The efforts of the Trump administration to bring Lebanon into the Abraham Accords have been frustrated by the realities of Lebanese politics. Granted, in August, in a statement supported by the Trump administration, the Lebanese government announced that it would disarm Hezbollah. This follows the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024 that the Trump administration helped broker, which stated that only the Lebanese government could have weapons in southern Lebanon, and that Israel could act against terrorists that posed an imminent threat. (RELATED: The UN’s Failure in Lebanon) But Hezbollah refuses to play along. Hezbollah Secretary-General Na’im Qassem threatened to plunge Lebanon into a civil war should the Lebanese government try to disarm Hezbollah, and recently reiterated that the organization will not disarm. And the Lebanese government has proven to be either unwilling or unable to prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. According to unnamed Western intelligence officials, “Hezbollah is rebuilding faster than the Lebanese army is dismantling.” So, absent any durable progress towards peace from either Lebanon or Hezbollah, to protect its own, Israel has rightfully taken matters into its own hands. So, absent any durable progress towards peace from either Lebanon or Hezbollah, to protect its own, Israel has rightfully taken matters into its own hands. Israel has responded to Hezbollah’s violations of the ceasefire and Lebanon’s complicity by assassinating over 300 Hezbollah terrorists, striking hundreds of Hezbollah locations, and conducting over 1,000 attacks into Lebanon. Israel has eliminated several key Hezbollah terrorists in recent months. This month, the IDF eliminated Issa Ahmad Karbala while he was riding his motorcycle. Karbala was a platoon commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in the Ain Qana area in southern Lebanon. He assisted in moving weapons in Lebanon and advancing terror attacks against Israel. The Radwan Force is Hezbollah’s elite unit that planned to invade Israel’s north in its “Conquer the Galilee” campaign, which was foiled by Israel methodically destroying its infrastructure and assassinating its leaders. Also this month, Israel assassinated a Hezbollah terrorist in the Dounine area in southern Lebanon when he was trying to rebuild Hezbollah infrastructure that Israel destroyed during its “Operation Northern Arrows” campaign. The IDF also assassinated a Hezbollah terrorist who was trying to re-establish Hezbollah infrastructure in the Kherbet Salem area in southern Lebanon, as well as another Hezbollah terrorist who tried to re-arm the group in Qalaouiyah, southern Lebanon. Israel also assassinated Hasan Ali Jamil Atwi, who was rebuilding Hezbollah’s Aerial Defense Unit. Atwi had also purchased equipment from the unit’s leadership in Iran and was key to the unit’s operations. In September, the IDF assassinated Hezbollah terrorists Mohammad Abbas Shashoua and Muhammad Hussein Yassin Shashoua. Both were re-establishing Hezbollah’s artillery in the Sohmor area in southern Lebanon, and had advanced numerous rocket attacks toward Kiryat Shmona & the Golan Heights. Yassin was a senior operative who had carried out many terror attacks in northern Israel and smuggled weapons for Hezbollah to the south of the Litani River. Also in September, the IDF assassinated Ammar Hayel Qutaybani, commander of Hezbollah’s Sinai Outpost in southern Lebanon, in addition to a terrorist in the Radwan Force in Tebnine, southern Lebanon. Also that month, the IDF killed Hussein Saifo Sharif in Baalbek, Lebanon. Sharif was a senior weapons dealer in Lebanon who was planning attacks from Syria against Israel. The IDF additionally assassinated Muhammad Ali Yassin, a Hezbollah terrorist operating in the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon. Yassin was developing and producing weapons for Hezbollah. And in September, Israel killed Wasim Saeed Jaba‘i, a terrorist who was active in both the Iranian Imam Hossein Division (run by Iran’s Quds Force) and Hezbollah, in the Ain Baal area. Jaba’I had built up Hezbollah forces and was integral in procuring weapons and orchestrating rocket attacks for the organization. He was seeking to rehabilitate the Iranian Imam Hossein Division in Lebanon. In July, the IDF assassinated Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail, a senior Hezbollah commander who was attempting to rebuild Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Additionally, Israel assassinated Hassan Ahmad Sabra, who was a commander in the Radwan Force’s navy, in Kfour in southern Lebanon, and an additional Hezbollah terrorist in the Al-Naqoura area in southern Lebanon. Additionally, in July, Israel assassinated Muhammad Shoaib in Nmairiyeh, Lebanon. Shoaib served an integral role in smuggling weapons from Iran to Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria, and in furthering terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon.  In conjunction with assassinating terrorists, the IDF has continued to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure that the Lebanese government has allowed to continue to exist. This month, IDF troops destroyed a Hezbollah military site in the Yaroun area. The IDF also destroyed an underground Hezbollah site that stored weapons in the Beqaa area in southern Lebanon. IDF troops also destroyed an engineering vehicle that Hezbollah was using to rebuild its infrastructure in Bilda, southern Lebanon, and further Hezbollah infrastructure, including engineering machinery in southern Lebanon. The IDF also destroyed several of the Radwan Force’s military compounds and other Hezbollah targets in the Beqaa area. Radwan’s compounds were being used to train terrorists, incorporating live-fire drills and weapons training. In September, the IDF eliminated Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon. The IDF also blew up a Hezbollah naval vessel off the coast of Naqoura, southern Lebanon, that the terrorist group was using to spy on IDF troops. Israel also destroyed a Hezbollah headquarters in the Nabatieh area, southern Lebanon. In August, the IDF destroyed Hezbollah military sites, including an underground compound, in the Beaufort Ridge area in southern Lebanon. The IDF also destroyed a weapons storage facility used by Hezbollah in the area of Deir Kifa in southern Lebanon, and weapons storage and production infrastructure in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa region. In July, the IDF eliminated Radwan Force sites, including terrorist training centers. Unless and until Lebanon and Hezbollah step up to make real strides towards peace, Israel has no choice but to continue to attack terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. At this time, the Trump administration faces very long odds in getting Lebanon on board with the Abraham Accords. Instead, the administration should focus on achieving deals with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan. READ MORE from Steve Postal: DOJ Cracking Down on CCP Espionage Surprise! Hamas Has Already Doomed Peace To Bring Hostages Home, Israel Pays Very Steep Price

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Friday's Final Word

Click here to view slideshow John James Audubon's sketches are immediately recognizable. Colorful and elegant, they not only capture different species of birds, but also their characteristics. Owls look wide-eyed; eagles fierce. Ducks relax on the ground, while birds like woodpeckers are captured in constant motion. These sketches were born from Audubon's childhood fascination with birds, which ultimately led him to publish The Birds of America in installments between 1827 and 1838. Today, he's considered one of the world's great naturalists. But Audubon's legacy is also complicated by his views on slavery — and the fact that he enslaved Black people himself. The Life Of John James Audubon John James Audubon was born in 1785 in present-day Haiti. He was the "illegitimate" son of a French sea captain and plantation owner named Jean Audubon, but the identity of his mother is disputed. According to the National Audubon Society, she may have been a French chambermaid named Jeanne Rabine, or a mixed-race housekeeper named Catherine "Sanitte" Bouffard. In a letter to his sons, Audubon claimed that his mother was a "lady of Spanish extraction" who had been killed in Haiti "during the ever-to-be-lamented period of negro insurrection on that island." Public DomainJohn James Audubon became famous for his illustrations, but faced many failures before finding success. As a boy, Audubon was sent to Nantes, France. There, he was raised by his father's wife Anne — and he developed an interest in nature and drawing. Sent to the United States by his father in 1803 to avoid the Napoleonic Wars, Audubon settled on his family's estate in Mill Grove, located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He soon married Lucy Bakewell and started a family, but struggled to succeed in the business world. His family's mine failed, as did a succession of general stores in Kentucky. By the early 1820s, he and his family had settled in New Orleans, where they largely lived off his wife's work as a governess. Audubon, for his part, took on odd jobs and used his free time to draw local wildlife. Though he struggled to find an American publisher for his work, John James Audubon had much better luck in the United Kingdom. There, in 1827, engraver Robert Havell agreed to help Audubon publish his famous work The Birds of America. The four-volume work, which included more than 400 of Audubon's drawings, ultimately became a massive success. Public DomainTwo gyrfalcons drawn by Audubon. The naturalist was gifted at capturing the distinct movement of different bird species. John James Audubon's sketches remain well-known to this day. However, Audubon's legacy has also been reexamined in recent years. The Complicated Legacy Of John James Audubon Today In his life, John James Audubon was celebrated for his art. But his views on slavery have made him a controversial figure today, to the point that some Audubon societies in the country have dropped Audubon's name. American Museum of Natural History LibraryA painting of John James Audubon from 1848. Audubon lived in the 19th century — he died in 1851 — during a time when slavery was still a fact of American life. He fully accepted and supported the institution. Not only did he declare that the British had "acted imprudently and too precipitously" when they emancipated enslaved people in their West Indian territories, but Audubon had slaves of his own during his life. While living in Kentucky, he and his wife had nine slaves, who they sold only when they encountered financial difficulty. When Audubon traveled to New Orleans on a boat with two enslaved men, he sold both the boat and the men upon his arrival. And he and his wife also purchased more enslaved people after that, who they sold only when they moved to England. What's more, according to Gregory Nobles, the author of John James Audubon: The Nature of the American Woodsman, Audubon readily accepted help from Native Americans and Black people, who offered insights on local wildlife and collecting specimens. But he never credited them. Audubon seemed to look down on people of color, even those who weren't enslaved. "His contributions to ornithology, art, and culture are enormous, but he was a complex and troubling character who did despicable things even by the standards of his day," the National Audubon Society remarked. "He was contemporaneously and posthumously accused of — and most certainly committed — both academic fraud and plagiarism. But far worse, he enslaved Black people and wrote critically about emancipation. He stole human remains and sent the skulls to a colleague who used them to assert that whites were superior to non-whites." As such, John James Audubon left behind a complicated legacy that must be weighed alongside the beautiful work that he created. Despite his undeniable artistic talent, Audubon wholeheartedly embraced the institution of slavery and acted in other abhorrent ways during his time. He had an artist's eye and captured the movement and character of birds like no one else, but there's no question that he was also capable of great cruelty. After reading about John James Audubon and his famous sketches, look through these incredible scientific illustrations by German biologist and naturalist Ernst Haeckel. Or, learn about the life and death of Steve Irwin, the wildlife enthusiast known as the "Crocodile Hunter." The post 33 Breathtaking Illustrations Of America’s Birds By John James Audubon appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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