Thousands stuck in Lebanon

It's incredibly complex because of the history of international involvement in the Middle East.

I cant work out how much support is being given to Israel because of its own interests, or whether it's acting as a proxy for current Western strategy in the area. (past strategy, if we recall, was to arm Iran, among other interventions)

In the recent past the US (and the UK as regards Iraq) have gone for the invasion/feet on the ground approach but not any more.

On another note - yes I am afraid Lebanon will become another Gaza.

@maddy four you make a point here. And is my mistake I meant to say Israel has broken more international laws than any other recognised democracy.
But if we are talking rogue state, is this who we are now comparing Israel to?

MaizieD

^Israeli intelligence must have been very strong to contemplate bombing an embassy^

I still find it strange that Israeli intelligence was strong enough to pinpoint the occupants of an embassy, and to carry out the exploding pagers operation, but didn't appear to take notice of reports of unusual activity on the Gaza/Israel border prior to the Hamas atrocities of October last year.

I was going to write about that. There were details about the attack published yesterday. It seems the guards/watchers were very badly let down. It's so very sad because if they'd had better support when they reported strange activity, the whole situation could have been stopped in its tracks. Surely border security should have been the top priority before messing about with high tech gizmos.

It was being reported by a variety of sources, including the BBC and the Financial Times, very soon after the attack last year. I've been hanging onto this page of search results for months now:

duckduckgo.com/?q=Israeli+spotters+reported+Hamas+action+before+7th+october&t=chromentp&ia=web

The kindest speculation about Israel's failure to act on these reports ascribes it to sexism, most of the 'spotters' reporting it were female.

The most horrific suggestion, which I can't altogether dismiss, is that Netanyahu, knowing that he was in danger of losing power and even ending up in jail, deliberately ignored them.

Given that some thought, MaizieD. I find it hard to believe that if he had known the nature of some of the attacks in detail he would have allowed it to go ahead.

However, I can imagine the scenario where he did receive information but assumed it would be of a more conventional military nature and did not take preventative measures, because he wanted to take Hamas on in Gaza - they were well ready - and was waiting for provocation.

I mean the IDF was ready and plans in place.

I would hate to think that Netanyahu would have held back, even knowing the nature of the planned attack, but, yes, it seems entirely possible that he held back anticipating something less violent. He's not a nice man...

It’s just a very sick in the head conspiracy theory to think that
BN wanted this attack to take place.
Have some consideration please GNetters as it’s almost the anniversary of the barbaric acts by hamas on Israeli citizens.

He's a very sick in the head man, Oreo.

Contemptible theories.🤬

I have just had a very pleasant chat with a refugee from Ukraine. She managed to visit her relatives in Ukraine recently who live near the Polish border. She said that the whole time she was there sirens were constantly going. This is nowhere near any fighting.
So could I just ask when there’s so much human suffering that more emphasis is not placed on finding peace? Whether in Ukraine or Israel?
There are very shameful theories doing the rounds.

She said that the whole time she was there sirens were constantly going. This is nowhere near any fighting.

Have you heard of long range missiles? Of which Russia has a great many with no restrictions on their use...

MaizieD no really?
I was just trying to highlight the reality of living in a war zone.
What were you thinking?

ronib

MaizieD no really?
I was just trying to highlight the reality of living in a war zone.
What were you thinking?

I was thinking that you don't have to be anywhere near the actual fighting to be in danger because the enemy has long range missiles. The implication seemed to be that those living near the Polish border weren't in danger.

Apologies if I've misunderstood.

MaizieD I was under the impression that only parts of Ukraine were targeted and that land near the Polish border wasn’t being reclaimed. But what do we know? I think Russia is unlikely to follow Iran’s approach- or at least I hope so. Sad times ahead.