Lebanon Ceasefire Gives Israel Victory in Gaza
A link for Friday, November 29
I’d normally take the holiday off from politics, but this is too striking not to pass on. Ian Welsh has made a connection between the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire deal in Lebanon and the genocide in Gaza.
Here’s Welsh:
If The Gaza Ceasefire Holds, Israel Has Won
So, terror bombing appears to have won the Gaza war. Israel’s ground invasion was pathetic, Hezbollah’s troops proved their reputation is deserved, but Hezbollah has agreed to a ceasefire.
That’s what Israel needed: that’s a strategic victory. Without Hezbollah missiles and drones hitting Israel, a ton of the pressure is off, especially economic pressure. Now Israel can concentrate on Gaza and Hamas. Without Hezbollah, they’re doomed and the genocide and ethnic cleansing of, at least, Northern Gaza will be successful. …
Israel was, on its own initiative, fighting a two-front war — a genocide against mostly unarmed Palestinians, and a shooting war against well-armed Hezbollah fighters. It was winning the first (of course), and losing the second.
Welsh’s point: Hezbollah, and by extension its partner Iran, has given the Israeli government a break in the north, allowing it to concentrate just on murdering Palestinians and clearing Gaza for total Israeli control and transformation.
Why Hezbollah and Iran did this, we can only guess. The Iranians have been remarkably constrained (some would say timid) during this whole ugly episode. On the other hand, Israeli terrorist bombing of civilians in Lebanon seems to have worked.
Israeli Beachfront Property
This is from Middle East Eye regarding an October conference of “Knesset members, government ministers and hundreds of Israeli settlers”:
As Gaza burns, Israeli settlers make 'real estate' plans
… Or Yomtovyan [is] an activist for Israeli security minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Jewish Power party.
Yomtovyan is in the property business. Speaking outside the Jewish Power sukkot (tent) he told MEE that settling Gaza would be “a good solution for the real estate problem. We are a small country and there’s big land here we can use.”
Asked when Gaza could be occupied, he replied: “First things first. As soon as possible.”
Asked by MEE how much seafront property in Gaza might be worth, he replied “it will be a bargain. Properties in Tel Aviv next to the sea cost 20-50 million shekels [$5m-$13m]. Here we can sell cheap.” …
Those present at the conference included supporters from the United States, South Africa and Australia.
Other indications include this from The Conversation, also in October:
…Israel had already launched a major operation in northern Gaza. On October 12, the IDF posted a message in Arabic on social media sites warning civilians living in an area designated as D5 on Israel’s grid map of Gaza to evacuate. It said the area would soon be a “dangerous combat zone” and ordered people to move to safe areas in the south of Gaza.
Israeli beachfront real estate, coming soon to a settler near you. Perhaps an American settler. Watch for it.
They still have the Qassam brigades to contend with; Gaza won't be defeated so easily.