VIDEO: The U.S.-Israel ‘Ceasefire’ with Iran Leaves Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank Behind
In an in-depth interview on TRT World, Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, explains why the so-called ceasefire between the United States, Israel, and Iran leaves the broader region no closer to peace.
On the exclusion of Lebanon and Palestine from any ceasefire framework, she is unequivocal: “There was no debate. No one was putting forward the view that Palestine — particularly Gaza, but the West Bank as well, where there is a massive escalation in settler violence — whether they need to be included in the ceasefire too.”
The human toll in Lebanon alone is staggering, she notes: “There have been over 2,600 people killed in Lebanon. 62,000 homes have been either damaged seriously or completely destroyed. And 20 percent of the Lebanese population in the south have been displaced from their homes.”
On Israel’s pattern of territorial expansion — from the West Bank to the Golan Heights in Syria to southern Lebanon — Phyllis draws a clear through line: “We’re talking about 15 to 18 percent of the land of Lebanon now in Israeli hands, and there’s no indication that anybody is prepared to say that that’s not going to be allowed to go forward.”
Watch the full interview below:
