English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 14/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2025/english.july14.25.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
These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men.
Matthew 15/01-09: Then there came to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? for they take food with unwashed hands. And in answer he said to them, Why do you, yourselves, go against the word of God on account of the teaching which has been handed down to you? For God said, Give honour to your father and mother: and, He who says evil of father or mother will be put to death. But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is given to God; There is no need for him to give honour to his father. And you have made the word of God without effect because of your teaching. You false ones, well did Isaiah say of you, These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 13-14/2025
The Turbaned Sayed Faisal Shukr Threatens the Lebanese People on Behalf of Hezbollah… So Where Are the Judiciary, Joseph Aoun, Nawaf Salam, and the Government?/Elias Bejjani/July 12/2025
A Critical Reading of Sheikh Naim Qassem’s Interview with Al-Mayadeen: Lewdness, Depravity, Illegitimate Usurpation, and Barefaced Iranian Subservience/Elias Bejjani/July 11/2025
Barrack says 'Bilad Al Sham' remarks not a 'threat to Lebanon'
Geagea urges authorities to seek 'actual state' after Barrack’s remarks
To prevent war, Lebanon must act like a state/Dr. Fadi Nicholas Nassar/Arab News/July 13, 2025
Tom Barrack, head of Trump’s inaugural committee, is accused of obstructing justice and lying to the feds./Dan Friedman/Russ Choma/David Corn/July 20/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 13-14/2025
Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
Iran publishes details of June 26 Israeli attack on Security Council meeting
Iran president was reportedly injured in Israeli strikes
Israel’s Netanyahu aide faces indictment over Gaza leak
Gaza truce talks in the balance as Israel and Hamas trade blame
59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid
Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes kill at least 29
New Gaza-bound aid boat leaves Italy
Gaza officials say children killed in strike as Israeli military admits 'error'
A "Significant Gap" in Syrian-Israeli Talks
The focus is on withdrawal and the "depth of normalization"... and conflict over a meeting in Baku
Syria: 37 killed, 50 injured in clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in As-Suwayda province... Power outage due to clashes
Syria signs $800 million agreement with DP World to bolster ports infrastructure
Russia and China discuss Ukraine war and ties with the United States
Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku
France’s Macron announces plan to accelerate military spending

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 13-14/2025
France and Europe: Increasingly Submitting to Islam/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute./July 13, 2025
How unequal shelter access puts Israel’s Arab and Bedouin communities at greater risk/ANAN TELLO/Arab News/July 13, 2025
UK’s steady, silent decline a worrying echo of the 1970s/Dr. John Sfakianakis//Arab News/July 13, 2025
Europe has the chance to take a quantum leap/Sona Muzikarova/Arab News/July 13, 2025
Israel seeks to bypass Palestinian leaders yet again/Daoud Kuttab/Arab News/July 13, 2025
Selected Tweets for 13 July/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 13-14/2025
The Turbaned Sayed Faisal Shukr Threatens the Lebanese People on Behalf of Hezbollah… So Where Are the Judiciary, Joseph Aoun, Nawaf Salam, and the Government?
Elias Bejjani/July 12/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145155/
The direct and televised threat issued by Sayed Faisal Shukr, a turbaned cleric and deputy official for Hezbollah in the Bekaa region, once again proves that this Iranian, jihadist, and terrorist militia—despite its crushing defeat and the downfall of its masters, the Iranian mullahs, and the humiliating death of most of its leaders—still clings to the same strategy of intimidation, oppression, and vulgar brutality against all those who oppose its occupation schemes and criminal agenda.
In a provocative and dangerous speech, Shukr declared yesterday:
"To those inside the country who keep repeating the phrase ‘disarmament’… we have two words for you: we will rip out your souls… because everything can be subject to joking, discussion, or dialogue—except the weapons."
This is an open threat of murder by a Hezbollah official, directed at the Lebanese people. The urgent question now is:
Where is the judiciary?
Where are the security forces?
Where is President Joseph Aoun?
Where is Prime Minister Nawaf Salam?
Those who rush to prosecute journalists and activists while turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s public threats are nothing more than cowards, submissive, or complicit by silence.
Such disgraceful inaction in the face of a direct threat to citizens’ lives constitutes an unacceptable collusion, a national betrayal, and a total political and moral collapse.
President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and the entire judiciary are now facing an existential test: Either they confront Hezbollah’s terrorism and protect the people, or they must step down immediately—for they have proven their utter failure and humiliating submission to the militia state.
Anyone who fails to immediately launch an investigation, arrest Faisal Shukr, and put him on trial for threatening civil peace and inciting murder, is an accomplice in the crime.

A Critical Reading of Sheikh Naim Qassem’s Interview with Al-Mayadeen: Lewdness, Depravity, Illegitimate Usurpation, and Barefaced Iranian Subservience
Elias Bejjani/July 11/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145070/
In a lengthy and revealing interview with Al-Mayadeen TV, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of the terrorist, jihadist, and criminal Hezbollah organization, exposed yet again the extent of the group’s illegitimate usurpation of the Lebanese state and its absolute subservience to Iran’s theocratic regime. His statements confirm what many already know: Hezbollah is nothing more than an armed Iranian proxy—hostile to Lebanon and its people—operating completely outside the framework of national sovereignty and legality.
Qassem’s responses throughout the interview reflect a depraved, treacherous mentality—a Trojan horse mindset that treats Lebanon not as a sovereign nation, but as a mere playground for Tehran’s local, regional, and global ambitions. Hezbollah has no regard for the will of the Lebanese people or the authority of the Lebanese Constitution. The sheer brazenness of Qassem’s rhetoric highlights the militia’s open contempt for the state, its institutions, and its citizens.
A Shameless Declaration of War
The most appalling moment came when Qassem unabashedly declared that “the Shura Council of [Hezbollah] met and decided to enter a supporting battle” following the Hamas-led “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. This is not just a crude admission of unilateral military action—it is a flagrant slap in the face of Lebanese sovereignty. How can an armed group make a decision to enter war, set objectives, and engage in conflict without the consent—or even consultation—of the legitimate Lebanese government?Such a stance reaffirms that Hezbollah is not a “state within a state” but rather a “state above the state,” one that arrogantly overrides all legal and democratic mechanisms. Qassem’s declaration is effectively an illegitimate declaration of war—one that has plunged Lebanon into destruction, displacement, and death, with no regard for the will or welfare of its people.
Absolute Subservience to Iran and the Refusal to Disarm
The heart of the crisis lies in Hezbollah’s complete obedience to Iran. Qassem’s own words betray this reality. When he speaks of “unity of fronts” and “unity of objectives,” he is clearly affirming that Hezbollah’s decisions on war and peace lie not with the Lebanese, but with the Iranian axis. His frank admission—“Yes, the presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran is fundamental in this matter”—is not just a nod to strategic coordination; it is a confirmation that Tehran is the architect, funder, and commander of Hezbollah’s entire agenda. This is not loyalty to Lebanon. It is total submission to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which uses Lebanon as a bargaining chip, a battlefield, and a weapons depot in its broader regional conflicts. Qassem’s interview also exposed Hezbollah’s disdain for international law and the United Nations. The group continues to ignore UNSC Resolutions 1559 and 1701, both of which call explicitly for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon and the full restoration of state sovereignty. His claim that “Lebanon is strong because of Hezbollah’s weapons, and we will not accept that Lebanon becomes weak” is not only illogical but deeply dangerous. It reflects an ideology that views the state’s own legal institutions as weak and irrelevant—an ideology that undermines any chance of building a modern, strong, and sovereign Lebanon.
Justifying Violations, Defying the State.
Qassem’s attempts to justify Hezbollah’s destabilizing activities are as outrageous as they are insulting. His claim that “the supporting battle achieved its goals by alleviating the pressure on Gaza and pushing Israel toward a solution” is a cynical lie. What Hezbollah’s “support” achieved was widespread devastation: in the South, in Beirut, in Baalbek—everywhere the Shiite community lives, a community Hezbollah claims to protect but in reality exploits, holds hostage, and sacrifices in Iran’s jihadist wars. His rhetoric about “not harming Lebanon” rings hollow when set against the grim reality of economic collapse, massive displacement, and thousands of innocent lives lost. These outcomes are not the price of “resistance”—they are the direct consequences of Hezbollah’s illegitimate actions and its blind loyalty to Tehran. Even Qassem’s attempts to downplay the existence of a coordinated “joint operations room” with Iran and its regional proxies fall apart when he admits that “each arena contributed according to its own assessments” and again emphasizes Iran’s “fundamental presence.” This contradiction only reinforces the truth: Hezbollah is executing a coordinated, regional strategy on Iran’s behalf—completely divorced from Lebanese interests.
Clinging to Arms: The Open Defiance of Sovereignty
Qassem’s insistence on Hezbollah retaining its weapons is perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the interview. His statement—“We will confront when we have a decision to confront… We have two choices, no third: victory or martyrdom. We have no option called surrender. This is out of the question”—leaves no room for misinterpretation. This is not defense. It is domination. It is a declaration that Hezbollah alone will decide Lebanon’s fate. It is a complete rejection of the basic principle that the use of force must be the exclusive right of the legitimate state. Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm confirms the existence of a parallel army, one that undermines the state’s authority and robs Lebanon of its sovereignty. Qassem’s contempt for UN resolutions and international consensus, particularly Resolutions 1559 and 1701, exposes Lebanon to sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and deeper instability. Far from making Lebanon “strong,” Hezbollah’s weapons render it weak, fractured, and paralyzed. Even worse, Qassem presents Hezbollah’s arsenal as essential for Lebanon’s survival, as though the national army and legitimate institutions are incapable of defending the country. This is an insult to the Lebanese people and a calculated effort to keep the state weak, dependent, and permanently hijacked.
The Illusion of Power and a Failing Deterrent
Qassem’s claims about Hezbollah’s “strength” and deterrent power collapse under the weight of reality. Since the ceasefire, assassinations of Hezbollah figures have taken place almost daily across Lebanon—with not a single retaliatory shot fired in response. This suspicious silence speaks volumes. It reveals a failed deterrent. It exposes the myth of Hezbollah’s military prowess. And it raises a critical question: Who are these weapons really for? Clearly, they are not for defending Lebanon from external threats. They are for internal control—for intimidating opponents, suppressing dissent, and maintaining Iran’s grip on the country.
Conclusion:
Guardianship by Gunpoint
Sheikh Naim Qassem’s interview is not a simple media appearance—it is a chilling confirmation of Lebanon’s tragic reality: the country lives under the guardianship of a lawless, Iranian-backed militia that recognizes only the power of arms and holds the Lebanese state and people in utter contempt. This interview laid bare Hezbollah’s true agenda: absolute military control, unwavering loyalty to Iran, rejection of international law, and complete disregard for the sovereignty, safety, and prosperity of Lebanon. Lebanon cannot recover—economically, socially, or politically—so long as Hezbollah remains armed, unaccountable, and subservient to Tehran. The path to peace and statehood begins with the dismantling of this parallel army and the restoration of full national sovereignty under the sole authority of the Lebanese state.

Barrack says 'Bilad Al Sham' remarks not a 'threat to Lebanon'
Naharnet/July 13, 2025
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has clarified his remarks about the possibility that Lebanon might be swallowed by Syria, after they sparked outrage in Lebanon. “My comments yesterday praised Syria’s impressive strides, not a threat to Lebanon. I observed the reality that Syria is moving at light speed to seize the historic opportunity presented by @POTUS’s (U.S. President Donald Trump’s) lifting of sanctions: investment from Türkiye and the Gulf, diplomatic outreach to neighboring countries, and a clear vision for the future,” Barrack said in a post on X. “I can assure that Syria’s leaders only want co-existence and mutual prosperity with Lebanon, and the United States is committed to supporting that relationship between two equal and sovereign neighbors enjoying peace and prosperity,” Barrack added. He had warned in an interview with the UAE’s The National newspaper that Lebanon risks being swallowed by regional powers unless it acts to address Hezbollah’s arms and implement reforms. “You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical name for the Syria region. “Syrians say Lebanon is our beach resort. So we need to move. And I know how frustrated the Lebanese people are. It frustrates me,” he added. Barrack also said that the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ready to help if Lebanon takes the lead. As for Lebanon’s response to his latest proposal, the envoy said: “I thought it was responsive, very responsive,” while acknowledging that sticking points remain.

Geagea urges authorities to seek 'actual state' after Barrack’s remarks
Naharnet/July 13, 2025
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Sunday warned Lebanese authorities against “continuing their hesitation and slow decisions as to the rise of an actual state in Lebanon,” following U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s latest remarks that Lebanon risks being swallowed by its neighbors. Lebanese authorities “would be held responsible for putting Lebanon the country and state in an existential danger once again,” Geagea warned. “Barrack’s statement is a call for action addressed to the Lebanese authorities and government and Lebanese authorities must take a decision as soon as possible and take the needed practical steps to turn Lebanon into an actual state, which alone would represent the guarantee to all Lebanese groups, or else they will keep Lebanon as an arena that can be violated once again,” the LF leader cautioned. Barrack has warned in an interview with the UAE’s The National newspaper that Lebanon risks being swallowed by regional powers unless it acts to address Hezbollah’s arms and implement reforms. “You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical name for the Syria region. “Syrians say Lebanon is our beach resort. So we need to move. And I know how frustrated the Lebanese people are. It frustrates me,” he added. Barrack also said that the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ready to help if Lebanon takes the lead.As for Lebanon’s response to his latest proposal, the envoy said: “I thought it was responsive, very responsive,” while acknowledging that sticking points remain.

To prevent war, Lebanon must act like a state
Dr. Fadi Nicholas Nassar/Arab News/July 13, 2025
Lebanon risks missing its moment. That was the verdict delivered by US Ambassador Tom Barrack during his trip to Beirut last week. “If you don’t want change, it’s no problem,” he said. “The rest of the region is moving at Mach speed and you will be left behind.”
His comments cut to the core issue shaping Lebanon’s future: Hezbollah’s weapons. The country’s promising new leadership is running out of time and credibility. With progress in nearby Syria attracting US and regional support, Beirut must heed Barrack’s warning. It needs to roll out a credible, Lebanese-led initiative that demonstrates the will and capacity to see through the full implementation of the November ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel — and disarm Hezbollah before it is too late.
The ceasefire deal, brokered by the US and France, was not simply a pause in fighting but a roadmap based on two core principles: that the Lebanese state would disarm Hezbollah and achieve, through statecraft, what Hezbollah’s militancy could not: Israel’s full withdrawal and an end to the military strikes that suffocate any chance for the country’s recovery.
The Lebanese government has so far focused on dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon, clearing 80 to 90 percent of military sites. The regular Israeli strikes on Lebanon, however, make clear that this progress is not enough. The ceasefire agreement and UN Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559 require not only demilitarization in the south but the disarmament of all nonstate armed groups throughout the country. As President Joseph Aoun vowed when he took office in January, and the new government later affirmed in a ministerial statement, the state must, and will, hold a monopoly on force. This is not only a matter of international law; ensuring it is the Lebanese state that decides matters of war and peace is a prerequisite for the rehabilitation of its legitimacy at home and abroad. In line with that mandate, Beirut has chosen negotiation over confrontation. Aoun has called for direct talks with Hezbollah to oversee its disarmament and started the parallel process of disarming Palestinian factions in the country. But what this means in practice remains unclear. There are still no details about what such a disarmament will look like, when it will start or end and how it will be verified. Beirut’s new leaders cannot make the mistake of their predecessors and ignore the shift in Israel’s security doctrine in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023. Tel Aviv will not accept half-measures that give Hezbollah time to regroup, rearm and threaten its future security.
While Hezbollah has largely cooperated in the south, a de facto consequence of its defeat, its leaders continue to publicly decry the calls for full disarmament. Instead, the group appears to be buying time by pursuing partial disarmament and limited cooperation until international pressure eases or spoiling opportunities emerge.
The Lebanese government finds itself in a bind. On the one hand, if it fails to fully disarm Hezbollah, an Israeli military escalation might be right around the corner. On the other, if it takes up arms against Hezbollah, it risks plunging the country into an internal conflict with no end in sight. Disarming Hezbollah within the capital is about ending the group’s ability to hold hostage the future of Lebanon. Neither of these scenarios needs to be Lebanon’s future, however. Its people and economy are exhausted. There is no appetite for conflict, either with Israel or between the state and Hezbollah. The government and the Lebanese Armed Forces demonstrated the credibility of their desire not only to disarm Hezbollah’s positions in the south but to keep them out of the area. Now, Aoun must build on his call for the peaceful full disarmament of Hezbollah by establishing a decisive starting point that can help rally public support: the demilitarization of Beirut. Unlike the sprawling terrain of the south, such an effort in Beirut would demand fewer resources and personnel from the strained army. It would also carry significant symbolic weight; while disarming Hezbollah positions in the south is primarily about securing Israel’s border and doing so in the north is about safeguarding Syria’s, disarming Hezbollah within the capital is about ending the group’s ability to hold hostage the future of Lebanon. Beirut is the lifeline of the Lebanese economy. Demilitarizing the capital would stabilize it enough to allow investors, tourists and businesses to return. Strategically, it would also ensure that the city’s airport and the Port of Beirut continue to fall firmly under the control of the state, effectively curtailing Hezbollah’s efforts to regroup and rearm.
Most of all, the removal of Hezbollah’s armed presence from the capital would dismantle the architecture of intimidation that continues to paralyze Lebanese politics and help generate the momentum, and precedent, to foster the political resolve needed to finish the job.
It would be an irreversible step toward nationwide disarmament, a hard but unavoidable concession made more dignified if it met with an internationally backed effort for reconstruction of the hard-hit Beirut suburbs. Israel must take steps of its own by withdrawing from the five hilltops it continues to occupy in Lebanon and give the Lebanese state a chance to succeed. It has established escalatory dominance and achieved its primary military objectives. Hassan Nasrallah and the founding military leadership of Hezbollah are dead. The narrative that Hezbollah’s weapons can deter Israel has been replaced with the reality that its weapons have brought only war and occupation. A military escalation would yield diminishing returns for Israel, open the door for unknowns and risk the country becoming bogged down in a protracted conflict with an adversary it has already defeated. Time is running out. But taken together, these steps can restore the trust needed to enable the full implementation of the November ceasefire agreement and ensure that the conflict it ended was the last war between Israel and Lebanon.
**Dr. Fadi Nicholas Nassar is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

From The 2012 Archives
Top Trump Adviser Arrested and Charged With Secretly Lobbying for the UAE
Tom Barrack, head of Trump’s inaugural committee, is accused of obstructing justice and lying to the feds.
Dan Friedman/Russ Choma/David Corn/July 20/2021
Tom Barrack, a friend and longtime adviser to former President Donald Trump, was arrested Tuesday and charged with violating foreign lobbying laws by using his access to Trump to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates.
The Justice Department also alleges that Barrack, a billionaire who heads a real estate investment firm called Colony Capital and who chaired Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, obstructed justice and made false statements during a June 20, 2019, interview with federal agents. Two other men—a Barrack employee named Matthew Grimes and an alleged agent for the UAE, Rashid al-Malik Alshahhi—also face charges related to violations of foreign lobbying laws.
“The defendants, using their positions of power and influence in a presidential election year, engaged in a conspiracy to illegally advance and promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates in this country, in flagrant violation of their obligation to notify the Attorney General of their activities and in derogation of the American people’s right to know when a foreign government seeks to influence the policies of our government and our public opinion,” said Jacquelin Kasulis, the acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where the charges were filed.
“Mr. Barrack has made himself voluntarily available to investigators from the outset,” a Barrack spokesperson said. “He is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty.”
In a press release, prosecutors said that while Barrack advised the Trump campaign in 2016 and then the Trump White House, he maintained backchannel communications with UAE leaders and worked to promote their agenda in Washington. Some of the conduct occurred while Barrack unsuccessfully sought appointment to a top job in the Trump administration, including a post as special envoy to the Middle East. In an April 12, 2017, text message to Alshahhi, Barrack, appearing to seek UAE support, said his appointment would “give Abu Dhabi,” the Emirati capital, “more power.” “Great for u!” Barrack added.
The Justice Department did not explain why Barrack worked for the UAE, but he has longstanding business ties in the Middle East. The New York Times, which reported the foreign lobbying investigation into Barrack in 2019, noted that between Trump’s nomination and the end of June 2019, Colony Capital received about $1.5 billion in investments and other transactions from the UAE and its close ally, Saudi Arabia. This included $474 million in investments from the sovereign wealth funds run by the Saudi and Emirati governments. At the start of the Trump administration, Barrack also pushed to strike a nuclear power deal with Saudi Arabia that would likely have to skirt US laws restricting the transfer of nuclear technology—and that project could well have benefitted Barrack’s business.
In the indictment of Barrack and the others, the Justice Department lists several steps Barrack took that it claims violated the foreign lobbying law. These include:
In May 2016, Barrack inserted language praising the UAE into a campaign speech Trump was preparing to deliver on US energy policy and emailed an advance draft of the speech to Alshahhi for delivery to senior UAE officials.
In 2016 and 2017, Barrack and the other defendants “received direction and feedback, including talking points, from senior UAE officials in connection with national press appearances Barrack used to promote the interests of the UAE.” Following one appearance in which Barrack praised the UAE, Barrack emailed Alshahhi, “I nailed it…for the home team,” meaning the Emirates. In December 2016, Barrack attended a meeting with Grimes, Alshahhi, and senior UAE government officials, during which he advised them to create a “wish list” of US foreign policy items that the UAE wanted accomplished early in the Trump administration. They later delivered such a list. Barrack and Grimes “acquired a dedicated cellular telephone and installed a secure messaging application to facilitate Barrack’s communications with senior UAE officials.”
Barrack first met Trump in 1985 when Barrack sold Trump part of a chain of department stores. In 1987, when Barrack worked for the billionaire Robert Bass, who owned New York’s famed Plaza Hotel, he negotiated a deal to sell the property to Trump—whose office looked down on the hotel—for $407 million. It turned out to be a bad deal for Trump, who lost the property a few years later.
Barrack has been a key player in Trump’s world. He helped Trump land the government contract that would allow him to take over the historic Old Post Office building in downtown Washington, DC, and turn it into the high-end luxury hotel that would become a clubhouse for Republican politicos, lobbyists, and foreign dignitaries hoping to curry Trump’s favor during his presidency. Trump submitted a bid for the contract that competitors said was ludicrously high, but Trump had solid financial backing: Barrack’s Colony Capital had pledged to finance the project. Shortly after Trump was awarded the contract, Barrack backed out—leading some competitors to complain that Trump had pulled a bait-and-switch. Trump borrowed $160 million from Deutsche Bank for the project.
Barrack also helped finance the debt Jared Kushner owed on a skyscraper at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York. As the New York Times reported, “Barrack was among a group of lenders who agreed to reduce Mr. Kushner’s obligations to keep him out of bankruptcy.” He recommended that Trump hire Paul Manafort to help run the 2016 campaign. During the campaign, Barrack attempted to arrange a secret meeting between Manafort and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. (A scheduling conflict prevented the get-together from happening.)
It was already widely known that Barrack essentially served as Trump’s key contact to the Middle East. “Who Is Behind Trump’s Links to Arab Princes? A Billionaire Friend,” read a New York Times headline. In 2016, Barrack wrote to the UAE’s ambassador to Washington, “I would like to align in Donald’s mind the connection between the UAE and Saudi Arabia which we have already started with Jared.”
The Trump inauguration committee that Barrack chaired—which raised an unprecedented sum—is currently under investigation by the Washington, DC, attorney general for allegedly making about $1 million in allegedly improper payments to the Trump Hotel. During a deposition in that case, Barrack made statements about Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s involvement in reviewing the finances of the inauguration committee that were contradicted by evidence and other testimony.
The indictment portrays Barrack as a wheeler-dealer who exploited behind-the-scenes diplomacy and his influence with Trump to serve the interests of the UAE government and his own business endeavors. “Today’s indictment confirms the FBI’s unwavering commitment to rooting out those individuals who think they can manipulate the system to the detriment of the United States and the American people,” said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.
BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!
“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.
No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/07/top-trump-adviser-arrested-and-charged-with-secretly-lobbying-for-the-uae/

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 13-14/2025
Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
AP/July 13, 2025
Following the US strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors
Top Iran envoy says that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation ‘case by case’Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, “first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.
Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation “case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran’s “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said. He also reiterated Iran’s position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen. Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60 percent – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.

Iran publishes details of June 26 Israeli attack on Security Council meeting
Farhad Mirmohammadsadeghi/Euronews/July 13/2025
The National Security Council meeting was taking place on the lower floors of a building in western Tehran before noon on Monday, June 26, when the Israeli attack began, the Fars news agency reported. Fars described the attack as being similar to a previous Israeli assassination operation which killed the secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in September last year: “The attackers targeted the entrances and exits of the building by firing six bombs and missiles to block escape routes and cut off the airflow.” According to the report, electricity on the floor was also cut off after the explosions. But Iranian officials managed to get out of the building through an emergency hatch. Some officials, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, suffered “small injuries” to their legs while leaving, Fars reported. According to the report, given Israel's intelligence accuracy in the attack, the Islamic Republic of Iran's intelligence agencies are investigating “the possibility of an infiltrator.”Earlier, in a conversation with Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News presenter and American media personality, President Pezeshkian said that Israel “tried” to assassinate him during the 12-day war. Responding to a question about whether he believed Israel intended his life, the president said: “Yes, they tried. They took action, but they failed,” he said. Pointing out that the effort had not been made by the United States, he added: “It was Israel's job, not America's. I attended an internal meeting. They tried to bomb the area where we were meeting. But no accident happens when God wills it.”Ali Larijani, an adviser to Islamic Republic of Iran leader Ali Khamenei, had also earlier spoken of Israel's attempt to “bomb all heads of power” during the 12-day war.

Iran president was reportedly injured in Israeli strikes
Kasra Naji - BBC Persian/July 13, 2025
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reportedly slightly injured during one of Israel's attacks on Iran last month. Iran's state Fars news agency, close to the revolutionary guard, says that on 16 June, six bombs targeted both access and entry points of a secret underground facility in Tehran where Pezeshkian was attending an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council. The president is said to have suffered leg injuries as he and others escaped through an emergency shaft. Iran is now reported to be following leads of infiltration by Israeli agents. The Fars report has not been independently verified. Israel has not publicly commented on the report. Videos posted on social media during the 12-day war showed repeated strikes against a mountain side in north-western Tehran. Now it has emerged that the strikes on the fourth day of war targeted a secret underground facility in Tehran where Iran's top leaders were at the time. The Fars news agency report says the Israeli strikes blocked all the six entry and exit points, and also the ventilation system. The electricity to the facility was also cut off - but Pezeshkian managed to reach safety. The Supreme National Security Council is Iran's top decision-making body after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Last week, Pezeshkian accused Israel of trying to kill him - a claim denied by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said "regime change" had not been not a goal of the war.
Israel wiped out many of top IRGC and army commanders at the very start of the war. Iranian leaders admit they were taken completely by surprise, and there was a decision-making paralysis for at least the first 24 hours after the attack. Israel officials admitted that Ayatollah Khamenei was also the target - but that they had lost track of him when he was moved to a secure secret location, cut off to a great extent from the outside world. There are still many questions about how Israel had gathered critical intelligence about the whereabouts of Iran's top officials and commanders - not to mention the locations of sensitive secret facilities. On 13 June, Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military sites in Iran, saying it acted to prevent Tehran from making nuclear weapons. Iran - who retaliated with aerial attacks on Israel - denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and says its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes. On 22 June, the US's Air Force and Navy carried out air and missile strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump later said the attack "obliterated" the facilities, even as some US intelligence agencies have taken a more cautious view. Former Mossad official details how Israel eliminated Iran's military elite.Iran supreme leader in first public appearance since Israel war. Your questions answered on the Israel-Iran conflict

Israel’s Netanyahu aide faces indictment over Gaza leak
Reuters/July 13, 2025
JERUSALEM: An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security charges pending a hearing, Israel’s attorney general said on Sunday, for allegedly leaking top secret military information during Israel’s war in Gaza. Netanyahu’s close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied any wrongdoing in the case which legal authorities began investigating in late 2024. The prime minister has described probes against Urich and other aides as a witch-hunt. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement that Urich and another aide had extracted secret information from the Israeli military and leaked it to German newspaper Bild. Their intent, she said, was to shape public opinion of Netanyahu and influence the discourse about the slaying of six Israeli hostages by their Palestinian captors in Gaza in late August 2024. The hostages’ deaths had sparked mass protests in Israel and outraged hostage families, who accused Netanyahu of torpedoing ceasefire talks that had faltered in the preceding weeks for political reasons. Netanyahu vehemently denies this. He has repeatedly said that Hamas was to blame for the talks collapsing, while the militant group has said it was Israel’s fault no deal had been reached. Four of the six slain hostages had been on the list of more than 30 captives that Hamas was set to free were a ceasefire to be reached, according to a defense official at the time. The Bild article in question was published days after the hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza. It outlined Hamas’ negotiation strategy in the indirect ceasefire talks and largely corresponded with Netanyahu’s allegations against the militant group over the deadlock. Bild said after the investigation was announced that it does not comment on its sources and that its article relied on authentic documents.A two-month ceasefire was reached in January this year and included the release of 38 hostages before Israel resumed attacks in Gaza. The sides are presently engaged in indirect negotiations in Doha, aimed at reaching another truce.

Gaza truce talks in the balance as Israel and Hamas trade blame
Agence France Presse/July 13, 2025
Gaza ceasefire talks hung in the balance as Hamas and Israel on Saturday accused the other of blocking attempts to strike a deal, nearly a week into an attempt to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Palestinian territory. A Palestinian source with knowledge of the indirect talks in Qatar told AFP that Israel's proposals to keep its troops in the war-torn territory were holding up a deal for a 60-day pause. But on the Israeli side, a senior political official, also speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivities of the talks, accused the militants of inflexibility and deliberately trying to scuttle an accord. On the ground, Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 38 people were killed across the territory on Saturday, including in an overnight air strike on an area sheltering the displaced. "While we were sleeping, there was an explosion... where two boys, a girl and their mother were staying," Bassam Hamdan told AFP after the attack in an area of Gaza City. "We found them torn to pieces, their remains scattered," he added.
In southern Gaza, bodies covered in white plastic sheets were brought to the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis while wounded in Rafah were taken for treatment by donkey cart, on stretchers or carried. In Tel Aviv, thousands took to the streets urging the government to seal a hostage release deal. "The window of opportunity... is open now and it won't be for long," said Eli Sharabi, who was freed in February. Both Hamas and Israel have said that 10 hostages held since the militants' October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war would be released -- if an agreement is reached. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was prepared then to enter talks for a more permanent end to hostilities.
Enclave plans? -
But one Palestinian source said Israel's refusal to accept Hamas's demand for a complete withdrawal of troops from Gaza was holding back progress in the talks. A second source said mediators had asked both sides to postpone discussions until U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrives in the Qatari capital. The first source said Israel was proposing to maintain its military in more than 40 percent of the Palestinian territory, forcing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into a small area near the city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt. "Hamas's delegation will not accept the Israeli maps... as they essentially legitimize the reoccupation of approximately half of the Gaza Strip and turn Gaza into isolated zones with no crossings or freedom of movement," they said. Israeli media reported that new maps would be presented on Sunday, quoting an unnamed foreign official with knowledge of the details. A senior Israeli political official countered later that it was Hamas that rejected what was on the table, accusing the group of "creating obstacles" and "refusing to compromise" with the aim of "sabotaging the negotiations". "Israel has demonstrated a willingness to show flexibility in the negotiations, while Hamas remains intransigent, clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement," the official added in a statement sent to AFP.
The Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023 resulted in the deaths of at least 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.Of the 251 hostages seized, 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. At least 57,882 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Military operations -
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had attacked "approximately 250 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in the previous 48 hours. It said fighter jets hit "over 35 Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. Two previous ceasefires -- a week-long truce beginning in late November 2023 and a two-month one from mid-January this year -- saw 105 hostages released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The second Palestinian source said "some progress" had been made in the latest talks on plans for releasing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and getting more aid to Gaza. Netanyahu, who is under domestic and international pressure to end the war, said this week that neutralizing Hamas as a security threat was a prerequisite for any long-term ceasefire talks. That included disarmament, he said, warning that failure to do so would mean Israel would have to do so by force.

59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid
AP/July 13, 2025
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: At least 31 Palestinians were fatally shot on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, while Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians including four children, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said.
There were no signs of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks following two days of meetings between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump had said he was nearing an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would potentially wind down the war.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that he was “hopeful” on Gaza ceasefire negotiations. Witkoff told reporters in Teterboro, New Jersey, that he planned to meet senior Qatari officials on the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup final.
The 31 Palestinians shot dead were on their way to a distribution site run by the Israeli-backed American organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation near Rafah in southern Gaza, hospital officials and witnesses said. The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings, and that the overwhelming majority of the more than 100 people hurt had gunshot wounds. Airstrikes in central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah killed 13 including the four children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Fifteen others were killed in Khan Younis in the south, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Intense airstrikes continued Saturday evening in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. Israelis rallied yet again for a ceasefire deal. “Arrogance is what brought the disaster upon us,” former hostage Eli Sharabi said of Israeli leaders.
Teen’s first attempt to pick up food ends in death
The 21-month war has left much of Gaza’s population of over 2 million reliant on outside aid while food security experts warn of famine. Israel blocked and then restricted aid entry after ending the latest ceasefire in March.
“All responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites,” the Red Cross said after the shootings near Rafah, noting the “alarming frequency and scale” of such mass casualty incidents. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots toward people it said were behaving suspiciously to prevent them from approaching. It said it was not aware of any casualties. The GHF said no incident occurred near its sites. Abdullah Al-Haddad said he was 200 meters from the aid distribution site run by the GHF close to the Shakoush area when an Israeli tank started firing at crowds of Palestinians. “We were together, and they shot us at once,” he said, writhing in pain from a leg wound at Nasser Hospital. Mohammed Jamal Al-Sahloo, another witness, said Israel’s military had ordered them to proceed to the site when the shooting started. Sumaya Al-Sha’er’s 17-year-old son, Nasir, was killed, hospital officials said. “He said to me, ‘Mom, you don’t have flour and today I’ll go and bring you flour, even if I die, I’ll go and get it,’” she said. “But he never came back home.”
Until then, she said, she had prevented the teenager from going to GHF sites because she thought it was too dangerous. Witnesses, health officials and UN officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward GHF distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner. The GHF denies there has been violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations the foundation denied. In a separate effort, the UN and aid groups say they struggle to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting. The first fuel – 150,000 liters – entered Gaza this week after 130 days, a joint statement by UN aid bodies said, calling it a small amount for the “the backbone of survival in Gaza.” Fuel runs hospitals, water systems, transport and more, the statement said.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war and abducted 251. Hamas still holds some 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to remain alive. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes kill at least 29
Agence France Presse/July 13, 2025
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point. The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others. An Israeli air strike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said. In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.
Several other people were wounded, he said.In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack. On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza. The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.

New Gaza-bound aid boat leaves Italy
AFP/July 13, 2025
SYRACUSE, Italy: A Gaza-bound boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid left Sicily on Sunday, over a month after Israel detained and deported people aboard a previous vessel.The Handala, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left the port of Syracuse shortly after 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT), an AFP journalist saw, carrying about fifteen activists. Several dozen people, some holding Palestinian flags and others wearing keffiyeh scarves, gathered at the port to cheer the boat’s departure with cries of “Free Palestine.” The former Norwegian trawler – loaded with medical supplies, food, children’s equipment and medicine – will sail for about a week in the Mediterranean, covering roughly 1,800 kilometers, in the hope of reaching Gaza’s coast. In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid an impasse in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May. The boat will make a stop at Gallipoli, in southeastern Italy, where two members of the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) are expected to join. The initiative comes six weeks after the departure of the Madleen, another ship that left Italy for Gaza transporting aid and activists, including Greta Thunberg. Israel authorities intercepted the Madleen about 185 kilometers west of Gaza’s coast. “This is a mission for the children in Gaza, to break the humanitarian blockade and to break the summer silence on the genocide,” said Gabrielle Cathala, one of the two France Unbowed party members set to board the boat on July 18. “I hope we will reach Gaza but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law” by Israel, she added.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that led to 1,219 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry says that at least 57,882 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military reprisals. The UN considers the figures reliable.

Gaza officials say children killed in strike as Israeli military admits 'error'
Rushdi Abualouf - Gaza correspondent and Maia Davies - BBC News/July 13, 2025
A group of men and boys stand around a child in a body bag, some crying and touching the shroud, during a funeral on the street in Gaza. Relatives mourn Palestinian child Saraj Ibrahim. In other photos and video, the man in grey is seen carrying the child's body after a strike hit a water distribution point [Getty Images] Ten people, including six children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike while waiting to fill water containers in central Gaza on Sunday, emergency service officials say. Their bodies were sent to Nuseirat's al-Awda Hospital, which also treated 16 injured people including seven children, a doctor there said.
Eyewitnesses said a drone fired a missile at a crowd queuing with empty jerry cans next to a water tanker in al-Nuseirat refugee camp. The Israeli military said there had been a "technical error" with a strike targeting an Islamic Jihad "terrorist" that caused the munition to fall dozens of meters from the target. The incident is under review, the military added. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was aware of the "claim regarding casualties in the area as a result", adding that it works to mitigate civilian harm "as much as possible" and "regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians". Verified video of the aftermath shows dozens of people rushing to help injured people, including children, lying among yellow jerry cans.
BBC Verify was able to pinpoint the location by matching it with the position of nearby rooftops, trees and telegraph poles. It was filmed early morning local time, going by shadows, on a road about 80m (262ft) south-west of the Nuseirat Junior High School. The site itself is two buildings along from another building listed online as a kindergarten.
Satellite imagery from three weeks ago shows a tanker truck parked across the street.
From the video, it cannot be determined what struck the site and, if it was a malfunctioning Israeli munition, from which direction it had been fired. The strike came as Israeli aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip have escalated. A spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defence Agency said 19 other Palestinians had been killed on Sunday, in three separate strikes on residential buildings in central Gaza and Gaza City. Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had treated more mass casualty cases at its Rafah field hospital in southern Gaza in the last six weeks than in the 12 months before that. It said that its field hospital in Rafah had received 132 patients "suffering from weapon-related injuries" on Saturday, 31 of whom died. The "overwhelming majority" of the patients had gunshot wounds, it added, and "all responsive individuals" reported they had been trying to access food distribution sites. It said that the hospital had treated more than 3,400 weapon-wounded patients and recorded more than 250 deaths since new food distribution sites opened on 27 May - exceeding "all mass casualty cases treated at the hospital" in the year prior. "The alarming frequency and scale of these mass casualty incidents underscore the horrific conditions civilians in Gaza are enduring," the ICRC said. On Saturday, southern Gaza's Nasser hospital said 24 people were killed near an aid distribution site, where witnesses said Israeli troops had opened fire as people were trying to access food. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were "no known injured individuals" from IDF fire near the site. Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat. The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had so far recorded 789 aid-related killings. It said that of those, 615 were in the vicinity of the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)'s sites, which opened on 27 May and are operated by US private security contractors inside military zones in southern and central Gaza.
The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys. The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. GHF boss Johnnie Moore previously told the BBC he was not denying deaths near aid sites, but said "100% of those casualties are being attributed to close proximity to GHF" and that was "not true". Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 57,882 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced multiple times. More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed. The healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter. This week, for the first time in 130 days, 75,000 litres of fuel was allowed into Gaza - "far from enough to meet the daily needs of the population and vital civilian aid operations", the United Nations said. Nine UN agencies warned on Saturday that Gaza's fuel shortage had reached "critical levels", and if fuel ran out, it would affect hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks and bakeries. "Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move," the UN said. Additional reporting by Richard Irvine-Brown and Benedict Garman, BBC Verify. Gaza's largest functioning hospital facing disaster, medics warn, as Israel widens offensive Gaza hospital says 24 people killed near aid site as witnesses blame IDF

A "Significant Gap" in Syrian-Israeli Talks
The focus is on withdrawal and the "depth of normalization"... and conflict over a meeting in Baku
Tel Aviv: Nazir Majali/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13, 2025
At a time when reports from Damascus and Tel Aviv regarding a Syrian-Israeli meeting in Baku have been conflicting, political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the exploratory talks between the two countries reveal a "significant gap" in positions, and that Israel is not showing enthusiasm for deep normalization as long as Damascus refuses to give up the idea of a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.These sources said that Israel rejected the Syrian position that normalization be "light," limited to an Israeli withdrawal from the areas it occupied after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. They said that Israel wants deep normalization in exchange for remaining in a large portion of these areas. They emphasized that Israel insists on remaining on the peaks of Mount Hermon, as well as in nine locations it occupied east of the Golan Heights. Israel claimed to have information indicating that several Syrian groups were planning an attack on Jewish settlements in the Golan Heights, similar to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. This information was confirmed by arrests carried out by Israeli forces deep inside Syria in recent weeks, where members of Iranian-backed militias admitted to planning attacks on settlements in cooperation with jihadist groups operating in southern Syria. An Israeli official said that his government does not trust the Syrian government to the point of relying on its promises and insists on taking defensive measures that ensure that the army alone protects the security of Israelis. Therefore, it believes that concluding a full peace agreement, with strict security guarantees, is the only way to ensure this security. Israeli sources have confirmed that the Syrian government is interested at this stage in a security agreement with Israel that guarantees "mutual non-aggression" and is based on the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement between them, and an Israeli withdrawal to the border line established in that agreement. However, Israel refuses to withdraw, even if it is conditional on a light normalization of relations. The Israeli army has adopted a "new security doctrine" stipulating the establishment of three circles with Syria: the first within the Israeli border (i.e., the area occupied by Israel in the Golan Heights), in which the Israeli army would be stationed with large forces and heavy fortifications; the second would establish a security belt along the border, 3-5 kilometers wide, where the presence of any militants would be prohibited; and the third circle would be a demilitarized zone extending from Damascus to the south and southwest. Israel has established nine fortified military positions in the aforementioned security belt and insists on maintaining it. The Israeli website i24, which broadcasts news programs on television channels in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and French from the port of Jaffa, reported today (Sunday) from what it described as an "informed Syrian source" that President Sharaa "attended at least one direct meeting on Saturday with Israeli officials in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku." This contradicts an official account published in Syrian media, which confirmed "his absence from any talks with the Israeli side." The Israeli website claimed that the source, described as close to President al-Sharaa, explained that the meeting was part of a series of two or three meetings held between the two sides, attended by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sheibani, along with Ahmed al-Dalati, the Syrian government's coordinator for security meetings with Israel.

Syria: 37 killed, 50 injured in clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in As-Suwayda province... Power outage due to clashes
Damascus: Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13, 2025
The death toll from clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in As-Suwayda province in southern Syria has risen to 37, according to Syrian media. The death toll includes 27 Druze, including two children, and 10 Bedouins, with approximately 50 injured. The clashes are the first violence the region has witnessed since clashes between Druze and security forces that left dozens dead in April and May. Syria TV reported that the clashes erupted following a carjacking on the Damascus-As-Suwayda road, before the situation escalated into armed clashes. A government source stated that Interior Ministry forces were dispatched to the area to break up the clashes. In turn, the official Syrian Al-Ikhbariya channel reported that a worker was killed after being shot while repairing power lines damaged by the violent clashes, which led to a power outage in large parts of the province. It added that maintenance teams are facing difficulties in reaching the damaged sites on the electricity grid due to the deteriorating security situation. The Suwayda 24 platform reported that these are the first clashes witnessed in the region in about two months. The governor of Suwayda, Mustafa al-Bakour, called for self-restraint, stressing the need to "respond to the use of reason and dialogue because that is our sure guarantee to overcome this ordeal," according to the official Al-Ikhbariya TV. Al-Bakour added, "Our hand is extended to all those who seek reform, building the state, and paving the way for a better life for all Syrians." He continued, "We appreciate the efforts made by local and tribal authorities to contain tensions, and we affirm that the state will not be lenient in protecting citizens." Suwayda province is home to the largest Druze community in Syria, estimated at around 700,000 people.

Syria signs $800 million agreement with DP World to bolster ports infrastructure
Reuters/July 13, 2025
(Reuters) -Syria's General Authority for Land and Sea Ports on Sunday signed a $800 million agreement with UAE's DP World to bolster Syrian ports infrastructure and logistical services, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. The agreement follows on from a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides in May. The deal with DP World, a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates investment company Dubai World, focuses on developing a multi-purpose terminal at Tartous on Syria's Mediterranean coast and cooperation in setting up industrial and free trade zones. The signing ceremony was attended by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order terminating a U.S. sanctions programme on Syria, paving the way for an end to the country's isolation from the international financial system and for the rebuilding of its economy shattered by the civil war. The removal of U.S. sanctions will also clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organisations working in Syria, easing foreign investment and trade as the country rebuilds.

Russia and China discuss Ukraine war and ties with the United States
Reuters/July 13, 2025
MOSCOW -Russia and China's foreign ministers on Sunday discussed their relations with the United States and the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Beijing on Sunday. Lavrov is due to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) foreign ministers in China. "The parties also discussed relations with the United States and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis," the foreign ministry said.
"The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries in the international arena, including in the United Nations and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20 and APEC, was emphasized," the ministry said. China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has sometimes described China as an "ally".The U.S. casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat.

Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku
Agence France Presse/July 13, 2025
A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku Saturday on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus said. The meeting marked a major step for the two countries which have been foes for decades, and comes after Israel initially cold-shouldered Sharaa's administration as jihadist because of his past links to al-Qaida. "A meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of Sharaa's visit to Baku," the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbors its arch foe Iran. Sharaa himself did not take part in the meeting, which focused on "the recent Israeli military presence in Syria", the source added. After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets falling into the hands of the Islamist-led interim administration headed by Sharaa. It also sent troops into the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces in the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria. Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks. His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone. Late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalization agreement with Syria. A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was "premature". But during a visit to Lebanon this week, U.S. special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: "The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel". After meeting Sharaa in Riyadh in May, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalized their relations with Israel. "(Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do," Trump said. During his visit to Baku, Sharaa held talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the two governments said. Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkey, a key ally of both governments, a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency said.

France’s Macron announces plan to accelerate military spending
Reuters/July 13, 2025
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced a plan to push forward France’s defense spending, pledging to double the military budget by 2027 — three years earlier than originally planned — in response to a complex geopolitical moment. France had aimed to double its defense budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027. A military budget that stood at 32 billion euros ($37.40 billion) in 2017 will rise to 64 billion euros by 2027, with an additional 3.5 billion euros allocated for next year and another 3 billion euros in 2027. He said the accelerated spending, which comes as France is struggling to make 40 billion euros in savings in its 2026 budget, would be paid for by increased economic activity. “Our military independence is inseparable from our financial independence,” he said. “This will be financed through more activity and more production.”He said Prime Minister Francois Bayrou would provide more details in an address on his plans for the 2026 budget on Tuesday. Bayrou is facing an uphill battle to steer billions of euros worth of savings through a bitterly divided parliament, as France strives to lower its budget deficit to keep EU bean-counters and foreign investors at bay.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 13-14/2025
France and Europe: Increasingly Submitting to Islam
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute./July 13, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145166/
"We have imported another civilization."– Former MP Philippe de Villers, YouTube, "eight months ago."
"[W]here do those who do this come from? And why are they still here?" -- Éric Zemmour, president of Reconquest, a right-of-center party he created in 2021. When he spoke out, he was sentenced to heavy fines, X, June 1, 2025.
When illegal immigrants are arrested, all of them are given an "Obligation to Leave French Territory" (Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français/OQTF) and ordered to leave France immediately. No one, however, including the police, deports them, so most do not go.
France is being ravaged by the rise of Islam.
The United Kingdom, with a smaller proportion of Muslims than France or Belgium, seems also to be undergoing a slow submission to Islam.
Political parties in power for decades in all Western European countries -- except Italy -- seem deliberately blind to the danger facing them. Any party willing to take on the "great replacement," is deliberately kept out of power.
The Dutch election will be closely watched. Wilders's chances of winning again in October could promise a revival for the Netherlands -- a second Enlightenment -- and a regeneration for Europe.
For years in France every celebration has led to riots, looting and violence. The police rarely intervene. If a rioter is injured by a policeman, the policeman could end up in prison. Arrests are few. Often those who are arrested are immediately released.
Paris. June 21, 2025. Annual Music Festival. Ten years ago, orchestras played peacefully in the streets. Families strolled and stopped to listen. Security reigned and was taken for granted. In recent years, the atmosphere has changed -- radically. Families no longer go out. Young men coming from the Islamic suburbs flood the city, prevent musicians they do not like from playing by shouting insults and threats, and by attacking anyone who gets in their way. This year, more than a hundred rape complaints were filed with the police. Countless knife attacks have left dozens injured. Stores are looted. What took place in Paris also took place in every major city of France.
Three weeks earlier, on May 31st, the victory of a French soccer team sparked the same chaos. Young men coming from the Islamic suburbs swarmed Paris. They set fires in building entryways and in ransacked shops. Firefighters who responded were attacked. Ambulances transporting sick or injured people were obstructed. People out for an evening walk were assaulted and forced to abandon their vehicles to looters and arsonists. Banners from the victorious soccer club were hardly in sight but Algerian and Palestinian flags were everywhere.
For years in France every celebration has led to riots, looting and violence. The police rarely intervene. If a rioter is injured by a policeman, the policeman could end up in prison. Arrests are few. Often those who are arrested are immediately released.
Former MP Philippe de Villiers described the situation as a "conquering Islamism" creating a "civilizational jihad," "We have imported another civilization," he said. "French politicians do not want to see it."
Instead, French politicians, with few exceptions, appear to choose willful blindness. They never talk about what is taking place. When Éric Zemmour, president of Reconquest, a right-of-center party he created in 2021, spoke out, he was sentenced to heavy fines. "Is it possible," he recently wrote on X, "to ask the awkward questions: where do those who do this come from? And why are they still here?"
It is not hard to see where they come from. More than 500,000 new immigrants enter France from the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa. The police and intelligence services see where they come from. It is also just as easy to see why they are' still here. When illegal immigrants are arrested, all of them are given an "Obligation to Leave French Territory" O (Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français/OQTF) and ordered to leave France immediately. No one, however, including the police, deports them, so most do not go.
In addition to riots, there are sickening murders. They make the front pages for a few days and are then forgotten. Most of the murderers are those who should have been deported, but were not. When it comes time to try them, the French justice system is lax. On April 27, 2024, a young illegal Afghan migrant stabbed Matisse, a fifteen-year-old boy in Chateauroux, a small, quiet town in Loire Valley. The young migrant was sentenced on May, 28, 2025 to eight years in prison. If he does not make trouble there, he will be released in four years. Sometimes a murderer is not even tried, but viewed by a judge as not responsible for his actions. In 2017, Kobili Traoré, beat, tortured, and threw a Jewish grandmother, Dr. Sarah Halimi, to her death from the window of her apartment while he shouted "Allahu Akbar!". He was found not guilty by reason of marijuana and sent to a psychiatric institution. The murderer of Alban Gervaise -- a military doctor who had his throat slit in front of his daughter on May 22, 2022 in Marseilles by Mohamed L. (his name has not been released by the French authorities), but not on drugs -- said he had acted in the name of Allah. On June 25, 2025, a judge declared that he was mentally unfit to stand trial and will be required only to have a psychiatrist monitor him for a few months. Gervaise's widow published a statement saying she hopes the French state "will ask for forgiveness".
Attacks in France against Jews have been decreasing, slightly, for the past year. There were so many after October 7, 2023, that most Jews in France still hide their Jewishness. Their number in France is also decreasing. It is now below 400,000. Those who remain are often too poor to leave.
The number of Muslims, conversely, is increasing. Not all in France, of course, are rioters or criminals; many just want to live peacefully. The proportion of illegal immigrants among them, however, has grown, as well as their refusal to integrate into a French way of life. This trend is particularly high among young Muslims. A survey a few years ago showed that 65% of Muslim high school students place Sharia law above the laws of the republic. Meanwhile, in France's 751 no-go zones, everything is based on Sharia law. Radical imams there state, in accordance with Islamic dogma, that Islam must reign over the whole earth and that in France, it will soon reign supreme.
In May 2025, the French Department of the Interior published a 73-page report, "Muslim Brotherhood and Political Islamism in France", detailing how the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrates and takes root in the school system, the army, sports associations, and the police. The report speaks of a "threat to the republic" and adds that the Muslim Brotherhood does not advance through violence and attacks, but in a way less visible. In response, the government promised to act. It did nothing. Unless a radical political change takes place, the government will probably keep doing nothing.
What is taking shape in France, and has been underway for more than three decades, as analyzed by hordes of authors, is the much-mocked "great replacement" of Christians by Muslims, and of Christianity by Islam -- the same way the great Byzantine Empire was displaced throughout Turkey.
France is being ravaged by the rise of Islam.
When Renaud Camus came out with his book, The Great Replacement , in 2012, the mainstream media called him a conspiracy theorist. He has never been invited on television, and his publishers no longer want to publish what he writes.
Twenty years ago, in 2006, Georges Bensoussan, a historian, published The Lost Territories of the Republic. Since then, the "lost territories" have grown exponentially.
Only this year, on January 31, 2025, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the Islamic-leftist party France Unbowed noted that, "Yes, there is a great replacement." When he emphasized, bizarrely, that the great replacement was "necessary and positive", no one called him a conspiracy theorist.
In the 2022 presidential elections, Jean-Luc Mélnchon received 21.95% of the vote and 69% percent of the Muslim vote. He is planning to run again in the 2027 presidential elections. He is apparently hoping that sooner or later the great replacement will elect him.
France Unbowed, a radically anti-Israeli party, refuses to define Hamas as a terrorist movement. It includes several openly anti-Semitic members of parliament and an openly pro-Hamas European deputy, Rima Hassan.
President Macron, presumably seeking to avoid riots that are even more serious, sends messages of appeasement to whoever rules the no-go zones. After October 7, 2023, he supported Israel for a few days, then adopted a resolutely "pro-Palestinian" position He falsely accused the insanely careful Israeli army of deliberately murdering women and babies and said that it would be up to historians to decide if what the Israeli army was doing in Gaza constituted genocide. He refused to participate in a demonstration against anti-Semitism organized in Paris on November 12, 2023, when anti-Semitic attacks were on the rise. Last month, June 17-20, Macron tried to recognize a "Palestinian state" in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and to organize a major "pro-Palestinian" event at the United Nations. The Israeli army's action against Iran's regime and the destruction of its main nuclear sites by the United States forced him to postpone his plans. He then announced that he disapproved of what Israel and the United States had done in Iran. The Israeli government stated that Macron was leading a "crusade against Jewish state." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that recognizing a "Palestinian state" less than two years after the October 7, 2023, massacre would be "a major reward for terrorism ". Macron did not reply.
Boualem Sansal, 80, an Algerian novelist who became a French citizen and criticized the threat from Islam, was arrested in Algeria and sentenced to a five year prison term for writing an "attack on national unity". French Prime Minister François Bayrou stated that the condemnation was "unbearable," but never confronted Algeria. "The only weapons we now have in France," commented French writer Pascal Bruckner, a friend of Sansal, "are supplication, kneeling and hope."
The 2027 French presidential election will be crucial. France is the European country with the largest number of Muslims, and that part of its population is increasing rapidly. The growing weight of the Muslim vote means that, as the France Unbowed party seems to hope, France's situation will be impossible to reverse. France also remains the European country with the largest Jewish population. Each year, the number of cities where they can live in safety is fewer.
"[T]he chances of... France's turning into an Afro-Mediterranean country are not to be dismissed," wrote the French journalist Michel Gurfinkiel in 1997. " Twenty-eight years later, the Islamization of France, as he predicted, has, for the most part, proven true.
What is going on in France is, of course, affecting other Western European countries as well. Belgium is undergoing rapid Islamization. Brussels is 23% Muslim and a city where radical Islamic and anti-Semitic discourse is now widespread. In the Netherlands, Islam has become the country's second largest religion, and on November 6-7, 2024, violent anti-Jewish incidents took place in Amsterdam.
The United Kingdom, with a smaller proportion of Muslims than France or Belgium, seems also to be undergoing a slow submission to Islam. The mayors of several major cities — London, Oxford, Leeds, Birmingham —are pious Muslim. Hamid Patel, a mufti (a legal expert empowered to make rulings on religious matters), is currently the chair of Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, the British agency in charge of supervising organizations providing education, training, and childcare services.
The 2027 presidential election in France will be of critical importance. According to polls, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally, had a good chance of being elected president. She has said that if she won, she would strictly limit immigration to France and fight the country's Islamization. She immediately found herself sentenced to a five-year ban on running for public office, supposedly for embezzling EU funds. She was charged with using the EU money to pay European parliamentary assistants who also worked in Paris, François Bayrou did exactly the same thing and was acquitted by a Paris criminal court. Le Pen has appealed but may not be able to run.
The chairman of the National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, 29, could also have been a candidate, but on July 9, the police raided the headquarters of the National Rally party, after which two judges accused Bardella of illegally financing the 2022 and 2024 election campaigns and have threatened to ban him from running in 2027. "Never has an opposition party suffered such relentless persecution under the Fifth Republic", Bardella remarked.
In Belgium, the new prime minister, Bart De Wever, is a member of the New Flemish Alliance, a party opposed to the Islamization of the country . He is at least trying to take action.
In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, who won the Dutch elections in November 2023, immediately found himself facing a coalition of all the country's other parties, which banned together to block him from becoming prime minister. Wilders recently asked the deputies of his party to bring down the government. A new election has been scheduled for October 29, 2025.
In the UK, recent polls show that Reform UK, a right-wing political party committed to combating the advance of Islam, could win the most seats in a general election and that its leader, Nigel Farage, could then become prime minister. The next election in the United Kingdom, however, is not due any time soon.
In Germany, in elections a few months ago, Alternative für Deutschland [AfD] secured the second position and is now the country's leading party. Calls have already started for it to be banned.
Political parties in power for decades in all Western European countries except Italy seem deliberately blind to the danger facing them. Any party willing to take on the "great replacement," is deliberately kept out of power.
The Dutch election will be closely watched. Wilders's chances of winning again in October could promise a revival for the Netherlands -- a second Enlightenment -- and a regeneration for Europe.
The populations of Western Europe can see a danger approaching: the old continent appears to be teetering on the brink of a civilizational collapse and transmutation. Europe's survival and the values of Western civilization are seriously at stake.
**Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21750/france-and-europe-increasingly-submitting-to-islam
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

How unequal shelter access puts Israel’s Arab and Bedouin communities at greater risk
ANAN TELLO/Arab News/July 13, 2025
LONDON: As Iranian rockets shook East Jerusalem in mid-June, Rawan Shalaldeh sat in the dark while her seven-year-old son slept. She had put him to bed early and hid her phone to prevent the constant alerts from waking him, hoping sleep would shield her child from the terror above. “The bombing was very intense; the house would shake,” Shalaldeh, an architect and urban planner with the Israeli human rights and planning organization Bimkom, told Arab News. While residents in nearby Jewish districts rushed into reinforced shelters, Shalaldeh and her family in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Al-Zaytoun had nowhere to go. “East Jerusalem has only about 60 shelters, most of them inside schools,” she said. “They’re designed for students, not for neighborhood residents. They’re not available in every area, and they’re not enough for the population.”Her home is a 15-minute walk from the nearest shelter. “By the time we’d get there, the bombing would already be over,” she said. Instead, her family stayed inside, bracing for the next strike. “We could hear the sound but couldn’t tell if it was from the bombs or the interception systems,” she recalled. “We couldn’t sleep. It was terrifying. I fear it will happen again.”That fear is compounded by infrastructure gaps that make East Jerusalem’s residents more vulnerable. “Old homes in East Jerusalem don’t have shelters at all,” she said. “New homes with shelters are rare because it’s extremely hard to get a building permit here.”Israeli law requires new apartments to be built with protected rooms. However, homes built without permits are unlikely to follow the guidelines, leaving most without safe space. The contrast with West Jerusalem is stark. “There’s a big difference between East and West Jerusalem,” Shalaldeh said. “In the west, there are many shelters, and things are much easier for them.”Indeed, a June 17 report by Bimkom underscored these disparities. While West Jerusalem, home to a mostly Jewish population, has about 200 public shelters, East Jerusalem, which is home to nearly 400,000 Palestinians, has just one.
Even where shelters do exist they are often inaccessible. The municipality’s website fails to clearly mark their locations, and many residents are unaware they exist. Some shelters even remain locked during emergencies — especially at night. The report concluded that the current infrastructure is grossly inadequate, leaving most East Jerusalem residents without access to basic protection during attacks. Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem hold temporary residency IDs that lack any listed nationality and must be renewed every five years. Unlike Arab citizens of Israel — often referred to as “48 Arabs” — or residents of southern Israel, they do not have Israeli citizenship. For many Palestinian and Arab citizens of Israel, the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June laid bare a deeper inequity — one that extends beyond conflict and into the fabric of everyday life. “I haven’t spoken with any of my friends in the north yet, but I saw videos on Instagram,” Shalaldeh said. “Arab families tried to enter shelters and were prevented — because they’re Arab.”The war, she said, exposed an uncomfortable truth for many Arab citizens of Israel. “After the war, many realized they’re not treated like Israelis — even though they have citizenship, work in Israel and speak Hebrew.”
“There’s an Israeli policy that tries to blur their identity. But the war opened a lot of people’s eyes. It became clear they’re not equal, and the issue of shelters was shocking for many.”One town where this inequity became alarmingly visible was Tira, a predominantly Arab community in central Israel with roughly 27,000 residents. Though well within the range of missile attacks, Tira lacks adequate public shelters. “Most of the few shelters that exist are outdated, insufficient, or located far from residential areas,” Fakhri Masri, a political and social activist from Tira, told Arab News. “In emergencies, schools are often opened as temporary shelters, but they only serve nearby neighborhoods and can’t accommodate everyone. “Many homes do not have protected rooms, and this leaves families, especially those with children or elderly members, extremely vulnerable.”When sirens sounded during the attacks, panic set in. “It was the middle of the night,” Masri said. “Many of us had to wake our children, some still half asleep, and scramble for any kind of cover.”With official shelters scarce, families resorted to improvised solutions. “People ran into stairwells, lay on the ground away from windows, or tried to reach school shelters — if they were even open or nearby,” he said. Others simply fled to their cars or huddled outdoors, hoping distance from buildings would offer some safety. “It was chaotic, frightening, and it felt like we were left completely on our own,” Masri said. “The fear wasn’t just of rockets — it was also the fear of having no place to run to.”Underlying this crisis, he argued, is a deeper pattern of state neglect. “Arab towns like Tira were never provided with proper infrastructure or emergency planning like Jewish towns often are,” he said. “That in itself feels like a form of discrimination.
“It makes you feel invisible — like our safety doesn’t matter. It’s a constant reminder that we’re not being protected equally under the same state policies.
“We are not asking for anything more than what every citizen deserves — equal rights, equal protection, and the right to live in safety and dignity. It is a basic human right to feel secure at our own home, to know that our children have somewhere safe to go during an emergency.”
Masri, who has long campaigned for equal emergency protections, called on the Israeli government to end discrimination in shelter planning. “Treat Arab towns with the same seriousness and care as any other town,” he said. “We are people who want to live in peace. We want our children to grow up in a country where safety is not a privilege but a right — for everyone, Jewish and Arab alike. “Until that happens, we will keep raising our voices and demanding fairness, because no one should be left behind.”The picture is similar for the roughly 100,000 Bedouin who live across 35 unrecognized villages in the Negev and Galilee regions, often in makeshift homes that provide little protection. Many of these villages are near sensitive sites targeted by Iran. One such village is Wadi Al-Na’am, the largest unrecognized village in Israel, home to about 15,000 Bedouin residents in the southern Negev desert. “When we say unrecognized, it means we have nothing,” said Najib Abu Bnaeh, head of the village’s emergency team and a member of its local council. “No roads, no electricity, no running water — and certainly no shelters. “During wars, people flee the villages. They hide in caves, under bridges — any place they can find.”
IN NUMBERS
• 250 Shelters built across Negev since Oct. 7, 2023 — half of them by the state.
• 60 School-based shelters in East Jerusalem, concentrated in select locations.
• 1 Public shelter in East Jerusalem.
• 200 Public shelters in West Jerusalem.
(Source: Bimkom)
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, the army began installing a small number of shelters in unrecognized villages. But Abu Bnaeh said that these efforts have fallen short. “In our village, they built two structures,” he said. “But they have no ceilings, so they don’t protect from anything.” He estimates that more than 45,000 protective buildings are needed across all unrecognized villages. As the head of Wadi Al-Na’am’s emergency response team, Abu Bnaeh leads a group of 20 volunteers. Together, they assist residents during missile alerts, evacuating families to shelters in nearby townships such as Segev Shalom and Rahat, and delivering food and medicine. “We train people how to take cover and survive,” he said. “We also help train teams in other villages how to respond to injuries, missiles and emergencies. “The best way to protect people is simple. Recognize the villages. Allow us to build shelters.”Even recognized villages face issues. In Um Bateen, officially recognized in 2004, basic infrastructure is still missing. “Although our village is recognized, we still don’t have electricity,” Samera Abo Kaf, a resident of the 8,000-strong community, told Arab News. “There are 48 Bedouin villages in northern Israel. And even those recognized look nothing like Jewish towns nearby.”Building legally is nearly impossible. “The state refuses to recognize the land we’ve lived on for generations,” she said. “So, we build anyway — out of necessity. But that means living in fear; of winter collapsing our roofs, or bulldozers tearing our homes down.”Abo Kaf said that the contrast is obvious during her commute. “I pass Beer Sheva and Omer — trees, paved roads, tall buildings. It’s painful. Just 15 minutes away, life is so different. “And I come from a village that is, in many ways, better off than others,” she added. With each new conflict, the fear returns. “Israel is a country with many enemies — it’s no secret,” Abo Kaf said. “Every few years, we go through another war. And we Bedouins have no shelters. None. “So not only are our homes at risk of demolition, but we also live with the threat of rockets. It’s absurd. It’s infuriating. If something doesn’t change, there’s no future.”Michal Braier, Bimkom’s head of research, said that no government body had responded to its report, though many civil society organizations have supported its findings based on specific cases. “There are stark protection gaps between high- and low-income communities,” she told Arab News. “And most Arab and Palestinian communities rank low on socio-economic indicators. “This is a very neo-liberal planning and development policy that, by definition, leaves the weak behind.”

UK’s steady, silent decline a worrying echo of the 1970s
Dr. John Sfakianakis//Arab News/July 13, 2025
In July 2025, the question of whether the UK is in decline no longer feels rhetorical in nature, it feels like resigned recognition of the fact. One year into Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, the chaos and dysfunction of the Johnson-Truss era of Conservative rule have faded. But so too has momentum. A brittle, overstretched economic model, persistent underinvestment and political caution have combined to leave the country in a state of quiet regression. Britain in 2025 bears an uncomfortable resemblance to that of the 1970s, not in terms of the headlines but in the undercurrents. Back then, the UK faced a decade of stagflation, industrial unrest, a weakening global role and rising domestic disillusionment. The country suffered a brain drain, watched investors flee and relied on an International Monetary Fund bailout to steady its finances. By 1979, it had become, in the words of many commentators, “the sick man of Europe.”Fast forward to 2025 and economic growth once again remains stagnant, with gross domestic product expected to rise by a mere 1.2 percent.
While the IMF is not directly involved this time, the UK’s fiscal landscape nevertheless appears increasingly precarious. National debt has soared to 105 percent of GDP, taxes are set to climb further and rising interest costs threaten to outstrip growth over the next five years. Inflation has subsided, yet public services continue to face significant strains.
The Labour Party has managed to stabilize political tensions but failed to inspire confidence in its ability to achieve long-term revitalization. Taxation levels have reached historic postwar highs, with threshold freezes subtly shifting middle earners into higher tax brackets. Much like during the 1970s, the middle class feels excessively taxed, inadequately rewarded and uncertain about the future.And so, the similarities between the two eras deepen. In the late 1970s, the middle class, once the engine of postwar prosperity, similarly found itself squeezed between rising prices and falling state performance. Half a century later, the same group is once again under siege. Wages are stagnant in real terms, mortgage payments have surged, rising energy bills are biting deeper into family budgets, and private education and childcare have become luxuries.
Homeownership, a once-solid symbol of middle-class stability, is increasingly out of reach. Professional families now live precariously on credit, vulnerable to shocks and increasingly disillusioned with the political class.
The outcome of all this? A demographic shift reminiscent of the brain drain witnessed in the 1970s. This decline, driven mainly by reduced work opportunities and study visa allocations, underscores a troubling issue: the UK is losing its upward potential while experiencing a contraction of its talent pool.
London, once a magnet for international capital, entrepreneurs and academics, is now seeing its allure dim. Paris, Frankfurt and even Amsterdam are claiming gains in finance and tech. The City of London remains resilient but its future feels encumbered by Brexit, bureaucracy and uncertainty. An exodus from the London Stock Exchange marks a pivotal moment for the UK’s financial sector, the Confederation of British Industry has warned. Since 2016, 213 firms have delisted amid a wave of overseas listings, private takeovers and waning investor interest in UK stocks. Since Brexit, exports of UK goods have lagged behind its G7 peers, investment has slowed and regulatory divergence has raised costs, cumulatively undermining business confidence, cross-border trade and the UK’s global competitiveness.
Meanwhile, both middle-class professionals and high-net-worth individuals have increasingly relocated to Canada, Australia, the UAE, Singapore and the US, driven in part by tax pressures and the erosion of the UK’s “non-dom” regime. It is a quiet exodus reminiscent of the 1970s. Back then, disillusionment sparked radical realignment and Thatcherism eventually swept away the postwar consensus in favor of market liberalism. In 2025, the response is more muted. The Reform UK party is rising on the political right, while Labour governs by managerialism. The country has chosen order over ambition. But stability, on its own, is not prosperity.
Even Britain’s foreign policy posture echoes the previous decades. The country is active on the war in Ukraine, committed to NATO and respected diplomatically. But its economic weight no longer matches its strategic vocabulary. As in the 1970s, the UK of today retains influence through alliances, not autonomy. London, once a magnet for international capital, entrepreneurs and academics, is now seeing its allure dim.
There are differences between the eras, too, of course. Britain in 2025 is more diverse, more peaceful and less industrial than it was in the 1970s. The labor market is more flexible, inflation is less volatile. But the psychological parallels are stark. Now, as then, there exists a pervasive sense that the country is falling behind, that its best days might be behind it and that no political force has yet made a convincing case for how to reverse the slide.
Driven more by ideology than evidence, the UK, unlike Germany or Canada, is now one of the few countries to impose a 20 percent value-added tax on private education, a policy that risks placing strain on the state sector without meaningfully reducing inequality.
What is striking is not the urgency of the decline, it is its normalization. As it did in the late 1970s, Britain is adjusting to lowered expectations; it still functions but it no longer aspires. And while it continues to avoid collapse, it increasingly tolerates stagnation and mediocrity.
The lesson of the 1970s was not just about endurance, it was about transformation. That decade ended with a revolution in Britain’s political economy, one that reshaped its state, markets and global role for a generation. In 2025, the question is not whether the UK can survive its decline, it is whether the nation can find the courage to confront it. Britain today has the institutions, human capital and democratic depth to recover. But that recovery will not come from managerial politics or minimal policy. It will require imagination and the willingness to once again ask what kind of country it wants to be. Decline, when it is met with denial, becomes destiny. Acknowledged, it can become a moment of aspiration.
That was the lesson of the 1970s. It remains the lesson today. To reverse this present course, Britain will need more than competent administration; it must abandon its reliance on short-term fiscal management and embrace a long-term economic and institutional strategy grounded in investment, productivity and social cohesion.
To revitalize the nation, the development of a fresh growth strategy, one that recognizes the difference between stable GDP figures and actual economic vitality, is critical. The stock market alone does not represent the health of the economy.
Secondly, comprehensive reform of the tax system is overdue. Threshold freezes and stealth increases have disproportionately hurt the middle and aspiring classes, while failing to restore fiscal strength. Thirdly, the state must regain its strategic capability, not in the form of centralized bureaucracy but in institutional capacity. Fourthly, a radical approach to human capital is essential. From early childhood to lifelong learning, Britain’s skills development system is fragmented and underfunded. Finally, a national narrative is needed. For too long, the UK’s political class has offered the rhetoric of survival and slogans of heritage, rather than a persuasive account of the future. Britain’s institutions remain intact. Its rule of law remains strong. Its people are creative, tolerant and adaptive. But these strengths must be mobilized, through ideas, investment and leadership that transcend the default settings of recent decades.
It was once said that Britain “muddles through” — but muddling has become a strategy, and it is one that can no longer cope with the demands of a complex and shifting world.
The 1970s did not mark the end of the UK, they were a turning point. What followed was a redefinition of the state, the market and Britain’s place in the world. In 2025, another pivot is required. As Shakespeare warned, the fault lies not in fate but in our own hands. The UK’s decline is not preordained, but the result of strategic drift and political timidity.
**Dr. John Sfakianakis is chief economist at the Gulf Research Center.

Europe has the chance to take a quantum leap
Sona Muzikarova/Arab News/July 13, 2025
By now, it is obvious that the EU must confront its lack of military might and economic competitiveness. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that America is no longer “primarily focused on Europe’s security.” A 2024 report on European competitiveness by Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister, warned that the EU must foster innovation to maintain its industrial relevance. Clearly, reliance on past alliances and inherited advantages is no longer a viable option for Europe. Addressing these challenges will require the building of new alliances and development of new advantages, especially in quantum computing. While much has been said about the ability of artificial intelligence to shift the balance of global power, the quieter quantum revolution promises to generate equally meaningful breakthroughs in industry, cybersecurity and defense strategy. And whereas the EU lags far behind China and the US in AI and advanced semiconductors, it still has a chance to take the lead in quantum technologies. But the window of opportunity is closing fast.
Quantum computing is not just a faster version of classical computing, it is an entirely new form of information processing. Instead of relying on binary code, quantum computers use qubits (quantum bits) that can exist in multiple states simultaneously, allowing them to solve complex problems concurrently, rather than sequentially. While these supercharged computers remain years away from maturity, owing to instability and high error rates, several other types of quantum technology are already in use. Quantum sensors are reshaping military operations and nuclear deterrence, for example, thanks to their remarkable precision. Communications backed by quantum cryptography are protecting against increasingly advanced and frequent cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and intellectual property. And quantum algorithms are driving gains in industrial logistics and military simulations.
The development of quantum capabilities would enable Europe to bolster its defenses. Along NATO’s eastern flank, and particularly in Ukraine, such advanced computing could power navigation systems that work even in GPS-denied environments, sensors that can detect stealth aircraft and submarines, and monitoring tools able to expose hidden enemy activities.
Recognizing the potential of quantum technologies for improvements to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has indicated its willingness to develop these technologies. Europe must not be caught flat-footed. From a competitiveness standpoint, quantum tech could revitalize Europe’s ailing automotive sector, with advanced modeling helping to accelerate battery innovation.
Quantum computing could also increase the continent’s energy competitiveness by stabilizing its renewable-heavy power grids and boost its strong pharmaceutical sector by supercharging drug discovery and improving early detection of diseases. These developments would also drive progress toward climate goals, reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports and ease the burden on healthcare systems. Fortunately, Europe is entering the quantum race in a strong position. Its research institutions, including QuTech in the Netherlands and Forschungszentrum Julich in Germany, are globally competitive. The continent trains more quantum engineers than any other, hosts nearly a quarter of the world’s quantum tech companies and is a global leader in quantum sensing and communications. The bloc’s fragmented funding and governance landscape could prove lethal, offsetting its myriad technical strengths.
The EU has also built a political consensus around the strategic importance of quantum technologies. The Quantum Flagship, the European Commission’s €1 billion ($1.2 billion) research and development initiative, has backed commercial ventures such as Pasqal and IQM, both of which build quantum hardware. The EU has also allocated billions of euros to programs such as the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure initiative and the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. When it comes to scaling up the production of quantum hardware, Europe’s precision manufacturing base, including German machines and Dutch lithography, might prove advantageous.
But a familiar obstacle, the so-called valley of death between breakthroughs in the lab and success in the marketplace, might negate these advantages. Europe’s quantum startups receive less private financing than their counterparts in the US, forcing many to relocate to North America or Asia in search of capital. Compared with America’s private investment and defense-driven approach or China’s state-backed strategy, the EU’s fragmented funding and governance landscape could prove lethal, offsetting the bloc’s myriad technical strengths.
To convert the potential of quantum tech into a strategic advantage, several principles should be guiding EU policy. Firstly, when it comes to research and development, the bloc should focus on usage cases that will enable it to achieve quick wins in legacy sectors such as pharmaceuticals, the automotive industry and green energy.
At the same time, a European version of DARPA should be established to fund high-risk, dual-use quantum technologies that have immediate defense and cybersecurity applications.
Secondly, EU member states should establish protective safeguards, including export controls, investment screening mechanisms and the protection of intellectual property rights for sensitive quantum research that is vulnerable to espionage or foreign acquisition.This might require the EU to form partnerships with other trusted democracies. Deeper quantum alliances could also allow the bloc to have a greater effect on the setting of global standards, while reducing its dependence on supply chains in adversarial countries. Most importantly, there must be a realization that Europe’s quantum ambitions demand more than just technical excellence; they will require political courage as well. For too long, Europe has watched from the sidelines as the US and China defined the rules of emerging tech.
Quantum computing presents the continent with a rare chance to take the reins. But to seize this opportunity, European policymakers must embrace a culture of deliberate risk-taking. The outcome of the quantum tech race will ultimately come down to whether Europe still believes in its capacity to lead. Sona Muzikarova, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a Mason fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, is a former economist at the European Central Bank, a former diplomat at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and a former senior adviser to the deputy minister of foreign affairs of the Slovak Republic. ©Project Syndicate

Israel seeks to bypass Palestinian leaders yet again
Daoud Kuttab/Arab News/July 13, 2025
One of the defining features of colonial regimes is a strategy of divide and rule. Successive Israeli governments have repeatedly resorted to this tactic to undermine Palestinian unity and erase any semblance of a collective Palestinian national identity.
Soon after its occupation began in 1967, Israel sought to empower Palestinian leaders more loyal to Jordan than to the Palestine Liberation Organization. But the tide turned in 1974, when the Arab League Summit in Rabat officially recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. That same year, Yasser Arafat addressed the UN with his now-iconic speech, raising both an olive branch and a pistol. He urged the world to support peace and warned against those who would snatch away the olive branch. Rather than respond in kind, Israel signed a separate peace agreement with Egypt — one that deliberately sidelined the PLO.
Israel’s efforts to marginalize Palestinian nationalism continued into the 1980s. A growing alliance of nationalist mayors, intellectuals and civil society leaders began to gain popularity in the Occupied Territories. In 1980, an underground Israeli settler cell planted car bombs targeting three prominent West Bank mayors. While none were killed, the attacks left lasting scars: Nablus Mayor Bassam Shakaa lost both legs and Ramallah Mayor Karim Khalaf lost part of one leg. Rather than silence them, the attacks elevated these mayors to national hero status.
When intimidation failed, Israel turned to a different colonial tactic — pitting rural Palestinians against the urban leadership. Menahem Milson, a Hebrew University professor and Israeli official, spearheaded the creation of the “village leagues.” These bodies were meant to act as an alternative to the overwhelmingly pro-PLO nationalist movement. While they managed to attract a few collaborators, especially around Hebron, they were widely rejected by the Palestinian public.
By 1988, the situation had reached boiling point. Inspired by nonviolent movements like those led by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Palestinians launched the first Intifada — a largely nonviolent uprising demanding freedom. Yet even then, Israel’s divide-and-rule strategy persisted. During the 1970s, Israel had allowed Islamist groups to grow in influence as a counterweight to secular nationalists. This led to the formation of Hamas in Gaza, a group that participated in the Intifada but soon took a more radical, violent path. Even after the Oslo Accords were signed, Hamas worked to undermine the peace process.
When intimidation failed, Israel turned to a different colonial tactic — pitting rural Palestinians against the urban leadership. That process unraveled entirely in 1995, when a right-wing Israeli extremist assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposed Oslo, was narrowly elected shortly thereafter. With Rabin gone and Israeli politics turning sharply rightward, the peace process ground to a halt.
In the post-Arafat era, Israel’s right-wing governments — dominated by religious nationalists — have shown little interest in engaging with legitimate Palestinian leaders. This has been true under both Arafat and his more moderate successor, Mahmoud Abbas. Following the brutal Hamas attack in October 2023, the Israeli government used the violence not only to wage war on Hamas and the Palestinian people in Gaza, but also to further marginalize the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, as well as refugee camps in the West Bank.
Despite quietly relying on the PA for security coordination, Netanyahu and his far-right ministers — such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — have consistently denied the PA any respect or political legitimacy. Their scorched-earth approach has extended even to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which they have sought to dismantle in the false hope that doing so will erase the Palestinian right of return.
Now, with international support for Palestinian self-determination growing — and as France and Saudi Arabia prepare to co-chair a high-level UN conference on the two-state solution — Israel is doubling down on its efforts to delegitimize Palestinian nationalism. The latest twist in this decades-old playbook? Reviving the old village leagues tactic. Some tribal and local figures are again being courted to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for economic incentives, such as work permits. This new scheme, like its predecessors, is designed to bypass the PLO and weaken the Ramallah-based leadership.
But such efforts are doomed to fail. There is no path to peace that avoids direct negotiations with the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people. Abbas, for all his critics, remains a committed advocate of nonviolence and coexistence. If Israel and the international community are truly interested in peace, they must engage with Abbas and the PLO in good faith — and work toward a permanent agreement that includes the creation of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The time to act is now.
**Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. He is the author of “State of Palestine NOW: Practical and Logical Arguments for the Best Way to Bring Peace to the Middle East.” X: @daoudkuttab

Selected Tweets for 13 July/2025
Amine Bar-Julius Iskandar
Either we persist with the Greater Lie in what Arnold Toynbee would name a civilizational suicide, or we gather the courage to honestly consider a republic of Mount Lebanon.

Amine Bar-Julius Iskandar
https://x.com/i/status/1944287369332453414
Our identity ܗܝܝܘܬܐ
Our spirituality ܪܘܚܢܝܘܬܐ
Our faith. ܗܝܡܢܘܬܐ
Our cause and only cause ܫܬܘܦܝܐ

ZeinaMansour1
Mr. President
Allow us to highlight concerns about your special envoy Barack, regarding conflict of interest due to his pro-Islamist, anti-Federalist, Syrian Nationalist leanings, alongside his business ties. An alternative envoy might offer a balanced approach.
@realDonaldTrump