Israel military pushes further into Lebanon

an Israeli flag hoisted above a rub strewn Lebanese Village parts of Southern Lebanon now resemble the apocalyptic landscape of Gaza and Israel's war with Hezbollah is intensifying this apparently all that's left of the Border Town of yarun the Israeli Army announced today another military division has now now been deployed into Lebanon around 15,000 soldiers are said to be taking part in The Invasion here troops show off weapons they say they've seized from Hezbollah but despite sustaining unprecedented and devastating blows Hezbollah is trying to project strength today the group's Deputy leader addressed followers in a televised

speech I would like to reassure you he says our capabilities are fine and what the enemy said about our capabilities being affected is a delusion as Israeli air strikes on bayout to continue the hisbah deputy also said he supported attempts to negotiate a ceasefire significantly he didn't draw a link between that and a deal ending the fighting in Gaza [Music] but his words were also accompanied by a barrage of rockets fired into Northern Israel the heaviest attack targeting the city of haer since the War Began most were intercepted some landed but with no reports of

injuries it's still Israel that's firmly on the front foot today prime minister Netanyahu suggested the man tipped as hezbollah's new leader had been killed last week in Beirut we've degraded hezbollah's capabilities we took out thousands of terrorists including Nala himself and Nala's replacement and the replacement of his replacement the pain felt in the Lebanese Capital though extends far beyond Hezbollah members this one of so many schools now Sheltering displaced families gard and her daughter Rula fled the south of the city they're worried about their three cats and six kittens they left behind in the care

of a neighbor I love them and miss them G says there was a lot of people running so we run with them you must have been scared definitely and now how do you feel still scared but we'll managing we we need need to stay alive and live more than a fifth of the population is reported to have been forced out of their homes some resent Hezbollah for entering the war with Israel though open criticism is rare many others remain steadfast in their support we can't see children being killed in Palestine and stay silent if you

saw me strike a child you wouldn't be able to just watch your Humanity wouldn't let you so he want to defend them children here in Lebanon are now also living with the threat from Israeli strikes and for now the Bloodshed continues well just as we were coming on air reports began emerging of a suspected Israeli strike on Damascus the Syrian Capital possibly targeting Iranian revolutionary uh guards in an apartment there we'll bring you more details on that as we have them here in Lebanon I think the apparent delinking by hisbah today of a ceasefire with

Israel from a ceasefire in Gaza will be seen by Israelis as a Vindication of their strategy here no matter how much International criticism it engenders but will Hezbollah really be willing to withdraw entirely from Southern Lebanon will Israel be content to trust them to do that I think we're unfortunately likely to see significant further fighting before any resolution a year into this conflict in Gaza Israel is still launching fresh offensives on the ground right now their forces are moving in on the jabalia camp two hospitals in Northern Gaza ordered to evacuate sakander thank you very

much indeed well two senior US senators from both sides of the political divide Lindsey grah and Richard Blumenthal are in the Middle East trying to promote their diplomatic solution to this crisis this afternoon they were on their way to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab imates calling for a regional settlement including a peace Accord with Israel well I caught up with them in Jerusalem after they had met the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin netan I started by asking the Democrat Senator Richard blumen whether the US should be putting pressure on Israel to stop its attacks on

Gaza and Lebanon Israel has a right to defend itself and it has to make decisions tactically we Verge that civilian casualties be use that more humanitarian Aid be provided in meetings before this one repeatedly and CER Graham and I are bringing the hope that we can help lead toward normalizing relations that will in a longer sense achieve peace and stability for the region what did we do after Pearl Harbor we went to allout Victory there is no military solution here we bombed uh Japan the Smith the Rings we destroyed Berlin that's not an option here

but not holding them back has meant 40,000 dead Garin because Hamas wants them that way they want it that way I don't blame why do them the favor Hamas will not be standing they will never govern Gaza again if you get nothing else out of this interview Hamas will never govern Gaza again senoir is going to meet his fate if you're successful to build on the Abraham Accords and reconcile the Arab world with the Israelis you've truly created a sustainable solution for this problem because if there is failure then there may not be Hamas anymore

but there'll be another organization with similar policies that will be you know called something different agree with you more guys and children who've seen their parents killed seen their neighbors killed they will join a cause a new cause with a new name unless somebody comes in and takes over their lives provides them an education system and a future there's more hopeful but their bitterness is created by American bombs dropped on them inside Gaza in part isn't it well I think their bitterness should be toward Hamas they've been radicalized they're the most radicalized population on the

planet from the time you're born in Gaza to the time you're died you're taught to hate the Jews the weapons we are providing enables Israel to defend itself against terrorist organizations not Palestinians not terrorist organizations that want to annihilate it if Israel takes on Iran in such a way that this escalates and becomes a war between Israel and Iran the United States would be obliged to enter on Israel's side wouldn't it Iran has declared that it wants to destroy the United States as well as annihilate Israel so Israel's war is not only against the hoodis

Hamas Hezbollah but against Iran and and so that's a yes you would enter on the side of I'm not predicting what will happen our effort here is actually to help reduce or avoid escalation and the widening of this war there needs to be a confrontation of Iran we've put it off way too long we need to call the question on Iran they're the source of most upheaval in regime change I I am a th% for regime change but you don't have to how did that work out last time America tried it in Iraq I think

we have nothing to lose how did it work out when we got rid of Hitler better he's Hitler so what I would say that the way the regime Falls is not through an invasion is by isolation that if you can reconstruct Lebanon and you can get the Arabs and the Israelis working together then Iran truly becomes isolated that's the way the regime eventually meets its fate is to be isolated by other players in the region what have you been telling the prime minister of Israel what's he been telling you about the next test move in

this very dangerous game Iran Israel so what happens um in Gaza once the fighting is over what happens in Lebanon what's the day after look like for a year and a half I've been coming to the region trying to sell the idea of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel what would that look like Saudi Arabia would recognize the state of Israel create diplomatic ties thus ending the Arab Israeli conflict the biggest change in my lifetime your lifetime in in the mid East I think I hope that the government prime minister Netanyahu will see that moment

and we urge to him the imperative of leading toward normalizing relations and seeking peace that will also reduce civilian Cavalry bring home the hostages and enable more humanitarian Aid now is the time if you ever going to do it to start dialogue with Saudi Arabia about the day after right but the Saudis have also been very clear that what they want in return that there needs to be a viable Sovereign independent pales state which the Israelis recognize they want two things for them to recognize the state of Israel they want a defense agreement with the

United States Saudi Arabia and the United States would have a mutual defense agreement like we have with Japan and Australia in other words the United States would go to war for Saudi Arabia that requires 67 votes vot in the US Senate Senator Blumenthal uh is a Democrat trying to get the votes I told NBS a year and a half ago that will be a heavy lift but I will try but the Israelis also have to want to recognize an independent Palestinian state they're not going to do that independent Sovereign Nation called Palestine with security guarantees

for Israel to make sure there's no future October 7th it will be more like an Emirate than it will be a democracy MBS and mbz at the US will come in and rebuild Gaza they will reform the PA they will create an enclave in the Palestine that can live in peace and harmony with Israel they will stop teaching their children to kill the Jews a deradicalized a demilitarized is that how they teach it yes literally so bottom line a deradicalized a demilitarized Palestinian Enclave is what Israel wants and here's the rub after October 7th declaring

a Palestinian state after the attack would be seen as rewarding terrorism that's the universal view of the of the Jewish people the two-state solution as we know it died on October the 7th you think it's dead I think I think as as it's been envisioned in the past it is and I think that was the goal of the Iranians if you don't have a day after plan like I described Hamas will come back if you don't have a day after plan like I described Hezbollah will regenerate and you'll have 50 years of Israel half in

and half out there will be no normalization nobody's going to come to this region to do business CU it's going to be on fire so if you want to beat Iran if you want to make sure October 7th is Revenge in the proper way do peace we have stated emphatically and repeatedly that there needs to be a path toward peace and diplomatic successes need to match the military successes if Trump becomes elected as president where does his project where does your project go I think it I think it dies if it if we don't do

the deal on Biden's watch there will be no normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel I can't get 67 votes President Biden speaking in an impromptu appearance at The Press Room of the White House yesterday a couple of days ago hinted at the fact that he thinks prime minister netar is trying to influence the American elections which are due in less than a months do you think that he's right there was no indication in our conversation yesterday that prime minister Netanyahu is trying to influence election but of course we're we're not inside his head Senator Bloom

thank you very much thank you Senator G thank you very much thank you and before that you heard the Democrat Senator Richard blumar well I'm joined now by hosam zlot the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom welcome back to the program Ambassador zlot um you heard what Senator gra there especially had to say do you think that was a realistic scenario that he outlined or Pie in the Sky stuff I wish you didn't force me to have to hear this uh nonsense nonsense that actually explains why the US for the last three decades has failed

miserably to play the role of an honest mediator why the US has failed to be the grownup in the room it's because of the logic expressed by Senator Graham uh uh Lindsey gr just now and I was the ambassador to Washington and I did meet Senator Graham many times and I tried to actually persuade him that this mindset this complete adoption of the Israeli narrative does not help the cause of Peace he needs to see with two eyes but he only sees with one eye and that eye that eye is hateful and that eye is

racist right so what in particular did you take offense to in what he said that the Palestinian people are the most radicalized particularly in Gaza I mean Gaza he doesn't see it as the mostly most densely populated area on Earth besieged by air and sea and land for 17 years made of 80% of refugees who were ethnically cleansed from their Villages and towns just few kilometers away from Gaza like myself who I was born in a refugee camp in ra yet still Gaza over all these years was able to produce the highest literacy rate in

the region the highest PhD per capita graduates yet Gaza was able to sustain as a society this is a person who sees us from the prism of imperialism and Hony and he relates only to Israel and for him we are the other we are the other it's very unfortunate okay right let me just ask you this though the Saudis have moted a plan which he seems to have bought into as well which could offer a path towards a recognized Palestinian state recognized by the Israelis is that not something that you might be interested in this

is only netanyahu's logic that Senator Graham has completely adopted and many in the US which is just bypass just bypass the Palestinian issue anything Abra cadabra let's do anything uh and we'll resolve the issue but to actually resolve and look at the root cause which is the Palestinian issue Israel knows that it is the occupation the colonization the besiegement Israel knows that the biggest elephant in the room is us especially in the last year the Saudis are very clear I don't need to speak on their behalf the Saudi Prince the foreign minister said it clearly

the Crown Prince uh uh said it clearly only a couple of weeks ago Saudi Arabia will not normalize until a Palestinian state is established so the Israelis and with some some of their American backers has got to give up that fallacy okay another question is this you you haven't had elections in the West Bank for a variety of reasons uh you know since 2006 are you afraid that if there were to ever be free and fair Democratic elections in a recognized state of Palestine that your party fata that you represent would lose it and other

more radical forces like Hamas or whatever they might be called in the future would prevail elections are elections we are not going to design elections at the size of Senator Graham or the West for that matter uh Democratic elections must be respected and what whatever the Palestinian people decide must be absolutely respected however this is not an issue of leadership or Democratic process if you if we suggest that we haven't gained our independence and freedom because we don't have the right leaders think again my friend this is about the actual issue of gaining Freedom so

we can convene and conduct Democratic elections without the interference and the V to power of the occupier as has been the case over the years in 10 seconds in 10 seconds do you think that anything positive at all can come out of this crisis this war the realization among growing numbers in Israel itself in the region and worldwide that without Justice and resolving the Palestinian issue in accordance with international law that the Palestinian people shall be treated equally like all other nations we shall not see peace and stability and Security in the world not only

the region