Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org, I'm me and Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's defiance in his public rejection of the

U.S. administration's case for a Palestinian state following Biden's call for a two-state solution

and the ending of Israel's war in Gaza. We'll go to Israel to discuss how Iran through its proxies

seems to be in the driver's seat in the Middle East and appears to be in a symbiotic relationship

with Netanyahu, who is all in with Trump, and will drag his war out to hurt Biden, who clearly

does not want the U.S. to be sucked into another war in the region.

Joining us is Haga Bhattah, an award-winning Israeli journalist and political activist.

He's the executive director of the 972 magazine.

Then, with Hamas more popular than ever in the region, we'll assess the possibility of a new front opening in Lebanon,

which is a failing state poised to fail completely should war break out between Israel and Hezbollah.

Joining us to discuss Lebanon's descent into dysfunction as warlords continue to act with impunity is Delaal Mawad,

an independent award-winning Lebanese journalist based in Paris, France.

She is working as a freelance producer for CNN in Paris

and as a journalism professor at Science Po.

Previously, she was a senior producer with the Associated Press based in Lebanon when twin blasts rocked Beirut on August 4th of 2020 and covered the explosion and its aftermath as well as Lebanon's economic and financial crisis since 2019.

She's the author of the new book, All She Lost, The Explosion in Lebanon, the Collapse of a Nation, and the Women Who Survive.

Then finally we'll examine the DOJ scathing report on law enforcement's mishandling of the 2022 Uvaldi Massacre of Schoolchildren,

which had 381 armed Texas police standing by for 77 minutes as 19 kids and two

teachers were shot and bled out. Joining us to discuss how the parents and relatives of the

victims want someone to be held responsible is Brandon Formby, who leads the news desk at the

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