English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  December 29/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2025/english.december29.25.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006 

Click On The Below Link To Join Elias Bejjaninews whatsapp group
https://chat.whatsapp.com/FPF0N7lE5S484LNaSm0MjW
اضغط على الرابط في أعلى للإنضمام لكروب Eliasbejjaninews whatsapp group

Elias Bejjani/Click on the below link to subscribe to my youtube channel
الياس بجاني/اضغط على الرابط في أسفل للإشتراك في موقعي ع اليوتيوب
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAOOSioLh1GE3C1hp63Camw

Bible Quotations For today
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 02/13-18/:”Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 28-29/2025
Dear Family members & Friends...Merry Christmas/Elias Bejjani/December 25/2025
Fear of Saying “Merry Christmas” is a Shame Upon the Peoples, Institutions, and Nations of the Secular West/Elias Bejjani/December 24/2025
Video-Link from the Mossad Vault Youtube Platform/How The Israeli Mossad Found Hezbollah Important Military figure "Imad Fayez Khalil" the Mastermind After He Disappeared for 10 Years Without a Trace
Mossad Vault/How Mossad Turned Egypt's (Shams el-Baroudi) Biggest Star Into Their Secret Weapon
Video Link/Mossad Vault/How a Female Mossad Agent (Lara Mansour) Became a Famous Singer to Spy on High Command in Beirut
Hezbollah Chief Accuses Lebanese Authorities of Working ‘in the Interest of What Israel Wants’
Eyes on Florida, full agenda: Trump, Netanyahu to weigh Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran
Lebanon on agenda as Netanyahu meets Trump on Monday
Lebanesew Army inspects southern homes for second day
Lebanon’s draft deposit recovery bill: what depositors should know
Nighttime river crossing ends in disaster on Lebanon-Syria border — details
PoliticsWinds from the East and North: Lebanon Faces Pressure on Multiple Fronts
Bassam Abou Zeid/This is Beirut/December 28/2025
Snow blankets Lebanon’s highlands as cold systems sweep in: Video
Saudi-Qatari Interest and a Turkish Opening Toward Lebanon
Netanyahu Seeks "Green Light" from Trump; North Litani Phase Suspended
Trump-Netanyahu: "Hezbollah's" Head on the Table/Dawoud Rammal/ Nidaa Al-Watan/ December 29, 2025
Netanyahu’s Visit to Trump: The Hour of Breaking the Iranian Project… and Saving Lebanon by Force/Chebl Zoghbi/December 28/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 28-29/2025
Trump and Netanyahu to discuss next phase of Gaza plan
Israeli Air Force Deploys First Laser Interception System
Israel Army Ends Crackdown on West Bank Town after Attack
Hamas to Elect Political Bureau Chief Soon
'Shivering from Cold and Fear': Winter Rains Batter Displaced Gazans
3 dead, dozens injured in Syria during clashes between Alawites and counterdemonstrators
Russia sends 3 Iranian satellite into orbit, report says
Israel's Recognition of Somaliland 'Threat' to Regional Stability, Says Somali President
Al-Alimi Says Will Not Allow Forceful Fait Accompli in Yemen’s Hadhramaut, al-Mahra
Arab-Islamic Statement Rejects Link Between Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland and Attempts to Expel Palestinians
Israel’s Somaliland gambit: what’s at risk for the region?
Somalia says Israel’s recognition of Somaliland ‘threat’ to regional stability
UN Humanitarian Mission Enters Sudan's Stricken El Fasher for First Time in 18 Months
Trump Says Had 'Productive' Call with Putin Ahead of Zelensky Meeting

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 28-29/2025
Palestinian Authority 'Help' Is a Trap for Washington: Trump Has the Opportunity to Break a Cycle of Defeat/Pierre Rehov/Gatestone Institute/December 28, 2025
ISIS Extremism or Islamic Doctrine?/Raymond Ibrahim/ From Raymond Ibrahim site/Dec 28, 2025
MAGA: Mending Fences or the End of a Coalition?/Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 28/2025
Time to get serious about AI risk/Jake Sullivan/Arab News/December 28, 2025
Selected Face Book & X tweets for /December 28, 2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 28-29/2025
Dear Family members & Friends...Merry Christmas
Elias Bejjani/December 25/2025
I extend to you my warmest Christmas greetings, wishing you happy and blessed days with the birth and incarnation of the Lord. I join you in prayer for our beloved Lebanon to reclaim its freedom and independence, and for the peoples of the world to return to the roots of faith so that peace may prevail throughout the earth. Merry Christmas to you all!”

Fear of Saying “Merry Christmas” is a Shame Upon the Peoples, Institutions, and Nations of the Secular West
Elias Bejjani/December 24/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/12/150449/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ISc0vPkZw
Remaining silent about saying “Merry Christmas” on the anniversary of the Nativity of the Incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and replacing it with “Season’s Greetings,” is no longer a mere social courtesy. Instead, it has become a malicious, undeclared policy, cultural submission, and a public concession by many Western nations and institutions that claim secularism and courage. In reality, fueled by cowardice, ignorance, and a lack of faith, they practice a form of “Dhimmitude” and deception under the guise of “neutrality.”
What is happening today in secular Western countries is not spontaneous. It is a political decision disguised to empty public opinion of the Name of Christ, to domesticate Christianity, and to turn it into a silent heritage that is forbidden from speaking Christ’s Name or naming Christian feasts openly and without complexes.
What we witness with anger and sorrow is the majority of Western nations disowning their roots—the values, civilization, progress, peace, and coexistence that grew from and with Christianity. They intentionally blind themselves to this history, erasing the mention of Christ Himself. In a cowardly duality, they desire the Christmas holiday while denying the Feast itself; they want the decorations but disown His Name; they want the traditions and the joy, yet they falsify the truth.
This duality regarding Christmas is absolute political hypocrisy and a deep-seated hostility toward Christian values, teachings, and symbols. Certainly, Christian teachings stand against the “fearful state.” What these practitioners of dhimmitude fail to realize is that the Holy Gospel does not know the language of “general greetings,” nor does it recognize the gray, lukewarm, and evasive discourse imposed by governments, corporations, and educational institutions.
In this clear, courageous, and direct context, we highlight the following Gospel verses:
“Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory.” (Luke 9:26)
What we say and believe regarding the absence of the phrase “Merry Christmas” is not just an opinion, but a direct condemnation. The shame Christians feel toward Christ in the public sphere is not “smart policy”; it is spiritual betrayal, ignorance, and a lack of faith. Christianity is not a timid minority, nor is it a guest in the West; it is the force that built its language, civilization, laws, calendar, and ethics.
Treating Christianity as a potential threat is not progress, but civilizational suicide. Therefore, saying “Merry Christmas” is not just a greeting; it is an act of faith, a testimony to the Truth and history, and a moral and political resistance against evil, the misguided, and those institutions that fear the Truth. It is a stand against a distorted discourse that wants a Christianity without Christ.
We call upon Christians, rulers, and institutions in the West to name Christian feasts by their proper names without shame. They should do so just as they interact with all other religions that name their feasts with pride and without restriction:
The Muslim says: “Ramadan Mubarak” “Adha Mubarak.”etc
The Jew says: “Happy Hanukkah” and names all his feasts.
The Hindu says: “Happy Diwali” and names all his feasts.
This is the case for all other faiths, and no one in the West asks them to change their names or apologize for them.
In summary, The fear of saying “Merry Christmas” is a disgrace to a West wrapped in a secularism that is supposed to respect religions. It is shameful that this phrase has become a source of fear in countries that claim freedom and pluralism. Ultimately, these are two simple words that carry no weapons or threats, yet they are avoided and replaced by meaningless phrases like “Season’s Greetings.” This cowardly concealment is not respect for others; it is fear and a lack of faith.
In conclusion, our duty is to reject humiliation and compromise, and to say with absolute freedom: Merry Christmas.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

رابط فيديو تقرير إسرائيلي/كيف عثر الموساد الإسرائيلي على الشخصية العسكرية المهمة في حزب الله: عماد فايز خليل، العقل المدبر للعديد من التفجيرات الإرهابية، بعد اختفائه دون أثر لمدة 10 سنوات
نقلا عن موقع موساد فولت ع اليوتيوب/27 كانون الأول/2025
Video-Link from the Mossad Vault Youtube Platform/How The Israeli Mossad Found Hezbollah Important Military figure "Imad Fayez Khalil" the Mastermind After He Disappeared for 10 Years Without a Trace
Mossad Vault/December 27, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/12/150581/
A man walks into a Beirut pharmacy in 2003, buys antibiotics with cash, and disappears into the crowd. Ten years earlier, he orchestrated the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people—then vanished completely. But a single pharmaceutical purchase, flagged by an algorithm cross-referencing a decade-old medical allergy, triggers the machinery of Israel's most patient intelligence service.
This is the story of Imad Fayez Khalil—the ghost who changed his face, severed every connection, and moved through three countries under forged identities. We reconstruct how Israeli intelligence tracked him through biometric gait analysis, intercepted communications, and a forged meeting notice that lured him into a Beirut warehouse ambush. We examine the decade-long pursuit: the informants inside Hezbollah, the surgical alterations Khalil underwent to defeat facial recognition, the computational systems that stored data points until patterns emerged. We explore the warehouse capture, the extraction by fishing boat, and the interrogation that dismantled networks across continents. But this raises questions: Is there any true escape in the surveillance age? When algorithms remember what humans forget, when patience becomes weaponized—can anyone truly disappear? We explore the ethics of transnational manhunts and what it means when states hunt certain individuals indefinitely, regardless of borders. If this investigation into modern manhunts changed how you see intelligence operations, hit Like and Subscribe. Drop your thoughts: In an age of total surveillance, has technology made escape obsolete?

Mossad Vault/How Mossad Turned Egypt's (Shams el-Baroudi) Biggest Star Into Their Secret Weapon
Mossad Vault/November 18/2025/
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/12/150581/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJdJmjKbw-k
A woman's voice fills Cairo's concert halls. Her albums sell hundreds of thousands of copies. She performs for presidents and generals. For twelve years, Shams el-Baroudi is Egypt's most beloved singer—the voice of Arab identity itself.
Then she vanishes. What Cairo never knew: Shams el-Baroudi never existed. The woman was Rachel Shamosh, an Israeli Mossad operative living under deep cover. For over a decade, she sang while transmitting military secrets, attended elite parties while photographing documents, and embedded herself so deeply in Egyptian culture that many refused to believe the truth when it emerged. This film reconstructs the operation—three years of training to become someone else, forged life histories inserted into Egyptian archives, relationships with military elites, and intelligence that shaped the Six-Day War. We examine how Mossad planted an agent not in government offices, but in the emotional core of Egyptian society itself. We explore the cost: the permanent psychological damage, the journalist who loved her while she exploited his connections, and the identity dissolution that left her unable to return to herself. She never performed again, dying alone in 1989. It's about whether any objective justifies such intimate deception, and the devastation of discovering your most cherished cultural figure was an enemy agent all along.
If this investigation changed how you understand espionage, hit Like and Subscribe. Drop your thoughts: can cultural infiltration ever be justified—or does it cross a line even intelligence services shouldn't breach?

Video Link/Mossad Vault/How a Female Mossad Agent (Lara Mansour) Became a Famous Singer to Spy on High Command in Beirut
Mossad Vault/December 25, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/12/150581/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRC__T2FSgA&t=13s
A nightclub in Beirut. A spotlight catches her silhouette as she steps to the microphone. Syrian generals lean forward. Lebanese politicians forget their champagne. What they don't know is that every note she sings, every smile she offers, every conversation after the performance is part of an intelligence operation years in the making. This is the story of how Mossad transformed an Israeli operative into the Middle East's most unlikely spy—a famous singer whose performances provided cover for gathering intelligence at the highest levels of Lebanese and Syrian society. For seven years, she lived as Lara Mansour, recording albums, performing concerts, and cultivating relationships with military officers who spoke freely around an artist they never suspected. We reconstruct how Mossad built this legend from scratch—producing actual albums, arranging European concerts, forging an entire artistic career before deployment. We examine the psychological training that allowed complete identity immersion, the intelligence gathered from Damascus social events, and the operational tradecraft that sustained the deception through Lebanon's civil war. But we also confront what it cost. The loneliness of years without authentic human connection. The moral weight of complicity in events like Sabra-Shatila. The identity dissolution that made returning to her original self impossible. This operation succeeded by every intelligence metric—yet destroyed the person who made it possible. If this investigation made you rethink what deep cover truly demands, hit Like and Subscribe. Drop your thoughts: was this operation justified intelligence necessity—or did it cross ethical boundaries that no strategic advantage can justify?

Hezbollah Chief Accuses Lebanese Authorities of Working ‘in the Interest of What Israel Wants’
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Sunday said moves to disarm the group in Lebanon are an "Israeli-American plan,” accusing Israel of failing to abide by a ceasefire agreement sealed last year. Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese military is expected to complete Hezbollah's disarmament south of the Litani River -- located about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel -- by the end of the year. It will then tackle disarming the Iran-backed movement in the rest of the country. "Disarmament is an Israeli-American plan," Qassem said. "To demand exclusive arms control while Israel is committing aggression and America is imposing its will on Lebanon, stripping it of its power, means that you are not working in Lebanon's interest, but rather in the interest of what Israel wants." Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has maintained troops in five areas it deems strategic. According to the agreement, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled. Israel has questioned the Lebanese military's effectiveness and has accused Hezbollah of rearming, while the group itself has rejected calls to surrender its weapons. "The deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River was required only if Israel had adhered to its commitments... to halting the aggression, withdrawing, releasing prisoners, and having reconstruction commence," Qassem said in a televised address. "With the Israeli enemy not implementing any of the steps of the agreement... Lebanon is no longer required to take any action on any level before the Israelis commit to what they are obligated to do." Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal told a military meeting on Tuesday "the army is in the process of finishing the first phase of its plan.” He said the army is carefully planning "for the subsequent phases" of disarmament.

Eyes on Florida, full agenda: Trump, Netanyahu to weigh Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran
LBCI/December 28/2025
Eyes are turning to Florida, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to hold talks Monday evening. The files of Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran — along with related side issues — are expected to be discussed, amid Israeli concerns that Netanyahu may be unable to persuade Trump to adopt the recommendations of Israel’s security agencies, which place Israel’s security as the top priority. While Trump is prioritizing the Gaza file and advancing toward the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to place the Iran file at the top of its agenda. On Syria, Israeli optimism has faded over prospects for progress toward a security agreement with Damascus, which had been pursued in Azerbaijan with Russian mediation and U.S. approval. However, an Israeli official said developments in the final hours remain possible. Regarding Lebanon, Netanyahu is expected to urge Trump to pressure Beirut to ensure full and immediate compliance with demands to disarm Hezbollah, while emphasizing the Israeli military’s readiness to carry out a strike on Lebanon pending political approval. The security agencies also recommended securing a clear confirmation from the Lebanese government of its desire for peace with Israel, and that there be no armed groups on Lebanese territory other than the Lebanese army. On Iran, Netanyahu is expected to stress the need for an international agreement that would dismantle Tehran’s nuclear program, restrict the development and deployment of its missiles and drones, and prevent what Israeli officials describe as regional coordination through Iran’s proxies. Israel’s tough conditions are expected to be presented alongside its readiness to continue its wars on all fronts, amid security assessments suggesting Netanyahu’s task will be particularly difficult this time, especially as Trump is expected to demand significant concessions.

Lebanon on agenda as Netanyahu meets Trump on Monday
Agence France Presse/December 28/2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Monday, an Israeli official told AFP, in what is seen as a crucial visit for the next steps of the fragile Gaza truce plan. It will be Netanyahu's fifth visit to see key ally Trump in the United States this year. His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official on Saturday said Netanyahu would leave for the U.S. on December 28 and meet with Trump a day later in Florida, without providing a specific location. Trump told reporters in mid-December that Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays. "He would like to see me. We haven't set it up formally, but he'd like to see me," Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort. Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal.
'Going nowhere' -
Concerning Gaza, the timing of the meeting is "very significant", said Gershon Baskin, the co-head of peacebuilding commission the Alliance for Two States, who has taken part in back-channel negotiations with Hamas. "Phase one is basically over, there's one remaining Israeli deceased hostage which they (Hamas) are having difficulty finding," he told AFP. "Phase two has to begin, it's even late and I think the Americans realize that it's late because Hamas has had too much time to re-establish its presence and this is certainly not a situation that the Americans want to leave in place," he added. Progress in moving to the second phase of October's Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by Washington and its regional allies, has so far been slow. Both sides allege frequent ceasefire violations and mediators fear that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling. Under the next stages, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force (ISF) is to be deployed. It also includes a provision for Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to lay down its weapons -- a major sticking point. On Friday, U.S. news outlet Axios reported that the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was key to advancing to the next steps of the deal. Citing White House officials, Axios said that the Trump administration wanted to announce the Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza and the ISF as soon as possible. It reported that senior Trump officials were growing exasperated "as Netanyahu has taken steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire and stall the peace process." "There are more and more signs that the American administration is getting frustrated with Netanyahu," said Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House. "The question is what it's going to do about it," he added, "because phase two is right now going nowhere."
Iran tops agenda -
While the Trump administration is keen for progress on Gaza, analysts said the prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear program and ballistic missile capabilities was likely to top the agenda for Netanyahu. "All the news that we've heard in the Israeli media over the last two weeks about Iran building up its missiles and being a threat to Israel is all part of a planned strategy of deflecting attention from Gaza to the issue that Netanyahu loves to talk about which is Iran," said Baskin. In June, Israel launched strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas.Iran responded with drone and missile strikes on Israel, and later on in the 12-day war, the United States joined Israel in targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. Mekelberg shared the view that Netanyahu could be attempting to shift attention from Gaza onto Iran. With Israel entering an election year, Mekelberg said with regards to the Trump meeting, Netanyahu would be "taking a defensive approach, to minimize what can be difficult for him coming back home.""Everything is connected to staying in power," he said of the long-time Israeli premier.

Lebanesew Army inspects southern homes for second day
Naharnet/December 28/2025
The Lebanese Army on Sunday inspectef four destroyed houses in the southern town of Bint Jbeil at the request of the U.S.-led Mechanism committee, the National News Agency said. The houses had been destroyed during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war and the Lebanese Army had inspected most homes in the town in the past, NNA said. The army had reportedly inspected three houses in Beit Yahoun, Kounine and Beit Leef on Saturday.

Lebanon’s draft deposit recovery bill: what depositors should know
LBCI/December 28/2025
What bonds mean and how they work under Lebanon’s draft deposit recovery bill: If a depositor holds more than $100,000, the first $100,000 would be returned over four years, and any additional amount would be converted into bonds backed by assets from the Central Bank of Lebanon. In total, deposits of at least $33 billion could be converted into bonds, assuming illicit funds can be excluded. Simply put, depositors would no longer have a bank account. Instead, they would hold a document stating that the state owes them the amount. According to the draft bill, the money is expected to be repaid after 10 to 20 years, depending on the size of the deposit. The countdown begins only after the first four years, creating an effective waiting period of 14 to 24 years — provided repayment occurs. Funding is not guaranteed. The draft states that the bonds would be financed through a fund composed of the Central Bank's profits and assets. However, there are no clear figures or real valuations of these assets. The plan relies on economic recovery and the gradual creation of liquidity, both of which the government acknowledges are uncertain. Limited returns. If liquidity becomes available, depositors could receive a maximum of 2% annually starting in the fifth year — roughly $2,000 per $100,000 — with these payments deducted from the final balance owed. Market risks. The bonds would be tradable. If many depositors are forced to sell, their value could collapse, as happened with Solidere shares. Broader impact. The mechanism would also apply to companies, social security funds, and labor unions — key institutions for financing the economy and providing social protections.

Nighttime river crossing ends in disaster on Lebanon-Syria border — details
LBCI/December 28/2025
A humanitarian tragedy occurred late Saturday at the Nahr al-Kabir, the river separating Lebanon and Syria. On the Aboudieh–Hekr Janine line, several Syrians went missing while attempting to cross the river illegally. According to survivors who spoke to the Syrian state news agency SANA, a group of 11 people tried to cross from Syria into Lebanon, but only four survived. At that location, an LBCI camera recorded a Syrian Civil Defense team conducting a survey along the Aboudieh–Hekr Janine line in search of any trace of the missing, but without success. The river’s water level was high, the current strong, and the area on the Syrian side is mined. Along the dirt path toward the river, traces of shoes and food bags testify to human smuggling through these rugged routes. The nighttime incident, confirmed by the Syrian Civil Defense, contradicts a daytime video circulating online that claimed Lebanese army personnel forcibly returned Syrians. Offering options to go forward or return is not part of army procedures, which follow clear guidelines to ensure safe returns. Late Saturday, the army facilitated the safe return of 24 people who had entered Lebanon illegally. Lebanon-Syria border talks stall as France attempts diplomatic breakthrough—the details. The Abou Arab crossing in Hekr Janine is the only unofficial point where the army allows river crossings toward Syria. It facilitates the return of Syrians and ensures they reach Syrian territory safely. Late Saturday, however, the river level was very high and submerged the crossing rock. The army redirected the group to a safer crossing in al-Buqei’a, where the LBCI camera recorded a lower water level. The group crossed safely under the supervision of the Lebanese army, with the Syrian army visible on the opposite side of the border.

PoliticsWinds from the East and North: Lebanon Faces Pressure on Multiple Fronts
Bassam Abou Zeid/This is Beirut/December 28/2025
Judicial and security officials told MTV Tuesday that Lebanon and Syria will form two committees to tackle longstanding disputes. ©Al-Markazia
Recent developments suggest that Lebanon is a stage for the activities of supporters of Syria’s former regime. Amid these movements, they have also been preparing operations inside Syria, particularly along the coast and in Homs, where Alawite communities are concentrated. Their activities appear to be supported, to some extent, by Hezbollah, according to individuals familiar with the matter. CNN has released images and video showing Syrian official Bassam al-Hassan in Beirut. Al-Hassan has been implicated in the disappearance of American journalist Austin Tice. The second confirmed incident is the killing of Ghassan Naassan al-Sukhni in Kfaryassine, Mount Lebanon. Al-Sukhni reportedly led a military unit aligned with the former Syrian regime and maintained ties to Maher al-Assad.
The third event involves a camp established by Hezbollah in northern Beqaa for Lebanese and Syrian displaced persons who lived in Syria and left after the fall of the regime. Lebanese authorities’ awareness of the identities, activities, or any political or military operations in the camp remains unclear. The fourth event concerns the arrest of twelve former Syrian officers who attempted to cross the northern border from Lebanon into Syria. Although they held Syrian citizenship, they had previously appeared before the security committees of the new regime to settle their status. Syrian authorities accused them of trying to enter Tal Kalakh to organize attacks against Syrian security forces. Taken together, these events leave little room for Lebanese authorities to deny the presence of political and military figures affiliated with Syria’s former regime on their territory. Nor can they ignore that these individuals are conducting various activities in Lebanon, from political and financial operations to, potentially, military involvement. This reality places a heavy responsibility on Lebanese authorities to prevent the country from becoming a rear base for opponents of the new Syrian regime. Such activity could trigger responses from Syrian authorities or armed groups connected to them, raising tensions along the eastern and northern borders and drawing Lebanese-Syrian relations into a renewed cycle of friction, with significant consequences for the Lebanese population.This issue cannot be overlooked or left unresolved by Lebanese authorities for fear of a new confrontation with Hezbollah. The Lebanese have already suffered heavily along the southern border; can they bear further tragedies emerging from the eastern and northern borders, whether for the sake of Iran or any other party?

Snow blankets Lebanon’s highlands as cold systems sweep in: Video
LBCI/December 28/2025
Lebanese residents in high-altitude areas woke up Sunday morning to a white landscape as a series of cold, moist weather systems swept across the country.
The systems brought snowfall to higher elevations, accompanied by active winds, marking a sharp drop in temperatures across mountainous regions.

Saudi-Qatari Interest and a Turkish Opening Toward Lebanon
Netanyahu Seeks "Green Light" from Trump; North Litani Phase Suspended
Nidaa Al-Watan/December 29, 2025  (Translated From Arabic)
Today’s U.S.-Israeli summit has transformed into a Lebanese event, driven by Israeli media reports regarding the agenda, at the core of which lies the Lebanese file. Official circles stated that Lebanon is closely monitoring the summit, as it will deliberate on Lebanese affairs. On the eve of the meeting, Hebrew Channel 13 quoted Israeli officials stating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ask President Donald Trump for a "green light to intensify attacks in Lebanon." Meanwhile, the "Times of Israel" website predicted that talks would focus on "Hezbollah" and Israel's threat to resume the war—which halted under the November 2024 ceasefire—if the Lebanese government fails to meet the New Year deadline imposed by the U.S. for the group’s disarmament.
Prominent political sources told Nidaa Al-Watan that the Trump-Netanyahu summit "will weigh the fate of the region and determine the nature of the second phase in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen." They noted that Iraq has begun to sense the danger; as the Iraqi Prime Minister stated, Baghdad received information via a third country indicating that Israel is preparing for military operations in Iraq. The sources added: "The entire region is on the brink of a volcano. The general trajectory for the next six months will be decided for Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran."These circles also highlighted yesterday’s speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, viewing it as a message directed at the U.S.-Israeli summit. By stating he refuses to disarm and demanding Israel fulfill its obligations, Qassem declared his readiness for confrontation, saying that if the U.S. and Israel want war, let it be: "Bring it on" (literally: "Ride your fastest horses").
No Transition to North of the Litani
In this context, Nidaa Al-Watan has learned that despite Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s announced readiness to begin the "North of the Litani" phase, there is no political decision within the state to commence. Information suggests that the delay in clearing the area north of the Litani does not stem from a negative Lebanese stance. Rather, the Lebanese state demands that Israel withdraw from occupied points, hand over prisoners, and take positive steps so that the state can, in turn, move forward regarding Hezbollah's weapons. The state does not express fear of a renewed war if the disarmament plan does not proceed immediately, having received American guarantees against the expansion of the conflict. Consequently, the weapons file north of the Litani will face a "freeze," with the state taking no action until Israel initiates acceptable steps.
The Saudi-Qatari Meeting and Lebanon
Official circles view yesterday’s Saudi-Qatari meeting positively, seeing it as a potential precursor to supporting the Army and ensuring the success of the scheduled support conference in February. In Doha, Qatari Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, met with Prince Yazid bin Farhan, Advisor to the Saudi Foreign Minister for Lebanese Affairs. They reviewed bilateral cooperation and joint coordination regarding Lebanon.
The positions of Riyadh and Doha align on the importance of maintaining Lebanon’s stability and respecting its sovereignty in accordance with international law. Both countries emphasized a collective commitment to helping Lebanon face its crises and activating sustainable diplomatic solutions. A statement from the Qatari Foreign Ministry confirmed the meeting's focus on "joint coordination efforts" and Qatar's "unwavering support for the brotherly Lebanese people."
Turkish Shift Toward Lebanon
On another front, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s initiative to call President General Joseph Aoun reflects a forced shift in the Turkish approach toward Lebanon. This comes after the failure of pressure tactics and a broad political and media campaign aimed at preventing Beirut from finalizing a maritime demarcation agreement with Cyprus.
Nidaa Al-Watan has learned that Erdoğan extended an official invitation to President Aoun to visit Turkey—a move with clear political dimensions. In response, the Lebanese state has been noted for its "calm and balanced policy" in handling Turkish criticism and campaigns related to the maritime demarcation file with Cyprus.

Trump-Netanyahu: "Hezbollah's" Head on the Table
Dawoud Rammal/ Nidaa Al-Watan/ December 29, 2025  (Translated From Arabic)
Today marks the fifth meeting this year between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It comes at a regional juncture open to all possibilities, where electoral calculations intersect with major strategic shifts in the Middle East. The prevailing logic is one of settling the conflict with Iran, viewed as the "origin of the crisis and the center of danger," while other arenas—foremost among them Lebanon—are treated as side issues or pressure cards to be used as needed. According to available data, Netanyahu is not heading to Washington with a general political speech or a vague request. Rather, he carries a comprehensive operational file for the American President, including a proposed timeline for a strike—whether against Iran, Lebanon, or both. The file also includes a roadmap for his desired war, a potential bank of targets, the scope of military operations, political and military ceilings, and the international coalition required to launch it.
The Logic of Decisiveness
This proposal reflects an Israeli conviction that the moment of decision is approaching. The purpose of the meeting is not to discuss the principle of action, but to agree on timing, form, and boundaries. Netanyahu holds a firm belief that neutralizing "Hezbollah" is a foregone conclusion once the decision is made, and that the actual knot remains in Tehran. Conversely, the intensive Israeli media focus on Lebanon appears to be a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the shared U.S.-Israeli goal. Promoting the idea that Netanyahu is seeking approval for a military operation against Hezbollah reduces domestic Israeli anxiety regarding a direct confrontation with Iran. It keeps public debate within an arena where Tel Aviv is accustomed to moving with broad freedom, without direct human cost, without endangering Israeli soldiers, and without opening the door to uncalculated reactions.
Electoral Calculations
The meeting also comes at a highly sensitive electoral time for both parties. Netanyahu is preparing for the Knesset battle, and Trump is gearing up for the midterm elections; both are searching for a political-security achievement that can be marketed domestically. Netanyahu needs a conflict to reaffirm his image as the guardian of Israeli security against "existential threats." Trump seeks to present himself as a leader capable of reshaping Middle East balances and imposing new realities regarding Iran’s nuclear and ballistic files, appealing to his electoral base and strengthening his domestic standing.
Tehran: The Root of the Problem
From this perspective, Washington and Tel Aviv view the regional scene through nearly the same lens: the primary danger lies in Tehran. As long as Iran operates freely in arming itself and developing its ballistic and nuclear capabilities, its regional proxies will remain active and capable of harassing Israel and threatening its security, regardless of Tel Aviv's capacity for containment or temporary deterrence. Therefore, striking Hezbollah or others remains, in the eyes of decision-makers, a treatment of symptoms rather than the root cause.
However, American calculations remain more complex. If Trump does not agree to a direct strike on Iran—whether due to international costs or the repercussions of wide-scale escalation—then a war on Hezbollah becomes a secondary priority, or a "consolation prize" for Netanyahu. In this scenario, the Israeli view is that the Lebanese arena remains the least costly and most controllable; Israel could impose military and security realities there without a single bullet being fired from the Lebanese side, and without sliding into an open, comprehensive confrontation.
Conclusion
The takeaway from the upcoming meeting is not related to what will be announced regarding Lebanon or Hezbollah, but rather what will be agreed upon in depth concerning Iran: Has the moment for a strike arrived, or will the hour of reckoning be postponed while keeping the region on a "hot plate"? It is in this decision that the features of the coming phase, the limits of escalation, and the roles of various arenas will be determined. As for Lebanon, it remains, once again, a card within a larger scenario—its name used in headlines, while the real decision is written to the rhythm of the confrontation with Tehran.

Netanyahu’s Visit to Trump: The Hour of Breaking the Iranian Project… and Saving Lebanon by Force
Chebl Zoghbi/December 28/2025
Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Donald Trump on the 29th of this month is not an ordinary political meeting, but a war room to design a historic strike that could put an end to the most dangerous destabilizing project in the Middle East: the Iranian project and its militias, foremost among them Hezbollah.
After November 27, 2023, all illusions collapsed. Israel made its choice: preemptive strike is the only doctrine. No waiting, no reactions, no statements. Whoever seeks war will be struck at the source. Whoever plants rockets will reap fire. This is not merely an Israeli desire, but the natural result of the international community’s failure to restrain Iran and its proxies.
Iran today is not a state, but an armed regional mafia. It does not build, it does not feed its people; it knows only expansion, explosions, and the destruction of states from within. Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon… all are examples of countries being slowly assassinated by militias that claim “resistance” while destroying both people and stone.
Ending this project is no longer an Israeli matter, but an existential Arab necessity. The Abraham Accords will not advance a single inch as long as the Revolutionary Guard plants its black flags over Arab capitals. That is why, yes: a strong Israel today is a necessity to stop the Iranian plague, not a threat to the region.
As for Lebanon, the truth is even more horrific. The country is hijacked. A state without decision, an army without sovereignty, a looted economy, and a people held hostage by illegal weapons. Hezbollah never “protected” Lebanon; it dragged it from war to war, from isolation to isolation, until it turned it into a failed state.
For the second time in history, “Israeli intervention” is being raised as a salvation option. Previously from Arafat and his destructive weapons; today from Iran and its agents. The difference is that the current occupation is more dangerous: an occupation of minds, institutions, and national decision-making.
Eradicating Hezbollah is not an aggression against Lebanon, but its liberation. Liberation from a death ideology, a war economy, a culture of arms, and the lie of “resistance” that has produced nothing but graves and poverty.
Without Hezbollah, the door opens to what Lebanese have been denied for decades: peace, sovereignty, and a state. A peace agreement with Israel is no longer treason, but a national interest that fortifies Lebanon, ends its role as a battlefield, and restores it as a normal country that wants life, not gratuitous martyrdom.
Netanyahu’s visit to Trump may be a moment of breaking bones.
Either the Iranian project is buried,
or what remains of the Middle East is buried.
And the Lebanese?
Either a state… or a militia.
Either a future… or an open grave.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 28-29/2025
Trump and Netanyahu to discuss next phase of Gaza plan
Reuters/December 29, 2025
JERUSALEM/PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Donald Trump is expected to push for progress in the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets with Israeli Prime ​Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for talks that will include Israel’s concerns over Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran. Netanyahu said this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes to establish transitional governance and an international security force for the Palestinian enclave. Trump has said he could meet with the Israeli leader soon, but the White House has not confirmed details. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting. Netanyahu, who is expected to visit Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beach club, said on December 22 that discussions were expected to cover the second phase of the Gaza ‌ceasefire, as well ‌as Iran and Lebanon. Washington brokered ceasefires on all three fronts, but Israel ‌is ⁠wary ​of its ‌foes rebuilding their forces after they were considerably weakened in the war.
Next steps in Gaza ceasefire plan
All sides agreed in October to Trump’s ceasefire plan, which calls for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and Hamas to give up its weapons and forgo a governing role in the enclave. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington wants the transitional administration envisioned in Trump’s plan — a Board of Peace and a body made up of Palestinian technocrats - to be in place soon to govern Gaza, ahead of the deployment of ⁠the international security force that was mandated by a November 17 UN Security Council resolution. But Israel and Hamas have accused each ‌other of major breaches of the deal and look no closer ‍to accepting the much more difficult steps envisaged for ‍the next phase. Hamas, which has refused to disarm and has not returned the remains of ‍the last Israeli hostage, has been reasserting its control, as Israeli troops remain entrenched in about half the territory. Israel has indicated that if Hamas is not disarmed peacefully, it will resume military action to make it do so.While the fighting has abated, it has not stopped entirely. Although the ceasefire officially began in October, Israeli strikes have ​killed more than 400 Palestinians — most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials — and Palestinian militants have killed three Israeli soldiers.
Lebanon ceasefire also tested
In Lebanon, a US-backed ⁠ceasefire that was agreed to in November 2024 ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and required the disarmament of the powerful Iran-backed Shiite group, beginning in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel. While Lebanon has said it is close to completing the mission within the year-end deadline of disarming Hezbollah, the group has resisted calls to lay down its weapons. Israel says progress is partial and slow and has been carrying out near-daily strikes in Lebanon, which it says are meant to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding. Iran, which fought a 12-day war with Israel in June, said last week that it had conducted missile exercises for the second time this month. Netanyahu said Israel is not seeking a confrontation with Iran, but was aware of the reports, and said he would raise Tehran’s activities with Trump. Trump in June ordered ‌US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites but has since then broached a potential deal with Tehran.

Israeli Air Force Deploys First Laser Interception System
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
Israel's defense ministry said on Sunday it had deployed a new "Iron Beam" laser system for the air force to intercept aerial threats. The laser system's main developers, the ministry's research and development department and defense contractor Rafael, delivered it to the air force at a ceremony in northern Israel. "For the first time globally, a high-power laser interception system has achieved full operational maturity, successfully executing multiple interceptions," Defense Minister Israel Katz said at the ceremony, according to a statement. "This monumental achievement... delivers a critical message to our enemies, near and far alike: do not challenge us, or face severe consequences," AFP quoted him as saying. The handover marks a major milestone in a project more than a decade old. "Israel has become the first country in the world to field an operational laser system for the interception of aerial threats, including rockets and missiles," said Yuval Steinitz, chairman of Rafael. The laser system seeks to enhance and slash the cost of Israel's interception of projectiles, and will supplement other aerial defense capacities such as the more well-known Iron Dome. Iron Dome offers short-range protection against missiles and rockets. The David's Sling system and successive generations of Arrow missiles are Israeli-American technology built to bring down ballistic missiles. The defense ministry announced in early December that the laser system was complete, and would be deployed by the end of the month. During the 12-day war launched by Israel against Iran in June, the country's missile defense system failed to intercept all the projectiles fired by Tehran toward Israeli territory. Israel has since acknowledged being hit by more than 50 missiles during the war with Iran, resulting in 28 deaths.

Israel Army Ends Crackdown on West Bank Town after Attack
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
The Israeli military said on Sunday it had ended its operation in a town in the occupied West Bank that it had sealed off after a Palestinian from the area killed two Israelis.Around 50 residents of Qabatiya were briefly detained during the two-day operation, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, quoting the town's mayor Ahmed Zakarneh. The attacker's father and two brothers remained in custody, it added. The military launched the operation on Friday, shortly after a 34-year-old Palestinian fatally stabbed an 18-year-old Israeli woman and ran over a man in his sixties with his vehicle. When contacted by AFP on Sunday morning, the military confirmed the end of its operation in the area. Defense Minister Israel Katz previously said the army had completely sealed off the town. Wafa also reported that Israeli troops had withdrawn from Qabatiya, near the city of Jenin. Zakarneh said the town had been in a state of "total paralysis" during the military activity. Israeli army bulldozers tore up pavement on several streets and erected roadblocks to halt traffic, he said, adding that around 50 houses were searched. Wafa reported that a school had been turned into a detention and interrogation center. AFPTV footage filmed on Saturday showed Israeli soldiers carrying automatic rifles and patrolling the streets, where several armoured vehicles were deployed. Shops were closed, though men and children were seen walking through the village. On Sunday, the Israeli army said it had sealed off the assailant's home and was finalising "the procedures required for its demolition".Israeli authorities argue that demolishing the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israelis has a deterrent effect. Critics, however, condemn the practice as collective punishment that leaves families homeless.

Hamas to Elect Political Bureau Chief Soon
Asharq Al-Awsat/December 28/2025
Hamas is moving in the coming days to elect a new head of its political bureau, in an effort to fill a leadership vacuum left by the killing of its former chief, Yahya Sinwar, who died in October 2024 during clashes he fought alongside his fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Sinwar had been chosen as successor to Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated at the end of July that year in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Sources in Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat that the election for the movement’s political bureau chief would take place next week or within the first 10 days of January. They said a deputy could be elected during the same period or at a later stage, following internal arrangements that could also allow for an appointment rather than an election, unlike the process for the Hamas leader. The sources stated that there is more than one candidate to lead Hamas, including Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya, as well as other figures. They stated that the vote would be held in accordance with the movement’s long-standing internal regulations and that a fraternal atmosphere prevailed ahead of the elections. According to the sources, electing a new head of the political bureau aims to bolster internal stability and reassurance, and to send a clear message to the outside world that the movement remains cohesive and retains a leadership cadre capable of managing all affairs and taking decisions by full consensus within the political bureau, as was the case before the assassinations carried out during the war. They said the election would not end the role of the current leadership council that was formed to run the movement after the killings of Haniyeh and Sinwar.The council would instead be regarded as an advisory body overseeing Hamas’s internal and external issues, with consultations continuing on key matters until the end of its term in 2026. The sources added that no full elections for the political bureau would be held at this stage, with such elections expected to take place after a year. They said the upcoming vote would be limited solely to the post of overall political bureau chief and would not include any other organizational bodies.
On the leadership of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, following Sinwar’s killing and the failure to appoint a successor, the sources said Khalil al-Hayya is currently heading the bureau in the enclave. If he is elected overall political bureau chief, another figure would be assigned under specific mechanisms to replace him, possibly from within Gaza itself. They noted that several members of the political bureau in Gaza have already been tasked with managing various portfolios. The sources said members of the political bureau killed by Israel inside Gaza have been temporarily replaced by others to carry out their duties, including freed prisoners who had been very close to Sinwar. Hamas has been hit by a series of assassinations targeting its leaders during the two-year war, both inside and outside the Gaza Strip. Among the most prominent figures killed abroad were Haniyeh and his former deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, who was assassinated in Lebanon in January 2024. The Gaza Strip is also witnessing a series of administrative and organizational arrangements at first- and second-tier leadership levels, aimed at filling the vacancies left by Israeli assassination operations.

'Shivering from Cold and Fear': Winter Rains Batter Displaced Gazans
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
It only took a matter of minutes after the heavy overnight rain first began to fall for Jamil al-Sharafi's tent in southern Gaza to flood, drenching his food and leaving his blankets sopping wet. The winter rains have made an already precarious life worse for people like Sharafi, who is among the hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian territory displaced by the war, many of whom now survive on aid provided by humanitarian organizations, AFP reported. "My children are shivering from cold and fear... The tent was completely flooded within minutes," Sharafi, 47, said on Sunday. "We lost our blankets, and all the food is soaked," added the father of six, who lives in a makeshift shelter with his children in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi. A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been in place since October 10, following two years of devastating fighting. But despite the truce, Gazans still face a severe humanitarian crisis, and most of those displaced by the war have been left with little or nothing. Families are crowded into camps of tents hastily erected from tarpaulins, which are often surrounded by mud and standing water when it rains. "As an elderly woman, I cannot live in tents. Living in tents means we die from the cold in the rain and from the heat in the summer," said Umm Rami Bulbul. "We don't want reconstruction right now, just provide us and our children with mobile homes."Nighttime temperatures in Gaza have ranged between eight and 12 degrees Celsius in recent days.
Insufficient aid -
Nearly 80 percent of buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to United Nations data. And about 1.5 million of Gaza's 2.2 million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza. Of more than 300,000 tents requested to shelter displaced people, "we have received only 60,000", Shawa told AFP, pointing to Israeli restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory. The UN refugee agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said the harsh weather had compounded the misery of Gazans. "People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents & among ruins," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. "There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required." COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said in mid-December that "close to 310,000 tents and tarpaulins entered the Gaza Strip recently" as part of an increase in aid under the ceasefire. Earlier this month, Gaza experienced a similar spell of heavy rain and cold. The weather caused at least 18 deaths due to the collapse of war-damaged buildings or exposure to cold, according to Gaza's civil defense agency, which operates under Hamas authority. On December 18, the UN's humanitarian office said that 17 buildings collapsed during the storm, while 42,000 tents and makeshift shelters were fully or partially damaged. "Look at the state of my children and the tent," said Samia Abu Jabba. "I sleep in the cold, and water floods us and my children's clothes. I have no clothes for them to wear. They are freezing," she said. "What did the people of Gaza and their children do to deserve this?"

3 dead, dozens injured in Syria during clashes between Alawites and counterdemonstrators
The Associated Press/December 28, 2025
LATAKIA, Syria (AP) — Clashes broke out on Syria’s coast between protesters from the Alawite religious minority and counterdemonstrators on Sunday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens of others, health officials said. The clashes came two days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in the city of Homs killed eight people and wounded 18 others during prayers. Thousands of protesters gathered in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, and elsewhere. Officials have said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque in Homs, but authorities haven't publicly identified a suspect yet in Friday's bombing. Funerals for the dead were held on Saturday. A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates. Sunday’s demonstrations were called for by Ghazal Ghazal, an Alawite sheikh living outside of Syria who heads a group called the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora. An Associated Press photographer in Latakia saw pro-government counterprotesters throw rocks at the Alawite demonstrators, while a group of protesters beat a counterdemonstrator who crossed to their side. Security forces tried to break up the two sides and fired into the air in an attempt to disperse them. Demonstrators were injured in the scuffles, but it wasn't immediately clear how many. Syria’s state-run television reported that two members of the security forces were wounded in the area of Tartous after someone threw a hand grenade at a police station, and cars belonging to security forces were set on fire in Latakia. Later, state-run news agency SANA reported that a member of the security forces was killed by gunfire. Local health officials said that three people were killed and 60 others wounded. The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 that brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war. Assad, an Alawite, fled the country to Russia. In March, an ambush carried out by Assad’s supporters against security forces triggered days of violence that left hundreds of people dead, most of them Alawites. Since then, although the situation has calmed, Alawites have been targeted sporadically in sectarian attacks. They have also complained of discrimination against them in public employment since Assad’s fall and of young Alawite men detained without charges. During the rein of the Assad dynasty, Alawites were overrepresented in government jobs and in the army and security forces. Government officials condemned Friday’s attack and promised to hold perpetrators accountable, but haven't yet announced any arrests.

Russia sends 3 Iranian satellite into orbit, report says
Associated Press/December 28, 2025
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russia on Sunday sent three Iranian communications satellites into orbit, the second such launch since July, Iranian state television reported. The report said that a Russian rocket sent the satellites to circle the Earth on a 500-kilometer (310-mile) orbit from the Vostochny launchpad in eastern Russia. The three satellites are dubbed Paya, Kowsar and Zafar-2. The report said that Paya, weighing 150 kilograms (330 pounds), is the heaviest satellite that Iran has ever deployed into orbit. Kowsar weighs 35 kilograms (77 pounds), but the report didn't specify how heavy Zafar-2 is. The satellites feature up to 3-meter resolution images, applicable in the management of water resources, agriculture and the environment. Their life span is up to five years. Russia occasionally sends Iran's satellites into orbit, highlighting the strong ties between the two countries. In July, a Russian rocket sent Iranian communications satellite Nahid-2 into orbit. Russia, which signed a “strategic partnership” treaty with Iran in January, strongly condemned the Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran that came during a 12-day air war in June and killed nearly 1,100 Iranians, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. Retaliatory missile barrages by Iran killed 28 people in Israel. As a long-standing project, Iran from time-to-time launches satellite carriers to send its satellites into space. The United States has said that Iran’s satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. U.N. sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired in 2023.

Israel's Recognition of Somaliland 'Threat' to Regional Stability, Says Somali President
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland "is (a) threat to the security and stability of the world and the region," Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told an emergency parliamentary session Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Friday announcement, making his country the first to recognise Somaliland, "is tantamount to a blunt aggression against the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the unity of the people of the Somali Republic," Mohamud said. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has for decades pushed for international recognition. A self-proclaimed republic, it enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own money, passports and army. But it has been diplomatically isolated since its unilateral declaration of independence. Somalia's government and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel's announcement. Mogadishu denounced a "deliberate attack" on its sovereignty, while Egypt, Türkiye, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and Organization of Islamic Cooperation all condemned the decision.

Al-Alimi Says Will Not Allow Forceful Fait Accompli in Yemen’s Hadhramaut, al-Mahra
London/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 28/2025
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi on Saturday set out firm red lines against any attempts to impose a new military reality in the eastern provinces of Hadhramaut and al-Mahra, warning that developments there are not a political disagreement but a calculated course of unilateral steps that challenge the foundations of the transitional phase. Speaking at an expanded meeting with the council’s advisory body, al-Alimi said protecting civilians is a core responsibility of the state, adding that the political leadership formally requested the intervention of the Saudi-led coalition supporting legitimacy, which he said responded immediately to contain the escalation, prevent bloodshed, and restore the situation to its natural course. According to official media, al-Alimi reviewed developments in the eastern provinces, saying the state had acted with “a high degree of responsibility” in dealing with what he described as a dangerous escalation driven by military moves by the Southern Transitional Council, aimed at imposing a fait accompli by force and undermining the foundations of the transitional phase, foremost among them the transfer of power declaration and the Riyadh Agreement.
He stated that the escalation in Hadhramaut had expanded from administrative decisions into military movements, which included the districts of Ghayl Bin Yamin, Al Shihr, and Al Dis Al Sharqiya. He added that claims of fighting terrorism had been used as a pretext to alter the balance of power on the ground.
Al-Alimi stressed that counterterrorism is an exclusive responsibility of state institutions, warning that any actions outside this framework do not contain extremism but instead create dangerous security vacuums that threaten social cohesion and civil peace. He also pointed to accompanying humanitarian violations, citing field and rights reports documenting civilian casualties and attacks on public and private property, as well as the erosion of the Yemeni state’s legal standing.
Coalition move and mediation support
Al-Alimi briefed the advisers on the outcomes of a meeting of the National Defense Council, which concluded that the escalation constituted a clear breach of the transitional references and an act of rebellion against legitimate state institutions, underscoring the state’s duty to protect civilians, impose de-escalation, and prevent bloodshed. He stated that the political leadership, acting on the council’s recommendations, submitted a formal request to the coalition, seeking legitimacy to take immediate measures to protect civilians in Hadhramaut. The joint forces command responded promptly, he added, in a bid to prevent bloodshed and restore stability. Al-Alimi warned that any military movements that undermine de-escalation efforts or endanger civilians would be dealt with directly, in a manner that safeguards lives and supports mediation efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He stated that this included the withdrawal of Southern Transitional Council forces from camps in Hadhramaut and al-Mahra, their handover to the National Shield forces, and the enabling of local authorities to exercise their constitutional powers. He reiterated his full support for mediation led by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, praising the two countries’ role in supporting Yemen’s unity and stability, and welcoming the remarks by Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, which he said reflected sincere fraternal concern for restoring Yemen's state institutions. Al-Alimi also reaffirmed that resolving the southern issue remains a firm commitment through consensus and confidence-building measures, warning against unilateral actions that serve only Yemen’s enemies. He stressed the need to keep dialogue channels open and to mobilize efforts to confront the Houthi militias backed by Iran.

Arab-Islamic Statement Rejects Link Between Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland and Attempts to Expel Palestinians
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
A growing number of countries are rejecting Israel's recognition of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland as an independent nation, the first by any country in more than 30 years. A joint statement by more than 20 mostly Middle Eastern or African countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Saturday rejected Israel's recognition “given the serious repercussions of such unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole.”The joint statement also noted “the full rejection of any potential link between such measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that he, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, signed a joint declaration “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.”Somalia’s federal government on Friday strongly rejected what it described as an unlawful move by Israel, and reaffirmed that Somaliland remains an integral part of Somalia’s sovereign territory. African regional bodies also rejected Israel's recognition. African Union Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said that any attempt to undermine Somalia’s sovereignty risks peace and stability on the continent. East African governing body IGAD said in a statement that Somalia’s sovereignty was recognized under international law and any unilateral recognition “runs contrary to the charter of the United Nations” and agreements establishing the bloc and the African Union. The US State Department on Saturday said that it continued to recognize the territorial integrity of Somalia, "which includes the territory of Somaliland.”

Arab League Council Holds Extraordinary Session on Latest Developments in Somalia
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
At the request of the Federal Republic of Somalia and with the support of Arab League member states, the Arab League Council on Sunday began its extraordinary session at the league’s General Secretariat, at the level of permanent representatives and under the chairmanship of the United Arab Emirates, to discuss developments regarding the Israeli occupation authorities’ declaration on mutual recognition with the Somaliland region. The Kingdom’s delegation to the meeting was headed by its Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ambassador Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Matar, SPA reported. The meeting is discussing ways to strengthen the unified Arab position in addressing this step, to affirm full solidarity with Somalia, and to support its legitimate institutions in a manner that contributes to preserving security and stability in the region. The meeting also aims to reaffirm the Arab League’s categorical rejection of any unilateral measures or decisions that could undermine Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to emphasize commitment to the principles of international law and the relevant resolutions of the Arab League and the African Union.

Israel’s Somaliland gambit: what’s at risk for the region?
Arab News/December 28, 2025
RIYADH: It perhaps comes as no surprise to seasoned regional observers that Israel has become the first and only UN member state to formally recognize the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign nation.
On Dec. 26, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar signed a joint declaration of mutual recognition alongside Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. For a region that has existed in a state of diplomatic limbo since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, this development is, as Abdullahi described it, “a historic moment.” But beneath the surface lies a calculated and high-stakes geopolitical gamble.
While several nations, including the UK, Ethiopia, Turkiye, and the UAE, have maintained liaison offices in the capital of Hargeisa, none had been willing to cross the Rubicon of formal state recognition.
Israel’s decision to break this decades-long international consensus is a deliberate departure from the status quo. By taking this step, Israel has positioned itself as the primary benefactor of a state that has long sought a seat at the international table. As Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama, the ambassador of Djibouti to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News, such a move is deeply disruptive. “A unilateral declaration of separation is neither a purely legal nor an isolated political act. Rather, it carries profound structural consequences, foremost among them the deepening of internal divisions and rivalries among citizens of the same nation, the erosion of the social and political fabric of the state, and the opening of the door to protracted conflicts,” he said. Critics argue that Israel has long lobbied for the further carving up of the region under various guises. This recognition of Somaliland is seen by many in the Arab world as a continuation of a strategy aimed at weakening centralized Arab and Muslim states by encouraging peripheral secessionist movements.In the Somali context, this path is perceived not as a humanitarian gesture, but as a method to undermine the national understandings reached within the framework of a federal Somalia.
According to Ambassador Bamakhrama, the international community has historically resisted such moves to prioritize regional stability over “separatist tendencies whose dangers and high costs history has repeatedly demonstrated.”
By ignoring this precedent, Israel is accused of using recognition as a tool to fragment regional cohesion. In the past, Israel has often framed its support for non-state actors or separatist groups under the pretext of protecting vulnerable minorities — such as the Druze in the Levant or Maronites in Lebanon. This “Periphery Doctrine” served a dual purpose: it created regional allies and supported Israel’s own claim of being a Jewish state by validating the idea of ethnic or religious self-determination. However, in the case of Somaliland, the gloves are off completely. The argument here is not about protecting a religious minority, as Somaliland is a staunchly Muslim-majority territory. Instead, the rationale is nakedly geopolitical. Israel appears to be seeking strategic depth in a region where it has historically been isolated. Netanyahu explicitly linked the move to “the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” signaling that the primary drivers are security, maritime control, and intelligence gathering rather than the internal demographics of the Horn of Africa.
The first major win for Israel in this maneuver is the expansion of its diplomatic orbit. It could be argued that the refusal of the federal government in Mogadishu to join the Abraham Accords was an artificial barrier.
The evidence for this claim, from the Israeli perspective, is that Somaliland — a territory with a population of nearly six million and its own functioning democratic institutions — was eager to join. Abdullahi said Somaliland would join the Abraham Accords as a “step toward regional and global peace.” Yet, this peace comes with a clear quid pro quo — formal recognition.
Israel can now argue that the “Somaliland model” proves that many other Arab and Muslim entities are willing to normalize relations if their specific political or territorial interests are met.
This challenges the unified stance of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which maintain that normalization must be tied to the resolution of the Palestinian conflict. The second major gain for Israel is the potential for a military presence in the Horn of Africa. Somaliland’s strategic position on the Gulf of Aden, near the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, makes it a prime location for monitoring maritime traffic. This is a ticking time bomb given that just across the narrow sea lies Yemen, where the Houthi movement — whose slogan includes “Death to Israel” — controls significant territory. Israel may claim that a military or intelligence presence in Somaliland will boost regional security by countering Houthi threats to shipping. However, regional neighbors fear it will likely inflame tensions.
Ambassador Bamakhrama warned that an Israeli military presence would “effectively turn the region into a powder keg.”“Should Israel proceed with establishing a military base in a geopolitically sensitive location... such a move would be perceived in Tel Aviv as a strategic gain directed against the Arab states bordering the Red Sea — namely Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, and Djibouti,” he said. The Red Sea is a “vital international maritime corridor,” and any shift in its geopolitical balance would have “repercussions extending far beyond the region,” he added. The recognition is also a clear violation of international law and the principle of territorial integrity as enshrined in the UN Charter. While proponents point to exceptions like South Sudan or Kosovo, those cases involved vastly different circumstances, including prolonged genocidal conflicts and extensive UN-led transitions. In contrast, the African Union has been firm that Somaliland remains an integral part of Somalia. The backlash has been swift and severe. The Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the OIC have all decried the move. Even US President Donald Trump, despite his role in the original Abraham Accords, has not endorsed Israel’s decision. When asked whether Washington would follow suit, Trump replied with a blunt “no,” adding, “Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?”
This lack of support from Washington highlights the isolation of Israel’s position. The OIC and the foreign ministers of 21 countries have issued a joint statement warning of “serious repercussions” and rejecting any potential link between this recognition and reported plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza to the African region. Israel’s recognition of Somaliland appears to be a calculated gamble to trade diplomatic norms for strategic advantage. While Hargeisa celebrates a long-awaited milestone, the rest of the world sees a dangerous precedent that threatens to destabilize one of the world’s most volatile corridors.
As Ambassador Bamakhrama says, the establishment of such ties “would render (Israel) the first and only state to break with the international consensus” — a move that prioritizes “narrow strategic calculations” over the stability of the international system.

Somalia says Israel’s recognition of Somaliland ‘threat’ to regional stability
Al Arabiya English/December 28/2025
Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland is a “threat” to security and stability in the Horn of Africa and encourages secessionist groups, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Sunday. Israel announced on Friday it was officially recognizing Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic that in 1991 declared it had unilaterally separated from Somalia. Addressing an emergency parliamentary session, Mohamud said the move was “tantamount to a blunt aggression against the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the unity of the people of the Somali Republic.”He added that “the violations of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his attempts to divide the Federal Republic of Somalia is (a) threat to the security and stability of the world and the region, and encourage the hardline groups and secessionist movements, which exist or can exist in many regions of the world.”Somaliland, which has for decades pushed for international recognition, enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own money, passport and army. But it has been diplomatically isolated since its unilateral declaration of independence, even if it has generally experienced greater stability than Somalia, where al-Shabaab militants periodically mount attacks in the capital Mogadishu.
‘Attack’ on sovereignty
Somalia’s government and the African Union reacted angrily after Israel’s announcement. Mogadishu denounced a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, while Egypt, Turkey, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union all condemned the decision.
The European Union also insisted that Somalia’s sovereignty be respected, with foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni calling for “meaningful dialogue between Somaliland and the Federal Government of Somalia to resolve long standing differences.”Regional analysts believe that a rapprochement with Somaliland would provide Israel with better access to the Red Sea, enabling it to hit the Houthi militia in Yemen. Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the militia said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.The Iran-backed Houthis have halted their attacks since a fragile truce began in Gaza in October. In addition, press reports a few months ago said Somaliland was among a handful of African territories willing to host Palestinians expelled by Israel.Neither the Somaliland authorities nor the Israeli government has commented on those reports. “Somalia will never accept the people of Palestine to be forcibly evicted from their rightful land to a faraway place, let it be Somalia or elsewhere,” Mohamud told parliament. He also warned Netanyahu “against the transfer of its wars in the Middle East to Somalia. Somalia will not allow military bases that are used to attack other countries; it is ready to take part in the stabilization of the region and the world in general.”With AFP

UN Humanitarian Mission Enters Sudan's Stricken El Fasher for First Time in 18 Months
Kampala: Ahmed Younes/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 28/2025
The United Nations said a humanitarian mission has entered the Sudanese city of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, for the first time since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control following a siege that stretched for more than a year and pushed the city into a deep humanitarian crisis. At the same time, Chad’s army command on Saturday condemned an attack by the RSF on a border town inside Chadian territory that killed two Chadian soldiers and wounded a third, calling it an “unjustified aggression” against Chad’s sovereignty. In late October, the RSF tightened its grip on El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region, following a siege that lasted more than 18 months and was marked by intense fighting, amid reports and evidence of mass killings, abductions and rape of civilians.
In this context, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that a UN assessment mission had arrived in El Fasher after prolonged humanitarian negotiations, describing the move as “a sign of a limited breakthrough” in efforts to deliver aid to the city, which had been under a suffocating blockade. The office said the mission included a delegation from the World Food Program to assess urgent food needs, a team from the World Health Organization to evaluate damage to health facilities and their emergency requirements, as well as a team from UNICEF focused on assessing the situation of children and pressing humanitarian needs.
US welcome
The senior adviser to the US president for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, welcomed the arrival of the assessment mission in El Fasher, stating that it demonstrated the contribution of US diplomacy to “saving lives.” In a post on X, Boulos stated that the critical access was achieved after months of negotiations through a track facilitated by the United States, with joint efforts alongside OCHA and humanitarian partners on the ground. He called, as part of mediation efforts to end the war in Sudan, for the declaration of a comprehensive humanitarian truce, urging both sides to accept and implement it immediately without conditions, and to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian aid to all parts of Sudan. He also urged the international community to increase funding to support OCHA’s response. The arrival of the UN assessment mission in El Fasher marked the first humanitarian entry into the city since May 2024. On the other hand, forces of the so-called “Founding Government,” allied with the RSF and controlling the Darfur region, stated in a press release on Saturday that they were fully prepared to secure and facilitate humanitarian work in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. They said the visit by a delegation from OCHA and the UN Department of Safety and Security included displacement centers, UN premises and a number of vital facilities inside El Fasher. According to the statement, the UN mission completed its visit to El Fasher and arrived safely in the town of Tawila, with no official comment from the Sudanese army on the mission’s entry. The army had for long periods refused to allow humanitarian organizations and aid to enter through the Adre border crossing with Chad, worsening the humanitarian crisis inside the city, where residents have faced acute shortages of food, medicine and health services.Asharq Al-Awsat had previously quoted the director of the World Food Program as saying the United Nations was forced to restrict relief operations through Chad toward Darfur.
Chadian warning
In a separate development, an RSF drone carried out an attack targeting the town of Tina on the Chadian border. A senior Chadian army officer told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the incident marked the first time the Chadian army had suffered direct human losses since the outbreak of the war in Sudan. Chad’s general staff described the attack as “deliberate and intentional,” saying it constituted a clear violation of international law, and warned all parties to the Sudanese conflict against any infringement on Chadian territory. In a statement, the Chadian army said it reserves the “right to respond by all lawful means” and to exercise the right of self-defense if any attack is repeated, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The RSF controls most areas of northern and western Darfur, except for limited pockets held by neutral tribal groups. The forces said last Wednesday they had taken control of the towns of Abu Qumra and Umm Baro in North Darfur, areas located on the road leading to the Chadian border town of Tina.

Trump Says Had 'Productive' Call with Putin Ahead of Zelensky Meeting
Asharq Al Awsat/December 28/2025
US President Donald Trump said he had a productive telephone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday ahead of a planned meeting in Florida with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky. "I just had a very good and productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia" before the planned talks with Zelensky at Trump's Florida estate at 1:00 pm local time (1800 GMT), the US leader said on Truth Social. Putin said Ukraine was in no hurry for peace and if it did not want to resolve their conflict peacefully, Moscow would accomplish all its goals by force.
Putin's remarks on Saturday, carried by state news agency TASS, followed a vast Russian drone and missile attack that prompted Zelensky to say Russia was demonstrating its wish to continue the war while Kyiv wanted peace.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 28-29/2025
Palestinian Authority 'Help' Is a Trap for Washington: Trump Has the Opportunity to Break a Cycle of Defeat
Pierre Rehov/Gatestone Institute/December 28, 2025
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22152/palestinian-authority-trap-gaza
The Palestinian Authority is not a neutral Muslim-majority entity seeking peace. Its doctrine has, for decades, blended conventional diplomacy with asymmetric warfare — using terrorism as an instrument of policy. In the last decade, this double game has not disappeared. It has merely learned to speak the language of Western guilt. Countries in the West have actually rewarded its terrorism, both by continuing lavishly to fund it and by climbing over one another to recognize a fictitious, nonexistent "Palestinian State."
Palestinians in Gaza might be tired of Hamas, but that does not mean they are ready to live peacefully side-by-side with Israel.
Just imagine the Palestinian Authority inside Gaza's reconstruction ecosystem, with access to donor funds, humanitarian logistics, and institutional channels. Reconstruction money is not neutral. It creates influence, dependency, and leverage. The Palestinian Authority understands this better than anyone.
The Palestinian Authority does not recognize Israel and most likely has no intention whatsoever of dismantling Hamas. For the Palestinian Authority, "reconstruction" offers laundering its legitimacy, access to institutions, long-term influence, and the chance, once President Donald Trump leaves office, of being deliciously positioned to do anything it likes.
For Israel, this scenario is existentially dangerous. Israel would be expected to tolerate a hostile foreign security architecture on its southern border while remaining ultimately responsible for the consequences of its failure. Any future escalation — rocket fire, tunnel reconstruction, arms smuggling — would place Israel in an impossible position: to act militarily and be accused of attacking "the forces for peace " or refrain and absorb the threat. Either choice is unacceptable.
For Washington, the trap is more subtle but equally severe. Once the United States endorses a framework, it becomes politically and financially invested in its survival. Billions of dollars in aid, contracts, and diplomatic capital follow. At that point, acknowledging failure becomes almost impossible. The priority shifts from solving the problem to preserving the framework — even as security deteriorates.
A post-war Gaza that is not fully demilitarized -- and remains that way -- will not stay quiet. Hostility will mutate.... Reconstruction will become camouflage. And the international presence meant to stabilize the situation will end up institutionalizing the very forces it was supposed to eliminate.
That is why this "Palestinian Authority solution" is a terrible idea for Israel — and a strategic trap for Washington: It offers the appearance of control while in fact hollowing out any real security.
Trump's instinct to reject endless wars and failed orthodoxies is sound. Both Gaza and Ukraine are littered with the wreckage of peace processes divorced from security realities, aid policies disconnected from accountability, and diplomatic frameworks that rewarded rejection.
Trump's real challenge is to resist the temptation to confuse participation with solution. The Middle East is full of actors eager to "participate" in Gaza — not to neutralize the threat it presents, but to shape its outcome to their advantage. The Palestinian Authority's interest in Gaza should be understood not as an act of goodwill, but as a bid for expanded power in a conflict that resonates across the Islamic world.
Accepting such a compromised "solution" will create a familiar pattern: the United States funds, legitimizes and protects bad actors, while constraining Israel and empowering hostile intermediaries. When the stabilization force then inevitably collapses, Washington will be told that the failure was due to insufficient patience, insufficient funding, or insufficient engagement — never to the flawed premise itself. Trump has an opportunity to break this cycle.
The opportunity requires drawing a clear red line that reconstruction comes only after demilitarization, not the reverse. Stability is the outcome of security, not a substitute for it. Legitimacy therefore cannot be granted to any actors whose strategic culture depends on permanent confrontation with Israel.
The Middle East does not need another "grand framework" built on diplomatic wishful thinking. It needs fewer illusions, fewer intermediaries, and clearer consequences -- ones that are actually implemented.
If Trump listens to the siren songs that promise order without disarmament, he will inherit the failures of his predecessors. If he refuses — and insists on realities rather than rituals — he may yet reshape the post-war equation.
The Palestinian Authority is not a neutral Muslim-majority entity seeking peace. Its doctrine has, for decades, blended conventional diplomacy with asymmetric warfare — using terrorism as an instrument of policy.
In Washington, there is a recurring temptation: when a crisis becomes exhausting, any actor offering "help" starts to look like a partner. The reconstruction of Gaza has reached that stage. The rubble is real. The humanitarian pressure is real.
The Palestinian Authority is not a neutral Muslim-majority entity seeking peace. Its doctrine has, for decades, blended conventional diplomacy with asymmetric warfare — using terrorism as an instrument of policy. In the last decade, this double game has not disappeared. It has merely learned to speak the language of Western guilt. Countries in the West have actually rewarded its terrorism, both by continuing lavishly to fund it and by climbing over one another to recognize a fictitious, nonexistent "Palestinian State."
Terrorism had become a tool of statecraft, shielded by its many funders, including the European Union (here, here and here) and European governments, as well as protestors in the West. As the American scholar Victor Davis Hanson notes:
"[L]egions of campus protestors never disown the slogan, 'Palestine will be free from the river to the sea' — a call to destroy the current state of Israel and everyone in it — because they either all believe in it or assume their clueless followers have no idea what it means."The result is a form of stealth blackmail. This is not an accident. It is a system. The Palestinian Authority does not seek stability in the traditional sense. It seeks managed instability: enough chaos to retain relevance, extract concessions, coax funding and insert itself as an unavoidable intermediary whenever crises erupt. Exporting this model into Gaza would be catastrophic. A culture built on incitement to violence, terrorism, and an ideological determination that Israel should not exist is fundamentally incompatible with long-term peace.
A Long Record of Terror Infrastructure
The West has long tolerated the Palestinian Authority's rhetorical condemnation of terrorism while ignoring the ecosystem that has flourished on and around it: teaching hate and rewarding terror.
Sadly, the Palestinian Authority cannot be treated as a trustworthy security actor in sensitive theaters where counterterrorism credibility is non-negotiable.
Pressure to change works — but only while it is applied. Once relieved, the underlying strategic culture remains unchanged. Palestinians in Gaza might be tired of Hamas, but that does not mean they are ready to live peacefully side-by-side with Israel. Compliance to a new set of requirements may be tactical, not doctrinal.
Gaza Reconstruction as Strategic Infiltration
Just imagine the Palestinian Authority inside Gaza's reconstruction ecosystem, with access to donor funds, humanitarian logistics, and institutional channels. Reconstruction money is not neutral. It creates influence, dependency, and leverage. The Palestinian Authority understands this better than anyone.
The Palestinian Authority does not recognize Israel and most likely has no intention whatsoever of dismantling Hamas. For the Palestinian Authority, "reconstruction" offers laundering its legitimacy, access to institutions, long-term influence, and the chance, once President Donald Trump leaves office, of being deliciously positioned to do anything it likes. By presenting itself as an ostensible contributor to stabilization, the Palestinian Authority seeks to recast its global image — from problem to partner — and go on to shape Gaza's political future however it likes. By aligning with other Islamist diplomatic narratives, a new regime will reinforce the extremist axis that treats Israel's legitimacy as negotiable. This is not humanitarian; it is maneuvering.
A Terrible Idea for Israel — and a Trap for Washington
The idea of involving the Palestinian Authority — or any ideologically hostile Muslim power, such as Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan or Iran — in Gaza's post-war stabilization is not merely naïve or simplistic. It is structurally dangerous. It rests on a recurring Western illusion: that parties, neutral only on paper, can reshape realities on the ground without becoming hostages to them. History suggests the opposite.
Even supposedly neutral peacekeepers or stabilization forces, from southern Lebanon to Afghanistan, from UNIFIL to ISAF, lack both ideological clarity and coercive authority and tend to ossify into inflexible presences. Rather than dismantle local power structures, they monitor, report, negotiate — and adapt to and often actually enable them. Even armed factions learn to coexist with these local guardians, to bypass them, or to instrumentalize them. It is far easier to accommodate militants than to confront them. Gaza, with its dense urban terrain, fortified terrorist networks, and radicalized social fabric, would accelerate this dynamic.
Any group that is unwilling or unable to dismantle Hamas — or its successor entities — does not neutralize the threat. It freezes it. Worse: it creates a protective buffer around it. Terrorists do not need to defeat those trying to contain them; they only need to outlast them. Time, in asymmetric warfare, is a weapon.
For Israel, this scenario is existentially dangerous. Israel would be expected to tolerate a hostile foreign security architecture on its southern border while remaining ultimately responsible for the consequences of its failure. Any future escalation — rocket fire, tunnel reconstruction, arms smuggling — would place Israel in an impossible position: to act militarily and be accused of attacking "the forces for peace " or refrain and absorb the threat. Either choice is unacceptable.
For Washington, the trap is more subtle but equally severe. Once the United States endorses a framework, it becomes politically and financially invested in its survival. Billions of dollars in aid, contracts, and diplomatic capital follow. At that point, acknowledging failure becomes almost impossible. The priority shifts from solving the problem to preserving the framework — even as security deteriorates. This is how illusions perpetuate themselves.
Introducing actors such as the Palestinian Authority -- or a countries with an Islamist stance -- into this environment compounds the risk. The Palestinian Authority's strategy is not one of disarmament and finality, but of operating in a gray zone: denying formal responsibility while tolerating or enabling actors beneath the threshold of open conflict. Gaza does not need another operative skilled in ambiguity. Gaza needs clarity. A post-war Gaza that is not fully demilitarized -- and remains that way -- will not stay quiet. Hostility will mutate. Groups will fragment, rebrand, and infiltrate civilian structures. Aid flows will become leverage. Reconstruction will become camouflage. And the international presence meant to stabilize the situation will end up institutionalizing the very forces it was supposed to eliminate.
That is why this "Palestinian Authority solution" is a terrible idea for Israel — and a strategic trap for Washington: It offers the appearance of control while in fact hollowing out any real security.
Trump's Challenge
Trump faces a familiar dilemma — one he has encountered before in different forms: how to cut through inherited illusions without creating new ones.
Trump's instinct to reject endless wars and failed orthodoxies is sound. Both Gaza and Ukraine are littered with the wreckage of peace processes divorced from security realities, aid policies disconnected from accountability, and diplomatic frameworks that rewarded rejection. Gaza, however, also presents a unique risk for a leader who values deal-making and burden-sharing.
The offers now circulating — a multinational stabilization force, Palestinian "legitimacy," shared reconstruction responsibilities — are seductive precisely because they promise to reduce direct American exposure. They suggest that others can carry the load, manage the problem, and absorb the political cost. This promise is largely illusory. The United States cannot outsource strategic responsibility without losing strategic control. Any framework that excludes the decisive dismantling of Hamas's military and ideological infrastructure merely prolongs the conflict and favors the most radical actors. Trump's real challenge is to resist the temptation to confuse participation with solution. The Middle East is full of actors eager to "participate" in Gaza — not to neutralize the threat it presents, but to shape its outcome to their advantage. The Palestinian Authority's interest in Gaza should be understood not as an act of goodwill, but as a bid for expanded power in a conflict that resonates across the Islamic world.
Accepting such a compromised "solution" will create a familiar pattern: the United States funds, legitimizes and protects bad actors, while constraining Israel and empowering hostile intermediaries. When the stabilization force then inevitably collapses, Washington will be told that the failure was due to insufficient patience, insufficient funding, or insufficient engagement — never to the flawed premise itself. Trump has an opportunity to break this cycle.
The opportunity requires drawing a clear red line that reconstruction comes only after demilitarization, not the reverse. Stability is the outcome of security, not a substitute for it. Legitimacy therefore cannot be granted to any actors whose strategic culture depends on permanent confrontation with Israel.
The Middle East does not need another "grand framework" built on diplomatic wishful thinking. It needs fewer illusions, fewer intermediaries, and clearer consequences -- ones that are actually implemented.
If Trump listens to the siren songs that promise order without disarmament, he will inherit the failures of his predecessors. If he refuses — and insists on realities rather than rituals — he may yet reshape the post-war equation.
The choice is his. As are the consequences.
**Pierre Rehov, who holds a law degree from Paris-Assas, is a French reporter, novelist and documentary filmmaker. He is the author of six novels, including "Beyond Red Lines", " The Third Testament" and "Red Eden", translated from French. His latest essay on the aftermath of the October 7 massacre " 7 octobre - La riposte " became a bestseller in France.As a filmmaker, he has produced and directed 17 documentaries, many photographed at high risk in Middle Eastern war zones, and focusing on terrorism, media bias, and the persecution of Christians. His latest documentary, "Pogrom(s)" highlights the context of ancient Jew hatred within Muslim civilization as the main force behind the October 7 massacre.
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

ISIS Extremism or Islamic Doctrine?
Raymond Ibrahim/ From Raymond Ibrahim site/Dec 28, 2025
https://www.raymondibrahim.com/07/21/2025/isis-extremism-or-islamic-doctrine
A lie, by definition, conceals the truth. And when unpleasant but vital truths remain hidden, they go unacknowledged, unaddressed, and ultimately unresolved.
This principle underscores one of the most consequential falsehoods of our time: the claim that violence committed in the name of Islam is wholly unrelated to Islam itself. This widespread denial has enabled what is, at its core, an ideologically vulnerable religion to become one of the most persistent sources of global instability, with no end in sight.
Consider the most recent example: On June 22, Islamist militants launched a suicide attack on a church in Damascus, Syria, killing 25 Christians — mostly women and children—and injuring nearly 100 others.
The central question under current discussion is not why the attack occurred, but rather which group carried it out. The regime of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa — formerly the head of the jihadi faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — initially attributed the assault to ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Yet two days later, a lesser-known group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna — an offshoot of al-Sharaa’s own organization — claimed responsibility.
While analysts and media outlets debate which group was behind the bombing, there is near-unanimous agreement on one point: regardless of which faction committed the atrocity, it is not to be seen as representative of Islam. The act is instead portrayed as a “hijacking” of the faith. Accordingly, discussion remains confined to the individual groups — not to Islam itself.
A quick reminder:
If you’d like to support my work and go deeper than what’s available publicly, consider a paid subscription. For just a few dollars a month, you’ll receive:
New, full-length articles every Week
Carefully researched pieces you won’t find elsewhere.
Full access to the entire archive (1,000+ articles)
Two decades of work, all in one place.
Entry into the subscriber chat
A private space for serious readers and thoughtful discussion.
My immediate response is this: There sure appear to be a remarkably high number of organizations “hijacking” Islam — especially when compared to the conspicuous absence of any comparable phenomenon within Christianity or other major religions.
Remember When…
The following examples, far from exhaustive, offer a brief but sobering reminder for those in the West with short institutional memory:
Democratic Republic of Congo (February 2025): The Allied Democratic Forces rounded up 70 Christians, marched them to a church, and decapitated them with knives.
Burkina Faso (Aug. 25, 2024): Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin executed 26 Christians inside a church by slitting their throats.
Philippines (Jan. 27, 2019): Abu Sayyaf militants bombed a cathedral, killing at least 20 Christians and injuring over 100.Indonesia (May 13, 2018): Jamaah Ansharut Daulah bombed three churches, killing 13 Christians and wounding dozens.
Sri Lanka (April 21, 2018): On Easter Sunday, National Thowheeth Jama’ath bombed three churches and three hotels. The coordinated attack killed 359 people — mostly Christians — and wounded over 500.
Egypt (April 9, 2017): On Palm Sunday, ISIS-linked Egyptian terrorists bombed two churches packed with worshippers. At least 45 Christians were killed and more than 100 injured.
Pakistan (March 27, 2016): Following Easter Sunday services, Jamaat ul Ahrar bombed a public park frequented by Christians. More than 70 Christians — mainly women and children — were killed. Just one year earlier, the same group killed at least 14 Christians in coordinated attacks on two churches.
These incidents — while only a fraction of the whole — illustrate a critical point: The groups in question have little, if anything, to do with each other. They are based in widely different countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia. They differ in race, language, and sociopolitical context.
What they do have in common is their religion: Islam, which directs them to kill Christians. And yet this is the one factor we are collectively instructed to ignore. It is the one variable mainstream narratives insist is wholly benign and synonymous with peace.
Ignoring the Obvious
This brings us back to the core problem: that deeply unsettling truths, when denied or buried, are never addressed or corrected.
Recognizing that these disparate terror groups are in fact ideologically unified by Islam is considered taboo. This reality is systematically denied by the West’s self-appointed “guardians of truth” — whether in the mainstream media, academia, Hollywood, or politics — all of whom often seem interchangeable in their messaging.
Instead, the public is continually reassured that such atrocities are perpetrated not by Muslims inspired by Islamic doctrine, but by marginal, aberrant groups “hijacking” Islam. The result is a false sense of security. By treating each group as an isolated, localized, and temporary phenomenon, the broader pattern is ignored. Defeat the specific group, we are told, and the threat will disappear.
Take Syria. Whether one believes the attack was carried out by remnants of ISIS or affiliates of the new president’s former militia, the working assumption is that once the specific group is dismantled, the danger will dissipate.
Meanwhile, some 2,400 miles west of Syria, in Nigeria, Christians face an ongoing genocide. There, two Christians are killed for their faith every single hour. By 2021, at least 43,000 Christians had already been murdered (with thousands more in the subsequent years), and some 20,000 churches and Christian schools had been destroyed.
Ordinary Muslims
According to prevailing narratives, the perpetrators are groups like Boko Haram — yet another faction that openly defines itself in Islamic terms, routinely targets churches during Christian holidays, and is nonetheless described as having “nothing to do with Islam.” Again, the suggestion is that Boko Haram is a distinct, localized problem. Defeat it, and the crisis ends.
More recently still, Fulani herdsmen — nominally unaffiliated with any formal terror group — have become the primary agents of anti-Christian violence in Nigeria. Because they are not formally branded, and are often perceived as “ordinary” Muslims, their actions are attributed to “climate change” or “land disputes,” even as they express the same jihadist hostility toward Christians as more infamous terrorist brands. The pattern repeats elsewhere. Approximately 5,000 miles west of Nigeria, in the United States, Americans were told that al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks, which killed 3,000 civilians. The threat, it was claimed, would end with the group’s destruction.
Indeed, after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, terrorism expert Peter Bergen and others declared, “Killing bin Laden is the end of the war on terror… It’s time to move on.”
Yet an even more brutal group, the Islamic State, soon emerged.
Many Strata of Data
The denial runs deeper still. The problem is not only the refusal of the media and experts to connect these incidents to Islam; it is their failure to acknowledge that many attacks are not carried out by formal terror groups at all, but by unaffiliated Muslims — ordinary individuals or mobs — who commit similar atrocities far more frequently, though less spectacularly.
While the above examples involved some of the most high-profile attacks, countless acts of persecution are committed by Muslims on a daily basis.
The data is unambiguous. According to the 2025 World Watch List, Muslims — across various strata of society and spanning races, nationalities, languages, and economic conditions — are responsible for persecuting Christians in 37 of the top 50 countries where such persecution is most severe.
These findings are consistent with a rarely cited Pew Research survey, which concluded that in 11 Muslim-majority countries alone, anywhere from 63 million to 287 million Muslims support ISIS. Likewise, 81% of respondents to a recent Al Jazeera poll expressed support for the Islamic State.
In short, the activities of “extremist,” “terrorist,” or “militant” groups — which we are routinely assured have “nothing to do with Islam” — represent only the visible tip of a much larger iceberg. For over a decade, I have documented these patterns in my monthly series, Muslim Persecution of Christians, launched in July 2011. Each installment catalogs dozens of incidents that, if Christians perpetrated them against Muslims, would command wall-to-wall media coverage.
Calling It Out
Thus, the mainstream narrative not only misrepresents the motives of high-profile terrorist groups; it also systematically ignores the daily persecution suffered by non-Muslims at the hands of ordinary Muslims — whether individuals, mobs, police, or governments (including those counted among the West’s “allies”).
These omissions have had devastating consequences. They have permitted the continued persecution of vulnerable minorities throughout the Muslim world while facilitating the spread of similar ideologies into the West — most recently through mass migration. In conclusion, and to restate the central premise: No problem can be solved unless it is first acknowledged. The uncomfortable but necessary truth is that Islam — not this or that terrorist group — provides the ideological framework that inspires hostility and violence against non-Muslims. Unless this reality is faced head-on, the cycle of denial will only continue — along with the persecution and loss of countless lives.
**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

MAGA: Mending Fences or the End of a Coalition?
Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 28/2025
“AmericaFest” wrapped up in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday. It was the first Turning Point USA conference held since Charlie Kirk, who had founded the organization in 2012, was killed earlier this year.
Turning Point is a major force in American domestic politics and a key power broker in the American right that has a massive network of volunteers across the country, allowing the organization to shift the balance of primary elections in states where they are held early and where grassroots mobilization is particularly crucial. Did this year’s conference seek to mend the fences following the splits that have emerged within MAGA, as now former members of the movement, like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, criticize President Trump for prioritizing foreign affairs? To a large extent, yes. Beneath the surface, however, it was also an early opportunity to campaign for Vice President JD Vance as the Republican candidate for the coming presidential elections and to put the dogmatic face of America on display.
Internal disagreements and conflicts among MAGA celebrities cast a shadow over the combative speeches of its biggest stars: Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Megyn Kelly, Donald Trump Jr., and Erica Kirk, Charlie’s widow. Erica’s presence and force of personality were the backbone of the event, which was presented as a celebration of faith, freedom, and Charlie Kirk’s shared legacy.
The dividing lines within MAGA, especially among young conservatives, were evident. It is striking, and perhaps alarming, that skepticism of Israel has become a central subject of contention. Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Candace Owens are pushing back against US support for Israel, if not showing outright hostility to Tel Aviv, while figures like Ben Shapiro defend conservative politics and reject conspiracy theories. The three broad wings of the American right openly jostled to shape the narrative at the Turning Point conference: an ultra-hard right bordering on fanaticism, a conservative right that could be considered relatively moderate, and a heritage right. The heritage wing seems to be the most dangerous threat to the American dream as conceived by the MAGA-led right. This issue was taken up in the speech of former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican of Indian origin campaigning to become the Governor of Ohio. The notion of “heritage Americans” is extremely dangerous, and it is spreading like wildfire in pockets of the right, especially online. The fundamental premise of this faction is that Americans who do not have an Anglo-Saxon background are essentially not fully American. The racial hierarchy it promotes ranks Americans along ethnic lines in a manner that would inevitably fuel civic strife. Tucker Carlson attempted to downplay the rise of this idea, dismissing it as delusion, but many believe it is gaining ground.
Vice President J. D. Vance succeeded in presenting himself as an embodiment of America’s contemporary melting pot, notably by stressing that anyone who “loves America” has a home in MAGA. "We don't care if you're white or black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between."Erica Kirk presented Vance as the man capable of taking Trump’s America First vision forward, but it is clear that Vance is opposed by Republican Party figures who see his Trumpian approach as a deviation from the traditional principles of limited government, pro-trade policies, and low taxation, which have defined the GOP for generations. Did a theme that concerned many Americans and deepened the unresolved debate over the identity of the United States, whether it is a secular or a civic state, run through the conference?
Vance delivered a dogmatic speech, presenting himself as a shepherd and concluding that America is a Christian nation, striking a tone that enthused the audience, especially the youths in attendance. Meanwhile, Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, declared that America must be re-baptized, while Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, delivered a speech with a Huntingtonian tone, warning of the threat that Islam poses to the United States.
Will the divisions exposed at the conference give rise to a debate that strengthens the MAGA movement or fuel infighting that tears its coalition apart, paving the way for a Democratic victory in the upcoming midterm elections and a subsequent return to the White House?

Time to get serious about AI risk
Jake Sullivan/Arab News/December 28, 2025
In November 2024, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made their first substantive joint statement about the national security risks posed by artificial intelligence. Specifically, they noted that both the US and China believe in “the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons.”That may sound like diplomatic low-hanging fruit, since it would be hard to find a reasonable person willing to argue that we should hand control over nuclear weapons to AI. But in this situation, there is no such thing as low-hanging fruit, especially on weighty security matters. The Chinese are inherently skeptical of US risk-reduction proposals and Russia had opposed similar language in multilateral bodies. Because bilateral talks with the US on AI and nuclear security would open daylight between Russia and China, progress on this front was not a foregone conclusion.
In the end, it took more than a year of negotiation to make that simple joint statement happen. Yet, simple as it seems, the result was significant because it demonstrated that the two AI superpowers can engage in constructive risk management even as they compete vigorously for AI leadership.
Moreover, diplomats and experts from our two countries had met earlier in 2024, in Geneva, for an extended session dedicated to AI risks. It was the first meeting of its kind and, though it did not produce any significant results, the very fact that it occurred was an important step and both sides did manage to identify critical areas of risk that required further work. Now, as the momentum behind AI development and deployment, both civil and military, gathers pace, the US and China need to build on this foundation by pursuing sustained, senior-level diplomacy on AI risks, even as each strives for the lead in the AI race. They must do so because the risks of AI are real and only growing.
For example, as AI capabilities advance and diffuse, nonstate actors like terrorist organizations could leverage them to threaten both the US and China — as well as the rest of the world. Such threats could take many forms, including cyberattacks that paralyze critical infrastructure, novel bioweapons that evade detection or treatment, disinformation campaigns that destabilize governments and societies, and AI-enabled lethal drones that can strike anywhere with little or no notice.
Nor do the risks stop there. As the US and Chinese militaries increase their use of AI — shortening decision loops and altering deterrence frameworks in the process — the risk of AI-powered systems inadvertently triggering a conflict or catastrophic escalation will grow. As AI becomes increasingly central to the global banking system, AI-powered trading could cause a market crash in the absence of adequate firewalling. And looking further ahead, one can imagine a powerful, misaligned AI system (pursuing aims other than what their creators intended) threatening grievous harm to humanity. As the world’s only AI superpowers, the US and China need to engage one another directly to address these and other dangers. Engagement does not mean that China and the US will stop competing vigorously. This autumn, China showed how sharp that competition had become when it issued extreme new export controls on rare earths that are critical to the production of microchips and other components of AI systems.As national security adviser during the Biden administration, I worked hard to ensure that the US maintained its lead on AI so that the technology will work for us rather than against us. I saw that the race for leadership in military, intelligence and commercial applications, and for the adoption of American and Chinese AI models and applications by countries around the world, would only continue to heat up.But it is precisely because of this intense competition that diplomacy is essential, even in this period of heightened tensions. It would be deeply irresponsible for the US and China to race ahead without engaging each other on the risks or without talking about the immense opportunities that AI presents to address transnational challenges — from the climate crisis to public health.
There is no substitute for direct government-to-government engagement, even if it is quite modest at first. To be sure, leading thinkers in both countries have participated in “Track II” diplomatic efforts — talks outside of government, usually involving universities, business leaders and civil society groups. Such discussions are valuable and they should continue. Ultimately, though, there is no substitute for direct government-to-government engagement, even if it is quite modest at first.
Nor can engagement wait, given the breathtaking speed of technological advancement and the foreseeable difficulties of reaching diplomatic breakthroughs that are equal to the moment. Managing AI risks is uncharted territory, so progress will be neither swift nor easy. The US and China need to get started.
Many commentators have drawn parallels to nuclear arms control as it developed over the decades and that analogy has some merit. Superpowers bear responsibility for managing the risks associated with powerful technologies and we have successfully discharged that responsibility in the past through arms control agreements — including at the very height of the Cold War. But AI also presents different challenges, requiring more innovative approaches than arms control.
There are several reasons for this. First, verification is more vexing. Counting missiles and warheads, with their detectable signatures, is one thing; counting algorithms — let alone discerning all the capabilities and applications of a given algorithm — is quite another. Second, the challenge of dual use presents itself differently in the case of AI. Yes, splitting the atom has both civilian and military uses, but there is a fairly straightforward line between peaceful nuclear power and nuclear weapons, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has a lot of experience policing it. By contrast, the same AI model that can help advance scientific research and generate economic growth can also help deliver terrifying lethal effects. This makes the competitive dynamics between the US and China much harder to manage and the line between opportunity and risk much harder to discern.
Third, arms control discussions have focused chiefly on states threatening other states, whereas AI risk involves state-to-state threats but also nonstate threats and the risks associated with AI misalignment. This presents different challenges and opportunities for diplomacy. Fourth, at least in the US, AI development is driven not by the government but by the private sector — and not by one company but by many competing against each other. That means a wider range of actors must be involved in discussions aimed at mitigating the risks that the technology poses.
Lastly, there is a wide spectrum of views on how fast and how far AI capabilities will go. Some see it as a “normal” technology whose full adoption will take decades, while others argue that a superintelligence explosion is just a few years away. With nuclear weapons, you could get a slightly bigger or smaller detonation, or a faster or more maneuverable delivery vehicle, but you basically knew what you were dealing with. The evolution and impact of AI capabilities is much less clear. When I served as national security adviser, I worked to make certain that the US government was ready for every scenario along the uncertainty spectrum. Doing so requires an additional level of flexibility, subtlety and steadiness. The nuclear arms control framework did not emerge overnight. It took years to devise the relevant export controls, testing schemas, verification protocols and guardrails — and it took decades of diplomacy to maintain them. With AI, we are at the opening stages of something similar in ambition but different in substance and complexity. That makes it all the more important to proceed with risk-reduction efforts immediately.
**Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser (2021-25) to President Joe Biden, is Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order at Harvard Kennedy School. @Project Syndicate

Selected Face Book & X tweets for /December 28, 2025
Nadim Koteich
Iran’s and the Houthis’ entire model: fire, absorb retaliation, wait for the ships to leave.It worked because no one was building on the other shore.
Israel just started building. #Somaliland recognition = permanent geographic positioning opposite Yemen. Not a deployment. Not a rotation. multifaceted infrastructure.Iran taught its proxies to outlast operations and deployments.
No one taught them to outlast encirclement.

Say it louder“Who are the real colonizers” (Muslims)
Wall Street Apes
https://x.com/i/status/2004357090836467729
Say it louder“Who are the real colonizers” (Muslims)
Without Arab imperialism:
- Egyptians would be Coptic
- Moroccans would be Berber
- Libya and Algeria would be Amazigh
- Syria and Lebanon would be Aramaic speaking and partly Phoenician
- Iraq would be Mesopotamian
- Assyrian, Babylonian
- Sudan would be Nubian
- Tunisia would be Carthaginian Punic or Amazigh
- Iran would be Persian, Zoroastrian
- Kurdistan would be Median, Zoroastrian
- Somalia would be Kosherik
“The Arab conquests erased civilizations and destroyed many cultures. Without Arab imperialism, the Middle East would still remember its own name.
They are the colonizers.”