Israel is approving the construction of new West Bank settlements at an unprecedented rate because it knows its window of impunity is closing — especially if Iran emerges intact from the war and the Republicans lose the U.S. midterms.
Netanyahu may have been “coerced” by Trump into a ceasefire with Lebanon, but this won’t stop Israel from following a well-worn playbook: exploit sectarian divisions to weaken or disarm resistance while entrenching Israeli expansionism.
Hours after Iran and the U.S. reached a two-week ceasefire agreement, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign across Lebanon, killing hundreds of people and threatening to derail the U.S.-Iranian ceasefire before it even begins.
Israel has stated it does not plan to leave Lebanon even if the current ‘war’ ends. If the Gaza model is any guide, Israel appears to be moving toward expanding its border into Lebanon.
Israel is waging a campaign of psychological warfare in Beirut by projecting godlike power from the skies, raining down bombs that mete out death and dropping leaflets vowing that Beirut and Gaza will share in the same fate.
As Israel expands its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, village residents in the eastern part of the country have participated in resisting two separate Israeli commando drops this month. Locals and experts say it’s a prelude for a wider invasion.
Long-standing crises in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and Iran are deepening as the U.S. imprint on the Middle East shows no signs of weakening.
In the wake of the United States’ invasion of Venezuela, countries around the world are asking what this means for them. For Israel, it could mean an opportunity for another conflict with Lebanon or Iran that Netanyahu has been vying for.
Israel’s strategic posture favors a constant state of war over political deals that might constrain future aggression. Its recognition of Somaliland is part of this strategy, and an attempt to plant the first flag of its would-be empire in Africa.
The U.S. set a deadline for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah by the end of December. But as the deadline nears, it is unclear what Lebanon will do, given the challenges of disarming the group and popular support for resistance to Israel.