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From Lebanon to Iran, Says Sanders, US Must End Complicity in ‘Netanyahu’s Wars’

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

Smoke rises over Dahieh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, following Israeli airstrikes on March 11, 2026. (Photo by Adri Salido/Getty Images)

“In less than two weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000—over 10% of the entire country,” the senator said of Lebanon. “Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning.”

Just a day after tearing into US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “unraveling international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the legitimacy of the United Nations” with their illegal war on Iran, Sen. Bernie Sanders stressed that “it’s not just Iran.”

“It’s Lebanon,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said on social media Wednesday. Since Trump and Netanyahu began bombing Iran a dozen days ago, Israel has also ramped up attacks against its northern neighbor—claiming to target the Lebanese political and paramilitary group Hezbollah—despite a November 2024 ceasefire deal.

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That agreement to protect the Lebanese people was struck just over a year into Israel’s retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas-led attack, which has also left the Gaza Strip in ruins. Despite the Lebanon truce, and another for Gaza reached this past October, Israeli forces have continued to slaughter civilians in both places.

In Lebanon, Sanders noted Wednesday, “in less than two weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000—over 10% of the entire country. Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning.”

“The US cannot continue to be complicit in Netanyahu’s wars,” declared the senator. His comments came after the White House tried to walk back Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s suggestion last week that Trump followed the Israeli prime minister’s lead on Iran.

Sanders has also criticized and even attempted to curb US complicity in Netanyahu’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza—under the Biden and Trump administrations—by forcing unsuccessful votes to cut off some weapons to Israel.

The Israeli government has used the operation against Iran—which experts argue violates the US Constitution and UN Charter—to again cut off necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza, claiming last week that “the existing stock is expected to suffice for an extended period.”

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, called the move “a new chokehold on Gaza,” adding that “after more than two years of unspeakable suffering and a spreading man-made famine, people still lack the most basic supplies, despite increases in aid since the ceasefire.

As for Lebanon, Axios reported Monday that “the Lebanese government proposed direct negotiations with Israel—through the Trump administration—aimed at ending the war and reaching a peace agreement.”

However, the Financial Times reported Tuesday that “Israel has rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon,” with one unnamed source saying that the Lebanese “are ready to talk to Israel, but under the condition of a cessation of fire. Not a ceasefire, but a cessation… so talks can get going in Cyprus.”

“Israel has so far refused and says it will only negotiate ‘under fire,’” according to that unnamed source.

Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, made US support for Israel’s bombing of Lebanon clear in his Wednesday remarks to the UN Security Council.

“The United States condemns the attacks that Hezbollah, a long-time proxy of the Iranian regime, has launched against Israel. Hezbollah has yet again made it clear that it does not represent nor does it defend the people of Lebanon. It defends the interests of the Iranian regime,” Waltz said, stressing Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

Waltz also welcomed the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ recent decision “to immediately prohibit Hezbollah’s military and security activities,” and declared that “now is the time for the government of Lebanon to take back control of the entirety of its country.”

Meanwhile, Tom Fletcher, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, noted to the Security Council that UN Secretary-General António Guterres “has insisted… we need the protection of civilians, de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, and genuine dialogue and negotiations towards a peaceful settlement, in line with the charter.”

Fletcher concluded his comments at the briefing on Lebanon with calls for the protection of “all civilians throughout the region,” “generous funding for a principled, scaled-up humanitarian response,” and “a revival of strategic, calm, rational, hopeful diplomacy.”

“Lebanon is exhausted by other people’s wars,” he said. “It is not asking for help, but for oxygen. Its people can defy the history, the geography, even the politics. They can be stronger than the forces pulling them apart. But they can only do that if Iran and Israel stop fighting their war in Lebanon.”

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel's criminal war for Israel's genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism "without qualification".
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Starmer said it 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 ReadingFrom Lebanon to Iran, Says Sanders, US Must End Complicity in ‘Netanyahu’s Wars’

With No Mention of US-Israeli Aggression, UN Security Council Condemns Iranian Retaliation

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

Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations, raises his hand during a UN Security Council meeting in New York on March 11, 2026. (Photo by Selcuk Acar /Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The very purpose of this biased and politically motivated text, which was pushed by the Israeli regime and the United States, is clear: to reverse the roles of victim and aggressor,” said Iran’s ambassador to the UN.

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Gulf nations without denouncing—or even mentioning—the illegal US and Israeli bombing campaign that started the war, which has hurled the region into conflict and destabilized the global economy.

The resolution, sponsored by council member and US ally Bahrain, “condemns in the strongest terms the egregious attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the territories of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan,” nations that host US military bases. The text calls Iranian strikes “a breach of international law and a serious threat to international peace and security,” but contains no mention of the US or Israel, nations that have been accused of grave war crimes.

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The council adopted Bahrain’s measure by a vote of 13-0, with two abstentions—China and Russia. Both nations have veto power but declined to use it. Neither Iran nor Israel is currently a member of the Security Council.

The UN body also voted on a competing resolution, sponsored by Russia, that would have implored “all parties”—without naming any of them—to stop their military operations and avoid escalating the conflict. The resolution did not receive the nine votes necessary for adoption, with the US and Latvia voting against it and Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, France, Greece, Liberia, Panama, and the United Kingdom abstaining.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, said the body’s adoption of Bahrain’s resolution marks “a serious setback to the council’s credibility and leaves a lasting stain on its record.”

“Today’s action represents a blatant misuse of the Security Council’s mandate in pursuit of the political agendas of certain members,” said Iravani. “The very state responsible for this brutal war of aggression against my country—the regime of the United States—sits on the other side of this chamber as president of the council, abusing its position while obstructing every effort to bring an end to this barbaric war against the Iranian people and preventing the Council from fulfilling its Charter-based responsibilities.”

“This resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of a clear act of aggression. It distorts the realities on the ground and deliberately ignores the root causes of the current crisis,” he continued. “The very purpose of this biased and politically motivated text, which was pushed by the Israeli regime and the United States, is clear: to reverse the roles of victim and aggressor. It rewards the regimes of the United States and Israel, which have violated the UN Charter and committed acts of aggression. In doing so, it establishes impunity and sends a wrong message to the international community—emboldening the aggressors to commit further crimes.”

“The UN and International Criminal Court were created for moments like this, when the most powerful decide the rules do not apply to them.”

Ahead of the vote on Bahrain’s resolution, which accuses Iran of “deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian objects,” Iravani said US-Israeli bombing has killed more than 1,300 civilians in Iran and destroyed nearly 10,000 civilian structures across the country, including around 8,000 homes and dozens of schools and healthcare facilities.

Earlier on Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon has reached the preliminary conclusion that US forces were responsible for the February 28 bombing of an Iranian elementary school, an attack that killed around 175 people—mostly young children.

DAWN, a nonprofit that supports human rights and democracy in the Middle East, said Wednesday that “mounting evidence” shows US and Israeli forces “have committed multiple war crimes” in Iran and Lebanon—which is facing a rapidly worsening humanitarian disaster due to Israeli attacks.

“In mere days, US and Israel forces have launched a war of choice, killed hundreds of civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands, bombed scores of schools, health facilities, and fuel depots, and dropped white phosphorus on civilian communities,” Omar Shakir, DAWN’s executive director, said in a statement. “The international community’s failure to act when the most fundamental norms of international law are being challenged risks plunging the world further into a lawless era in which civilians across the globe are at risk.”

“The UN and International Criminal Court were created for moments like this, when the most powerful decide the rules do not apply to them,” said Shakir. “Governments unwilling to invoke international law when their allies commit crimes have no credibility when they invoke it against rivals.”

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel's criminal war for Israel's genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism "without qualification".
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Starmer said it 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 ReadingWith No Mention of US-Israeli Aggression, UN Security Council Condemns Iranian Retaliation

Settler attacks escalate in West Bank during Israel’s aggression against Iran

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Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have increased

Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have increased, as settlers exploit movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli army since the start of its offensive against Iran, according to reports. At least five Palestinians have been killed in recent days.

Rights groups and medical teams said settlers had intensified assaults on Palestinian villages and towns, taking advantage of military checkpoints that restrict Palestinian movement and delay ambulances from reaching the wounded.

The Israeli army has closed many roads across the West Bank with iron gates and earth mounds since the first day of the offensive. It has also shut most crossings with Israel, describing the measures as pre-emptive security steps.

In a related context, the United Nations said about 700 Palestinians had been displaced by settler attacks since the start of 2025 until early February 2026.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has continued to expand settlement activity in the West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the settlement building campaign aims to undermine the idea of establishing a Palestinian state.

READ: Over 1,500 Palestinians displaced by Israel in occupied West Bank in 2026: UN

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

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
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 ReadingSettler attacks escalate in West Bank during Israel’s aggression against Iran

Amid Alarm That Trump Has No Plan for Iran, Critic Contends None ‘Could Possibly Justify This’

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

A veiled Iranian woman holds a portrait of her relative, Mohsen Sheikh Mohammadi, who was killed during the US-Israeli military campaign, during a funeral at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran, Iran, on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“The war is wrong and illegal and needs to stop now—that’s it, that’s the line,” said journalist Adam Johnson.

Several Senate Democrats on Tuesday came out of a classified briefing about the US-Israeli assault on Iran warning that President Donald Trump “can’t defend this war in public” and top officials have even failed to explain behind closed doors “what the endgame is or what their plans are.”

Media critic and political analyst Adam Johnson responded to such comments on social media early Wednesday, reminding leaders on Capitol Hill and beyond that “the war is wrong and illegal and needs to stop now—that’s it, that’s the line.”

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Experts around the world have argued that the US assault is unconstitutional, given congressional authority to declare war, and runs afoul of the United Nations Charter, which bars the use of force unless it is a “necessary and proportionate” act of self-defense or is authorized by the UN Security Council. Despite that, nearly all Republicans and a short list of Democrats in Congress have blocked war powers resolutions in both the GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) voted for the resolution and was among the senators sounding the alarm after Tuesday’s briefing. He wrote in a five-part thread on X that “the war goals DO NOT involve destroying Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” and Pentagon and White House officials “confirmed ‘regime change’ is also NOT on the list.”

The primary goal of Trump’s war on Iran seems to be “destroying lots of missiles and boats and drone factories,” according to Murphy. “But the question that stumped them: What happens when you stop bombing and they restart production? They hinted at more bombing. Which is, of course, endless war.”

“And on the Strait of Hormuz, they had NO PLAN,” he said of the key waterway Iran has shut down, cutting off the flow of fossil fuel exports and other products. “I can’t go into more detail about how Iran gums up the strait, but suffice it say, right now, they don’t know how to get it safely back open. Which is unforgivable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.”

Responding to Murphy in a pair of posts, Johnson argued that “we don’t need 9,000 tweet threads consternating over an alleged lack of ‘plan.’ We also don’t need another take criticizing the regime change war for not being sufficiently regime change-y.”

“Criticizing Trump for a lack of a ‘plan’ implies the existence of a plan that could possibly justify this,” he continued. “There isn’t any, so what does a plan, or lack thereof, have to do with anything? The war is fundamentally unjust, illegal, and immoral regardless of nominal ‘aims’ or ‘goals.’”

Since disrupting diplomatic talks on a new nuclear deal by bombing Iran a dozen days ago, Trump and his top officials, including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have publicly sent mixed signals on aiming to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, regime change, how long they expect the war to last, and how much it will cost US taxpayers.

As The Washington Post reported, the Pentagon told Congress on Monday that it “burned through $5.6 billion worth of munitions during the first two days of its military assault on Iran.”

That disclosure came after a Washington, DC think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, put the estimated cost of the war at $891.4 million per day, but also said the figure may drop if the US moves to “less expensive munitions.”

Casualties have swiftly stacked up, with over 1,300 Iranians slaughtered—including around 175, mostly children, killed in an apparent US bombing of a girls’ school—according to Iran’s government. The Lebanese prime minister’s office said that Israel’s related bombing of Lebanon has killed 570 people and wounded 1,444.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile attacks on Gulf nations and US military bases in the region. The Pentagon confirmed that seven US service members are dead and around 140 have been injured. Additionally, The New York Times reported Tuesday that “at least 12 civilians have been killed in attacks across the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.”

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

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up".
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.
Continue ReadingAmid Alarm That Trump Has No Plan for Iran, Critic Contends None ‘Could Possibly Justify This’

Iraq says will not allow any party to use its territory as base for attacks on Iran

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

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) is welcomed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) with an official ceremony at Sa’dabad Complex in Tehran, Iran on January 8, 2025. [Iranian Presidency / Handout – Anadolu Agency]

Iraq will not allow any party or anyone to use Iraqi territory as a base for attacks against Iran, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over a phone call on Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

While Iraq is committed to Iran’s security and sovereignty, attacks targeting Iraqi territory constitute a violation of sovereignty, and undermine Baghdad’s efforts to end the war and return to dialogue, Sudani said, according to a statement by his office on US social media company X.

He also expressed Iraq’s “rejection and condemnation of the unjust war targeting Iran, emphasizing Iraq’s concern for the security and peace of the region and its brotherly peoples.”

READ: Iraqi factions threaten to target US interests, vow to protect Iran’s borders

Sudani said Iraq is ready to make efforts to end the war and return to a “logic of dialogue and peaceful solutions, away from the language of force that threatens regional and international security and stability.”

The US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, and have since killed over 1,300 people, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was the supreme leader, as well as over 150 schoolgirls.

Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets, disrupting global markets and sending energy prices soaring.

OPINION: Iraq’s militias: From guns for hire to checkbooks of power

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel's criminal war for Israel's genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism "without qualification".
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”.
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up".
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it's easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel's genocidal expansion.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.

Continue ReadingIraq says will not allow any party to use its territory as base for attacks on Iran