The Ferocity of Israel and the New Forms of the Expanding War

Utku Kızılok, 8 Ekim 2024

This article was published on September 26, before the assassination of Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Nasrallah. This crime and the escalation of the war have proven how accurate our observations and analyses in this text were. As we stated: The U.S./Western-backed Israel, which has annihilated an entire people with a wave of unrestrained violence and is deeply entrenched in crimes from top to bottom, has created conditions from which it cannot retreat, even if it wanted to

Since October 7, 2023, the Zionist Israeli state has been committing genocide in Palestine and waging a controlled war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Now, it has escalated the conflict to new heights, aiming to completely devastate Lebanon. In recent days, Israel’s relentless and ferocious bombing campaign has killed hundreds and wounded thousands. The same terrifying war tactics used in Gaza are now being deployed in Lebanon. Israel’s war machines are indiscriminately bombing the country, targeting both civilians and soldiers alike, while the fascist Israeli regime is sending messages to Lebanese citizens in Hezbollah-controlled areas, including border regions, urging them to flee their homes. Israel’s goal is to spread terror and subjugate not just the people of Lebanon, but the entire region. In pursuit of this, Netanyahu even released a special video. In it, he claims that the war is against Hezbollah, not the Lebanese people, yet immediately follows with threats, demanding that civilians abandon their land at once. As a result, over half a million Lebanese have been forced to flee. Both Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees who had sought safety in Lebanon are now fleeing back to Syria, desperately trying to escape Israel’s death machines.

Israel’s genocide in Palestine and its attempt to destroy Lebanon provide a striking example of how capitalism, decaying as it reaches its historical limits, is driving humanity into a dark tunnel or pushing it toward a bleak future. The reason why the Zionist state can commit massacres with such unrestrained violence, in its forms of oppression, arrogance, hubris, and even fascist methods without limits, is that it has the enormous military, political, ideological, and cultural power of Western imperialism, led by the U.S., backing it. With this massive destructive force behind it, the Israeli regime views its genocidal actions, bombing of cities, and even the most barbaric acts as entirely legitimate. Meanwhile, it labels the resistance against its oppressive machine as an attack on itself, a violation of civilians’ rights, or antisemitism. Despite killing hundreds of civilians and injuring thousands in a single day on September 23, Israel had the audacity to call on the UN to issue a strong condemnation, claiming that Hezbollah had bombed civilian areas! An example of how the boundaries of shamelessness, arrogance, and hypocrisy have been shattered was shown by an Israeli army spokesperson: he claimed that the bombings in Lebanon didn’t kill people, but rather that Hezbollah ammunition stored in the targeted areas or homes caused secondary explosions that killed civilians, and that Israel was not responsible! As one Lebanese person put it, “Israel makes no distinction between stones and people,” and the people of the region are not fooled by these vile lies.

In the past, Nazi Germany used inhumane fascist methods in its concentration camps, largely hidden from public view. In contrast, Israel is implementing similar methods right before the eyes of the world, in an era where communication technology is highly advanced and everyone is watching. There is no precedent in history for the total destruction of a place like Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, reduced to rubble while its population is exterminated, bombed on one side and starved on the other. The Zionist state’s unchecked use of genocidal methods, backed by the U.S. and Western imperialism, has led to the rapid fascistization of the right-wing segments of Israeli society, where all human values are being trampled, deepening social decay. Soldiers torturing Palestinians by throwing their lifeless bodies from high buildings or dragging them behind vehicles, fascist groups preventing aid from reaching Gaza, and armed settlers oppressing Palestinians are all examples of this fascist ferocity and dehumanization. Without a doubt, a portion of Israeli society has lost its humanity and is deeply sick. The genocide and limitless destruction have triggered psychological problems in a significant number of soldiers.

However, on the other hand, segments of society that believe the fascist Netanyahu government is leading the country to destruction, along with Jewish communities opposed to Zionism, are organizing protests to demand an end to the war. Despite the Zionist war machine raining death day and night, the Palestinian people continue to resist. Socialists, class-conscious workers, conscientious individuals, and democrats, representing the progressive values of humanity, are fighting across the world to bring an end to Israel’s genocide.

Digital Attacks on Lebanon and the New Forms of the Third World War

Just before escalating the war to a new level in its effort to crush Hezbollah, the Zionist Israeli state used digital tools as part of its destructive warfare. On September 17, a series of explosions occurred across a wide area in southern Beirut, a region controlled by Hezbollah, from markets to the streets. The violent detonation of small communication devices (pagers ) used by Hezbollah members and militants caused widespread fires and left people writhing in pain, creating a shockwave. As the horror continued with devices exploding in people’s pockets or hands, the following day saw hand-held radios suddenly detonating like bombs, injuring and killing people. In these two incidents, dozens lost their lives, over 3,000 were injured, and many were left disabled.

Hezbollah resorted to using pagers, which are harder to control and manipulate, to prevent Israeli intelligence from infiltrating Lebanon’s smartphone networks for surveillance, manipulation, and locating militants. However, the Zionist state, leveraging its national and international power, did not hesitate to turn these low-tech communication devices into effective weapons. It has now come to light that these pagers and radios were manufactured by front companies set up by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. These devices were fitted with small explosives and sold to Hezbollah through other front companies, making it seem as though they came from legitimate sources. Undoubtedly, throughout this entire process, the Israeli state and Mossad have relied heavily on U.S. imperialism. It is unimaginable that the U.S. was unaware of the explosive-laden pagers being detonated. We know from countless examples how Jewish monopolistic capitalists have been influential in shaping American society, from cultural and ideological sectors to technology, and how these monopolies have become deeply intertwined with the bourgeois political world and the U.S. state, forming an oligarchic structure. Similarly, the U.S. and Israeli military-industrial complexes are largely interconnected. They jointly develop military defense technologies, co-produce missile systems, and share intelligence. As an extension of the U.S. in the Middle East, Israel, with its backing, carries out massacres without restraint in Palestine and Lebanon!

After the wave of terror created by the detonation of pagers, on September 20, Israel bombed a building, killing 12 senior Hezbollah commanders who were in a meeting. Following this attack, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other Zionist officials declared that a “new phase of the war” had begun. Lebanon was then subjected to intense bombings by Israeli warplanes. Israeli spokespeople arrogantly claimed they had destroyed thousands of Hezbollah’s rockets, missile launch systems, and erased two decades of their preparations. According to the fascist defense minister, these deadly attacks, which claimed hundreds of lives, were a “masterpiece”! There is no doubt that Hezbollah has suffered a significant blow. In fact, Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Nasrallah, acknowledged the situation by saying, “There is no doubt that we have suffered an unprecedented security and military blow in the history of the Resistance and Lebanon.” However, despite Israel’s military superiority and widespread attacks, Hezbollah has not lost its capacity to strike back. The Zionist state, having turned Gaza into a literal hell, now aims to do the same in Lebanon, positioning itself as a deterrent force against all Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran. Yet, Israel’s unbridled aggression is not only expanding the war in the Middle East but also activating dynamics that could spiral the conflict out of control. The defeat of Hezbollah in the manner Israel desires would not only deal a heavy blow to Iran’s influence in the region, but it would also weaken the power of the Russia-China imperialist bloc. In other words, this war is not just between Hezbollah and Israel, and Hezbollah’s elimination will not be easy.

The U.S./Western-backed Israel, which has annihilated an entire people with a wave of unrestrained violence and is deeply entrenched in crimes from top to bottom, has created conditions from which it cannot retreat, even if it wanted to. Despite having turned Gaza into a massive pile of rubble for nearly a year, Israel has not been able to eliminate Hamas. This, coupled with Hezbollah’s controlled attacks on Israel, backed by Iran, and the resulting displacement of hundreds of thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border, is eroding Israel’s deterrence and perceived invincibility in the region. In 2006, Israel aimed to crush Hezbollah but failed and was forced to pull back. Now, Israel, with U.S. support, seeks to destroy Hezbollah, neutralize Iran, and restore its invulnerability in the region. There is no doubt that if this continues, the genocide in Gaza will expand to include the West Bank as well. Should Israel be forced to retreat for any reason, its perceived invulnerability in the region will be further questioned. Moreover, the current Israeli leadership, particularly Netanyahu, would face uncertain consequences, with divisions within the ruling class deepening, and a chaotic internal process becoming inevitable. This situation pushes the Zionist Israeli regime, especially the fascist Netanyahu, to escalate the conflict even further.

The fact that Iran-backed Iraqi Shia groups have started targeting Israel, along with Israel’s preparations for a ground operation in Lebanon, signals that the imperialist war in the Middle East is set to expand further and become even more destructive. The powerful regional dynamics of the war are increasingly pressuring global forces, pushing imperialist powers toward direct confrontation. It’s crucial to highlight one important point: Regardless of the outcome, or even if the war pauses temporarily for any reason, the conditions and dynamics that have created today’s conflict are intensifying, meaning the war will resume. The cause of today’s conflict/war is not the Palestinian issue or the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza. On the contrary, due to the intensifying third imperialist world war centered in the Middle East and Ukraine, the Palestinian issue has become increasingly complex. The U.S./Western-backed Israel, seeing the conditions in its favor, has embarked on genocide.

As the flames of imperialist war engulf Lebanon further, a broad spectrum of voices—from bourgeois state leaders to ideologues and socialists—are recognizing that we are taking a major step toward a Third World War. The issue of a third war, which gained more attention after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, has now become a permanent fixture in the language of international politics, especially with Israel’s genocide in Palestine and the rising tensions with Iran. Yet, 30 years ago, the ruling bourgeoisie was inviting workers into the “Wonderland” of capitalism with the lie of “endless peace.” The fact that today the question of a third war is one of the most pressing topics in international politics is significant, both in understanding how capitalism is dragging humanity into a dark tunnel and in realizing that this can no longer be hidden. However, the full meaning of the events unfolding before everyone’s eyes has not yet been fully grasped, nor has the phenomenon been clearly named. The reality is that humanity has been in a Third World War ever since the U.S. used the September 11, 2001 attacks as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and declared the beginning of an “endless war.”

What we are witnessing today, deeply affecting the entire world, displacing millions from Syria to Ukraine, and dragging numerous states, particularly imperialist powers, into direct or indirect conflict, is the imperialist crisis of hegemony and the war it has triggered. This war, initiated by the U.S. to overcome the hegemonic crisis during a period when capitalism has reached its historical limits, is inherently imperialist and could never remain regional. Indeed, the warfront in Afghanistan and Iraq expanded to Syria and Libya, and from there it reached Eastern Europe, engulfing Ukraine, growing in a chain-like manner. One point must be emphasized: from the depths of Africa to Latin America, from the Caucasus to the Asia-Pacific, international politics are being shaped by power struggles between imperialist forces. The ever-deepening crisis of imperialist hegemony is not only adding new countries and regions to the circle of active conflict, but also manifesting as trade wars that strike the global economy, increasing military tensions and political crises between imperialist powers. We can only explain these developments, which are plunging the entire world into chaos, by acknowledging the existence of a Third World War.

However, the form that the current world war has taken over the past 20 years is deceptive, preventing it from being recognized for what it truly is. Bourgeois politicians and ideologues are unable to explain how capitalism, historically blocked and riddled with contradictions, is driving humanity toward a cliff. For Marxists, however, the issue must be addressed without reducing it to mere forms, recognizing that the forms of war change in accordance with evolving conditions. Marxists understand well that the appearance of things does not necessarily align with their essence. As Marx pointed out, if appearance and essence were directly aligned, then there would be no need for science at all. The human mind is naturally inclined to create forms or patterns, as this allows us to think more quickly and make sense of the world around us more efficiently. However, these patterns can also trap the mind, preventing us from thinking freely and objectively evaluating what is happening right in front of us. When faced with a new situation, the mind, accustomed to established forms, inevitably searches for familiar patterns as points of reference. Thus, those who look at the forms of the First and Second World Wars and see that today’s conflict does not take on the exact same form, hesitate to define it as a Third World War. But must imperialist powers engage directly and simultaneously for it to be recognized as such? Is there a requirement that wars in every era take the same form? Moreover, like the previous two world wars, today’s war is unfolding on the global stage, impacting vast regions and shaping the course of the world and the fate of its peoples.

Throughout the history of class-based societies, the forms, methods, and intensity of warfare have changed alongside the development of productive forces and technology. For example, in the famous Battle of Kadesh between the two superpowers of the ancient world, Egypt and the Hittites, the decisive factor was the use of chariots. The introduction of chariots transformed the speed and intensity of warfare, giving those who possessed and modified them for more effective use a significant advantage. However, despite the evolving tools of war, from that time until the mid-19th century, battles were primarily large-scale, open-field combat. After the second half of the 1800s, the rapid development of railways, the invention of the telegraph, and revolutionary advances in transportation and communication, alongside the production of steam-powered warships, machine guns, and light artillery, dramatically changed the speed, intensity, and form of warfare. While these tools were used in many wars, it became clear that the fast-evolving military technology, which introduced motorized vehicles, would further transform warfare, increasing its intensity and destructive power. Yet, these developments still didn’t offer a comprehensive idea of what a world war would entail. Despite several significant wars, including the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, none were capable of determining the fate of the world economy, global politics, or the people of the world. For a world war to occur, capitalism needed to reach its imperialist stage. By 1914, the world had been divided, primarily by the great powers of Britain and France. With the rise of imperialism in capitalism, the war, sparked by the intensifying contradictions within the system, inevitably expanded from regional conflicts to a global scale.

The First World War was largely a trench war, where thousands of lives were lost to advance just a few hundred meters. Toward the end of the war, tanks and airplanes were introduced, and in the following years, their rapid development decisively shaped the form and course of warfare. It would be accurate to describe the Second World War as a war of tanks, warplanes, and—though only used by the U.S.—nuclear weapons. The impact of evolving war machines can be seen in the staggering numbers: 18 million lives lost in the First World War and 70 million in the Second, with entire cities obliterated, especially in the latter. Both wars profoundly affected global politics, economies, and the fate of the world’s peoples. The United States emerged from the Second World War as the undisputed hegemonic power of the capitalist world, establishing its dominance over the global system.

However, it’s not just that war machines have become more deadly from past to present; the forms of warfare have also diversified, and knowledge and experience of war have accumulated, thanks to advancements in communication and military technology. Over the years, as its hegemony over the imperialist system eroded, the U.S. drew on past experiences and adopted a preventive war strategy to preemptively block potential rival powers. The U.S. aimed to catch its adversaries off guard while they were still weak, defining spheres of influence from North Africa to the Middle East, and from the Caucasus to Central Asia, in line with its own interests, and to reestablish its waning dominance. Thus, U.S. imperialism, having decided to resolve its hegemony crisis on its own terms, pressed the war button after a decade of preparation following 1990.

However, this war was shifted to other regions and territories, as it was not directly launched against rival powers and was instead justified under the rhetoric of freedom and democracy. This is precisely what has given the current war its unique forms. In this new war, which has expanded from Iraq to Afghanistan, Syria to Libya, and Yemen, imperialist powers are settling scores without directly confronting each other. Terrorist attacks, masked under the guise of “international terrorism” and taking hundreds of lives, along with groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda and local forces, have played and continue to play a role in this conflict. Likewise, assassinations aimed at eliminating political and military leaders to weaken rivals, bombings of military or energy facilities, and attacks between countries like Israel and Iran without an official declaration of war are forms that the Third World War has taken. The influence of communication technology in this war is evident in many areas, from drones and highly accurate long-range missiles to the sabotage of enemy weapons production networks with viruses. A striking example of how war has taken on new and complex dimensions is Israel’s mass detonation of pagers used by Hezbollah. There is essentially no difference between causing chaos in a country by turning hand-held radios or pagers into destructive weapons and doing the same through aerial bombardments.

When U.S. imperialism launched the Third World War by invading Afghanistan, its spokespeople announced that the war would last 15 years. They believed that within that time, they would overpower their rivals, reorganize spheres of influence as they saw fit, and resolve the hegemonic crisis by restoring the U.S.’s shaken dominance. However, things did not go as planned. Imperialist powers like China and Russia began to intervene more actively in international politics. As the circle of imperialist war expanded day by day, U.S. imperialism failed to achieve its goals. The systemic crises and contradictions within capitalism, which has historically reached a dead end, deepened the imperialist hegemony crisis and led to new dimensions in the Third World War. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war reached a new and far more dangerous level. Western imperialism, led by the U.S.-UK bloc, is waging an indirect war against Russian imperialism by using the Ukrainian army. However, both the expanding war in the Middle East due to Israel’s ferocity and the increasingly intense Russia-Ukraine war, along with the sharpening global contradictions, are pushing imperialist powers and their regional allies closer to direct confrontation. In short, as the Third World War, which is profoundly shaping the course of the world, continues to progress step by step toward a point similar to the first and second world wars, the threat of humanity’s destruction under capitalism becomes ever more serious.