Netanyahu Defends Lebanon Operations As US Iran Talks Show Major Progress | NewsX World

[00:00:00]of the first round of US Iran peace talks in Switzerland, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fiercely defended his military's operations in Lebanon, claiming that no other armed forces go to such lengths to minimize civilian casualties. Speaking at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem, Netanyahu cited a defense ministry report claiming an unheard of combatant to civilian casualty ratio in Lebanon stating five terrorists have been killed for every one civilian harmed. Let's take a listen into his statements.

[00:00:41]>> But I asked our people our research arm in the defense ministry, I said what is the ratio in Lebanon?

[00:00:52]And they said to me today, I just got the document today.

[00:00:56]Prime Minister it's five to one.

[00:01:00]No, not five civilians killed for every terrorist. Five terrorists killed for every civilian that is harmed in the process.

[00:01:09]Five to one, unheard of. Unheard of.

[00:01:12]Because no army takes goes to such lengths like the Israeli army to target terrorists and minimize civilian casualties.

[00:01:20]We don't have a war with Lebanon.

[00:01:23]We have a war with Hezbollah who terrorizes Lebanon and seeks our destruction.

[00:01:29]And when that proxy of Iran is no longer a threat, when it's dismantled, when it's disarmed yes, we'll have peace with Lebanon.

[00:01:37]And I look forward to signing it.

[00:01:39]>> The Prime Minister also touted the economic impact of Israel's military campaigns, asserting that strikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps economy have caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. Let's take a listen in to him once again.

[00:01:56]>> We prevented Iran from carrying out a plan to annihilate us and today they would have had a nuclear weapon, an atomic bomb to do so.

[00:02:07]We prevented that from happening. We removed an existential danger.

[00:02:11]>> [applause] >> And had we not acted had we not acted in operation rising line and then in operation roaring line, Iran would have had atomic bombs and let me tell you something, they would have used them. That's what we prevented. That the cumulative damage that we did to the IRGC economy is not counted in the millions.

[00:02:34]It's not counted in the hundreds of millions. It's not counted in the hundreds in the billions. It's counted in hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars and it will take them a long time to recover, a long time.

[00:02:47]>> The remarks come as Iran's foreign minister claims major progress in separate direct talks with the United States in Switzerland over ending the war in Lebanon. Negotiations to which Israel is not a party and has vowed to defy by maintaining a military buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

[00:03:08]Joining us now here on the channel is Major General Sadaka G, a geostrategic analyst and military expert. He joins us live from Jaipur. Sir, thank you very much for joining us. It's always a great pleasure in speaking to you. Um now, let's first um focus in on some of those claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for um at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. Um he claims that there is four terrorists to every one civilian which have been killed. Now, of course, this counteracts with um Israel's own classified military intelligence um from the war in Gaza which sites a a figure of 83% um civilian civilian casualty rates um in Israeli um warfare in the Gaza Strip.

[00:04:03]Um do you think that these um statements and statistics in which um Netanyahu is putting across can be trusted?

[00:04:14]>> Uh good morning uh Thomas. Thank you for inviting me for your show. Well, at the moment offhand, I don't have any ready reckoner to substantiate or to confirm.

[00:04:25]However, given the status of a prime minister of Israel, we grant him that may be true. But also, there is a counterpoint. It may not be true as well. Because there is a story. That story has to be understood from both the sides uh in a you know you know you know truthful manner. If Israel has got a narrative to be painted against the Hezbollah, Hezbollah, that is Iran, also has got a narrative. But here comes a binding constraint that needs to be factored in and analyzed by one and all.

[00:04:57]Uh and it being a historic problem, there are no quick solutions that can be found. And one is trying to push a solution uh in Lebanon uh of Lebanon uh through the peace talks which are under consideration at the moment.

[00:05:12]Uh personally speaking, Thomas, my take on the whole issue, it is one thing to legislate and formulate a plan that the aggression or the conflict all along the frontier must stop. But it's another thing to actually take them clinically in a military manner. How can an objective or a conflict which is going on 2,200 km away from the borders of Iran be clubbed with the peace process or the MOU and the permanent agreement which is under formulation? I I don't see any similarity because the the leverages which are being taken into consideration in the side of the Iran, the Strait of Hormuz has got global implication, very serious global implication. As far as the Lebanon and Israel they're concerned, it has got a regional it has got a kind of a local in problem which has got the bearing of a safety and security of the citizens of Israel. So will two things on any kind of uh platform or template will two things be equal to each other? I don't think so.

[00:06:25]The regional aspect must be considered separately and the global impact must be considered separately. Even if they have been clubbed together, it will do wise actually on the part of the interlocutors and the stakeholders to divide these kind of impediments into into kind of spectrums or objectives. Short-term, medium-term, and long-term and tackle them as such because until the Lebanon problem is sorted out, I don't think we'll see any light at the end of the tunnel with relation to the the peace proposals which are under consideration between Iran and the USA. Back to you, Thomas.

[00:07:03]>> And how do you expect the Israeli Prime Minister to deal with the challenges that currently lie in front of him?

[00:07:10]We've seen, of course, the Americans getting pretty frustrated with the Israelis and Benjamin Netanyahu in particular when it comes to their operations in Lebanon. The Israeli Prime Minister once again defying the United States and their demands and keeping that security operation ongoing in Lebanon as well as striking on a pretty consistent basis since the peace deal was announced. The Iranians, there course, are seeing these operations continue to ongoing and seeing it as a defiance from the Americans and a hindering of diplomacy.

[00:07:50]What do you make of the way in which circumstances fall in front of the Israeli Prime Minister as of now?

[00:08:00]>> Thomas, very difficult question you have asked, but the answer that comes to my mind is if you really want lasting peace, there has to be some kind of a restraint exercised by at least one of the stakeholders. If there is no restraint being exercised, you know, I'm not talking about forget and forgive, not that kind of militarily speaking, if two stakeholders are blindly firing at each other, killing innocent people, uh regardless of what ratio Netanyahu had just stated, we take it that even even a military man is also at some point in time will become a civilian. So, take it that loss of uh innocent lives, uh unless somebody exercises restraint, I don't think it is possible to exercise restraint or achieve that level of restraint. I personally feel there is a requirement of an enforcement agency who who should be empowered by by by by legality and by by the worrying kind of equipments, it should be equipped properly, it should be mandated with all kinds of provisions.

[00:09:11]So, if I say this, isn't there any any organization existing? Well, the answer is yes, it is existing, UNIFIL is there.

[00:09:19]The mandate of UNIFIL is coming to an end by December 31st, 2026, and Netanyahu is very mindful, he's a military man, he knows that the mandate is going to come to an end, and thereafter there is no outfit neutral organization sponsored by the United Nation coming in. So, he's trying to take advantage. He who actually has got the pie over this particular buffer zone will continue to dominate and and exert pressure on the opposing parties. So, therefore, he's trying to get into this buffer zone of 10 km, dominate, occupy them, and sooner or later, he'll be taking the slice off. So, this is a big game plan which is playing in the mind of the leader of Israel. It may or may not, but my thinking is on those lines.

[00:10:05]Right? Therefore, the answer lies in reinforcing, strengthening the United Nations Security Council, passing a new resolution, and extending the mandate of UNIFIL, or at least have one neutral organization which will be uh mandated with all the powers required, and come down heavily on these kind of uh agencies who are breaching the ceasefire which has been uh announced or which is being actually practiced on ground. Otherwise, [clears throat] it is going to be a relentless kind of endless conflict. It will go on eternally without any end.

[00:10:39]Back to you, Thomas.

[00:10:40]>> Uh sir, of course, Benjamin Netanyahu seemingly openly resisting the US demands of satiating hostilities inside Lebanon. What is Benjamin Netanyahu thinking with this? Is he thinking about security for Israel or more about his upcoming elections in October?

[00:11:01]>> Both. Both.

[00:11:03]First, I would say we need to understand the larger picture. The larger picture is, you see, two conflicting stakeholders. For Netanyahu, he's not looking at Let's understand, it is not just Security Council 2015, or it is not to do anything with the enrichment of uranium. He's looking at his his his larger or extended ambition. His ambition is to have a extended Israel.

[00:11:27]His ambition is to not to allow the two-nation theory to come into practice.

[00:11:32]It should not be there. As per him, there is no place for Palestinians.

[00:11:36]Whereas Iran is trying its best to actually, you know, give some identity, some recognition to the concept of two-nation theory to the Palestinians.

[00:11:45]That is where the conflict is taking place. As regards America's behavior in your previous question, I feel America would do well to consider all the issues in a holistic manner and not to hurry up. This is a very complex issue. It has been lingering on for quite some years, almost about ever since 1947-48.

[00:12:05]There are no quick solutions to this until unless there is a thaw.

[00:12:10]There is a virtual and real thaw in Middle East and everyone shuns violence, everyone looks towards development, which indirectly China has actually proposed on 14th and 15th of May 2026 to Donald Trump. He says that it's very interesting that one must take note of because I think it is gravitating towards that. Sooner or later, Israel is going to get isolated. Xi said that there is a requirement to go in for constructive strategic stability with cooperation, not with confrontation. War is not the solution. He also drew the attention of Donald Trump to Thucydides doctrine. He said, "Please do not fall into the trap of Thucydides doctrine. Do not go in for the conflict. Do not go in for war. You can grow in your own sphere of dominance. I can grow in my sphere of dominance and the time has come for multipolarity. Actually, the world would do well to realize that there are growing signatures of shifting balance of power in the world order. Geopolitics is undergoing very serious changes. You never know Iran may turn out to be the epicenter of the geopolitical change."

[00:13:14]So, all these factors put together actually brings out one issue, that it is not Israel and Lebanon alone. One had to join the dots. There are bigger geopolitical and geo-economical challenges which need to be factored in and for all you know it may be signifying or demonstrating or turning point a kind of a substantive turning point in the geopolitical order. It may be going for a collective security architecture in the in the Persian Gulf and Israel sooner or later may become isolated from both USA as also the Middle East. There may be a new security architecture coming up very soon in time say. Back to you Thomas.

[00:13:55]>> Major General Sadaq G as always it is a great pleasure to speak to you. Thank you very much for taking the time in joining us here on News X World. We continue our coverage of course of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. We have some stage