Israel Intensifies Offensive Against Hezbollah In Southern Lebanon | Border Tensions Escalate

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Akanksha Swarup now joining us. She is in fact joining us from Israel.

[00:00:04]Akanksha, what more are you learning about these negotiations and this possible MOU with a 60-day understanding? What word from Israel?

[00:00:14]>> All right. So, we are currently in the Golan Heights. Remember Shivani, this is bordering Syria. Right behind me is a black line and beyond that is Syria.

[00:00:24]It's in fact an Israeli-occupied territory which was occupied in 1967 by Israel. Relatively, it has been more peaceful compared to say Galilee where we were yesterday.

[00:00:36]That's bordering southern Lebanon.

[00:00:38]Israel is very clear. And so, even if there is an MOU struck the Israelis and the popular consensus within Israel is also that they are having to bear the brunt of say the ongoing war in Iran because it has largely been limited to an understanding between Iran and the United States. And so, even within the Israeli government, the consensus is that the Israeli point of view is getting diluted. That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu has in fact asked the IDF to go full throttle in southern Lebanon. Yes, there have been ceasefire violations from both sides where IDF and Hezbollah continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. But, since Tuesday when that cabinet meeting which was presided over by Prime Minister Netanyahu happened, it was decided that they will give an issue displacement orders in southern Lebanon.

[00:01:32]That has already been done in the city of Tyre. We've seen there was a targeted strike in Beirut as well. There's the Zahrani River. And so, most of the displaced refugees and the Lebanese people have in fact been asked to move north of the Zahrani River. What is the goal? The goal is to ensure that Hezbollah is moved upwards towards north of the Litani River. This is as per the UNSC 1701 charter.

[00:01:59]Uh Uh and so Israel is not going to really make any compromises even though they feel that their own security and strategic concerns have been diluted because of the ongoing blockading of the Strait of Hormuz and the geopolitical and geo-economic shocks that the world and the globe is facing currently because of this ongoing energy crisis.

[00:02:22]Right. Nonetheless, this time around the sentiment within the IDF is that there will be no pause. They will not settle till Hezbollah is decimated.

[00:02:31]>> Yes, Israel has its own concerns, of course, regarding the proxies of Iran.

[00:02:36]But speaking of that deal that the world is watching out for, Sanjay Suri is joining us from London. Sanjay, uh this is what the entire world is waiting for with bated breath. Uh so much of the economic concerns around the globe depend on this. The voices from US are encouraging, but we have seen this play out before.

[00:02:59]>> Yes, in fact, ever since April the 8th when this ceasefire took effect, we've been hearing from Trump that a deal is imminent and it's been approaching 2 months since then. This time the signs appear a little more credible looking at the signs from the US. Particularly, we have a very credible indication from J.D. Vance.

[00:03:18]>> Mhm.

[00:03:18]>> He has said that the nuclear issue is as good as resolved. Uh whether it is indeed the case, we don't know. We'll see. But as indicated by Vance, uh there has been agreement and agreement that Iran will not go the way of nuclear weapons. It will, in fact, he didn't say nuclear weapons. He said nuclear program, that it will end that and not just for the terms of this presidency, but for time to come. So, um that is what we hear from Vance. We also have word from the Tasnim news agency of Iran that this deal is not a done deal yet.

[00:03:53]There has been no agreement. Certainly there is an extent of turmoil within Tehran over this.

[00:04:00]The IRGC is a very aggressive organization.

[00:04:04]Ghalibaf, who is the main negotiator, is a career IRGC man. Will he surrender Iran's nuclear options? Will he be allowed to surrender by the establishment within Iran is far from certain.

[00:04:19]On the other hand, it's almost certain also that China is leaning on the regime in Iran because China's oil supplies have been jeopardized as a result of this situation. So, there is a lot of pressure upon Iran and upon the negotiators from China certainly, from the US obviously, but also from within.

[00:04:39]And the decision is not out in the open yet.

[00:04:42]>> You know, Sanjay, the biggest question is exactly who will blink first. As you mentioned, will Iran actually [clears throat] give up its nuclear ambitions?

[00:04:49]Um but at the same time, Donald Trump at least has been very categorical that unless he gets that commitment from Iran not just on enriched uranium, but also on their future nuclear plans, he's not going to sign on the dotted line. So, do you think uh there is no way that US would prioritize the reopening of Hormuz unless they get at least this much?

[00:05:13]>> Well, this is what Trump has been saying all along. Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. And certainly he'll have want to have something to show for this before he can agree to anything else. Uh he has staked it all on this. But there are two questions that arise here. And do just to flag them very quickly. It is also known to us that in the negotiations leading up to the February 28th attacks, Iran had been offering assurances in this regard that they will not go the way of nuclear weapons, that they will have a civilian program for for their nuclear energy, that it will be open to inspection by the IAEA.

[00:05:49]They have offered that. So, that raises the question if this was uh what is now being offered by Iran is more or less what was being offered earlier. Uh what was this war for? Second, and this is really the tricky one. The JCPOA, which is a joint comprehensive uh program of action, that was agreed in 2015 by the Obama administration with Iran, already had a 98% reduction of Iran's stockpiles built in.

[00:06:17]Following that, it also uh opened the sites to inspection by the IAEA. There was a limit to a 3.67% uh enriched uranium. Now, that was ended in 2018 by Trump, and this is crucial, >> Okay.

[00:06:34]>> on the basis of what was said to be an intelligence report from Israel. So, then there are two questions uh really finally uh arising from this as a consequence. If the Israelis were right in their intelligence, then whatever assurance Iran gives, uh what's to stop them from going the way of clandestine production again? And if the Israelis were wrong in that assessment, then in any case, just an intelligence assessment from Israel can change this whole thing around again?

[00:07:01]>> All right. Uh I'll leave it at that. I do thank both Akanksha and Sanjay Suri for joining us. Uh let's wait and see.

[00:07:07]There's a new uh spanner in the works also of those Abraham Accords now that US is wanting to be signed by all countries in the Gulf. We'll wait and see what happens.