Updated on Thursday, September 26 at 6:39 pm Eastern Time
Israel on Thursday rejected a US and French proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon and continued to launch heavy airstrikes in the country. Later in the day, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli strikes killed 92 people in the previous 24-hour period.
The US and France are calling for a 21-day ceasefire, but the US continues to provide military aid to Israel and is vowing to defend Israel if the situation escalates, giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no incentive to stop his new bombing campaign.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement denying reports that there’s been progress on a ceasefire and vowed to continue hitting Lebanon hard and keep up the onslaught in Gaza. “The report about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister has not even responded to,” the statement said.
“The report about the purported directive to ease up on the fighting in the north is the opposite of the truth. The Prime Minister has directed the IDF to continue fighting with full force, according to the plan that was presented to him. The fighting in Gaza will also continue until all the objectives of the war have been achieved,” the statement added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also rejected the idea of a ceasefire. “There will be no ceasefire in the north,” he wrote on X. “We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that overnight Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon killed 20 people, almost all Syrian nationals. According to AFP, the ministry said, “Israeli enemy strike on the village of Yunin” killed “20 people, including 19 Syrian nationals.”
Israel also bombed Beirut again in a strike that targeted a residential area of the southern suburb of Dahiyeh. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said two people were killed in the strike, and 15 were wounded.
Around 700 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Monday. The Monday bombing killed over 550 people, the majority being civilians, according to Lebanese Health Minister Dr. Firass Abiad.
eek
thats very rude
israel is not god of the middle east
they need to back down and get demilitarised
They need to be put down and demilitarized.
Fixed, no charge.
the middle east should just like
get better borders
There are no good borders. Borders are an excuse for wars. Best solution is no borders. Second best solution is the UN charter and the Bandung/non-aligned/Pan-African/Pan Arab movements after WWII that recognized that it was impossible to draw borders that completely separated ethnic groups. Nationalism based on ethnicity leads to border dispute that leads to war. The post WWII solution is to accept territorial integrity as sacrosanct and to resolve disputes over territory through international law. Very cumbersome and inefficient. But infinitely preferable to wars, like Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
I guess
And who is going to do that? What countries are going to put their cities on the line to accomplish what you want?
Israel is self-destructing. Israel’s existence as the last European settler-colony amidst hundreds of millions of indigenous Arabs always depended on obtaining the voluntary acquiescence of the Palestinians to share the land. Having failed to do that, Israel has become an outcast among nations that cannot survive as an ethno-state. No amount of military force can change that.
A sad outcome for me. For most of my adult life I believed that the members of the first Biblical faith, having endured the Nazi genocide, had the wisdom and empathy to understand their need to be humble and kind to their indigenous Palestinian neighbors. The election of the war criminal Ariel Sharon as PM in 2001 convinced me that the Zionist state had reached the point of no return.
Deep thoughts worth much consideration.
The election of the war criminal Ariel Sharon was a turning point for me as well.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/947106cd88fd6d8ab2d0649eb69cd1f4e6f4cf5a6a69a1cea4c86f8570b5cf7e.png
do you like my amazing hand drawn english skills?
LOL That is funny. Do you have one showing Ukraine as part of Russia? There is a saying in the US which you should take heed. "People living Glass Houses should not throw stones" BTW If Trump is elected you should learn to speak Russian, if you don't already. You will need it.
People in glass houses should throw stripper parties.
Aw you can dream timmy
im literally in lviv
the time i spent making my map is the time you'll look at a map in whole year
Чудово!
Should Ukraine also be demilitarized?
different situations
man
Ukraine could have been neutral and prospering like Austria, that would have served all parties involved. But the neo-Nazis and neocons did not like the idea and that is why there will be nothing left, at best another failed state like Libya and the American gift of freedom and democracy. That is what the Arab Spring is about.
"the US continues to provide military aid to Israel and is vowing to defend Israel if the situation escalates"
Uncle Sammy loves killing Muslims.
The Us needs a revolution.
So you want to toss away our form government just because you don't like the polices of the USA regarding the Middle East. Did you ever think that whoever takes over in your revolution might just be worst and unlike the current leaders you might not be able to vote them out.
I support a revolution because US elections have become auctions and the US no longer has a representative government.
The Zionist stranglehold on Mideast policy is just one example of this.
Socialism has humanized part of brutal capitalism, we should not forget. Big money demonized socialism and unions and took the balance of social justice out of the game. Neoliberal economics is destroying European Social democracies.
China and Russia are doing well with social economic market economies adjusted to their cultures.
Why not pick the best ideas from capitalism and socialism/communism and unions to make societies more fair and just?
How much money does Bezos need to be happy?
Truly advanced way of thinking!
I am a communist.
I understand socialism as a transitional stage between an exploitative capitalist state leading to a decentralized society of self-governing communities connected by voluntary relations. The problem with "socialists" like Sanders, AOC and DSA is that they see state ownership of the means of production as their end goal. Socialism for them means sharing the wealth with a powerful beneficent state controlling the wealth for the well being of the masses.
The problem is the state becomes dictatorial and self perpetuating. like the Soviet Union. China is struggling with the same problem. Lenin and Marx's goal was empowering the people to the point that a coercive state is unnecessary.
Communists see the socialist state as a transitional form while people learn to be motivated by enlightened self interest and solidarity rather than greed and selfishness. Russia and the East European countries failed to make the transition. The jury is out on China. I continue to believe that a transition to a stateless society is possible.
We already can't vote out the jackass in thanks to legalized bribery by special interest groups + the power of the permanent unelected security state. No wonder the founders favored a confederation of states.
It’s the money in politics that’s destroying “our form of gov’t”
socialism
is the only true freedom
It aims for a more just society, what could be wrong with that?
Depends on what the definition of “just” being used is.
Hi TK,
Care to be more detailed in terms of what you are implying?….
I'm not "implying" anything.
Lysistrata claims that socialism aims for "a more just society," and asks what could be wrong with that.
What could be wrong with that depends on what one means by "just."
Some very interesting conversations happening here…
:=)
True, but you will not find out if you don’t talk about it. The employer has the kind of view serving him and the employee has a different perspective. It will never be perfect, but it could be much better. European social democracy were very successful, yes, and the cradle of socialism, communism is Europe. Our wars are all about Capitalism v. Socialism. Neoliberal economics are all about privatizing as I see it. Europe did well with Socialism and so does Russia and China. All picked the best out of the ideologies that was suited best for their culture and adjusted them accordingly, communism and socialism are like Protestants and Catholics, Christians as Sunnis and Shiites are Muslims.
None of that tells me what you think is “just” (“consonant with principles of moral right of equity; righteous; equitable; fair” — OED).
The idea of a just society — as opposed to just a society — must necessarily rely on some concept of precisely what justice allows/requires/forbids..
“Very successful” requires a metric of “success” versus “failure.”
Doing “well” requires a scale to measure “worse” versus “better.”
My own metric of justice has been summarized in various ways by various philosophies and religions. For example, the Witches’ Rede: “An ye harm none, do what ye will.” Or the libertarian “anything peaceful”/”don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff”/ “non-aggression principle.” Neither socialism nor capitalism satisfy that definition. But presumably you prefer different definitions.
Being just is that everyone has access to basic human needs which is clearly not your viewpoint. You are hiding behind a definition and system that people who are starving don’t have right to take your food.
Nothing so artificial, but rising organically from our own civilization, Xtian communism: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
40% of ethnic Palestinians worldwide are Christians
30% of the Levant is Christian
A majority of Arab-Americans are Christians
And?
It is time for Gaza and the West Bank to be handed over to the UN and protected by an international peace keeping force.
The UN is populated by a bunch of lard ass, lazy "diplomats". Just blah, blah, with evenings filled with fancy cigars, good booze, and other perks. F*cking toothless.
That is bloody well RUDE!
Learn some effing manners or find a new place to post!
They need a housecleaning, their rapporteurs still do a great job and the AID has helped many people, the veto power must go above all else.
And who is going to contribute troops to your idea?
UN troops as the post suggests Tim…
They used to have the blue helmets and NATO could contribute a faire share.
The entire area of the British mandate could be de-militarized (all sides) and then maybe 300,000 Chinese could be neutral U.N. peacekeepers.
China doesn't do that kind of thing.
Peacekeeping ?
China currently has 2,200 personnel deployed as peacekeepers. China avoids combat operations and major military commitments.
Couldn’t they deploy 300 000 peacekeepers in the Levant ? Demilitarize both the IDF and the Palestinians. Have the Chinese in as peacekeepers. They’d be the only truely neutral party possible
Who would pay for this? China is a developing country with a per capita GDP of $12K compared to about $76K for the USA. .As far as I know China never deployed more than about 2,000 troops to a UN Peacekeeping operation.
China prioritize economic development and does not have a military industrial complex like the US/NATO countries. The People’s Liberation Army is a defensive force that is mostly involved in public works projects in China.
Also how would a Chinese speaking peacekeeping force interact and communicate with people who speak Hebrew, Arabic, English and Yiddish?
China recently increased its commitment to peacekeeping operations to a maximum of about 8,000 troops. But 300,000 troops is not a peace keeping force, it is an occupation force. China would never get involved in that.
I imagine since Israel would no longer need a massive military budget having demilitarized would pony up 2/3s of the Peacekeeping budget. The other 1/3 would come from the international community.
Sure be cheaper than current situation
NATO could, they are a peace keeping force based on the Charta. That would even be an economical great idea.
Israel is now attacking a US ally.
U.S. Relations With Lebanon
Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
April 27, 2022
The United States seeks to help Lebanon preserve its independence, sovereignty, national unity, stability, and territorial integrity. . . .
Since 2006, the United States has provided more than $5.5 billion in total foreign assistance to Lebanon.
Specifically, the United States has provided more than $3 billion in assistance since 2006 to address both economic support and security needs. This assistance aims to strengthen strategic partners such as Lebanon’s security forces; ensure key services reach the Lebanese people; preserve the multi-sectarian character of Lebanon; and counter Hizballah’s narrative and influence. Support for Lebanon’s security agencies and other strategic partners remains at the core of our efforts to preserve stability while countering and delegitimizing Hizballah’s false narrative and justification for retaining its arms in Lebanon and in the region.
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-lebanon/
hezbollah isnt lebanon
Just like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah is supported by the people of Lebanon. A group like Hezbollah can not exist without the support of the local population.
Tim, did you really post that? You deserve ***** little stars for that, well said.
Oh right, Lebanon has supported the "terror" Hezbollah just like Iran does with Hamas, but the US has given them, as an ally, $3B over the years anyhow. Iran should be so lucky.
And the torture, rape, mass imprisonment w/o trial and genocide of Gazans is supported by the disgusting Israeli scum, and by you to, you blood soaked scumbag.
re: "Israel Pounds Lebanon"
What part of pounding Lebanon don't you understand?
GFY!
whhy?
Damn I responded to the wrong comment.
Sorry. I deleted it.
its ok
So what, Hezbollah does not behave, they dare support the Palestinians in Gaza. The Israelis only do what the US does, they attack their allies too, see Germany and the NS2 pipeline, an act of war, breaking the German and EU economy, most of them NATO members, they sanction allies if they don't serve American interests, the US supports terrorists organizations, and turns on allies if it suits them. The US and UK broke the French/Australian submarine deal to turn the deal over to the UK. They broke the Iran treaty and sanctioned nations for honoring business deals they made with Iran trusting the treaty. Conman Trump broke it and Biden continued, the same with the Cuba sanctions Obama had reduced, Trump and Biden returned to the old sanctions. So much for that, being friends with the US is fatal, who said that?
The USA can not be trusted, by now the whole world knows it.
Harsh words but honest and probably spot on.
I still have hope.
I have been doing peace since I was. Child, a kid! I am now a lovely and um elderly woman. 😉
Knock this sh-t off and get with doing the dang peace already! You would be heroes!
“This is an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister has not even responded to”
How’s that for a slap to the face, eh? Do the US, France, UK etc ever get tired of being slapped around by a crappy little country?
Isreal is a danger to the entire world.
Israel must cease to be.
This is a war of choice by the ASI. Consequently, they should go this on their own.
A war of choice. Hezbollah fires at Israel almost everyday. Yes Israel has a choice. They can defend themself or do nothing. PA Just because Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists based in Gaza, that does give Hezbollah the right to fire on Israel.
Cry me a river. Why does the US support Israel? Without US support of weapons and funding the Israelis could not massacre unarmed civilians and the US veto power in the UN Israel could not commit the war crimes it does. What does it take for you to recognize a war crime as long as Israelis do it?
Where is your moral compass, did you ever have one?
Yours is a false dichotomy.
The ASI needn’t choose between ONLY starting a war OR “doing nothing”.
Negotiate. There’s a third option.
Improve missile and border defences. There’s a 4th option.
Move (illegal) settlements away from the borders & out of range. 5th option.
Engage neighbouring countries to reach a multilateral peace guarantee for both sides. 6th option.
Rebrand as the Democratic Islamic Peoples’ Republic of Israel (as a consequence of TLK Doctrine, one can call onesself Muslim without being of that religion). 7th option.
I broke your false dichotomy in ONE SITTING. Think outside your tiny cube, Major.
It's not the business of the US. Biden's recent gift of over 8 billion in arms to Isreal is an abomination.
In relation to the US, Isreal is a parasite, a spy, a thief and an abuser.
End all US aid to Israel!
Of course Israel rejected the plan. For nearly 11 months Hezbollah fired on Israel. Now that Israel had enough and went on offensive the USA and France want a cease fire!! To do what? Give Hezbollah three weeks to regroup!
How do you make peace Tim?…
Donna – you win the internet with that comment
I take your point…
😉
Your symbol is so beautiful, I enjoy looking at it. It is truly peaceful.
Do you recognize it ?
They will get their war with Iran, and the US will support it, it will be good for business.
The USA has vetoed any cease fire in the UN AND OTHER THAN WINDOW DRESSING THE BIDEN GANG DID NOTHING. After the election the USA will fight Iran with the Israelis. Why not? They only need bombs to do the job, no troops are needed. Hezbollah wanted a cease fire in Gaza, in support of the people in Gaza. They did not hit civilian targets like hospitals, schools, ambulances and churches the way the heroic Israelis do. Israelis and Americans are cry babies, not honorable soldiers.
Death to Israel.
I will celebrate ever IDF death.
NO Cease Fire?! More WAR!
Israel, it seems, is calling the right to its own existence into question!
Death to Israel!
Why would the master listen to what his pets have to say?
Just like in Gaza, any "ceasefire" deal which is talked about is just a smokescreen to cover the US administration and make it look like they are opposed to a wider war.
I still see virtually every commentator talking about "the US doesn't want a wider war." This shows how feckless most of them are. They can't spend five seconds to ask themselves, "who is 'the US', paleface?" They can't comprehend that the only US government faction that matters are the neocons in control of the Biden administration and who most definitely want a war with Iran.
I listened to Scott Ritter for about ten seconds on Danny Haiphone's Youtube channel yesterday before dumping it. He reiterated that same crap – neither Hezbollah nor Israel want an invasion of Lebanon, the Israelis are too tired to do it, blah, blah, blah.
He's utterly wrong about everything that matters: that Israel must have that war, that the US must have that war, and that Hezbollah is ready for that war. The same applies to Iran.
As Alastair Crooke has pointed out, this situation is a "Greek tragedy" and Greek tragedies exist because they care caused by people who act like they do because that is who there are and they can not act in any other way.
This is precisely the situation now. The Israeli and the neocons have to do what they are doing, and the Axis of Resistance has to do what they are prepared to do.
The end result is going to be one of three scenarios:
1) Israel is destroyed and the US is driven out of the Middle East forever.
2) Israel and the US destroy the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran, and the US and Israel dominate the Middle East forever.
3) The conflict escalates to one between the US/Israel and Russia/China, i.e., WWIII.
Those are the only options. Pick one.
2 is the answer. Eric Margolis has said that Israel is in the catbird seat. I have see nothing to prove otherwise.
The best would be #1 and the worst would be #3 and the most likely to happen.
I'll take door #1.
Ah, come on Israel! Wake the heck up and make some dang peace, for Pete’s sake! If you make peace, you’d be heroes!
Stop and listen to your Lord God! Is this what your Heavenly Father wants you to do?! Killing all these good people?!
Now, I am seriously worried about you all. You still have not accepted the one true Jesus Christ!!! Imagine that?!
We want you all to be true heroes of peace!!!
YOU ALL!
Donna, if you pray to the Lord please ask him to let it rain brain, just lots of the common sense kind of brain it is the only kind to help.
That kind of brain rain is most needed in Washington, Tel Aviv, London, Berlin, and Kiev. Nothing less will do. If not my prayers but my thoughts are with you.
"You still have not accepted the one true Jesus Christ" Duh, Jews don't believe in Jesus Christ.
Actually, many Jews do believe in Jesus Christ. Judaism is a religion. Jewishness is an ethnicity historically, but not currently universally, associated with that religion.
Much like people who are Christian when it is convenience, many Jews are Jewish when it is convenient. I have a friend who is Jewish. He attends Temple only during the high holidays, much like Christians who see the inside of a church during Easter and during Christmas time. Or at a midnight mass if they are Catholic.
Jewishness is an ethnicity, not a religion.
Stubbornness must be a sin, right?… Willfulness! And on and on and on! The clock keeps ticking!
You want to see a héroe?… Look no further than Iran!!!
Peaceful restraint! And blessed truth!
We should be in a potential world war but Iran has risen to hear the words of God and blessed be!
We do need a hero.
I, myself, am holding out for a hero. At LEAST 'til the end of the night.
I do have some prerequisites for said hero :
1) It's gotta be strong,
2) It's gotta be fast,
and
3) it's gotta be fresh from the fight.
ZALUZHNYY
or syrskiy but nobody likes him here in ukraine
so
ZALUZHNYYYYYY
Iran peaceful. I wonder if the families of the hundreds protesters hung by Iran agree.
Iran is on a present course of changing many things… It takes time for certain principals and ideas to take hold.
Max Blumenthal had the opportunity to speak to the leader of Iran, a cardiologist by profession, not a politician or military person. Max came away impressed.
That's nothing compared to the tens of thousands slaughtered by Isreal. It's not even as many as the number of peaceful protesters killed by Isreal during in the Great March of return in 2018.
In the 1o yeras prior to 10/7, Isreal killed over 4,000 Palestinians in Gaza
The names of the 710 babies murdered by the IDF were released last week. Babies that will not see their first birthday. 7Oct? Time did not start there. It began with the occupation 75 years ago. Occupation! I suppose you do not realize that from the year 2000 until 7Oct, Israel killed 2300 Palestinian children. There was a time when I saw Israel in a different light. Now, I see a monster in our midst. A MONSTER!!
Israel will reject any ceasefire until they have accomplished their strategic goals in Lebanon. The Biden administration knows this. The ceasefire proposals are for domestic consumption.
I suspect they'll learn not to attack Israel and prayers for the Peace of Jerusalem will be answered.
Larry Johnson interviews Alastair Crooke.
“The US and France are calling for a 21-day ceasefire“, WINK, WINK.
This is only propaganda for domestic consumption and sheer hypocrisy.
Just pissing into the wind, AFAICS. Nothing is going to change as long as we have ethically and morally corrupted people running the show, both here and in Tel Aviv.