Israel has five wars

Israel Doesn’t Want a Two State State: The Second War is About Palestine, and Israelis Do Not Want It to Get Out of Hand

The first war — the war Israel is now waging against Hamas and its allies in Gaza and the West Bank, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran itself — is about security. Israelis want to be able to live in their homes without fearing their lives could be in danger. Entire cities have turned into ghost towns and 60,000 Israelis have been forced from their homes due to the threat of a major escalation of Israel’s northern border.

Roughly two million Americans are forced out of their homes due to the threat of terrorism. Those who condemn Israel now for its allegedly disproportionate response to the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah would be a little more intellectually honest if they asked themselves what they would demand of their own governments if they were in the same situation.

The second war fuels and explains the first. It’s about existence. The current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is about Palestine, according to Israel’s most strident critics. That is a dishonest claim, historically ignorant. Israel agreed to give up the Gaza Strip in 2005 and offered a Palestinian state in 2000. When campus protesters at Princeton chanted, “We don’t want no two states, we want ’48,” they weren’t asking for Israel to accept a Palestinian state. They’re demanding Israel’s abolition.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, and TEL AVIV, Israel — A large explosion ripped through the streets of southern Beirut on Tuesday evening. A short while later, Israel claimed responsibility for what it called a “targeted strike.”

An Israeli official told NPR the Hezbollah commander was named Fouad Shukr. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The United States supports Israel even if it does defend itself from Iran, a State Department spokesman has said. He said there were threats from Hezbollah.

The strike came as the international community urged restraint from both sides, fearing that an escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border could spark an all-out war.

The White House does not want to see a war get out of hand, according to John Kirby. “We don’t want to see a second front opened up there in the north. We want to find a solution that reduces the tensions and we are still focused on that.

The White House press secretary responded to the questions about the strike in Lebanon. “We do not believe that an all out-war is inevitable,” she said, adding, “we believe that it can still be avoided.”

U.S. diplomats believe the best way to defuse the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is to reach a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire across their shared border since the Gaza war began on Oct. 7 of last year, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel. The Israeli military was accused of being involved in the death of Hamas’ leader, but they did not confirm or deny it.