Israel has confirmed overnight strikes on both Syria and Lebanon. Yossi Mekelberg, Associate Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, told CGTN Europe that Israel is not the policeman of the region and does not have the authority of the United Nations to intervene in other sovereign countries.
00:00Thank you for having me. I think we see that the current Israeli government is almost one course of action, one modus operandi, which using force, but not necessarily see what lies beyond using force, what can be achieved politically.
00:19And I think the two incidents you mentioned can be part of this approach. But at the same time, there is difference between still targeting Hezbollah. The ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon is rather fragile.
00:37And there are violations from both sides. And in my mind, Israel needs to let the political process to take its course in order to see whether actually the Lebanese government can impose its authority on Hezbollah.
00:53And specifically in Syria, it looks about, you know, the special relation with the Druze. But there is always a danger that Israel is sucked into, again, a very unstable situation.
01:06The more the more this happens, the more frequent of this, this use of force, the more danger is that of an escalation and involvement of other forces.
01:16And how far does that escalation stretch? I mean, what are the implications for broader Middle East security?
01:23Again, it also depends how the other powers within the region react to this. For instance, Iran is a much weaker force right now. It's not likely to be involved, especially that its ally Bashar al-Assad is not a force, and the Alawites are not a force in Syria.
01:46So it's not very likely to be involved in Syria. So it's not very likely in the near future. Lebanon is in the process of rebuilding itself.
01:54The problem is, more than its escalation into a regional war right now, that it destabilizes processes that are very fragile, very delicate.
02:05And by Israel intervening there, it might create a worse situation instead of enabling for certain positive developments in both Lebanon and Syria to develop organically, in other words, you know, sidelining Hezbollah as a military force,
02:23allowing the new government in Syria, to assert its authority, but also, you know, for the international community to ensure that there is respect for a minority.
02:36And I think Israel is exacerbating or intervening with a very fragile situation.
02:42Israel has framed its campaign as targeting every terrorist. I wonder, how does that approach fit in to international law?
02:54First of all, the question of what Israel is defining every terrorist, what is in the eyes of Israel is a terrorist, not necessarily is actually by international law, is a terrorist.
03:08But Israel is not the policeman of the region. It doesn't have the authority of the United Nations to intervene in another sovereign country or sovereign countries.
03:20In the case of Syria, as it is, it occupies part of the Golan Heights since 1967 and post-December of last year, it occupies even more land within Syria.
03:36And this is in violation of international law. I don't think anything, unless it's self-defense and Israel can prove that these people pose a threat to Israel, it is in violation of international law.
03:49So in all of this, what role then for international actors, the United Nations, the United States, the EU and regional powers like Egypt or Qatar?
04:00I think, actually, these powers have, I don't know if the responsibility, because that's the need to decide for themselves, but definitely can play a very significant role in help to stabilize the situation in this country,
04:19help the developments there, the processes in both Syria and Lebanon, move away in what distorted, actually, the relations between community over many years,
04:32whether or the role of Hezbollah or the role of Bashar al-Assad, and help to have a smooth transition into something which ensure the security and the rights of everyone.
04:43Israel is entitled to look after security, but security within its border, not to try to impose different order.
04:52That should be done through dialogue, dialogue within these countries, and dialogue with, through the Arab League, the United Nations and other international organizations.
05:02Yossi, good to see you. Thanks so much for coming back on the program again.
05:06Yossi Mecklberg, Associate Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House.
