English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 23/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
The Weed & Good Wheat Seed Parable/The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field
Matthew 13/24-30: “Jesus put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?”But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 22-23/2025
Saint Elias (Elijah) the Living: Prophet of Fire, Ascension, and Holy Zeal/Elias Bejjani/July 20/2025
Link To A Video  Commentary by Dr. Ghazi Al-Masri: "The Druze Tragedy in Sweida, Its Roots, Complexities, and Historical Context
Journalist Hajar Knaiano, was ambushed in a "judicial-security" operation upon arriving at Beirut Airport
Barrack Calls for Clarity on Weapons, Warns of Escalation
Report: 'Nothing new' after Barrack's 3rd visit to Beirut
Barrack meets Berri, says US 'never gonna abandon Lebanon'
Reports: Berri proposes Israel halt attacks for 15 days for disarmament to begin
Reports: Barrack threatens US withdrawal from Lebanese file, to visit Lebanon again this summer
Israel speaks on Hezbollah's disarmament: Tom Barrack's approach sparks controversy
Israeli strike targets vehicle near Tebnine Governmental Hospital
President Aoun to Bahraini press delegation: Our decision to save the state is final, Lebanon awaits you
Selective accountability: Lebanese Parliament acts on Bouchikian amid demands for broader justice
Hezbollah's Naim Qassem condemns Gaza assault, calls for action against Israel
Will Lebanon Choose Sovereignty or Let Others Decide Its Fate

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 22-23/2025
US envoy urges Syria’s Sharaa to revise policy or risk fragmentation
US envoy to lead meeting between Syria, Israel later this week: Report
Turkey says it will intervene against any attempt to divide Syria
Tribal Leader Says Evacuations from Syria’s Sweida are ‘Temporary’
Saudi-Syrian investment forum to be held in Damascus on Wednesday
US targets Houthis with fresh sanctions
Gaza hospital: 21 children dead from starvation, malnutrition in 72 hours
Saudi Cabinet backs Syria reconstruction efforts, urges global action to end Gaza war and aid blockade
WFP warns Gaza is on brink of full scale famine
UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
Israeli far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans
Iran says will not halt nuclear enrichment ahead of European talks
Iran: 27 inmates are still at large following Israeli airstrike
Egypt current account deficit narrows to $13.2bn in 9 months through March

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 22-23/2025
ISIS Extremism or Islamic Doctrine?/Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/July 22/2025
Why Al-Jazeera Should Be Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/July 21/2025
Iran: Its Foreign Ministry's Agents of Influence in Sweden and the US/Nima Gholam Ali Pour/Gatestone Institute/July 22/2025
Arab food insecurity: A recipe for regional chaos/Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed/Arab News/July 22, 2025
The Middle East and the Scourge of Political Poverty/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 22/2025
Why No States for the Druze or the Kurds?/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/This is Beirutt/July 22/2025
Selected Tweets for 22 July/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 22-23/2025
Saint Elias (Elijah) the Living: Prophet of Fire, Ascension, and Holy Zeal
Elias Bejjani/July 20/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145366/
Lebanon, together with the Maronite Church and believers everywhere, celebrates on July 20 the Feast of the Prophet Elijah—known in our tradition as Saint Elias the Living. He was a fiery prophet who stood fearlessly before kings and tyrants, boldly proclaiming God's word in a time of fear, corruption, and spiritual decline. He was a prophet of confrontation, a man of unwavering faith and divine fire—a flame that never goes out, a zeal that burns away lies and betrayal.
Elijah in the Bible: The Voice of Truth Against Tyranny
Elijah appeared during the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who led Israel into idolatry and worship of Baal. But Elijah stood firm and declared: “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand” (1 Kings 17:1). With this declaration, he began his prophetic mission—defying earthly powers, false worship, and spiritual decay without fear or compromise. God was with him in power. Elijah raised the widow’s son from death, called down fire from heaven, parted the waters of the Jordan, and ascended alive into heaven in a chariot of fire. He was a forerunner of Christ—the victorious one—and a symbol of every person who fights for truth and righteousness.
The Transfiguration of Elijah and Moses with Christ: A Revelation of Glory, Prophecy, and the Law
In a moment beyond description, Jesus ascended a high mountain with His three disciples: Peter, James, and John. There, before their eyes, “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him (Matthew 17:3), in a scene where prophecy met the Law, and the ancient testimony bore witness to the glory to come. The Evangelist Luke tells us that Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31)—a clear reference to His crucifixion and resurrection. Then came the voice of the Heavenly Father from the cloud, saying: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5). Thus, Elijah the prophet—who never tasted death—stood alongside Moses to bear witness to Christ, the incarnate Word, who fulfilled all the prophecies and brought the Law to its fullness.
The Miracles of Saint Elijah
He prayed, and the heavens were shut: It did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
(1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:1; James 5:17; Luke 4:25)
The ravens brought him food: God commanded the ravens to feed him.
(1 Kings 17:4)
He blessed the widow’s flour and oil: The jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not run dry.
(1 Kings 17:8–9)
He raised the widow’s son from the dead: Elijah cried out to the Lord, and the child’s life returned to him.
(1 Kings 17:17–24)
Fire from heaven consumed the sacrifice: The altar was burned, the offering was accepted, and the prophets of Baal were destroyed.
(1 Kings 18:29–40)
His prophecy against King Ahaziah was fulfilled: The king died as Elijah had foretold.
(2 Kings 1; 2 Kings 9:27–28)
He parted the Jordan River with his mantle: The waters divided, and he crossed on dry ground.
(2 Kings 2:8)
Fire from heaven consumed the messengers of King Ahaziah: Twice Elijah called down fire from heaven, and it devoured the captains and their men.
(2 Kings 1:10–14)
His ascension into heaven: Elijah was taken up by a chariot of fire and ascended to heaven in a whirlwind.
(2 Kings 2:11–12)
The Character of Elijah: Zeal, Courage, and Prayer
Elijah wasn’t just a prophet—he was truly a man of God. He was zealous for the Lord’s commandments, fearless before kings, and humble in the presence of God. He wept and prayed, and God revealed Himself not in the earthquake or fire, but in a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12). Elijah was a man of prayer and hope. When he cried out to heaven, rain fell after three and a half years of drought. When he prayed for the widow in Zarephath, God raised her son back to life. Elijah was God's voice in a time of drought—His hand of mercy in an age of despair.
Mount Carmel: The Fire of Confrontation
On Mount Carmel, Elijah stood alone against 450 prophets of Baal. He challenged the people, saying: “If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21). The prophets of Baal prayed all day, but no fire came. Then Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord, poured water over the sacrifice three times, and cried out: “Answer me, O Lord, so that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God!”(1 Kings 18:36-37) God answered with fire from heaven—it consumed the offering, the stones, and even the water. The people fell to the ground and cried out: “The Lord, He is God!”Then Elijah prayed again, and the rain returned after years of drought, soaking the thirsty land (1 Kings 18:42–45).
The Fiery Ascension and the Glory of Christ
After fulfilling his mission, Elijah struck the waters of the Jordan with his cloak and crossed on dry ground with his disciple Elisha. Then, “suddenly, a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared... and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). He did not die—he was taken up in glory. And because he did not taste death, Elijah later appeared with Moses during the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor (Luke 9:30). This showed the union of the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Light of the world.
Elijah in Zarephath: The Miracle on Lebanese Soil
The Gospel of Luke tells us: “There were many widows in Israel... yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon” (Luke 4:26). That widow gave him bread from her poverty, and God blessed her flour and oil, and later brought her dead son back to life through Elijah’s prayer. So the first miracle of resurrection took place in Lebanon. And the blessing of Elijah touched our land—and began here.
Lebanon and Saint Elias: A Spiritual and Historic Bond
Few prophets are as closely tied to Lebanon as Saint Elias. From Zarephath of Sidon to Mount Hermon, from ancient churches bearing his name in the mountains and valleys, to the caves where monks sought his spirit, Lebanon holds Elijah close in heart and soul. The great Lebanese thinker Fouad Ephrem al-Boustani wrote in his Book of Days: “This is the feast that lights the wounds of the nation—not to deepen them, but to show that the fire of God’s truth is still alive. And in every generation, a new Elijah must rise—to bear witness, to call down rain, and to restore hope to the people.” He called him “The Prophet of Lebanon”—because he walked our soil, breathed our air, and glorified God on our mountains.
Saint Elias and the Lebanese Identity
Saint Elias reflects the very soul of Lebanon: faith in freedom, rejection of false gods, and speaking truth to tyranny. Today, as Lebanon suffers under the oppression of the Iranian occupation and its armed proxies, we need Elijah’s spirit more than ever—a spirit that does not fear, does not bow to Baal, and does not trade truth for power. He is the protector of the free, the voice of courage, the prophet of justice, and the standard-bearer of divine truth on every mountaintop.
The Message of His Feast Today
In an age of compromise, idolatry, and moral decay, we need a new Elijah: A prophet who will not be silent, who will burn with holy zeal, and who will cleanse the land of falsehood and fear. Let us pray through his intercession that the Lord would once again send the rain—not only from the skies, but the rain of grace, of repentance, and of spiritual renewal.
A Prayer for Lebanon
O Saint Elias the Living, Prophet of fire and truth, You who called down rain and fire by your prayers, Send peace upon our suffering Lebanon, Give courage to our people, And renew in our Church the spirit of prophecy. Teach us to stand like you stood, To speak truth like you spoke, And to remain faithful to the Lord alone. Let your fire hover over this land, So that Lebanon may remain forever A nation of faith and freedom, From generation to generation. Amen.

Link To A Video  Commentary by Dr. Ghazi Al-Masri: "The Druze Tragedy in Sweida, Its Roots, Complexities, and Historical Context
Ahmad Al-Sharaa (Al-Julani) is a product of an Anglo-Saxon–Turkish & Qatari Scheme
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145527/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZD-wBO-fEk
July 22, 2025
It is crucial for the Syrian people—as well as the broader Arab world and Western countries—to understand that Ahmad Al-Sharaa (Al-Julani) is a product of an Anglo-Saxon–Turkish–Qatari agreement that was imposed on other nations under specific conditions. Chief among these conditions is to preserve the Syrian state and ultimately sign a peace treaty with the State of Israel.
However, beneath the surface, each of Al-Sharaa's backers has its own distinct agenda—none of which aligns with the genuine aspirations of the authentic Syrian people.
Sooner or later, everyone will move to bring down Al-Sharaa, especially after his repeated failures and his obvious inability to fulfill the promises he made both to the Arabs and the West.
The more alarming issue, however, is that the Arab world remains entirely passive—acted upon, not acting.
In summary, Syria has effectively become a battlefield for international rivalries, while its people have been reduced to mere tools and disposable instruments. As for the so-called transitional authority, it operates as nothing more than a public employee.

Journalist Hajar Knaiano, was ambushed in a "judicial-security" operation upon arriving at Beirut Airport
Makram Rabah/Face Book/July 22/2025
Last night, our friend, investigative journalist Hajar Knaiano, was ambushed in a "judicial-security" operation upon arriving at Beirut Airport. Her passport and electronic devices were confiscated on orders from a party that claims to represent justice.
This is a blatant violation and assault on civil liberties, under a pre-packaged accusation: “suspicion of collaboration.” It’s the same charge frequently deployed against any journalist who dares to expose drug trafficking networks—especially those linked to the Captagon axis that has poisoned the region for decades.What happened to Hajar is a sobering reminder that judicial independence is not a luxury—it is a cornerstone in the struggle to reclaim the state. When the judiciary is weaponized as a policing tool, disarming Lebanon’s deep state becomes an empty slogan in a living hell. @hajar_knio

Barrack Calls for Clarity on Weapons, Warns of Escalation
This is Beirut/July 22/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145540/
United States envoy Tom Barrack called on the Lebanese government on Tuesday to make a clear decision on how to implement disarmament, warning that time is running out to avoid military escalation. In an interview with Al Jadeed TV, Barrack said, “President Donald Trump wants to help Lebanon in these difficult times,” noting that “there is a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, but both sides are struggling to implement it. We are here to help bring peace, but there is a timeline, and we are under pressure to reach an agreement.” Barrack stressed that disarmament is a Lebanese matter: “I’m not asking for disarmament – the law already states there is only one military institution in Lebanon. Lebanon must decide how to enforce that law.” He added, “Light and heavy weapons must be removed, but this is not the responsibility of the United States.”When asked about the absence of guarantees from Israel to uphold a ceasefire, he replied, “I’m not a negotiator. I’m a political mediator working to promote a positive outcome between the parties. Time is running out, and regional conditions demand stability.”Sources cited by Al Hadath in Beirut said that Barrack’s visit yielded no new outcomes, mirroring the results of his previous trip. Lebanon reportedly asked the US to meet one of its demands to use as leverage in negotiations with Hezbollah. The same sources warned that Hezbollah is attempting to shift responsibility onto the state to distance itself from potential consequences, while Israel has refused to make any concessions. They concluded that Barrack “offered nothing new and took nothing back,” adding that Lebanon appears to be headed toward a new phase of military confrontation.

Report: 'Nothing new' after Barrack's 3rd visit to Beirut
Naharnet/July 22/2025
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s current visit to Lebanon “ended with the same outcome of the previous visit,” Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel quoted “sources in Beirut” as saying on Tuesday. “Hezbollah is seeking to put the blame on the state in order to evade its responsibility,” the sources said adding that “Lebanon has asked the Americans to fulfill one of its demands so that it can face Hezbollah with it.”Israel has, however, refused to offer any concession, the sources added. Warning that “the current state of procrastination opens the door to a military escalation,” the sources said “everyone agrees that Lebanon is headed to a new form of military confrontation.”“Barrack’s visit can be summarized by saying that he did not offer anything new and did not take anything new,” the sources went on to say.Official Lebanese sources later told Al-Arabiya that "Washington is insisting on devising a timetable for the handover of Hezbollah’s arms before the end of the year.""Barrack did not offer any U.S. guarantees as to Israel's withdrawal from the five points," the sources added."The Lebanese response to Barrack's proposal did not include any timetables or practical steps," the sources said, adding that "Lebanon asked Washington to press Israel to gradually withdraw from the South."

Barrack meets Berri, says US 'never gonna abandon Lebanon'
Naharnet/July 22/2025
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said Tuesday that he held a "great" meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri and that he is optimistic about his ongoing visit to Lebanon. The U.S. "is never gonna abandon Lebanon," he told reporters as he arrived for the talks.Asked by a reporter “why wouldn’t the U.S. give any guarantees to Lebanon,” after his meeting with Berri, Barrack said: “There is no problem with guarantees. We’re all working through it. Everything is moving. You should all be hopeful. We’re gonna get regional stability. Everything is gonna be okay.”Barrack had met Monday and Tuesday with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and a host of political, religious and financial figures. In an interview with Tele Liban, Barrack said his talks with Aoun and Salam were constructive and full of hope, adding that progress is being achieved. He had said earlier in the day that he returned to Lebanon because U.S. President Donald Trump is interested in reaching “regional stability” and because Lebanon is the “center of that process.”Noting that the U.S. wants “security” and “economic prosperity” in Lebanon, Barrack pointed out that the U.S. cannot “compel” Israel to do or not do “anything.”The Presidency meanwhile said that Aoun handed Barrack, in the name of the Lebanese state, a "draft comprehensive memo for the implementation of everything that Lebanon has pledged -- from the November 27, 2024 declaration to the Lebanese government’s ministerial statement to especially the president’s inaugural speech.”Barrack's visit to Lebanon comes amid ongoing domestic and international pressure for Hezbollah to give up its remaining arsenal after a bruising war with Israel that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in November.

Reports: Berri proposes Israel halt attacks for 15 days for disarmament to begin
Naharnet/July 22/2025
Speaker Nabih Berri will propose to U.S. envoy Tom Barrack that Israel fully halt its attacks for 15 days after which Lebanon would begin removing what’s left of Hezbollah’s arms, TV networks said ahead of the two men’s meeting on Tuesday. "The meeting between Berri and Barrack was very positive and we can say that it dispelled the pessimistic atmosphere that had recently prevailed," sources told LBCI television. Other sources meanwhile told MTV that Barrack had told officials whom he met with that the Lebanese response was incomplete. "The Lebanese response was unified and what Barrack heard in Baabda he heard again in Ain el-Tineh," the sources said. Sources also told MTV that "Hezbollah is still insisting not to hand over its weapons and not to have a timetable."Speaking to reporters after the Ain el-Tineh talks, Barrack said the meeting with Berri was “great.”Asked by a reporter “why wouldn’t the U.S. give any guarantees to Lebanon,” Barrack said: “There is no problem with guarantees. We’re all working through it. Everything is moving. You should all be hopeful. We’re gonna get regional stability. Everything is gonna be okay.”Barrack had met Monday and Tuesday with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and a host of political, religious and financial figures. He had said Monday that he returned to Lebanon because U.S. President Donald Trump is interested in reaching “regional stability” and because Lebanon is the “center of that process.”Noting that the U.S. wants “security” and “economic prosperity” in Lebanon, Barrack pointed out that the U.S. cannot “compel” Israel to do or not do “anything.”The Presidency meanwhile said that Aoun handed Barrack, in the name of the Lebanese state, a "draft comprehensive memo for the implementation of everything that Lebanon has pledged -- from the November 27, 2024 declaration to the Lebanese government’s ministerial statement to especially the president’s inaugural speech.”Barrack's visit to Lebanon comes amid ongoing domestic and international pressure for Hezbollah to give up its remaining arsenal after a bruising war with Israel that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in November.

Reports: Barrack threatens US withdrawal from Lebanese file, to visit Lebanon again this summer
Naharnet/July 22/2025
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack “did not open a door for discussions” Monday with President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam, reiterating his administration’s stance on Hezbollah’s arms, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday. “He stressed that this stance is irreversible and that the U.S. will withdraw from the Lebanese file if the Lebanese state does not carry out what’s needed: a unanimous Cabinet decision on disarmament and a binding timetable,” the daily said.“He threatened that the U.S. cannot impose anything on Israel and cannot prevent it from doing anything,” al-Akhbar added. An informed political sources meanwhile told ad-Diyar newspaper that Barrack’s third visit to Lebanon will not be his last and that he will make several more visits to the country this summer.

Israel speaks on Hezbollah's disarmament: Tom Barrack's approach sparks controversy
LBCI/July 22/2025
A soft tone won't lead to a resolution on disarming Hezbollah — that's how Israeli officials described the approach of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack in addressing Hezbollah's weapons in Lebanon. They viewed his recent statements as a retreat from the previously firm U.S. stance supporting Israel's demand for Hezbollah's disarmament. According to Israeli assessments, Hezbollah is not only rebuilding its military capabilities at a rapid pace but is also preparing for future confrontations with Israel and working to strengthen its foothold in Syria. These conclusions have prompted both the Israeli security and military establishments to propose a new plan aimed at redrawing borders and expanding Israeli control up to the Litani River. In Tel Aviv, Barrack's remarks were viewed as an implicit acknowledgement of Hezbollah as a legitimate political actor with a potential future role in Lebanon.
The statements sparked speculation about renewed escalation and the possibility of an imminent confrontation — with some warning of a potential "Fourth Lebanon War."On the ground, the Israeli military announced it will continue targeting "all movements and attempts to violate the ceasefire, as it described them." The army also said it will maintain its presence in five Israeli-occupied positions of southern Lebanon, with units deployed along the border to monitor activity by land and sea.

Israeli strike targets vehicle near Tebnine Governmental Hospital
LBCI/July 22/2025
An Israeli attack struck a vehicle in the town of Tebnine, near the Tebnine Governmental Hospital in South Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA). Details about casualties or damage have not been released yet.

President Aoun to Bahraini press delegation: Our decision to save the state is final, Lebanon awaits you
LBCI/July 22/2025
During a meeting with a delegation of Bahraini newspaper editors, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reaffirmed his commitment to national recovery, stating, "Our decision to save the state is final and irreversible." He also extended a welcoming message, saying, "Lebanon awaits you," highlighting the importance of strengthening ties between Lebanon and Bahrain.

Selective accountability: Lebanese Parliament acts on Bouchikian amid demands for broader justice
LBCI/July 22/2025
In a rare and sudden move, the Lebanese Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on lifting the parliamentary immunity of MP and former Minister George Bouchikian, allowing the judiciary to proceed with an investigation into allegations of corruption, bribery, embezzlement, and extortion involving factory owners. The decision follows two meetings in recent weeks between the Parliament's Bureau and the Administration and Justice Committee, which led to the formation of a parliamentary investigative committee. That committee, comprising MPs Georges Adwan, Alain Aoun, and Marwan Hamadeh, has submitted a formal recommendation to the General Assembly to lift Bouchikian's immunity. The vote requires a simple majority—only 65 MPs need to be present, and just 33 votes are necessary to pass the motion, making approval all but certain. The anticipated move would mark a rare moment of accountability in Lebanese legislative history. The last time Parliament lifted a member's immunity was in 2000, when MPs Habib Hakim and Yehya Chamas faced legal proceedings. Before that, it was Chahé Barsoumian in 1999. While the decision is being welcomed as a positive step toward enabling judicial investigations, it has raised broader questions about selective accountability. Critics are questioning why the Parliament failed to act on similar requests from Judge Tarek Bitar in the Beirut Port blast case, specifically involving MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zaiter—both of whom have long benefited from political protection. Observers note that Bouchikian's expulsion from the Armenian Tashnag party's parliamentary bloc may have made him an easier political target. The concern, they say, is whether the move signals genuine reform or simply a convenient exception. Calls for broader accountability persist. The Parliament is also expected to vote on the formation of a committee to investigate alleged corruption in the Telecommunications Ministry during the tenures of former ministers Nicolas Sehnaoui, Boutros Harb, and Jamal Jarrah. That effort also requires 65 votes, a number insiders believe can be secured. Still, activists and citizens alike are asking why the Parliament has not launched similar probes into numerous other allegations of corruption and public fund mismanagement involving former ministers from key portfolios such as finance, public works, energy, interior, foreign affairs, and the displaced. For many, lifting Bouchikian's immunity will only carry weight if it marks the beginning of a broader effort to hold all officials accountable—regardless of their political affiliations.

Hezbollah's Naim Qassem condemns Gaza assault, calls for action against Israel
LBCI/July 22/2025
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem condemned a "U.S.-Israeli aggression" against the Palestinian people in Gaza, accusing both countries of perpetrating acts of "genocide, starvation and mass killing" that defy all humanitarian and moral standards.
In a statement, Qassem criticized the international silence surrounding the war, saying it undermines the principles of international law. "It is not enough for 25 countries to call for an end to the war on Gaza," he said. "These statements do not absolve them of their complicity or the support some major powers have provided since the beginning of the assault."Qassem urged that global positions must translate into concrete action, including sanctions against Israel, efforts to isolate and prosecute it, and halting all forms of cooperation.He stressed that the greatest responsibility lies with Arab and Islamic nations. "Choose the position and level of response you find suitable," he said, addressing governments and people alike. "But do not stand by as spectators. Stop normalization, close Israeli embassies, halt trade exchanges, and unite to support Palestine and Gaza—at the very least, with basic humanitarian aid."Qassem warned that history will remember the silence of world leaders during this period as a mark of shame. He concluded by asserting that Israel's increasing brutality "will ultimately lead to its collapse."

Will Lebanon Choose Sovereignty or Let Others Decide Its Fate
Edward Gabriel/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 22/2025
Lebanon’s recent response to a US proposal aimed at improving the security and well-being of both Lebanese and Israeli citizens has raised cautious optimism in diplomatic circles. Contrary to expectations, meetings between US envoy Ambassador Tom Barrack and Lebanese leaders—including President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Speaker Nabih Berri—were described as constructive and marked by pragmatism as opposed to rigid red lines. This in itself is encouraging, but any optimism must be tempered. Time is short and a durable agreement depends on bold and decisive steps – chief among them Hezbollah’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israel military forces from Lebanon. The American proposal, reportedly acceptable in broad strokes to the Lebanese leadership, represents an opening. But in the Middle East, the devil is always in the details. The US and Lebanon must now move swiftly into substantive arrangements - choreographed with strict enforcement of security guarantees and reform benchmarks. Crucially, Ambassador Barrack has made it clear that no agreement will hold unless Hezbollah is reined in.
Lebanon’s proposal outlines key steps: a cessation of hostilities by all parties, the disarmament of all illegal weapons (with specific reference to Hezbollah’s arsenal), formal border demarcation with Syria and Israel, Israel’s withdrawal, and the full assertion of the Lebanese Armed Forces’ (LAF) authority across the country. While these steps form the foundation of a viable agreement, they must be reinforced by additional considerations that will ensure the long term viability of any agreement. First among these is the role of the LAF, Lebanon’s most trusted and capable national institution. A sustainable deal depends on its operational empowerment to control borders and disarm militias. The LAF has shown the will to take action in the south. Now, it must be backed by the political mandate of Lebanon’s leaders—and international support—to do so across all of Lebanon.
The United States, as the LAF’s largest donor, must reaffirm its commitment to the institution. As the US Congress prepares to debate its FY2026 appropriations for supporting the LAF in the coming weeks, Lebanon’s leaders must act with urgency. Without a credible show of will, both military and diplomatic backing may evaporate, leaving Lebanon dangerously exposed.
Hezbollah’s weapons cannot be deferred to a later phase. They are central to the American position and non-compliance will jeopardize any deal. And while some argue that Lebanon must achieve security before pursuing financial and institutional reforms, in truth, the two are inseparable. No agreement will hold without a robust domestic reform effort that delivers visible change to the Lebanese—starting with access to their bank accounts, severely restricted during to the ongoing economic crisis, and a transparent banking, judicial and regulatory framework.
Southern Lebanon, battered by the most recent conflict, continues to pay the heaviest price. Many residents have become increasingly dependent on Hezbollah and its resources, not by choice, but by necessity. These communities must be reassured that the Lebanese state - backed by the US and its partners - will prioritize the recovery and reconstruction of the south, once it reclaims its sovereignty.
President Aoun’s recent statement that decisions of war and peace belong solely to the state and that restrictions on weapons are “irreversible” is timely and encouraging. But without follow-through actions, Washington will inevitably shift its focus elsewhere—to Syria, Gaza, and Iran—leaving Lebanon to slide further into irrelevance.Meanwhile, the geopolitical landscape is evolving rapidly. A potential entente between Syria and Israel could redraw the map of regional priorities and sideline Lebanon altogether. Without clearly demarcated border and a decisive Lebanese approach to conclude a deal, the country risks becoming an afterthought—its sovereignty decided without its presence. Ambassador Tom Barrack’s current visit may well be decisive. For the first time in years, there is a confluence of diplomatic interest, local disposition, and American commitment to invest in Lebanon’s recovery if Lebanon’s leadership shows the proper resolve. But the moment is fleeting and Washington‘s patience is finite. The meeting with Lebanese leaders is a test. The question therefore before Lebanon is simple: will it speak with one voice, “one people, one country, one army,” or leave the future, once again, in the hands of others?

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 22-23/2025
US envoy urges Syria’s Sharaa to revise policy or risk fragmentation
Reuters/July 22, 2025
BEIRUT: A US envoy has urged Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa to recalibrate his policies and embrace a more inclusive approach after a new round of sectarian bloodshed last week, or risk losing international support and fragmenting the country. US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said he had advised Sharaa in private discussions to revisit elements of the pre-war army structure, scale back Islamist indoctrination and seek regional security assistance. In an interview in Beirut, Barrack told Reuters that without swift change, Sharaa risks losing the momentum that once propelled him to power.Sharaa should say: “I’m going to adapt quickly, because if I don’t adapt quickly, I’m going to lose the energy of the universe that was behind me,” Barrack said. He said Sharaa could “grow up as a president and say, ‘the right thing for me to do is not to follow my theme, which isn’t working so well.’“Sharaa, leader of a former Al-Qaeda offshoot, came to power in Syria after fighters he led brought down President Bashar Assad in December last year after more than 13 years of civil war. Though his own fighters have roots in Sunni Muslim militancy, Sharaa has promised to protect members of Syria’s many sectarian minorities. But that pledge has been challenged, first by mass killings of members of Assad’s Alawite sect in March, and now by the latest violence in the southwest. Hundreds of people have been reported killed in clashes in the southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and Sharaa’s own forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killing of Druze by government forces. Barrack said the new government should consider being “more inclusive quicker” when it comes to integrating minorities into the ruling structure.
But he also pushed back against reports that Syrian security forces were responsible for violations against Druze civilians. He suggested that Daesh group militants may have been disguised in government uniforms and that social media videos are easily doctored and therefore unreliable. “The Syrian troops haven’t gone into the city. These atrocities that are happening are not happening by the Syrian regime troops. They’re not even in the city because they agreed with Israel that they would not go in,” he said.
“No successor” to Sharaa
The US helped broker a ceasefire last week that brought an end to the fighting, which erupted between Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze factions on July 13. Barrack said the stakes in Syria are dangerously high, with no succession plan or viable alternative to the country’s new government. “With this Syrian regime, there is no plan B. If this Syrian regime fails, somebody is trying to instigate it to fail,” Barrack said. “For what purpose? There’s no successor.”Asked if Syria could follow the dire scenarios of Libya and Afghanistan, he said: “Yes, or even worse.”The US has said it did not support Israel’s airstrikes on Syria. Barrack said the strikes had added to the “confusion” in Syria. Israel says Syria’s new rulers are dangerous militants, and has vowed to keep government troops out of the southwest and protect Syria’s Druze minority in the area, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze community.
Barrack said his message to Israel is to have dialogue to alleviate their concerns about Syria’s new Sunni leaders and that the US could play the role of an “honest intermediary” to help resolve any concerns. He said Sharaa had signaled from the beginning of his rule that Israel was not his enemy and that he could normalize ties in due time. He said the United States was not dictating what the political format of Syria should be, other than stability, unity, fairness and inclusion. “If they end up with a federalist government, that’s their determination. And the answer to the question is, everybody may now need to adapt.”

US envoy to lead meeting between Syria, Israel later this week: Report
Al Arabiya English/22 July/2025
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack is expected to lead a meeting later this week between senior Syrian and Israeli officials, according to a report published Tuesday. The talks aim to reach new understandings on the volatile situation in southern Syria, Axios reported, citing a US official and another source familiar with the matter. According to the report, Barrack hopes to facilitate increased coordination and communication between Syria and Israel following last week’s Israeli airstrikes on Sweida and subsequent attacks on Damascus. Israel has claimed the operations were conducted to protect Druze residents in Sweida. “There is relative calm now, but the fundamental issues will not be resolved without comprehensive agreements between the US, Israel and the Syrian government,” a senior Israeli official told Axios.

Turkey says it will intervene against any attempt to divide Syria
Reuters/22 July/2025
Turkey will directly intervene to stop any attempt to fragment Syria and will prevent any attempts by militants to obtain autonomy after clashes in southern Syria, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday. His warning against fragmentation, in comments to reporters in Ankara, appeared aimed at Israel as Turkey considers this to be Israel’s ultimate aim in Syria. Turkey has condemned Israeli strikes on Damascus last week as an attempt to sabotage Syria’s efforts to establish peace and security, and sees clashes between Druze fighters and Syrian Bedouin tribes in the southern province of Sweida as part of an Israeli policy of regional destabilization. NATO member Turkey supports Syria’s new government and has called for a ceasefire between the Bedouin and Druze fighters.Fidan said Israel wanted a divided Syria to make the country unstable, weaker and a liability to the region, and added that Kurdish YPG militants were looking to take advantage of the chaos. “God willing, we will prevent this policy from being realized,” he said. In an apparent reference to the YPG, he said groups in Syria should not see such chaos as a tactical opportunity to achieve autonomy or independence within Syria and that they faced “a big strategic catastrophe”. “This leads nowhere,” he said. Ankara sees the YPG, which spearheads the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, as a terrorist organization, and has carried out several cross-border operations against them. “We are warning you: no group should engage in acts towards division,” Fidan said. He said many issues could be discussed via diplomacy “but if you go beyond this and seek fragmentation and destabilizing we will consider this a direct threat to our security and intervene.”Fidan said Turkey would support efforts to secure peace and stability in Syria, and talks on this, but would not let itself be exposed to threats. Israel did not immediately comment on Fidan’s remarks. It said it struck targets in Syria last week to defend the Druze.

Tribal Leader Says Evacuations from Syria’s Sweida are ‘Temporary’
Damascus: Asharq Al Awsat/July22/2025
Hundreds of Bedouin civilians were bussed out of Syria’s mainly Druze city of Sweida on Monday under a US-backed ceasefire aimed at halting days of fighting between Bedouin tribesmen and Druze militants that witnesses said has killed scores of people.
The head of Syria’s Supreme Council of Tribes and Clans said on Monday that hundreds of the Arab families who began leaving the southern city of Sweida were undertaking a “temporary displacement” to allow the army to secure the area, rejecting accusations of a wholesale forced exodus. Sheikh Mudar Hamad al‑Asaad told Asharq al‑Awsat daily that homes belonging to Arab Bedouin families in several Sweida neighborhoods had been burned, looted and wrecked during recent unrest. “The streets are blocked and the houses are uninhabitable,” he said. “The departure is only until the army and internal security forces can restore order across the city and its outlying villages.”State news agency SANA said earlier that the Interior Ministry had brokered an agreement allowing “all civilians who wish to leave Sweida because of the current conditions” to do so until their safe return can be guaranteed. Buses began moving families from Sweida at dawn on Monday. Asaad dismissed social‑media claims that the transfers amounted to sectarian “ethnic cleansing” of Arabs from the Druze‑majority province. “Electronic trolls are stirring up sedition,” he said. “The aim is to prolong the dispute between the government, the militias of Sheikh Hikmat al‑Hijri and the Arab tribes, and to push the region towards instability.”He accused “remnants of the Assad regime, PKK elements, arms and narcotics traffickers – and Hijri himself – of exploiting the chaos” to carve out a Druze‑run enclave. Asaad said most of the evacuees were women and children from farming and trading families who had fled other parts of Syria during the civil war. The tribal leader denied the withdrawal was a capitulation. He said the clans had agreed to leave only after a presidential statement urged them to quit the flashpoint areas.
“Without that order, the tribes would be in complete control of Sweida today,” he said, adding that Druze elders and local political figures had also asked them to help stop Hijri’s “destructive project”.Arabs have lived in Sweida “since before Islam” and make up roughly 30 percent of the province’s population, alongside Syriac Christians (just over 10 percent) and Druze who settled in the 11th century, Asaad said. He estimated that more than 150,000 young tribesmen had mobilized during the recent flare‑up. According to Asaad, the tribes back the Syrian army’s deployment in Sweida and want all weapons – whether held by Druze, tribes or others – placed under state control. “The clans seek to spread peace among the Syrian people, settle disputes and bury sectarian strife,” he said.“We stand with all components of Syrian society and have no ambition to replace the state, only to defend the gains of the Syrian revolution and support national stability.”

Saudi-Syrian investment forum to be held in Damascus on Wednesday
Al Arabiya English/22 July/2025
A Saudi-Syrian investment forum aimed at exploring potential for cooperation and deals to promote sustainable development will be held on Wednesday in Damascus, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. SANA said a delegation comprising Saudi businessmen and investors would arrive in the Syrian capital on Wednesday to explore joint cooperation opportunities. The visit by the delegation may see announcements of joint projects and deals and the signing of memorandums of understanding in various fields, according to SANA.
Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya television said the Saudi delegation will be led by the Kingdom’s investment minister.It said the visit is expected to see the signing of trade deals worth more than 15 billion Saudi riyals ($4 billion). The Saudi embassy in Damascus on Tuesday announced the introduction of special travel permits for businesspeople and investors from both countries, aimed at facilitating mutual visits and exploring investment opportunities. Relations between Riyadh and Damascus have significantly improved since the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Saudi Arabia has since emerged as a key backer of Syria’s new leadership.In a major policy shift announced in May during a visit to Riyadh, US President Donald Trump said he would lift all US sanctions on Syria at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – an important win for Damascus as it works to rebuild after years of conflict.

US targets Houthis with fresh sanctions
Reuters/July 22, 2025
WASHINGTON: The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on what it said was a Houthi-linked petroleum smuggling and sanctions evasion network across Yemen in fresh action targeting the militant group. The US Treasury Department in a statement said the two individuals and five entities sanctioned were among the most significant importers of petroleum products and money launderers that benefit the Houthis. “The Houthis collaborate with opportunistic businessmen to reap enormous profits from the importation of petroleum products and to enable the group’s access to the international financial system,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender. “These networks of shady businesses underpin the Houthis’ terrorist machine, and Treasury will use all tools at its disposal to disrupt these schemes.”Among those targeted was Muhammad Al-Sunaydar, who the Treasury said manages a network of petroleum companies and was one of the most prominent petroleum importers in Yemen. Three companies in his network were also designated, with the Treasury saying they coordinated the delivery of $12 million worth of petroleum products with a US-designated company to the Houthis. Since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023, the Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. In January, the US re-designated the Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, aiming to impose harsher economic penalties in response to its attacks on ships.

Gaza hospital: 21 children dead from starvation, malnutrition in 72 hours
Arab News/July 22, 2025
DUBAI: Twenty-one children have died from starvation across the Gaza Strip over a 72-hour period, the head of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said Tuesday. “These deaths were recorded at hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis,” Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya told reporters. He attributed the deaths to severe malnutrition and hunger-related complications amid ongoing shortages of food and medical supplies. The figures add to growing concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where aid access remains severely limited. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to access food since the start of operations by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by the United States and Israel. Of those, 766 were killed near GHF distribution sites, and 288 were killed near UN and other aid convoys, UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said Tuesday. He stated that the deaths were caused by Israeli military fire. In a separate statement Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that Israeli evacuation orders and subsequent military operations in Deir al-Balah could result in further civilian deaths. “It seemed the nightmare couldn’t possibly get worse. And yet it does... Given the concentration of civilians in the area, and the means and methods of warfare employed by Israel until now, the risks of unlawful killings and other serious violations of international humanitarian law are extremely high,” he said. Also on Tuesday, at least 20 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian health officials. The strikes occurred in areas that had previously seen relatively little direct fighting during the 21-month conflict. The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, issued a statement on social media condemning the killing of civilians at aid distribution points. “The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible,” she said. Kallas added that she had spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to reinforce expectations regarding humanitarian access and warned that “all options are on the table” should current pledges not be met.

Saudi Cabinet backs Syria reconstruction efforts, urges global action to end Gaza war and aid blockade
Arab News/July 22, 2025
RIYADH: The Saudi Cabinet on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for joint efforts in rebuilding Syria while ensuring the country’s security, stability, unity and sovereignty. In its weekly meeting, chaired by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, the Cabinet highlighted the Kingdom’s support for the joint statement issued by foreign ministers of several brotherly countries regarding developments in Syria. It also followed up on the relief and humanitarian efforts provided by the Kingdom to the Syrian people. The Council of Ministers welcomed a joint statement by 28 countries that called for ending the war in Gaza and condemned Israel’s obstruction of aid delivery to civilians in the strip. The countries urged Israel to lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid, and ensure its safe delivery to residents in the Palestinian enclave. The Cabinet renewed the Kingdom’s call to the international community to urgently take decisions and practical steps in response to Israel’s obstinacy, which deliberately prolongs the crisis and undermines regional and international peace efforts.

WFP warns Gaza is on brink of full scale famine
Arab News/July 22, 2025
LONDON: The UN World Food Programme warned on Monday that Gaza is teetering on the brink of full-scale famine, with nearly 100,000 women and children suffering from severe acute malnutrition amid rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
Speaking to reporters at a UN briefing, senior WFP official Ross Smith said that hunger is worsening, and humanitarian access has been severely restricted. “A quarter of the population are facing famine-like conditions,” he said. “People are dying from lack of assistance every day.”Smith stressed that food and humanitarian aid are the only viable solutions at present, but movement inside Gaza remains perilous and limited. “The markets are non-functional. Nothing is really moving inside Gaza for us,” he said, outlining the “minimum operating conditions” required to respond effectively. These include functioning border crossings, reduced wait times and security approvals, and the ability to transport goods freely and safely. He said the WFP requires a minimum of 100 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily to meet urgent needs. “Until we have that scale of assistance, it’s going to be really, really difficult to control the situation on the ground.”Smith called for all armed actors to stay away from aid convoys and distribution points.
Over the weekend scores of people were killed when a crowd surged around a WFP food convoy near a Gaza checkpoint. “We cannot independently verify the death toll,” Smith said, noting WFP staff on the ground reported at least 40 fatalities, though other reports suggest as many as 80. “One death is too many. This is far, far too many.”
He denied any indication the incident was organized by militant groups, instead pointing to growing desperation among civilians. “These were people putting their lives on the line, trying to get something off a truck,” he said. Fuel shortages and logistical hurdles continue to hamper aid distribution. Since mid-May, the WFP has managed to deliver less than 10 percent of the required food assistance. Smith said the agency has enough supplies pre-positioned outside Gaza to support the entire population for two months — provided a ceasefire is in place and aid routes are secured. “We have the capacity, but we need a ceasefire,” he added. The UN does not use armed escorts for its convoys and has no operational relationship with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Smith confirmed. While the GHF has pushed for collaboration, no agreements are currently in place.Smith warned that time is running out for thousands at risk of starvation. “Severe acute malnutrition, particularly in children, carries a very high mortality risk. They need treatment immediately,” he said. The UN continues to press for adherence to existing humanitarian agreements and call for a ceasefire to prevent further tragedy. “Yesterday’s incident is one of the greatest tragedies we’ve seen in Gaza,” Smith said. “It was completely avoidable.”Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that a new mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military is further eroding Gaza’s already collapsing humanitarian infrastructure. The directive, covering four neighborhoods in Deir Al-Balah, has forced thousands to flee, with an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 people in the affected area at the time of the order, including 30,000 already displaced sheltering at 57 sites. UN staff remain stationed at dozens of locations within the area, and OCHA has stressed that all civilian and humanitarian sites must be protected regardless of military operations.
The order encompasses critical infrastructure, including four health clinics, humanitarian warehouses, and essential water systems such as Gaza’s Southern Desalination Plant. OCHA warned that any damage to these facilities could have life-threatening consequences for civilians. Nearly 88 percent of the Gaza Strip now falls under displacement orders or Israeli-controlled zones, effectively confining 2.1 million people to just 12 percent of the territory. By cutting across Deir Al-Balah to the Mediterranean, the order further fragments the enclave, choking off humanitarian access.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed serious concern over the latest Israeli evacuation order. He said UN staff remain in the area, despite two UN guesthouses being hit in recent days, even after their coordinates had been shared with the relevant parties.
“These sites must be protected,” Guterres said, calling once again for the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel, and infrastructure. He reiterated his urgent appeal for unimpeded delivery of aid and repeated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Guterres condemned growing reports of malnutrition among children and adults, and denounced the continued violence — including against people trying to access food. “Civilians must never be targeted,” Guterres said, adding that Israel is obligated under international law to facilitate humanitarian relief. He stressed that the population remains gravely undersupplied with essentials such as food, water, and medicine.

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
AP/July 23, 2025
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the 193 United Nations member nations on Tuesday to use all possible means to settle disputes peacefully. The UN chief said that is needed now more than ever as he pointed to “the horror show in Gaza” and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar. The vote was unanimous on a Pakistan-drafted resolution in the 15-member council. In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter. It is happening at a time of widening geopolitical divides and numerous conflicts, starting with Gaza, where “starvation is knocking on every door” as Israel denies the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid and save Palestinian lives, Guterres said. Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in. In conflicts worldwide, “hunger and displacement are at record levels” and security is pushed further out of reach by terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime, the secretary-general said. “Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability,” Guterres said. “But it still holds the power to stop them.”The resolution urges all countries to use the methods in the UN Charter to peacefully settle disputes, including negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, referral to regional arrangements or other peaceful means. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the meeting, cited “the ongoing tragedies” in Gaza and between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, one of the oldest disputes on the UN agenda, that need to be resolved peacefully. “At the heart of almost all the conflicts across the globe is a crisis of multilateralism; a failure, not of principles but of will; a paralysis, not of institutions but of political courage,” he said.The Pakistani diplomat called for revitalizing trust in the UN system and ensuring “equal treatment of all conflicts based on international law, not geopolitical expediency.”Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the Trump administration supports the United Nations’ founding principles of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and working with parties to resolve disputes peacefully. Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, she said, the US has delivered “deescalation” between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda. The US calls on countries involved in conflicts to follow these examples, Shea said, singling out the war in Ukraine and China’s “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.The war in Ukraine must end, she said, and Russia must stop attacking civilians and fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter, which requires all member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country. “We call on other UN member states to stop providing Russia with the means to continue its aggression,” Shea said.

Israeli far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans
Arab News/July 22, 2025
JERUSALEM: Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly “riviera,” as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory. The meeting, titled “The Riviera in Gaza: From Vision to Reality,” was held in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, under the auspices of some of its most hard-line members. It saw the participation of firebrand Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as activist Daniella Weiss, a vocal proponent of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, among others.
The name of the event evokes a proposal floated by US President Donald Trump in February to turn the war-ravaged territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after moving out its Palestinian residents and putting it under American control. The idea drew swift condemnation from across the Arab world, and from Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the “Nakba,” or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948. Participants in Tuesday’s Knesset meeting discussed a “master plan” drafted by Weiss’s organization to re-establish a permanent Jewish presence in Gaza. The detailed plan foresees the construction of housing for 1.2 million new Jewish residents, and the development of industrial and agricultural zones, as well as tourism complexes on the coast.Eight Israeli settlements located in various parts of the Gaza Strip were dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel’s unilateral decision to “disengage” from Gaza following years of violence between settlers, Palestinian armed groups and the army. For the past two decades, a small but vocal section of Israeli society has urged the resettlement of the Strip.Those voices have become louder after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, with advocates presenting resettlement as a way to maintain tighter security control over the area. The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip has reached catastrophic proportions after 21 months of conflict and a two-month aid blockade imposed by Israel. Israel began easing the blockade in late May, but extreme scarcities of food and other essentials persist, and cases of malnutrition and starvation are becoming increasingly frequent, according to local authorities, NGOs and AFP journalists on the ground.

Iran says will not halt nuclear enrichment ahead of European talks
Agence France Presse/July 22, 2025
Iran has no plans to abandon its nuclear program including uranium enrichment despite the "severe" damage caused by U.S. strikes to its facilities, the country's foreign minister said ahead of renewed talks with European powers. Iran is scheduled to meet Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday, to discuss its nuclear program, with Tehran accusing European powers of scuppering a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The meeting will be the first since Iran's 12-day war with Israel last month, during which the United States carried out strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities. For now, enrichment "is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" on Monday. "But obviously we cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists," he continued, calling it a source of "national pride".U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the comments on his platform Truth Social, saying Washington would carry out strikes again "if necessary". The 2015 agreement, reached between Iran and U.N. Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. However, it unraveled in 2018 when the United States, during Trump's first term, unilaterally withdrew and reimposed sweeping sanctions. Though Europe pledged continued support, a mechanism intended to offset US sanctions never effectively materialized, forcing many Western firms to exit Iran and deepening its economic crisis. "Iran holds the European parties responsible for negligence in implementing the agreement," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei ahead of Friday's talks in Istanbul on the deal's future. Iran will also host a trilateral meeting Tuesday with Chinese and Russian representatives to discuss the nuclear issue and potential sanctions. The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing would "continue to play a constructive role in pushing relevant sides to restart dialogue and negotiations, and reach a solution that takes in account the legitimate concerns of all parties". In recent weeks, the three European powers have threatened to reimpose international sanctions on Tehran, accusing it of breaching its nuclear commitments. Germany said the Istanbul talks would be at the expert level, with the European trio, or E3, working "flat out" to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution. "If no solution is reached by the end of August... the snapback also remains an option for the E3," said its foreign ministry spokesman, Martin Giese.A clause in the 2015 agreement allows for UN sanctions on Iran to be reimposed through a "snapback" mechanism in the event of non-compliance. However, the agreement expires in October, leaving a tight deadline.
- 'No intention of speaking with America' -
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent -- far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 accord. That is a short step from the 90 percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon.
Using the snapback clause was "meaningless, unjustifiable and immoral", Baqaei told a news conference, arguing that Iran only began distancing itself from the agreement in response to Western non-compliance. "Iran's reduction of its commitments was carried out in accordance with the provisions outlined in the agreement," he said. Western powers -- led by the United States and backed by Israel -- have long accused Tehran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons.Iran has repeatedly denied this, insisting its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes such as energy production.Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of nuclear talks starting in April, but a planned meeting on June 15 was cancelled after Israel launched strikes on Iran, triggering a 12-day conflict. "At this stage, we have no intention of speaking with America," Baqaei said Monday. Israel launched a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis on June 13, targeting key military and nuclear facilities.The United States launched its own strikes against Iran's nuclear program on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.

Iran: 27 inmates are still at large following Israeli airstrike
AFP/July 22, 2025
TEHRAN, PARIS: Iran said on Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported. The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people, while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes. Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don’t hand themselves over.
Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.
FASTFACT
Between 1,500 and 2,000 prisoners were being held at the time in the prison.
Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died. It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison.
The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets. Amnesty International, an international nongovernmental organization that campaigns to protect human rights, called the Israeli attack “deliberate” and “a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” The air strikes should therefore be “criminally investigated as war crimes,” it said. “The Israeli military carried out multiple air strikes on Evin prison, killing and injuring scores of civilians and causing extensive damage and destruction in at least six locations across the prison complex,” Amnesty said, basing its assessment on what it said were verified video footage, satellite images and witness statements. There was nothing to suggest that Evin prison could justifiably be seen as a “legal military objective,” it said.

Egypt current account deficit narrows to $13.2bn in 9 months through March
Reuters/July 22, 2025
DUBAI: Egypt’s current account deficit narrowed to $13.2 billion in the nine months through March 2025, from $17.1 billion in the same period a year earlier, Egypt’s central bank said on Tuesday. The bank attributed the slimmer deficit to an 86.6 percent increase in remittances from Egyptians working abroad, as well as a rise in the services surplus due to 23 percent higher tourism revenue. Oil exports declined by $430.5 million to $4.2 billion, from $4.6 a year earlier, while oil imports increased by $1.2 billion to $14.5 billion, from $9.7 billion. Egypt has been seeking to import more fuel oil and liquefied natural gas this year to meet its power demands after enduring blackouts during periods of shaky gas supply in the past two years. Concerns intensified after the supply of natural gas from Israel to Egypt dropped during Israel’s air war with Iran. Suez Canal revenues declined to $2.6 billion, from $5.8 billion in a year earlier, as revenue from the vital global trade route continued to suffer because of Yemeni Houthis’ attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Iran-aligned group says it attacks ships linked to Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, Egypt’s tourism revenue reached $12.5 billion from July 2024 through March 2025, compared to $10.9 billion in the same period a year earlier. Remittances from Egyptians working abroad increased to $26.4 billion, from $14.5 billion. Foreign direct investment hit $9.8 billion, compared to $23.7 billion.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 22-23/2025
ISIS Extremism or Islamic Doctrine?
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/July 22/2025
A lie, by definition, conceals the truth. And when unpleasant but vital truths remain hidden, they go unacknowledged, unaddressed, and ultimately unresolved.
This principle underscores one of the most consequential falsehoods of our time: the claim that violence committed in the name of Islam is wholly unrelated to Islam itself. This widespread denial has enabled what is, at its core, an ideologically vulnerable religion to become one of the most persistent sources of global instability, with no end in sight.
Consider the most recent example: On June 22, Islamist militants launched a suicide attack on a church in Damascus, Syria, killing 25 Christians — mostly women and children—and injuring nearly 100 others.
The central question under current discussion is not why the attack occurred, but rather which group carried it out. The regime of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa — formerly the head of the jihadi faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — initially attributed the assault to ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Yet two days later, a lesser-known group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna — an offshoot of al-Sharaa’s own organization — claimed responsibility.
While analysts and media outlets debate which group was behind the bombing, there is near-unanimous agreement on one point: regardless of which faction committed the atrocity, it is not to be seen as representative of Islam. The act is instead portrayed as a “hijacking” of the faith. Accordingly, discussion remains confined to the individual groups — not to Islam itself.
My immediate response is this: There sure appear to be a remarkably high number of organizations “hijacking” Islam — especially when compared to the conspicuous absence of any comparable phenomenon within Christianity or other major religions.
Remember When…
The following examples, far from exhaustive, offer a brief but sobering reminder for those in the West with short institutional memory:
Democratic Republic of Congo (February 2025): The Allied Democratic Forces rounded up 70 Christians, marched them to a church, and decapitated them with knives.
Burkina Faso (Aug. 25, 2024): Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin executed 26 Christians inside a church by slitting their throats.
Philippines (Jan. 27, 2019): Abu Sayyaf militants bombed a cathedral, killing at least 20 Christians and injuring over 100.Indonesia (May 13, 2018): Jamaah Ansharut Daulah bombed three churches, killing 13 Christians and wounding dozens.
Sri Lanka (April 21, 2018): On Easter Sunday, National Thowheeth Jama’ath bombed three churches and three hotels. The coordinated attack killed 359 people — mostly Christians — and wounded over 500.
Egypt (April 9, 2017): On Palm Sunday, ISIS-linked Egyptian terrorists bombed two churches packed with worshippers. At least 45 Christians were killed and more than 100 injured.
Pakistan (March 27, 2016): Following Easter Sunday services, Jamaat ul Ahrar bombed a public park frequented by Christians. More than 70 Christians — mainly women and children — were killed. Just one year earlier, the same group killed at least 14 Christians in coordinated attacks on two churches.
These incidents — while only a fraction of the whole — illustrate a critical point: The groups in question have little, if anything, to do with each other. They are based in widely different countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia. They differ in race, language, and sociopolitical context.
What they do have in common is their religion: Islam, which directs them to kill Christians. And yet this is the one factor we are collectively instructed to ignore. It is the one variable mainstream narratives insist is wholly benign and synonymous with peace.
Ignoring the Obvious
This brings us back to the core problem: that deeply unsettling truths, when denied or buried, are never addressed or corrected.
Recognizing that these disparate terror groups are in fact ideologically unified by Islam is considered taboo. This reality is systematically denied by the West’s self-appointed “guardians of truth” — whether in the mainstream media, academia, Hollywood, or politics — all of whom often seem interchangeable in their messaging.
Instead, the public is continually reassured that such atrocities are perpetrated not by Muslims inspired by Islamic doctrine, but by marginal, aberrant groups “hijacking” Islam. The result is a false sense of security. By treating each group as an isolated, localized, and temporary phenomenon, the broader pattern is ignored. Defeat the specific group, we are told, and the threat will disappear.
Take Syria. Whether one believes the attack was carried out by remnants of ISIS or affiliates of the new president’s former militia, the working assumption is that once the specific group is dismantled, the danger will dissipate.
Meanwhile, some 2,400 miles west of Syria, in Nigeria, Christians face an ongoing genocide. There, two Christians are killed for their faith every single hour. By 2021, at least 43,000 Christians had already been murdered (with thousands more in the subsequent years), and some 20,000 churches and Christian schools had been destroyed.
Ordinary Muslims
According to prevailing narratives, the perpetrators are groups like Boko Haram — yet another faction that openly defines itself in Islamic terms, routinely targets churches during Christian holidays, and is nonetheless described as having “nothing to do with Islam.” Again, the suggestion is that Boko Haram is a distinct, localized problem. Defeat it, and the crisis ends.
More recently still, Fulani herdsmen — nominally unaffiliated with any formal terror group — have become the primary agents of anti-Christian violence in Nigeria. Because they are not formally branded, and are often perceived as “ordinary” Muslims, their actions are attributed to “climate change” or “land disputes,” even as they express the same jihadist hostility toward Christians as more infamous terrorist brands.
The pattern repeats elsewhere. Approximately 5,000 miles west of Nigeria, in the United States, Americans were told that al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks, which killed 3,000 civilians. The threat, it was claimed, would end with the group’s destruction.
Indeed, after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, terrorism expert Peter Bergen and others declared, “Killing bin Laden is the end of the war on terror… It’s time to move on.”
Yet an even more brutal group, the Islamic State, soon emerged.
Many Strata of Data
The denial runs deeper still. The problem is not only the refusal of the media and experts to connect these incidents to Islam; it is their failure to acknowledge that many attacks are not carried out by formal terror groups at all, but by unaffiliated Muslims — ordinary individuals or mobs — who commit similar atrocities far more frequently, though less spectacularly.
While the above examples involved some of the most high-profile attacks, countless acts of persecution are committed by Muslims on a daily basis.
The data is unambiguous. According to the 2025 World Watch List, Muslims — across various strata of society and spanning races, nationalities, languages, and economic conditions — are responsible for persecuting Christians in 37 of the top 50 countries where such persecution is most severe.
These findings are consistent with a rarely cited Pew Research survey, which concluded that in 11 Muslim-majority countries alone, anywhere from 63 million to 287 million Muslims support ISIS. Likewise, 81% of respondents to a recent Al Jazeera poll expressed support for the Islamic State.
In short, the activities of “extremist,” “terrorist,” or “militant” groups — which we are routinely assured have “nothing to do with Islam” — represent only the visible tip of a much larger iceberg. For over a decade, I have documented these patterns in my monthly series, Muslim Persecution of Christians, launched in July 2011. Each installment catalogs dozens of incidents that, if Christians perpetrated them against Muslims, would command wall-to-wall media coverage.
Calling It Out
Thus, the mainstream narrative not only misrepresents the motives of high-profile terrorist groups; it also systematically ignores the daily persecution suffered by non-Muslims at the hands of ordinary Muslims — whether individuals, mobs, police, or governments (including those counted among the West’s “allies”).
These omissions have had devastating consequences. They have permitted the continued persecution of vulnerable minorities throughout the Muslim world while facilitating the spread of similar ideologies into the West — most recently through mass migration.
In conclusion, and to restate the central premise: No problem can be solved unless it is first acknowledged. The uncomfortable but necessary truth is that Islam — not this or that terrorist group — provides the ideological framework that inspires hostility and violence against non-Muslims. Unless this reality is faced head-on, the cycle of denial will only continue — along with the persecution and loss of countless lives.
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**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Raymond Ibrahim © 2025.

Why Al-Jazeera Should Be Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/July 21/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145520/
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Al-Jazeera has been openly serving as the unofficial mouthpiece of Hamas and its military wing, Izaddin al-Qassam.
Even before the war, Hamas's political and military leaders often chose Al-Jazeera to spread their propaganda and call for jihad (holy war) against Israel.
Hamas knows it can trust Al-Jazeera: the two share the same radical Islamist ideology that calls for the elimination of Israel and replacing it with an Islamist terror state.
Hamas does not need its own television station. It has Al-Jazeera, one of the most influential and wealthiest TV networks in the Arab world. This is what happens when most of the funding comes from Qatar, which has used its ties with Islamist groups, especially Muslim Brotherhood, as soft power to boost its regional and global influence.
Al-Jazeera, for its part, has been extremely protective of its friends in Hamas. The television station does not allow any criticism of Hamas or Qatar. When a Palestinian dares to criticize Hamas during a live interview, Al-Jazeera quickly cuts off the interview.
Last year, Israeli security forces disclosed intelligence information and numerous documents found in the Gaza Strip that confirm the military affiliation of six Al-Jazeera journalists with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terror group in the coastal territory.
One does not have to be an expert in journalism or the Middle East to understand that Al-Jazeera is nothing but a terrorist organization masquerading as a media outlet.
A number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain understand the dangers of Al-Jazeera.
That is why they have shut the offices of Al-Jazeera, blocked its websites and demanded that Qatar curb the television station. Even the Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by Mahmoud Abbas... suspended Al-Jazeera's broadcasting in the West Bank....
Why do some Americans and Westerners still consider Al-Jazeera a credible and professional media station if so many Arabs view it as an organ of Islamist terrorists and Jihadis? ... It is time to designate Al-Jazeera as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Al-Jazeera has been openly serving as the unofficial mouthpiece of Hamas and its military wing, Izaddin al-Qassam. Pictured: The headquarters of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
On June 18, the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera TV network (in Arabic) broadcast another "exclusive" video of a speech by Abu Obaida, the masked spokesman of the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas.
This is the group that started the current war in the Gaza Strip, when thousands of its members invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, murdering 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and wounding thousands. Another 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 50 are still held captive. At least 20 of those hostages are believed to be alive.
It did not come as a surprise that the video of the Hamas spokesman was first broadcast on Al-Jazeera. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Al-Jazeera has been openly serving as the unofficial mouthpiece of Hamas and its military wing, Izaddin al-Qassam.
Even before the war, Hamas's political and military leaders often chose Al-Jazeera to spread their propaganda and call for jihad (holy war) against Israel. They did not choose Al-Jazeera because it is renowned for its high journalistic and ethical standards. Hamas (and other Islamist terror groups) love Al-Jazeera because, since its founding in 1996, the television empire has been serving as the semi-official mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood organization. Notably, Hamas serves as the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestinian branch."
Hamas knows it can trust Al-Jazeera: the two share the same radical Islamist ideology that calls for the elimination of Israel and replacing it with an Islamist terror state.
The "exclusive" video of the Hamas spokesman was not the first of its kind. The same spokesman has been sending his recorded videos to Al-Jazeera for many years. In his speeches, Abu Obaida makes it appear as if his terror group is winning the war and all is needed is more patience before Israel surrenders.
In addition to the speeches and statements of Hamas leaders, Al-Jazeera has also been broadcasting "exclusive" footage of attacks purportedly carried out by Hamas against Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip. The propaganda videos, filmed by the terrorists themselves, aim to boost the morale of the Palestinians by creating the false impression that the Israeli army is weak and vulnerable. Such videos are now appearing on Al-Jazeera almost on a weekly basis.
Hamas does not need its own television station. It has Al-Jazeera, one of the most influential and wealthiest TV networks in the Arab world. This is what happens when most of the funding comes from Qatar, which has used its ties with Islamist groups, especially Muslim Brotherhood, as soft power to boost its regional and global influence.
Hamas leaders leading comfortably lives in Qatar have always enjoyed welcome access to Al-Jazeera. The terror group's leaders in the Gaza Strip have always given Al-Jazeera free and exclusive access to secret meetings. Earlier this year, an Al-Jazeera documentary on Hamas military commanders during the war included exclusive footage and interviews with the masterminds of the October 7 massacres: Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Izz al-Din al-Haddad.
Al-Jazeera, in addition, sent its correspondent Mustafa Ashour to visit one of Hamas's tunnels, where many of the Israeli hostages were – and are still – held.
No other television station has been given such a privilege by the terror group.
Al-Jazeera, for its part, has been extremely protective of its friends in Hamas. The television station does not allow any criticism of Hamas or Qatar. When a Palestinian dares to criticize Hamas during a live interview, Al-Jazeera quickly cuts off the interview.
During one interview, Al-Jazeera asked a wounded Palestinian man to give his eyewitness testimony. The man said: "What's happening is criminal! Why is the resistance [Hamas] hiding among is? Why don't they go to hell and hide there? They are not resistance!" The Al-Jazeera reporter immediately cut him off.
Last year, Israeli security forces disclosed intelligence information and numerous documents found in the Gaza Strip that confirm the military affiliation of six Al-Jazeera journalists with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terror group in the coastal territory. They are: Anas Jamal al-Sharif, Alaa Abdul Aziz Salama, Hossam Basel Shabat, Ashraf Sami Saraj, Ismail Farid Abu Omar and Talal Mahmoud Aruki.
One does not have to be an expert in journalism or the Middle East to understand that Al-Jazeera is nothing but a terrorist organization masquerading as a media outlet. A number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain understand the dangers of Al-Jazeera.
That is why they have shut the offices of Al-Jazeera, blocked its websites and demanded that Qatar curb the television station. Even the Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by Mahmoud Abbas, seems to know about Al-Jazeera's connections to its rivals in Hamas. Earlier this year, the PA suspended Al-Jazeera's broadcasting in the West Bank for "misleading reports" that "provoke strife and interfere in Palestinian internal affairs."
Why do some Americans and Westerners still consider Al-Jazeera a credible and professional media station if so many Arabs view it as an organ of Islamist terrorists and Jihadis? Al-Jazeera's affiliation with Islamist groups and terrorists also causes harm to the reputation of all media outlets and journalists. It is time to designate Al-Jazeera as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
*Bassam Tawil is a Musim Arab based in the Midde East.
© 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.

Iran: Its Foreign Ministry's Agents of Influence in Sweden and the US
Nima Gholam Ali Pour/Gatestone Institute/July 22/2025
The "Iran Experts Initiative" (IEI)... was first proposed in 2014 by... a member of the internal think tank of Iran's Foreign Ministry, the "Institute for Political and International Studies" (IPIS).
Ali Vaez and Ariane Tabatabai... were also members of the IEI.
How can all these prominent think tanks and influential experts enter into cooperation with IPIS, which — apart from being an integral part of the Iranian regime — organized a Holocaust conference in 2006 featuring Holocaust deniers such as David Duke and the neo-Nazi German National Democratic Party (NPD)?
The purpose of the IEI for the Iranian regime has been to establish a number of reputable and knowledgeable contacts who support the idea of a "nuclear deal" -- which, in the long run, means that the regime in Iran will get nuclear weapons -- and to promote Iran's perspective on this nuclear deal and its desired structure in Western Europe and North America.
[T]he Swedish Security Service considers Iran to be one of the three countries that pose the greatest threat to Sweden.
Does anyone seriously believe the mullahs' lies that they do not want to build nuclear weapons?
If the mullahs truly wanted peace, they would dismantle their support for terrorist organizations, abandon their ambitions to build nuclear weapons, stop pouring resources into fueling conflicts in neighboring countries, and cease spreading hatred toward the Western world.
The door must be closed to these lobbyists for the Iranian regime.... The mullahs' regime is an enemy of the West, but the mullahs' lobbyists must be treated as enemies, too.
On January 31, Sweden's TV4 reported that leaked documents from Iran's Foreign Ministry linked Iran expert Rouzbeh Parsi, head of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, to a network initiated by Iran's Foreign Ministry, with the aim of increasing the country's influence in the West. Since 75% of the funding for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs comes from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden's Foreign Minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard (pictured), demanded more information regarding these allegations.
On January 31, Sweden's TV4 reported that leaked documents from Iran's Foreign Ministry linked Iran expert Rouzbeh Parsi, head of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, to a network initiated by Iran's Foreign Ministry, with the aim of increasing the country's influence in the West.
Since 75% of the funding for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs comes from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden's Foreign Minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, demanded more information regarding these allegations. As there was criticism and questions from several parties in the Swedish Parliament, the Institute launched an investigation to examine the allegations against Parsi.
The information presented in the report from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs raises several questions. The network in which Parsi was involved operated under the name "Iran Experts Initiative" (IEI). The creation of such a network was first proposed in 2014 by a Berlin-based Iranian diplomat, Said Khatibzadeh, a member of the internal think tank of Iran's Foreign Ministry, the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS).
The aim was for Iran to promote its perspective on international affairs by forming a network of Iranian exile analysts in "American and European think tanks" and offering them "political support."
Questions arise, particularly because IPIS is effectively an extension of Iran's Foreign Ministry. Its current president, Said Khatibzadeh, has served as an Iranian diplomat in Ottawa and Berlin, and has held several senior positions within the regime's foreign ministry, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is therefore no secret that the mullahs' regime initiated the IEI with specific political objectives. Yet, several scholars, including Parsi, have nevertheless collaborated with the IEI.
Another individual who, according to the report, was a member of the IEI during the years 2014–2015 was Ellie Geranmayeh, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Ali Vaez and Ariane Tabatabai, two associates of Robert Malley at the International Crisis Group (ICG), were also members of the IEI.
How can all these prominent think tanks and influential experts enter into cooperation with IPIS, which—apart from being an integral part of the Iranian regime—organized a Holocaust conference in 2006 featuring Holocaust deniers such as David Duke and the neo-Nazi German National Democratic Party (NPD)?The report from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs concluded that IPIS is heavily politically controlled by the regime in Tehran. Yet, cooperation with this "think tank" has continued from certain Western actors. What distinguishes this "think tank" in Iran from regime-friendly "think tanks" in Russia or North Korea, where collaboration would be unthinkable?
The purpose of the IEI for the Iranian regime has been to establish a number of reputable and knowledgeable contacts who support the idea of a "nuclear deal" – which, in the long run means that the regime in Iran will get nuclear weapons -- and to promote Iran's perspective on this nuclear deal and its desired structure in Western Europe and North America.
What we have seen from several of the scholars and diplomats involved in the IEI is that they have actively advocated for an "Iran nuclear deal" and more cooperation with the regime in Iran.
Regarding Parsi, the report states that no formal debriefing to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs ever took place concerning the discussions held within the IEI network with the Iranian nuclear negotiation delegation, and it remains unclear whether the Swedish Ministry at the time was even aware of the network's existence. This means that Parsi had no Swedish mandate and instead acted as a lobbyist for the Iranian regime, repeating its talking points in various forums.
According to the report, contacts between Iranian representatives and the IEI network continued even after the nuclear agreement was concluded in 2015. Various documents show that informal meetings took place between 2017 and 2019 with different Iranian representatives in order to understand their perspective on relations with Europe and the United States.
According to the report, the IEI network was funded by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which is affiliated with Germany's Green Party. The foundation's involvement was linked to the nuclear negotiations and therefore ended on December 31, 2015. For the period 2017-2019, after the JCPOA, funding came from the UK Foreign Office.
The report also concludes that Parsi pays little attention to the terrorism, repression, surveillance of citizens, and the lack of respect for human rights in Iran. Nor does Parsi view Iran as a "full-fledged dictatorship" or a "totalitarian system." He describes the Iranian system as a combination of "something inspired by the constitution of the French Fifth Republic" and the exercise of power by a religious clergy. According to Parsi, Iran conducts a foreign policy that is defensive in nature. Furthermore, the report reveals that Parsi founded an association, the European Iran Research Group, whose purpose has been to promote Iran's relations with the outside world.
After the report was published, Parsi chose to leave the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
Some might wonder what the problem is with dialogue between different countries. In Sweden's case, the issue is that the Swedish Security Service considers Iran to be one of the three countries that pose the greatest threat to Sweden. This includes espionage at Swedish universities, but also the fact that the Iranian regime uses criminal networks in Sweden to carry out acts of violence against other states, groups, or individuals whom the mullahs in Iran consider a threat. In February last year, Swedish media revealed that the Iranian intelligence services had planned to identify and assassinate Jews in Sweden.
So even if Iran's president sits down with Tucker Carlson and talks about wanting peace on earth, the reality is that a small country like Sweden is under constant threat from the Iranian regime. In that reality, acting as a lobbyist for the regime in Iran — as Parsi and others have done — is deeply problematic.
For the Americans who participated in the IEI, the issue is even more serious. Iran-backed militias killed 603 American soldiers during the Iraq War, and many more after that. For decades, Iran has waged a proxy war against the United States in the Middle East — and even on American soil. When American citizens — and in this instance, experts — serve the interests of the Iranian regime, they are supporting the enemies of the United States.
What exactly is it that they are doing? Does anyone seriously believe that the supporters of the Iranian regime will stop chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" at the next Friday prayer? Does anyone seriously believe the mullahs' lies that they do not want to build nuclear weapons? Is Iran a democracy that treats its citizens as people with rights? What exactly are these experts supporting and sympathizing with? Are these experts working with the Iranian regime anything other than lobbyists and agents for the mullahs' regime?
If the mullahs truly wanted peace, they would dismantle their support for terrorist organizations, abandon their ambitions to build nuclear weapons, stop pouring resources into fueling conflicts in neighboring countries, and cease spreading hatred toward the Western world. Do the mullahs plan to do any of that? Hardly.
Parsi has been forced to leave the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, but that does not mean all doors are closed to him. He continues to work as a lecturer at Lund University, where he teaches about "human rights." That's right — the man who does not consider the Iranian regime a dictatorship teaches human rights at a Swedish university. Moreover, he was one of the most frequently interviewed experts in Swedish media during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
The door must be closed to these lobbyists for the Iranian regime. It cannot be that people are being oppressed in Iran while a group of so-called experts with close ties to the regime are allowed to act as the mullahs' mouthpieces in the West — while also holding key positions that grant them access to sensitive information and decision-makers. The mullahs' regime is an enemy of the West, but the mullahs' lobbyists must be treated as enemies, too.
*Nima Gholam Ali Pour is a Member of the Swedish Parliament.
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© 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.

Arab food insecurity: A recipe for regional chaos
Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed/Arab News/July 22, 2025
In the volatile landscape of the Arab world, food and water security have emerged as critical pillars of national stability, inextricably linked to escalating regional tensions and shifting geopolitics. As conflicts simmer from Syria to Yemen and external powers exploit divisions, the region’s ability to feed and hydrate its populations faces unprecedented threats. Recent reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia paint a grim picture: hunger and malnutrition have surged to critical levels, affecting more than 69 million people in the Arab world as of 2024. This crisis, exacerbated by climate change, pandemics and wars, underscores the urgent need for Arab nations to forge cooperative strategies for self-sufficiency, lest they remain vulnerable to global supply disruptions and manipulative foreign influences. The Arab world’s strategic environment is a powder keg of instability. Tensions in one corner barely cool before igniting elsewhere, as seen in the recent unrest in Sweida, Syria, where Israeli airstrikes ostensibly to protect the Druze minority violated Syrian sovereignty amid a perceived US green light. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry swiftly condemned these incursions, highlighting a broader pattern of Israeli provocations that exploit power vacuums and regional fractures. Such interventions not only destabilize borders but also amplify food and water insecurities, disrupting agricultural supply chains and displacing farmers.
Geopolitical shifts further compound these challenges. The ongoing war in Ukraine has disrupted global grain exports, on which many Arab states heavily rely, while the Israeli assaults on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, along with its exchanges with Iran, have ravaged local agriculture. In Gaza, where food insecurity affected 31 percent of the population pre-2023 escalation due to blockades and water restrictions, the situation has deteriorated into famine-like conditions, with more than 90 percent of residents facing acute shortages by mid-2025.
Lebanon’s recent conflicts have eroded purchasing power for 90 percent of its agricultural workforce, inflating food prices and crippling production. In Sudan, armed clashes have barred 40 percent of farmers from their lands, destroying infrastructure and spiking prices by more than 70 percent, leaving 25 million in severe hunger. Yemen’s protracted war, punctuated by US-Israeli strikes, has demolished irrigation systems and hiked wheat prices by 40 percent, pushing 70 percent of its population into food insecurity, including 17 million in acute need. Libya and Syria fare no better, with conflict-induced displacements halting cultivation and inflating import dependencies.
Water security, often the overlooked twin of food security, is equally imperiled. The Arab world, home to 5 percent of the global population but only 1 percent of renewable water resources, grapples with severe scarcity. Climate change has intensified droughts, reducing aquifer levels and river flows in the Euphrates, Tigris and Nile basins, which are vital for irrigation.
Geopolitical tensions exacerbate this, including through upstream damming projects. One example is Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which threatens Egypt and Sudan’s water shares, potentially slashing Nile flows by 25 percent and devastating agriculture. In Palestine, Israeli control over aquifers diverts 85 percent of West Bank water to settlements, leaving Palestinians with per capita access below WHO minimums. Syria and Iraq face similar upstream pressures from Turkiye, where dams on the Euphrates have cut flows by 40 percent, crippling downstream farming. These water wars not only undermine food production, as agriculture consumes 80 percent of regional water, but also fuel national security risks. Resource disputes could ignite broader conflicts.
Amid these perils, Arab food self-sufficiency remains alarmingly low. The Arab Organization for Agricultural Development reported in 2024 that the region imports more than 50 percent of its basic needs, with grain self-sufficiency at just 38 percent, wheat at 35 percent, maize at 23 percent and rice at 48 percent (though Egypt achieves a surplus in rice). Edible oils stand at 34 percent, sugar at 41 percent, meat at 69 percent, legumes at 37 percent and dairy at 82 percent.
This dependency exposes economies to volatile global markets, where prices have soared 20 percent to 30 percent since 2022 due to supply chain disruptions. Wars amplify the gap: in conflict zones, agricultural output has plummeted 30 percent to 50 percent, widening the food deficit and inflating import bills to $100 billion annually.
National security is at stake, as food and water vulnerabilities invite external manipulation. In a geopolitically charged era, where superpowers vie for influence, resource scarcity becomes a weapon. The US-led West, often prioritizing strategic alliances over humanitarian concerns, has enabled sieges and blockades that starve populations. This is exemplified by the crisis in Gaza, where daily hunger deaths occur amid international complicity, backed by arms supplies from Washington.
Hunger and malnutrition have surged to critical levels, affecting more than 69 million people in the Arab world as of 2024.
Yet, hope lies in Arab agency. Food and water security demand political stability through regional solidarity, not fragmentation. Experts advocate clear paths: fostering intra-Arab cooperation via joint ventures, like shared irrigation projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council or Nile Basin initiatives; exchanging expertise in desalination and drought-resistant crops; developing unified food policies under the Arab League; adopting climate-smart technologies, such as precision agriculture and genetically modified seeds tailored to arid climates; and building strategic reserves for emergencies, buffered against global shocks.
Investment in research and development is crucial, boosting yields through hydroponics, vertical farming and wastewater recycling could close the water gap by 20 percent to 30 percent. The UAE’s Masdar City and Saudi Arabia’s NEOM exemplify the region’s innovative approaches, blending renewable energy with sustainable agriculture. Reducing reliance on imports requires subsidizing local farmers, reforming subsidies that favor urban consumers and integrating water management into national security doctrines.
In conclusion, the Arab world’s future hinges on transforming anxiety into action. With geopolitical tensions showing no abatement, from Iranian-Saudi reconciliation being tested by proxy conflicts to US-China rivalries spilling into the Middle East, food and water security must be elevated as existential imperatives. By uniting in self-reliance, Arab nations can shield themselves from external predation, ensuring sovereignty and dignity for generations. The opportunity is ripe; the will must follow.
**Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed is an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, in the Department of Biosystems Engineering. He is the author of “Agricultural Development Strategies: The Saudi Experience.” X: @TurkiFRasheed

The Middle East and the Scourge of Political Poverty
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 22/2025
The region has been paying a horrifying price for its conflict with Israel for the past half century. We were told that Israel was a fragile polity propped up more by foreign support with limited domestic cohesion and legitimacy. This portrayal gave rise to a broad range of nationalist, Islamist, and leftist narratives that predicted Israel would inevitably and imminently collapse. These ideological projections often filled the void created by a lack of serious political projects, allowing their advocates to justify evading their historical responsibility toward their peoples and their countries.
On the other side, however, another illusion, one that might be even more dangerous, has begun to take hold: Israel no longer needs politics or political ideas. Its dominance ensures an eternal deterrent that can replace the recognition that it once sought through peace accords, normalization, and negotiated settlements, as Israel can reshape the region unilaterally through force alone, without negotiations or partnerships.
That is precisely the message conveyed by the strike on Damascus in the aftermath of the events in Sweida: a strike that was remarkable in its timing and intensity, creating a shocking spectacle in the heart of the capital. It was a geopolitical message: Israel is no longer satisfied with merely preempting active threats and is now ready to fully leverage its military superiority to impose its terms.Although the strike came on the heels of a flurry of reports about promising peace talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv, Israel’s attack has undermined the pragmatic view that neutralizing threats to regional stability necessarily entails building alliances, deepening mutual understandings, and pursuing shared interests.
It is as if Israel is now living its own “Nasserite moment,” applying the maxim that “what is taken by force can only be recovered by force” but from the opposite side. It seeks perpetual hegemony, seeing any settlement as an existential threat and political recognition as a burden, an obstacle to its pursuit of a new regional model. This model is being built in the skies, without partners, negotiations, or even the need for mediators.
However, Nasserism collapsed when it led the masses to believe that speeches could replace a real political project. Its collapse is a cautionary tale that should worry the architects of Israel’s current model, as they seem to believe that F-35 fighter jets replace political horizons and unburden Tel Aviv of the need to articulate a political vision- not only to its adversaries, but also to its allies, its own society, and the wider world.
Conflating Israel’s legitimate need for effective deterrent tools and its ability to employ these tools within a sustainable strategy could prove fatal. It needs a vision underpinned by a coherent domestic political framework and clear regional and international backing on how to achieve a viable political project for the region. The alternative now looming on the horizon is a state of perpetual attrition, for Israel and the region: resources are depleted, social fragmentation deepens, and the legitimacy of political and strategic decision-making erodes. In this scenario, seeking to impose stability by force becomes nothing more than fuel for chronic instability. This model also threatens to upend what remains of the region’s balance, undermine pragmatic realism, and discredit moderation and arguments in favor of building bridges between Israel and its surroundings.
This alarming lack of political vision, even for conflict management, that has rendered military superiority into a kind of national identity and the region into an open theater of operations, has another repercussion: it frees rejectionists from the burden of adaptation and change. It allows them to reproduce their obsolete narratives about Israel’s existence and its supposed determination to "divide and weaken Arab states."
Israel has failed to establish the legitimacy of its regional standing, despite its longstanding military and technological superiority, because it rarely moved beyond the logic of perpetual defense. It has defined itself through opposition rather than proposing solutions, through fears rather than aspirations. Today, Israel appears content to be on offense constantly, from Khan Yunis to Isfahan. Between these two postures, it is difficult to point to a sustained effort to develop a political or moral narrative that consolidates its durability in the Middle East, not merely in its geographical survival.
What Israel fails to grasp, and what we too often overlook, is that the Middle East is not in an arms race but in a race of narratives.
In this regard, Arabs also have a part to play. A coherent political project for de-isolating the crises of Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, and Iraq, as the region needs a comprehensive vision that redefines the possible. Compounding this failure is hesitation and skepticism of the notion that broken regimes can be politically restructured, that they are not inherently doomed to reproduce pre-collapse conditions. The collapse of regimes should not be seen merely as a “situation to be managed.” Indeed, it is an opportunity to impose alternative political frameworks that underpin durable domestic settlements.
In truth, the real threat, both to Israel and to us, is political fragmentation. The Arabs seek refuge in geography, as though it were a permanent source of legitimacy. Meanwhile, Israel relies on militarism, as though it could even constitute a sustainable political project.
Reducing politics to aerial and intelligence superiority, legitimacy to mere geography or history, can create a massive vacuum; in this region, vacuums are almost always swiftly filled by an adversary or catastrophe.

Why No States for the Druze or the Kurds?
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/This is Beirutt/July 22/2025
Self-determination in the Middle East is inconsistent. For Muslim Palestinians, statehood is seen as an unfulfilled destiny. Yet for religious minorities like the Druze or ethnic groups like the Kurds, pursuing sovereignty is branded as betrayal or capitulation to imperialism. There’s no clear logic to why Israel should be divided into two states while Syria must remain whole. Recent attacks by Islamist jihadist groups on the Druze in southern Syria highlight why non-Arab and non-Muslim minorities need their own sovereign states, independent of the Muslim Arab majority that often claims exclusive rights to sovereignty.
Across the Middle East, except in Israel, non-Muslim and non-Arab minorities are steadily shrinking, some disappearing entirely. The assault on Syria’s Druze shows what happens when minorities rely on the international community, the state, or the Arab Muslim majority for protection: they suffer.
The Jewish people learned this lesson a century ago and have since vowed to maintain their sovereignty—the only guarantor of their safety and equal rights, unlike the second-class status they often faced in Muslim-majority states.
Questioning the borders drawn by colonial powers like France and Britain in 1920 is often taboo, despite criticisms of the Sykes-Picot Agreement from figures like US Envoy Tom Barrack. Many Arab nationalists and Islamists also reject these borders, advocating for their erasure to create a unified Arab nation or Islamic Caliphate.
Yet, objections arise primarily when border changes grant sovereignty to non-Muslims. When Muslim-majority entities gain control over disputed territories, Arab and Muslim opposition is typically muted. In 1939, Turkey annexed a disputed territory from Syria, then under French mandate, now called Hatay Province (known to Arabs as Liwa al-Iskandaronah). At around 5,600 square km, it matches the size of the West Bank. Syria claimed the territory until 1996, when Hafez al-Assad relinquished it to Turkey to avoid conflict and secure the handover of Kurdish PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Few Arabs or Muslims, including Syrians, seem aware of or concerned by this concession—perhaps because it was to a fellow Muslim government. Contrast this with the Golan Heights, a 1,800 km² territory under Israeli sovereignty for 58 years after having been under Syrian control for only 47. Why is the Golan deemed rightfully Syrian but not part of Mandate Palestine or modern Israel? The Arabs and Muslims in general, including many Syrians, obsess over the Golan Heights and the West Bank, yet ignore the loss of Hatay Province. There’s no consistent logic here.
Arab acceptance of secession is equally erratic in other places. South Sudan gained independence after immense bloodshed, with little Arab or Muslim objection.
The Shatt al-Arab waterway, disputed between Iraq and Iran, was conceded by Saddam Hussein to Iran while he postured as a champion of Palestinian liberation 1,000 km away. Saddam also used sarin gas to crush Kurdish separatists who—despite their distinct Iranian ethnicity, language, and culture—are deemed unworthy of statehood. Meanwhile, Palestinians, whose leaders were often more preoccupied with internal power struggles than with building institutions for autonomy, are seen as uniquely deserving of sovereignty. Self-determination is a right, but it does not guarantee well-governed and prosperous nations. Each population will have to weigh the pros and cons of going it alone or staying within the borders of a bigger state.
Self-determination should be straightforward. In southern Syria, for instance, communities could vote—town by town, village by village—on whether to secede or remain. Damascus should respect the outcome. The same applies to the Kurds in northeast Syria; denying their right to self-determination lacks justification.Secure, sovereign populations are less likely to fuel conflict. Granting minorities like the Druze and Kurds their own states could reduce tensions and foster stability in the Middle East.
Once smaller states achieve stability and contentment, they could explore unification or merger, similar to the European Union or the United States. Self-determination and sovereignty aim to ensure populations are secure, prosperous, and content. When a state’s sovereignty fails to deliver these outcomes, it should be renegotiated—whether by dividing nations like Syria, Iraq, or Lebanon, or merging them, as Iraq and Syria attempted in the 1970s. State borders should remain flexible and always negotiable, serving the needs of their people.

Selected Tweets for 22 July/2025
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Told @livenowfox: The alliance between America and Israel is institutional and unshaken by disagreements over airstrikes or lack of chemistry between leaders. Both nations align on policy, even when differing on specific actions.
Defending Israeli PM Netanyahu isn't my role, but the Damascus strike to halt an Islamist assault on Syria's Druze was the right call. Recent U.S. diplomacy in Syria, Lebanon, and the Middle East builds on Israeli sacrifices and military victories, which reshaped the region. Sharaa holds power due to Israel’s actions against Hezbollah. Calling any Israeli PM trigger-happy insults Israel’s institutions, including its military and intelligence, which have performed impressively over the past two years. The PM relies on professionals for decisions, though he bears ultimate responsibility.

Dany A. Khalek
Did Thomas Barak not see the mass execution carried out by members of the Syrian Ministry of Defense against 7 young Druze men, including one with American citizenship, in Tishreen Square, Suwayda?

Walid Abu Haya
https://x.com/i/status/1947581751498575955
Disturbing Images
“He is a Druze, Druze”… “Druze?!” .. “yes he is Druze”.. “ his identity is a Druze” ..
“Are you a Druze or not?!”
The victim: “yes I’m a Druze”!!
Boom Boom Boom Boom …
“Allah wa Akbar” “Allah wa Albar”
The world silence is accomplice to the crime!

Hadeel Oueis هديل عويس
https://x.com/i/status/1947598249201652064
Syrian government soldiers, in official uniform :
“Are you Druze?”
He replies: “I’m Syrian.”
The Islamist soldiers snap: “Don’t say Syrian. Are you Druze or not? It says Druze on your ID.”The terrified man: “Yes, I’m Druze, my brother.”
“Allahu Akbar” — then shoot him dead

Marc Zell
@GOPIsrael
Actually my visibility has increased markedly since I began reporting on the situation of the Druze and other minorities in Syria. In fact, the public reaction to these reports has been a major factor in spurring the response of the Israeli government in attacking the Syrian security forces dispatched by Damascus to ethnically cleanse Suweida and surrounding areas. Much more needs to be done including opening a land route to evacuate Syrian Druze who need urgent medical care. The U.S. Administration can play an important role in convincing Jordan to cooperate in this purely humanitarian effort.

Marc Zell
Kudos to President Trump @POTUS for his courageous decision to curtail US participation in UNESCO. Recall that among other things UNESCO passed a resolution which disregarded the Jewish historical, religious and cultural ties to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.

Marc Zell
Einav Halabi reports: Druze and Jews donated approximately 200 units of blood in the town of Usfiya on the Carmel, as part of an initiative to ensure blood availability for wounded Druze from the fighting in Syria, who may arrive for medical treatment in Israel. "We are witnessing a touching solidarity from all parts of Israeli society," said Saleh Badriya, a member of the Fourth Quarter movement's leadership and one of the initiative's organizers. "Jews and Druze are coming together to donate blood because they understand it's about saving lives. This shows the true unity between us in difficult times. If only the country's leadership shared this unity and solidarity with the Druze community."

Rep. Brad Schneider
Turkey illegally invaded Cyprus 51 years ago. Turkey continues to illegally occupy a third of the island, and as Co-Chair of the Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus, I remain committed to supporting Cyprus’s reunification and sovereignty. That’s why I introduced the Turkey Diplomatic Realignment Act and Eastern Mediterranean Gateway Act. These bipartisan bills push back on Turkey’s destabilizing activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and strengthen our partnerships with key regional allies.

Rawan Osman روان عثمان
Dear world, I am Syrian and I see you.
All eyes on Sweida. The same jihadist ideology that slaughtered Israelis on October 7 is now targeting the Druze in Syria. I said it at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and I’ll say it again: Israel is not the problem. I said it in the Knesset, and I’ll say it again: Israel is our hope in the Levant.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
#Turkey bets on #Syria Islamists (Sharaa or Abu Amsheh) to expand its influence in the Levant and inherit #Iran. As Turkey beats non-Muslims and Kurds in Syria, it’ll give Iran an opportunity to reconnect, recruit, fund, arm the opposition in Syria— the Alawites and the Kurds. What I don’t get is what’s in it for #Saudi Arabia that has no interest in seeing either radical Islamists — Sunni Turkey or Shia Iran — take over Syria.
If anything, Saudi interest is in shoring up non-Islamists — Alawites, Kurds, Druze, Christians — to counter balance Turkey and make sure minorities are not beaten and desperate to connect with Iran to sponsor them.
But Saudis taking side of Sharaa and Turkey doesn’t make sense to me, AT ALL.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Current U.S. policy on #Syria is going in the wrong direction, stirred by the wrong person.
America has no interest, whatsoever, in helping Syria’s Islamists and foreign fighters take over the country.At the very least, U.S. must trust and verify as we gradually remove sanction on Syria.Betting the farm in Syria on a bunch of Islamist militias that have committed two massacres in four months against non-Muslim Alawites and Druze and watched blowing up of a church full of believers is the wrong course of action.

HonestReporting Canada
@HonestRepCanada
https://x.com/i/status/1946217043050541224
Qatar may be a tiny Gulf nation, but its oil wealth fuels a massive global agenda—and Canada is in its sights. A bombshell 160-page report from @ISGAP exposes how Qatari state-backed charities have poured millions into Canadian Muslim organizations, some with alleged ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. From mosques to schools to university campuses, a shadowy web of influence is growing. So why isn’t our news media talking about it? Our Digital Director,
@RickFirth, digs deeper