Israeli escalation Netanyahu’s election stunt: Expert

An American author and Middle East expert describes the recent escalation in Israeli aerial attacks against regional countries as an election stunt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is trying to trigger retaliatory fire against the regime to win more votes.

Kevin Barrett made the remarks to Press TV’s The Debate program out of Kalispell, Montana on Sunday amid increase in Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip, its ongoing recurrent strikes against Syria and violations of Lebanon’s airspace, and a recent bout of assaults against Iraq.

“This latest round of escalation stemming out of Israel…is really one big campaign stunt by Netanyahu,” he said.

“[Seyyed Hassan] Nasrallah was very much on target,” when he described the ratcheted up attacks as such, Barrett added, referring to recent remarks by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah’s secretary general.

Under the international law, when nations are attacked, they “have the right to retaliate,” the American pundit noted, suggesting that Tel Aviv was trying to prompt counterstrikes so it can portray itself in a vulnerable light.

Delivering an address on Sunday, Nasrallah said the group would confront Tel Aviv’s incessant violation of Lebanon’s skies, by downing any transgressing Israeli drones.

PressTV-‘Hezbollah to counter Israeli drones, shoot them down’

Nasrallah says Hezbollah resistance movement will not tolerate any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by intruding Israeli drones.

By increasing the drone attacks, Nasrallah said, the Israeli regime was trying to “turn Lebanon back to what it was before 2006.”

Nasrallah was referring to the run-up to Israel’s 33-Day War of that year, which killed around 1,200 Lebanese, and afflicted considerable damage to the country’s infrastructure but only ended when Israel, surprised by Hezbollah's ability to hit back, agreed to a ceasefire.

“We in the Islamic resistance won’t allow such events to take place whatever be the price,” the Hezbollah chief said, and added, “The time when Israeli planes would come and bomb a certain place in Lebanon and this entity (Israel) remained secure and in place…this time has ended.”

Barrett reminded that “the Zionist entity has been committing systematic genocide for more than half a century.”

Lee Kaplan, investigative journalist and commentator, from Berkley, California, who was also being hosted on the program, however, claimed that the Israeli regime was acting preemptively.

“Intelligence shows that Hezbollah is planning attacks in northern Israel, in the Galilee, and they are building up to that,” he said. “So, it is incumbent upon the Israelis to protect their people.”

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