English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 31/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offences, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites
Letter to the Romans 16/07-20: "I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offences, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good, and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 30-31/2025
Elias Bejjani – Text and Video: Exposing and Discrediting the Delusional and Detached Speech of Naim QassemظElias Bejjani/July 31/2025
The jihadist al-Julani regime and the mullahs' regime are two sides of the same coin/Elias Bejjani/July 30/2025
A French Disgrace and a Lebanese Scandal: The Release of Terrorist Georges Abdallah and His Reception as a Hero/Elias Bejjani/July 27/2025
Statement on the Demand to Repeal Article 112 of the Electoral Law
Hezbollah chief rejects disarmament as pressure on Lebanon grows
Algeria to resume Lebanon flights in mid-August
Sheikh Qassem: Hezbollah Operates in Both Lebanon’s Politics, Military Resistance against Israeli Enemy

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 30-31/2025
Change .org Petition/Revoke Canadian Citizenship of Former Islamic Regime MPs!
Arab states call on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in unprecedented move
Dozens killed while seeking food in Gaza as US envoy heads to Israel
Arab nations call for peace, renewal of Arab Peace Initiative on final day of UN 2-state solution conference
Israeli minister hints at annexing parts of Gaza
UK rejects criticism that move to recognize Palestinian state rewards Hamas
UN expert on torture demands end to ‘lethal, inhumane, degrading’ starvation of civilians in Gaza
Malta says it will recognize the state of Palestine, joining France and possibly Britain
Iraqi authorities smash drug-smuggling ring in Damascus and seize 1.3m captagon capsules
Syria’s foreign minister to make first official visit to Moscow since Assad’s ouster

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 30-31/2025
Preparing for War, Xi Jinping Is Taking Back China's Farms And Trying to Destroy America's/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/July 30, 2025
Can Syria’s President Control His Troops?...After two massacres by government forces, the U.S. should turn up the heat./Ahmad Sharawi/WSJ/July 30/2025
Replacing Iran with Turkey Is a Recipe for Disaster in Syria/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/This Is Beirut/July 30/2025
Countries should act unilaterally in recognizing Palestine/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/July 30, 2025
New York conference ends US monopoly on Palestine issue/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/July 30, 2025
How the far right is weaponizing migration/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/July 30, 2025
The rise of smart infrastructure in the MENA region/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/July 30, 2025
Selected Tweets for 30 July/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 30-31/2025
Elias Bejjani – Text and Video: Exposing and Discrediting the Delusional and Detached Speech of Naim Qassem
Elias Bejjani – July 31, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145835/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKHmEBYkhG4&t=93s
In a speech full of repeated slogans, hollow bravado, and foolish denial of defeat and irrelevance, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, proudly defended the group’s terrorist, Iranian-backed, and militant weapons. He falsely claimed these weapons are “protecting Lebanon” and accused anyone demanding their removal of being traitors or agents of Israel. But the truth is that Hezbollah’s insistence on keeping its weapons is a blatant violation of the will of the majority of Lebanese people. It also defies national agreements, especially the Taif Agreement, which clearly demands the disarmament of all militias—without exception—and the extension of state authority over all Lebanese territory through official state forces.
Refusing to Disarm: A Betrayal of the Constitution and All Agreements
Qassem claims that Hezbollah’s weapons are an “internal matter,” and that calls for disarmament help Israel dominate Lebanon. In reality, Hezbollah’s weapons are the main obstacle to establishing a sovereign state that holds the exclusive power to declare war and maintain national security.
Hezbollah even begged for a ceasefire after realizing its military collapse. That ceasefire agreement, signed by the Mikati government and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, clearly demanded Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the south, the dismantling of its military infrastructure, and the handover of all its weapons to the state. It explicitly named who could bear arms—from the army to municipal police—but mentioned nothing about “resistance” or “opposition.”So how does Qassem now deny the terms of a deal his party approved and once called a “political victory”? This contradiction between words and actions exposes his hypocrisy.
Empty Victories: No Triumph, Just Total Defeat
Qassem’s talk of “resistance strength” is nothing more than desperate cover-up attempts for Hezbollah’s and Iran’s massive failures. Lebanese people and the world have seen southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, and Dahiyeh reduced to rubble. Top Hezbollah leaders have been killed, and tens of thousands of Shiite civilians were displaced—not by Israel—but by Hezbollah’s reckless decisions and its use of civilians as human shields. Iran, the group’s regional backer, is also losing everywhere: in Syria, Assad’s regime is collapsing; in Yemen, the Houthis are being crushed; and inside Iran, the currency is collapsing while public uprisings rise. Hamas is also under heavy attack. The whole “axis of resistance” is falling apart.
Hiding Behind the Government: Deep State Rules, Presidents Are Puppets
Qassem claimed Hezbollah handed everything to the state and that it’s now the state’s responsibility to act. But who’s really blocking the state? Isn’t it the so-called Shiite Duo—Hezbollah and Amal—that forms Lebanon’s deep state and dominates power and decision-making?
Presidents Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam have shown nothing but weakness and submission. They surrendered their sovereign responsibilities to Hezbollah’s agenda, instead of defending the constitution and fulfilling the mission assigned to them by international sponsors—both Arab and Western.
The “Defense Strategy”: A Trick to Justify the Militia
Hezbollah’s so-called “national defense strategy” is nothing but a political trick to keep its weapons under a fake legal cover. There is no country in the world that shares its military authority with a group outside its state institutions. A nation cannot be built on a system that splits weapons between the army and a militia.
Qassem Welcomes the Criminal George Abdallah: Birds of a Feather
In one of the clearest signs of Hezbollah’s alliance with terrorism, Qassem warmly welcomed convicted terrorist George Abdallah, calling him an “international struggler.” Abdallah was convicted of assassinating diplomats and still refuses to recognize the law or the state.This wasn’t just a political gesture—it was proof of the shared identity between Hezbollah and every outlaw, whether they carry bombs or so-called “resistance” rifles. Qassem’s praise for Abdallah reveals Hezbollah’s true mentality: full alignment with violence, total contempt for legal institutions, and complete rejection of justice. Once again, the saying fits perfectly: "Birds of a feather flock together." A terrorist praises another terrorist. Both are a disgrace to Lebanon, enemies of its sovereignty, and a threat to the state.
Conclusion: No Reconstruction, No Peace, No State While Hezbollah Exists
Lebanon will never see peace, recovery, or rebirth as long as Hezbollah controls the weapons, dominates institutions, and imposes its ideology, security apparatus, and false narratives.
What’s needed isn’t coexistence with Hezbollah—but a complete dismantling of its military, institutional, cultural, and intelligence infrastructure. Its fake “sacred” image must be stripped away to reveal the destructive Iranian expansionist project behind it.
All party leaders and officials who accepted Hezbollah’s terrorism must face justice. Presidents Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam have proven themselves mere tools in Hezbollah’s hands.
To the judges, MPs, and officials too afraid to confront Hezbollah: your political courage—not your silence—will protect Lebanon.
Author: Elias Bejjani, Lebanese Diaspora Activist
Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com
Email: phoenicia@hotmail.com

The jihadist al-Julani regime and the mullahs' regime are two sides of the same coin.
Elias Bejjani/July 30/2025
Al-Jolani’s regime is satanic, jihadist, and Salafist — no matter how much it is whitewashed by Arabs and USA. Like the terrorist Hezbollah and the regime of its murderous mullah masters, it poses a threat to everything human, to humanity itself, to peace, and to civilization. Different faces of one barbaric reality.

A French Disgrace and a Lebanese Scandal: The Release of Terrorist Georges Abdallah and His Reception as a Hero
Elias Bejjani/July 27/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145708/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRXrzhqyisk&t=3s
In an appalling breach of justice and international responsibility, the French state has committed a legal and moral offense by releasing convicted terrorist and murderer Georges Ibrahim Abdallah after 41 years in prison. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in deadly terror attacks on French soil. As if that wasn’t enough, the Lebanese state—hijacked by Hezbollah and Iran’s militias—welcomed him with official honors at Beirut International Airport, treating him not as a criminal, but as a hero.
1. Who Is Georges Ibrahim Abdallah?
Georges Abdallah is not a “freedom fighter” or “resistance icon.” He is a convicted terrorist and cold-blooded killer. Born in 1951 in the town of Qoubaiyat in northern Lebanon, he joined radical leftist movements and became a senior member of the so-called Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), a terror group closely linked to Palestinian, Syrian, and Iranian networks. He emerged during a chaotic period in Lebanese history when Palestinian factions, communist militias, Arab nationalist groups, and Islamic organizations dominated the Lebanese political and security landscape under the deceptive slogans of “resistance,” “liberation,” and “throwing Jews into the sea.” In reality, these groups were nothing more than tools of chaos and mercenaries for regional totalitarian regimes.
2. Abdallah’s Crimes – A Bloody Record on French Soil
In 1984, Georges Abdallah was arrested in Lyon, France, while carrying forged passports. Investigations quickly uncovered his involvement in a series of meticulously planned political assassinations carried out on French territory.
The crimes he was convicted for:
Assassination of Charles R. Ray, Deputy U.S. Military Attaché at the American Embassy in Paris – shot and killed on January 18, 1982 outside his residence.
Assassination of Yacov Barsimantov, Second Secretary at the Israeli Embassy in Paris – gunned down in broad daylight on April 3, 1982.
Attempted assassination of French military attaché Colonel Guy Le Moine de Marchand, known as Guy Le Chérah – severely wounded in 1982 and later died from his injuries. This added a third murder charge to Abdallah’s name, this time targeting a French officer on French soil.
Attempted assassination of the U.S. Consul in Strasbourg in March 1984 – a failed attack that nonetheless left serious injuries.
These attacks were carried out by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions with full knowledge and planning from Abdallah. The French judiciary sentenced him in 1987 to life in prison, noting his total lack of remorse and continued glorification of violence and terrorism throughout his trial and imprisonment.
3. An Illegitimate Release – Political Capitulation or Judicial Betrayal?
The decision to release Georges Abdallah after 43 years behind bars—despite a final and irrevocable life sentence—constitutes a betrayal on two levels:
A betrayal of the victims—American, French, and Israeli diplomats who were murdered in cold blood.
And a betrayal of the French public, who expect their justice system to uphold the law without yielding to political pressure.
Abdallah never expressed regret, never cooperated with French authorities, and repeatedly praised Hezbollah, Iran, and violent armed struggle. All legal conditions for parole were absent, yet France caved to internal lobbying from far-left groups and external pressure from the Tehran–Beirut–Damascus axis.
This was not a judicial act. It was a political surrender.
4. The Lebanese Disgrace – Official Honors for a Convicted Killer
As if France’s failure wasn’t shameful enough, Lebanon—now little more than a vassal state for Iran—turned Abdallah’s return into a celebration of terror.
He arrived in Beirut on a French aircraft, escorted with official protocol, and was received in the VIP lounge at Beirut International Airport.
Welcoming him were two sitting Members of Parliament:
One from Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, the armed Iranian proxy designated as a terrorist group by much of the world.
Another from Amal Movement, led by Nabih Berri, Speaker of Parliament for over three decades and political ally of Hezbollah and the Iranian regime.
This disgraceful reception sends a chilling message: terrorism is not condemned in Lebanon—it is rewarded.
While ordinary Lebanese citizens are humiliated in airports and treated with suspicion abroad, an internationally convicted killer is welcomed with applause and state honors.
This scene exposes Lebanon’s harsh reality: a failed state controlled by a militia, with institutions used to serve foreign occupiers rather than its own people.
5. The Lebanese Media – Complicit in Whitewashing Terror
The shame didn’t end at the tarmac. A large portion of the Lebanese media joined the farce, describing Georges Abdallah as a “freedom fighter,” “national hero,” and “resistance symbol.”
TV anchors and columnists praised his “steadfastness,” glorified his past, and completely whitewashed the fact that he is a murderer.
Even supposedly “neutral” or opposition outlets either joined the praise or remained shamefully silent.
This is not journalism. This is moral collapse, a betrayal of the media’s role as a guardian of truth and justice. It reveals the degree to which parts of the Lebanese media have become mouthpieces for Hezbollah and Iran, sanctifying murderers while ignoring the suffering of innocent people and the destruction of the state.
Conclusion: No Honor in Glorifying Murder – No Dignity in Embracing Terror
The release of Georges Abdallah is not a victory for freedom—it is a triumph for political terrorism and moral hypocrisy.
France made a grave mistake by letting him go free. But Lebanon’s reception turned that mistake into a national disgrace.
Georges Abdallah is a terrorist, not a hero. Those who glorify him, welcome him, or remain silent about his crimes are accomplices in the betrayal of justice.
There is no “resistance” in celebrating assassins.
There is no “sovereignty” in bowing to Hezbollah.
And there is no “honor” in a state that salutes a convicted killer in its VIP lounge while its people rot in poverty and humiliation.
Enough with the glorification of terrorists. Enough with the moral chaos. Enough with the lies.

Statement on the Demand to Repeal Article 112 of the Electoral Law
Maronite Parish/July 30/2025
On behalf of the Maronite bishops outside Lebanon, and following a meeting with the President of the Republic, we call for the repeal of Article 112 of the current electoral law, which allocates 6 parliamentary seats to expatriates in a separate electoral district.
Why are we opposed to this article?
• Every Lebanese citizen—whether living in Lebanon or abroad—has the right to vote in their original electoral district in Lebanon.
• Article 112 violates the Constitution and the principle of equality.
• It creates legal and procedural complications.
• It separates Lebanese abroad from the rest of the citizens instead of uniting them.
Our position:
• Expatriates are not less Lebanese than residents. Their vote should remain tied to their home and community.
• We must preserve the unity of the Lebanese electoral body.
• Past elections in 2018 and 2022 proved that expatriates can vote effectively without needing a separate district.
What we’re asking:
• Sign the petition calling for the repeal of Article 112.
• Reach out to your local MPs, ambassadors, and consuls.
• Share your position with your communities and Maronite parishes around the world.
With love and full support to every Lebanese carrying their homeland in their heart, wherever they are.

Hezbollah chief rejects disarmament as pressure on Lebanon grows
Reuters/July 30, 2025
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that calls for the Iran-aligned militant group's disarmament served only Israel, as the United States ramps up pressure for steps to remove its arsenal. "Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel ... We will not submit to Israel," Qassem said in a televised address.Hezbollah emerged badly damaged from a war with Israel last year that eliminated most of the group's leadership, killed thousands of its fighters and left tens of thousands of its supporters displaced from their destroyed homes. The U.S. is now pushing Lebanon to issue a formal cabinet decision committing to disarm Hezbollah before talks can resume on a halt to Israeli military operations in the country, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Hezbollah has publicly refused to hand over its arsenal in full, but has privately weighed scaling it back. "Those who call for disarmament on a domestic, global or Arab level serve the Israeli project," Qassem said. He also said the U.S. was demanding a removal of Hezbollah's missiles and drones because they "scare" Israel, accusing U.S. special envoy Thomas Barrack of calling for disarmament for the sake of Israel and not Lebanon's own security. "Israel will not be able to defeat us and it will not be able to take Lebanon hostage," he added. In early July, Barrack met Lebanese officials in Beirut to discuss the disarmament proposal. It would see Hezbollah fully disarmed within four months in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops occupying several posts in south Lebanon and a halt to Israeli air strikes. Hezbollah has been under pressure in recent months both within Lebanon and from Washington to completely relinquish its weaponry.

Algeria to resume Lebanon flights in mid-August
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/July 30, 2025
BEIRUT: Air Algerie has announced the resumption of flights to Beirut, starting on Aug. 14.
The announcement follows an Algerian-Lebanese summit between the countries’ presidents, Joseph Aoun and Abdelmadjid Tebboune, held in Algiers on Tuesday. Algeria’s Tebboune confirmed he had issued instructions for Air Algerie to resume flights to Beirut, with two weekly flights starting within the next two weeks. Tickets are already on sale through the airline’s commercial offices and website. Tebboune also said discussions would be held on the establishment of a maritime line between Algeria and the port of Tripoli, in northern Lebanon. The link would aim to boost industry and commerce, especially during the country’s reconstruction phase. He pledged “unwavering support to Lebanon” in the area of renewable energy, including the construction of solar power plants.
“Agreements covering financial, economic and cultural cooperation will be signed in the near future,” Tebboune said during a joint press conference with Aoun following the summit.
Aoun said: “Lebanon aspires to enter every brotherly Arab country and every Arab home with love and brotherhood. We do not interfere in the affairs of our brothers, nor do they interfere in ours —except to support what is in the best interest of each of us and for all our nations, in a spirit of full respect and genuine cooperation.”On Tuesday, Tebboune awarded Aoun the Order of National Merit, Athir class, the highest honor Algeria can bestow upon heads of state. It was presented “in recognition of the relations of brotherhood and mutual understanding, and the historically significant positions shared between Algeria and Lebanon.”The summit included bilateral talks which resulted in “important decisions to activate cooperation and strengthen relations between the two countries in various fields.”
A joint statement said discussions focused on reconstruction efforts following extensive damage caused by Israeli attacks on Lebanon, during which the Lebanese delegation presented a detailed memorandum outlining the country’s reconstruction needs.
During a press conference with Aoun, Tebboune reiterated Algeria’s commitment to Lebanon’s security and stability. He also highlighted efforts at Security Council level to stop Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty and to support the UN resolution to renew the mandate of UNIFIL. The summit also saw a decision to “activate the political consultation mechanism between the two countries, which has been held once since 2002, and to announce assistance in the field of renewable energy, the construction of solar power plants, and other areas.”The Algerian president confirmed the need to expedite the convening of the first session of the Algerian-Lebanese Joint Committee as a new starting point and a driving framework for effective, sustainable cooperation.
Aoun said Arab solidarity was essential for Lebanon’s strength.
“I have great hopes of rescuing my country from imminent dangers and restoring a state with all its attributes, chief among them full, undiminished and exclusive sovereignty over its entire territory and all its people,” he said. Aoun praised Algeria’s “steadfast support for Lebanon,” adding it “has consistently been present in Arab efforts to help Lebanon overcome its crises and resolve its internal and external conflicts.”As part of the summit, Lebanese Minister of Information Paul Morcos and Algerian Minister of Communication Mohamed Meziane signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening media cooperation between the two countries.
On the second day of his visit, Aoun visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa in Bab El Oued district. The church, perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, was the first Catholic church in Africa in the name of the Virgin Mary. Designed by French architect Jean-Eugene Fromageau, it was completed in 1872. Aoun left a message in the church’s guest book that said: “It is no surprise that the Virgin Mary inspires a culture of coexistence, dialogue and mutual respect among civilizations and religions in Algeria. For Christians, she has always been a mother, an intercessor, and a symbol of love and devotion. Few things capture the nobility of this historic cathedral’s message, standing for a century and a half as a witness to humanity’s journey in Algeria, better than the words engraved upon it: ‘Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims’.”Aoun also visited the Great Mosque of Algiers, locally known as Djamaa El-Djazair, where Sheikh Mamoun Al-Qasimi spoke to him about the religious values and true meanings of Islam, which he said included moderation and openness toward other religions. The Great Mosque of Algiers is the largest mosque in Africa. Its main prayer hall can accommodate 32,000 worshippers and the entire complex, including the courtyard and outdoor areas, can host up to 120,000 people. It is the world’s third-largest mosque after the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah.
In 2021 it received the International Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum for Architecture and Design and the European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Aoun also left a note in the mosque’s guest book that said: “The Great Mosque of Algiers undoubtedly fosters a spirit of coexistence, tolerance, and moderation. These values resonate throughout Algeria, in the heart of its people, and in the soul of all visitors.”

Sheikh Qassem: Hezbollah Operates in Both Lebanon’s Politics, Military Resistance against Israeli Enemy
Al-Manar English Website//July 30, 2025
Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem affirmed on Wednesday that the Resistance has proven to be a pillar of the state by facilitating the election of a president and government.
“We are committed to the path of resistance to liberate the land using specific means directed solely at ‘Israel’, alongside the political path to build the state—we do not prioritize one over the other,” Sheikh Qassem said while addressing Hezbollah ceremony held in Beirut Dahiyeh to mark the first martyrdom anniversary of the Resistance commander Sayyed Fuad Shokr.
“We will not accept being forced to choose between resistance and state-building. Resistance is against ‘Israel’, while state-building is for the citizen. The Resistance emerged as a reaction to the Israeli occupation and does not usurp anyone’s responsibility. The army and the people are responsible as well—and we salute them for their efforts.”
The ceasefire agreement in Lebanon included gains for both us and the Israeli side—and that is normal in any agreement, His Eminence added.
“We assisted the state in implementing the agreement, which applies exclusively to the area south of the Litani River. As for those linking the ceasefire to disarmament—tell them this matter is an internal Lebanese affair. They assumed Hezbollah had grown weak, but they were surprised by the party’s strong political and popular presence at the funerals of both Sayyed Nasrallah and Sayyed Safieddine, and in the municipal elections.”
Sheikh Qassem maintained that this Resistance still exists in all its political and social dimensions, adding that this is a testament to the strength of the Resistance, and this is why the enemy violated the ceasefire agreement.
Hezbollah leader indicated that a guarantee was given during the ceasefire negotiations to ensure the enemy’s compliance, but that the new envoy backed out and said there would be no such guarantee.
“Barrack came in with threats, speaking of dragging Lebanon into Syria and escalating the aggression, but he was surprised by a unified national stance from the three Lebanese presidents, demanding an end to the aggression before any other discussion.”
The presidents are seeking the reconstruction of the country, and thus cannot accept surrendering Lebanon’s source of strength, Sheikh Qassem said.
“The enemy is not stopping at the five occupied points—it is awaiting the disarmament of the Resistance in order to expand and build settlements. The agreement has secured safety for the northern settlements—but has security been achieved in Lebanon?”
Today, Syria stands as a clear example: the enemy is killing, bombing, drawing geographic and political borders, and shaping Syria’s future, Sheikh Qassem warned.
In Lebanon today, we face an existential threat to our people as a whole—from ‘Israel’, ISIL, and America under the banner of the “New Middle East”, His Eminence added.
“All the attacks, assassinations, and building demolitions taking place are part of the expansionist Israeli project. Lebanon will never be an extension of ‘Israel’ as long as we still breathe and as long as we say ‘There is no god but Allah’.”
Do not ask us for peace or recognition of Israel’, Sheikh Qassem firmly said.
“Barrack wants the disarmament of the Resistance to serve ‘Israel’, not to maintain Lebanon’s internal security. The state is carrying out its duties, and no one is competing with it over the exclusive right to arms—whether domestically or in confronting ‘Israel’.”
“We are a people who have sold our skulls to Allah Almighty—we live and die in our homeland, and we will never yield in humiliation. We are the disciples of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him),” Sheikh Qassem emphasized.
“We are in a state of defense over our land. Even if many of us are martyred, what matters is that deviation and occupation do not remain—and we will defend with all the strength we have. Some of us depart, and others take their place—but the occupation does not last. We endure.”We have faith, the right to live on our land, determination, and steadfastness. This is our choice. We will remain because we are the rightful owners, His Eminence underlined, adding that the imminent danger is the ‘Israeli’ aggression that must be stopped—and political discourse must be directed at halting it, not at submission.
“Every call to surrender arms is a call to relinquish Lebanon’s strength. Arms are not more important than reconstruction and halting the aggression.”
The state must fulfill its duties in stopping the aggression by any means, according to Sheikh Qassem who added that it cannot tell citizens, “I cannot protect you”.
“The state must take responsibility for reconstruction, even if America blocks us and pressures Arab countries. The state must find a way, even from its own budget—because reconstruction is a profitable venture that revives economic activity. Anyone today—internally, externally, or from the Arab world—who demands the disarmament of the Resistance is serving the ‘Israeli’ project.”
Stop the aggression, end the attacks, free the captives—then come to us, and you’ll have the best discussions, Sheikh Qassem said.
On the occasion, Sheikh Qassem said that Sayyed Fuad Shokr led a group of ten brethren who called themselves the “Covenant Group” before 1982. They pledged to confront “Israel” and to be on the frontlines.
“For 35 years, after the ninth fighter of the group was martyred, Sayyed Shokr continued to await martyrdom. Sayyed Shokr was deeply devoted to Imam Khomeini, and after his passing, he was fully committed and faithful to the leadership of Imam Khamenei. Sayyed Shokr was among the founding first generation and was the first military commander of the Resistance.” “Sayyed Shokr led the confrontations in Kafra and Yater following the assassination of Sayyed Abbas Al-Moussawi and led a group of fighters after the party decided to send a group to Bosnia. Sayyed Fouad Shukr is the founder of the naval unit in Hezbollah and was involved in the operations of the martyrs, including the martyr Sheikh Asaad Berro,” His Eminence added.
“Sayyed Mohsen acted as the chief of staff during the Battle of Support and was in constant contact with Sayyed Nasrallah until his martyrdom. Sayyed Mohsen was known for delivering various lectures at different locations inside the party and beyond; he was also present among the people in the courtyard of Ashura, where he would lament, weep, and frequently visit the mosque.”
“He was generous in spirit, with a special connection to Lady Fatimah Al-Zahraa [PBUH] and Imam Hussein [PBUH]. He was steadfast, strong, resilient, and possessed a strategic and rich mindset,” Sheikh Qassem said.
“I say to Sayyed Fouad: May Allah have mercy on you, raise your rank among the martyrs and saints, the Master of the Martyrs of the Ummah. I extend my condolences and congratulations to his family, loved ones, Hezbollah, and all who believe in this path.”
Sheikh Qassem also greeted the soul of the former Hamas Chief Martyr Ismail Haniyeh, adding that he succeeded in elevating the Palestinian cause to become the foremost issue in the world.
‘Israel’ and the United States are carrying out systematic crimes daily in Gaza, His Eminence added
“The world must unite and take a firm stand against ‘Israel’ to put an end to this tyranny that affects all of humanity. There is a criminal campaign of starvation, child killing, bombing tents, and murdering pregnant women, all carried out by the Israeli enemy with full support from America to force surrender—but this people will not surrender.”“Where are the Arabs? Where is the world? Where are human rights? We need concrete actions… [We are] Enough with statements and condemnations. The world must oppose ‘Israel’ by all means—even militarily.”
Sheikh Qassem had also saluted the freed fighter and detainee Georges Abdallah, maintaining that he stood tall for 41 years and is an integral part of the diverse Resistance journey that unites forces, parties, and sects under the banner of resistance.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 30-31/2025
Change .org Petition/Revoke Canadian Citizenship of Former Islamic Regime MPs!
https://www.change.org/p/revoke-canadian-citizenship-of-former-islamic-regime-mps?cs_tk=A1VeaHkJNBvdA2CUk2gAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvDY4OWQzN2FkMTkwNDA3NTk1YWUzYzVmYWFmZGQyNDkzZjYxMmQ5MjA3NzhjMGYxYzc4YzAwY2I4YzZjMjU3MDE%3D&utm_campaign=0fcd02f138744402af99c5f4767404aa&utm_content=auto_aa_ml_single_v0_1_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=auto_aa_ml&utm_term=cs
The Government of Canada must take immediate action to revoke the citizenship and residency of individuals affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s oppressive regime. These individuals have misrepresented their past, concealed their politically exposed status, and established businesses in Canada that may be linked to financial crimes, money laundering, and the expansion of the regime’s influence in our country.
The Islamic Republic regime is globally recognized for its sponsorship of terrorism, human rights violations, and destabilization of international security. Canada has already taken firm steps against the regime, including shutting down the Islamic Republic’s embassy in 2012 and designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity under our laws. However, regime officials and their associates continue to exploit our immigration system by providing false information to gain entry and permanent residency.
We call on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Government of Canada to investigate and take action against two individuals who were former Majles (Iranian Parliament) members and key players in the Islamic Republic’s operations:
1.⁠ ⁠Hassan Almasi – born in 1965 in Parsabad and served two terms as a representative of Parsabad, Bileh Savar, and Moghan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly. He was nominated for a third term but failed to secure a seat. Shortly after, relocated to Canada and opened the Sina Currency Exchange in Coquitlam, BC. He is now involved in Vancouver’s real estate market alongside his sons, Sina and Sadra Almasi. His financial dealings must be scrutinized to determine whether they involve illicit activities connected to the Islamic regime.
2.⁠ ⁠Seyed Mohammadreza Milani Hosseini – born in 1951 in Tabriz, served as the representative of Tabriz in the fifth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis). A political figure, Milani earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry in India and was involved in the attack on the Iranian Embassy in India during the Shah’s era. As a university professor of chemistry, he contributed to Iran’s biochemical and nuclear research. Despite his past affiliations with the Islamic Republic’s criminal operations, he has since settled in Toronto with his family.
These former parliament members are considered politically exposed persons, yet they concealed their background when applying for Canadian immigration, obtaining citizenship through deception. This is a blatant abuse of Canada’s immigration system and a betrayal of the trust of its people.
These individuals should never have been allowed into Canada. Their presence threatens our national security, economic integrity, and democratic values. Canada must not become a safe haven for those who have committed crimes against humanity. The government has an obligation to protect Canadian citizens from foreign actors who continue to advance the interests of a terrorist regime.
We demand that the Government of Canada:
•⁠ ⁠Revoke the citizenship or residency of Hassan Almasi and Seyed Mohammadreza Milani Hosseini.
•⁠ ⁠Conduct thorough investigations into their financial and business activities.
•⁠ ⁠Strengthen immigration policies to prevent regime officials from entering Canada.
•⁠ ⁠⁠ Ensure that Canada does not harbour individuals linked to terrorist organizations.
It is time for Canada to take a stand. We cannot allow our country to be exploited by affiliates of an oppressive regime. Sign this petition and demand action from our government now!

Arab states call on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in unprecedented move
Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN/July 30, 2025
Arab and Muslim states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have for the first time issued a joint call for Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in the Gaza Strip as part of efforts to end the war in the territory. The 22-member Arab League, the entire European Union and another 17 countries backed a declaration signed at a United Nations conference co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France on Tuesday. The meeting in New York aimed to address “the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the Two-State Solution,” and the declaration lays out what steps the signatories think should be taken next. “Governance, law enforcement and security across all Palestinian territory must lie solely with the Palestinian Authority, with appropriate international support,” the joint document read, adding that “in the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State.”The text also condemned the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, and proposed the deployment of “a temporary international stabilization mission” upon invitation by the PA and “under the aegis of the United Nations.”“We welcomed the readiness expressed by some Member States to contribute in troops,” it said.France, who co-chaired the conference, called the declaration “unprecedented.”Speaking at the UN Tuesday, Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, said that “on the part of Saudi Arabia and the Arab and Muslim countries who for the first time will condemn terrorism, the acts of terror on the 7th of October, a call for the disarmament of Hamas and expressed their hope to have a normalized relationship with Israel in due time.”The Hostages and Missing Families Forum commended the declaration, saying: “We welcome this important progress and the Arab League’s recognition that Hamas must end its rule in Gaza. Kidnapping innocent men, women, and children is a blatant violation of international law and must be unequivocally condemned.”Both mediators in ceasefire negotiations, Qatar and Egypt have maintained ties with Hamas and Israel throughout the war. In March, a plan for Gaza formulated by Egypt excluded Hamas from governance of the enclave once the war ends, a draft of the plan obtained by CNN showed.
The plan was discussed by Arab leaders meeting in Cairo in an emergency summit, with Egypt’s president proposing a Palestinian committee to temporarily govern Gaza – taking over from Hamas and eventually handing power to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Saudi Arabia has repeatedly pushed for a revival of the two-state solution. France has said it will vote to recognize a Palestinian state in September, to Israel’s dismay. The United Kingdom also said it will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza. Both Israel and the United States condemned France and Britain’s statements. Hamas has, however, shown no signs of relinquishing power in the enclave, yet officials within the militant group have in the past given contradictory statements about the movement’s role in a post-war Gaza. Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vehemently opposes the two-state solution, arguing that it is incompatible with his country’s security.

Dozens killed while seeking food in Gaza as US envoy heads to Israel
Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy And Sally Abou Aljoud/AP/July 30, 2025
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 48 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded on Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a local hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the U.S. Mideast envoy was heading to Israel for talks. Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade have led to the “worst-case scenario of famine” in the coastal territory of some 2 million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. A breakdown of law and order has seen aid convoys overwhelmed by desperate crowds. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led the Trump administration’s efforts to wind down the nearly 22-month war and release hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the fighting, will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks on the situation in Gaza.
Wooden carts ferry the wounded as survivors carry flour
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the dead and wounded were among crowds massed at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza. It was not immediately clear who opened fire and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which controls the crossing. Associated Press footage showed wounded people being ferried away from the scene of the shooting in wooden carts, as well as crowds of people carrying bags of flour. Al-Saraya Field Hospital, where critical cases are stabilized before transfer to main hospitals, said it received more than 100 dead and wounded. Fares Awad, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service, said some bodies were taken to other hospitals, indicating the toll could rise. Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said. Another seven Palestinians, including a child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas.
Israel has eased its blockade but obstacles remain
Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, the leading world authority on hunger crises, has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of "widespread death" without immediate action. COGAT, the Israeli military body that facilitates the entry of aid, said over 220 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. That's far below the 500-600 trucks a day that U.N. agencies say are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. The United Nations is still struggling to deliver the aid that does enter the strip, with most trucks unloaded by crowds in zones controlled by the Israeli military. An alternative aid system run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, has also been marred by violence. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by GHF, according to witnesses, local health officials and the U.N. human rights office. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour.
Deaths from malnutrition
A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said that 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Israel denies there is any starvation in Gaza, rejecting accounts to the contrary from witnesses, U.N. agencies and aid groups, and says the focus on hunger undermines ceasefire efforts. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the rest of the hostages were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

Arab nations call for peace, renewal of Arab Peace Initiative on final day of UN 2-state solution conference
Zaira Lakhpatwala and Gabriele Malvisi/Arab News/July 31, 2025
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit decries ‘high price we are all paying for the system of apartheid and occupation to remain’ in Gaza, and says for Palestinians it is ‘a price paid in blood’Omani representative accuses Israel of unilaterally ‘eroding’ prospects for peace in ‘defiance of the provisions of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy’
Arab nations issued a unified call to end the violence in Gaza and the West Bank on Wednesday, reiterating their strongest endorsement yet of the Arab Peace Initiative as the only viable framework for regional peace and stability.
“What we’re seeing today in Gaza, the withdrawal of stability and security in the region, is indeed the outcome of the ongoing occupation,” said a representative of the Arab League, delivering a statement on behalf of the organization’s secretary-general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
“This is the price being paid by Palestinians, a price paid in blood.”He described the toll as “an extremely high price that we are all paying for the system of apartheid and occupation to remain on this land,” adding that the League remains committed to the Arab Peace Initiative, which was initially adopted in Beirut, 23 years ago.“This vision hasn’t, however, been reciprocated. Rather, it has been countered by arrogance and nationalism based on religious sectarian views that will lead the region to an unknown future,” he said. The comments came at the conclusion of the “High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution” at the UN headquarters in New York.Oman echoed the sentiment, with its representative reaffirming that “comprehensive and lasting peace” must be grounded in the framework of international law, as outlined in the Arab Peace Initiative. In a position similar to that adopted by other nations during the conference, the Omani representative accused Israel of unilaterally “eroding” the prospects for peace, in what he described as “defiance of the provisions of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy.”He continued: “The nature of the current Israeli government’s policies, as the most extreme in decades, further complicates the landscape and directly hampers all effort to relaunch the peace process.”
The Gulf Cooperation Council reiterated its position of support for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, condemned the continuing Israeli aggression against Gaza, and demanded that it end. The council’s representative said it also rejected Israeli settlement policies as a blatant violation, and called for full humanitarian access in Gaza and reconstruction of the territory to begin. “True greatness is not based on power but on the ability to use power to serve justice,” he added. “It is time to turn this principle into (a) clear international position that recognizes (a) fully independent Palestinian state.”The representative for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation joined the others in advocating for a two-state solution, and stressed the need for Israeli authorities to act in accordance with UN resolutions.
Israel is guilty of “systemic crimes including aggression, genocide, destruction, displacement, starvation and blockade on the Gaza Strip,” he added, in addition to “illegal policies of settlement expansion, annexation and ethnic cleansing.”
Moreover, Israel’s intention “to impose its so-called sovereignty over the West Bank, including the occupied city of Jerusalem … constitutes flagrant violations of international law and the relevant UN resolutions,” the representative said as he called for an end to all such actions. The calls came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the conflict in Gaza has reached “breaking point.” International pressure for a ceasefire agreement continues to mount but Israel has resisted calls to halt its military operations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly moving ahead with plans to annex parts of Gaza if Hamas rejects a truce. On Wednesday, sources said Israel had turned down the latest ceasefire proposal, citing its refusal to withdraw forces from key areas of the territory.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, described this week’s UN conference as “a political circus” against Israel.“We’re seeing a detachment from reality, the spread of lies, and support for terrorism,” he wrote in a message posted on social media platform X.
The US special envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, was expected to arrive in Tel Aviv on Thursday for talks with Israeli officials. His visit comes as the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warns that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in Gaza. Iran’s representative at the UN also spoke on the final day of the conference, condemning a “policy of appeasement” from the international community toward Israel, and calling for concrete action.“In light of its continued defiance of the UN Charter, the Israeli regime must face targeted sanctions and suspension of its UN membership to protect the integrity and credibility of the organization,” the he said. He further urged member states to press the Security Council to admit Palestine as a full member of the UN and insisted that “this process must not be obstructed by the United States.” Palestine currently has observer status at the UN. A follow-up summit to this week’s conference is planned to take place during the UN General Assembly in September.

Israeli minister hints at annexing parts of Gaza
Reuters/July 30, 2025
JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israel could threaten to annex parts of Gaza to increase pressure on the militant group Hamas, an Israeli minister said on Wednesday, an idea that would deal a blow to Palestinian hopes of statehood on land Israeli now occupies.
The comment by security cabinet member Zeev Elkin came a day after Britain said it would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza and reaches a ceasefire in the war with Hamas.
France, which said last week it will recognize a Palestinian state in September, and Saudi Arabia issued a declaration on Tuesday, also backed by Egypt, Qatar and the Arab League, outlining steps toward implementing a two-state solution. As part of an end to the Gaza war, they said Hamas “must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.”Israel has denounced moves to recognize a Palestinian state as rewarding Hamas for its October 2023 attack that precipitated the war.
POSSIBLE ULTIMATUM TO HAMAS
Accusing Hamas of trying to drag out ceasefire talks to gain Israeli concessions, Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that Israel may give the group an ultimatum to reach a deal before further expanding its military actions.
“The most painful thing for our enemy is losing lands,” he said. “A clarification to Hamas that the moment they play games with us they will lose land that they will never get back would be a significant pressure tool.”Mediation efforts aimed at reaching a deal that would secure a 60-day ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas ground to a halt last week, with the sides trading blame for the impasse.Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the situation in Gaza, where a global hunger monitor has warned that a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding. The Gaza health ministry reported seven more hunger-related deaths on Wednesday, including a two-year-old girl with an existing health condition.
‘MONSTROUS’
Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza appealed for no recognition of a Palestinian state to come before their loved ones are returned.
“Such recognition is not a step toward peace, but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimizes horrific war crimes,” the Hostages Family Forum said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Britain’s decision “rewards Hamas’ monstrous terrorism.” Israel made similar comments last week after France’s announcement. Two Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the demand for the group to hand its weapons to the PA, which now has limited control of parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas has previously rejected calls to disarm, while Israel has ruled out letting the PA run Gaza. Netanyahu said this month he wanted peace with Palestinians but described any future independent state as a potential platform to destroy Israel, so control of security must remain with Israel. His cabinet includes far-right figures who openly demand the annexation of all Palestinian land. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that reestablishing Jewish settlements in Gaza was “closer than ever,” calling Gaza “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel.”
AID GOING IN, BUT NOT ENOUGH
A two-year-old girl being treated for a build-up of brain fluid died overnight of hunger, her father told Reuters on Wednesday. “Mekkah, my little daughter, died of malnutrition and the lack of medication,” Salah Al-Gharably said by phone from Deir Al-Balah. “Doctors said the baby has to be fed a certain type of milk...but there is no milk,” he said. “She starved. We stood helpless.”The deaths from starvation and malnutrition overnight raised the toll from such causes to 154, including at least 89 children, since the war’s start, most in recent weeks. On Sunday the Israeli military announced steps to ease the supply of food into Gaza, including daily pauses in military operations in some areas and corridors for aid. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the United Nations and its partners had been able to bring more food into Gaza in the first two days of pauses, but the volume was “still far from enough.”“Most aid is still being offloaded by crowds before reaching where it is supposed to go. But market monitoring shows prices for basic goods are starting to drop – which could point to better operating conditions if aid flows further increase,” it said in an update. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 60,000 people and laid waste to much of the territory, the Gaza health ministry says.

UK rejects criticism that move to recognize Palestinian state rewards Hamas
Reuters/July 30, 2025
LONDON: Britain on Wednesday rejected criticism that it was rewarding militant group Hamas by setting out plans to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel took steps to improve the situation in Gaza and bring about peace. The sight of emaciated Gaza children has shocked the world in recent days and on Tuesday, a hunger monitor warned that a worst-case scenario of famine was unfolding there and immediate action was needed to avoid widespread death. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ultimatum, setting a September deadline for Israel, prompted an immediate rebuke from his counterpart in Jerusalem, who said it rewarded Hamas and punished the victims of their 2023 cross-border attack. US President Donald Trump said he did not think Hamas “should be rewarded” with recognition of Palestinian independence. Asked about that criticism, British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander — designated by the government to respond to questions in a series of media interviews on Wednesday — said it was not the right way to characterise Britain’s plan.“This is not a reward for Hamas. Hamas is a vile terrorist organization that has committed appalling atrocities. This is about the Palestinian people. It’s about those children that we see in Gaza who are starving to death,” she told LBC radio. “We’ve got to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government to lift the restrictions to get aid back into Gaza.”France announced last week it would recognize Palestinian statehood in September. Successive British governments have said they would recognize a Palestinian state when it was most effective to do so. In a televised address on Tuesday, Starmer said that moment had now come, highlighting the suffering in Gaza and saying the prospect of a two-state solution — a Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside Israel — was under threat. Starmer said Britain would make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid to enter Gaza, made clear there will be no annexation of the West Bank and committed to a long-term peace process that delivered a two-state solution.

UN expert on torture demands end to ‘lethal, inhumane, degrading’ starvation of civilians in Gaza
Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/July 31, 2025
NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the growing number of starvation-related deaths among Palestinians in Gaza. She described the starving of civilians as ‘lethal, inhumane and degrading,’ and called for the rapid and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the battered enclave. “Depriving people of food, water and dignity has been a serious and recurring violation of this war and it must end,” she said, citing “shocking” reports of people being killed while queuing for food, as well as widespread hunger and malnutrition.
The risk of all-out famine in Gaza is escalating, she added, stressing that all parties to the conflict have legal obligations under international law to ensure civilians under their control have access to food and water, and to facilitate humanitarian operations.
“They must not steal, divert or willfully impede the distribution of aid,” Edwards said. She detailed the “catastrophic physiological consequences” of prolonged calorie deprivation, including malnutrition, organ failure and death, particularly among vulnerable groups such as infants and pregnant women.
“The psychological impact of being deprived of food and water is inherently cruel,” she added. “Constantly changing rules, militarized distributions and daily and hourly uncertainty about when one is going to access these basic necessities is causing utter despair, stress and trauma.”She welcomed a recent announcement by Israel of humanitarian pauses in military operations to allow the World Food Programme to deliver aid throughout Gaza over a planned three-month period, but said “more must be done” to end the hostilities and establish long-term peace based on a two-state solution.
“No one should have to suffer the humiliation of being forced to beg for food, and especially not when there are ample supplies waiting to be provided,” she said. Edwards also reiterated her call for the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages, the release of arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and for independent investigations into allegations of torture, ill-treatment and other potential war crimes by all parties. She said she has raised her concerns repeatedly with relevant authorities and continues to press for full accountability. Special rapporteurs are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They are independent experts who work on a voluntary basis, are not members of UN staff and are not paid for their work.

Malta says it will recognize the state of Palestine, joining France and possibly Britain
AP/July 30, 2025
UNITED NATIONS: Malta told a high-level UN meeting Wednesday that it will formally recognize the state of Palestine in September, joining France and the United Kingdom in stepping up pressure to end the nearly 80-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Christopher Cutajar, the permanent secretary at Malta’s Foreign Ministry, made the announcement at the UN General Assembly’s meeting on a two-state solution to the conflict which has been extended to a third day because of the high number of countries wanting to speak. Cutajar said Malta has long supported self-determination for the Palestinian people, and “as responsible actors, we have a duty to work to translate the concept of a two-state solution from theory into practice.”“It is for this reason that the government of Malta has taken the principled decision to formally recognize the state of Palestine at the upcoming UN General Assembly in September,” he said.
Malta says it wants a ‘lasting peace’ in Mideast
Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela earlier announced the decision by his country, a former British colony, to recognize a Palestinian state on Facebook, saying it is part of the nation’s efforts “for a lasting peace in the Middle East.”The Mediterranean island nation and European Union member will join more than 145 countries, including over a dozen European nations, in recognizing the state of Palestine. French President Emmanuel Macron announced ahead of this week’s meeting that his country will recognize the state of Palestine at the annual gathering of world leaders at the 193-member General Assembly which starts Sept. 23.United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday that Britain would recognize the state of Palestine before September’s meeting, but would refrain if Israel agrees to a ceasefire and long-term peace process in the next eight weeks. France and Britain are the biggest Western powers and the only two members of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations to make such a pledge. Israel opposes a two-state solution and is boycotting the meeting along with its closest ally, the United States. Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, on Tuesday sharply criticized about 125 countries participating in the conference and new recognitions of a Palestinian state, saying “there are those in the world who fight terrorists and extremist forces and then there are those who turn a blind eye to them or resort to appeasement.”“While our hostages are languishing in Hamas terror tunnels in Gaza, these countries choose to engage in hollow statements instead of investing their efforts in their release,” Danon said. “This is hypocrisy and a waste of time that legitimizes terrorism and distances any chance of regional progress.”Malta’s Cutajar countered that “recognition is not merely symbolic – it is a concrete step toward the realization of a just and lasting peace.”
Quick action is urged
High-level representatives at the UN conference on Tuesday urged Israel to commit to a Palestinian state and gave “unwavering support” to a two-state solution, and they urged all countries that haven’t recognized the state of Palestine to do so quickly. The seven-page “New York Declaration” sets out a phased plan to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza. The plan would culminate with an independent, demilitarized Palestine living side by side peacefully with Israel, and their eventual integration into the wider Mideast region. A separate one-page statement titled the “New York Call” approved late Tuesday by 15 Western nations says they have recognized, “expressed or express the willingness or the positive consideration ... to recognize the state of Palestine, as an essential step toward the two-state solution, and invite all countries that have not done so to join this call.” It included six that have recognized the state of Palestine and nine others including Malta, Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal and San Marino.

Iraqi authorities smash drug-smuggling ring in Damascus and seize 1.3m captagon capsules
Arab News/July 30, 2025
LONDON: Iraqi authorities said that they have dismantled a criminal network in the Syrian capital Damascus involved in international drug trafficking. The Iraqi Interior Ministry’s General Directorate of Drug Affairs revealed that officers seized more than 1.3 million capsules of captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant, during a special operation carried out in collaboration with their Syrian counterparts. The haul weighed about 215 kilograms and had a street value of millions of dollars.Because the operation took place outside of Iraq, approval was obtained from the Rusafa Central Investigative Court in Baghdad. It was carried out under the supervision of Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, and its interior minister, Abdul Amir Al-Shammari. The ministry said the operation was the result of thorough intelligence efforts and information from reliable sources, obtained in collaboration with the Syrian Anti-Narcotics Department. It represented a significant advance in global efforts to address cross-border threats, the ministry added, and demonstrated Iraq’s commitment to protecting the public from drug trafficking.

Syria’s foreign minister to make first official visit to Moscow since Assad’s ouster
AP/July 30, 2025
DAMASCUS: Russia announced Wednesday that Syria’s foreign minister will visit Moscow, the first official visit to Russia by an official in the new government in Damascus since former Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted in a rebel offensive last year.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the state news agency Tass that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will host his Syrian counterpart, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani, for talks in Moscow on Thursday. The two will discuss bilateral ties, as well as “international and regional issues,” the statement said.There was no statement from Syria on the visit. Assad was an ally of Russia, and Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of him a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war, helping to keep Assad in his seat for years. However, when insurgent groups launched a new offensive last year, Russia did not intervene again to save Assad. Instead, Assad took refuge in Russia after his ouster. The former president later claimed in a statement posted on Facebook that he had wanted to stay in the country and continue fighting but that the Russians had pulled him out.
He said that he left Damascus for Russia’s Hmeimim air base in the coastal province of Latakia on the morning of Dec. 8, hours after insurgents stormed the capital. He hadn’t planned to flee, but the Russians evacuated him to Russia after the base came under attack.
Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus, headed by interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow. A Russian delegation visited Damascus in January, and the following month, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had a call with Al-Sharaa that the Kremlin described as “constructive and business-like.” Some Russian forces have remained on the Syrian coast, and Russia has reportedly sent oil shipments to Syria.
Al-Sharaa publicly thanked Russia for its “strong position in rejecting Israeli strikes and repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty” after Israel intervened in clashes between Syrian government forces and armed groups from the Druze religious minority earlier this month.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 30-31/2025
Preparing for War, Xi Jinping Is Taking Back China's Farms And Trying to Destroy America's
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/July 30, 2025
Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping is mobilizing state entities, including, in this case, China State Shipbuilding Corp., in his all-of-society effort to achieve food security.
[T]his effort is another signal that he is preparing to attack.
There is one more element to Xi's food plan: Attack American agriculture. In June, three Chinese nationals were charged with attempting to smuggle biological agents into the United States.The Chinese attempts this year to smuggle pathogens may be only the latest incidents in a Chinese campaign to bring down American agriculture. China's regime, it appears, has been trying to plant invasive species in America since at least 2020. That year, Americans in all 50 states received seeds, unsolicited, from China.
Xi Jinping cannot stop talking about fighting, and has been readying both the military and civilian society for conflict. Xi, in short, appears to be stockpiling grain in preparation for war.
Xi knows China cannot become self-sufficient, so he is, from all indications, making sure America is not either.
Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping cannot stop talking about fighting, and has been readying both the military and civilian society for conflict. Xi, in short, appears to be stockpiling grain in preparation for war.
A Chinese state-owned ship-building company has converted a bulk carrier into a floating farm that will produce 2,800 tons of fish a year.
The 225-meter-long Zhe Dai Yu Yang 60001 is part of a "marine bread basket" project that "aims to boost the nation's food security by repurposing old vessels for use in aquaculture." Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping is mobilizing state entities, including, in this case, China State Shipbuilding Corp., in his all-of-society effort to achieve food security.
Why should anyone outside China care about Xi's obsessive drive? Because this effort is another signal that he is preparing to attack.
Building mobile fish farms is not Xi's only initiative. His regime, beginning about two years ago, began a nationwide program to cut down forests to increase farmland acreage. The plan was a reversal of previous policies that, at great effort and expense, had turned farmland into forests.
Moreover, other land is being repurposed. The Rural Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade, nicknamed the nongguan or "rural managers," has been uprooting cash crops — tobacco, pepper and ginger plants — as well as cutting down bamboo groves and ripping up vineyards. In Chengdu, the government converted a portion of its belt of parks, created between 2003 and 2017 at a cost of more than $4 billion, into farms. Lawns of a residential complex in that metropolis are now growing wheat and corn. In other locations, officials have been using chainsaws to cut down fruit trees, filling in fish ponds, and confiscating poultry.
Xi has been urging the Chinese to leave cities and return to farming, and, in a replay of the Cultural Revolution, he is sending college graduates to work the soil.
Xi is emulating Mao Zedong, who infamously demanded that China's peasants "grow grain everywhere." Moreover, the government is serious about storing its crops. In March, the central government increased its agriculture stockpiling budget to $18.1 billion for grains and edible oils, a 6.1% increase over last year. There is one more element to Xi's food plan: Attack American agriculture. In June, three Chinese nationals were charged with attempting to smuggle biological agents into the United States.
One of them, Yunqing Jian was arrested for trying to bring in Fusarium graminearum, a "potential agroterrorism weapon" that causes "head blight." This fungal disease hits wheat, barley, maize and rice, and "is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year." In humans and livestock, head blight causes vomiting, liver damage and reproductive defects. The actions of these Chinese researchers, according to U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon, Jr., represented "the gravest national security concerns."
"Fusarium graminearum is a common pathogen affecting crops in China, and numerous Chinese research institutes, including the Institute of Rice Biology at Zhejiang University, have been actively studying it," Sean Lin, a former lab director of the viral disease branch of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, told me. "The FBI confiscated samples labeled 'ARP9,' an actin-related gene known to influence chromatin remodeling and gene transcription. This suggests the samples were genetically modified strains of Fusarium graminearum."
"This raises a critical biosafety question," Lin noted. "Were these modified strains designed to enhance infectivity or pesticide resistance?"
The answer is almost certainly "yes." Zunyong Liu, one of the three charged last month, was affiliated with Zhejiang University, where he conducted research on the same fungus. That institution, Lin says, has a well-documented collaboration with the People's Liberation Army. As he points out, "China's military-civil fusion strategy makes it reasonable to speculate about military interest in these genetically modified pathogens, which are potentially related to biological warfare or agroterrorism."
That these Chinese researchers would risk their careers by smuggling a known pathogen is a factor suggesting malign intent, especially given their relations with the Communist Party — Jian is a member — and their probable connections with military research in China.
The Chinese attempts this year to smuggle pathogens may be only the latest incidents in a Chinese campaign to bring down American agriculture. China's regime, it appears, has been trying to plant invasive species in America since at least 2020. That year, Americans in all 50 states received seeds, unsolicited, from China. Early this year, Temu, the online Chinese retailer, was caught sending seeds to the U.S., unsolicited. In one case, a Chinese party sent, unsolicited, both seeds and an unidentified liquid.
What's the context for all these developments?
"The increased measures to safeguard food security underscore Beijing's efforts to prepare for a long trade war with the U.S. and increasingly complex geopolitical challenges," writes Reuters, paraphrasing Genevieve Donnellon-May of Oxford Global Security.
That is a relatively benign explanation for something ominous. Xi Jinping cannot stop talking about fighting, and has been readying both the military and civilian society for conflict. Xi, in short, appears to be stockpiling grain in preparation for war.
To wage that war, Xi knows he must be able to feed 1.4 billion people, perhaps while his country is under embargo. China's food security law, which went into effect in 2024, aims for "absolute self-sufficiency."
China, which scores high in country rankings of self-sufficiency, is, in reality, not food secure. It is, after all, the world's largest food importer. Last year, it imported 157 million metric tons of grains and soybeans. The country buys about 80% of its soybean requirements from outside its borders.
Despite Xi's efforts, his country will remain dependent on others for foodstuffs. "What lands are suitable to grow foods are producing far too little of it, and much of the food is produced from a polluted soil and water base," Gregory Copley, the president of the International Strategic Studies Association, told me in 2021.
"The essential strategic basic characteristic of every enduring great power is its ability to feed itself, to be a net exporter of food," said Copley, also the editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy. "It is difficult to see how China can remediate its soils and its food production — or deliver enough potable water — to meet demands any time in the coming decade, even with a declining population."
*Xi knows China cannot become self-sufficient, so he is, from all indications, making sure America is not either.
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
*Follow Gordon G. Chang on X (formerly Twitter)
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Can Syria’s President Control His Troops?...After two massacres by government forces, the U.S. should turn up the heat.
Ahmad Sharawi/WSJ/July 30/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/07/145813/
The Trump administration has placed significant trust in Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and he appeared strong when he seized Damascus swiftly in December. But recent massacres of civilians by government forces have exposed the limits of Mr. Sharaa’s control. The U.S. must pressure him to reform the Syrian military.
After toppling the Bashar al-Assad regime in under two weeks, Mr. Sharaa emerged from his Idlib enclave as Syria’s de facto ruler. He managed to unify multiple armed factions, and his allies formally declared him interim president in January. Bringing stability to Syria after a 14-year civil war was always going to be a daunting challenge. Now it’s become clear that Mr. Sharaa underestimated the complexity of building a state, forming a unified security structure, and ensuring representation for all segments of the population. “There is a big difference between managing one province in Syria, Idlib in the north, and managing an entire country with all its diverse ethnic and sectarian groups,” said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Damascus.
Rushing to create a single military force ultimately backfired and helped cause two major massacres of civilians. A state-commissioned independent investigative committee identified 298 people suspected of abuses against the Alawite community. Many of those singled out were members of government forces. Many were also foreign jihadists who came to Syria on an explicitly sectarian mission: to get rid of the regime of Mr. Assad, an Alawite who is an infidel in their eyes. Mr. Sharaa’s government tried to distance itself from the massacres, claiming the perpetrators had ignored a directive prohibiting the targeting of civilians. In July, further evidence emerged implicating government forces in abuses against the Druze community. Videos circulated online showed soldiers killing civilians in defiance of an order from the Defense Ministry to “avoid sectarian targeting.”
Why are government troops defying orders? And why does Mr. Sharaa selectively decide which militias can integrate into the military as intact units and which must decommission first? The rushed effort to unify Syria’s armed factions left many anti-Assad militias operating autonomously under their original commanders. Turkish-backed groups like Amshat and Hamzat—led by Abu Amsha and Sayf Boulad, figures subject to U.S. sanctions for crimes against the Kurdish community—were absorbed into the army as blocs, and Mr. Sharaa handed both men control of army divisions. Yet the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were asked to integrate only as individuals. With these policies Mr. Sharaa has created a sectarian imbalance in Syria’s new army—one that mirrors the political exclusion embedded in the new constitutional order.
Before consolidating power, Mr. Sharaa declared that Syria deserves a system in which no “single ruler makes arbitrary decisions.” As interim president, however, he has seized control of every pillar of government, culminating in an interim constitution that grants him executive, legislative and judicial authority for five years. Mr. Sharaa’s push has eroded trust with Syria’s ethnic communities, particularly the Kurds. He has offered no guarantees for the rights, protection or political participation of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Sharaa’s consolidation has prompted the Kurds and some parts of the Druze community to call for federalization and decentralization, allowing both communities to create their own states and detach from the central government in Damascus. Both the Syrian government and the U.S. oppose this. In the words of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, “It can’t be a structure where separate Druze forces dress as Druze, Alawite forces dress as Alawite, and Kurdish forces dress as Kurds, and so on. It will be a single structure.”
The Trump administration has been solicitous of Mr. Sharaa, lifting key sanctions that had weakened the Syrian economy and publicly backing his vision of a unified government and army. This support alone won’t bring stability. Peace and balance can’t be achieved by rewarding militia leaders who defy orders. Changes to the new Syrian military must begin with the removal of foreign jihadist fighters from its ranks. Ultimately, however, the U.S. must be willing to sanction the military units and commanders responsible for the massacres.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/can-syrias-president-control-his-troops-sharaa-middle-east-5d3ceb4b?st=todURb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
**Mr. Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Replacing Iran with Turkey Is a Recipe for Disaster in Syria
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/This Is Beirut/July 30/2025
The Syrian revolution was not an uprising for liberty, freedom, or democracy. It was a manifestation of Sunni Islamists, backed by Turkey and Qatar, venting their rage against the rule of Assad, supported by Shia Islamist Iran. Syria’s Sunni Islamists did not care that Assad was a brutal dictator; they sought to replace him with their own autocrat.
To be fair, the Syrian revolution began as a noble endeavor, an extension of the Arab Spring. Syrian intellectuals led the charge, demanding liberty and democracy. But, as the saying goes, the revolution eats its own. It did not take long for these intellectuals to flee the country, leaving the conflict to extremists on both sides. Over the past decade, the war has become a struggle between Sunni Jihadism and Shia Martyrdom.
With Russian support, the Shia Islamists initially prevailed. However, with Israel weakening Shia Islamism in Lebanon and Iran, and Russia distracted by the Ukrainian conflict, Sunni Jihadists reversed the tide, ultimately defeating Assad and his Shia allies.
The Sunni Jihadists raced to the presidential palace. Among them, Al-Qaeda’s Abu-Muhammad Al-Jolani emerged victorious, proclaiming himself president. He traded his jihadi attire for a Western suit and adopted his birth name, Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Sharaa’s militia lacks the strength to control all of Syria. To govern, he relies on alliances with other Sunni Jihadi groups. His presidency does not grant him absolute authority; he is merely the first among equals. When Sharaa claims to restore state sovereignty by disarming the Druze and, soon, the Kurds, he tells only half the truth. The other half is that he has yet to disarm any of the Turkish-backed militias in Syria.
Ankara’s agenda conflicts with rebuilding a sovereign Syrian state. Turkey treats Syria much like it does Northern Cyprus: as a puppet state. Turkey also imposes maximalist demands, such as disarming the Kurds without offering them any share of power.
The Kurds of Syria, battle-hardened from fighting alongside US troops to defeat ISIS, will not surrender without resistance. If they refuse to yield, Sharaa’s state will remain fragmented and incomplete.
Turkey’s interests starkly oppose Syria’s. Ankara’s dominance overshadows Damascus, and even if Sharaa wished to break free from his Turkish sponsors, he lacks the power to do so.
Syria is now on a path to becoming a fully Islamist state. When Islamist populism falters and economic growth stalls, these Islamists are likely to export terrorism, narcotics, and refugees, destabilizing the region and beyond.
How did we arrive at this point? Why is post-Assad Syria failing, transitioning from the influence of Shia Islamists backed by Iran to Sunni Islamists supported by Turkey and Qatar?
The answer lies in the colossal failure of moderate Arab governments to assert their influence. Saudi Arabia, alongside Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, should have led a coalition to guide Syria toward moderate governance, not the militant Islamism of Turkey and Qatar.
Yet, moderate Arab capitals have been reactive rather than proactive. They hope to lure Sharaa away from Turkey and Qatar with investments. History, however, teaches that money alone cannot end civil wars. Wealthy Arab nations have poured billions into Lebanon since its civil war began in 1975, yet, except for the Rafic Hariri decade from 1993 to 2005, Lebanon remains a failed state, as broken as it was on April 13, 1975.
Since 1979, the Middle East has suffered from an Islamist takeover of various governments. Islamism, however, is not monolithic.
The Sunni and Shia branches of Jihadi Islamism have been locked in a struggle for dominance. After 9/11, the US believed it could engage with Shia Islamism at the expense of Sunnis, leading to two decades of civil wars. Now, with Israel having weakened Shia Islamism, the US appears willing to tolerate Sunni Islamism—the same force it fought for decades. Sharaa himself likely has American blood on his hands, having fought in Iraq, where US troops once imprisoned him.
Replacing Iran’s Islamist influence with that of Turkey and Qatar will not resolve Syria’s crisis. A US-led effort is needed to sideline these three Islamist-leaning governments—Turkey, Qatar, and Iran—in favor of moderate Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, alongside Israel, Syria’s neighbor. Without such intervention, it will not be long before the world faces a resurgent, radical Sunni Jihadi movement festering across Syria, forcing us back to the drawing board.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD).

Countries should act unilaterally in recognizing Palestine
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/July 30, 2025
In the tangled web of geopolitics and moral responsibility, recognition of Palestine stands today not merely as a diplomatic choice, but as a litmus test of integrity, courage, and commitment to global justice. As the world watches yet another cycle of suffering unfold, it is time to call out the procrastinators, praise the bold, and demand that the international community act unilaterally in embracing the two-state solution — starting with the immediate recognition of Palestine.
The UK’s recent stance — threatening to recognize Palestine if Israel fails to meet certain conditions — encapsulates the paradox of delayed justice. “Too little, too late” is apt for a nation that played a pivotal role in creating the current geopolitical landscape. Yet, “better late than never” is equally valid if London finally chooses to right historical wrongs. Former colonial powers such as Britain and France share a legacy of deep entanglement in the Middle East, and the latter’s courageous move to recognize Palestine deserves both praise and emulation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that recognition of Palestine equates to rewarding Hamas — a curious argument, given that his government’s long-term policies over more than 16 years have emboldened the very group he now seeks to vilify. Netanyahu’s devious support for Hamas is well-documented. “For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces,” read a headline in The Times of Israel in the immediate aftermath of the horrible Oct. 7 attacks. In 2019, the Israeli leader reportedly said: “Those who want to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state should support the strengthening of Hamas.”
Peace, prosperity, and progress are within reach.
Recognition is not about legitimizing terrorism. It is about affirming the rights of millions of Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas, and have endured statelessness, displacement, and daily suffering. It is about offering a framework for peace that includes Israelis, who also deserve security and stability. Not to mention ending the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, as stipulated by the UN — an organization Israel is a member of but does not seem to respect.
Whether Netanyahu and his coalition of far-right nationalists accept it or not, the two-state solution remains Israel’s safest path forward — both in terms of regional normalization and long-term peace. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly signaled that full normalization is contingent upon the creation of a Palestinian state. The Arab and Muslim worlds are prepared to integrate Israel into a region brimming with economic potential and strategic value. Peace, prosperity, and progress are within reach — if only the leadership dares grasp it.
Sadly, many in Israel’s current ruling elite remain ideologically opposed to any peaceful settlement. These are individuals who have overseen West Bank annexations, weaponized hunger, and now face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their worldview is not anchored in coexistence; it thrives on perpetual conflict and expansionism. For them, any compromise — even one that could save lives — is tantamount to betrayal.
Let us not forget that these are elected officials who have, without remorse, described the people of Gaza as “human animals,” called for nuclear strikes, and openly encouraged mass displacement. When such rhetoric becomes policy, and cruelty is cloaked in nationalism, the moral compass of governance is not just broken — it is weaponized.
This is no longer about diplomacy — it is about justice.
That is why the global community, especially nations untainted by historical baggage, must act. A coalition spearheaded by Saudi Arabia and France, embracing the two-state solution through unilateral recognition of Palestine, is the only viable path forward. Waiting for consensus or negotiating around extremists only prolongs the suffering. This is no longer about diplomacy — it is about justice.
Now, more than ever, the stars seem aligned. Hamas and Hezbollah are weakened. Iran is notably quiet. We have a US president who is focused on negotiating peace deals between Ukraine and Russia, India and Pakistan, and Thailand and Cambodia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman happens to be leading Saudi Arabia and has emerged as a pragmatic regional leader with transformative ambitions. This is a historic window to reimagine the Middle East not as a perennial battleground, but as the next Europe — a region of stability, trade, cooperation, and cultural exchange.
In the end, recognition of Palestine is not an act of defiance; it is a pledge to uphold human dignity. It is a call to end decades of suffering, and a step toward a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live not just side by side, but as equal partners in peace.
History won’t wait. Neither should we.
**Faisal J. Abbas is the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News. X: @FaisalJAbbas

New York conference ends US monopoly on Palestine issue
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/July 30, 2025
It has been decades since the international community sent a decisive message of unity and clarity on the need to resolve the question of Palestine through the two-state solution. Co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France, a conference at the UN headquarters in New York and attended by delegates from no less than 125 countries issued such a message this week.
The final communique presented a comprehensive and unanimous approach to ending the war in Gaza, establishing tools to protect the Palestinian people while rejecting unilateral changes to the demography and geography of the Occupied Territories. But most importantly, it underlined that the only just and viable resolution to the conflict is through ending the occupation and implementing the two-state solution.
The international conference, boycotted by the US and Israel, was a collective response by a majority of members of the UN’s General Assembly to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, its declared intention to carry out ethnic cleansing through the forced displacement of Palestinians and its plan to annex Palestinian territories. The final communique was anchored in international law and UN resolutions, as well as on the public positions of an overwhelming majority of states regarding the two-state solution.
While Israel’s immediate rejection of the conference’s message and intentions can be understood in the context of the policies of the country’s most radical government in history, it is the position of the US that is both disappointing and puzzling. For decades, successive American administrations have had a monopoly over the workings of the so-called Middle East peace process. That process, which began with the Madrid Conference in 1991 and culminated with the signing of the Oslo Accords, failed to deliver on its initial goal: a final status settlement of the conflict.
America’s exclusive sponsorship of the peace process and negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, which ended with President Barack Obama’s first term, was corrupted by Washington’s grim failure as an honest broker. The US did nothing to hold Israel accountable for its aggressive policy of building and expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank. The US stood aside as a far-right Israeli government unleashed a wave of settler terrorism against Palestinians.
It did nothing when Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Oslo was dead and that the Palestinian Authority must be disbanded. It did nothing when Netanyahu declared on more than one occasion his intention to annex the West Bank and bury the hopes of Palestinian statehood for good.
President Donald Trump’s first term offered little to the Palestinians. During his second term, Israel has caused the most horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while massacring civilians and carrying out their ethnic cleansing.
Netanyahu used the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack as an excuse to speed up the liquidation of the Palestine question. He offered nothing to the Palestinians as Israeli extremists roamed the West Bank, killing and injuring native inhabitants while carrying out a campaign of state-sponsored terror.
But by carrying out wholesale war crimes in Gaza, Netanyahu has caused Israel great harm in the international arena. The world can no longer stomach the horrific scenes coming out of the Gaza carnage. Public opinion has shifted against Israel and weekly protests put pressure on Western leaders to take a stand.
This is when Riyadh and Paris decided to end the current stalemate. Saudi Arabia made it clear that the lack of a just solution to the Palestine issue was the root cause of regional instability. Netanyahu and his far-right partners have no answer to the nagging question: what to do with the Palestinians? Oct. 7 was a milestone that brought agony to Israel and a second Nakba to the Palestinians. For both people not to go through another Oct. 7, a just settlement must be implemented.
Israeli officials will use subterfuge, hubris and threats to debunk calls for Palestinian statehood. They will claim that France and the UK — both of which plan to recognize Palestinian statehood in September — are only rewarding Hamas and hampering an end to the war. They will join the more than 140 countries that have already done so. But Palestinians, more than 12 million of them around the world, have earned their right to self-determination. The only assurance of Israel’s security is a Palestinian state next to it, living in peace and harmony.
The New York conference was a moment of awakening across the globe. This is a blow to Netanyahu and his extremist partners. But they are still in a position to do harm. Netanyahu has so far rejected any permanent end to the Gaza war. He is still banking on US support to help him extend the bloodbath in the hope of driving millions of Gazans out of the war-torn enclave.
To keep his coalition alive, he could go as far as to implement a recently adopted Knesset resolution to annex most of the West Bank. He could also pull out of Oslo and disband the PA. But he could only do so if he knew that the US would have his back. All such illegal acts will only deepen Israel’s political isolation and may create an international backlash of sanctions.
By carrying out wholesale war crimes in Gaza, Netanyahu has caused Israel great harm in the international arena.
A few weeks ago, Netanyahu looked at the region and proudly announced that Israel had created a new Middle East. He had humbled Hezbollah, helped bring the Assad regime down and dealt a painful blow, with America’s assistance, to Iran’s nuclear program. But despite all these critical geopolitical achievements, his war on the Palestinians has not been won. Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and use of mass starvation as a weapon have failed to fulfill the fundamental goals of the war, while triggering an unprecedented wave of anti-Israel sentiment across the world. The fact that Britain, of all countries, is now ready to recognize Palestinian statehood is a symbolic form of delayed justice.
Netanyahu is taking Israel into a dark place from which it may never return. The Saudi-French initiative is already creating momentum that promises to get stronger by the day because of the terrible choices that Israel and the US are making. While Palestinians suffer and are forced to pay a heavy price, leaving decent people around the world angry and supportive, Israel is now isolated and vindictive.
But the choice at the end of the day is Israel’s. It can choose to live in peace with the Palestinians and ensure an end to decades of enmity, or it can allow zealots and radicals to push it into a corner. That would be the wrong choice.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010

How the far right is weaponizing migration
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/July 30, 2025
Violent protests in the UK, such as those at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping, Essex, in recent days, demonstrate how the far right is intensifying the use of misinformation, aided by an unshackled social media realm, to spread fear, hate and calls for action that could explode into riots throughout the country.
The latest protests erupted almost exactly a year after the violent riots in Southport and clashes in various UK cities in the wake of the shocking killings of three young girls who were stabbed to death at a dance class. Days of riots took place across the country after the killer was quickly framed as a migrant, even though he was a UK-born teenager whose family came to the country from Rwanda in the 1990s.
The violent scenes in Epping could be indicative of something that goes beyond asylum seekers and a hotel, with some parties applying a new political ideology that mobilizes hate and civil discord for political gain. Locals distanced themselves from the violence, saying it is not what the area stands for and that nothing like this has ever previously stirred the calm of the middle-class suburban town with a population of 12,000.
The Epping protests began after a 38-year-old asylum seeker, who only arrived in the country in late June, was arrested and charged with three counts of sexual assault. Ugly crimes like this, whether committed by locals or newcomers, are common in every country of the world. But they should be dealt with by the police and the justice system, not activists or groups with ulterior motives, who want to capitalize on them and cause social strife.
Images from the protests have gone viral on social media, mirroring what happened last July in Southport. And, like Southport, the videos were picked up on by some groups from outside the community, which then capitalized on them to whip up anger and dismay. Police officers were even attacked as a result.
What makes the Epping protests particularly dangerous is that they seem to have followed on from similar antimigrant protests that erupted elsewhere. There have been demonstrations in the town of Diss in Norfolk, outside a similar hotel, and similar clashes lasted for several days in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, last month after two teenagers with Romanian roots were arrested for the alleged attempted rape of a young girl.
In Epping, northeast of London, eight police officers have been injured and more than 20 protesters arrested. Senior police leaders warned that the events were a “signal flare” for further unrest and a reminder of how little it takes for tensions to erupt, as well as how ill-prepared the police are.
All agents of the law agree that, like Southport last year, these protests were not the result of local grassroots movements. Rather, social media facilitated their coordination among extremist groups. It is only a matter of time until they shake the country’s civic cohesion, unless the authorities take steps to suppress the voices of discord. Some people are bent on spreading hate to raise their political profile and present themselves as protectors of the interests of the marginalized and dispossessed people of the nation, due to the so-called invasion of foreigners.
The claims of the leaders of Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage, fall into this category and should not be ignored by the government. Farage said last week that Britain is “close to civil disobedience on a vast scale” and claimed that the protesters outside the asylum hotel in Epping were “genuinely concerned families,” even though many of the participants were wearing masks to hide their identity.
The problems posed by the protests become more acute in the light of such claims and when governments, not only in the UK, are under increasing pressure to do more during a time of slow economic growth.
The issue of migrants and migration has become politically perilous in the UK, putting pressure on Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left government as the anti-immigrant, far-right Reform rises in the polls.
As the tech realm is increasingly out of control, societies in the West are at the mercy of a rising far right.
It is a no-brainer that immigration and deprivation are causing the public to lose faith in politicians, as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told the government last week while she briefed ministers on a project she is leading that aims to improve social cohesion. According to Rayner, those two factors are leading causes of people’s disenchantment and loss of faith in government. But she also highlighted the role of social media and the increasing amount of time people are spending alone or online as possible factors leading to violent disturbances.
Many studies worldwide have reached similar conclusions, but most of the policies meant to address these factors have fallen short, as they fail to reach the core of the problem. Most Western democracies are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea.
As the tech realm is increasingly out of control, societies in the West are at the mercy of a rising far right, which is gaining power by exploiting the anger lingering in many quarters of society due to inequality and deficient services, as well as a global economic downturn. Experts have been warning about the textbook acts of an international far right that is looking for systemic weaknesses it can use to influence societies for political or other gains.
Europe’s migration problem is the best entry point for aspiring far-right politicians and antiestablishment forces, which are themselves only vying for power, not for social justice or equality.
As soon as states recognize that the advocates of the far right are connected and organized — and that their preferred vehicle is a tech realm that is harming society through its unregulated and unsanctioned algorithm, which promotes toxic content and spreads sensational subjects — then remedies might be sought.
If they do not act, governments in the West will continue to grapple with ineffective solutions and will be swept away by the coming tsunami of discontent, which the far right will be ready to ride for its own ends.
**Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.

The rise of smart infrastructure in the MENA region
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/July 30, 2025
Amid the growing push for sustainability across the Middle East, Kuwait is setting a bold example with its innovative initiatives. A standout project is the recent installation of renewable energy-powered smart street lighting in South Abdullah Al-Mubarak. Launched by the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects, this initiative embodies Kuwait’s ambitious vision of transitioning from an oil-dependent economy to one that is diversified, resilient and aligned with global sustainability goals.
However, Kuwait is not alone in this effort. Across the Middle East and North Africa, countries are increasingly adopting similar smart infrastructure projects, signaling a collective regional movement toward sustainable and tech-driven urban futures.
Historically reliant on hydrocarbons, Kuwait, currently the ninth-largest global producer, derives more than 70 percent of its government revenue from oil. However, growing international pressure to cut carbon emissions has shown flaws in this paradigm.
Kuwait is proactively adopting renewable energy, setting a goal of generating 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2030. This ambition is demonstrated by recent initiatives, such as the establishment of a $165 billion state investment fund devoted to smart cities, renewable energy and sustainable transport infrastructure. Adding to this are the two significant solar power projects at Al-Dibdibah and Al-Shagaya, with a combined capacity of 500 megawatts.
This strategy aligns with Kuwait’s broader urban vision, announced in 2018 with the establishment of Saad Al-Abdullah City as the nation’s first fully integrated smart city. The South Abdullah Al-Mubarak smart lighting project is also a perfect example of how smart infrastructure can promote sustainable urban development. The project significantly reduces carbon emissions, improves public safety and lowers municipal energy costs by using solar energy to power urban lighting.
This project stands out in Kuwait, but it is part of a larger wave of similar initiatives across the MENA region. Various regional countries are embarking on ambitious, large-scale sustainability projects, all contributing to a collective push toward a greener, more resilient future.
For instance, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi shows perfectly the way in which Gulf nations are advancing in sustainable development. More than just a city, Masdar is a living testament to the future of green infrastructure. Approximately 90 percent of its buildings employ low-carbon materials and construction techniques, and solar panels are deployed extensively across the cityscape. The city is powered by a 10MW solar array and numerous rooftop installations, generating 17.5 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity and offsetting 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. The city is designed as an effective model of sustainable urban development.
In Saudi Arabia, the $500 billion city of NEOM is pushing the envelope even further. Designed from the ground up as a model of sustainability, NEOM will be powered entirely by solar, wind and green hydrogen, ensuring a zero-carbon footprint. The city’s design is centered on innovation, featuring autonomous high-speed transport systems like the Spine rail link that will connect communities and eliminate the need for cars. This will allow residents to travel across the entire city in just 20 minutes.
Moving to North Africa, Morocco is also making significant strides in smart infrastructure. The $500 million smart waterfront project in Casablanca aims to optimize energy efficiency and enhance urban mobility. IBM has been collaborating with Moroccan cities since 2011, helping to drive local government digital transformation through big data and artificial intelligence. One of the leading examples is Mohammed VI Green City in Benguerir, which combines digital innovation with sustainable urban planning. Built on a former mining site, this project links academic research with policymaking, positioning Morocco as a leader in urban sustainability in Africa.
However, realizing these ambitions is not without challenges. In the recent blackout in Spain, renewable energy sources were inaccurately blamed for the massive power outage. Such incidents underline the importance of good monitoring and advisory services, resilient planning and careful public perception management, vital elements for Middle East countries as they expand renewable energy integration.
Moreover, significant sociocultural and structural barriers remain. With ecological activism still nascent, Kuwait’s energy sector remains overwhelmingly reliant on fossil fuels, with 99 percent of its energy coming from these sources. The dominant consumerist mindset, combined with these structural dependencies, creates obstacles to a swift transition toward a sustainable energy model. Similar complexities have emerged regionally within Masdar City, which was initially designed for 50,000 inhabitants but currently houses only about 6,000 predominantly affluent or expatriate residents, illustrating the socioeconomic divide that can accompany ambitious smart city projects.
Countries are embarking on ambitious projects, all contributing to a collective push toward a greener, more resilient future.
As such, ensuring fair access to the benefits of smart cities is paramount. However, integrating smart technologies with urban green spaces presents additional technical and practical challenges. While parks equipped with sensors and precision watering systems promise enhanced air quality and optimized temperatures, managing the high costs, ensuring data reliability and addressing privacy concerns remain significant hurdles. The experiences of NEOM and Masdar City, both aiming for car-free urban landscapes and AI-driven governance, show the delicate balance between technological ambition and socioeconomic realism.
Looking ahead, Kuwait’s targeted approach to renewable-powered smart infrastructure demonstrates both foresight and pragmatism, recognizing sustainability and economic resilience as mutually reinforcing objectives. However, the success of these ambitious smart cities will depend less on the volume of capital and sophistication of technology deployed and more on their ability to ensure equitable participation, transparency and the inclusion of local communities.
As smart lights illuminate Gulf streets today, they may also shine a guiding light on a path toward a genuine, equitable urban sustainability revolution in the MENA region. The challenge ahead will be maintaining commitment amid persistent structural dependencies on fossil fuels. If Kuwait and its regional counterparts can manage this balance effectively, their smart city initiatives could redefine urban development paradigms across the Middle East, setting an essential precedent for sustainability, inclusivity and technological integration.
*Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council. X: @Moulay_Zaid

Selected Tweets for 30 July/2025
Walid Abu Haya
honor to accompany the Chairman of the Republican Party in Israel
@GOPIsrael Mr. Marc Zell on a visit to Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community, at his residence in Julis. We held extensive discussions about the situation of the Druze in Syria and the various ways to support our sisters and brothers there.
We received a comprehensive briefing on the humanitarian and relief efforts being led by Sheikh Tarif and the Druze community in Israel, and visited the special operations room established to coordinate aid for the Druze of Syria.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack met Kurdish SDF chief
Mazloum Abdi in Damascus, Syria, with Syrian "foreign minister" Asaad Shibani present.
Sources tell me Barrack, speaking as if for the Syrian government, demanded Abdi disarm. Abdi countered that the meeting was about governing Deir ez-Zor, not SDF's existence.
Barrack stormed out angrily, followed by Shibani. The Kurdish delegation waited but left for the northeast when no one returned.
SDF fighters were key in America's fight against ISIS, proving reliable allies.
Barrack's prior statements suggest he believes Turkey should dominate the Middle East, reviving Islamist Ottoman colonialism.

Habeeb Habeeb
HELP My neighbor has threatened to k*ll me just because I am a Lebanese Christian.
I am a good citizen.
The police have refused to do anything about it.
My other neighbors support the culprit and side with him.
What should I do?
None of the national agencies (FBI, Homeland Security) will do anything about it.
What is your advice for me?
Alarmed by my situation?
That’s what Israel has been facing for a century (centuries).
Islamists want to kill them and the UN and other countries side with the terrorists.
Note: I am fine. I made up that story to make a point. Sorry to alarm you. We should all be alarmed about how the world treats Jews.
Some will un^*follow me because of this post.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Now suddenly everyone is calling for Hamas to end the war in Gaza. Great!
But why haven’t they said this over the past two years?