I say to you, the people of Lebanon free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end. Free your country from Hezbollah so that your country can prosper again. You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of [00:00:15] a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza. You deserve to restore Lebanon to its days of tranquility. You deserve a Lebanon that is different. One country, one flag, one people. Now, I would argue that Lebanon deserves to make decisions about its own sovereign [00:00:34] country without a hostile prime minister of a neighboring country weighing in. But nonetheless, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a chilling warning to Lebanon and threatened that if Hezbollah isn't overthrown, the country could soon look like Gaza. [00:00:52] And of course, just as a reminder, we're talking about a country that the United States not only considers an ally, but an ally that the United States heavily armed so they can carry out these threats and make good on those threats. [00:01:08] And by the way, it's fascinating that in his message, he also mentioned Lebanon being united under one flag, because it seems at least some in Israel have different intentions. [00:01:23] An Israeli flag hoisted above a rubble strewn Lebanese village. Parts of southern Lebanon now resemble the apocalyptic landscape of Gaza, and Israel's war with Hezbollah is intensifying. [00:01:41] This apparently all that's left of the border town of Yaroun. The Israeli army announced today another military division has now been deployed into Lebanon. Around 15,000 soldiers are said to be taking part in the invasion. [00:02:02] So as the IDF's military assault in Lebanon continues to escalate, Hezbollah's deputy leader has indicated that they would like to negotiate a cease fire, a temporary cease fire deal, which, by the way, let's just take a step back and acknowledge the fact that cease fires don't even mean cease fires anymore. [00:02:21] Cease fire means you stop the war. You stop the fighting. Now there's this new era of temporary cease fires where the idea is, okay, maybe we give it, like, like three weeks or something, and then the fighting can start again. The warring can start again. But in this case, Hezbollah realized, okay, it's unlikely that Israel is going [00:02:40] to agree to a permanent ceasefire. So they decided to offer negotiations for a temporary ceasefire without conditions related to Gaza. Remember, the reason why Hezbollah started attacking Israel is because Israel started doing aerial bombardments of Gaza effectively. [00:02:59] You know, flattening it and killing tens of thousands of civilians. But for now, since Israel is unwilling to engage in those negotiations, Hezbollah has continued launching rockets into Israel. Now, luckily, most of them were intercepted. [00:03:15] No one wants civilians dead. That would be absolutely tragic. But sadly, today, a man and a woman were reportedly killed from fatal shrapnel wounds after rockets struck a town in northern Israel. [00:03:30] And this is what Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to risk. You know, he's willing to risk the lives of, of course, countless Arabs and Muslims and even Christians and countries like Lebanon. He's bombing Syria to all of that, but he's willing to literally risk [00:03:45] the lives of Israelis as well. I mean, if if this war, this broadening war shows us anything at all to me, it shows you how little Benjamin Netanyahu cares about human lives, regardless of [00:04:01] the identity of the human lives involved. Now, six people were also injured in a rocket attack near Haifa. But as usual, Israel's assault has done much more damage to Lebanon. And how could it not? I mean, when you consider the fact that we're heavily arming them, [00:04:18] giving them the types of bombs that are referred to as bunker buster bombs. Lebanon's Crisis Response unit announced on Wednesday that 22 people were killed and 80 wounded in the past 24 hours, raising the total toll over the past year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah [00:04:35] to 2141 killed and 10,099 wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Now, that report also recorded 70 airstrikes and incidents of shelling [00:04:50] in the past day alone. Some 1000 centers, including educational complexes, vocational institutes, universities and other institutions are sheltering 185,400 people displaced by the Israeli offensive in Lebanon. [00:05:07] Among these shelters, 807 have reached full capacity. I mean, we're talking about millions of displaced people. Overall, the total number of displaced individuals in Lebanon stands at 1.2 million. And Israel is also bombing other countries in addition to Gaza. [00:05:25] The bombings in Gaza, the military operations in Gaza continue because Netanyahu has said, well, you know, it appears that you still have Hamas strategizing and we haven't gotten them yet. You're not going to get them. You're killing all sorts of innocent civilians, and those left behind are going [00:05:44] to want revenge against Israel over the fact that they slaughtered their innocent family members. The way that this war is being prosecuted is not going to lead to some long term peace in the Middle East. And I don't think Netanyahu is interested in that. To begin with, Honestly now. [00:06:03] An Israeli airstrike was done on a residential building in Damascus, Syria. Also, that airstrike reportedly killed seven people and injured at least 11. So let's talk a little bit about US involvement here [00:06:19] because there was some big news. You know, our president, Joe Biden, the man who, according to Bob Woodward's latest book War, absolutely despises Netanyahu and calls him a bad guy, met with Netanyahu. They actually held their first call in seven weeks. [00:06:37] And yesterday, his administration made clear that it has dropped its support for a cease fire in Lebanon. Here's State Department spokesman Matthew Miller giving us some more. Let's watch. Yes, we do support Israel launching these, [00:06:56] incursions to degrade Hezbollah's infrastructure. So ultimately, we can get a diplomatic resolution, given that. Hezbollah or someone in Hezbollah is now saying they, you know, they're open to a ceasefire. Are the Israelis calling for a ceasefire? No, they are not. And so we know that you've said repeatedly it takes two to tango [00:07:14] when it comes to ceasefire. Is this not a good starting point that, as you say, Hezbollah is being degraded at one point? At what point is it significantly degraded enough for for the US to say, okay, enough is enough? [00:07:29] And I think. The the fact that they came out and called for a cease fire today shows that Hezbollah knows it's on the back foot, knows its capabilities are being degraded. And so the reason it's hard to answer the question is, is Hezbollah calling for a ceasefire, or is Hezbollah calling for a ceasefire and agreeing to pull back beyond [00:07:46] the Litani River, which is something that they haven't said that they would do? I. Just want to note that that press conference was held before Hezbollah succeeded in a rocket strike that ended up killing two people in Israel. [00:08:01] So, I don't know, maybe negotiations on a cease fire is in the best interests of everyone involved, including Israeli civilians. Now, Senators Richard Blumenthal and renowned war hawk Lindsey Graham are currently in the Middle East. [00:08:18] I mean, please tell me that there's any other place in the world that U.S. Politicians visit more than Israel. But they were in Israel, and they met with Netanyahu yesterday, you know, their true leader. And they say that they're there to help normalize relations in the region. [00:08:34] Normalizing relations would probably start with the war ending, but that's not really what they're interested in. They basically confirmed what we've been hearing from the Biden administration. If Israel goes to war with Iran, we're going to be involved. We're going to get dragged into it. Let's take a look. [00:08:51] If Israel takes on Iran in such a way that this escalates and becomes a war between Israel and Iran, the United States would be obliged to enter on Israel's side, wouldn't it? Iran has declared that it wants to destroy the United States [00:09:07] as well as annihilate Israel. So Israel's war is not only against the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah, but against Iran. And so that's a yes. - You would enter on the side of Israel. - I'm not predicting what will happen. [00:09:23] Our effort here is actually to help reduce or avoid escalation and the widening of this war. There needs to be a confrontation of Iran. We've put it off way too long. We need to call the question on Iran. [00:09:38] They're the source of most upheaval in regime change. I am 1,000% for regime change, but you don't have to. How did that work out last time? America tried it in Iraq? I think we have nothing to lose. How did it work out when we got rid of Hitler? - Better. - I think we have nothing to lose. [00:09:55] The United States orchestrated a coup in Iran, which is why we have what we have now. There are never any lessons learned because our politicians are literally paid to avoid learning any lessons. They are literally paid through political bribes that have been legalized by our [00:10:12] Supreme Court to essentially risk the lives of innocent human beings in order to increase the bottom line for defense contractors and weapons manufacturers. This isn't a debate or a conversation about doing what's best [00:10:28] to normalize relations, or doing what's best to protect human lives. This is a conversation about more war, more devastation, empowering a belligerent government that has no problem risking the lives of its own citizens. [00:10:44] That's what this is really about. And has there ever been a war that Lindsey Graham hasn't salivated over? Now, why does he salivate over it? Because he's paid to look at how much money he rakes in through defense contractors. [00:11:01] Real curious whether he's personally invested in individual stocks belonging to weapons manufacturers, defense contractors. You get the picture. Lindsey Graham is a giant pile of garbage. And by the way, so is Blumenthal. [00:11:16] You have problems in your own country. Okay. What are you doing in Israel right now? A united two United States senators are in a foreign country right now, more concerned about what's happening there than what's happening in our own country as another devastating hurricane comes barreling toward Florida. [00:11:36] And when Graham was asked what's next for Gaza, he seemed to suggest a total takeover of the territory, which I am not surprised by. Take a look. But not holding them back has meant 40,000 dead Gazans. - Well, that's. - Because Hamas wants them that way. [00:11:53] They want it that way. I don't blame them. Why do them the favor? Hamas will not be standing. They will never govern Gaza again. If you get nothing else out of this interview. Hamas will never govern Gaza again. They may not be Hamas anymore, but there will be another organization with similar policies that will be, you know, called something different. [00:12:09] Agree with you. More Gazan children who've seen their parents killed, seen their neighbors killed. They will join a cause, a new cause with a new name. Unless somebody comes in and takes over their lives, provides them an education [00:12:27] system and a future that's more hopeful. But their bitterness is created by American bombs dropped on them inside Gaza, in part, isn't it? Well, I think their bitterness should be toward Hamas. They've been radicalized. They're the most radicalized population on the planet. From the time you're born in Gaza to the time you die, [00:12:44] you're taught to hate the Jews. The two state solution as we know it died on October the 7th. Do you think it's dead? I think I think as as it's been envisioned in the past. It is. [00:13:00] Lindsey Graham is such a bad person. Lindsey Graham is such a bad person that he is one of the few people in the world who makes me want to believe in religion, because nothing would give me greater solace than believing that that man [00:13:16] is going to burn in eternal damnation. But alas, I don't believe in that. And so I have to cope with the fact that this guy might not ever have to pay for the consequences for all the bloodshed he has encouraged around the world throughout his political career. [00:13:32] So let's talk a little more about Gaza. Gaza's health ministry said it recovered 40 bodies from Jabalia from Sunday until Tuesday, and another 14 from communities farther north. The toll is likely higher as there are bodies buried under the rubble [00:13:49] and in areas that can't be accessed. It's so incredibly frustrating being slapped around with the injustice of what this country is enabling, and not having the power to do a damn thing about it. Not having a political party to support because they are willing to take a stand [00:14:08] against enabling what we're seeing in the Middle East. And so when we have conversations about protecting democracy and Democrats wonder, well, why isn't our messaging about protecting democracy working, maybe they should consider the fact that a lot of Americans [00:14:25] on certain issues like this don't really feel like democracy is doing much. A lot of Americans don't want to be involved in this, but they don't have a choice because both political parties are completely captured by political bribes, [00:14:43] obviously legal, that support Israel regardless of what Israel does. And in this case, I think what they're doing is, of course, devastating for the sovereign nations surrounding the country. But it's also going to be devastating for Israel. It's already devastating their economy and Netanyahu sees no end in sight. [00:15:02] Today, three hospitals in northern Gaza were ordered to evacuate. UN official described the situation in the north as hell, with at least 400,000 people trapped there. This is what we are enabling here in the United States, and you really have to ask [00:15:18] yourself, how much more are we willing, really willing to take? How much more are we going to allow this to to go on? And the only response we've gotten from the government is, you know, shutdowns of pro-peace protests and things like that. [00:15:34] So, yeah, democracy is important, but the American people need to feel that they're being heard through their democratic process. And right now, I certainly don't feel heard. Hey, thanks for watching the video. We really appreciate it, guys, and we appreciate it if you become members, [00:15:49] because that allows us to be independent, honest, progressive, all the things that you don't get from corporate media and all of that is because of you guys. 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