Transcript of Press TV discussion of Lebanon under Israeli fire

Transcription below by a reader

PressTV: 0:00
Hezbollah has carried out fresh retaliatory operations against the Israeli regime in defense of the civilians of Lebanon.

0:14
Hezbollah successfully hit a number of bases east of the northern occupied city of Afula using a squadron of drones, targeting Israeli troops in settlements and bases with rockets and missiles in both occupied Palestinian territories and along the southern Lebanese border. Resistance also announced bombing of Sha'ar Yashuf settlement and the targeting of two barracks. Retaliations come as the Israeli regime's unrelenting air raids on Lebanon continue raging on, killing and injuring thousands of civilians.

0:46
And joining us now for some special coverage is Khaled Barakat, spokesperson for the Masar Badil movement, joining us from Beirut; and Gilbert Doctorow, independent international affairs analyst, joining us from Brussels. Gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you both to the conversation here. I guess, Mr. Khalid Barakat, we'll start with you there in the Lebanese capital. Tthere seems to be for some reason no end in sight. Why is the regime not, even with pressure behind it, entertaining any avenues for immediate ceasefire in Lebanon?

Khalid Barakat: 1:23
Well, I think that the answer to that is what the results have been showing in the battlefield. Israel have been getting hits there. Soldiers-- in the last 48 hours, there is over 70 Israeli soldiers [who] have been injured and killed. The resistance is very strong; it's fighting back. The Israeli invaders couldn't even come a few meters in certain areas for the past one month. And at the same time the resistance have sent a message, a clear message to 25 Zionist settlements telling them that Israeli soldiers are using them as human shield and they are there, you know, with their tanks and their military presence in these, you know, colonies. And so it gives them some time to leave.

2:27
This also shows that the resistance have taken the initiative in term of the situation on the battlefield. We saw that Israeli commanders and including the Israeli so-called defense minister have said that they will end their ground operations very soon. And that is due to Israel failure on the ground [battle]. However, Israel does not want to end its aggression against the people of Lebanon. And at the same time, they want to continue their airstrikes and the destruction and demolishing of entire villages. And they're using the, you know, carpet bombing of these villages.

3:18
I mean, some of these villages have been razed. Most of its houses, its installations, its institutions have been, you know, targeted. And these are all homes of civilians. Let alone Israel also continuing to bomb schools, you know, civil facilities, killing journalists, attacking health institutions. And at the same time, you know, they want to inflict the maximum damage on the Lebanese civilians. Also yesterday, the Israeli regime have bombed the southern district of Beirut, and they have been bombing the district despite that more than 90 percent of the people in the district have left their homes. But they are still continuing their bombing against the southern district of Beirut. I think that we will see in the coming few days a new reality also, because the resistance has said that it will escalate and use also new qualitative weapons that has not used yet.

4:36
And I think that the Israelis understand what does that mean. In my opinion, Israel is failing, and it's being defeated on the ground. They cannot fight. Their soldiers and commanders have been complaining that they are not being given the right, you know, protection and they have been left on the battlefield. Yet we see more confidence and more determination from the Lebanese resistance in the battlefield.

PressTV: 5:09
Thank you, Mr. Barakat. Aand Gilbert Doctorow, welcome sir, to the conversation. Mr. Doctorow, your thoughts on where the Israel aggression stands right now against Lebanon and to Mr. Barakat's point, Hezbollah has time and again stipulated and reiterated that we're only using a fraction of our defensive capabilities should, to Mr. Barakout's point, we see an escalation in Hezbollah tapping into its true resources, How [do] things look for the region and for especially along the southern Lebanese border?

Gilbert Doctorow, PhD: 5:45
I'd like to make reference to an outside source, which affirms what my fellow panelist was just saying regarding the fighting in Lebanon. The source I'm making reference to is this morning's BBC World broadcast, in which their experts on the ground were saying exactly the same thing: that the fighting in Lebanon is far more balanced than what the Israelis are encountering elsewhere. In Gaza, there's nothing to say. In Gaza, the Israelis are shooting at herrings in a barrel. The ability of Hamas to respond with equal force is very much reduced.

6:33
In Iran, Israel is held back by the United States, by which I mean the Pentagon, not by Mr. Biden. Mr. Biden and Mr. Blinken have really been shunted to a side. And decision-making with respect to Israel is under the control of the Pentagon, which is far more realistic in appraising the dangers of a world war coming out of an unreasonable escalation caused by Israel. So the Iranian front is more or less stable for that reason, because both powers, Russia and the United States, are doing what they can to prevent escalation.

But Lebanon is where the real fighting is going on. Unfortunately, this is very, very damaging to the Lebanese people, to the villages that have been described, and my heart goes out to them. Nonetheless, they are fighting valiantly and with very great effect. In this respect, what my fellow panelist was saying is in line with one of the most authoritative Western mainstream broadcasters.

PressTV: 7:42
And Mr. Barakat-- thank you, Mr. Doctorow-- Mr. Barakat, US weapons are being used in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, in Syria, in Yemen, in Lebanon, and even on Iran. And the medium of delivery of these ordnances: the Israeli entity. Yet we have-- Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made an 11th trip this week out to the region, supposedly pushing for de-escalation and a ceasefire. What crosses your mind when you see the man make 11 trips out here and you see the level of support and weapons that are being used on regional civilizations and nations?

Barakat: 8:23
That's a very good question, because the United States is lying to the world. And people understand now that the US, you know, failing to promote a false image that they are mediators and that they are, you know, peace brokers and so on and so forth; when everyone knows that this genocide in Gaza, it's been orchestrated by the United States. In fact, the US has provided not just weapons, but also full political and economic support for the Israeli regime to continue their aggression against the people of Gaza and Lebanon and Iran. All these, you know, Israeli air force, with the bombs they use whether here in Lebanon or against the people of Iran.

9:14
I mean, this is US-made weapons with a US approval. This is the problem. The problem that our region here faces is a US Western colonialist who wants to dominate the region and steal and plunder the resources of our nations. And you know, when you know, ask anyone in the streets of Beirut or Tehran or you know, Cairo or any of the capitals of our region, they will tell you that the problem is the US, the problem is Israel, the problem is these Arab reactionary regimes who are also participating in this war against anyone who raises their head or their voice for real independence and real sovereignty. And that is the camp that Iran and the camp of resistance is facing today.

10:11
And I think that the United States and the Western powers [don't] want to recognize that today we have a new balance of power in our region and that the US and its Western allies [need] to get the hell out of West Asia. I mean why do they have 60 military bases in our region? Why do they have all these, you know, militarizing the entire region? The reason they're doing this is for their interest, for their colonialist goals, and for Israel. Israel for them is their colony in the heart of the Arab and Muslim world.

10:53
They use it as a, you know, a carrier, one of their military carriers. That's how they look at Israel. And I think that, you know, Israel is becoming a burden slowly on the West and on the world, the whole international, not just international community, but the entire world is watching what Israel is doing. This is not 1948; this is, you know, 2024. And so people have access to the truth. You know, the first enemy of Israel is the truth. And now Israel is being exposed. But with Israel is the United States. In my view, the United States and Israel are heading towards a strategic defeat.

PressTV: 11:40
Thank you Mr. Barakar. And Mr Doctorow, your thoughts too, on the complicity of the United States behind Israel's adventurism, while at the same time trying to push the portrayal that the Biden administration is opposed to this level of aggression coming out of Tel Aviv on regional nations and how the upcoming elections in the States you feel will impact that level of complicity we're seeing from the heads of Washington, D.C.

Doctorow: 12:08
With respect to the latest remarks of my fellow panelist, I disagree. He is ignoring the BRICS factor. This is not 1948. This is not the pure colonialist positions favored by the retrograde royal regimes in the region. Nothing of the sort. United Arab Emirates are in BRICS together with Iran. The Saudi regime is balancing itself and not yet ready to commit to BRICS, but looking very closely at it and not wishing to offend BRICS. Therefore, the situation in the Middle East is far more nuanced than my colleague in Beirut was suggesting.

And behind the operations, the activities of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so on, is the support-- some of it intelligence support, some of it physical material support-- that Russia is gilling to the axis of resistance and of which the Pentagon in particular is acutely aware. When you speak about the Biden administration, this is a two-sided administration with the neocons holding power through Mr. Biden and Blinken, and with the realists holding power in the Pentagon. The Pentagon released these highly confidential Israeli plans to attack Iran precisely to make that impossible. This type of development tells you surely that opinion is divided within the top circles of the United States because of fear of aN all-out war with Russia.

13:46
Therefore, the BRICS factor is a major changing factor in the Middle East situation, which should give us in general, that is observers in general, and observers in Iran in particular, substantial comfort. The attack that the Israelis made on Iran in the past two days was moderated by American pressure for restraint. It was moderated by Russian intelligence to Tehran on the approaching attack by Israel. These are undeniable factors that change the equation in the Middle East in favor of some realism, as opposed to ideologically- driven and irresponsible activities which the administration in Washington would be pursuing.

14:37
As for Mr. Trump, I do not expect him to realize, assuming he's elected, any of the extravagant and violent remarks with respect to Iran that he's been making for political capital in the United States. This is electioneering, and it will not be American policy under a Trump administration that is guided by very solid and responsible advisors like Elon Musk, like Robert Kennedy Jr. and so forth, which he did not have in his first administration.

PressTV: 15:07
I was going to sign off, but Mr. Khaled Barakat, you probably want to respond to what Mr. Doctorow said, that you're not completely heeding the impacts of all the nuances and machinations going on. Less than a minute if you could please respond, and let's wrap it up.

Barakat:
Well, I think the balance of power is shifting definitely internationally and the BRICS is one of the symptoms that major economic and political forces are coming together. And we see that as a positive sign. At the same time, we have to look at the immediate tasks that we're having today. We think with all due respect to Russia and China and their position and support of the Palestinian people and the people of the region, we do not think, at least I do not think that they're doing enough in terms of our region. It's really important for Russia and China to understand that they need to play a more engaging role against the Israeli regime and its crimes in our region.

PressTV: 16:14
Thank you gentlemen, We're out of time. Stay safe, to both of you. Appreciate having you both on. Khaled Barakat there, joining us out of Beirut. Mr. Gilbert Doctorow, joining us from Brussels. Stay safe and bye-bye for now.