The Joe Biden administration last week stood in the way of another UN ceasefire resolution for the Gaza genocide as the death toll hit 45,000 after daily Israeli bombing campaigns and a Washington-supported humanitarian blockade that has lasted for over 13 months.
Just over a year since the IDF started its massive bombing campaign in northern Gaza, the Israeli military has resumed its operations in the region that have included some of Israel’s “most devastating attacks yet,” according to The New York Times.
Hamas leadership announced last week that it will not agree to any ceasefire deal with Israel unless it ends the war inside Gaza and results in the complete withdrawal of IDF troops.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a politician from the Jewish Power party and Israel’s National Security Minister, said the Saturday attack on Iranian positions was “important as an opening blow,” but must be followed up because of a “historical obligation to remove the Iranian threat to destroy Israel.”
As Israel increases its attacks on Lebanon, it simultaneously has increased its bombing campaign in Gaza, pushing the death toll up to 42,200, with 98,500 wounded and 11,000 missing. Experts say reconstruction of the enclave could take decades.
Internal emails among officials inside the Pentagon and U.S. State Department showed concerns about war crimes by the IDF in Gaza in the early stages of the war and that the rising death toll inside the enclave would hurt relations between Washington and other countries in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has benefited politically from his recent terror attacks in Lebanon, and polls show that his Likud party is the most popular in the country—after suffering a setback after the Hamas attack last year.
Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, the head of the Israeli Air Force, met with top officers at an airbase last week and said preventing Iranian weapons from reaching Hezbollah was the top priority as the IDF continues its aerial terror campaign in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored U.S. President Joe Biden and the White House continues to provide Israel with funding and weapons without hesitation.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a video statement on Sunday that Israel’s recent attacks on Lebanon should send a clear message to Hezbollah and that it should expect more strikes as long as residents in northern Israel can’t return to their homes.