The attack comes after Israel murdered Lebanese resistance commander Fuad Shukr last month
By Charlie Kimber
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Sunday 25 August 2024
Joe Biden is backing Binyamin Netanyahu in Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon (Picture: US Embassy Jerusalem)
Israel launched a series of intense airstrikes on southern Lebanon early on Sunday in what it claimed was a “preemptive” attack. It could become the opening shot in a wider war that engulfs tens of millions of people.
The Hezbollah resistance group then responded with the “first phase” of a retaliatory attack on Israel with “a large number of missiles”.
Hezbollah said it fired more than 320 Katyusha rockets at 11 Israeli military bases and barracks. It has been expected to reply after Israel’s murder of its commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, at the end of July.
Within hours of that killing, Israel assassinated Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran. Hezbollah said on Sunday that it will “stand strongly against Zionist transgression or aggression” if civilians are harmed. “Punishment will be very severe and harsh,” it says.
Lebanon’s NNA news agency reported that a later Israeli drone strike critically injured one person in Qasimia and an airstrike killed another in Khiam.
Israel has been pushing to widen the war against both Lebanon and Iran for months. The murders of Shukr and Hanieh were provocations that opened up the possibility of catastrophic bloodshed across the Middle East.
Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu calculates that, by detonating such a conflict, he can cement US support even more.
As part of his speech to a joint session of the US Congress in July, Netanyahu called for an alliance in slaughter. “Remember this. Our enemies are your enemies,” he declared to cheers.
“Our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory,” he declared to cheers. “Give us the tools and we’ll get the job done faster.”
Soon after the US announced massive extra arms shipments for Israel. They included more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, advanced missiles for aircraft to destroy other aircraft, tank ammunition, high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles.
Such advanced weapons are not needed for further destruction of Gaza. Israel has already flattened Gaza and murdered tens of thousands of Palestinians using the vast range of weaponry the US has already supplied.
Hamas does not have an air force that Israel must shoot down with the latest missiles. The arms deliveries—which will take years to fully complete—were a show of confidence in Israel’s role as the West’s watchdog in the Middle East.
US imperialism is already stretched across two other fronts—the proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and growing tensions with Chinese imperialism. And it knows that Iran could be a formidable enemy on the battlefield if there was a wider war in the Middle East.
But it doesn’t hold back Israel from its attacks that recklessly could set off wider military action. The US has deployed additional warships and fighter jets to the region in recent weeks. It said on Sunday it would “keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself”—the vile code for backing genocide.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant. He “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s defence against any attacks by Iran and its regional partners and proxies”.
British cabinet spokesperson Pat McFadden on Sunday called on “all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war”. “That is the real danger facing the area. We hope this doesn’t turn out to be that,” he said.
Those are empty words and outrageous hypocrisy while Britain stands with Israel’s war machine and continues to give it weapons.
Sunday’s attack came as Egypt held a new round of talks that are supposed to lead to a ceasefire. But Israel keeps making demands that are impossible for Hamas to accept. Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a ceasefire.
As well as supporting the Palestinians, the demonstration in London on Saturday 7 September is a chance to come out against wider war in the Middle East.
Palestine protest diary
Sat 31 August: Divest for Palestine day of action at councils. Details at tinyurl.com/Divest3108
Sat 7 Sept, 12 noon, central London: National demonstration, End the Genocide, Stop Arming Israel, No Middle East War, No to Islamophobia.
Sat 21 Sept, 12 noon, Liverpool: Protest at the Labour Party conference