AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, as we continue to look at the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Israel has mobilized 100,000 reservists as it threatens to reinvade Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 31 people have been killed, nearly 150 wounded, since Israel launched renewed airstrikes on Beirut’s suburbs and other parts of Lebanon on Sunday. Tens of thousands of residents of southern and eastern Lebanon were seen fleeing their homes after Israel ordered people in nearly 50 villages to evacuate.

Israel’s military says its renewed war on Lebanon comes in response to missiles and drones fired by Hezbollah in retaliation for the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were Hezbollah’s first major violations of a ceasefire that took effect in November 2024. During that time, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, documented more than 15,000 ceasefire violations committed by Israel. Israeli police say nine people were killed after an Iranian missile attack on the central city of Beit Shemesh. Another strike killed a woman in Tel Aviv.

This is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Sunday.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] We are in a campaign in which we are bringing the full force of the IDF as never before to ensure our existence and our future. But we are also bringing into this campaign the assistance of the United States, my friend, U.S. President Donald Trump, and the U.S. military. And this combination of forces enables us to do what I have long hoped to do for 40 years, to strike the terror regime decisively. That is what I promised, and that is what we will do.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined right now by Ori Goldberg, Israeli political analyst, scholar in Tel Aviv, written extensively on Iran, Israel and the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle East.

Ori, thanks so much for being with us again. You were there for our special broadcast on Saturday. Can you talk about the response on the ground right now in Israel to the Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran, and then the response by Iran?

ORI GOLDBERG: Well, as far as the Israeli general population goes, there is a broad embrace of this attack. In fact, the consensus, which so far during the protests against the Netanyahu government has been shushed and actively repressed, is now surfacing with full strength. That is the alliance between the Israeli liberals and the Israeli right, the settlers, the religious elements in the government. They all seem to agree, broadly and deeply, that this war is inevitable, that it must be carried out right now, and that it has — and Israel has absolutely no choice, and, of course, that this war will only end with a real toppling of the regime in Tehran, a campaign that can and should last as long as it takes, which is something our prime minister has said repeatedly over the last few days. Again, the population is resigned to this war. It supports it. It doesn’t appear to be jubilant. Nobody’s accepting Netanyahu’s boasts like they did after the IDF mobilized and invaded Gaza following the events of October 2023. But there’s a sense that this has to be done and we’re doing what has to be done.

AMY GOODMAN: And what about the call for 100,000 Israeli reservists for the possible reinvasion of Lebanon?

ORI GOLDBERG: Well, the Israeli government mobilizes reservists with great ease, certainly now when the entire country is at a shutdown. It might have been a little more difficult had the country been in full working mode, but it most certainly is not. Most Israelis are shuttling between shelters and taking care of kids who are home from school, as the educational system is not working either. Mobilizing 100,000 reservists, as I said, is not that difficult.

Will Israel invade Lebanon? Particularly when we hear that the Lebanese prime minister has officially declared that the government of Lebanon forbids Hezbollah from operating in any sort of military capacity from Lebanese territory, I doubt very much that we will see another invasion of Lebanon. Israel so far seems quite pleased to be attacking, bombing, killing and destroying from the air, just as is the case with the United States in Iran.

AMY GOODMAN: How many times have you been sent into shelter, Ori? On Saturday, I think it was, we were up to 12 by the time we spoke at about 1:00 in the afternoon.

ORI GOLDBERG: Yes, and then I think we got to about 20. But it hasn’t really improved. The frequency has somewhat lessened, but we can get one sheltering order in place, then have it rescinded after 10 minutes, and then after two minutes have it on again — classically, overcompensation for the beginning of the Gaza, quote-unquote, “war,” when the IDF and the Israeli state were caught completely unprepared. Now the powers that be here seem to have reached a decision that it’s better to send the entire country into shelters than to have even one unnecessary casualty.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the negotiations that were happening in Geneva around Iran’s nuclear program, this happening in the midst of them as they were planning to continue this week? This is something that you’ve looked at continually.

ORI GOLDBERG: I’m not going to go off on a speculative tangent. I cannot corroborate this completely and positively. But to the best of my understanding, this was not the result of an operation meant to misdirect Iranian attention or meant to secure reasons for a preventive attack. If it was, then this isn’t a preventive attack. If this has been planned for months and years, then there’s no doubt that there’s nothing preventive or legal about it.

What I gather is that there was some convergence of intelligence. There was a realization that Iran’s senior leadership was going to meet, in a somewhat unprecedented fashion, in Tehran. This is the sort of tactical intelligence at which Israel excels. Israelis brought this to the attention of the United States. The forces were already in place, because, again, moving forces is easier than sending them into an actual war. Same case for the United States as it is for Israel. So the forces were already in place, and all that was needed was the spark of that particular meeting, where Israel and the United States believed that they could assassinate the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.

They succeeded in everything that has happened since, pretty much, ever since the opening shock and awe enhanced, as it were, has, I think, been learning and working in motion. Targets have been identified for months and years. There’s no doubt that’s the case. But any kind of coherent, consequent logic that would be apparent in such a program, any kind of final goal, any kind of vision as to what regime change might actually include, that does not seem to be a part of either the Israeli or the American working plan in Iran at the moment. And in fact, President Trump could declare victory whenever he so chooses. He’s already assassinated the supreme leader. Israel could declare victory whenever it so chooses.

But Israel, over the past two-and-a-half years, has become exceedingly greedy. It doesn’t want to commit itself to anything. It actually, I think — what Israel is fighting for is the right to be able to go off on such attacks whenever it wants, wherever it wants, for as long as it wants. So, don’t expect Israel to come to a political realization that this might end. Again, the population supports Prime Minister Netanyahu. The opposition has officially disbanded itself and declared that there were no coalition or opposition now, just the united people of Israel. So, don’t look to Israel for any kind of political statement.

AMY GOODMAN: Ori Goldberg, I want to thank you for being with us, Israeli political analyst and scholar in Tel Aviv.

When we come back, we go to war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: Folk musician Michael Hurley, “Hog of the Forsaken.”