Who do these despots think they are?
US president Donald Trump has demanded that Lebanon disarms resistance group Hezbollah by New Year’s Eve or face military action for not fully complying with a ‘ceasefire’ deal that Israel has literally boasted means ‘you cease, we fire’.
Lebanon ceasefire—’New military conflict unavoidable’
Israeli far-right paper Israel Hayom — which is owned by Trump’s biggest donor Miriam Adelson — has reported that ‘US diplomatic sources’ say that should Lebanon fail to comply by December 31st, the country will be held responsible and it will “make a new military conflict unavoidable”.
Of course when Trump gives you a ‘deadline’ of December 31st, you expect a strike on the 20th of December.
But the rag goes on to boast that Israel’s chief negotiator for the so-called ‘ceasefire’ said that it was designed to ensure that Israel can keep murdering Lebanese targets whenever it feels like it while the resistance group is “forbidden from firing even a single bullet”:
A year after the agreement with Hezbollah, it is already clear that the ceasefire was designed from the outset to be one-sided. This means Hezbollah is forbidden from firing even a single bullet. Israel, however, is permitted under the terms of the agreement to thwart threats they are building.
If anyone had any doubt, the elimination of Hezbollah’s “third Chief of Staff,” Haytham Ali Tabatabai, on Sunday, November 23, 2025, served as a reminder of the rules of the game…
Ron Dermer, who shaped the terms of the agreement on Israel’s behalf, explained immediately after it was signed that this would be the outcome. In closed conversations, Dermer detailed the rules and mechanisms that were established.
It was clear that Israel maintained a large scope of action to deal with any danger it identified, and this is what happened over the past year.
This, to no one’s surprise, cannot be farther from the truth. Clause 4 of the Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement states that:
These commitments do not preclude either Israel or Lebanon from exercising their inherent right of self-defence, consistent with international law.
What the dishonourable gentleman must be referring to is a US “side letter” provided to Israel. It was done so on the fringe of the ceasefire agreement. The letter states that:
Israel has the right to act in response to threats from inside Lebanon
So the US — a guarantor of the ceasefire agreement — told Israel to bin the agreement.
Swimming in denial
Israel Hayom goes on to claim that ‘no one in the world’ has claimed Israel is breaching the so-called ceasefire:
Not only has no one in the world claimed that Israel violated the agreement, but Hezbollah is also afraid to return fire. Iran’s flailing puppet is imprisoned in two ways – diplomatically and militarily.
This, of course, is as clear a demonstration of the insular, entitled delusion of Israeli society. Israel murdered and maimed dozens of Lebanese civilians in the bombing attack that killed Tabatabai — an act of terrorism that was condemned by any number of non-colluding governments which include Spain. The United Nations’ human rights chief said Israel’s actions, including the Tabatabai attack and its attacks on UN peacekeepers, again make Israel the threat to any hope of peace in the region. The Lebanese government correctly reacted with outrage. But in the Israeli worldview, anyone who objects is ‘no one’. Only the views of itself and its corrupt cheerleaders count.
This disregard raises – of course – the question whether Israel will even wait until 31 December to launch its full-scale war. Experience – and Netanyahu’s actions today – suggest not:
This US-enabled arrogance and impunity are not, of course, limited to Lebanon. Israel has even murdered peace negotiators in Iran, in Gaza and also in Qatar — a US ally in the region. Yet it is Israel who reacts in outrage when its victims retaliate and always acts the victim no matter how hideous its crimes — a stance exemplified in the same Israel Hayom article, which ends by concluding that Israel is being left with ‘no choice’ but to resume its full-scale invasion of its neighbour:
One of the fundamental lessons of October 7 is not to allow the enemy to build up power across the border. The current situation indicates that there will soon be no choice but to implement this lesson.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.