Raya Jalabi

And there have been repeated warnings throughout this entire conflict and the ceasefire negotiations since then that Lebanon would be a pivotal, pivotal part of the puzzle.

Iran has insisted from the beginning that any border ceasefire in the region have to include Lebanon.

It has to include a halt on attacks by Israel on Lebanon.

And the Israelis don't see it that way.

They see that their operations against the Hezbollah militant group are essential to their national security and have been seeking to continue that conflict.

Now, the Americans are very clearly aware of the Iranian position.

You saw that earlier last week, where on last Monday, a week ago, Donald Trump spoke with Netanyahu and warned him not to attack Beirut as Netanyahu had planned, right?

So that showed evidence.

And the reason that Donald Trump was doing that was to avoid any kind of breakdown in the negotiations with Iran.

So there is a concerted effort by the Americans to try and rein in any kind of attacks on Beirut, at the very least, by the Israelis.

But as we saw last night, the Israelis didn't respond.

So they decided not to heed whatever warning.

we think Donald Trump gave the Israelis an attack anyway.

Well, as we saw last night, I mean, Donald Trump tried to intervene and prevent Netanyahu from responding to the Iranian attack.

But you saw this immense pressure coming in from the right-wing members of his cabinet,

And so, you know, my colleague in Israel seems to think, as he wrote this morning, that that contributed significantly to Netanyahu's decision to retaliate.

He's under tremendous pressure.

He's up for election later this year and you have to show his domestic constituency that he is protecting Israel against perceived threats in the region.

It has.

It has.