Podcasts about Southern Lebanon

This week we talk about tit-for-tat warfare, conflict off-ramps, and Israel's renewed attacks on Iran's nuclear program.We also discuss the Iron Dome, the Iran-Iraq War, and regime change.Recommended Book: How Much is Enough? by Robert and Edward SkidelskyTranscriptIn late-October of 2024, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against targets in Iran and Syria. These strikes were code-named Operation Days of Repentance, and it marked the largest such attack on Iran by Israel since the 1980s, during the height of the Iran-Iraq War.Operation Days of Repentance was ostensibly a response to Iran's attack on Israel earlier than same month, that attack code-named Operation True Promise II, which involved the launch of around 200 ballistic missiles against Israeli targets. Operation True Promise II was itself a response to Israel's assassination of the leader of Hamas, the leader of Hezbollah, and the Deputy of Operations for Iran's Revolutionary Guard.If you feel like there might be a tit-for-tat pattern here, you're right. Iran and Israel have been at each other's throats since 1979, following the Islamic Revolution when Iran cut off all diplomatic relations with Israel; some backchannel relations continued between the two countries, even through part of the Iran-Iraq War, when Israel often supported Iran in that conflict, but things got tense in the early 1980s when Iran, partnering with the Syrian government, started backing Hezbollah and their effort to boot Israel out of Southern Lebanon, while also partnering with Islamist militants in Iraq and Yemen, including the Houthis, and at times Hamas in Gaza, as well.Most of these attacks have, until recently, been fairly restrained, all things considered. There's long been bravado by politicians on both sides of the mostly cold war-ish conflict, but they've generally told the other side what they would be hitting, and signaled just how far they would be going, telling them the extent of the damage they would cause, and why, which provides the other side ample opportunity to step off the escalatory ladder; everyone has the chance to posture for their constituents and then step back, finding an off-ramp and claiming victory in that specific scuffle.That back-and-forth in late-2024 largely stuck to that larger pattern, and both sides stuck with what typically works for them, in terms of doing damage: Israel flew more than 100 aircraft to just beyond or just inside Iran's borders and struck a bunch of military targets, like air defense batteries and missile production facilities, while Iran launched a few hundred far less-accurate missiles at broad portions of Israel—a type of attack that could conceivably result in a lot of civilian casualties, not just damage to military targets, which would typically be a no-no if you're trying to keep the tit-for-tat strikes regulated and avoid escalation, but because Israel has a fairly effective anti-missile system called the Iron Dome, Iran could be fairly confident that just hurling a large number of missiles in their general direction would be okay, as most of those missiles would be shot down by the Iron Dome, the rest by Israel's allies in the region, and the few that made it through or struck unoccupied land in the general vicinity would make their point.While this conflict has been fairly stable for decades, though, the tenor and tone seems to have changed substantially in 2025, and a recent wave of attacks by Israel is generally being seen as the culmination of several other efforts, and possibly an attempt by the Israeli government to change the nature of this conflict, perhaps permanently.And that's what I'd like to talk about today; Operation Rising Lion, and the implications of Israel's seeming expansion and evolution of their approach to dealing with Iran.—In mid-June of 2025, Israel's military launched early morning strikes against more than a dozen targets across Iran, most of the targets either fundamental to Iran's nuclear program or its military.The strikes were very targeted, and some were assassinations of top Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists, like the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard, along with their families, including twenty children, who were presumably collateral damage. Some came from beyond Iran's borders, some were conducted by assets smuggled into Iran earlier: car bombs and drones, things like that.More attacks followed that initial wave, which resulted in the collapse of nuclear sites and airport structures, along with several residential buildings in the country's capitol, Tehran.This attack was ostensibly meant to hobble Iran's nuclear program, which the Iranian government has long claimed is for purely peaceful, energy-generation purposes, but which independent watchdog organizations, and pretty much every other non-Iranian-allied government says is probably dual-purpose, allowing Iran to produce nuclear energy, but also nuclear weapons.There was a deal on the books for a while that had Iran getting some benefits in exchange for allowing international regulators to monitor its nuclear program, but that deal, considered imperfect by many, but also relatively effective compared to having no deal at all, went away under the first Trump administration, and the nuclear program has apparently been chugging along since then with relative success; claims that Iran is just weeks from having enough fissile material to make a nuclear weapon have been common for years, now, but they apparently now have enough nuclear weapons-grade materials to make several bombs, and Israel in particular is quite keen to keep them from building such a weapon, as Iran's leaders, over the years, have said they'd like to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, and nuclear weapons would be a relatively quick and easy way to make that happen.Of course, even without using such a weapon, simply having one or more is a sort of insurance policy against conventionally armed enemies. It ups the stakes in every type of conflict, and allows the nuclear-armed belligerent to persistently raise the specter of nuclear war if anyone threatens them, which is truly terrifying because of how many nuclear-related failsafes are in place around the world: one launch or detonation potentially becoming many, all at once, because of Dr. Strangelove-like automated systems that many militaries have readied, just in case.So the possibility that Iran might be on the brink of actually, really, truly this time making a nuclear weapon is part of the impetus for this new strike by Israel.But this is also probably a continuation of the larger effort to dismantle Iran's influence across the region by the current Israeli government, which, following the sneak attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces, has been trying to undermine Iran's proxies, which again, include quite a few militant organizations, the most powerful of which, in recent years, have been the trio of Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, right on Israel's border.Israel's invasion of Gaza, which has led to an absolutely catastrophic humanitarian situation for Gazan civilians, but has also led to the near-total collapse of Hamas as a functioning militant organization in the Strip, could be construed as a successful mission, if you ignore all those civilians casualties and fatalities, and the near-leveling of a good portion of the Strip.Israel was also able to take out a significant portion of Hezbollah's leadership via conventional aerial attacks and ground-assaults, and a bizarrely effective asymmetric attack using bombs installed in the pagers used by the organization, and it's been able to significantly decrease the Houthis' ability to menace ships passing through the Red Sea, using their own military, but also through their relationship with the US, which has significant naval assets in the area.Iran has long projected power in the region through its relationship with these proxies, providing them training and weapons and money in exchange for their flanking of Israel. That flanking was meant to keep Israel perpetually off-balance with the knowledge that if they ever do anything too serious, beyond the bounds of the controllable tit-for-tat, Cold War-style conflict in which they were engaged with Iran, they could suffer significant damage at home, from the north via Lebanon, from their southwestern flank via Gaza, or from a little ways to the south and via their coast from Yemen.Those proxies now largely hobbled, though, Israel found itself suddenly freed-up to do something more significant, and this attack is being seen by analysts as the initial stages of what might be a more substantial, perhaps permanent solution to the Iran problem. Rather than being a show of force or a tit-for-tat play, these might be the beginning days of an assault that's meant to enact not just a dismantling of Iran's nuclear program, but full-on regime change in Iran.And regime change means exactly what it sounds like: Iran's government is Islamist, meaning that it wants to enforce a fairly brutal, repressive version of Islam globally, and it already does so against its people. There have periodically been successful protests against these measures by Iranian citizens, especially by severely repressed women and minority groups in the country, including folks of different religions and LGBTQ identifying folks, among others, almost always these protests, and any other attempts to attain more rights and equality for people who aren't strictly Islamist men, generally result in violence, the black-bagging of protest leaders, extrajudicial killings and lifetime imprisonment and torture; a whole lot of really authoritarian, generally just villain-scale behavior by the Iranian government against anyone who steps out of line.So the Iranian government is pretty monstrous by most modern, democratic standards, and the Israeli government's seeming desire to crush it—to cry false on the regime's projection of strength, and create the circumstances for revolution, if that is indeed what they're doing—could be construed as a fairly noble goal.It perhaps serves the purposes of Israel, as again, Iran has said, over and over, that they want to destroy Israel and would totally do so, given the chance. But it arguably also serves the purpose of democratic-leaning people, and perhaps even more so folks who are suffering under the current Iranian regime, and maybe even other, similar regimes in the region. Which again, in terms of spreading democracy and human rights, sounds pretty good to some ears.That said, Israel is killing a lot of Iranian civilians alongside military targets, and its efforts in Gaza have led to accusations that it's committing genocide in the region. Israeli leaders have themselves been accused of anti-democratic actions, basically doubling-down on the nation's furthest-right, most militant, and most authoritarian and theocratic impulses, which makes any claims of moral superiority a little tricky for them to make, at this point.There's a chance, of course, that all this speculation and analysis ends up being completely off-base, and Israel is really, truly just trying to hobble Iran a bit, taking out some of their missile launchers and missile- and drone-manufacturing capacity, while also pushing back their acquisition of nuclear weapons by some meaningful amount of time; that amount of time currently unknown, as initial reports, at least, indicate that many of the attacks on Iran's most vital nuclear research and development facilities were perhaps not as effective as Israel had hoped. There's a chance that if enough overall damage is done, Iran's government will enthusiastically return to the negotiating table and perhaps be convinced to set their nuclear program aside willingly, but at the moment both Iran and Israel seem committed to hurting each other, physically.On that note, so far, as of the day I'm recording this, Iran has launched around 100 missiles, killed a few dozen Israelis, and injured more than 500 of the same. The Iranian government has said Israel's strikes have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,200; though a human rights group says the death toll in Iran could be quite a bit higher than official government numbers, with more than 400 people killed, around half of them civilians, so far.It's been nearly a week of this, and it looks likely that these strikes will continue for at least another few days, though many analysts are now saying they expect this to go one for at least a few weeks, if indeed Israel is trying to knock out some of Iran's more hardened nuclear program-related targets; several of which are buried deep down in the ground, thus requiring bunker-buster-style missiles to reach and destroy, and Israel doesn't have such weapons in their arsenal.Neutralizing those targets would therefore mean either getting those kinds of weapons from the US or other allies, taking them out via some other means, which would probably take more time and entail more risk, or doing enough damage quickly than Iran's government is forced to the negotiation table.And if that ends up being the case, if Israel is really just gunning for the nuclear program and nothing else, this could be remembered as a significant strike, but one that mostly maintains the current status quo; same Iranian leadership, same perpetual conflict between these two nations, but Israel boasting even more of an upper-hand than before, with less to worry about in terms of serious damage from Iran or its proxies for the next several years, minimum.It does seem like a good moment to undertake regime change in Iran, though, as doing so could help Israel polish up its reputation, at least a little, following the reputational drubbing it has taken because of its actions in Gaza. I doubt people who have really turned on Israel would be convinced, as doing away with an abusive, extremist regime, while doing abusive, extremist regime stuff yourself the homefront, probably won't be an argument that convinces many Palestinian liberation-oriented people; there's a chance some of those people will even take up the cause of Iranian civilians, which is true to a point, as many Iranian civilians are suffering and will continue to suffer under Israel's attacks—though of course that leaves out the part about them also suffering, for much longer, under their current government.That said, taking Iran out of the geopolitical equation would serve a lot of international interests, including those of the US—which has long hated Iran—and Ukraine, the latter of which because Russia has allied itself with the Iranian government, and buys a lot of drones, among other weapons, from Iran. That regime falling could make life more difficult for Russia, at least in the short term, and it would mean another ally lost in the region, following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in late-2024.There's a chance that these same geopolitical variables could pull other players into this conflict, though: Russia could help Iran, for instance, directly or indirectly, by sending supplies, taking out Israeli missiles and drones, maybe, while the US could help Israel (more directly, that is, as it's apparently already helping them by shooting down some of Iran's counterstrike projectiles) by providing bunker-buster weapons, or striking vital military targets from a distance.Such an escalation, on either side, would probably be pretty bad for everyone except possibly Iran, though Israel has said it wants the US to join in on its side, as that would likely result in a much quicker victory and far fewer casualties on its side.The US government is pretty keen to keep out of foreign conflicts right now, though, at least directly, and Russia is pretty bogged down by its invasion of Ukraine; there's a chance other regional powers, even smaller ones, could act as proxies for these larger, outside forces—the Saudis taking the opportunity to score some damage on their long-time rival, Iran, for instance, by helping out Israel—but any such acts would expand the scope of the conflict, and it's seldom politically expedient to do anything that might require your people make any kind of sacrifice, so most everyone will probably stay out of this as long as they can, unless there are serious benefits to doing so.Show Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2025_Israeli_strikes_on_Iranhttps://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/06/13/israel-iran-regime-attack-goal-column-00405153https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/real-threat-iran-tehran-most-dangerous-option-responding-israelhttps://www.twz.com/news-features/could-iran-carry-out-its-threat-to-shut-the-strait-of-hormuzhttps://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-857713https://kyivindependent.com/israel-asks-us-to-join-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-officials-told-axios/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-june-15-2025/https://www.twz.com/air/israel-escalates-to-attacking-iranian-energy-targets-after-ballistic-missiles-hit-tel-avivhttps://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-strikes-news-06-14-25https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-confirms-irgc-air-force-chief-top-echelon-killed-in-israeli-strike/https://time.com/7294186/israel-warns-tehran-will-burn-deadly-strikes-traded-nuclear-program/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/14/world/israel-iran-newshttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/opinion/israel-iran-strikes.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/world/middleeast/drones-smuggled-israel-iran-ukraine-russia.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/15/world/iran-israel-nuclearhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/world/middleeast/iran-military-leaders-killed.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/14/world/europe/israel-iron-dome-defense.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/world/middleeast/israel-iran-missile-attack.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/world/middleeast/iran-israel-energy-facility-strikes-tehran.htmlhttps://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-strikes-news-06-15-25https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/was-israel-s-strike-on-iran-a-good-idea--four-questions-to-askhttps://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-missile-attacks-nuclear-news-06-16-2025-c98074e62ce5afd4c3f6d33edaffa069https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/world/middleeast/iran-israel-war-off-ramp.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2024_Iranian_strikes_on_Israelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2024_Israeli_strikes_on_Iranhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_Resistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Lebanon_electronic_device_attacks This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

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Tánaiste Simon Harris is set to contact the Israeli government over what he termed as an "utterly unacceptable" attack on Irish peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon. Joining us to discuss this is Cathal Berry Independent TD and Former Army Ranger.

Tánaiste Simon Harris is set to contact the Israeli government over what he termed as an "utterly unacceptable" attack on Irish peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon. Joining us to discuss this is Cathal Berry Independent TD and Former Army Ranger.

In this episode of Journey Of Hope, a podcast produced by Heart For Lebanon, host Elio Constantine speaks with Field Director of the Heart For Lebanon Ministry Center in Southern Lebanon, and pastor of the Hope Evangelical Church, Milad Nassar. Elio and Milad are in South Lebanon with an update from the field on the latest developments in the aftermath of the most recent conflict in Lebanon, as well as a new way that Heart For Lebanon is sharing the hope of Jesus with the community, while meeting some very practical restoration needs. Heart For Lebanon website: Home - Heart for LebanonEmail Elio and the Journey Of Hope Podcast: podcast@heartforlebanon.orgJoin our prayer ministry: Prayer Ministry - Heart for Lebanon

YouTube link: https://youtube.com/live/0BGh0hM9h3ESupport the show

Britain's energy secretary, Ed Miliband, ordered the operator of the national electricity grid to investigate the power failure that closed Heathrow airport for most of Friday

Your daily news in under three minutes. At Al Jazeera Podcasts, we want to hear from you, our listeners. So, please head to https://www.aljazeera.com/survey and tell us your thoughts about this show and other Al Jazeera podcasts. It only takes a few minutes! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Your daily news in under three minutes. At Al Jazeera Podcasts, we want to hear from you, our listeners. So, please head to https://www.aljazeera.com/survey and tell us your thoughts about this show and other Al Jazeera podcasts. It only takes a few minutes! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Your daily news in under three minutes. At Al Jazeera Podcasts, we want to hear from you, our listeners. So, please head to https://www.aljazeera.com/survey and tell us your thoughts about this show and other Al Jazeera podcasts. It only takes a few minutes! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

AP correspondent Laurence Brooks reports on Lebanese villagers preparing to return home as Israeli troops withdraw under a ceasefire deal.

An Israeli drone strike killed the head of Hamas' military operations in Southern Lebanon. The strike comes as Israel has decided to keep troops in five strategic locations at the Lebanon border even after a deadline for a full withdrawal will expire. Meanwhile, a sixth hostage exchange took place over the weekend and a Israeli delegation is in Cairo to pressure Netanyahu to continue to phase two of the ceasefire deal. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Enia Krivine, Senior Director of Israel Program & Senior Director, FDD National Security Network for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who says the Trump Administration is showing a laser focus from day one to make sure the ceasefire holds. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AP correspondent Laurence Brooks reports on an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

An Israeli drone strike killed the head of Hamas' military operations in Southern Lebanon. The strike comes as Israel has decided to keep troops in five strategic locations at the Lebanon border even after a deadline for a full withdrawal will expire. Meanwhile, a sixth hostage exchange took place over the weekend and a Israeli delegation is in Cairo to pressure Netanyahu to continue to phase two of the ceasefire deal. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Enia Krivine, Senior Director of Israel Program & Senior Director, FDD National Security Network for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who says the Trump Administration is showing a laser focus from day one to make sure the ceasefire holds. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An Israeli drone strike killed the head of Hamas' military operations in Southern Lebanon. The strike comes as Israel has decided to keep troops in five strategic locations at the Lebanon border even after a deadline for a full withdrawal will expire. Meanwhile, a sixth hostage exchange took place over the weekend and a Israeli delegation is in Cairo to pressure Netanyahu to continue to phase two of the ceasefire deal. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Enia Krivine, Senior Director of Israel Program & Senior Director, FDD National Security Network for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who says the Trump Administration is showing a laser focus from day one to make sure the ceasefire holds. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this powerful episode of Journey of Hope, host Elio Constantine reconnects with Milad, Heart for Lebanon's field manager and a lead pastor, to discuss the recent challenges and triumphs faced by communities in southern Lebanon. As the region emerges from a period of intense conflict, they reflect on the impact of the September aggression between Israel and Hezbollah, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people and forced Heart for Lebanon to temporarily halt operations. However, with the recent ceasefire and the formation of a new government, hope is beginning to flourish once again.Milad shares heartwarming stories of answered prayers, highlighting the resilience of individuals like Malak, who feared for her daughter's safety during the turmoil but found solace in God's presence. The episode emphasizes how the community has rallied together, with the Hope Center reopening its doors to provide education and spiritual support, nurturing the next generation in a safe environment.Listeners will be inspired by testimonies of transformation, including the story of Basam and his son, Raad, who overcame anxiety through prayer and faith. Milad also recounts the experience of Fadia, who found refuge after losing her home, demonstrating how God's love shines through even in the darkest times. As the episode unfolds, Milad reveals a growing interest in the Gospel among individuals from diverse backgrounds, showcasing the power of faith to unite and heal. With an increasing number of seekers attending Bible studies, the message of hope is spreading across the region.Join Elio and Milad as they celebrate the resilience of the human spirit and the unwavering faith that continues to guide the people of Lebanon. This episode is a testament to the transformative power of prayer and community support in overcoming adversity. Don't miss this uplifting conversation that reminds us all of the hope that can emerge from despair. Subscribe, share, and engage with Heart for Lebanon's prayer ministry at heartforlebanon.org/prayer. Your support is crucial in bringing hope and change to those in need.

Your daily news in under three minutes. At Al Jazeera Podcasts, we want to hear from you, our listeners. So, please head to https://www.aljazeera.com/survey and tell us your thoughts about this show and other Al Jazeera podcasts. It only takes a few minutes! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on more Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon despite a deadline for Israeli troops to leave Southern Lebanon.

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AP correspondent Mimmi Montgomery reports on deadly protests against the Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

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The Israeli military has begun preparations for the imminent withdrawal deadline under the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. Israel has set up roadblocks across border towns and roads in a strategic valley in southern Lebanon.

Your daily news in under three minutes. At Al Jazeera Podcasts, we want to hear from you, our listeners. So, please head to https://www.aljazeera.com/survey and tell us your thoughts about this show and other Al Jazeera podcasts. It only takes a few minutes! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on Israel's reluctance to withdraw from Southern Lebanon as agreed in a recent truce.

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on a possibly huge investment from Saudi in the US; Israeli shooting in the West Bank and rainfall in Gaza as suffering there continues; Israel attempts to postpone agreed deadline for Southern Lebanon withdrawal ; the rare blooming corpse flower kicks up a stink in Australia.

This week we talk about October 7, the Gaza ceasefire plan, and Netanyahu.We also discuss Hamas, Qatar, and the new US administration.Recommended Book: Witch King by Martha WellsTranscriptOn October 7, 2023, the militant group Hamas launched a sneak attack from the Israeli occupied Gaza Strip against Israel itself, killing about 1,200 people and taking just over 250 hostages.Israeli forces were caught stunningly unaware by this, but shortly thereafter, Israel launched a counterattack into Gaza, sweeping through the Strip, with both on the ground incursions of tanks and troops, and with seemingly endless air raids and missile strikes, ostensibly to clear out Hamas fighters and find their leadership, but the net impact of this, on top of Hamas' organization being substantially degraded, was the reductiond entire cities to rubble and the displacement almost the entirety of the Gazan population—something like 2.3 million people, most of whom have been living on the streets or in ramshackle encampments, without reliable sources of food, water, or shelter, as aid shipments from elsewhere have been held back by Israeli forces, for more than a year.Gaza's Health Ministry estimates that more than 46,000 Palestinians and other Gazan residents have been killed as a result of the fighting over the past 15 months, with more than double that, nearly 110,000 wounded. The Israeli military says they've killed more than 17,000 militants over the course of their invasion, though both sources are biased and are operating from incomplete numbers, so these figures are all considered to be suspect at this point, if probably in the right general ballpark, in terms of orders of magnitude.The hostages taken by Hamas during that initial attack into Israel have remained a tricky issue throughout this conflict, as Hamas leaders have continuously used them as bargaining chips and at times, human shields, and the Israeli government has regularly reassured the hostages' families that they're focused on returning those captives home safely—but they've done this while also, in many cases, seemingly doing the opposite; focusing on taking out Hamas and its leadership, first and foremost, to the point that Israeli forces have seemingly killed many of the hostages they're attempting to rescue, because they went in after a Hamas leader or bombed a neighborhood into oblivion without first checking to see who was in that neighborhood.This stance has in some cases been incredibly inconvenient for the Israeli government, as the families of the hostages have in some cases been at the center of, or even sparked, some of the large protests against the Israeli government and its actions that have become a fixture of Israeli life since this war started.Prime Minister Netanyahu and his military leaders have been a particular focus of this internal ire, but the Israeli government in general has been targeted by seemingly endless public acts, meant to show civilian discontent with how they're doing things.Since that day when Hamas attacked Israel in October of 2023, this war has expanded to encompass not just Israel and Hamas, but also other militant groups, like the Houthis operating out of Yemen, and Hezbollah, operating out of Southern Lebanon, just on the other side of Israel's northern border.All three groups are supported, in terms of training, weapons, and money, by Iran's government, and they've helped Iran sustain a collection of proxy conflicts throughout the region for years, without Iran ever having to get directly involved.These relationships and that sponsoring of these groups has allowed Iran to exert its influence throughout the Middle East and beyond, including into the Red Sea, which typically serves as a vital international shipping channel, but because of regular attacks against shipping vessels by the Houthis from Yemen, the whole of the global supply chain has been disrupted, all sorts of things becoming more expensive and goosing already high inflation levels, because of the longer routes and thus, more expensive shipping costs that have become necessary in an era in which this channel is dangerous to traverse.This dynamic, of Iran playing puppetmaster with its proxies throughout the Middle East, has shifted a fair bit over the course of this war, as these attacks, on Israel and other entities in the region, have attracted counterattacks by Israel and their allies, including the US, and that in turn has left Hezbollah all but destroyed—a series of brazen decapitation attacks by Israeli forces basically wiping out the whole of the group's upper ranks and resource stockpiles within a matter of days. They've also destroyed much of Hamas' local infrastructure and leadership, and the Houthis, while attracting a lot more attention and prestige for their efforts in the Red Sea, have also seen their capacity to operating more broadly degraded by the presence of a swelling, and increasingly aggressive, anti-Houthi fleet.All of which has significantly diminished Iran's reach, and its capacity to move pieces on the board. Attacks directly against Iran by Israel, too—which were met with remarkably ineffective counterattacks—have likewise destroyed infrastructure, but perhaps more importantly substantially reduced Iran's credibility as a true force in the region; they're still a huge military power, in other words, but unless something changes, like their military managing to develop a nuclear weapon, they're no longer considered force they were at the beginning of all this; their weakness at range, in particular, makes them look downright ineffectual compared to pretty much all the other military powers in the region, right now.This has also, arguably, made them a less appealing ally for Russia. And though the two nations recently announced a new defense pact, this pact was seemingly signed because both nations recently lost a valuable supplicant state in Syria, which saw its Assad government toppled not long ago—the new government not clearly aligned with either of them, and perhaps even oppositional to them.This pact was made from a place of relative weakness, then, not strength, and its dictates are pretty limited: no mutual defense clause, no formal alliance. It's basically meant to indicate that the two nations won't actively help anyone else attack the other from their territory, which is about as noncommittal as these sorts of agreements get.To Russia, still, then, Iran is more or less a provider of drones and rockets, not a peer or even true regional power. And that's partly the result of the weakness Iran has shown in the face of repeated Israeli aggression toward them, during this conflict.This conflict has also shaped global politics, as people on the political left, in particular, have tended to rally for innocent Gazan civilians, while those on the right have tended to support Israel's (also conservative) government, and it's decision to conduct the war as it has.This may have nudged the recent US presidential election in Trump's favor, and other campaigns have likewise been at least minutely affected by this issue, and its polarizing, at times fracturing impact on left-leaning parties in particular.What I'd like to talk about today, though, is what looks to be the beginning of the end of this conflict, and what a newly negotiated ceasefire between the involved parties entails.—The events I breezed through in the intro paint a far from complete picture of what's happened during this war; it's been big, expansive, expensive, and brutal, and has fundamentally changed the geopolitical setup of the region, and in some ways the world, as well.Just as potentially wide-reaching is the ceasefire that's been negotiated and, as of the day I'm recording this at least, one day after it officially came into effect, is so far still active, and which seems primed to nudge things away from active conflict and toward some new state of affairs in the region.So let's jump in and talk about the details of this ceasefire.Governments have been shipping diplomats to the region since this thing broke out, all wanting to polish their reputation as peacemakers and reliable intermediaries, and all trying to formalize something like this, some kind of lasting peace, pretty much from the day Hamas launched that sneak attack, but even more so after Israel began pummeling Gaza to dust.And Qatar has been a focal point for these peace efforts from the get-go, enjoyinf some initial success in helping the two groups establish a four-day ceasefire in late-November 2023, that period later extended by several days, so that in total 100 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for the freedom of 240 Palestinian women and children who were being held in Israeli jails.Qatar has been building its reputation for these sorts of negotiations, and Egypt joined in, partly for the same reputational reasons, but also because Israel's invasion has come dangerously close to their shared border, and there have been concerns that displaced Palestinians might be forced across that border by Israel's attack, creating a humanitarian crisis within Egypt that would have been expensive and disruptive in many ways.The worst case version of that concern didn't materialize, but Egypt maintained its involvement in the peacemaking process, working with representatives from the US and Qatar, the former a staunch ally of Israel, the latter on good terms with Hamas, even housing some of their leaders, to keep negotiators from Hamas and Israel talking.Throughout the war, these and other involved parties have generally supported a three-phase ceasefire proposal, which would begin with a ceasing of hostilities, followed by the release of all Israeli hostages being held in Gaza and a bunch of Palestinians being held in Israeli prison, and following that, if everything goes according to plan, the establishment of a permanent ceasefire, which would see Israel pulling its forces from Gaza and the beginning of a reconstruction process in the Strip—which again, has had many of its most populous cities leveled, completely unlivable, at this point, while almost all of its population has been living on the streets and in camps, without things like power, water, or electricity.This plan sounds pretty straightforward, on its face, but the specifics are fuzzy, and the negotiation has thus been fraught, and any implementation is inherently riddled with diplomatic landmines and other perils. And this is part of why previous versions of this ceasefire agreement have been hamstrung. Back in mid-2024, Netanyahu halted progress on what seemed to be an acceptable to everyone version of the plan, saying he wouldn't support any resolution that ended the war, only one that implemented a partial ceasefire, and that seemed to be a political move on his part. But throughout the negotiation process, there have been a lot of good faith concerns and disagreements, as well, so this has been a slow, frustrating grind for those involved.Pressure from those aforementioned involved parties, though, and almost certainly Israel's successes on the ground against all those Iranian proxies, and Iran, itself, seems to have led to the right combination of circumstances that even Netanyahu has indicated it's probably a good time for a ceasefire.There have been murmurs, unconfirmed at this point, that freshly reelected US President Trump pressured Netanyahu to move in this direction, and that this new pressure from the incoming administration, which has long been on friendly terms with Netanyahu's people, combined with those other, existing pressures, might have been what sealed the deal; and is probably why all this has coincided with Trump's recent inauguration.Whatever the specifics of the genesis of this agreement, though, there was finally enough appetite for a three-stage ceasefire to come together, and the resulting plan was approved by Israel's security cabinet, and then the government's full cabinet, on January 17, 2025. The other parties were already on board, so this was enough to move the thing forward.This plan, which was officially implemented a few days before this episode goes live, on January 19, 2025, will start with a 42-day pause in fighting that will see Israeli forces leave Gaza, pulling back to a buffer zone along the periphery of the Strip. This will allow civilians to return to what's left of their homes, while also enabling the import and distribution of a whole lot more aid deliveries, which have been hampered by those Israeli forces up till this point.There will be a complete ceasefire from this point forward, if everything goes according to plan, and a bunch of hostages will be released—33 Israeli civilians and female soldiers freed by Hamas, and some larger number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel released, in exchange, a portion of that total number released each week at regular intervals.Shortly after the first stage's implementation, the Rafah crossing that divides Gaza and Egypt will also be reopened to allow sick and wounded people to leave the Strip, though it's not clear at the moment if control of that crossing, which is currently held by Israeli forces, will be returned to the Palestinians soon, at a later stage, or at all.After that six week period, the second stage will focus on the exchange of the remaining Israeli hostages, alive and dead, and the release of a proportionate number of Palestinians prisoners; though prisoners who have been convicted of murder will be released to prisoners in other countries, rather than back into Gaza or the West Bank.Israel would also completely withdraw from Gaza, at this point, though Israel's cabinet hasn't yet voted on this specific condition, and far-right members of that cabinet have said they're not in favor of this, so it could end up being a sticking point.This second stage currently has an unknown duration, which is another complexity that could ultimately trip things up, as an inability to agree upon the end of a stage could keep the next one from ever happening, without technically derailing the agreement as a whole.The third stage, if and when we get there, could last a long time, even years, and it would include an exchange of the dead bodies of hostages and Hamas members that haven't yet been returned, while also kicking off a three- to five-year reconstruction period that would see the Strip being rebuilt under international supervision.This is also when some kind of Palestinian governance will need to be reestablished in the Strip. Though while many international players want the Palestinian Authority, which governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to retake control of Gaza—they governed the area previously, but were booted by Hamas back in 2007—Israel isn't in favor of PA leadership being reintroduced to the region, so that's another point of contention that could derail things before the whole of the peace process can play out.The thing to watch, right now, is whether these first six weeks go as planned, with the first several dozen hostages successfully returned to their families by Hamas, and a far larger number of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel, in exchange.There should be a full-on ceasefire for the duration of this process, and that ceasefire should become permanent along the way, with Gazan civilians able to move freely and return to their homes, throughout. About 600 truckloads of aid scheduled is to arrive each day, too, which is up from around 18 truckloads, pre-agreement. That should help stabilize the humanitarian catastrophe that's been simmering on the ground for more than a year—though to be clear, this is a stabilization to still dire circumstances, not a return to anything close to normal for those afflicted.From there, it's a question as to whether Israel sticks to its agreement to limit its forces to the buffer zone, and whether the specifics of that pull-back, the negotiations for which have been scheduled for February 4, end up working for everyone, including those aforementioned hawks in Netanyahu's cabinet.We may also see Hamas unable to provide as many living hostages as claimed, which already happened once during that previous exchange back in November of 2023, which could disrupt this new exchange process, and possibly serve as justification for one side or the other to backtrack on promises made and conditions to which they've committed.So it's possible that things will go smoothly, that no one will be perfectly happy, but everyone will be generally satisfied—which is what tends to happen with a well negotiated ceasefire of this kind.Israel seems to be in a good spot to lock in their winnings, basically, having hobbled their primary enemies in the region and apparently gotten away with committing some seemingly serious atrocities that have been condemned by all sorts of international bodies—those atrocities maybe swept under the rug as one more incentive to basically get them to stop, which is a benefit other victors in similar conflicts have historically enjoyed.Hamas also seems to still exist, if in a far diminished form, and as soon as the ceasefire was implemented, they started fanning their people across Gaza, establishing a sort of police force—the message apparently being “we're still here and in charge,” and they might be hoping this de facto governance will sway things in their favor, put control and the ability to strike Israel in the future back in their hands, no matter who the international community eventually decides should take official control of the region.At the same time, it's also possible that one side or the other might use this ceasefire as cover, doing what they need to do to keep it afloat and technically still in motion, while basically preparing for their next antagonistic effort against their enemies.Other facets of this process, like what's happening in the north, where the Lebanese government has insisted Israeli forces leave the southern portion of their country by January 26, could complicate things; Hezbollah has agreed, as part of this ceasefire plan, to pull its forces back to a point about 20 miles from the country's border with Israel, but there are still weapons caches belonging to either Hezbollah or some other militant organization in that part of Lebanon, according to UN peacekeepers.It's possible that some small violation on some component of this larger plan, purposeful or not, could give one of the involved justification for perpetuating some aspect of this conflict; and that's true now, at the very beginning, but it's also true later on, even after a permanent ceasefire has technically been signed, and full-on war has officially stopped.Show Noteshttps://www.timesofisrael.com/these-are-the-33-hostages-set-to-be-returned-in-phase-one-of-the-gaza-ceasefire/https://apnews.com/article/gaza-ceasefire-negotiations-mediators-3a646fe5606d87db767e8a434f7a5f74https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-strikes-ceasefire.htmlhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/15/what-do-we-know-about-the-israel-gaza-ceasefire-dealhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/19/how-will-the-gaza-ceasefire-and-hostage-deal-workhttps://responsiblestatecraft.org/gaza-ceasefire-2670859688/https://www.propublica.org/article/biden-blinken-state-department-israel-gaza-human-rights-horrorshttps://jacobin.com/2025/01/ceasefire-deal-gaza-israel-hamas/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-ceasefire.htmlhttps://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/shattered-homes-uncertain-fates-israels-hostage-families-anxiously-await-reunion-865cc923https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/world/middleeast/gaza-returning-home-after-war.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/19/world/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire#heres-what-to-know-about-the-cease-firehttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/18/israel-must-withdraw-from-lebanon-by-january-26-deadline-president-aoun?traffic_source=rsshttps://apnews.com/article/israel-cia-fbi-telegram-eb0215277fc5f521f9ee2efa4da70adchttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5klgv5zv0ohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_warhttps://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-01-09-2025-ffae654d619e8e848e2ceda8576e8fe5https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/18/iran-russia-analysis-syria-setback This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on the head of the United Nations' visit to Southern Lebanon.

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JNS senior contributing editor Caroline Glick sits down with Udi Oster, the brother of Eitan Oster who fell in the first battle against Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon on Oct. 2.Eitan, 22, was a commander in the Israel Defense Forces' elite Egoz unit and was determined to lead the way in several crucial operations that would lay the ground for Jerusalem's ground invasion of Southern Lebanon. Watch as a story of heroism, courage and tragedy unfolds!Catch every story from Israel and the Jewish world:Latest news: https://bit.ly/jewish_news_serviceSubscribe to our free newsletter: https://bit.ly/subscribe_to_JNSYou can join the fight against media bias! Donate here: https://bit.ly/Support-JNS

The Assad regime has officially tumbled as Islamist rebels overtook the capital and cleared army posts over the weekend… and now Israel works to protect the Druze and Kurdish communities; Four IDF reservists were killed during a scouting mission in Southern Lebanon on Sunday & A drone, likely from Yemen, exploded in Yavne Monday. ​Israel Daily News website: https://israeldailynews.org​Israel Daily News Roundtable: https://www.patreon.com/shannafuld​Support our Wartime News Coverage: https://www.gofundme.com/f/independent-journalist-covering-israels-war​Links to all things IDN:⁠ https://linktr.ee/israeldailynews⁠​Music: Dublin Day; Ariella Zeitlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuerfyTW1IA --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/israeldailynews/support

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode. As of this morning, Lebanese residents are still prohibited from moving south to a line of villages and their surroundings until further notice. We talk about what Israeli soldiers are currently doing in Lebanon to enforce the fragile ceasefire. A series of Israeli strikes on border crossings between Lebanon and Syria just before a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect Wednesday morning were intended to set back the terror group's smuggling efforts, while driving home as a stark warning to Damascus that Israel will take severe action to prevent attempts to rearm Hezbollah with Iranian weapons via Syrian territory. Fabian discusses the large-scale smuggling efforts. The IDF published a summary of its activities against Hezbollah in the past 14 months, including the capture of some 12,000 explosive devices and drones; 13,000 rockets, launchers, and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems; and 121,000 pieces of communications equipment and computers. How degraded is Hezbollah as a fighting force? The Shin Bet recently foiled an attempt by Iran to smuggle large amounts of advanced weapons, including rockets, to terror operatives in the West Bank for use in attacks on Israeli targets, the security agency revealed Wednesday. Fabian updates us on this foiled attempt and how widespread such efforts may be. According to a report in The New York Times, Hamas is displaying increased flexibility in long-stalled talks for an elusive ceasefire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip, and may agree to the Israel Defense Forces temporarily remaining on the enclave's border with Egypt. Fabian explains how strategic this position is, especially to prevent any rearmament of Hamas. For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog. Discussed articles include: As fresh truce holds, IDF says over 12,500 Hezbollah targets hit in 14 months of war PM threatens ‘intensive war' if truce breached, as restrictions end in much of Israel IDF strikes Hezbollah rocket depot, launch sites after identifying truce violations Israel warns Syria of ‘direct price' to pay if it helps Hezbollah rearm Israel says it nabbed large trove of Iranian arms destined for West Bank attack Increasingly flexible Hamas said open to temporary IDF presence at Gaza-Egypt border Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. IMAGE: Displaced Lebanese returning to their homes inspect the damage in the southern Lebanese village of Tair Debba on November 28, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel - brokered by the US has so far held.

This is a repost of my interview with Ghadi Francis and Batool Subeiti - follow  @MintPressNews  for more content like this! Many out there are confused by the sudden Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, given that one of Hezbollah's initial early operational imperatives was to not relent its military pressure on Israel until a ceasefire was reached in Gaza. That prospect, one of a ceasefire, seems more unlikely now, though some hold out hope that this ceasefire in Lebanon will snowball into others throughout the region. With the IDF on the brink, low on munitions and manpower, why relent now?

The US has said the ceasefire would help to end the conflict in Gaza

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In our news wrap Saturday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 16 people in Lebanon and Gaza, a patient in California is being treated for a new form of mpox first seen in eastern Congo, prosecutors allege Sean "Diddy" Combs is trying to obstruct justice while awaiting trial in jail, and a much-hyped boxing event between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul was marred by Netflix streaming glitches. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The US is deploying advanced missile defense systems and troops to Israel, as tensions with Iran reach new heights. Does this signal an imminent attack on Iran? And what could that mean for the region? In this episode: Stephanie Dekker (@StefanieDekker), Senior Correspondent, Al Jazeera Episode credits: This episode was produced by Khaled Soltan, Sonia Baghat, Ashish Malhotra with Amy Walters, Phillip Lanos, Duha Mosaad, Hagir Saleh, Cole van Miltenburg, and our host, Malika Bilal.  Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is the Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. We'll be back tomorrow. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

The United Nations said its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon came under attack by Israeli forces. Israel invaded last month to press its military campaign against Hezbollah militants. The UN peacekeeping force is charged with keeping the border between Lebanon and Israel quiet and demilitarized on the Lebanese side. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

It's Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Ilan Pappe, professor of history at the University of Exeter and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, author of Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic, to discuss the state of affairs in the Middle East a year after October 7th, 2023. Then she speaks with Rakan Abed El Rahman, correspondent at the National News stationed in the Gaza Strip, to discuss what it has been like reporting on the Israel/Gaza conflict since October 7th of last year. First, Emma runs through updates on today's voter registration deadlines, Israel's decimation of Gaza, the IDF's failing invasion of Southern Lebanon, Blinken's role in approving the IDF's bombing of aid trucks in Gaza, France's military aid to Israel, the Harris campaign, SCOTUS, Biden's immigration policy, and the impending Hurricane Milton, before parsing through Elon Musk's simultaneously cringeworthy and genuinely concerning appearance at Trump's rally in PA. Professor Ilan Pappé then joins, diving right into the rapid escalation and exacerbation of Israeli society and the Israeli state's genocidal desires, first tackling the clear signs of the citizenry's right-wing turn and the Netanyahu Administration's messianic nature in the wake of the 2022 elections, before unpacking his thoughts on how the rapid radicalization during Israel's brutal ethnic cleansing of Gaza (now expanded into a regional conflict) has exposed extensive cracks in the state of Israel. After briefly touching on the role of Israeli's backlash to Netanyahu's fascistic judiciary reforms – and the particular dearth of any connection between the violence imposed on Palestinians and the fascism coming home to roost – in demonstrating the precarious state of the country, Professor Pappé steps back to explore this evolution as a natural progression of right-wing colonial ideology in direct conflict with the world it's invading, bolstered by Israel's proactive violence in stamping out any conditions for change. Ilan then walks Sam and Emma through the evolution of the super-alliance that backs the Zionist state, exploring the movement's roots in an Evangelical Christian movement that sought to capitalize on anti-Semitic sentiment and the growing aims of the British Empire, putting together an overwhelmingly powerful coalition before the Jewish community even came to the fore, also looking at the incredible evolution of the Zionist lobby in the United States and how Israel's ability to stamp out conditions for change extends well beyond its border. After expanding on the ever-growing international backlash to Israel's genocidal apartheid regime, Pappé dives deep into the need to recenter Palestinian actors in this fight, and what must be done to achieve decolonization in the region as quickly and with as little violence as possible. Rakan Abed El Rahman then looks to the ongoing devastation Israel is inflicting on the Gaza Strip, unpacking the ever-rising death toll, the debilitating material and mental conditions, and the complete decimation of civilian sectors in the region, before stepping back to outline how very real (while certainly less extreme) all of those issues were *prior* to October 7th of last year. Expanding on this, El Rahman walks Emma through the near-total nature of Israel's reign of terror in Gaza since Hamas' attack last October, even in contrast with Israel's other major offensives against Gaza over the last two decades, before wrapping up by sharing his (and others') experiences of Israel's explicit and targeted terrorizing of journalists and medical personnel, and the insane need for the West (and Israel) to recognize Palestinians as humans rather than terrorists. And in the Fun Half: Emma and the MR Team reflect on the Veepstakes after last week's debate, parse through Donald Trump's recent comments on the real estate value of colonizing Gaza, and watch Google's former CEO attempt to argue that providing infinite growth for AI is more important than tackling climate change. Plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Professor Pappe's book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lobbying-for-Zionism-on-Both-Sides-of-the-Atlantic/Ilan-Pappe/9780861544028 Follow Rakan on Twitter here: https://x.com/Rakanabdrahmn Check out the National News here: https://www.thenationalnews.com/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityrep ort Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Join Sam on the Nation Magazine Cruise! 7 days in December 2024!!: https://nationcruise.com/mr/ Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Cozy Earth: Your peace of mind matters. 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First on today's show, Ralph welcomes back Dr. Bandy Lee to discuss her recent conference, "The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership—The Much More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump". Then, Ralph is joined by Professor Ted Postol to talk about the missiles and rockets (and other weapons) being used in the expanding war(s) in the Middle East. [Nadia Milleron] went down to Springfield, the state capitol, and met with every assembly member, saying—for future wrongful death, you should give people in Illinois the opportunity to file for punitive damages against these corporate defendants, or other similarly-positioned defendants. And she got it through—it was considered impossible to beat Boeing, and she got it through and the governor signed it. That's the determination of a parent who loses a child to corporate crimeRalph NaderDr. Bandy Lee is a medical doctor, a forensic psychiatrist, and a world expert on violence who taught at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Law School for 17 years before joining the Harvard Program in Psychiatry and the Law. She is currently president of the World Mental Health Coalition, an educational organization that assembles mental health experts to collaborate with other disciplines for the betterment of public mental health and public safety. She is the editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President and Profile of a Nation: Trump's Mind, America's Soul.Let me clarify that there's a distinction among the evaluations that mental health experts do—one is diagnostic, the other is functional. And the diagnostic exam is the one that mental health professionals have no business doing on a public figure because that's what you do in private therapy sessions, and you diagnose someone in order to outline their course of treatment. But a functional assessment is something you do for the public—and that includes unfitness or dangerousness—and these kinds of comments are not only permitted, they are part of our societal responsibility because we are responsible not just for private individual patients, but for the public, for society.Dr. Bandy LeeDonald Trump is not an isolated phenomenon. He is a product of the system that has come before him and he is an accelerator of the dangers that succeed him. I do not believe that a Biden presidency would have been this dangerous without a Trump presidency preceding him. Dr. Bandy LeeTed Postol is Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. His expertise is in nuclear weapon systems, including submarine warfare, applications of nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defense, and ballistic missiles more generally. He previously worked as an analyst at the Office of Technology Assessment and as a science and policy adviser to the chief of naval operations. In 2016, he received the Garwin Prize from the Federation of American Scientists for his work in assessing and critiquing the government's claims about missile defenses.I do not want to appear like I don't think it matters, but at the same time, it's been provoked to the point that it's amazing that the Iranians have restrained themselves to this point. But the Iranians know that they're going to suffer heavy damage from Israel. They have not wanted to go to war. They have shown great wisdom and restraint in spite of the situation.Ted PostolWhat the Israelis want—this guy Netanyahu in particular, who I think is delusional besides being psychopath—what Netanyahu wants, he wants a decisive victory. Again, let me underscore that—a decisive victory against Iran and also Hezbollah and Gaza, these poor victims of his genocide in Gaza. He can't do that. He's going to kill God knows how many more people in his effort—which is already a crime against humanity that's beginning to look like the Holocaust—but he's not going to defeat Hezbollah in a decisive way. Ted PostolIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 10/2/241. ProPublica reports “The U.S. government's two foremost authorities on humanitarian assistance [USAID and the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration] concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza.” Yet just days later, instead of acting upon this information, Secretary of State Antony Blinken misled Congress telling lawmakers “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance [to Gaza].” In USAID's report, the agency laid out specific examples of Israeli interference, including “killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.” The State Department Refugee bureau separately concluded that “the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.” Yet because Blinken refused to accept these facts and instead opted to lie to Congress, the weapons pipeline to Israel continues to flow unimpeded. Some, including Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, have called on Blinken to resign, per the Middle East Monitor.2. On September 27th, Israel assassinated Hezbollah Secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. According to NBC, the Israelis made this decision “after concluding [Nasrallah] would not accept any diplomatic solution to end the fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border that was not tied to an end to the war in Gaza.” Through this assassination, and the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chairman Ismail Haniyeh earlier this year, Israel has made clear that they would rather resort to extrajudicial killings than negotiate an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Israel now plans to invade Southern Lebanon, further escalating this conflict into a regional war, with the full backing of the United States.3. Following the pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon, the office of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib issued a statement decrying that “The Biden-Harris administration continues to allow Netanyahu and the Israeli government to operate with impunity as they carry out war crimes. After facing no red line in Gaza…Netanyahu is now expanding his genocidal campaign to Lebanon…Deploying more U.S. troops and sending more U.S. bombs will only lead to more suffering and carnage. The...administration is capable of stopping the bloodshed. President Biden must implement an immediate arms embargo to end the slaughter and de-escalate the risk of a wider regional war.” Yet, far from de-escalating, the Biden administration has stood by while Netanyahu has escalated further, with increasing signs that the situation will tip over into a full-scale regional war between Israel and Iran. Dark days indeed could be ahead.4. This week, Hurricane Helene cleaved a “500-mile path of destruction” stretching from Florida to the Southern Appalachians, per CNN. So far, the casualties include at least 128 dead and whole communities wiped off the map. Yet, this devastation is not limited merely to peoples' homes and communities. In a darkly ironic twist, “Hurricane Helene's severe flooding [in Asheville, North Carolina] knocked offline the top tracker of U.S. and global climate data, including of extreme weather…The National Centers for Environmental Information,” or NCEI. According to the NCEI, “Even those who are physically safe are generally without power, water or connectivity,” per Axios. And just outside Atlanta, Vox reports “Amid the devastation and mass flooding…A chemical fire [at BioLab] released a massive plume of potentially toxic gasses into the air.” Officials issued a shelter-in-place order Sunday evening covering Rockdale County, home to around 90,000 people. EPA testing detected signs of chlorine gas in the air. Fulton County, which includes parts of Atlanta, has reported “a haze and strong chemical smell.”5. Last week, the International Trade Union Confederation published a report accusing “Some of the world's largest companies of undermining democracy across the world by financially backing far-right political movements, funding and exacerbating the climate crisis, and violating trade union rights and human rights.” This report specifically names Amazon, Tesla, Meta, ExxonMobil, Blackstone, Vanguard and Glencore. This report cites a litany of damning acts by these corporations – ranging from union busting and environmental degradation to funding of far-right and anti-indigenous movements around the globe – but makes the fundamental point that “This is about power, who has it, and who sets the agenda. …They're playing the long game, and it's a game about shifting power away from democracy at every level into one where they're not concerned about the effects on workers – they're concerned about maximizing their influence and their extractive power and their profit…Now is the time for international and multi-sectoral strategies, because these are, in many cases, multinational corporations that are more powerful than states, and they have no democratic accountability whatsoever, except for workers organized.” Per the Guardian, “the ITUC includes labor group affiliates from 169 nations…representing 191 million workers…the federation is pushing for an international binding treaty…to hold transnational corporations accountable under international human rights laws.”6. Yet, although these corporations are being called out for their role in undermining democracy, the Biden administration is granting many of them large sums of money via the newly announced “Partnership for Global Inclusivity on AI.” According to the State Department, this partnership will bring together the Department of State, Amazon, Anthropic, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI to “promote inclusivity, respect for human rights, digital solidarity, and equitable access to the benefits of AI globally.” As the American Prospect's Luke Goldstein notes, every single one of the companies listed are currently facing lawsuits or are under investigation by either the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission, and two of these corporations were clients of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's during his time as a consultant at WestExec Advisors. And in California, Variety reports Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a bill that “sought to ward off catastrophic risks of highly advanced [AI] models…[that] could be used to develop chemical or nuclear weapons.” This bill was strongly supported by SAG-AFTRA.7. A new article in the Atlantic makes the case that “Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake.” On a previous program we discussed how the “widespread legalization of sports gambling over the past five years has [led to a] roughly 28% increase in bankruptcies and an 8% increase in debt transferred to debt collectors,” along with substantial increases in auto loan delinquencies and use of debt consolidation loans. Beyond the financial damages however, this piece cites a new University of Oregon study that found in places where sports gambling is legalized, a loss by the home NFL team increases intimate partner violence by approximately 10%. As Deseret News put the question, “If, after six years, a law was discovered to be encouraging domestic violence while causing people, especially the poor, to lose what little money they could put toward savings, what would be the correct next step?”8. On September 24th, the Federal Trade Commission took action against Invitation Homes, the country's largest landlord of single-family homes, for “an array of unlawful actions against consumers, including deceiving renters about lease costs, charging undisclosed junk fees, failing to inspect homes before residents moved in, and unfairly withholding tenants' security deposits when they moved out.” The FTC complaint cites a 2019 email from Invitation Homes' CEO “calling on the senior vice president responsible for overseeing the company's fee program to ‘juice this hog'” by making additional fees mandatory for renters. This action comes as “Democrats Are Torn Between Donors and Their Base,” over the high-profile FTC Chair Lina Khan, Wired reports. While many billionaire Democratic donors have publicly called for Khan's ouster, polling shows around “80 percent of Democrats feel that the government should be doing more to take on corporate monopolies, compared to only 3 percent who say it should be doing less...[and] Nearly 90 percent of Democrats…feel that lobbyists and corporate executives hold too much power over the government.” To his credit, powerful House Democrat Jim Clyburn recently defended Khan when asked whether she should be fired, saying “… fired for what? For doing [her] job?…I suspect that people who represent Invitation Homes may want her to be replaced by somebody who would not do their [job],” per the Huffington Post.9. POLITICO Europe has published a shocking exposé documenting “the atrocities carried out during the summer of 2021 by a [Mozambican] commando unit led by an officer who said his mission was to protect ‘the project of Total.'” The “Total” in question being TotalEnergies, the French energy titan operating an enormous liquid natural gas plant in the Southeast African country. According to this report, “villagers had been caught in the crossfire between the Mozambican army and ISIS-affiliated militants. Having fled their homes, they had gone to seek the protection of government soldiers. Instead…[t]he soldiers accused the villagers of being members of the insurgency. They separated the men — a group of between 180 and 250 — from the women and children. Then they crammed their prisoners into… shipping containers…hitting, kicking and striking them with rifle butts. The soldiers held the men in the containers for three months. They beat, suffocated, starved, tortured and finally killed their detainees. Ultimately, only 26 prisoners survived.” Beyond this horrific massacre, this piece investigates the complex relationship between the Mozambican government, the Islamist insurgency, and French energy interests operating in Mozambique.10. Finally, on the eve of the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's incoming president and the first ever Jewish head of state in North America, tensions are mounting between the country and its northern neighbor, the United States. On his way out, popular left-wing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, has declared a Yucatán port owned by Alabama-based Vulcan Materials a nature reserve in a move that the company is calling “expropriation.” According to Reuters, the company has quarried limestone in Mexico for over three decades and AMLO has long criticized their activities as environmentally damaging. AMLO also offered offered up to 7 billion pesos or $362 million for the land, but Vulcan rejected the offer. In response to AMLO's move, Republican Senators Katie Britt of Alabama and John Cornyn of Texas sent a letter “threatening Mexico with ‘crushing consequences' if the incoming Administration of Claudia Sheinbaum,” doesn't reverse this decision, per José Díaz Briseño of Reforma. This vague saber rattling raises the question, voiced by decorated journalist Ryan Grim, “Are Senate Republicans threatening some kind of coup”?This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Israel and Hezbollah report clashes near their borders in southern Lebanon as air strikes hit Beirut.We hear from the Lebanese government about how it can keep its people safe Also in the programme: We speak to Sharone Lifschitz, whose parents were taken hostage on October 7th. Only her mother has since been released; and we visit a rave for deaf people.(Photo shows a plane flying as smoke rises over the city of Beirut following an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon on 5 October 2024. Credit: Wael Hamzeh/EPA)

The Israeli Defence Forces have struck targets in southern Lebanon and the capital, Beirut. Israel's armed forces also ordered the evacuation of more than 20 villages in the south. Also on the programme: The UK agrees to surrender its control over the Chagos Islands, handing the archipelago to Mauritius; and the researchers sequencing the genomes of 100,000 new born to better understand genetic conditions. (Photo: An Israeli Air Force air strike on a southern Lebanese village, as seen from northern Israel, 3 October 2024. Credit: Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

President Joe Biden said that America would not support an attack by Israel on Iran's nuclear sites, as Israel weighs a response following Tuesday's missile attack.

Israel's military says a team commander has died in the fighting, a day after it announced its invasion. Also: we ask how Israel will respond to Iran's missile attack, and reaction from the US vice-president debate.

Israel says it has launched a "limited" ground operation into Southern Lebanon, launching a major escalation in its conflict with Hezbollah. Plus, what to listen for during tonight's vice presidential debate.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Vincent Ni, Megan Pratz, Ally Schweitzer and Alice Woelfe. It was produced by Iman Maani, Paige Waterhouse, Nia Dumas and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Israel's ground invasion in Lebanon continues. Also: scientists warn it may be too late to save many of Switzerland's glaciers; and the play with no rehearsal or director.

The Israeli military says it has begun “a limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. There will be “no long-term occupation” of Lebanon, Israeli officials said, but declined to provide a timeline. The ground offensive comes after hours of Israeli raids and artillery fire across the border, and after Israel restricted civilian movements in some border communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Israel has told the residents of more than twenty locations in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately. Its forces have been carrying out what it describes as limited, localised raids across the Lebanese border against Hezbollah. We hear from Peter Lerner of the IDF, Lebanese businessman and independent MP Neemat Frem, and Dina Esfandiary of the Crisis Group on how Iran may respond to Nasrallah's killing. Also in the programme: the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher reports from Sudan, where famine is spreading as the civil war goes on; and a look at water worries in Panama, one of the world's wettest countries.(IMAGE: Palestinian refugee camp has hit in Lebanon / CREDIT: EPA)

Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut - creating sonic booms. Also: We look at the repercussions of false claims by Donald Trump that immigrants are eating pets, the EU sends 11 billion dollars to rebuild after Storm Boris and the runaway capybara in England thats captured international attention.