The demonstration on 5 October must be the launchpad for a bigger and more dynamic movement

After twelve months, Israel continues to bomb refugees relentlessly. The real death toll in Gaza will probably never be known, but the Lancet suggests it could be just under 200,000 lives lost.

Now in Lebanon, Israel is replaying its Gaza songbook. The propaganda is a repeat of their story from a year ago. They claim they are only targeting Hezbollah and that their attacks are precise. Yet we all know the truth: genocide, mass murder and war crimes are being inflicted on the Arab peoples by a colonising power.

The pager and walkie-talkie attacks were indiscriminate targeting of men, women and children. They were war crimes. In the aftermath, Israeli aircraft dropped one-tonne bunker-buster bombs on residential suburbs in Beirut causing untold damage and taking at least 1,000 Lebanese lives.

The attack on Lebanon sees Israel crossing another American ‘red line’. The Americans have repeatedly set ‘red lines’ in Gaza which Israel has simply ignored. And when it ignores them, America steps in to furnish them with more arms, more money and more fuel to enable their war machine to carry on.

America could stop this today, but they don’t. They facilitate Israel in Gaza and Lebanon because Israel is their top ally, their reliable watchdog, in the Middle East.

The attack on Lebanon has brought Israel some short-term victories. The fact they have managed to target and kill the leadership of Hezbollah, including, of course, leader Hassan Nasrallah, will boost their support at home and is a significant blow to Hezbollah.

But it would be a mistake to think that Israel is now on the path to victory.

Despite their brutality in Gaza, Hamas remain active across the Strip. Israel has failed to release the hostages and has shown complete disregard for their safety with the intensity of their bombing campaign. These issues are playing out badly for Netanyahu within Israel, a situation made worse by an economy that is struggling with the costs of war.

Despite Israel’s initial success in Lebanon, Hezbollah isn’t finished. It operates with relatively autonomous command structures on the ground and Israeli ground troops entering Lebanon, will face a strong and determined opponent.

Finally, the events of the last few weeks have further isolated Israel internationally. When Netanyahu spoke at the UN, most delegates walked out, leaving him pontificating to a few representatives of the Western powers. This is a partial reflection of the global movement in solidarity with Gaza and the pressure we have brought on governments across the globe.

In Britain, we have built a strong and dynamic Palestine solidarity movement. Although  we have not managed to stop our government from arming and supporting Israel, we have had a number of victories.  Our protests have stopped the police and political class from outlawing Palestine solidarity, won overwhelming public support despite  mainstream media bias, and stopped some arms licences to Israel.

We now have to reignite our efforts and determination to force our government to speak out and act against the genocide in Gaza and the destruction of Lebanon.

The demonstration on 5 October must be the launchpad for a bigger and more dynamic movement demanding ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, an end to the arming of the terrorist Israeli state and full implementation of BDS to isolate and defeat the colonial entity in the Middle East.

From this month’s Counterfire freesheet