It would be easy, with the spotlight on the Olympics and, closer to home, the shocking violence directed against ethnic minorities in Belfast, to lose focus on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and real risk of a devastating wider conflict in the Middle East.
Tensions in the region have been heightened since the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran last week.
Iran has blamed Israel and vowed “severe punishment”, with some form of retaliation expected imminently.
Proxy force Hezbollah, in Lebanon, also warned that its conflict with Israel had entered a “new phase” following the killing of its commander Fuad Shukr in an air strike in Beirut. Four others, including two children, were also killed.
That came after Hezbollah had been blamed for killing 12 children and teenagers in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Numerous countries, including the US, UK and Ireland, have urged citizens to evacuate Lebanon, while airlines have cancelled flights to the region.
US President Joe Biden held talks with national security leaders on Monday to discuss the crisis, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying officials were working “around the clock” to keep a lid on hostilities.
A joint statement from the G7 also expressed “deep concern at the heightened level of tension in the Middle East which threatens to ignite a broader conflict in the region”.
A direct conflict between Israel and Iran, or resumption of a war with Hezbollah, would represent a highly dangerous escalation that could draw the US and other regional powers into open confrontation.
Meanwhile, the appalling death toll from Israel’s relentless assault on Gaza continues to rise day by day.
Dozens of people were reportedly killed in air strikes on schools in the last week. In the occupied West Bank, too, eight Palestinians, including four teenagers, were said to have died during military raids.
And within Israel, conditions for Palestinian prisoners have been likened to torture camps by a human rights group, echoing concerns raised by the UN last week.
The diplomatic attention on Iran has hampered efforts to agree the ceasefire that is so desperately needed to end the indiscriminate killings in Gaza and return hostages seized in Hamas’s murderous attacks in Israel last October.
However, it is a resolution to the Gaza crisis that is also key to easing wider tensions in the region.
That may prove impossible while Benjamin Netanyahu remains in post and seemingly intent on prolonging war to maintain his hold on power.
Every form of international pressure, particularly in the US, must be brought to bear on all parties to bring the violence to a stop and provide the space to imagine a peaceful future for all in this troubled region.
