Continuing the discussion from The Middle East Thread (Part 1) - #7382 by ISMF.
Previous discussions:
Putting my answer in here as well:
Yeah, Iâm assuming that at some point, a majority of people in Israel will have had enough of the monster currently serving as their PM, of missiles raining down on them, of that perpetual state of being at war, and will want something else. Like for instance, a credible political approach for a lasting peace in the region.
But as you say, there is no guarantee that we will ever see something like that again. In that case, Israel will slowly devolve towards a third-world country, as more and more educated people will migrate elsewhere. They already start having a shortage in doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers because all these people are fed up of the situation and are migrating elsewhere. That situation will only worsen with time going by. Thus: an existential crisis for the country.
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https://x.com/NickKristof/status/2053777719637463367
Itâs suggested reading for some of you, as the article is of a high quality
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, Gaza 
, Lebanon 
, take your pick.
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(âŚ) Today, more than 1.9 million Palestinians of the 2.4 million total living in the enclave have been uprooted by the war, many of them multiple times. At least 1.2 million of them have lost their homes, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
For many, the notional ceasefire between Hamas fighters and the Israeli military has not brought safety. Displacement orders continue to be issued âand Israeli forces in Gaza continue to destroy whatever is left of the built environment as wellâ, OHCHRâs Ms. El Sheikh told UN News.
âGaza remains suspended in a nightmare that is difficult to reconcile with the existence of a ceasefire,â she maintained. âPalestinians in Gaza are living on a small fraction of the land, and they are encircled from all sides by Israeli ground forces that continue to push further into Palestinian communities and contract the space that is available to civilians.â
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Bad news
https://x.com/FaytuksNetwork/status/2069122128125784241
This doesnât mean that they will act, but it is extremely worrisome that it is the recommendation of the IDF general staff, since they are normally far less extreme than factions in the actual government. But if they push this solution as the most strategically wise option, it worries me.
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Despite the usual , and tiresome , claims of an âhistoricâ agreement by the yanks , and the obligatory televised signing ceremony , you can count me exceedingly sceptical that this is anything more than a carefully crafted piece of political theatre that preserves the ceasefire and the MOU for Trump at least 'til we get thru the mid-terms when Israel can go back to doing to Lebanon what it just did in Gaza.
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The only way this âceasefireâ is any different than the one in Gaza is the fact that Hezbollah will not cease while Israel keeps firing. Which imbeciles have conjured this idea that there can be a âceasefireâ while one of the warring parties are not part of the agreement? Itâs like Trump and Putin signing an agreement to stop fighting in Ukraine.
He is pretty happy, after Marco Rubio intervened
https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/2070628249387020326
https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/2070616438272840180
Lebanon needs to get rid of Hezbollah to get out of this hell hole, but I am doubtful this is going to work. And when it doesnât, the IDF will remain in Lebanon for years, and there will be constant tit for tat.
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The BBC has been given rare access to the part of southern Lebanon that is under Israeli occupation, as part of a humanitarian convoy of the Order of Malta distributing aid to Christian villages that have been isolated because of the war.
The mission happened on Thursday, a day before the announcement of a new ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and the Shia Muslim armed group Hezbollah. The team saw the Israeli military presence but was not allowed to film much of the journey.
Israel says it has no intention of withdrawing its troops from Lebanon, and that its plan is to create a security zone along the border, Hezbollah-free, to protect its northern communities from the groupâs rockets and drones.
In the occupied areas, mainly Shia villages have been completely destroyed by Israeli air strikes or demolitions. Human rights groups say that some of what has happened there amounts to the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, a possible war crime.
The BBCâs Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega and video journalist Neha Sharma report from southern Lebanon.
Additional reporting by Samantha Granville and Angie Mrad.
Itâs broader than that. Vance admitted as much yesterday that the entire MoU and Iranian ceasefire was an agreement to get us through the midterms and then everything is back on the table. Reports that there are serious internal meetings taking place between Caine, Trump, and Hegseth on going back to âfinish the jobââŚyou know the job we already finished but we wont tell you what the job was.
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