The US & Israel’s War with Iran…
… and Lebanon, while we continue to materially support the ongoing Genocide in Gaza and rising violence and occupational control in the West Bank.
A briefing:
Iran & Regional Infrastructure at Risk
Since March 3, U.S. and Israeli forces have struck oil storage facilities in Tehran, setting city streets on fire and producing a toxic chemical cloud over a city of 9 million, and bombed a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island, cutting water to 30 villages. Iran retaliated by striking a desalination plant in Bahrain. This exchange carries catastrophic regional implications: a 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable noted that destroying Saudi Arabia's Jubail plant would force Riyadh to evacuate within a week. Israel also debuted a previously unseen incendiary bomb type in strikes on both Iran and Lebanon, assessed by weapons experts as potentially designed to destroy chemical or biological agents. Sources: Al Jazeera — Tehran strikes | Al Jazeera — Bahrain desalination | Bloomberg — Gulf water risk | Bellingcat — New incendiary bomb
Lebanon: Mass Casualties, Displacement & Documented War Crimes
At least 394 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest escalation, 83 of them children, with over 1,130 wounded and nearly 700,000 displaced, including 200,000 children. Israel has issued blanket evacuation orders covering southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Beirut. Human Rights Watch has verified airburst white phosphorus strikes over a residential Lebanese town, which is illegal under international law in civilian areas. In the Bekaa Valley, Israeli special forces disguised in Lebanese military uniforms and using ambulances marked with a humanitarian organization's insignia conducted a retrieval operation backed by 40 airstrikes, killing multiple Lebanese civilians. Israel is also deploying AI-enabled autonomous drones for targeting, with experts warning that human accountability is being designed out of the kill chain. Sources: Al Jazeera — Casualties | UNICEF/UN News | UN OHCHR — Displacement | HRW — White phosphorus | BBC — Bekaa operation | The Dial — AI drone warfare
West Bank: Settler Violence Under Cover of War
Since the Iran offensive began, the West Bank has been placed under total Israeli military closure — all checkpoints shut, hundreds of new iron gates installed, Palestinian movement between cities paralyzed. Settlers are using the cover of reduced international attention to escalate attacks on Palestinian communities. Six Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in the past week alone, including two brothers shot dead in Qaryut near Nablus, and three people killed in Khirbet Abu Falah near Ramallah — two by gunfire, one from tear gas fired by soldiers accompanying the settlers. The NGO Yesh Din documented over 50 incidents of settler violence across 37 Palestinian communities in just the first four days of the war. The Palestinian Red Crescent reports that checkpoint and gate closures are creating mounting obstacles for first responders, with approximately 1,100 gates now in place — up from 800 during last year's Iran conflict. The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry has formally accused Israel of exploiting the atmosphere of war and the lack of international attention to intensify intimidation, violence, and forced displacement. Sources: AP via Local10 | Al Jazeera — settler killings | +972 Magazine — closure & violence | Mondoweiss — West Bank stranglehold
