I believe that if Israel rushes headlong into Gaza now [unilaterally] to destroy Hamas — it will be making a grave mistake that will be devastating for Israeli interests and American interests".

It could trigger a global conflagration and explode the entire pro-American alliance structure that the US has built…I am talking about the Camp David peace treaty, the Oslo peace accords, the Abraham Accords and the possible normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The whole thing could go up in flames.

Unfortunately, the senior US official told [Friedman], Israeli military leaders are actually more hawkish than the prime minister now. They are red with rage and determined to deliver a blow to Hamas that the whole neighbourhood will never forget.

Friedman here is talking, of course, about an American alliance system, pivoted around the idea of Israel's military prowess being invincible – the 'Little NATO' paradigm that acts as the essential substrata for the spread of the American-led Rules Order through West Asia.