The peace appeals of Israel’s Western enablers are a cynical charade For the West, Lebanese lives are as disposable as Palestinian lives. Its calls for a ceasefire are no more than a sham. Andrew Mitrovica Al Jazeera columnist 28 Sep 2024 Smoke rises after Israeli bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 28, 2024 [AP Photo/Hassan Ammar] You cannot negotiate a ceasefire, let alone peace, with a man who prefers to wage war. That is the conundrum facing a host of suddenly fretting Western leaders, led by retiring US President Joe Biden, who insist – publicly, at least – that they are working hard to prevent another, cataclysmic war from engulfing the Middle East. Let’s pretend for a moment that their “concerns” are sincere. Then, these same Western leaders ought to acknowledge finally that they are, in large measure, responsible for that pressing conundrum. Long before October 7, 2023, Biden and company have, at every turn, enabled, armed, and provided diplomatic cover for their “man” in Tel Aviv – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government. Netanyahu has reciprocated by telling the chumps in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and Ottawa who, at every turn, have enabled, armed and provided him and his fanatical coalition government with diplomatic cover to – let me put this as politely as I can – take a hike. True to obstinate form, Netanyahu has rebuffed efforts to arrange for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah with a view to crafting a more sustainable truce. A strutting Netanyahu made his opposition to any brokered settlement plain in a typical “I am the toughest dude on the block” address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday where he warned Iran that the “long arm of Israel” can “reach… the entire Middle East”. The chumps in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and Ottawa have feigned surprise and disappointment at Netanyahu’s grating intransigence. Now, belatedly, Biden et al want to play “peacemaker” when, all along, they have remained true to the West’s defining Middle East doctrine: Kill first, think later. They have been joined lately in this predictable bit of chicanery by Western news organisations who, despite their history of blatant support for the disastrous “kill first, think later” policy, wish Netanyahu would cease what he has been doing with their explicit and hearty approval. And if he can’t be stopped, some of them want him toppled to prevent “Lebanon from turning into Gaza”. It’s too funny. Netanyahu – the saint turned apparent sinner – isn’t going anywhere. The bulk of Israelis support what their beloved prime minister has done and is doing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank with an evangelical thirst and zeal. If it is necessary to bludgeon Lebanon until it resembles Gaza and cause the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents, well, so be it. The Lebanese “asked for it” and they’re going to get a stinging taste of “Israel’s wrath”, too. Netanyahu isn’t going to “change course” because he is incapable of changing course. He knows that war is his golden ticket to remaining prime minister and, by convenient coincidence, helps him stave off those troublesome pending criminal indictments. Time may also be his ally. Netanyahu is banking on former US President Donald Trump soon returning to the Oval Office. If that happens, America’s vacuous rhetorical reservations vis-à-vis his genocidal destruction of Gaza and planned invasion of Lebanon will evaporate. Netanyahu is loath, as well, to hand Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, a foreign policy “victory” on the eve of the presidential election. Harris keeps repeating, like a metronome, that she and the president are “working around the clock” for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. It is a ridiculous pantomime and Harris, I suspect, realises it. The chumps in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and Ottawa embraced Netanyahu – knowing, full well, that their disagreeable man in Tel Aviv has had a lifelong allergy to diplomacy. Still, they held him tight to their welcoming bosoms. And they told him, again and again, that he could, in effect, kill as many Palestinians as he wanted to, for as long as he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. Lebanon’s fate was sealed in that instant. But the chumps in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Ottawa didn’t possess the good sense or foresight to recognise what would inevitably follow. Remember, these are supposed “statesmen” and “statewomen” who tout their phantom credentials as foreign policy “experts”. That’s too funny, part two. But, as I alluded to earlier, I’m not convinced that Biden and his compliant confederates are really that upset by Netanyahu’s plans to kill more people in more places since they share the same geopolitical aim to “destroy” Hezbollah. Towards that impossible end, Israel has assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, proving the West’s kill first, think about the consequences later strategy for the combustible region still reigns. The deaths of more than 41,000 Palestinians and counting – most of them children and women – haven’t prompted Biden and friends to halt arming, defending, and giving Israel diplomatic shade at the United Nations. Only last week, Germany, the UK, and Canada abstained from a UN motion – sponsored by the State of Palestine – demanding that Israel end its illegal occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The US voted against. The resolution was based on a ruling by the International Court of Justice in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territory is unlawful and must end. The supposed “split” between Israel and its steadfast allies in the West is an exercise in cynical, self-serving posturing. It is a mirage designed to suggest that Western capitals are concerned about the destiny of people they have never been that concerned about. The truth is just as Western presidents and prime ministers have been content to permit Israel to vent, unrestrained, its “killing rage” and bomb Gaza into dust and memory, they will allow Netanyahu to do the same to Lebanon in due and deliberate course. Lebanese civilians are as forgettable and disposable as Palestinian civilians. Their lives, their hopes, their dreams don’t matter. All that matters is Israel’s “right to defend itself”. So, Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to strut as Palestinian and Lebanese innocents continue to die. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Andrew Mitrovica Al Jazeera columnist Andrew Mitrovica is an Al Jazeera columnist based in Toronto.
Israel is no longer limiting the elimination of Hamas' leaders to Gaza; it is now taking them out in Lebanon -- which is quite pertinent since these Hamas terrorist leaders are only there to coordinate joint terrorist attacks against Israel from Hezbollah and Hamas. So what was the job of this undercover Hamas terrorist leader in Lebanon? Of course, he was a teacher for UNRWA. Hamas claims leader in Lebanon killed in airstrike https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...s-claims-its-leader-lebanon-killed-airstrike/ Assassinated Hamas leader in Lebanon ‘worked undercover as teacher for UN’ Fateh Sharif was responsible for coordinating relations between Hamas and Hezbollah, Israeli military officials have said https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-n...amas-leader-lebanon-working-undercover-in-un/
Israel’s long-contentious relations with UN sink to new depths Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza nearly a year ago, UN-linked courts, councils, agencies and staff have unleashed a barrage of condemnation and criticism. Monday 30/09/2024 https://thearabweekly.com/israels-long-contentious-relations-un-sink-new-depths UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights Situation in the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese leaves a news conference during a session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, March 27, 2024. (AFP) GENEVA – Israel’s long-contentious relationship with the United Nations has since October 7 spiralled to new depths, amid insults and accusations and even a questioning of the country’s continued UN membership. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused the world body of treating his country unfairly. “Until this anti-Semitic swamp is drained, the UN will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce,” he thundered. The past year has seen repeated accusations from within the UN system that Israel is committing “genocide” in its war in Gaza, while Israeli officials have made charges of bias and have even accused the UN chief of being “an accomplice to terror.” The heat has been turned way up in a war of words that has raged between Israel and various UN bodies for decades. And temperatures have risen further in recent days amid Israel’s escalating strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. “There has been a great deterioration” in the relationship, said Cyrus Schayegh, an international history and politics professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute. “It has gone from fairly bad to really bad.” UN ‘betrayal’ Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza nearly a year ago, UN-linked courts, councils, agencies and staff have unleashed a barrage of condemnation and criticism. “We feel the UN has betrayed Israel,” that country’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva Daniel Meron said. Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity. Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 41,500 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable. Israel has especially taken aim at UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, but its ire has been felt across the UN system, and up to the UN chief. Israeli calls for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to resign began just weeks after October 7, when he asserted that the attack “did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.” ‘Above international law’ Even before October 7, Israel complained of UN bias, pointing for instance to the towering number of resolutions targeting the country. Since the creation of the UN Human Rights Council in 2006, more than a third of the over 300 condemnatory resolutions have targeted Israel, Meron pointed out, describing this as “mind-boggling.” Critics meanwhile highlight that from the time a General Assembly vote paved the way for Israel’s establishment in 1948, the country has ignored numerous UN resolutions and international court rulings, without consequences. Israel has always snubbed resolution 194, which guarantees the Palestinians expelled in 1948 from the territory Israel conquered the right to return or to compensation. It has also ignored rulings condemning its forceful acquisition of territory and the annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the continuing and expanding settlement policy in the West Bank, among others. By allowing Israel to remain in “non-compliance with international law, the West has been basically making the Israelis believe that they are above international law,” Geneva Graduate Institute political sociology professor Riccardo Bocco said. ‘Impunity reigns’ Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, also said a lack of accountability in the Middle East crisis appeared to have made “the parties to the conflict more brazen.” “We rang the alarm bells multiple times and now there is the impression that impunity reigns,” she said, lamenting increasing attacks on UN bodies and staff expressing concern over the situation. “This is unacceptable.” UNRWA has faced the harshest attacks. It saw a series of funding cuts after Israel accused more than a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack. Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini has accused Israel of conducting “a concerted effort to dismantle UNRWA,” which has suffered dramatic human and material losses in Gaza, with more than 220 staff killed. Netanyahu demanded earlier this year that UNRWA, which he said “perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem (and) whose schools indoctrinate Palestinian children with genocide and terror … be replaced by responsible aid agencies.” ‘Pariah’ Francesca Albanese, the UN independent rights expert on the Palestinian territories, who has faced harsh criticism and has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, recently suggested the country was becoming a “pariah.” “Should there be a consideration of its membership as part of this organisation, which Israel seems to have zero respect for?” she rhetorically asked journalists last week. Meron slammed Albanese as “anti-Semitic and really an embarrassment to the UN.” Other experts warned that Israel’s disregard for the UN was threatening the broader respect for the organisation. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN expert on the right to drinking water, warned of the consequences when UN bodies “make decisions and nothing is respected.” “We are blowing up the United Nations if we don’t react.”
When the U.N. is employing numerous Hamas militants who are committing terrorism against Israel... and the U.N. ignores all of the crimes seen on video committed by their employees on October 7th --- the relations between Israel and the U.N. are going to sink to new depths. Not a surprise. All of this is completely the fault of the U.N. The U.N. can repair the problem by disbanding UNRWA, holding their employees fully accountable for supporting terrorists, and reforming the U.N. to ensure their numerous problems never appear in the future.
Israel Plans Raids Into Lebanon as US Warns Against Big Invasion Netanyahu to Biden: "Supply us the bombs and stfu bitch". Biden: "Yes Sir". It will soon be; Netanyahu to Kamala: "Supply us the bombs and stfu bitch". Harris: "Yes Sir". I'm hoping it will be; Netanyahu to Donald: "Supply us the bombs and stfu bitch". Trump: "Yes Sir".
Israel is going directly into Lebanon to clean up the terrorists. With Hezbollah decapitated, Iran's game plan for the region is falling apart. Israel tells US it plans to launch limited ground incursion into Lebanon https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxgyzq7z2ro
So is Sinwar dead or alive? Where is Sinwar? IDF photo raises questions about Hamas leader's fate There has been speculation that the photo was intended to be a subtle message conveyed by the IDF. https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-822458
An IDF information chart showing how it decimated the Hezbollah chain of command in recent strikes. https://www.foxnews.com/media/ny-ti...owing-coverage-terror-leader-hassan-nasrallah
IDF is impressive in their ability to get rid of so many military opponents, but my guess they are like weeds. More militants will rise up. It is a futile attempt by IDF & Israel. The best solution is still a multi-religious Israel/Palestine with shared prosperity.
US sending few thousand additional troops to Middle East to boost security By Matthew Adams Stars and Stripes • September 30, 2024 The New Jersey Air National Guard’s 119th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron arrives within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, bolstering U.S. posture to defend U.S. forces and deter further aggression in the region, in October 2023. (Megan Floyd/U.S. Air National Guard) WASHINGTON — The U.S. will send a few thousand additional troops to the Middle East to boost security for American forces and help defend Israel if needed, the Pentagon said Monday. The additional forces include squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16, A-10 and F-22 fighter jets and the personnel needed to support them, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said. The jets are not there to assist in an evacuation but “ensuring the protection of U.S. forces operating in the region,” she added. The deployment follows recent strikes by Israeli forces against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the assassination of the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, a significant escalation in the fighting in the Middle East, which includes the war in Gaza with Hamas and launches against and by Houthi rebels in Yemen. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday directed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to remain in the area controlled by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. The USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group also will continue to operate in the Eastern Mediterranean. Austin also increased the readiness of additional U.S. forces to deploy and maintain a “robust and integrated air-defense capabilities,” according to a Pentagon statement announcing his orders. The Wasp group deployed to the region June 1 with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a rapid-response force from Camp Lejeune, N.C. The Navy amphibious group includes the amphibious assault ship, dock landing ship USS Oak Hill and amphibious transport dock ship USS New York. “Secretary Austin stressed that the United States is determined to prevent Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or expanding the conflict,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said in the Sunday statement. The announcement came two days after President Joe Biden directed the Pentagon to adjust U.S. force posture in the Middle East amid intensifying concern that Israel’s killing of the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah could prompt Tehran to retaliate. The U.S. has expanded its forces in the region in the last several months to help defend Israel, as well as protect American and allied personnel and assets. The Defense Department announced last week that it was sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment forces, Ryder said.