English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 18/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Great Friday of the Crucifixion
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 19,31-37/Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 17-18/2025
Good Friday: The Day of Greatest Love and Perfect Sacrifice/Elias Bejjani/April 18/2025
Holy Thursday – A Celebration of Love, Sacrifice, and Divine Mysteries/Elias Bejjani/April 17/2025
The Atrocities of the Islamic Group in Lebanon/April 17, 2025
Evaluation of Hezbollah’s Weapons After the Recent War/Marwan Al-Amin/Facebook/April 17, 2025
Link to a video commentary by journalist Ali Hamadeh
Fadlallah says Israel must stop its attacks before defense strategy dialogue
Hezbollah open to disarmament? Cabinet discusses issue in key session
LF urges deadline for Hezbollah arms handover, Aoun reportedly dismisses appeal
Fresh Israeli drone strikes target south Lebanon
Salam says state working to monopolize arms 'north and south of Litani'
Lebanon records 2,740 Israeli violations, 190 deaths since ceasefire
The five 'strategic' hills occupied by Israel in south Lebanon
Army chief briefs Cabinet on security situation in South
Qatar renews $60 mn grant for Lebanon army salaries
'Buffer, security, strategic' zones: How Israel likes to call its military occupation
Weapons or war: Hezbollah pressed to disarm as Israel hits key targets
Banking secrecy no more? Lebanon bill takes aim at financial wrongdoing
Lebanon detains several people on suspicion of firing rockets at Israel
Former minister Machnouq appears before court in Beirut blast inquiry
After delays, Judge Bitar questions ex-interior minister in Beirut blast probe – will more summons follow?

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 17-18/2025
UN nuclear watchdog says US-Iran talks at a 'very crucial' stage
Saudi defense minister visits Iran in highest-level trip in decades as nuclear talks proceed
Palestinian Photojournalist & Protagonist Of Cannes-Selected Doc Killed In Israeli Gaza Strike
At least 37 people killed in Israeli strikes, most in displacement camps, Gaza rescuers say
French journalists rally in solidarity for colleagues killed in Gaza
Hamas consultations on response to Israel truce offer 'almost complete'
Reportage: Autopsies reveal Gaza medics shot in head and chest
Aid groups: Thousands of children in Gaza are malnourished amid Israel's blockade
Russia’s top court lifts terror group designation on Afghanistan’s Taliban
Putin and Qatari emir discuss Syria and Gaza at Moscow talks
US-Somali airstrike as battle rages for key town

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sourceson April 17-18/2025
Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables/Feras Dalatey, Joanna Plucinska, Reade Levinson, Maha El Dahan/Reuters/April 17, 2025
Witkoff In His Own Words...Is Witkoff breaking new ground or repeating Biden's errors?/Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute/April 17, 2025
A ‘Reverse Kissinger’ would be a fool’s errand/Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/April 17/2025
FAQ: What Should Be Washington’s Position on Iran’s Nuclear Dismantlement?/Andrea Stricker, Janatan Sayeh/FDD/April 17/2025
Beware the Stalling…Illegitimate Weapons Have Outlived Their Use/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 17/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 17-18/2025
Good Friday: The Day of Greatest Love and Perfect Sacrifice
Elias Bejjani/April 18/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142417/
At the heart of history, on a hill called Golgotha outside the walls of Jerusalem, the greatest scene of divine love was written: Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, was crucified to redeem humanity from the bondage of sin and death. This is Good Friday — a day of sorrow, yes, but also a day of hope; a day of the Cross, yet in essence, a day of complete love.
The cross, once a tool of shame and torment, was transformed in Christ into a throne of the Kingdom and an altar of redemption. Jesus carried the cross not for any sin He had committed, but for the sins of the whole world. As the prophet Isaiah wrote: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…” (Isaiah 53:5).
In the cross we see the full revelation of divine love — a love without limits, one that moved Jesus to willingly offer Himself: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). This is perfect sacrifice: God giving Himself on our behalf so that we may return to Him free and justified.
The Word Became Flesh: God With Us in Our Pain.
Good Friday is not just a commemoration of the crucifixion. It is also a proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation. God did not remain distant in the heavens but “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus shared in everything human — in joy and sorrow, in hunger and fatigue, in cries and tears, even in death itself.
Christ’s suffering on the cross bears witness that God does not observe human suffering from afar — He enters into it. He is the God who understands human pain — not in theory, but through experience. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
In the peak of His agony, Christ forgave His executioners: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). From the cross, He opened the doors of forgiveness to all — to the thief on the right, to the soldiers, to all of humanity. This is the essence of Good Friday: love stronger than death, and forgiveness more powerful than hate.
Though Good Friday appears to be a day of grief, it is not the end of the story — it is its beginning. The cross is never separate from the resurrection. Christ’s death is the seed through which eternal life blossoms. Through His suffering, we passed from death to life, from darkness to light.
Good Friday calls us not only to weep for the crucified Christ but to open our hearts to the risen One — the One who loved us to the end and rose to give us life. It is a call to faith, to hope, and to walk with Jesus on the path of the cross, knowing that suffering is not the end, but the beginning of resurrection.
Let us carry our crosses each day with trust and hope, knowing that the One who died for us is alive, and that “the love of Christ compels us…” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
On Good Friday, we do not only see a raised cross — we hear the voice of divine love calling us: “Behold, I have loved you to the uttermost.”

Holy Thursday – A Celebration of Love, Sacrifice, and Divine Mysteries
Elias Bejjani/April 17/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/38445/
On the Thursday preceding Good Friday—the day when Jesus was crucified—Catholics around the world, including our Maronite Eastern Church, commemorate Thursday of the Holy Mysteries. This sacred day is also known as Washing Thursday, Covenant Thursday, and Great and Holy Thursday. It marks the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with His twelve Apostles, as described in the Gospels. It is the fifth day of the Holy Week of Lent, followed by Good Friday, Saturday of the Light, and Easter Sunday.
At its core, Christianity is a faith of love, sacrifice, honesty, transparency, devotion, hard work, and humility. During the Last Supper, Jesus reaffirmed and embodied these divine values. In this solemn and meaningful setting, He performed several key acts that laid the spiritual foundation of our faith:
He ordained His Apostles as priests, commanding them to proclaim God's message:
“You are the ones who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:28–30)
He warned against betrayal and spiritual weakness, teaching that temptation and evil can overcome those who detach themselves from God, lose faith, or worship earthly treasures. Even Judas Iscariot, whom Jesus Himself had chosen, fell to Satan’s temptation:
“But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” (Luke 22:21)
He washed His Apostles’ feet, setting an eternal example of humility, love, and service:
“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:12–15)
When the Apostles began arguing about who among them was the greatest, Jesus responded with a powerful lesson in modesty:
“The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them... But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:24–27)
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries is so named because during the Last Supper, Jesus instituted two of the most sacred sacraments of the Church: the Eucharist and the Priesthood.
“Then He took a cup, gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” (Luke 22:17–20)
On this Holy Day, the Maronite Church relives the spirit of the Last Supper through reverent prayers, liturgies, and longstanding sacred traditions:
The Patriarch blesses the Holy Chrism (Myron), along with the oils used for baptism and anointing, which are then distributed to all parishes.
During the Holy Mass, the priest washes the feet of twelve parishioners—often children—to symbolize Jesus’ act and the humility of service.
The faithful visit seven churches, a ritual signifying the fullness of the seven sacraments of the Church: Priesthood, Eucharist, Holy Oil, Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, and Service.
It also honors the seven stations believed to be visited by the Virgin Mary as she searched for her Son after His arrest: the place of detention, the Council of the Priests, Herod’s palace (twice), Pilate’s headquarters (twice), and finally Calvary.
This tradition is believed by some scholars to have originated in Rome, where early Christian pilgrims visited the Seven Pilgrim Churches as a form of penance: Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter, Saint Mary Major, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, Holy Cross in Jerusalem, and traditionally Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls. For the Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II substituted the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Divine Love for Saint Sebastian.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is marked by the ringing of bells, which then fall silent until the Easter Vigil. Worshipers spend the evening in prayer and contemplation before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, meditating on the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus spent His final night before His crucifixion.
Following the homily and foot washing, the Eucharist is solemnly processed to the Altar of Repose, where it remains throughout the night. The main altar is then stripped bare—along with all others in the church—symbolizing Christ’s humility and the anticipation of His Passion.
Before celebrating the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, Christians live the Paschal Mystery beginning with Thursday of the Sacraments, continuing through Good Friday, and culminating in Saturday of the Light.
Because He loves us and desires our eternal salvation, Jesus Christ willingly endured suffering, pain, humiliation, and death on the Cross—for our sake.
Let us pray on this Holy Day that we may always remember His love and sacrifice, and strive to live lives of true faith, humility, forgiveness, and service.

The Atrocities of the Islamic Group in Lebanon
April 17, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142404/
Elias Bejjani/The Islamic Group in Lebanon is a fully affiliated branch of the criminal jihadist Muslim Brotherhood, involved with the Brotherhood cell in the treacherous and warlike plot against Jordan. Therefore, it is necessary to arrest and prosecute all the sheikhs and figures leading it in Lebanon. Hamas must not complete what it started in Gaza from Lebanon.

Evaluation of Hezbollah’s Weapons After the Recent War
Marwan Al-Amin/Facebook/April 17, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142393/
(Free translation from Arabic by: Elias Bejjani)
In assessing the role and impact of Hezbollah’s weapons following the recent war, several critical facts emerge that shed light on their true nature and limited utility:
Diminished Deterrence:
1-Once marketed as a “strategic deterrent,” these weapons no longer pose a credible threat to Israel. What was once Iran’s most valuable card in the region has lost its effectiveness. Today, it is a stale asset, no longer relevant in Iranian-American negotiations.
2-Pretext for Israeli Operations:
Hezbollah’s arsenal now serves as a justification for Israel’s continued occupation of Lebanese territory and for its recurrent security and military incursions deep inside Lebanon.
3-Barrier to Reconstruction Aid:
The existence of weapons outside state authority remains the primary obstacle to the flow of international aid needed to rebuild the South, the southern suburbs, and the Bekaa Valley.
4-A Threat to Civil Peace:
Most dangerously, these weapons have become tools of internal intimidation—used to threaten the outbreak of civil war and to blackmail the state and its institutions. In light of these realities, Hezbollah’s weapons are no longer a defense against Israel—they are, instead, a direct assault on Lebanese national interests and, more specifically, on the long-term wellbeing of the Shiite community.
Therefore, proposing dialogue with Hezbollah over this matter is unacceptable. Dialogue would imply indirect recognition of Hezbollah’s legitimacy and an acknowledgment of its supposed role in decisions of war and peace. What is needed is not negotiation, but a firm and sovereign decision—one that mandates the full confiscation of these weapons across Lebanese territory. Such a resolution should be issued during an official Cabinet session, chaired by President Joseph Aoun.
It is also important to underscore this: both those threatening civil war and those yielding to such blackmail know full well that Hezbollah today is too weak and isolated to dare confront the legitimate Lebanese government and the army.

Link to a video commentary by journalist Ali Hamadeh
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142404/
Link to a video commentary by journalist Ali Hamadeh, in which he addresses the issue of a rebellious military, political, and media wing within the terrorist Hezbollah that refuses to surrender its weapons. He also addresses the rockets of the Islamic Group and, behind it, Hamas, in the crime of implicating Lebanon in futile wars, just as they did in Gaza, destroying it and killing its people.

Fadlallah says Israel must stop its attacks before defense strategy dialogue
Naharnet/April 17, 2025
MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc noted Thursday that “Lebanon is still living under a continuous Israeli aggression leading to the fall of martyrs and wounded from our people.”“As in the past two days, the enemy is carrying out attacks benefiting from the state’s weakness, impotence and failure to carry out its full responsibilities in their face,” Fadlallah charged. Stressing that Hezbollah’s relation with the army is “good,” the lawmaker said “the problem lies in the political decision that confines the army and prevents it from playing its supposed role in protecting its people and country.”
As for the current debate about the dialogue with Hezbollah over its controversial arsenal of weapons, Fadlallah said “there is a host of priorities today, topped by the file of the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, halting the attacks, liberating the land and the captives, and reconstruction.”“When these files get finalized, when the state performs its responsibilities fully in these files, and when the blood of our people is no longer violated, our land is no longer occupied and our homes are no longer destroyed, we will come to discuss the other issues, including the defense strategy, and we’re open to such a dialogue,” Fadlallah said.He added that dialogue can only be held with “those who believe that Israel is an enemy and that Lebanon’s sovereignty comes before any foreign conditions, be them American, Israeli or other than that.”

Hezbollah open to disarmament? Cabinet discusses issue in key session
LBCI/April 17, 2025
For the first time, the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons was officially placed on the Lebanese Cabinet’s agenda despite ongoing controversy and opposition to the idea of disarmament or the handover of arms. Notably, Hezbollah’s representatives in the government did not object to the discussion of weapons under the broader framework of “extending state sovereignty over all Lebanese territory through national means.” However, the session did not address lingering local, regional, and international concerns about how long the disarmament process might take.
Officials attributed delays primarily to the continued Israeli occupation of parts of southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army’s need for additional support. Discussions during the Cabinet session did not distinguish between areas south or north of the Litani River. A key moment in the meeting came during a briefing by Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal, who outlined the military’s efforts to implement U.N. Resolution 1701 and enforce the ceasefire agreement. Haykal said the army has conducted 5,000 operations related to weapons, ammunition, and military infrastructure south and north of the Litani River, about half of which were carried out in coordination with UNIFIL. He added that 90% of the operations south of the Litani River have been completed, with the remaining 10% dependent on Israel’s full withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Haykal emphasized that there are no obstacles to the full deployment and implementation of Resolution 1701, noting that all political forces south of the Litani River— including Hezbollah and the Amal Movement — are cooperating with the army.
He stressed that inspections are being carried out freely, even in areas previously labeled as military zones.Hezbollah’s ministers expressed satisfaction with the army commander’s remarks, a sentiment shared across the Cabinet. Notably, ministers from the Lebanese Forces renewed their call for a clear timetable to hand over weapons not under state control, in line with the Taif Agreement. They proposed starting the process in Palestinian camps, then expanding it to cover all armed non-state groups. The Lebanese Forces ministers also expressed hope that the handover process would occur voluntarily, warning that if not, there may be hidden agendas that need to be addressed. Haykal's presentation included video and photo documentation of operations targeting illegal weapons and military infrastructure. The army plans to continue documenting such activities and will share as much information with the public as possible. The Cabinet session also included a review of the recent arrest of a cell responsible for launching rockets toward Israeli settlements last month. Investigations revealed the group had ties to Hamas, and security agencies are continuing efforts to apprehend the remaining members.

LF urges deadline for Hezbollah arms handover, Aoun reportedly dismisses appeal
Naharnet/April 17, 2025
The ministers of the Lebanese Forces on Thursday reiterated their call for setting a timeframe for the handover of Hezbollah’s weapons, Industry Minister Joe Issa al-Khoury said. Speaking after a Cabinet session, Khoury said all Lebanese and non-Lebanese weapons should be handed over within six months, adding that the process can start from the Palestinian refugee camps. Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar of Hezbollah meanwhile said that the LF ministers’ appeal was dismissed by President Joseph Aoun. “The army is performing its duties south and north of the Litani River and it has been handed over a number of Palestinian posts,” Haidar added. “The army chief said (during the session) that more than 3,000 operations have been exclusively conducted by the army to deploy and seize arms and that 2,500 operations were carried out in cooperation with UNIFIL,” Haidar said.

Fresh Israeli drone strikes target south Lebanon
Naharnet/April 17, 2025
An Israeli drone strike targeted a motorcycle Thursday in the southern town of Aitaroun, killing one person, according to the Health Ministry. Another Israeli drone strike meanwhile targeted the southern town of Em el-Tout in the western sector. Israel has pressed on with such attacks in south Lebanon in recent days, claiming that it is targeting Hezbollah operatives. The Israeli military said Thursday that it struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in south Lebanon overnight, vowing that it "will operate against any attempts by Hezbollah to rebuild or establish a military presence under the guise of civilian cover."Despite a November 27 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon. Hezbollah, significantly weakened by the war, insists it is adhering to the ceasefire, even as Israeli attacks persist.

Salam says state working to monopolize arms 'north and south of Litani'
Naharnet/April 17, 2025
The Lebanese army has increased its deployment in the country’s south over the past few months, confiscating Hezbollah’s arms and dismantling its positions under the terms of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between the militant group and Israel, according to Washington Post interviews with PM Nawaf Salam, Lebanese military officials and diplomats. So far, an additional 1,500 troops have been deployed in the southern part of the country, closest to the border with Israel, bringing the total to 6,000 with 4,000 more still being recruited, military officials said. The armed forces have also resumed reconnaissance flights, set up checkpoints and secured towns after the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers. “The army is making serious progress. It’s expanding and consolidating its presence in the south,” Salam told The Washington Post. A diplomat with knowledge of the matter, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject, said the U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring committee receives coordinates of arms depots and missile launchers from the Israelis or U.N. peacekeepers and then the Lebanese military is to take action. The diplomat said the armed forces have so far dismantled more than 500 military sites operated by Hezbollah and other groups. Filippo Dionigi, a professor at the University of Bristol and author of “Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society,” said continued Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon would inflame Hezbollah’s support base and undercut the Lebanese army’s role. “If the situation escalates further, the already limited agency of this government risks being completely undermined,” he said.
In recent weeks, calls have mounted for the Lebanese military to disarm Hezbollah across the country, not just south of the Litani River in the region closest to the border with Israel. On a visit in early April, the deputy U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, urged government officials to exert full control over the country.
Salam, meanwhile, said Lebanon is working to ensure the state’s right to monopolize the bearing of arms “north and south of the Litani.” Despite the progress the military is making in the south, it would face a significant challenge disarming Hezbollah in the rest of the country. The military is stretched thin as it has sought in the past few months to reinforce the border with Syria amid sporadic clashes between smugglers and the new Syrian government. The army, like most of Lebanon, is also reeling from the country’s economic crisis — now in its sixth year — and relies on foreign aid to help finance everything from soldiers’ wages to fuel and food. The military has received more than $3 billion in aid from the U.S. government since 2006. Salam said his government is discussing a pay increase for soldiers in next year’s budget. Edward Gabriel, a former U.S. diplomat who heads the nongovernmental American Task Force on Lebanon, said in an interview that the Lebanese military would need more training and resources to disarm Hezbollah and urged the United States to lend support. As for the ultimate status of Hezbollah’s weapons and fighters, President Joseph Aoun has said a likely course would be to absorb some of the group’s fighters into the military, as was done with militias after the Lebanese Civil War. But Dionigi said this could prove daunting, raising issues about the chain of command within the army as well as Hezbollah’s willingness to engage in the process. Hezbollah has been an independent paramilitary force since it first took up arms four decades ago. Despite sporadic rocket fire, the army has a greater degree of control than before Israel’s war with Hezbollah, when violations reported by international peacekeepers would be ignored. Now, the government is committed to taking action, said the diplomat. Another diplomat said that the army is doing the best it can and that the key to preventing rocket fire toward Israel would be a complete Israeli withdrawal and the demarcation of the land border between the two countries.

Lebanon records 2,740 Israeli violations, 190 deaths since ceasefire
Associated Press/April 17, 2025
Information Minister Paul Morcos said Thursday that Lebanon has recorded 2,740 Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Morcos said in a press conference following a cabinet meeting that 190 people have been killed and 485 injured in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began. On Tuesday, the office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said that at least 71 civilians, including 14 women and nine children, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect. Israel has said that its strikes in Lebanon are in response to ceasefire violations by Hezbollah and to prevent the group from rearming.

The five 'strategic' hills occupied by Israel in south Lebanon
Associated Press/April 17, 2025
Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from Lebanon under a ceasefire reached in late November after more than a year of fighting. Israeli forces withdrew from villages in southern Lebanon but stayed in five "strategic" overlook locations along the border inside Lebanon. The Israeli army also continued to carry out strikes against what it says are militant targets and Israel's defense minister said Wednesday that Israeli troops will stay "indefinitely" in "security zones" in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and Syria. Israel says it needs to hold on to these zones to prevent attacks, but the takeovers appear to meet the dictionary definition of military occupation. This digital embed map shows the border region between Lebanon and Israel and locates the five positions the Israeli military is still occupying in Labbouneh/Alma al-Shaab (Tyre district), Jabal Blat (Bint Jbeil district), Jal al-Deir (Bint Jbeil district), Markaba/Houla (Marjayoun district) and the Hamames Hill in Khiam (Marjayoun district).

Army chief briefs Cabinet on security situation in South
Naharnet/April 17, 2025
An ordinary Cabinet session kicked off Thursday morning at the presidential palace in Baabda. At the beginning of the session, Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal briefed the conferees on the security situation in south Lebanon and the course of the implementation of U.N. Securitry Council Resolution 1701. Cabinet will discuss an ordinary agenda, while President Joseph Aoun will talk about the outcome of his visit to Qatar and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam will brief the conferees on the results of his visit to Syria. The session was preceded by a closed-door meeting between Aoun and Salam that discussed the latest developments.

Qatar renews $60 mn grant for Lebanon army salaries
Associated Press/April 17, 2025
Qatar is sending scores of military vehicles to the Lebanese army and a new, $60 million donation to help it pay salaries to officers as the small Mediterranean country recovers from the fighting in Hezbollah's latest war with Israel, the two Arab countries announced Wednesday. Gas-rich Qatar has been a main backer of the Lebanese army since an unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the country in late 2019. Qatar was first sending food aid for the military while cash donations began in 2022. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah launched its own attacks on Israel a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with the Palestinian militants' attack on southern Israel. Hezbollah saying it was doing so to ease the pressure on Gaza by keeping part of the Israeli military busy along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon. After 14 months, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire halted the Hezbollah-Israel war, which killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and caused destruction that will take $11 billion to rebuild, according to the World Bank. Since the November ceasefire, Lebanon has elected a new president and prime minister, who have both promised to carry out reforms. The statement by Qatar and Lebanon said 162 military vehicles would be sent to the Lebanese army to help the military "carry out its national duties to preserve stability and control the border."It came after visiting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The statement mentioned the necessity of implementing the U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for deploying more Lebanese troops along the border with Israel in the wake of the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters under the ceasefire. The emir said Qatar "stands by Lebanon, its people and institutions."Aoun, who began a two-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday, condemned Israel's military presence and refusal to withdraw from Lebanon, as well as almost daily airstrikes in the border area. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and equipment in the border area. Israel withdrew from much of south Lebanon in mid-February but stayed in five strategic overlook locations inside the country. Since then, Israeli drones strikes have killed or wounded dozens of people. Two separate Israeli drones strikes on Wednesday on south Lebanon killed two people, the Lebanese health ministry said.

'Buffer, security, strategic' zones: How Israel likes to call its military occupation
Associated Press/April 17, 2025
The Israeli defense minister says his country's troops will stay in "security zones" in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, after Israel unilaterally expanded its frontiers in the war unleashed by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel says it needs to hold on to the zones to prevent similar attacks, but the takeovers appear to meet the dictionary definition of military occupation. The acquisition of territory by force is universally seen as a violation of international law, something Western allies of Israel have repeatedly invoked with regard to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Israel, which has captured territory during wars with its Arab neighbors going back to the country's establishment in 1948, says this is a special case. For decades, Israeli governments said they must hold such lands for self-defense but would return them in peace agreements, as when Israel restored the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in the Camp David Accords. Israel has formally annexed east Jerusalem, as well as the Golan Heights captured from Syria. It has occupied the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians, for more than half a century and built settlements there that today house more than 500,000 Jewish settlers. Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a blockade, along with Egypt, after Hamas took power two years later. In a statement Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops would remain in the so-called security zones in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon "in any temporary or permanent situation."
What are the 'security zones'?
Israel launched a massive offensive after the 2023 attack and carved out a wide buffer zone along the border. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month and has since expanded the buffer zone, established corridors across the strip and encircled the southern city of Rafah. Israel now controls over 50% of Gaza, according to experts. Katz did not specify which territories he was referring to. Israel was supposed to withdraw from Lebanon under the ceasefire it reached with Hezbollah in November after more than a year of fighting. But troops have remained in five strategic locations along the border and have continued to carry out strikes against what Israel says are militant targets. When rebels overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad in December, Israeli forces advanced from the Golan Heights into the Syrian side of a buffer zone established after the 1973 war. Israel has since expanded its zone of control to nearby villages, setting off clashes with residents last month. Israel has also repeatedly bombed Syrian military bases and other targets, and has said it will not allow Syrian security forces to operate south of Damascus.
How have Israel's neighbors responded?
Lebanon and Syria have condemned Israel's seizure of their territory as a blatant violation of their sovereignty and of international law. But neither country's armed forces are capable of defending their borders against Israel. Hezbollah, which was established during the early years of Israel's 1982-2000 occupation of southern Lebanon, has threatened to renew hostilities if Israel does not complete its withdrawal, but its military capabilities have been severely depleted by the war and the fall of Assad, who had been a close ally. While Hezbollah seems unlikely to return to war, an ongoing Israeli occupation could complicate Lebanese efforts to negotiate the group's disarmament. The Palestinians seek an independent state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. A two-state solution is widely seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict, but the last serious peace talks broke down more than 15 years ago. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages held in Gaza — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory and a lasting ceasefire. Israel's vow to remain in Gaza could further complicate slow-moving talks on a new ceasefire.
What is the Trump administration's position?
The United States has not yet commented on Katz's remarks. But the Trump administration has expressed full support for Israel's actions in Gaza, including its decision to end the ceasefire, renew military operations with a surprise bombardment that killed hundreds of people, and seal off the territory from all food, fuel or other supplies. During his first term, President Donald Trump gave unprecedented support to Israel's acquisition of territory by force, at times upending decades of U.S. foreign policy. Under Trump, the U.S. became the first and so far only state to recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights. Trump also relocated the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, lending support to Israel's claims to the entire city. Both policies continued under the Biden administration. Trump has proposed that the U.S. take ownership of Gaza after the war and redevelop it as a tourist destination. He has called for the Palestinian population to be resettled in other countries, a plan that has been rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to implement the plan after Hamas is defeated, saying Israel supports the "voluntary emigration" of Palestinians from a territory it largely controls, much of which has been rendered uninhabitable by its offensive.

Weapons or war: Hezbollah pressed to disarm as Israel hits key targets
LBCI/April 17, 2025
Israel is intensifying its pursuit and assassination of Hezbollah members, a campaign that coincides with growing internal Lebanese calls to disarm the group. Security and political sources say Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's recent openness to dismantling Hezbollah's weapons came only after the group gave him the green light. However, these sources described Hezbollah's approval as tactical, given Lebanon's current situation—including ongoing Israeli bombardment and the group's lack of readiness for a confrontation with the Lebanese state. In an internal assessment session, security officials warned that the reported integration of some Hezbollah members into the Lebanese Army is no less dangerous than the group's continued independent military operations. Despite Israel's confirmation that it will maintain its presence in the Lebanese areas it currently occupies, security sources have warned that Hezbollah faces two options: surrender its weapons or face further Israeli strikes. Some analysts have predicted that failure to disarm the group could ultimately lead to the collapse of both the president's and prime minister's positions. On the ground, Israel continues to carry out its list of military targets, from assassinating members of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force to deploying engineering units inside Lebanese villages to secure an indefinite presence.

Banking secrecy no more? Lebanon bill takes aim at financial wrongdoing
LBCI/April 17, 2025
Whoever you are, you will no longer be able to hide behind banking secrecy in Lebanon to conceal information about your account if you are accused of corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, or similar crimes. A draft law amending banking secrecy regulations has been referred by parliamentary committees to the General Assembly, which is scheduled to convene Tuesday and vote on whether to pass it into effect. This new version of the law includes changes to the 2022 banking secrecy amendment based on recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had previously deemed the earlier version insufficient.
So, what are the main changes?
1. A 10-year retroactive effect from the date the law is enacted
This means the law will apply to all bank accounts dating back to 2015.
Why 2015? According to government sources, that’s when early signs of the financial crisis began to appear — most notably through financial engineering policies. Anyone who benefited from financial engineering schemes, anyone who transferred money abroad while banks were refusing to give citizens access to their dollars during the 2019 crisis, or those who profited from the subsidy program — all could be investigated under the law. 2. Expanding the list of authorities allowed to request the lifting of banking secrecy on suspicious accounts
Under the 2022 law, this power was granted to the judiciary, the Special Investigation Commission, the tax administration, and the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The amended law also includes the Central Bank, the Banking Control Commission, and the National Deposit Guarantee Institution — which previously only had access to accounts for the purpose of bank restructuring.
3. Access to accounts by name, not just by account number
Unlike the 2022 version, authorities will now be able to access suspicious accounts using individuals’ names, not just numbers. Most importantly, this law is expected to promote transparency and accountability, facilitate the restructuring of banks, and help return deposits. In short, it is a step toward restoring confidence in Lebanon’s banking sector — and without that confidence, few will feel safe putting their money in a bank.

Lebanon detains several people on suspicion of firing rockets at Israel
Bassem Mroue/AP/April 17, 2025
BEIRUT — The Lebanese military said it has detained a group of people linked to firing rockets into Israel last month. The army said in a statement late Wednesday that those detained included a number of Palestinians who were involved in firing rockets in two separate attacks toward Israel in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time it was behind the firing of rockets. Since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in late November ended their 14-month conflict, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes that left dozens of civilians and Hezbollah members dead. The army said that a vehicle and other equipment used in the rockets attacks were confiscated and the detainees were referred to judicial authorities. The army said it had carried out raids in different parts of Lebanon to detain the suspects without giving further details. On Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported that Gen. Rodolph Haikal briefed a weekly cabinet meeting about the security situation along the border and the ongoing implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war. Three security and one judicial officials told The Associated Press that four Palestinians linked to the Hamas group are being questioned. A Hamas official told the AP that several members of the group were detained in Lebanon recently and released shortly afterward adding that they were not involved in firing rockets into Israel. He said in one case authorities detained a Hamas member who was carrying an unlicensed pistol.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Hezbollah started launching attacks on Israel a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, with the Palestinian militants’ attack on southern Israel. The war that left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused wide destruction ended in late November with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. On Tuesday, the office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said that at least 71 civilians, including 14 women and nine children, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect. Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said Thursday in a press conference following a cabinet meeting that Lebanon has recorded 2,740 Israeli violations of the ceasefire and that 190 people have been killed and 485 injured in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began. He did not specify how many were civilians. Israel has said that its strikes in Lebanon are in response to ceasefire violations by Hezbollah and to prevent the group from rearming.

Former minister Machnouq appears before court in Beirut blast inquiry
Agence France Presse/April 17, 2025
Former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouq appeared in court Thursday for the first time before judge Tarek Bitar who is investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a judicial source told AFP. The catastrophic blast on August 4, 2020 -- one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history -- devastated large parts of Beirut, killing more than 220 people and injuring over 6,500. Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the incident in January after having been forced to suspend it in 2021 due to political pressure. He was accused of bias, and several officials named in the probe -- including former interior minister Machnouq, who is suspected of "negligence and misconduct" -- launched a series of legal proceedings against him. Bitar resumed his inquiry after Joseph Aoun was elected president and reformist Nawaf Salam appointed prime minister earlier this year, with both pledging to uphold judicial independence. The devastating port blast was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tones of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been unsafely stored for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
The judicial source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the questioning of Machnouq on Thursday focused on a report he received on April 5, 2014 -- when he was still interior minister -- about the detention of a ship in Lebanese waters whose crew had requested permission to set sail. The probe into the blast was halted after Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanese politics but now weakened by its latest war with Israel, accused Bitar of bias and demanded his removal. Two French investigative judges are expected in Beirut at the end of the month to present Bitar with evidence gathered by French authorities, as three French nationals were among the victims, a judicial source has previously said.On 11 April, two former top security officials also appeared before Bitar for the first time.

After delays, Judge Bitar questions ex-interior minister in Beirut blast probe – will more summons follow?
LBCI/April 17, 2025
Former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk described his session with judicial investigator Judge Tarek Bitar as “to the point and useful.”Following multiple lawsuits aimed at recusing Bitar or transferring the case, Machnouk finally appeared before the judge. Although in a new lawsuit filed Wednesday through his attorney, Naoum Farah, Machnouk argued that jurisdiction over actions related to his official duties belongs to the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers, he was questioned for nearly an hour and a half.Machnouk said his appearance did not contradict his adherence to the constitutional article concerning the prosecution of presidents and ministers.  He explained after the session that he attended as a citizen of Beirut and that a major reason for appearing was to show respect for the families of the victims and the wounded, who might otherwise believe his absence was directed at them rather than a stance based on constitutional principles. Farah said the law governing the Judicial Council — which issues final, non-appealable rulings — should be updated to ensure fair trials. Regarding the substance of the investigation, Machnouk said it focused mainly on a letter he received in 2014 from General Security concerning the Rhosus ship, which was carrying ammonium nitrate. Sources familiar with the matter said Machnouk explained that the letter, marked “top secret” and lacking an official General Security header, mentioned only briefly that the cargo included several tons of highly dangerous nitrate. It did not reference the 2,750 tons later confirmed. The letter also stated that the ship was expected to enter Lebanese waters via transit. Since General Security, which falls under the Interior Ministry, is responsible for individuals, the letter focused on the difficult conditions of the ship’s crew, who were stranded at sea. In his statement, Machnouk also noted that from May 2014 to February 2019, the nitrate issue was never raised in either the Higher Defense Council or the Central Security Council. Machnouk’s attorney argued that his client was more of a figurative witness than a suspect, as there is no legal link between him and the case, and the interior minister has no authority over docked or transiting ships. With Machnouk’s hearing now complete, Bitar is set to question former Prime Minister Hassan Diab and former Minister Ghazi Zaiter, both accused in the case. After completing hearings with political figures, Bitar is expected to move on to four judges. Bitar has already filed charges against officers from State Security, General Security, and the Lebanese Army.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 17-18/2025
UN nuclear watchdog says US-Iran talks at a 'very crucial' stage
Jon Gambrell And Amir Vahdat/AP/April 17, 2025
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program are “in a very crucial” stage, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to the Islamic Republic.
The comments by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran included an acknowledgment his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached. Iran and the U.S. will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekend's first meeting in Oman. Grossi's visit also coincided with Saudi Arabia's defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, visiting Tehran as the highest-ranking official from the kingdom to visit Iran since the two countries reached a Chinese-mediated détente in 2023. That's as Saudi Arabia tries to end its decadelong war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen — even as a new, intense campaign of U.S. airstrikes targets them. The stakes of the negotiations Saturday and the wider geopolitical tensions in the Mideast couldn't be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Grossi visits during ‘crucial’ Iran-US talks. Grossi arrived in Iran on Wednesday night and met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who now is in Moscow for separate talks likely over the negotiations. On Thursday, Grossi met with Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, then later toured a hall featuring some of Iran's civilian nuclear projects. “We know that we are in a very crucial, I would say, stage of this important negotiation, so I want to concentrate on the positive,” Grossi told Iranian media. “There is a possibility of a good outcome. Nothing is guaranteed. We need to make sure that we put all of the elements in place ... in order to get to this agreement." He added: “We know we don't have much time. So this is why I'm here. This is why I'm in contact with the United States as well.”Asked about Trump's threats to attack Iran, Grossi urged people to “concentrate on our objective.” “Once we get to our objective, all of these things will evaporate because there will be no reason for concern,” he said. For his part, Eslami said Iran expected the IAEA to “maintain impartiality and act professionally,” a report from the state-run IRNA news agency said.
Since the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%. Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003. Despite tensions between Iran and the agency, its access has not been entirely revoked. Saudi prince becomes kingdom's highest-level visitor to Tehran in decades. Prince Khalid bin Salman, the son of King Salman and the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in Tehran on Thursday. Iran’s joint chief of staff, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, greeted the prince on his arrival and an honor guard played for the two men. Prince Khalid, a fighter pilot, has become the first Saudi defense minister to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He's also the highest-ranking Saudi royal to visit in decades. The last was King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who did so as crown prince in 1997 for an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting held in Tehran. The state-run Saudi Press Agency, announcing the prince's arrival, said his trip would include “a number of meetings to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and issues of common interest,” without elaborating. The visit is significant, particularly given the decades of enmity between the two countries. Saudi Arabia has been for years trying to get a peace deal agreed to with the Houthis. A de facto ceasefire broadly has halted hostilities in the war, though the Houthis increasingly have threatened both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates amid the U.S. airstrikes.

Saudi defense minister visits Iran in highest-level trip in decades as nuclear talks proceed
Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN/April 17, 2025
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud arrived in Tehran on Thursday, in a rare visit by a senior Saudi royal to the Islamic Republic. Prince Khalid will meet with Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Iranian news outlet ISNA reported, adding that “developing defense relations and regional cooperation to strengthen peace and stability in the region, as well as combating terrorism, are among the topics of discussion between the two senior defense officials.”It has been decades since a senior Saudi royal last visited Iran: King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz did so in 1997, when reformist President Mohammad Khatami was in office. Prince Khalid is the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz. The Saudi-Iranian meeting comes as Tehran engages in talks with the United States to reach a new nuclear agreement, amid threats by the US and Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if negotiations fail. Iran has warned that any attack on its territory could ignite a broader regional war. The US maintains a military presence in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states neighboring Iran. The two officials “will hold a number of meetings to discuss bilateral relations and issues of common interest,” state-run Saudi Press Agency said. Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia. They then spent years fighting a proxy war that has embroiled a number of neighboring countries, especially Yemen. In Yemen, the two countries had supported opposite sides of a civil war, which led to Iran-backed Houthi rebels firing missiles at both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, targeting oil infrastructure that is vital to their economies. Ties began to thaw two years ago, and both states eventually signed a landmark normalization deal brokered by China. Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf Arab states, have been wary of getting embroiled in Iran’s conflict with Israel and the United States. Last year, after Iran exchanged strikes with Israel, Gulf Arab states expressed concern to the US about a potential attack by Israel on Iranian oil facilities, which could create economic and environmental impacts for the entire region. Iran publicly warned that any parties seen as aiding Israel would be treated as aggressors. Sources familiar with matter told CNN at the time that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar had told both the US and Iran that they would not allow Israel to use their airspace to strike Iran. In October, Saudi Arabia and Iran conducted their first ever joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman, according to Iranian media, and in November, the chief of staff of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, visited Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterpart, state media reported.

Palestinian Photojournalist & Protagonist Of Cannes-Selected Doc Killed In Israeli Gaza Strike
Melanie Goodfellow/Deadline/Thu, April 17, 2025
A Palestinian artist and photojournalist who is the protagonist of a documentary due to premiere in Cannes in May has been killed in an Israeli air strike.
Fatima Hassouna died with nine members of her family in a direct strike on their home in Gaza City on Wednesday.
Hassouna, who had gained international recognition for her photojournalism capturing the impact on the Gaza Strip’s civilian population of the Israeli military campaign, appears in French-Iranian director Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk.
Hassouna was killed 24 hours after the documentary was announced as having been selected for parallel Cannes section ACID, running from May 14 to 23 alongside the main festival. The work revolves around video conversations between Farsi, whose credits include Berlinale-selected animated feature The Siren, and Hassouna. They began when the director connected with the young woman while researching a wider documentary on the events unfolding in Gaza. “She was such a light, so talented. When you see the film you’ll understand,” Farsi told Deadline. “I had talked to her a few hours before to tell her that the film was in Cannes and to invite her.”Farsi recounts that Hassouna was open to the idea of attending the screening, as long as she could return to Gaza afterwards.
“She said, ‘I’ll come, but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza,” said Farsi. “I was already in touch with the French Embassy. We’d just started but the process. I was worried about how to get her out and back in safely. I didn’t want to have the responsibility of separating her from her family.”
“Now the whole family is dead. I’m trying to find out if her parents are dead but for sure Fatima and her sisters and brothers are dead. One of the sisters was pregnant. On a video call two days ago, she showed me her belly. It’s so horrible and devastating. Fatima herself had gotten engaged a few months ago.”
Farsi says she now fears that Hassouna may have been targeted because of her photojournalism work. “I was trying to be a voice and accentuate her and now I don’t know. I even feel guilty… maybe they targeted her because the film was announced. I don’t know. We’ll never know.” she said. “The Israeli army said it bombed the house because there was a Hamas officer in there, which is totally false. I know the whole family. It’s nonsense. It’s just so devastating.” Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza began in October 2023 in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in the taking of 251 hostages. Eighteen months on, at least 51,065 people have died according to figures released by the Hamas-run Gaza health authority, endorsed by the United Nations, although statistical research published by the Lancet medical journal in February suggested this figure may be 15,000 higher. Another 116,505 people have also been injured in the Gaza Strip, while 90 percent of the territory’s 2.1 million-strong population has been displaced. Of the 251 hostages taken during the October 7 attack, 59 remain in the Gaza Strip, with around 24 of them still believed to be alive. France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema, which organizes the ACID sidebar in Cannes and then promotes the films across the year in cinemas across France, put out a statement expressing its “horror’ at the news of Hassouna’s death. “We met Fatima Hassouna when we discovered Sepideh Farsi’s film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk. Her smile was as magical as her tenacity: bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite bombs, grief, and hunger. Her story reached us, and we rejoiced at each of her appearances to know she was alive; we feared for her,” it read. “Yesterday, we learned with horror that an Israeli missile targeted her building, killing Fatima and her family.”“We had watched and programmed a film in which this young woman’s life force was nothing short of miraculous. This is a different film than the one we will carry, support, and present in every theater, starting with Cannes.”

At least 37 people killed in Israeli strikes, most in displacement camps, Gaza rescuers say
FRANCE 24/April 17, 2025
Gaza rescuers said Thursday that Israeli air strikes on Gaza had killed at least 37 people, mostly women and children sheltering in displacement camps, as Israel pressed its military offensive amid stalled ceasefire talks. Gaza's civil defence agency said Thursday that a series of Israeli air strikes killed at least 37 people, most of them in encampments for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its unrelenting military offensive in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military did not immediately comment, but said it was looking into reports of the strikes, which came as Hamas officials said internal deliberations on the latest Israeli truce offer were nearly complete. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two Israeli missiles hit several tents in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in at least 16 deaths, "most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded".Survivors described a large explosion at the densely packed encampment that set multiple tents ablaze. "We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God's protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing – and then the tent exploded, and the surrounding tents caught fire," Israa Abu al-Rus told AFP.

French journalists rally in solidarity for colleagues killed in Gaza
RFI/April 17, 2025
Hundreds of journalists joined demonstrations in Paris and Marseille on Wednesday to show solidarity with nearly 200 colleagues killed in Gaza since October 2023. More than 200 journalists, including prominent members of the French press, staged a symbolic "die-in" in Paris, laying down on the steps of the Bastille Opera as the names of the nearly 200 victims were read out loud. Many wore red-stained press vests and fake flak jackets and carried photos of journalists killed in Gaza while trying to report on the war launched by Israel following the 7 October attack by Hamas. "Gaza has faces, not just numbers", read posters showing the photographs of their fallen Palestinian colleagues whose names were read out loud. Youssef Habash, leader of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in Europe, condemned what he called a "genocide" and demanded an end to the Israeli blockade on the enclave. "There have never been so many casualties in our profession. The right of citizens worldwide to be informed is compromised," said Pablo Aiquel, Secretary General of SNJ-CGT, speaking on behalf of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Thibaut Bruttin, Director General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said: "This gathering comes late, perhaps too late... I've never seen a conflict where when a journalist dies, they're called a terrorist."Among the crowds, people waved Palestinian flags, some chanting “We will not be silent,” and “Free Palestine”. Data collected by Hamas' health ministry puts the death toll in Gaza since the start of Israel's military response at 51,025 – data the UN considers reliable.

Hamas consultations on response to Israel truce offer 'almost complete'
Agence France Presse/April 17, 2025
Two Hamas officials told AFP Thursday that the group's discussions on an Israeli truce proposal were nearly complete, with a response expected soon. "These talks are almost complete, and the group will send its response to the mediators once they finish. It's expected the talks will wrap up soon -- possibly even today," an official said, with another member of the group confirming his account.

Reportage: Autopsies reveal Gaza medics shot in head and chest
France 24/April 17, 2025
War in Gaza: Autopsies reveal medics killed, shot in head and chest. Autopsy reports have revealed that some of the Gaza medics allegedly killed by Israeli troops last month were shot in the head and chest, FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem. The incident is now under investigation by the Israel Defence forces and a senior general is expected to speak to the media soon, although the debriefing from the Israeli army has been postponed several times. Israel has admitted its troops opened fire on two ambulances in Rafah last month and dug a mass grave. A UN team found the bodies six days later. Israel initially said the unmarked cars were suspicious, but video later showed them clearly marked as emergency vehicles. The UN has said that Israeli forces shot the medics "one by one". The first reports we heard on March 23 were that 15 paramedics had “vanished”, Tarnopolsky said. It was a “very mysterious report”. Tarnopolsky says the Israeli army needs to answer a lot of outstanding questions raised by media investigations into the case. “How did these paramedics end up dead, and buried, and hidden?”

Aid groups: Thousands of children in Gaza are malnourished amid Israel's blockade
Wafaa Shurafa, Fatma Khaled And Lee Keath/The Associated Press/April 17, 2025
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Aid groups are raising new alarm over Israel’s blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where no food or other supplies have been allowed in for more than six weeks. Thousands of children are malnourished, and most people are only eating one meal every other day, the United Nations says. Israel ended a ceasefire last month and renewed its bombardment, killing hundreds of people and seizing large parts of the territory to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the deal that would speed the release of hostages. Israeli strikes overnight into Thursday killed at least 23 people, including a family of 10. A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed five children, four women and a man from the same family, all of whom suffered severe burns, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed 13 people, including nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital. The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
Nearly all rely on charity kitchens. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said that almost all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people now rely on charity kitchens supported by aid groups, which can prepare just 1 million meals a day. Other food distribution programs have shut down for lack of supplies, and the U.N. and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens. The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets. But prices are spiraling and shortages are widespread, meaning humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April. “The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023,” OCHA said. Most people in Gaza are now down to one meal a day, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. “It’s far lower than what is needed,” she said. Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to six or seven liters per day, well below the amount the U.N. estimates is needed to meet basic needs.
More hungry children, and they are harder to reach
In March, more than 3,600 children were newly admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition, up from around 2,000 the month before, according to OCHA, which said "the rapid deterioration of the nutrition situation is already visible.”At the same time, aid groups’ ability to treat malnourished children is hampered by Israel's airstrikes and ground operations, which resumed on March 18. In March, the number of children under 5 that aid workers could supply with nutrient supplements fell 70% from February, down to 22,300 children – a fraction of the 29,000 children they aim to reach. Only 60% of the 173 treatment sites are operating, and demand for the dwindling supplies is rising, OCHA said. "Humanitarians have been forced to watch people suffer and die while carrying the impossible burden of providing relief with depleted supplies, all while facing the same life-threatening conditions themselves,” said Amande Bazerolle, the emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders. “This is not a humanitarian failure — it is a political choice, and a deliberate assault on a people’s ability to survive, carried out with impunity,” she said in a statement.
Israel says the blockade is a pressure tactic. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that preventing humanitarian aid is one of the “central pressure tactics” used against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule. Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Katz said that even afterward Israel will continue to occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.
Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. It says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year. Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks. “But food is loosely defined. We have pasta and rice but nothing much beyond that. No fresh produce. There is no chicken or beef. The only thing we have is canned meat,” he said. He said 15-20% of the people who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies. Israel's offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.

Russia’s top court lifts terror group designation on Afghanistan’s Taliban
Associated Press/April 17, 2025
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday lifted a ban on Afghanistan’s Taliban, who were designated as a terrorist group more than two decades ago. The move was a diplomatic victory for the Taliban, who were put on Russia’s list of terrorist organizations in 2003, making any contact with them punishable under Russian law. At the same time, Taliban delegations have attended various forums hosted by Russia as Moscow has sought to position itself as a regional power broker. The court’s ruling on a request by the Prosecutor General’s office followed last year’s adoption of a law stipulating that the official designation as a terrorist organization could be suspended by a court. The former Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with Moscow withdrawing its troops in 1989. Russian officials have recently been emphasizing the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan. In recent years, the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have removed the Taliban from their lists of terrorist groups. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of withdrawing from the country after two decades of war.
The Taliban initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, but started to enforce restrictions on women and girls soon after the 2021 takeover. Women are barred from most jobs and public places, including parks, baths and gyms, while girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade. Such measures have isolated the Taliban on the world stage, although they have established diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates. The U.N. this year renewed its call for the Taliban to lift the bans. The group’s decrees limiting the participation of girls and women have affected foreign aid to the country. The Taliban also have brought back their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, including public executions. Some Taliban want greater engagement with the international community and scrapping harsher policies to attract more outside support. In recent months, there has been increased engagement between the Taliban and the U.S. under President Donald Trump, mostly because of prisoner exchanges and releases.

Putin and Qatari emir discuss Syria and Gaza at Moscow talks
Vladimir Soldatkin/Reuters/April 17, 2025
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Syria's new leader was keen to build ties with Moscow. The assurance from Sheikh Tamim comes as Putin attempts to retain Russia's use of two military bases in Syria and avoid a serious blow to its strategic influence in the region, after the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in December. Assad was toppled by rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has replaced him as president. "As for Syria, a few days ago President al-Sharaa was in Qatar, and we spoke with him about the historical and strategic relationship between Syria and Russia. He is keen on building a relationship between the two countries based on mutual respect," the emir told Putin at their meeting in the Kremlin. Putin said the development of the situation in Syria, which has been rocked by sectarian violence in recent weeks, was of serious importance. "We would like to do everything to ensure that Syria, firstly, remains a sovereign, independent and territorially integral state, and we would like to discuss with you the possibility of providing assistance to the Syrian people, including humanitarian assistance," he told the emir. "There are many problems there: political, security, and purely economic."The two men also discussed the situation in Gaza, where Qatar played a key role in brokering a January deal between Israel and Hamas for a three-phase ceasefire. Israel restarted its offensive in the enclave in March, and talks to try to restore the ceasefire have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough. "We reached an agreement regarding Gaza a few months back but Israel has not adhered to the agreement," Sheikh Tamim said. "Qatar, in its role as a mediator, will strive to bridge differing perspectives in an effort to reach an agreement to end the suffering of the Palestinian people."Putin told the emir: "We know that Qatar is making very serious efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, the initiatives put forward, including by you, have not been implemented - peaceful people continue to die in Palestine, which is an absolute tragedy of today."Both sides have said the two leaders will also talk about efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Qatar has made a series of attempts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, and has helped arrange the return of children from both countries who were separated from their parents during the war. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the "bloodbath", but has yet to achieve a breakthrough. Moscow has said it is not easy to agree a settlement.

US-Somali airstrike as battle rages for key town
Wycliffe Muia - BBC News/April 17, 2025
The US and Somalia have carried out an airstrike against Islamist militants during a battle for control of a strategic central town, the government says. The "well-coordinated" strike on Adan Yabaal, north of the capital Mogadishu, came hours after al-Shabab raided the town which is used as a key launchpad for military operations. Among the 12 militants killed in the airstrike were several senior fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked group, the Somali information ministry said in a statement on X. The latest fighting comes amid fears of a jihadist resurgence in Somalia after growing militant attacks, including one that targeted President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's convoy last month. Al-Shabab, which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia, has been fighting the government for nearly 20 years. It seeks to overthrow the federal government and establish an Islamist state. The African Union-led peacekeeping force helped push the jihadists onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023, but the group remains a big threat despite numerous military operations against it. The Somali government insists the group has been weakened. The airstrike late on Wednesday by Somali armed forces and the US Africa Command (Africom) "aimed to neutralize the threat posed" by militants, the information ministry said. "The targeted strike hit a site used by the militants as a gathering and hideout," it said, adding: "Importantly there were no civilian casualties." Adan Yabaal, in the Middle Shabelle region, was seized by al-Shabab in 2016 before being recaptured by government forces in 2022. Heavy fighting broke out early on Wednesday after al-Shabab fighters raided the town, using heavy explosives. Later the group said it had captured the town. Two local residents told AFP news agency that militants had taken control of Adan Yabaal. The government did not say who was currently in control of the town. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited the town last month and met military commanders, underscoring its strategic significance in the fight against the militants. In a separate incident, the national army said it killed at least 35 fighters near the city of Baidoa on Thursday, after they attempted to attack an army base there, the ministry said. President Mohamud has downplayed the al-Shabab advances, saying that occasional battlefield setbacks were inevitable. He has maintained that his government was determined to defeat the militants.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April 17-18/2025
Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables
Feras Dalatey, Joanna Plucinska, Reade Levinson, Maha El Dahan/Reuters/April 17, 2025
DAMASCUS/LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) -As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth. Yasar Ibrahim, the president's top economic adviser, arranged the leasing of the plane to transport Assad's treasured assets, relatives, aides and presidential palace personnel to the United Arab Emirates aboard four flights, according to an account of the operation pieced together by Reuters from more than a dozen sources.
Ibrahim, who ran the economic and financial office of the presidency, was instrumental in creating a network of entities Assad used to control swathes of Syria's economy, often acting as a front for the former ruler, according to U.S. sanctions notices, as well as experts on Syria's economy and one source inside Assad's business network. Western nations imposed sanctions on Assad following his repression of 2011 pro-democracy protests and later on Ibrahim for assisting the regime. The Embraer Legacy 600 jet made the four back-to-back trips to Syria in the 48 hours before the regime's fall, according to a Reuters review of flight tracking records. The plane, which has the tail number C5-SKY, is registered in Gambia. The fourth flight departed on December 8 from the Russian-operated Hmeimim military air base, near Latakia, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to flight tracking records, a satellite image and a former Air Force Intelligence source with direct knowledge of the operation. Assad fled to Russia on the same day from the same base. The operation to extract Assad's assets from Syria has not been previously reported. Reuters spoke to 14 Syrian sources with knowledge of the scheme, including airport staff, former intelligence and Presidential Guard officers and a person within Assad's business network. The news agency also reviewed a WhatsApp conversation between Ibrahim's associates, flight tracking data, satellite images, and corporate and aviation ownership registers on three continents to assemble its account of how Assad's closest confidant orchestrated safe passage for the plane. The jet carried unmarked black bags of cash holding at least $500,000 as well as documents, laptops and hard drives with key intelligence about "The Group", the codename Assad and Ibrahim's associates used for the intricate network of entities spanning telecoms, banking, real estate, energy and other activities, according to the individual inside Assad's network, a former Air Force Intelligence officer and the WhatsApp conversation. Assad, whose whereabouts was kept secret from even close family members in the last frantic days of his regime, has been granted political asylum in Russia. Reuters was unable to reach him or Ibrahim for comment. The foreign ministries of Russia and the UAE didn't respond to questions about the operation. The government of new president Ahmed al-Sharaa is determined to recover public funds taken abroad in the run up to Assad's fall, a senior official told Reuters, to support Syria's economy as it labours under sanctions and a currency shortage. The official confirmed to Reuters that money was smuggled out of the country before the former ruler's ouster, but did not elaborate how, adding that authorities were still determining where the money went. Reuters could not independently determine whether Assad actively directed the escape operation. Several sources with direct knowledge of the mission said it could not have happened without the ruler's blessing.
'YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS PLANE'
On December 6, as rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham marched towards the capital, the 13-seater Embraer jet approached Damascus International Airport. More than a dozen staff in the camouflage uniforms of Syria's Air Force Intelligence - a main instrument of political repression under Assad - mobilised to guard the Hall of Ceremonies, the airport's VIP section, and its access route, according to six sources with knowledge of the operation. Four of these sources said they were at the scene. A handful of civilian cars with tinted windows approached the area, three of the people on site said. The cars belonged to the elite Republican Guard, tasked to protect Assad and the Presidential Palace, said two of the people on site - the former intelligence officer and a senior airport official. The involvement of the Republican Guard meant that "Bashar (al-Assad) gave the orders" relating to the operation, according to a former senior Republican Guard member. The guard answered only to its commander, Assad’s cousin General Talal Makhlouf, or Assad himself, this person added. The head of airport security, Brigadier-General Ghadeer Ali, told airport staff that Air Force Intelligence personnel would handle the aircraft, according to Mohammed Qairout, head of ground operations with Syrian Air. "This plane is coming to land and we will deal with it," Qairout recalled being told by Ali. "You have not seen this plane."Ali, a senior Air Force Intelligence officer, took orders directly from the Presidential Palace, three Syrian airport officials and the former intelligence officer said. Reuters could not reach Ali for comment.
FINAL HOURS
The C5-SKY plane flew each time to Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Executive Airport, used by dignitaries and known for its strict privacy, Flightradar24 data show. At first, the jet left Dubai on Dec. 6 and landed in Damascus around noon local time (0900 GMT). It then flew to Al Bateen airport and was back in Damascus just after 10 p.m. Each time it landed, "cars rushed towards the plane, staying for a short time and then leaving just before the plane took off again," said one of five sources working at the airport. Ali told Air Force Intelligence staff that Presidential Palace personnel and relatives of Assad - including teenagers - were due to board the first two flights that left Damascus on December 6, which also carried cash, according to the former intelligence officer at the scene. Reuters could not access a manifest for the four flights to confirm the plane’s passengers or cargo. The second flight from Damascus also transported paintings and some small sculptures, said the same source. On Dec. 7, the jet was back in Damascus around 4 p.m. and left for Al Bateen for a third time over an hour later, this time loaded with bags of cash as well as hard drives and electronic devices containing information about Assad's corporate network, according to the intelligence officer and the source inside Assad's business network. The stored information included financial records, minutes of meetings, ownership of companies, real estate and partnerships, as well as details of cash transfers and offshore companies and accounts, this source said. This time, vehicles belonging to the UAE embassy in Damascus approached the VIP airport area before the jet took off, said the former intelligence officer, which he said suggested the UAE was aware of the operation.
DETOUR TO RUSSIAN BASE
Early on December 8, rebel fighters reached Damascus, prompting Assad to flee for his coastal stronghold of Latakia, in coordination with Russian forces. Damascus airport stopped operating. Shortly after midnight that day, the C5-SKY jet left Al Bateen one last time. After passing over the city of Homs, north of Damascus, at around 3 a.m. local time, the plane dropped off flight tracking coverage for about six hours before reappearing over Homs, headed back to Abu Dhabi, data from Flightradar24 show. During that window, it landed at the Hmeimim base in the Latakia province, according to the former intelligence officer. A satellite image taken at 9:11 a.m. by Planet Labs captured the plane on the runway at Hmeimim. Reuters was able to confirm the Embraer jet in the image was C5-SKY based on the size and shape and flight tracking data. The jet was the only private plane flying in and out of Syria between December 6 and December 8, flight tracking data show. Aboard the flight from Hmeimim was Ahmed Khalil Khalil, a close associate of Ibrahim active inside Assad's network, according to the Air Force Intelligence officer, the source inside Assad's business empire and the WhatsApp conversation. Khalil is under Western sanctions for supporting the former regime by operating and controlling several businesses in Syria. He had reached the Russian base in an Emirati embassy armoured car and was carrying $500,000 in cash, according to the person inside Assad's network and the WhatsApp messages. Khalil had withdrawn the money two days earlier from an account with the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB), according to the same sources. The person inside Assad's circle said the account belongs to Damascus-based Al-Burj Investments. The company is 50% owned by Ibrahim, according to The Syria Report, an online platform that contains a corporate database compiled by Syria experts which cited 2018 official Syrian records. Khalil did not respond to a request for comment sent via his Facebook account. SIIB and Al-Burj did not respond to emails seeking comment. The individual inside Assad’s business circle and a former official at Syria's Air Transport Authority said the Embraer jet was operating under a 'dry lease', in which the owner provides the aircraft, but no crew, pilot, maintenance, ground operations or insurance. Reuters couldn’t determine who operated the flights. Ibrahim reached Abu Dhabi on Dec. 11, this person added. Asked about the plane in an interview with Reuters, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa declined to comment.
'THE LEBANESE PLANE'
Ibrahim leased the jet from Lebanese businessman Mohamad Wehbe, according to a member of Syria's business elite and the source inside Assad's network. In the WhatsApp conversation the jet was described by one of Ibrahim’s associates as "the Lebanese plane". Wehbe owns Flying Airline FZCO, registered as a Dubai Free Zone company, according to his LinkedIn profile. In April 2024, Mohamad Wehbe posted pictures of C5-SKY on LinkedIn with the caption, "welcome". In January, the businessman wrote in a separate LinkedIn post that the aircraft was for sale. The plane was registered in Gambia to a local company, Flying Airline Company, from April 2024. Flight tracking records show that, in the months preceding Assad's fall, the aircraft had flown to Assad's ally Russia, currently under Western aviation sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine. Reuters was unable to reach the registered contact for Flying Airline Company in Gambia, Sheikh Tijan Jallow. Flying Airline Co. is 30%-owned by another Lebanese national, Oussama Wehbe, and 70%-owned by Iraqi national Safa Ahmed Saleh, as per Gambian records. Social media show Mohamad Wehbe has a son named Oussama who also works in the aviation industry. Reuters could not confirm if he is the same man on the Gambian registry. Contacted by Reuters, Mohamad Wehbe denied any involvement with the C5-SKY flights in and out of Syria and told Reuters he does not own the plane but merely rents it "sometimes" from a broker, whose name he declined to provide. He did not respond to questions about whether his son was involved. Oussama Wehbe did not reply to a request for comment. Reuters could not locate Safa Ahmed Saleh. (Reporting by Firas Al Daalati in Damascus, Joanna Plucinska and Reade Levinson in London, Maha El Dahan in Dubai; Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Timour Azhari, Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily in Damascus, Robbie Corey-Boulet and Portia Crowe in Dakar, Gleb Stolyarov in Tbilisi and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Editing by Lisa Jucca)

Witkoff In His Own Words...Is Witkoff breaking new ground or repeating Biden's errors?
Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute/April 17, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142389/
Witkoff, whatever his flaws, is far more honest than his PR men on X or Capitol Hill, and has never denied that he was just implementing the policies of the Biden administration. What new solutions has Witkoff come up with? The Obama ones. Negotiate with terrorists. Pretend they're reasonable. Give them what they want. Act confused when it doesn't work out. Figuring out what the terrorists want and trying to give it to them were the signature diplomatic policies of the Carter, Clinton and Biden administrations. Those are the "old-school globalist solutions," which is why President Donald Trump is such a breath of fresh air and Witkoff isn't. Whatever Witkoff's agendas are, he's in over his head, and he outsourced his negotiations to everyone from the Biden team to the Islamic terror state of Qatar, with whom he's done business and whose terrorist leaders he has repeatedly praised. Knowing nothing about the Middle East hasn't given him a fresh perspective: it just made him an easy dupe for everyone who does. It's an honest admission. Witkoff's defenders, who pretend that he's a genius shaking up diplomacy by appeasing Islamic terrorist states, could at least try to be as honest as him.
What new solutions has Steve Witkoff come up with? The Obama ones. Negotiate with terrorists. Pretend they're reasonable. Give them what they want. Act confused when it doesn't work out.
Steve Witkoff, the real estate tycoon turned international negotiator, has become the subject of controversy with some conservatives attacking him and others rushing out to defend him."In a world left in chaos thanks to Joe Biden, Steve Witkoff is the diplomat America needs right now," US Senator Jim Banks claimed this month.Tucker Carlson hailed Witkoff as "the most effective American diplomat in a generation." But Witkoff, whatever his flaws, is far more honest than his PR men on X or Capitol Hill, and has never denied that he was just implementing the policies of the Biden administration.
In January, at Mar-a-Lago, Witkoff stated that "the Biden administration is the tip of the spear" in the Hamas negotiations. Biden has "got a solid team, and I appreciated that they're allowing us to be collaborative." "I think Steve Witkoff has been a terrific partner in this," then Secretary of State Blinken praised him on MSNBC.Much later, Witkoff told Carlson, "When I first got in and I was talking to Brett McGurk, who was the envoy on behalf of Biden, he was a smart guy.""He said to me, 'This is where I want to get to, Steve.' And so when I went in there, I went in with the imprimatur of the president."
"Steve became a close partner of mine, I think it's safe to say a friend," McGurk told PBS.
Whose deal was it really?
Witkoff admitted to FOX News that he "had nothing to do with the mathematics behind the prisoner release and the hostage release". The deal's terms were set "months ago in the so-called May 27 protocol that was agreed to by Hamas, by the Israelis, and monitored by the United States under the Biden administration" and "our job was to speed up the process."And where did the May 27, 2024 protocol come from? On a May 31 call, an unnamed senior Biden administration official told reporters that the proposed deal was "nearly identical to Hamas's own proposals of only a few weeks ago".Witkoff's achievement was taking a Biden administration proposal "nearly identical" to the Hamas demands and lending some muscle to the Biden team to push it through. That is why Biden officials like Blinken and McGurk praised Witkoff for enlisting Trump to bail them out. There's plenty of reasons to be critical of Witkoff, but he has been honest about what he was doing, giving credit to the Biden team, and admitting that he was advancing their agenda.
The same cannot be said of his defenders.
In an April 4 op-ed, Banks claimed that Witkoff had stepped "into a leadership vacuum" and that "globalist critics continue to chirp from the sidelines, frustrated largely because Witkoff is shaking things up" and that problems "can't be solved with old-school globalist solutions." Witkoff proposed a 10-15 year UN rebuilding program and allowing Hamas to stay on in Gaza. Rather than ending the war, the Biden ceasefire he worked for unwound into further war. As a result of the deal, the Trump administration sent another $134 million in aid to Gaza. This isn't "shaking things up" and Witkoff's solutions are the same "old-school globalist solutions". When a man is being praised by Blinken and the entire Biden old guard, the last thing he can be accused of doing is shaking things up. And Witkoff doesn't claim that he is. What new solutions has Witkoff come up with? The Obama ones. Negotiate with terrorists. Pretend they're reasonable. Give them what they want. Act confused when it doesn't work out. According to Banks, "Witkoff's key to successful negotiation is straightforward, admitting that deals only work when they benefit all parties." According to Carlson, this is "so different from the posture that the last couple of generations of diplomats have taken, which is like, here's what we want. Shut up and do it." When did Obama or Clinton ever talk like that to America's enemies? Figuring out what the terrorists want and trying to give it to them were the signature diplomatic policies of the Carter, Clinton and Biden administrations. Those are the "old-school globalist solutions," which is why President Donald Trump is such a breath of fresh air and Witkoff isn't.
Witkoff's initial Iran proposals pick up where Obama's 2015 Iran nuclear deal left off.
After reports emerged that the Trump administration would let Iran keep a "civilian" nuclear program, Witkoff appeared to suggest that the goal was Obama's old capping enrichment gimmick. "[T]hey do not need to enrich past 3.67%. In some circumstances, they're at 60%, in other circumstances 20%. That cannot be. You do not need to run — as they claim — a civil nuclear program where you're enriching past 3.67%." Capping Iran's nuclear enrichment at 3.67% had been the objective of Obama's Iran deal. Obama had falsely claimed that his deal would force Iran to "keep its level of uranium enrichment at 3.67% — significantly below the enrichment level needed to create a bomb." The 3.67% was an Obama bait-and-switch. Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute, warned that 3.5% could go to 90% in only weeks: "This was the enrichment level in Obama's disastrous JCPOA agreement. This was a huge mistake because due to the peculiarities of uranium enrichment, 3-5% enrichment is only a few weeks away from weapons grade. Given Iran's secret nuclear weapons research, Iran cannot be trusted to do ANY uranium enrichment."
Witkoff has since reversed course and stated that Iran must stop and eliminate enrichment.
But the 3.67% number was revealing of where Witkoff gets his ideas. The enrichment cap and the talk of verification on enrichment were xeroxed right from Obama, Biden and the European Union. In 2023, McGurk, Witkoff's pal, had been dispatched by the Biden administration to offer Iran sanctions relief in exchange for freezing some of its nuclear enrichment. It may not be a new idea, but Witkoff's defenders are the only ones who accuse him of having new ideas. The Obama and Biden pros recognize that Witkoff is following in their footsteps. Whatever Witkoff's agendas are, he's in over his head, and he outsourced his negotiations to everyone from the Biden team to the Islamic terror state of Qatar, with whom he's done business and whose terrorist leaders he has repeatedly praised. Knowing nothing about the Middle East hasn't given him a fresh perspective: it just made him an easy dupe for everyone who does.
"I thought we had a deal — an acceptable deal. I even thought we had an approval from Hamas," Witkoff had told Fox News. "Maybe that's just me getting duped." It's an honest admission. Witkoff's defenders, who pretend that he's a genius shaking up diplomacy by appeasing Islamic terrorist states, could at least try to be as honest as him. Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow and Executive Vice President of Programs at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. With deepest appreciation to the author for permitting Gatestone Institute to print this article.
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21563/wikoff-in-his-own-words

A ‘Reverse Kissinger’ would be a fool’s errand
Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/April 17/2025
You probably know what a reverse mortgage is because you’ve seen Tom Selleck selling them on television commercials. And you may recall from high school gym class what a reverse half-nelson is.
But do you know what a “Reverse Kissinger” is?
I ask because there’s reason to believe that some of President Trump’s advisors are telling him that a Reverse Kissinger should be his approach to Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.
And I’m telling you that would be a fool’s errand. Stick with me for a few paragraphs and I think you’ll agree. In the early 1970s, President Nixon, guided by Henry Kissinger, his national security advisor and secretary of state, opened diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Their goal was to drive a wedge between that young and economically weak Communist regime and the older and more powerful Soviet Union, thereby giving the U.S. an advantage in the Cold War. A Reverse Kissinger implies that President Trump would now attempt to do the opposite: draw Moscow away from Beijing and closer to Washington. But the Nixonian/Kissingerian détente with Mao Zedong, then chairman of the Communist Party of China, was possible thanks to the pre-existing Sino-Soviet split, a souring of relations between the two Marxist/Leninist states based on ideological and strategic differences. Today, there’s no Sino-Russian split to exploit.
On the contrary, just days before Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, he concluded a “no-limits” strategic partnership with Xi Jinping, who is both president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
Next, ask yourself what Mr. Trump would need to offer Mr. Putin to induce him to move closer to Washington and further from Beijing. We know what Mr. Putin wants: the restoration of the Russian/Soviet empire. Toward that end, he seeks to subsume Ukraine, turning it into a colony (like Chechnya) or a vassal state (like Belarus).
It’s possible he’d accept what he’d disingenuously spin as a compromise: His occupation of a wide swath encompassing eastern and southern Ukraine, which he’d call Novorossiya (New Russia). That would leave Ukraine landlocked and vulnerable. It also would give Russia a border with Moldova. (More on that in a moment.)
For Mr. Trump to facilitate such a conquest of a pro-American democracy by the military forces of a dictator would be not peacemaking but appeasement. It would stain his legacy hugely and indelibly. Mr. Xi, of course, is already assisting Mr. Putin by buying Russian oil, the only standing pillar of the Russian economy, and providing technological support for Russia’s military and its defense-industrial base. Also worth noting: During a press conference last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleged that more than 150 Chinese nationals have been fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Russia. A day earlier, Ukrainian forces announced that they had captured two of those Chinese fighters in the Luhansk region. Mr. Xi may not have deployed these soldiers, but there’s no indication that their participation in Russia’s brutal and illegal war troubles him. Meanwhile, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has sent thousands of his troops to help Mr. Putin kill Ukrainians. It’s unlikely that Mr. Kim would have made that decision without getting at least tacit approval from Mr. Xi.
A question that Mr. Xi is doubtless pondering: If Moscow can destroy a sovereign nation – a UN member, a nation whose independence and territorial integrity was guaranteed in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, a document signed by Russia, the U.S. and the UK – how plausible is it that the U.S. will sacrifice treasure and/or blood to prevent Beijing from conquering Taiwan, an island that President Nixon in 1972 called – incorrectly and unfortunately, I’d argue – “a part of China”?
Finally, if you think conquering Ukraine would sate rather than whet Mr. Putin’s geopolitical appetite, think again. Moldova would be low-hanging fruit. Next in line might be NATO members such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, all of which have significant Russian minorities, the result of Soviet settler colonialism.
If the U.S. failed to defend those states, NATO would collapse.
The demise of other American alliances would follow. Many nations would respond to the unreliability of American security guarantees by cutting deals with Beijing.
History would record that, under President Trump, the U.S. relinquished its role as leader of the Free World and ceded global predominance to the most powerful Communist regime that has ever arisen. Some historians would put it this way: Mr. Trump lost Cold War 2.0.
At that point Mr. Putin, even if he had moved closer to Mr. Trump in exchange for approbation of his imperialist aggression, would surely return to the anti-American bloc led by Mr. Xi. That bloc today includes Mr. Kim and Ali Khamenei, leader of the Islamist regime in Tehran. Cozying up to this Axis of Aggressors are the member-states of such multilateral organizations as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – both of which include Russia, China, and Iran, and exclude the U.S. One more factor making a Reverse Kissinger a rickety bridge too far: Aleksander Dugin, a Russian political philosopher who is often called “Putin’s brain,” regards Russia – ruled by Mongols for 240 years – as more Asian than European. He argues that Russia’s mission, in tandem with other anti-Western powers, is to diminish the global preeminence – “greatness” would be a synonym – of the United States. What can Mr. Trump offer to compete with that vision? A Reverse Kissinger is unlikely to be achieved by offering the hard man in the Kremlin the prospect of beach resorts on the Black Sea.
*Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a columnist for the Washington Times, and host of the “Foreign Podicy” podcast.

FAQ: What Should Be Washington’s Position on Iran’s Nuclear Dismantlement?
Andrea Stricker, Janatan Sayeh/FDD/April 17/2025
Q. What was the Trump administration’s stated position on a new nuclear deal with Iran before negotiations began on April 12?
The Trump administration has previously called for Iran’s full, verifiable, and permanent nuclear disarmament — lest Tehran face U.S. and Israeli military strikes. Soon after reimposing U.S. maximum economic pressure on Iran in February, President Donald Trump said, “There’s two ways of stopping [Iran]. With bombs, or with a written piece of paper.” Trump indicated his preference for Iran’s nuclear disarmament, stating, “I’d much rather see a deal with Iran where we can do a deal — supervise, check it, inspect it and then blow it up or just make sure that there [are] no more nuclear facilities.” He warned on March 30, after a major U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, “If [Iran doesn’t] make a deal, there will be a bombing … the likes of which they have never seen before.” He stated on April 7 that while “doing a deal would be preferable,” military action remains an option if negotiations fail.
Senior members of Trump’s cabinet, such as National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, have also demanded that Iran agree to the full “dismantlement” of its enrichment, weaponization, and missile delivery programs. Waltz said on March 16, “All options are on the table to ensure it does not have” a nuclear weapon. “And that’s all aspects of Iran’s program. That’s the missiles, the weaponization, the enrichment. They can either hand it over and give it up in a way that is verifiable, or they can face a whole series of other consequences.” On March 23, Waltz reiterated the U.S. position on dismantlement.
Q. Has the U.S. position on Iran’s full dismantlement collapsed since the first round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Oman on April 12?
This is still unclear. Secretary of Defense Hegseth did demand on April 13 that Iran “negotiate full dismantlement of your nuclear capabilities” to avoid U.S. military action. But a day later, Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East and leader of America’s delegation to the Oman talks, appeared to acquiesce to continued Iranian enrichment under a new deal. Iran, he said, does not “need to enrich past 3.67 percent” to meet its civilian nuclear needs. This purity level was permitted under the 2015 nuclear deal spearheaded by President Obama, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump exited the deal in 2018.
On April 15, the special envoy’s office posted on X a possible clarification: “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal. Any final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East — meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reiterated later that day, “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon or an enrichment program.”
Yet just before negotiations began, Witkoff maintained that a new Iran nuclear agreement should focus on preventing the “weaponization” of Tehran’s nuclear program — the construction of atomic bombs out of enriched uranium — raising concern that he might broker a deal that allows Iranian enrichment. “I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program,” Witkoff said. “That is our position today. That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.” He added, “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability.”
Q. Why is continued Iranian enrichment a dangerous prospect, and why is a deal focused only on preventing weaponization an ineffectual solution to the Iran nuclear threat?
A deal permitting continued Iranian enrichment would leave intact key Iranian capabilities to produce enriched uranium, a key fuel for nuclear weapons. Even if a deal requires caps on the regime’s enriched uranium stockpile and purity level, Tehran could likely maintain its nuclear facilities and capabilities as well as the regime’s enormous stockpile of advanced fast-enriching gas centrifuges. Iran could thus bypass the deal’s limitations at any point, including after Trump leaves office.
Tehran could also hide such weaponization capabilities and resume them in small, non-descript facilities, matching the construction of a nuclear bomb with enriched uranium at a time of its choosing. A holistic, effective approach must therefore entail the full, verifiable, and permanent disarmament of all three pillars of nuclear weapons development — the regime’s nuclear fuel, weaponization, and missile-delivery programs — to ensure it can no longer build nuclear weapons.
Q. What is Iran’s aim in negotiations?
Tehran aims to entice Washington with the illusion of a negotiated resolution, thereby averting military strikes on its nuclear program, by signaling a performative openness to diplomacy. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei backtracked on his March 8 pledge to refrain from negotiations while under U.S. sanctions likely due to fear over America’s military buildup in the region and the U.S. bombing campaign against Tehran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen. Iran also seeks to complicate Jerusalem’s strategic decision-making, as the likelihood of an Israeli strike during U.S.-Iran diplomacy remains minimal.
Engaging in negotiations also enables Tehran to stall European efforts to trigger the snapback of Iran sanctions at the UN Security Council (UNSC) ahead of their scheduled expiration on October 18, 2025. Under UNSC Resolution 2231, parties to the 2015 JCPOA retain the option to restore sweeping pre-deal UN sanctions targeting Iran’s arms transfers, missile development and trade, and enriched uranium activity.
Q. What makes the regime’s internal challenges an opportunity for Washington to affect the outcome of nuclear negotiations?
Iran is contending with internal turmoil that threatens regime stability: devalued currency, water scarcity, and rising discontent from its support base. The Iranian rial plunged to an all-time low of 1,043,000 against the U.S. dollar on April 5 but rebounded to 845,000 following the announcement of direct talks. Record high temperatures, droughts, and the depletion of rivers and lakes have sparked protests. Fearing public backlash, the regime also stalled the enforcement of the controversial Hijab and Chastity law, which imposes harsh penalties on women who refuse veiling. Despite the growing internal strain, negotiations offer the regime temporary relief, stabilizing the rial, potentially calming unrest, and undercutting dissident morale.
By pursuing a strategy of maximum support for the Iranian people, Washington can harness these opportunities to pressure Tehran to commit to full, verifiable, and permanent restrictions on its nuclear program. Such a framework should include providing internet access for Iranians, backing labor strikes, and providing cyber and intelligence support for protesters.
Q. What can Congress do to prevent another weak Iran nuclear deal?
Congress has a key law at its disposal to enable oversight of any nuclear deal or to mount legislative opposition. Under the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), the president must submit any Iran nuclear agreement to Congress, triggering a review period during which sanctions cannot be waived and Congress can vote on the deal.
In this context, lawmakers can voice opposition to continued Iranian enrichment as part of any deal and elevate their concerns with the administration. Some members have already done so. A coalition of nine Republican House lawmakers led by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) wrote in a letter to the president on April 11, “The regime in Iran must understand that there is no situation which allows it to retain a nuclear weapons capability, and there is no scenario in which the United States will accept anything short of its full and permanent disarmament.” Similarly, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted on X, “Any diplomatic solution … must include the total dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and include not only U.S. but worldwide supervision. I fear anything less could be a catastrophic mistake.”
*Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at FDD, where he focuses on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s malign regional influence. For more analysis from the authors and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea and Janatan on X @StrickerNonpro and @JanatanSayeh. Follow FDD on X @FDD and @FDD_Iran. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.

Beware the Stalling…Illegitimate Weapons Have Outlived Their Use
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 17/2025
The moment Naim Qassem publicly and explicitly approved the ceasefire agreement, before Amos Hochstein even landed in Tel Aviv, he was, in effect, admitting to the collapse of Hezbollah’s project. The party’s insistence on securing a binding ceasefire agreement, even while Israeli forces remained on southern Lebanese soil, amounts to nothing less than a confession: the gamble on “resistance” has failed, and the role of the weapons has expired. By extension, so has the party’s regional function, as defined for it by the Iranian regime.
Hezbollah has repeatedly acknowledged the imbalance in power with Israel, an imbalance now reinforced by Washington and NATO’s green light to dismantle Iran’s regional militias. One might have expected, in response, a measured plan to implement both the Lebanese president’s oath of office and the new government’s policy declaration, particularly the clause about restricting arms to the state. This position enjoys near-unanimous national support. Reclaiming state authority today means two things: first, restricting arms to legitimate institutions and dismantling the militias (including those hiding behind “scout formations”); and second, asserting financial and economic sovereignty to give the Lebanese people hope of reclaiming their rights.
While it may be early to judge the performance of President Joseph Aoun, just past the third month of his election, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s cabinet, now in its second month, what cannot be ignored is that time is a luxury Lebanon cannot afford. The country is drained, wounded, and once-liberated Lebanese territory is now back under occupation. Heightening the state of alarm are reports in The New York Times that Israel is erecting military installations within Lebanese and Syrian borders—part of a plan to create vast buffer zones in neighboring Arab states, emptied of civilians, soldiers, and arms alike.
Against this backdrop, the region must be read as a compass. In Gaza, renewed acts of genocide barely register to the outside world. In Yemen, U.S. airstrikes against Houthi militias have been lethal and sustained. Baghdad is now deliberating how best to “retire” its own militias and dismantle the Popular Mobilization Forces. In Iran, Khamenei has opted to negotiate with the Americans under fire, even under Trump-era conditions, while Iranian leadership watches the naval blockade tightening around it. To Tehran, preserving national interest now takes priority over prolonging peripheral wars, especially after the collapse of its regional proxy model. Except in Lebanon, where no real steps have been taken toward disarmament, only vague talk of a “national security strategy,” perhaps to buy time until U.S.-Iranian negotiations yield some outcome.
But given the regional context, one thing is certain: it is not in Lebanon’s interest to leave its fate hanging on the outcome of negotiations that could drag on for months. Such delay could squander the momentum of Gulf, Arab, and international support. Denying the obvious no longer helps: the so-called “resistance” has failed, and the non-state arms it wielded have only brought ruin, reoccupation, blocked return of displaced populations, and a halt to reconstruction efforts. Any hesitation to assert sovereignty is, at this stage, a massive blow to whatever hope remains, and to the aspirations of a now battered population.
In this context, there are serious concerns that the president’s initiative to engage in bilateral dialogue with Hezbollah over disarmament—absent any use of force—may not be properly understood. The real fear is that it will lead nowhere, leaving Lebanon vulnerable to more external pressure, increased attacks, and expanding Israeli encroachment. What feeds this fear is that Hezbollah has no tangible political objective left to fight for. So the question arises: what could it possibly demand in exchange for handing over its weapons?
We must be clear-eyed: Hezbollah is a security-militia structure, tied since its inception to the task of defending the Iranian regime and its regional ambitions. It is not institutionally equipped to surrender its weapons voluntarily, even if doing so would stop Israeli aggression or pave the way to rebuilding vast areas now devastated far worse than they were after the 2006 war, including zones vital to its own support base.
Look more closely at its conduct, and it appears as though the party believes it has recovered its footing, ready to resume “resistance” whenever it decides. It’s trying to overcome a bitter defeat before any new authority can take root—one that might rally the country around it. And it’s turning up the pressure on the government, accusing it of failing to reclaim land diplomatically, all in an effort to paint it as ineffectual in the eyes of its followers.
Hezbollah is attempting to deflect blame for the crime it committed against Lebanon: dragging the country, unilaterally and violently, into a war that destroyed it and brought back occupation. Now, it seeks to extract what it couldn’t achieve back when it controlled parliament and government. Its circles are floating proposals ranging from creating “support companies” and “border patrol units,” to demanding state-funded salaries and compensation for its fighters, over 20,000 of whom died in the latest war and earlier, in Syria, supporting the former regime.
What’s worrying is that all of this may amount to little more than stalling, killing time until Tehran gives the green light. And if that’s the case, we must ask: will Lebanon still have a window left—political, financial, and moral—to enter into a phase of national recovery?