This week, Jorge and Hamid sat down to discuss three flashpoints in the world crisis of capitalism: the floods that are devastating Spain, the spiralling conflict in the Middle East, and the impending US election.

Having failed to destroy Hamas or return the hostages, it is becoming increasingly clear that Israel’s strategy has changed. The whole population remaining in northern Gaza, some 400,000 men, women and children, are being subjected to a policy of ethnic cleansing.

Ever since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel, the logic of the situation in the Middle East has been moving in the direction of an escalation of the war beyond Gaza. All attempts to hold back this process have followed the same course. The Americans first state they don’t want an escalation. But each time Netanyahu does something to push towards widening the war, because he knows that the US will always fall on Israel’s side.

Israel’s war of words with the United Nations has escalated into deliberate IDF attacks on its peacekeepers in Lebanon. These provocations reveal the embarrassing impotence of the UN and Israel’s sense of utter impunity as it pushes for a new regional war.

This Wednesday, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down to talk about the genocide in Gaza, the war in Lebanon, and the crisis facing the European economy.

This Thursday, comrades Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International recorded a special podcast episode on Gaza, Ukraine and world relations. Instead of our regular format, this one addresses the burning questions of the day in a slightly different format.

A year has passed since Israel launched its genocidal war in Gaza, which has now spilled over into Lebanon, threatening a wider conflict that could engulf the region. A mass protest movement for Palestine has been underway continuously for the past 12 months, and despite ebbs and flows, it rallied last weekend for this grim anniversary. Comrades of the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI) mobilised in force at demonstrations and rallies worldwide, calling for a revolutionary solution to the nightmare in the Middle East.

One year since the 7 October attack by Hamas on southern Israel, the ensuing war has produced an unprecedented humanitarian disaster for the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Now Lebanon is facing a similar scenario. Netanyahu warned Hezbollah that Israel could “turn Beirut and southern Lebanon... into Gaza”.

Storm clouds are gathering over the Middle East as Israel, backed by the western imperialist powers, pushes the region ever closer to a devastating all-out regional war, highlighting yet again the choice before humanity: either socialism or barbarism.

The situation in the Middle East is escalating dramatically. Israel’s current invasion of Lebanon has sent shockwaves throughout the region and represents a further step towards the outbreak of a region-wide conflict, risking open war with Iran. As the Middle East grows more unstable, communists need a clear understanding of these events and what we can do to fight against militarism and imperialism wherever we are.

In the early hours of 1 October, the Israeli army crossed the border of Lebanon and started a land invasion of the country, following two weeks of heavy air strikes. This is a thoroughly reactionary war, backed and funded by US and western imperialism, which threatens to engulf the whole of the Middle East into open war, which could last for years and leave harrowing suffering in its wake.

After massive air strikes on the Dahiyeh district of Beirut, the Israeli military succeeded in assassinating the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, together with other top commanders of the organisation. It seems that the head of Hezbollah’s southern front, Ali Karaki, was also killed in the attack. Netanyahu ordered the strike personally and he is clearly provoking both Hezbollah, and its main backer Iran, to enter into all-out war with Israel. This danger is now closer than ever.

Airstrikes hit more than 1,600 targets inside Lebanon on Monday 23 September, the first day of Israel’s bombing campaign. Around 500 people were killed and over 1,600 were injured, while tens of thousands more fled the southern areas of the country. Israel’s undeclared war against Hezbollah has begun.

For almost a year, millions around the world have taken to the streets in order to fight against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The imperialists and warmongers have been fighting against this mobilisation from the very first minute. In Europe and the USA, demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine have been prohibited, activists have been persecuted by police or suspended from their jobs, pro-Palestinian speakers have been banned from stating their opinion publicly, and the movement has been deprived from using necessary meeting rooms. Our comrades are also affected by this repression.

At least nine people were killed – including a 10-year-old girl – and over 2,800 injured, many of them left in a critical condition, when pagers they were carrying exploded, in an unprecedented coordinated attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon. American officials said Israel was behind the attack, which had been prepared for months and takes place as Netanyahu’s cabinet just voted to widen the war aims to include the return of those who had been displaced from the north of the country to their homes, which is code for launching an invasion of Lebanon.