Yearly Archives: 2026

Western politicians lie, millions die: The architecture of manufactured consent

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Protesters march through downtown Chicago during an “Emergency Protest” on April 8, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. [Jacek Boczarski – Anadolu Agency]

Modern ‘victory’ is prepared long before the first shot. It is paved with a sophisticated architecture of manufactured consent—where political deception and media complicity turn illegal aggressions into ‘moral necessities.

To sustain a perpetual state of war, the public must be shielded from the gore of the battlefield and fed a steady diet of “imminent threats” and “humanitarian interventions.” Whether it was the phantom WMDs of Baghdad, the “freedom-fighting” narrative of the Afghan occupation, or the distorted “responsibility to protect” that left Libya a fractured marketplace for human trafficking, the media has acted less as a watchdog and more as a megaphone for the state.

The formula remains hauntingly consistent: Western politicians lie, the media amplifies, and millions die

The lie that sent Iraq to the stone age:

The 2003 invasion of Iraq is the gold standard for manufactured consent—a masterclass in using a fabricated casus belli to dismantle a state. This was a multi-layered campaign centered on the specter of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and an imaginary link between Baghdad and Al-Qaeda. When Colin Powell brandished a vial of white powder before the UN, Western media acted as stenographers of power. Major outlets validated unverified intelligence from “Curveball” and other discredited sources, creating a feedback loop that made dissent look like delusion.

By the time the world realised there were no stockpiles or mobile bio-labs, over  one million Iraqis died, the state had been decapitated, its social fabric shredded.

The media’s “mea culpas” came years too late, a quiet postscript to a tragedy that achieved its goal: the destruction of a sovereign nation under the guise of a liberation that never came.

Libya: The cost of the “humanitarian” vacuum:

If Iraq was a masterclass in fear-mongering, the 2011 intervention in Libya was a masterclass in moral manipulation. Here, the “Architecture of Consent” utilized the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)—a noble-sounding doctrine transformed into a geopolitical weapon.

The lie was anchored in the unverified claim of an “imminent genocide” in Benghazi, a narrative fuelled by Gulf-funded media and echoed without scrutiny by Western capitals.

The media’s role shifted from stenography to active advocacy, painting a complex civil conflict as a simplistic binary of “pro-democracy rebels” versus a “bloodthirsty dictator.” By the time the African Union’s peace proposals were dismissed and the “no-fly zone” had morphed into a full-scale regime-change bombing campaign, the trap was set.

The “victory” celebrated in London and Paris left behind 20, 000 deaths and nearly half a million displaced many still today cannot return to their homes. It made Libya fractured wasteland—a state without a center. Just as in Iraq, the “intellectuals” and “journalists” who beat the drums of war moved on to the next target, leaving millions of Libyans to navigate a decade of constitutional chaos and militia rule. The lie didn’t just kill; it erased a nation’s future under the guise of saving its people.

The world on the brink of the stone age: When Trump’s threat goes beyond Iran

Afghanistan: The Invisible Millions:

While Iraq was built on fabricated evidence, the invasion of Afghanistan was built on the rejection of evidence. The “Architecture of Consent” here relied on a false binary: “You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists.” This rhetoric successfully bypassed the legal requirement for proof.

The historical record is clear: the Taliban leadership, through their deputy ambassador in Pakistan, repeatedly requested that the United States provide “solid evidence” of Osama bin Laden’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

They even offered to hand him over to a third-party Islamic country for a trial under Sharia law if such evidence was produced. The Bush administration’s response was not a legal brief, but a dismissal: “There’s no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he’s guilty.”

The media, acting as the state’s megaphone, framed the Taliban’s request for due process as “defiance,” transforming an act of aggression into a “just war.” This set the precedent for the decades of “forever wars” that followed—where the accusation of the West becomes the conviction, and the “evidence” is only produced after the country has been reduced to rubble. By the time the US was defeated and forced to, hurriedly leave Afghanistan, over 150,000 people were killed as a result of the 2001 US invasion alone.

As we look toward the horizon, the “Architecture of Manufactured Consent” is currently being recalibrated for its most ambitious project yet: Iran. The drumbeat of war follows the exact frequency of the Iraq build-up, but with a more sophisticated digital veneer. Here, the “lie” is not just about a single weapon, but about the total demonization of a regional power’s right to security. We see the same “Information Iron Curtain” descending. Just as the American public was shielded from the Taliban’s offer of a third-party trial, today’s Western audiences are kept in the dark regarding the technicalities of international nuclear monitoring or the devastating human cost of “maximum pressure” sanctions. By framing Iran as an existential, irrational threat, the architecture ensures that when the first missiles are launched, the public will have been conditioned to see it not as a choice, but as inevitability. The goal remains the same: the redrawing of the geopolitical map at the cost of an entire generation’s blood, ensuring that no sovereign Arab or Middle Eastern state can challenge the “Imperial Directive.”

How to tell the rebels have won: The structural defeat of empire

The “Architecture of Manufactured Consent” is not a collection of unfortunate policy errors; it is a structural requirement of modern empire. Whether through the Ultimatum Fraud in Afghanistan, the Phantom WMDs of Iraq, or the Humanitarian Trojan Horse in Libya, the pattern is immutable. Politicians design the lie, the media assembles the consent, and millions of people—mostly in the Global South—pay with their lives and their sovereignty.

The same pattern is being repeated in Iran. They east distortion of facts, for example, is manifested in the over use of the term “the Iran war” when in fact the right description is the war on Iran. Despite the surprise announcement of Trump, accepting a two week ceasefire, the fact remains: western media amplified and distorted the terminology to appease Trump personally. It is time that we move beyond the “mea culpas” issued by journalists years after a nation has been levelled. True accountability begins by recognizing that these wars are never about liberation or democracy; they are about the systematic dismantling of states to ensure a profitable, perpetual chaos. If we continue to ignore the architecture of the lie today, we will be forced to count the bodies of the millions tomorrow.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Continue ReadingWestern politicians lie, millions die: The architecture of manufactured consent

Iran warns US must choose between ceasefire and war via Israel, ‘it cannot have both’

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (C) participates in the traditional Quds Day rally in the capital Tehran on March 13, 2026. [Fatemeh Bahrami – Anadolu Agency]

Iran warned on Wednesday that the US must choose between a ceasefire and “continued war via Israel,” saying Washington “cannot have both,” Anadolu reports.

“The Iran–U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose—ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on US social media company X.

“The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”

Citing an informed source, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported earlier that Tehran will withdraw from the truce with the US if Israel continues to violate it through attacks on Lebanon.

The Israeli army said it struck more than 100 sites “within 10 minutes” across multiple areas in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon, in the “largest” coordinated strike since the start of the current offensive in Lebanon.

READ: ‘Ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran must include Lebanon’: Belgian foreign minister

While simultaneously attacking Iran since Feb. 28, Israel has carried out airstrikes and a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2, despite a ceasefire that took effect in November 2024.

After Pakistani mediation, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, saying Tehran presented a “workable” 10-point proposal for negotiations.

The announcement came less than two hours before the expiration of a deadline Trump had repeatedly extended for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept an agreement or face “the destruction of an entire civilization.”

READ: Iran may quit US ceasefire if Israel continues attacks in Lebanon: Iranian media

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Continue ReadingIran warns US must choose between ceasefire and war via Israel, ‘it cannot have both’

Under Trump, US Disapproval of Israel, Netanyahu Hits All-Time High in Pew Research Poll

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Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are gathered outside of the Port of Oakland building as they demand an end to military shipments to Israel on December 18, 2025 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“A foreign country that a majority of Americans now disapprove of gets $3.8 billion a year from them.”

The bipartisan support Israel and its powerful lobby have enjoyed for decades in the US—with lawmakers from both parties insisting the federal government must help Israel “defend itself” with nearly $4 billion per year in military aid—is likely to shift considerably in the coming years as public support for the country continues to collapse, particularly among young voters, in the latest Pew Research poll.

The survey was taken last month as the US-Israeli war on Iran, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pitched to President Donald Trump in an unusual Situation Room meeting in February, was escalating and spreading across the Middle East. It found that overall, 60% of US adults had an unfavorable view of Israel.

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That share has grown considerably since 2022, before Israel began its US-backed war on the population of Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack. That year, just 42% in the US viewed Israel unfavorably.

Public opposition to the country’s government has also gone up by seven percentage points since last year, according to Pew. The share of adults who describe themselves as having a “very unfavorable” view of Israel has gone up by 9% since 2025 and has nearly tripled since before Israel began waging war on Gaza.

Journalist Prem Thakker commented that it was “absurd” to continue providing a country that a sizable majority of Americans disapprove of with military funding.

Over the past two-and-a-half years—as US public support for Israel has steadily declined—that funding has helped Israel to kill more than 72,000 Palestinians; injure more than 172,000; displace more than 90% of Gaza’s population; carry out nearly 800 attacks on the healthcare system, damaging 94% of hospitals; damage or destroy 97% of school buildings; and impose a mass starvation policy through a blockade on humanitarian aid. Israeli officials have publicly called for the killing of 50 Palestinians for every Israeli killed in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, for Gaza to be burned to the ground, and for Israelis to “remember what Amalek has done to you,” a reference to the Israelites’ enemies in the Old Testament, whom King Saul was ordered to massacre.

All the while, Israeli officials and bipartisan US lawmakers who continue to support the Israeli government—and take donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other influential pro-Israel lobbying groups—have accused Americans who have spoken out against Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza of being antisemitic.

In the poll released by Pew, the shift away from support for Israel is most pronounced among voters aged 18-49, with 70% of respondents in that age bracket reporting unfavorable views. Majorities of both Democrats (84%) and Republicans (57%) under 50 had unfavorable views. In 2025, just 50% of Republicans under 50 viewed Israel negatively, while 71% of young Democrats said the same—representing a 13-point jump in just a year among the latter group.

Americans’ views on Netanyahu have also grown more negative, with 59% of respondents saying they did not trust the prime minister to do the right thing in terms of world affairs—up from 53% last year.

The poll was released as Israel continued its assault on Lebanon, which it began attacking in March after Hezbollah retaliated against Israeli forces for the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli officials claim the two-week ceasefire reached between the US, Israel, and Iran does not include Lebanon, despite statements from Pakistan, which helped broker the deal declaring otherwise.

Israel has killed more than 1,400 people in Lebanon in the last month, in addition to striking Iran along with the US in attacks that have killed more than 2,000 people.

The Pew survey was released days after a poll by the IMEU Policy Project and Data for Progress found that among Democratic primary voters in Texas, the US relationship with Israel was not seen as an abstract foreign policy issue, but one that significantly impacted how many chose between US Senate candidate James Talarico and his primary opponent, US Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).

The poll found that Talarico gained a 4-to-1 advantage over Crockett when he spoke out against providing US weapons to Israel. Nearly 90% of respondents agreed with his stance, and 44% of his supporters said his position deeply influenced their vote.

“Democrats,” said political operative Isi Baehr-Breen in response to the poll of Talarico supporters, “are gonna have to choose between Israel and winning elections.”

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Continue ReadingUnder Trump, US Disapproval of Israel, Netanyahu Hits All-Time High in Pew Research Poll

Pakistan Reiterates That Lebanon Is Still Part of Ceasefire Despite Israel’s Attacks

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Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A vendor displays morning newspapers at his roadside stall in Islamabad on April 8, 2026. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

A foreign policy expert told Common Dreams that Israel’s unprecedented attack on Lebanon, backed by the US, “appeared to be a direct attempt to blow up the ceasefire, and it worked.”

A Pakistani official said Wednesday that despite Israel’s unprecedented attack on Lebanon, it is still part of the ceasefire agreement that Pakistan’s prime minister helped to mediate the previous day, even as Israel and the US insist otherwise.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who played a key role in brokering the deal announced on Tuesday, said that “Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”

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But within hours of the agreement, Israel launched what it said was its largest military operation against Lebanon yet, which killed at least 254 people and wounded 1,165 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged that the assault included attacks on many civilian areas.

Contrary to the mediators, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt followed suit, confirming that the US’s position was also that “Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire,” adding that “that has been relayed to all parties involved.”

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But Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, said on Wednesday afternoon that this was not the agreement the parties reached on Tuesday.

He told CNN anchor Becky Anderson that the deal announced by his prime minister, which included Lebanon, “could not have been more authentic” to what the two parties agreed to, and that it was still the prime minister’s understanding that Lebanon was included.

He added that this was another instance in which a ceasefire “could be disrupted” by Israel’s actions. He also noted that “there have been instances in the past where ceasefires have been disrupted,” a possible reference to Israel’s routine violations of its previous ceasefire with Lebanon and the current one with Gaza, and its repeated assassinations of Iranian negotiators as they’ve sat down for talks with the US.

The US-Iran ceasefire is less than 24 hours old, but Israel’s attack on Wednesday has already thrown it into peril. Iran responded to the attacks on Wednesday by once again closing the Strait of Hormuz after briefly reopening the critical waterway in accordance with the deal. Iran is also reportedly considering withdrawing from the ceasefire altogether and resuming strikes against Israel.

President Donald Trump has appeared eager to declare victory and move on from the war, which has further tanked his already plummeting support at home and sparked a global economic crisis.

But Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher with the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Common Dreams that Israel’s goals are very different.

She explained that Israel was largely sidelined from the talks that culminated in Tuesday’s ceasefire and that within Israel’s internal politics, the agreement is being portrayed as “catastrophic.”

She noted that Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition to Netanyahu’s government, has portrayed it as “the worst political failure in our history,” and accused the prime minister of failing to achieve his goals.

“What we’ve seen since looks like Israel acting to undermine a diplomatic process over which it had lost influence,” Abou-Elias said.

She said that Israel’s attack on Lebanon on Wednesday, which it has referred to as Operation Eternal Darkness, “appeared to be a direct attempt to blow up the ceasefire, and it worked.”

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights monitor for Iran, at least 1,701 civilians have been killed in US-Israeli attacks against Iran since the war was launched on February 28.

After Wednesday’s bombardment, Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that the death toll in the country was now up to at least 1,739 since the war began on March 2.

“At this point, any durable end to this conflict, even a temporary one, requires Washington to rein in Israel,” Abou-Elias said. “Trump has the leverage to do it. What’s unclear is whether he has the political will to use it.”

Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ...
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Continue ReadingPakistan Reiterates That Lebanon Is Still Part of Ceasefire Despite Israel’s Attacks

Iran Blocks Strait of Hormuz as ‘Barbaric’ Israeli Bombing Kills Hundreds in Lebanon

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Bombed-out apartment towers and vehicles are seen in Beirut on April 8, 2026 amid escalating Israeli bombing. (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

One senior Iranian official said his country is considering resuming strikes to put Israel’s “aggressor regime in its place,” while others warned Iran might quit the shaky ceasefire altogether.

Iran said Wednesday that it is blocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz over Israel’s escalating bombardment of Lebanon, actions that are threatening to unravel the tenuous ceasefire agreed to less than a day ago.

Fars, an Iranian state media outlet, reported that “simultaneous with Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has been stopped,” while Reuters said that “more than 180 tankers believed to be inside [the] strait, with hundreds more waiting” for access.

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The developments came after two tankers were reportedly allowed to pass through the vital waterway—through which around 20% of the world’s oil is shipped—in the wake of Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

While Israel accepted the two-week truce, it insists that the agreement does not apply to its ongoing war on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran counters that halting attacks on Lebanon is one of the 10 points in the Pakistan-brokered deal, which Israel is violating.

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli forces have ramped up their already intense bombing of Lebanon to levels described as “apocalyptic.” Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 254 people have been killed and 1,165 others wounded by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombing throughout the country, with some official sources telling media outlets that as many as 300 people have been killed.

More than 100 sites across Lebanon were reportedly bombed within a period of just minutes, including densely populated urban areas. In southern Lebanon, the dead include 12 medics, according to officials cited by Reuters.

Israeli forces have targeted civilian structures including apartment towers, claiming without providing evidence they were being used by Hezebollah.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday implored sympathetic nations to put pressure on Israel to stop the bombing.

“All of Lebanon’s friends are called upon to help us stop these attacks by all available means,” he said.

Iran’s Press TV reported Wednesday that Iranian leaders are considering resuming full-scale counterattacks in response to Israel’s escalation. According to the outlet, a senior Iranian official said that the time has come to “put this aggressor regime in its place.”

Iranian and international media outlets also reported Wednesday that Iran might withdraw from the ceasefire altogether if Israel keeps bombing Lebanon.

“The conditions for a ceasefire between Iran and the United States are clear and explicit: America must choose either a ceasefire or the continuation of war through Israel; both cannot coexist,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on Telegram. “The world is witnessing the killings in Lebanon. Now the ball is in America’s court, and global public opinion is watching to see whether this country will fulfill its commitments or not.”

In a Wednesday interview with Al Jazeera, Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg described Israel’s intensified attacks on Lebanon as “a pyrotechnics show meant to demonstrate Israel’s effectiveness while ultimately demonstrating its despair.”

“The only entity that can stop it is the international community that will defend Lebanon’s sovereign rights, which have been violated for decades but are now almost nonexistent,” he said.

Goldberg added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “bet it all” on US President Donald Trump and “lost.”

Some Israeli leaders, especially on the far-right, are reportedly furious over their exclusion from Trump’s decision to suspend attacks on Iran.

“He thought he could keep Trump on a short leash,” Goldberg said of Netanyahu. “He messed that up. So now what he has is Lebanon, which has been Israel’s favorite stomping ground in terms of sovereignty violation and aggression generally.”

Since the 1980s, Israeli forces have killed more than 20,000 people, many of them civilians, in Lebanon. Israeli forces have occupied parts of Lebanon several times, including for the last 18 years of the 20th century. Some right-wing Israelis want their country to conquer some or even all of Lebanon, which they consider part of a “Greater Israel” promised to them by their deity figure.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz—who, like Netanyahu, stands accused in an International Court of Justice case of inciting genocide in Gaza—said Wednesday that “the IDF carried out a surprise strike on hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists at command centers across Lebanon” in what he called “the largest concentrated blow Hezbollah has suffered since Operation Beepers,” when dozens of people including children were killed by booby-trapped exploding communication devices.

Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Katz’s predecessor, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, where 29 months of Israeli war and siege have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and the Gaza Strip in ruins. More than 700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect there six months ago.

Regional and international observers condemned Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, which Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi called “evidence of its hostile plan to sabotage the truce” and “perpetuate conflict.”

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community “to fulfill its responsibilities by compelling the Israeli occupation authorities to halt their barbaric massacres and repeated attacks on Lebanon, and to hold them accountable for respecting international covenants and laws.”

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ...
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.

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