English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 12/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Embarrasses The Chief Priests & The
Elders
Matthew 21/23-27: When he had come into the temple, the chief
priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said,
“By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”Jesus
answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I
likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John,
where was it from? From heaven or from men?”They reasoned with themselves,
saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe
him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a
prophet.” They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.”
Titles For The
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
December 11-12/2025
Text & video/A/E/The Dresses of the Wives of Our Political Parties’
Owners, Officials, and Rulers: A Thousand Mercies and Blessings upon Marie
Antoinette and the Biscuits/Elias Bejjani/December 09/2025
Video Link from the "Mossad Vault Youtube Platform: How Mossad Hid a Hit Team in
a Funeral Procession to Kill a Hezbollah Commander, Imad Mugniyah
Report: US wants to prevent a new Israeli war on Lebanon
Bitar to question Grechushkin in Bulgaria after Hajjar lifts his travel ban
Report: Oman accepts Aoun request to mediate with Iran and Israel
Lebanon escalation inevitable, time to be decided, report says
Israel to 'lethally' strike Dahieh and Bekaa, if Hezbollah not disarmed
Berri says army to finalize South Litani disarmament by year's end
What was really said in Naqoura talks?
UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon
Intelligence Reveals Israel's Next Plan in South Lebanon
Hezbollah Runs One of the World's Most Dangerous Illicit Financing Networks
Tel Aviv Hints at Impatience... Washington Warns Beirut of Difficulty Curbing
Any Attack
UK: Ready to Support the Lebanese Army
New Escalation at Dawn... House in Meis El Jabal Reduced to Rubble After Israeli
Demolition
Lebanon Faces a Decisive Path: Confining Weapons and Solidifying Sovereignty
Former Macron Advisor: Hezbollah Disarmament Will Not Be Completed by Year-End
Walid Jumblatt: I Hope Sheikh Naim Qassem, Iran's Representative, Understands
that Lebanon is Not a Tool in Tehran's Hand
Iranian Foreign Minister: I Will Accept the Invitation from My Lebanese
Counterpart to Visit Beirut
Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc Denounces the State's Free Concessions to the
Israeli Enemy and Demands a Brake on Them
US lawmakers press Israel to probe strike on reporters in Lebanon
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published
on
December 11-12/2025
Israel
says Hamas ‘will be disarmed’ after group proposes weapons freeze
Lifting sanctions on Syria will prevent Daesh resurgence and strengthen the
nation, experts say
Year after Assad’s downfall, Syrians shows strong support for Al-Sharaa
British navy says it tracked Russian sub for three days in Channel
Russia says captured Ukraine’s Siversk in key eastern region
US bringing seized tanker to port as Venezuela war fears build
Hamas rejects Amnesty accusations of crimes against humanity as ‘lies’
Far-right Israeli minister vows to remove tomb of Arab nationalist Ezzedine al-Qassam
Iran aims to fire 2,000 missiles at once in future conflict, Israel warns
US sanctions Maduro relatives, ships carrying Venezuela oil
US offers ‘free economic zone’ in east if Ukraine cedes Donbas, Zelenskyy says
India’s Modi holds third call with Trump since tariff hike
Putin reaffirms support for Venezuela’s Maduro over US tensions
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on
December 11-12/2025
8 Reasons Why the U.S. Must Maintain a Ban on Iran’s Uranium Enrichment
and Plutonium Reprocessing /Mark Dubowitz/Behnam Ben Taleblu/Miad Maleki/Andrea
Stricker/FDD-Insight/December 11/2025
Africa’s Collapse Is a Threat to America and Israel/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/The
Algemeiner/December 11/2025
Turkey Puts Fragile Deal Between Damascus and Kurdish Forces at Greater
Risk/Ahmad Sharawi/FDD/December 10, 2025
Could Israel’s Palestinians-only death penalty entrench impunity in the West
Bank?/Jonathan Gornall/Arab News/December 11, 2025
Israel moves toward state-sanctioned execution/Hani Hazaimeh/Arab News/December
11/2025
Trump, Al-Sharaa and the future of Syria/Robert Ford/Arab News/December 11/2025
How to tackle global poverty more effectively in 2026/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/December 11, 2025
The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on
December 11-12/2025
Text &
video/A/E/The Dresses of the Wives of Our Political Parties’ Owners, Officials,
and Rulers: A Thousand Mercies and Blessings upon Marie Antoinette and the
Biscuits
Elias Bejjani/December 09/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/12/149240/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj1nNxZX044
Anyone observing from outside
Lebanon the debauchery in the lifestyle of the Rulers of the Nation of the
Cedars, the owners of the so-called Political Parties’ companies, the
extravagance of many of the Clergy, and all those surrounding them—their wives,
relatives, consultants, sycophants, flocks, and idol worshippers—will, for a
million certainties, curse and disbelieve the hour they all reached positions of
responsibility.
Meanwhile, if you want to know people’s true mettle, the depth of their
humanity, their values, and their morals, give them money, power, and abundance…
either they walk through the Wide Gates and cling to their uncle Lucifer, the
Head of the Devils, or they walk through the Narrow Gates, extend their hands to
the people, and dedicate their lives to serving them.
And it is in this context—the context of the Wide and Narrow Gates—the choice
between good and evil—let us remember some of the wise proverbs of our villages:
“Woe to you from a poor man who gets rich and has no faith… he starts to rage
and cannot be calmed.”
“Woe to a people whose rulers have sold their conscience, are wicked and
shameless… and whose wives—a thousand mercies on Marie Antoinette of the
biscuits—live in total alienation from their people and their suffering.”
“Tell me what your wife wears, O owner of the Political Party, the ruler, and
the cleric, so I can tell you who you are, and if we can trust you and hand over
our lives and the country to you.”
“Show me who you have gathered around you, O ruler, official, cleric, and owner
of the Political Party, so I may know if your mettle is good or rotten.”
Today in Lebanon, the holy land of holiness and the saints, there is something
fundamentally wrong with everything connected to the officials, the rulers, the
owners of the Political Parties, and many of the people of robes and caps
(Clergy).
Lebanon’s current status today greatly resembles the miserable and evil status
of Sodom and Gomorrah, the days of Noah and the Flood, and the time of Nimrod.
The question, which definitely has no human answer, is: Has the Almighty God’s
wrath, directed at Lebanon and the officials responsible for its terrible state,
reached the level of ultimate punishment and retribution?
In the days of Noah, He punished them with the Flood, and in the time of Sodom
and Gomorrah, He burned them, and with Nimrod, He struck them with the confusion
of Babel.
So, how will His retribution and punishment be for us in Lebanon?
Video Link from the "Mossad Vault Youtube Platform: How
Mossad Hid a Hit Team in a Funeral Procession to Kill a Hezbollah Commander,
Imad Mugniyah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPsGGMfgEos&t=151s
A funeral procession winds through Beirut's southern suburbs. Hundreds of
mourners in black. Hidden among them are five men who don't belong—Israeli
operatives sent to kill Hezbollah's most dangerous commander in the heart of
enemy territory.
This is the story of how Mossad infiltrated a funeral to execute Imad Mugniyah,
the architect behind the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, the TWA Flight 847
hijacking, and decades of attacks that killed hundreds. For years, he survived
by never sleeping in the same location twice, never using phones, always
surrounded by bodyguards. But intelligence analysts
identified a vulnerability: his loyalty meant he attended funerals where
refusing to appear would signal dangerous paranoia. When a senior operative was
killed, Mossad saw its opportunity—a funeral procession where operatives could
blend into chaos, strike in seconds, and vanish before security realized what
happened. We reconstruct the operation: the forged
documents, the weeks rehearsing in mock-ups of Beirut's streets, the suppressed
weapons, and the ninety-second window where they had to identify the target,
execute, and escape while surrounded by Hezbollah fighters.
But something went catastrophically wrong. They killed the wrong man—a
bodyguard whose appearance led to fatal misidentification. The operation was
tactically flawless but strategically failed. If this investigation made you see
covert warfare differently, hit Subscribe—we're exposing operations that
governments deny. Drop your thoughts: do targeted killings make nations safer,
or perpetuate endless cycles of retaliation?
Report: US wants to prevent a new Israeli war on Lebanon
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
The Americans are very interested in Lebanon on all levels, especially as to the
situation on the southern border, and they want to end the conflict and avoid a
repetition of the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, informed diplomatic
sources said. The U.S. wants diplomacy to prevail in order to “give a chance for
restoring stability, prosperity and investments in Lebanon, Israel and the
region,” the sources told al-Binaa newspaper in remarks published Thursday.
“That’s why the U.S. involvement will intensify at the beginning of the year and
there will be practical steps on these topics,” the sources added.”“Lebanon has
a historic chance to exit the quagmire of its crises, and if it does not respond
to the demands, it will lose U.S. interest and things will further deteriorate
on all levels,” the sources warned.
Bitar to question Grechushkin in Bulgaria after Hajjar
lifts his travel ban
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
State Prosecutor Jamal al-Hajjar has lifted the travel ban imposed on Beirut
port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar to allow him to travel to Bulgaria to
question Igor Grechushkin -- the Russian-Cypriot owner of the ship that brought
the ammonium nitrates that eventually exploded at the port, MTV said.
The development comes a day after a Bulgaria court refused to extradite
Grechushkin, arguing that Lebanon has not provided guarantees that, if he were
sentenced to death, the sentence would not be carried out. The ruling can be
appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal, whose
decision will be final, and the suspect will remain in custody until then. But
An-Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday that “Lebanon did offer guarantees that
the death sentence would not be implemented,” adding that “the Bulgarian court
considered that insufficient and decided not to extradite him to Lebanon while
agreeing to Judge Tarek Bitar’s request to interrogate him.”According to the
daily, Bitar will travel to Bulgaria next week. The blast on August 4, 2020 was
one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions, destroying swathes of the
Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
Grechushkin, who was arrested in September at Sofia airport, is accused by
Lebanese judicial authorities of "introducing explosives into Lebanon -- a
terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people -- (and)
disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship," according to Bulgarian
prosecutors. Authorities in Lebanon say the 2020 explosion was triggered by a
fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored
haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials. Beirut
authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship
that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port. A Lebanese investigation into
the blast was long bogged down by legal and political wrangling. Those
questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese prime minister Hassan
Diab, as well as military and security officials.
Report: Oman accepts Aoun request to mediate with Iran and Israel
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday wrapped up an official visit to Oman, which
has reportedly accepted his request to act as a mediator between Lebanon and
Israel, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Thursday. The daily added that
Oman is expected to “communicate with Tehran to soften its stance, prevent any
obstruction of the negotiation track and guarantee that Hezbollah will not
resort to escalation or to impeding any possible settlement.”Oman will also “use
its open channels with Israel to push it to respect Lebanese sovereignty and
abide by the relevant international agreements to secure a political and
security atmosphere that can pacify the situations and pave the way for any
settlement,” the newspaper said.
Lebanon escalation inevitable, time to be decided, report says
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
Israel is heading toward an escalation in Lebanon, according to an Israeli media
report that quoted an Israeli security official as saying that "Hezbollah will
not give up its weapons through the (ceasefire) agreement" and that an
escalation is inevitable, but its timing is yet to be decided. "We will decide
its timing in accordance with our security interests," the official reportedly
said.During a meeting with U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate
claimed that Hezbollah is smuggling short-range missiles through Syria, moving
infrastructure to the area north of the Litani River, and mobilizing its members
inside villages.
Israel to 'lethally' strike Dahieh and Bekaa, if Hezbollah not disarmed
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
As the world prepares to celebrate a new year, the Lebanese are living day by
day amid fears and threats of a renewed war. The Lebanese army has been tasked
by the government to disarm Hezbollah by the year end, under U.S. pressure and
Israel's almost daily strikes. However, the army's resources are too limited and
Israel is accusing it of not doing the job. The army chief was scheduled to
visit Washington last month but the trip was called off after U.S. political and
military officials cancelled their meetings with him just hours before he was
scheduled to depart.
Influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Haykal's "weak almost
non-existent effort to disarm Hezbollah" and an army statement that referred to
Israel as the "enemy" -- a standard term in official discourse in Lebanon, which
has been technically at war with Israel since 1948. Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar
newspaper quoted Thursday a U.S. envoy as saying that Israel will strike
Hezbollah especially in the Bekaa and in Beirut's southern suburbs, if it
doesn't disarm. The local daily quoted Morgan Ortagus as saying that Israel
would carry out major and "lethal" strikes against Hezbollah if the group
refuses to hand over its precision missiles and drones by the year end.
The Lebanese government first aimed to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year,
but officials later said resources are too limited to meet the deadline. The
current aim is to fully clear a stretch along the Lebanon-Israel border, defined
as south of the Litani river, before moving into further phases. Hezbollah has
rejected the plan, saying it won’t discuss disarmament as long as Israel
continues to occupy several hills along the border and carries out almost daily
strikes. Recently, Lebanon and Israel moved toward direct negotiations as they
appointed civil representatives to lead their delegations to the ceasefire
monitoring committee. Israel says the talks are governmental and economic, while
Lebanon refuses to call them "direct" negotiations or normalization of ties,
with officials saying the only discussed issues are Israel's withdrawal from
south Lebanon, a halt to its attacks on the country, and the return of Lebanese
prisoners. On Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon
Michel Issa and a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon. Issa said
after the meeting that Israel differentiates between the Lebanese government and
Hezbollah and that the negotiations with the government don't mean that the war
on Hezbollah will stop. Local al-Jadeed TV channel said that the American
delegation warned Berri that the U.S. will cease to help and cooperate with
Lebanon if it fails to disarm Hezbollah and to carry out economic reforms by the
year end.
Berri says army to finalize South Litani disarmament by
year's end
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
Speaker Nabih Berri said Thursday that the Lebanese Army has implemented 90
percent of the cessation of hostilities agreement in the South Litani area and
will completely finalize what’s left by year’s end. “This is what UNIFIL, the
Mechanism and Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal have confirmed,” Berri
added, in a meeting with a delegation from the Press Syndicate. Asked about the
“threats launched by some diplomats, especially what U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has
repeatedly said about annexing Lebanon to Syria,” Berri said: “Let no one
threaten the Lebanese.”
“It is utterly unacceptable to address the Lebanese people in this manner,
especially by diplomats, and particularly by someone like Ambassador Tom
Barrack. His statement about annexing Lebanon to Syria was a grave mistake and
completely unacceptable,” Berri added. The Speaker also affirmed that the
current electoral law is in effect and that the parliamentary elections will
only be held according to it. "There's no way to cancel or postpone them.
Everyone wants elections, and we remain open to any formula that leads to
consensus on the outstanding issues that are points of contention among the
political forces, especially regarding the expatriate vote. No one wants to
exclude expatriates," he reassured. “Before discussing any amendments, I want to
remind everyone that for over eight years, the Development and Liberation bloc
and I have been calling for the implementation of the Taif Agreement,
specifically the section concerning the electoral law and the establishment of a
Senate. This matter, of course, encroaches upon the powers of Parliament and its
Speaker. Despite this, I have said, and I reiterate now, that I agree: let's
implement the Taif Agreement, specifically the section related to the electoral
law and the establishment of a Senate, but will they agree?” Berri wondered.
What was really said in Naqoura talks?
Naharnet/December 11, 2025
Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives have held this month their first
direct talks in decades, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling
the move "an initial attempt to establish a basis for an economic cooperation
between Israel and Lebanon."Lebanese leaders said Lebanon is "far from"
diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel. So what was really
said during the first talks that included civilians in Naqoura? Media reports
said what Netenyahu described as "economic" is Trump's economic buffer zone plan
for south Lebanon and the reconstruction of war-hit regions. Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar
newspaper confirmed in a report Thursday that the Israeli delegation raised the
subject of rebuilding the border region in south Lebanon as an economic zone.
Former Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, Simon Karam, who was appointed
as a civilian to lead Lebanon's delegation, said the priority is to end the
occupation and the attacks in order to allow the residents of the border region
to return home and rebuild. Al-Akhbar said Karam told the committee last
Wednesday, as it convened at the U.N. peacekeeping force's headquarters in
Naqoura, that the return of the residents and the reconstruction are
pre-requisites to any discussion about the future of the region. The daily
reported that U.S. envoy Tom Barrack had also proposed to Lebanese officials an
economic cooperation that allows Washington to convince Lebanese and Arab
investors to invest in south Lebanon along the border with Israel. Barrack said
the U.S., unlike Israel, wants to give the Lebanese state and the private sector
an important role there, to restore the southerners' trust in the state as a
substitute to Hezbollah. According to al-Akhbar sources, Barrack considered that
it is difficult to disarm Hezbollah by force, as people cannot be persuaded to
leave their weapons with nothing in return.
UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon
AFP/December 11, 2025
BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Wednesday that Israeli
forces fired on its peacekeepers a day earlier in the country’s south, urging
Israel’s army to “cease aggressive behavior.”It is the latest such incident
reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer
between Israel and Lebanon and has been working with Lebanon’s army to support a
year-old truce between Israel and militant group Hezbollah. “Yesterday,
peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF
(Israeli army) soldiers in a Merkava tank,” a UNIFIL statement said, referring
to the de facto border. “One ten-round burst of machine-gun fire was fired above
the convoy, and four further ten-round bursts were fired nearby,” the statement
said. It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese
territory at the time of the incident and that the Israeli military had been
informed of the location and timing of the peacekeeping patrol in advance.
“Peacekeepers asked the IDF to stop firing through UNIFIL’s liaison channels...
Fortunately, no one was injured,” it said. Last month UNIFIL said Israeli
soldiers shot at its troops in the south, while Israel’s military said it
mistook blue helmets for “suspects” and fired warning shots. In October, UNIFIL
said one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN
position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a
month. “Attacks on or near peacekeepers are serious violations of (UN) Security
Council Resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said on Wednesday, referring to the 2006
resolution that formed the basis of the November 2024 truce. “We call on the IDF
to cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working to
rebuild stability along the Blue Line,” the peacekeepers said.
Israel carries out regular attacks on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying
it is targeting sites and operatives belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of
rearming. It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems
strategic.On Saturday, a UN Security Council delegation visiting Lebanon urged
all parties to uphold the ceasefire. It emphasized that the “safety of
peacekeepers must be respected and that they must never be targeted,” after
gunmen on mopeds attacked UNIFIL personnel last week.
Intelligence Reveals Israel's Next Plan in South Lebanon
Al-Markaziya/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Intelligence reports, quoted by the Erem News website from Western diplomatic
sources, indicate that the Israeli army is preparing military plans for
intensive and unprecedented aerial strikes in Lebanon. These strikes are
reportedly aimed at "creating the largest possible wave of displacement" from
the South and the Bekaa Valley. These reports, described by the website as
reliable, are being circulated on a limited scale among Western diplomatic
missions operating in the region. They suggest that the Israeli air strikes
could target vital Lebanese facilities that have never been struck before, such
as main power stations, the bridge of Rafic Hariri International Airport, and
even the Port of Beirut, according to the website.More seriously, there is talk
of a potential Israeli ground offensive that would not be limited to the South
but would also include the Bekaa. This scenario has not been put forward with
such clarity since the July 2006 war and is considered a "red line" by both
Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army.
Hezbollah Runs One of the World's Most Dangerous Illicit
Financing Networks
Central News Agency/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
In a world where money moves at the speed of light and facts disappear across
borders unseen on maps, high-level diplomatic sources from Lebanon to Brazil are
exposing a financial network considered one of the most dangerous illicit
financing networks in the Western Hemisphere. This network, run by Hezbollah,
allegedly generates hundreds of millions annually. Sources tell Al-Markaziya
that reliable Western intelligence reports have revealed that Hezbollah's
profits from drug trafficking, money laundering, arms and oil smuggling, and
product counterfeiting exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars in just one
year. More alarmingly, these funds do not only come from a hidden economy but
also from "legitimate" corporate fronts owned by businessmen linked to the
party, in one of the most professional camouflage operations in organized crime.
Specifically, in the triangle where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet,
experts talk about the "Golden Haven" for Hezbollah's networks. The area is
described as the "Silicon Valley" of money laundering, where millions of dollars
are washed daily through exchange networks, trading companies, import/export
businesses, and even factories that counterfeit global goods. Diplomatic sources
confirm that the penetration of these networks by Western intelligence agencies
was not accidental but resulted from "internal disputes" between competing
Lebanese businessmen over oil deals and money laundering commissions. These
disputes turned into a treasure trove of information, revealing a part of a
shadow economy that has operated in the dark for years. In Venezuela, the
picture is more complex, where companies are used as fronts to sign long-term
contracts with European companies to facilitate oil smuggling and circulation—a
mechanism identical to the methods Iran uses to circumvent international
sanctions. Between drugs, gold, and oil, and between the formal and shadow
economies, one of the world's most complex financing networks is taking shape—a
network that has enabled Hezbollah to build a parallel, transnational economy
that is difficult to dismantle.
Tel Aviv Hints at Impatience... Washington Warns Beirut of
Difficulty Curbing Any Attack
Janoubia/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported, citing Israeli officials, that
Hezbollah is restoring its capabilities on various fronts due to a "renewed flow
of Iranian funds," stating that Israel will not wait long. The newspaper
mentioned that Lebanon has dismantled about 80% of Hezbollah's weapons south of
the Litani River, but is unable to complete the disarmament process before the
end of the year. It also quoted its sources as saying that the United States has
informed the Lebanese side that it may not be able to prevent any potential
Israeli military operation if the Lebanese government does not initiate
"tangible and rapid" steps in that direction. The newspaper indicated that the
anticipated meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump will be a
pivotal moment in determining whether Israel will receive an American green
light for a wide-scale escalation in Lebanon.
UK: Ready to Support the Lebanese Army
National News Agency/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Yousef Raggi received a phone call
from the United Kingdom's Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish
Falconer, during which they discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the
region.
The British Minister expressed his country's readiness to "help Lebanon prevent
Israel from carrying out its escalation threats and support the Lebanese Army to
enable it to implement the Lebanese government's decision to extend its
sovereignty over all its territories and confine weapons to its legitimate
forces.
New Escalation at Dawn... House in Meis El Jabal Reduced to
Rubble After Israeli Demolition
Janoubia/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
An Israeli force, at dawn today, blew up a house on the outskirts of the town of
Meis El Jabal, toward Houla, in a new aggression that is added to the series of
daily violations. This demolition comes amidst continuous, near-daily Israeli
aggressions against Lebanon, with the occupation forces remaining stationed at a
number of border points in the South, in addition to continuous violations of
the ceasefire agreement signed in November 2024.
Lebanon Faces a Decisive Path: Confining Weapons and
Solidifying Sovereignty
Translated by Huna Lebanon/Lebanon, December 11, 2025 (Translated
from Arabic)
All eyes are on Thursday, the 18th of this month, to determine the path that
will lead to a strong foundation intertwined with declaring the area south of
the Litani River a weapons-free zone, through an official stance by the Lebanese
government. This implies that military and sovereign authority will be
exclusively the responsibility of the Lebanese Army. Next Thursday, a
preliminary meeting will be held in Paris, including representatives from
Lebanon, Paris, Riyadh, and Washington. The meeting will review preparations for
the Lebanese Army support conference expected next month, which may be attended
by Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun Roudolphe Heikel. He is expected
to present the practical achievements, along with the details of the plan to
confine Hezbollah's weapons, and the military institution's needs to complete
it. In an article published in the Financial Times, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam
asserted that "Lebanon's future must not end in collapse," stressing that "a
strong and modern government is capable of supporting the spirit of
entrepreneurship and innovation among the Lebanese," and that his government is
working on a new national start based on two main pillars: sovereignty and
reform. Regarding the pillar of sovereignty, Salam emphasized that "the Lebanese
State alone must possess weapons within its territory, and it alone has the
decision of war and peace." He said that on August 5th, the government issued
instructions to the Army to develop a comprehensive plan to confine weapons to
the State, and the following month, the plan was approved. Its first phase
stipulates a three-month deadline to ensure the State's monopoly on weapons
south of the Litani and their containment in other areas. He pointed to enhanced
security at Beirut Airport and border crossings, and the dismantling of hundreds
of illicit arms warehouses and smuggling networks. In contrast, the US Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Mike Waltz, announced that
"Hezbollah is rebuilding itself, and I toured the border and saw the activity of
the Lebanese Army." In an interview with Israeli Channel 12, he indicated that:
"Israel always has the right to defend itself."
Former Macron Advisor: Hezbollah Disarmament Will Not Be
Completed by Year-End
Al-Markaziya/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Ofer Bronstein, the unofficial advisor to the French President on
Israeli-Palestinian relations, stated that disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon may
take longer than expected, expressing doubts about the possibility of completing
this task by the end of the current year. He also called for granting the
Lebanese Army more time before Israel deals with the Lebanese government on this
file.Bronstein, who heads the Paris-based International Peace Institute, was
speaking to the Novosti agency, where he affirmed his country's full support for
Lebanon's sovereignty and the necessity for Israel to respect Lebanese borders.
Bronstein said: "France supports Lebanon's sovereignty, and Israel must refrain
from bombing its territory." He added in this context that France had held an
international conference last year to support Lebanon, which managed to raise
over a billion dollars, the majority of which was allocated to support the
Lebanese Army.
The French advisor pointed out that Lebanon faces a significant challenge in
restoring full control over its territory and imposing its influence on its
borders, especially given the presence of Hezbollah, which possesses a strong
military wing. Bronstein said: "It is impossible to have two armies and a state
within a state in Lebanon," referring to Hezbollah's power which overlaps with
the Lebanese state's control.
He considered that Israel should, at this stage, refrain from any military
operations against Lebanese territory, giving the Lebanese Army an additional
opportunity to disarm Hezbollah. Regarding the timeline for Hezbollah's
disarmament, Bronstein expressed his belief that this task will not be completed
by the end of this year. He said: "I do not think they will be able to complete
this task by the end of the year. They should be given more time, a few more
months." He affirmed that after that, Israel will deal with the Lebanese
government to coordinate the next steps.
On another note, Bronstein indicated that Israel does not have a logical reason
for confrontation with Lebanon at the moment. He mentioned that territorial
disputes are limited to Palestine and Syria, not Lebanon. In this context, he
spoke about the issue of the Shebaa Farms, which is considered disputed
territory between Lebanon and Israel, adding: "The Shebaa Farms is land occupied
by Israel and disputed not only between Israel and Lebanon, but also between
Lebanon and Syria." He added: "Thousands of people should not die for a few
meters of land." Bronstein believes that the optimal solution to the Shebaa
Farms problem lies in an agreement involving the concerned parties, including
the United States and France, in addition to Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. He
called for a peaceful resolution of this issue to spare the region further
escalation. Separately, the French advisor expressed satisfaction with the first
direct contact between Lebanese and Israeli officials in thirty years. He
stressed that he considers negotiations through intermediaries often futile, as
they are prone to errors and misunderstandings. He emphasized that direct
negotiations, under a ceasefire, are the best way to achieve real progress on
these sensitive issues.
Walid Jumblatt: I Hope Sheikh Naim Qassem, Iran's
Representative, Understands that Lebanon is Not a Tool in Tehran's Hand
Al-Markaziya/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, expressed his
wish that Sheikh Naim Qassem understands that the Islamic Republic cannot use
Lebanon or a section of Lebanese Shiites to improve negotiations for the Iranian
nuclear program or other matters. He added: "We have entered the Israeli era,
but does this mean surrendering to all of Israel's conditions? The armistice
agreement established in 1949 is the basis for Lebanese-Israeli
relations."Jumblatt pointed out, in an interview with MTV, that the "Lebanese
Army is doing an immense job in the South by confiscating strategic weapons, and
I hope that the issue of the protocol difficulty in America not receiving the
Army Commander does not continue." He continued: "I heard talk, which might be
true, that 90 percent of the strategic heavy weaponry has been destroyed, so why
are the Israelis insisting on striking Lebanon then? Is the goal to displace the
entire Shiite community?" He revealed that "the American delegation I met today
was multi-opinionated, and we would like to know from Ambassador Issa who speaks
for America? 'So we know where we are going'." He hoped "that a discussion takes
place within the 'Party's' circles and that they agree not to be a tool in
Iran's hand again," supporting a popular referendum on Lebanon joining the
Abraham Accords.Jumblatt stressed that he is not in favor of using force in the
disarmament process, noting that "we have entered a new kind of war with a
massive Israeli penetration internally, so let us defend the Lebanese Army, ask
to conscript 10,000 soldiers, and let America give us acceptable weapons." He
also predicted that the elections would be postponed until July, saying: "The
important thing is that they agree on an election law, and 'even if Taymour
remains alone in Mukhtara, I have no problem'." In response to a question about
the possibility of an alliance with Arslan in the elections: "They entered on
Kamal Jumblatt's blood and exited on Rafik Hariri's blood."
Iranian Foreign Minister: I Will Accept the Invitation from My Lebanese
Counterpart to Visit Beirut
Tehran: Asharq Al-Awsat/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that he would accept
the invitation from his Lebanese counterpart, Yousef Rajji, to visit Beirut, but
indicated that Rajji's decision not to accept visiting Iran was "perplexing."
Araghchi added in a post on his "X" account: "We seek a new beginning for
bilateral relations with Lebanon, based on the principles set by my Lebanese
counterpart," noting that the foreign ministers of countries "that have full and
brotherly diplomatic relations do not need a neutral place to meet." The
Lebanese Foreign Minister had announced his apology for not accepting Araghchi's
invitation to visit Tehran "under the current circumstances," calling on his
counterpart to hold a meeting in a mutually agreed-upon third country. Lebanon
accuses Iran, an ally of the "Hezbollah" group, of interfering in its internal
affairs. The Iranian Foreign Minister had invited his Lebanese counterpart last
week to visit Tehran to discuss bilateral relations.
Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc Denounces the State's Free
Concessions to the Israeli Enemy and Demands a Brake on Them
Al-Markaziya/December 11, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc held its regular session today, discussing
several political and parliamentary issues concerning Lebanon, Palestine, and
the region, and issued the following statement: "First: Another mistake has been
committed by the authority in Lebanon by nominating a civilian to participate in
the Mechanism Committee that oversees the cessation of hostilities agreement,
contravening even previous official positions that conditioned civilian
participation on the cessation of hostilities. The Lebanese State has offered a
free concession that will not halt the aggression, because Israel seeks to keep
Lebanon under fire with coverage and support from the United States of America.
The Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc believes that the opportunity is still
available for the Lebanese authority to put a brake on its rapid free
concessions to the enemy by being resolute and conditioning the enemy's
commitment to the agreement first, especially since the aggressive violations
have reached thousands and led to the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of
Lebanese citizens and the destruction of much private and public property.
Second: The Bloc notes an increase in the conciliatory language used by some
parties and figures toward the Zionist enemy, justifying its crimes and
expressing understanding for its daily aggressions and crimes against the nation
and its people, and opening platforms to its speakers or promoting its claims,
which constitutes a clear violation and blatant breach of Lebanese laws
regarding dealing with an official enemy of Lebanon under Lebanese laws.
Therefore, the Bloc appeals to the concerned authorities, including the Ministry
of Information, the National Media Council, as well as the judicial authorities
and all relevant bodies, to act immediately and fulfill their duties completely
regarding this media permissiveness that strikes at the fundamentals and axioms
of the national position and leads to further divisions, which encourages the
enemy to escalate and continue its aggression. Third: On the International Human
Rights Day, which has recently become hollow and devoid of any content due to
the organized genocide crimes against children, women, and the elderly carried
out by the Zionist entity in the Gaza Strip, and due to its continuous
aggression against Lebanon, under full American-Western partnership and
suspicious and condemned international silence, the Bloc appeals to the peoples,
their vibrant forces, and all honorable and free people in this world,
especially Western elites, students, and youth, as well as legal and judicial
bodies, to escalate their movement in support of the causes of truth, freedom,
and justice for all human beings, especially the oppressed among them.
Fourth: The Bloc appreciates the achievements of the Finance and Budget
Committee in allocating financial credits for the file of reconstruction of what
the Israeli aggression has destroyed and affirms that this step, regardless of
the value of the allocated credits, is an essential and necessary step to
confirm the State's responsibility for this national file. It is the right of
the residents of the frontline villages and all affected citizens that the State
exerts every possible effort to provide the necessary credits for shelter and to
begin rebuilding the fully or partially damaged homes. Fifth: The Bloc
emphasizes the importance that the 2026 Budget draft, currently being discussed
in the Finance and Budget Committee, includes the necessary procedures that put
the correction of public sector salaries on the path to treatment, and addresses
the disorder, chaos, and unjustified disparities in assistance, increases, and
productivity allowance, which leave their blatant and unjustified effects on the
rights of public sector workers and employees, especially concerning their
retirement pensions and end-of-service indemnities. Sixth: The Bloc emphasizes
the necessity for the government to do everything necessary to finalize the file
of full-time status for university professors as quickly as possible, to
maintain the regularity and smooth operation of this national academic edifice,
thereby considering the interest of the national university, its professors, and
its students, and serving the children of the nation away from any narrow
calculations. Seventh: The Bloc strongly condemns the escalating American
thuggery, piracy, and aggressive threats against many vulnerable countries
around the world, and warns of the dangers of those actions and their
repercussions on international peace and security."
US lawmakers press Israel to probe strike on reporters in
Lebanon
AFP/December 11, 2025
WASHINGTON: Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US
governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on
journalists in southern Lebanon. The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters
videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from
AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost
her leg. “We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that
meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did
this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side. The
lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for
answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe
Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump. The Israeli
government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added. “With the
Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything
we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said. “The IDF has
made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said,
referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its
investigation into the incident is closed. Collins called for Washington to
publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured. “But
I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East,
the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing
the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.” “We’re not letting it go,”
Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they
stonewall us.” AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that
two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel. The
findings were corroborated by other international probes, including
investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders. Unlike
Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in
October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”
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December 11-12/2025
Israel says Hamas ‘will be disarmed’
after group proposes weapons freeze
AFP/December 11, 2025
DOHA: Israel said on Thursday that Hamas “will be disarmed” as part of the
US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, after a top leader from the Islamist movement
suggested a weapons freeze. “There will be no future for Hamas under the
20-point plan. The terror group will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised,”
the Israeli official told AFP. Hamas’s Khaled Meshaal told Qatari news channel
Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the militant group is open to a weapons “freeze,”
but rejects the demand for disarmament put forward in US President Donald
Trump’s plan for Gaza. A top Hamas leader told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera on
Wednesday that the militant group is open to a weapons “freeze,” but rejects the
demand for disarmament put forward in the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza. “The
idea of total disarmament is unacceptable to the resistance (Hamas). What is
being proposed is a freeze, or storage (of weapons)... to provide guarantees
against any military escalation from Gaza with the Israeli occupation,” said
Khaled Meshaal in an interview aired Wednesday. “This is the idea we’re
discussing with the mediators, and I believe that with pragmatic American
thinking... such a vision could be agreed upon with the US administration,” he
said. The US-sponsored ceasefire deal, in effect since October 10, halted the
war that began after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it
remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of breaches.
The agreement is composed of three phases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu recently indicated that it was about to enter the second phase. Under
that phase Israeli troops would further withdraw from their positions in Gaza
and be replaced by an international stabilization force (ISF), while Hamas would
lay down its weapons. Netanyahu is expected to meet with US President Donald
Trump in the US later this month to discuss the steps forward in the truce. But
the Palestinian militant group has indicated it would not agree to giving up its
arsenal.“Disarmament for a Palestinian means stripping away his very soul. Let’s
achieve that goal another way,” Meshaal added. In the first phase of the deal
Palestinian militants committed to releasing the remaining 48 living and dead
captives held in the territory. All of the hostages have so far been released
except for one body. In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian
prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of dead
Palestinians. As for the international peacekeeping force, Meshaal said the
group was open to its deployment along Gaza’s border with Israel, but would not
agree to it operating inside the Palestinian territory, calling such a plan an
“occupation.”“We have no objection to international forces or international
stabilization forces being deployed along the border, like UNIFIL,” he said,
referring to the UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon near the
Israeli border. “They would separate Gaza from the occupation,” he added,
referring to Israel. “As for the presence of international forces inside Gaza,
in Palestinian culture and consciousness that means an occupying
force.”Mediators as well as Arab and Islamic nations, he said, could act as
“guarantors” that there would be no escalation originating from inside Gaza.
“The danger comes from the Zionist entity, not from Gaza,” he added, referring
to Israel.
Lifting sanctions on Syria will prevent Daesh resurgence
and strengthen the nation, experts say
RAY HANANIA/Arab NewsDecember 11, 2025
Conference in Washington discusses effects US policies are having on post-Assad
Syria, and the continuing economic hardships in the country that could fuel
terrorism
Participants praise US President Donald Trump for taking the right steps to help
the war-torn nation move towards recovery and stabilization
Syria faces serious challenges in the aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime
a year ago, including rebuilding its economy, lifting refugees and civilians out
of poverty, and preventing a resurgence of Daesh terrorism.
But experts in two panel discussions during a conference at the Middle East
Institute in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, attended by Arab News, agreed that
US President Donald Trump had so far taken all the right steps to help the
war-torn nation move toward recovery and stabilization.
One of the discussions explored the effects American policies are having on the
rebuilding of Syria, including the lifting of sanctions and efforts to attract
outside investments and stabilize the economy. Moderated by the institute’s vice
president for policy, Kenneth Pollack, the participants included retired
ambassadors Robert Ford and Barbara Leaf, and Charles Lister, a resident fellow
at the institute.
The other discussion focused on the continuing economic hardships in Syria that
could fuel terrorism, including a resurgence of Daesh. Moderator Elizabeth
Hagedorn, of Washington-based Middle East news website Al-Monitor, was joined by
Mohammed Alaa Ghanem of the Syrian American Council, Celine Kasem of Syria Now,
and Jay Salkini from the US-Syria Business Council. “As we went into a
transitional era, US diplomacy took a back step for a while as the Trump
administration came into office,” Lister noted during the first panel
discussion. Everyone has been “super skeptical” of where the new government led
by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a former commander with the Syrian opposition
forces, would lead the country, he said, but Trump had stepped up through
policies and support. “Frankly, I think in January none of us expected that
President Donald Trump would be shaking hands with Ahmad Al-Sharaa” a few months
later, he added. “Despite the obvious challenges, this new (Syrian) government
has to be engaged.”
The US had maintained strong ties to the Syrian Democratic Forces, and with Al-Sharaa’s
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, Lister said, in the decade leading up to the collapse of
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, 2024. “Of course, we’ve had 10
years of a superb partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, but they were a
non-state actor not a sovereign government,” he continued. “Now, we have a
sovereign government that we could test, we can engage, and we can see where
that goes. And in working through a sovereign government, there is no comparison
that comes anywhere close to what we’ve seen on Syria.”Lister praised Trump,
saying: “I think a lot of that goes down to President Trump’s own kind of gut
instinct of the way to do things. “But there is a deeper, deeper government
bench that has worked on this through Treasury and State and elsewhere. I think
they all deserve credit for moving so rapidly and so boldly to give Syria a
chance, as President Trump says.”Ford said a key aspect of the process as Syria
moves forward will be the removal of all sanctions imposed by the US against the
Assad regime under the 2019 Caesar Act, an effort that is now underway in
Congress.
He said Trump recognizes that the future of Syria and the wider Middle East lies
in the hands of the Arab people, and has pursued policies based on “shared
interests” including a “national security. strategy” to help the war-torn
country shift away from extremism and violence toward a productive economy and
safer environment for its people. The Trump administration recognizes this
reality, Ford added, and will “work on a practical level towards shared
interests.”
However, he cautioned that “Syria is not out of the woods, by any stretch of the
imagination” in terms of ensuring there is no resurgence of violence driven by
desperate people burdened by the harsh economic realities in the country. “If
they can work with the Syrian government, and with more and more important
regional actors as the United States retrenches — like Israel, Turkiye, Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt; it’s a long list — it will
become more important,” Ford said. “There is still a way for the Americans to
work with all of them, even if we don’t have big boots on the ground, or if
we’re not providing billions of dollars.”Nonetheless, “America’s voice will
still be heard,” he added, thanks to the interest Trump is taking in Syria.
Adopted by Congress six years ago, toward the end of Trump’s first term as
president, the Caesar Act imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Syria, including
measures that targeted Assad and his family in an attempt to ensure his regime
would be held accountable for war crimes committed under its reign. The act was
named after a photographer who leaked images of torture taking place in Assad’s
prisons. Lister noted that the removal of the US sanctions has been progressing
at “record-breaking speeds.”In pre-taped opening remarks to the conference,
which took place at the institute’s offices in Washington, Adm. Brad Cooper,
commander of the US Central Command, said the Trump administration’s priority in
Syria is the “aggressive and relentless pursuit” of Daesh, while working on the
integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces with the new Syrian government
through American military coordination. “Just to give an example, in the month
of October, US forces advised, assisted and enabled Syrian partners during more
than 20 operations against (Daesh), diminishing the terrorists’ attacks and
export of violence around the world,” he said. “We’re also degrading their
ability to regenerate.”
Cooper added that the issue of displacement camps in northeastern Syria must
also be addressed. He said he has visited Al-Hawl camp four times since his
first meeting with Al-Sharaa, “which reinforced my view of the need to
accelerate repatriations.”
He continued: “The impact on displaced persons devastated by years of war and
repression has been immense. As I mentioned in a late-September speech at the
UN, continuing to repatriate displaced persons and detainees in Syria is both a
humanitarian imperative and a strategic necessity.”
The US is working with Syrian forces to “supercharge” this effort, Cooper said,
noting that the populations of Al-Hawl and Al-Roj camps have fallen from 70,000
to about 26,000. The second panel discussion painted a very bleak picture of the
economic challenges the Syrian people face, with the average income only
$200-$300 a month, a level that the experts warned could push desperate people
to violence just to survive. The US-Syria Business Council’s Salkini said many
major companies and factories that once operated in Syria had relocated to
neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Turkiye. “We’re looking at about
50 percent-plus unemployment,” he said. “Let me give you statistics on the
wages: A factory worker today, his salary is $100-$300 a month. A farmer makes
$75-$200 a month in salary. A manager (or) a private in the military makes $250
a month. “So you can imagine how these people are living on these low wages, and
still have to buy their iPhone, their internet, pay for electricity.”Many
displaced people are unable to return to their former homes, the panelists said,
because they were destroyed during the war and there is no accessible
construction industry to rebuild them.
The capital, Damascus, faces many challenges they added, and the situation is
even worse in the country.
Year after Assad’s downfall, Syrians shows strong support
for Al-Sharaa
Arab News/December 11, 2025
LONDON: As Syrians this week marked one year since the downfall of Bashar Assad,
a survey conducted inside the country has found overwhelming support for the new
president and placed Saudi Arabia as the most popular international partner. The
former president fled the country on Dec. 8, 2024, after a lightning offensive
by opposition forces reached Damascus, bringing an end to 14 years of civil war.
The campaign was spearheaded by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who now serves as the country’s
president and has pressed ahead with efforts to stabilize Syria and rebuild
relations with international partners.Those efforts were recognized in a
recently published survey that found that 81 percent of those asked were
confident in the president and 71 percent in the national government. There was
also strong backing for key institutions, with more than 70 percent supporting
the army and 62 percent in favor of the courts and legal system. It was carried
out during October and November by Arab Barometer, a US-based nonprofit research
network. The survey questioned more than 1,200 randomly selected adults in
person across the country, asking their thoughts on a range of issues, including
the government’s performance, the economy and security.
British navy says it tracked Russian sub for three days in
Channel
AFP/December 11, 2025
LONDON: The British navy said Thursday it tracked a Russian submarine navigating
through the Channel for three days, as it steps up efforts to police its seas
against such threats.A British naval supply ship with an on-board helicopter was
deployed to track the stealthy Kilo-class submarine Krasnodar and the tug Altay,
the Royal Navy said in a statement. The Russian ships had arrived from the North
Sea and entered the Channel. “Expert aircrew were prepared to pivot to
anti-submarine operations if Krasnodar had dived below the surface,” the
statement said. But it sailed on the surface throughout the operation, despite
unfavorable weather conditions. Near the island of Ouessant, off northwest
France, the British said they handed over monitoring of the vessels to a NATO
ally, without saying which one. The British military carried out a similar
shadowing operation in July, after spotting the Russian sub Novorossiysk in its
territorial waters. Defense minister John Healey announced on Monday the launch
of a multi-million pound program to improve the Royal Navy’s capabilities in the
face of Moscow’s “underwater threats.” According to London, Russian submarine
activity in British waters has increased by about a third over the past two
years. In early December, the UK and Norway signed a cooperation agreement to
jointly operate a fleet of frigates to “hunt down” these submarines in the North
Atlantic.
Russia says captured Ukraine’s Siversk in key eastern
region
AFP/December 11, 2025
MOSCOW: Russia said Thursday its troops had seized full control of Siversk, a
Ukrainian city in the eastern Donetsk region where fighting has intensified in
recent weeks, though Ukraine denied the key settlement had been lost. The
Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine and
taking ground from outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces, with some of the
fiercest battles taking place in Donetsk. Russia’s military chief of staff,
Valery Gerasimov, said Moscow’s forces had captured Siversk in a report to
President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting with army commanders. The
Russian army in Ukraine is “confidently advancing along the entire front,” Putin
said, thanking the commanders and soldiers “for their combat work.”Putin said
last month his troops were advancing on Siversk, home to around 11,000 residents
before the war, claiming that the Russian offensive was “practically impossible
to hold back.”The Ukrainian army’s eastern command denied Russian claims it had
taken Siversk, saying that it “remains under the control of the Armed Forces of
Ukraine.”“The enemy is trying to infiltrate Siversk in small groups, taking
advantage of unfavorable weather conditions but most of these units are being
destroyed on the approaches,” it added in a Facebook post. Siversk is located
about 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last two
major cities still under Ukrainian control in the Donbas — an industrial and
mining region in Moscow’s sights. Moscow earlier this month said it had captured
Pokrovsk, a former road and rail hub also in Donetsk, but Kyiv claims fighting
in the city is still ongoing. Putin has said that Moscow is ready to fight on to
seize the rest of the land it claims in eastern Ukraine if Kyiv does not give it
up as part of a peace deal. Eastern Ukraine has been ravaged since Russia
launched its assault in February 2022, with tens of thousands of people killed
and millions forced to flee their homes.
US bringing seized tanker to port as Venezuela war fears build
AFP/December 11, 2025
WASHINGTON: An oil tanker seized by American forces off the Venezuelan coast
will be brought to a port in the United States, the White House said Thursday,
as fears mount of open conflict between the two countries. Washington took
control of the tanker in a dramatic raid that saw US forces rope down from a
helicopter onto the vessel in an operation that Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem said was aimed at leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s “regime.”President
Donald Trump’s administration has been piling pressure on Venezuela for months
with a major naval build-up in the region that has been accompanied by strikes
on alleged drug-trafficking boats that have killed close to 90 people. Russian
leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed support during a phone call with his
ally Maduro, but with Moscow’s forces tied down in a grinding war in Ukraine,
its capacity to provide aid is limited. “The vessel will go to a US port and the
United States does intend to seize the oil,” White House Press Secretary
Karoline Leavitt told journalists of the tanker. “We’re not going to stand by
and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black-market oil, the proceeds
of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the
world.”Earlier on Thursday, Noem told a congressional hearing that the tanker
operation was “pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and
flooding our country with deadly drugs” — a reference to US allegations of
narcotics smuggling by Maduro’s government. A video released Wednesday by US
Attorney General Pam Bondi showed American forces descending from a helicopter
onto the tanker’s deck, then entering the ship’s bridge with weapons raised.
Bondi said the ship was part of an “illicit oil shipping network” that was used
to carry sanctioned oil.
‘Blatant theft’ Venezuela’s foreign ministry said it “strongly denounces and
condemns what constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed concern over the
escalating tensions and urged restraint. “We are calling on all actors to
refrain from action that could further escalate bilateral tensions and
destabilize Venezuela and the region,” his spokesperson said. US media reported
that the tanker had been heading for Cuba — another American rival — and that
the ship was stopped by the US Coast Guard. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the
Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he questioned the legality of the
tanker seizure and that “any president, before he engages in an act of war, has
to have the authorization of the American people through Congress.”“This
president is preparing for an invasion of Venezuela, simply said. And if the
American people are in favor of that, I’d be surprised,” Durbin told CNN.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which
it declared a “narco-terrorist” organization last month, and has offered a $50
million reward for information leading to his capture. The US Treausury also
imposed new sanctions Thursday targeting three of Maduro’s relatives as well as
six companies shipping the South American country’s oil. Trump told Politico on
Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground
invasion of Venezuela. The Trump administration alleges that Maduro’s hold on
power is illegitimate and that he stole Venezuela’s July 2024 election. Maduro —
the political heir to leftist leader Hugo Chavez — says the United States is
bent on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Hamas rejects Amnesty accusations
of crimes against humanity as ‘lies’
AFP/11 December/2025
Hamas rejected on Thursday a report by Amnesty International that accused the
movement and other armed groups of crimes against humanity during and after the
October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.“The report’s
repetition of the lies and allegations promoted by the occupation government
concerning rape, sexual violence, and the mistreatment of captives clearly
demonstrates that the purpose of this report is incitement and distorting the
image of the resistance,” Hamas said in a statement, calling for the human
rights organisation to retract the “flawed and unprofessional report.”
Far-right Israeli minister vows to remove tomb of Arab nationalist Ezzedine al-Qassam
AFP/11 December/2025
Israel’s far-right national security minister on Thursday vowed to remove the
grave of Arab nationalist leader Ezzedine al-Qassam, whose tomb lies in Israel
and whose name was given to the armed wing of Hamas. Itamar Ben Gvir, known for
his inflammatory remarks, posted a video on X showing him accompanying security
forces as they dismantled a prayer tent next to the grave of the Syrian-born
militant. Al-Qassam, who was killed in a firefight in 1935, fought against the
British and Zionism in mandate Palestine before Israel’s creation in 1948. His
grave is situated near Haifa in northern Israel and has been vandalized on
several occasions over the years. “The tomb of arch-terrorist Ezzedine al-Qassam
in Nesher must be removed. And yesterday at dawn, we took the first step,” Ben
Gvir wrote on X. He had already called for the grave’s demolition during a
parliamentary debate in August. Right-wing Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported
that security forces also took down surveillance cameras around the burial site
and removed a person guarding the premises. When asked by AFP about the
incident, Israeli police insisted they had not been involved and referred
inquiries to the authority in charge of cemeteries. In a Hamas statement, senior
official Mahmoud Mardawi decried the threat as “an unprecedented level of
transgression against sanctity and desecration of holy sites, and a violation of
the sanctity of graves.” “Targeting the grave of al-Qassam... is not merely an
attack on a grave, but rather an attempt to erase the memory of a nation and
remove a testament to our ongoing struggle,” the statement added. “Extremism has
become an official, declared policy, requiring international action to curb this
barbarity,” it said.
Iran aims to fire 2,000 missiles at once in future
conflict, Israel warns
Farhad Mirmohammadsadeghi/Euronews/December 11, 2025
Iran aims to fire 2,000 missiles at once in future conflict, Israel warnsScroll
back up to restore default view. Iran has resumed massive production of
ballistic missiles six months after the 12-day conflict with Israel, with
factories operating "around the clock" to rebuild capabilities destroyed in
Israeli strikes, according to Israeli military officials and regional
intelligence assessments. Israel's top military representative warned lawmakers
during an unpublicised meeting of the Knesset's foreign and defence affairs
committee that Iran's efforts to rebuild its missile capability are under way at
high speed, Israeli media reported. Western diplomats have raised concerns in
recent weeks that Tehran is trying to accelerate the recovery process after
Israel targeted "planetary mixers," a key component of solid fuel production for
ballistic missiles, in attacks on Iran last year.
Tehran has turned to older methods of producing the fuel, according to regional
officials briefed on intelligence assessments cited by Ynet. Ali Vaez, Iran
project director at the International Crisis Group, said Iranian officials told
him missile factories are operating "around the clock" and that "if there is
another war, they hope to fire 2,000 missiles at once instead of the 500
missiles they fired over 12 days.""This situation raises the risk of a
computational mistake," said one Western diplomat. Iran announced on Friday it
was holding a major IRGC naval exercise in the Persian Gulf, saying the drills
included cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometres, as well
as suicide drones. Three air defence systems were deployed in the exercise under
electronic warfare conditions. "Utilising artificial intelligence, these systems
were able to identify flight and maritime targets in a fraction of the time and
hit them with high accuracy," according to Iranian media reports. Iranian naval
units on the first day of the exercise "alerted American ships present in the
region and conveyed their decisive message," according to reports, though the
exact content of the messages has not been determined and US forces in the
Persian Gulf have not commented. Iran also announced on Friday the end of joint
"anti-terrorist" exercises in East Azerbaijan attended by Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation member states. "The joint anti-terrorist manoeuvre Sanhand-2025
demonstrates the resolute commitment of like-minded countries to deal
effectively with the threat of terrorism," Mihrdad Kiai, national coordinator of
the Islamic Republic of Iran to the SCO, said in a meeting with Piao Yangfan,
deputy secretary-general of the SCO. Israel, through Western mediators, has
tried to send a message to Iran that it is not seeking another direct
confrontation, according to Western diplomats. Iranian officials, however, have
deemed the messages deceptive and rejected them. Meanwhile, IRGC spokesman Ali
Mohammad Naini claimed on Sunday during a speech marking Student's Day that the
corps shelled Haifa refinery on two occasions during the 12-day conflict and
targeted a Mossad headquarters, killing 36 people. "If they hit our fuel storage
facility in Tehran, we hit the Haifa refinery in two turns five hours later,"
Naini said. "If they targeted our intelligence centre, we hit the Mossad centre
and they killed 36."Israel said the total killed in Iranian missile strikes
during the 12-day conflict was 28. Naini also claimed the accuracy of Iran's
missile strikes was at a level where the negative floor of a 32-storey building,
which was Israel's exchange data centre, was precisely targeted.
Israeli response remains uncertain
Raz Zimat, director of the research programme "Iran and the Shiite Axis" at the
Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, called the current
situation between Iran and Israel after the 12-day conflict "extremely unstable"
and said both sides were now managing the conflict. "Two scenarios are of
concern to Israel; the first is the calculation error of each side which, of
course, is less likely. But the more likely scenario is that Iran wants to
resume uranium enrichment," Zimat said. According to the researcher, Israel is
still undecided about how to respond to the resumption of Iran's ballistic
missile programme and at what point it would consider such actions as crossing a
red line. But unlike the ballistic missile programme, the resumption of uranium
enrichment, efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon or any action toward recovering
some 440 kilograms of uranium with an enrichment of up to 60% supposedly buried
under the rubble of Iran's attacked nuclear facilities would likely lead to an
Israeli military response. Although Iran does not appear to be seeking to
rapidly advance its nuclear programme, Tehran's priority is reviving its
ballistic missile project, according to Western diplomats. The programme could
dramatically affect the outcome of any potential confrontation, according to US
and Israeli officials.
US sanctions Maduro relatives, ships carrying Venezuela oil
AFP/12 December/2025
The United States imposed fresh sanctions on three relatives of Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday, alongside six companies shipping the South
American country’s oil. The move came shortly after the United States seized an
oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, the latest escalation in tensions between
the two countries. The US Treasury Department said in a statement that three of
the individuals targeted Thursday are nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores.
They are Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and
Carlos Erik Malpica Flores.
Campo and Flores de Freitas were said to be “narco-traffickers operating in
Venezuela.” Sanctions were being imposed again on Malpica, whose designation in
2017 was lifted in 2022 under former US president Joe Biden to foster dialogue,
the statement said. The fourth person impacted is businessman Ramon Carretero
Napolitano, whom the Treasury Department accused of engaging in “lucrative
contracts with the Maduro regime.”“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in
Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the
American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement. “These
sanctions undo the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to make a deal with
Maduro, enabling his dictatorial and brutal control at the expense of the
Venezuelan and American people,” Bessent added. Washington has accused
Venezuela’s leftist leader of heading a drug cartel, which he denies. Maduro has
said the United States is seeking regime change and to seize Venezuela’s vast
reserves of oil. Trump has deployed warships within striking distance of
Venezuela, and at least 87 people have been killed in strikes on boats in the
Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea.
US offers ‘free economic zone’ in east if Ukraine cedes
Donbas, Zelenskyy says
Reuters/11 December/2025
Ukraine has presented the US with a revised 20-point framework to end its war
with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, adding that the
issue of ceding territory remains a major sticking point in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the US is offering as a compromise
to create a “free economic zone” in the Ukraine-controlled parts of the eastern
Donbas which Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede. “They see it as Ukrainian
troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly
that Russian troops will not enter this part of Donetsk region. They do not know
who will govern this territory,” he said, adding that Russia is referring to it
as a “demilitarized zone.”However, Zelenskyy said there was still no common
understanding on the land issue and that Ukrainians should vote on any
territorial concessions in a referendum. Kyiv, in the latest round of frantic
shuttle diplomacy, is seeking to balance out a 28-point US-backed plan whose
original version was seen as too favorable to Moscow. Zelenskyy added that
Russia’s withdrawal from slivers of land in the northeastern Kharkiv and Sumy
regions, as well as the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, was part of the
discussion. The contact lines in the partially occupied southern regions of
Zaporizhzhia and Kherson would be frozen where they are, he added. The US also
offered potential joint governance of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the
largest such facility in Europe and currently occupied by Russia, which wants to
keep the station under its own control.
Pressure to secure peace
Ukraine is under mounting US pressure to quickly secure a deal with Russia,
which has stepped up advances on the frontline in recent months and renewed
massive attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy, following reports
that President Donald Trump had set a Christmas deadline for Ukraine to accept
the peace proposal, said Washington had not given Kyiv a strict timeline. “I
think they really wanted, or perhaps still want, to have a complete
understanding of where we stand with this agreement by Christmas,” he said.
Apart from a 20-point framework, the general peace plan will include separate
documents on security guarantees, to prevent Russia from attacking again, and on
rebuilding Ukraine’s war-hit cities. Ukraine, which says it has been let down by
previous security assurances from allies, insists that guarantees are ratified
in parliament. Zelenskyy said on Thursday he had an “in-depth” discussion on the
matter with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. Kyiv also wants to maintain a
strong army after fighting ends, and Zelenskyy said the latest draft proposal
puts it at 800,000 – higher than in an initial framework, according to reports.
India’s Modi holds third call with Trump since tariff hike
Reuters/11 December/2025
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke with US President Donald
Trump by phone on Thursday, as New Delhi seeks relief from 50 percent tariffs
imposed by Washington on some of the country’s key exports. “We reviewed the
progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international
developments,” Modi said in a post on X. Modi and Trump have spoken three times
since Trump doubled tariffs on imports from India to as much as 50 percent,
hitting exports of textiles, chemicals and food items such as shrimp. Modi
described his conversation with Trump as “warm and engaging” and said their
countries would continue to work together for global peace, stability and
prosperity. Trade negotiations between the two sides collapsed in late July,
after India resisted opening its market for US farm products and declined to
acknowledge President Trump’s role in mediating during an India-Pakistan
conflict. Talks have continued since then, amid signs Indian refiners are
cutting Russian oil purchases after the US imposed sanctions on Rosneft and
Lukoil, to pressure Moscow over the Ukraine war. US Deputy Trade Representative
Rick Switzer is in New Delhi on a two-day visit to discuss trade ties, as New
Delhi seeks relief from punitive tariffs imposed by Washington over its Russian
oil purchases. Russian President Vladimir Putin was in New Delhi on a state
visit last week and offered India uninterrupted fuel supplies and challenged US
pressure on India to not buy Russian fuel. Exports to the US fell nearly 9
percent year-on-year in October to $6.31 billion from $6.91 billion a year ago,
though they were higher than $5.47 billion in September, Indian government data
showed. Washington is also pushing India to lower tariffs and non-tariff
barriers on US goods and open its market to American farm products, including
soybean and grain sorghum.
Putin reaffirms support for Venezuela’s Maduro over US
tensions
AFP/11 December/2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reaffirmed his support to Venezuela
in a phone call with long-time ally President Nicolas Maduro, the Kremlin said.
The call comes after the United States seized an oil tanker off Venezuelan
coast, the latest point of several points of friction between the two countries.
Russia has fostered warm ties with Venezuela, with Maduro earlier this year
visiting Moscow, where he attended an annual military parade and signed a broad
partnership agreement with Putin. In a phone call on Thursday, “Vladimir Putin
expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people,” the Kremlin said in a
read-out. The Russian leader had also “confirmed his support for the Maduro
government’s policy aimed at protecting national interests and sovereignty in
the face of growing external pressure,” the statement added. On Wednesday, the
US military seized a Venezuelan oil tanker – troops rappelled onto the tanker’s
deck from a helicopter and entered the ship with rifles raised. Washington has
accused Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel,
which he denies. Maduro has said the US is seeking regime change because of
Venezuela’s vast stores of oil. US President Donald Trump has deployed warships
within striking distance of Venezuela, and at least 87 people have been killed
in at least 22 strikes on boats in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea.
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published
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December 11-12/2025
8 Reasons Why the U.S. Must Maintain a Ban on Iran’s Uranium Enrichment
and Plutonium Reprocessing
Mark Dubowitz/Behnam Ben Taleblu/Miad Maleki/Andrea Stricker/FDD-Insight/December
11/2025
The United States and the international community have spent decades trying to
restrict Iran’s uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities given
the regime’s threats against the West and its ambition to possess nuclear
weapons. Because the 2025 “snapback” of UN sanctions on Iran revived earlier
bans, Iran is again legally prohibited from these activities, but verification
is impossible due to limited access by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Negotiations to revive limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for
sanctions relief collapsed in June 2025 after Israel attacked Iranian nuclear
facilities, leading to the snapback’s formal termination of the 2015 nuclear
deal on October 18, 2025. A recent report by Iran International claimed that
President Donald Trump sent a message to Tehran via Saudi Arabia with three
preconditions for resuming these negotiations. Regardless of the status of
negotiations, Washington and its European allies, as Iran’s chief negotiating
counterparts capable of lifting UN restrictions, must maintain the international
ban on any Iranian uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing, either of
which could provide fissile material for a nuclear weapon. More broadly, denial
of access to the full domestic fuel cycle must remain the cornerstone of U.S.
counterproliferation policy toward both friend and foe.
Denied fuel for nuclear weapons, Iran’s ability to threaten America, Israel, and
other regional states would be less credible, thereby limiting Tehran’s options
for escalation in the months and years ahead. Here are eight ways the United
States, Europe, and the international community benefit from maintaining the
ban:
1. The ban maintains the strategic advantage achieved by President Trump’s use
of the military option.
While four post-Cold War American presidents promised to prevent the Islamic
Republic of Iran from developing nuclear weapons, only Trump was willing to use
force to strike enrichment facilities and other nuclear sites in Iran. As a
result, Tehran is not enriching uranium for the first time in nearly 20 years
and has no route to reprocess plutonium. This is an impressive feat and should
be preserved. Any deal that permits even minimal domestic enrichment or lets
Iran enrich uranium abroad blatantly undermines the historic advantage afforded
to the U.S. position following Operation Midnight Hammer, sending a dangerous
signal to Tehran. Such concessions would embolden the regime, inviting
escalation and risk-taking as well as reinforcing the notion that major
concessions are achievable — even after the use of force, which would, in turn,
lengthen the timeline of the crisis rather than the timeline of the president’s
win against Iran.
2. The ban preserves the severe bottlenecks that now exist in Iran’s nuclear
weapons pathway.
U.S. and Israeli strikes disrupted Iran’s near-term pathway to nuclear weapons.
The Islamic Republic had previously amassed enough material to fuel up to 22
weapons. Iran also had multiple functioning uranium production facilities and
was advancing its weaponization capabilities. U.S. policy should avoid
contributing to a new nuclear crisis with Iran in which Tehran resumes amassing
enriched uranium or starts reprocessing plutonium that the regime could use for
a latent bomb program. Washington should instead seek to retain technical
bottlenecks.
3. The UN Security Council voted to restore a ban on Iranian enrichment and
reprocessing via sanctions ‘snapback.’
In September 2025, pursuant to a diplomatic effort led by America’s European
partners (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) and the Trump administration,
the UN Security Council restored suspended UN Security Council resolutions
demanding that Tehran cease uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing
activities, rendering this the prevailing international legal position. The
United States should support this prohibition rather than undermine it.
4. The ban reinforces the president’s commitment to destroy new Iranian
enrichment attempts.
Trump has stated on several occasions following the June strikes that he will
militarily eliminate any new enrichment or nuclear weapons efforts Iran attempts
to restore. This policy may extend to any assets the regime attempts to recover
from destroyed sites. This is also likely to be Israel’s policy moving forward
to prevent a renewed Iranian threat. Throughout his second term, Trump has also
demanded the full, verifiable, and permanent dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear
program as the basis for a new deal. “Total dismantlement, that’s all I’d
accept,” he told Meet the Press in May, just prior to the strikes, as he pressed
Iran to dismantle or face military action.
5. The ban avoids legitimizing Iran’s false claims it has ‘right to enrich.’
Tehran falsely claims that enrichment and reprocessing are a matter of its
fundamental nonproliferation and national security rights. Yet the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) does not grant states parties an explicit right
to produce nuclear fuel. Moreover, Iran has been in noncompliance with its NPT
safeguards agreements for over three decades and should not be rewarded with
enrichment or reprocessing. Tehran first began its nuclear fuel production and
nuclear weapons efforts in secret, or outside of IAEA safeguards, which proves
the program was never geared toward electricity production but rather toward
producing fuel for a bomb program. This will most certainly remain the case if
Iran rebuilds such capabilities.
6. The ban does not prevent Iran from importing fuel rods for energy production.
Iran claims that it needs enrichment to fuel the nuclear reactors it uses for
research and energy production. Yet despite possessing an enrichment program for
more than two decades, Iran only fuels its small Tehran Research Reactor (TRR),
supplementing its domestic production with Russian fuel. There’s no reason for
Iran not to rely on Russia to fuel the TRR. Moscow also provides fuel for the
Bushehr nuclear power plant and is expected to fuel new power plants and small
reactors in Iran. All told, Tehran only receives some 2 percent of its entire
electricity mix from nuclear power. If Iran were serious about generating more
electricity from nuclear plants, it could affordably and reliably import
enriched uranium fuel rods from established commercial suppliers outside Iran,
just as some 23 other countries do without enriching uranium or reprocessing
plutonium.
7. The ban must encompass all Iranian supply lines for enrichment to prevent a
covert program.
President Trump demanded Iran’s full nuclear dismantlement, but under the
reported terms of a U.S. offer to Iran in May 2025, Tehran could retain
low-level enrichment and later play a role in a regional enrichment
consortium.If Iran agreed to limit its enrichment purity level and stockpile
under a new nuclear deal or agreed to participate in and supply a regional
enrichment consortium, it would presumably retain assets such as gas
centrifuges, production equipment, and possibly fully functioning facilities.
States and suppliers may also be freer to sell or provide Iran with commodities
that could help it rebuild its supply chain for uranium and plutonium
production, domestic expertise, facilities, materials, and equipment. Relaxing
restrictions in this way creates substantial risk. Tehran’s long history of
nuclear proliferation shows how easily it can establish parallel military and
civilian nuclear tracks to obfuscate its true intentions of furthering a
capability to build nuclear weapons. Any nuclear supply chain ensures the regime
can surmount all caps to move to production of nuclear weapons-grade fuel in
secret or after Trump leaves office.
8. The ban is essential to prevent the spread of nuclear fuel production
capabilities throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Any form of U.S.-supported Iranian enrichment, or even permission for its
involvement in a regional consortium that includes Arab states, will only fuel
the proliferation of dangerous expertise and supply lines for covert enrichment.
Worse, such actions will prompt other states — Turkey, Egypt, and even critical
allies like South Korea and Vietnam — to demand the same privileges or even push
forward with their own independent nuclear fuel programs. Letting nuclear fuel
production proliferate — after decades of keeping it firmly contained — risks
placing many new states on the verge of nuclear weapons and directly undermines
vital U.S., regional, and global security interests.
**Mark Dubowitz is the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), where Miad Maleki is a senior advisor, Behnam Ben Taleblu is
a senior fellow and senior director of the Iran Program, and Andrea Stricker is
a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program. For more
analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow the authors on X
@mdubowitz, @miadmaleki, @therealBehnamBT, and @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on X
@FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on
national security and foreign policy.
Africa’s Collapse Is a Threat to America and Israel
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/The Algemeiner/December 11/2025
Regions in Africa are collapsing. Across most of the continent’s 54 countries,
governments are tyrannical, Islamist, or both. Many have ceased to function as
states, splintering into warring ethnic and religious tribes. The resulting
civil wars are not modern conflicts bound by Geneva Conventions, but
extermination campaigns. State collapse breeds terrorism, narco-trafficking, and
mass migration. Whatever happens in Africa never stays in Africa.
Western discourse about these horrors is predictably partisan. One camp
demonizes the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for backing anti-Islamist warlords; the
rival camp vilifies Qatar, Turkey, and Iran for bankrolling political Islam.
Meanwhile China quietly locks entire governments into multi-generational debt,
Russia swaps Wagner mercenaries and weapons for gold and diamond mines, and
Europe issues pious statements about human rights while signing
migration-control deals with whichever militia currently controls the coast.
The contradictions have become absurd. A Wall Street Journal investigation
recently suggested that the UAE deliberately funneled roughly $20 million to Al
Qaeda in Mali by paying ransom for an Emirati businessman, from the ruling
family, and several Malian politicians. The unspoken accusation was that Abu
Dhabi had chosen to fund global terrorism.
Yet the transaction is almost identical to repeated American practice.
Washington has unfrozen billions in Iranian assets and granted major concessions
to Moscow to secure the release of detained US citizens. In recent years, paying
hostage-takers has become standard behavior, not evidence of secret jihadism
sympathy.
When Sudan gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, the terrorist used
Khartoum to plan the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es-Salaam,
and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in the Gulf of Eden.
Bin Laden is dead. His host, Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist regime, was overthrown in
2019. Yet the military and paramilitary forces that once served Bashir — the
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — staged a coup
in 2021, ejected the civilian transitional government, and plunged the country
into a new civil war in April 2023.
Washington believes Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood — in its various iterations —
instigated the war and are now backing SAF commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
against RSF’s General Muhammad Daglo — aka Hemedti. The US has imposed sanctions
on both generals and on Burhan’s Islamist allies.
Together with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), America
has proposed a “Quad” peace plan in which both Burhan and Hemedti step aside and
hand power back to civilians. Hemedti pretended to agree to the deal. Burhan
vowed war to the bitter end. Short of deploying troops on the ground, the Quad
has no tools to force the warring parties to accept the plan.
A Burhan victory risks Sudan sliding back into the global Jihad hub it was in
the 1990s, potentially allying with Islamist insurgencies across the Sahel.
Senior Islamist militia commander Mosbah Abuzeid, a key Burhan ally, regularly
appears draped in a Palestinian keffiyeh, promising his fighters will one day
“liberate Jerusalem.” A Hemedti victory, by contrast, installs in Khartoum a
ruler accused of genocide, but whose ambitions appear national rather than
transnational.
Neither outcome offers Sudan — or the world — anything resembling stability. The
pattern repeats across the Sahel and beyond.
In Niger, site of the 2017 ambush that killed four US Green Berets, the military
seized power in 2023. Washington rushed aid to the new rulers, reasoning that
keeping Islamists out of power mattered more than the junta’s gross human-rights
violations.
In neighboring Mali, a brutal military regime battles Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal
Muslimin (JNIM), an Al Qaeda affiliate that has been trying to topple Bamako by
attacking roads, fuel convoys, and population centers.
As America retreats into neo-isolationism, incorrectly identified as “America
First,” the post-1945 order is fading away. A multilateral free-for-all system
has replaced it.
Ranked by footprint, the main players in Africa today are China, a patchwork of
European nations, the US, wealthy Gulf states, and Russia. Each courts local
tyrants, bankrolls chosen factions, and carves out resources, ports, or basing
rights.
Radical Islamist networks — fed by a loose global coalition — have turned the
Sahel, the Maghreb, and the Horn of Africa into human abattoirs. Their opponents
answer with equal savagery, often genocide. Libya has been a failed state since
2011. Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Somalia, and eastern Congo are locked in
interconnected wars that have already killed millions and displaced tens of
millions.
Africa’s tragedy is structural: Predatory elites, tribalized politics, and the
total collapse of any legitimate monopoly on violence ensure that extremists of
every stripe flourish while moderates are exterminated. External patrons
aggravate the problem while pointing fingers at one another.
The consequences will not stay in Africa. Surging Islamist terrorism, exploding
narco-routes, and new waves of desperate migrants will crash against Europe’s
shores. Instability will radiate into an already combustible Middle East. Israel
and America’s allies will be forced to spend ever-larger resources to contain
African terrorist sanctuaries, on top of Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
Blaming this or that foreign meddler feels good, but changes nothing. Until
America and its partners commit to coherent, muscular political settlements
backed by real power — instead of sporadic sanctions and press releases — the
continent will remain trapped in an escalating cycle of atrocity. The only
alternatives on the table today are hypocritical half-measures or abandonment.
History has already shown that neither works. Failure usually costs the whole
world, dearly.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense
of Democracies (FDD).
https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/12/10/africas-collapse-is-a-threat-to-america-and-israel/
Read in The Algemeiner
Turkey Puts Fragile Deal Between Damascus and Kurdish Forces at Greater Risk
Ahmad Sharawi/FDD/December 10, 2025
If the agreement collapses, violence may be imminent. The Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) have spent months negotiating with the government in
Damascus how to implement their March agreement for the SDF to merge with the
national armed forces. Mistrust of government centralization and recent
sectarian massacres have shaken the SDF’s confidence in Damascus’s ability to
protect minorities, including the Kurds.
And Turkey is making a bad situation worse, at least in part because Ankara
views the SDF’s primary component, the People’s Defense Units (YPG), as an
extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey sees the PKK as a
terrorist organization (as does the United States) and says it will not tolerate
the group’s continued presence along its border. On December 7, Turkish Foreign
Minister Hakan Fidan said that the SDF shows “no intention” of adhering to the
March integration agreement that serves as the framework for SDF negotiations
with Damascus.
Turkish security officials have said they cannot accept the appointment of YPG
commanders as Syrian army officers. Ankara also demands that SDF troops join the
Syrian military as individuals rather than forming distinct units, as the SDF
demands.
Turkey Sends Reinforcements to Northern Syria
Meanwhile, a Turkish press report states that if the SDF does not integrate into
the national military before the end of the year, then “Damascus will carry out
an operation and [Turkey] will support it.” The report adds that “Ankara will
provide the necessary support to the Damascus government if the latter is
compelled to launch a military operation.”
At the same time, footage from Syria showed the Turkish army sending large,
armored convoys and hundreds of troops into northern Syria from Afrin, Ras al-Ayn,
and northern Aleppo. These areas, while technically inside Syria, are currently
controlled by Turkey and Turkey-backed groups such as the Syrian National Army (SNA),
which have formally become part of the Syrian Armed Forces — although their
readiness to obey orders from Damascus is questionable. Local sources confirmed
to North Press Agency Syria the entry of a Turkish convoy composed of more than
20 heavy and medium military vehicles into the region. This convoy is likely for
posturing, and not a signal of an imminent Turkish attack.
Turkey Presents Damascus With Unenviable Choices
Turkey wields considerable influence in Damascus and maintains proxies like the
SNA within the Syrian army, leaving the new Syrian government little room for
negotiation. But if Damascus refuses to offer any concessions to the SDF, it may
put them on a collision course. Still, neither side has openly threatened a
broader military campaign, despite several clashes since August.
If Turkey were truly to intervene militarily, it would likely do so through its
SNA proxy units embedded within the Syrian army that are affiliated with the SNA,
not directly. In that scenario, the Syrian government would be forced to choose
between joining the SNA’s actions or disavowing them. Supporting the SNA would
risk triggering a wider escalation that could spiral into a major conflict,
undermining Syria’s stability. Refusing to join, however, would risk
antagonizing Ankara and could deepen divisions within the Syrian army itself.
The United States Can Deter Turkish Intervention in Syria
The United States has served as the primary mediator between the SDF and
Damascus in efforts to implement the March agreement. As the main ground force
in the anti-Islamic State campaign, the SDF continues to work closely with
Washington on counterterrorism, making it a U.S. interest to prevent the group
from coming under attack.
In 2019, the first Trump administration sanctioned Turkish officials for
conducting military operations in Syria, pursuant to Executive Order 13894,
which targets “actions or policies that further threaten the peace, security,
stability, or territorial integrity of Syria.” Although most Syria-related
sanctions have since been repealed, this executive order remains in place. The
White House can therefore invoke its existing authority to sanction individuals
or entities that seek to carry out military interventions in Syria, including
Turkey.
**Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe HERE.
Follow Ahmad on X @AhmadA_Sharawi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington,
DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and
foreign policy.
Could Israel’s Palestinians-only death penalty entrench impunity in the West
Bank?
Jonathan Gornall/Arab News/December 11, 2025
LONDON: The footage, secretly filmed by an onlooker and released by Reuters with
a “graphic content” warning, is shocking. On Nov. 27, Israeli border police
raiding a building in the West Bank camp of Jenin summarily executed two men who
had surrendered. The Palestinian health ministry later named the dead men as
Montasir Abdullah, 26, and Yusuf Asasa, 37. Summary executions of Palestinians
by Israeli security forces are nothing new, as a spokesman for the UN Human
Rights Office pointed out in a statement after the Jenin killings. “We are
appalled by the brazen killing by Israeli border police yesterday of two
Palestinian men in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, in yet another apparent
summary execution,” he said. “Killings of Palestinians by Israeli security
forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank have been surging without any
accountability, even in the rare case when investigations are announced.”Israel
launched Operation Iron Fist in Jenin in January, later expanding it in February
to include the Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps. The military says it is targeting
Iran-backed armed groups that had grown stronger in the camps and were launching
attacks against Israelis. What began as a series of targeted raids to neutralize
Palestinian armed groups and protect Israeli settlements has since become a
sustained military campaign, in which the Israel Defense Forces have been
accused of extreme violence. Far from addressing this behavior, Israeli
politicians are instead trying to push through a new law that would make
execution mandatory for Palestinians — not for Jewish Israelis — convicted of
terrorist killings. The Penal Bill (Amendment No. 159) (Death Penalty for
Terrorists) stipulates that “a person who caused the death of an Israeli citizen
deliberately or through indifference, from a motive of racism or hostility
against a population, and with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the
national revival of the Jewish people in its land, shall be sentenced to
death.”The amendment adds that “in military courts in the Judea and Samaria
region (the Israeli term for the West Bank) it will be possible to impose a
death penalty by a regular majority of the judges in the panel, and a death
penalty that was imposed cannot be commuted.”The military courts have a
conviction rate close to 99 percent.
Having passed its first reading in the Knesset on Nov. 11, the bill has now been
returned to Israel’s National Security Committee for deliberation. It must then
pass two more readings in the Knesset to become law. Israel’s penal law already
provides for the death penalty, but it has only been sought, and carried out,
once since 1948. In December 1961, Adolf Eichmann, the former head of Nazi
Germany’s Department for Jewish Affairs, was found guilty in an Israeli court of
having played “a central and decisive part” in the killing of 6 million European
Jews. On June 1, 1962, Eichmann, who had been captured in Argentina by Israeli
agents, was hanged at Ramla Prison near Tel Aviv. The amendment to the new law
has been proposed by Israel’s far-right Jewish Power party, whose leader is
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister. When the bill passed its first
reading last month, Ben-Gvir celebrated by handing out sweets to members of the
Knesset. “After the law is finally passed,” he said, “terrorists will only be
released to hell.” During the debate on the vote, a scuffle broke out in the
Knesset between Ben-Gvir and Ayman Odeh, chairman of Hadash-Ta’al.
In his speech, Odeh told Ben-Gvir: “You wanted to carry out a transfer, and you
failed — therefore you are in an ideological crisis. You will be gone, and the
Palestinian people will remain.”In a statement after the vote, Odeh said: “The
death penalty law for terrorists is the ultimate proof that this coalition has
failed miserably and has failed to remove the Palestinian issue from the agenda.
And it will never succeed. This law is the swan song of the occupation.”Just
over two weeks later, Ben-Gvir not only defended but celebrated the two summary
executions carried out in Jenin. He gave his “full backing to border police
members and IDF fighters who shot at wanted terrorists who came out of a
building in Jenin.”He added: “The fighters acted exactly as expected of them —
terrorists must die.” Three days after the shootings, Ben-Gvir promoted the
commander of the unit that had carried out the killings. The amendment to the
new law has been proposed by Israel’s far-right Jewish Power party, whose leader
is Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister. (Ben Gvir’s X account) The
proposed introduction of the death penalty has been condemned by human rights
groups inside Israel and around the world, not least because of the undemocratic
nature of the vote that saw the amendment pass its first reading. There are 120
members of the Knesset, of whom just 39 voted in favor of the bill and 16
against. “So the bill was passed when they didn’t even have 50 percent of the
Knesset to vote for a bill actually asking to kill more Palestinians,” said
Mutahir Ahmed, head of legal for the UK-based International Centre of Justice
for Palestinians.
“That shows how tainted the system of democracy is in Israel.”There was, said
Amnesty International’s advocacy director, Erika Guevara Rosas, in a statement,
“no sugarcoating this; a majority of 39 Israeli Knesset members approved in a
first reading a bill that effectively mandates courts to impose the death
penalty exclusively against Palestinians … and would include those who committed
the punishable offences before the law is passed.”Yair Dvir, spokesperson for
B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied
Territories, told Arab News the proposed amendment was “a continuation of the
deep demonization process that the Palestinians have undergone for years, and
under this current government and in the past two years of genocide even more
so. “They are making a very clear distinction in this law, which is just
intended for Palestinians. The death penalty would not be used in the case of
any Jewish terrorism, because of course at the same time as they are about to
create a death penalty for Palestinians, they are supporting Jewish terrorists,
they are backing them politically, funding them, giving them weapons, and
creating full immunity for settlers who kill Palestinians.”
Israel moves toward state-sanctioned execution
Hani Hazaimeh/Arab News/December 11/2025
The proposed amendment, he added, was “another step in Ben-Gvir’s war against
Palestinian prisoners, which we have seen for a long time
“Prisoners have already been killed in Israeli prisons, so actually the killing
of Palestinian prisoners has already started. But now they want to make it
legal.” In a report published last month, Israeli non-profit Physicians for
Human Rights said the past two years of detention had already proved to be “a
death sentence” for almost 100 Palestinians. The report revealed that between
the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza
war and August this year, at least 94 Palestinians had died in Israeli detention
facilities.
The victims, killed by “the systemic denial of medical care and the torture of
Palestinians in Israeli custody,” have included “the young and elderly, the
healthy and the sick alike.”The report added that “the fate of hundreds of
Palestinians from Gaza detained by the Israeli military remains unknown to this
day, suggesting that the true number of deaths is likely significantly higher
than those documented here.”As part of their campaign to introduce the death
penalty, Ben-Gvir and his supporters have taken to wearing noose-shaped pins on
their lapels. Ben-Gvir, said Yair Dvir, “has been talking about this for years.
But now, after the hostages have been released and he doesn’t have to think what
Hamas might do, it’s an opportunity before elections to show the public just how
far he wants to go in this fight against Palestinians in general, and
specifically against prisoners.”Ahmed said the proposed amendment was “a racist
bill which violates international human rights law.”It also violates European
law. “Any country that wants to be part of the EU has to sign the European
Convention on Human Rights, according to which the death penalty is against
human rights and is not acceptable,” he said. Israel is not in Europe. But
controversially, it is in the Eurovision Song Contest, which is due to be held
in Vienna next May. Several nations are now boycotting the competition,
including Iceland, Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland, over Israel’s conduct in
Gaza. “This is a racist law that extends the apartheid legal system that Israel
has been operating for many decades,” said Ahmed. Palestinians are subject to
trials in military courts, in which the conviction rate is about 99 percent,
“and if this amendment becomes law, they will face the death penalty.” He added:
“What this amendment also intends is that there should be no provision for
appeal or reduction of sentence. That means that if there is a miscarriage of
justice, which is perfectly possible in any judicial system, it could not be
rectified, even if new evidence comes to light.”Even in the best justice systems
in the world, mistakes are made, he said. “Our British judicial system is
considered one of the best, but even here we have serious miscarriages of
justice.”It is not clear when the bill will undergo its second reading. But a
leaked message between members of the National Security Committee reviewing the
amendment revealed they were considering inserting a clause mandating that
executions should be carried out by lethal injection within 90 days of
conviction, to prevent “any possibility of avoiding carrying out the sentence.”
Trump, Al-Sharaa and the
future of Syria
Robert Ford/Arab News/December 11/2025
The strong support shown for Al-Sharaa is at a level that would be the envy of
most Western governments and comes as Syria faces many deep challenges. The cost
of rebuilding the country has been placed at more than $200 billion by the World
Bank, the economy has been devastated and the country has faced outbreaks of
sectarian violence. Al-Sharaa has worked to end Syria’s international isolation,
building support from countries in the region and successfully lobbying the US
to lift sanctions. A key backer has been Saudi Arabia, which has offered
political and economic support. The survey placed the Kingdom as the most
popular foreign country with 90 percent viewing Saudi Arabia favorably. Qatar
was also popular, with more than 80 percent viewing the emirate as favorable and
73 percent admiring Turkey. Most of those asked — 66 percent — also viewed the
US favorably, an appreciation of President Donald Trump’s decision to ease
sanctions and the impact that will have on the daily lives of Syrians.After
meeting Al-Sharaa in Washington last month, Trump announced a partial suspension
of sanctions after already easing many sections of the sanctions regime against
the country. The survey found 61 percent have a positive view of Trump, a figure
higher than in much of the Middle East. There was much less enthusiasm, however,
for Washington’s efforts for Syria to normalize relations with Israel.
Only 14 percent supported such a move and just 4 percent had a favorable opinion
of Israel. During the tumult of Assad’s demise, Israel’s military occupied a
further swathe of southern Syria and has regularly launched attacks on the
country in the last year.
More than 90 percent of Syrians said they viewed Israel’s occupation of the
Palestinian territories and strikes on Iran, Lebanon and Syria as critical
threats to their security. Writing jointly in Foreign Policy magazine, Salma Al-Shami
and Michael Robbins from Arab Barometer said the survey results provided reasons
to be optimistic about Syria’s future. “We found that the country’s people are
hopeful, supportive of democracy and open to foreign assistance,” they said.
“They approve of and trust their current government.”But the authors also said
the results provided some reasons for concern, particularly over the state of
the economy and internal security. Support for the government also dropped off
sharply in regions largely home to the Alawite ethno-religious group. The Assad
dynasty that ruled Syria for more than 50 years belonged to the Alawite minority
and members of the group held many of the positions of power during that rule.
The survey showed that Syrians view the economy as a major concern, with just 17
percent happy with its performance and many worried about inflation, jobs and
poverty. Some 86 percent said their incomes did not cover their expenses and 65
percent said they had struggled to buy food in the previous month. There was
also concern about security, with 74 percent supportive of any government effort
to collect weapons from armed groups and 63 percent viewing kidnapping as a
critical threat. Marking the anniversary of Assad’s downfall on Monday, Al-Sharaa
said the government was working to build a strong Syria, consolidate its
stability and safeguard its sovereignty.
How to tackle global
poverty more effectively in 2026
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 11, 2025
Despite the world’s technological advancements and progress, global poverty
unfortunately remains one of the most pressing challenges of our time. It is
critical to examine the scope of global poverty, the progress made in 2025 and
the strategies that we need to employ to address this issue in 2026. This will
require a multidimensional approach that considers factors such as income,
social services, health, education and other fundamental issues that play a
significant role in human well-being. As of October, about 831 million people
worldwide were living in extreme poverty, which is defined as surviving on less
than the equivalent of $3 per day. This is substantially down from the 2.3
billion people who lived under such conditions in 1990. This progress has been
achieved thanks to decades of economic growth, development initiatives,
improvements in education and healthcare access, and various poverty alleviation
programs. Nevertheless, significant challenges and disparities remain across
different regions and population groups. And the persistence of extreme
deprivation among hundreds of millions of people reveals that poverty remains an
entrenched global issue. The progress in reducing poverty has been uneven across
regions, with some countries achieving rapid gains, while others, especially in
sub-Saharan Africa, continue to struggle with widespread poverty. Their
situation is compounded by weak and fragile institutions, conflict and
environmental vulnerability.
While poverty used to be more widely distributed across the world, it is now
concentrated in certain countries. The majority of the world’s extremely poor,
about 70 percent, reside in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries with high poverty
levels also face structural barriers to development, including weak governance,
limited infrastructure and vulnerability to climatic and economic shocks.
The persistence of extreme deprivation reveals that poverty remains an
entrenched global issue. Nigeria alone is home to more than 100 million people
living in extreme poverty, representing nearly a fifth of the region’s total.
Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and other countries such as Mozambique, Malawi and Niger
are also prominent among the nations with the highest poverty rates. This
concentration means that the international community should have strategies that
focus on targeted interventions to address the specific challenges of fragile
and conflict-affected states.
The rural-urban divide is also important, as about three-quarters of extremely
poor people live in rural areas, where there is limited access to education and
healthcare. There are also less opportunities for growth in these areas. In
spite of these challenges, 2025 has offered some progress. This points to
improvements in economic conditions, social protection programs and targeted
development initiatives in some key regions. Those countries that implemented
social protection programs and expanded access to education and healthcare,
while investing in rural infrastructure, have demonstrated meaningful progress.
Nevertheless, some countries with the highest concentrations of extreme poverty
face compounding crises such as conflict and political instability. This
exacerbates deprivation, displaces populations, disrupts markets and undermines
accessibility to essential services. Climate change also disproportionately
impacts the rural poor, who rely heavily on subsistence agriculture and natural
resources for their livelihoods. Health crises, including infectious disease
outbreaks, also entrench poverty. As a result, these overlapping vulnerabilities
show that poverty reduction cannot be approached solely through income growth.
Instead, it requires multifaceted strategies that incorporate health, education
and living standards.
Holistic approaches that prioritize multidimensional strategies for well-being
are more likely to be effective
The international community undoubtedly has a vital role to play not only in
sustaining but also in accelerating the progress against extreme poverty through
official development assistance, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected
countries. But aid must also be accompanied by long-term investments in social
infrastructure to ensure that resources reach the most vulnerable populations
and are used effectively. In addition to financial assistance, international
coordination on advancing education and knowledge-sharing can accelerate global
efforts to reduce poverty. In 2026, the international community should ratchet
up its assistance to programs that address social protection, education,
healthcare and climate resilience. Holistic approaches that prioritize
multidimensional strategies for well-being are more likely to be effective and
have positive outcomes. This year has taught us several lessons, including that
we need to better emphasize and work together in the fight against global
poverty. Multidimensional approaches are best because they address several forms
of deprivation that reinforce one another when it comes to global poverty.
Finally, the international community should also invest in conflict prevention,
peacebuilding and climate adaptation, which all play an interconnected role in
poverty. In a nutshell, to address global poverty more effectively, we need to
understand that it is a multidimensional challenge that requires a multifaceted
approach, as well as sustained commitment from the international community.
There has been some progress in 2025 but more strategic investment in social
protection, education and healthcare is required in 2026 to continue the
progress and adequately tackle global poverty.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian American political
scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Selected Face Book & X tweets
for
/December 11,
2025
charles chartouni
The urgency of a new cabinet to conduct full negotiations with Israel, end the
state of hostility and create the dynamics of full normalization.
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