Israel’s attack on Hesbollah in Lebanon is nothing to do with trying to influence US elections - Biden is in support of a limited incursion into Lebanon and is waiting to see how it turns out
This is to debunk an op ed. in the Hill which MAKES NO SENSE.
Netanyahu is not doing this for US election reasons; these democrats are out of touch with Biden.
US called for a ceasefire every month for months, and Netanyahu responded similarly each time
right now, US is NOT calling for an immediate ceasefire with either Hezbollah or Hamas. It fully supports Israel's operation in Lebanon for a short while, while they see how it turns out.
so these Democrats seem out of touch with their own party's approach right now.
Clearly Biden doesn't feel this is the time to go heavy on Israel for a ceasefire though he surely will again once they see how the Lebanon operation turns out and after the response by Israel to Iran.
It is based on talking to some rank and file Democrats who give no evidence just hunches.
It all seems very implausible to me because Netanyahu has been resisting calls for a ceasefire by the US and globally EVERY MONTH FOR MONTHS. So why would it be election interference in US elections because he continues to do in October what he has done for so many months?
He has also been under huge pressure from the hostage families in Israel who still hold rallies every week for a peace deal. Yet that hasn’t shifted his position noticeably either.
I don't think there is any country left outside Israel that supports Netanyahu in his views on a ceasefire though he has strong support inside Israel from the far right on this position.
Also it's not just Netanyahu. It is also the new leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar to some extent. But it is mostly Netanyahu because of this technical point of who will ensure that Hamas don't build tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza Strip and Egypt. That was the main hold up.
Right now however, the way that Israel has demolished Hezbollah has much of Israel behind Netanyahu. Also Israel's success in Lebanon and Iran's attack on Israel has led to the US under Biden temporarily pausing its calls for an immediate ceasefire and working with Israel on its response.
The US still wants a two state solution, ceasefire in both Gaza Strip and Lebanon etc but the White House hasn't been focusing on it much recently.
Also, just for the moment, the US have stopped calling on a 21 day ceasefire with Hezbollah too, while they assess the situation in Lebanon. Right now the US supports Israel in its limited operation in Lebanon.
So, even though it is the month before election day, Biden clearly is not trying to force through a ceasefire in Lebanon. He supports Israel's attack on Hezbollah while at the same time concerned about civilian lives and also not wanting it to become a larger conflict with Lebanon.
And the US is no longer talking about an immediate ceasefire with Hamas at present either.
If Israel continues to attack Lebanon and starts to inflict large losses of life to civilians there the situation may very well change but for now the US is in support of Israel for a limited operation in Lebanon.
This is Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson for the Department of State.
QUOTE STARTS
QUESTION: But the position last week when you were calling for a three-week ceasefire, is that – there’s no longer a call for a ceasefire?
MR MILLER: We do ultimately want to see a ceasefire and a diplomatic resolution, but we do think it’s appropriate that Israel, at this point, is bringing terrorists to justice and trying to push – trying – and launching these limited incursions, what at least at this point are limited incursions, trying to push Hizballah back from the border.
QUESTION: But this is having the impact of sending civilians, who have no connection to Hizballah, Americans, to leave. So don’t you have a little more concern that this is the escalatory action that you were warning against?
MR MILLER: We are, of course, absolutely concerned about the humanitarian effects of this conflict. We are concerned about the effects on American citizens, thousands of whom live in Lebanon. We are concerned about the effects on innocent Lebanese civilians who live in Lebanon and are now caught in the middle of a conflict that they had nothing to do with. It’s why we are ultimately working for a diplomatic resolution, something that we had been working to for some time. It’s why we’re continuing to support humanitarian assistance for the Lebanese people. It’s why we are organizing the ways to depart Lebanon that I spoke to at the beginning of this briefing.
But ultimately, you do have a security situation that was untenable for Israel. And it – by the way, it’s a security situation that was untenable for Lebanese civilians in southern Lebanon, who had been forced to flee their homes, too. So Israel at this point is – has launched what they have described – and we’re going to watch and see, but what they have described – as limited incursions across the border to try and push Hizballah back so 1701 can ultimately be implemented. We’re going to see how that unfolds over the coming days.
Ultimately our goal is a diplomatic resolution. And where we want to see this go is UN Security Council 1701, which was adopted some years ago and has never been fully implemented, implemented, so you have security on both sides of the border and the ability for Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return to their homes.
QUESTION: Right. And – but you talk about a diplomatic solution, but what’s going on at the moment is a war, right? How long can it – how long is Israel sort of – does Israel need to continue those operations? Or how long is it okay for them to keep this kind of level of attacks up?
MR MILLER: So a conflict is, by its nature, dynamic.
QUESTION: Right.
MR MILLER: And I think it’s impossible to know and it’s impossible to predict what the outcome of the fighting that’s going on in southern Lebanon is going to be over the next few days. I can tell you that all of us here are very cognizant of the long history of Israel launching what at the time were described as limited operations —
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR MILLER: — across the Lebanese border that have turned into something much different, that have turned into full-scale wars, and then at times occupation.
QUESTION: Right.
MR MILLER: And we are going to continue to – we’re going to watch what happens over the next few days. And ultimately, our position has not changed, which we want to see a diplomatic resolution, but we do want to see Hizballah’s capabilities degraded.
Incidentally the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon is actually welcomed by many in Lebanon as well as wider in the region, of course not the civilian casualties. So it is a complex situation. It's not at all that all the Muslim states in the area are opposed to what Israel is doing in Lebanon mainly because it was so complete and relatively small numbers of casualties for the civilians and many Muslims were opposed to Hezbollah of course, as a terrorist organization that they didn't support. Just as Muslims generally including probably just about all in Gaza Strip are very much opposed to Hamas's violence in Israel which is against the most basic ideas of Islam.
So - it is not at all a situation that Muslims in the area support terrorism. They are opposed to terrorism but concerned about the civilian deaths in Gaza Strip. They are not opposed to Israel attacking Hamas but they are opposed to the level of civilian casualties and the blockades etc.
Similarly in Lebanon with less civilian deaths there is less opposition than for Gaza Strip so long as it remains limited in scope.
Presumably there will be many Muslims in the US who also see it similarly. So for a time, so long as Israel doesn't go too far, it has quite broad support for what it is doing in Lebanon though with lots of concern about civilian casualties.
So - the operation in Lebanon may benefit Harris's chances in the election depending how it goes.
As Miller says, "And ultimately, our position has not changed, which we want to see a diplomatic resolution, but we do want to see Hizballah’s capabilities degraded."
I don't think they will try to force Israel to end this before the US election day.
So that's more the situation than the other way around at present.
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