Israel massacres more than 250 in Lebanon and APAN takes News Corp to court
Also, Trump’s ‘civilisation’ threat reflects genocidal intent, expert says
Welcome to our regular weekly wrap to ensure you’re properly informed of news that matters (with some analysis).
Iran and Lebanon wars
By Antoun
Bloody massacres in Lebanon. Israel conducted its most ferocious airstrikes against Lebanon since the war began, killing at least 254 people and wounding 1,165, Al Jazeera reports. Israel defied the ceasefire deal with powerful strikes across the country, despite Hezbollah and all other parties to the war on Iran ceasing their attacks. Desperate pleas were issued for blood donations throughout Lebanon amid overcrowding in hospitals.
Shocking brutality. Among the dead were three girls killed in a bombed house in the town of Aadloun in south Lebanon, a whole family in Hermel in the north-east, and a radio journalist – Ghada al-Dayekh – of the Voice of Joy. Separately, Israeli forces bombed residents awaiting a funeral procession in a town called Shmuster, killing at least 11 and wounding 20. Israel also attacked several civil defence (emergency response) centres, including a building in Tyre used by emergency workers to transport the wounded to hospitals.
Strikes hit central Beirut. Residents in Beirut were in a state of shock and panic as Israeli strikes hit numerous neighbourhoods in central Beirut and its southern suburbs. Israeli warplanes also struck areas in the Bekaa in the country’s east and continued its aggression in south Lebanon. Lebanese state media reports that Israeli forces also detonated houses in Lebanese villages along the border, including Naqoura and Aita al-Shaab. Israel says it hit 100 Hezbollah sites in 10 minutes, branding its assault “Operation Eternal Darkness”. Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper played with those words in a headline, “100 massacres in 10 minutes”.
Quick take: Israel had invaded Lebanon without the bulk of its air force, which had been in use against Iran. The ceasefire returned Israel’s full air power, allowing for a ruthless wave of airstrikes.
Netanyahu rejects ceasefire in Lebanon. Hours after the two-week ceasefire deal had been announced, Israeli prime minister and wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu openly rejected the ceasefire’s application to Lebanon. This came despite Pakistan’s Prime Ninister Shebaz Sharif saying Lebanon was included in the ceasefire, and Israeli security officials confirming that fact to Israeli media.
Trump says no, negotiator says yes Lebanon included in deal. The US president said Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire, despite a regional official who took part in the negotiations also confirming that Lebanon was part of the deal. Spain and France rebuked Netanyahu, insisting that Israel cease its attacks on the country. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said Israel’s “contempt for life and international law is intolerable”.
Iran closes Strait of Hormuz. Iran announced it was closing the strait amid Israel’s ceasefire violations. “The White House’s claim that Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire is an example of reneging on the agreement,” Iran’s foreign ministry said. Direct talks slated for Friday in Islamabad are also in jeopardy, with Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf saying a “bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable” given the violations.
Israel caught by surprise. Israel agreed to the ceasefire but perhaps begrudgingly. An Israeli official told Israel’s public broadcaster that they “were surprised by Trump’s decision. We received updates in the final moments when everything seemed finalised”.
Internal Israeli pressure. As soon as the ceasefire was announced, Netanyahu’s internal opponents came out in fury. Chief among them was opposition leader Yair Lapid, who said, “There has never been such a political disaster in all of our history. Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security.” He went on to say that Netanyahu “failed politically, failed strategically, and didn’t meet a single one of the goals that he himself set”.
Quick take: Netanyahu, personally, needs forever wars. As soon as the fighting stops, the domestic focus in Israel will turn to Netanyahu’s security failures, his corruption trial and a looming election later this year.
Iran has already won the war. The two-week ceasefire deal – agreed to at the last minute through Pakistani mediation – reportedly allows Iran, along with Oman, to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Winning control of this vital strait – through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil transits – is a major strategic win for Iran, which had listed this as part of its 10-point proposal to end the war.
US Senator Chris Murphy called Iran’s control over the strait, if true, “a history-changing win for Iran”.
What is Iran’s 10-point plan? According to Tasnim news agency, an Iranian outlet, the plan is as follows:
US commitment to non-aggression
Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz
Acceptance of Iranian uranium enrichment
Removal of all primary sanctions on Iran
Removal of all secondary sanctions on Iran
Termination of all UN Security Council resolutions against Iran
Termination of all IAEA Board of Governors decisions against Iran
War reparations paid to Iran
Withdrawal of US combat forces from the region
Cessation of war on all fronts, including Lebanon.
From “maximalist” to acceptance? A day earlier, a US official called this a “maximalist” position from Iran. US special envoy, and ardent Zionist, Steve Witkoff reportedly called it “a catastrophe”. But in agreeing to the ceasefire, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said “the American side, despite all its outward threats, has accepted these principles as the basis for negotiations and has submitted to the will of the Iranian nation”. It also “emphasised that this does not mean the end of the war – Iran will only accept an end to the war when, given the acceptance of the principles of Iran’s 10-point plan, the details are also finalised in negotiations”.
Trump’s hubris masked as desperation. And not a very convincing mask. If anything, the escalation of his unhinged posts on Truth Social over the last month only made it obvious that he was losing a war he started. It was poorly disguised desperation throughout – from pleading then lambasting NATO allies for not helping; to issuing hollow threats only to back down with repeated deadline extensions; to this week’s extraordinary, genocidal threat that ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’ before again backing down. And not only did he back down, he seemingly agreed to Iran’s demands as “the basis for negotiations”.
Trump demonstrated ‘genocidal intent’ with ‘civilisation’ threat. Renowned political scientist and professor at the University of Chicago, John Mearsheimer, was among the first to point out that, under international law, Trump’s threat “reflects genocidal intent”. “Indeed, this is rhetoric you would expect from Adolf Hitler, not from the president of the US,” he wrote.
Trump’s unhinged behaviour putting the world at risk. Democrat leaders, including pro-Israel supporters such as Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries, are calling on Republicans to “invoke the 25th Amendment”, which gives the US Cabinet the power to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”. So too are his former MAGA loyalists such as Marjorie Greene-Taylor, who also called for the 25th amendment, and Candace Owens, who called him a “genocidal lunatic”.
Does this mean the war is over? No. Iran has made clear that war will resume if its 10-point plan is not met, and has so far pointed out three violations – Israel’s attacks on Lebanon one of them. Netanyahu also seems bent on wrecking the ceasefire, affirming that the deal was not an end to the war. If Trump is unable or unwilling to rein in Netanyahu, the war could resume sooner than hoped.
Democracy in Australia
By Alex
News Corp faces race hate suit. A new Federal Court lawsuit alleges that News Corp media outlets “engaged in racial hatred and discrimination against Palestinians of all faiths and Arab Muslims”. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni, lawyer Engy Abdelsalam and five anonymous complainants allege that News Corp and several of its media subsidiaries breached the Racial Discrimination Act by “publish[ing] and disseminat[ing] atrocity propaganda” that created hatred and contempt for “Muslim, Arab and/or Palestinian Australians”. Mashni said News Corp and its titles had “engaged in hateful, extreme, dangerous, divisive and racist conduct, and it’s time that they stopped being treated as credible news sources”.
Billionaires, conservatives back Roberts-Smith. Gina Rinehart, Elon Musk, Tony Abbott and Pauline Hanson are among the prominent figures lamenting the arrest of former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith. Roberts-Smith was arrested at Sydney airport on Tuesday and remanded in custody in Silverwater Correctional Complex after being charged with five counts of war crimes, including murder. Rinehart – who has vocally supported Roberts-Smith since allegations against him were first published by Nine newspapers in 2018 – told the Sydney Morning Herald that Roberts-Smith deserved “compassion and the Aussie spirit”. Writing on Twitter/X, Musk said that Roberts-Smith’s arrest “sounds insane”. Seven West Media chair Kerry Stokes – who was ordered to pay $13.5 million in costs to Nine’s legal team last year after bankrolling Robert-Smith’s unsuccessful defamation lawsuit – declined to comment on his arrest.
‘Banned phrase’ user appears in court. The first person to be formally charged under Queensland’s new prohibition of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ has vowed to fight the law in court. Activist Liam Parry was arrested last month after giving a speech using the now-banned phrase during a rally outside Queensland’s parliament. Dozens of supporters attended a rally in support of Parry outside Brisbane’s Roma Street Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where a 70-year-old man was warned by police to dispose of a sign reading “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever”. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Parry said “people won’t accept their civil rights and civil liberties being taken away”.
Check out our new podcast, Deepthink. We speak with Senator David Shoebridge on the Iran war, the Australia-US alliance and the surging UK Greens. Listen on Spotify, Apple, Deezer or watch on YouTube.