00:00And I want to cut across to my colleague Ashraf Wani, like I said, who spent the majority of this
00:06war stationed in what could easily be called one of the hottest, the hottest areas, and that is the south
00:13of Lebanon.
00:13I am so happy to have him back with us. He's in the studio. And we are very proud of
00:20your reporting, Ashraf. And as a journalist, you always know it comes with the territory that you have to go
00:26into war-torn areas and you have to, you know, put yourself out there.
00:30But glad to see you back. And let's start from the strategic point of view, where our last guest left
00:39us, where he said that one needs to look at where you have Israel, because nobody's really speaking of how
00:46Israel is trying to expand its footprint, especially in the south of Lebanon.
00:50And one needs to look at that. Ashraf, you were there. How many days have you been there? Because Ashraf
00:57had a report coming after one, and we used to be very worried in the newsroom.
01:01He was hitting the bombs behind him, and he used to go to the site there and report. But Ashraf,
01:06please tell us, please tell us, please tell us, please tell us.
01:09Absolutely, Preeti. Actually, it is not anything new. I have seen the Taliban war with the Taliban and the army
01:20of Afghanistan. But one thing is different.
01:22When you go to the country where Israel is involved in the conflict, whether it is Gaza or whether it
01:28is Lebanon, there is no difference between a journalist and a civilian and a Hezbollah fighter, or we can say
01:35the enemy fighter for IDF.
01:37So that was visible three days back when three journalists, one girl also among them, were assassinated by the Israel,
01:45knowing that their vehicle was carrying a bold sticker of press on it.
01:50And despite that, that particular car was targeted. Targeted killings of journalists.
01:55It was a secure thing for me also, because otherwise, in other wars, whether it is the Afghanistan, whether it
02:02is the Pakistan, whether it is the Arab uprising, the journalists are not being targeted by the armies.
02:08But the Israel army has something other guideline for it. They have not only targeted the journalists in the Gaza,
02:14but also in the Afghanistan.
02:16But as far as with our last, this, this, this guest's comment, there is no doubt that the, what the
02:24lot of people now say, the America has dragged the, Benjamin Netanyahu has dragged, dragged Donald Trump into this war.
02:32There is some weight in it. Actually, Benjamin Netanyahu himself knows he only cannot fight Iran.
02:40That is why he has pursued him that probably there are nuclear weapons for last 30 years.
02:47He has said that Iran is one week away from making the nuclear bomb. But so far, there are not
02:52any evidences or any proof that there was any kind of a nuclear weapon activity inside the Iran that on
02:59other side.
03:00But the major goal, the greater Israel, for which we have seen from 2023, the Gaza war, we have seen
03:08the war on the, on the Lebanon, on the Hezbollah, on the Lebanon, South Lebanon.
03:14In fact, South Lebanon was captured by Israel in 78. Then they left that, that part of the Lebanon after
03:22the lot of pressure in 2006 by US and UN.
03:25And now once when the main source of these proxies, what the world calls Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis, they thought
03:34that probably if they are going to drag the Americans into this war, the main route, the support line of
03:41these proxies will cut off.
03:43And also, Preeti, here is one of the interesting things. There is not immediate danger or threat of Israel from
03:50Iran.
03:51But if there is an immediate threat for Israel, that is from Hamas in Gaza, from West Bank, and also
03:58the major threat from the South Lebanon, where it is the stronghold of Hezbollah.
04:03Because the attacks from these proxies on Israel are perfect, they are quick, they are immediate, and they create damage
04:12inside Israel.
04:13Talking to the Hezbollah, Hezbollah has managed in the 2024 war to push almost all one lack of population from
04:21the northern Israel into the safer places.
04:23That was a mass displacement inside Israel. And for that they fought for the one year. And even if they
04:30brought the Hezbollah on a ceasefire with the involvement of French and other Western countries, that was only motive behind
04:38that so that their displaced population could get back to the northern parts of Israel.
04:43But now once again, when this war was started now on 2nd of March by Hezbollah itself, after the assassination
04:48of the Iranian Supreme Leader, now they have managed to create that kind of situation once again for Israel, which
04:56is now the voices we are seeing are coming out in Israel too.
05:00Not only they are suffering the casualties in the South Lebanon in their security forces, but also the migration of
05:06civilians in the northern part of Israel.
05:08You know, that's what, because there is a sense that this was Prime Minister Netanyahu's way of increasing the footprint
05:14of Israel, and that is happening now.
05:16But Ashraf, for a moment, away from Prime Minister Netanyahu, away from Israel, reflect on your own journey as a
05:23reporter on ground.
05:24It wasn't easy. We saw that. You know, there were bombs going off, but yet there was a strange sense
05:30of normalcy in Lebanon.
05:32Because while bombs are going off, life is also going on at the same time, and you seem to report
05:37on that.
05:37People are sitting in cafes, a bomb drops, and people come back into that cafe.
05:42Yes, people get used when any country or any section of the population goes through with this situation.
05:48They find means and ways to live in that kind of situation. That was also for the two decades in
05:56Afghanistan.
05:57That was also frequently even in the Kashmir in the 90s when the militancy was at its peak.
06:02So people find the ways and means how to live, how to live with the time.
06:06And same is the situation in Lebanon. They are not the first time in the war.
06:09In fact, also in Iran, because they have fought already the ten years of war, one decade war with Iraq.
06:15And then where also last year, 12 days war, and same kind of a quantum of bombing from the US
06:21and Israel.
06:22And now they are used to it. And in fact, that is the sense that why, despite all the bombing
06:27campaign in Tehran, in Iran,
06:30people and some part of life goes on there. Same scenario with Lebanon.
06:35But one change, what this time is, and the people are even standing with the Hezbollah in the south Lebanon,
06:42particularly because that is the stronghold, is that the mass displacement.
06:46That is the major issue, not only for those families who are displaced currently.
06:50They are near about one fifth of the Lebanese population. Only 60 population and more than a million people are
06:59displaced.
07:00And those living on the roads in kind of rains or tough weather conditions and all the things,
07:06because whatever they manage to make for their families, for their homes, is left unattended.
07:12And those bombs are being bombed in absence of them in the south Lebanon.
07:16That is some kind of a tragedy, what is different at this time. And also the displacement.
07:22Because not only the displacement means that you are moving, you not know when you are going to return back
07:26to your home.
07:27Or whether you are going to return back home or it will be occupied by Israel.
07:31That is the big question with those displaced people. And also that is the biggest worry, not only for the
07:37Lebanon, but also…
07:38Ashut, I am going to ask you one moment, one quick question before I let you go.
07:41Which is, what was your moment where you felt that, you know, I escaped just by the skin of my
07:48teeth?
07:49That it was so close and I got lucky?
07:52Yes, absolutely. Actually…
07:53Did you have a moment like that?
07:54It was pretty, there was a moment. Actually, that was one of our breaking stories.
07:58World exclusive story for India today when the bridge, first major bridge was bombed by Israel,
08:06which connects the southern Lebanon with the rest of the country and the capital Beirut.
08:10I was the first journalist who, on the second day, I tried on same day, but I was not allowed
08:16by the Lebanese army.
08:17On second day, early in the morning at 6, I left for that spot when no journalist was thinking about
08:23that story.
08:23When I went there and we showed those pictures of bombing and the quantum of damage by dead bombing to
08:30that bridge on the Letani river,
08:33then all the media came to cover that. And that was not kind of a thing which was seen in
08:40a good way by the Israel.
08:42And that spot was also bombed. In the presence of journalists and the civil society members on that day,
08:47luckily there was no casualty, but some journalists got injured in the secondary bombing on the same bridge,
08:55which was just to create a kind of panic among the journalists.
09:00And also one interesting story you must listen to. Last time in 2024, when I went to cover the Lebanon
09:09war,
09:10when Hassan Nasrullah, the commander of Hezbollah, was assassinated, I was there.
09:14I used to spend most of my days inside Beirut in a hotel known as Ramada.
09:20On this trip, when I went to the Beirut, I was supposed to stay there.
09:26I went there after checking in Beirut, but there was no space.
09:31Some of the displaced families had taken already shelter in that particular hotel.
09:35Because I had some advantage there, I was known to that area, and I was able to see where I
09:41can do lives,
09:42I can report for where I can go. Then I moved to other hotel.
09:45On second day, I'm getting news that same hotel was targeted by Israel.
09:49And the target were four Iranian diplomats. See how narrow escape it was for me.
09:54Otherwise, I was prepared to stay in same hotel, the Ramada hotel in the central Beirut.
10:00All right, well, Ashraf, we are very glad that you escaped both the situations.
10:06We are very happy to have you back.
10:09And take good care, and we'll see you on the other side.
10:12Hopefully, at least for, you know, the coming days, not in a war zone.
10:18But thank you for giving us your account as a journalist there.
10:22Let's ask.
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