Absence of Accountability for Gaza Genocide Has Enabled Israel’s War on Lebanon |
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We go to Lebanon, where an Israeli invasion is in full swing along the southern border. Israel has announced the expansion of its so-called buffer zone and issued mass evacuation orders as its military destroys homes and infrastructure throughout the region. A humanitarian crisis is brewing as hospitals have been blocked from receiving medical supplies and as healthcare workers, as well as other civilians, have been killed in targeted Israeli strikes. “This is a war again that’s been ongoing since October 2023, and over the past two-and-a-half years we’ve documented repeated, apparently deliberate, attacks on civilians,” says Human Right Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss, speaking from Beirut. “But what’s different this time around is that there’s a new brazenness in the statements issued by the Israeli military, where they are simply stating that they intend to commit more war crimes … perhaps a reflection of the state of impunity for any violations that have been committed in Lebanon, as in Gaza.”
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Israeli strikes across Lebanon Sunday killed at least 15 people as Israeli troops pushed deeper into southern Lebanon. Israel has ordered the expansion of its so-called buffer zone from the Litani River to areas north of the Zahrani River, displacing about one-fifth of Lebanon’s population. Israel continues to bomb bridges across the Litani, isolating the southern region of Lebanon.
Since Israel launched its war against Hezbollah on March 2nd, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, including at least 126 children.
Israel Has Killed or Wounded Classroom’s Worth of Children Every Day in Lebanon
This is Jamal Salim Farran, now homeless after Israeli strikes on Tyre left his neighborhood in ruins.
JAMAL SALIM FARRAN: [translated] Someone who can barely afford their daily bread, can’t even buy a loaf, and then a plane comes and strikes. For what reason? Just because I’m sitting on my land? I will not leave. This is our land, and we will not give it up.
JAMAL SALIM FARRAN: [translated] Someone who can barely afford their daily bread, can’t even buy a loaf, and then a plane comes and strikes. For what reason? Just because I’m sitting on my land? I will not leave. This is our land, and we will not give it up.
AMY GOODMAN: Beirut was pounded with airstrikes Friday, as Israel claimed it was targeting militant infrastructure.
For more, we go to Lebanon’s capital to speak with Ramzi Kaiss, the Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Ramzi,........