OXFAM: Israel repeats 'Gaza playbook' in its war on Lebanon

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]For some analysis on this, I'm joined from Beirut by Haytham Faraj, a lawyer and a retired Marine Corps officer.

[00:00:07]Great to have you here with us on TRT World C.

[00:00:11]What I'm noticing, this is something that has happened over the past few days. The moment we heard news about progress in terms of ceasefire negotiations, peace deal, memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, the intensity and the frequency of Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza have increased. Why?

[00:00:34]>> [snorts] >> Thank you for having me.

[00:00:36]It's precisely what you mentioned.

[00:00:39]Netanyahu suffers a terrible defeat if there's an end to this war that includes a mandatory end of hostilities in Lebanon, which would be preceded by a mandatory withdrawal from South Lebanon.

[00:00:55]So, the question for Netanyahu is what have you accomplished?

[00:00:59]The biggest prize for him after 30 years of instigating wars in this region is Iran, to take down the Iranian regime so he can control the region.

[00:01:13]A peace deal with the US means Iran comes out of this stronger than it was before and a defeat in Southern Lebanon by means of a withdrawal and mandatory ceasefire means that he is on his way to uh losing in the upcoming elections in September.

[00:01:33]And a strategic loss for Israel in general. So, that is why you are seeing this increase in hostilities both in Lebanon and in Gaza.

[00:01:45]The Gaza hostility increases is to satisfy his domestic uh supporters. He needs a win somewhere. He didn't have a win in Gaza, either. He destroyed Gaza, but Hamas is not gone.

[00:01:59]And so, uh that's why you're seeing those operations in Gaza.

[00:02:03]Do you think President Trump is going to do anything about it?

[00:02:10]Well, look, Trump needs a an agreement.

[00:02:14]There is no two ways about it. Trump cannot afford to go back to war. The first one was not did not result in any successes in the United for the United States.

[00:02:24]And so, the delays, as I mentioned yesterday on your channel, the delays in coming to an agreement is because Netanyahu needs to achieve some strategic victory on the ground. And by the way, the Lebanese government, the current Lebanese government, is actively working to try and assist Netanyahu with a strategic victory on the ground against their own resistance. You have a big split in Lebanon with 75 or so percent of the population supporting the resistance and a small minority against it. And the Lebanese government is is a part of that small minority.

[00:03:07]When it comes to the future of the region, what do you think is going to happen? Is this going to become the new status quo where Israel continues to attack countries like Lebanon, the attacks continue on the Gaza Strip, and the the the talks between the US and Iran and and Iran they remain in an in an [clears throat] uncertain situation where no one really knows whether or not there's going to be a peace deal. So, what do you think is the future for the region?

[00:03:40]Look, it's hard to predict the future.

[00:03:42]You have some major players rising. Iran is certainly going to be a major regional player more than it was before.

[00:03:50]Turkey has to step up and fill its traditional role.

[00:03:55]Saudi Arabia can't be discounted.

[00:03:57]Israel, however, is weaker than before these wars started. What you don't hear about is the condition of the Israeli army because of the blackout from Israeli media. But if you if you review some of the reporting from Israel, the Israeli army is in a terrible state.

[00:04:21]Hezbollah is is very effective in targeting their military. In response, you have the Israelis attacking civilian infrastructure and calling it Hezbollah targets. So, I can't predict the future, but what we do have is Iran on the rise. Turkey was certainly needs to take its rightful place in the region, and I think the region is ready for it. And you have Israel weakening.

[00:04:49]So, from opportunity from my pardon me, from crisis comes opportunity and the countries that are able to take advantage of these opportunities, I think benefit by rising up to that challenge.

[00:05:04]And you know, very quickly before I let you go, what about China?

[00:05:11]I I think the again, this war between Iran and the United States has demonstrated a a major weakness in the military role that the US seems to keep playing to advance its geopolitical interests.

[00:05:29]China has has been very strategic in its approach. I think China has focused on weakening the dollar through its cooperation with Iran.

[00:05:41]That's a whole other topic. With Iran and Russia, China has advanced uh its strategic interests through very skillful diplomacy here in the in this region and in Africa. And and so I think you'll continue to see China uh gain a foothold through its uh very skillful diplomacy and uh uh use of its abilities where it can through infrastructure projects, uh energy projects, and so on. Uh on the other hand, uh the US continues to rely on military intervention and that's no longer working.

[00:06:19]So, a lot of uncertainty about the future. Uh Haitham Fara it's always a pleasure talking to you. Thanks very much for joining us here on TRT World.

[00:06:26]As always, really appreciate your taking out the time.