Israel, Hezbollah locked in fierce battle and Tony Abbott laments Orbán’s defeat
Plus Italy's shifting stance on Israel
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Welcome to our regular weekly wrap to ensure you’re properly informed of news that matters (with some analysis).
War in West Asia
By Antoun
Trump scapegoating NATO for his defeat. There’s no masking the colossal blunder that was the decision on February 28 to launch a war on Iran, or that the decision was a result of Israel’s decades-long insistence on such a war – a fact even Hillary Clinton noted this week. “I also know from personal experience how Netanyahu has tried to get every American president to agree to have an open-ended war with Iran,” she said.
But there was no stating the obvious for Trump. His chosen scapegoat, it seems, are the Europeans for refusing to help him in a war he started and could not win.
Trump even turned on one of his erstwhile European allies, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after she labelled Trump’s attack on Pope Leo XIV “unacceptable”. “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong,” he said.
His attack on Meloni coincided with Italy’s decision to suspend a defence agreement with Israel. Meloni’s shifting stance on Israel – once their closest ally in Europe – comes amid mounting public pressure, with Italy witnessing regular mass protests and strike action against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. A September poll showed 59 percent of Italians wanted the government to cut ties with Israel.
Backlash against the US blockade. No sooner had the US announced it was blockading Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz than Saudi Arabia lodged complaints. The Wall Street Journal reports the Saudis fear Iran could respond by asking its Houthi allies in Yemen to block the Red Sea, further crippling global trade. Saudi has been diverting its energy exports to the Red Sea, bypassing Iran’s control of the strait. China too has made it clear it disapproves of US attempts to block Chinese ships from transiting the strait, calling it “dangerous and irresponsible”. As of writing, the US says it has turned back at least eight ships.
Israel tries to spin loss into win. Netanyahu’s government is also in PR overdrive trying to camouflage its shortcomings. Israel’s defence minister, Yisrael Katz, said this week that Israel was stronger than ever, lauding its Iran operation as a success. Except that doesn’t quite stack up to reality. Israel has been at war since late 2023 and has failed in almost every arena it has entered, overstretching its military to – as we’ve previously reported – the point of exhaustion. It has failed to cleanse Gaza or defeat Hamas, it’s suffering casualties in Lebanon and its war on Iran appears to have only empowered Iran – not to mention Israel’s shattered global standing and dramatic loss of support among the US public (left and right).
Netanyahu empowering loyalists at the expense of competence. The appointment this week of Belarus-born Roman Gofman as Mossad’s new head sheds light on why Israel – a state historically known for strategic calculations – is acting irrationally. Gofman’s appointment has been blasted by corners of Israeli media as “a profound rupture” in the traditional selection of Mossad’s leadership – from individuals “rooted in deep analytical rigour” to, effectively, Netanyahu loyalists “with zero prior experience in the intelligence community”. That Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s most prominent messianic extremist, welcomed his appointment as a man of “true Zionism” says a lot about the elevation of extremists to important positions and its detrimental effect on Israeli decision-making.
Fierce battle in south Lebanon amid negotiations. An intense battle is ongoing between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters in the town of Bint Jbeil, close to the border. Israeli forces surrounded the town several days ago amid conflicting reports from both sides. The Israeli military says it is close to capturing the town and has killed at least 100 Hezbollah fighters, while Lebanese media say Hezbollah is standing its ground.
Crucial, symbolic battle. Bint Jbeil carries a lot of symbolism as the stage where a similar pivotal battle took place in the 2006 war in which Israeli forces were defeated. It was also where slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a victory speech after the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.
Israeli casualties. Evacuation helicopters carrying wounded Israeli soldiers are flying into Rambam Hospital in Haifa with such regularity it reminded one hospital official “of the days of the First and Second Lebanon wars, with helicopters constantly evacuating wounded to us”. Ten of the recently wounded were paratroopers fighting in Bint Jbeil.
Destroying villages. Israel is applying its Gaza model of total annihilation to southern Lebanese villages, with widespread destruction captured by satellite – see below.
Before and after – the village of al-Khiam (which we previously wrote about in September):
Before and after – the town of Bint Jbeil:
Negotiations ‘positive’. Both the Israeli and Lebanese delegations walked away from talks in Washington – the first between the two countries since 1983 – with positive impressions. The Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said afterwards that, “We are both united in liberating Lebanon from an occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah”. The US, Israel and Lebanon then issued a joint statement in which Lebanon said it “underscores the principles of territorial integrity and full state sovereignty, while calling for a ceasefire and concrete measures to address and alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis that the country continues to endure as a result of the ongoing conflict”.
Hezbollah opposed, Netanyahu buying time. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem slammed the talks as “an act of submission and surrender”. “How strange you are!” he said of the Lebanese government. “By God, you neither fight nor allow anyone to fight, you neither confront nor allow anyone to confront.” Meanwhile, Haaretz reports that Netanyahu is using the talks to buy time and show goodwill to the US while continuing the invasion of Lebanon.
Hind Rajab retribution in south Lebanon. The commander of the 52nd battalion of Israel’s 401st brigade, Daniel Ella, was severely injured fighting in south Lebanon. He’s of significance as – according to Dyab Abou Jahjah, the founder of the Hind Rajab Foundation – this is the battalion responsible for killing five-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024.
Dyab Abou Jahjah@AboujahjahDaniel Ella, commander of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade, was severely injured in combat in Lebanon today. He leads the battalion responsible for the killing of Hind Rajab. We have filed a case against him before the ICC.
7:54 PM · Apr 14, 2026 · 273K Views353 Replies · 3.3K Reposts · 9.87K Likes
Democracy in Australia
By Alex
Taylor goes far-right on migration. Liberal leader Angus Taylor has been widely condemned for proposing a Trump-style overhaul of Australia’s migration system. The Opposition’s Australian Values Migration Plan, unveiled by Taylor at the Menzies Research Centre on Tuesday, would create a legally binding ‘values test’ as a visa condition, allow screening of migrants’ social media accounts and make learning English mandatory for holders of permanent visas. Taylor claimed the 1,700 Palestinian refugees who have arrived in Australia since October 2023 are “a high risk to our nation”, and claimed that migrants from liberal democracies were more likely to hold “Australian values compared to those from other places ruled by fundamentalists, extremists and dictators”.
Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik said Taylor’s comments relied on “Islamophobic tropes that vilify and dehumanise the Palestinian community”. Asylum Seeker Resource Centre deputy CEO Jana Favero called the policy “a hateful attack on migrant communities... with no basis or evidence”, while Greens Senator David Shoebridge said the plan was “a 2026 version of the White Australia Policy”.Quick take: Like Sussan Ley before him, the only trick in Angus Taylor’s book is to stoke hatred and division in an effort to keep Andrew Hastie and One Nation at bay. The damage their bigoted grandstanding is doing to Australian society will be felt long after they themselves have been forgotten. A miserable legacy for two national embarrassments.
Secret arms exports challenged in court. Three Palestinian human rights bodies are attempting to force Defence Minister Richard Marles to reveal details about Australian arms exports to Israel. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights filed a Federal Court application last week compelling Marles to produce documents relating to any Israeli arms export permits, arguing that any approvals “may be used to commit or facilitate serious human rights abuses”.
A spokesperson for the Australian Centre for International Justice, which is representing the Palestinian groups in court, said the public “cannot accept the government’s ‘trust-us’ attitude to something as grave as potential Australian complicity in genocide”. In July, Declassified Australia revealed that Australia was continuing to supply arms materiel to Israel.Protester fights ‘crazy’ speech law. A 70-year-old man charged under Queensland’s new ‘proscribed phrases’ law has unsuccessfully tried to plead insanity on the grounds that “the charge is insane”. Jim Dowling was arrested at a March protest outside Boeing’s Brisbane headquarters for displaying a banner reading “From the river to the sea, Brisbane will be free of Boeing”.
Appearing before Brisbane Arrest Court on Tuesday, Dowling said he would “like to plead insanity [as] I think the charge is insane and anyone who takes it seriously is a bit sus as well”. Speaking to supporters outside court, Dowling said “the majority of people in this country would agree with me that the law is crazy”.Tony Abbott laments Viktor Orbán. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has paid tribute to outgoing Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, who was defeated in a landslide in Sunday’s election. In power for 16 years, Orbán was one of the global far-right’s most lauded figures for his repression of democratic freedoms, xenophobic rhetoric against migrants, and muzzling of the free press.
Abbott, who became a Senior Visiting Fellow of the pro-Orbán Danube Institute in 2023, said Orban as “dead right” to oppose EU free migration policies, asking: “Why should a sovereign nation be bullied by Brussels into policies that would jeopardise its future as a distinct people?”
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