Have some good news to report from the Middle East. I just spoke with the Prime Minister of Israel and Lebanon. I'm pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. [00:00:15] Let's be clear, Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not seek that war either. Nor did the United States. Hezbollah retaliated against Israel over the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. [00:00:34] That's what started the current war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Now, Israel has allegedly accepted a cease fire deal that has been brokered by the United States. This would be a cease fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. And according to Biden, both parties have accepted. [00:00:50] In fact, not only did Biden make this announcement about the deal minutes earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced that he and the ministers in Israel had also approved it. And the war has been devastating. There's no question about it. [00:01:07] Much of the airstrikes by the IDF have been concentrated in the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, and more than 3500 Lebanese individuals have been killed. 15,000 more have been injured. Around 140 IDF soldiers have also been killed in the conflict between Israel [00:01:25] and Hezbollah specifically. Now, Biden says that the deal was intended or is intended to definitively end the war between the two sides. So if this is in fact implemented at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning local time, well, it would not be a temporary ceasefire. [00:01:44] Bibi says that Israel will respond to any threat to its security. He says, quote, we will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah. According to Netanyahu. Now, just before the cease fire was announced. [00:02:00] The IDF actually ended up launching one of its more aggressive set of airstrikes in Beirut since this war began. So that is a footage of the airstrikes in question. As you can see, multiple buildings are, you know, up in smoke. [00:02:16] And so we're expecting the war to continue going until the very minute that the cease fire is supposed to be implemented. Now, as far as the terms of the ceasefire deal, it's actually pretty reasonable if you ask me. Israel says that it will gradually withdraw its forces from Lebanon [00:02:35] over the next 60 days. In return, Hezbollah has agreed that they will not get near the border between Lebanon and Israel. That's what they had done previously. And that's how they were launching, launching some strikes against Israel. [00:02:50] So, to be specific, Hezbollah must now move north of the Litani River, which is an agreement that they had signed on to previously. So I don't think that this is an unjust term to the cease fire deal. Now, why is Israel deciding to do this now? [00:03:07] Well, right now Netanyahu says that they have accomplished their goals in Lebanon, having weakened Hezbollah and having also assassinated Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah. They say that they have severely weakened the militant militant group. What I'm concerned about, though, is Israel says now they [00:03:24] can focus their energy on Gaza. Yeah, Jake, that's exactly what I'm worried about. So there's two huge caveats to this deal. But first, let me explain all the ways that it's a good deal and why I'm generally excited about it and happy about it. So best part of it is that they're going to withdraw from southern Lebanon. [00:03:43] So I was very worried that they wouldn't they went and tried to occupy it several times. So there was a possibility that they were going to go and stay there forever and try to take more land. And and so instead, they're probably going to try to take land in Gaza will come back to that. [00:03:59] But the fact that they were going to withdraw from Lebanon is terrific news. And so in terms of the Israeli demands, they wanted the Hezbollah to move back up to the north of the Litani River. That is, as Anna pointed out, the original deal. So that's fair. They want them to stop firing rockets into Israel, and they and they're going to. [00:04:17] And that's fair. And they asked that, you know, that the US and other forces be responsible for making sure that Hezbollah does not move past down the the Litani River again. Right. So now how are we going to do that is a little bit complicated, but overall I'm [00:04:33] not overly worried about it. Doesn't look like there's any troops or anything involved from the US. So as far as cease fires go, it appears to be a perfectly good cease fire. Of course, what is Israel doing? Giving back in return will stop slaughtering you and dropping bombs all over you, your capital and invading you and occupying you, etc. [00:04:52] And okay, so we can get into hey, Hezbollah started bombing on October 8th, but why are they doing? Why did they do the bombing? Of course, the Israeli and American side will say randomly, they just hate Jews so much and they just are so bloodthirsty. You know how they are, etc.. Of course not. It's because of the occupation. [00:05:08] Which then. But overall, if you just look at Lebanon and Israel is a very good deal to stop the killings, stop the war and and get to a real cease fire. Now the caveats. So now, number one caveat is, it's kind of a cease fire. [00:05:25] Netanyahu said right afterwards, I'm not really going to follow it the minute I feel like I have to, for military reasons, I will go and bomb the living crap out of Lebanon again. So I don't really intend to honor this deal. And he says these things in public, so it's amazing he never he didn't say, [00:05:43] I don't intend to honor this deal. He just very clearly laid out that I reserve the right to bomb anywhere in Lebanon I want. Then Biden had to come out and go, well, or the Biden administration? Well, I mean, no, there's a reason why this is called a cease ceasefire. [00:05:59] If you say you have the right to bomb anywhere in Lebanon, then this isn't a ceasefire. That's a US side saying that about Netanyahu, because Netanyahu is such a liar, such a cheat, such a warmonger. He's saying, I'll give you a ceasefire if it's not really a ceasefire. So the US is clarifying. [00:06:15] No. If Hezbollah goes below the Litani River as an example, then they're in violation and you would have a right to respond to that violation. But if they're not in violation, no, you do not have the right to go bomb anywhere you want in Lebanon. But it doesn't really matter because he will and the US won't stop him. [00:06:30] Right, right. I mean, that's the point that I was going to make, right? I mean, part of the asymmetrical nature of this ceasefire deal is the fact that there are very real consequences for Hezbollah, should they renege on what they have agreed to, whereas with Israel they could renege. [00:06:46] And what's the worst that could happen? It's not like the United States is going to pull support toward Israel. They're going to allow the Israeli government to do whatever they want. No, we would just do further Israeli ass kissing. So, unfortunately, and the reason why Hezbollah is agreeing to this deal is because they have no leverage. [00:07:02] And so, okay, now there's one other thing that Ana didn't mention in explaining what Netanyahu said. He said, well, we're withdrawing because we you know, we beat Hezbollah, we accomplished our objectives, etc. And that's fair. They did beat Hezbollah, largely speaking, and they did accomplish their objectives, [00:07:19] and that's what I'm giving credit for, he said. But also, we're starting to run out of ammunition. Yes, he did say that. You're correct. Yeah. He's like, I'm taking a strategic pause here. I'm telling you after the deal that I'm a giant liar and will go in and do whatever the hell I want afterwards after I reload. [00:07:36] Right. But now, despite all of that and by the way, like they've killed so many Arabs in the area that they're running out of ammunition. Okay, but 3500 dead in Lebanon, 15,000 injured, 140 Israelis killed. [00:07:52] And that's mainly the troops that went in there to go and occupy their lands anyways. But overall, I'm still happy with it. Why? Because they're withdrawing. If they stayed, it would have been an epic disaster. Okay, so. But the last caveat is maybe the most important one, which is now [00:08:07] the Palestinians are left all alone, so nobody's coming to help them. And you could say, oh, I can't believe Hezbollah was trying to help by firing rockets on Israel. How dare they? They should know that the Palestinians are now forever the vassals of Israel. And Israel can do anything they want to. [00:08:24] The Palestinians and the Lebanese should have known their role, which is to shut up and accept that Israel dominates the Palestinians and can do anything they want to them. And that is what Israel is saying to the world now. There's no one coming to help the Palestinians, and we've choked off everything around them. [00:08:40] And so we will do whatever we want to them. Now we have we're going to go focus on Gaza. What are you focusing on? All the Hamas leaders are just as dead as the Hezbollah leader. Well, let me. Let me jump in on that, because, you know, lately there's been more and more news about escalations in the war between Russia and Ukraine [00:08:58] following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And, you know, in that reporting, you get a sense of how many innocent Ukrainian civilians have been killed as a result of Putin's war on Ukraine. And it's around 11,000 people. Okay. [00:09:15] In Gaza, as we all know, you know, the majority of those people who have been killed are women, children and the elderly. They're not Hamas militants. And we also know that at least 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza. Tiny, tiny strip of land. [00:09:30] And I remember months into this war, there were members of Israeli media like Haaretz, which, by the way, has been sanctioned by the Israeli government as an organization that is bad for Israel because they're actually reporting the truth. [00:09:46] I remember Haaretz talking about the high civilian death toll, and how unlikely it is for Israel to actually defeat Hamas the way it was prosecuting this war. And so it's been over a year now. And Hamas, according to Israel, continues to be an issue. [00:10:05] They haven't defeated Hamas. Now, obviously, I don't trust the Israeli government. They have been lying to us on various occasions. But let's say we take what they're saying at face value, okay. I mean, what more could you do? I mean, they have destroyed all of the buildings in Gaza. [00:10:22] No more functioning hospitals. They're not allowing humanitarian aid in. Could it be that it's not really about rooting out Hamas? It could be about something else. Yeah. Look, guys, it's not complicated. And at this point, the U.S. Does these comical lies on behalf of Israel. And they say, well, look, this should free up Hamas and create more leverage against [00:10:41] them so they can agree to a cease fire. But, brother, they've agreed to a cease fire now 100 times over. So this is nothing but a giant lie. What they actually are saying is they should agree to Israel's new terms, which they changed back in July of last year. And the new terms are, we're going to reoccupy Gaza and we're going to take [00:11:00] a whole bunch of your land. And Hamas will never agree to that. No Palestinian should ever agree to that. And so that basically us is saying, why don't you let Israel steal your land? What is the what's wrong with you, you stupid Palestinians? You don't know your role. You're inferior to the Israelis. [00:11:17] Let them take your goddamn land. So they at least President Biden should have the decency and the honesty to say that. And of course he won't, because he's a very indecent and immoral person. So but bottom line is, when you're looking at just the Lebanon conflict, it's terrific that Israel is going to withdraw and get the, you know, the security, [00:11:36] you know, guarantees that they should get. I don't want rockets going into Israel. And it was a violation of the original peace accords to go past the Litani River. So it's a good day, but with the biggest asterisks in the world, [00:11:51] this is just going to let them. It's almost like, oh, hey, we made a deal with Poland, so don't worry about Poland. And that's why we're going to now focus on the Jews inside of Germany. And so, hey everybody, the rest of the world, shut up about it. Who cares? Who cares? I got a peace deal with Poland. I got a peace deal with Poland. [00:12:06] Right. So I'm happy about the peace deal with Poland. But I'm not happy about what remains behind. I agree. So. And if you're bothered by that analogy, you should go and put all the pressure in the world on this sick Israeli government that has now killed over 44,000 people. [00:12:22] Absolutely destroyed Gaza. If you've ever seen one picture or video of Gaza and you think Israel should keep going. Well then you deserve that analogy. Times ten. Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. [00:12:41] You've got emojis of me Anna John Jr. So those are super fun. But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows and specials right after they air. So all of that, all you got to do is click that join button right underneath the video. [00:12:57] Thank you.