There is a fine line between taking matters into your own hands and excessive destruction when you have the resources of the most powerful nations on Earth. This applies to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to whom the United States, Britain and other allies who have place their weapons arsenal and resources at his disposal. Netanyahu is a radical right-wing Zionist who will lash out at attacks on all sides if he is backed into a corner. He will lash out threateningly like a vicious mad dog. This is why he reacted the way he did in Lebanon when the militant group Hezbollah fired rockets at the Zionist regime in retaliation for the war in Gaza.
But while fighting in the decimated Gaza Strip continues, the Israeli military made a determined shift to what it calls the northern front in its broader war with Iran-backed groups in the region about a month ago. Since then, Lebanese officials say more than 2,300 people have been killed in the country, and almost 10,700 others wounded. The country’s health ministry says 51 people were killed on Sunday alone. Much of Israel’s firepower has been directed at Hezbollah’s longtime strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs and across the south of Lebanon. Major Israeli ground operations in the south have also put United Nations peacekeepers in the line of fire. But airstrikes have also pummelled Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley — often with no warning. Last week, CBS News visited the region’s Rayak Hospital, which has been treating some of the youngest victims of the expanding war, including 16-year-old Ali Jaddouh.
The Israeli regime of Netanyahu will end up doing more harm to the cause of finding the remaining hostages than having them released. That is the remaining hostages taken by Hamas Militant group which led to the bombardment of Gaza. Meanwhile Netanyahu’s all out assault to undermine and weaken Hamas has disengaged the lives of Lebanese citizens from reality. The Genocide unfolding on the country’s Bekaa Valley should raise concerns whether in Israel or outside whether Netanyahu can retrieve the hostages or not. The time may have come for the rest of the world to realize Netanyahu cannot save the hostages.
He (Ali Jaddouh) recently had at least one badly damaged kidney and his colon at least partially removed, as well as his right leg above the knee. He was in critical condition, with a dialysis machine doing the job of his shattered organs. He told us he was in pain, and his haunted eyes suggested it was more than just physical. The teenager said he was at home with his family late in the morning when an Israeli airstrike slammed into their town of Shmustar. He said the missile could only have struck about 10 yards from where they were sitting. “I wanted to run and help my mother, but I saw my leg was cut. I lost consciousness and I don’t recall what happened next,” he said. He woke up in the hospital to find he’d lost most of his leg.
“I was told that my father might be dead. My mother can’t walk anymore — she lost her leg and had some damage in her back, and my eldest brother’s face is burned.”
The horrors of war cannot be helped with those in power like Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister did not need to attack the town of Shmustar since they had already disposed of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. The residents of Shmustar and affected areas should sue the Israeli government and its allies including the United States for damages. The destruction the Lebanese people experienced at the hands of the Israeli government was unforgivable. The instability could get out of hand and spill into Syria which is experiencing its own civil war. Meanwhile the loss of loved ones including parents leaves a gap in the soul that cannot be filled easily. Netanyahu and his coalition partners need to be held accountable for their actions. The military policies of the Zionist regime’s Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) appear to be based on brute force rather than strategic decision making.
The harsh disregard for civilian life shows that the Israeli leadership has grown more callous by the day. This is especially so towards its neighbours. The time is now to reign in Tel Aviv through sanctions against that regime.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain called on members of the European Union to respond to Madrid and Ireland’s request to suspend the bloc’s free trade deal with Israel over its violations of international law in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. For months, both Spain and Ireland have been in talks with other EU countries who want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement’s human rights clause. EU countries are also “strongly divided” over arms deliveries to Israel, Borrell said, after Spain and France called for an embargo, while other EU countries want to deliver more weapons.
Sanchez is right to argue that the European nations should end their trade agreement with Israel as well as impose an arms embargo. This imposition of sanctions was instrumental ending apartheid in South Africa and led to the 1994 elections. For now, with the exception of Ireland, Spain and France the other EU member states such as Italy and Germany are more concerned about making money from a deplorable situation. If this war/conflict escalates then there will be blood on their hands and on those in Washington. A trade embargo followed by sanctions should be imposed on the Israelis. However, this depends on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states willing to see an end to the blood-shed.
As more people die and are injured in the occupied territories and Lebanon both the European nations and the Americans seem to be reluctant to oppose the Zionist regime of Tel Aviv. Even at the risk of escalation. No one is willing to say this has gone far enough.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
