The Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli bombing of the underground headquarters of the organisation in the suburbs of Beirut.
Tel Aviv enters a new stage of the war
At the same time, Israel continues to bomb the almost completely destroyed Gaza, where the number of Palestinian deaths – even according to official data – is approaching 42 thousand, the number of wounded and maimed has long passed the figure of 100 thousand. (To compare, it is worth pointing out that, according to the UN, more than 6,400 Palestinians and 308 Israelis were killed in various conflicts and attacks in Gaza between 2008 and 2023).
Many Israelis are also suffering – dozens of hostages are still unable to re-connect with their families. Military losses of the Israeli army are also in the hundreds, and more than 80,000 citizens were forced to leave their homes in northern Israel.
For many years, Washington has sought to marginalise the Palestinian problem by all means, blocking the efforts of international mediators to achieve a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Washington’s propaganda-filled rhetoric
It was the United States that condoned and encouraged Israel’s aggressive actions in every possible way, although the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,139 people, was condemned by most states. Nevertheless, Washington sabotaged all efforts of the international community to end hostilities, demonstratively increased not only diplomatic, but also military assistance to Israel.
The Americans allegedly tried to convince the Israelis to act more cautiously, provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, and even discussed new resolutions on this matter in the UN Security Council. US Secretary of State Blinken visited the Middle East nine times during this period, but all his efforts were limited to propaganda-filled rhetoric. In reality, Washington used its veto power 5 times in the UNSC in order to prevent the adoption of resolutions that Israel did not agree with.
Here, perhaps, it is worth noting two factors. One is objective, and it is that of the decline of US influence in the world and in the Middle East. The other factor is subjective: inability and unwillingness of the current US administration to put pressure on Tel Aviv.
It is noteworthy that the United States talked a lot about how a war between Israel and Lebanon is undesirable and, realising its inability to have at least some influence on Israel in this matter, put together a small group of countries that called for a three-week truce on the Lebanese front.
It is worth noting that in the United States, many serious researchers are aware of the essence of what is happening – for example, Foreign Affairs magazine noted on September 29 that “reputational damage to the United States, as well as to Israel, is steadily increasing, which has negative consequences for other global priorities shared by both countries.”
Even Western political scientists admit that Hezbollah is perhaps the most powerful non-state power in the world. This movement was so strong and disciplined that its military strength exceeded the army of the Lebanese state. Hezbollah fighters were fit and organised. From once having been outcasts on Lebanese soil, they turned into a significant force of 40,000 highly motivated and well-trained fighters.
Even after the Israelis seriously bombed Hezbollah units, the same Israeli sources claim that they were able to destroy only 50% of the organisation’s arsenal, which totalled more than 120,000 rockets and shells.
Liquidation of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah: ‘a political assassination’
Hezbollah’s main ally Iran not only announced a five-day period of mourning of Hassan Nasrallah, but also stated through their leader Khamenei that the blood of the Lebanese leader will be avenged.
It is no coincidence that the media of the entire world is writing about the possibility of a large-scale war in the Middle East. It is noteworthy that Russia has condemned the elimination of the Secretary General of Hezbollah as a political assassination, while US President Biden welcomed it as an act of just retribution.
The Saudi ‘Arab News’ concluded that the Israeli bombardments of Lebanon could become “the last strategic plot of Tel Aviv”.
As the Israeli ‘Jerusalem Post’ acknowledged, social media is flooded with condemnation of Israel. Famous media personality Dan Bilzerian called Israel the “worst terror organisation on the planet”.
In Israel itself, as well as beyond it, more and more people are saying that Israel needs a new Yitzhak Rabin, i.e. the prime minister that sought reconciliation with Yasser Arafat.
It is also interesting to note the former French prime minister Hubert Vedrine’s assessment of what is going on. In an interview with ‘Sunday Tribune’ on September 29, he stated that “the goal of the Israeli Prime Minister can be summarised as follows: staying in power. To accomplish this, Benjamin Netanyahu will go to any lengths to prolong the war, including escalation”.
Everyone can see, Vedrine thinks, that Israel is influencing the United States far more than is the case vice versa.
Vladimir Mashin, Candidate of Historical Sciences, political observer, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
