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

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Bible Quotations For today
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18/18-22:”Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 22-23/2025
The terrorist murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky is strongly condemned/Elias Bejjani/May 22/202
Saint Rita of Cascia: The Saint of the Impossible, and a Beacon of Forgiveness and Endurance/Elias Bejjani/May 22/2025
Israel strikes south Lebanon, army says Hezbollah fighter kille
Ortagus' visit reportedly postponed until next month
Israeli strikes hit south and Bekaa amid rare evacuation warning for building in Toul
Israeli strikes target Rab Tlatine, prefabricated homes in Mhaibib
Berri urges southerners to 'vote heavily' on Saturday
Geagea says govt must set timeframe for disarming Palestinian camps
Palestinian president Abbas meets Berri and Salam in Beirut
Report: Hamas and Islamist leaders to leave Lebanon for Qatar and Turkey
British Ambassador visits Lebanon's eastern borders with Syria
War takes center stage as Lebanon's theaters are back
Hajj Hassan asks about achievements of 'politics and diplomacy'
Irish rappers Kneecap deny Hezbollah support after terror charge
In north Lebanon, Syrian Alawites shelter among graves
AMCD condemns Lebanese Minister of Labor for Statement Praising Murderer
Every Southern Lebanese, soldier or civilian, deserves the MEDAL OF HONOR, even in absentia./Claudia Hillar Hajjar/May 23/2025
Is the Concept of "Dhimmitude" Still Alive Among Sunni and Shiite Extremists?/Colonel Charbel Barakat – May 22, 2025
Disarming Palestinian Factions in Lebanon Means Disarming Hezbollah/Hanin Ghaddar and Ehud Yaari/The Washington Institute/May 22/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 22-23/2025
Trump speaks to Israel’s Netanyahu about potential Iran deal, US officials head to Rome
Iran and the US to Hold Fifth Round Amid Disagreement Over Enrichment
Iran says no nuclear deal possible if US demands end to uranium enrichment
Suspect in Israel embassy aides shooting charged with first degree murder
2 staff members of Israeli Embassy killed in shooting near Jewish museum in DC
What we know about the DC shooting where 2 staff members of the Israeli Embassy were killed
UAE ‘strongly condemns’ shooting of Israeli embassy staff in Washington
Qatar condemns killing of Israeli embassy staff in Washington
France rejects Israeli comments accusing European officials of antisemitic incitement
Israel PM names new security chief, defying attorney general
At least 107 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza as aid continues to trickle in
Israeli ambassador suggests diplomats in West Bank led astray to provoke IDF
Trump Privately Tells European Leaders What Pretty Much Everyone Already Suspects About Putin
Turkey says increasing energy exports to Syria
Turkiye to provide Syria with 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually
Syria and Chinese company sign memorandum on investment
Kurds plan Damascus talks as visions for Syria collide
No agreement yet on Vatican peace talks: Kremlin
G7 to ‘maximize pressure’ on Russia if it resists Ukraine ceasefire
Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students
North Korea's second naval destroyer is damaged in a failed launch attended by Kim

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sourceson on May 22-23/2025
Do Not Be Fooled by Iran: What They Really Want Is to Destroy America, Israel Is Just in the Way/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./May 22, 2025
Time is running out: The Iran-US nuclear standoff reaches a critical juncture/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh//Al Arabiya English/22 May/2025
A new artistic epoch or the collapse of meaning?/Rafael Hernández de Santiago/Arab News/May 22, 2025
Trump visit a long-overdue recognition of Gulf’s transformation/Adela Raz/Arab News/May 22, 2025
Netanyahu’s ‘relocation’ agenda and a silent world’s complicity/Hani Hazaimeh/Arab News/May 22, 2025
US and Europe must reshape their bonds at this time of crisis/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/May 22, 2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 22-23/2025
The terrorist murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky is strongly condemned
Elias Bejjani/May 22/2025
جريمةُ قتلِ سارة ميلغريم ويارون ليشينسكي الإرهابيةُ مُدانةٌ بشدّة.
I am deeply saddened by the tragic crime that claimed the lives of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky at the Capital Jewish Museum..USA
Terrorism and violence targeting innocent civilians must have no place—neither in the United States nor in any other country in the world.
My heartfelt condolences to their families and friends, and mercy upon their souls.

Saint Rita of Cascia: The Saint of the Impossible, and a Beacon of Forgiveness and Endurance
Elias Bejjani/May 22/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/05/143579/
In the heart of the Catholic tradition, few saints have touched as many hearts or inspired as much devotion as Saint Rita of Cascia. Known as the Saint of the Impossible, her life was not marked by miracles of grandeur, but by a quiet, relentless perseverance through suffering, betrayal, loss, and spiritual trial. Her sanctity lies in her unwavering faith, her ability to forgive the unforgivable, and her profound commitment to peace and reconciliation.
A Life of Pain Transformed into Holiness
Born in 1381 in Roccaporena, a small village near Cascia in Italy, Rita was raised in a devout Christian family. From childhood, she longed to join a convent, but her parents arranged her marriage at the age of 12 to Paolo Mancini, a violent and abusive man. Despite the hardship, Rita remained faithful, praying for his conversion. Eventually, her patience bore fruit: Paolo changed, only to be murdered later in a political feud.
As a widow and mother of two sons, Rita then faced another trial—her sons wanted to avenge their father’s death. Fearing they would commit murder, Rita prayed that God would intervene. Both sons died shortly afterward of natural causes, and though heartbroken, Rita believed it was God’s way of saving their souls.
Having lost her husband and children, Rita sought to enter the Augustinian convent in Cascia. Initially rejected due to her background, she was eventually accepted after miraculous circumstances and acts of peacemaking between feuding families. There, she lived a life of deep prayer, penance, and charity.
Marked by Christ’s Wounds
In the last years of her life, Rita received a mystical wound on her forehead—believed to be a partial stigmata, symbolizing her union with Christ’s suffering. For fifteen years, she bore the painful wound as a mark of her love and sacrifice. She died on May 22, 1457, and her body remains incorrupt to this day in the Basilica of Cascia.
She was canonized in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII, who recognized her extraordinary sanctity and spiritual legacy.
Her Enduring Message: Peace, Forgiveness, and Hope
Saint Rita is revered not for political power or public preaching, but for her quiet heroism—as a wife, mother, widow, nun, and intercessor. Her legacy lives on in the hearts of those who suffer, especially women in difficult marriages, victims of violence, and people praying for reconciliation.
She embodies values that transcend time:
Forgiveness: She forgave her husband’s killers and even prayed for the salvation of her sons’ souls.
Endurance in Suffering: She did not escape pain—she transformed it into a path of holiness.
Peacebuilding: Rita reconciled enemy families and brought healing where vengeance once reigned.
Faith Against All Odds: Even when all seemed lost, she trusted in God’s plan.
Why We Still Need Saint Rita Today
In a world plagued by division, domestic strife, and despair, Saint Rita reminds us that even the most broken life can become a vessel of grace. Her title, Saint of the Impossible, is not a legend—it is a testimony to what faith, humility, and perseverance can achieve when united with love.
Conclusion
On this day, May 22, as the Church celebrates Saint Rita of Cascia, we are called to reflect on her life—not as distant history, but as a living witness of Christ’s redemptive love. Let us ask her intercession for peace in our families, healing in our hearts, and hope amid our most impossible trials.
“Saint Rita, advocate of the impossible, teach us to forgive, to hope, and to never give up on the power of love.”

Israel strikes south Lebanon, army says Hezbollah fighter killed
AFP/May 22, 2025
BEIRUT: Lebanese state media said an Israeli air strike hit a building in southern Lebanon on Thursday after Israel’s military issued an evacuation call warning of imminent action against Hezbollah militants. Israel has kept up its air strikes in neighboring Lebanon despite a November truce aimed at halting more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that included two months of full-blown war. Without confirming the reported attack on the southern town of Toul, the Israeli military said its forces had carried out several strikes targeting Hezbollah sites and killed one militant. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said that “the Israeli enemy” struck a building in Toul, where the army had warned residents to evacuate the area around a building it said was used by Hezbollah militants. The “urgent warning” was accompanied by a map showing a structure and the 500-meter (0.3-mile) radius around it marked in red. “You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist (group) Hezbollah,” the statement said in Arabic, urging people “to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them.”There were no immediate reports of casualties in Toul. In a separate statement, the military said it had “struck and eliminated a Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorist in the area of Rab El Thalathine,” about 17 kilometers (10 miles) to the southeast. The NNA reported a “martyr” in an air strike in the same area, without identifying them. The Israeli military said its forces also “struck a Hezbollah military site containing rocket launchers and weapons” in the Bekaa Valley as well as “terrorist infrastructure sites and rocket launchers belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization... in southern Lebanon.”A military statement said that “the presence of weapons in the area and Hezbollah activities at the site constitute blatant violations of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” under the November ceasefire agreement. Israel will “continue to operate to remove any threat... and will prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to re-establish its terror capabilities,” it said. Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of it. Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic.”The Lebanese army has deployed in the south and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure. The truce was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only people to bear arms in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.

Ortagus' visit reportedly postponed until next month
Naharnet/May 22/2025
Deputy U.S. Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus has postponed her visit to Lebanon until next month, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper said.
The daily reported Thursday that the presidency has been informed of the postponement of Ortagus' visit from May to June, adding that the reason might be President Joseph Aoun's busy schedule. In a previous report, al-Akhbar said Ortagus will carry with her a list of U.S. conditions for Israel's complete withdrawal from south Lebanon and a halt of its attacks on the country and will pressure Lebanon to consider joining peace accords with Israel. Ortagus said Tuesday that Lebanon still has "more" to do in disarming Hezbollah not just south of the Litani.

Israeli strikes hit south and Bekaa amid rare evacuation warning for building in Toul
Agence France Presse/May 22/2025
Lebanese state media said an Israeli air strike hit a building in southern Lebanon on Thursday after Israel's military issued an evacuation call warning of imminent action against an alleged Hezbollah site.
Israel has kept up its air strikes in neighboring Lebanon despite a November truce aimed at halting more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that included two months of full-blown war. Without confirming the reported attack on the southern town of Toul, the Israeli military said its forces had carried out several strikes targeting Hezbollah sites and killed one militant. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said that the Israeli army struck a building in Toul, where the Israeli army had warned residents to evacuate the area around a building it said was used by Hezbollah militants.
The "urgent warning" was accompanied by a map showing a structure and the 500-meter (0.3-mile) radius around it marked in red. "You are located near facilities belonging to ... Hezbollah," the statement said in Arabic, urging people "to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them."
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Toul. In a separate statement, the military said it had "struck and eliminated a Hezbollah Radwan Force (operative) in the area of Rab El Thalathine," about 17 kilometers (10 miles) to the southeast. The NNA reported a "martyr" in an air strike in the same area, without identifying them. The Israeli military said its forces also "struck a Hezbollah military site containing rocket launchers and weapons" in the Bekaa Valley as well as "terrorist infrastructure sites and rocket launchers belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization... in southern Lebanon," amid reports of Israeli airstrikes on the heights of the Iqlim al-Tuffah region in the South and the outskirts of the Bekaa town of Bouday. Israeli strikes also targeted the outskirts of the southern towns of Touline, al-Sawwaneh and al-Ezziyeh. An Israeli military statement said that "the presence of weapons in the area and Hezbollah activities at the site constitute blatant violations of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon" under the November ceasefire agreement. Israel will "continue to operate to remove any threat... and will prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to re-establish its terror capabilities," it said. Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of it. Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems "strategic".The Lebanese Army has deployed in the south and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.
The truce was based on a U.N. Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers should be the only people to bear arms in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.

Israeli strikes target Rab Tlatine, prefabricated homes in Mhaibib
Naharnet/May 22/2025
An Israeli strike targeted Thursday the southern town of Rab Tlatine, a day after the Israeli army said it killed three Hezbollah operatives in attacks on three different locations in south Lebanon. An Israeli drone had also targeted overnight prefabricated residential units in the southern border town of Mhaibib. Israel has kept up raids on Lebanon despite a November truce aiming to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war. It says it is targeting Hezbollah members but more than 50 prefabricated residential units have been destroyed by Israeli strikes. Such structures have usually been set up for returning residents whose homes were destroyed in the conflict and who desperately need a roof over their heads. In addition to the three Israeli strikes on Wednesday, Hezbollah's al-Manar TV channel reported that an Israeli infantry force, protected by armored vehicles, entered on Wednesday night Lebanese territories in Hounine and south of Adaisseh. Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of the river. Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems "strategic".

Berri urges southerners to 'vote heavily' on Saturday
Naharnet/May 22/2025
Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday called on southerners to vote heavily in Saturday’s municipal and mayoral polls, especially in towns near the border, to tell Israel that “these dear towns will only be Lebanese.”“The human is Lebanon’s capital and participation in everything that creates the life of the state and society is the path toward freedom, justice and development,” Berri said in an appeal. “On May 24 you are urged to return to your land and homes, the same as you did in the first moments after the end of the brutal Israeli aggression,” the Speaker added.
Addressing the supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, Berri said: “Vote heavily, especially in the front line towns, to produce their municipal and mayoral councils and stress through them to the Israeli occupier and its hostile machine that these dear towns will only be Lebanese for their residents and a space for life, not a scorched land.”“We will rebuild them and they will not become a buffer zone no matter the sacrifices,” the Speaker added. Berri’s appeal comes amid an intensification of Israeli attacks on vehicles carrying Hezbollah members in recent days. The Lebanese state has been told by influential countries, topped by the United States, that there are security “guarantees” for carrying out the municipal and mayoral elections in south Lebanon on Saturday, despite the daily Israeli attacks that the South is witnessing, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Wednesday.
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met on Tuesday and “their discussions focused on Saturday’s juncture and the need to exert utmost efforts to secure its success, amid the presence of fears that Israel might stage military actions,” the daily added. Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar visited Sidon on Tuesday and hoped the municipal and mayoral elections in the South will be an occasion for the state to “restore its presence and stress its sovereignty in the South.”
Hoping contacts with the ceasefire monitoring committee will lead to “a calm electoral day on Saturday,” the minister said: “Anyhow, we are not awaiting guarantees, but we are determined to hold the elections and practice our sovereignty and presence in this dear part of our land.”Asked about the impact of any Israeli attack on the electoral process, the minister said: “If any violation or attack happens, the decision is clear: continuing the electoral process and dealing with the situation on the ground.”

Geagea says govt must set timeframe for disarming Palestinian camps
Naharnet/May 22/2025
The government must set a timeframe not exceeding a few weeks to collect Palestinian arms inside and outside camps and become in charge of security, Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea said Thursday as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Lebanon.
Abbas and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun agreed that Palestinian factions won't use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren't under the authority of the Lebanese state. Geagea praised Abbas saying he has always worked towards maintaining "healthy Lebanese-Palestinian ties". "Abbas' statements have refuted every excuse the Axis of Resistance was hiding behind in order to continue carrying illegal weapons," Geagea said, adding that time has come for Lebanese people to have a real state with monopoly on weapons. A joint statement by Aoun and Abbas said that both sides have agreed that weapons should only be with the Lebanese state, and the existence of "weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state has ended."The statement said that both sides have agreed that Palestinian camps in Lebanon aren't "safe havens for extremist groups." It added that "the Palestinian side confirms its commitment of not using Lebanese territories to launch any military operations."

Palestinian president Abbas meets Berri and Salam in Beirut
Naharnet/May 22/2025
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Thursday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ain el-Tineh. Abbas had arrived Wednesday in Beirut beginning a three-day visit to Lebanon, his first in seven years. He met with President Joseph Aoun and the two presidents agreed that Palestinian factions won't use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren't under the authority of the Lebanese state. The 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon aren't under the control of the Lebanese state, and Palestinian factions in the camps have different types of weapons. Rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas. It wasn't immediately clear how the weapons would be removed from the camps, which are home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them descendants of families that fled to Lebanon after Israel was created in 1948.
Abbas' Fatah movement and the militant Hamas group are the main factions in the camps. Smaller groups, including some jihadi factions, also have a presence in the camps — mainly in Ein el-Hilweh, which is Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp and located near the southern port city of Sidon. In late March, Israel intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon in response to Hamas allegedly firing rockets at northern Israel from southern Lebanon. Shortly after the wave of airstrikes, the Lebanese government for the first time called out the Palestinian group and arrested nearly 10 suspects involved in the operation. Hamas was pressured by the military to turn in three of their militants from different refugee camps. After his meeting with Abbas, Berri chatted with journalists about the upcoming municipal elections in south Lebanon. He said Israeli attacks are probable and that the preparations are going well. Abbas later met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Government Palace in Beirut.

Report: Hamas and Islamist leaders to leave Lebanon for Qatar and Turkey
Naharnet/May 22/2025
Wednesday’s talks between President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas led to a “roadmap for addressing the crisis of Palestinian camps in Lebanon on all levels, especially as to the issue of chaos, arms proliferation and the transformation of some camps into havens for outlaws,” al-Binaa newspaper reported on Thursday. Amid reports that the Hamas Movement has “expressed readiness for cooperation,” the daily said “leaders from Hamas and fundamentalist organizations will leave Lebanon within 15 days, likely to Qatar and Turkey.”Aoun and Abbas met in Baabda on Wednesday and backed placing all weapons under Lebanese state control, as they discussed efforts to disarm armed groups in Palestinian refugee camps. A joint statement from the Lebanese presidency said the two leaders shared the "belief that the era of weapons outside Lebanese state control has ended" and backed the principle that arms should be held exclusively by the state. Abbas' three-day trip is his first to Lebanon since 2017. The country hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA, many living in overcrowded camps beyond state control. A Lebanese government source said Abbas' visit aimed to set up a mechanism to remove weapons from the camps. The source requested anonymity as they were not allowed to brief the media. The statement said the two sides agreed "to form a joint Lebanese-Palestinian committee to follow up on the situation of Palestinian camps in Lebanon and work on improving the living conditions of refugees, while respecting Lebanese sovereignty and committing to Lebanese laws."By longstanding convention, the Lebanese Army stays out of the Palestinian camps, where Abbas' Fatah, its rival Hamas and other armed groups handle security. Hamas claimed attacks on Israel from Lebanon during more than a year of hostilities involving its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. The clashes, sparked by the Gaza war, largely subsided after a truce in November. "The monopoly of weapons should be in the hands of the state," Aoun said in an interview with Egyptian channel ON TV on Sunday. The army, he added, had dismantled six Palestinian military training camps -- three in Bekaa, one south of Beirut and two in the north -- and seized weapons. Under the November ceasefire agreement, the army has also been dismantling militant group Hezbollah's infrastructure in the country's south.

British Ambassador visits Lebanon's eastern borders with Syria
Naharnet/May 22/2025
British Ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell visited Thursday Lebanon's eastern borders with Syria to see first-hand the UK's efforts to support the Lebanese Armed Forces' (LAF) enhanced border security capabilities. "This visit underscores the UK's commitment to strengthening LAF capabilities in extending state authority over its border with Syria, countering smuggling activities, and safeguarding local communities," the British Embassy said in a statement. During the visit, Cowell met with military and local officials. The Ambassador and the Mokhtar of Yanta Riad Saab and other local citizens visited a solar-powered water pumping station as part of initiatives aimed at strengthening civil-military cooperation, within areas of operation for the Land Border Regiments (LBRs). Following his visit Ambassador Cowell said: "The United Kingdom remains steadfast in its support for Lebanon's sovereignty and security. Our partnership with the Lebanese Armed Forces is crucial in helping to maintain stability across Lebanon, and protecting the livelihoods of those living near the border. I am proud of our support and the UK’s role as a key partner to the LAF; through the UK Integrated Security Fund we have supported the establishment of the Land Border Regiments (LBRs) on the border with Syria since 2013 and have provided over £115m worth of assistance to the LAF. The Land Border Regiments have helped reinforce the security of this border and the authority of the Lebanese State's authority over these areas. In Yanta, I was impressed to see the solar-powered water pumping station project benefiting hundreds in the area. This project delivers a sustainable, environmentally friendly solution to the water supply needs of the Yanta community. An excellent example of the LAF and communities coming together."

War takes center stage as Lebanon's theaters are back
Agence France Presse/May 22/2025
As Lebanon suffered a war last year, Ali Chahrour was determined to keep making art, creating a performance inspired by the plight of migrant workers caught up in the conflict. Months after a ceasefire largely halted the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Chahrour's work premiered in Beirut in early May with plans to take it to stages across Europe including at France's famed Avignon Festival. "This project was born during the war," said the 35-year-old playwright and choreographer. "I did not want to stop making theatre, because I don't know how to fight or carry weapons, I only know how to dance." On stage, two Ethiopian domestic workers and a Lebanese Ethiopian woman speak, sing and dance, telling stories of exile and mistreatment in "When I Saw the Sea", directed by Chahrour. The play pays tribute to the migrant women who were killed or displaced during the two-month war between Israel and Hezbollah which ended in November, and the year of hostilities that preceded it. Hundreds of migrant workers had sought refuge in NGO-run shelters after being abandoned by employers escaping Israeli bombardment. Others were left homeless in the streets of Beirut while Lebanon's south and east, as well as parts of the capital, were under attack. Chahrour said that "meeting with these women gave me the strength and energy to keep going" even during the war, seeking to shed light on their experience in Lebanon which is often criticized for its poor treatment of migrant workers.
'Escape and therapy'
The war has also shaped Fatima Bazzi's latest work, "Suffocated", which was shown in Beirut in May. It was revised after the 32-year-old playwright was displaced from her home in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold heavily bombarded during the war. The play originally portrayed a woman dealing with her misogynistic husband, and was reshaped by Bazzi's own experience, forced to escape to Iraq until the ceasefire was finally reached. Determined to continue the project the moment she returned to Lebanon, Bazzi had kept in contact with the cast in video calls.
"We took advantage of this in the performance, the idea of separation and distance from each other, how we worked to continue the play," she told AFP during a recent rehearsal. At one point in the play, the characters are suddenly interrupted by the sound of a bomb and rush to their phones to see what was hit this time, with their reactions becoming scenes of their own. To Bazzi, working on the play has allowed her and the cast to "express the things we felt and went through, serving as an escape and therapy".
'Children of war'
Theater stages across Lebanon did not lift their curtains during the war, and though they are now back, the local scene is still burdened by the effects of a devastating economic crisis since 2019. "We postponed an entire festival at the end of last year due to the war," said Omar Abi Azar, 41, founder of the Zoukak collective. The group runs the theater where Bazzi's latest piece was performed. "Now we have started to pick up the pace" again, said Abi Azar, whose own play was postponed by the war. "Stop Calling Beirut", which Abi Azar created with his collective, tells the story of the loss of his brother more than a decade ago and their childhood memories during Lebanon's civil war, which ended in 1990. Zoukak itself was born out of a crisis during a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. "We are children of war. We were born, raised and grew up in the heart of these crises," said Abi Azar. To him, "this is not a challenge, but rather our reality". "If this reality wanted to pull us down, it would have dragged us, buried us and killed us a long time ago," he added, seeking hope in art.

Hajj Hassan asks about achievements of 'politics and diplomacy'
Naharnet/May 22/2025
MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan of Hezbollah on Thursday lamented that Israel carried out several deadly attacks in south Lebanon on Wednesday while “the world and the five-member committee are standing idly by and while the Lebanese state has not done anything until the moment.”“Despite a lot of complaints, statements and diplomacy, the enemy is pressing on with its attacks, aggression, killing and destruction, and accordingly we ask the Lebanese state and its officials: where is diplomacy, where is the five-member committee and where are the sponsors of the ceasefire agreement in regard to the daily Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory,” Hajj Hassan asked.Addressing Arab leaders, the MP added: “What are you doing in the face of what Israel is committing in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the 1948 territories, Syria, Lebanon and other places? … What has diplomacy done for the Gaza’s people, children and women? Accordingly those who criticize the resistance project must tell us what politics and diplomacy have offered.”

Irish rappers Kneecap deny Hezbollah support after terror charge
Agence France Presse/May 22/2025
Irish rappers Kneecap on Thursday denied supporting a proscribed group and vowed to "vehemently defend ourselves" after a member of the band was charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert.
"We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction," the band said on X. Liam O'Hanna, 27, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was on Wednesday charged with showing support for a proscribed group during a performance on November 21.
London's Metropolitan Police said officers from its Counter Terrorism Command launched an investigation after a video of the event surfaced online in April. In its statement, Kneecap attacked the "establishment" for trying to focus attention elsewhere while the population of Gaza suffered, and accused Israel of committing genocide. "We are not the story. Genocide is. As they profit from genocide, they use an 'anti-terror law' against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage".The charge follows growing scrutiny of Kneecap's performances after footage circulated online showing provocative political statements made by the band on stage. One video appeared to show a band member shouting: "Up Hamas, up Hezbollah."
Those groups, in Gaza and in Lebanon, are banned as terror organizations in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them. The band, known for its confrontational style and Irish nationalist messaging, has denied supporting violence or banned groups.

In north Lebanon, Syrian Alawites shelter among graves
Reuters/May 22, 2025
HISSA, Lebanon: Behind a ramshackle mosque in Hissa, north Lebanon, the living are making a home for themselves among the dead.Beside mounds of garbage in the shade of towering trees, men, women and children from Syria’s minority Alawite community seek shelter among the graves surrounding the half-built mosque — grateful to have escaped the sectarian violence at home but fearing for their future. “We each have our own horror story that drove us to this place,” said a man with sunken eyes. One such story was of a mother who had been killed in front of her children by unknown militants as they crossed the border, said others staying at the mosque. All of the refugees that spoke to Reuters requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Around 600 people have sought shelter at the Hissa mosque. Hundreds sleep in the main hall, including a day-old baby. On the building’s unfinished second story, plastic sheets stretched over wooden beams divide traumatized families. Others sleep on the roof. One family has set up camp under the stairwell, another by the tomb of a local saint. Some sleep on the graves in the surrounding cemetery, others under trees with only thin blankets for warmth. They are among the tens of thousands refugees who have fled Syria since March, when the country suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar Assad was toppled from power by Islamist-led rebels in December. Almost 40,000 people have fled Syria into north Lebanon since then, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a statement. The outflow comes at a time when humanitarian funding is being squeezed after US President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year.
NEEDS BUT NO RESOURCES
The recent violence in Syria, which has pitted the Islamist-led government’s security forces against fighters from the Alawite minority, the sect to which Assad’s family belongs, has killed more than 1,000 people since March. For more than 50 years, Assad and his father before him crushed any opposition from Syria’s Sunni Muslims, who make up more than 70 percent of the population. Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, took many of the top positions in government and the military and ran big businesses. Alawites now accuse the new government of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa of exacting revenge, but Sharaa says he will pursue inclusive policies to unite the country shattered by civil war and attract foreign investment. Trump said last week he would lift sanctions on Syria, triggering hopes of economic renewal. But this has provided little comfort to the refugees in northern Lebanon, who are struggling to meet their basic needs.
“UNHCR, but also other agencies, are not now in a position to say you can count on us,” said Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR representative in Lebanon, in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation in April. “So, in response to new arrivals, yes, we will try, but it will be less (than before).”More refugees come from Syria every day. Almost 50 people arrived over two days last week, said one camp representative, who asked not to be named for security reasons. UNHCR is equipping new arrivals with essential items like mattresses, blankets and clothes, as well as providing medical help and mental health support, said a spokesperson. “UNHCR is also conducting rehabilitation works in shelters to make sure families are protected,” the spokesperson added.
’FORGOTTEN’ REFUGEES
At the mosque, food is scarce and the portable toilets provided by an aid group have flooded. Garbage is piling up and is attracting vermin. Snakes have been killed in the camp, and one refugee spoke of the “biggest centipedes we have ever seen.”The camp’s children have nowhere to go. It can be difficult for refugee children to access Lebanon’s school system, Human Rights Watch has said, while the refugees at the mosque say private schools are too expensive and may not accept children enrolling mid-year. “We are becoming a refugee camp without realizing it,” said another man, also speaking on condition of anonymity.“We need schools, we need toilets, we need clinics.”He said he fled his home in Damascus after being warned by his neighbor that militants were asking about him. He never expects to go back and is hoping to move abroad. But in the meantime, he said he needs to create a life for his children. “What’s his fault?” he asked, beckoning to his nine-year-old son. “He was a computer whiz and now he is not even going to school.”The refugees sheltering in the mosque are among the millions of people affected by Trump’s decision to freeze US funding to humanitarian programs in February. The UNHCR has been forced to reduce all aspects of its operations in Lebanon, Freijsen said, including support to Syrian refugees. The UNHCR had enough money to cover only 14 percent of its planned operations in Lebanon and 17 percent of its global operations by the end of March, the UN agency said in a report. “Our assistance is not what it is supposed to be,” Freijsen said. “In the past, we always had the resources, or we could easily mobilize the resources. These days are over, and that’s painful.”The people in the mosque fear that they have been forgotten. “Human rights are a lie,” a third man said, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. “It is just something (that the powerful) instrumentalize when they want.”

AMCD condemns Lebanese Minister of Labor for Statement Praising Murderer
May 22, 2025
The Lebanese Minister of Labor, Moustafa Bayram, has issued a statement praising the murder of two young Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC last night.
Yaron Lischinsky and his soon-to-be fiancé, Sarah Milgrim, were gunned down in the street after leaving an event at the Jewish Museum in Washington DC allegedly by far-left antisemite Elias Rodriguez, who yelled “Free, Free Palestine!” as he was taken into custody.
Rodriguez appears to have a long history of far-left activism including support for Black Lives Matter (BLM), communist, and anti-white causes, including the “People’s Congress of Resistance” in Chicago. He posted a manifesto at X expressing hatred for Israel shortly before the shooting saying: “Escalate for Gaza, bring the war home.”
In a post on the X platform responding to a video showing Rodriguez’s arrest, Minister Bayram wrote the following (translated by Google):
“Give us Elias Rodriguez, the hero and human being, and take away many, many of the scoundrels, the servile ones, and the agents in our country…Israel is an enemy of humanity.”
“This virulent strain of Jew hatred must be stamped out if Lebanon is to have a future,” said AMCD co-chair, John Hajjar. “It is hard to imagine a more heartless and thoughtless reaction to such a horrific crime committed against two innocent young people at the very beginning of their lives than this. Bayram should be removed from office immediately.”
“This is a real-life example of where slogans such as ‘globalize the intifada’ naturally lead – to the targeting of Jews on the streets of America,” added AMCD co-chair, Tom Harb. “Antisemitism is a sign of grave moral decay and societal breakdown. It must be defeated in the hearts of all decent human beings.”
***********
American Mideast Coalition for Democracy
American Iranian Coalition for Democracy (AICD)
Middle East Christian Committee
World Council for the Cedars Revolution

Every Southern Lebanese, soldier or civilian, deserves the MEDAL OF HONOR, even in absentia.
Claudia Hillar Hajjar/May 23/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/05/143592/
Not only is it legitimate, it is a moral duty. When the Lebanese state collapsed and failed to protect its own people, they rose alone, fighting like warriors, like true patriots. They didn’t just defend the South, but all of Lebanon, standing against the savage invasions of the Palestinian factions, the Syrian Assad regimes, and the Iranian Hezbollah Terrorist organization.
Three Terrorist BUTCHERS.
And today, history repeats itself. The so-called Army Commander, Rodolph Haykal, has failed again. Instead of honoring the true defenders of Lebanon, he dared to congratulate the terrorist group Hezbollah, falsely crediting them with “liberating” the South, a blatant LIE when Israel had already withdrawn, voluntarily and officially.
May 25th did not mark liberation, it marked BETRAYAL.
It was the day Southern heroes were abandoned, dishonored, and exiled to Israel, forgotten by the very state they fought to protect.
A real Commander of the Armed Forces would have opened his speech with an apology, on behalf of every traitorous government that abandoned those heroes. Then he would have decorated each one in absentia, with the MEDAL OF HONOR they earned with their blood and sacrifice, with Étienne Sakr, aka Abu Arz, at the head of the awarding. Because though he wasn’t an officer in the stationed Army, he was a civilian and a national leader who offered his movement and his life in service to the Army and to Lebanon.
May 25th is not a victory.
It is a NATIONAL DISGRACE.
Claudia Hillar Hajjar, founder of the Committee of Support of the Lebanese Southerners in Enforced Exile in Israel.

Is the Concept of "Dhimmitude" Still Alive Among Sunni and Shiite Extremists?
Colonel Charbel Barakat – May 22, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/05/143572/
Peace will never prevail in the Middle East as long as some continue to cling to dreams of religious superiority—behaving as though God favors only them.
Consider the stance of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has firmly rejected extremist ideologies, asserting that they do not represent true Islam. He upholds the Quran as the word of God and openly denounces those who manipulate the faith through fabricated or misleading Hadiths.
But can moderate Islam truly cleanse itself of the burdens of the past?
Today, certain Sunni militant factions in Syria are once again demanding the historical jizya tax from Christians. They accuse Alawites of supporting the tyrant Assad and denounce the Druze for their perceived ties to their brethren in Israel. Meanwhile, their Shiite counterparts wage wars of dominance under the banner of divine legitimacy, invoking religious authority to justify conquest and subjugation.
The enduring mindset of Dhimmitude—the notion that non-Muslims are second-class subjects—continues to fuel violence, division, and persecution. Whether Sunni or Shiite, such extremism stands in direct opposition to any hope for coexistence or equality in the region.
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Since the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate, the Middle East has remained in constant turmoil. Despite intellectual awakenings, wars, and economic transformations, one obsession endures: the religious ideology of dominance—the division of humanity into “believers” and second-class subjects, particularly the so-called “People of the Dhimma” (Dhimmitude).
This ideology traces back to the early Islamic conquests beyond the Arabian Peninsula, where discrimination was institutionalized to incentivize conversions and fuel expansionist campaigns. Those who embraced Islam joined the ranks of fighters. Those who did not were taxed and ruled.
When Arab armies reached the Levant, they relied heavily on local Christian administrators to manage their nascent state. These communities, worn down by years of Persian (Khosrau’s) oppression and heavy taxation, often welcomed the new rulers, who imposed lighter burdens and offered relative stability. In return, they paid the jizya and were allowed to continue practicing their religion. The system struck a pragmatic balance: those who worked and produced sustained those who fought to maintain order and extend the state.
But this balance began to unravel after the conquest of Persia and the spread of Islam into Central Asia. In these new territories, the Dhimmi population was minimal or nonexistent. The new rule became: convert or die. Expansion halted only when it encountered civilizations strong enough to resist—China, Mongolia, India. Conversion ceased to be a matter of belief and became an imposition by the sword.
Under the Umayyads, Arab identity reigned supreme. But with the Abbasids, Persian and later Turkish influence reshaped religious discourse. Hadiths—narratives often of dubious authenticity—began to eclipse the Quran in authority. These texts were weaponized to justify takfir (excommunication), slavery, and the permanent subjugation of non-Muslims.
Following the collapse of the Ottoman Sultanate and the rise of secular ideologies inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution, the Caliphate was abolished. Yet a new Islamic identity crisis emerged—one that groups like the Muslim Brotherhood sought to exploit. Even as Arab socialism and leftist movements rose, the dream of religious supremacy endured—manifesting in the Palestinian cause, the Lebanese Civil War, and later, more violently, in the emergence of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, and their offshoots.
The pattern is unmistakable: excommunication, violence, taxation, and persecution—all under the false pretense of divine mandate. Sunni extremists invoke the purity of early Islam, while Shiite factions like Hezbollah, the Fatimids, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard invoke the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) to justify domination and warfare.
What mercy did Hezbollah show when it seized control—partially or wholly—of Lebanon? Were Sunnis, Christians, and other minorities treated as equals? Or were they burdened with taxes while Hezbollah claimed exemptions under the banner of “resistance”? Did they not monopolize jobs, pensions, and privileges, reducing others to Dhimmi-like status in their own homeland?
This extremist mindset—Sunni or Shiite—will not change until it renounces the belief in religious superiority. True peace will remain out of reach unless all accept equal citizenship under a civil law, abandon dreams of supremacy, and stop acting as though only their sect is divinely favored.
Let us reflect again on the example of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the future Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. He openly rejects extremism, affirms the Quran as the primary source, and denounces the manipulation of Hadiths—many of which are fabricated and deeply harmful to the spirit of Islam.
So, can we still hope for a brighter future in the Middle East, after so much pain and regression?
Can moderate Islam reform itself and break free from the chains of its historical dogmas?
Does every religion, after fourteen centuries, reach a moment of reckoning—a time of deep self-reflection and reform? The Catholic Church experienced such an upheaval in its fifteenth century that reshaped its doctrine and destiny. Judaism, too, underwent transformation in the centuries following the rise of Christianity.
Perhaps Islam, now at a similar crossroads, must finally confront its own inner truth.

Disarming Palestinian Factions in Lebanon Means Disarming Hezbollah
Hanin Ghaddar and Ehud Yaari/The Washington Institute/May 22/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/05/143584/
Given their deep historical and present-day coordination, Beirut needs to change its mindset of treating these groups separately and formulate a unified strategy for disarming them all—and the sooner the better.
Last week, the Supreme Defense Council in Beirut warned Hamas and other Palestinian militant factions against conducting any activities in Lebanon that might jeopardize the country’s security. The warning came after a meeting in which council members and President Joseph Aoun decided to seek full disarmament inside Palestinian refugee camps. And earlier today, following talks between Aoun and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Beirut, the two leaders issued a joint statement declaring an end to “weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state” and pledging that local Palestinian camps would no longer be “safe havens for extremist groups.”
Although the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah in November called for disarming all militant groups, the Lebanese government has mostly focused on dealing with Hezbollah arms between the Litani River and the southern border—at least until April, when Hamas cells in Lebanon fired a rocket salvo toward Israel, triggering more international pressure to tackle Palestinian weapons. Despite the firm tone of the new warnings from Beirut, however, they are just that—warnings. So far, officials have not laid out a clear strategy or timeframe for actual disarmament. Meanwhile, Hamas handed over two members wanted by the authorities for last month’s rocket attack but gave no indication it would surrender any of its weapons, raising questions about the government’s willingness and ability to fulfill that crucial part of the ceasefire agreement.
A Multigenerational Problem
Disarming the different factions in Lebanon’s sixteen Palestinian refugee camps is a complicated task for the limited forces currently at the government’s disposal. According to the Cairo Agreement that Beirut signed in November 1969 with Yasser Arafat under Egyptian auspices, jurisdiction over the camps was transferred from Lebanese security agencies to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s “Armed Struggle” units, a sort of police branch at the time. Lebanese forces have not ventured into the camps since then.
Today, the roughly 200,000 inhabitants in these camps include a few thousand members of multiple armed factions with varying political affiliations—mainly in the larger, more densely populated camps near Sidon, Tyre, and Tripoli, but also at camps in the Beirut area and Beqa Valley. These factions mostly operate as independent local units, though some enjoy support from Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.
Hamas is particularly prominent in the camps, with 1,500 armed fighters who closely cooperate with members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the local Muslim Brotherhood branch al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah, which has established its own armed outfit, the Fajr (Dawn) Forces. (Notably, a split has emerged within al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah over the past few days, with some veteran members pushing to sack current leader Mohammad Takkoush and dismantle the military branch.)
Other armed factions—such as Fatah al-Intifada and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)—counted on Syria’s Assad regime as a benefactor for years and played a minor part in Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel during the latest war. In December, soon after the Assads were ousted, the Lebanese Armed Forces announced the seizure of three PFLP-GC bases in the Beqa region. After negotiations with the LAF, however, the group retained partial control over its largest base, located in the coastal town of Naameh just south of Beirut. Fatah has an armed presence in some southern camps as well, but not all of its groups remain loyal to the PLO.
Taken together, these armed units represent the remainder of the strong PLO presence established in Lebanon between 1972 and 1982. Under Arafat’s umbrella, a wide array of Palestinian groups played a major role in fighting Christian Phalangist forces and attacking Israel in coordination with Hezbollah. Refugee camps such as Ain al-Hilweh, Rashidiya, Nahr al-Bared, and Burj al-Barajneh were the backbone of this activity; they also provided well-fortified defenses against invading Israeli forces in 1982.
Given this history, Lebanese authorities now face a deep-rooted tradition of armed groups controlling Palestinian camps for two generations, during which time they have recruited, indoctrinated, and trained countless youths and expanded their reach into neighboring cities and rural communities. Any disarmament campaign will therefore have to be handled carefully. President Aoun and his replacement as LAF commander, Gen. Rudolph Haykal, seem intent on negotiating an orderly handover of weapons and avoiding government raids that could easily devolve into extended armed conflict. Yet for reasons discussed below, some degree of confrontation may be inevitable.
Hezbollah’s Agenda, Palestinian Rifts
The prospects of reaching a settlement with Palestinian groups greatly depend on decisions taken by Hezbollah’s new military chiefs Abu Ali Haidar and Haitham al-Tabatabai. For one thing, they likely share Iran’s view that disarming Palestinians would embolden Beirut to push for Hezbollah’s complete disarmament as well. Moreover, the militia has frequently used Palestinian factions to threaten Lebanese opponents and Israel in the past, especially at times when it was hesitant to take direct action for fear of domestic or Israeli backlash. Direct action has become even riskier today, with Israel, the LAF, and officials in the U.S.-led ceasefire mechanism watching Hezbollah’s every move. Hence, the group may have intended to rely more on Palestinian factions to help assert its domestic and regional agenda during this sensitive period.
At the same time, encouraging Palestinian factions to resist disarmament would be widely unpopular in Lebanon and could ultimately drive Hezbollah into the very sort of existential domestic clash it is hoping to avoid. The group may therefore opt for procrastination.
Another potentially significant factor is Mahmoud Abbas’s role as head of the PA and PLO. During his visit to Lebanon this week, he may offer Fatah commanders in the camps alternative positions and generous benefits in exchange for disarming. Yet his power to sway them is limited given that many prominent commanders (e.g., the Miqdad brothers in Ain al-Hilweh) have switched their de facto allegiance to Hezbollah and Iran’s Qods Force even while retaining their Fatah credentials and salaries.
Even if Abbas is able to persuade the Fatah affiliates, Hamas remains the more dangerous faction and certainly will not follow his orders. On the contrary, Hamas leaders in Lebanon may try to embarrass him and flex their power by visibly using their arms during or after his visit. Another consideration is the shifting power dynamics inside Ain al-Hilweh since September 2023, when clashes with Hamas and Hezbollah weakened Fatah’s sway in the camp and enabled the other two groups to take control of local decisionmaking. Hence, if Fatah factions actually turn over their arms without Hamas following suit, they would only give more power to their rivals.
The goal of disarming these groups should also be assessed as part of the wider effort to dismantle the historical “Palestinian rejection front” in the Levant—namely, those organizations opposed to any deal with Israel. In Syria, the new government has been closing down the bases of such groups and temporarily arresting some of their leaders. In Jordan, authorities are taking firm action against underground armed networks, conducting raids and seizing rockets and drones from local Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood elements. Indeed, the aftermath of multifront war in the region has led to a concerted—though still uncoordinated—effort to eradicate the Palestinian militant presence in Arab countries neighboring Israel. And nowhere is this task more ambitious and complex than in Lebanon.
Recommendations
Given the deep historical and present-day ties between local Palestinian factions and Hezbollah, Lebanon likely cannot disarm one without disarming the other. The LAF prefers to avoid head-on confrontations for fear of stoking civil conflict with Lebanon’s Palestinian and Shia communities. Yet besides ongoing “dialogue,” military and civilian leaders in Beirut have not presented an alternative strategy to accomplish the urgent goal of disarmament.
In an Egyptian television interview last week, President Aoun announced that he was exchanging messages with Hezbollah regarding this issue but noted that it should not be carried out too hastily. He also stated that resolving certain Lebanese issues may depend on how Washington’s negotiations with Iran turn out. Yet waiting for those talks to conclude would be a mistake. The Trump administration should make clear to Lebanon that these two issues are not linked—no matter what deal Washington reaches with Tehran (if any), Beirut will still be expected to implement the ceasefire agreement with Israel and disarm all militias.
In fulfilling this commitment, Lebanese officials should formulate one strategy for disarming Palestinian groups and Hezbollah alike. Knowing the depth of their coordination, Beirut needs to change its mindset of treating these files separately.
To encourage this approach, the Trump administration should ask Beirut to follow up its latest warnings with a timetable for disarmament, setting clear deadlines for Palestinian groups and Hezbollah to lay down their weapons. Lebanese authorities will also likely need to conduct limited raids in smaller Palestinian camps to show they are serious about seeing this strategy through. They can then move on to larger camps in the south like Rashidiya and Ain al-Hilweh. If Hezbollah still refuses to disarm after receiving these strong messages, then wider confrontation may be necessary.
Of course, the price of conflict with Palestinian and Hezbollah forces would be high in terms of local casualties and damage. Yet the price of failing to disarm them would be even higher—namely, another full-fledged war with Israel and perpetual Hezbollah dominance over the country’s coffers and foreign policy.
Before the latest war, the LAF was not capable of confronting Hezbollah and its Palestinian partners, but that has changed after months of Israeli attacks transformed the group from an army to an insurgency. The LAF is now militarily capable of completing this mission, it just needs sufficient political authorization. More equipment and logistical assistance would help as well; if Beirut shows more determination, Washington should consider providing both.
The United States and its partners should also make disarmament a precondition for other kinds of assistance to Lebanon, including further financial and reconstruction help from the Gulf states. Beirut needs to understand that it must either fully implement the ceasefire agreement or face total diplomatic and financial isolation. Otherwise, the process could take more time than Lebanon can afford. The ticking clock in this case is the next parliamentary election scheduled for May 2026. If militias are not disarmed well before then, voters might lose faith in the new state and go back to the devils they know—Hezbollah and its allies.
*Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and author of Hezbollahland: Mapping Dahiya and Lebanon’s Shia Community. Ehud Yaari is the Institute’s Lafer International Fellow and a Middle East commentator for Israel’s Channel 12 television.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/disarming-palestinian-factions-lebanon-means-disarming-hezbollah

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 22-23/2025
Trump speaks to Israel’s Netanyahu about potential Iran deal, US officials head to Rome
United States Of America/Al Arabiya English/May 22/2025
Two senior US diplomats will travel to Rome to participate in the next round of talks with Iran, a source familiar with the matter said Thursday, as President Donald Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a potential deal. “Senior Advisor and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Policy Planning Director Michael Anton will travel to Rome on Friday for a fifth round of talks with Iran. Discussions are expected to be both direct and indirect, as in previous rounds,” the source said in a statement. Oman’s top diplomat and Iran on Wednesday confirmed that the next round will be held on Friday. The White House said President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Thursday about a potential deal with Iran, “which the president believes is moving along in the right direction.”
“As the President told me, and he’s told all of you, this deal with Iran could end in two ways: It could end in a very positive diplomatic solution, or it could end in a very negative situation for Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Washington and Tehran have been engaged in direct and indirect talks for several weeks now after Trump announced that he wanted to reach a new deal to stave off potential military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Despite setting a two-month deadline, Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio, said this week that reaching a deal will not be easy. Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the administration was offering an “off-ramp” for Iran to pursue prosperity and peace. “It will not be easy, but that’s the process we’re engaged in now,” Rubio said. CNN reported this week, citing multiple US officials, that new intelligence obtained by the United States suggests that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. An Israeli source told CNN that Israel would be prepared to carry out military action on its own if the US were to negotiate a “bad deal” with Iran that Israel cannot accept.

Iran and the US to Hold Fifth Round Amid Disagreement Over Enrichment
London – Tehran/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 22, 2025
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi confirmed that the fifth round of talks between Washington and Tehran regarding the Iranian nuclear program will be held tomorrow (Friday) in Rome. The new round between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff comes amid escalating tensions between the two sides after senior US administration officials insisted on pursuing an agreement that would prevent Iran from enriching uranium on its territory. The Omani confirmation came after the Iranian Foreign Minister expressed reservations about participating in protest against "illogical demands," although he affirmed Tehran's commitment to negotiation and its continued support for the diplomatic track.

Tehran: We Have the Capability to Build a Nuclear Weapon, But We Have No Desire to Do So
Araghchi Stresses No Agreement with the US Without 'Guarantees'
London/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 22, 2025
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that his country has the capability to build a nuclear weapon, but "has no desire to do so." Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, quoted Araghchi this evening as saying that there will be no agreement with the United States regarding Tehran's nuclear program without "guarantees." Araghchi explained that there are still "fundamental differences" with the United States, adding that Washington does not recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium on its territory. He continued, "We are prepared to take measures to reassure everyone about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, including accepting temporary, rather than permanent, technical restrictions. In return, we expect sanctions to be lifted." He added, "I say frankly, if their goal in the negotiations is to stop enrichment in Iran, there will be no agreement... We will not give up our legitimate rights, and uranium enrichment must continue in Iran, but we do not mind expanding inspections." Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi announced yesterday that the fifth round of indirect Iranian-US talks on Tehran's nuclear program will be held in Rome on Friday.

Iran says will hold US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites
Agence France Presse/May 22/2025
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran will hold the United States responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities after U.S. media reported Israel is preparing for an attack. "We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the U.S. government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility," Araghchi said in a letter to the United Nations published on Thursday.

Iran says no nuclear deal possible if US demands end to uranium enrichment
Al Arabiya English/22 May ,2025
If the United States wants to end Iranian uranium enrichment then there will be no nuclear deal, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday, as the two nations headed for a fifth round of talks slated for Friday in Italy. Uranium enrichment has been a central sticking point in US-Iran negotiations. Washington seeks a deal in which Tehran permanently ends enrichment, while Iran insists it has an unquestionable right to continue the process. Earlier, the White House said US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed “a potential deal with Iran, which the president believes is moving along in the right direction.”Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump believed that “this deal with Iran could end in two ways. It could end in a very positive diplomatic solution, or it could end in a very negative situation for Iran.”

Suspect in Israel embassy aides shooting charged with first degree murder
Reuters/May 22/2025
Elias Rodriguez also faces charges of murdering foreign officials, causing death with a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence
A Chicago man has been charged with the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members outside a Jewish museum in Washington, an attack federal authorities are investigating as a targeted act of antisemitic violence. Elias Rodriguez, 31, faces federal charges including murder of federal officials, causing death with a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. The Justice Department announced the charges Thursday, a day after the shooting. Authorities say Rodriguez opened fire Wednesday evening as the two victims, Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American from Overland Park, Kansas, left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The two were a young couple planning to get engaged, according to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter. Following the shooting, Rodriguez walked into the museum, was detained by security, and began chanting “Free, free Palestine,” according to Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith. The attack, which took place amid rising global tensions over the war in Gaza and a surge in antisemitic incidents, prompted Israeli missions worldwide to increase security and lower flags to half-staff. “This act of terror is a tragic reminder of the deadly consequences of antisemitism and incitement,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Former President Donald Trump also condemned the violence, calling for an end to “hatred and radicalism.”
FBI Director Kash Patel described the shooting as an “act of terror,” while FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said authorities are reviewing writings allegedly authored by Rodriguez expressing anger over Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The victims had attended the American Jewish Committee’s Young Diplomats reception before being shot. Lischinsky worked in the embassy’s political department and had planned to propose to Milgrim during an upcoming trip to Jerusalem. Witnesses inside the museum described confusion in the moments following the shooting. “We thought he needed help,” said Yoni Kalin, who was among those who initially aided Rodriguez, not realizing he was the gunman. The Capital Jewish Museum, which recently received federal funding to bolster security, expressed sorrow in a statement: “We are deeply saddened and horrified by the senseless violence.” Israeli diplomats have historically been targeted amid the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Wednesday’s shooting occurred as Israel intensified its military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people and saw hundreds taken hostage.No attorney was immediately listed for Rodriguez. Federal authorities executed a search at his listed residence in Chicago Thursday as the investigation continues.

2 staff members of Israeli Embassy killed in shooting near Jewish museum in DC
Maya Sweedler/The Associated Press/May 22, 2025
WASHINGTON — Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said. The stunning attack on Wednesday evening prompted Israeli missions to beef up their security and lower their flags to half-staff. It came as Israel has launched another major offensive in the Gaza Strip in a war with Hamas that has heightened tensions across the Middle East and internationally and as antisemitic acts are on the rise. The two people killed, identified as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American, were a young couple about to be engaged, according to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Lischinsky told others at an event he attended before he was killed that he was looking forward to returning to Israel to celebrate an upcoming Jewish holiday, said Ted Deutch, the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee, which had put on the reception. The couple were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect, who had been seen pacing outside the museum, approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference. The gunman, identified by police as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, then walked into the museum, was detained by event security and began chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Smith said. “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” President Donald Trump posted on social media early Thursday. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."
Israel's reaction
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office said Thursday he was shocked. “We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, led by former judge Jeanine Pirro, will prosecute the case. It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez had an attorney who could comment on his behalf. A telephone number listed in public records rang unanswered. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino wrote in a post on social media that “early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence.”
Israel's campaign in Gaza
The influential pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera aired on a loop what appeared to be mobile phone footage of the gunman, wearing a suit jacket and slacks, being pulled away after the shooting, his hands behind his back. The war, ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of some 250 hostages, has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced most of its population. In the time since, Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza has killed more than 53,000 people, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities, whose count doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians. The fighting has displaced 90% of the territory’s roughly 2 million population, sparked a hunger crisis and obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape.
‘In cold blood’
The shooting followed the AJC's annual Young Diplomats reception at the museum. “Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” said Deutch, the AJC's chief executive. “Moments before they were murdered, they were smiling, laughing and enjoying an event with colleagues and friends. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.” He described Milgrim, from Overland Park, Kansas, as “warm and compassionate, committed to peace building and passionate about sustainability and people-to-people relations." He said Lischinsky was a staff member of the embassy's political department who at the event told others that he was eager to return to Israel to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot with his family. Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard gunshots, and a man came inside looking distressed. Kalin said people came to his aid and brought him water, thinking he needed help, without realizing he was the suspect. When police arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh, the Palestinian headscarf, and repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine,’” Kalin said. “This event was about humanitarian aid,” Kalin said. “How can we actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just murdering two people in cold blood.” Last week, the Capital Jewish Museum was one of the local nonprofits in Washington awarded funding from a $500,000 grant program to increase its security. The museum’s leaders were concerned because it is a Jewish organization and due to its new LGBTQ exhibit, according to NBC4 Washington. “We recognize that there are threats associated with this as well,” Executive Director Beatrice Gurwitz told the TV station. “And again, we want to ensure that our space is as welcoming and secure for everybody who comes here while we are exploring these stories.”In response to the shooting, the museum said in a statement it is “deeply saddened and horrified by the senseless violence.” Israeli diplomats have a history of being targeted by violence, both by state-backed assailants and Palestinian militants over the decades of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict that grew out of the founding of Israel in 1948. The Palestinians seek Gaza and the West Bank for a future state, with east Jerusalem as its capital — lands Israel captured in the 1967 war. However, the peace process between the sides has been stalled for years.

What we know about the DC shooting where 2 staff members of the Israeli Embassy were killed
The Associated Press/May 22, 2025
WASHINGTON — Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington — a young couple on the verge of becoming engaged — were fatally shot Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said. The attack was seen by officials in Israel and the U.S. as the latest in a growing wave of antisemitism as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip, and as food security experts have warned that Gaza risks falling into famine unless Israel's blockade ends. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the man who was killed had purchased a ring this week with the intent to propose next week in Jerusalem.
Here's what we know:
What happened?
The two victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference. The suspect was observed pacing outside the museum before the shooting, walked into the museum after the shooting and was detained by event security, Smith said. When he was taken into custody, the suspect began chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Smith said. She said law enforcement did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community. The violence occurred following the American Jewish Committee’s annual Young Diplomats reception at the museum.
Who is the suspect?
The suspect has been identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago. It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez had an attorney who could comment on his behalf. A telephone number listed in public records rang unanswered. He was being interviewed early Thursday by D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department as well as the FBI. The U.S. attorney in Washington will prosecute the case.
Who are the victims?
They were identified as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American woman — a young couple about to be engaged. “Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” said Ted Deutch, the chief executive of the AJC, the advocacy organization whose event the couple attended before they were killed. “Moments before they were murdered, they were smiling, laughing, and enjoying an event with colleagues and friends. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.”He described Milgrim, from Overland Park, Kansas, as “warm and compassionate, committed to peace building and passionate about sustainability and people-to-people relations.” And he said Lischinsky was a staff member of the embassy’s political department who focused on Middle East issues and who at the event told others that he was eager to return to Israel to be with his family for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
What is Israel's reaction?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that he was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting. “We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement. Israeli diplomats in the past have been targeted by violence, both by state-backed assailants and Palestinian militants over the decades of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict that grew out of the founding of Israel in 1948. The Palestinians seek Gaza and the West Bank for a future state, with east Jerusalem as its capital — lands Israel captured in the 1967 war. However, the peace process between the sides has been stalled for years.
Witnesses to the attack
Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard gunshots and a man came inside looking distressed, they said. Kalin said people came to the man's aid and brought him water, thinking he needed help, without realizing he was the suspect. When police arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh and repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine,’” Kalin said. “This event was about humanitarian aid,” Kalin said. “How can we actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just murdering two people in cold blood.”The influential pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera aired on a loop what appeared to be mobile phone footage of the alleged gunman, wearing a suit jacket and slacks, being pulled away after the shooting, his hands behind his back.
Israel's new campaign in Gaza
The shooting comes as Israel has launched a new campaign targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip in a war that has set tensions aflame across the wider Middle East. The war began with the Palestinian militant group Hamas coming out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, to kill 1,200 people and take some 250 hostages back to the coastal enclave. In the time since, Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza has killed more than 53,000 people, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities, whose count doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians. The fighting has displaced 90% of the territory’s roughly 2 million population, sparked a hunger crisis and obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape. Aid groups ran out of food to distribute weeks ago, and most of the population of around 2.3 million relies on communal kitchens whose supplies are nearly depleted.

UAE ‘strongly condemns’ shooting of Israeli embassy staff in Washington
United Arab Emirates/Al Arabiya English/22 May ,2025
The United Arab Emirates condemned on Thursday a shooting in Washington that killed two Israeli embassy staff, the foreign ministry said. “The UAE strongly condemned the shooting incident that killed two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, expressing its utter denunciation of these criminal acts,” said a ministry statement published by official news agency WAM. It also expressed “solidarity with the families of the victims and with the Israeli people over this heinous attack.”Two Israeli embassy staffers, one of them an American, were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine” as he was arrested. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led global condemnation of the attack, both of them blaming antisemitism. Israel identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a US employee of the embassy, and said they were a couple who may have been planning to marry. Lischinsky was a research assistant at the Israeli embassy, while Milgrim worked for its public diplomacy department, according to their LinkedIn profiles.Washington’s police chief identified the shooter as a 30-year-old from Chicago, Elias Rodriguez, and said he was in custody. Video of his arrest by police showed the bearded man in a jacket and white shirt shouting “free, free Palestine” as he was led away. With AFP

Qatar condemns killing of Israeli embassy staff in Washington
Al Arabiya English/22 May ,2025:
Qatar, a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas war, condemned on Thursday the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington – which was carried out by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine” when arrested. “The state of Qatar condemns and denounces the shooting incident in front of the Jewish museum in Washington that led to the killing of two Israeli embassy employees,” the Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement, offering the country’s “condolences” to the families of the victims. Two Israeli embassy staffers, one of them an American, were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine” as he was arrested. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led global condemnation of the attack, both of them blaming antisemitism.
Israel identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a US employee of the embassy, and said they were a couple who may have been planning to marry. Lischinsky was a research assistant at the Israeli embassy, while Milgrim worked for its public diplomacy department, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Washington’s police chief identified the shooter as a 30-year-old from Chicago, Elias Rodriguez, and said he was in custody. Video of his arrest by police showed the bearded man in a jacket and white shirt shouting “free, free Palestine” as he was led away. With AFP

France rejects Israeli comments accusing European officials of antisemitic incitement
Reuters/22 May ,2025
France rejects Israeli comments accusing some European officials of antisemitic incitement, foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a weekly news conference, adding these comments were “unjustified and outrageous.”
“France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn always and without ambiguity all antisemitic acts,” he said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington took place. Israel has faced a blizzard of criticism from Europe of late as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian enclave on the brink of famine.

Israel PM names new security chief, defying attorney general
AFP/ 23 May ,2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday his pick for the next head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency, defying the country’s attorney general and a significant segment of the public. “Prime Minister Netanyahu announced this evening his decision to appoint Major General David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet,” a statement from the premier’s office said. The decision is the latest development in a long-running controversy surrounding the role, which has seen mass protests against the incumbent chief’s dismissal, as well as against moves pushed by Netanyahu’s government to expand elected officials’ power to appoint judges. The supreme court on Wednesday ruled the government’s decision to fire current domestic security chief Ronen Bar was “improper and unlawful.”Netanyahu’s move to tap Zini to replace Bar directly defied Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who had said that, given the court ruling, the premier “must refrain from any action related to the appointment of a new head of the Shin Bet.” Netanyahu immediately responded in a rare press conference that his government would make an appointment despite Baharav-Miara’s stance. Following Thursday’s announcement, the attorney general released a statement saying that the prime minister was acting “contrary to legal guidance.”“There is serious concern that he acted while in a conflict of interest, and the appointment process is flawed,” the statement said.
New court challenge
Zini, the son of immigrants from France and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, has held “many” operational and command positions in the Israeli military, Thursday’s announcement said, including for some elite units and combat brigades.
The announcement comes after more than two months of political and legal wrangling over who should head the powerful agency. In March, Netanyahu said that he was dismissing Bar due to “ongoing lack of trust.”The move was challenged in court by non-profit organisations and the political opposition, which decried it as a sign of anti-democratic drift on the part of Netanyahu’s right-wing government. Following Thursday’s announcement, opposition leader Yair Lapid called on “General Zini to announce that he cannot accept his appointment until the Supreme Court rules on the matter.”The NGO Movement for Quality Government in Israel, meanwhile, said it will file a legal petition “in the coming days against this invalid appointment, and will continue to stand firm against attempts to defy the legal system and the rule of law.”
Bar himself suggested that his ouster was linked to investigations into Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack “and other serious matters.”He has since said he will step down in June.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Thursday that “the authority to appoint the head of the Shin Bet is legally granted solely to the prime minister -- and it is good that the prime minister exercised this authority and appointed a very worthy individual.”

At least 107 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza as aid continues to trickle in
Malek Fouda/Euronews/May 22, 2025
Israel went ahead on Thursday with its new military offensive in Gaza despite mounting international criticism. Health officials in Gaza as well as hospital staff say airstrikes were launched across the enclave, killing at least 107 Palestinians and injuring close to 250 more. Large plumes of smoke were seen rising in the eastern regions of Gaza City – located in the north of the Strip – as the bombardment continued. A hospital in northern Gaza was also heavily targeted according to hospital officials.
Videos circulating on social media show Israeli tanks and drones reportedly attacking the Al-Awda hospital causing extensive damage and setting portions of the hospital ablaze. Footage released by a staff member at the hospital showed walls blown away and thick black smoke rising above a structure reduced to rubble. The Israeli military said its forces were operating “adjacent” to Al-Awda Hospital and had allowed emergency workers to come try to put out a fire at the hospital. They denied responsibility for the attack, instead saying “the circumstances of the fire are still under review.”Israeli forces also targeted the hospital’s water tanks and set fire to outpatient clinics, according to Raafat Ali al-Majdalawi, director of the Al-Awda Health and Community Association. Al-Awda hospital was one of the only two remaining hospitals in the north of the enclave. It’s not immediately clear how many were injured or killed in those strikes.
Renewed attacks on Lebanon
Israel carried out strikes on multiple areas in southern Lebanon on Thursday, some far from the border, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
It described the strikes as “the most violent in some areas” since a ceasefire deal ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Residents of northern Israel also reported hearing loud explosions from across the border. The Israeli army issued warning notices ahead of one strike that destroyed a building in the town of Toul, which it says were facilities belonging to Hezbollah. Videos of the strike's aftermath showed fire and a massive cloud of smoke rising over an area packed with multi-story apartment buildings. Strikes in other areas were carried out without warning. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel has struck Lebanon almost every day since the ceasefire. Lebanon says those strikes are in violation of the truce agreement, while Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah to prevent it from re-arming. The wave of airstrikes came two days before local elections are slated to take place in southern Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the attacks will not “deter the state from its commitment to the electoral process,” and called on the international community to exert more pressure on Israel to stop cross-border attacks and violations of the ceasefire.
Israel denies shortage of food in Gaza
The UN says some 90 trucks carrying aid have arrived in Gaza and their contents distributed to the desperately needing population. It’s around half of the almost 200 trucks that have entered the enclave since Israel ended its nearly three-month blockade of the Strip, which have yet to reach Palestinians. “The shipments from yesterday is limited in quantity and nowhere near sufficient to meet the scale and scope of Gaza’s 2.1 million people," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric. During the latest ceasefire, 600 trucks were crossing into Gaza daily carrying food, fuel, crucial aid and medical supplies. The Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to Gaza, COGAT, said on Thursday however that there are no food shortages in Gaza.
“According to our current assessment, there is no food shortage in Gaza at this time,” COGAT said in a statement on X. International humanitarian organisations reject this statement, with many calling the aid arriving in Gaza at the moment as a “drop in the ocean” of what’s needed to satisfy the needs of residents. This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed the flow of aid at “minimal” levels in order to preserve US and allies’ support as international criticism on his government’s conduct of war mounted.
In a televised press conference on Wednesday, the Israeli leader noted that his government’s war on the enclave will not end until Israel achieves all of its military objectives. The Israeli premier said he was open to another temporary truce to release the remaining hostages, but stressed the ultimately, the war will resume.
Netanyahu emphasised that fighting will only cease after Hamas releases all the remaining hostages, steps down from power, dismantles, disarms and leaves Gaza.
He also announced that long-term plans include the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s controversial post-war plan to relocate the territory's 2.1 million population to neighbouring countries. Trump also said that the US would then “take ownership” of Gaza. The Palestinians, along with nearly all of the international community, have rejected Trump’s proposal to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population and place the territory under Washington’s control. The war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Hamas took 251 people as hostages, and is currently holding 58, of whom 20 are believed to be alive. A subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed more than 53,762 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry whose figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Israeli ambassador suggests diplomats in West Bank led astray to provoke IDF
CBC/May 22, 2025
Israel's ambassador to Canada suggests that there might have been a deliberate effort to provoke Israeli soldiers before they fired warning shots in the vicinity of a diplomatic delegation — which included Canadians — in the West Bank on Wednesday.
Four members of a Canadian delegation were part of a tour in the city of Jenin when members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) fired warning shots in the area. Two are Canadian citizens, including Ottawa's top diplomat in the West Bank, and two are locally hired staff. No one was injured during the incident. Israel's Ambassador Iddo Moed suggested during an interview with CBC News Network's Power & Politics that the diplomats may have been led astray to intentionally try to provoke the IDF soldiers.
"They went into the soldiers. There was nothing to see. There was a barrier, a very clear barrier. So what was the idea to walk into that barrier unless you want to try and provoke something," Moed told guest-host Peter Armstrong, referencing to videos of the incident. "Maybe they were led there. I don't know, I don't want to speculate."A video of the incident circulating online shows members of the tour group speaking to cameras near a large yellow gate. Gunshots can be heard as the group hurries away from the gate and goes around a street corner. In one video, two soldiers can be seen pointing guns in the direction of the group. The IDF said Wednesday that an initial investigation into the incident revealed that the delegation had deviated from an approved route and soldiers fired warning shots to get the delegation to move. The Palestinian Authority said the incident took place near the gate of a refugee camp after the delegation encountered another barrier at a different entrance. When pressed about the suggestion that the tour might have provoked Israeli soldiers, Moed again referred to videos of the incident.
"You can see they really made an effort to confront the soldiers," Moed said. The ambassador added that there will be an investigation and that the government will take responsibility if any wrongdoing is uncovered. Prime Minister Mark Carney called for a full investigation into the incident on Wednesday evening. "We expect a full investigation and we expect an immediate explanation of what happened. It's totally unacceptable," Carney said during a news conference. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand issued a summons to Moed on Wednesday so that the government could relay Canada's "serious concerns." The foreign ministers of France and Italy also issued summons to their respective Israeli ambassadors regarding the incident.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita A
But Moed suggested that the formal summons was unnecessary because the Israeli government has been forthcoming with those countries about what happened. "We have taken responsibility for the investigation, for dealing with the diplomats and with governments that want to have that information. But there is no need to formally request [that information] as if things like that are not happening naturally," Moed said. A senior Canadian government official told CBC news that members of the Canadian delegation were shaken up by the incident and were being offered support from Global Affairs Canada.
Netanyahu calls out Carney, other leaders
Wednesday's incident comes at a tense moment in Canadian-Israeli relations. Earlier this week, Carney joined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in threatening to impose sanctions on Israel in response to its "denial of essential humanitarian assistance" in Gaza. In a video statement released Thursday condemning Wednesday's shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, President Benjamin Netanyahu called out Carney, Starmer and Macron for their Gaza statement, accusing them of "emboldening Hamas." "You're on the wrong side of humanity and you're on the wrong side of history," Netanyahu said of the three leaders.

Trump Privately Tells European Leaders What Pretty Much Everyone Already Suspects About Putin
Kate Nicholson/HuffPost UK/May 22, 2025
Donald Trump has finally acknowledged that Vladimir Putin is not willing to end his war in Ukraine because he believes he is winning, according to reports. The US president allegedly made the revelation during a phone call with European leaders – excluding UK PM Keir Starmer – on Monday. The American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, cited three people familiar with the conversation in its reporting. While the rest of Ukraine’s allies have long believed that Moscow has no intention of ending the war, this is the first time Trump has admitted it. In public, the US president has repeatedly claimed he believes Putin wants peace. Trump’s administration has been trying to force both sides to the negotiation table for a quick resolution to the war ever since he returned to office in January. But he seemed to waiver on that commitment following his two-hour phone call with Putin. When speaking to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on the phone, he appeared “noncommittal” and said he did not like the term “unconditional” when it comes to ceasefires. The phone call was arranged at the last minute, and Starmer was meeting with business leaders at the time so could not attend. UK teams have since been debriefed by the US. On social media, Trump claimed his chat with his Russian counterpart was “excellent”, adding: “If it wasn’t, I would say so now.”But the US president was unable to secure any guarantees from Putin on signing a 30-day ceasefire during their lengthy chat. Trump did not threaten to impose further sanctions on Russia unless it showed it was willing to stop the Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine either, even though he was expected to pile on the pressure. Instead, the US president seemed to hint at withdrawing from the peace process altogether. He told reporters on Monday, after the phone call: “This isn’t my war. We got ourselves entangled in something we shouldn’t have been involved in.”Renewed ceasefire talks in the Vatican are expected to start in June.

Turkey says increasing energy exports to Syria
AFP/22 May ,2025
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Thursday in Damascus that his country would ramp up energy exports to Syria to help boost electricity supplies as its neighbor seeks to recover after years of war. “We want to triple our current electricity exports to meet Syria’s electricity needs and realize an electricity export of approximately 1,000 megawatts in the coming months,” said Bayraktar during a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Mohammad al-Bashir. “In a very short time”, Turkey also plans to start gas exports to Syria’s Aleppo and Homs “of approximately two billion cubic meters per year”, Bayraktar said, after signing an agreement with Bashir on energy cooperation.
The Turkish minister added that the exports would add “an additional contribution of 1,200 or 1,300 megawatts” to Syria’s electricity production.
He expressed hope that the moves would help boost Syria’s electricity supply to more than 10 hours a day. Bashir said the two sides agreed to activate a gas pipeline from Turkey to Syria in June. Earlier this month, the ministers said they had reached a deal for Turkey to supply Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through a pipeline running from Kilis in southern Turkey to Aleppo in northern Syria.
Syria’s new authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.
The conflict badly damaged Syria’s power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day. Bayraktar said that “the framework agreement we signed together today in the field of energy and minerals and hydrocarbons constitutes an important roadmap”. Turkey is ready to develop projects to help improve Syrians’ living conditions “with our own companies - state companies, private companies and international partnerships”, he added. Bashir said they had also agreed “to form specialized technical committees” on energy to “complete the agreement procedures” and follow up on implementation.
Syria is seeking to attract investments, particularly after the United States and the European Union announced this month that they would lift economic sanctions.
In March, Qatar said it had begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, in a move aimed at addressing electricity production shortages and improving infrastructure.
Both Turkey and Qatar have close ties with Syria’s new authorities and were the first two countries to reopen their embassies in Damascus after al-Assad’s ouster.

Turkiye to provide Syria with 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually
Reuters/May 23, 2025
DAMASCUS: Turkiye will provide 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Syria each year, Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday. In a joint news conference with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus, Bayraktar said that Turkiye’s gas exports to Syria will contribute to an additional 1,300 megawatts of electricity production in the country. Ankara, which supported rebel forces in neighboring Syria throughout the 13-year civil war that ended this month with the ousting of Bashar Assad, is now positioning itself to play a major role in Syria’s reconstruction.Turkiye will also provide an additional 1,000 megawatts of electricity to neighboring Syria for its short term needs, he added. Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir said they agreed to activate a gas pipeline that connects Syria with Turkiye, with gas flows expected in June. “This will significantly boost electricity generation, which will positively impact the Syrian people’s electricity needs,” Al-Bashir said. The two minister discussed completing a 400-kilovolt line that links the countries, contributing to importing around 500 megawatts of electricity into Syria, to be ready by the end of the year or shortly thereafter, he added. Cooperation also includes opening the door for Turkish companies to invest in mining, phosphate, electricity generation and electricity distribution in Syria. “There is very intensive work underway regarding the discovery of new natural resources, whether gas or oil, on land or at sea,” Bayraktar said. (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Damascus and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Louise Heavens)

Syria and Chinese company sign memorandum on investment
AFP/23 May ,2025
Syria said Thursday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese company to invest in free zones for 20 years. The General Authority for Land and Maritime Ports said on X that it had signed a “strategic agreement” with the Chinese company Fidi. The deal gives Fidi full operation rights over the Hessia free zone in the central province of Homs where an industrial zone would be developed on 850,000 square metres (210 acres) of land. It also grants Fidi rights to invest in 300,000 square metres of the Adra free zone on Damascus’ outskirts, where the focus would be on commercial and service products for the local and regional markets. Syria has numerous free zones offering foreign investors benefits including full tax exemptions, the freedom to hire local or foreign labor and unrestricted transfer of foreign capital. The country’s new rulers hope the imminent lifting of US and European sanctions will kickstart an economic recovery, after 14 years of devastating war. China was a major backer of former president Bashar al-Assad alongside Russia and Iran before his overthrow in December. Along with Russia, it repeatedly used its UN Security Council veto to support the Assad government and block Syria-related resolutions during the conflict.

Kurds plan Damascus talks as visions for Syria collide
Reuters/22 May ,2025
Syrian Kurdish parties will send a delegation to Damascus soon for talks over their region’s political future, a leading Kurdish politician said, as they seek to advance their goal of regional autonomy despite opposition from the interim government.
More than six months after Bashar al-Assad was toppled, Kurdish demands for regional autonomy have emerged as one of the main fault lines in the new Syria, opposed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his powerful allies in neighboring Turkey.
Oppressed by Assad, rival Syrian Kurdish groups last month issued a shared vision calling for the unification of the Kurdish regions as a political and administrative unit within a federal Syria, aiming to safeguard Kurdish gains during the war.
“Our Kurdish vision document will be the basis for negotiations with Damascus. The delegation is close to being ready to negotiate with Damascus,” Aldar Xelil, a member of the presidential council of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the dominant faction in northeastern Syria, told Reuters. But he added: “We may face some difficulties because their position is still inflexible.”His comments point to the limited progress in bridging gaps between the sides since they signed a deal in March aimed at integrating the Kurdish-led security forces and other governing bodies in northeastern Syria with the central state in Damascus. The Kurdish-led authorities have already had contacts with Damascus, including via a committee tasked with discussing the future of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a powerful security force backed by the United States. Last month’s Kurdish declaration was adopted by both the PYD and its main rival, the Kurdish National Council (ENKS).
‘We seek discussion’
Following the declaration, Sharaa’s office issued a statement rejecting any attempt “to impose a partition or create separatist cantons” without a national consensus. The Kurdish groups have in turn rejected the transitional arrangements drawn up by his administration, including a constitutional declaration that focused power in Sharaa’s hands and strengthened the role of Islamic law. Xelil described the steps taken by Damascus as unilateral but added: “We seek discussion and participation.”Calls for federal rule have gathered momentum in Syria since March’s mass killings of members of the Alawite minority by militants in western Syria’s coastal region, with some Alawites also calling for decentralized rule. Xelil said the role of the Kurdish-led security forces was to ensure the “security and safety of this region” and if this is “not guaranteed constitutionally, legally, and politically, then discussing the issue of weapons will be futile.”Turkey, which has emerged with big influence in the new Syria, has long opposed Syrian Kurdish autonomy. After last month’s announcement, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed calls for federalism as “nothing more than a raw dream.” Turkey’s suspicion of the dominant Syrian Kurdish group stems from its ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which earlier this month decided to dissolve itself and end decades of armed struggle with Turkey. Xelil said he expected the PKK move to impact Turkey’s position on Syria. “Turkey viewed the presence of the PKK or groups influenced by it as a pretext for attacking northeastern Syria,” he said. “There will be no pretext for Turkey to attack the region.”

No agreement yet on Vatican peace talks: Kremlin
AFP/22 May ,2025
The Kremlin said Thursday it had not yet agreed to peace talks with Ukraine at the Vatican, after US media reported the city state could host a meeting soon. Russian and Ukrainian officials held their first face-to-face talks on the conflict in more than three years last week in Istanbul, but did not reach an agreement on a ceasefire. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that follow-up talks between the two sides were expected to take place at the Vatican, starting mid-June, but the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied this. “There have been no agreements on this matter,” Peskov told reporters. Peskov also denied Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s suggestion that “technical talks” could take place at the Vatican as early as next week. “There are no specific agreements for the next meetings. This has yet to be agreed upon,” the Kremlin spokesman said. US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, but neither his call nor the earlier talks in Istanbul resulted in Russia offering any concessions. Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals for a 30-day truce put forward by Kyiv and its Western allies, proposing instead to work on a vague “memorandum” outlining Russia’s positions.Moscow launched a full-scale military assault on Ukraine in February 2022 and currently occupies around a fifth of its neighbor’s territory.

G7 to ‘maximize pressure’ on Russia if it resists Ukraine ceasefire
AFP/May 22, 2025
BANFF, Canada: G7 finance ministers agreed Thursday to “maximize pressure” on Russia, including through further sanctions, if it resists efforts toward a ceasefire in Ukraine. “If such a ceasefire is not agreed, we will continue to explore all possible options, including options to maximize pressure such as further ramping up sanctions,” a final communique following the group’s meeting in Canada said. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding their first face-to-face talks in more than three years last week in Istanbul. But the Kremlin said Thursday that new peace talks with Ukraine had “yet to be agreed,” disputing reports the two nations would soon hold negotiations at the Vatican. US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday in a call aimed at ending the “bloodbath,” but neither his contact nor the earlier talks in Istanbul resulted in Russia offering any concessions. The communique from the Group of Seven advanced economies condemned “Russia’s continued brutal war against Ukraine” and said any entity that supported Russia during the conflict would be barred from Ukrainian reconstruction contracts. “We agree to work together with Ukraine to ensure that no countries or entities, or entities from those countries that financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be eligible to profit from Ukraine’s reconstruction,” it said.

Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students
Collin Binkley And Michael Casey/The Associated Press/May 22, 2025
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students in its escalating battle with the Ivy League school, saying thousands of current students must transfer to other schools or leave the country.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the action Thursday, saying Harvard has created an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, saying it hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024. “This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the agency said in a statement.
Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, accounting for more than a quarter of its student body. Most are graduate students, coming from more than 100 countries. Harvard called the action unlawful and said it's working to provide guidance to students. “This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university said in a statement. The Trump administration's clash with Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, has intensified since it became the first to openly defy White House demands for changes at elite schools it has criticized as hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. The federal government has cut $2.6 billion in federal grants to Harvard, forcing it to self-fund much of its sprawling research operation. President Donald Trump has said he wants to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.
The administration has demanded records of campus protests
The threat to Harvard's international enrollment stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that it provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
In a letter to Harvard on Thursday, Noem said the school's sanction is “the unfortunate result of Harvard's failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.” It bars Harvard from hosting international students for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Noem said in a statement. The action revoked Harvard's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which gives the school the ability to sponsor international students to get their visas and attend school in the United States. Harvard President Alan Garber earlier this month said the university has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism, but warned it would not budge on its “its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of retaliation. He said he wasn’t aware of evidence to support the administration's allegation that its international students were “more prone to disruption, violence, or other misconduct than any other students.”Students in Harvard College Democrats said the Trump administration is playing with students' lives to push a radical agenda and to quiet dissent. “Trump's attack on international students is text book authoritarianism — Harvard must continue to hold the line,” the group said in a statement. The administration drew condemnation from free speech groups, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which said Noem is demanding a “surveillance state.”"This sweeping fishing expedition reaches protected expression and must be flatly rejected," the group said in a statement.
The revocation opens a new front in a closely watched battle
Many of Harvard's punishments have come through a federal antisemitism task force that says the university failed to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence amid a nationwide wave of pro-Palestinian protests. Homeland Security officials echoed those concerns in their Thursday announcement. It offered examples, including a recent internal report at Harvard, finding that many Jewish students reported facing discrimination or bias on campus. It also tapped into concerns that congressional Republicans have raised about ties between U.S. universities and China. Homeland Security officials said Harvard provided training to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps as recently as 2024. As evidence, it provided a link to a Fox News article, which in turn cited a letter from House Republicans. Asked for comment on the alleged coordination with the Chinese Communist Party, a Harvard spokesperson said the university will be responding to the House Republicans' letter. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, called the latest action an “illegal, small-minded” overreach. “I worry that this is sending a very chilling effect to international students looking to come to America for education," he said. The Trump administration has leveraged the system for tracking international students’ legal status as part of its broader attempts to crack down on higher education. What was once a largely administrative database has become a tool of enforcement, as immigration officials revoked students’ legal status directly in the system. Those efforts were challenged in court, leading to restorations of status and a nationwide injunction blocking the administration from pursuing further terminations.

North Korea's second naval destroyer is damaged in a failed launch attended by Kim
Kim Tong-hyung And Hyung-jin Kim/The Associated Press/May 22, 2025
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's second naval destroyer was damaged in a failed launch this week, state media reported Thursday, sparking fury from leader Kim Jong Un, who wants bigger warships to deal with what he calls escalating U.S.-led threats against his country.
It's not common for North Korea to acknowledge military-related setbacks, but observers say the disclosure of the failed ship launch suggests that Kim is serious about his naval advancement program and confident of ultimately achieving that objective.
During a launching event at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday, the newly built 5,000-ton-class destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck, according to the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA didn't provide details on what caused the problem, the severity of the damage or whether anyone was injured. According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism." Kim called for a ruling Workers’ Party meeting slated for late June to address their “irresponsible errors."
The destroyers are North Korea's most advanced warships
“It's a shameful thing. But the reason why North Korea disclosed the incident is it wants to show it's speeding up the modernization of its navy forces and expresses its confidence that it can eventually build" a greater navy, said Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University. Moon suspected the incident likely happened because North Korean workers aren't yet familiar with such a large warship and were rushed to put it in the water. The damaged vessel was likely the same class as the country’s first destroyer unveiled last month, which experts assessed as North Korea's largest and most advanced warship to date. Kim called the first vessel, named Choe Hyon — a famed Korean guerilla fighter during the Japanese colonial period — a significant asset for advancing his goal of expanding the military’s operational range and nuclear strike capabilities. State media described that ship as designed to carry weapons systems including nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. Kim said the ship was expected to enter active duty early next year and later supervised test-firings of missiles from the warship.
Satellite photos show the partially submerged destroyer
Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the damaged vessel was likely equipped with similar systems and remains toppled over in the sea. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC seen by The Associated Press appeared to show the vessel rolled onto its side, positioned diagonally from the dock, with most of its hull submerged and draped in blue covers. Earlier commercial satellite images indicated that the country was building its second destroyer at a shipyard in Chongjin. Beyond Parallel, a website run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the satellite imagery of Chongjin’s Hambuk shipyard on May 12 showed that a second vessel in the Choe Hyon-class of guided missile destroyers was under construction. A report by the North Korea-focused 38 North website assessed last week that the destroyer in Chongjin was being prepared to be launched sideways from the quay, a method that has been rarely used in North Korea. The report said the previous destroyer launched at the western shipyard of Nampo, in contrast, used a floating dry dock. South Korean officials and experts say the Choe Hyon destroyer was likely built with Russian assistance as the two countries' military partnerships are booming. While North Korea’s naval forces are considered far inferior to those of its rivals, analysts say the destroyer with nuclear-capable missiles and an advanced radar system would still enhance the North's offensive and defensive capabilities.Kim has framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the United States and South Korea, which have been expanding joint military exercises in response to the North’s advancing nuclear program. He says the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine would be his next big step in strengthening the North Korean navy. Hours after releasing the report on the damaged destroyer, North Korea test-fired multiple cruise missiles from an area about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Chongjin, according to South Korea's military. The launches were a continuation of a streak of weapons-testing activities by North Korea in recent years. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were being analyzed by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 22-23/2025
Do Not Be Fooled by Iran: What They Really Want Is to Destroy America, Israel Is Just in the Way
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./May 22, 2025
The real nakba [catastrophe, for Palestinians] was that they started a war and lost it. Well, if you start a war, that is what can happen.
The Trump administration should beware of countries where the mouth says one thing but the legs do the opposite. Believe the legs. The Iranians and Palestinians have not given up their dream of eliminating Israel and America.
Iran's leaders do the same thing. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reassures Americans that "We are not seeking war, we favor negotiation and dialogue." Meanwhile, Khamenei calls for the elimination of the "Zionist regime" and endorses "Death to America."
It is time for the Trump administration and other Westerners to see that the Palestinians and the Iranian regime do not want Israel or America in the Middle East -- period -- and are prepared to do anything to achieve this goal, including with nuclear weapons.
In many respects, Hamas, the Iran-backed terror group, has always been more forthright and honest about its goals regarding Israel than its rivals in the Palestinian Authority (PA). When one listens to leaders of the PA and the leaders of Hamas in Arabic, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between them. Their rhetoric, for instance, to vilify Israel, is identical: "The Zionist Enemy", "the Zionist Entity", the State of Occupation", and "the Apartheid State".
Hamas and the PA both view the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe" (nakba) and call for flooding it with millions of Palestinian "refugees" so that Jews become a minority to eliminate or cast out.
Hamas makes clear to everyone that its primary goal is to wage jihad (holy war) against Israel with the intention of replacing it with an Islamist state. The terror group's covenant proudly quotes Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, as stating: "Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
In mid-May, the PA and Hamas marked the 77th anniversary of "Nakba Day" ("Catastrophe Day"), a reference to the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Hamas, in a statement, said:
"The occupation [Israel] has no legitimacy or sovereignty over any part of our occupied land, and our people will continue to themselves through comprehensive resistance until the liberation of all of Palestine."
The terror group vowed that the "resistance" against Israel will continue until Palestinian refugees achieve the "right of return" to their former homes inside Israel.
Most of the so-called refugees are not real refugees. Most are descendants -- now quite distant -- of refugees who lost their homes when five Arab armies attacked Israel in 1948 in an attempt to prevent it from coming into existence. For Hamas and other Palestinians and Arabs, the fact that they failed to thwart the establishment of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people is a "catastrophe."
The real nakba was that they started a war and lost it. Well, if you start a war, that is what can happen.
The PA and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, share Hamas's view. In a speech marking "Nakba Day," Abbas, bizarrely referred to by some Westerners as a "moderate leader" even though he handsomely pays his people to murder Jews, described the establishment of Israel as a "tragedy" and as "the catastrophe of catastrophes."
Like Hamas, Abbas called for flooding Israel with millions of Palestinian "refugees":
"On behalf of the steadfast Palestinian people, and in the name of more than 15 million Palestinians, including seven million Palestinian refugees, we renew our pledge that we will remain adherent to our rights and will continue our legitimate struggle for freedom and independence until they are realized. Today, we commemorate not only this somber anniversary, but renew the pledge that the Nakba was not and will not be the permanent and inevitable fate of our people, and that the right of return, the right to self-determination, and the independence of the Palestinian State are steady and inalienable rights and will not be forsaken by our people."
Such statements by Hamas and Abbas show why the talk about a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is, unfortunately, just a sick joke. If the Palestinians consider the establishment and existence of Israel a "catastrophe" and "tragedy," this means that they have not – and will not – recognize Israel's right to exist.
By demanding the "right of return" for so-called refugees, Hamas and Abbas are clearly stating their intention to turn Israel into a country with an Arab Muslim majority. In this country, perhaps for a price – required Arab jizya payments are actually protection money -- some Jews might be allowed to live on sufferance, as dhimmis, tolerated residents of a land conquered by Islam.
Those who continue to advocate for the creation of a Palestinian state need to consider that such a state would be backed, politically and militarily, by Iran and its ruling mullahs, whose declared goal is to eliminate the "Zionist entity" Israel, as well as the United States.
As Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stated about the "Little Satan": "'Death to Israel' is not just a slogan, it is a policy." The same goes for the "Great Satan" and "Death to America."
In the years leading up to its invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas developed a concrete plan to destroy the Jewish state, in full coordination with Iran and its Lebanon-based terror proxy, Hezbollah. According to classified documents published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Iran was a critical player in funding Hamas's plan to destroy Israel.
On May 15, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reminded us, once again, that in his view, as he posted on X: "The Zionist regime is illegitimate, and the formation of this regime was based on a false premise." He is actually repeating what he knows is the false claim that Jews have no religious, emotional or historical attachment to their homeland.
His post came on the occasion of "Nakba Day." Many Arabs and Muslims, including Khamenei, continue to dream of the day when they would be able to destroy it. They do not conceal their support for the use of violence to achieve this goal. Furthermore, they never conceal their hatred for the "Little Satan" Israel, and the "Great Satan", the U.S.
On May 4, Khamenei wrote:
"When we, the Muslim Ummah [nation], are detached from each other, the colonial powers – the US, the Zionist regime, and some European and non-European countries – impose their own interests over the interests of other nations."
Iran's supreme leader is telling Arabs and Muslims that they must unite to confront not only Israel, but also the US and other non-Muslims.
In another post on May 15, Khamenei wrote:
"Palestinian political, military and cultural fight should continue until those [Jews] who have usurped Palestine submit to the vote of the Palestinian nation."
For Iran's mullahs, the "military fight" means unleashing terrorism against Israel by their Palestinian, Lebanese, and Yemeni terror proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
In the context of his anti-US rhetoric and policy, Khamenei recently scoffed at US President Donald J. Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and his talk about achieving peace and prosperity. "Trump said he wants to use power for peace," Khamenei wrote on May 17:
"Some of the remarks made during the US President's trip to the region aren't even worth a response at all. The level of those remarks is so low that they are a source of shame for the American nation."
He later added:
"Trump said he wants to use power for peace. He's lying."
The Trump administration should beware of countries where the mouth says one thing but the legs do the opposite. Believe the legs. The Iranians and Palestinians have not given up their dream of eliminating Israel and America.
The Trump administration also should realize that Palestinian and Iranian leaders tell Westerners one thing -- what they like to hear -- in English, while addressing their people with completely different messages in Arabic and Farsi. Believe the Arabic and Farsi.
Mahmoud Abbas has long been telling Westerners about his desire to make peace and establish a Palestinian state next to Israel; at the same time, he keeps calling for Israel's destruction.
Iran's leaders do the same thing. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reassures Americans that "We are not seeking war, we favor negotiation and dialogue." Meanwhile, Khamenei calls for the elimination of the "Zionist regime" and endorses "Death to America."
The Palestinians and Iran's mullahs believe that Americans and most Westerners are gullible enough to unreservedly swallow any lie – they so often have in the past.
It is time for the Trump administration and other Westerners to see that the Palestinians and the Iranian regime do not want Israel or America in the Middle East -- period -- and are prepared to do anything to achieve this goal, including with nuclear weapons.
**Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple of donors who wished to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21638/hamas-wants-to-destroy-america

Time is running out: The Iran-US nuclear standoff reaches a critical juncture
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh//Al Arabiya English/22 May/2025
Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated in recent days and the rhetoric has reached a new peak as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei publicly accused former US President Donald Trump of being a liar and someone not truly committed to peace. The statement came during a rare public address in which Khamenei denounced ongoing diplomatic efforts as a facade, casting doubt on the sincerity of the US position.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered a markedly different tone, asserting that nuclear negotiations with the United States would persist and could still yield a breakthrough. This apparent contradiction in Iran’s political messaging has caused confusion among analysts and diplomats alike. But this underscores a pattern familiar to those who followed earlier rounds of negotiations, particularly during the era of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), when Iranian leaders often sent mixed signals to both domestic and international audiences.
This dual messaging – public condemnation from the Supreme Leader paired with diplomatic engagement by the President and Iran’s nuclear negotiating team – has long been a fixture of Iran’s approach to the United States. During the Obama administration’s efforts to secure the JCPOA, Khamenei repeatedly expressed doubts about American reliability. Yet, those expressions of mistrust occurred even as Iranian negotiators, operating with the quiet backing of Khamenei himself, sat across from American diplomats in Geneva and Vienna. This strategy appears to serve multiple strategic purposes for the Supreme Leader. On the one hand, it allows him to appease hardline factions within Iran, particularly among the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and ultra-conservative clerics who view the United States as the major rival. On the other hand, this tactic enables Khamenei to distance himself from any potential failure. If talks collapse or lead to an unpopular agreement, he can say he warned the nation all along that the US could not be trusted.
What’s essential to understand is that, despite these public denunciations, Iran’s foreign policy – particularly its nuclear policy – ultimately falls under the Supreme Leader’s domain. The President of Iran, while officially elected and head of government, does not possess the autonomy to chart an independent course when it comes to matters as critical and sensitive as Iran’s nuclear program. The President’s statements, especially those promoting engagement with the US, must be interpreted within this hierarchical structure. This duality allows the regime to project both revolutionary resolve and pragmatic flexibility, depending on the audience and context. It is a careful balancing act designed to maintain domestic legitimacy and international leverage simultaneously.
Yet despite this choreography, the reality is that negotiations have stalled and seem to be stuck in a deadlock with no clear path forward. The positions of the two countries remain fundamentally at odds. Iran seeks an agreement similar to the JCPOA, which would allow it to maintain a limited capacity to enrich uranium while receiving significant relief from crippling economic sanctions. This is viewed within Iran not just as a fair bargain, but as a sovereign right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Islamic Republic argues that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful and that its demands for enrichment capabilities are based on legal and scientific grounds. For Tehran, agreeing to anything that resembles full dismantlement of its nuclear infrastructure would amount to surrender – an unacceptable capitulation after decades of investment, sacrifice, and international isolation. It would be, in their eyes, a repeat of the Libyan scenario, where Muammar Qaddafi abandoned his nuclear program only to be overthrown and killed in a few years later.
From the US perspective, especially under a Trump-led administration, the bar for agreement is significantly higher. Trump has made it clear that his administration wants Iran’s nuclear program completely dismantled – no enrichment, no advanced centrifuges, no stockpiles of uranium. The administration believes that anything short of this would leave the door open for Iran to become a nuclear threshold state. However, the political landscape Trump now navigates is fraught with obstacles. Any compromise resembling the JCPOA – the very agreement he withdrew from in 2018 while denouncing it as a “disaster” – would open him up to severe criticism, particularly from within his own party. Influential Republican lawmakers and conservative think tanks have long opposed engagement with Iran, and they would likely condemn any deal that does not completely eliminate Iran’s nuclear capacity. Additionally, Israel remains vehemently opposed to any deal that permits Iran to enrich uranium, fearing that even a limited program could eventually be expanded into a weapons-grade operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have publicly called for a “Libya-style” model, which would involve full disarmament under international supervision – something Iran has repeatedly and categorically rejected.
All of this means that even if Trump were inclined to show flexibility, doing so could prove politically impossible. Domestic politics and regional alliances would likely constrain any serious move toward compromise. Trump’s base expects him to deliver a “better” deal than the JCPOA, not a recycled version of it. Anything less would be perceived as a climbdown and a betrayal of his earlier stance. For Iran, the stakes are no less existential. Surrendering its nuclear program in its entirety would not only undermine decades of national effort but would also be seen as a loss of face and power. The nuclear program has become enmeshed in Iran’s identity as a sovereign and defiant state; giving it up would risk weakening the regime’s internal cohesion and external projection of strength.
Meanwhile, time is running out. The diplomatic window is narrowing, not expanding. The longer the current impasse persists, the greater the risk that a miscalculation could ignite a broader conflict.
In the final analysis, time is running out. The world is watching. And neither side appears ready to do what is necessary to break the deadlock. The prospects for a negotiated settlement are dimming. Both Iran and the US are trapped by the logic of their own political systems and ideological commitments. Without a dramatic and unexpected shift – either a change in leadership, a breakthrough facilitated by a third party, or a shock that alters the cost-benefit calculus – this standoff is likely to endure, if not deteriorate.

A new artistic epoch or the collapse of meaning?
Rafael Hernández de Santiago/Arab News/May 22, 2025
Some revolutions begin with a manifesto. Ours began with a shark in sneakers, a gorilla made of bananas, and a bomber jacket-clad crocodile. No, not a metaphor. Not a symbol. Just a digitally generated image of a shark wearing crisp blue Nikes, jogging through a neon jungle with a caption that read: “Monday is a concept, Kevin.”Not a painting, not a sculpture, but a digitally rendered, golden-hued banana gorilla — smiling, no less — circulating wildly on social media. One minute, you are scrolling past wedding photos and baby updates; the next, you are face to face with a crocodile in a bomber jacket sipping tea at a Parisian cafe. Welcome to the new Renaissance, apparently. Only this time, the artists have silicon brains, limitless imaginations, and no regard for the difference between Salvador Dali and a children’s cereal ad.
The rise of AI-generated images has become the latest absurdity in our ongoing tango with ethical reason. Are we witnessing the dawn of a new artistic epoch — or the collapse of meaning as we know it? Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once said: “If a lion could speak, we could not understand him.”
One wonders what Wittgenstein would say about a lion generated by MidJourney, wearing glasses and riding a unicycle through Times Square while quoting Plato.
Is this communication, parody, prophecy — or simply pixels gone wild? Let us not pretend we have not seen this before. The memeification of art has been underway for some time, from deepfakes to NFT apes. But this new wave, this deluge of digitally conjured, hyper-real absurdity, invites more than idle chuckles. It raises deeply confusing and slightly horrifying ethical questions. Who owns an image that no human created? Who is responsible for its message — or its misunderstanding?
And just like that, the age of AI image-generation brain rot was born. This term, now lovingly and ironically adopted by digital natives and reluctantly Googled by digital immigrants — describes the mental state induced by consuming endless streams of surreal, absurd, contextless AI-generated content.
You know the kind: a goose in a business suit negotiating peace between planets; a Victorian child made of waffles; a platypus holding a sign that says: “Capitalism is soup and I am a fork.”
And yet we keep scrolling. We are enchanted. Philosopher Theodor Adorno once said: “Art is the social antithesis of society.” In Techville, AI generated imagery is the social antithesis of logic. It is the philosophical equivalent of an espresso martini at 4 a.m. — confusing, unwise, but oddly invigorating.
Let us take a moment to consider the rise of AI-generated nonsense. These are not merely strange pictures. They are surreal flashes of algorithmic creativity, trained on the deepest layers of the internet’s subconscious. And they come with short, cryptic phrases like: “Let the ducks speak.” “Reality is just poorly rendered soup.” “He who controls the cheese, controls the skies.”
Somewhere, Franz Kafka is either applauding or suing.
A generation raised on surreal, algorithmic absurdity risks losing its appetite for clarity, coherence, or even causality. We are not just talking about art. We are talking about a cultural shift — where traditional storytelling collapses under the weight of its own earnestness and is replaced by AI-generated absurdity that says nothing and yet, somehow, feels like it says everything. But what does this mean ethically? Who is responsible when an image of a bishop made entirely of spaghetti holding a flamingo whispering “Free me, Deborah” goes viral and is mistaken for a political statement?
And more urgently: if the shark in sneakers gets invited to the Venice Biennale before any human artist from an emerging country, what does that say about the role of merit, meaning, and memory in the digital age?
Let us not pretend we are above it.
Even the most hardened ethicist has giggled at the image of a courtroom filled with sentient toasters. There is something irresistibly clever about the stupidity of it all. But cleverness is not meaning. And meaning, in this age, is in short supply.
Wittgenstein warned: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” But in the AI era, silence is drowned out by a relentless stream of images of owls wearing Beats headphones, standing on Mars, yelling: “I miss the smell of Tuesdays.”
One might ask: is this art? Or is it something else entirely — a kind of digital dreaming, outsourced to machines, shared by humans, and celebrated not for depth but for derangement?
The concern is not the images themselves. It is the passivity they invite. A generation raised on surreal, algorithmic absurdity risks losing its appetite for clarity, coherence, or even causality. Why analyze the “Iliad” when you can generate an image of Achilles as a grumpy cat in a trench coat yelling at a holographic Helen?And yet — ironically, tragically, wonderfully — some of these AI creations do resonate. Like dreams or parables, they bypass logic and tap into something weirder and older: our deep love of surprise, of nonsense, of fractured truth.
Kierkegaard, of all people, might understand. He once wrote: “The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you’ll never have.”
Maybe that is what the AI duck in a spaceship is trying to tell us. But we must not look away. Because behind every absurd AI image is a real question: who shapes our imagination? Who owns our attention? And what happens to a society that forgets how to ask why, as long as it keeps saying “wow”?
It is tempting to laugh and move on. To repost the image of a minotaur doing taxes under a disco ball with the caption: “He files, therefore he is.” But we are in dangerous waters. Or worse, dangerous milk. Because the cow now has laser eyes and speaks French. And it is trending. In conclusion, though in this genre, conclusions are entirely optional, the AI brain-rot phenomenon is not just a meme. It is a mirror. A funhouse mirror, yes, one cracked and sprayed with digital nonsense, but a mirror nonetheless.
We must reflect, not only on the images but on ourselves. Why do we laugh at a shark in sneakers? Why does it stay with us? Why does it feel truer than the news?
Maybe that is the real concern. That meaning has been replaced by mood. That critique has been swallowed by consumption. That we are all just raccoons in suits, holding signs that read: “Context is cancelled.”
• Rafael Hernandez de Santiago, viscount of Espes, is a Spanish national residing in Saudi Arabia and working at the Gulf Research Center.

Trump visit a long-overdue recognition of Gulf’s transformation
Adela Raz/Arab News/May 22, 2025
US President Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar last week was significant not only for the sake of business deals and showcasing diplomatic engagement, but also for bringing long-overdue recognition to a region that is going through a tremendous transformation. While some may focus solely on the business aspects, Trump’s public acknowledgement of their progress sends a vital message that change in these traditionally conservative, Muslim nations is not only possible, but it is happening before our eyes.
Since Trump’s 2017 visit to Saudi Arabia during his first term, all the Gulf countries, not just the Kingdom, have made remarkable progress. The economic growth, technological advancements, business development, innovation, gradual yet meaningful emergence of youth leadership, increased participation of women in society, and the region’s growing engagement on the global stage are all a testament to the progress occurring in the region. For instance, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is a comprehensive progressive agenda that is reimagining the Kingdom’s future in the most transformative way. Since its announcement, the country has witnessed sweeping changes — women are becoming an integral part of the reform, participating in sports and holding leadership positions in both the public and private sectors. While some challenges remain, the pace and breadth of these reforms are simply undeniable.
Similarly, the UAE has positioned itself as the region’s leader in innovation, space exploration, renewable energy and now artificial intelligence. It was the first Arab nation to send a probe to Mars and has built a world-class ecosystem for startups and global business. Anyone visiting the UAE for the first time gets the feeling that they have travelled into the year 2050, with all the cutting-edge technology integrated into daily life. Beyond just the skyscrapers and sprawling city skylines, there is also a sense of safety, a thriving business environment and a growing economy, which reflects a country that is moving at an unstoppable pace. Since Trump’s 2017 visit, all the Gulf countries, not just the Kingdom, have made remarkable progress
Qatar, for its part, successfully hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, showcasing its modern and forward-looking image to billions of people around the world despite the scrutiny it faced. It is increasingly active in global diplomacy and is positioning itself as a trusted mediator and peacemaker in regional conflicts.
The notable changes across the Gulf region are supported by the vast numbers of students returning after years living and studying abroad. Significant numbers of Saudi and Emirati students have been studying at universities across the globe, the majority of whom are supported by government-sponsored scholarships. These years abroad plant important seeds of change. But real change can only take root when paired with leadership that has a clear vision and places trust in its youth, recognizing their potential as a critical driver of national development.
In addition, the way these countries present themselves in international organizations such as the UN displays great openness, confidence and clarity. Their evolving policies and positions signal a genuine commitment to progress and reform, and are clearly visible both through multilateral engagement and on the ground.However, despite all these positive changes, there has still been skepticism. In Washington and beyond, the instinctive reaction is to question the sincerity and sustainability of these reforms. The Gulf states are usually seen through the outdated lenses of oil wealth, conservatism and authoritarianism. The progress and changes they have been making are too often dismissed as cosmetic or strategically self-serving. The assumption that these countries are incapable of genuine reforms or that they are somehow incompatible with modernity has long overshadowed their efforts, raising questions about their authenticity and sustainability. But this progress is also consequential, not only for the countries themselves but for the broader Muslim world. The way these countries present themselves in international organizations displays great openness, confidence and clarity
Today, when radical Islam remains a threat exploited by extremists to advance divisive and isolating agendas, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar offer a different vision, one of balance and coexistence. This is extremely important for those Muslim nations struggling to reconcile faith with the demands of the 21st century. They have shown leadership and a willingness to support those eager to move away from radicalism. A notable example of this is Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia last week, when he met with the Syrian leadership, a meeting facilitated by the Kingdom. His announcement of the lifting of sanctions was a major and welcomed development. Saudi Arabia’s facilitation to help Syria reintegrate into the regional fold with an emphasis on rejecting extremism in favor of stability and peace reflects the direction these countries are advocating.
Trump’s visit, and the accompanying media coverage, helped to lift the long-hanging curtain of doubt and skepticism. His public acknowledgement that these reforms are being driven from within is very important. It affirmed something that many in the region have long been waiting for: respect for their agency.
It is also important to stress that such recognition should not be dismissed as political rhetoric or folded into domestic critiques of Trump. It is time for the international community to recognize it not with suspicion, but rather with the respect it deserves. Such acknowledgment and recognition may well contribute to a broader understanding and appreciation of the progress that is underway and help to amplify a story that the region is very eager to share with the world.
**Adela Raz is a former ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States and the United Nations.

Netanyahu’s ‘relocation’ agenda and a silent world’s complicity
Hani Hazaimeh/Arab News/May 22, 2025
A long-buried nightmare has clawed its way back to the heart of Israeli far-right politics. This delusion refuses to fade, no matter how many times it has been condemned, debunked or disguised in diplomatic rhetoric. It is the old vision of “transfer,” a sterilized label for a dark, decades-old objective: the forced removal of Palestinians from their land. What was once a fringe ideology has now become mainstream policy, championed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s increasingly radical and emboldened coalition. The vocabulary may have changed, but the intent remains the same: to ethnically engineer the landscape of Palestine and reshape its demography under the pretext of security and national interest. But there is nothing secure about driving a population into statelessness. There is nothing legitimate about starving a people, demolishing their homes and denying them the right to exist on their own land.In Gaza, this doctrine has been weaponized into policy. With every missile strike, every decimated neighborhood and every hospital overwhelmed with the injured and dying, the outlines of this grotesque vision become clearer. Israeli leaders talk openly of “voluntary migration,” while simultaneously making Gaza unlivable. This is not policy — it is premeditated displacement. It amounts to ethnic cleansing.
The evidence is not just in UN reports or press releases — it is in the images seared into the global conscience
The humanitarian toll is staggering. According to the Arab League, the death toll from Israel's military campaign in Gaza has risen to more than 52,500, with injuries surpassing 118,000 since October 2023. The majority of the victims are women and children. Thousands more remain buried under rubble, uncounted and unnamed. Hospitals have been bombed, schools obliterated and entire families annihilated in their homes. The burned bodies of children, charred beyond recognition, are not collateral damage — they are the physical remnants of a doctrine that sees Palestinian existence as expendable.
No one can claim ignorance. The evidence is not just in UN reports or press releases — it is in the images seared into the global conscience. A mother clutching the lifeless bodies of her twins. A paramedic breaking down after pulling his daughter’s corpse from the wreckage. Rows of white-shrouded bodies, lined up in makeshift morgues or open fields because cemeteries are full. This is a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions. And yet, the world’s most powerful nations continue to offer cover for Israel’s actions. The US, the EU and others have failed not only morally but strategically, emboldening a regime that is now openly toying with the idea of permanent population removal — an idea once considered politically radioactive but now disturbingly palatable in some circles.
This is a humanitarian catastrophe. And yet, the world’s most powerful nations continue to offer cover for Israel’s actions
Israel’s far-right ministers speak of a “solution” that requires Palestinians to leave, to be absorbed by Egypt, Jordan or anywhere else but here. It is the logic of colonialism reanimated in the 21st century. It is not just an attack on Gaza — it is an assault on international law, human dignity and the very idea that people have a right to their homeland. The Palestinian cause is not just about politics — it is about humanity. It is about a people denied the right to live in peace, to raise their children without fear, to mourn their dead without hearing the roar of jets overhead. The dream of a two-state solution fades further with each airstrike, replaced by a nightmare of perpetual occupation and suffering. The international community must wake up to the reality that what is happening in Gaza is not a war — it is a campaign of forced disappearance. This is genocide under a different name, carried out with digital precision and bureaucratic coldness. And behind it stands a political fantasy resurrected from the darkest corners of Israeli settler ideology. The question now is not whether we see what is happening. It is whether we are willing to act. Because history has a long memory. It will remember who stood for justice — and who watched silently as an entire people were driven into the abyss.
**Hani Hazaimeh is a senior editor based in Amman. X: @hanihazaimeh

US and Europe must reshape their bonds at this time of crisis
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/May 22, 2025
For almost two decades, since Barack Obama’s presidency, we have been reading about America’s “pivot to Asia.” This is a shift in Washington’s focus from Europe and the Middle East to Asia, with the declared objective of countering China’s growing influence. On the ground, it has not quite been visible. But this is changing. The US is on the path of shifting strategic resources from Europe to Asia. This is part of the agenda for next month’s NATO Summit. This real change puts Europe and the transatlantic alliance on a new dynamic. How will European nations adapt to this change?
The US is now actively planning the reallocation of its military resources from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. Its objective is to counter China’s growing military capabilities. This potential reduction of US troops in Europe will be discussed with its NATO allies. The US Department of Defense has enacted this shift and is increasing defense spending in the Indo-Pacific. It has significantly increased its budget allocations: in fiscal year 2023, Congress appropriated about $11.5 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, surpassing the initial request of $6.1 billion. In comparison, the European Deterrence Initiative received a budget allocation of about $3.7 billion for the same fiscal year, excluding funds for Ukraine.
The Pacific funding aims to enhance missile defense systems, radars and space sensors and increase military exercises and training in the region. Media reports have mentioned the modernization of bases in Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines. Moreover, the US is reinforcing strategic alliances such as AUKUS and the Quad, focusing on advanced capabilities and joint military exercises. A major upgrade to the US-Japan security alliance is also underway, enhancing command structures and crisis response coordination.
If we read between the lines of European officials, we notice a feeling of abandonment by the US or even, for some, betrayal
Needless to say, this major shift is taking place at a difficult time for Europe, as war still rages in Ukraine. If we read between the lines of European officials, we notice a feeling of abandonment by the US or even, for some, betrayal. This is an extremely exaggerated reaction and potentially dangerous for Europe and the US.The situation resembles a father telling his pampered son that it is time for him to stand on his own feet. The main risk is the son seeing this as a rejection instead of a constructive action. The immediate reaction is often to prove something to his father, rather than to himself, showing that he can act responsibly. And what typically follows is a reckless and catastrophic misstep.
In this case, there is a real risk that, in trying to prove to the US that it can handle its own defense, Europe may rush into an escalation, rather than taking the time to build credible deterrence against Russia. Such a path threatens not only European stability but also the US’ strategic repositioning in Asia, which remains a vital line of defense for Europe. This is what we are now seeing on the Ukrainian front: murmurs of escalation, for which NATO and Europe are dangerously unprepared.
Despite the mention of sending European troops in case of a lasting peace agreement — as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated — or the possibility of deploying postconflict “reassurance forces,” as French President Emmanuel Macron stated, these declarations also seem to hold the possibility of sending troops should the conflict continue. While supporting Ukraine will remain a European priority in this scenario, such a decision would be a grave mistake at this stage. What emerges from this current process among European leaders is the wish to prove the US wrong, instead of taking the time to establish a real deterrence. Achieving a unified 3.5 percent defense spending level across Europe continues to be a major challenge. This should be a priority
This is why it is important for the US and Europe — and for the future stability of the transatlantic alliance — to reshape their bonds and strategic objectives, especially during this time of crisis. To start with, it is positive to see European countries convinced of the need to increase their military spending, with some even taking their defense spending beyond the mooted target of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product.
This is the case for Poland, which spent 4.1 percent last year. Lithuania and Denmark have also moved closer, surpassing 3 percent this year. However, many others, especially in Southern Europe, struggle to meet even the current NATO target of 2 percent of GDP. In March, the European Commission launched its “Readiness 2030” initiative to mobilize funding by 2029. Despite some progress, significant gaps remain and achieving a unified 3.5 percent defense spending level across Europe continues to be a major challenge. This should be a priority to support the ongoing transition.
It is also important to make sure there are no gaps in terms of defense and security capabilities. In light of the current situation in Ukraine, Europe will need to expand its military industrial capacity. The current production levels are insufficient to replenish stockpiles, maintain readiness and respond to any sudden conflict scenarios. This is the only way to establish Europe’s strategic autonomy within NATO. And it is something Russia has already put in place.
The Europeans should also be aware of what is happening in the Indo-Pacific and have a strategy and an objective to engage with allies there. Japan, South Korea, Australia and India are all European allies, so this region should be within its focus.
Europe and the US must remain loyal to the transatlantic alliance despite the new challenges. But it is time to turn the page and Europe must gradually build and assert its deterrence capabilities. This requires Europe to avoid overreacting, while taking greater responsibility for its security and engaging more actively, including in the Indo-Pacific.
**Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.