Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Alexander Cornwell: Reuters Senior Middle East Correspondent on the conflict between Israel, Lebanon, peace talks

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Alexander Cornwell: Reuters Senior Middle East Correspondent on the conflict between Israel, Lebanon, peace talks · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So Nittnya, who's now talking about talks over Lebanon, Iran
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: says the strait is going to stay closed and we
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: will only reopen it if the US backs off their
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: quote aggression.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: You cannot have a check and eat it. At the
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: same time, that was the message that Roon send quite clearly,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: crystal clearly, to Washington and to the Oral Office last night.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Alexander Cormeill with US Reutter's senior Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem. Alexander,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: nice to have you back on the show, thanks to
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: being with me. What about Nitta Yahoo, what's the game
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: plan here do you think.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: To try? I mean, the announcement comes just, you know,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: a day after those huge strikes on Lebanon that has
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: now killed more than three hundred people. We don't have
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: an official date for these talks that will take place
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: with the Lebanese now. One thing to keep in mind
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: is that Lebanon, for the past month, the Lebanese government
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: has been pushing for direct talks with Israel and Natanya,
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: who had rebuffed him this whole time. One thing also
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: to consider is that the US Vice President yesterday and
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Budapest said that Israel had sort of decided to check themselves,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: as the way he phrased it, after those strikes in Lebanon.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: So we'll have to wait and see when and if
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: those talks will happen. Iran has been adamant that the
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: ceasefire also include Lebanon, and we've also seen a number
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: of European states come out to say and say Lebanon
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: must be included in the ceasefire as well.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Ntnya, who's wanted for a long time the Lebanese government
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: to go after his Bulla themselves, is there any chance
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: of that happening.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: were supposed to do that following a twenty twenty four
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  Speaker 2: agreement that was essentially a ceasefire between Hesbla and Israel,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: and the armed forces said that they the Lebanese Armed
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Forces said they did take over areas of the south. However,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: you know, we did see Hesba open fire in March
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: following the attacks on Iran against Israel, so it's it's
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: very unclear what capabilities they have. The Lebanese army had
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: been withdrawing from some areas of Lebanon as the Israeli
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: military advance and continued its bombardment. So it's you know,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: if these talks happen with these a big ifs, it's
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: you know, there's going to be some kind of mechanism here,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: some kind of guarantee that probably has to come from
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: outside of Lebanon and outside of Israel, possibly the United States,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: possibly the French or always keen to play a role
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: in Lebanon.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: And as terms of why nitnya who's now saying let's
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: talk about talks, it's pressure from the US, isn't it.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I was looking at poles that were polling Republican voters
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  Speaker 1: on their support for Israel and its many wars, and
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: that has been slowly dropping through Iran.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, well again we saw these huge coordinated
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: strikes by Israel. Yes, say these strikes. Now, Israel has
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: traditionally targeted areas of southern Lebanon, of southern beaut areas
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: that are Shia Muslim areas where known to have a presence,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: that are strongholds. Many of the areas that attacked us
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: they were in mixed religious areas, so Sunni, Muslim and
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Christian areas that many Lebanese had thought were safe and
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: away from Hesbela and the toll the scale attacks has
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  Speaker 2: really panicked many this everyday people in Lebanon. Over a
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: million people in Lebanon are displaced by have been displaced
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: by the Israeli military. Over a thousand people have been
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: killed before yesterday's attacks, and Iran has said this ceasefire
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: includes Lebanon and that there's no point having negotiations with
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the Americans if it's not so. There has been some
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: question here as to whether the ceasefire the American arrange
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: seas I would even hold and if those Israeli strikes
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: as they had, jeopardized the whole truth.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Appreciate your time and Jore analysis. Alexander Cornwell Reutter has
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: seen the Middle East Correspondent.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: For more from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: to news Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays, or
• 4:00
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