I would come to the pretty much the same conclusion, although approaching from a different angle. The global bullies, Israel and the US, cannot be seen to lose a fight. When that happens, it's fatal to the whole technique. A bully needs to get as far as he can without provoking an earnest confrontation.

So in Ukraine, we see that they will tell any lie, regardless of how preposterous, to convince the public Ukraine is winning. In real terms, the Ukrainian military was annihilated. Then most of the strength of NATO was organized, pumped through the remnants of the UAF, brought to the front, and also annihilated. But no matter what happens in that conflict, the West will never, ever admit Ukraine "lost".

Something similar is now going on in Gaza. Even the phony-ass subverted puppet Hamas is kicking their asses. Hezbollah is testing their strength along the northern border, and recall that they have been at war in Syria most of a decade while the IDF has been suffering continuously deteriorating morale. The IDF is in no shape to confront even Hezbollah, let alone Iran and the rest of the Muslim world.

Iran is now putting pressure on US elements in Iraq and the same will happen in Syria. There's little the US can do except try to drum up support for yet more unpopular military escalations.

Just at a guess, the next domino to fall will be Trump coming out and saying, "Look what a disaster! What are we even doing there? I tried to get everyone out years ago, and if I get back in office we're definitely going to leave these people to sort out their own problems. They need to learn how to live in peace." And who could disagree?

How do you see the buildup of Chinese and US strike groups, Russian presence with Turkey promising an appearance, in the Med?