English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 25/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. They were startled and terrified. He said to them: Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24/36-45: “While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 24-25/2025
Anniversary  Of The Massacres Committed By The Ottoman Empire Against The Armenian People—Alongside Chaldeans, Maronites, Assyrians, Syriacs, & Greeks/Elias Bejjani/April 24, 2025
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video/Time to Cut Diplomatic Ties with Iran, Expel Its Ambassador, and Seal Its Embassy in Beirut/Elias Bejjani/April 22, 2025
A video link to a scandalous financial atomic bomb with the troublemaker activist Nadine Barakat
No school should force kids to take classes on gender identity/Mike Pompeo/X site/April 24, 2025
Lebanon amends banking secrecy law in key reform
Lebanon media says 8 wounded in drone strike at Syrian border
Lebanon receives $250 million World Bank loan to ease power problems
US military delegation inspects South Litani area
Foreign Ministry asks Iran ambassador not to interfere in Lebanese affairs
Army seizes Jamaa Islamiya posts and arms in South
Parliament approves banking secrecy and money and credit laws
Geagea says Hezbollah must disarm first for Israel to withdraw
Hezbollah MP calls for equipping army before discussing group's arms
Aoun says war-hit south will participate in May municipal vote
The Arsenal of the ‘Resistance’/Amr el-Shobaki/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 24/2025
Political Schizophrenia and What Remains of Hezbollah/Dr. Jebril El-Abidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 24/2025
Lebanon’s strong civil society model should be preserved/Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/April 24, 2025
Can Hezbollah be persuaded to peacefully disarm?/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/April 24, 2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 24-25/2025
Jordan Bans Muslim Brotherhood, Declares Group Illegal
Muslim Brotherhood, Jordan’s Governments: From Alliance to Rupture
US names lead for technical talks with Iran, Politico reports
Rubio says war with Iran would be ‘much messier than what people are used to seeing’
Rubio says Iran must give up nuclear enrichment in any deal with the US
IMF to help Syria rebuild institutions, re-enter world economy, Georgieva says
UK lifts more sanctions in Syria to support efforts to rebuild country
Carney confirms Trump spoke to him last month about making Canada a U.S. state
Family of six among 44 killed as Israel airstrikes pound Gaza
Israel acknowledges killing aid worker in strike after initially accusing UN of ‘baseless slander’
Palestinians create role for a vice president and possible successor to aging leader Abbas
Gaza: Israeli army tells civilians to move to area no longer considered 'humanitarian'
French medics continue hunger strike as Gaza humanitarian crisis worsens
'Vladimir, STOP!': Trump makes an all-caps callout but will Putin hear it?
NATO chief urges allies to do more and says their freedom and prosperity depend on it
Team Trump’s appeasement of Putin fails in London
China denies any suggestion it is currently in talks with the US over tariffs
Al Shabaab battles Somalia's army for control of strategic military base
India orders Pakistani citizens to leave, Islamabad closes border after Kashmir attack
India and Pakistan cancel visas as rift deepens after mass shooting in Kashmir
UN Yemen envoy meets Houthi officials in Oman
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 9 in biggest attack on capital since last summer

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sourceson on April 24-25/2025
Why Hamas Must Not Be Allowed to Keep Its Weapons/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/April 24, 2025
How Trump backed away from promising to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours/Meg Kinnard/The Associated Press/April 24, 2025
Sudan war is a global crisis in the making/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 24, 2025
Pope Francis’ lessons must guide the Middle East/Lynn Zovighian/Arab News/April 24, 2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 24-25/2025
Anniversary  Of The Massacres Committed By The Ottoman Empire Against The Armenian People—Alongside Chaldeans, Maronites, Assyrians, Syriacs, & Greeks
Elias Bejjani/April 24, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/129151/
On this day each year, the human conscience stands before one of the most horrific crimes in modern history: the massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people—alongside the Chaldeans, Maronites, Assyrians, Syriacs, and Greeks. A crime that does not expire with time, that cannot be justified by any context, and that history will never forgive.
More than a century ago, in 1915, the Ottoman killing machine launched a systematic, brutal campaign of religious and ethnic extermination. One and a half million innocent Armenians—children, women, elderly, and men—were slaughtered, starved, displaced, and dragged across death marches, simply because they were Armenian, because they were Christian. It was not a war—it was a full-scale ethnic cleansing project, comparable in scale to the Holocaust, and perhaps even more barbaric in execution.
Yet despite the catastrophe, the Armenian people did not perish. Their spirit was not broken. Their faith did not falter. Rising from the ashes of genocide, they spread across the globe like a phoenix, carrying with them their message, their culture, their Christian faith, and their sacred history. From this sorrow, from this blood, emerged a vibrant Armenian diaspora—resilient, proud, and brilliant.
As a Lebanese Maronite Christian, I do not merely sympathize with the Armenian people—I share their pain, I stand by their just cause, and I am united with them in faith, in values, and in the belief in Christ the Redeemer. I am also proud that my homeland, Lebanon, is home to a strong and dignified Armenian community that has contributed immensely to the survival and defense of our nation.
The massacres committed by the Ottomans against the Armenians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Maronites, and other Christians of the East are not merely events of the past—they remain an open wound in the conscience of humanity. A wound that deepens with every official Turkish denial, every international silence, and every attempt to falsify or erase history.
The time has come to end political appeasement at the expense of historical justice. The international community, human rights organizations, religious institutions, and global cultural bodies must speak out boldly and without hesitation. Recognizing the Armenian Genocide is not only a duty toward the victims—it is a moral responsibility toward future generations and toward the values humanity claims to uphold.
There can be no true peace without justice, no genuine reconciliation without truth. Turkey, the legal heir of the Ottoman Empire, must assume full ethical, legal, and humanitarian responsibility by officially acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and taking meaningful steps toward reparation—just as Germany did in the case of the Holocaust.
A heartfelt salute to the Armenian people—resilient and faithful—who gave the world the first Christian kingdom in history, and who continue to inspire with their saints, martyrs, thinkers, and creators. A tribute to the innocent souls of the Armenians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Maronites, and Syriacs who were slaughtered for their faith and identity, yet never surrendered their dignity or their cross.
And in the end, let us say this with unwavering conviction: Those who escape the justice of man will never escape the justice of God. Innocent blood does not vanish. Truth never dies. And though justice may be delayed, it never disappears. Glory to the martyrs, eternal memory to their cause, and light to the truth.

Elias Bejjani/Text & Video/Time to Cut Diplomatic Ties with Iran, Expel Its Ambassador, and Seal Its Embassy in Beirut
Elias Bejjani/April 22, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142592/
In a blatant breach of diplomatic norms and a dangerous escalation that crosses every red line, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, made a provocative statement on April 20, declaring that “disarming Hezbollah is a clear conspiracy that targets the security and stability of the region.”
This was no passing opinion, but rather an outrageous and obscene interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs—an open threat to what remains of the concept of a Lebanese state, a state currently occupied by the weapons of Hezbollah, Iran’s terrorist militia and mere proxy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Amani’s statement is yet another shameless reiteration of Iran’s imperial vision: one of dominance, arrogance, and foreign occupation. Tehran’s aim has always been to transform Lebanon into a military base for the IRGC, all under the deceitful banner of so-called “resistance.”
And because the Lebanese people have had enough, the government, albeit belatedly, responded with an urgent summons of the ambassador by Foreign Minister Youssef Raji. This move, though symbolic, was a bold Lebanese stance against Iran’s ever-deepening intrusion and a direct response to its ambassador’s violation of the Vienna Convention, which governs the conduct of diplomatic missions.
What the Lebanese public—and the world—must understand is that this ambassador is not just a diplomat. He is actively embedded within Hezbollah’s leadership networks. Amani was severely wounded in the “pager bomb” explosions—operations executed by Israeli intelligence—that targeted Hezbollah officials across Lebanon. At the time of the blasts, Amani was carrying a pager device, revealing his direct involvement in Hezbollah’s security and intelligence infrastructure. He later appeared publicly alongside Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, confirming his covert military and security role under a diplomatic cover.
All the facts point to one conclusion: Iran’s embassy in Beirut has long since transformed into a de facto military operations room—an IRGC command center that coordinates arms smuggling, destabilization campaigns, and the subversion of Lebanese sovereignty. This includes the now-exposed role of Iranian planes, once landing freely at Beirut International Airport, used to smuggle weapons and cash until Lebanese authorities were forced to ban their landing after repeated violations were exposed. It also includes illegal telecom networks that exert more control over Lebanese territory than the official state apparatus.
The ambassador’s terrorist, anti-Lebanese remarks cannot be viewed in isolation. They come within a broader climate of threats and intimidation issued by Hezbollah leaders themselves. Figures like Secretary-General Naim Qassem, and officials Wafiq Safa and Mahmoud Qamati, have openly and arrogantly declared that “the hand that reaches for Hezbollah’s weapons will be cut off.”
Are we now living in a Republic of Fear? Or will the Lebanese state reclaim its stolen sovereignty?
What’s worse, Hezbollah—after dragging Lebanon into a catastrophic war with Israel—has plunged the country into widespread destruction across the South, the Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Tens of thousands of Shiites and other Lebanese have been killed, wounded, or displaced. Yet Hezbollah shamelessly cloaks this disaster with hollow slogans like “steadfastness,” trying to justify what was, in truth, a defeat. The ceasefire was imposed on the group, and it submitted—despite all the loud propaganda and hollow bravado.
At this point, the continued presence of this ambassador and the functioning of the Iranian embassy in Beirut are no longer just sovereignty issues. They represent a direct threat to Lebanon’s national security. That is why we loudly and unequivocally demand the following:
Immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in Beirut, which serves as a military command center, not a diplomatic mission.
Expulsion of Mojtaba Amani, a proven IRGC officer masquerading as an ambassador.
Total severance of diplomatic relations with the Iranian regime, which occupies Lebanon, threatens its unity, and prevents the re-establishment of a sovereign state.
To rebuild Lebanon, the weapons of Hezbollah must no longer supersede the authority of the state. Its shadow state must be dismantled. So long as Lebanon remains infiltrated by IRGC intelligence operatives, there will be no reform, no reconstruction, no rescue, and certainly no real elections.
Hezbollah must be disarmed, its leadership arrested and prosecuted, and its entire military, educational, financial, and political infrastructure dismantled—permanently banishing it from all political, social, cultural, and parliamentary life.
Lebanon will never be free until the Iranian occupation is broken. Ceasefire agreements and international resolutions,  Armistice Agreement,1559, 1701, and 1680—must be enforced in full. And if necessary, Lebanon must be placed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, with immediate steps taken to reassert state authority, even if only once—before the final light of Lebanon’s sovereignty is forever extinguished.

A video link to a scandalous financial atomic bomb with the troublemaker activist Nadine Barakat
LCCC/April 24, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142687/
A video link to a scandalous financial atomic bomb with the troublemaker activist Nadine Barakat/Dangerous and frightening information exposing, by name, money laundering crimes and bank robberies involving Hezbollah, Kulluna Irada, Michel Aoun’s movement, and the left, including Amer Basat, Paula Yacoubian, Amal Bouzid, Nawaf Salam, Samer Foz, Albert Kostanian, Mansouri, Ali Khalil, Adel Nassar, and dozens of influential figures in Lebanon. Information you won’t believe about new accomplices!! Nadine Barakat reveals the names of those running a new money laundering network.

No school should force kids to take classes on gender identity
Mike Pompeo/X site/April 24, 2025
*Good...The Muslim Brotherhood is absolutely a terrorist organization and that’s why we designated it as one during the first Trump Administration.
*No school should force kids to take classes on gender identity—a topic that is effectively a religion for the far left.
I’m hopeful the Supreme Court will protect our First Freedom.

Lebanon amends banking secrecy law in key reform
AFP/April 24, 2025
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament on Thursday granted regulatory bodies greater access to bank account information, a key reform demanded by international creditors before the crisis-hit country can unlock bail-out funds. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called parliament’s approval of changes to banking secrecy laws “a necessary step toward the desired financial reform that our government promised to achieve, and a fundamental pillar to any recovery plan.”Adding that the decades-old culture of financial opacity was no longer the boon to investment it once was, Salam said the reform was fundamental to “restoring the rights of depositors and the confidence of citizens and the international community.”Lebanon was once a booming regional financial hub dubbed the “Switzerland of the Middle East,” with strict banking secrecy laws a key attraction, but the economic crisis that began in 2019 shredded its fiscal reputation. Since then, authorities have come under local and international pressure to amend the laws amid accusations that influential figures spirited large sums abroad while regular depositors were locked out of their life savings and the local currency’s value plummeted. Lebanese rights group Legal Agenda said the amendments allow “banking supervisory and regulatory bodies” including the central bank “to request access to all banking information without linking the request to a specific objective.”These bodies will now be able to audit customer accounts by name, access deposit details and look into possible suspicious activity, the group said. The changes are among several major reforms Lebanon needs to make to unlock billions of dollars in aid to restart the economy after the collapse, which was widely blamed on mismanagement and corruption. Finance Minister Yassine Jaber told local broadcaster LBC that the amendments “opened greater space” for Lebanon’s central bank to access accounts. But “we should not think that with this law, anyone can enter a bank and demand account details” for whoever they like, added Jaber, who is in Washington with other senior officials for meetings with the IMF and the World Bank. Alain Aoun, a member of parliament’s finance committee, said the move followed 2022 banking secrecy amendments that the IMF had viewed as “insufficient.”Now, regulatory bodies will be able to request “the information they want” on bank accounts, he said. The cabinet, which approved the amendment earlier this month, said it would apply retroactively for 10 years from the date of request, meaning it would cover the start of the economic crisis.

Lebanon media says 8 wounded in drone strike at Syrian border
AFP/April 24, 2025
BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said eight people were wounded by in a drone attack in a border village, as Syrian Arab Republic said it responded to artillery fire from Lebanon. Eight Syrian refugees were wounded and taken to hospital in the northeast area of Hermel after an “explosives-laden drone blew up” in the border village of Hawsh Al-Sayyed Ali, Lebanon’s National News Agency said. The Lebanese army sent reinforcements “after gunfire was heard,” the report added. Syrian state news agency SANA, carrying a statement from an unnamed defense ministry source, said Lebanon’s Hezbollah group had launched artillery shells at Syrian army positions in the Qusayr area of Homs province, near the Lebanese border. “Our forces immediately targeted the sources of the fire,” the statement said. “We are in contact with the Lebanese army to evaluate the incident and stopped targeting the sources of fire” at the Lebanese army’s request, the statement added. Lebanon and Syria’s defense ministers signed an agreement last month to address border security threats after clashes left 10 dead. Earlier in March, Syria’s new authorities accused Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanese territory and killing them.
The Iran-backed group, which fought with the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar Assad, denied involvement, but the ensuing cross-border clashes left seven Lebanese dead. Lebanon and Syria share a porous 330 kilometer (205 mile) frontier that is notorious for the smuggling of goods, people and weapons.

Lebanon receives $250 million World Bank loan to ease power problems
Reuters/April 24, 2025
DUBAI: The World Bank has granted Lebanon a $250 million loan aimed at helping alleviate persistent power cuts worsened by last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, the country’s finance ministry said on Thursday. Even before the conflict, Lebanon had for years been struggling with a severe shortage of imported fuel and poor infrastructure. Following the conflict, however, the World Bank said it would need around $11 billion for reconstruction and recovery. The fighting between the Iran-backed group and Israel ended for the most part in November through a brittle ceasefire brokered by the United States, though the two sides accuse each other of failing to fully implement the deal. Lebanon had said it received preliminary approval to increase a World Bank reconstruction loan to $400 million from $250 million. The loan is part of a $1 billion reconstruction program, with the remainder of the financing to come from international aid.

US military delegation inspects South Litani area
Naharnet/April 24, 2025
A U.S. military delegation accompanied by a Lebanese Army force on Thursday inspected the al-Dabesh area on the southeastern outskirts of the southern town of Yohmor al-Shaqif, which was targeted by Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling over the past two weeks, the state-run National News Agency reported.The delegation also toured many areas in south Lebanon, NNA added.Al-Akhbar newspaper said the U.S. team started its tour of the South Litani area from the strategic valley of Wadi al-Hujeir, accompanied by Lebanese troops.
A UNIFIL force from the French contingent also “carried out patrols in search of Hezbollah facilities in the forests of Wadi al-Hujeir,” Al-Akhbar said.

Foreign Ministry asks Iran ambassador not to interfere in Lebanese affairs
Naharnet/April 24, 2025
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani visited the Lebanese Foreign Ministry on Thursday after it summoned him over his latest remarks on disarmament. Amani met with the ministry’s Secretary-General Ambassador Hani Chemaitelly, who informed him of “the need to abide by the diplomatic norms specified in the international treaties related to the sovereignty of nations and non-interference in their domestic affairs, topped by the Vienna Convention,” a statement said.The ambassador had announced Wednesday that Tehran would “abide by what the Lebanese agree on” regarding the issue of Hezbollah’s arms. He had warned Friday that “the disarmament project is a clear conspiracy against nations.”“While the United States continues to supply the Zionist entity (Israel) with the latest weapons and missiles, it prevents countries from arming and strengthening their armies, and pressures other countries to reduce or destroy their arsenals under various pretexts,” Amani wrote on the X platform. “Once these countries surrender to demands for disarmament, they become vulnerable to attack and occupation, as happened in Iraq, Libya and Syria,” Amani cautioned. Although he did not mention Lebanon or Hezbollah by name, his remarks were widely viewed in Lebanon as being related to the debate over Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Army seizes Jamaa Islamiya posts and arms in South
Naharnet/April 24, 2025
A video circulating online shows the Lebanese Army seizing control of military posts, weapons and rockets in the southern region of al-Orqoub.Al-Jadeed television meanwhile reported that the military posts and arms belonged to Lebanon’s Jamaa Islamiya group, a Hamas ally.
Al-Jadeed added that the area had been  fully evacuated by Jamaa Islamiya.

Parliament approves banking secrecy and money and credit laws
Agence France Presse/April 24, 2025
Lebanon's parliament on Thursday approved amendments to banking secrecy legislation, a key reform demanded by the International Monetary Fund, as Lebanese officials hold meetings with global finance institutions in Washington. A statement from Speaker Nabih Berri's office said parliament passed amendments to "the law related to banking secrecy" and to monetary legislation. The international community has long demanded major fiscal reforms to unlock billions of dollars in aid to restart the Lebanese economy in the wake of a five-year economic collapse widely blamed on mismanagement and corruption.
The crash since 2019 has seen the local currency lose most of its value against the U.S. dollar and has pushed much of the population into poverty, with ordinary people locked out of their savings. The recent war between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah has worsened matters, with the cash-strapped country now also needing funds for reconstruction.Lebanese rights group Legal Agenda said the amendments allow "banking supervisory and regulatory bodies... to request access to all banking information without linking the request to a specific objective."These bodies will now be able to access information including customer names and deposit details, and look into possible suspicious activity, the group said. Lebanon has long had strict rules over bank account privacy that critics have said makes it susceptible to money laundering. The cabinet had approved the amendment earlier this month, saying it would apply retroactively for 10 years from the date of request. That means it would apply to the start of the economic crisis, when bankers were accused of assisting influential individuals to transfer large amounts of money overseas. Parliament's approval comes with Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, Economy Minister Amer Bisat and new central bank governor Karim Souaid in Washington for meetings with the World Bank and IMF. Jaber said earlier this week that parliamentary approval of the banking secrecy amendment would give a "boost" to the delegation's meetings. In April 2022, Lebanon and the IMF reached conditional agreement on a $3-billion loan package, but painful reforms that the 46-month financing program would require have largely not happened. In February, the IMF said it was open to a new loan agreement with Beirut following discussions with the newly appointed Jaber.The new government has pledged to implement other required reforms, and approved draft legislation on restructuring the banking sector earlier this month.

Geagea says Hezbollah must disarm first for Israel to withdraw
Naharnet/April 24, 2025 
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Wednesday Hezbollah's officials for stating that the group will not hand over its arms as long as Israeli troops are in South Lebanon. Hezbollah's chief Sheikh Naim Qassem -- and other Hezbollah officials -- had said that Israel must completely withdraw first and stop its violations, otherwise Hezbollah "will not let anyone disarm" it. President Joseph Aoun said last week he hopes to restrict arms to the state in 2025 through "dialogue" with Hezbollah. "Does anyone expect us to discuss a national defense strategy as warplanes fly over our heads and there is occupation in south Lebanon," Qassem responded in a televised speech. "These are not discussions, this is surrender," he said. Geagea considered that Hezbollah's statements would affect Lebanon's credibility and "damage its image" as Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south under a November ceasefire truce. But under that truce, Israel was also meant to withdraw all of its forces from south Lebanon. Despite the deal, its troops remained at five south Lebanon positions that they deem "strategic", as several experts said Israel's ongoing troop presence along the border played into Hezbollah's hands. Israel has also continued to carry out near-daily strikes against Lebanon, saying it is targeting members of Hezbollah who are breaching the truce agreement. According to Geagea, Hezbollah should first abide by the ceasefire agreement, and after that Israel would withdraw and stop its strikes and Lebanon would be able to "rebuild the state." "We cannot accept that Lebanon's credibility and image be further damaged by reneging on the ceasefire agreement," Geagea said, calling on the new government and administration to remind Hezbollah's officials of their previous commitments. Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, beginning with the group's campaign of rocket fire at its arch-foe in support of ally Hamas, and culminating in a major Israeli bombing campaign that killed many Hezbollah commanders including the group's longtime leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah MP calls for equipping army before discussing group's arms
Naharnet/April 24, 2025
Hezbollah MP Hussein Jishi stressed Thursday that “the arms of the resistance are what liberated the land and ousted the enemy.”“We agree that our national army is the side concerned with protecting the country and preventing the enemy from attacking us, but we must work on equipping the army with all the necessary capabilities so that it can perform the needed missions, and only then the issue of arms should be raised,” Jishi added. “It is the right of all Lebanese, especially the residents of the South, to live safely, away from threats and daily attacks on them by the Zionist enemy. As for what is being said that the army’s prestige and international relations are sufficient for liberating the land, this is unrealistic, and throughout the past decades our land was only liberated through resistance,” the MP went on to say.

Aoun says war-hit south will participate in May municipal vote
Naharnet/April 24, 2025
The Lebanese army has been deploying in the southern villages and towns from which Israeli troops have withdrawn as Lebanon is set to hold its municipal elections next month including in the country's south, still suffering from devastation from major Israeli bombings and a ground invasion. The Israeli strikes have not been halted by a ceasefire reached in late November and Israeli troops remain on five hills in south Lebanon that Israel deems "strategic". The Lebanese army -- which is set under the truce deal to deploy in the south as Hezbollah fighters withdraw north of the Litani river -- is clearing the southern towns of mines and removing all armed manifestations there, President Joseph Aoun told U.N. peacekeeping mission chief Aroldo Lazaro in a meeting Thursday. "But that would take time," Aoun said. The President also called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the five "strategic" hills, as he assured that the municipal elections will take place across the south on Saturday, May 24. "Preparations are underway to ensure the participation of residents of the villages destroyed by Israel," he said.

The Arsenal of the ‘Resistance’
Amr el-Shobaki/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 24/2025
Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem declared his opposition to disarming the party. “We will not allow anyone to disarm Hezbollah or the resistance. The idea of disarmament must be removed from the dictionary,” adding that these weapons had liberated the country and protected its sovereignty. He then upped the ante. “We will confront anyone who attacks the resistance or tries to take its arms, just as we confronted Israel, America, and their agents.”The truth is that the rhetoric of Sheikh Naim betrays a structural problem. It does not deviate from the discourse that Hezbollah had been promoting before the Israeli assault on Lebanon, which took thousands of lives, turned hundreds of buildings to rubble, wiped out entire villages, and crushed Hezbollah’s military capabilities. His recent speech reflects a disconnect from reality, as he failed to distinguish between the achievements of the resistance (when the party played a major role in liberating South Lebanon through a national war supported by the majority of Lebanese) and its most recent war with Israel, which had been instigated by ideological considerations and to achieve regional objectives that Lebanon does not necessarily benefit from.
The Lebanese people, in all their diversity, certainly support the Palestinian people. They want to stand in solidarity with them, and want to support them politically, legally, and in the media. However, they are not willing to take part in a war that has harmed Lebanon and has not benefited Gaza.
The narrative of armed resistance is in a bind because it ignores reality. It refuses to open the door to new forms of civil and peaceful resistance because that would engender an ideological shift that Hezbollah wants to avoid. Civic-minded trans-sectarian communities could work with international institutions to expose Israeli crimes in Lebanon and Palestine, laying the groundwork for a new political project that would not rule out armed struggle but would only resort to violence when necessary and if there is a domestic consensus on bearing the consequences.
The ideological and doctrinal bonds of the resistance factions in Lebanon and elsewhere cannot, on their own, compel them to fight Israel as one, meaning that the “unity of fronts” slogan cannot be implemented on the ground. The ideology of resistance shared by Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and armed factions in Yemen and Iraq do not negate the distinct domestic and regional consideration of each group, regardless of their local context and social composition, that shape their decisions.
Hezbollah has failed to acknowledge this fact in its recent statements. In addressing those who disagree with it, it has repeated the same rhetoric that it had directed at Israel in the past, ignoring the will of the majority in Lebanon, who want to move past the formula of “the people, the army, and the resistance,” which may have been legitimate in a previous era.
Moreover, the “pure” model of resistance, which had once united the Lebanese when the country was occupied until 2000, is not there anymore. Resistance has been repurposed to serve regional agendas, and the support war it had instigated in solidarity with Gaza- a war that left many martyrs in its wake but failed to achieve its goals due to its disregard for popular consensus opposed to this course of action.
The ideology of resistance once cultivated a strong organizational structure and ideologically committed cadres, most of whom genuinely believed in what they were doing. Its proponents have made immense sacrifices, with many becoming martyrs. However, this ideology has failed to read local and international developments because it does not see individuals and citizens. We can see this in Lebanon today, as Hezbollah goes against the state and ignores the will of the majority demanding that its weapons be handed over.
No ideological organization, whatever its creed, should detach itself from its societal context in the name of resistance, doctrine, patriotism, or any other ideology. It should not disregard the considerations and choices of individuals, even when the cause it espouses is noble, such as resisting occupation. No political or resistance ideology, whether religious or secular, can succeed if it sees itself to be above people and individuals, no matter how noble its aims. People should never be viewed as fodder for any ideology.
The problem, and peril, of Hezbollah’s current rhetoric is that it fails to recognize recent shifts. Claiming that the call to hand over Hezbollah’s weapons to the Lebanese state has been made in reaction to Israel’s assault is misleading; this position dates back to 2006 and has become increasingly popular over the past two decades, eventually becoming a view shared by the vast majority of Lebanese citizens.
Hezbollah now has a historic opportunity to cast itself in a new light. It has the chance to prepare some of its militants to integrate into Lebanon’s emerging state institutions. In the past, compensation and both civilian and military training had been left to Iran. However, just as Hezbollah is being called upon to reflect, reassess, and develop a new political project and discourse, the political system in Lebanon also needs comprehensive reform and self-reflection.

Political Schizophrenia and What Remains of Hezbollah
Dr. Jebril El-Abidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 24/2025
We have been accustomed to Hezbollah’s adventurism and siding with the wrong front. It ignores the authority of the Lebanese state, which has been economically devastated and had once been torn apart, during the civil war sparked in the 1970s. That war ended with the Taif Agreement, which developed a power-sharing framework that meant Lebanon’s factions no longer needed to make military alliances or maintain their arms.
Hezbollah suffered an unprecedented and severe blow, both in terms of security and personnel- a “heavy” and unparalleled blow. However, it has not overcome its political schizophrenia, as is evident from the statements of what remains of the party's leadership. “We have entered a new phase of open-ended struggle,” they insist; however, the remnants of Hezbollah find themselves in a position of unprecedented weakness, both politically and militarily. Although it was “dirty,” the Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah exposed the vulnerability of Hezbollah’s intelligence apparatus, even more than the frailty of its fighting forces. This apparatus, long glorified by Hassan Nasrallah, lost its entire top, including Nasrallah himself, in just a few hours, to a swift strike that suggests a major intelligence breach.
Lebanese patriots want to rid the country of Hezbollah, whose military forces have long pointed their weapons at the interior. It has intimidated and terrorized local rivals to impose a foreign power’s will on the country. Lebanon has, for decades, been the victim of Hassan Nasrallah’s adventurism. His glorification of “resistance” and promises of “fierce” retaliation always came at the expense of the South, Lebanon at large, and the country’s infrastructure. The Israeli threat to send Lebanon “back to the Stone Age” (the go-to bombastic image Israel’s army commanders draw after every Hezbollah rocket attack- attacks that rarely cause any real military damage to the Israeli army or its bases in Haifa, the closest targets to Hezbollah’s rockets) continues to loom.
Hezbollah is a regional, indeed almost global, phenomenon that has triggered numerous crises and problems around the world after becoming an Iranian proxy in the region. It became more than a political party, turning into an armed militia operating within the state’s territory but beyond its control. While analysts classify Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy, it has proven to be little more than a guard tasked with protecting Iran’s weapons depots in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Nothing illustrates this point more clearly than Nasrallah’s failure to use those missiles without Iran’s permission- even in self-defense- before he was assassinated in a fortified underground shelter.
Iran’s influence in the region began to recede with the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, and its decline culminated in the death of Nasrallah. Moreover, a series of intertwined developments have now ended Hezbollah's regional role. Although Iran invested hundreds of billions in Hezbollah, recent Israeli strikes wiped out the largest Iranian fruit of Iranian expansionism in a matter of hours.
The formula Hezbollah has hidden behind for years, liberating Palestine and eradicating Israel, remains its slogan. However, Hezbollah’s engagement in the Gaza war was timid, nearly negligible. It merely retaliated to Israeli airstrikes on its cadres, failing to provide any meaningful support.
The Hezbollah militia cannot remain hegemonic or rely on foreign powers to confront the Lebanese state. It cannot continue to operate like a state within a state, perpetuating instability in Lebanon and keeping the country on the brink of civil war. Hezbollah’s actions serve both regional and international agendas by exploiting Lebanon’s many problems, including its “democracy” built on sectarian power-sharing. Today, Lebanon is vying to break free of Hezbollah and others like it, with the rise of a new generation that had played no role in fueling sectarianism nor in imposing the armed presence of Hezbollah.
This raises an important question: Can Hezbollah’s demise be explained by swift Israeli military strikes that lasted only a few days and hours? Or was it also the result of an Iranian decision to pull the plug on the party? The answer will become clear soon, through its policies, alliances, and negotiations, but I believe that Hezbollah was likely abandoned by its patron. The armed Hezbollah is now a painful remnant of the past for Lebanon and the Middle East. However, as a political party, it could coexist with the Lebanese people and the region, on the condition that it renounces violence, disbands its militia, and concedes the “one-third veto” that has paralyzed life in Lebanon and its surroundings.

Lebanon’s strong civil society model should be preserved
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/April 24, 2025
This time it is not our fault. We cannot take the blame for Donald Trump’s funding freeze or EU aid cuts. But these will affect Lebanon more than other countries because of the strength of the nongovernmental organizations sector and its dependence on aid. It is chaotic out there in the NGO and civil society world — many risk closure and were not even aware that their grants were originally part of a chain of US Agency for International Development subcontracts. Thousands of lives will be affected and it seems to have happened almost overnight, with little warning.
It is not ideal, but the Lebanese have long since had no choice but to learn how to manage with a weak, absent, hijacked or paralyzed state, especially since the civil war. They have done so through civil society, communal and nongovernmental bodies, and the private sector. It has worked for them because it builds on existing traditions and age-old associations. While it is crucial to restore a functioning state, it is even more urgent to rescue society’s homegrown institutions. It is not a zero-sum game between the state and civil society — they have learned to work together.
To illustrate this, consider the aftermath of the Beirut Port blast of August 2020. The government was in complete paralysis and had actually just resigned, while the banking sector was in collapse mode after the state declared its bankruptcy and defaulted on loan payments. Major hospitals were partly destroyed by the blast and were overwhelmed with casualties. Someday, an admirable story will be told of how society mobilized to help clear up and rebuild and rehouse, feed and care for itself, while no politician even dared show up to face the angry crowds.
Lebanon mostly skipped the 20th century, which in other countries of the region was characterized by secular nationalism and strong states. Its politics are a continuation of the Ottoman Empire’s system of millets, which was based on recognized semi-autonomous religious communities. This was how the empire managed its diversity, by allowing each community to manage its own affairs, such as education, personal status laws and other services. Lebanese communities had their own schools, hospitals and tribunals and a model gradually evolved in which NGOs worked in partnership with the ministries but sometimes competed with state institutions.While it is crucial to restore a functioning state, it is even more urgent to rescue society’s homegrown institutions. The system has many critics, especially when communal services are also tied to politicians who use them for votes and clientelism. Defenders of the system argue that religious institutions and even sectarian parties have direct and easier access to recipients and are mostly open to everybody, rather than exclusively being for their constituents. The system can become more equitable with proper state regulation.
Over time, large secular NGOs like arcenciel, which helps people with disabilities, created a model to mitigate some of the disadvantages. This formula is based on the principles of rights and access, with the state playing the role of regulator and consumers having a choice of which supplier to go to. This also creates healthy competition that improves quality. The model has even been copied and used by donors in places like Palestine, Algeria and Mozambique.
Pierre Issa, the co-founder of arcenciel, explained to me that the name, which is French for rainbow, is written all in lower case because its members do not use capital letters as a sign of humility. Activists of his generation were influenced by Bishop Gregoire Haddad, who once explained to me that social work should be promoted in order to create a responsible society. He said that this intangible outcome was more important to him than the aid itself and that it created a culture of humanity. Smaller NGOs like Skoun Lebanese Addictions Center are in danger of closing down because of both the banking crisis and the international funding crisis. If Skoun were to close, it would mean the loss of 22 years of experience in the field, which would be difficult to replace. The founder of an independent media NGO also told me it had lost 90 percent of its funding and was running a skeleton staff in a bid to avoid closure.
The funding crisis has many components, in addition to the sudden and unexpected USAID freeze. USAID was founded in 1961 by the Kennedy administration. This was the beginning of what became known as the development decade, which also saw states in Western Europe join in with the objectives of eradicating poverty, promoting democratic values and, at the time, fighting communism. The proportion of spending on aid increased as military spending decreased with the end of the Cold War and the declaration of a “new world order” by President George H.W. Bush. Even the World Bank, which normally dealt only with governments, opened a civil society program around that time. The trend continued with increased support for democratization, as well as humanitarian support, and it peaked in the early 2000s. Both the US and the EU had policies to promote democratization and development as a way to combat both immigration and terrorism. But this started to reverse after 2015, with another increase in military spending and decrease in aid.There may be some benefits from a reset triggered by the USAID freeze and the European squeeze.
There may be some benefits from a reset triggered by the USAID freeze and the European squeeze. The sector, as it grew, became too bureaucratized and inefficient, if not with a certain degree of corruption. One extreme example is where layer upon layer of subcontracting meant that less than 10 percent of the original funding reached actual beneficiaries. The USAID slogan of “From the American People” had less to do with the American people and more to do with its bureaucrats and taxes. Government aid, which distributes compulsory taxes, also decreases the social responsibility and empathy element that is achieved through voluntary charitable donations. An example of this came in the aftermath of the First World War, when Near East Relief was created to help Armenian and Greek refugees from Turkiye. It raised $110 million, equivalent to $1.25 billion today, from some half a million small donations, all organized by volunteers in the days of snail mail. That was real aid from the American people and the voluntary element was as valuable in terms of international goodwill as the material aid itself. Lebanon is unique in the region for having independent institutions that collaborate efficiently with ministries. It is also almost unique globally for having maintained a strong civil society despite the post-Second World War trend of greater dependence on the role of the state. In fact, that system of state provision has proven to be unsustainable, as the new generation pays far more in taxes for far fewer services. We are hopefully entering a new era in the region with less conflict, but a great deal of work is also needed to repair the damage in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen. This should not all be done by governments and state institutions. The Lebanese model of collaboration between state and society helps with the healing of both physical and psychological wounds and it should be preserved. It is proof that wars and hardship can bring out the best in people, as well as the worst.
*Nadim Shehadi is an economist and political adviser. X: @Confusezeus

Can Hezbollah be persuaded to peacefully disarm?
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/April 24, 2025
Will Hezbollah agree to peacefully disarm through dialogue is the main question everyone is asking in Lebanon. President Joseph Aoun last week reaffirmed his desire to disarm Hezbollah this year. Understandably, his preferred option is to go through this process via a national dialogue.
This situation cannot be isolated from the broader shifts in the region. The bigger dialogue is now taking place between Iran and the US. This places the next steps for the Lebanese state in a quandary. There is no doubt that the final decision on Hezbollah’s disarmament will be taken in Tehran, as the group is an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tool of terror. This was confirmed when the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon took to X last week to describe the planned disarmament, among other criticisms, as “a clear conspiracy against nations.”
It is a positive step that the Iranian ambassador was reportedly summoned over his remarks, as they represented a blatant interference in state affairs. Yet, what is Hezbollah today besides an interference tool in Lebanon?
It is a good sign of the will of the Lebanese state that it is striving for its sovereignty. This would not have been possible only a year ago. The reality is that Hezbollah has been reduced to rubble by Israel’s military campaign. And with the political change in Syria, the Iranian proxy has lost the logistics support from Iran that was essential to its operations. This is a huge difference that has helped the Lebanese state to enhance its sovereign voice. But this does not mean Hezbollah no longer has the capacity and power to destroy Lebanon or target its opponents in the country.
If the regime in Tehran were to push Hezbollah into a confrontation, it would have a single outcome: Hezbollah’s defeat and Tehran’s humiliation. Tehran knows it, Hezbollah knows it. And the Iranian ambassador’s posts on X underline this weakness. Simply because, in the past, the Lebanese president would have been summoned by a low-level intelligence officer to keep quiet about disarmament. Regardless, the Iranian regime has an opportunity to allow not only Lebanon to flourish, but also its own country and the region. Hezbollah’s disarmament should be an important point in the dialogue with the US over the Iranian nuclear file, as it is a similar tool.
It is a good sign of the will of the Lebanese state that it is striving for its sovereignty. This would not have been possible only a year ago
But I would call on the people of Lebanon to show stronger support for this disarmament. It is important to show that, beyond any regional agreement, it is the will of the people that the state has a monopoly on weapons. Aoun is remaining cautious in his approach as he understands very well that Hezbollah remains a military power that can be dangerous for the future of Lebanon. This is why there needs to be popular support for this historical transformation.
Hezbollah’s disarmament could be the starting point for a new Lebanon. The starting point for a real and sustainable reconstruction. The starting point of a Lebanese renaissance. It offers a historic opportunity that cannot and should not be missed. This is why the Lebanese need to rally and push for this transformation, regardless of the outcome of the broader regional dialogues.
In this context, it is also important to build solid trust with the Shiite community and repeat until we lose our voices that Hezbollah should not represent them. Just as any armed militia never protected any community. The people must find ways to engage and convey this solidarity among all Lebanese communities. This would also offer much-needed support for the president’s initiative. Any popular support should convey that disarming Hezbollah is not an action against the Shiite community, but salvation for all Lebanese. We also need hope and wishful thinking.
It is important to convey that, just as it was proven that Hezbollah is an artificial power annihilated by Israel in a split second, it is also an artificial protector, just like the regime in Tehran. Not a single community in Lebanon should need protection from a foreign power — protection should be guaranteed. Rights and duties should be the same for all. I also believe, and I indeed keep losing my voice on this, that federalism is the best way forward. But for now, we need greater trust among communities and this should also be reflected within social media exchanges. Paid voices should be silenced on both sides.
Aoun understands very well that Hezbollah remains a military power that can be dangerous for the future of Lebanon
The solution proposed for Hezbollah members is to join the Lebanese army, but not as a separate unit. This would only take place after a peaceful agreement to disarm, which is not yet guaranteed. But if this were to happen, there would have to be a serious vetting process and those who are ideologically loyal to the regime in Tehran or who have committed terror crimes should be excluded from joining the Lebanese army. After all its actions, Hezbollah also should not be allowed to participate in any elections. Loyalty should be exclusive to Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces. I believe Lebanon can learn from other countries that have gone through the same process.
A change in how Tehran deals with Lebanon and its neighbors will also be crucial. Respecting a pledge of noninterference, abandoning any foreign military disruption and opting exclusively for state-to-state collaboration would be the silver bullet. This is what the US administration should aim for in its dialogue. Putting an end to the offensive activities of the Iranian regime is as important as the nuclear issue, if not more so. This would align with the aspirations of the region and the Lebanese people, for once converging regional goals with domestic ones.
**Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 24-25/2025
Jordan Bans Muslim Brotherhood, Declares Group Illegal
Amman: Mohammed Khair al-Rawashdeh/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 24/2025
Jordan has officially outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, ending decades of relations that oscillated between coexistence and confrontation.
Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh announced the decision at a press conference in Amman on Wednesday, declaring all activities linked to the group prohibited and stressing that any affiliation with the Brotherhood would now be considered a violation of the law. "The group is now illegal," Al-Farrayeh said, underlining that the move places the Brotherhood outside the bounds of lawful political and social engagement in the kingdom. The decision marks a significant shift in Jordan's political landscape, where the Brotherhood once held considerable influence despite intermittent government crackdowns. While the Brotherhood has not issued an official response, its political wing, the Islamic Action Front - represented in parliament by dozens of lawmakers - said on Wednesday evening that it remains committed to its national role as an “independent Jordanian political party, entirely separate from any other entity.”
Al-Farrayeh said that membership in the Muslim Brotherhood is now prohibited, along with any promotion of its ideas. “All offices and premises used by the group, whether solely or in conjunction with other entities, will be shut down,” he said. Al-Farrayeh also warned political parties, media outlets, social media users, and associations against publishing or sharing content related to the group. He said authorities had accelerated the work of a designated committee tasked with seizing the Brotherhood’s assets, both movable and immovable. The clampdown follows the recent arrest of 16 individuals in what officials called the “Chaos Cells” case. Security agencies alleged the suspects were involved in manufacturing rockets using improvised tools, possessing explosives and firearms, hiding a ready-to-launch missile, and developing drone technology. The plans, authorities said, included recruiting and training individuals within Jordan and sending them abroad for further instruction.
The developments mark a dramatic escalation in Jordan’s stance against a group that once held sway over segments of public and political life in the kingdom. The Palestinian group Hamas has called on Jordan to release the 16 suspects accused of plotting attacks inside the kingdom, saying their actions were motivated by support for Palestine and posed no threat to Jordan’s security. In response, Al-Farrayeh accused members of the now-dissolved Muslim Brotherhood of operating covertly to destabilize the country. “It has been proven that individuals from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were working in the shadows, engaging in activities that undermine stability, disrupt national unity, and threaten public order and security,” Al-Farrayeh said. The crackdown comes as Jordan moves to implement a 2020 court ruling that dissolved the Brotherhood, which was founded in the kingdom in 1945. Authorities had previously avoided enforcing the decision in what Jordanian sources described as a strategy of “containment,” but officials say the group failed to respond with “responsible conduct.” While the Brotherhood has been outlawed, its political arm - the Islamic Action Front - continues to operate. The party, which insists it is entirely independent of the Brotherhood, won 31 of 138 seats in last September’s parliamentary elections. The distinction between the party and the banned group is now under renewed scrutiny, as the government seeks to distance state institutions from any perceived Brotherhood influence.
Jordanian authorities are continuing to draw a line between the banned Muslim Brotherhood and its licensed political wing, but political sources say the distinction may be tested in the coming days. Senior officials told Asharq Al-Awsat that decision-making circles are still committed to separating the outlawed Brotherhood from the Islamic Action Front, which is officially recognized under Jordan’s political parties law. However, they warned that the legal process surrounding the so-called “Chaos Cells” case - expected to go to trial next week- could shift that calculus.
“There is concern that any escalation by the party, whether through street mobilization or social media platforms, could force decision-makers to reconsider the party’s legal standing,” one source said, adding that authorities may invoke laws that could lead to its dissolution and end what they described as the Brotherhood’s dominance over Islamic political representation in the kingdom.
Islamic Action Front Secretary-General Wael Saqqa reaffirmed the party’s independence, saying: “We continue to carry out our national role as a fully independent Jordanian political party, unaffiliated with any other organization.”He stressed the Islamic Action Front’s commitment to the Jordanian constitution and laws, expressing full confidence in the judiciary. Meanwhile, security forces have raided and inspected Brotherhood offices across the capital Amman and several provinces as part of a broader move to seize the group’s properties. Sources also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Islamic Action Front offices were searched as well, with officials seeking to ensure that no Brotherhood-related documents or materials were being stored on party premises. Al-Farrayeh has warned that individuals or entities found to be involved in criminal activities linked to the Brotherhood or the “Chaos Cells” plot will face legal action, as the government continues its sweeping clampdown. Speaking during the announcement of the ban, Al-Farrayeh said authorities would act based on the findings of ongoing court proceedings. “Appropriate measures will be taken against any person or group proven to be engaged in criminal acts connected to these cases or the dissolved group,” he said. Al-Farrayeh also accused Brotherhood members of attempting to destroy large volumes of documents on the same night officials revealed details of the alleged plot last week. “They tried to smuggle and destroy significant quantities of documents from their offices in an effort to conceal suspicious activities and affiliations,” he claimed.
The minister said the government’s actions stem from its “firm commitment to protecting society and shielding it from acts that threaten public order and distort the values of responsible political engagement.”Jordanian political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that further escalations may follow, particularly concerning the Jordanian Teachers’ Syndicate, an entity long linked to the Brotherhood’s political agenda. Tensions between the government and the Brotherhood have simmered for over a decade, particularly during the 2010-2013 “Jordanian Spring” protests. Officials accused the group of exploiting the unrest to gain political leverage, particularly in its campaign to reinstate the Teachers' Syndicate, which was suspended by court order in 2020. The syndicate, one of the kingdom's largest civil organizations, has been a flashpoint in the ongoing struggle between the state and Islamist political actors. The Jordanian Teachers’ Syndicate, long dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, remains in legal limbo nearly four years after a court ordered its closure and the suspension of its activities. The syndicate, which had been led by Brotherhood-affiliated figures for multiple terms, was frozen by a July 2020 court ruling that also mandated the closure of all its offices for two years. At the time, summonses were issued for the union’s president and board members in connection with ongoing legal proceedings. However, despite the expiration of the suspension period, the union has not resumed operations. Political sources say successive governments - those of Prime Ministers Omar Razzaz (2018–2020) and Bisher Khasawneh (2020–2024) - chose not to enforce the court ruling fully, seeking to avoid public backlash over a politically sensitive issue. The uneasy status quo was upended following the shock results of last September’s parliamentary elections. The Islamic Action Front and Brotherhood-affiliated candidates secured around 460,000 votes, nearly a third of the 1.6 million ballots cast in the party-list segment of the vote, despite a pool of 5 million eligible voters. The results underscored the Brotherhood’s enduring grassroots appeal and reignited debate over the group’s political footprint, as Jordan intensifies efforts to dismantle what officials describe as parallel structures that challenge state authority.

Muslim Brotherhood, Jordan’s Governments: From Alliance to Rupture
Amman : Mohammed Khair al-Rawashdehs/April 24, 2025
The arrival of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, marked by periods of resolution and banning of activities, is not disconnected from the long history of the group’s journey in the kingdom, dating back to the mid-1940s when it was first established. However, this journey—characterized by varying relations with successive governments—began with collaboration and ended in conflict. How did this unfold? Leaders of Jordan’s Islamic movement, encompassing both the banned Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front, consistently supported Jordan’s stability during the last decades of the 20th century. This support, however, shifted into decades of confrontation with the authorities after the divisions within the movement emerged. A key moment in the movement's history came when Jordanian authorities accused the group of plotting to “stir chaos” and possessing “explosive materials,” marking a significant turning point for the Islamic movement in the kingdom.This came especially after recordings revealed the arrested individuals’ ties to the unlicensed Brotherhood group in Jordan. Founded in 1946, the Brotherhood initially operated as a charitable society, providing aid through fundraising efforts. It attracted young people who were influenced by its leaders’ calls for public activism.
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the Muslim Brotherhood maintained an alliance with the government. Its leaders gradually moved into senior official positions, using their power to expand their grassroots support and promote their message within Jordanian society, which historically had a strong conservative religious base. During this time, the Brotherhood’s influence on school students was significant. It encouraged protests and sit-ins against political forces opposed to them, particularly the Communist and Ba’ath parties before the latter's split. Clashes occurred between these groups in downtown Amman and in key cities across the kingdom. In the 1970s, the relationship between the Brotherhood and the government evolved into one of partnership and alliance, particularly under the leadership of former Prime Minister Wasfi Tal. This period saw prominent Islamic leader Ishaq Farhan appointed as Minister of Education and later as Minister of Awqaf, overseeing important reforms in educational curricula. Farhan’s task of reforming the education system included incorporating the Brotherhood’s religious teachings into school textbooks, reflecting the growing influence of the group in shaping Jordanian public life.
Meanwhile, members of the Brotherhood, funded by the government, pursued advanced studies in the United States, returning to hold key positions in the Ministry of Education, with Abdullatif Arabiyat, a senior member, serving as the ministry’s deputy for almost a decade.
Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Brotherhood sought to capitalize on regional developments, aiming to increase its political influence. Its leadership, particularly in key urban centers such as Amman, Zarqa, and Irbid, began to broaden its outreach.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Awqaf became critical battlegrounds for the Brotherhood, enabling it to infiltrate mosques through imams and transform them into organizational hubs. This religious outreach laid the groundwork for political mobilization, with gatherings and lessons organized after evening prayers, further solidifying the Brotherhood’s presence in the public sphere. The political journey of the Brotherhood in Jordan took a dramatic turn in 1989, when the country lifted martial law and resumed parliamentary life after decades of authoritarian rule. The Brotherhood seized the opportunity, winning a powerful bloc in the 11th Parliament and securing popular support, positioning itself as a key political player.
That era also marked the Brotherhood’s first foray into governance, backing Prime Minister Mudar Badran’s cabinet as part of a national effort to support Iraq against a US-led coalition. It was a rare alignment with the state, underscored by the election of Arabiyat as parliamentary speaker for three consecutive terms — a move widely seen as part of a government-Brotherhood alliance. In 1992, the group formalized its political arm with the creation of the Islamic Action Front, cementing the link between its religious mission and political ambitions. But the distinction between party and group remained blurred, with critics arguing that the party remained under Brotherhood control. That same year, tensions flared when the Brotherhood opposed Jordan’s participation in the Madrid Peace Conference, prompting a no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Taher Masri. Although Masri resigned voluntarily, the incident marked the start of growing rifts between the Brotherhood and the state. The following parliamentary elections in 1993 deepened internal fractures, both within the movement and between the Brotherhood and its political allies. The rift widened further in 1994, when Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel. The Islamic Action Front boycotted the vote on the treaty, signaling a decisive shift from cooperation to confrontation. In the aftermath of the peace treaty, the Brotherhood distanced itself from official alliances and became a staunch opponent of normalization with Israel. The group boycotted the 1997 parliamentary elections, a move that triggered an exodus of leaders who opposed the boycott. Some dissidents went on to form the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, led by Abdel Rahim Akkour. Distrust between the Brotherhood and the government deepened under the shadow of King Hussein’s illness and the succession of King Abdullah II. The movement remained politically dormant until 2003, when the Islamic Action Front re-entered parliament following a two-year suspension of legislative life during the Second Intifada. The party secured 16 seats in the 14th Parliament. However, the rocky relationship persisted. In 2007, the Brotherhood and its party participated in elections again after negotiations with then-Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit. But allegations of large-scale vote rigging saw the Islamic Action Front secure only six seats — a result it denounced as a betrayal of the agreement with the government. The controversial election result sparked a leadership crisis within the Brotherhood. The group’s hardline faction, known as the Hawks, overpowered the traditional moderates (the Doves) in internal polls, leading to a purge of long-standing leaders.
Accusations emerged that the group had been hijacked by Hamas sympathizers, reshaping the Brotherhood’s identity and guiding principles. In the years that followed, former leaders split from the movement, accusing its new leadership of dragging the Brotherhood and its political arm into a confrontational path aligned with regional Islamist movements. From mainstream political player to marginalized actor, the Brotherhood’s trajectory in Jordan mirrors a broader regional trend — one where Islamist movements rise through democratic openings but often clash with the state over ideology, foreign policy, and the limits of political power.

US names lead for technical talks with Iran, Politico reports
Reuters/April 24, 2025
WASHINGTON: Department of State policy planning director Michael Anton will lead a team of about a dozen US government officials to negotiate with Iran in upcoming nuclear talks, a US official said on Thursday. Expert-level Iran-US talks will take place on Saturday, Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, with a third round of high-level nuclear talks due on the same day in Oman. Iran and the US agreed last Saturday to begin drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after the talks in Rome that a US official described as yielding very good progress.Politico first reported the choice of Anton.Anton was a spokesman for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term from 2017-2021. He also worked for former President George W. Bush’s NSC and is a former BlackRock managing director

Rubio says war with Iran would be ‘much messier than what people are used to seeing’
Sarah Fortinsky/The Hill/ April 23, 2025
Rubio says war with Iran would be ‘much messier than what people are used to seeing’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned in a new interview that a potential war with Iran would be “much messier” and “more complex” than military engagements the American people have seen reported in recent years.
“Any military action at this point in the Middle East, whether it’s against Iran by us or anybody else, could in fact trigger a much broader conflict,” Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press published Wednesday.
Rubio said the hypothetical conflict “will not be the sort of thing that people have become accustomed to watching on television, which is, a couple of drones got shot down, but we took out a hundred fighters or whatever.”
“This will be more complex,” he added.
Rubio said President Trump is committed to staying out of an armed conflict and said that’s why he’s directed officials to jumpstart nuclear talks with Iran.
“Any sort of armed conflict in the region is going to be much messier than what people are used to seeing. And that’s why the president is so committed to the peaceful resolution, the prevention of an armed conflict. Although he reserves every right to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, he is for peace. He has said that repeatedly. And that’s why we want to end the war in Ukraine, if that’s possible,” Rubio said.
The remarks come after The Free Press’s Bari Weiss asked the secretary about former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson’s assertion that a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would “almost certainly result in thousands of American deaths at bases throughout the Middle East, and cost the United States billions of dollars. … Those aren’t guesses. Those are the Pentagon’s own estimates. A bombing campaign against Iran will set off a war, and it will be America’s war.”U.S. officials said they made “very good” progress in the second round of nuclear talks with Iran this past weekend and said they planned to meet again the following week. “We agreed to meet again next week and are grateful to our Omani partners for facilitating these talks and to our Italian partners for hosting us today,” a senior U.S. administration official said.
Rubio said in the interview the U.S. is “a long ways away from any sort of agreement with Iran.”“We recognize it’s difficult and hard. Oftentimes, unfortunately, peace is,” he continued. “But we’re committed to achieving a peaceful outcome that’s acceptable to everyone. It may not be possible, we don’t know.”“I don’t even know if Iran knows how to make a deal. They’ve got their own internal political dynamics in their country they have to work through. But we would want to achieve a peaceful resolution to this and not resort to anything else, or even speculate about it at this point,” he added.
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Rubio says Iran must give up nuclear enrichment in any deal with the US
Associated Press/April 24, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview released Wednesday that Iran must give up all nuclear enrichment if it wants to make a deal during talks with the Trump administration and head off the threat of armed conflict. Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy use and says it does not seek to make weapons-grade uranium to build atomic bombs. "If Iran wants a civil nuclear program, they can have one just like many other countries can have one, and that is they import enriched material," Rubio said in a podcast interview with journalist Bari Weiss. But Iran has long refused to give up its ability to enrich uranium. President Donald Trump in his first term pulled the U.S. out of a Obama-era nuclear deal focused on monitoring to ensure Iran did not move toward weapons-grade enrichment.
In the first months of his second term, Trump opened talks that he says will get a tougher agreement on Iran's nuclear program, with a second round of negotiations held Saturday and technical-level talks expected this weekend. Iran wants the easing of sanctions that have damaged its economy and is facing threatened Israeli or U.S. strikes aimed at disabling its nuclear program by force. "I would tell anyone we're a long ways from any sort of agreement with Iran," Rubio noted. "It may not be possible, we don't know ... but we would want to achieve a peaceful resolution to this and not resort to anything else."
With the region already embroiled in war, he said that "any military action at this point in the Middle East, whether it's against Iran by us or anybody else, could in fact trigger a much broader conflict."Although Trump "reserves every right to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, he'd prefer peace," Rubio added. Trump's lead representative in the recently revived talks, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, initially suggested the U.S. was open to allowing Iran to continue low-level uranium enrichment. Many American conservatives and Israel, which wants Iran's nuclear facilities destroyed, objected. Witkoff issued what the Trump administration described as a clarification, saying, "Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded that his country must be able to enrich. "The core issue of enrichment itself is not negotiable," he said.
Standard international agreements for civilian nuclear programs have the U.S. and international community help governments develop nuclear power for energy and other peaceful uses in exchange for them swearing off making their own nuclear fuel, because of the threat that capacity could be used for weapons.
Also Wednesday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has agreed to allow in a technical team from the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency in coming days to discuss restoring camera surveillance at nuclear sites and other issues.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, speaking to reporters in Washington after meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran last week, said that while the move was not directly linked to the U.S. talks, it was an encouraging sign of Iran's willingness to reach terms in a potential deal.
Iranian leaders were engaged "with a sense of trying to get to an agreement," Grossi said. "That is my impression."After Trump exited the nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, Iran responded by curtailing monitoring by the IAEA at nuclear sites. It has pressed ahead on enriching and stockpiling uranium that is closer to weapons-grade levels, the agency says. The IAEA is not playing a direct role in the new talks, and Trump's Republican administration has not asked it to, Grossi told reporters. But when it comes to ensuring Iranian compliance with any deal, he said, "this will have to be verified by the IAEA.""I cannot imagine how you could put ... a corps of invented international or national inspectors to inspect Iran" without having the agency's decades of expertise, he said. "I think it would be problematic and strange."

IMF to help Syria rebuild institutions, re-enter world economy, Georgieva says
Reuters/April 24, 2025
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund plans to work with Syria to help it reintegrate into the global economy, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday, citing a meeting on the war-scarred nation held this week. Georgieva told reporters that Syria's central bank governor and finance minister attended the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank this week for the first time in over 20 years. "Our intention is to, first and foremost, help them rebuild institutions so they can plug themselves in the world economy," she said. Officials from the IMF and World Bank met with Syrian officials and other finance ministers and key stakeholders to discuss the country's reconstruction on the sidelines of the meetings in Washington. The high-level Syrian government delegation's Washington trip marked the first U.S. visit by Syria's new authorities since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December. Much of Syria's infrastructure has been left in ruins by nearly 14 years of war sparked by the government authorities' deadly crackdown on protests against Assad. The Islamist-led government that took over after Assad was ousted has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield and to win support for reconstruction efforts. But tough U.S. sanctions imposed during Assad's rule remain in place. In January, the U.S. issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage humanitarian aid, but this has had limited effect. Reuters reported in February that efforts to bring in foreign financing to pay public sector salaries had been hampered by uncertainty over whether this could breach U.S. sanctions.

UK lifts more sanctions in Syria to support efforts to rebuild country
Christopher McKeon, PA Political Correspondent/PA Media: UK News/April 24, 2025
The UK has lifted further sanctions on Syria as the country seeks to rebuild after the toppling of Bashar Assad late last year. The Foreign Office announced on Thursday that restrictions on sectors of the Syrian economy such as financial services and energy production would be eased to facilitate investment in the country. Sanctions have also been lifted on 12 entities including the Syrian interior and defence ministries, its intelligence services and four media organisations. Restrictions on members of the former regime and those involved in the trade in the drug captagon, a form of amphetamine, remain in place. Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said: “The Syrian people deserve the opportunity to rebuild their country and economy, and a stable Syria is in the UK’s national interest. “That’s why I’m pleased that today the UK has amended its Syria sanctions and lifted sanctions on 12 entities to support them to do just that.” The Assad regime collapsed in December last year after rebels led by proscribed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed the capital Damascus, forcing the president to flee after 24 years in charge. Foreign Office officials have since engaged with Syria’s new leadership, meeting its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in December, but HTS remains banned in the UK due to its links with Al Qaeda. However, the Foreign Office did lift sanctions on 24 Syrian entities last month, including the central bank, Syrian Arab Airlines and energy companies. Mr Falconer added: “The UK is committed to building greater stability in Syria and the wider region. This also enables us to bolster national security at home to support the Government’s plan for change.”

Carney confirms Trump spoke to him last month about making Canada a U.S. state
Canadian Press Staff/April 24, 2025
COQUITLAM — Liberal Leader Mark Carney is confirming that U.S. President Donald Trump talked again about Canada becoming the a U.S. state during their first bilateral call on March 28. Carney came under attack from the other main party leaders Thursday after a CBC/Radio-Canada article, citing confidential sources, said Trump pitched Carney during the call on the benefits of Canada joining the U.S. When Carney spoke to reporters in Montreal on the day the call took place, he described the discussion as "cordial" and said Trump treated Canada with respect as a sovereign nation. Pressed by reporters Thursday, the Liberal leader admitted that Trump did bring up annexation during the call, adding that he made clear to Trump that would never happen. Trump toned down his rhetoric toward Canada that day after months of needling then-prime minister Justin Trudeau by calling him the "governor" of America's soon-to-be 51st state. On Wednesday, Trump's shadow again loomed over the federal election when he said in the Oval Office that he doesn't want Canada to play a part in the American auto industry and warned that auto tariffs against Canada could go up.

Family of six among 44 killed as Israel airstrikes pound Gaza
AFP/April 24, 2025
GAZA: Israeli attacks in Gaza on Thursday killed at least 44 more Palestinians, including a couple and their four children who died when an airstrike flattened their home in northern Gaza City. The strike came as the family was sleeping, said Nidal Al-Sarafiti, a relative. “What can I say? The destruction has spared no one,” he said. At least 10 people were killed in another strike on a former police station in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza. “The bombing was extremely intense and it shook the entire area,” said survivor Abdel Qader Sabah, 23. “Everyone started running and screaming, not knowing what to do from the horror and severity of the bombing.”Elsewhere at least 28 Palestinians were killed in a series of strikes across Gaza, including several in the southern area of Khan Younis. “We were sitting in peace when the missile fell,” said Mohammed Faris, who saw a strike on a house in the city. “I just don't understand ... what's happening.”Bodies lay on the ground around him, including those of a young woman and a boy in body bags, surrounded by grieving relatives kissing and stroking their faces. “One by one we are ... dying in pieces,” said Rania Al-Jumla, who lost her sister in another airstrike in Khan Younis. “We have had enough. Every day there’s death, every day we lose someone dear to us.”The Durra Children’s Hospital in Gaza City was out of operation a day after an Israeli strike hit the upper part of the building, damaging the intensive care unit and destroying the solar power system. No one was killed. Gaza’s health system has been devastated by Israel’s 18-month war, putting many of the enclave’s hospitals out of action, killing doctors and other medical staff, and blocking the delivery of crucial supplies. Mediation efforts by Qatar and Egypt have ground to a halt after failing to deliver a sustainable truce between Israel and Hamas.

Israel acknowledges killing aid worker in strike after initially accusing UN of ‘baseless slander’
Jeremy Diamond, Ibrahim Dahman, Abeer Salman and Tamar Michaelis, CNN/ April 24, 2025
The Israeli military acknowledged on Thursday that it was responsible for killing a United Nations aid worker in a strike on a UN guesthouse in Gaza last month, backtracking on its previous denials in the face of mounting public evidence of Israeli responsibility. The Israeli military said its preliminary investigation into the incident “indicates that the fatality was caused by tank fire from IDF troops operating in the area.”The strike killed Marin Marinov, a 51-year-old from Bulgaria who worked to deliver life-saving aid to the population of Gaza, the UN said. Six others were injured in the deadly attack that occurred one day after Israel renewed its bombardment of Gaza, ending a two-month ceasefire. “The building was struck due to assessed enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a UN facility,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “The IDF regrets this serious incident and continues to conduct thorough review processes to draw operational lessons and evaluate additional measures to prevent such events in the future. We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the family.”The Israeli military initially denied any role in the strike on the UN guesthouse and Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused the United Nations of “baseless slander” for saying Israeli tank fire was the source of the attack. This marks the second time in the last month that the Israeli military has made false statements about an attack on aid workers, only to backtrack in the face of irrefutable evidence contradicting the Israeli military’s official account. Last week, the Israeli military acknowledged “mistakes” that led its forces to attack multiple ambulances, a fire truck and a UN vehicle, killing 15 rescue and aid workers – but only after video of the incident emerged, disproving the IDF’s initial account. Evidence of Israeli responsibility for the strike on the UN guesthouse on March 19 emerged almost immediately. The day of the strike, weapons experts told CNN that damage to the building and weapons fragments filmed at the scene were consistent with Israeli tank fire. Trevor Bell, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member who reviewed the footage, said the fragments were consistent with the M339, an Israeli tank shell. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director at Armament Research Services (ARES) who also analyzed the footage, said at the time the “remnants appear to be from an Israeli 120 mm tank projectile, most likely the M339 multi-purpose model.”A subsequent report by the Washington Post earlier this month found that two Israeli tank shells very likely killed the UN worker and wounded five others in that strike. The Post report also identified an Israeli tank position just over two miles from the guesthouse in satellite imagery captured the day before the strike. The United Nations said it had repeatedly informed the Israeli military about the guest house’s location, including as recently as the night before the strike. The Israeli military said its initial findings had been presented to the Israeli military’s chief of staff and to UN representatives and that a full investigation would be completed “in the coming days, pending the receipt of additional required information.”
‘More intense and significant pressure’
On Thursday, the IDF carried out a strike on a police headquarters in Jabalya, completely destroying the building and killing 10 Palestinians, according to Fares Afana, the director of emergency services in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a command and control center for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that “was used to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”A separate attack in Gaza City severely damaged two apartment buildings, killing seven Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense organization. Video from the scene shows a child on the roof of a building crying for help, blood streaked across his forehead as he waves a hand covered in dust in the air.
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. “If we do not see progress in the return of the hostages, we will expand our activity into a more intense and significant operation,” said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir during a visit to Gaza Thursday. The Israeli military also issued evacuation orders for two areas in northern Gaza as Israel broadens its bombardment of the besieged territory in what it says is an effort to put increasing pressure on Hamas. The IDF says the evacuation orders were issued after troops faced “terrorist activities and sniper fire.”

Palestinians create role for a vice president and possible successor to aging leader Abbas
The Associated Press/April 24, 2025
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestine Liberation Organization on Thursday announced the creation of a vice presidency under 89-year-old leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has not specified a successor. The PLO Central Council's decision came as Abbas seeks greater relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. After a two-day meeting, the council voted to create the role of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee. This position would also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine, which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition. The expectation is that whoever holds that role would be the front-runner to succeed Abbas — though it’s unclear when or exactly how it would be filled. Abbas is to choose his vice president from among the other 15 members of the PLO's executive committee. The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in less than half of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.
Abbas is still seen internationally as the leader of the Palestinians and a partner in any effort to revive the peace process, which ground to a halt when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in 2009. But the chain-smoking political veteran has clung to power since his mandate expired in 2009 and has not named a successor. Polls in recent years have shown plummeting support for him and his Fatah party. Western and Arab donor countries have demanded reforms in the Palestinian Authority for it to play a role in postwar Gaza. The authority is deeply unpopular and faces long-standing allegations of corruption and poor governance. Appointing an heir apparent could be aimed at appeasing his critics. Hamas, which won the last national elections in 2006, is not in the PLO. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas’ forces in 2007, and reconciliation attempts between the rivals have repeatedly failed. Hamas touched off the war in Gaza when its militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. Israel responded with an air and ground campaign that has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.

Gaza: Israeli army tells civilians to move to area no longer considered 'humanitarian'
Nathan Gallo/The Observers/April 24, 2025
Since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, the Al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip is no longer considered a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli army, which had defined it as such for several months, in order to direct displaced Gazans there. The Israeli army confirmed this change in status to the FRANCE 24 Observers team. However, despite this change, the Israeli army continues to call on Gazans to move to this area, which has been targeted by several bombings in recent weeks. “The fire was intense and powerful. Rescue teams came to control the blaze, but it was too late.” Abed Shaat, a Palestinian journalist, was in the Al-Mawasi area, located west of Khan Younis and north of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, when an Israeli army strike hit a displacement camp on the night of April 16 to 17. Shaat arrived on the scene a few minutes after the explosion. He posted images of the fire provoked by the strike on his Instagram account. “I went directly on site and we were surprised to see that the target was a number of tents belonging to displaced people, which were burning intensely,” he told the FRANCE 24 Observers team. “Entire families were burning in these flames, including children and women.” In total, at least 16 people, including several women and children, died in this strike on displaced people's tents.Al-Mawasi, an area long designated as a 'humanitarian zone' by the Israeli army. The Al-Mawasi area 'currently not defined as a safe zone' by Israel…

French medics continue hunger strike as Gaza humanitarian crisis worsens
RFI/April 24, 2025
A group of French healthworkers who launched a movement named Hungry for Justice for Palestine are in their third week of a hunger strike, to raise awareness over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli army. After speaking to the French Senate on Tuesday, yesterday they sounded the alarm to MEPs in Brussels. Hungry for Justice for Palestine was launched on 31 March in Marseille by French healthworkers who had recently returned from Gaza as an "independent, apolitical, secular and cross-party initiative", according to its website. Twenty of its members are now on their 25th day of a hunger strike – to denounce what they call French and European Union inaction and silence in the face of alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli army in Gaza. They are protesting the medical blockade that has been levelled against Gaza and attacks on Palestinian medical personnel. A delegation from the organisation reported their experiences working in Gaza to the European Parliament on Wednesday. Israel assault has turned Gaza into 'humanitarian hellscape': UN. The decision to go on hunger strike was led by French infectious disease specialist and emergency doctor Pascal André, who told MEPs about the atrocities these medical professionals have witnessed in Gaza, while the "cowardice" and "complicity" of European states continues, he said. Israel has blocked deliveries of humanitarian aid into the Gaza enclave for more than 50 days.

'Vladimir, STOP!': Trump makes an all-caps callout but will Putin hear it?
Ted Anthony, The Associated Press/April 24, 2025
WASHINGTON — Even in the realm of Donald Trump's long-preferred style of punch-through-the-static communication, this was quite something.
On Thursday morning, a post on his Truth Social account exhorted Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end military strikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
“Vladimir, STOP!”
Or, as the entire post went: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”The Republican president was reacting to Russia attacking Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. At least 12 people were killed and 90 were injured in the deadliest assault on the city since last July. For Trump, trying to propel a U.S-led effort at a peace agreement, frustration is growing. He upbraided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week as well, though that was not on Truth Social.
Immediate analysis of Trump's social post focused on the geopolitical implications of the moment and the notion that Trump was talking tough to Putin, a leader to whom he has been accused of being overly deferential.
Other dynamics are at play as well.
THE USE OF THE FIRST NAME
Heads of state and government are typically called Mr. President or Madam Prime Minister — even, in public, even often by their equals. Trump's callout to simply “Vladimir” in a public forum stands out, although it is not uncommon for Trump to use first names when talking with world leaders. What Putin would think of such an approach is not clear.
THE USE OF SUCCINCT, SOCIAL-POST-STYLE LANGUAGE
Diplomacy's language has evolved over time into a mannered, workshopped machine. Part of Trump's brand and appeal is to break out of such conventions.
THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A DIPLOMATIC TOOL
Diplomacy was once conducted through formal letters and rare visits. No longer. But have we gotten to the point where social media is a legitimate tool for one leader reaching out to another? For Trump, it's often the opening move.For years, Trump has used social media platforms — Twitter, X, Truth Social — to amplify his opinions, often through capital letters for emphasis. He has been banned, then reinstated from at least two platforms. He persists. Finally, there's this: Odds are that not too many people in the world are telling Vladimir Putin to, simply, “STOP!” in such a casual way. But much of the world has been shouting versions of that message, without success, for the three-plus years since he sent Russian troops into Ukraine. Will this time be different?

NATO chief urges allies to do more and says their freedom and prosperity depend on it
Lorne Cook/The Associated Press/April 24, 2025
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday urged the 32 member nations to devote more funds, equipment and political energy to the world’s biggest military alliance, as the United States steps back from its leading security role in Europe. “In 2025, we need to significantly increase our efforts to ensure NATO remains a key source of military advantage for all our nations. Our continued freedom and prosperity depend on it,” Rutte wrote in his annual report. NATO has been in disarray since February, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that America’s security priorities lie elsewhere -– in Asia and on its own borders -– and that Europe would have to look after its own security and that of Ukraine, in future. Rutte’s report was posted on NATO’s website without any obvious publicity. In previous years, secretaries-general have promoted their annual reports with news conferences and press releases. NATO did not respond when asked why the approach has changed. Rutte was in Washington on Thursday for meetings with senior U.S. officials, two months before he’s due to chair a summit of U.S. President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts in the Netherlands.
The leaders are expected to set on a new NATO guideline for defense spending. In 2023, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine entered its second year, they agreed that all allies should spend at least 2% of gross domestic product on their military budgets. Estimates in the annual report showed that 22 allies had reached that goal last year, compared to a previous forecast of 23. Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain did not. Spain does expect to reach the goal this year, but the new goal could be over 3%. The United States is now estimated to have spent 3.19% of GDP in 2024, down from 3.68% a decade ago when all NATO members vowed to increase defense spending after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. While it’s the only ally to have lower spending as a percentage of GDP than in 2014, the U.S. still spends more in dollar terms than the others combined. The report estimated that total NATO military spending last year reached around $1.3 trillion. In a sign of just how dominant the United States is within NATO, Hegseth told the Europeans and Canada in February that Ukraine would not get all its territory back from Russia and would not be allowed to join their military alliance. “NATO support for Ukraine remained strong in 2024,” Rutte wrote in the report, even as doubts surround the Trump administration’s commitment to the country as ceasefire talks falter. “Looking to the future, NATO allies are united in their desire for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Rutte wrote. It was a low-key assessment of backing compared to that of his predecessor Jens Stoltenberg just a year ago. “Ukraine must prevail as an independent, sovereign nation,” Stoltenberg wrote in his last annual report. “Supporting Ukraine is not charity, it is in our own security interest.”

Team Trump’s appeasement of Putin fails in London
Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth, Opinion Contributors/The Hill/April 24, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff opted out of the London peace talks Wednesday with Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. They are taking their ball and going back to Washington. Rubio’s decision was triggered when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the Trump administration’s proposal to recognize Crimea as Russian territory in violation of international law. But it was not just Zelensky. European Union High Representative Kaja Kallas also said Europe will never recognize the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula as legally Russian.
Team Trump is making good on its petulant threat to “walk away from efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress.”The situation in Ukraine remains critical and the future uncertain, thanks to Team Trump’s U.S.-first approach to the ceasefire. Walking away permanently is not an option. It would create the same risk of starting World War III as the White House has accused Ukraine of creating. As we cautioned last week, Trump won’t force Russia to stop attacking; rather, he is trying to leverage Ukraine and its European supporters to give up on resisting.
Monday’s attack on Odesa should be proof enough. Russian President Vladimir Putin resorted to his familiar tactic of striking civilian targets. At least three civilians were injured in a massive attack that struck a “residential building in a densely populated urban area, civilian infrastructure and an educational facility.”
On Monday Putin acknowledged authorizing strikes on civilian targets in Sumy on Palm Sunday, which killed 35, two of whom were children, and wounded more than 120. Without providing any proof, he proclaimed that the site was being used by the Ukrainian military, stating “Strikes on civilian objects are carried out if they are used by the Kyiv military.” He added, “These are the people we consider criminals who should receive a well-deserved retribution for what they have done in the border region … They got this retribution. This was done precisely to punish them.”
Despite his dubious gesture to engage in direct negotiations with Ukraine and offer to halt his full-scale invasion of Ukraine along the current front line, Putin’s actions answer Rubio’s question from April 4 as to whether or not “Russia is serious about peace.” It is not, of course.
The latest concessions offered to Russia for a ceasefire being forced upon Ukraine for approval were: “Washington recognizing Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and barring Ukraine from NATO.” Two red-line issues for Zelensky.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that Ukraine is ready to negotiate with the U.S., but is “not willing to surrender,” which is basically what the Trump administration’s seven-point plan calls for.
According to The Telegraph, the plan provided no clear security guarantees for Ukraine and provided formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea by the U.S. Furthermore, it implied de facto recognition of the other four partially occupied territories — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
It also mandated that Ukraine abandon its pursuit of NATO membership and requires the transfer of control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to the U.S. Ukraine would also have to sign the minerals deal allowing U.S. companies access to the country’s natural resources.
The final point raises the alarming possibility of a new relationship between the U.S. and Russia, saying that “all U.S. sanctions would be lifted, and the two countries could begin to co-operate on energy.” The same Russia Team Trump is warning Europe to up its GDP defense spending to defend against.
Team Trump has practically given Putin everything it has demanded short of the keys to Kyiv – though the conditions are certainly set for that to happen in the next five to ten years. As Witkoff stated last week, “a possibility to reshape the Russian-U.S. relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too. Partnerships create stability.”
What does Ukraine get in return? It can join the European Union, regain “unhindered access to the mouth of the Dnipro river,” and have Russian troops withdraw from a second area of the Kherson province. European countries could deploy an assurance force to deter Putin from invading again. But such deterrence seems unlikely without U.S. support. This plan does not hold Russia accountable. It ignores war crimes prosecutions, restitution for damages, the return of prisoners of war and kidnapped children. This is a losing hand. Ukraine would be the bill payer, as would security for Europe’s NATO members, virtually ensuring an arms race in preparation for what many believe would be a Russian assault on NATO. Strategically, surrendering Crimea back to Russian authority not only cedes control of the entire Black Sea region back to Russia but potentially allows Russia to shut down the Port of Odesa for commercial trade, further threatening their security. As retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges has stated repeatedly over for three years, Crimea is decisive terrain. Why would the U.S. or NATO ever provide Russia that advantage? The Danish Defense Intelligence Service believes Russia could be ready to wage a “large-scale war” in Europe within five years. According to a jointly produced assessment by the Federal Intelligence Service and the Bundeswehr, German security officials believe the Kremlin “is laying the groundwork for a potential large-scale conventional war with NATO by the end of the decade.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned that “Russia could be ready to attack Europe by the end of the decade if Ukraine is forced to surrender.”It does not matter if the Trump administration “is tired of the war,” as retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg stated last weekend. What has become inconvenient for the U.S. is a matter of survival for Ukraine — and security for NATO’s European members.No one is more tired of the war than Ukraine — its Soldiers, citizens and leaders. Yet they continue to fight because they simply refuse to be subjugated again by Russia. The cost to the U.S. has been measured in dollars, in Ukraine the cost is measured in lives. As we recently urged, Trump needs to adopt a new approach to Russia. Rubio, Witkoff, and Kellogg are pursuing a ceasefire under unrealistic terms. Until U.S. negotiators address Ukraine’s requirements — Team Trump’s peace process is dead on arrival. Tragically, however, as evinced by Trump’s Truth Social post blaming Zelensky, he is instead doubling down.
Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

China denies any suggestion it is currently in talks with the US over tariffs
Huizhong Wu, The Associated Press/April 24, 2025
BANGKOK — China on Thursday denied any suggestion that it was in active negotiations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over tariffs, saying that any notion of progress in the matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.”China’s comments come after Trump said Tuesday that things were going “fine with China” and that the final tariff rate on Chinese exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%. Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing on Thursday that, “For all I know, China and the U.S. are not having any consultation or negotiation on tariffs, still less reaching a deal.”“China’s position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong said.
“Any claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis," the spokesman said. Trump had told reporters earlier in the week that "everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China, although his treasury secretary had said there were no formal negotiations. Asked Thursday about China denying there were any conversations ongoing with the United States, Trump said, “They had a meeting this morning,” before adding, “it doesn’t matter who they is.”The U.S. president, a Republican, has expressed interest in a way to climb down from his massive retaliatory tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. There are mounting business and consumer concerns that the taxes will drive up inflation and potentially send the economy into a recession. The Trump administration throughout Thursday continued to send mixed signals.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had a “very successful bilateral meeting” on Thursday with South Korea, indicating that the two countries could settle on the “technical terms” for an agreement as early as next week. Yet within minutes of Bessent saying that, Trump fell back on his argument from Wednesday and said it would be “physically impossible” to go through negotiations with dozens of countries and “we are going to, at some point, just set prices for deals." “Some will be tariffed,” Trump said. "Some treated us very unfairly. They’ll be tariffed higher than others.”Trump had put 145% tariffs on imports from China, while China hit back with 125% tariffs on U.S. products. While Trump has given other countries a 90-day pause on the tariffs, as their leaders pledged to negotiate with the U.S., China remained the exception. Instead, Beijing raised its own tariffs and deployed other economic measures in response while vowing to “fight to the end.” For example, China restricted exports of rare earth minerals and raised multiple cases against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization. China also made it clear that talks should involve the cancellation of all tariffs it currently faces. “The unilateral tariff increase measures were initiated by the United States. If the United States really wants to solve the problem, it should face up to the rational voices of the international community and all parties at home, completely cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, and find ways to resolve differences through equal dialogue,” said He, the Commerce Ministry spokesman. Despite the economic measures leveled against China, Trump said Tuesday that he would be “very nice” and not play hardball with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together,” Trump said.

Al Shabaab battles Somalia's army for control of strategic military base
Reuters/ April 24, 2025
MOGADISHU - Al Shabaab fighters battled Somali troops and allied forces for control of a strategic army base in central Somalia on Thursday, the government and a military official said, as the al Qaeda-linked militants tried to extend recent gains in the region. Capturing the base in Wargaadhi town in the Middle Shabelle region, which houses soldiers, special forces and clan fighters, would enable al Shabaab to sever an important trunk road between the capital Mogadishu, 200 km (124 miles) to the southwest, and Galmudug State. Al Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007 to seize power, said in a statement that its fighters had captured the base and Wargaadhi town, something the government denied was the case. The information ministry said in a statement that government forces had killed more than 40 jihadists after they attempted to attack the base on Thursday morning.
However, army officer Hussein Ali told Reuters the militants had taken the town of Wargaadhi after "fierce fighting". "Our forces lost 12 men, mostly (clan fighters). Around 20 al Shabaab fighters were also killed," Ali said. "But finally al Shabaab got more reinforcements and managed to capture the town."He said Somalia's military was struggling to send reinforcements because they would need to use routes passing through areas held by al Shabaab. Two soldiers said the government forces, backed by air strikes, had managed to recapture part of the town by mid-morning. Reuters could not independently verify any of the claims made by either side about the fighting. Last week al Shabaab attacked the town of Adan Yabal, about 245 km (150 miles) north of Mogadishu which the military had been using as an operating base for raids on the group. The attacks are part of an offensive by the group launched last month. Al Shabaab briefly captured villages within 50 km (30 miles) of Mogadishu, raising fears among residents of the capital that the city could be targeted. Somali forces have since recaptured those villages but al Shabaab has continued to advance in the countryside, as the future of international security support to Somalia appears increasingly precarious. A new African Union peacekeeping mission replaced a larger force at the start of the year, but its funding is uncertain, with the United States opposed to a plan to transition to a U.N. financing model. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Hereward Holland and Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Gareth Jones)

India orders Pakistani citizens to leave, Islamabad closes border after Kashmir attack
FRANCE 24/ April 24, 2025
Pakistan on Thursday cancelled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for Indian owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals after an attack by gunmen in Kashmir killed 26 people, mostly tourists.Pakistan's government on Thursday announced a string of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures against India after New Delhi accused its neighbour of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties. "Pakistan declares the Indian Defence, Naval and Air Advisors in Islamabad persona non grata. They are directed to leave Pakistan immediately," read a statement released by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office after he convened a rare national security committee meeting, adding that visas issued to Indian nationals would be cancelled with the exception of Sikh pilgrims. The statement added that borders would shut, trade would be cancelled and airspace closed to Indian owned or operated airlines. Earlier on Thursday, India hit Pakistan with a raft of mostly symbolic diplomatic measures, but analysts warn a military response may yet come, with some speculating that a response may come within days while others say weeks. Action taken by India so far is limited.

India and Pakistan cancel visas as rift deepens after mass shooting in Kashmir
Gavin Blackburn/Euronews/April 24, 2025
India and Pakistan have cancelled visas for each other's nationals as a diplomatic rift between them widens following Tuesday's mass shooting by militants in the disputed territory of Kashmir.Indian authorities said all visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be revoked from Sunday, adding that all Pakistanis currently in India must leave before their visas expire based on the revised timeline. The country also announced other measures, including cutting the number of diplomatic staff and closing the only functional land border crossing between the countries. Islamabad also reacted angrily after New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty on Thursday and blamed Pakistan for the attack, which left 26 people dead. The landmark Indus Water Treaty has survived two wars between the countries, in 1965 and 1971, and a major border skirmish in 1999. The pact was brokered by the World Bank in 1960 and allows for sharing the waters of a river system that is a lifeline for both countries, particularly for Pakistan's agriculture. Pakistan said it had nothing to do with the attack and warned that any Indian attempt to stop or divert flow of water would be considered an "act of war" and met with "full force across the complete spectrum" of Pakistan's national power. In Islamabad and other cities across Pakistan, demonstrators rallied against India's suspension of the treaty, demanding the government retaliate. Pakistan has closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. Tuesday's attack was the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region that has seen an anti-India rebellion for more than three decades. The rare attack, which targeted mostly tourists, shocked and outraged Indians, prompting calls for action against Pakistan. Indian Border Security Force soldiers stand guard at the barricade on the road leading to the Attari-Wagah border on India's side, 24 April, 2025. The Indian government did not publicly produce any evidence of Pakistani state involvement, but said the attack had "cross-border" links to Pakistan. The killings have put pressure on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government to respond aggressively. "India will identify, track and punish every terrorist, their handlers and their backers," Modi said at a public rally Thursday.
"We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth."
Pakistan denied any connection to the attack, which was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance. It said that while Pakistan remained committed to peace, it would never allow anyone to "transgress its sovereignty, security, dignity and inalienable rights."
Government ministers on both sides have hinted that the dispute could escalate to military action. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told local Dunya News TV channel that "any kinetic step by India will see a tit-to-tat kinetic response."Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh pledged on Wednesay to "not only trace those who perpetrated the attack but also trace those who conspired to commit this nefarious act on our soil" and hinted at the possibility of military strikes. India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. New Delhi describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism; Pakistan denies this ,and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle. Modi overturned the status quo in Kashmir in August 2019, when his government revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status and brought it under direct federal control. However, relations with Pakistan remained stable as the two countries renewed a previous ceasefire agreement along their border in 2021, which has largely held despite militant attacks on Indian forces in the region.

UN Yemen envoy meets Houthi officials in Oman
AFP/April 24, 2025
MUSCAT: UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg met Houthi militant officials in Oman on Thursday to discuss “the necessity to stabilize the situation” in the Arabian Peninsula country. The Houthis form part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, and since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, they have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. They have also targeted ships they accuse of having ties to Israel in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, sparking a US-led bombing campaign aimed at securing the key shipping lanes.In a statement posted on X, Grundberg’s office said he “met today in #Muscat with senior Omani officials, members of Ansar Allah (Houthi) leadership and representatives of the diplomatic community.” The talks “centered on the necessity to stabilize the situation in #Yemen to allow all Yemenis to live in dignity and prosperity and to address the legitimate concerns of all stakeholders including the region and the international community,” it added. Grundberg “reiterated his commitment to continue to work toward that goal, as part of his efforts toward sustainable peace in Yemen.”
Since March 15, Israel’s key ally the United States has stepped up its attacks on the Houthis, targeting their positions in Yemen with near-daily air strikes. The UN envoy’s meetings in Muscat come two days before a third round of indirect talks, mediated by Oman, between top officials from Iran and the United States on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. Grundberg’s office said he also raised UN demands for “the immediate and unconditional release of detained UN, NGO, civil society and diplomatic personnel” in Yemen. In June last year, the Houthis detained 13 UN personnel, including six employees of the Human Rights Office, and more than 50 NGO staff, plus an embassy staff member.They claimed they had arrested “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.

Russian strike on Kyiv kills 9 in biggest attack on capital since last summer
Agence France Presse/April 24, 2025
Russia attacked Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since last July and just as peace efforts are coming to a head. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the attack he is cutting short his official trip to South Africa and returning home as the city reeled from the bombardment that kept residents on edge for about 11 hours. It appeared to be Russia's biggest attack on Kyiv in nine months, and Zelenskyy called it one of Russia's "most outrageous." The attack drew a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he was "not happy" with it. "Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. Senior U.S. officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon give up its efforts to stop the war if the two sides don't compromise. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko announced that Friday would be an official day of mourning in the capital. The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine. Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets. The attack came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be culminating without an agreement in sight and hours after Trump lashed out at Zelensky, accusing him of prolonging the "killing field" by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.
Zelensky says future of negotiations depends on Moscow
Zelensky has repeated many times during the more than three-year war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He noted Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia's attacks had continued. He said in South Africa that the latest attack meant the future of negotiations "depends on Russia's intention because it is in Moscow where they have to make a decision." While talks have been going on in recent weeks, Russia has hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the attack underscored that the main obstacle to ending the war is Russia. "While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv," she wrote on social media. "This isn't a pursuit of peace, it's a mockery of it."Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed that Putin is determined to press his bigger army's advantage on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where it currently holds the momentum. "Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war," Sybiha said on X. "Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will."Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that since Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian attacks haves killed some 13,000 civilians, including 618 children.
Kyiv residents spent the night in shelters
At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on residential suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. The dead included a brother and sister, age 21 and 19, according to Zelensky. At a Kyiv residential building that was almost entirely destroyed, emergency workers removed rubble with their hands, rescuing a trapped woman who emerged from the wreckage covered in white dust and moaning in pain. An elderly woman sat against a brick wall, face smeared with blood, her eyes fixed to the ground in shock as medics tended to her wounds. Fires were reported in several residential buildings, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city military administration.
The attack, which began around 1 a.m., hit at least five neighborhoods in Kyiv. Oksana Bilozir, a student, suffered a head injury in the attack. With blood seeping from her bandaged head, she said that she heard a loud explosion after the air alarm blared and began to grab her things to flee to a shelter when another blast caused her home's walls to crumble and the lights to go off. "I honestly don't even know how this will all end, it's very scary," said Bilozir, referring to the war against Russia's invasion. "I only believe that if we can stop them on the battlefield, then that's it. No diplomacy works here." The attack kept many people awake all night long as multiple loud explosions reverberated around the city and flashes of light punctuated the sky. Families gathered in public air raid shelters, some of them bringing their pet cat and dog.
Zelensky returning from South Africa
Zelensky said in a Telegram post that he would fly back to Kyiv after meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit further South African support in efforts to end his country's war with Russia, now in its fourth year. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Kyiv attack was "yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law.""Civilians must never be targets. This senseless use of force must stop," it said in a statement. Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, a mother of two, was sheltering in a basement after multiple blasts damaged her home. Her family was sleeping when the first explosion shattered their windows and sent kitchen appliances flying in the air. Shards of glass rained down on them as they rushed to take cover in the corridor. "After that we came to the shelter because it was scary and dangerous at home," she said. In Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district, the attack flattened a two-story residential building and heavily damaged nearby multi-story buildings. Rescue work continued through the morning. At a nearby school-turned-relief center, children helped parents cover blown-out windows with plastic while others queued for government compensation. Many stood in blood-stained clothes, still shaken.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April 24-25/2025
Why Hamas Must Not Be Allowed to Keep Its Weapons
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/April 24, 2025
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21572/hamas-weapons
Hamas wants to keep its weapons so that it could kill even those Jews who "hide behind stones and trees." Hamas also wants to hold on to its weapons so that it can continue to oppress Palestinians who dare to speak out against the terrorist group. This old but reliable method of control is how Hamas has managed to remain in power for the past two decades.
Any deal that allows Hamas to keep its arsenal of weapons is simply a green light to the Islamists to pursue their jihad against Israel. It is a waste of time to demand that Hamas just be removed from power in the Gaza Strip.
The Trump administration actually needs to place the issue of disarming Hamas and all the Palestinian terrorist groups not among its demands, but at the top.
Any deal that allows Hamas to keep its arsenal of weapons is simply a green light to the Islamists to pursue their jihad against Israel. It is a waste of time to demand that Hamas just be removed from power in the Gaza Strip.
As the war in the Gaza Strip is about to enter its 20th month, the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group has once again repeated its refusal to disarm. It says the weapons are needed to continue its fight against Israel. Those who believe that Hamas would ever agree to lay down its weapons are living in a dream world. There is, unfortunately, only one way to convince Hamas to disarm: military force.
Recently, two senior Hamas officials, Mahmoud Mardawi and Bassam Naim, announced their group's absolute rejection of any proposal related to laying down its weapons. They said that other Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip also reject any plan to disarm.
"The [Palestinian] resistance's weapons represent the life of the Palestinian people and cannot be relinquished under any circumstances," Mardawi said in a statement to Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV station. Hamas, he added, "will not negotiate over its weapons, or those who carry them, at any stage. The mere entry into a discussion about this issue is completely unacceptable."
Naim also told the TV station that Hamas would not lay down its weapons and that the "resistance will continue as long as there is an [Israeli] occupation."
Israel, however, effectively ended its "occupation" of the Gaza Strip in 2005, when it totally withdrew from the entire coastal strip. That evacuation, however, did not stop Hamas from continuing its campaign of terrorism against Israel, including launching rockets and missiles towards Israeli cities and towns. Hamas continued to attack Israel because it does not believe in Israel's right to exist and considers all the land stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea "occupied territories." Hamas was not established to end the Israeli "occupation" of the Gaza Strip. Hamas was created with the sole purpose of eliminating Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state.
Article 7 of the Hamas charter describes the Jews living in Israel as "invaders" and vows to launch a jihad (holy war) against them:
"The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas} is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders. It goes back to 1939, to the emergence of the martyr Izz al-Din al Kissam and his brethren the fighters, members of Moslem Brotherhood. It goes on to reach out and become one with another chain that includes the struggle of the Palestinians and Moslem Brotherhood in the 1948 war and the Jihad operations of the Moslem Brotherhood in 1968 and after...
"[T]he Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realization of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take. The prophet [Mohammed], Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: 'The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"
Article 11 of the charter states:
"The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that."
Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, believes that it is the duty of every Muslim to engage in jihad against Israel. As far as Hamas is concerned, according to its covenant:
"[L]iberation of Palestine [a euphemism for the destruction of Israel] is then an individual duty for very Moslem wherever he may be. On this basis, the problem should be viewed. This should be realised by every Moslem.... It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis. "
There is, in reality, no difference between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood organization. Hamas is not so much an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood as an extention of it. This linkage is why the Trump administration needs to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
We have seen how Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt, Jordan and other Arab countries have come out in support of Hamas, especially after its October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel, which resulted in the murder of 1,200 Israelis and the injury of thousands. Another 251 Israelis were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 59 – dead and alive – are still held as hostages.
Hamas sees no difference between an Israeli soldier and an Israeli civilian. To Hamas, everyone in Israel is a "Zionist invader." This view is why Hamas has been targeting Jews not only in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but also in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and other Israeli cities.
Hamas wants to keep its weapons so that it could kill even those Jews who "hide behind stones and trees." Hamas also wants to hold on to its weapons so that it can continue to oppress Palestinians who dare to speak out against the terrorist group. This old but reliable method of control is how Hamas has managed to remain in power for the past two decades.
Any deal that allows Hamas to keep its arsenal of weapons is simply a green light to the Islamists to pursue their jihad against Israel. It is a waste of time to demand that Hamas just be removed from power in the Gaza Strip.
The Trump administration actually needs to place the issue of disarming Hamas and all the Palestinian terrorist groups not among its demands, but at the top.
**Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
**Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

How Trump backed away from promising to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours
Meg Kinnard/The Associated Press/April 24, 2025
During his campaign, Donald Trump said repeatedly that he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours” upon taking office. He has changed his tone since becoming president again. As various U.S. emissaries have held talks looking for an end to the war, both Trump and his top officials have become more reserved about the prospects of a peace deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 18 suggested the U.S. might soon back away from negotiations altogether without more progress, adding a comment that sounded like a repudiation of the president's old comments. “No one’s saying this can be done in 12 hours,” he told reporters. The promises made by presidential candidates are often felled by the realities of governing. But Trump's shift is noteworthy given his prior term as president and his long histories with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.The White House last week did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Trump's evolving deadline comments.
Here's a look at Trump's evolution on the way he talks about the Russia-Ukraine war:
‘A very easy negotiation’
MARCH 2023: “There’s a very easy negotiation to take place. But I don’t want to tell you what it is because then I can’t use that negotiation; it’ll never work,” Trump told Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, claiming that he could “solve” the war “in 24 hours” if he were back in the White House. “But it’s a very easy negotiation to take place. I will have it solved within one day, a peace between them," Trump said of the war, which at that point had been ongoing for more than a year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
MAY 2023: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours," Trump said during a town hall on CNN.
JULY 2024: When asked to respond to Trump's one-day claim, Russia’s United Nations Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.” Afterward, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said that “a top priority in his second term will be to quickly negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war."
AUGUST 2024: “Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Trump told a National Guard Conference. “I’ll get it settled very fast. I don’t want you guys going over there. I don’t want you going over there.”
After Trump wins in November
DEC. 16, 2024: “I’m going to try,” Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club, asked if he thought he could still make a deal with Putin and Zelenskyy to end the war.
JAN. 8, 2025: In a Fox News Channel interview, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, now Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, proposed a 100-day deadline to end the war. April 18 marked 100 days since that interview. The 100th day of Trump's presidency is April 29.
Trump becomes president and starts negotiations
JAN. 31: Trump says his new administration has already had “very serious” discussions with Russia and says he and Putin could soon take “significant” action toward ending the grinding conflict.
“We will be speaking, and I think will perhaps do something that’ll be significant,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. “We want to end that war. That war would have not started if I was president.”
FEB. 12: Trump and Putin speak for more than an hour and Trump speaks afterward with Zelenskyy. Trump says afterward, “I think we’re on the way to getting peace.”
FEB. 19: Trump posts on his Truth Social site that Zelenskyy is serving as a “dictator without elections.” He adds that “we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do.”
FEB. 28: Trump and Zelenskyy have a contentious Oval Office meeting. Trump berates Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful,” then abruptly calls off the signing of a minerals deal that Trump said would have moved Ukraine closer to ending the war.
Declaring himself “in the middle” and not on the side of either Ukraine or Russia in the conflict, Trump went on to deride Zelenskyy’s “hatred” for Putin as a roadblock to peace.
“You see the hatred he’s got for Putin,” Trump said. “That’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”The Ukrainian leader was asked to leave the White House by top Trump advisers shortly after Trump shouted at him. Trump later told reporters that he wanted an “immediate ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine but expressed doubt that Zelenskyy was ready to make peace.
MARCH 3: Trump temporarily pauses military aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy to seek peace.
Trump says Zelenskyy is prolonging ‘killing field’ and tells Putin to 'STOP!"
APRIL 23: Trump lashes out at Zelenskyy, saying on social media that the Ukrainian leader was prolonging the “killing field” after pushing back on ceding Crimea to Russia as part of a potential peace plan.
Calling Zelenskyy's stance “very harmful” to talks, Trump also asserts a deal was close and that Zelenskyy can have peace or “he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.”
APRIL 24: Trump offers rare criticism of Putin, urging the Russian leader to “STOP!” after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, the deadliest assault on the city since last July.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Trump claims his 24-hour promise was ‘sarcastic’
MARCH 14: Trump says he was “being a little bit sarcastic” when he repeatedly claimed as a candidate that he would have the Russia-Ukraine war solved within 24 hours.
“Well, I was being a little bit sarcastic when I said that,” Trump says in a clip released from an interview for the “Full Measure” television program. “What I really mean is I’d like to get it settled and, I’ll, I think, I think I’ll be successful.”
MARCH 18-19: Trump speaks with both Zelenskyy and Putin on successive days.
In a March 18 call, Putin told Trump that he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure but refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire that Trump had proposed. Afterward, Trump on social media heralded that move, which he said came “with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine.”
In their own call a day later, Trump suggested that Zelenskyy should consider giving the U.S. ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to ensure their long-term security. Trump told Zelenskyy that the U.S could be “very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” according to a White House statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.
APRIL 14: Trump says “everybody” is to blame: Zelenskyy, Putin and Biden.
“That’s a war that should have never been allowed to start and Biden could have stopped it and Zelenskyy could have stopped it and Putin should have never started it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Talk of moving on
APRIL 18: Rubio says that the U.S. may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days. He spoke in Paris after landmark talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials produced outlines for steps toward peace and appeared to make some long-awaited progress. A new meeting is expected next week in London, and Rubio suggested it could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration continues its involvement. “We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told reporters. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on. It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on.”
He said the U.S. administration wants to decide “in a matter of days.”
Later that day, Trump told reporters at the White House that he agreed with Rubio that a Ukraine peace deal must be done “quickly.” “I have no specific number of days but quickly. We want to get it done,” he said. Saying “Marco is right” that the dynamic of the negotiations must change, Trump stopped short of saying he’s ready to walk away from peace negotiations. “Well, I don’t want to say that,” Trump said. “But we want to see it end.”
*Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
The Canadian Press

Sudan war is a global crisis in the making
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 24, 2025
With Sudan now in its third year of civil war, the country teeters on the edge of fragmentation and the scale of devastation is becoming nearly unimaginable. Sudan has now become a landscape of destruction, suffering and displacement due to the ongoing power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Beyond the borders of Sudan, this war now presents a dire threat to regional and international stability. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week sounded the alarm, warning of the dangerous flows of weapons and fighters into the country and calling for an immediate end to external interference. If this conflict is not brought to a halt, its consequences will extend far beyond Sudan’s borders, endangering the Horn of Africa and beyond. The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is one of the worst in the world today. With more than 13 million people displaced from their homes, it has become the largest internal displacement crisis on the planet. And more than 3 million Sudanese have been forced to flee across borders, seeking refuge in already-vulnerable neighboring states such as Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
The UN reports that more than 25 million people — over half the population — need urgent humanitarian assistance. In several regions, starvation looms as a real and immediate threat, with nearly 600,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger. The deliberate targeting of civilians has only intensified the crisis. This is a deliberate strategy of violence against noncombatants that is aimed at controlling territory through fear, brutality and ethnic targeting. The international community cannot afford to ignore the scale of human suffering unfolding in Sudan. Equally devastating is the destruction of Sudan’s physical and institutional infrastructure. The capital city, Khartoum, which once bustled with markets, government offices, schools and hospitals, has been reduced to ruins. Following its recent recapture by the Sudanese Armed Forces, UN officials who visited the city described scenes of unimaginable devastation. “(There is) massive destruction of infrastructure, no access to water, no electricity and, of course, a lot of contamination of unexploded ordnance,” said Luca Renda, the UN Development Programme representative in Sudan.
The total collapse of state infrastructure has created an environment where governance is impossible.
Roads have been bombed into rubble. Water stations have been deliberately destroyed. Schools stand abandoned, their walls scarred with bullet holes and their courtyards littered with debris. In many neighborhoods, residents are forced to rely on untreated surface water, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. The total collapse of state infrastructure has created an environment where governance is impossible and human life has become nearly unsustainable. The consequences of this war are not confined to Sudan. The conflict is rapidly becoming a regional crisis that has the potential to destabilize large swaths of Africa and even disrupt international trade. Sudan’s strategic location, bordering seven countries and the Red Sea, makes its stability crucial to the security of the region. Already, the war has placed enormous pressure on neighboring states, most of which are struggling with their own political and economic challenges. Refugee flows have overwhelmed border towns. Arms smuggling and the movement of fighters across porous borders are destabilizing communities in Chad and the Central African Republic.
In such a vacuum, extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh affiliates could find fertile ground to regroup and expand. This is not only a threat to Sudan’s neighbors — it poses risks to international security, migration patterns and maritime stability in the Red Sea.
Central to the prolongation of the war is the flow of weapons and foreign interference. Despite international calls for restraint, weapons and money continue to pour into Sudan. This external support has significantly altered the balance of power in the conflict and has emboldened actors to pursue military solutions instead of political dialogue.
The influx of weapons has also had a devastating impact on civilians, enabling large-scale massacres and fueling the ethnic and tribal dimensions of the war. Moreover, the proliferation of arms raises the risk that Sudan’s war could ignite other regional conflicts. In a region already awash with militias and fragile states, the unchecked flow of weapons acts like gasoline on a fire.
The international community must do more than simply condemn the violence. It must act in a coordinated and sustained manner to stop it. The UN, while playing a vital role in documenting abuses and providing humanitarian aid, must move more decisively on the political front. It should work closely with the African Union, whose regional presence and legitimacy make it a critical partner in peacebuilding efforts.
The African Union has already warned of the dangers of Sudan’s potential partition and has called for urgent dialogue between the warring factions. Building on this, the UN and African Union must establish a joint mechanism for facilitating negotiations and monitoring ceasefires.
This is not merely a concern for Sudan, it is also a danger to Africa, the Middle East and the wider world
One promising avenue is the Jeddah Declaration — a framework agreed upon in Saudi Arabia by both warring factions in 2023, outlining commitments to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access. While the declaration has not been fully implemented, it remains one of the few available diplomatic tools that has the backing of both sides and international partners. Revitalizing this agreement, with strong international pressure and incentives for compliance, could offer a path toward de-escalation and eventual peace.
In the absence of a functioning central government, Sudan is at risk of becoming a failed state and a breeding ground for new militias, warlords and terrorist groups. This is not merely a concern for Sudanese citizens, whose suffering is already extreme, it is also a danger to Africa, the Middle East and the wider world. Failed states do not contain their crises, they export them — through armed movements, refugee flows, pandemics and economic collapse.
The longer the Sudan conflict continues, the more entrenched these threats will become. The emergence of war economies and criminal networks will make disarmament and reconstruction exponentially harder. Moreover, if Sudan breaks into multiple territories controlled by rival governments or militias, restoring national unity could take generations.
In conclusion, the war in Sudan is not simply a Sudanese problem, it is a global crisis in the making. The human toll is staggering, the country’s infrastructure is in ruins and the region is on the verge of collapse. The continued flow of weapons, the involvement of foreign powers and the complete breakdown of the state all point toward a future of unending violence and instability — unless immediate and coordinated action is taken.
The international community must recognize that stopping the conflict is not a matter of charity, but of global security. Working through the UN, the African Union and platforms like the Jeddah Declaration, world leaders must demand a ceasefire, halt the weapons trade and bring the parties to the negotiating table. If the war is not stopped now, it will grow, feeding more militias, creating more failed zones and threatening the peace not just of Sudan but of the entire region and beyond.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Pope Francis’ lessons must guide the Middle East
Lynn Zovighian/Arab News/April 24, 2025
No tribute, obituary or testament can do justice to one of the greatest leaders of our time. Pope Francis has passed, but his embodiment of Saint Francis of Assisi’s humility, service and tireless calls for peace must stand the test of time.
Remembering him in the context of our devastated Middle East is indispensable. His values and spirit are an essential blueprint for how our region must be enabled to thrive. I chose to mourn on Easter Monday by reflecting upon eight of his brilliant lessons.
Lesson 1: Be a lighthouse; give light to darkness.
Lesson 2: Discard colonialism and bring back dignity.
Consistently engaging in his humble self, leaving no room for pomp or self-importance, Pope Francis in 2021 visited Iraq, including areas devastated by Daesh, such as Mosul, to mourn with Iraqis and all Christians and communities of the Middle East. His presence reinstated our right to dignity and reaffirmed our collective fight for justice and a life worth living. In an address at Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, he said: “It is up to us to remind the world that human life has value for what it is and not for what it has.”
By connecting so compassionately with survivors of conflict, he instilled the hope they needed to survive another day
During his general audience upon his return from Iraq, he declared: “The Iraqi people have the right to live in peace; they have the right to rediscover the dignity that belongs to them.” His vision and language of human dignity was not about saving others but about being with them, restoring agency and holding space for healing.
Lesson 3: Humbly learn from those fighting and surviving.
Lesson 4: Offer hope in abundance.
In his nightly video calls with Fathers Gabriel Romanelli and Youssef Asaad in Gaza since October 2023, Pope Francis joined their suffering and lived experiences, saying: “I am with you, don’t be afraid.” By connecting so compassionately with survivors of conflict, he instilled the hope they needed to survive another day. And in doing so, at a time when the world was facing the greatest leadership trust crisis in history, he embraced Gaza, elevating the voices bearing the truth.
By receiving, he could also authentically give back: Pope Francis relentlessly demanded an end to the “cruelty” of the Gaza War, up to his last Easter sermon: “I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.” His theology was not abstract, but rather a living system of thinking and acting in empathy and deeply listening to those who are marginalized, invisible or forcibly forgotten.
Lesson 5: When power fails to do right, never lose your moral compass.
Lesson 6: Return to the essence of politics.
During his historic visit to the Arabian Peninsula in 2019, Pope Francis co-signed with Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” underscoring the necessity for world leaders to work together to end conflict and achieve peace. He knew the Middle East’s narrative needed reclaiming and ensured our wisdom of fraternity and tenderness was shared with the world.
The document stated: “We call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of international policy and world economy, to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace; to intervene at the earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of innocent blood and bring an end to wars, conflicts, environmental decay and the moral and cultural decline that the world is presently experiencing.”
He understood the Middle East was being neglected by political convenience and he refused to normalize injustice
By rejecting geopolitics and enforcing the rightful space for moral diplomacy, Pope Francis reimagined human dignity as deeply political: a commitment to the shared well-being of our planet, our people. Lesson 7: Have courage; do not yield to collective indifference and elusiveness.
Lesson 8: Inhumanity is the loss of civilization.
Despite his weakened health, the clarity, energy and truth of his words moved mountains. Whether in his sermons, moments with worshippers and citizens or meetings with political leaders, his critical thinking taught us the power of having the courage to say and do the right thing. He understood the Middle East was being neglected by political convenience and he refused to normalize injustice by speaking up and saying no to what had become acceptable.
During an ecumenical prayer meeting in Italy in 2018 with leaders of Christian churches from the Middle East, Pope Francis stated: “Indifference kills and we desire to lift up our voices in opposition to this murderous indifference.” He taught us never to abandon humanity, especially when the world thinks it can move on in collective indifference. He knew that to lose communities, humanity and human life was not a tragedy of the Middle East, but a defeat of worldly civilization. The loss of a life in this region or any part of the world must matter to everyone; no one was entitled to avoid responsibility. As an Armenian Catholic philanthropist who calls Riyadh her second home, the moral compass of Pope Francis has profoundly shaped my giving, diplomacy and fearless fight for justice and truth.
His passing is a sacred calling to relearn what it means to be human and to honor the region where Jesus was born. The responsibility of love and justice must continue to be shouldered and shared. By doing so, our region stands a real chance of not only surviving but flourishing.
**Lynn Zovighian is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, humanitarian diplomat and opera singer. She is the co-founder of the Zovighian Partnership and founder of the Zovighian Public Office.