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Almost exactly a year after the Hamas attack triggered the crisis in Gaza, Israel’s land incursion into Southern Lebanon on 30 September opened a new phase of conflict in the Middle East. Iran and Hezbollah have suffered major blows in the past few days, with Israel demonstrating the superiority of its military and intelligence services. It is unclear yet how Iran and its proxies will respond. International diplomacy urging restraint and a ceasefire has been fruitless. This situation creates new uncertainties for the region and globally, coinciding with the final stretch of the US presidential election campaign.  

Our Middle East experts will consider what lies ahead and the implications for business of a potential further escalation of the conflict across the region. 

Katie Whitting, Flint Partner and former Australian diplomat chairs the discussion between:

• Sir Simon Fraser, Flint Founding Partner, former head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Simon previously served in the British embassies in Iraq and Syria
• Alistair Burt, Senior Adviser, former Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa (2017-2019), former Member of the UK Parliament 
• Matthew Lehrfeld, Senior Adviser, former US diplomat, previously posted in Iraq and Syria.