Pariah state Israel appears determined to wreck any chance of peace between the US and Iran. The settler-colonial state has kept hitting Lebanon after failing to achieve its major aim — regime change — in the war it coaxed a rudderless Donald Trump into starting.
Legacy outlet Newsweek reported on 19 June:
Israel said it carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight into Friday, after Israel’s military said four soldiers were killed in fighting with the Iran-backed group that threatens to derail a U.S.-Iran framework intended to halt hostilities across the region.
UPDATE | Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says the toll from Israeli strikes since midnight has risen to 47 killed and 97 wounded.
Harouf: 9 killed, including 3 women; 14 wounded, including 3 women.
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 19, 2026
The current memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran is explicit. As Al Jazeera has it:
The first clause of the MoU states that the US and Iran have agreed to the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.
Additionally, the memorandum adds that both sides will commit to ensuring the “territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon”.
The unapologetically colonialist Israel has said it wants to keep the Lebanese territory it has invaded. The Cradle shared an interview of Defence minister Israel Katz:
Framing the mass destruction as a permanent “security zone”, Katz explicitly declared that the 200,000 displaced Lebanese residents “are not returning.”
You can hear his full bleating commentary here:
VIDEO | “We have flattened the entire first line of villages in southern Lebanon, all the houses have been destroyed. The residents will never see them standing ever again.”
In a stark acknowledgment of systemic ethnic cleansing, Israeli War Minister Israel Katz boasted on… pic.twitter.com/lEhIEiHFfr
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 19, 2026
As one Iranian official told Drop Site News:
Regarding Lebanon, we have warned both the mediators and the American side that if the regime fails to comply with the existing agreement, Iran will respond with substantial military measures without prior public notice.
Should the United States intervene, conditions particularly those related to the Strait of Hormuz could rapidly revert to a wartime environment.
In fact, Iran briefly looked set to pull out of the deal on this basis. Associated Press reported:
Talks between the U.S. and Iran were called off Friday after intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, officials said, raising questions about an initial agreement to end the war in Iran.
Israel and the militant group later agreed to a ceasefire, three officials said.
On 19 June, Israeli security minister Ben Gvir tried to snatch war from the jaws of peace. He posted a typically bizarre rant on X:
For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!
With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn. Our supreme duty is to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF, and this commitment takes precedence over every other consideration.
I told the Prime Minister, even in our private meetings: For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep.
Enough with the ping-pong. In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint—you need to go berserk. To obliterate. To crush the terror.
על כל דמעה של אמא ישראלית, אלף אמהות לבנוניות צריכות לבכות. לבנון כולה צריכה לבעור!
עם כל הכבוד לאמריקאים, ישראל חייבת להבהיר לעולם כולו שדם בנינו וביטחון אזרחנו איננו הפקר. לבנון כולה צריכה לבעור. חובתנו העליונה היא להגן על אזרחי ישראל ועל חיילי צה״ל, והמחויבות הזו קודמת לכל…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) June 19, 2026
Spoken like a small, sad fascist.
As if a genocide in Gaza wasn’t enough, Israel’s commitment to violence, chaos and colonialism should have made it a pariah state almost as soon as it was founded. There is no ‘aircraft carrier’ for imperial interests — no ‘little Ulster’ in the desert — which is worth the trouble Israel causes. No serious government on earth should treat the geocide state with anything but disdain at this stage.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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