A protest in London against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
This interview was published before Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
Q. What’s the state of the resistance in Lebanon?
I previously wrote that the United States wants to keep Lebanon out of Israel’s war on Palestine, but every red line has been crossed. Israel wants to deal with the Lebanese and Palestinian question all in one go.
The reaction in Lebanon to Israel’s escalation has been overwhelming. I’ve never known a reaction in Lebanon like I’ve seen in the last couple of days.
The reaction I’ve seen is extraordinary—the sense of solidarity across Lebanon is taking people’s breath away. If I was a headline writer for a paper, my headline would be, “Netanyahu unites Lebanon.”
Israel’s assaults have absolutely reinvigorated Hezbollah. The rallying behind Hezbollah right now is more significant, and bigger, than during Israel 2006 war on Lebanon.
Even the Lebanese army has said that it will step behind Hezbollah. And this is really important because it means that Druze, Christians, everyone will be behind Hezbollah now.
People are now listening to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah—listening, waiting, asking, “How are you going to pull people together? How are you going to build against this?” All the things that allowed Lebanon to win in 2006 are being repeated—but at an even higher tempo.
What Hezbollah did in Syria was terrible, what it did to suppress the October revolution in the country was horrible.
But the attacks on Lebanon threaten to spread the genocide in Palestine to Lebanon. The Gaza genocide has rewritten the script for everyone—this isn’t just a skirmish that happens once every ten years. This is an existential threat to Lebanon.”
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon may also signal its intention to launch a ground invasion into south Lebanon.
If Israel is really planning to return settlers to the North, then they have to get rid of the Lebanese resistance’s tunnels. Trying to get rid of this vast defensive network could be a motive for a ground invasion.
Q. Israel’s violent escalation in Lebanon takes place amid ongoing rivalries in the Middle East. What’s the role of Iran?
The president of Iran is in the US this week negotiating new nuclear relations. We are back in the 1970s with states using resistance movements to further their regional interests.
Iran is trying to further its long term strategic aims. But the genocide is happening now in Palestine, Lebanon is happening now—there’s no room for long term anymore.
The stakes are so high now that it’s beyond the regional ambitions of Iran.
But there is the potential for broader resistance in the region. We know something is happening with discontent in the Egyptian army, but we don’t know what. Is the resistance in Egypt suppressed? But it could be ready to explode.
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