This is maybe not the smoothest translation ever, but apparently Israel has launched a massive preemptive attack on Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border:
Presumably the planned Hezbollah operation was the long-awaited Iranian retribution for Israel's recent assassinations. Hezbollah has well over 100,000 rockets in its arsenal, so this could end up as a very long, very destructive expansion of the war.
I can't remember if the recipients of the Ten Commandments (Thou shalt not kill) were Jews or what.
I think it was when the Egyptian escapees were worshipping a golden calf.
There's also Deuteronomy 20:16-18 and the Destruction of the Canaanites
16 “You are not to leave even one person alive in the cities of these nations that the Lord your God is about to give you as an inheritance. 17 You must completely destroy the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, just as the Lord your God commanded you.
I suspect the Hivites would be too busy scratching to put up much of a resistance.
Is this like Iraq and weapons of mass destruction?
If they had solid intelligence that an attack was imminent (and it seems plausible that this was imminent) and they do the best that they can to keep non-combatant casualties down (how well they can do depends in part where Hezbollah stores its launchers), it is a reasonable step for the Israelis. It's better to blow them up on the pad rather than them blowing up in Israeli towns and villages.
Let's hope this one is relatively quick and doesn't descend into a land war. I don't think either side wants one or would benefit from one, but you can ever tell with these guys...
So far all of the action on the Israeli-Labanon border has been initiated by Israel. Netanyahoo has done everything in his power to start a Lebanon Israel war. So this is different from the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in that Cheney and his evil henchman truly believed Iraq was pursuing those weapons. They just lied about having evidence to support those false beliefs. Here, Netanyahoo is lying because he thinks a war with Lebanon is in his best interests even though he knows he faces no threat from the Lebanese.
Except for the rockets being shot by Hezbollah, right?
I don't recall any evidence of that.
So much for the ceasefire in Gaza...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/aug/25/middle-east-crisis-live-israel-carries-out-airstrikes-on-hezbollah-targets-in-lebanon
You mean the ceasefires Hamas keeps turning down?
Hamas started the attack because it was losing support. Israel went overboard in response, playing into Hamas's trap. Both pay lip service to a ceasefire, but neither really wants one.
Preemptive, hasn't Hezbolla been launching rockets at Israel for some months now? Didn't Hezbolla kill some kids playing soccer?
Yes, there have been low level, though devasting for those affected, fights along the border.
This attack, both the pre-emptive strike and the missile attack, is much larger.
12 kids playing soccer, I don't know, I would find that quite irritating.
It is extremely unlikely that Hezbolla targeted non-Isreali citizen children playing soccer, they have denied this (the only time they have ever denied an attack) and there has not been any evidence that they did it.
Don't be an easy mark for shallow propaganda.
No, there's plenty of evidence that Hezbollah did it. The debris from the rocket clearly indicated that it was one of theirs. What there is no evidence of is that they intended for the rocket to land where it did. There is an Israeli military base close to there, which would have been a much more logical target. Both sides in northern Israel and southern Lebanon (as distinct from Gaza) have been pretty careful to avoid gratuitous killing of civilians.
Israel gets to claim that collateral damage to civilians is justified because they are trying to hit armed militants. I'm not sure why Hezbollah shouldn't get the same privilege.
There was a comic strip when I was a kid called Andy Capp. Capp was a drunk and a wife beater and I guess that was supposed to be funny in those days. Anyway, I remember one strip where a drunk Capp is talking to a cop next to a guy who'd been knocked unconscious and Capp sez: "I thought he was going to hit me so I hit him back first."
Wikipedia:
"Andy is a working-class figure who never actually works, living in Hartlepool, a harbour town in County Durham, in North East England. The title of the strip is a pun on the local pronunciation of "handicap"; and the surname Capp signifies how Andy's cap always covered his eyes along with, metaphorically, his vision in life. Handicap racing and handicapping, in sport and games, is part of betting, a favourite activity of Andy Capp."
There's a lot more there, of course.
If sorting out who hit who back first , wasn't hard enough, add to that Hamas's affinity of hiding among its own civilians, and then the trifecta- the only BDA referee is . . . BiBi.
Hamas is not in Lebanon. Thanks for your informed comments.
Israel is trying to influence US elections. After November 5, I think the US and Europe need to have a “talk” with Israel.
The bad faith expectation of Israel's statements, crushed by Hezbollah's own PR that not only did Israel fail to stop its Phase I attack, but that the rest of their plan would be carried out over time.
This has been entirely a war of choice on the part of Lebanon. They started this rain of fire on Northern Israel just after October 7...there was no need, they could of and should of just sat this out entirely.
In fact, if they were in truth pro Palestinian they would have sent forces to Gaza to help Israel destroy Hamas so that Gaza could finally get a decent governing structure dedicated to helping Gazans establish better lives.
But no, this is another Arab (Shia this time) War of Choice and the apologetics are...astounding. They seem to insist that Israel need suffer another October 7 before responding.
Be that as it may, so far Israel seems to have been successful in avoiding civilian casualties, but if this war widens and there are thousands of Lebanese ending up mangled, dead and dying, it should be remembered who here cheered them on...for whatever ghastly reasons they might have. Traveller
You need to inform yourself. The rocket attacks are launched by Hezbollah, not the Lebanese government, which is unable to control Hezbollah, heavily armed by Iran.
For years Lebanon was stable, at peace and relatively prosperous; its troubles have mostly been fomented by outsiders who promoted sectarian violence to serve their own purposes. Palestinians forced out of Israel, and Syria and Iran in particular have destabilized the country.
An apologist attacking everyone else for being apologists.
Already assigning moral blame for the deaths of innocents, before those deaths have even happened. Its always someone elses fault, never mine and never that of the party I am deflecting for. These deaths havent even happend, but I know who I will blame and I know who I will defend!
Can make your head spin.
They are all nuts. At some point they will have to shoot off all those rockets. What good are they otherwise? Hilarious. 300 do no damage?
From the NYT article I free link below:
Khaireyah Kayed Younes, 82, said she knew that Mr. al-Hajj, a close friend of her son, was with Hamas, but she did not know he was an important figure until Israel targeted him. She said he was known for his gentle demeanor — he often played with local children — and willingness to lend a hand to neighbors in need.
“This man is from our people, our neighborhood, our camp and what used to be our country, Palestine. We cry for his loss,” she said.
“If one of us dies, 100 will rise up; we won’t stop,” she added, her voice rising to a shout as she wiped tears from her wrinkled cheeks. “We are steadfast!”
Outside Mr. al-Hajj’s home, a woman, Feryal Abbas, led the crowd in chants addressed to Yahya Sinwar, an architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, who succeeded Mr. Haniyeh as Hamas’s overall political leader.
“Sinwar don’t worry, we have men willing to give their blood!” she yelled.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Someone has to walk up to this woman and say, "Here is your AK47, better you go to the front and die than your grandchildren, don't you agree?"
If she's willing fine, props to her, but if she refuses...she is the murderer of her own grandchildren, Maybe it is these old women that need to feel the cold and bite of combat....as noted in the Fine Book, Bridge on the River Kwai...it isn't necessary just to kill someone in war, you have to kill the right person.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/24/world/middleeast/palestinian-refugees-hamas-lebanon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Fk4.y_dJ.f_vKPtx1Kjs2&smid=url-share
Traveller
PS is the woman a civilian, or a legitimate target in a war? Serious question, Isn't it she that keeps the hate burning?!?
Sometimes… civilians really aren’t as innocent as they are generally portrayed. In the Middle East especially.
I can't imagine why she would hate Israelis, after all she has only lived her entire life in refugee camps and seen hundreds of her aquaintances, friends and family members being dispossessed and killed by Israelis...
Hate doesn't make you a combatant; bearing arms against an adversary does. Otherwise, you are a non-combatant, and are to be protected to extents established in international law.
Yikes, what a morally bankrupt person this travller dude is.
Am I morally justified in killing this old woman? I dont like what shes saying and she seems to be in the bad camp, so we can kill her and feel good about ourselves, right?
No, you are an awful person.
Good Points all....(except I am probably not an awful person). Be that as it may, I raise the serious question as to who is Responsible for this widening of the war?
I suggest that is her and her passionate love for her grievances. I resent and talk against, and would to her herself were we able to have a private conversation, that she is a coward, but bravely willing to send her grandchildren to their death.
Someone needs to tell her what she is doing.
I added the NYT link to demonstrate the depth of t he problem...one probably without solution. But there it is. If the city of Sicon thinks it is going to move back into Israel proper....it isn't dong to happen. People heed to have honest conversations on these issues. Traveller
You won't even acknowledge people who have given you accounts of the true historical timeline. You're an absolutely terrible person and there's no 'probably' about it.
Your continuing unwavering support for this anti woman, misogynistic, anti LGBTQ+ human beings, that continues to promise more attacks, rape and murder against Israeli's as well as much of their own population is noted, that you are in the camp of this death cult maybe fits you well, but it does surprise me. Traveller
Wow, I said absolutely nothing about this woman, merely noted that you're an abusive and disrespectful piece of shit. Now fuck off, you abusive piece of shit.
Ahhh, your sparkling intelligence and incisive understanding of issues is well noted. Thank you for adding nothing to the conversation. Shall we call you the Nothing Person, incapable of coherent thought?Traveller
Traveler: And now you see the rage which has affected the Palestinians, Israelis, and their various supporters here in the USA. It’s why this war never ends. They are all out for blood.
I’d like to have sympathy for someone but I really can’t find anyone worthy.
Noting that you've refused to acknowledge the historical timeline of Zionist Jews in that region is not less than nothing. Noting that you've added less than nothing to the conversation is not adding nothing to the conversation. Noting that your a nastying abusive piece of shit troll is not adding nothing to the conversation.
No fuck off - and don't come back until you can say, for example, that the Balfor Declaration did _not_ make provisions for a Jewish state, in fact were very careful not to. God, you're pathetic.
Yeah hard for me to sort out who hit who back first, but I'm pretty sure the gross collateral of Bibi's war is recruiting way more fighters than it kills.
Premptive? Hezbollah has been firing hundreds of rockets at Israel on nearly daily basis, including one day that killed 12 children. They are villains here, not Israel.
There is no evidence that Hezbollah killed those children, and no plausible reason why they would do so intentionally. Those children were not Jewish, not Israelis and not part of a community that supports or gets support from the State of Israel
Here is some graphs of who attacks who.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/27/mapping-7400-cross-border-attacks-between-israel-and-lebanon
Traveller and plenty of others will look at this and see a rain of fire on Israel and then use that distorted vision to justify murdering non-combatant old women.
MOS from Israel.
One side’s “preemptive attack” is another side’s “surprise attack.” I’m sure Israel isn’t lying here about Hezbollah’s intentions - because as we all know Israel never lies to us, its most important ally, about anything - but the Lebanese themselves aren’t necessarily going to see this as just “preemptive.”
This Gazan war is going to blow up into a much bigger regional war.
"Presumably the planned Hezbollah operation was the long-awaited Iranian retribution for Israel's recent assassinations"
Possibly. But a better way to bet (linked, but more immediate) is that it's an attempt by Iran to derail the Cairo Gaza-Israel peace talks that just started...
Wow. Israel surprise attacks Lebanon and this is interpreted as Iran trying to derail Eqypt-Israel peace talks.