Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 700 people since Monday. The onslaught is ongoing today, with 25 people killed since the morning of 27 September. Fifty children are among the dead this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shrugged off international calls for a ceasefire with the Lebanese Hizbullah militia. A full-scale attack has been underway since Monday. The assault follows the deadly Israeli orchestrated pager and walkie talkie explosions across Lebanon last week, which injured over 3,000 people, and have been widely condemned as a war crime.
The Israeli state still seems poised for a ground invasion of Lebanon, which commentators say could have devastating consequences for the people of Lebanon and of the region.
The Israeli military occupied southern Lebanon from 1982-2000, presiding over massacres of Palestinians living in Lebanon, as well as Lebanese civilians. In 2006, Israel launched a devastating attack on Lebanon, killing over 1000 people.
The US led calls for a 21-day ceasefire this week, but was wrong-footed by Israeli diplomats making contradictory statements, causing a diplomatic embarrassment for Washington. However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that Israel’s rebuke won’t stop the $3.5bn US military aid package to Israel from going through. The package is due to be received before the next US election.
The United Nations is reporting that over 90,000 Lebanese people have been displaced by the attacks, including 30,000 who have been pushed across the border to Syria.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Netanyahu is addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York this afternoon. Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz predicts that he will attempt to cast Iran as the “international community’s primary antagonist”. The Iranian regime is backing Hizbullah, Hamas and the Houthi rebel forces, who are all engaged in armed resistance against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Iran has also launched drone attacks directly against Israel, which have been largely intercepted by Israel’s US supplied Iron Dome air defence system.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed “solidarity” with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday 25 September. Critics have pointed out that Erdoğan regularly expresses support for those opposing Israel, as a populist ploy to distract from his own domestic and international human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, the US has essentially paused its attempts to press for a ceasefire in Gaza, with senior US officials expressing a lack of faith that a ceasefire will be achieved before the end of Joe Biden’s presidential term in January 2025. The anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza is approaching. Israel has killed at least 41,500 Palestinians in Gaza this year.
Today, Medya News published a letter from Lebanese activist Sawsan Shouman recounting how her home was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, and urging international intervention against the ongoing atrocities in Lebanon and Gaza. You can read the full letter here.
