Israeli Minister of Education Suggests Lebanon Will Be “Annihilated”

Keeponstalin@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 264 points – Israeli Minister of Education Suggests Lebanon Will Be “Annihilated”
truthout.org

There was no hint of de-escalation as Israeli warplanes bombed a residential area of Beirut on Friday, killing at least 31 people, including multiple Hezbollah commanders, and wounding at least dozens of others. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said that the dead include three women and seven children.

During a Saturday television interview, Israeli Minister of Education Yoav Kisch falsely proclaimed that “there is no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon.”

“The way things are progressing at the moment, Lebanon will be annihilated,” he vowed. Pressed on the genocidal implications of the word “annihilated,” Kisch said, “Lebanon as we know it will not exist.”

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Israel is the one that has repeatedly targeted civilians

::: spoiler Quotes

The doctrine is named after the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, where the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah has its headquarters, which the Israeli military leveled during its assault on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 that killed nearly 1,000 civilians, about a third of them children, and caused enormous damage to the country’s civilian infrastructure, including power plants, sewage treatment plants, bridges, and port facilities.

It was formulated by then-General Gadi Eisenkot when he was Chief of Northern Command. As he explained in 2008 referring to a future war on Lebanon: "What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on… We will apply disproportionate force on it (village) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases… This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved.” Eisenkot went on to become chief of the general staff of the Israeli military before retiring in 2019.

While it became official Israeli military doctrine after Israel’s 2006 attack on Lebanon, Israel’s military has used disproportionate force and targeted Palestinian, Lebanese, and other civilians since Israel was established in 1948 based on the ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians, including dozens of massacres to force them to flee for their lives.

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Not to mention that Hezbollah only exists because of Israel

::: spoiler Quotes

The 1982 Lebanon war began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded again for the purpose of attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Israeli army laid siege to Beirut. During the conflict, according to Lebanese sources, between 15,000 and 20,000 people were killed, mostly civilians.

On 16 February 1985, Shia Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin declared a manifesto in Lebanon, announcing a resistance movement called Hezbollah, whose goals included combating the Israeli occupation. During the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) the Hezbollah militia waged a guerrilla campaign against Israeli forces occupying Southern Lebanon and their South Lebanon Army proxies.

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Israel targets combatants and sometimes hits civilians as well. That's big difference.

Hezbollah and Hamas directly target civilians.

Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yedioth_Ahronoth

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER

Factual Reporting: HIGH

MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ynetnews/

For the mods: @quinten@lemmy.world @jordanlund@lemmy.world @Tenthrow@lemmy.world @lemmyAtom@lemmy.world @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world

If you personally don't think the source is reliable, just add it as a comment. This is unjustified censorship just because its from Israel.

You're not wrong, Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas do ALL target civilians.

The difference is Hezbollah and Hamas are largely ineffectual, but Israel reacts as though they are.

The equivent in the US would be some asshole kid throws a rock and breaks a window and the homeowner responds with a shotgun and kills the entire family. "But they started it!"

Hamas and Hezbollah aren’t ineffectual. The only reason they don’t kill more Israelis, is the immense effort Israel makes in civil defense, shelter construction, missile defense, etc.

October 7th was the most successful by Hamas ever and killed, what? Under 2,000 people?

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/11/10/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news

Compared to Israel killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.

Yeah, they are largely ineffectual.

So ineffectual, they manage to start wars against Israel.

I'd barely call what Hamas or Hezbolla is doing "warfare". Terrorism? Absolutely. But there's zero chance for them in an actual war with Israel.

Did you not know that Lebanon kills civilians all the time? Literally, they fired artillery and rockets at civilian targets on Oct 8th. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hezbollah_conflict_(2023%E2%80%93present)

Like honestly, you seem well informed. Are you deliberately ignoring what Hamas and Hezbollah does?

Did you not know that Israel kills civilians, and guess what, Israel is responsible for the killing of a lot more civilians than Hezbollah and Hamas together. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_in_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict#:~:text=According%20to%20B'tselem's,been%20killed%20by%20Palestinian%20forces.

So it is very disputable if Israel has the moral high ground on this.

According to Hezbollah. Not an unbiased source

From the hundreds of sources in that wiki page, the vast majority are Israeli and Western sources. So why would you say 'according to Hezbollah' in response?

No, I don't ignore the actions of Hezbollah or Hamas. Its a bad situation all around. I recognize that violence doesn't come out of nowhere, there are underlying causes and historical context. Fundamentally, all people are created equal, and all people deserve equal rights. Israel is a violent ethnostate founded on ethnic cleansing and Settler Colonialism. A lasting peace requires a regime change that replaces that with a secular One-State that gives equal rights to the indigenous Palestinian people. Instead, Israel is engaged in the genocide of Palestinians. Zionism is incompatible with human rights and it always has been.

Edit: if you disagree with any of that, explain why. Violence doesn't come out of nowhere. It comes from either dehumanization and exploitation or as a reaction to violence

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#1. Israel is the aggressor. The state has been imposed on the people of the middle east through violence. #2. Through US support, Israel is the most powerful country in this conflict. They therefore have the moral responsibility to act in a way to promote peace #3. Hamas and Hezbollah are not terrorist organizations. They're legitimately part of their respective government's #4. Any act you've been told is a terrorist act by those two organizations was very likely legal under international law. Israel is an occupying force. People are legally allowed to fight that force through violence.

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