9/21/2024–|Last update: 9/21/202401:40 PM (Makkah Time)
A report by the Middle East Eye website said that the timing of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon was carefully calculated to exploit the US administration’s preoccupation with the elections, and to achieve the Israeli government’s goals of “ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip or displacing its population.”
The report, written by Palestinian writer Mohammed Murtaja, pointed out that Israel would follow in the event of war in Lebanon what it did in Gaza, targeting civilian infrastructure, bombing residential areas and starving the population. This would attract widespread international attention and divert attention away from Gaza, giving Israel an ideal opportunity to continue “killing, wounding, starving and displacing Palestinians in the Strip.”
This week, Lebanon was rocked by pager radio explosions that targeted thousands of Hezbollah members, killing at least 32 people, including two children and a number of health care workers, and wounding thousands more, according to the writer.
The writer believes that the timing of these provocations is deliberate, as both Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for invading Lebanon in June, and Smotrich reiterated his desire to occupy southern Lebanon a month later.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploiting the US preoccupation with the elections and its “limited ability” to influence Israel to fulfil both the ministers’ desire and the dream of many Israeli officials of a comprehensive war that would reach Lebanon and “wipe out Gaza.”
The writer said that Israel’s intention to get rid of the Palestinians in Gaza “forever” was clear from the beginning, and while the spotlight must be on Lebanon in the event of a new war, it is also important to prevent Israel from accelerating its “genocidal” agenda in Gaza.
According to the report, the Israeli war resulted in the deaths of more than 41,000 Palestinians, and the real number of victims may reach 186,000, according to a study mentioned by The Lancet magazine. The people of Gaza are still struggling to survive a full year after the Israeli war on the Strip.
The writer stressed that the Arab world must unite in the face of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and its aggression against Lebanon, and urged the international community to impose sanctions on the Israeli government, concluding by saying, “We must not forget Gaza, because history certainly will not forget.”
