Strong Counter Arguments to a narrow interpretation of international law: Israel's Duties Under International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

Joshua Simmons, the US State Department lawyer, argues that Israel has no legal obligation to allow UN aid agencies like UNRWA into Gaza. His position is based on a narrow interpretation of international law, but there are strong counterarguments rooted in humanitarian principles, legal obligations, and practical realities. Here's how his claims is countered:

1. Israel's Duties Under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Simmons suggests Israel has no duty to facilitate aid, but this ignores key legal frameworks:

   • Geneva Conventions (1949): As the occupying power, Israel has obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 55 & 59) to ensure the civilian population's access to food and medical supplies. Even if Israel disputes its "occupation" status, its effective control over Gaza's borders, airspace, and coastline imposes responsibilities.
   • Additional Protocol I (1977): Article 70 mandates that parties in conflict must allow and facilitate rapid, unimpeded humanitarian aid to civilians in need.
   • Customary International Law: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has repeatedly ruled (e.g., in Nicaragua v. US) that states must not block humanitarian assistance to civilians in crises.

2. UNRWA's Critical Role in Gaza Simmons implies that UNRWA is dispensable, but this ignores reality:

   • Primary Lifeline: UNRWA provides food, shelter, and healthcare to over 1.7 million displaced Gazans. No other agency has the same logistical capacity.
   • Collective Punishment Risk: Blocking UNRWA (due to unproven allegations against a few staff) risks mass starvation, violating prohibitions on collective punishment (Geneva Convention IV, Article 33).

3. US & Israel's Contradictions

   • US Pushes for Aid, Yet Blocks UNRWA: The Biden administration has called for more aid to Gaza while defunding UNRWA—creating a gap no other group can fill quickly.
   • Israel's Control Over Gaza: Israel restricts land crossings, inspects (and often delays) aid trucks, and has bombed UN facilities. If it has "no duty" to allow aid, why does it control its entry?

4. ICJ's Provisional Measures (2024)

   • The ICJ ordered Israel to "take immediate and effective measures to ensure humanitarian aid" in its January 2024 ruling on South Africa's genocide case. Blocking UNRWA violates this binding order.

5. Moral & Strategic Consequences

   • Humanitarian Catastrophe: Over 34,000+ dead (mostly civilians), famine risks (IPC Phase 5), and disease outbreaks make aid access a moral imperative.
   • Security Implications: Starvation fuels desperation, undermining long-term stability and Israel's own security.

Conclusion Simmons' argument relies on a selective reading of law, ignoring Israel's de facto control over Gaza and its IHL obligations. Even if legal technicalities are debated, the humanitarian imperative and ICJ rulings make clear that Israel (and its allies) must facilitate—not obstruct—aid. The US, as a major donor and UNSC member, should pressure Israel to allow UNRWA's operations, not justify their blockade

Video Lecture - From Tripoli To Damascus To Imam Al Mahdi | Sheikh Imran Hosein Lectures

VideoTrump Didn’t See This Coming! Yemeni Missile Sinks US Warplane After DEV...

Article: US isolationist policies could speed up de-dollarization: Analysts | Daily Sabah

US isolationist policies could speed up de-dollarization: Analysts | Daily Sabah

https://www.dailysabah.com/business/economy/us-isolationist-policies-could-speed-up-de-dollarization-analysts

Comment on US human rights

The US have got the worst humsn rights record in human history after the British Empire, both of which belong to the same camp, the Gog and Magog imperial camp.

The US began on a extremely poor footing with humanity by killing off millions of natives whom they refer to as “Indians’.

Then when killing methods got more “aloof” and more inhumane, all that was needed was a push of a button from an airplane to kill mllions more in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Perhaps it is Darwinism which lumps humanity under the same category as animals which drives this type of heinous behavior.

Humans and animals belong to distinct groups of conscious beings. Human conscoousness have the capacity for undrrstanding far superior to animal consciousness.

To make use of computerease, if human consciouss is likened to usimg C++ computer language, then animal consciousness is likened to not recognizing syntax in any computer language. No comparison.

A small group of powerfiul people in the US associated with the banking sextor have decided that Western civilzation repudiates its membership in humanity because of their own failure to subjugate human consciousness.

To be sure, the initial condirions and ultimate trajectory of the US spelled doom from the start.

Even so, there are points of spiritual brightness in the America because of human empatthy towards the downtrodden Palestinians in Gaza.

Have no doubt, God intends to save a number of Americans today by turning their hearts towards Islam via the events in Gaza.

Perhaps, there are a number of them here on Quora.

Two Hadiths on Signs of the Last Day

Two Hadiths on Signs of the  Last Day

Sahih Muslim 2937a - The Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Last Hour - كتاب الفتن وأشراط الساعة - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)
https://sunnah.com/muslim:2937a

Sunan Abi Dawud 4294 - Battles (Kitab Al-Malahim) - كتاب الملاحم - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4294 https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4294
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4294

Video Infoblog: SHEIKH IMRAN HOSEIN EXPLAINS 🇮🇱 Why Did Allah Allow The Return? #jerusalem

 

 

Sheikh Imran Hosein Explains Why Allah Allowed Descendants of Jacob to Return to Holy Land | Ilford Meetin Join us as Sheikh Imran Hosein addresses a pressing question during his visit to Ilford. In this insightful Q&A session, a questioner seeks understanding on why Allah permitted the descendants of Jacob to return to the Holy Land. Sheikh Imran Hosein delves deep into Islamic perspectives and historical context to shed light on this complex issue.  

 

 

Transcript

0:00

are not bonu Isel and they're not a

0:02

Semitic people why did Allah allow them

0:05

to return to the Holy

0:09

Land I didn't can repeat the question

0:12

please sorry do you want to repeat it

0:13

for

0:15

me European jewry are

0:18

not

0:20

[Music]

0:21

people no the European jewry

0:33

the question

0:35

is why did Allah allow the European Jews

0:39

to come to the Holy Land not return

0:42

because they were never there in the

0:43

first

0:44

place the answer is

0:48

located

0:51

in of the

0:55

Quran in that Surah Allah speaks of a

0:59

town but he does not identify the

1:03

town because he wants to invite us to

1:09

think he destroyed the

1:13

town he expelled the people of the

1:19

town he placed a bind on them that they

1:22

could never return to that town to

1:26

reclaim it as their own until when

1:32

until go and M are released into the

1:38

world and when they are released into

1:41

the world they spread out in all

1:46

directions this is the verse I've not

1:49

translated it I've explained the verse

1:51

because the Quran cannot be translated

2:16

question one who are and mag question

2:19

two which town is

2:24

it go and are people who have a PhD in

2:28

wickedness

2:33

this

2:36

is commit

2:39

faad that which corrupts the extension

2:42

that it destroys

2:45

faad number two and have

2:50

power so much power that even

2:53

zul who is given Power by

2:56

Allah he cannot fight and defeat them

3:00

to stop their their

3:03

wickedness so and have

3:07

power but Allah says in I have created

3:11

creatures of mine so powerful that none

3:14

but

3:15

I can destroy them none but I can

3:18

destroy

3:19

them so and are the opposite of

3:24

Z zul has power but Power rests on the

3:28

foundations of

3:30

F and when power rest on the foundations

3:34

the FI power is used to

3:37

resist the

3:40

oppressor and to seek to liberate the

3:43

oppressed and power is used to help

3:46

those who have faith and whose conduct

3:49

is

3:52

righteous but and mag are the opposite

3:55

of that they use power their power rest

3:59

on foundations which are Godless and

4:03

Pagan and they use power with

4:06

relentlessly to

4:10

oppress but when they are released into

4:13

the world they will with their power

4:15

they will take control the power in the

4:17

world they SP out all over the world and

4:20

this is an event which will occur only

4:24

once in

4:28

history I don't know why is it that I am

4:31

the only voice with saying this why is

4:35

it that no one else would ever

4:39

said that this is an event which will

4:42

occur only once what's wrong with them

4:45

why can't they say

4:48

it if this is an event which will occur

4:52

only once in

4:54

history and you can't see

4:57

it then you're blind

5:02

a people will take control of the

5:07

world and it'll happen only once in

5:11

history and they'll be an essentially

5:13

Godless people but they'll have power

5:17

that none can resist

5:19

them and they'll use their power to

5:24

oppress and when they take control of

5:27

the world these people will

5:31

bring those people who were expelled

5:34

from the town bring them back to the

5:36

town that's what Allah says in the

5:40

Quran so who are

5:44

and on which town is

5:48

it you're getting a second lesson

5:51

tonight in

5:52

methodology for the study of the

5:58

Quran my methodology is to search to see

6:03

which

6:04

town is identified in sacred

6:09

literature with gag

6:12

mag and there's only one town which

6:15

qualifies only

6:17

one because our Prophet

6:20

said Allah's blessing be upon him he

6:23

said that go and MOG would be destroyed

6:26

by Allah in Jerusalem

6:31

and so I come to the conclusion

6:34

confidently

6:37

so that when Allah spoke of a town which

6:40

he destroyed the town is

6:45

Jerusalem and if the town is Jerusalem

6:48

then the people who expelled were Jews

6:51

or rather

6:54

Israelites because the term

6:57

Jew came into being in the Quran only

7:01

after the event of the

7:05

crucifixion prior to the event of the

7:08

crucifixion they were all called

7:10

Israelites Banu

7:12

Israel but after the event of the

7:15

crucifixion those who accepted him as

7:18

the Messiah they are now called an

7:23

nasara and those who rejected him as the

7:27

Messiah and S him cated his crucifixion

7:31

they are called the yood or the

7:35

Jews but Allah expell everybody from The

7:38

Holy

7:40

Land

7:42

all and he says the people who are

7:46

expelled are the Israelite

7:49

people but Allah says that go and mag

7:53

will bring them back to the Holy

7:57

Land the Jews have now returned to the

8:00

Holy

8:03

Land everybody know that except those

8:06

who eat the Biryani and go and

8:10

see and they have reclaimed Jerusalem as

8:14

their

8:15

own so who brought them

8:20

back

8:22

answer modern Western Civilization

8:27

brought them back

 

 

 

 

Video Infoblog: Scott Ritter: 2,000 IDF permanently disabled, ISRAEL actually lost this war.

Transcript

0:00

Palestinian people who continued to die

0:02

under the genocidal assault carried out

0:05

by uh the Israeli defense forc on the

0:08

orders of not only Israeli political

0:10

leaders but the United States uh you

0:13

know that has said they back Israel 100%

0:17

um

0:19

but it doesn't matter what you know that

0:22

that Trudeau can't uh Mumble his way

0:24

through certain words that the United

0:26

States vetos a ceasefire resolution um

0:30

all they're doing is cementing their own

0:32

defeat Hamas has won this

0:34

war it's it's over already uh I mean

0:37

there's going to be a lot of fighting D

0:39

I know people going what do you mean

0:40

it's over the Israelis are still in Gaza

0:42

they're still when Israel sets the bar

0:44

of their Victory as the total

0:47

elimination of Hamas politically and

0:51

militarily they lost the war right there

0:53

the moment they said that they lost the

0:55

war because this is an unattainable

0:57

objective meaning that anything that's

1:00

that that's less than that means Hamas

1:02

won by default but Hamas isn't just

1:04

winning by default they're winning by

1:06

beating the Israelis they're beating

1:08

them on the ground uh in Gaza yeah I

1:12

know Israel has some forces on the

1:14

surface Hamas is running a mck below the

1:16

ground and they're inflicting unbearable

1:19

casualties on the Israelis more than a

1:22

100 dead but that's not the number you

1:24

need to focus on you need to focus on

1:26

the number of wounded uh by some counts

1:29

over five th000 wounded 2,000 of whom

1:32

are permanently disabled that means

1:34

amputations paral paralysis guys that

1:37

aren't returning to the fight ever um

1:40

Israel is taking a beating a beating on

1:43

the ground in Gaza and they're taking a

1:46

beating politically because of this

1:48

because they can't win this fight the

1:51

world has turned against Israel the

1:54

world has turned Israel's only hope is

1:56

an American veto without that veto the

2:00

intervention of not just the Secretary

2:02

General through article 99 uh but the

2:04

general assembly now through article 377

2:07

um you know the world is saying we're

2:10

done with you Israel we demand a

2:12

ceasefire and the longer Israel

2:14

continues to refuse to allow this

2:18

ceasefire the worse off their political

2:20

defeat will be Benjamin denyah who's

2:22

days are numbered the Biden

2:23

Administration itself has turned against

2:26

him saying that they they don't see a

2:29

path towards conflict resolution with

2:32

Netanyahu and his government in power

2:35

Netanyahu is operating on 4% approval

2:37

rating inside Israel so you know we we

2:41

can play all the word games we want here

2:42

you know who else is irrelevant I said

2:44

Nikki Haley's irrelevant Justin Trudeau

2:46

is irrelevant no one cares no one car no

2:50

one cares what he thinks U because at

2:52

the end of the day Hamas has won this

2:55

war all Trudeau is doing is guaranteeing

2:59

that the scope and scale of the Hamas

3:01

Victory will be even greater because in

3:04

addition to the world turning against

3:06

Israel they're going to turn against

3:08

those Nations that have Pro shown to be

3:10

an impediment uh towards you know ending

3:13

this genocidal assault on the

3:14

Palestinian

3:16

people uh Scott I'm reading some

3:18

headlines here um that I have actually

3:23

never thought I would see uh uh

3:26

headlines like this but you can see here

3:28

even in the Red Bar above there it says

3:30

displaced people killed point blank in

3:33

Gaza School UN General Assembly

3:36

overwhelmingly urges humanitarian

3:37

ceasefire in Gaza Israel says 10

3:40

soldiers killed in Northern Gaza I mean

3:42

it's just bad headlines all around when

3:44

you look at uh you know the Israelis

3:46

here and they're talking about flooding

3:49

these uh you know flooding the whole

3:51

entire region I mean that is I mean

3:54

that's a crime in itself I mean how far

3:56

how desperate is Israel going to get uh

3:58

before they admit that uh they're not

4:01

going to succeed and and I Echo your

4:05

point there where you said they've

4:06

already lost it uh definitely um from uh

4:10

respect from the International Community

4:12

there's no doubt about that but I mean

4:14

flooding the region of Gaza is that

4:16

gonna

4:17

help well I

4:20

mean if you think that Israel pumping

4:23

saltwater into uh the tunnels is going

4:27

to end this war then that means haven't

4:29

been paying attention to what's been

4:31

happening here um Hamas on October 7th

4:36

launched an extraordinarily

4:37

sophisticated and effective assault on

4:40

the Gaza defense belt uh overwhelming

4:44

the defenses slaughtering the Defenders

4:47

uh penetrating the defensive barriers

4:50

and closing in on well-defined

4:52

objectives which were um attacked and in

4:55

many cases captured um you know it

4:58

wasn't just hostages that the uh uh that

5:02

Hamas brought back into Gaza it was

5:04

computer servers it was documents it was

5:07

Tres of information about Israeli

5:10

intelligence Israeli operations Israeli

5:13

capabilities that Gaz that the Hamas has

5:16

brought back um I bring this up because

5:19

they this is an attack that was in

5:22

planning for more than a year um it was

5:26

executed very well and then Hamas fell

5:29

back on prepared

5:32

defenses Hamas knows what Israel's

5:34

capable of that Hamas knows that Israel

5:37

will use bombs to attack the is the

5:41

Palestinian population Hamas knows that

5:44

eventually Israel have to go after the

5:46

tunnels so when Hamas constructed these

5:49

tunnels do you do you really think they

5:51

said let's make them all connected so

5:54

that if you find one and you pump salt

5:56

waterer into it everybody drowns that's

5:59

a good defensive tactic why don't we do

6:02

that or could they have built tunnel

6:05

systems that are Cellular in nature that

6:08

can be cut off one another isolated so

6:10

that if one cell is captured or

6:13

disrupted it can be sealed off much like

6:15

you do with a ship's compartments

6:17

torpedo hits the ship you seal off the

6:20

affected compartments flood them the

6:22

ship stays aoat that's how the Hamas

6:26

tunnel network has been designed and you

6:29

know so the Israelis are just wasting

6:32

their time you know there's some people

6:34

who believe that they will further um

6:38

you know destroy the the the an already

6:42

extraordinarily saline aquafer uh in

6:46

Gaza by doing this that has yet to be

6:49

seen um I mean I I I don't doubt that

6:53

outcome but I'm not going to predict the

6:55

future on that but what I can say is

6:57

that there's no way that Moss spent all

7:01

this time and effort building a tunnel

7:03

Network the solution to which is to

7:05

Simply flood it with saltwater uh it's I

7:08

I just don't believe that that what the

7:10

Israelis are doing is going to have any

7:12

meaningful impact on this battle it just

7:14

shows the level of desperation that the

7:16

Israelis are are at because they can't

7:18

get into these tunnels they've tried

7:21

they have special units of tunnel rats

7:23

who've gotten down there and gotten

7:24

slaughtered they tried to rescue a

7:26

hostage the other day by going into the

7:28

tunnels with Elite forces didn't end

7:31

well for the elite forces and so rather

7:33

than continue to bang their head against

7:36

this wall they're now saying well we're

7:37

going to pump salt water in but it isn't

7:40

going to solve the problem hamas's

7:42

tunnel network has been designed to

7:44

withstand everything Israel can throw at

7:47

it um could we compare it to maybe you

7:50

know in Afghan Afghanistan when uh

7:53

dealing in the tunnel systems there and

7:55

the the caves that they were hiding a

7:57

lot of artillery in in that region when

7:59

the Americans were in there and you know

8:02

there was a lot of uh real difficulties

8:05

trying to penetrate uh you know the uh

8:08

the Taliban in that area is is are we

8:11

using kind of like a similar comparison

8:13

here or is this a very complex tunnel

8:16

system that something that like you said

8:19

is built to withstand it and can even uh

8:23

be fortified in a way that it could be

8:25

detrimental to any soldiers going in

8:27

there yeah I don't think we compare this

8:29

to um you know anything in that that's

8:33

come before it um the these tunnels are

8:36

unique they've been around forever uh

8:39

the tunnels have been around since the

8:41

beginning of Gaza smuggling tunnels that

8:44

were built um because Egypt sought to

8:48

control uh Gaza by you know controlling

8:51

entry and exit from the ruffa border

8:54

crossing and so in order to survive the

8:57

uh the citizens of G

8:59

dug these very elaborate tunnels into

9:02

Egypt U through which they've smuggled

9:05

everything and these tunnels have been

9:07

big enough to bring in vehicles um you

9:10

know so we're talking extensive tun

9:12

Egypt has done its best to detect them

9:14

to interdict them and they have

9:16

successfully interdicted hundreds of

9:17

these tunnels but there's many more and

9:20

they're still in play today um and then

9:24

that tunnel Network and that that that

9:26

that skill set associated with building

9:28

it remember that from the very beginning

9:30

the tunnels of from that have been

9:32

constructed by the people of Gaza have

9:35

been designed to avoid detection um to

9:38

survive over a long period of time so

9:40

they've they they know what they're

9:42

doing when it comes to Tunnel

9:43

construction Hamas is taking this over

9:46

uh there's reason to believe that Hamas

9:48

has been um Guided by Hezbollah uh who

9:52

was Guided by the North Koreans uh who

9:55

um provided assistance to Iran to put

9:58

their government underground in case of

10:00

War um and so you know the these tunnels

10:05

are very deep um they're extensive um

10:09

they're self you know they're they're

10:11

rep repetitive so that if you lose one

10:13

tunnel you don't lose a capability

10:16

that's the same thing with if if you're

10:17

running a smuggling operation and you

10:19

make your living off of this you put all

10:21

your eggs in one baskets I we just asked

10:23

the drug cartels that smuggle things in

10:26

across the southern Border in the United

10:28

States they Ed tunnels extensive tunnels

10:30

but each tunnel has a life expectancy

10:33

when that tunnel shuts down another one

10:34

opens up because they got to keep the

10:36

product moving the same thing with the

10:38

Smugglers uh in in in Gaza they got to

10:41

keep the product moving they got to keep

10:42

the supplies coming in so they don't

10:44

just have one tunnel they've learned the

10:46

concept of duplication of effort Hamas

10:49

has taken that same mindset so there

10:51

isn't one Command Center there's dozens

10:53

of command centers that allow the Hamas

10:57

leadership to move from point A to point

10:58

B so that if you get a human infiltrator

11:01

um and Israel had several of them um by

11:04

the way they're all dead now because

11:06

Hamas seized the human intelligence

11:09

Direction Center uh that the Israelis

11:11

had uh on the on the Gaza Strip and they

11:14

collected the computers inside of which

11:17

were the names of all the collaborators

11:19

and uh it was a bad day for those

11:21

collaborators the next day their bodies

11:23

were found in the street executed um the

11:26

the fate of all spies so you know Hamas

11:30

you know understands that Israel is

11:32

trying to penetrate uh to identify so

11:35

you've got to protect against that

11:37

you've got to say that if we're doing

11:39

this here and it gets captured today or

11:41

destroyed today how do we sustain our

11:44

operations do we have a fall fallback

11:47

command post that this command post

11:49

didn't know about so if this is

11:50

compromised these guys are here and and

11:52

that's what they do they also you know

11:54

have built it so you have this Logistics

11:57

tunnel Network then you have a defensive

11:59

tunnel Network built around that to

12:01

defend it so if anybody's trying to come

12:03

in they got to go through a defended

12:05

then you have offensive tunnels separate

12:08

from these that allow Hamas to carry out

12:10

offensive operations um this is a very

12:15

sophisticated um scheme that's been

12:18

decades in the making this just didn't

12:20

happen overnight this has been decades

12:23

in the making is you know Hamas fought a

12:26

tunnel war with Israel in 2014 when

12:28

Israel went into the Gaza and they

12:30

learned a lot of lessons about how

12:32

Israel you know um goes into tun

12:35

remember Hamas beat Israel Israel had to

12:37

eventually withdraw in 2014 because they

12:39

weren't successful in fully penetrating

12:42

the tunnel network but they did

12:43

penetrate some aspects of it so humas

12:46

learned from that and they had nearly a

12:48

decade to adapt and overcome and modify

12:51

and that's the tunnel Network that's in

12:53

place today and remember Hamas knew

12:55

Israel was coming into Gaza that was the

12:57

whole purpose of taking taking the

12:59

hostages to suck Israel into a trap so

13:02

Hamas has been preparing for exactly

13:04

what's happening right now they've

13:07

anticipated everything these guys are

13:09

sophisticated these guys are good they

13:12

know the Israelis better than the

13:14

Israelis know themselves in many cases

13:16

just ask the people who saw the

13:19

intelligence documents carried by the

13:21

Hamas assaulters on October 7th the

13:24

schematics the maps with absolutely

13:26

accurate intelligence about everything

13:29

that was happening on the Israeli side

13:32

um don't underestimate These Guys these

13:34

aren't a bunch of you know sandal

13:36

wearing local yals who are just sort of

13:38

you know guying it through um

13:41

haphazardly what Hamas is executing

13:43

right now is one of the most

13:45

sophisticated and well-planned

13:48

operations in modern history Israel on

13:50

the other hand had lost everything on

13:53

October 7th everything all their

13:55

intelligence was gone Hamas wiped the

13:58

Slate clean

13:59

so Israel is now going into Gaza blind

14:02

they have to create new intelligence um

14:05

they which means that they have no

14:07

intelligence I know I used to be an

14:09

intelligence officer you don't create

14:11

these networks overnight so instead

14:13

they're relying on assessments and many

14:15

of these assessments are emotionally

14:17

driven assessments driven by Revenge uh

14:20

not by operational necessity political

14:23

pressure is being put on the IDF to

14:26

exact a toll and so you can't find Hamas

14:30

so the toll instead is exacted from the

14:33

population and that's what's going on

14:35

right now Collective punishment a

14:37

genocidal likee Behavior by the Israelis

14:39

towards the Palestinian people and let's

14:42

just be honest this was all predictable

14:44

meaning that Hamas knew this was going

14:45

to happen Hamas I can't say wanted this

14:49

to happen but they knew that this was

14:51

going to happen and it was part of their

14:52

strategy you see to defeat Israel isn't

14:55

just about beating them in the tunnels

14:58

um it's about beating them politically

15:01

and since Hamas knew how Israel was

15:04

going to respond Hamas now knew that the

15:07

sacrifice of the Palestinian people

15:09

would generate Global outrage to get the

15:12

world to turn on Israel and that's

15:15

happening right now as we speak yeah we

15:18

we see that everywhere and um I've seen

15:21

it you know after the Americans vetoed

15:24

uh you know article 99 uh a lot of the

15:27

news agencies is wellow we're seeing

15:29

such a shift here you know quite a big

15:31

shift uh where I'm quite surprised but

15:34

they're coming in line here and they're

15:36

all following this uh I guess I'm going

15:39

to call it a new narrative where they're

15:41

saying wait a minute um this looks

15:44

pretty desperate what Israel is doing

15:46

here this looks really unplanned uh you

15:50

know just bombing everything H you know

15:52

driving tanks uh you know in and out of

15:55

Gaza how everybody wants to of of course

15:58

know how does this deescalate but I'm

16:01

want to ask you a question because you

16:02

got a lot of experience in this how is

16:05

this going to escalate who will escalate

16:08

this if it needs to go up to another

16:10

level here is it going to be Hezbollah I

16:12

mean who who can go into that region and

16:15

really say to Israel all right you guys

16:18

have done some damage here uh nothing's

16:21

happening in the United Nations to get

16:22

any of these resolutions passed who has

16:25

the ability to really escalate this

16:29

well first of all we we have to put

16:31

ourselves you know in in the Israeli

16:34

shoes that is the shoes of those who are

16:36

governing uh Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

16:39

and his lud party um have from their

16:42

very Inception politically said that a

16:45

two-state solution um is never going to

16:49

happen as long as they're in power they

16:50

don't believe in a Palestinian State

16:53

they believe in a eret Israel a greater

16:56

Israel a Biblical Israel indeed it's the

16:59

lud Charter dating back to

17:01

1977 that first articulates the notion

17:04

of from the river to the sea but instead

17:07

of Palestine will be free it's not a

17:09

Palestinian there will be um to cleanse

17:12

them and it's been difficult for um for

17:16

Nyan lud to build a governing Coalition

17:19

that uh has embraced uh this this

17:23

outcome uh totally because they've had

17:25

to make some compromises with moderates

17:27

and Etc but the current governing

17:29

Coalition of farri extreme parties uh

17:32

has indeed uh embraced this vision of

17:36

Israel erit Israel greater Israel

17:38

biblical Israel um and so there can't be

17:41

any deescalation so long as these

17:45

political forces are in power in Israel

17:48

um they're not going to give up they

17:50

finally got a coalition that endorses

17:53

the absolute Banning of a Palestinian

17:57

State um

17:59

and they don't want to give up power so

18:01

that's why they're going to keep this

18:04

war going as long as possible because

18:07

while there's a war um there won't there

18:10

seems to be a um a lack of enthusiasm on

18:13

the part of the Israelis to seek

18:16

political change you don't want to

18:18

change horses in middle of the race uh

18:20

so they want this war to end the Israeli

18:22

people want it to end before they boot

18:25

Netanyahu netanyahu's taking advantage

18:27

that to drag out the war in hopes for a

18:30

miraculous victory that causes the

18:32

Israeli people to forget all of the sins

18:35

of the past and so as long as Netanyahu

18:38

is in power this war will escalate but

18:40

there's a problem netan has a war

18:43

cabinet um and in that war cabinet

18:45

aren't just the radical right that

18:48

empowers him politically it includes

18:50

military professionals and the military

18:53

professionals are telling him straight

18:55

up we can't win in Gaza we're not going

18:58

going to win in Gaza and moreover we

19:01

have so many resources dedicated to Gaza

19:04

that we can't win up north either if

19:06

heah comes across we're in a world of

19:08

hurt world of hurt means Israel could

19:11

lose Northern Israel they could lose the

19:13

Galilee region um and that's the last

19:17

thing net the Netanyahu government wants

19:19

or the military wants and so there are

19:22

limits that are imposed by this reality

19:25

on the Netanyahu government um

19:28

and and and and that's you know we're in

19:30

this dangerous dangerous uh period of

19:33

time where um you know Netanyahu is

19:36

being held back by his military saying

19:38

we can't do that but he's pushing the

19:41

military saying we need to have an

19:42

outcome in Gaza that you know justifies

19:47

everything that we've been doing you

19:48

have Hezbollah saying we want to support

19:52

um the Hamas and the and the Palestinian

19:54

people but we don't support them if we

19:57

allow the fighting in the north to

20:00

escalate in the fullscale war because

20:02

now we've created a problem bigger than

20:04

Hamas and we dilute the victories that

20:07

Hamas is achieving and so there's a lot

20:10

of pressure for escalation but there's a

20:12

lot of pressure for deescalation and

20:14

what you end up with is diverting all of

20:18

this tension back into Gaza that's why

20:21

you see pumping water in the tunnels

20:23

you're going to see an escalation of

20:25

violence in the short term um but in the

20:27

long term netanyahu's inability the

20:31

idf's inability to Prevail in in Gaza is

20:35

is going to be what decides um the

20:37

outcome here I don't think this conflict

20:40

will escalate it's a very dangerous

20:42

situation so it could escalate but

20:45

literally everybody involved doesn't

20:48

want escalation because they understand

20:50

the consequences of escalation it would

20:52

be devastating for everybody involved

20:54

especially Israel which could be facing

20:57

Strat iic defeat not just political

21:00

defeat but strategic defeat for the

21:02

first time in its

21:04

history what seems to be happening to

21:06

the Israeli propaganda machine that was

21:09

so slick so good uh so effective over

21:12

the last I don't know 10 15 years uh

21:16

what happen what's changed this

21:20

time I think Israel is confronted with

21:24

the reality of um their failures their

21:26

Collective failures um

21:29

you know they were so close so close to

21:31

getting strategic Victory what I mean by

21:34

that is the Abrams Accords that had been

21:37

uh negotiated and put in place by Donald

21:40

Trump um had basically radically

21:43

transformed the entire region for the

21:46

Abrams Accord basically was the the

21:48

death nail of a Palestinian statehood uh

21:50

put the Palestinian body in a coffin

21:52

they were nailing the coffin shut and

21:54

they had the whole Thug they were just

21:55

going to put the body in the hole um it

21:57

was over

21:58

uh in its place uh Israel was starting

22:01

to normalize relations with the gulf

22:03

Arab states they had already normalized

22:05

relations with Excuse me Bahrain with

22:08

the United Arab Emirates and they were

22:09

on the cusp of normalizing relations

22:11

with Saudi Arabia and that they

22:14

finalized that

22:16

basically that was it look Joe Biden in

22:19

uh when he was at the G20 Summit in

22:21

India um had

22:23

said here's the vision of the future the

22:27

Indian Middle East economic Corridor and

22:30

you know he said look we're going to be

22:32

able to put cargo ships uh cargo

22:35

containers on a ship in Mumbai and ship

22:38

it into you know Dubai and they were

22:42

going to put it on a train in the United

22:44

Arab Emirates and that train is g to

22:46

Transit into Saudi Arabia into Jordan

22:49

across into Israel imagine that a train

22:52

going from the United Arab Emirates

22:54

through Saudi Arabia Jordan into Israel

22:57

where those Goods will be put on another

22:59

ship and sent into a port in Greece and

23:02

now you have connectivity from India to

23:05

Europe this great thing where Israel is

23:07

a Lynch pin it wasn't just Joe Biden's

23:09

you know fanciful imagination Benjamin

23:12

Netanyahu himself when he addressed the

23:14

general assembly in September bragged

23:16

about the same thing he said this is the

23:18

new reality Israel now is a major

23:21

economic player on the world stage

23:24

that's where everybody was going that's

23:26

what everybody was focused on and by

23:28

focusing on that it would Empower this

23:31

farri Coalition who would if this all

23:34

succeeded be seen as you know Reviving

23:37

The Israeli economic engine diverting

23:39

public attention away from you know

23:42

Benjamin nahu rewriting basic law so

23:45

that he couldn't be prosecuted for

23:46

corruption charges nobody wanted to talk

23:49

about that uh they're all going to talk

23:50

about this wonderful economic Prosperity

23:53

all changed on October 7th that Corridor

23:56

is dead nobody's talking about about it

23:58

Saudi Arabia is not going to normalize

24:01

relations with Israel right now not

24:03

without a Palestinian State everybody's

24:05

talking about a Palestinian State you

24:07

know and this is this is the reality

24:09

that the the the world has fundamentally

24:12

changed uh for Israel um it's it's

24:17

literally it's it's game over for Israel

24:20

um and this is this is the new reality

24:22

that the world is waking up to that uh

24:25

you know Israel as it currently exists

24:28

is incompatible with International

24:31

values International norms and standards

24:33

even the United States who's vetoing

24:36

these ceasefire resolutions um

24:38

recognizes that Benjamin Netanyahu has

24:41

got to go that this ruling Coalition

24:43

cannot stay in power uh Biden himself

24:46

has said that there will be a

24:48

Palestinian State there will be a

24:50

Palestinian State um which means that

24:54

anything Ben Benjamin nety is hoping for

24:57

is now irrel because Israel can't do

24:58

anything without American support that's

25:00

the other reality here that Israel can't

25:03

survive without America and I think what

25:05

we're seeing right now is

25:07

America um starting

25:10

to politically Empower our leaders so

25:14

that we aren't blindly supporting Israel

25:17

even you know pro-israeli Lobby like

25:20

APAC is starting to cringe at what

25:23

Netanyahu is saying because with APAC

25:26

remember everything's about money and

25:27

power and what apac's seen is that

25:30

because of

25:31

Netanyahu the world is turning against

25:34

Israel which means inside the United

25:36

States there is now going to be a turn

25:39

against Israel and this means that the

25:41

ability of APAC to run around and spend

25:43

a hundred million dolls to buy the US

25:45

Congress may be over because people

25:48

instead of identifying with Israel as a

25:50

friend and an ally are St starting now

25:52

to look at Israel as an outlier um as um

25:57

uh an an impediment to America is a

25:59

detrimental to America and so we can be

26:01

seeing the grip that the Israeli Lobby

26:04

had on American politics start to loosen

26:07

up and

26:08

release my next uh question is uh do you

26:12

think that uh we could see another

26:14

surprise attack from Hamas in in Israel

26:17

or is it too much uh security and high

26:21

alert and that would never

26:23

happen I don't think we're going to see

26:25

an attack in the near future that um

26:28

that replicates what happened on October

26:30

7th um not from Hamas I think if

26:33

Hezbollah gets involved um what they're

26:35

going to do is going to shock the world

26:37

it's going to take what Hamas did on

26:38

October 7th and magnify by several

26:41

orders of magnitude and the uh absolute

26:44

destruction and defeat of the Israeli

26:46

Defense Force along the uh along its

26:49

northern border Lebanon will blow

26:52

everybody's mind hezb has been preparing

26:54

for this fight for decades they know the

26:56

Israelis very well well they know the

26:58

area very well Israel has put so many of

27:02

its resources in the Gaza is not really

27:05

really much left that can go up north um

27:08

you know Hezbollah has 80 90 100,000

27:11

Fighters many of whom are combat

27:13

hardened from the fighting in Syria uh

27:16

these guys are really really good they

27:18

have a plan um and uh I think that's

27:23

where we could see the surprise if this

27:24

thing escalates hamas's surprise right

27:27

now now is just its resilience its

27:29

ability to survive everything um you

27:32

know I think it's um underappreciated in

27:34

the world what Hamas is doing right

27:36

right right now to continue this fight

27:39

it's remarkable logistically

27:41

operationally tactically um you know but

27:44

it's not getting the credit on October

27:46

7th because it was all in our face um

27:49

you know the the the you know we're like

27:51

wow look what Hamas did but because

27:53

everything that Hamas is doing right now

27:55

is underground literally and um Beyond

27:59

sight we we we don't understand what

28:01

they're doing but anybody who has a

28:02

monum of appreciation for the complexity

28:05

of this operation uh has to be in awe

28:08

with what Hamas is pulling off

28:10

militarily right now because is as

28:12

sophisticated as the day is

28:14

long we're seeing a lot of headlines

28:17

though uh and as well as a lot of uh

28:19

Hamas being dragged out in front of the

28:22

cameras uh you know pretty much stripped

28:25

down uh being searched I mean is that

28:27

just uh Israel's propaganda machine

28:30

running in high drive and to add to that

28:34

um if Hezbollah does come in I mean