Above photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters.
And Suffering Like Gaza.
‘US and EU officials have reportedly ‘shut the door’ on ceasefire talks for Lebanon, hoping that the multiplying crises can ignite an upheaval against the Lebanese resistance and its allies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 8 October called on the people of Lebanon to “free [their] country from Hezbollah,” threatening them with “destruction and suffering” if they refused to do so.
“You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza. It doesn’t have to be that way,” Netanyahu said as his country’s air force continued to launch non-stop raids across Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a message to the people of Lebanon:
“You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”https://t.co/s16fxeZtju pic.twitter.com/vdYnqyrdib
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 8, 2024
“We have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities; we took out thousands of terrorists, including [Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan] Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement,” the Israeli premier added before calling on the people of Lebanon to “take back your country, and return it to a path of peace and prosperity.”
Netanyahu’s speech came on the same day Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh confirmed that Washington supports Israel’s brutal war campaign inside Lebanon.
“We’re supportive of Israel targeting Lebanese Hezbollah,” the US official said, adding that Israel “has a right to respond and target Lebanese Hezbollah … in a way that, of course, takes into account civilians in the area.”
Singh’s comments came a day after CNN reported that the White House “is not actively trying to revive [a ceasefire] deal and has resigned itself to trying to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran rather than halting hostilities.”
Similarly, a report published by Lebanese daily Al Akhbar on Tuesday reveals that US and EU officials have “shut the door” on any diplomatic negotiations that could put an end to the Israeli onslaught in Lebanon, and are actively working to inflame social tensions.
“Recently, France attempted to initiate a ceasefire initiative but encountered a European veto, which was secured by Germany under the pretext that ‘no one wants to talk to Lebanon,’” the Arabic news site reports, adding that sources close to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri “assert that the international community has resolved to give Israel ample time to eliminate Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon.”
Western efforts to ignite civil strife inside the country include neglecting to provide the embattled government with aid to meet the needs of over one million displaced Lebanese and ordering Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) chief General Joseph Aoun not to reopen the country’s main border crossing with Syria, which Israel destroyed early in its war campaign.
“Observers claim that Aoun is prioritizing personal interests over the country’s critical needs, submitting to US demands more than ever before,” Al Akhbar reports.
For the past several years, Aoun has been the preferred choice of western powers to be installed as president of Lebanon, a position that has remained vacant since 2022.
Hezbollah says Israel using UN troops as ‘human shields’ in south Lebanon.
UNIFIL warned that Israel’s establishment of a forward operating base near their position on the Lebanon border was an ‘extremely dangerous development’.
Hezbollah has ordered its fighters not to attack Israeli forces who established a forward operating base behind UN peacekeeping troops (UNIFIL) near a Lebanese border village, effectively using them as human shields.
“The Israeli enemy is attempting to use UNIFIL forces as human shields to cover its failure to advance toward the village, especially after its repeated and unsuccessful attempts to advance toward Maroun al-Ras and the loss of dozens of its soldiers, both killed and wounded,” a statement issued by the Islamic resistance movement on 7 October said.
The IDF has set up a Foward Operating Base (FOB) right outside UNIFIL outpost 6-52 in Southern Lebanon, currently manned by Irish Peacekeepers.
The UN has protested FOB, saying it endangers UNIFIL troops.
Hezbollah has told Irish Defence Forces they will not fire on the area… pic.twitter.com/HipNM7953T
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) October 7, 2024
“The operations room of the Islamic Resistance instructed the fighters to hold back and not engage with the movement to protect the lives of international soldiers,” the statement added.
The day before, UNIFIL had warned Israel’s operations near their position at Maroun al-Ras were an “extremely dangerous development.”
“It is unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks,” UNIFIL stated while reminding all actors in the conflict of their obligations to protect UN personnel and property.
On Saturday, UNIFIL said it remained in all positions near the border despite what it said was an Israeli request to “relocate.”
In response to the peacekeepers’ refusal, US foreign policy advisor Matthew Brodsky suggested in a post on X, “Israel should carpet bomb Irish area, then drop Napalm on it.”
Matthew Brodsky
@MatthewRJBrodsky is a senior fellow at the Security Studies Group in Washington, D.C. He has advised the @realDonaldTrump administration’s peace team He’d appear to be crap at his job #HateSpeech @defenceforces 🇮🇪🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/ppytWURX84— Padraig Mc Shane (@Padraig_McShane) October 7, 2024
Hezbollah fighters are resisting an Israeli ground invasion that began last week.
On Monday, Hezbollah fighters attacked a gathering of Israeli forces in Maroun al-Ras with rockets, while the Israeli army said it had deployed a third division to participate in ground operations in Lebanon.
Israel’s ground maneuvers follow its intensified bombing campaign of Lebanon that began on 23 September. Israel has bombed targets in south Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and around Beirut, killing more than 1,110 people since then. The widespread bombing of civilian homes has left over one million people internally displaced.
Hezbollah released a statement on Monday, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, saying it and the Lebanese people have paid a “heavy price” for its decision to enter the battle against Israel and open a support front for Gaza.
“The enemy continues its crimes and aggression without limits, but we are confident, if Allah wills, in our resistance’s ability to repel the aggression, and in our great and resistant people to endure and hold out until this calamity is lifted,” the statement affirmed.