By Monica Moorehead
August 6, 2024

On July 24, the U.S. Congress welcomed the criminal prime minister of apartheid Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to give a pro-war talk where he received over 30 standing ovations. Netanyahu also held private talks with President Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

In less than a week after his visit, two cowardly assassinations of prominent leaders of the Axis of Resistance took place carried out by the U.S.-backed terrorist Israeli regime. A senior leader of Hezbollah, Fouad Shukr, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiye on July 30, in the southern section of Beirut, along with dozens of civilians. Dahiye is the most densely populated area in Beirut.

The head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated by a short-range projectile fired from outside his residence in Tehran, Iran, on July 31, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Even though Israel did not publicly take responsibility for this attack, U.S. officials privately confirmed that Israel was behind this cowardly assassination. Haniyeh was the chief negotiator for Hamas in ongoing talks with Israel to come to a ceasefire agreement to stop the 10-month old genocide in Gaza.

Massive protests took place throughout the region, including in the occupied territories, where millions of people expressed their outrage at the Haniyeh killing. A three-day general strike of Palestinian workers was called in the West Bank.

Hezbollah, Yemen’s armed forces, the Iraqi resistance and the Iranian government make up the Axis of Resistance (AofR) in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. While the AofR has been carrying out military actions to pressure Israel to stop its genocide in Gaza, these assassinations have now exponentially increased the possibility for a wider war against U.S. imperialist hegemony throughout West Asia.

Israel has been unable to militarily defeat Hamas in Gaza and now could seriously unleash a four-prong war with Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Israel’s occupying forces have suffered an estimated 10,000 casualties of combined deaths and wounded at the hands of the resistance.

During an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Aug. 1, Iran’s envoy stated that the government is preparing to carry out self-defense military actions against Israel in accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. charter. This article states that any country has the “inherent right to self-defense” against violations of its national security and territorial integrity. Iran is the most powerful country in the region militarily.

The Egyptian government, a long-time ally of Israel, has announced that it will not participate in a U.S.-backed regional coalition to defend Israel against an Iranian attack, according to Globe Eye News and other sources. This is a diplomatic blow to imperialism.

Impact of Iran’s inevitable response

While the Iranians have stated that they will strike without warning, just the anticipation of their actions has caused an unprecedented upheaval on a global economic scale. According to the Iran Observer, this panic has caused the global stock market to plummet with losses totaling $2.9 trillion. This astounding figure includes close to $2 trillion wiped out alone on the U.S. stock market as the NASDAQ dropped over 500 points on Aug. 5.

A majority of U.S. and international airlines have indefinitely canceled their flights in and out of Israel, which is creating even more chaos for the already unstable Israeli economy and for the tens of thousands of Israelis attempting to leave.

Suppressed News on X reports that Israeli hospital parking lots in Tel Aviv are being converted into emergency departments in preparation of Iran’s response.  Israelis, including Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet, are seeking protection in bunkers in anticipation of Tehran’s reaction.

The Pentagon has moved more warships nearer to Israel and Lebanon, along with additional squadrons of fighter jets. Also 4,000 U.S. marines will be deployed. All of this military support once again reinforces the fact that Israel could not survive for one day if it weren’t for U.S. backing.

Since October. 7, the U.S. has supplied Israel with an estimated $18 billion in military aid to carry out the horrific genocide in Gaza, which has slaughtered and wounded over 200,000 Palestinians and left over 1 million people homeless.

Despite all of these reinforcements, the U.S. continues to make behind-the-scenes appeals to Iran not to attack Israel.  According to Resistance Monitor, the U.S. is willing to lift sanctions on Iran if they do not attack Israel. (Aug. 5)

The U.S. will still have to deal with Yemen targeting U.S. ships in the Mediterranean and Red seas. Just a few days ago, Yemen shot down a U.S. MQ9 drone worth $32 million. Hezbollah has also stepped up its attacks on illegal Zionist settlements and military installments on its borders.

Whenever Iran does carry out its strikes, it will put Israel and the U.S. in an even more vulnerable position that will lead to further isolation on a global scale due to their racist ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.