? Iran will probably just release a muddled investigation result on [the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh] because it has no solid evidence that Israel must be behind it, so it is difficult for Iran to take any action.