English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 12/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 05/01-11/:”Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 10-11/2025
Mother’s Day: The Sacredness of Giving, the Embrace of Nations, and the Guardian of Family Unity/Elias Bejjani/May 11/2025
Municipal and Mayoral Elections in the Lebanon's North Governorate
President Aoun from Kuwait: Confident this visit will open new horizons for Lebanese-Kuwaiti cooperation
Lebanese FM calls for strengthening bilateral cooperation with Kuwait
Polls close in North Lebanon and Akkar as vote counting begins
LBCI reporter Nada Andraos injured by stray bullet in Tripoli
Shooting reported in North Lebanon, casualty in Ain al-Dehab, Akkar
Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army
Lebanon: Mysterious Evacuation Calls Renew Fears of Israeli Strikes
A UNIFIL patrol was intercepted in Yater and prevented from continuing its work.
Israel says repatriated body of soldier killed in 1982 in Lebanon
Khamenei and Drinking the Poison Cup from the Hands of the "Great Satan"/Jean Feghali/Nidaa Al Watan/May 12, 2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 10-11/2025
Pope Leo XIV appeals for ‘no more war’ in first Sunday message
Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
Iran says nuclear talks ‘difficult but useful,’ US ‘encouraged’
Iran president says calls to dismantle nuclear facilities 'unacceptable'
Israeli FM says Iran must not be allowed to obtain ‘world’s most dangerous weapon’
Iran, US nuclear talks end in Oman, next round to be announced
Saudi Arabia invites leaders of GCC for Gulf-US summit in Riyadh
Prospects of Saudi ties to Israel elusive as Trump seeks $1 trillion bonanza
Saudi crown prince, Al-Sharaa discuss Syria’s stability and security
Hamas says held direct Gaza talks with US, reports 'progress'
Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister
Gaza war cannot be solved by military means, says German foreign minister in Jerusalem
Israeli army says body of soldier missing for 43 years found in ‘heart of Syria’
Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released in truce efforts
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 10 people, mostly women and children
Hamas in talks with US about Gaza ceasefire and aid, says senior Palestinian official
India and Pakistan ceasefire shaken by overnight border fighting in disputed Kashmir region
Putin’s proposed Ukraine talks ‘not enough’: Macron
Some Ukrainian soldiers say Russians must withdraw before any peace talks
Zelensky says he will meet Putin after Trump tells him not to await truce
First white South Africans board plane for US under Trump refugee plan
Taliban govt suspends chess in Afghanistan over gambling.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sourceson on May 10-11/2025
380,000,000 Christians Persecuted for ‘Their Faith’: Where Is the Outrage?/ Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/May 11, 2025
What Trump’s second coming signifies for Saudi-US relations/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/May 11, 2025
A new era of US-Middle East grand strategy/Salman Al-Ansari/Arab News/May 11, 2025
Pope Leo’s first visit should be to Gaza/Daoud Kuttab/Arab News/May 11, 2025
Gaza war turning the tide on Americans’ support for Israel/Ray Hanania/Arab News/May 11, 2025
Trump says he wants to make peace. Riyadh is the right place to start/Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/May 11, 2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 10-11/2025
Mother’s Day: The Sacredness of Giving, the Embrace of Nations, and the Guardian of Family Unity
Elias Bejjani/May 11/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/05/143234/
Every year, we celebrate Mother’s Day, a moment of reverence for the greatest calling entrusted to a woman: motherhood. This is not just a date on the calendar—it is a time for reflection on the mystery of boundless giving, unconditional love, and tireless devotion. The mother is the beating heart of the family—the pillar that links the past to the present and paves the way for the future.
From the very first moment she holds her child, a mother embarks on a lifelong journey of sacrifice and nurturing. With sleepless eyes and a restless heart, she plants in her children the seeds of values, confidence, and security. A mother’s role goes far beyond physical care; she is a moral guide, a behavioral compass, and the silent architect of her children’s identity.
And when we look for the highest example of motherhood, our hearts and eyes turn to the Virgin Mary, who humbly accepted the message of the Archangel Gabriel. She embraced her divine calling, gave birth to the Lord Christ, and devoted her life to raising the incarnate Word. Her motherhood was not ordinary—it was adorned with patience, obedience, and total selflessness. She bore unimaginable sorrow for the sake of humanity’s salvation.
A mother gives without waiting for anything in return. Her love forgives endlessly. Her sleepless nights come without complaint. Her tears are hidden, and her strength often goes unseen. She is the symbol of sacrifice, the embodiment of unconditional love, and the living image of divine compassion on earth. No one can carry the burdens of a child’s pain, the confusion of adolescence, or the fatigue of a father, like a mother can. She is the living memory of the family—the eternal embrace that never fails.
The family is more than a social unit—it is the core building block of a healthy society. It is the first school where a human being learns to love, to respect, to share, and to face life’s challenges. For the family to succeed in this mission, both mother and father must dedicate their lives to their children. The balance between fatherhood and motherhood is essential to raising generations who are confident, grounded, and morally anchored.
Sadly, our world today is witnessing a dangerous shift. In the name of “freedom” and “modernity,” the definition of family has been distorted in many countries. We now see the legalization of same-sex unions—man with man, woman with woman—and even the normalization of gender reassignment and identity confusion. These corrupt ideas, championed by the destructive radical left, seek to dismantle the sacred concept of family, strip societies of their values, and produce rootless individuals with no identity or direction.
In an age of growing confusion, motherhood remains a radiant flame that never dims. It is the secret of life’s continuity, the source of true peace in our homes and communities. No law or ideology can erase the primal image of a child resting peacefully in a mother’s arms. As the poet once said:
"The mother is a school—if you prepare her well, you prepare a people of noble character."
So on Mother’s Day, let us pause to honor this sacred mission. Let us protect its dignity and stand against all attempts to corrupt or devalue it. For where there is motherhood, there is homeland. And without it, even nations can fall.

Municipal and Mayoral Elections in the Lebanon's North Governorate
LCCC/May 12, 2025
Ballots closed in all Lebanese towns, villages, and cities of the North Governorate in the evening, and counting began after the completion of the municipal and mayoral elections. Competition was partisan and family-based, and numerous violations and bribery were reported. A young man was killed as a result of stray bullets. Results are expected to be finalized today.

President Aoun from Kuwait: Confident this visit will open new horizons for Lebanese-Kuwaiti cooperation
LBCI/May 12, 2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed confidence that his official visit to Kuwait would pave the way for new opportunities for cooperation between Lebanon and Kuwait.
In a statement from Kuwait, Aoun emphasized that the visit reaffirms the depth of the historic and brotherly ties that unite the two countries, noting his deep appreciation and the gratitude of the Lebanese people for Kuwait's continuous support, especially during Lebanon's most challenging times. "Kuwait has always been, and remains, a strong pillar of support for Lebanon in various fields," he said. The president stated that discussions will focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation and activating joint agreements. He also emphasized that the visit was a chance to reiterate that the Lebanese people were eager to welcome back their Kuwaiti brothers to what he described as their "second home."
President Aoun concluded by saying that talks will also cover regional challenges, shared concerns, and ways to strengthen joint Arab action under current circumstances.

Lebanese FM calls for strengthening bilateral cooperation with Kuwait
LBCI/May 12, 2025
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji affirmed in a statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that President Joseph Aoun's visit to Kuwait is a gesture of appreciation and loyalty to the Kuwaiti leadership and people for their ongoing support to Lebanon. Rajji emphasized the importance of Kuwait's consistent backing: "Kuwait has always been at the forefront of supporting Lebanon and remains a key partner in its recovery path."He hoped the visit would help revive Kuwait's active role in aiding Lebanon's recovery, particularly in support of the economic and political reforms being implemented by President Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and the ministers.
Raji also called for strengthening bilateral cooperation, especially in trade and tourism, praising Kuwait for warmly hosting the Lebanese community, which, he said, considers Kuwait their second home—a mutual sentiment.

Polls close in North Lebanon and Akkar as vote counting begins
LBCI/May 11, 2025
Polling stations have officially closed in the North Lebanon and Akkar governorates, marking the end of the voting process in these regions. With the ballots cast, election officials have begun the vote-counting process to determine the final results.

LBCI reporter Nada Andraos injured by stray bullet in Tripoli
LBCI/May 11, 2025
Nada Andraos, a senior reporter at LBCI, was injured by a stray bullet in her left thigh while leaving Tripoli after covering the municipal and mukhtar elections. The injury was superficial. The bullet pierced the roof of the LBCI vehicle transporting her at the time of the incident.

Shooting reported in North Lebanon, casualty in Ain al-Dehab, Akkar
LBCI/May 11, 2025
Gunfire was reported in parts of North Lebanon, with initial information indicating that one person was killed in the town of Ain al-Dehab in the Akkar region.
The shooting comes in celebration after a long day of municipal and mukhtar elections, with the counting of votes still in process.

Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army
Arab News/May 11, 2025
LONDON: Qatar dispatched more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanon on Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country’s security capabilities. The Qatar Fund for Development delivered the third and final fuel shipment for 2025, which comprised 62,000 tonnes of fuel, to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli. The fund stated that the shipment is intended to strengthen the Lebanese army’s operational capabilities and contribute to Lebanon's security and stability, the Qatar News Agency reported. The delivery is a sign of Qatar’s support for the Lebanese people, as well as a contribution to prosperity and stability in the country, the QNA added.

Lebanon: Mysterious Evacuation Calls Renew Fears of Israeli Strikes
Beirut: Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 11/2025
A wave of anonymous phone calls urging residents to evacuate buildings in southern and eastern Lebanon sparked fresh panic on Saturday over potential Israeli attacks. Though the threats later proved to be unfounded and traced to local sources, the incident unfolded amid heightened tensions and the continued presence of Israeli military aircraft in the skies above South Lebanon. According to local media reports, Lebanese citizens in the town of Tammine in the Bekaa Valley (eastern Lebanon) received phone calls urging them to evacuate a residential building. Security forces immediately launched an investigation into the origin of the calls, while residents evacuated the building as a precaution. After coordination with Lebanese security agencies, authorities confirmed the caller was Lebanese and the threat lacked credibility. Legal measures were initiated against the individual responsible for the hoax threat. Security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the calls were made from within Lebanese territory, and the numbers are being tracked using technical means. “We are monitoring these calls and pursuing those responsible,” a source said. This incident is the latest in a series of similar events. Over the past few months, especially during the expanded conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border, hundreds of Lebanese citizens have received anonymous calls warning of imminent strikes, spreading fear across communities. Lebanese authorities have arrested around 20 individuals linked to these threats. Security officials noted that during periods of active conflict, Lebanon’s military intelligence identified coordinated foreign campaigns - some linked to Israel - aimed at inciting fear among the population. “These calls were part of organized external efforts, and in some cases, the Lebanese army’s intelligence managed to trace and neutralize them by blocking digital access points used to relay such messages,” a security source explained. “They were indeed causing panic among residents.”Residents, particularly in southern Lebanon, say they have no choice but to treat such calls seriously. Israel has occasionally issued official warnings ahead of attacks, as seen in two incidents in Beirut’s southern suburbs after a ceasefire agreement took effect. However, in other instances, Israeli aircraft have carried out strikes without warning, further fueling concern among civilians and prompting widespread caution. Saturday’s panic was further heightened by intensified Israeli aerial activity over southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported low-flying Israeli fighter jets over the villages and towns of Tyre district, as well as over Jezzine and the eastern sector of the south. Local activists also reported Israeli drones flying at low altitude above the Litani River basin. One drone reportedly dropped two sound bombs over the Wadi al-Asafir area in the town of Khiam.

A UNIFIL patrol was intercepted in Yater and prevented from continuing its work.
Janubiya/May 11, 2025
A number of residents of the town of Yater intercepted a UNIFIL patrol after it entered the town's neighborhoods without Lebanese Army escort. A clash erupted between a number of Yater residents and members of the Italian force within UNIFIL after the patrol entered a residential neighborhood. The patrol was intercepted and a Rapid vehicle parked in front of it to prevent it from continuing its work.

Israel says repatriated body of soldier killed in 1982 in Lebanon
Agence France Presse/May 11, 2025
The Israeli army said Sunday that the body of a soldier missing for 43 years had been found in the "heart of Syria" and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency. "In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and brought back to Israel," the army said in a statement. Feldman went missing along with two other soldiers in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub that pitted Israeli and Syrian forces against each other in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon, near the border with Syria. In a separate statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts to locate Feldman's body, noting that the search for him and his comrades -- Zachariah Baumel and Yehuda Katz -- had been ongoing for decades. "Approximately six years ago, we returned for a Jewish burial, Sgt. First Class Zechariah Baumel; today we have returned Tzvika, of blessed memory. We will not cease our efforts to return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, who is also an MIA from the same battle," Netanyahu's statement said, adding that the prime minister had personally notified Feldman's parents. The army statement said that Feldman's body had been identified by the Genomic Identification Center for Fallen Soldiers of the Military Rabbinate but gave little details of how his remains were located deep inside Syria. "The return of Sgt. Feldman was made possible through a complex and covert operation, enabled by precise intelligence and the use of operational capabilities that demonstrated ingenuity and courage," the statement said."This concludes an extensive intelligence and operational effort that spanned more than four decades, involving close cooperation between the POW/MIA Coordinators in the Prime Minister’s Office, intelligence and operational units within the Mossad and IDF Intelligence Directorate, along with the Shin Bet and the IDF Human Resources Directorate," the army said.

Khamenei and Drinking the Poison Cup from the Hands of the "Great Satan"
Jean Feghali/Nidaa Al Watan/May 12, 2025 (Google translation from Arabic)
No one can take the place of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Houthi leader, or Yahya Sinwar's successor. As they follow the course of the US-Iranian negotiations, what would they say? What bitterness would they feel as they see how the Islamic Republic of Iran sacrificed its arms in order to sit at the negotiating table with the "Great Satan"? Not a single glass window was broken in Iran during this triangular war between Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. Meanwhile, Gaza, southern Lebanon, and part of the southern suburbs were destroyed, and Yemen, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis—Iran's "arms" in the region—were devastated. The arms were severed, and the "head" complied and sat at the negotiating table. If Sheikh Naim Qassem were to give a speech today, televised, of course, what would he say? Is he saying, for example, what the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah used to say, that Iran does not dictate the party's policies and actions? He certainly won't reach this "impression," because it has become a fantasy far removed from reality. What the party, and Sheikh Naim himself, must know is that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is on his way to drinking the cup of poison, in keeping with what the founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, did when he declared that he had "drank the cup of poison" by accepting a ceasefire in the war with Iraq.
The "Al-Aqsa Flood" has turned into a "Peace Flood," and most of the early leaders of the flood have disappeared, from Yahya Sinwar to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The great irony is that the "arms" are for war, while the head is for the negotiating table. Will this reality motivate Hezbollah, as an arm, to reconsider its options? Has Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's famous saying, "I am proud to be a member of the Velayat-e Faqih Party," been proven true? This statement is proven by audio and video. Today, where is the Velayat-e Faqih Army? At the negotiating table, the Iranian negotiating side is not placing its pistol, but a cup of poison. How will this strategic shift impact the "Lebanese arm"? Is Hezbollah experiencing the autumn of its career? And what will its position be after it is stripped of its weapons? Since its inception in the early 1980s, Hezbollah has been nothing more than a military militia that later became involved in political activity, both ministerial and parliamentary. Today, the party faces a new test: How will it be a political "party" without a military arm? Only Hezbollah can answer this question.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 10-11/2025
Pope Leo XIV appeals for ‘no more war’ in first Sunday message
Reuters/May 11, 2025
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV appealed to the world’s major powers for “no more war” in his first Sunday message to crowds in St. Peter’s Square since his election as pontiff. The new pope, elected on May 8, called for an “authentic and lasting peace” in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, and the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group Hamas. Leo also welcomed the recent fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan, negotiated overnight, and said he was praying to God to grant the world the “miracle of peace.”“No more war!” the pope said, repeating a frequent call of the late Pope Francis and noting the recent 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in which some 60 million people were killed. Leo said today’s world was living through “the dramatic scenario of a Third World War being fought piecemeal,” again repeating a phrase coined by Francis. The new pope said he carries in his heart the “suffering of the beloved people of Ukraine.”Hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine aimed at ending the bloody three-year war, Leo appealed for negotiations to reach an “authentic, just and lasting peace.”The pope also said he was “profoundly saddened” by the war in Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian aid and release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Leo said he was glad to hear of the recent India-Pakistan ceasefire and hoped negotiations would lead to a lasting accord between the nuclear-armed neighbors. He added: “But there are so many other conflicts in the world!“
US-BORN POPE SPEAKS ITALIAN TO CROWD
Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is the first US-born pontiff and was a relative unknown on the world stage before his election. He previously served for decades as a missionary in Peru before first becoming a cardinal to take up a senior Vatican role two years ago. Leo’s first Sunday address to tens of thousands in the square coincided with a previously planned pilgrimage to Rome by marching bands from around the world. Minutes before the pope addressed the crowd, bands marched up the broad boulevard leading to the Vatican playing songs such as Y.M.C.A. by the Village People, the theme from the film Rocky, and music by John Philip Sousa, who composed the marching classic “Stars and Stripes Forever.”The crowd, estimated at more than 100,000 by Italian authorities, was also entertained by bands from Italy, Mexico and other parts of Latin America who came to Rome for the ongoing Catholic Holy Year. Leo gave his address on Sunday in fluent Italian. In all of his appearances since his election, Leo has not made any mention of the country of his birth, angering some US conservative commentators.

Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
Reuters/May 11, 2025
HODEIDAH: Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday. The strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis. There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel. The strikes came a few days after a missile launched toward Israel by the Houthis was intercepted. The attack came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week. Trump, who had launched an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, who said the accord did not include Israel.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel as well as attacking vessels in global shipping lanes, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Iran says nuclear talks ‘difficult but useful,’ US ‘encouraged’
Al Arabiya English/With AFP/11 May ,2025
Iran and the United States wrapped up nuclear talks in Oman on Sunday with no apparent breakthrough in a public standoff over enrichment, but with both sides confirming plans for future negotiations. This was the fourth round of talks that began nearly a month ago, marking the highest-level contact between the two foes since Washington withdrew in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal, during President Donald Trump’s first term. Both sides had reported progress in the previous three rounds, and on Sunday Iran said the meeting was “difficult but useful” while a senior US official said Washington was “encouraged.”In a post on X, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the talks could help “better understand each other’s positions and to find reasonable and realistic ways to address the differences.”Baghaei earlier said negotiators would push for relief from US sanctions. The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was “encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future,” without specifying when. Baghaei said that the “next round will be coordinated and announced by Oman,” which in turn said “the talks will take place once both parties... consult their leaderships.”According to the US official, the talks Sunday were “both direct and indirect, and lasted over three hours.”
“Agreement was reached to move forward” and “continue working through technical elements,” the official added. Iran entered the talks saying that its right to maintain uranium enrichment was “non-negotiable,” while Washington’s chief negotiator Steve Witkoff has called it a “red line.”
Following the talks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led Tehran’s delegation, reiterated Iran’s stance on enrichment, saying it “must continue and there is no room for compromise on it.”He noted the latest meeting was “more serious” than previous rounds, telling Iranian state TV that Tehran may be open to limit the rate of enrichment “to help build trust.”The talks come amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region, with US President Trump heading to the Gulf for his first major foreign tour next week, and Araghchi just back from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the talks on Sunday “included useful and original ideas reflecting a shared wish to reach an honorable agreement.”Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent purity – far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal with Washington and other world powers, but below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade material.
Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, said in a Friday interview that Iran’s “enrichment facilities have to be dismantled.”“That’s our red line. No enrichment,” he told US right-wing outlet Breitbart News, after initially suggesting flexibility on Tehran maintaining low-level enrichment of uranium for civilian purposes. Araghchi has repeatedly defended Iran’s right to enrich uranium. Iran adhered to the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers for a year after Washington’s withdrawal, before beginning to roll back its compliance.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” approach against Tehran, while backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of potential military action if it fails. The talks are taking place amid renewed scrutiny of key aspects of Tehran’s nuclear program, particularly its stockpile of enriched uranium and the pace of its enrichment activities. European governments are weighing whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 deal, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance – an option that expires in October. Araghchi, in an article published on Sunday by French weekly Le Point, warned against a “strategy of confrontation.”Israel, which opposes the negotiations its close ally the United States has conducted with regional foe Iran, said Tehran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. “Iran is the most dangerous state in the world... the most dangerous regime must not be allowed to obtain the world’s most dangerous weapon,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. Israel is the Middle East’s only – if undeclared – nuclear-armed state.

Iran president says calls to dismantle nuclear facilities 'unacceptable'
LBCI/AFP/11 May ,2025
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday described as "unacceptable," calls by U.S. officials for Iran to dismantle its nuclear facilities."The discussion that has been raised about dismantling Iran's entire nuclear facilities is unacceptable to us," he said, adding that "Iran will not give up its peaceful nuclear rights."

Israeli FM says Iran must not be allowed to obtain ‘world’s most dangerous weapon’
AFP/11 May ,2025
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday that the world’s “most dangerous regime,” Iran, must not be allowed to obtain the world’s “most dangerous weapon,” amid ongoing nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran. “Iran is the most dangerous state in the world... the most dangerous regime must not be allowed to obtain the world’s most dangerous weapon,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem, adding that Tehran’s “uranium enrichment facilities must be dismantled” and that it must be prevented from obtaining any new weapons.

Iran, US nuclear talks end in Oman, next round to be announced
AP/May 11, 2025
DUBAI: Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran insisted in public on continuing uranium enrichment. Though Tehran and Washington both have said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain deeply divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new nuclear deal and avert future military action. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the latest round of “indirect talks were difficult but useful to better understand each other’s positions.” In a post on the X platform, he added that the time and venue of the next round of negotiations would be announced by Muscat. A senior official from President Donald Trump’s administration said Sunday’s “direct and indirect” discussions had lasted more than three hours. “We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future,” the official said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held the fourth round of talks in Muscat through Omani mediators, despite Washington taking a tough stance in public that Iranian officials said would not help the negotiations. On Thursday, Witkoff told Breitbart News that Washington’s red line is: “No enrichment. That means dismantlement, no weaponization,” requiring the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. “If they are not productive on Sunday, then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route,” Witkoff said about the talks.
TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST VISIT
The fourth round of talks took place ahead of Trump’s Middle East visit. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January.
Reacting to Witkoff’s comments, Araqchi said on Sunday Iran would not compromise on its nuclear rights, which include uranium enrichment. Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks. A senior Iranian official close to the negotiating team said that US demands for “zero enrichment and dismantling Iran’s nuclear sites would not help in progressing the negotiations.”“What the US says publicly differs from what is said in negotiations,” the official said, on condition of anonymity. Moreover, Iran has flatly ruled out negotiating its ballistic missile program and the clerical establishment demands watertight guarantees Trump would not again ditch a nuclear pact. Trump exited Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed tough sanctions that have devastated Iran’s economy. Iran, which has long said its nuclear program is peaceful, has breached the 2015 pact’s nuclear curbs since 2019, including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent level that is weapons-grade, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

Saudi Arabia invites leaders of GCC for Gulf-US summit in Riyadh
Arab News/May 11, 2025
RIYADH: Saudi King Salman has extended invitations to leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to attend a Gulf-US summit in Riyadh, Al Arabiya News Channel reported Sunday. The invitation comes as US President Donald Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week.

Prospects of Saudi ties to Israel elusive as Trump seeks $1 trillion bonanza
Samia Nakhoul, Humeyra Pamuk and Alexander Cornwell/May 11, 2025
WASHINGTON/DUBAI - When U.S. President Donald Trump lands in Riyadh on Tuesday, he will be greeted with opulent ceremonies, gilded palaces and the prospect of $1 trillion in investments. But, the raging war in Gaza has denied him one goal he has long craved: Saudi-Israel normalisation. Behind the scenes, U.S. officials are quietly pressing Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - one of Saudi Arabia's preconditions for any re-start of normalization talks, said two Gulf sources close to official circles and a U.S. official.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told an audience at the Israeli embassy in Washington this week that he imminently expected progress on expanding the Abraham Accords, a set of deals brokered by Trump in his first term under which Arab states including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco recognised Israel. “We think we will have some or a lot of announcements very, very shortly, which we hope will yield progress by next year,” Witkoff said in a video of his speech. He is expected to accompany Trump on his visit to the Middle East.
However, opposition by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a permanent stop to the war or to the creation of a Palestinian state make progress on similar talks with Riyadh unlikely, two of the sources said. Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel as legitimate, meaning the Middle East's two most advanced economies and military powers do not have formal diplomatic ties. Supporters of normalising relations say it would bring stability and prosperity to the region, while countering Iran's influence. Establishing ties has become especially toxic for Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, since the start of Israel's war in Gaza. As such, the issue, central to bilateral talks in Trump's first term, has effectively been delinked from economic and other security matters between Washington and the kingdom, according to six other sources Reuters spoke with for this story, including two Saudi and two U.S. officials. The people all asked to remain anonymous to speak about sensitive diplomatic conversations. Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, needs the Gaza war to end and a credible path to a Palestinian state "before he re-engages with the issue of normalization," said Dennis Ross, a former U.S. negotiator. In the meantime, Washington and Riyadh will focus Trump's trip largely on the economic partnership and other regional matters, according to the six sources. Lucrative investments such as major deals in arms, mega-projects and artificial intelligence are in play, officials from both sides stressed. The approach was cemented in diplomatic talks between Saudi and U.S. officials ahead of the trip, the first formal state visit of Trump's second term, they said. Trump's stated aim is to secure a trillion-dollar investment in U.S. companies, building on an initial commitment of $600 billion pledged by the crown prince. The wealthy kingdom, the world's top oil exporter, knows the ritual well: dazzle the guest, secure the favor. The goal, the sources told Reuters, is to evade diplomatic landmines and perhaps, one said, to win concessions from Trump on the Gaza war and its aftermath. "The Trump administration wants this trip to be a big deal. That means lots of splashy deal announcements and collaborations that can be sold as being good for America," said Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a think tank in Washington. "Normalizing ties with Israel is a much heavier lift than rolling out the red carpet for President Trump and announcing investment deals,” he said. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on any understanding reached ahead of the trip, saying Trump "will look to strengthen ties between the United States and our Arab Gulf partners during the visits."The Saudi government communications office did not reply to a request for comment.
COURTING THE KINGDOM
Before Hamas launched its Oct.7 attacks on Israel - killing 1,200 people and sparking the devastating Israeli offensive into Gaza - the crown prince was finalising a landmark diplomatic agreement: a U.S. defense pact in exchange for Riyadh recognising Israel. But the scale of Israel’s campaign, killing 52,000 people and displacing 1.9 million in Gaza, forced a pause in the talks. Bin Salman accused Israel of genocide. Frustrated by the impact of Gaza's prolonged crisis on normalization efforts, Trump could use his visit to unveil a U.S. framework to end the 18-month war, the two Gulf sources said. The plan could create a transitional government and new security arrangements for post-war Gaza - potentially reshaping regional diplomacy and opening the door to future normalization talks, they said. Underscoring the high-stakes diplomacy underway, Trump met privately with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Thursday to discuss the war and nuclear talks with Iran, Axios reported. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to questions about Trump's discussions on Gaza. Trump conspicuously has not announced a visit to Israel as part of his tour of the region. Two diplomats noted the U.S. president has recently refrained from talking about his "Gaza Riviera" plan that enraged the Arab world with the suggestion of resettling the entire Gazan population and U.S. ownership of the strip. In the build up to the trip, Washington has taken a number of actions that are positive for Saudi Arabia. An agreement to stop U.S. bombing of the Houthis in Yemen is in line with a Saudi ceasefire there. Washington has also delinked civil nuclear talks from the normalisation question. The stalled Saudi-U.S. defense pact, initially conceived as a formal treaty, was revived in the scaled back form of security guarantees late in the Biden presidency to bypass congressional opposition. The Trump administration has now picked up those talks, along with the discussions about a civilian nuclear agreement, three of the sources said, while cautioning that it will take time to define terms.
CHINA INFLUENCE
Trump's Saudi trip is his first formal state visit and second foreign trip since his re-election, after attending the pope's funeral in Rome. He will also visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Beneath the showmanship of Trump's visits, diplomats say, lie also a calculated U.S. effort to reassert influence and reshape economic alignments in a region where Beijing - Washington's chief economic rival - has steadily expanded its foothold at the heart of the petrodollar system. Trump’s first trip abroad in his first term also began in Riyadh, where he unveiled $350 billion in Saudi investments. Trump commands deep trust from the Saudi leadership, rooted in the close ties during his first term - a period defined by large arms deals and steadfast U.S. backing for Bin Salman, even as global outrage erupted over the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies now plan to urge Trump to ease U.S. regulations that have increasingly deterred foreign investment, particularly in sectors deemed part of America’s “critical national infrastructure,” five industry sources said. In meetings with U.S. officials, Saudi ministers will advocate for a more business-friendly climate, especially at a time when China is aggressively courting Gulf capital, the industry sources said. While countering China’s economic rise may top Trump’s foreign policy agenda, it won't be easy in Saudi Arabia. Since the launch of Vision 2030, China has become integral to the kingdom's plans, dominating sectors from energy and infrastructure to renewables.
(Reporting by Samia Nakhoul and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv and Pesha Majed in Riyadh; Writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Frank Jack Danie

Saudi crown prince, Al-Sharaa discuss Syria’s stability and security
Arab News/May 11, 2025
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa held a phone call on Sunday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. During the call, the crown prince and Al-Sharaa discussed the latest developments in the Syrian Arab Republic, and reviewed all efforts to support its security and stability, SPA added. According to a Syrian Presidency statement, Prince Mohammed “reiterated the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting Syria’s security and stability, encouraging political solutions that preserve the country’s unity, and contributing to its reconstruction.”He also emphasized Saudi Arabia’s keenness to expand economic and investment ties with Syria in the period ahead, the statement added. Al-Sharaa thanked Saudi Arabia for its “continued support,” highlighting the Kingdom’s role in strengthening Syria’s territorial integrity and stability.

Hamas says held direct Gaza talks with US, reports 'progress'
Agence France Presse/May 11, 2025
Hamas and U.S. representatives have held direct talks in Doha in recent days, two officials from the Palestinian militant group told AFP on Sunday, with one saying there had been "progress" towards a truce in Gaza. "Direct talks have taken place in Doha between the Hamas leadership and the United States regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, a prisoner exchange and the entry of humanitarian aid," said a senior Hamas official, adding that the talks "are still ongoing". A second official from the Palestinian group said there was "progress made... notably on the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip" and the potential exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, "particular concerning Edan Alexander", a U.S.-Israeli captive held by militants. The second official also reported progress "on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip". Gaza militants continue to hold 58 hostages seized during Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel ended the last ceasefire, which lasted two months, on March 18, launching a major offensive in Gaza and ramping up its bombardment of the territory. It has also cut off all aid to Gaza, saying it would pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages. Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have taken place from the early months of the war without bringing it to an end.
Washington had for decades refused publicly to engage directly with Hamas, which it labels a terrorist organisation, before first doing so in March. Hamas has continued to insist on a deal that ends the war and on April 18 rejected an Israeli proposal for a 45-day truce and hostage-prisoner exchange. Hamas's 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that at least 2,720 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,829.

Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister
Arab News/May 11, 2025
LONDON: Hussein Al-Sheikh, the vice president of Palestine, has discussed in Doha the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. Al-Sheikh spoke of the Palestinian stance on Gaza, calling for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave to allow the Palestinian Authority to take on civil and security responsibilities, the Palestine News Agency reported.The officials looked at the preparations for the upcoming Arab League Summit in Baghdad and the anticipated visit of US President Donald Trump to the region this week. Al-Sheikh also briefed the Qatari official on the latest developments in the West Bank, highlighting the urgent need for a ceasefire and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s strong support for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the importance of international law and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the WAFA Agency added. Al-Sheikh was appointed vice president by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after being selected as the deputy chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in April. He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh last week during his first regional visit following his appointment.

Gaza war cannot be solved by military means, says German foreign minister in Jerusalem
Reuters/May 11, 2025
JERUSALEM: The conflict in Gaza cannot be solved by military means and a political solution must be found to end the war permanently, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Jerusalem on Sunday. “I do not believe that this conflict can be permanently resolved by military means,” Wadephul said. “Nevertheless, it is urgently necessary that Hamas is disarmed and that it can no longer have military control over Gaza.”He said that Germany would do whatever it takes to guarantee Israel’s security, but this does not mean that his country cannot criticize Israel’s course of action, adding that this “must not lead to antisemitism.” Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israel. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities. “I am not sure whether all of Israel’s strategic goals can be achieved in this way (through a military campaign) and whether this will serve Israel’s security in the long term,” Wadephul said. “That is why we are appealing for a return to serious negotiations on a ceasefire.”Wadephul repeated that the return of hostages is the German government’s priority. He also said it was clear that Gaza is part of the Palestinian territory. “We need a political solution for the reconstruction of Gaza without Hamas,” Wadephul said.

Israeli army says body of soldier missing for 43 years found in ‘heart of Syria’
AFP/May 11, 2025
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Sunday that the body of a soldier missing for 43 years had been found in the “heart of Syria” and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency. “In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and brought back to Israel,” the army said in a statement. Feldman went missing along with two other soldiers in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub that pitted Israeli and Syrian forces against each other in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon, near the border with Syria. In a separate statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts to locate Feldman’s body, noting that the search for him and his comrades — Zachariah Baumel and Yehuda Katz — had been ongoing for decades.
“Approximately six years ago, we returned for a Jewish burial, Sgt. First Class Zechariah Baumel; today we have returned Tzvika, of blessed memory. We will not cease our efforts to return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, who is also an MIA from the same battle,” Netanyahu’s statement said, adding that the prime minister had personally notified Feldman’s parents. The army statement said that Feldman’s body had been identified by the Genomic Identification Center for Fallen Soldiers of the Military Rabbinate but gave little details of how his remains were located deep inside Syria. “The return of Sgt. Feldman was made possible through a complex and covert operation, enabled by precise intelligence and the use of operational capabilities that demonstrated ingenuity and courage,” the statement said. “This concludes an extensive intelligence and operational effort that spanned more than four decades, involving close cooperation between the POW/MIA Coordinators in the Prime Minister’s Office, intelligence and operational units within the Mossad and IDF Intelligence Directorate, along with the Shin Bet and the IDF Human Resources Directorate,” the army said.

Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released in truce efforts
AP/May 11, 2025
GAZA CITY: Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid. The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen. The announcement comes shortly before US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel. Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza. Khalil Al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days. He said in a statement Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats. Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months. “Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes. Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages. The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread. Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted. “I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 10 people, mostly women and children
AP/May 11, 2025
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 10 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials. Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents. Other strikes killed a child and a man riding a bicycle, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies from all the strikes. Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages. Aid groups say food supplies are running low and hunger is widespread. The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes. US President Donald Trump, whose administration has voiced full support for Israel’s actions, is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour that will not include Israel. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. Fifty-nine hostages are still inside Gaza, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced some 90 percent of its population of around 2 million.

Hamas in talks with US about Gaza ceasefire and aid, says senior Palestinian official
Al Arabiya English/With Reuters/11 May ,2025
Talks between Hamas and the US administration regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave were underway, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Sunday. US President Donald Trump recently repeated a pledge to help get food to Palestinians in Gaza. A US-backed mechanism for getting aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington’s envoy to Israel also said on Friday. A State Department spokesperson said: “We cannot speak to ongoing negotiations, but I will note recent statements by Qatar and Egypt that they are continuing to engage in pursuit of an agreement.”The spokesperson said that Hamas bore sole responsibility for the war as well as for the resumption of hostilities. “President Trump has made clear the consequences Hamas will face if it continues to hold the hostages, including American Edan Alexander and the bodies of four Americans,” the spokesperson added. The US had previously conducted discussions with the Palestinian militant group on securing the release of US hostages held in Gaza. Since March 2, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of Gaza, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out. On March 18, Israel effectively ended the January ceasefire agreement with Hamas and renewed its military campaign in Gaza. Hamas has said it is willing to free all remaining hostages seized by its gunmen in attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and agree to a permanent ceasefire if Israel pulls out completely from Gaza. Israel, vowing the war can only stop once Hamas is stamped out, has said it plans to expand its military campaign in Gaza, which has been devastated during the war and prompted warnings from the UN that the 2.3 million population faces imminent famine. The October 2023 Hamas attacks killed 1,200 people, and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 52,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

India and Pakistan ceasefire shaken by overnight border fighting in disputed Kashmir region
AP/May 11, 2025
ISLAMABAD: A ceasefire to end the conflict between India and Pakistan was shaken by overnight border fighting in the disputed Kashmir region. People on both sides of the Line of Control, which divides the territory, reported heavy exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops. The fighting subsided by Sunday morning. The two countries agreed to a truce a day earlier after talks to defuse the most serious military confrontation between them in decades following a gun massacre of tourists that India blames on Pakistan, which denies the charge.
As part of the ceasefire, the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to immediately stop all firing and military action on land, in the air and at sea. They accused each other of repeatedly violating the deal just hours later. Drones were spotted Saturday night over Indian-controlled Kashmir and the western state of Gujarat according to Indian officials. In the Poonch area of Indian-controlled Kashmir, people said the intense shelling from the past few days had traumatized them. “Most people ran as shells were being fired,” said college student Sosan Zehra who returned home Sunday. “It was completely chaotic.” In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir’s Neelum Valley, which is three kilometers from the Line of Control, people said there were exchanges of fire and heavy shelling after the ceasefire began. Resident Mohammad Zahid said: “We were happy about the announcement but, once again, the situation feels uncertain.”US President Donald Trump was the first to post about the deal, announcing it on his Truth Social platform. Indian and Pakistani officials confirmed the news shortly after. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday with top government and military officials. India, unlike Pakistan, has not said anything about Trump or the US since the deal was announced. Nor has India acknowledged anyone beyond its military contact with the Pakistanis. Both armies have engaged in daily fighting since Wednesday along the rugged and mountainous Line of Control, which is marked by razor wire coils, watchtowers and bunkers that snake across foothills populated by villages, tangled bushes and forests. They have routinely blamed the other for starting the skirmishes while insisting they were only retaliating. India and Pakistan’s two top military officials are due to speak again on Monday.

Putin’s proposed Ukraine talks ‘not enough’: Macron
AFP/May 11, 2025
PRZEMYSL: President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, after Kyiv and its European allies called for a 30-day ceasefire, is “not enough,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. “An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition,” Macron told reporters as he stepped off a train in the Polish city of Przemysl on his return from a trip to Ukraine, adding that Putin was “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time.”Western allies have repeatedly accused Putin of delaying tactics with regards to any potential bid to end the conflict in Ukraine, which has dragged on since February 2022. Asked if this was another such example, Macron replied: “Yes, it is.”Macron visited Kyiv on Saturday with the leaders of Germany, Britain and Poland, with the four of them and President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting on Monday. Macron warned that Russia would face “massive sanctions” if it did not comply. The United States and other countries back the proposal, the leaders said. Speaking at the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday, Putin proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul in the coming days but did not address the 30-day ceasefire proposal. “It’s a way of not answering... of showing that he is committed while also trying to maintain ambiguity in the eyes of the Americans,” Macron said. “We need to stand firm with the Americans and say that the ceasefire is unconditional and then we can discuss the rest,” he added. Macron also said that Putin’s proposal was “unacceptable for the Ukrainians because they cannot accept parallel discussions while they continue to be bombed.”He also cast doubt on whether Zelensky would agree to talks in Istanbul given the “complicated” Russian-Ukrainian negotiations held there shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Some Ukrainian soldiers say Russians must withdraw before any peace talks
Reuters/May 11, 2025
ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine: After fending off attacks during a three-day weekend ceasefire declared by Russia, some Ukrainian soldiers fighting near the front line had advice for their president, Volodymyr Zelensky: don’t talk to Moscow until Russian troops withdraw. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine just over an hour after his ceasefire ended, something Zelensky said was possible, but only after Moscow agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from Monday. Preparing drones to observe Russian troop movements as the ceasefire was ending, the commander of a drone unit in Ukraine’s national guard, using the call sign Chepa, told Reuters any talks could only start with a full Russian withdrawal to Ukraine’s borders when the country won independence in 1991. “As a soldier and a citizen of Ukraine I believe that before we sit down at the negotiation table we should go back to the borders of 1991,” Chepa said in a bunker near the front line. “That’s it. Full withdrawal of all troops from the territory of Ukraine. Then when we can talk. Whatever he (Putin) is thinking of, take certain regions or divide territories, nobody has given him the right to do it.”Chepa’s views were echoed by others in the unit. Russia occupies nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory and has repeatedly said Kyiv must recognize the “reality on the ground.”Zelensky has acknowledged that at least some of Ukraine’s occupied territory will have to be retaken through diplomacy. But Kyiv cannot legally recognize Russian control over any Ukrainian territory because of the constitution. Zelensky has said any discussion about territory can only take place after a ceasefire is in place. Putin used a late night press conference to make his proposal for talks, which he said, should be based on a draft deal negotiated in 2022, under which Ukraine would agree to permanent neutrality. That would contradict Ukraine’s constitution, amended in 2019 to include the goal of “fully-fledged membership” of NATO. Zelensky received a show of support from European powers on Saturday, when the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland backed an unconditional ceasefire beginning on Monday. Chepa said he also wanted negotiations but feared they would never come about. “Yes, we do need negotiations. But he (Putin) is scared of talks,” Chepa said, adding his brigade had seen no evidence of a ceasefire over the weekend. “We have not seen any ceasefire, there were continuous attacks by howitzers, rocket launchers, they used it all. We have not experienced any ceasefire.” The Russian movements continued into Sunday, after the Russian-declared ceasefire ran out at midnight (2100 GMT), when the reconnaissance drones flew over a nearby village. “There is a lot of movement there of military as well as civilian vehicles,” Chepa said. “Interesting that so close to the contact line there is a civilian car. Not damaged, mind you. They must be making good use of it.”

Zelensky says he will meet Putin after Trump tells him not to await truce
Reuters/May 11, 2025
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would agree to meet Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Turkiye on Thursday after US President Donald Trump told him immediately to accept Putin’s proposal of direct talks. The Ukrainian leader had responded guardedly earlier on Sunday after the Russian president, in a night-time televised statement that coincided with prime time in the US, proposed that Ukraine and Russia hold direct talks in Istanbul next Thursday, May 15. It was not clear that Putin had proposed to attend in person, however. “I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” Zelensky wrote on X. Putin’s proposal came hours after major European powers demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face “massive” new sanctions, a position that Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg endorsed on Sunday. Zelensky too had said Ukraine would be ready for talks with Russia, but only after Moscow agreed to the 30-day ceasefire. But Trump, who has the power to continue or sever Washington’s crucial supply of arms to Ukraine, took a different line. “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkiye, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the US, will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!“ Putin sent Russia’s armed forces into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. With Russian forces grinding forward, the Kremlin chief has offered few, if any, concessions so far. In his overnight address, he proposed what he said would be “direct negotiations without any preconditions.”But almost immediately, senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks must take into account both an abandoned 2022 draft peace deal and the current situation on the ground. This language is shorthand for Kyiv agreeing to permanent neutrality in return for a security guarantee and accepting that Russia controls swathes of Ukraine. Putin also dismissed what he said was an attempt to lay down “ultimatums” in the form of Western European and Ukrainian demands for a ceasefire starting on Monday. His foreign ministry spelled out that talks about the root causes of the conflict must precede discussions of a ceasefire. Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker and has repeatedly promised to end the war, earlier responded to Putin’s address by saying that this could be “A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!.”

First white South Africans board plane for US under Trump refugee plan
Reuters/May 11, 2025
Trump’s offer of asylum to white South Africans coincides with heightened racial tensions over land and jobs
Trump said descendants of mostly Dutch early settlers, the Afrikaners, were 'victims of unjust racial discrimination'
The first white South Africans granted refugee status under a program initiated by US President Donald Trump boarded a plane to leave from the country’s main international airport in Johannesburg on Sunday. A queue of white citizens with airport trolleys full of luggage, much of it wrapped in theft-proof cellophane, waited to have their passports stamped, a Reuters reporter saw, before they entered the departure lounge for their charter flight. “One of the conditions of the permit was to ensure that they were vetted in case one of them has a criminal issue pending,” South African transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi told Reuters, adding that 49 passengers had been cleared. Journalists were not granted access to those headed to the US Msibi said they were due to fly to Dulles Airport just outside Washington, D.C., and then on to Texas. They had boarded the plane but not yet left as 18:30 GMT. Trump’s offer of asylum to white South Africans, especially Afrikaners — the group with the longest history in South Africa and who make up the bulk of whites — has been divisive in both countries. In the United States, it comes as the Trump administration has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world. In South Africa, it coincides with heightened racial tensions over land and jobs that have dogged domestic politics since the end of white minority rule. Despite a wider freeze on refugees, Trump called on the US to prioritize resettling Afrikaners, descendants of mostly Dutch early settlers, saying they were “victims of unjust racial discrimination.”The granting of refugee status to white South Africans — who have remained by far the most privileged race since apartheid ended 30 years ago — has been met with a mixture of alarm and ridicule by South African authorities, who say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic political issue it does not understand. Three decades since Nelson Mandela ushered democracy into South Africa, the white minority that ruled it has managed to retain most of the wealth that was amassed under colonialism and apartheid. Whites still own three quarters of private land and about 20 times the wealth of the Black majority, according to the Review of Political Economy, an international academic journal. Whites are also the race least affected by joblessness. Yet the claim that minority white South Africans face discrimination from the Black majority has been repeated so often in online chatrooms that is has become orthodoxy for the far right, and has been echoed by Trump’s white South African-born ally Elon Musk.

Taliban govt suspends chess in Afghanistan over gambling
AFP/May 11, 2025
KABUL: Taliban authorities have barred chess across Afghanistan until further notice over concerns it is a source of gambling, which is illegal under the government’s morality law, a sports official said on Sunday. The Taliban government has steadily imposed laws and regulations that reflect its austere vision of Islamic law since seizing power in 2021. “Chess in sharia (Islamic law) is considered a means of gambling,” which is prohibited according to the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice law announced last year, sports directorate spokesperson Atal Mashwani told AFP.“There are religious considerations regarding the sport of chess,” he said. “Until these considerations are addressed, the sport of chess is suspended in Afghanistan,” he added. Mashwani said the national chess federation had not held any official events for around two years and “had some issues on the leadership level.”Azizullah Gulzada owns a cafe in Kabul that has hosted informal chess competitions in recent years, but denied any gambling took place and noted chess was played in other Muslim-majority countries. “Many other Islamic countries have players on an international level,” he told AFP. He said he would respect the suspension but that it would hurt his business and those who enjoyed the game. “Young people don’t have a lot of activities these days, so many came here everyday,” he told AFP. “They would have a cup of tea and challenge their friends to a game of chess.”Afghanistan’s authorities have restricted other sports in recent years and women have been essentially barred from participating in sport altogether in the country.Last year, the authorities banned free fighting such as mixed martial arts (MMA) in professional competition, saying it was too “violent” and “problematic with respect to sharia.”

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 10-11/2025
380,000,000 مسيحي مضطهدون بسبب “إيمانهم”: أين الغضب؟
بقلم ريموند إبراهيم/معهد غاتستون/11 مايو 2025
(ترجمة من الإنكليزية بواسطة مواقع الأكترونية متعددة للترجمة)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/05/143221/
380,000,000 Christians Persecuted for ‘Their Faith’: Where Is the Outrage?
by Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/May 11, 2025
The top 13 of the 50 nations on the World Watch List 2025 are characterized by the worst form of persecution: “extreme.” They are: 1) North Korea, 2) Somalia, 3) Yemen, 4) Libya, 5) Sudan, 6) Eritrea, 7) Nigeria, 8) Pakistan, 9) Iran, 10) Afghanistan, 11) India, 12) Saudi Arabia, and 13) Myanmar.
[M]ost of the “extreme persecution” meted out to Christians in nine of these 13 worst nations continues to come either from Islamic oppression, or occurs in nations with large Muslim populations. Significantly, this means that approximately 70% of the absolute worst (“extreme”) persecution around the globe takes place under the aegis, or in the name, of Islam.
[T]he persecution of Christians by Muslims is perennial, existential, and far transcends this or that ruler or regime. Persecution of the “other” in Islam is part of its history, doctrines and socio-political makeup — hence its tenacity and ubiquity
“More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.” — World Watch List 2025.
“[R]oughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations [in Pakistan] target Christians, who make up just 1.8 percent of the population. Blasphemy laws carry a death sentence.” — World Watch List 2025.
“In Afghanistan, leaving Islam… and conversion is punishable by death under Islamic law. This has been increasingly enforced since the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.” — World Watch List 2025.
Even in nations that would appear to be friendly or at least neutral to Christianity, such as Cuba, Mexico and Nicaragua, Christians are being abused for their faith…
“More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world,” according to World Watch List 2025. Pictured: The Church of Christ in Nations building in Mangu, Nigeria, photographed on February 2, 2024, after it was torched by Islamic terrorists. (Photo by Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2024, around the world, 4,476 Christians — more than 12 a day on average — were “killed for faith related reasons.” Another 4,744 Christians were arrested or illegally detained, and 7,679 churches and other Christian institutions were attacked, often destroyed.
Overall, the global persecution of Christians has reached unprecedented levels. “More than 380m Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith,” according to the World Watch List 2025 (WWL) published earlier this year by the international human rights organization, Open Doors.
Every year, the WWL ranks the top 50 nations in which Christians are the most persecuted for their faith. The data is compiled by thousands of grassroots workers and external experts. The latest edition of the WWL covers October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
According to the WWL, around the world, one in seven Christians (14%) is persecuted. In Africa, that number grows to one in five (20%). In Asia, it is a shocking two in five — meaning 40% of all Christians there are persecuted.
The list categorizes three levels of persecution: “extreme”, “very high” and “high.”
The top 13 of the 50 nations on the list are characterized by the worst form of persecution: “extreme.” They are: 1) North Korea, 2) Somalia, 3) Yemen, 4) Libya, 5) Sudan, 6) Eritrea, 7) Nigeria, 8) Pakistan, 9) Iran, 10) Afghanistan, 11) India, 12) Saudi Arabia, and 13) Myanmar.
The form of persecution experienced there ranges from assault, rape, imprisonment, or even murder on being identified as a Christian or attending (usually underground) churches.
Coming in as #1 is North Korea:
“If your Christian faith is discovered in North Korea, you could be killed on the spot. If you aren’t killed, you will be deported to a labour camp and treated as a political criminal. You will be punished with years of hard labour that few survive. And it’s not only you who will be punished: North Korean authorities are likely to round up your extended family and punish them too, even if your family members aren’t Christians. There is no church life in North Korea. It’s impossible to gather for worship or prayer, and even secret worship and prayer is at great risk. Official spies could inform on you, if they have any indication that you are a Christian, and so could your neighbours or teachers.”
Not surprisingly, most of the “extreme persecution” meted out to Christians in nine of these 13 worst nations continues to come either from Islamic oppression, or occurs in nations with large Muslim populations. Significantly, this means that approximately 70% of the absolute worst (“extreme”) persecution around the globe takes place under the aegis, or in the name, of Islam.
This trend affects the entire list: the rest of the “very high” or “high” levels of persecution that Christians experience in 37 of the 50 ranked nations (or 74%), also comes either from Islamic oppression or occurs in nations with majority or large Muslim populations. Many of these nations are governed by some form of shari’a (Islamic law). Those enforcing the persecution can either be the government or society or, more frequently, both, although societies — particularly family members outraged by relatives who have converted — tend to be more zealous in the application of shari’a.
This means that although the persecution in North Korea is worse, there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel: the ill-treatment of Christians is entirely connected to the regime of Kim Jong-un. “Recognising any deity beyond the Kim family is considered a threat to the country’s leadership,” notes the report. Once the Kim family is gone, which is inevitable, North Korea may well become like South Korea, where Christianity is flourishing.
Conversely, the persecution of Christians by Muslims is perennial, existential, and far transcends this or that ruler or regime. Persecution of the “other” in Islam is part of its history, doctrines and socio-political makeup — hence its tenacity and ubiquity. Brief summaries of the dangers of being Christian in the nine Muslim nations where “extreme” levels of persecution occur include:
Somalia, #2, where only a few hundred Christians are believed to exist,
“… following Jesus is a matter of life and death. Al-Shabab, a violent Islamist militant group… enforces a strict form of Sharia (Islamic law) and is committed to eradicating Christianity from Somalia. They have often killed Somali Christians on the spot. The dangers have increased over the years, as the militants have increasingly focused on finding and eliminating Christian leaders.
Yemen, #3:
“The country is now divided into territory ruled by three different [Muslim] powers, as well as some areas held by al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State. None of the powers involved are sympathetic to Christians, and the official constitution upholds Sharia (Islamic law) and no freedom of religion. The 1% of Yemenis from minority religions are severely marginalised. Relief aid is mostly distributed through local Muslim groups and mosques, which are alleged to be discriminating against anyone not considered a devout Muslim. If someone is reported to be a Christian and or involved in Christian activities, they could face severe monitoring, arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment and even murder.”
Libya, #4:
“…following Jesus is a huge risk for anyone. Libyan Christians with a Muslim background face violent pressure from their families and communities to renounce their faith. Foreign Christians, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa, are targeted by Islamist militant and criminal groups. These groups kidnap and sometimes brutally kill Christians. Even if they avoid such a fate, sub-Saharan Christians face harassment and threats from radical Muslims. Christians who openly express their faith or try to share it with others risk arrest and violent opposition.”
Sudan, #5:
“Sudan was on a path towards religious freedom, but a coup and devastating war dashed these hopes. Christians are once again in danger… [T]he conflict has given Islamist extremists more opportunity to target them. More than 100 churches have been damaged so far, and Christians have been abducted and killed. Sudanese Christians who have come to faith from a Muslim background face severe backlash from their families and communities. These believers tend to keep their faith secret, even from their own children. Christians are also experiencing exceptional hardship in the hunger crisis because local communities discriminate against them and won’t give them support.”
Nigeria, #7:
“Jihadist violence continues to escalate in Nigeria, and Christians are particularly at risk from targeted attacks by Islamist militants, including Fulani fighters, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province)…. The attacks are shockingly brutal. Many believers are killed, particularly men, while women are often kidnapped and targeted for sexual violence. More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. [A total of 3,100 Nigerian Christians “paid the ultimate price for their faith” in 2024.] These militants also destroy homes, churches and livelihoods. More than 16.2 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, including high numbers from Nigeria, have been driven from their homes by violence and conflict. Millions now live in displacement camps. Christians living in northern Nigerian states under Sharia (Islamic law) can also face discrimination and oppression as second-class citizens. Converts from Islam often experience rejection from their own families and pressure to renounce their new faith. They often have to flee their homes for fear of being killed.”
Christian carnage is so endemic to Nigeria that, only recently, on April 13 — Palm Sunday — 54 Christians were slaughtered following church celebrations in one village alone. And as bad as it is in Nigeria, “Sadly, more Christians were killed outside Nigeria, many in sub-Saharan Africa countries like DRC, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger.” The report continues
“Multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have seen a rise in violence against Christians. Currently, 8 of the top 10 deadliest places for Christians are in Sub-Saharan Africa—and all of them (except Nigeria) have more faith-based killings than they did during the 2024 World Watch List reporting period.”
Pakistan, #8:
“Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to target minority groups, but Christians are disproportionately affected. Indeed, roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians, who make up just 1.8 per cent of the population. Blasphemy laws carry a death sentence. While this is seldom carried out, people accused of blasphemy are vulnerable to attack or murder by mobs. In June 2024, an elderly man was killed by mob violence after being accused of desecrating the Quran…. Historical churches … are heavily monitored and have been targeted for bomb attacks. The number of Christian girls (and those from other minority religions) abducted, abused and forcefully converted to Islam (frequently backed by lower courts) is growing…. All Christians suffer institutionalised discrimination. Occupations that are deemed low, dirty and degrading – such as cleaning sewers or working in brick kilns – are reserved for Christians by the authorities. Many are referred to as ‘chura’, a derogatory term meaning ‘filthy’. Christians are also vulnerable to being trapped in bonded labour.”
Iran, #9:
“Unrecognised converts from Islam to Christianity face severe religious freedom violations, primarily from the government and, to a lesser extent, from society and their families. The government views these converts as a threat, believing they are influenced by Western countries to undermine Islam and the regime. Both leaders and ordinary members of Christian groups are often arrested, prosecuted and given long prison sentences for ‘crimes against national security’. Recognised historical communities such as Armenian and Assyrian Christians are state-protected but treated as second-class citizens. They face many discriminatory legal provisions and are not allowed to worship in Persian or interact with Christian converts. Those who support converts can also face imprisonment.”
Afghanistan, #10:
“Most Afghan Christians are converts from Islam, which makes it basically impossible to practise their faith openly. In Afghanistan, leaving Islam … and conversion is punishable by death under Islamic law. This has been increasingly enforced since the Taliban took control of the country in 2021. If converts are discovered, the family, clan or tribe may try to preserve its ‘honour’ and deal with the convert through pressure, violence or even murder. If a convert’s faith is discovered by the government, many Afghan believers have no other option but to try to flee. Women and ethnic minorities experience additional oppression. Christians among these groups live under unthinkable pressure.”
Saudi Arabia, #12:
“It’s very risky to become a Christian in Saudi Arabia. Not only is it illegal to leave the Islamic faith, new believers will face intense opposition from their families and communities as well…. Because of this, most Saudi Christians tend to follow their faith quietly and secretly. This extends as far as not even telling their own spouse or children about their faith, for fear that extended family members or school staff could discover that they have left Islam. There are no legal church buildings or meetings…. The majority of the Christians living in Saudi Arabia are temporary workers from other countries. They are forbidden from sharing their faith with local Saudis, and gathering for worship is restricted. Breaking these rules can get them detained and deported.”
Notably, the nine “extreme” persecuting Muslim nations listed above are different in many respects—racially, socially, economically and governmentally: some are rich (Saudi Arabia), while others are unimaginably poor (Somalia); some are advanced (Iran), while others are far from it (Yemen); they are represented by a variety of governments (republics, monarchies, theocracies); and various different races are represented — Arabs, sub-Saharan Africans, Pakistanis, Persians and Afghans. The only commonality they all share, the common denominator, is Islam.
The variety grows when looking at the full list of 50 nations, which also includes Sinic and Turkic nations—such as Maldives (#16), Uzbekistan (#25), Turkey (#45), and Brunei (#48)— all of which share little in common other than Islam. Kyrgyzstan, which has not made the top 50 list since 2013, made a dramatic return at #47:
“There was a sharp increase in violence against the church, many registered churches and Christian institutions were forced to close, and pressure on Christians increased in almost all spheres of life.”
Beyond the Muslim world, however, hostility for Christianity has, in fact, become pandemic. As the report notes:”Several countries on the World Watch List saw an increase in anti-Christian violence. While the contexts were different, either tightly controlled autocratic states, or countries that are unstable due to weak government or civil war, the result was the same: targeting of Christian communities, destruction of lives, homes and churches, and immense pressure on believers.
“A rise in Hindu nationalism has made India (#11) a hotbed of persecution:”In India, Hindu extremists view all Christians as outsiders and aim to cleanse the nation of Islam and Christianity, often using extensive violence. This hostility is often driven by Hindutva, an ongoing Hindu nationalist belief among some extremists that Indians ought to be Hindu – and no other faith will be tolerated. This mindset has led to violent attacks across the country and impunity for the people who hold these beliefs, especially where the authorities are also Hindu hardliners. In such places, Christians who attend house churches risk attack by extremist mobs who target services. Additionally, 12 states have passed anti-conversion laws, which threaten religious freedom for individual believers.”
Even in Buddhist Myanmar (#13), the last nation to make the top 13 offenders, where Christians experience “extreme” levels of persecution:
“Since the military coup in February 2021, Christians have encountered greater violence and tighter restrictions. Believers have been killed and churches have been indiscriminately attacked. This includes those in predominantly Christian states… More Christians than ever have been driven out of their homes and have found refuge in churches or displacement camps. Some are even forced to flee to the jungle where they are often deprived of access to food and health care. Government forces have continued to disproportionately attack Christian villages and churches. They have also killed Christian aid workers and pastors, often in aerial attacks. Beyond the conflict, converts to Christianity find themselves persecuted by their Buddhist, Muslim or tribal families and communities because they have left their former faith. Communities who aim to stay ‘Buddhist only’ make life impossible for Christian families.”
Even in nations that would appear to be friendly or at least neutral to Christianity, such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico, Christians are being abused for their faith, by a variety of actors and for a variety of reasons.
In communist Cuba, #26:
“Church leaders and Christian activists who criticise the regime can face interrogation, arrest and imprisonment. They also suffer smear campaigns, travel restrictions, and harassment (which can include physical violence and damage to church buildings).”
Although not communist, in Nicaragua, #30:
“Hostility toward Christians continues to intensify: those who speak out against President Ortega and his government are viewed as destabilising agents. …Christian leaders have been harassed and arrested, Christian properties seized, Christian schools, TV stations and charities closed, and churches monitored and intimidated.”
In Mexico (#31), drug cartels target Christians, especially if they speak out against their activities or try to lead the youth away from them; in southern Mexico, especially “in some Indigenous communities, those who decide to leave ancestral and traditional beliefs to follow Jesus face ostracism, fines, incarceration and forced displacement.”
Perhaps the most disturbing trend is that the persecution of Christians continues to grow every year, and has nearly doubled since 1993, when the WWL was first issued. Then, only 40 nations scored high enough to warrant sufficient tracking. Today, nearly double that number qualify, though the list only ranks the top 50.
How long before this ongoing trend metastasizes into even those Western nations once hailed for their religious liberties?
Raymond Ibrahim, author ofDefenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, andThe Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Follow Raymond Ibrahim on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21585/christians-persecuted

What Trump’s second coming signifies for Saudi-US relations
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/May 11, 2025
As President Donald Trump prepares to return to Saudi Arabia for what is expected to be the first international stop in this new chapter of his political life, the significance of the visit cannot be overstated — nor could its timing be more crucial.
The world today is in flux. The global order is being tested by war, economic uncertainty, rising extremism, and shifting alliances. In the midst of this complexity, Trump’s “second coming” to the Kingdom sends a loud and clear message: The US recognizes that the challenges of today cannot be tackled without working closely with reliable allies. And when it comes to stability, mediation, and real influence, no one is better positioned than Riyadh. Whether it is Ukraine and Russia — where Saudi Arabia enjoys strong, trust-based relations with both sides — or the escalating crisis in Sudan, the Kingdom has stepped up time and again. Riyadh has taken on the tough assignments others shy away from. When many assumed that a phone call and a press release would suffice to de-escalate the India-Pakistan standoff, Saudi Arabia quietly dispatched one of its most seasoned diplomats, Adel Al-Jubeir, to mediate face-to-face. These are not acts of vanity but strategic contributions to global peace, and, frankly, they serve American interests, too. Putting America first does not mean ignoring opportunities abroad; it means seizing them. A more stable Middle East is not just good for Saudi Arabia; it is good for the world, reducing migration pressures, helping to stabilize energy markets, and curbing the spread of extremist ideologies. It is this exact logic that fuels Saudi Arabia’s longstanding advocacy for a two-state solution in Palestine.
Riyadh has always maintained that correcting the historic injustice faced by Palestinians is not only morally imperative, but also the most secure path to lasting peace — for Israelis, Arabs, and the wider region. The longer the occupation persists, the more fertile the ground becomes for extremism. Without justice, there can be no peace, and without peace, there can be no prosperity.
Of course, some critics — mostly the usual suspects in the Western commentariat — will dismiss this visit with a tired, reductionist take: “Trump is just going where the money is.” That line of thinking is not only outdated, it is insulting — both to the Kingdom, which is in the midst of a profound transformation under Vision 2030, and to a US administration that has chosen, unapologetically, to put American interests first. But putting America first does not mean ignoring opportunities abroad; it means seizing them. Trump understands, perhaps better than any of his predecessors, that if American companies do not engage with fast-growing markets like Saudi Arabia, others will. We have seen this play out before: in 5G technology, infrastructure, and defense contracts. Strategic gaps left by the US were quickly filled by competitors. The business delegation accompanying Trump will witness a new Saudi Arabia, one that is younger, more open, more dynamic. And make no mistake, there will be billions of dollars of deals signed during this visit — but not because Saudi Arabia has spare change to throw around. These agreements are being forged because a country the size of Western Europe, with one of the top 20 economies in the world, is diversifying, modernizing, and building for the future. From artificial intelligence to renewable energy to nuclear cooperation, we need credible partners — and American firms are among the best.
Let us also not forget that the door swings both ways. The business delegation accompanying Trump will witness a new Saudi Arabia, one that is younger, more open, more dynamic, and bursting with investment opportunities across every sector. From tourism and tech to sports and sustainability, those who missed out last time won’t want to miss out again — and Trump won’t want them to, either. So, let us welcome President Trump, his team, and the business community he brings with him. Let us talk, sign, build, and grow — together. And, yes, let us make Saudi-US relations great again.
*Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News. X: @FaisalJAbbas

A new era of US-Middle East grand strategy
Salman Al-Ansari/Arab News/May 11, 2025
Some view US President Donald Trump as the pioneer of transactional relationships. That may be partially true, but in reality, a series of transactional deals can lay the foundation for a new and enduring strategic vision. The era of the US focusing on meaningless idealism, at least in its Middle East policy, is over. And even if a future Democratic administration eventually takes power, that shift will be hard to reverse. The golden rule for any government should be simple: Serve the national interest. Yet, the concern with previous US administrations was that they often appeared to willingly make decisions that ran directly against America’s core interests, especially in the Middle East. Some of this could be chalked up to incompetence or ignorance. But the greater fear is that it was intentional, driven by the rise of global far-left agendas that harbored resentment toward their own country’s history, conduct, and identity.
We have witnessed grievance politics, “woke” ideology, and an all-out war against family values, faith, and basic common sense — a new radical version of postmodernism that perhaps deserves to be called the “post-common-sense era.”
Despite fierce criticism, the Trump administration arguably saved the US — and by extension the broader Western world — from falling into that abyss. It did so by enacting dramatic course corrections to stabilize America’s future trajectory.
Now, four months into his second term, Trump is doubling down on this approach, particularly in the Middle East.
In regional policy, the US leader has remained clear-eyed, and impatient with rigid bureaucracy. He wants real, immediate change, not decades of incremental steps that often lead nowhere. One major obstacle to US interests in the region has long been the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the US has maintained strong relations with most Middle Eastern countries, the potential for deeper, more beneficial partnerships has been limited by this unresolved dispute, which fueled widespread distrust and resentment across the region.
Trump now has a chance to deliver one of the most historic achievements of the 21st century: finally ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — not by endless negotiations that lead nowhere, but by pushing both sides toward a lasting peace. Such a breakthrough would not only strengthen US interests and regional stability, but also would deal a devastating blow to the extremists and radicals who have always thrived on chaos and hatred. Trump wants real, immediate change, not decades of incremental steps that often lead nowhere.
This would also be a service to Israeli citizens, liberating them from the dangerous self-destructive policies of their own extreme leadership. Trump understands the language of prosperity. And prosperity cannot happen without security. He knows that for economic growth to flourish, peace must prevail.
He will likely mobilize his network of right-wing American Jewish officials and business leaders to apply real pressure on the Israeli government — pressure that previous administrations hesitated to use. For years, some factions within Israel have exploited American goodwill without offering meaningful concessions in return.During his first term, Trump gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unprecedented political support: He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, endorsed Israeli settlements, brokered the Abraham Accords, and delivered major financial and military aid. No US president had done more.
Yet Netanyahu responded with four major problems: no flexibility on Gaza, constant pressure to push the US into a war with Iran, reckless military adventures in Syria, and alleged interference in US political affairs. From Trump’s perspective, the Israeli leader took everything and gave nothing meaningful back.
Trump has now seen Netanyahu’s true face, without filters. He also now clearly understands Saudi Arabia’s longstanding position regarding the importance of resolving the Palestinian issue for lasting regional peace.
The US president is unlikely to view Netanyahu as an asset anymore. Rather, he will see him as a free rider — a liability Washington can no longer afford if it is serious about an “America First” foreign policy. That does not mean the US will abandon Israel; quite the opposite. True friendship means helping Israel avoid its own self-destruction and securing a future where it can peacefully coexist with its neighbors. Trump now has a golden opportunity to shift the longstanding dynamic of the US taking dictation from Israel on Middle Eastern affairs. Instead, he can reestablish an independent American foreign policy that serves American interests first. And, as history often shows, what is good for America tends to be good for the wider world as well. If a figure as bold as Trump cannot redirect this relationship, it is unlikely that any future American president can.
As a historical reflection, many believe the US replaced Britain as the world’s leading power immediately after the Second World War. But the true turning point came in 1956, during the Suez crisis, when the US forced Britain, France, and Israel to halt their aggression against Egypt. That moment redefined global perceptions of power.If the US still aspires to reclaim that kind of moral and strategic credibility, it must be willing to remind its allies, including Israel, of the natural order of partnership. In the end, that will not only protect American interests, but also safeguard Israel’s future by saving it from the dangerous path charted by leaders like Netanyahu. Salman Al-Ansari is a geopolitical analyst who is a frequent guest on the BBC, CNN and France 24. In 2021, he was ranked as the most influential political pundit in the Middle East and North Africa by Arab News. X: @Salansar1

Pope Leo’s first visit should be to Gaza
Daoud Kuttab/Arab News/May 11, 2025
In a world that too often feels consumed by conflict, division, and moral fatigue, the election of a new pope brings a flicker of renewed hope. The selection of Pope Leo XIV is more than a change in leadership. It is a spiritual and moral affirmation that the Catholic Church, under his guidance, will continue to walk the path of peace laid down by Pope Francis. From the moment he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo signaled the kind of pontificate he intends to lead. His first words, spoken in Latin, were “Peace to you all” — a greeting deeply familiar to those of us in the East. It was not lost on many that he repeated the word “peace” no fewer than nine times in his brief public address. Equally powerful was his echoing part of Pope Francis’ now-iconic call to “build bridges, not walls” — a phrase Francis uttered in front of the Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem in 2014. Pope Leo repeated that same phrase twice, anchoring his mission in a world increasingly obsessed with barriers and fear.
Pope Leo was born to a French-Italian American father who served in the Second World War and a Spanish American mother with roots in Creole New Orleans. He arrived in Peru on an Augustinian mission in 1985, and later directed the Augustinian seminary in the northern city of Trujillo for 10 years. His decades of ministry in Latin America have shaped his pastoral style, rooted in simplicity, humility, and deep concern for the poor and marginalized.
The symbolism of his speech is strong, and it matters. But even more telling are the calls now circulating that Pope Leo ought to begin with a visit to Gaza. If this proposal becomes reality, it would be one of the boldest opening acts of any modern papacy — a powerful message that the Church stands not with the powerful, but with the suffering. It would mirror the approach of his predecessor, who made a point to meet refugees, visit prisons, and kneel before the forgotten.
Gaza today is a wound on the conscience of humanity. Reeling from devastation, under siege, and increasingly isolated from the world, it represents not only a geopolitical crisis but also a moral one. For a new pope to begin his spiritual leadership by visiting Gaza would send a message louder than any encyclical: that the global church sees, hears, and stands with the afflicted. This is no abstraction for us in the Levant. We watched as Pope Francis made unprecedented gestures of solidarity — visiting the Palestinian town of Bethlehem praying at the wall of separation, and emphasizing the rights of all people to live in dignity. Pope Leo appears poised to carry that legacy forward with vigor. At 69, he brings the energy to travel and the theological grounding to lead with clarity and compassion.
May Pope Leo be the lion who roars for peace.
The choice of the name “Leo” is also significant. It has not been used in over a century and is a deliberate nod to Pope Leo the Great, a figure known for courage, unity, and love in the face of division. As Catholic affairs expert Wadie Abunassar pointed out in this newspaper yesterday, “Leo” means lion — but not a lion of empire or force. Rather, this lion roars with the power of love and moral authority, echoing Jesus Christ, the church’s founder. Pope Leo’s membership in the Augustinian order is also noteworthy. St. Augustine, a North African saint, emphasized the importance of sharing what one has with others — a principle as urgent now as it was in the fourth century. In a time when global leaders often hoard resources and power, and when millions are displaced by war and occupation, the message of selflessness and solidarity could not be more necessary.
The Catholic Church’s history, like that of any large institution, is riddled with both grandeur and grave mistakes. But under Pope Francis, we saw a clear pivot toward humility, inclusion, and peace-centered theology. He confronted climate change, interfaith division, and systemic injustice. Pope Leo appears ready to continue, if not deepen, this trajectory. Indeed, the legacy of Pope Francis looms large, particularly in the Middle East. He was a consistent advocate for justice in Palestine, repeatedly calling for the rights of Palestinians to live in peace and dignity. He opposed violence in all its forms and was unafraid to name injustice. His gestures, such as praying at the apartheid Israeli wall or recognizing the state of Palestine, had both symbolic and political impact.
It is in this spirit that Pope Leo’s early words resonate so deeply. We in the region are not looking for empty rhetoric. We yearn for leadership rooted in moral clarity. When a spiritual leader of 1.3 billion people repeats “peace” nine times in his first speech, that is not a coincidence. It is a signal to a broken world.
Our hope is that Pope Leo will not only follow the steps of Pope Francis but will expand them — visiting the wounded, calling out occupation and oppression, and lifting the voices of the silenced. A visit to Gaza, should it happen, would mark a remarkable beginning.
As Christians in the East and neighbors in the holy land, we remain eager to see how this new papacy will unfold. The bridge building has already begun. Now we pray that it leads not only to Rome, but also to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza, and every place where peace has become a distant dream.
May Pope Leo XIV be the lion who roars for peace — not with the weapons of war or the prestige of empire, but with the fearless love of Christ.
• Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. He is the author of “State of Palestine NOW: Practical and logical arguments for the best way to bring peace to the Middle East.”
X: @daoudkuttab

Gaza war turning the tide on Americans’ support for Israel
Ray Hanania/Arab News/May 11, 2025
Since its creation in 1948, Israel has enjoyed almost ironclad support from the US, particularly its politicians and, more importantly, from the American people themselves. For most Americans, their knowledge of the challenges facing Israel has been defined by a one-sided pro-Israel propaganda campaign that has reached every level of the US media. From news coverage to Hollywood movies and best-selling novels, Israel has always been presented as the victim and Arabs portrayed as a sinister, dark force. This media bias created a foundation of lies that became the driving force behind American political attitudes and US foreign policy toward Israel. Israel was defined as a creation based on Christian tradition in a nation that prided itself on its supposedly Christian morality. The Arabs and the Palestinians never had a chance to break that perception. They failed to create powerful messages that could stop American attitudes from avoiding the facts and embracing the carefully crafted pro-Israel lies. While pro-Israel sympathizers created hundreds of Hollywood movies, wrote novels, and ensured one-sided media reportage that cast Arabs as evil and Israelis as saints, the Arabs themselves produced little in response.
Arabs believed in the power of truth but failed to recognize America’s soft power when it comes to cinema. What Americans believed arguably defined what the rest of the world chose to believe.
Yet, despite this almost total failure to effectively counter Israel’s bloodlust-driven lies about Palestine and all of the wars that have taken place in the Middle East since 1948, the Israeli narrative is vulnerable to the reality of the truth, which has been disguised for more than 75 years but is now finally becoming apparent.Americans are today seeing the cruelty of Israel’s government in the Gaza Strip. A Gallup poll taken in March found only 46 percent of Americans expressed support for Israel.
When Israel imposed its narrative to gain an advantage, its actions relating to the Palestinians showed a relative level of restraint. That has clearly changed and a seismic shift in public attitudes is taking place, not just among Americans generally but even in the core foundations of Israeli support, including Jewish Americans. A Gallup poll taken in March found only 46 percent of Americans expressed support for Israel. That is the lowest level in the 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking. Worse for Israel is that 33 percent of respondents said they sympathized with the Palestinians, the highest level ever. Other polls have shown similar shifts against Israel and toward the Palestinians.
These changes are a direct result of the uninhibited and widespread violence inflicted on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by Israel’s military. More than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, women and children, have been killed — a number I believe is far lower than the actual toll from Israel’s carnage.
But Arabs have been killed in the past without shifting public perceptions. However, in the case of the ongoing Gaza war, the Israeli atrocities have been captured on thousands of videos, some posted online by cruel Israeli soldiers and others by international agencies of justice that are challenging Israel’s war crimes and its genocide.When Israel controlled and limited its vengeance, it could get away with anything. Today, however, there appears to be no limit to the cruelty the world is seeing, including unrestrained racism, hatred and bigotry from Israeli soldiers, politicians, and segments of its population.
And yet, still the Arab world has failed to capitalize on this shift in perceptions that is now challenging Israel’s lies.
Arab activists are often driven by their emotions, fed by the cruelty and unfairness they see and experience. They react with anger and many even with violence. But while Arabs struggle to convey Israeli violence, Israel’s public relations machinery understands perfectly well how to exaggerate and weaponize Arab violence. Instead of seeking revenge through violence — as Hamas did with its horrific Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — the Arab world can win justice through truth and by strategically addressing and overcoming Israel’s lies. The polling shows that Israel is more vulnerable to this today than it ever has been.
Perception is reality in American eyes. The Arab world has the wealth to respond to the gross exaggerations of the pro-Israeli activists and return to a reality based on truth. But do Arabs have the will to overcome their anger and emotions to pursue justice through a strategic representation of the truth?
**Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. X: @RayHanania

Trump says he wants to make peace. Riyadh is the right place to start
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/May 11, 2025
US President Donald Trump’s decision to make Saudi Arabia his first foreign stop could transform the region and benefit the US. Coming early in his administration, the visit is likely to produce significant results. He could use Riyadh as the launch pad of a new Middle East policy, which takes in consideration regional inputs. Trump and GCC leaders could set the region on a new path toward peace and prosperity, instead of war and hatred. Trade, investment, mutual security commitments, and ending regional conflicts are expected to be high on the agenda. The US and GCC states are important players in the global economy. They benefit when it is healthy and suffer when there is a recession or slowdown. The International Monetary Fund has recently revised down its forecast for global growth, and J.P. Morgan has put the probability of a recession at 60 percent. The summit could begin the road toward reversing this trend.
The recent decline in the value of the US dollar versus other currencies has affected GCC states, because their chief exports are denominated in dollars and their currencies are pegged to the dollar. They have also been affected by the recent rise in US tariffs of 10 percent on their exports, but even more by the higher tariffs on aluminum and steel imposed in 2018 during the first Trump term and in place since then.
To address these imbalances, a new trade deal is needed, with reciprocal tariff reductions and aggressive investment promotion. As the US appears skeptical about the world trading system, emphasis in Riyadh should be placed on mutually granting “most favored nation” status to each other, and exploring the possibility of extending national treatment to each other in investment and services. The result would be dramatic not only on the two-way GCC-US trade and investment growth, but it could send a positive message to reverse global negative trends.
On security, the two sides are expected to renew a commitment to mutual security, and peace and stability of the region, but the tense global and regional circumstances call for more. They have already put together a strategic partnership framework, which was enthusiastically endorsed during Trump’s first summit in Riyadh in 2017, but that has since atrophied. It needs to be reenergized by convening, on an urgent basis, the more than 10 joint working groups on issues such as regional security, maritime security, air defense, and counter-terrorism. The recently concluded meetings and site visits by US and GCC nuclear experts is a good start for cooperation in this field, which should be encouraged.
Trump has said that he aspires to end wars and make peace. Riyadh will be the right place to launch that crusade this week. Starting with Gaza, ceasefire and delivery of urgently needed aid should be part of that effort, especially as it appears that there is a deliberate policy to starve civilians and deprive them of the basic means of survival such as healthcare. Trump can reverse this tragedy and restore America’s standing in the region.
A determined move toward implementing the two-state solution would help de-escalate the conflict, frustrate the efforts of extremists to prolong the violence, and allow progress toward peace and regional prosperity. The new appointment of a vice president for the Palestinian Authority, a key demand from the international community, should be utilized to reunify Gaza with the West Bank, sidelining Hamas in the process, another key requirement for long-term peace. Egypt has proposed an interim plan to manage Gaza during the transition period by choosing an independent, nonpartisan committee to run the strip. This plan has been endorsed by most countries. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister heads the multilateral committee responsible for mobilizing support for this plan.
The US and GCC states are important players in the global economy.
Elsewhere in the region, there are signs that the administration is working toward de-escalation, despite Israel’s protestations. It has completed several rounds of nuclear negotiations with Iran, facilitated by Oman. This could be the start of a new Iran policy to address other US and GCC concerns, including Iran’s missile and UAV programs, and support for armed groups in the region. GCC states have developed a diplomatic track with Iran to deal with some of these concerns. Closer GCC-US coordination would help on all these tracks and could lead to a more peaceful region. Trump could take credit for that when it happens. There are also signs that the Trump administration is taking a more measured approach toward Yemen, by announcing a ceasefire last week, also brokered by Oman. When Israeli officials protested, Trump’s newly appointed ambassador Mike Huckabee said bluntly: “The US isn’t required to get permission” from Israel to cut a deal with Houthis. Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel, nevertheless shocked Israeli TV audiences by adding that the US will respond to Houthi attacks only if American citizens are hurt.
What is needed in Yemen now is for the UN to resume peace talks, which have hibernated during air strikes. While stopping attacks on shipping is an important goal, it will be sustainable only if it is part of a long-term political solution.
In Syria, the Trump administration has made overtures to the new government and given it a list of conditions to which Damascus has responded positively. Saudi Arabia is leading efforts to enable the government to provide for its citizens, unify the country, and play a positive role in the region. The US was clearly opposed to Assad and should now be glad that he has been replaced. Iran’s presence in Syria is no more, another issue of concern to the US. The new government appears determined to fight terrorism and prevent a resurgence of Daesh or the return of Iran-affiliated armed groups. The new government can be a positive force in the region and a friend of the US. American sanctions have made it difficult to restore aid and investment in Syria and Trump has the authority to end or suspend most of them. An announcement in Riyadh on that issue would go a long way.
On Ukraine, the US and Saudi Arabia appear to be aligned and the administration has clearly appreciated Saudi Arabia’s efforts since the start of the Ukraine war to reach a ceasefire and initiate peace talks and has recently hosted meetings involving Americans, Russians, and Ukrainians for that purpose. It is regrettable that those discussions have stopped. An announcement to resume mediation would be welcomed.
Trump came to office with the promise of ending wars and extricating the US from foreign entanglements. The US could achieve both goals by working with like-minded regional actors. Partnership with Saudi Arabia and the GCC should be central to America’s new Middle East policy, as they share the goals of regional peace and shared prosperity.
In his first term, Trump enjoyed a close relationship with GCC countries. The Riyadh gathering will be a good place to celebrate the fact that they remain reliable and significant partners, politically, economically, and strategically. US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has recently said that this region has the potential to be “much bigger than Europe” in its importance to the US. This could happen when the two sides are able to leverage their close ties to scale up their trade and investment ties significantly and address regional crises effectively. The infrastructure is already in place, in the shape of GCC-US Strategic Partnership and its bilateral counterparts between the US and individual countries.
• Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC’s assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation. The views expressed here are personal and do not necessarily represent those of the GCC.
X: @abuhamad1