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00:00Well, we can speak now to associate fellow in the Middle East
00:03program at Chatham House, Mr. Yossi Mechelberg.
00:05Mr. Mechelberg, thanks so much for your time and joining us here on France 24.
00:10Looking at the the wars that have started over a year ago now,
00:15both in Gaza and extending into Lebanon,
00:19I'd like to ask you, first of all, this all was sparked by that attack
00:23by Hamas on October 7th, an attack that seemed to surprise the Israeli military.
00:28You know, came with harsh criticism against how Israel was was not securing its people.
00:34But a year on, and it looks like the prime minister has more support than ever.
00:38Good morning.
00:40Obviously, the surprise of October 7 and the terrible atrocities committed by Hamas
00:46been all very well documented.
00:49And Israel commemorated this yesterday, very somber day in Israel.
00:54But we are a year later and the suffering inflicted first on the Palestinians in Gaza.
01:01There is a low intensity, but very costly, low intensity war in the West Bank.
01:08And what we see is escalation not only in Lebanon, but we already expected
01:13a response of Israel in Iran to Iran launching missiles last week.
01:20So we are in the middle of something, multi-front war,
01:24as we just heard from the surgeon in South Lebanon interviewed,
01:29many civilians are paying with their life,
01:32including people that work for the emergency services.
01:36But the big question is, yes, on the one hand, every military can find many targets.
01:44You mentioned 120 targets yesterday.
01:47The question is, what is the political aim?
01:50At one point, you move from the military operation into the political diplomatic sphere
01:57and try to create a first an end to the war and then some long term military solution.
02:04As for Netanyahu himself, I think because what happens in Lebanon,
02:10the sense that there is success,
02:13that the war in Gaza, at least for Israel, seems to come down,
02:17there is an increase in support of him.
02:21And unfortunately, Netanyahu is a master manipulator on Israeli politics
02:26and he survived it for a long time.
02:28So do you think Israeli people as a whole support the wars that have been taking place
02:33and that are ongoing for over a year,
02:34with, as you mentioned, all the civilian casualties that go with it?
02:38I think the support thinks many times that they are contradictory.
02:42There is a majority that support the ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the hostages.
02:49But many of them also will say when the hostages are back,
02:52they are not opposed to the resumption of the war,
02:57including if Israel withdraw with the Philadelphia corridor returning to this.
03:03I think there is quite a wider support war against Hezbollah
03:06because they don't see that there was any justification for Hezbollah to attack the north.
03:11There is no border dispute or territorial dispute between Israel and Lebanon as such.
03:19And 60,000 Israelis have been displaced.
03:22So they will see it as justification.
03:24Many times, while there are causes that you can understand why Israel tried to break
03:31what Iran is called the ring of fire around it,
03:34is the way that it conducts it,
03:36which exact heavy price from civilians,
03:39and be that there is no strategic political endgame in sight.
03:44Indeed, Mr Yossi Merkelberg, I'm being told we'll have to leave it there.
03:48But thanks so much for giving us your time and your insight on the situation.
03:51Mr Merkel there from Chatham House joining us.