the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Dec 2, 2024
This article is translated from the November 29 issue of Lutte Ouvriere (Workers’ Struggle), the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced on Tuesday, November 26 that his security cabinet accepted a ceasefire in Lebanon.
The U.S.-brokered agreement would provide for a sixty-day truce during which Hezbollah and the Israeli army would withdraw to make way for the Lebanese army. An international monitoring committee made up of five countries, including France, and chaired by the United States, would be set up to guarantee the ceasefire.
To reach this agreement, American officials assured the Israeli government that it would have the right to bomb Lebanon if it deemed it necessary. In reality, the Israeli state has never needed any authorization to arrogate this right unto itself, or even to occupy southern Lebanon, as it did for almost twenty years between 1982 and 2000.
Today, Israeli leaders clearly have no plans for a new occupation. After more than two months of war, their troops are facing strong resistance from the Hezbollah militia. The Israeli general staff cannot boast of having achieved its objective, which was to put an end to the missile fire that has led to the displacement of 60,000 Israelis living on the Lebanese border. On Sunday, November 24, Hezbollah again fired around 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel, injuring seven people.
Before agreeing to this ceasefire, the Israeli army stepped up its bombing raids in many parts of Lebanon and in Beirut, killing dozens of people every day. Pretending to target a Hezbollah leader or command center, Israeli bombs destroyed entire buildings. They have already claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced more than a quarter of Lebanon’s 5.3 million inhabitants.
On the other hand, the Israeli government does not envisage an end to the war in Gaza. Bombardments continue day and night throughout the Palestinian enclave, bringing the death toll to over 44,000. Since October 6, the town of Jabaliya and its surroundings have been under siege, depriving the 65,000 Palestinians living there of access to food aid and drinking water.
For over a year, the Israeli army has been able to wage a veritable war of extermination in Gaza. This is the claimed program of the extreme right, one of whose government representatives, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, declared on Monday, November 25 before a body representing West Bank settlers: "We can create a situation in which, within two years, the population of Gaza will be halved".
With the unwavering support of the leaders of the imperialist powers, first and foremost the United States, the Israeli government has a free hand to continue the massacre. At the same time, its criminal policy condemns the Israeli population to live in a permanent state of war. Some Israelis are aware of this and refuse to accept the prospect. On November 23, as on every Saturday for weeks, thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv, expressing their opposition to Netanyahu, his government and his war.