English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 11/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Satan tempts Jesus/It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone
Luke 04/01-13: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, "One does not live by bread alone." ’Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. ’Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him." ’Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you", and "On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone." ’Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." ’When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time."

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 10-11/2025
Text & Video: The Heresy and Nonsense of the So-Called "National Dialogue for the Disarmament of the Terrorist Hezbollah"—A False Pretense and an Evasion of Confrontation/Elias Bejjani/April 09/ 2025
Ghassan Salamé and Tarek Mitri — Mummified Relics in the Government of the Hateful, Reactionary Nasserist Nawaf Salam/Elias Bejjani/April 07/2025
A Video- Link for a special Interview with the Sovereign-Minded, Knowledgeable, and Insightful Writer and Director Youssef El Khoury
Key topics covered by Director Youssef El Khoury in his interview with "Transparency Website" the interview was conducted by journalist Patricia Smaha.
An important video link to an interview with Dr. Makram Rabah from Al-Badil website.
Etienne Sakr – Abu Arz: Evasion at Its Peak
Aoun says Hezbollah has shown flexibility over its weapons
Hezbollah MP denies 'smuggling arms' via Beirut Port, slams govt priorities
Berri bloc MP says talks ongoing over 'handover of Hezbollah arms'
Israeli official says troops to leave 5 hills when Lebanese army gains full control
Israel reportedly warns residents to evacuate homes in Aita al-Shaab
Hezbollah distances itself from unofficial statements
Army inspects Choueifat site that Israel said is a Hezbollah facility
Israeli helicopters bomb homes in Yater after evacuation warnings
Hezbollah Mulls Handing Its Heavy Weapons to Lebanese Army
Lebanese foreign minister discusses reforms, weapons control with Saudi ambassador to Beirut
On the Duo of Arms and 'Zombie' Banks/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
Bulgaria returns body of 2012 bus bomber to Lebanon
The Lebanese Information Center Applauds Morgan Ortagus, and through her, the Trump Administration for Their Strong Stand on Lebanese Sovereignty
'Pay-To-Slay' – Lebanon Edition: The Lebanese Government Pays Hizbullah Operatives And Their Families Benefits 'Similar To Soldiers' Wages:' Hizbullah Opponents Call To Stop The Payments/N. Mozes/MEMRI/April 09/2025
Lebanese Politician Charles Jabour: Lebanon's Real Enemy Is Iran, Not Israel/MEMRI/April 10, 2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 10-11/2025
Universities Intentionally Schedule Exams on Christian Holidays in Egypt/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 10/2025
Trump says Israel would strike Iran if it doesn't give up nuclear weapons
Iran Says External Threats Could Lead to Expulsion of IAEA Inspectors
Trump Cites Progress on Gaza Hostage Talks
US and Russia Swap Prisoners
Türkiye, Israel Have Begun Talks to Avoid Clashes in Syria
Israel says air force to fire pilots who signed Gaza war petition
UN food agency warns that tens of thousands could die during third year of war in Sudan
Israeli minister says France plan to recognize Palestinian state ‘prize for terror’
UAE mediates prisoner exchange between US and Russia in Abu Dhabi
Syria Kurds say struck deal with Damascus on battleground dam
Global markets rattle as US tariffs on China hit 145%
Turkish and Israeli move to head off Syria crisis Talks to prevent armed clashes
Syria, South Korea establish diplomatic ties, open embassies
Syrian refugee killed in UK had only been in town a fortnight: Uncle
Pope Francis in surprise St. Peter’s visit a day after meeting King Charles

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April 10-11/2025
But What Can We Do?/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
Helping Syria’s recovery the smart thing to do/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 10, 2025
If America flops, other role models are available/Ross Anderson/Arab News/April 10, 2025
Finding harmony between man and machine/Majdi Al-Sunbul/Arab News/April 10, 2025
Macron’s building blocks with Egypt and Lebanon/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/April 10, 2025
Le Pen ready to divide France in bid to win power/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/April 10, 2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 10-11/2025
Text & Video: The Heresy and Nonsense of the So-Called "National Dialogue for the Disarmament of the Terrorist Hezbollah"—A False Pretense and an Evasion of Confrontation
Elias Bejjani/April 09/ 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142096/
In yet another act of political theater—an all-too-familiar Lebanese charade—the ruling establishment, across the three presidencies, the government, and Hezbollah’s propaganda apparatus, continues to promote the farcical notion of a so-called “national dialogue” and “national defense strategy” to address the armed presence of Hezbollah. As if this were merely a matter of differing viewpoints or strategic disagreement—not the blatant, armed, and declared Iranian occupation of Lebanon that paralyzes the state and threatens its very existence, sovereignty, and stability.
President Joseph Aoun’s oath of office was clear: exclusive legitimacy of arms must reside with the Lebanese state. His mandate, grounded in the internationally endorsed ceasefire agreement with Israel—signed not only by the Lebanese government but by ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and blessed by Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah’s so-called “elder brother”—was to implement this agreement and disarm the terrorist militia. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s ministerial statement also affirmed unwavering commitment to this same agreement and to UN resolutions.
Yet the glaring and dangerous contradiction lies in the fact that President Aoun was not elected by national consensus, nor with the backing of Hezbollah or its allies. He was imposed by the international Quintet Committee (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., France, and Qatar) as a rescue candidate, entrusted with a singular mission: to enforce the ceasefire and dismantle Hezbollah’s military apparatus—not to maneuver, stall, or deceive.
The same betrayal of mission applies to Nawaf Salam, who swiftly abandoned the task entrusted to him. Yielding to the pressures of Nabih Berri and the mafia-like political class, Salam shamelessly handed key ministries—most notably the Ministry of Finance—back to the Amal Movement, thus reaffirming the dominance of the very forces he was supposed to oppose. His actions exposed the hollowness of his claims to neutrality, independence, and reform, and revealed his readiness to barter national responsibility for personal political gain.
More troubling still is President Aoun’s post-France visit retreat. Instead of honoring his oath, he regressed into the deceptive discourse of “national dialogue,” recycling misleading terminology such as “defense strategy” and “national security” to mask surrender and submission to Hezbollah’s narrative. This linguistic acrobatics is nothing but a shameful capitulation, a deliberate evasion of the urgent need for a bold, decisive stance: to disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist military, financial, and intelligence infrastructure.
President Aoun must now choose: either fulfill the mission for which he was internationally installed or resign. His current approach—marked by political acrobatics, equivocation, and appeasement—serves only to entrench Hezbollah’s occupation and reinforce its stranglehold over Lebanon’s security, sovereignty, and future.
As for Nawaf Salam, the mask has fully dropped. His Arab nationalist, Nasserist agenda—obsolete and counterproductive—has surfaced, echoing the flawed stances of figures like Tarek Mitri and Ghassan Salamé, who never hesitated to issue statements that align with Hezbollah’s interests and obstruct the enforcement of international mandates. Meanwhile many ministers have even grown too timid to utter Hezbollah’s name, speaking instead in vague terms like “components” and “stakeholders”—just as some avoid calling cancer by its name, as though truth itself were taboo.
The path forward is unequivocal: President Aoun, Prime Minister Salam, and their government must implement—word for word—the terms of the ceasefire agreement. They must set a strict, short-term timeline to disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its operational structure. If they cannot, or will not, they must resign. Lebanon cannot afford further betrayal or paralysis, especially now, when a rare and historic opportunity has emerged: the disintegration of the Iranian terror axis, the effective defeat of Hezbollah through the ceasefire, and the collapse of its logistical backbone following the Assad regime’s fall in Syria.
In this context, the message from Ms. Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump’s representative, was crystal clear: no financial aid, no investment, and no political support will come before Hezbollah is disarmed and the ceasefire implemented. Her statement was blunt, both to Lebanese officials and in media interviews: “Hezbollah is a cancer and must be eradicated from its roots.” This is the reality that Lebanon’s political class either fears or refuses to confront—but the consequences of fear or complicity are the same: no state.
Evidence of this cowardice and duplicity is overwhelming. As Al Arabiya reported on April 8, 2025, Hezbollah still fully controls the Port of Beirut—using it for rampant smuggling in full defiance of state authority, economic integrity, and national security. This flagrant breach exposes not only Hezbollah’s criminal impunity but the Lebanese government’s impotence in confronting it.
Ultimately, Lebanon stands at a crossroads. The choice is stark and urgent: either a unified, sovereign, and independent state—or the continued decay under Hezbollah’s Iranian-backed shadow-state that devours everything in its path.

Ghassan Salamé and Tarek Mitri — Mummified Relics in the Government of the Hateful, Reactionary Nasserist Nawaf Salam
Elias Bejjani/April 07/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142042/
Lebanon’s sovereign interest demands the complete removal of Ghassan Salamé, Tarek Mitri, and Nawaf Salam from all national and political affairs. Their own words and actions expose them as mummified relics of a long-extinct, delusional, and defeatist Nasserist era.
Alongside them, every minister, official, and media figure steeped in the destructive culture and hollow slogans of the so-called “resistance” and “defiance” industry must also be dismissed. This failed rhetoric has brought only devastation upon Lebanon.
Lebanon and its people have had enough of the charlatans, scribes, Pharisees, Trojan agents, and delusional ideologues who parade as patriots while dragging the nation deeper into ruin

A Video- Link for a special Interview with the Sovereign-Minded, Knowledgeable, and Insightful Writer and Director Youssef El Khoury – Shedding Light on All the Stages of the Wars That Have Targeted Lebanon Since the 1950s, with a Historical Analysis of Their Causes, Perpetrators, and Objectives.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142146/
April 10/2025

Below are some of the key topics covered by Director Youssef El Khoury in his interview with "Transparency Website" the interview was conducted by journalist Patricia Smaha.
(Transcribed, rephrased, and freely translated by Elias Bejjani)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142146/
*Imagine that in Lebanon, rotten groups are protesting in support of Hamas, while Palestinians in Gaza are demonstrating against Hamas and against the war it ignited with Israel, which destroyed Gaza and displaced its people.
*The war in Lebanon began before the Ain al-Rummaneh bus incident; it spread and escalated afterward.
*In 1985, Charles Malik referred to the village of Ghajar in the south, as a Syrian village during a UN Security Council session.
*In 1985, Gazans were against Lebanon & now some Lebanese are demonstrating in their support>
*All wars launched by Israel against Lebanon were 100% reactions to violations against it from Lebanese territory or terrorist aggressions in other countries prepared and orchestrated in Lebanon
*Before 1975, Lebanon was the only democratic system in the region, while all other regimes—including Israel—operated outside such frameworks.
*The Assad regime facilitated Palestinian violations of Lebanese sovereignty and armed them to ignite chaos and war in Lebanon, while at the same time banning Palestinians in Syria from even carrying a pocketknife.
*Geographically, Lebanon resembles Switzerland, but the difference lies in governance: Switzerland has a powerful army and complete neutrality, while Lebanon has neither.
*The armistice agreement with Israel was undermined and paralyzed by Lebanon as a result of the Cairo Agreement.
The Cairo Agreement legitimized Palestinian military activity from Lebanese territory against Israel—completely contradicting the armistice Accord terms.
*During clashes between the Lebanese army and the Palestinians, the "Sunni Aramoun meeting" endorsed the Cairo Agreement and supported the Palestinians against Lebanon and its army.
*Yasser Arafat deluded himself into thinking he could establish a Palestinian state in Lebanese Muslim-majority areas. A recorded phone call between Arafat and late PM, Saeb Salam reveals how power went to Arafat’s head, making him fantasize about founding a Palestinian state in Lebanon.
*The Leftists, Amal Movement, Hezbollah, Nawaf Salam, and many ministers in Salam’s government were all  hatched by Fatah and Arafat incubators>
*Every crisis in Lebanon can ultimately be traced back to the destructive Leftists that are always allied with both Sunni and Shiites political Islam.
*The group “Kulluna Irada” revealed its true agenda during the last Lebanese public uprising, and its goals were exposed.
*Jordan succeeded in expelling the Palestinians when they rose up against its regime, because they had no local support. In Lebanon, however, they succeeded because they found a popular base.
*The Palestinians could never have waged war against Lebanon alone—it was only possible with the support of the Leftists, Sunni political forces, Kamal Jumblatt, and what was falsely called the “National Movement.”
*All international resolutions regarding Lebanon are complementary and share the same core essence—be it the armistice Accord, Resolution 1559, 1701, or 1680.
*Dodging and outsmarting international resolutions is a trend the Leftists, Arabists, and Islamists resort to.
*The May 17 Agreement between Lebanon and Israel was a golden opportunity that was squandered.
*Ex, President Amine Gemayel’s pride in having canceled the May 17 Accord raises many suspicious and troubling questions.
*In 1982, Bachir Gemayel adopted the path of peace with Israel—similar to what we know today as the Abraham Accords.
*Bachir Gemayel chose to reach the presidency through Parliament, with support from Muslims; that’s why many Sunni, Shia, and Druze MPs voted for him.
*Hezbollah is an Iranian jihadi army occupying Lebanon. It must be completely dismantled—politically, militarily, and financially—and held accountable for the crimes it committed and the wars it caused. There must be no negotiations or dialogue with it.
*This is the reality of what happened between Bachir Gemayel and Menachem Begin in Nahariya, and between Ariel Sharon and Amine Gemayel in Bikfaya.
*According to Netanyahu’s doctrine, peace comes through force and the stick—and its chances of success are very high.
*The stances of Nawaf Salam, Tarek Mitri, Ghassan Salamé, and some ministers in Salam’s cabinet are nothing but “leftist embellishments.”
*Iran sensed danger and began preemptively trimming its proxies and withdrawing.
*The conflict in Lebanon and the region is between the Leftis and the Right. (conservatives)
*Iran, an “Islamic” state, has allied itself with the Leftists to confront the offensive led by Netanyahu and Trump.
*The real issue with Lebanon’s ruling class is not what we expect from them—but rather figuring out what they actually want.
*The Americans are providing us with the means for confrontation; it’s up to us to decide what we want.
*To all the dhimmis—leftists, Arabists, and political merchants—we say: Hezbollah must be prosecuted, not negotiated with.
*On the shoulder of General Joseph Aoun stands a prime minister who is more of a Palestinian leftist than a Lebanese official. And what must be understood is that disarmament cannot happen through dialogue. The Lebanese state is bound by the ceasefire agreement and is committed to disarming Hezbollah across all Lebanese territory.
*In 1982, Israel gave Lebanon a choice: to end the Palestinian military presence or face the creation of a buffer zone in the South. Today, Israel is offering Lebanon the same choice again.
*The system in Lebanon is not a failure—it’s the politicians, leaders, and officials who have failed.
*The mistake lies in the timing of launching the “New Conservatives” movement. I was not invited to their meeting, perhaps because they know my stances.
*Federalism under Hezbollah’s dominance would be a real massacre against the Shiits community and a betrayal of them, providing cover for Hezbollah’s continued control.
Lebanon must first be liberated; only then can federalism be discussed, through dialogue and consensus among Lebanese groups under international supervision.
*Sunni political leaders want to return to the Taif Agreement because they aim to preserve their powers, not the country.
*Lebanon’s core problem is political partisanship—not sectarianism.
*Before returning Southern Lebanese residents to their homeland, the Lebanese refugees in Israel since 2000 must be returned first.
*Currently, there is no luxury of time for Lebanon or the region. Everyone must understand this fact, which Bachir Gemayel once recognized and addressed with intelligence, patriotism, and foresight.
*The arrest of Hezbollah cells in European countries was the result of Israeli intelligence efforts. These cells were preparing terrorist operations funded by Hezbollah and launched from Lebanon.
*The Taif Agreement is not a source of pride—it is not a solution for Lebanon.
*In my upcoming film about Bachir Gemayel, the Lebanese will witness what they’ve never seen or heard before.

An important video link to an interview with Dr. Makram Rabah from Al-Badil website.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142140/
Dr. Rabah examines the sovereign monetary morgue and objectively the retreats of President Joseph Aoun, the heresies of Nawaf Salam’s Arabist and Nasserist government, and the nonsense of his minister, Ghassan Salamé, who speaks French and not Lebanese. He also addresses the situation of Hezbollah, smuggling through the Beirut port, illusions, and detachment from reality.
Makram Rabah in a fiery debate: The government has retreated, Salam made mistakes, and the party continues to smuggle.
Wafic Safa, who should be in prison, benefits from smuggling through the port.
April 10, 2025

Etienne Sakr – Abu Arz: Evasion at Its Peak
April 10, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142155/
A press release Issued by the leader of the Guardians of the Cedars Party – Lebanese National Movement, Etienne Sakr:
Once again, Lebanon’s ruling authority demonstrates its utter lack of seriousness in confronting one of the most dangerous threats to the state’s very existence: the disarmament of Hezbollah. Every time this issue resurfaces, the official response is predictably evasive, always wrapped in the same formula: “Lebanon is committed to disarming Hezbollah, but – and here lies the trap – it must wait for the right conditions to incorporate the party into a national defense strategy.”
This recurring “but” no longer deceives anyone. A closer examination of this hollow rhetoric reveals a stark truth: the ruling elite lacks both the will and the courage to see this issue through. Instead of addressing the core problem, they engage in political gymnastics, sugar-coated language, and vague declarations to dodge responsibility, avoid implementing binding international resolutions, and ignore their sworn duty to uphold the constitution and ministerial commitments—chief among them the exclusive right of the state to bear arms.
The President’s recent statement—that “Hezbollah’s disarmament can only be achieved through dialogue”—is yet another surrender, yet another concession. Worse still, Hezbollah responded that it is “open to dialogue,” as if this were a mere disagreement to be casually resolved over coffee. Meanwhile, the reality on the ground is stark: the majority of the Lebanese people reject this illusion. They see the so-called “dialogue” for what it really is—an empty maneuver to reduce international pressure, buy time, and blur the true nature of the crisis.
Talk of an anticipated “understanding” between the state and the party is nothing more than a staged charade—an orchestrated farce where a symbolic handover of a few weapons is made in front of cameras to create the illusion of progress. But every Lebanese citizen knows the truth: Hezbollah will never voluntarily disarm, no matter how many hollow assurances are made by the party or by those in power.
The regime’s evasion has reached its peak. The deception is now in plain sight. This catastrophic political detour must be met with an unwavering national stand—one that reclaims the dignity of the state, reasserts the constitution, and restores legitimacy. It is either one state, with one army and one weapon, or no state at all.
A government that respects itself and its people does not negotiate on existential matters. It decides. It commands. It acts—without permission, without compromise, and without appeasement, no matter the cost.
At your service, Lebanon.
Etienne Sakr – Abu Arz
(Free translation from Arabic by: Elias Bejjani)

Aoun says Hezbollah has shown flexibility over its weapons
Naharnet/April 10/2025
President Joseph Aoun announced Thursday that “Hezbollah has shown a lot of leniency and flexibility in the issue of cooperating in the weapons file according to a specific timeframe.”
Aoun added that “Hezbollah’s positivity must also be met with positivity and understanding of the new situation that the country is living.”

Hezbollah MP denies 'smuggling arms' via Beirut Port, slams govt priorities
Naharnet/April 10/2025
MP Hassan Fadlallah denied Thursday that Hezbollah is smuggling arms through the port of Beirut, describing these claims as "lies". Al-Arabiya television had quoted Tuesday a Western security source as saying that Hezbollah has "re-imposed its control over Beirut’s port," following the 2020 blast and is receiving arms and cash through the port.
Fadlallah added that the Israeli attacks on Lebanon must be the government's priority, a day after Prime Minister Nawaf Salam revealed that Cabinet will soon discuss the monopolization of weapons and extending the state's authority on all Lebanese territories.
"The serious debate must focus on the Israeli aggressions and how to confront them within a national strategy and dialogue," Fadlallah said, adding that "some people are trying to take the country to chaos by following foreign dictations instead of prioritizing national interests."

Berri bloc MP says talks ongoing over 'handover of Hezbollah arms'
Naharnet/April 10/2025
President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are “directly communicating with the aim of finding a complete solution for the file of the handover of Hezbollah’s arms,” MP Michel Moussa of Berri’s parliamentary bloc said on Thursday.
“Cabinet will play the biggest executive role in this regard, in cooperation with the Lebanese Army,” Moussa added, in a radio interview. “Speaker Berri is open to any dialogue and he had previously played a key role in finding compromises and solutions that can rescue the country,” Moussa went on to say.

Israeli official says troops to leave 5 hills when Lebanese army gains full control
Naharnet/April 10/2025
Israel does not intend to remain "forever" on the five hills that its troops are still occupying in south Lebanon, an Israeli security source told Sky News Arabia. The source said the troops will withdraw once the Lebanese states extends its authority on all Lebanese territories, adding that Israel has "no interest" in Lebanese territories. "Israel is monitoring Hezbollah's attempts to rebuild its capabilities in south Lebanon, particularly by establishing observation posts in southern villages," the source said, warning that Israel "will take action" if the Lebanese army fails to halt these attempts. Israel has said the five hilltops deemed "strategic" are important for security and provide key vantage points to monitor Hezbollah movements and prevent potential threats along the border.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "will not give up" the five hills after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the troops are staying indefinitely and that the army's withdrawal is "situation-dependent and not time-dependent."

Israel reportedly warns residents to evacuate homes in Aita al-Shaab
Naharnet/April 10/2025
The Israeli army ordered Thursday the evacuation of neighborhoods in the southern border town of Aita al-Shaab, media reports said. On Wednesday, Israel bombed homes in the southern town of Yater after warning residents to evacuate the properties through phone calls.
LBCI said Israel also asked the Lebanese army and the UNIFIL through the ceasefire monitoring committee to remain in their posts in Aita al-Shaab.

Hezbollah distances itself from unofficial statements
Naharnet/April 10/2025
Hezbollah’s media relations unit on Thursday commented on “the recent news and reports attributed to Hezbollah sources or officials.”“Those allegations are totally baseless,” the media unit said in a statement, reiterating that “as it has become known, there are no sources in Hezbollah and its stances are exclusively issued through official statements released by Hezbollah’s media relations unit or through the remarks of its officials who hold official or partisan posts.”Reuters had quoted an unnamed “senior Hezbollah official” as saying that the group is ready to hold talks with President Joseph Aoun about its weapons if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes. "Hezbollah is ready to discuss the matter of its arms if Israel withdraws from the five points, and halts its aggression against Lebanese," the senior official told Reuters. Hezbollah's position on potential discussions about its arms had not been previously reported. Reuters said the sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to political sensitivities.

Army inspects Choueifat site that Israel said is a Hezbollah facility
Naharnet/April 10/2025
The Lebanese Army carried out a thorough inspection of a site in Choueifat that the Israeli army claimed Wednesday it was a Hezbollah “arms production” facility. Media reports meanwhile said that the site is “a lot of land used by a contracting company to place equipment and pipes related to a project for providing water to the area.”“The vehicles belong to the same company and to another specialized in removing rubble,” the reports said. The Israeli army alleged Wednesday that Hezbollah tried to rebuild an “arms production site” in Choueifat after the war and that it concealed engineering vehicles during a previous Lebanese Army inspection visit. “During a surprise inspection, the engineering vehicles disappeared and returned to work after it was completed, in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, while also publishing “before and after” pictures. “The IDF (Israeli army) reveals that in recent months, Hezbollah has been trying to rebuild an underground weapons production site in the heart of the Choueifat neighborhood in the southern suburbs, which was established near a school and under residential buildings, after it was targeted in November 2024,” Adraee said. He clarified that “information about these attempts was transferred to the monitoring mechanism in early January, and accordingly it was decided to conduct a surprise inspection of the site.”“However, aerial photographs showed that Hezbollah, which had been informed in advance of the date of the inspection, had evacuated the engineering vehicles that had been operating at the site on the day the inspection was conducted, and then returned them after it had ended,” Adraee added. He warned that “this dangerous activity constitutes a flagrant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement,” adding that the Israeli army “remains committed to the continued implementation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and will continue to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and prevent any attempt by the terrorist Hezbollah to position itself.”

Israeli helicopters bomb homes in Yater after evacuation warnings
Naharnet/April 10/2025
Israeli Apache helicopters bombed a number of homes in the southern town of Yater overnight after residents received Israeli phone calls warning them to evacuate the properties. Yater mayor Khalil Kourani told the National News Agency that the houses of his brothers Mohammad, Ibrahim and Abou Ragheb Kourani were bombed by helicopters and drones after receiving evacuation warnings. The strikes were preceded by a “warning” raid, NNA said.

Hezbollah Mulls Handing Its Heavy Weapons to Lebanese Army
Beirut: Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
Lebanon has linked any move toward resolving the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons to Israel’s withdrawal from territories it still occupies in southern Lebanon and the return of Lebanese prisoners. This position comes amid increasing diplomatic activity from Lebanese officials following a recent visit to Beirut by Morgan Ortagus, Deputy US Special Envoy to the Middle East, who urged Lebanese authorities to address the Hezbollah arms file swiftly. A Lebanese ministerial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the current priority is “Israel’s withdrawal from the points it still occupies in the south, the return of Lebanese prisoners, and resolving the 13 disputed land border points”—a file unresolved since 2006. The source added: “If progress is made on this front—Israeli withdrawal and prisoner return—parallel discussions with Hezbollah about disarmament could begin,” though no specific mechanism for disarmament was outlined. “There must be a conducive atmosphere for dialogue, which cannot happen without Israeli withdrawal. That’s Lebanon’s priority,” the source said.
Israeli Withdrawal as a Condition
Hezbollah’s position aligns with that of the Lebanese state. Reuters quoted a senior Hezbollah official saying the group is willing to discuss the issue of its arms within the framework of a national defense strategy, but only after Israel withdraws from five locations in southern Lebanon and ceases its aggression against Lebanese civilians. In parallel, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is expected to call for a cabinet session where Defense Minister Michel Mnassah will present a plan to assert full state sovereignty over Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah: Defense Regardless of the Mechanism
Hezbollah, in public statements, emphasizes “defending Lebanon from Israeli aggression regardless of the mechanism.” Hezbollah MP Ali Al-Moqdad told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We aim to protect Lebanon and defend it, and this is a national consensus,” stressing the need for collective cooperation in formulating a protective strategy.
Disarmament Mechanisms Under Discussion
Potential mechanisms for disarming Hezbollah include direct negotiations between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and the party, or broader discussions of a national defense strategy. Most Lebanese political circles favor dialogue and mutual understanding, firmly ruling out the use of military force.Army Commander General Rodolphe Haikal reportedly conveyed to Ortagus his refusal to disarm Hezbollah by force, citing the risk of a military confrontation. Ortagus, however, reportedly urged “gradual but practical steps” to disarm the group, emphasizing that the Lebanese Army must “accelerate and intensify operations” toward this goal.
US Pressure to Move Forward
Ortagus told Lebanese officials that resolving the arms issue is urgent and emphasized that weapons should be in the hands of the state alone. In a statement to local channel LBCI, she reiterated Washington’s position, saying that it is clear “Hezbollah must be disarmed, and it’s clear Israel won’t accept rockets being launched at its territory. That’s a position we understand.”
Possible Transfer of Heavy Weapons
According to Reuters, sources close to Hezbollah said the group is considering transferring its heavy weapons—including drones and anti-tank missiles—north of the Litani River to the Lebanese Army. These sources noted that Aoun believes the issue must be resolved through dialogue, warning that any attempt to forcibly disarm Hezbollah could lead to conflict.

Lebanese foreign minister discusses reforms, weapons control with Saudi ambassador to Beirut
Arab News/April 10, 2025
BEIRUT: The Lebanese minister of foreign affairs reassured Saudi Ambassador Waleed Al-Bukhari that Beirut is committed to financial reforms and restricting the possession of weapons outside the state’s control. Youssef Rajji met with Al-Bukhari in Beirut on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in Lebanon and the Middle East. Rajji said that Lebanon is committed to implementing the necessary economic, financial, and administrative reforms and ensure that weapons are held exclusively by the state. He said this policy will “put Lebanon on the trail of recovery and advancement,” the National News Agency reported. He expressed gratitude to the Saudi leadership for supporting Lebanon and its people and said that relations between Riyadh and Beirut have reinstated Lebanon to its rightful place among its Arab neighbors. Al-Bukhari reaffirmed the Kingdom’s full support for Lebanon’s reform process, which is led by President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and the government formed in February.

On the Duo of Arms and 'Zombie' Banks
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
The most dangerous impediment to the Lebanese authorities’ current efforts to restore the state is that the country sits atop a dangerous minefield of “zombie” weapons and “zombie” banks. The camp of illegitimate arms intimidates rivals by clinging to narratives that defend its maintenance. Just 90 days after the election of President Joseph Aoun and the formation of a government headed by Nawaf Salam, the depth of the entanglement and overlapping interests between the banking cartel and the deep state has become patently obvious.
Today, the United States seeks to accelerate regional shifts. It has pressured Lebanon to swiftly normalize ties, showing little concern for internal obstacles and domestic considerations. It justifies Israeli assaults by describing them as preemptive measures... and ignores the aggravation of expanding Zionist crimes. Meanwhile, the recklessness of Hezbollah is reflected by its insistence on “resistance.” However, no one knows how, or to what end, it will resist. The party openly insists on maintaining its arsenal, which has become a burden, both on Hezbollah and the country.
It has nothing to say about Nawaf Salam’s positions (emphasizing that arms must be monopolized by the legitimate authorities, ending the worn-out “tripartite formula,” and affirming the state's responsibility to complete the liberation) but to present the prime minister as pursuing a campaign of surrender.
For its part, Israel’s goals are becoming increasingly clear: after “stray” rockets were fired, the Israeli Minister of War announced Israel’s intention to maintain the occupation for five more years. A few wooden homes built by locals were demolished, signaling that returning is forbidden and that return and reconstruction are contingent on establishing political relations between the two countries.
US envoy Morgan Ortagus visited and met with top officials, many ministers, the Central Bank Governor, and party leaders, in the meantime, to discuss issues related to arms, financial reform, the cash economy, and the parallel economy. The coverage has focused on her recommendation that Lebanon adopt a swift timeline for disarmament and reform. Moreover, her discussions reportedly showed that Lebanese officials are broadly convinced that a capable state cannot be built before imposing the right to bear arms becomes exclusive to state forces.
The officials also underscored the peril of stagnation, delay, and misguided bets. In this context, envoy Ortagus stressed that time is a limiting factor, warning them against pinning their hopes on the US–Iran negotiations, as that could cost Lebanon crucial opportunities. It was also made clear in the discussions that Lebanon’s rejection of the three negotiating committees does not mean that the US has abandoned the idea.
Between American pressure, the unchecked criminality of the Zionist regime, and Hezbollah’s obstruction of their project to develop a state that could meet the public’s aspirations, the collusion between the party and the forces of the sectarian spoil-sharing regime has become evident. Thus, the comprehensive reform necessary remains a casualty, with the establishment of a normal, civil state suspended.
Lebanon lost the popular momentum that followed the appointment of Nawaf Salam as Prime Minister. That moment could have imposed the formation of the kind of government we have long hoped for- a government capable of making substantial changes. Instead, the country finds itself with a new version of the so-called “national unity” government. The fact that the cabinet includes highly qualified individuals is not enough: most ministers were put in place through sectarian power-sharing allocations, and a significant portion of the political forces in parliament are represented in government. Thus, the contradictory stances of some ministers merely reflect the depth and nature of the divisions between these forces. In other words, by dismissing any discussion of a real program and focusing solely on names, the country missed the opportunity to form a government that is above the sectarian power centers that have prevailed since the end of the civil war. The setback loss, however, is in the scope and ambition of the reform process, which has already delayed several decades. Today, the government is taking some limited but noteworthy actions: the cabinet’s proposal of a draft law to lift banking secrecy to parliament, discussions on restructuring the banking sector, and the annulment of decrees issued by the Mikati government that had illegally allocated public maritime property, which could pave the way for reclaiming other looted coastal properties and communal lands, especially in the South.
However, the mafia-style alliance of the deep state has, to push back against accountability and prevent both the removal of banking secrecy and the restructuring of bankrupt banks, launched a vicious campaign targeting the government's positive measures. Its mouthpieces have even begun calling for a general amnesty for financial crimes.
For its part, the banking cartel has presented the President with its own proposal, suggesting that state assets and gold reserves be sold under the pretext of putting them to productive use. At the same time, media outlets have been weaponized to misrepresent the positions of the “Change MPs,” and to demonize human rights organizations, independent media platforms, and public figures who call for accountability and insist on protecting depositors’ rights. In addition to confining weapons to legitimate state forces, we need a new financial policy. The alternative policy begins with restructuring the “zombie” banks led by a cartel that gambled with people’s deposits, smuggled their money abroad, and whose bank balance sheets are troubled and of dubious asset valuation. These banks should have been liquidated the moment they stopped honoring payments. Instead, they were kept alive by an alliance to protect the corrupt, plunder from public funds and deposits (first through “financial engineering” schemes and then through the Sayrafa exchange platform), and constantly illegal BDL circulars that have melted away citizens’ deposits!

Bulgaria returns body of 2012 bus bomber to Lebanon
Agence France Presse/April 10/2025
The body of a French-Lebanese dual national, who bombed a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2012, was being repatriated to Lebanon on Thursday, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The attack at Bulgaria's Burgas airport was the deadliest against Israelis abroad since 2004. Five Israelis, including a pregnant woman, and the Bulgarian bus driver were killed along with the bomber, Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, 23. At the Husseini family's request, the head of Lebanon's General Security agency at the time, Abbas Ibrahim, was "in contact with the Bulgarian authorities" to seek the repatriation of the body, the source told AFP. Bulgarian authorities asked the family to engage a lawyer and agreed to return Husseini's remains during the war between Israel and Hezbollah last year, the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
The family was set to receive his body on Thursday ahead of burial, the source added. Both Bulgaria and Israel accused Hezbollah of orchestrating the bombing, an accusation that played a part in the European Union's subsequent decision to blacklist the group's military wing as a "terrorist" organization. Pro-Hezbollah social media accounts have circulated a notice from Husseini's family setting the funeral for Friday in the group's south Beirut stronghold. In 2020, a Bulgarian court sentenced Lebanese-Australian Meliad Farah and Lebanese-Canadian Hassan El Hajj Hassan to life in prison over the attack. Neither defendant was present for the trial. Airport CCTV footage showed Husseini wandering inside the airport's arrivals hall with a backpack shortly before the explosion tore through a bus outside the terminal that was headed to a Black Sea resort. Prosecutors said they had been unable to determine if the explosives were detonated by the bomber or his convicted accomplices.

The Lebanese Information Center Applauds Morgan Ortagus, and through her, the Trump Administration for Their Strong Stand on Lebanese Sovereignty
April 9, 2025
Washington, D.C. – The Lebanese Information Center (LIC) sincerely commends Ms. Morgan Ortagus, Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East, for her recent public remarks during her visit to Lebanon, and, through her, the Trump administration for its consistent and principled support for Lebanese sovereignty and democratic reform. In her statements, Ms. Ortagus emphasized the urgent need for Lebanon to reclaim full state authority, disarm Hezbollah and all non-state armed groups, and implement structural economic and judicial reforms. Her message was clear: the United States will continue to support Lebanon but only if its leaders remain committed to disarmament, good governance, and full national sovereignty. The LIC particularly welcomes Ms. Ortagus’ praise for the leadership of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and her recognition of their reform-driven agenda. She underscored that real partnership with the United States depends on Lebanon breaking free from corruption and foreign interference, especially from Hezbollah and its regional backers. Her call for a forward-looking economic model - centered on investment, private sector growth, and youth empowerment - reflects the aspirations of many Lebanese at home and abroad who seek a sovereign, modern and prosperous nation. A sovereign and democratic Lebanon is not only essential for the Lebanese people, it also serves America’s long-term strategic interests by promoting stability, countering extremism, and strengthening U.S. alliances across the region. The LIC is grateful for Ms. Ortagus’ leadership and the administration’s clarity and resolve. At this critical juncture, such messages of principled support are vital to maintain the momentum for reform in Lebanon. As the largest grassroots organization of Americans of Lebanese heritage, the LIC remains committed to working alongside U.S. officials, international partners, and Lebanese reformers to help secure a future defined by peace, prosperity, and full independence.

'Pay-To-Slay' – Lebanon Edition: The Lebanese Government Pays Hizbullah Operatives And Their Families Benefits 'Similar To Soldiers' Wages:' Hizbullah Opponents Call To Stop The Payments
N. Mozes/MEMRI/April 09/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142130/
Reports published in Lebanon over the past year indicate that, for the last 25 years, operatives of the Hizbullah terrorist organization have been enjoying equal status to that of soldiers in the Lebanese Armed Forces: the government pays pensions and compensation to them and their families, and provides economic benefits to a large segment of the organization’s supporters and operatives (allowances often referred to as "pay-to-slay"). These payments are made to fighters and operatives who were imprisoned (by Israel or the South Lebanese Army) for involvement in terrorism against Israel, to operatives injured in the course of such activity, and to families of fighters who were killed. The Lebanese state thus funds members of a militia that is not subordinate to its authorities and sometimes even acts against the state.[1] In this, it is similar to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which pays benefits and wages to Palestinians serving jail sentences in Israel for terrorist activities, including members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who fight against the PA.[2]
It should be mentioned that a large part of Lebanon’s budget comes from foreign aid, provided mainly by the U.S. and European countries,[3] many of which designate Hizbullah as a terrorist organization.
Some of the payments to Hizbullah operatives are provided monthly and have been paid for decades based on understandings reached in 1999 between the heads of the Lebanese state at the time, all of whom were allies of Hizbullah, namely parliament speaker and Amal movement head Nabih Berri, president Emile Lahoud and prime minister Salim Al-Huss. According to these agreements, fighters of the "Resistance," i.e., Hizbullah and Amal, who were wounded in the course of fighting with Israel, and the families of fighters who were killed, are entitled to compensation and benefits identical to those paid to soldiers of the Lebanese Armed Forces and their families. Some payments are provided directly by the authorities. For example, Law No. 364, enacted in 2001 – about a year after Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon – grants compensation or a regular pension to prisoners released from Israeli or South Lebanon Army prisons. The amount is based on the duration of imprisonment: longer terms of imprisonment are associated with higher pay. Other payments are transferred to Hizbullah and Amal operatives and their families through the Council for the South, a government body with a budget of tens of millions of dollars,[4] which is effectively controlled by these organizations.
Some of the payments and benefits are associated with specific circumstances, usually with rounds of fighting with Israel. For example, during the last round of fighting, which was started by Hizbullah on October 8, 2023, the Lebanese government at the time, headed by Najib Mikati, in which Hizbullah and its allies had a majority, approved the transfer of millions of dollars in aid to the residents of South Lebanon, including Hizbullah operatives. Moreover, the current Lebanese government, headed by Nawaf Salam, which received the blessing of the U.S.,[5] recently approved tax exemptions for "Lebanese affected by the war," without establishing clear criteria for receiving the aid and without excluding terror operatives.[6] The ambiguity of the criteria suggests that this is an indirect way of compensating Hizbullah supporters and operatives.
Over the past year, there has been growing criticism in Lebanon of the payments made by the state to Hizbullah operatives – which is seen as responsible for dragging the country into the war with Israel on orders from Iran – and there have been calls to stop these payments.
This report reviews the payments and the criticism voiced in this context.
Compensation And Payments To Hizbullah Operatives Hurt In The Recent Round Of Fighting With Israel
Following the latest round of fighting with Israel, initiated by Hizbullah on October 8, 2023 as part of what it called the "aid front" helping Gaza, the Lebanese government allocated several million dollars for compensation for property damage as a result of the war, and for payments to the wounded and the families of slain fighters, most of whom are members of Hizbullah or Amal. As stated, reports in the Lebanese media have it that some of the payments to the wounded and the families of the "martyrs" are made directly by the government itself, while others are transferred via the Council for the South, a government body controlled by Hizbullah and Amal. Moreover, according to one report, the family of a slain Hizbullah operative receives a monthly salary "just like [the family of] a soldier" in the Lebanese army.
The following are some of the benefits mentioned in the Lebanese media:
-- On November 30, 2023, it was reported that the government had allocated $10m for compensating "victims of the aggression," with payments to be channeled via the Council for the South, for property damage and to "the families of the martyrs and the wounded."[7] The Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily reported that individuals with permanent disabilities and the families of the "martyrs" would receive between $10,000 and $20,000.[8] An official in the Council for the South clarified that beneficiaries would include both civilians and armed operatives, stating, "The council will pay the families of the victims $20,000 for each person killed in the shelling... or killed as a member of Hizbullah." In addition, he said, families of Hizbullah martyrs would receive a "monthly salary, just like a soldier," noting that there were about 300 martyrs, "including Hizbullah operatives."[9]
-- On May 28, 2024, the Lebanese government complied with the request of the Council for the South to provide it with approximately $1 million for 52 families of martyrs, most of them Hizbullah fighters. A statement issued by then-prime minister Mikati said that the funds were intended for "families of the martyrs and for families displaced… as a result of the Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023."[10] However, MP Ghada Ayoub, of the anti-Hizbullah Lebanese Forces party, reported that the funds were meant for 52 families of martyrs that had applied for aid, and listed the names of the martyrs. Forty-nine of them were described as "martyrs of the resistance," i.e., as Hizbullah operatives,[11] and only three as "martyred civilians."[12]
The list of beneficiaries published by MP Ghada Ayoub (Source: X.com/DrGhadAyoub, June 9, 2024)
Tax Exemptions For Recent "War Victims"
Furthermore, in early May 2025 the current government under Nawaf Salam – whose establishment, as noted, was welcomed by the U.S. – approved a "draft bill for those affected by the Israeli war, granting them exemptions from certain taxes and fees."[13] Media reports about this did not specify the criteria to qualify for the exemption, and some in Lebanon saw the bill as an "election bribe" ahead of the upcoming municipal elections and as an attempt by Hizbullah and Amal, which are part of the government, to quell the anger of their voters over Hizbullah’s failure to adequately compensate its supporters for the extensive damages of the war.[14]
The bill in question may be the one drafted by Yousuf Khalil, the minister of finance in the previous government, which was not approved by that government. According to the pro-Hizbullah daily Al-Akhbar, that bill applies to individuals, companies and institutions in the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, in the Beqaa Valley and in South Lebanon that were affected by the war, and exempts them from income, municipal and property taxes, as well as from water, electricity and phone charges. The exemptions also apply to "the families of the martyrs."[15]
Hizbullah Casualties And Prisoners Receive The Same Status As Army Soldiers And Public Sector Employees
As noted, these government payments to Hizbullah operatives affected by the recent war are based on past understandings and laws which accord Hizbullah and Amal fighters the same status and rights as Lebanese army soldiers and public sector employees. In 1999 the then heads of the Lebanese state, all of them allies of Hizbullah – namely parliament speaker and Amal movement head Nabih Berri, president Emile Lahoud and prime minister Salim Al-Huss – agreed that slain and wounded fighters of the "resistance" (i.e., of Hizbullah and Amal) would be entitled to the same compensation and payments as soldiers of the Lebanese army.[16] A notable example was in May 2024, when the Lebanese government ordered the transfer of approximately $260,000 from the state budget reserves to the Council for the South "in order to ensure the payment of temporary compensation for 2024 to 383 families of resistance martyrs." The government specified that these payments were based on Decree No. 11227, issued by the cabinet on April 18, 2023, granting families temporary monthly compensation amounting to 75% of the deceased’s salary.[17] However, the original decree referred only to public sector employees and to members of the armed and security forces, not to operatives of the "resistance." So in this instance, Hizbullah fighters were accorded the same status as public sector employees and members of Lebanon’s security forces.[18]
Compensation And Pension Payments For Lebanese Citizens Released From Israeli Prisons
Lebanese citizens who were imprisoned in Israel or by the South Lebanon Army (SLA) are also entitled to compensation and pension payments from the state, the amount of which depends on the length of their incarceration. This is based on Law No. 364, which was passed in 2001, one year after Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon. The law awards a payment of 2.5 million Lebanese pounds (in 2001 this sum was equivalent to $1,600) to individuals imprisoned for one year or less, and five million pounds per year of imprisonment to those incarcerated for one to three years. Individuals imprisoned for more than three years can choose between two options: either a payment of five million pounds per year of imprisonment, or a monthly pension of 400,000 pounds plus a payment of 11,000 pounds for each year of imprisonment. Prisoners who were harmed during their incarceration are also eligible for compensation, regardless of the length of imprisonment. The family of a prisoner who died in prison is entitled to receive his pension, regardless of the length of imprisonment.[19]
The Council For The South – A State-Funded Government Body Serving Amal And Hizbullah
As mentioned above, some of the payments made by the state to Hizbullah operatives are funneled through the Council for the South, which was established by the government in 1970 and is subordinate to the prime minister. Its stated objectives are "to foster the steadfastness of the people of South [Lebanon], provide compensation for damage caused by Israeli attacks and transfer funds to public projects in the south."[20] The heads of the council over the years have been Amal officials, as is the council’s present head, Hashem Haidar.[21]
The council receives an annual budget from the state, supplemented by contributions from non-state actors.[22] According to a report from 2017, its budget that year was $40 million.[23] The anti-Hizbullah daily Nida Al-Watan reported in 2020 that the council’s budget that year was 200 billion Lebanese pounds (about $2.3 million at the current exchange rate).[24]
Some of the state funds funneled to the council end up in the hands of Hizbullah and Amal. In addition to repairing buildings damaged in Israeli airstrikes and carrying out infrastructure projects, the council compensates the families of armed operatives who were killed in the fighting with Israel. According to Qabalan Qabalan, who was head of the council until 2022, social benefits are provided to "the wounded, to released prisoners and to the families of those injured or killed… They are provided to [the families of] victims who carried arms and were killed in confrontations with the Israeli enemy… We have been doing this since 1999."
In the years since the council’s establishment, residents of the south have complained that it favors Hizbullah and Amal activists and their supporters. It was reported, for example, that the families of slain operatives of the Lebanese National Resistance Front[25] received compensation of 100,000 Lebanese pounds, while families of Hizbullah and Amal slain operatives received 20 million pounds. It was further claimed that the council favored Amal and Hizbullah strongholds over other localities on the border with Israel. Furthermore, the council pays rent to Amal for offices it uses that are owned by this movement.[26]
Criticism In Lebanon: The Lebanese Government Must Stop Funding Hizbullah Fighters
In recent months, there has been growing criticism in Lebanon against the payments made to Hizbullah, which is seen as responsible for dragging the country into the war per instructions from Iran and without regard for Lebanon’s interests. For example, following the government’s May 28, 2024 decision to transfer approximately $1 million to the Council for the South for payments to the families of 52 "martyrs," most of them Hizbullah fighters, MP Ghada Ayoub wrote on X: "On behalf of the Lebanese people and as representatives of the entire [Lebanese] nation, we submitted a question to the Lebanese government regarding the legality of taking money from the Lebanese people’s pockets – from the budget reserves – to pay about $20,000 to [each] family of the martyrs [who were killed] due to [Hizbullah’s] decision to start a war in order to help Gaza, a decision taken in contravention of Article 65 of the Lebanese Constitution.[27] We also stress that compensation must only be paid to innocent and unarmed civilians."[28]
Hizbullah Opponents: This Organization Dragged Us Into A War, And Now We Must Compensate It Out Of Our Own Pockets. What Kind Of Twisted Logic Is This?!
Lebanese politician Hadi Mashmoushi of the National Dialogue Party agreed with Ayoub, writing on X: "…We have nothing to do with the commanders and fighters of Hizbullah, which decided on its own to declare a war in disregard of the state and the constitution, as well as the will, the interest, the security and the stability of the Lebanese citizens. Furthermore, [this organization] threatens our lives and the lives of our children and forces the government to pay compensation out of our pockets. What kind of twisted logic is this?! I am sometimes amazed by the impudence of these liars, who dare to demand what they do not deserve."[29]
Lebanese journalist Pierre Jabour wrote on X: "Lebanon is at the mercy of Hizbullah. Ninety-three billion pounds [will go] to the south while the people are bankrupt. Hizbullah controls decisions of war and peace without oversight or supervision. The state is unable to hold it to account or to defend itself. The Lebanese people are going bankrupt and paying taxes to fund Hizbullah’s wars. Where is Hizbullah’s responsibility for the destruction of the south? People of the south who oppose Hizbullah should speak out. Those who cry out that they are ‘willing to sacrifice themselves for [slain Hizbullah leader Hassan] Nasrallah are the ones who should pay the price for his adventures.’[30]
Lebanese Journalist: Hizbullah Steals From The State Coffers Under The Auspices Of The Law – The Country Must Stop This
Similar criticism was expressed by Nida Al-Watan columnist Alain Sarkis, who alluded to Law No. 364, enacted in 2001, which deals with the payment of compensation to Hizbullah operatives released from Israeli or SLA prisons. He wrote that these payments are made at the expense of soldiers in the Lebanese army and are another expression of Hizbullah’s control of Lebanon’s decision-making:
"[Over the years] Hizbullah has managed to take control of Lebanon’s centers of power. The parliament, which [for many years] operated under the patronage of the Syrian regime, enacted laws that were funded by the Lebanese [state], so that some of the people pay taxes while Hizbullah enjoys these funds [and uses them] to ensure the welfare of its fighters…
"Following the first Israeli withdrawal on May 25, 2000, [then Lebanese president Emile] Lahoud and the [Lebanese] government took part in subordinating the state’s funds to Hizbullah and to its supporters at the expense of the wages of the [Lebanese army] soldiers, which were cut in order to transfer [funds] to south [Lebanon, i.e., to Hizbullah]. Automobile taxes were raised and [new] taxes were imposed and transferred indirectly to Hizbullah on the pretext of supporting the south.
"What is worse than all these duties and taxes is the law approved by parliament in 2001 [i.e. Law No. 364] at the behest of Hizbullah, [Emile] Lahoud and the Syrians, which treats any prisoner, including those detained in Israel or even in the prisons of the SLA, like a soldier in the Lebanese army and grants him compensation and a salary. This law is still in force. They manipulated the law to provide a permanent pension or compensation to every prisoner who was held by the SLA and to his family…
"The state still implements this law. Hizbullah exploited its influence to expand the circle of those who benefit from this law, with no accountability or oversight, especially after the release of the prisoners of 2008.[31] Then [Hizbullah] took over the Ministry of Finance[32] – [a move] that cost and continues to cost the state huge amounts – in order to [guarantee] that its fighters receive the same funding as the Lebanese Armed Forces… Now the parliament faces a serious issue: will it continue to finance Hizbullah’s fighters in a roundabout manner, or will it stop implementing the law [?]… How can the Lebanese government, which is trying to regain its sovereignty, treat Hizbullah’s operatives the same way it treats the soldiers of the Lebanese Armed Forces? Will the Lebanese people continue to pay taxes to fund Hizbullah’s fighters, especially considering that most of the [released] prisoners have returned to their activities in the service of Hizbullah[?] What depletes the state coffers more than anything else is the stipend paid to the wives and children of slain [Hizbullah] fighters. Will the parliament have the courage to stop wasting [money by] funding Hizbullah, or will it ignore what is happening?
"The government cannot continue the reform and the battle against corruption without abolishing the law enacted in 2001 and under the Syrian occupation. Abolishing it is part of the reform that will enable [us] to turn to the international community and attract investments. [A failure] to correct the law is likely to expose the country to sanctions, because the law no longer deals [only] with prisoners but is an unjust law for funding Hizbullah and its supporters.
"There is no doubt that the amounts paid out [under this law] have been very high… The fact that the wives and children of deceased prisoners continue to receive their salaries means the continued waste of state funds and the financing of Hizbullah with legal funds but in illegal ways. There is no transparency in this matter and the number of prisoners who receive [the payments] is concealed, but there are thousands, in addition to prisoners who are currently [held by Israel] and will be released in the future."[33]
[1] A prominent example of this was in May 2008, when Hizbullah gunmen took over parts of Beirut and areas in the Mount Lebanon region in response to a government decision to enforce its sovereignty over Beirut International Airport and to dismantle Hizbullah’s private communications network.
[2] For more information, see MEMRI Reports: Special Dispatch No. 11861 - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas At Fatah Revolutionary Council Session: We Will Not Stop The Payments To The Prisoners And The Martyrs’ Families – February 28, 2025; MEMRI Daily Brief No. 97 - MEMRI President Yigal Carmon’s Testimony To House Committee On Foreign Affairs, July 6, 2016: Palestinian Authority Support For Imprisoned, Released, And Wounded Terrorists And Families Of ‘Martyrs’, July 6, 2016.
[3] Lebanon’s budget for 2024 was approximately $3.5 bn. It should be noted that the 2023 budget was not approved by the parliament in time and but was approved retroactively along with the 2024 budget. (http://77.42.251.205/LawView.aspx?opt=view&LawID=330076). According to a Blominvest Bank report, the foreign aid to Lebanon in 2023 amounted to over $1 bn, namely about a third of the annual budget (Blog.blominvestbank.com, May 27, 2024).
[4] It should be noted that in the early 2000s, one dollar was worth about 1,600 Lebanese pounds.
[5] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1814 - One Day After U.S. Draws ‘Red Line’ Over Hizbullah Participation In Lebanese Government, Triggering Threats Against It And Its Representative, Lebanon Announces New Government That Includes Hizbullah, And U.S. Gives In And Welcomes It – February 21, 2025.
[6] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), March 6, 2025. It should be noted that the previous government, headed by Mikati, also considered granting partial tax exemptions, including to "families of martyrs." Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), December 20, 2024.
[7] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), November 30, 2023.
[8] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), December 1, 2023.
[9] Independantarabia.com, April 4, 2024.
[10] Najib-mikati.net, May 28, 2024.
[11] Among them were Ali Muhammad Marmar, Ahmad Hassan Mustafa and Mahdi Khalil Za’tar, for example, all of whom were described by Hizbullah itself as "jihad fighters" in the organization, Almanar.com.lb, October 28, November 30, 2023; and alahednews.com.lb, December 14, 2023.
[12] Info3.com, June 9, 2024; X.com/DrGhadAyoub, June 9, 2024.
[13] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), March 6, 2025.
[14] Nida Al-Watan (Lebanon), March 6, 2025.
[15] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), December 20, 2024.
[16] Al-Safir (Lebanon), March 23, 1999.
[17] Pcm.gov.lb, May 30, 2024.
[18] Law.aspx?lawId=326444, April 18, 2023.
[19] 77.42.251.205/LawView.aspx?opt=view&LawID=181047, August 16, 2001.
[20] Councilforsouth.gov.lb.
[21] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), August 15, 2011.
[22] Councilforsouth.gov.lb.
[23] Publicworksstudio.com.
[24] Nida Al-Watan (Lebanon), January 25, 2020.
[25] A military organization comprising several Lebanese and Syrian left-wing and socialist factions, including the Lebanese Socialist Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which operated against the Israeli army in 1982-1999.
[26] Independentarabia.com, December 27, 2023.
[27] This article states that taking decisions on basic issues, including issues of war and peace, requires the approval of two thirds of the government ministers (lp.gov.lb), i.e. is the responsibility of the government.
[28] X.com/DrGhadaAyoub, June 9, 2024.
[29] X.com/hadimashmoushi, June 9, 2024.
[30] X.com/PierreJabour14, May 30, 2024.
[31] The reference is to five Hizbullah operatives, chief of them the notorious terrorist Samir Kuntar, who were released in a prisoner exchange deal with Israel in June 2008.
[32] Since 2014, the position of finance minister has been held by Shi’ite politicians from Amal, which is allied with Hizbullah.
[33] Nida Al-Watan (Lebanon), February 20, 2025.
https://www.memri.org/reports/pay-slay-%E2%80%93-lebanon-edition-lebanese-government-pays-hizbullah-operatives-and-their-families

Lebanese Politician Charles Jabour: Lebanon's Real Enemy Is Iran, Not Israel
MEMRI/April 10, 2025
In recent weeks, there have been an increasing number of reports in the Arab and foreign media about U.S. efforts to advance negotiations between Israel and Lebanon that will lead, inter alia, to agreement on the land border between the two countries. Lebanese elements, primarily Hizbullah and the Amal movement, received these reports with a mix of apprehension and opposition, seeing them as a step towards normalization with Israel.
Against this backdrop, Lebanese journalist Charles Jabour, who heads the information apparatus of the anti-Hizbullah Lebanese Forces party, wrote an article in the Lebanese daily Nidaa Al-Watan rejecting the claim that these moves are a prelude to normalization and that this notion was invented by Hizbullah in order to distract attention from its obligation to disarm as part of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire that came into force on November 27, 2024. According to Jabour, the aim of the Lebanon-Israel contacts is to restore Lebanon's control of its own borders and territory and to revive the implementation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements that Israel signed with Lebanon, among other countries, which he referred to as "the best decision" made by Lebanon that launched a political and economic "golden age" for the country.
Charles Jabour (Source: Elnashra.com, January 2, 2025)
Jabour went on to state that Lebanon was to blame for the collapse of the armistice, because it did not manage to control its borders and was forced by a series of elements to become a state hostile to Israel. These elements, he wrote, included the Palestinian factions, the Syrian regime headed by the Assad family, and the Iranian regime, that took over the decision-making centers in Lebanon, subjugated them to its will, entangled it in wars, and prevented it from existing as a sovereign state. Thus, he added, they, not Israel, are Lebanon's true enemies.
The following is the translation of Jabour's article:
"The Best Decision Lebanon Ever Made... Was To Honor The [1949] Armistice Agreement"
"Since the establishment of the State of Israel, Lebanon has adhered to the Arab position that is hostile to it because it strips the Palestinian people of its right to a state. The only conflict [with Israel] in which [Lebanon] participated was in 1948. It ended with the Armistice Agreement between Lebanon and Israel, in 1949, which was honored by both countries until it was violated by the Palestinian organizations in the early 1960s, and completely collapsed following the [Six Day] War in 1967.
"It has been proven that the best decision Lebanon ever made in its history was to honor the Armistice Agreement, and that the political, financial, economic, cultural, and tourism golden age that [Lebanon] knew was between two signings: of the 1949 Armistice Agreement and of the 1969 Cairo Accord [allowing the PLO to operate from Lebanese soil].[1]
"Hence, the Lebanese leadership at the time was brave and wise when it defined Lebanon as a country that supports the position of the Arab states, not as a state of conflict. When Lebanon was forced to become a state of conflict and its decision-making capability was de facto eliminated, it became an arena of death, chaos, wars and disasters. The eradication of the state's [decision-making capability] made it possible for the Assad regime [in Syria], and, later, [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, to take over its decision-making. The resistance [axis] has made Lebanon a frontline for the [former's] destructive initiatives against the Palestinians and against the Lebanese.
"To this day, Lebanon is committed to the position that the door to normalization with Israel lies in [Israel's] recognition of the Palestinian people's right to statehood, and [Lebanon] primarily wants a return to the Armistice Agreement, not normalization. Hizbullah has come up with the notion [that Lebanon is on a path to] normalization in order to divert attention from the need for it to disband its military infrastructure and abandon its arms program, as part of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, international resolutions, and the Taif agreement.[2] So what is on the agenda today is not normalization... rather, it is the state's control over its borders and land and the renewal of the Armistice Agreement, and nothing more than that."
"The Facts Must Be Presented" – There Must Be No More "Ongoing Attempts To Distort History"
"The following facts should be presented, and we must steer clear of the ongoing attempts to distort history:
"First: It was Lebanon that failed to uphold the [1949] Armistice Agreement, not Israel – because due to well-known domestic reasons, [Lebanon] was incapable of controlling its border and imposing its sovereignty, as Jordan was able to do.
"Second: Israel left Lebanon voluntarily in May 2000... and Lebanon, instead of taking advantage of Israel's implementation of [Security Council] Resolution 425[3] and returning to the Armistice Agreement, fabricated the [claim that] the Shebaa Farms – situated in Syrian territory that Israel occupied following the 1967 war and which is addressed by [Security Council] Resolution 242 – [are occupied Lebanese territory – such that Res. 425 is not fully implemented].[4] [However], the UN believes that if the Shebaa Farms are to be included in Resolution 425, there is a need to designate the borders between Lebanon and Syria, and to obtain written approval from Damascus that the farms belong to Lebanon, not [Syria]. This has not happened because the resistance [axis] does not seek an Israeli withdrawal [from Lebanon], but rather armed conflict in order to justify its weapons and its control over decision-making in Lebanon.
"Third: Israel's unilateral withdrawal [from southern Lebanon in May 2000] was a great surprise to [then-Syrian] president Hafez Al-Assad, because he realized that this move transferred the pressure to his regime to withdraw from Lebanon, because he had been using Israel as the pretext for leaving his army [there]... After the 1967 war, the principle guiding Assad [in Syria] was maintaining [a state of] neither peace nor war with Israel. At the same time, the principle guiding Assad, and Khamenei in Lebanon, vis-à-vis Israel, was one of [ensuring] regular conflict so that they could hold the 'resistance' card as their means to controlling Lebanon.
"Fourth: It was Assad and Khamenei who stopped Lebanon from returning to the Armistice Agreement [with Israel]. The Israeli army's withdrawal [from Lebanon, in 2000], as the implementation of Resolution 425, was meant to lead to a return to the 1949 [Armistice] Agreement, but such a return [to the agreement would have] plucked the so-called resistance card from the hands of Assad and Khamenei. Therefore, Israel is not responsible for the failure to renew the Armistice Agreement.
"Fifth: It was Hizbullah – not Israel – that sparked the July 2006 war when it attacked an Israeli army patrol... kidnapped two soldiers, and killed three others.
"Sixth: It was Hizbullah – not Israel – that caused the October 2023 war [following Hamas's October 7 attack], with the declaration [by then-Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah] of the so-called 'war of support' for the Al-Aqsa Flood war."
"The Resistance Axis... Has Eradicated The [Lebanese] State" – And Is "Lebanon's De Facto Enemy"
"In light of all of the above, it becomes clear that the resistance [axis], in all its modes, has eradicated the [Lebanese] state and that from the mid-1960s to October 8, 2023, it has used Lebanon as a platform for attacking Israel. It was not Israel that refused to revive the ceasefire agreement stipulated by the Taif Agreement – it was the resistance that prevented Lebanon from implementing its [own] constitution. Had the ceasefire been maintained in the first place, Lebanon would not have been in Hell for the past 60 years.
"The facts make it clear that so-called resistance is [merely] the pretext for [the resistance axis's] maintaining control of Lebanon as part of Iran's expansionist plan, and that Lebanon's de facto enemy is the one who is preventing the existence of a genuine state that has exclusive possession of weapons, and is the only decisionmaker regarding going to war and controlling its borders. The one who is doing this is the Assad regime, followed by the Khamenei regime – and not Israel.
"Therefore, Lebanon's actual enemy today is the Iranian expansionist regime. Hostility vis-à-vis Israel is linked to the Palestinians' right to statehood, and its solution lies in the implementation of the Arab Peace Initiative. As for the border with Israel, [the solution] lies in reviving the Armistice Agreement... which was violated by the Lebanese side, not the Israeli side. "The real enemy of Lebanon is the one that turned it into a [battle] arena, who prevented the constitution from being implemented, who prevented the state from being the exclusive possessor of weapons, the decisionmaker about war, and the controller of the borders and the territory. It is the one who rejected the revival of the Armistice Agreement, and who annexed Lebanon first to Assad's Syria and then to Khamenei's Iran. Lebanon's real enemies are Syria, under Assad, and Iran, under Khamenei."[5]
[1] The Cairo Agreement, between the PLO and the Lebanese government in Cairo on November 2, 1969, allowed the PLO to operate from Lebanese soil.
[2] The 1989 Taif Agreement ended the Lebanese civil war.
[3] Resolution 425, of March 19, 1978, five days after Israel launched Operation Litani that was a response to the Coastal Road massacre in Israel, called for Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and for the establishment of a temporary peacekeeping force to ensure Israel's withdrawal and help Lebanon retake its sovereignty over its border.
[4] Resolution 242, which followed the Six Day War in 1967, called for Israel to withdraw from the territories it had taken in the war.
[5] Nidaa Al-Watan (Lebanon), March 18, 2025.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April10-11/2025
Universities Intentionally Schedule Exams on Christian Holidays in Egypt
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 10/2025
Anti-Christian discrimination is making the news again in Egypt, in a wholly unique and clever way. Universities are making it a point to schedule exams on the dates of Christian holidays. According to an April 7 report, Coptic students experience a tragedy every year because some universities insist on ignoring their right to celebrate their most important holy days, scheduling exams on Christian occasions that are tantamount to holidays. Copts are entitled to official state-sanctioned holidays such as Maundy Thursday and Palm Sunday, but some universities flout the principles of citizenship and insist on depriving students and their families of these celebrations. As one example, the Faculty of Law at Benha University set the dates for final exams to coincide with Maundy Thursday (the Last Supper) and all throughout Holy Week, including Easter, the most important week of the Coptic calendar. Although many Copts pled that they be exempt from those days, so they could attend church, and take the exams on another date, the university refused to budge.
In the words of the report,
The university ignored Coptic pleas to amend the dates to reflect their right to practice their religious rituals and celebrate Coptic holidays, unlike how the other side [Islam] is accommodated. The same scenario is being implemented by a number of other universities, scheduling exams the day after Sham al-Nessim and the day after Easter. This prevents Coptic students from celebrating the holiday, as they are busy studying in preparation for exams. This has become a common occurrence, and Copts suffer from it every year. As another example, the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University changed the dates of midterm exams for its Critical Thinking course from April 7 to Sunday, April 13—Palm Sunday. According to the report, Copts demanded that the exams be postponed to a date that would allow them the opportunity to celebrate their holidays, within the framework of equality and the consolidation of citizenship. The Ministry of Education and Technical Education stated that it had instructed education directorates in the governorates not to hold exams during Coptic holidays, but the Ministry of Higher Education has yet to take any consideration of Copts’ right to celebrate their holidays.
By way of comparison, it should be noted that all Egyptian universities observe all Islamic holy days. Universities granted all students a full week off school to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Trump says Israel would strike Iran if it doesn't give up nuclear weapons
Associated Press/April 10/2025
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the "leader" of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn't give up its nuclear weapons program. Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend's scheduled talks involving U.S. and Iranian officials in the Middle East sultanate of Oman. Trump earlier this week said the talks would be "direct" while Iran has described the engagement as "indirect" talks with the U.S. "If it requires military, we're going to have military," Trump said. "Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They'll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, but we do what we want to do."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week said he supports Trump's diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran. He added that Israel and the U.S. share the same goal of ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu, however, led efforts to persuade Trump to pull out of a U.S.-brokered deal with Iran in 2018. The Israeli leader, known for his hawkish views on Iran and past calls for military pressure, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement along the lines of Libya's deal with the international community in 2003. But that deal saw Libya's late dictator Moammar Gadhafi give up all of his clandestine nuclear program. Iran has insisted its program, acknowledged to the International Atomic Energy Agency, should continue. "I think that would be a good thing," Netanyahu said. "But whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons." The United States is increasingly concerned as Tehran is closer than ever to a workable weapon. But Trump said on Wednesday that he doesn't have a definitive timeline for the talks to come to a resolution. "When you start talks, you know, if they're going along well or not," Trump said. "And I would say the conclusion would be what I think they're not going along well. So that's just a feeling."
The U.S. and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear agreement in 2018, calling it the "worst deal ever."
Iran and the U.S., under President Joe Biden, held indirect negotiations in Vienna in 2021 aimed at restoring the nuclear deal. But those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations, failed to reach any agreement. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department earlier on Wednesday issued new sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program. Five entities and one person based in Iran are cited in the new sanctions for their support of Iran's nuclear program. The designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and subordinates Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, Thorium Power Company, Pars Reactors Construction and Development Company and Azarab Industries Co. "I want Iran to be great," Trump said Wednesday. "The only thing that they can't have is a nuclear weapon. They understand that."Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian again pledged Wednesday that his nation is "not after a nuclear bomb" and even dangled the prospect of direct American investment in the Islamic Republic if the countries can reach a deal. The comments by the reformist leader represent a departure from Iran's stance after its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, in which Tehran sought to buy American airplanes but in effect barred U.S. companies from coming into the country. "His excellency has no opposition to investment by American investors in Iran," Pezeshkian said in a speech in Tehran, referring to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "American investors: Come and invest."

Iran Says External Threats Could Lead to Expulsion of IAEA Inspectors
Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
Iran may suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if external threats continue, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump again warned of military force if Tehran does not agree to a nuclear deal. Iranian and American diplomats will visit Oman on Saturday to start dialogue on Tehran's nuclear program, with Trump saying he would have the final word on whether talks are reaching a breakdown, which would put Iran in "great danger". "Continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it," Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Ali Khamenei, published on X, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.  "Transferring enriched material to safe and undisclosed locations in Iran could also be on the agenda," he wrote. While the US insists that the talks with Tehran will be direct , Iran has stressed the negotiations will be indirect with intermediation from Oman's foreign minister. During his first 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran's sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions. Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment, according to the IAEA. Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program. Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.

Trump Cites Progress on Gaza Hostage Talks
Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said progress was being made regarding the return of the hostages being held in Gaza and that he was dealing with both Israel and Hamas, but he gave no other details about the talks. Israel resumed its war against Hamas in Gaza last month after an eight-week ceasefire collapsed. The ceasefire brought a much-needed reprieve from the fighting to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza and sent an infusion of humanitarian aid to the territory. It also led to the release of 25 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the remains of eight others, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Mediators have since attempted to bring the sides to a bridging agreement that would again pause the war, free hostages and open the door for talks on the war's end, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he won't agree to until Hamas is defeated. Hamas wants the war to end before it frees the remaining 59 hostages it holds, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. The war, which was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, has seen the deadliest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in their history. It has ignited a humanitarian crisis in already impoverished Gaza, and has sent shockwaves across the region and beyond.

US and Russia Swap Prisoners
Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
Russia released a dual Russian-US citizen jailed for donating to a charity providing aid to Ukraine, her lawyer said on Thursday, in what the Wall Street Journal described as a swap for a Russian-German national jailed in the United States. A lawyer for Ksenia Karelina, who was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, told Reuters she was on her way back to the United States. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted talks for the swap in Abu Dhabi, according to a CIA official quoted by the Journal. "Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia," Ratcliffe said in a statement to the Journal. Karelina left for the US on a plane from Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, her Russian lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said. She was swapped for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the US for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics. The US Justice Department said last year that Petrov had participated in a scheme to procure US-sourced microelectronics for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.

Türkiye, Israel Have Begun Talks to Avoid Clashes in Syria
Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
Turkish and Israeli officials began talks on Wednesday aimed at preventing unwanted incidents in Syria, where militaries of the two regional powers are active, Turkish ministry sources said on Thursday. The sources said the technical talks, in Azerbaijan, marked the beginning of efforts to set up a channel to avoid potential clashes or misunderstandings over military operations in the region. "Efforts will continue to establish this mechanism," one of the sources said, without providing further details on the scope or timeline of the talks. The initiative comes a week after Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, which it described as a warning to the newly formed government in Damascus. It has also accused Türkiye of attempting to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate. Reuters reported last week that Turkish military teams had inspected at least three air bases in Syria where they could deploy forces as part of a planned joint defense pact with Damascus - before Israel hit the sites with airstrikes. Türkiye and Israel - which have traded diplomatic barbs since Israel's attacks began on Gaza in 2023 - each said last week they did not seek confrontation in Syria, which both border. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed on Wednesday that technical talks were taking place, emphasizing that such mechanisms were necessary to prevent misunderstandings between the two regional powers' forces. The talks were similar to deconfliction mechanisms Türkiye has with the US and Russia, he said on broadcaster CNN Turk.

Israel says air force to fire pilots who signed Gaza war petition
AFP/April 10, 2025
JERUSALEM: An Israeli military official said Thursday that reserve pilots who publicly called for securing the release of hostages, even at the cost of ending the Gaza war, would be dismissed from the air force. “With the full backing of the chief of the General Staff, the commander of the IAF (Israeli air force) has decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving in the IDF (military),” the official told AFP in response to a letter signed by around 1,000 reserve and retired pilots. The letter, which was published on a full page in multiple daily newspapers, directly challenges the policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has insisted that increased military pressure on Gaza is the only way to get Palestinian militants to release hostages seized during Hamas’s October 2023 attack. “We, the aircrew in the reserves and retired, demand the immediate return of the hostages even at the cost of an immediate cessation of hostilities,” the letter said. “The war serves primarily political and personal interests, not security interests,” it said, adding that the resumed offensive “will result in the deaths of the hostages, IDF soldiers and innocent civilians, and the exhaustion of the reserve service.”“Only an agreement can return the hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers.”The military official said most of the signatories of the letter were not active reservists. “Our policy is clear — the IDF stands above all political dispute. There is no room for any body or individual, including reservists in active duty, to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting and calling for its cessation,” the official said. Netanyahu said he supported the move to dismiss any active pilots who had signed the letter. “Refusal is refusal — even when it is implied and expressed in euphemistic language,” a statement released by his office said.
“Statements that weaken the IDF and strengthen our enemies during wartime are unforgivable.”Some 251 people were seized during Hamas’s attack, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. A truce that lasted from January 19 to March 17 saw the return of 33 Israeli hostages — eight of them in coffins — in exchange for the release of around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Efforts to restore the truce and release more hostages have so far failed. The army said it was continuing its ground operations in southern Gaza and that it had “dismantled dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites and several tunnel shafts leading to underground terror networks in the area.”The army said that a Wednesday strike in Gaza City had “eliminated” a Hamas commander from the area it alleged had participated in the October 2023 attack. Gaza’s civil defense agency said at least 23 people, including women and children, were killed in the strike which levelled a four-story residential building. In an update Thursday, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said at least 1,522 Palestinians have been killed in the renewed Israeli offensive, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,886. Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

UN food agency warns that tens of thousands could die during third year of war in Sudan
Jonathan Lessware/Arab News/April 10, 2025
LONDON: Tens of thousands of people will die in Sudan if the country’s civil war continues for another year, with the UN facing a vast food-aid funding gap and unable to reach those most vulnerable to famine, a senior official warned on Thursday. The conflict, which began two years ago, has caused what is, “by any metric,” the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, Shaun Hughes, the World Food Programme’s emergency coordinator for the Sudan crisis, told a UN briefing. He said famine had spread to 10 areas in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, and threatens to engulf another 17. Unless the WFP can bridge a $650 million gap in funding for its operations over the next six months, which amounts to an 80 percent shortfall, and gain better access on the ground to those in need, he said the crisis will continue to spiral out of control. “This war is having devastating consequences for the people of Sudan and the entire region,” Hughes said during a video call. “Tens of thousands more people will die in Sudan during a third year of war unless WFP and other humanitarian agencies have the access and the resources to reach those in need.”The civil war began on April 15, 2023, amid a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the leader of a powerful rival militia called the Rapid Support Forces. The fighting has killed thousands of people and forced 12 million to flee their homes.
The army finally regained control of all of Khartoum last month, having been driven out of the capital at the start of the conflict. But the RSF continues to control vast areas in western and southern Sudan, including much of Darfur region. Fighting has raged around the city of El-Fasher in Darfur, just south of which is located the Zamzam displacement camp that hosts 400,000 people. Famine was first reported in the camp in August last year and people continue to die from starvation and malnutrition there, Hughes said. “It’s obviously a horrific situation,” he added. “El-Fasher, Zamzam and other camps have been at the center of famine and the epicenter of conflict in the Darfurs for several months now, and under an effective siege on a daily basis. “People are unable to access services, and humanitarian agencies have, essentially, had to withdraw from the camp.”He said the last delivery of food aid was in October but the WFP had managed to digitally transfer cash aid to help residents of the camp buy food wherever they can. But unless aid efforts can be reestablished on the ground in Sudan’s worst-effected areas, Hughes fears the famine could spread, with nearly half of the country’s 50 million people facing the prospect of extreme hunger. “We need to be able to quickly move humanitarian assistance to where it is needed, including through front lines, across borders within contested areas, and without lengthy bureaucratic processes,” he said. The WFP has managed to increase the number of people it is reaching to 3 million per month, he added, but hopes to increase the figure to 7 million in the coming months. The focus will be on those areas already suffering from famine or most at risk of falling into it, Hughes said. Many aid operations in Sudan have been affected by the US government’s slashing of foreign aid budgets since President Donald Trump took office, but Hughes said funding for his agency’s work in the country had not been affected by this. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday released a report detailing the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Sudan. It said attacks on hospitals and other civilian infrastructure have severely compromised access to essential services.

Israeli minister says France plan to recognize Palestinian state ‘prize for terror’
AFP/April 10, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denounced French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris could recognize a Palestinian state by June, saying it would be a “prize” for terrorism. “A unilateral recognition of a fictional Palestinian state, by any country, in the reality that we all know, will be a prize for terror and a boost for Hamas,” Saar said on X late on Wednesday. “These kind of actions will not bring peace, security and stability in our region closer — but the opposite: they only push them further away.”France plans to recognize a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June on settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday. “We must move toward recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron, who this week visited Egypt, told France 5 television.
France has long championed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including after the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militants Hamas on Israel. But formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy switch and risk antagonizing Israel which insists such moves by foreign states are premature. In Egypt, Macron held summit talks with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

UAE mediates prisoner exchange between US and Russia in Abu Dhabi
Arab News/April 10, 2025
LONDON: The UAE mediated a prisoner exchange between Russia and the US on Thursday, which took place on its soil in Abu Dhabi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitated the exchange of one Russian citizen for one US citizen, with representatives from both countries present in Abu Dhabi. The ministry expressed appreciation for the confidence placed in the UAE by the American and Russian governments in designating Abu Dhabi as the location for the prisoner exchange process, WAM reported. It added that “choosing Abu Dhabi for the prisoner exchange process reflects the close friendship ties of both countries with the UAE.” Abu Dhabi hopes these efforts will de-escalate tensions and enhance dialogue, contributing to regional and international security and stability, WAM added. It is the second swap since President Donald Trump returned to the White House as Russia and the US push for closer ties. Moscow released US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison on treason charges, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming early Thursday she was on a plane to the United States. In exchange, the United States released Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German citizen who had been facing up to 20 years in a US prison for violating export controls and who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at Washington’s request for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
Abu Dhabi airport
CIA Director John Ratcliffe was present at the Abu Dhabi airport, where the exchange took place on Thursday, the AFP reported. A CIA spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that “the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship.”“While we are disappointed that other Americans remain wrongfully detained in Russia, we see this exchange as a positive step and will continue to work for their release,” she said. Russia has yet to confirm the swap, which would be the second since Trump returned to the White House in January. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have since pushed for a restoration of closer ties between the two countries that were severely damaged by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Several meetings between the two sides have taken place, with a new round of talks beginning Thursday in Istanbul on restoring some of the embassy operations that were scaled back following the Ukraine invasion.
Who are the prisoners?
Karelina, who was born in 1991 and lived in Los Angeles, was serving a 12-year prison sentence for having donated around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity. She was arrested in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in January 2024 while on a trip to visit her family. She was charged with “treason.”Russia’s Federal Security Service accused her of collecting funds for Ukraine’s army that were used to purchase “equipment, weapons and ammunition” — charges she denied. Her supporters say she donated to a US-based organization that delivers humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Petrov was accused by US authorities of illegally exporting electronic components to Russia for military use, in violation of Washington’s sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. In mid-February, following a call between Putin and Trump, Russia released Kalob Wayne Byers, a 28-year-old US citizen who was arrested at a Moscow airport for transporting cannabis treats. Washington and Moscow also exchanged US teacher Marc Fogel for Russian computer expert Alexander Vinnik in early February. The largest US-Russia prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War took place on August 1, 2024. It involved the release of journalists, including WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, and dissidents held in Russia in exchange for alleged Russian spies held in the West. Several US citizens remain incarcerated in Russia, with Washington denouncing “hostage-taking” to obtain the release of Russians — including alleged spies — imprisoned in the West.
*Additional reporting from AFP

Syria Kurds say struck deal with Damascus on battleground dam
AFP/April 10, 2025
BEIRUT: The Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria have struck a deal with the central government on running a key dam they captured from extremists with US support, a Kurdish source said Thursday. “An agreement has been reached between the autonomous administration and the Syrian government for the management of the Tishrin Dam” on the Euphrates River, the source told AFP. Under the agreement, Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces will pull back from the dam which they captured from the Daesh group in late 2015, the source said. Fighters loyal to the new Islamist-led government in Damascus established after the December overthrow of longtime strongman Bashar Assad will take over security and a joint administration will run the dam. The dam is one of several on the Euphrates and its tributaries in Syria that play a key role in the nation’s economy by providing it with water for irrigation and hydro-electric power. It was a key battleground in the civil war that broke out in 2011, falling first to rebels and then to IS before being captured by the SDF. Days after Assad’s overthrow, it was targeted by Turkish drone strikes that killed dozens of civilians, Kurdish officials and Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Kurdish source said the dam deal was the latest step in implementing a March agreement with Damascus to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration into those of the central government. The deal already saw Kurdish fighters withdraw from two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of the main northern city of Aleppo earlier this month. It has also seen a reduction in the presence of pro-Turkiye fighters in the historically Kurdish-majority northwestern region of Afrin. There was no immediate word from the Damascus government on the dam deal. The Observatory said the new joint committee would supervise the necessary repairs to the dam. It said some Kurdish security agents would take part in the new security teams for the dam, alongside agents of the central government.

Global markets rattle as US tariffs on China hit 145%
AFP/AP/April 10, 2025
WASHINGTON: The global economy was thrown into turmoil on Thursday as the US-China trade war sharply escalated, overshadowing a temporary sense of relief sparked by President Donald Trump’s earlier decision to scale back sweeping tariffs on other international partners. While investors initially cheered a perceived de-escalation in the US’ trade stance, it soon became clear that the administration was doubling down on its economic confrontation with Beijing—sending markets into a tailspin and raising alarm over the direction of global trade. Just a day after hinting at a broader pause in tariff threats, the White House confirmed that the cumulative tariff rate imposed by the US on Chinese imports this year had reached a staggering 145 percent, not the previously reported 125 percent. The correction stemmed from the fact that the latest hike builds on a 20 percent base tariff already in place. In retaliation, China has slapped its own 84 percent levies on US goods, signaling its readiness for a prolonged standoff. The dramatic escalation came in stark contrast to Trump’s softer stance toward other global trade partners. The president maintained a 10 percent blanket tariff on most countries but walked back harsher threats—particularly against the EU, which had been bracing for a 20 percent hit. That reversal prompted Brussels to suspend for 90 days its planned retaliatory tariffs on €20 billion worth of US goods.
Financial markets
Amid the mixed signals, global financial markets reacted in sharply divergent ways. Asian and European markets soared early Thursday, buoyed by the initial news of Trump’s restraint. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 9.1 percent, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 6.6 percent, and Germany’s DAX jumped 5.4 percent, marking their first trading sessions since the US policy shift. However, sentiment soured quickly in the US as investors digested the deeper implications of the escalating conflict with China. The S&P 500 dropped 5 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 1,746 points, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 5.8 percent, wiping out optimism fueled by a surprisingly positive inflation report. President Trump has framed the tariffs as part of a broader strategy to rewire the global economy, encouraging manufacturers to return to US soil. His commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, remained upbeat, declaring on social media, “The Golden Age is coming. We are committed to protecting our interests, engaging in global negotiations, and exploding our economy.”Meanwhile, international leaders struck a more cautious tone. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Trump’s partial retreat, saying, “We want to give negotiations a chance,” but warned that the EU would not hesitate to reinstate countermeasures if talks failed to deliver results. Similarly, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described the US shift as a “welcome reprieve” and confirmed that Ottawa would initiate trade negotiations with Washington following Canada’s April 28 elections. China also signaled both resistance and openness. In a symbolic move, Beijing announced it would restrict the number of Hollywood films allowed into the country, but left the door open for dialogue. Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yongqian called on the US to meet China halfway and resolve differences through “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.”
Oil markets react
Commodities markets were not spared from the uncertainty. Oil prices, which had rallied the previous session, reversed course as investors reassessed the implications of the trade tensions. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.22 or 3.6 percent to $60.13 per barrel, while Brent crude dropped $2.04 or 3.1 percent to $63.44 per barrel.

Turkish and Israeli move to head off Syria crisis Talks to prevent armed clashes
AP/AFP/Reuters/April 10, 2025
ISTANBUL: Turkiye and Israel have held crisis talks aimed at preventing conflict between their armed forces in the Syrian Arab Republic, officials from both countries said on Thursday. The first discussions took place in Azerbaijan to establish a “de-escalation mechanism to prevent undesirable incidents in Syria,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said. “Work will continue to establish the conflict-free mechanism.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said both sides had “agreed to continue on the path of dialogue in order to preserve security stability.”Since dictator Bashar Assad’s regime was ousted by Syrian opposition forces last year, Israel has launched a wave of airstrikes on military targets there, and sent troops into parts of southern Syria beyond the Golan Heights, which it already occupies. Among the Israeli targets were at least three air bases that had been inspected by Turkish military teams with a view to deploying forces as part of a planned joint defense pact with Damascus. Ankara supports the new Syrian government, which is led by groups Turkiye backed during the 13-year civil war. The support includes counterterrorism operations against Daesh. Turkiye’s emergence as a key player in Syria has prompted Israeli concerns over a larger Turkish military presence. Netanyahu said Turkish bases in Syria would be a “danger to Israel.”The Turkish Defense Ministry said assessments for the establishment of a base for joint Turkish-Syrian training were ongoing, and such activities followed international law “without targeting third countries.”Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkiye had “no intention of conflict in Syria, not only with Israel but with any country in the region.” But he said Ankara could not “watch Syria being subjected to internal turmoil, an operation, a provocation that will threaten Turkey’s national security.”

Syria, South Korea establish diplomatic ties, open embassies
Arab News/April 10, 2025
LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic and South Korea established diplomatic relations on Thursday, marking a significant milestone in foreign policy for both republics. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani signed an agreement with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, in Damascus to establish diplomatic relations. A high-level South Korean delegation met Syria’s President Ahmad Al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace in the Syrian capital. The agreement would initiate friendship and cooperation between Syria and Korea, opening embassies and exchanging diplomatic missions between the two countries, the SANA agency reported. Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the move was aimed at restoring the country’s international standing, which had weakened due to the policies of the former Assad regime. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “This development opens a new chapter of cooperation with Syria, whose bilateral relations with South Korea had been severed due to its close ties with North Korea.”Syria was the only UN member without diplomatic ties to South Korea, which gained independence in 1948. It is now the 191st country to establish official relations with Seoul. The Assad regime, which collapsed in December 2024, had built close ties with Seoul’s neighboring foe, North Korea, which provided it with military assistance during the Cold War. Three non-UN members, the South Pacific island nations of the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Holy See, have not yet established ties with Seoul.

Syrian refugee killed in UK had only been in town a fortnight: Uncle
Arab News/April 10, 2025
LONDON: The uncle of a young Syrian refugee who was stabbed to death in the UK on April 3 said the boy had only lived in the town he was in for two weeks before he was killed. Ahmad Mamdouh Al-Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed in the neck in Huddersfield while out getting to know the area. Alfie Franco, 20, was arrested and appeared in court charged with Al-Ibrahim’s murder. Al-Ibrahim was living in Huddersfield with the family of his uncle, who told The Guardian that he had encouraged his nephew to go out and make friends following the end of Ramadan. “He was trying to make a friend, because he didn’t have friends here. I said to him, you have to go out into the town centre to know (where everything is), to know where you can go shopping … plus, you’re going to make friends,” said his uncle, who asked to remain anonymous. “He’d only spent a few days with my kids but they loved him so much because he was a very nice boy, very lovely and kindly with the kids. He played with them and gave them a lot of time.” He said rumors circulating online that his nephew was a drug dealer had caused him great distress, adding that he had not yet told his own children, all aged under 10, that their cousin is dead. They believe he is still in hospital. “He was only 16,” he said tearfully. “He was a good boy. He went from a nice family (in Syria) to a nice family (in the UK).”Al-Ibrahim, he said, had left behind his family in the Syrian city of Homs, where he had been a popular student with teachers and classmates, and had excelled at maths.
“That’s why he came here. He wished to be a doctor, to save people,” said his uncle, who fled the civil war in Syria. “We’ve been eight years here — we’ve not had trouble, not had a problem. We go from work to home, school, that’s it.”Al-Ibrahim’s uncle said when he first moved to the UK last October, his nephew had spent time in a refugee center in Swansea. He told The Guardian that staff at the center, as well as the teenager’s social worker, were “heartbroken” by what had happened, and that they told him they had “never seen him happy like this” when they checked on his well-being after he moved to Huddersfield on March 20. “They were crying for Ahmad, they said they loved him,” the uncle said, adding that the family had been left afraid by the killing. “I’ve been (in Huddersfield) eight years. I thought it was a safe place. I didn’t worry before, like now.”Many members of the local community have raised money for Al-Ibrahim’s body to be returned to his family in Syria. Maneer Siddique, who owns a local tailoring business, launched a fundraising page that has raised over £10,000 ($12,910) for the family. “You would want help if you were in a dire situation, so why shouldn’t you help somebody else in a dire situation,” Siddique told The Guardian.

Pope Francis in surprise St. Peter’s visit a day after meeting King Charles
AFP/April 10, 2025
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who is recovering from life-threatening pneumonia, made an unscheduled visit to St. Peter’s Basilica Thursday, his second surprise event in two days after previously meeting King Charles III. The public appearance, after Wednesday’s unscheduled private audience with the king and Queen Camilla, comes as the 88-year-old Catholic leader recovers at the Vatican after five weeks in hospital. On Thursday afternoon, the pope entered the sprawling basilica in his wheelchair, greeting workers engaged in restoration work and some gathered pilgrims, Vatican News reported. When a young restorer caught a glimpse of the pope, he beckoned to her to come closer so he could thank her and shake her hand, the ANSA agency reported. The young woman replied “that she was sorry that her ‘hands were cold’ but the pope wanted to shake them anyway,” the agency reported.
Monsignor Valerio Di Palma, the canon of St. Peter’s, told Vatican News the pope’s appearance sparked “too much emotion.”“My vision blurred from the tears and I couldn’t even take a photo,” he said. Francis then proceeded to the tomb of Pope Pius X to pray, before departing back to the Santa Marta guesthouse, where he resides. On Wednesday afternoon, the pope met privately with Charles and Camilla for 20 minutes, despite Buckingham Palace having earlier canceled a planned official audience due to the pontiff’s frail health. It was the first meeting between Charles, the head of the Protestant Church of England, and the pope since the monarch ascended to the throne in 2022. The Vatican published a photo of the meeting on Thursday morning, showing the pope clasping the queen’s hand, with the king looking on holding a gift box. Francis offered his congratulations to the royal couple, who celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary Wednesday, the palace and the Vatican said. During the encounter, the king — who is receiving treatment for cancer — and the pope also exchanged well-wishes for each other’s health, the Vatican said. “Their majesties were delighted the Pope was well enough to host them — and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person,” a Buckingham Palace statement added. Charles, 76, has been suffering from an unnamed cancer for more than a year and less than two weeks ago he was briefly admitted to hospital after experiencing side effects from his treatment. He was out of action for a matter of days before resuming his official engagements on April 1. Francis, who almost died twice during his treatment for double pneumonia, has been in convalescence since his return to the Vatican on March 23.
Despite being ordered to rest and recover for two months, the Argentine made an unexpected appearance in St. Peter’s Square last Sunday at the end of a mass. On Tuesday, the Vatican said that Francis’s voice and mobility were improving, raising hopes that he may take part in upcoming Easter celebrations.
He has been using a cannula — a plastic tube tucked into the nostrils — to help him breathe, notably at night, but was not wearing one in the picture released Thursday.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April10-11/2025
But What Can We Do?
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 10/2025
A combination of two intertwined tendencies is driving the behavior of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel: absolute exceptionalism and pre-emptive-ness that feeds on assumptions of the worst intentions.
Exceptionalism, in this sense, amounts to suspending the ordinary, with its laws and norms, and considering the capacity to impose this suspension an exclusive right reserved only to the party behind it. Meanwhile, the world is split into absolute enemies and absolute friends, with nothing in between.
Pre-emptive-ness, on the other hand, means assuming that the (Palestinian or Arab) "other" is inherently fundamentally evil and proceeding to behave accordingly. As a result of this tendency that borders on conspiratorial consciousness, there is no space for taking risks or experimenting with pursuits of peace. The cost of pessimism about the other, even when that pessimism turns out to be unfounded, remains far lower than the cost of optimism, since optimism, by definition, is never tenable.
These two tendencies have developed in sync with the Israeli assumption that the Palestinians have never wanted peace and never will, while most Arabs are highly skeptical of any peace that goes beyond a cold one. For this reason, plans for the future should not constrain the use of force, as there will be no future "between us and them" to begin with.
This view has grown increasingly prominent within the Israeli state, as its political equivalent has moved over the past quarter-century from an extreme to a more extreme government. On the Palestinian and broader Levantine front, this shift coincided with the empowerment of militias and the Iranian-Syrian axis managing to impose a veto on proposed and hypothetical peace initiatives.As for the behavior that this worldview engenders, it is the prioritization of pure violence and building Israel’s relationship with the other on crime and killing. This is how the Jewish state deals with Palestinians, especially in Gaza, but also its immediate geographic surroundings, while indifference and contempt shape its relationship with a world that is on its potential list of "enemies."
And when wars reach this level of savagery, especially those least concerned with any law, a new kind of "wisdom" spreads. Its commonplace formulation, both metaphorical and literal: the children be killed, even the babies; giving them a chance at life is giving them a chance to grow up to become an enemy who will kill us. It is from this kind of mindset that slogans and chants of some of the most extreme Israelis, like "There are no innocents in Gaza," emerge, as does Israel's policy of greeting the political shifts in Lebanon and Syria with iron and fire.
Today’s world- where the notions of law and justice are on the back foot, where the US has granted Israel virtually absolute freedom of action, and where the principles of universality, shared humanity, and solidarity with the vulnerable are receding- leaves us in a deadlock the likes of which only a few peoples or nations have ever faced. Wars and resistance movements against Israel have no place on the agenda, and bridging the technological gap with Israel seems equally impossible, as does the Palestinians garnering the support of strong international allies in their struggle. As for the path of politics and diplomacy- the only one left- it is winding, difficult, narrow, and humiliating.
With the countries of the Levant being destroyed, Gaza evaporating, and Israeli troops setting up encampments near Damascus, the cultural and intellectual environment faces a burning question: What can we do? Of course, some are determined to stick to the denunciations and lampoons; drawn from the reservoir of old rhetoric to develop formulations, coming up with colorful insults is the only creative exercise behind this rhetoric. Moreover, it has become extremely clear that, apart from invoking the spirit of “resistance” ancestors, these masters of prose have no practical suggestions for how to address our current state of affairs. In truth, the most we can do- at least in this environment- is to reexamine the past and the role it has played in leading us to this catastrophe, and then try to draw conclusions that could deepen our understanding of what happened while also seeking to spare the future from pains of the present. Meanwhile, it is left to politicians- who, dismal as they may be, are nonetheless ahead of the intellectuals- to take the harsh, narrow, and humiliating path of politics and diplomacy. Only politicians, however modest their means, are capable of obtaining the necessary and possible. That is, only they can bring the current phase, with all its dynamics and implications, to a close, thereby creating space that new elements could fill- with the passage of time, by chance, or through an unpredictable reshuffling of cards. “The breadth of our eyesight” reveals “the short reach of our hand,” as the saying goes, and the state of the three administrations- Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese- suggests that closing this current chapter, along with how its grinding balance of power operates, is the inescapable starting point. Mind you, the only faint “glimmer of hope” is far away, weak, and far from guaranteed. The politicians of these three administrations are not “traitors” or “collaborators.” Rather, like the rest of us, they are in a deep hole and are struggling, very arduously, to climb out. As for Hamas and Hezbollah, who helped Israel dig this hole and drag us all into it, their refusal to surrender their arms or acknowledge defeat is perpetuating this phase that must end. Their intransigence allows Israel to continue pursuing its strategy where all horizons are closed off, our hole is deepened, and exceptionalism, and preemptive aggression are imposed.

Helping Syria’s recovery the smart thing to do
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 10, 2025
After more than a decade of war, Syria finds itself at a crucial turning point. Its infrastructure is devastated, its economy shattered and its people exhausted, yet, amid the ashes of destruction, a new chapter is unfolding. A new government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, has taken the reins. This fresh leadership has launched a series of efforts aimed at stabilizing and rebuilding the war-torn nation. However, despite the determination of this administration to bring the Syrian Arab Republic back to its feet, the enormity of the challenges it faces cannot be overstated. Without robust and sustained international support — particularly from the West — Syria’s road to recovery will be long, slow and fraught with further hardship. The Syrian people, who have borne the brunt of the conflict, deserve a genuine chance to rebuild their lives. This can only happen through meaningful cooperation, especially in the form of lifting economic sanctions and providing aid for reconstruction. The new government has moved swiftly to demonstrate its commitment to national reconciliation and stabilization. One of its most notable steps was the forging of a political agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which control significant portions of northeastern Syria. The agreement includes the withdrawal of SDF fighters from critical areas such as Aleppo’s Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods, allowing for their integration into the national army. The Syrian people, who have borne the brunt of the conflict, deserve a genuine chance to rebuild their lives. In return, the Kurds have been promised constitutional recognition, including the right to teach the Kurdish language in schools and to secure citizenship for stateless Kurdish residents. This initiative marks a radical departure from the divisive and authoritarian policies of the previous regime and is geared toward unifying Syria’s fractured society.
In parallel, Al-Sharaa has launched a regional diplomatic offensive, including planned high-profile visits to the UAE and Turkiye next week, in an effort to rebuild diplomatic ties, attract investment and foster goodwill. These actions underline a genuine desire to end Syria’s isolation and reengage with the international community, but these efforts will falter if Syria continues to be encircled by sweeping international sanctions.
Reconstruction is at the heart of Syria’s recovery. The sheer scale of the destruction is staggering. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Schools, hospitals, power stations, water facilities and transport networks have been either heavily damaged or completely destroyed. Many schools have been rendered unusable and, according to international estimates, nearly half a million children are currently out of school in the northeast of the country alone. Scores of hospitals are nonoperational and many that remain open are working without electricity, clean water or basic medical supplies. Without reconstruction, there can be no return to normality. People cannot return to cities that have no running water, no schools and no jobs. Refugees and internally displaced persons will not go home if there is nothing left to return to. Reconstruction is not merely about building roads and bridges, it is about rebuilding hope.
To achieve this monumental task, Syria needs far more than goodwill — it needs substantial financial assistance and expert knowledge. The cost of rebuilding the country has been estimated at more than $250 billion. Syria, in its current economic condition, cannot finance this on its own. In recognition of this, international donors have already pledged about $6.5 billion at various summits, including the most recent gathering in Brussels last month. While this is a valuable start, it is only a drop in the ocean compared to what is required.
Beyond capital, Syria needs expertise: engineers to design modern infrastructure, educators to reform the education system, healthcare professionals to revive public health services, and urban planners to create livable, resilient cities. International aid should also include training programs for Syrians so that the country can build local capacity and reduce long-term dependency. The involvement of international institutions, nongovernmental organizations and private companies is essential — not only to bring in the required skills and materials but also to provide oversight and ensure that funds are used transparently and effectively. Reconstruction and international assistance will directly improve the lives of millions of Syrians. With foreign investment and expertise, power plants can be repaired, hospitals can be restocked and children can go back to school. Jobs can be created through infrastructure projects, which will stimulate the local economy and give people a sense of purpose and stability. As livelihoods return, the incentive to migrate will decrease. Refugees will feel more confident about returning home. Restoring dignity to the Syrian people is perhaps the greatest achievement such assistance can bring. The wounds of war are deep, but with coordinated support and a comprehensive rebuilding strategy, they can begin to heal.
The benefits of supporting Syria’s reconstruction are not limited to the country’s borders — they extend globally, especially to Western nations. A stable Syria reduces the threat of extremism and armed conflict in the region, which in turn lowers the risk of terrorism and destabilization in Europe and beyond. Rebuilding Syria would also mitigate the refugee crisis that has strained the social and political fabric of many European countries.
Economic recovery in Syria can open new markets for international trade, investment and cooperation. Moreover, playing a leading role in reconstruction would give Western countries a renewed moral standing in the region — showing that their foreign policy is not solely defined by sanctions and military intervention, but also by a commitment to peace, recovery and human dignity. The return on investment is not only humanitarian, but also geopolitical and economic. It is in the West’s long-term interest to have a functioning, stable partner in Syria rather than a broken state at the heart of the Middle East.
Syria needs far more than goodwill — it needs substantial financial assistance and expert knowledge. Finally, sanctions remain one of the greatest obstacles to Syria’s recovery. Originally imposed to punish the Assad regime for its brutal repression and human rights abuses, these measures have now morphed into a blanket punishment of the Syrian population. Some of these economic restrictions have plunged Syria into an abyss of poverty and deprivation.
More than 90 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line. Food insecurity affects more than 13 million Syrians and inflation has pushed basic necessities beyond the reach of ordinary families. Power grids remain down in large swaths of the country. Clean water is a luxury in many areas. The dire situation has discouraged even well-meaning NGOs and international institutions from investing in recovery projects.
Lifting all sanctions would be an acknowledgment of the new political reality in Syria and a recognition that punishing the population only fuels instability. It would open the doors for humanitarian assistance, economic investment and technical cooperation, which are desperately needed to set Syria on a path to peace and prosperity. In conclusion, the international community — and the West in particular — must rise to the occasion and assist Syria in its journey toward recovery. The new government has taken bold and promising steps to stabilize the country and reach out for support. But unless all sanctions are lifted, and unless there is a concerted effort to fund and lead reconstruction efforts, the suffering of the Syrian people will continue. Syria’s recovery is not only a moral imperative, it is a strategic necessity. It will benefit not only Syrians but also the broader international community by enhancing regional stability, curbing extremism, reducing refugee flows and opening new avenues for cooperation and development. Helping Syria back on its feet is not charity — it is smart, forward-looking policy that serves shared global interests.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh

If America flops, other role models are available
Ross Anderson/Arab News/April 10, 2025
Greater economic minds than mine (it’s not a high bar, to be honest) have generated a tsunami of words in the past week on the subject of what Donald Trump called “Liberation Day,” so it need not detain us for long today. Will the US president’s tariffs, determined with that absurd faux-Greek equation, achieve their stated aim? Does anyone even know what the stated aim is? Trump and his coterie of trade advisers assert that the tariffs will generate “trillions of dollars in revenue” from taxes on imports and also create employment by forcing manufacturers, who have outsourced thousands of jobs overseas, to avoid those import taxes by making their products in America instead. Self-evidently, however, tariffs cannot do both: that would be an eating and having cake situation, which is proverbially impossible.
For the few tariff supporters, perhaps the only good news is that Trump’s new taxes have been comprehensively vilified by almost every respectable economist. That old gag about economists having predicted five of the past two recessions is funny because it contains a grain of truth. And there are hedge fund managers who have made billions by carefully reading the confident forecasts of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, then betting on the opposite.
A final word of sympathy for the unfortunate occupants of the Heard and McDonald Islands in Antarctica, from where exports to the US will be subject to a tariff of 10 percent: since all those occupants are penguins, plus the occasional seal, it is not wholly clear what the exports are. What interests me more than Trump’s war on traditional economics, and on global institutions in general, is what it says about much conventional wisdom that many people have taken for granted for the best part of a century. Trips abroad in the past month by two distinguished journalists have brought that issue into sharp relief.
China — despite being the prime target of Trump’s tariffs — is also moving forward at a blistering pace. First, the former BBC news presenter Emily Maitlis visited Saudi Arabia for the first time. She had her eyes opened, not an unusual experience for new arrivals in the Kingdom. Maitlis came with a full wardrobe of clothing that reached from hair to toes. On her first night, in an achingly hip Peruvian Japanese fusion restaurant in Jeddah, she found herself almost the only woman in the room with her head covered. Her host urged her to look around: “These women are single. They’re on dating apps. They’re out with friends or alone.”He explained how the new Saudi Arabia works. First, domestic politics is off the table. Not up for discussion. It is what it is, not going to change, get over it, move on. Everything else, however, is very much on the agenda, and moving at breakneck speed: infrastructure, art, culture, entertainment, sport, female empowerment, youth development and career opportunities, and rapid economic diversification away from dependence on petrochemical revenues.
Maitlis’ experience prompted her to ask a key question. The conventional wisdom is that the main threat or challenge to liberal democracy comes from “illiberal” democracy of the sort practiced by leaders such Viktor Orban in Hungary and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkiye and aspired to by Alice Weidel in Germany and Marine Le Pen (judges permitting) in France. But Maitlis wondered whether the other side of the liberal democracy coin might in fact be liberal autocracy and whether that was what Saudi Arabia was so effectively deploying.
Another country where liberal democracy is very much off the agenda is China. The Chinese people are free to choose their president from a wide spectrum of options that range from Xi Jinping to ... er, Xi Jinping. However, as the distinguished New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman found on a visit there last month, China — despite being the prime target of Trump’s tariffs — is also moving forward at a blistering pace.
A brief cameo illustrated how far the US has fallen behind. Friedman tried to pay for a purchase in a Beijing shop by handing over his credit card. The shopkeeper looked at him as if he had just arrived from the last century, before asking which payment app he had on his phone — Alipay or WeChat Pay, which between them command 90 percent of the Chinese payment market. For a country that hosts some of the world’s finest tech brains, the US has always been painfully slow to implement their ideas
For a country that hosts some of the world’s finest tech brains in Silicon Valley, the US has always been painfully slow to implement their ideas. I recall visiting New York some years ago, when chip-and-pin cards and readers were already commonplace in the UK and Europe. To my astonishment, American retailers were still using those old clickety-clack, double swipe card imprint machines: it was like watching someone trying to light a barbecue by rubbing two sticks together.
But I digress. Friedman was astonished by what he found in China and how little they care about what Trump says or does: they are plowing their own furrow. A US businessman in Beijing told him: “There was a time when people came to America to see the future. Now they come here.”
The US tried to throttle China’s tech development by restricting its access to sophisticated semiconductors, but the Chinese simply innovated their way around it — despite autocracies having long been accused of an inability to innovate, preferring instead to copy or steal. Friedman visited the massive Huawei campus in Shanghai, where 35,000 scientists and engineers are keeping China ahead of the game. His conclusion: “What makes China’s manufacturing juggernaut so powerful today is not that it just makes things cheaper; it makes them cheaper, faster, better, smarter and increasingly infused with artificial intelligence.”Winston Churchill famously said that democracy was the worst form of government, apart from all the others. For the past century, the conventional wisdom has been that only Western-style liberal democracy, with national self-determination and freedom of expression, can foster the kind of innovation and entrepreneurship that creates economic growth and prosperity. Neocons in the US were so convinced of this that they tried to export it worldwide — especially to the Middle East, where apparently we were all so backward that we did not know what was good for us. The examples of Saudi Arabia and China suggest otherwise. It may be that Trump’s war on conventional wisdom is a blip. After all, no country has benefited more from the past century’s system of relatively free trade, global institutions and a rules-based international order than the one that created it — the US. Where does Trump think his country’s power and prosperity came from? It would surely be perverse for America to destroy the goose that laid its golden egg. But if it does, other role models are available.
*Ross Anderson is associate editor of Arab News.

Finding harmony between man and machine
Majdi Al-Sunbul/Arab News/April 10, 2025
In an era defined by rapid digital transformation, organizations around the globe face a pressing question: should they prioritize artificial intelligence or invest in the irreplaceable value of human expertise? The conversation is no longer confined to tech conferences or boardrooms — it is unfolding across industries, reshaping strategies, job structures, and the very nature of value creation. While AI offers remarkable advantages in speed, scalability, and data-driven precision, the human factor continues to provide emotional intelligence, adaptability, and the creative thinking essential for solving complex problems.
There is no denying the power of AI. Industries like finance, logistics, and e-commerce have embraced automation to streamline operations and reduce costs. Tech giants like Amazon rely on AI to enhance supply chain efficiency, optimize inventories, and personalize customer experiences. AI systems can process vast datasets in seconds, reducing human error and supporting faster, evidence-based decisions. For companies focused on efficiency and scalability, these benefits are game-changing.
But technology alone is not a silver bullet. Many sectors — including healthcare, education, and oilfield services — still depend heavily on human expertise. In these industries, the ability to make nuanced decisions, demonstrate empathy, and build relationships remains paramount. AI can generate insights, but it is experienced engineers and professionals who interpret the data and make the final call. That human judgment is still irreplaceable.
The divide between AI and human input often mirrors an organization’s strategic focus. Those prioritizing cost control and operational efficiency may adopt AI more aggressively. In contrast, companies that emphasize customer experience, innovation, or bespoke service are more likely to preserve — and elevate — the human element. Take luxury hospitality, for example. While AI can manage bookings and automate follow-ups, the real value lies in personalized service delivered by trained staff who understand guest preferences and cultural nuances. The future is not about choosing AI over humans or vice versa. It’s about building ecosystems where both coexist — enhancing productivity while keeping humanity at the heart of business.
Corporate culture plays a pivotal role in determining how AI and humans integrate. Tech-forward companies see automation as a catalyst for growth, pushing the boundaries of speed and productivity. People-centric organizations, however, anchor their strategies in trust, emotional connection, and workforce empowerment. Both approaches have merit — but experts argue the future belongs to those who combine the strengths of each. Despite AI’s strengths, challenges remain. It lacks emotional intelligence, struggles with ethical reasoning, and can reflect biases embedded in its algorithms. Job displacement is another concern, prompting broader societal discussions about the future of work. At the same time, fully human-driven models have limitations in terms of cost, consistency, and scalability. Humans are vulnerable to fatigue and circumstance, while AI systems can operate continuously at peak performance.
This has led many experts to advocate for a hybrid approach — one where AI and human capabilities complement each other. In the most effective organizations, AI handles routine and data-heavy tasks, freeing people to focus on higher-value functions like innovation, leadership, and customer engagement. Employees are not replaced — they are empowered. AI becomes a tool, not a threat. The future is not about choosing AI over humans or vice versa. It’s about building ecosystems where both coexist — enhancing productivity while keeping humanity at the heart of business. As industries continue to evolve, the ability to strike a balance between efficiency and empathy will define tomorrow’s market leaders.
The most successful companies won’t be the ones that automate the fastest, but those that humanize innovation — ensuring that progress remains not just intelligent, but also deeply human.
• Majdi Al-Sunbul is an expert in strategic sourcing, procurement, contracts and local content.

Macron’s building blocks with Egypt and Lebanon
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/April 10, 2025
Love him or hate him, you must acknowledge that French President Emmanuel Macron is relentless. I will admit that I have always been skeptical of his approach and strategy for Lebanon, but his perseverance, consistency and sustained focus on helping Beirut has won me over. He has, for one thing, kept Lebanon at the top of the news agenda and, in times of superpowers colliding, that is precious help.
Since Macron started his Lebanon initiative, the country has changed. Hezbollah is no longer at the same level of power as it used to be. Between the Israeli punishment and the political change in Syria, the Iranian proxy is now in a dire situation, whether it admits it or not. This means there is now a path to deep and real change in Lebanon. And this could apply to the entire Mediterranean. Macron’s consistency also carries a broader strategy focused on the coastline. This is not new, but he has painstakingly added the building blocks to try and bring about change. In this context, Lebanon cannot be isolated from Macron’s approach to Egypt or, to a broader extent, Syria or even Algeria. It is about building stability by empowering greater local agency. Although these efforts seem isolated, there is a logic in creating partnerships between the north and south of the Mediterranean and building trust among countries. Despite the ongoing global commercial and geopolitical storm, I would highlight the French president’s visits to Lebanon in January and Egypt this week as the turning of a new page for the Mediterranean. The French president’s visits to Lebanon in January and Egypt this week mark the turning of a new page for the Mediterranean. When it comes to Egypt, there has been a reciprocal will to enhance and strengthen relations into a strong partnership. This was clear for Cairo as it emerged from the so-called Arab Spring, as France appeared to be the best potential ally to rebuild and diversify the Egyptian armed forces. Since 2015, this has resulted in France and Egypt concluding major military and naval deals totaling more than €10 billion ($11 billion). Key agreements include the purchase of 30 Rafale fighter jets in 2021, following an earlier 2015 deal for 24 jets. The navy has also acquired two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships (delivered in 2016) and four Gowind 2,500-tonne corvettes, one built in France and three in Egypt under a technology transfer agreement. Additionally, Egypt procured a French Future Multi-Mission Frigate in 2015.
These deals highlight France’s position as one of Egypt’s top defense suppliers. This collaboration also extends to infrastructure and culture, which are just as important, with a clear will to highlight the historical bond between the two countries. The year 2019 — the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal — was named the France-Egypt “Cultural Year.”
In addition, Egypt and France last year signed an agreement to enhance international partnerships between their universities. It is through this mix that greater agency for the region is built and the pillars for real geopolitical cooperation are developed.
It was also not a surprise that new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s first Western visit was to Paris. He met with Macron at the Elysee Palace late last month. Unsurprisingly, the meeting included a videoconference with interim Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, as there can be no security and peace in Lebanon without stability and balanced relations with Syria.
The approach was actually even broader, as it included a five-party summit with the leaders of Greece and Cyprus focused on stability and maritime safety in the Eastern Mediterranean. This meeting highlighted to all participants the importance of containing security concerns at the Syrian-Lebanese border, where confrontations had recently escalated.
It is with the help of countries like Egypt and through proposals that come from within the region that change can be implemented
Macron has also committed to hosting an international reconstruction conference for Lebanon. However, this needs to be done while also developing the country’s political stability. Hence, Beirut must include within the country’s reform process the disarmament of Hezbollah, as stipulated in the ceasefire deal that ended the November 2024 conflict with Israel. Despite France’s continuous support, it is Lebanon’s responsibility to achieve real reforms in the financial, judicial and governance sectors. These steps are a precondition to unlocking international funding.
There is a clear vision of how empowering historical allies in the Mediterranean can help solve problems for all and bring stability. During Macron’s three-day visit to Egypt this week, this was quite clear. The agenda focused on regional security, humanitarian aid and strengthening ties, underlining that it is with the help of countries like Egypt and through proposals that come from within the region that change can be implemented.
This was exemplified by Macron calling for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the resumption of humanitarian aid during meetings with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah. He also toured aid facilities and a hospital in El-Arish near the Gaza border. The visit resulted in new strategic partnership agreements covering the transport, health and education sectors.
There is no doubt that Macron’s building blocks between the giants of the Mediterranean, such as Egypt, and involving them in the peace and security of the pearl that is Lebanon is a positive way to increase the agency of the countries of the Mediterranean. It is an approach that is also close to the people. Macron’s symbolic gestures — such as riding the Cairo metro alongside Egyptian citizens and walking through a historic bazaar, just as he did in Beirut in January — show real solidarity with the people of the region and highlight long-standing cultural ties. His message that “you can always count on France” is genuine, but it is also up to the countries themselves to push for change.
**Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

Le Pen ready to divide France in bid to win power
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/April 10, 2025
How to punish a corrupt politician while preventing democracy from being tarnished? And how to prevent an opportunist political party from instilling doubt in the justice system of a country, US-style? This is the test that is facing France due to the affair of its rising populist politician Marine Le Pen, who was found guilty of diverting EU funds to pay for her party’s political staff, falsely claiming that they were working as assistants to its deputies in the European Parliament. Last week’s court ruling in Paris led to the sentencing of Le Pen and 24 of her associates belonging to the National Rally party with a myriad of fines, prison terms and bans from campaigning, a ruling that landed like a bombshell in French political life.
It was only normal for the party’s leader and her allies to attack the ruling. It is in the far-right populist playbook everywhere in the democratic Western world to claim to be the victim of a political witch hunt. Some believe that Le Pen’s sentence — she was barred from running for public office for five years, which means sitting on the sidelines in the 2027 French presidential election, which she stood a good chance of winning — was harsh and others believe it was appropriate.
Nowhere has this divide been more visible — and likely to spell more headaches for France as a country — than in the slogans at Sunday’s demonstration organized in support of Le Pen. It was normal that Le Pen, though convicted by a court of law, would evoke decades of fighting injustice and state that she plans to continue to fight like her father, Jean-Marie, did before her. It is in the far-right populist playbook everywhere in the Western world to claim to be the victim of a political witch hunt
But symbolism could not be discarded when thousands of her supporters gathered in central Paris, near the golden dome of Les Invalides and the tomb of Napoleon. They tried to claim her martyrdom through what was billed as a protest, but one could not dismiss that it was mainly electioneering and a campaign rally. The choice of Les Invalides for the location of the demonstration pointed to a revolution in the making, or at least to the revolutionary mood among National Rally supporters. Louis XIV ordered the building of Les Invalides in recognition of the sacrifices made by the soldiers who fought in his wars. The location reflects some foundational periods in French history. It was the place from which a mob stormed the Bastille prison, using firearms and cannon they had looted from the Hotel des Invalides, during the French Revolution.
Chants heard at the protest referred to Le Pen and her supporters’ defiance. They voiced opposition to the “politically motivated” verdict, adding “Marine for president” and “they won’t steal 2027 from us.” This was reminiscent of the populist defiance of Trumpism and was aimed squarely at the French institutions as a whole. Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protege, made a speech in which he accused France’s judges of trying to silence the opposition and claimed that the date of the verdict was a dark day for France. In fact, it was the day of the protest that was a dark day for France, as more poignant than the allegations were the shirts bearing the slogan “Je suis Marine” (I am Marine) or comparing Le Pen’s situation to that of US President Donald Trump, who, despite being found liable for civil fraud, was able to run for election. So, if Trump could run, why not Le Pen, they asked.
On the other side of the divide, the ruling was clear and necessary, as Le Pen was found guilty of using European Parliament funds to pay party staff in France — a scheme the court described as “a democratic bypass.” Many in this camp believe that French voters understand the issue and respect the ruling and the judiciary’s independence. The voices on this side of the argument were alarmed at Le Pen being offered any favors, such as speeding up or tailoring her appeal to suit her timetable, warning of parallels with the US.
In some anti-Le Pen demonstrations, this attitude resulted in leftist and centrist parties warning that the National Rally had adopted a form of US-style authoritarianism by refusing to bend to the justice system. They said the appeals process should not be sped up to meet the whims of a controversial political party and its convicted leader, even if the National Rally has more than 120 representatives in parliament. Proponents of this view insist that the rule of law must remain supreme and not become optional to suit political arrangements, while clearly alluding that Trump-style political victimization has no place in France.
The National Rally is playing a dangerous game, trying to make people doubt the courts. The populists are twisting the truth. What is more dangerous is the game that the National Rally has been playing since the guilty verdict and Le Pen’s sentencing, which is to try to make people doubt the courts. The populists are twisting the truth to suit their goals.
Many in France believe that the party has long wanted to launch a “judicial coup,” as they floated the verdict as a political “execution” in the courts. And with this, it aims to convince voters that the current legal system cannot be trusted. This is the same strategy embraced by Trump in the US: claiming the courts are biased and subject to manipulation and that the system is broken and only the ballot boxes matter.
What comes next for France? Will the republic and its democratic processes survive? Le Pen might be barred, pending an appeal, but her party machine marches on. The question is: will the far right convince the French people that their state cannot be trusted and that the system is as twisted against their interests as America’s?. This is what is at stake for the republic. Can the far right convince enough French voters that justice is no longer neutral and that only they can return the power to the people?
How that question is answered may shape not only the 2027 presidential race — but the future of French democracy.
*Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.