Clashes have continued in southern Lebanon
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Let's find out what's been happening in the Middle East because clashes have continued in southern Lebanon overnight. This is despite Israel and Hezbollah accepting a US plan to implement a partial ceasefire. Channel 4 presenter Matt Fry joins me now. Good morning, Matt. Good morning, Clare. It's a bizarre situation, isn't it, where you've Donald Trump saying, well, both sides have agreed to step back while they continue to fight.
Well, there's a lot of stuff that Donald Trump has said since the beginning of the war that he started on the 28th of February that doesn't necessarily correspond 100% to the truth and is more an expression of his wishful thinking.
What are the latest developments in southern Lebanon?
What he wishes, without a shadow of a doubt, is that this war that he started will end sooner rather than later. He needs it to end for political reasons. The price of petrol or gas, as the Americans call it, at the pump has become unsustainable. And it has led to the fact that his popularity ratings are now lower than Joe Biden's were at his lowest point. in his tenure.
How does the US ceasefire plan affect the conflict?
And of course, if his party loses the midterm elections, both in the House and perhaps even in the Senate, that would really curtail his executive power going forward. However, Donald Trump finds himself in a bind. He is caught between his political desires at home and the reality that Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he started this war, has an entirely different calculation. And Netanyahu's calculation is that He is caught between the Americans possibly turning off the tap when it comes to Patriot missiles or other military reinforcements, which the Israelis need, and his own desire to continue the war rather than to end it, because as far as his public is concerned, and of course he also faces elections in October, the Iran war and indeed the Hezbollah war is unfinished business.
Tehran this morning saying on Iranian state television that the Iranians could suspend the US talks over these continuing strikes on Lebanon. So it's not just a case of let Benjamin Netanyahu get on with what he is doing in Lebanon. This affects the entire peace, doesn't it?
It does. So Benjamin Netanyahu has Trump by the short and curlies, as they say in some parts of the world, because essentially if Netanyahu doesn't like whatever agreement the Americans have struck with Iran, He can, you know, it's in his gift to carry on the war by either attacking Iran or by attacking Hezbollah.
What role does Donald Trump play in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict?
The Iranians who've been, remember, they've been massively weakened in recent years by Israel's ability to deplete their regional networks, you know, of proxies, whether it's Hamas in the Gaza Strip, whether it's the Houthis in Yemen or in Syria, which of course is gone because Assad was toppled. but most importantly, Hezbollah, which is the most powerful non-state army on the planet, or certainly was until it started being pummeled by the Israelis. So it's absolutely essential for the Iranians to maintain some degree of their regional power network. And of course, the Israelis are doing everything they can to deplete it. But what you've got to remember, Claire, is that President Trump, the author of the art of the deal, a man who likes to kind of tell you the highway, my way or the highway,
who hates the idea of being beholden to anyone, has now realized that he is actually quite dependent on Benjamin Netanyahu. And he has expressed his frustration, this story came out late last night, in a number of expletives, which I can't possibly mention on your show, but at least two of them begin, well, one of them begins with the letter F. telling Netanyahu, his supposedly great buddy, that he was crazy and that he was blowing the whole region up, which many people would argue is true. It has been true for a very long time. The other interesting thing is that in this post on social media, in which Trump was much more polite, but coolly so, about Benjamin Netanyahu, he also mentioned the fact that he had been talking via proxies directly to Hezbollah.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:46
2
What are the latest developments in southern Lebanon?
0:46–1:10
3
How does the US ceasefire plan affect the conflict?
1:10–2:40
4
What role does Donald Trump play in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict?
2:40–7:38
5
How are political pressures influencing military decisions?
7:38–11:18
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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