As the ongoing U.S.-backed genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza continues to ravage life in the besieged Strip, Israel now seeks to inflict its indiscriminate violence on the region, particularly Lebanon. Signs of this have become even more clear in the past week, with warmongering Netanyahu at the forefront and Western superpowers aiding and abetting. Through a series of diplomatic orders and a number of targeted assassinations in residential areas, the U.S. and Israel have acted with absolute impunity as they antagonize a larger war.
On July 27, an explosive struck a football field in Majdal Shams in the Occupied Syrian Golan Heights, killing 12, including 10 children. Israel was quick to blame Lebanon’s Hezbollah for the attack which Hezbollah vehemently denied, saying that the deadly incident was caused by a misfire from Israel’s Iron Dome. Israel’s “retaliation” included the assassination of Hezbollah political leader Fuad Shukr in Lebanon and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Israel, along with American backing, manipulated public opinion and manufactured consent for the continued murder of Palestinians and Arabs in the region.
Setting the stage for a regional war
Israel, its Western allies and media apparatus have attempted to justify conducting an escalated attack on Lebanon, specifically within its capital Beirut for weeks now. In June, the UK’s The Telegraph published a baseless accusation that the Rafik al-Hariri International Airport in Beirut was a safe house for a stockpile of Iranian weapons. The Lebanese government refuted this and decided to pursue legal action against the slander. The government also invited journalists, diplomats, and independent observers to a tour of the airport, where nothing of what was described by the right-wing British paper was found. This propaganda effort, many assessed, sought to make the airport a prime target for Israel.
Since October, Israel targeted different residential areas in the south of Lebanon, leading to the death of more than 400 individuals, of which at least 100 were civilians, and the displacement of 98,750. Last week, Al Quds newspaper reported that according to Israeli media, “Netanyahu has received full legitimacy in the U.S. to wage war in Lebanon.”
On July 26, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a memorandum of ‘Deferred Enforced Departure for Certain Lebanese Nationals,’ allowing Lebanese visitors, students, and employees an additional 18 months onto their existing visas. This indicates that the U.S. government is greenlighting a dangerous escalation. The Biden administration issued a similar decree in February during the genocide for Palestinian citizens present in the country. Western media outlets, in addition to manufacturing consent for the genocide in Gaza (seen in numerous instances, such as the attack on al-Shifa hospital and the ground invasion of Rafah) are now undertaking the same rhetoric relating to Lebanon.
On July 31, the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” warning to American citizens, and encouraged those already in the country to leave immediately or to, “be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate.” Adding, “Commercial flights remain available, however, several airlines have suspended or canceled flights.”
On July 25, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. is making diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions at the border between Lebanon and Israel but believes this is only possible through a ceasefire in Gaza.
Majdal Shams
On July 27, an explosive landed on a football pitch in the Occupied Syrian Golan Heights, killing 12 people, 10 of whom were children. Dozens more were injured. Despite presenting no evidence, Israel was quick to condemn and blame Hezbollah. Hezbollah rejected the accusation and the Lebanese government called for a formal investigation (after their own concluded that it was not Hezbollah). Some reporting showed that the munitions used (rather than the Hezbollah al-Falaq 50 kilogram missile which Israel claims is the cause) were likely a missile from the Iron Dome of a lesser size (approx. 10 Kgs). An al-Araby report also cites an anonymous Israeli emergency worker (along with other eyewitnesses) stating that a stray Iron Dome missile is more likely, adding the crew was refused entry to the site by the Israeli authorities. As the Zionist regime has done throughout its history of massacres, it is notorious for casting doubt over who is to blame, so as to distract from the devastation of human life. It makes little to no sense for this to have been committed by Hezbollah: it is not in line with their recent strategies of targeting evacuated illegal settlements or military sites.
Israel claims that its citizens and its towns must be defended. But residents of Majdal Shams do not identify with the Zionist state. The town, part of the Golan Heights, is a Syrian town that was illegally occupied in 1967 during the Six-Day War (and formally annexed in 1981). Reports cite that none of the victims were even Israeli citizens. Additionally, the majority of its residents have refused Israeli citizenship and do not serve in the Israeli Occupation Forces. During the funeral procession on July 28, residents of Majdal Shams chased away Israeli leaders such as Smotrich, calling him a murderer. Additionally, the families of the victims rejected a separate visit from Netanyahu, with others protesting his presence at Majdal Shams as the town grieved.
Dahiya Bombing
On July 30, Israel struck an apartment building in Haret Hreik in Dahiya, a southern Beirut neighborhood. The attack allegedly intended to assassinate a senior Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr. Shukr was a military adviser to Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as a leading commander of the resistance offensive from Lebanon. In this attack, Israel killed seven individuals, including two children, left 78 injured, and devastated the area. At the time of writing, the Lebanese Civil Defense teams have completed their work and the Health Ministry has confirmed the final death toll.
Israel exploited the Majdal Shams tragedy to launch the attack in Beirut, expanding their genocidal campaign across the border. The U.S. Treasury Department has a vested interest in Shukr: there was a $5 million reward for information about him and his whereabouts.
The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
In the early hours of July 31, Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas’ political bureau, in Tehran. This was after he attended the inauguration of Iran's new President, Masoud Pezeshkian.
There are still contradicting reports regarding the cause of the explosion that killed Haniyeh. The majority cite a targeted missile strike, which hit the guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying at around 6AM Tehran time, killing him and his bodyguard. Other reports, however, suggest a bomb may have been planted in his room prior to the event. Haniyeh was not the first Palestinian political leader to be assassinated. Israel has a long history of ‘taking out’ prominent Palestinians, but as different factions of the resistance movement have stated, “[this] will increase [their] determination and insistence to continue holding on to [Palestinian] rights.”
Reacting to the assassination, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Tehran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza.” Additionally, numerous world leaders and their governments have condemned both the attack on Beirut and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, including Russia, China, Malaysia, Turkiye, Lebanon, and Jordan.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview on Aug. 1 that the U.S. ‘did not know’ about the assassination plan and ‘had no involvement.’ In a televised statement in the aftermath of the assassinations, Netanyahu — who is carrying out the genocide with mostly U.S. weapons — said, “Israel will exact a heavy price for any aggression against us from any arena.” He boasted that there have been blows against Hezbollah and Hamas these past days, but did not overtly confirm involvement in Haniyeh’s death.
These recent, flagrant violations of countries’ sovereignty (and, once again, international law), as well as underhanded tactics used for the sole purpose of antagonizing further violence, highlight both Israeli and American impunity at the expense of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. During a State Department press briefing on Aug. 1, Al Quds newspaper’s Washington bureau chief Said Arikat asked, “In principle, as a sovereign nation, does Iran have the right to defend itself?” pressing Vedant Patel, a Biden appointee, who appeared hesitant to respond, reflecting a double standard reserved for genocidaires. In the face of a brutal occupying power, whose leader is a war criminal backed by world superpowers, the Palestinians, the Arabs, and the region, certainly have a right to defend themselves too, do they not?
