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We get an update from Lebanon, where the death toll from Israeli airstrikes has risen to over 700 since Monday, following a series of explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies in Beirut and southern Lebanon last week. The Israeli military reiterated its troops were preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon if tensions continue to escalate. Multiple Israeli tanks and armored vehicles have appeared across Israel's northern border with Lebanon. As the Biden administration claims it's working toward a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel is set to receive a new military aid package from the United States totaling some $8.7 billion. "People are really scared," says Mona Fawaz, professor of urban planning at the American University of Beirut. "Israel does these so-called targeted assassinations, which, sadly, much of the Western press has been celebrating, and they talk about Israelis' ingenuity. In fact, it's targeting everyone." Fawaz discusses the context for Lebanon's crisis, organizing to shelter and survive the bombing, and the Israeli messaging about evacuation orders and Hezbollah.
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Israel is continuing its bombardment of Lebanon and preparing for a possible ground invasion of the country, with the Netanyahu government rejecting a proposed 21-day ceasefire put forward by the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. About 500,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced, and the Health Ministry reports at least 72 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to over 620 in recent days. "There is a lot of suffering. There is a lot of hardship right now," says Beirut-based journalist Lara Bitar, who details how Israel has repeatedly attacked and invaded Lebanese territory going back decades. "The source of this pain can be pinpointed to the presence of the Israeli settler state in our region that continues to wreak havoc in Palestine, in Lebanon and across most of the world."
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