The noisy silence in the face of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon

The Beaufort Castle, a fortress from the time of the 12th-century crusades, has become the new symbol of the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon. This Sunday, the Israeli army conquered this castle, which theoretically allows it to control a wide strip of territory largely controlled by Hezbollah, which, despite strong pressure, still launched attacks against Israeli positions again on Saturday. It is still too early to tell, but the gesture of planting the flag there has been seen as a turning point in this conflict, as it has been accompanied by a strong propaganda campaign –photographs of the Israeli flag on the hill and the announcement by Benjamin Netanyahu calling it a "crucial milestone" and urging the continuation of the military incursion– to show how the invasion of Lebanon was progressing beyond the Litani River to establish, in principle, a new "security" border 10 kilometers further north, reaching the Zahrani River.

For the moment, the invasion of Lebanon has already caused the deaths of over 3,000 Lebanese and nearly 24 Israeli soldiers and civilians. In addition, of course, there are hundreds of injured, villages and houses razed, and 1.2 million internally displaced people. And, despite the fact that in theory there is a ceasefire, which neither Israel nor Hezbollah has respected, and despite the fact that on Friday itself there were talks to reach a peace agreement in Washington, it is clear that Israel has no intention of stopping the conflict in Lebanon and is taking advantage to gain territory, it wants to control almost a third of the country and prolong the war. Right now, Netanyahu wants war everywhere because that keeps him in power. In Gaza, the occupation is maintained and every day there are between half a dozen and a dozen deaths from Israeli fire. Deaths from diseases or other consequences of the war are no longer counted. They are not news. In the West Bank, there is also a continuous string of deaths and the occupation and appropriation of Palestinian land does not stop. It has already occupied part of Syria and now wants to keep a third of Lebanon. It is failing, however, to advance with the war in Iran because it is a conflict that only interests him right now. After deceiving the United States in this absurd conflict that has turned the world trade upside down, it tries to torpedo any ceasefire talks by continuing its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if it means destroying the whole country.

In this context, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, has called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council for this Monday to denounce Israel's new operations in Lebanon. It is a necessary request, although it is known that little will come of it because the United States will surely veto any resolution, and if there were any condemnation, Israel would not pay attention either. It has never heeded the UN and it is clear that for Israel, the only international law is that of force. At some point, however, there must be a forceful response from the international community. That is to say, a clear condemnation by the European Union in the form of tough sanctions against Netanyahu's government that will, even if only a little, stop him.