Krystal Ball posts on Israeli soldiers' celebrations

Krystal Ball, co-host of the Breaking Points podcast, posted on X on May 22, 2026, sharing a video clip of Israeli soldiers appearing to celebrate the destruction of Lebanese villages along the Israel-Lebanon border. In the post, Ball wrote: "Israeli soldiers celebrate the destruction of Lebanese villages. This is what ethnic cleansing looks like." The attached 18-second video shows soldiers in military uniforms standing amid rubble-strewn terrain, some raising fists and chanting in Hebrew, with overlaid Arabic subtitles translating phrases like "We burned Hezbollah's villages" and "The villages of Hezbollah are burning." The footage originates from a longer video circulated on Arabic-language social media channels, reportedly filmed in late May 2026 near the northern Israeli town of Metula, amid ongoing cross-border exchanges between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not issued a specific comment on this clip as of 6 p.m. ET on May 22, but IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin stated earlier this week that operations target "Hezbollah terror infrastructure" in southern Lebanon, not civilian areas. Ball's post, timestamped 2:47 p.m. ET, amassed over 15,000 likes, 2,500 reposts, and 1,800 replies within four hours, per X analytics. Supporters echoed her framing, with one top reply from user @ProgressiveVoice reading: "This is the reality Western media won't show—genocide in real time." Critics pushed back, including @ZionistWatch, who replied: "Context: These are Hezbollah strongholds used to launch rockets at Israeli civilians. Not 'villages'—terror bases." The exchange reflects broader online debates over Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, which escalated after Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel displaced 60,000 residents since October 2023, according to UN data. Ball has frequently critiqued U.S. support for Israel on Breaking Points, including a May 20 episode where she called White House aid packages "blank checks for war crimes." Similar videos of IDF personnel celebrating strikes have surfaced before, such as a October 2024 clip of soldiers dancing to music amid Gaza operations, which the IDF investigated as a disciplinary matter. Rights groups like Human Rights Watch have documented over 1,200 Lebanese civilian deaths in cross-border fighting since 2023, attributing most to Israeli airstrikes, while Hezbollah claims 700 fighters killed. Ball's history with Middle East commentary dates to her time at The Hill's Rising, where she sparred with guest Neoconservative Max Boot in 2019 over U.S. Iran policy. On X, she has 1.2 million followers, with recent posts on Gaza drawing 500,000+ impressions each. The May 22 post fits her pattern of amplifying user-generated footage to challenge mainstream narratives, as seen in her March 2026 thread on Rafah strikes. Reactions spilled beyond X: Podcaster Dave Smith quote-tweeted Ball, saying "Krystal's right—this changes the conversation on Lebanon," garnering 8,000 likes. On Reddit's r/politics, a crosspost hit 4,500 upvotes by evening, with top comments debating video authenticity via reverse image searches tracing it to Telegram channel @LebResistance. Lebanese outlet Al-Mayadeen aired a segment on the video at 4 p.m. Beirut time, interviewing a Hezbollah source who called it "proof of Zionist barbarism." No U.S. officials have responded directly to Ball's post. For full context, watch the original post and thread replies here:. IDF daily briefings continue at 2 p.m. ET via their X account @IDF.