English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 12/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but
the sheep did not listen to them
John 10/07-10: “Again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the
gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the
sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and
kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Titles For The
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
November 11-12/2025
Remembrance Day in Canada: Honoring the Heroes Who
Defended Freedom/Elias Bejjani/November 11/2025
Text & Video/The Danger, Sin, and Foolishness of Worshiping and Idolizing
Politicians and Leaders/Elias Bejjani/November 09/2025
Video link for an interview with the writer and director Youssef Y. El-Khoury
Qassem Returns the Agreement to South of the Litani
Widespread Advice... Lebanon Between Field Stalemate and Diplomatic Race
Lebanon warns Israeli violations threaten stability as UN peacekeepers enter
final phase of mission
Israel Says Hezbollah Trying to Rebuild, Smuggle in Arms from Syria
Israel army detonates houses in Aitaroun in south Lebanon
Israel says has killed 15 Hezbollah members this month
Netanyahu says Israel will enforce Lebanon ceasefire with 'iron fist'
What were the US Treasury delegation's demands?
Bin Farhan to visit Beirut at head of big delegation
Aoun says Lebanon asked friendly countries to pressure Israel as violations
continue
Why has Hezbollah rejected the Egyptian proposal?
Hezbollah Leader Condemns US Pressure on Lebanon
Qassem reassures Israel on settlements but warns it against continuing its
attacks
Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah’s funding sources while also pressing
the Lebanese government to disarm the group.
Lebanon’s Historic Pines Are Dying, One Cone at a Time
Hannibal Gadhafi released in Lebanon after decade-long detention, destination
unknown
Lebanon on the brink of war/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/November 11,
2025
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published
on
November 11-12/2025
Trump Vows to Do Everything He Can to Help Syria
After Landmark Talks with Sharaa
Syrian official says his country has joined the anti-IS coalition but not the
military mission
For Many Syrians, Sharaa's US Visit Marks New Beginning
More than 160,000 passengers pass through Syria’s Damascus airport in October
Germany jails three Syrians who fought for ‘terror group’
Exiled Syrian Opens up About Death-Defying Smuggling Operation That Showed Proof
of Assad’s Cruelty
Turkish, Egyptian Foreign Ministers to Discuss Gaza Ceasefire, Post-War Efforts
Macron warns any planned West Bank annexation a ‘red line’
Israeli settlers attack two Palestinian villages in the West Bank
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer resigns
UNICEF says Israel blocking one million syringes needed to vaccinate Gaza
children
Israeli Parliament Advances Death Penalty Bill Backed by Ben-Gvir
Iran Says Dismantled US-Israeli Spy Network
Yemen's Houthi rebels signal that they've stopped attacks on Israel and Red Sea
shipping
Israel passes first reading of bill proposing death penalty for people it deems
terrorists
A suicide bomber targets an Islamabad court, killing 12 people and wounding 27,
minister says
Iraq Parliamentary Election Paves Way for Tough Talks to Form Govt
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources on
November 11-12/2025
Veterans, families brave cold to mark
Remembrance Day/Kyle Duggan/The Canadian Press/November 11/2025
Israel and India, Both Under Threat, Solidify Ties/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone
Institute./November 11, 2025
Al-Qaeda in Yemen... is Not Dormant/Mashari Al-Zaydi/Asharq Al-Awsat/November
11, 2025
Mamdani... and New York’s ‘Swallow/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/November
11/2025
Anti-Jewish hate in Toronto reaching breaking point, advocate says/:Bryan
Passifiume/Toronto Sun/November 11/2025
Selected Face Book & X tweets for November 11/2025
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
November 11-12/2025
Remembrance Day in Canada: Honoring the Heroes Who Defended Freedom
Elias Bejjani/November 11/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/149053/
Each year on November 11, Canadians pause in solemn reflection to honor the
brave men and women who served—and continue to serve—the nation in times of war,
conflict, and peacekeeping. Remembrance Day is far more than a date on the
calendar; it is a profound and living tribute to courage, selfless sacrifice,
and the unyielding pursuit of peace. It reminds us that the freedoms we enjoy
today were secured at a heavy price—the lives, dreams, and futures of countless
Canadians who answered the call of duty.
The red poppy, inspired by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders
Fields,” remains the nation’s enduring symbol of remembrance, resilience, and
gratitude.
Historical Significance and Adoption
Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919, one year after the end of the First
World War. It was originally known as Armistice Day, commemorating the precise
moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front: the eleventh hour of the
eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.
In 1931, the Canadian Parliament officially renamed Armistice Day to Remembrance
Day and fixed its observance on November 11 each year. This change acknowledged
the sacrifices made in all subsequent conflicts, not just the First World War.
Since then, it has become a sacred occasion integral to Canada’s national
identity, reflecting the country’s profound role in defending human rights,
justice, and international peace.
Impact of Sacrifice
Over 1.5 million Canadians have served the nation in uniform throughout its
history. Tragically, more than 118,000 have made the ultimate sacrifice in
service to Canada.
Canada’s Foundation
Canada was declared an independent country on July 1, 1867, through the British
North America Act (now the Constitution Act, 1867). This historic moment marked
the unification of three British colonies—Ontario, Quebec, and New
Brunswick—into the Dominion of Canada.
Today, Canada is a diverse federation composed of ten provinces and three
territories, united under a federal system that balances national unity with
regional diversity. This foundation allowed Canada to emerge as a significant
global contributor to freedom and democracy.
How Canadians Observe Remembrance Day
Across Canada, Remembrance Day is observed with solemn ceremonies held in
cities, towns, schools, and military bases. The most notable event takes place
at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, where the Governor General, the Prime
Minister, and military leaders lay wreaths in honor of the fallen.
At 11:00 a.m. local time, the entire nation observes two minutes of silence—a
collective moment of profound gratitude and reflection. The haunting sound of
the bugle’s Last Post fills the air, followed by prayers, readings, and the
powerful recitation of McCrae’s immortal words.
Many Canadians wear the red poppy over their hearts, attend local parades, visit
veterans’ memorials, and participate in educational activities to ensure that
younger generations never forget the true cost and meaning of sacrifice.
A Prayer for Canada
Almighty God, We thank You for this blessed land of freedom, justice, and peace.
We pause today to remember before You the brave souls who gave their lives So
that Canada might continue to live in dignity and safety. Bless our veterans,
our soldiers, and all who serve our nation with unwavering courage and honor.
Guide our leaders with wisdom, and unite our people in compassion and gratitude.
Protect our beloved Canada— From coast to coast to coast— And keep her a beacon
of hope, faith, and enduring peace for all generations. Amen.
Final Reflection: A Call to Action
Remembrance Day is not only a day to look back and honor the past but also a
call to look forward. It challenges every Canadian to actively carry the torch
of peace, to defend liberty wherever it is threatened, and to live in a way that
truly honors the memory of those who sacrificed everything.
As the poppies bloom anew each November, Canada remembers—and solemnly promises
never to forget.
Text & Video/The Danger, Sin, and Foolishness of
Worshiping and Idolizing Politicians and Leaders
Elias Bejjani/November 09/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/133977/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOUV38WHAd0
Worshiping and idolizing politicians and leaders is not merely dangerous; it is
a grave sin and an act of profound foolishness that imperils the very essence of
human freedom. When we elevate politicians or leaders to the status of idols, we
don’t just admire them—we surrender our critical faculties and relinquish the
sovereignty of our own minds and souls. This misplaced worship extinguishes the
spirit of critique and accountability within us, which are the bedrocks of any
true democracy and free society.
True freedom is not merely the ability to make choices; it is the courage to
acknowledge the flaws and errors of those in power, no matter how influential or
revered they may be. When we idolize leaders, we willingly strip ourselves of
this courage, becoming submissive followers who march in lockstep without
question or reflection. This kind of voluntary blindness doesn’t just empower
leaders; it emboldens them, placing them on a perilous pedestal where they begin
to see themselves as above the law, unaccountable, and immune to criticism.
It is vital to understand that the instinct to worship is deeply embedded in
human nature. We are instinctively driven to seek something greater than
ourselves—be it in the form of religious faith, ideals, or leaders—toward which
we can direct our love and devotion. However, the true measure of wisdom lies in
how we channel this instinct. Wise individuals direct their worship toward
enduring values and principles, not fallible, mortal human beings. To do
otherwise is to surrender our intellect and emotions to mere mortals who are as
susceptible to error and corruption as any of us.
Idolizing human beings, particularly those in positions of political power, is
not just a mistake—it is a dangerous abdication of our responsibility to hold
them accountable. Politicians and leaders are inherently fallible, and when we
place them on a pedestal of worship, we create a toxic environment of unchecked
power. This paves the way for tyranny, where the leader becomes seen as
infallible in the eyes of their followers, enabling them to commit grave
injustices without opposition or restraint.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website:
https://eliasbejjaninews.com
Video link for an interview with the writer and director
Youssef Y. El-Khoury,
Youssef Y. El-Khoury, answers without restrictions or hesitation 15 questions
related to sovereignty and independence, the Iranian occupation, the inevitable
Israeli war against Hezbollah, and the peace that Israel will impose by force
and Lebanon's signing of a peace treaty with it.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/149067/
The interview was aired via the 'Bel Arabi' YouTube Platform.
The interview was conducted by Rabi Yassin, edited by Serge Abi Ghanem, and
cinematographed by Zein Al-Abedin Ni'me and Samir Al-Masri.
November 11, 2025.
Qassem Returns the Agreement to South of the Litani
Widespread Advice... Lebanon Between Field Stalemate and Diplomatic Race
Nidaa Al Watan/November 12, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The field, political, and diplomatic confrontation (stalemate) in and over South
Lebanon is intensifying more and more. This escalation became increasingly
apparent in statements issued from Tel Aviv and Beirut. From Israel, Army
Spokesman Nadav Shoshani revealed that "Hezbollah" is operating south of the
Litani River, in violation of the truce agreement, and that Israeli forces are
launching raids on its targets in that area. Shoshani added that "Hezbollah" is
also trying to smuggle weapons from Syria and through other routes into Lebanon.
He added, "We are working to prevent that and largely close the land routes from
Syria to Lebanon with a high degree of success, but they still pose a threat to
us." In contrast, Lebanese officials mentioned that Israel is pressuring the
Lebanese Army to be stricter in disarming "Hezbollah" by searching private homes
in the south for weapons. Lebanese security officials told Reuters that the army
is confident in its ability to declare South Lebanon free of "Hezbollah" weapons
by the end of 2025, but it refused to search private homes for fear of igniting
a civil war and obstructing the disarmament strategy, which the army considers
cautious but effective.
Sheikh Qassem: "The Weapon Will Not Be Handed Over"
"Hezbollah" is not hesitating to escalate, as the Secretary-General of
"Hezbollah," Sheikh Naim Qassem, criticized the government, saying that its
ministerial statement only discussed the "exclusivity of weapons," pointing out
that "the Israeli pretexts are endless; after the pretext of weapons came the
pretext of funding and the pretext of regaining capability." Qassem continued,
escalating his campaign against the government: "Its role is not to implement
American dictates." Regarding the weapons file, Sheikh Qassem's escalation
reached its peak, stating: "The weapon of the resistance is the secret of its
strength, and it will not be handed over, and America and Israel must despair."
Sheikh Qassem revealed that the agreement occurred on 27/11/2024. The agreement
is a ceasefire, and it includes Israel's withdrawal from south of the Litani
River, the deployment of the Lebanese Army in south of the Litani River, and the
absence of any armed presence other than the Lebanese Army, which is responsible
for security in that area. This agreement talks about this result: Israel's
withdrawal from South Lebanon, south of the Litani River, and the deployment of
the Lebanese Army. For us, as Hezbollah, the agreement has an acceptable price
to the resistance, because the price is the deployment of the Lebanese Army, who
are our people. Qassem continued: "The one who says that 'by agreement, you are
no longer armed south of the Litani River' is correct, but those present are our
children: the Lebanese Army. These are the sons of our nation, and therefore we
are victorious with the presence of the Lebanese Army. We are victorious with
this agreement, because the state has announced its readiness to bear its
responsibility, after the resistance bore it for 42 years."
Saudi Advice: Hurry Up
Amidst these developments and fiery positions, Gulf diplomatic sources revealed
to Nidaa Al Watan a Saudi recommendation that reached Beirut, which calls for
moving toward accelerating the confinement of weapons and direct negotiation,
away from procrastination, raising the stakes, imposing conditions, and trying
to appease this or that, because the alternative will be costly, in the form of
a new devastating Israeli war or a comprehensive Arab-Western international
distancing from Lebanon. The sources, hinting at the Egyptian initiative, say
that, in Saudi Arabia's opinion, mediations that circumvent the inevitability of
confining weapons and direct negotiation will not be able to protect Lebanon.
Official Lebanon is scheduled for a Saudi station when the Saudi envoy in charge
of following up on the Lebanese file, Prince Yezid bin Farhan, arrives in the
coming hours, heading a large delegation comprising 27 specialized figures in
investment, economic, developmental, tourism, and other fields, a step that
expresses the Kingdom's seriousness in approaching the Lebanese file from a new
angle, whose title is investing in opportunities, not illusions, and what
benefits the Lebanese people.
Outcome of the Visit to Bulgaria
Yesterday, the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, returned to
Beirut, concluding an official visit to Bulgaria, during which he met with his
Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev, and the Speakers of the Parliament and the
Council of Ministers. The visit resulted in an agreement to discuss activating
the direct air route between the two countries, strengthening the agreements
signed between them in more than one field, in addition to the virtual
participation of the Lebanese judiciary in the investigation with Igor
Grechushkin, the owner of the ship "Rhosus," which transported the ammonium
nitrate cargo to Lebanon and was the cause of the explosion that occurred at the
Beirut port in 2020.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Case of the Nitrate Ship Captain
On the sidelines of the official visit of President Aoun to Bulgaria, Foreign
Minister Youssef Rajji met with his Bulgarian counterpart, Georgi Georgiev.
During the meeting, Minister Rajji expressed his gratitude to the Bulgarian
government for its cooperation in the case of the ship owner linked to the
Beirut port explosion, who is detained by the Bulgarian authorities, affirming
the importance of this file within the framework of efforts to uncover the truth
and achieve justice in the crime of the Beirut port explosion, which has become
a national issue concerning all Lebanese. For his part, Minister Georgiev
affirmed his country's commitment to full cooperation within the legal
frameworks and to doing what is necessary to assist in this file, which is under
the jurisdiction of the judiciary.
The Foreign Ministry Responds: Figures Are Issued Exclusively by the Interior
Ministry
On another front, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, in response to
inaccurate information and baseless accusations contained in a television
report, clarifies the following: The role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Emigrants is limited to receiving registration applications from Lebanese
emigrants through diplomatic and consular missions abroad and referring them to
the competent authorities. As for the final and official figures, after auditing
each file and verifying its validity and compliance with legal requirements,
they are issued exclusively by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, as
it is the legally authorized body to manage the electoral process and supervise
the voter lists. Regarding the claim in the report that its author sent an
official letter to the Ministry requesting these figures, the Ministry confirms
that it did not receive any official letter or correspondence from the concerned
party on this subject. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
categorically denies any accusation related to "hiding the figures" or
concealing information.
34 Items on the Government's Agenda
The Council of Ministers will hold an ordinary session tomorrow, with
thirty-four ordinary items on its agenda, including appointments to more than
one position.
Lebanon warns Israeli violations threaten stability as
UN peacekeepers enter final phase of mission
Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/November 11, 2025
report on a plan to extend state authority country-wide and limit weapons to
state control
NEW YORK CITY: Lebanon has warned that Israeli airstrikes and border violations
risk undermining progress toward achieving stability in southern Lebanon, as the
UN peacekeeping mission in the country begins preparations for its withdrawal.
Speaking before the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, Lebanon’s permanent
representative to the organization, Ahmad Arafa, welcomed the recent renewal of
the UN Interim Force in Lebanon’s mandate under Security Council Resolution
2790. This authorized the extension of the force’s operations until Dec. 31,
2026, followed by an “orderly, safe and coordinated” drawdown within a year.
“The Lebanese Armed Forces have been working tirelessly to ensure full
implementation of Resolution 1701,” Arafa said, referring to the 2006 resolution
that ended the war that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for the
disarmament of all militias in Lebanon, including Hezbollah. The US has
consistently pressured Lebanese authorities to disarm the group, designating it
a terrorist organization. The November 2024 ceasefire deal with Israel also
requires Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and establish a state monopoly on arms. The
agreement states that only state security forces should bear arms, which is
interpreted by Israel and others as requiring the full disarmament of Hezbollah.
The group insists it applies only to southern Lebanon. Arafa said the commander
of the Lebanese army has presented to the Council of Ministers his second
progress report on a plan to extend state authority throughout the country and
confine possession of weapons to legitimate state institutions. However, he
accused Israel of jeopardizing the “hard-won progress” that has been made,
through what he described as ongoing violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity, including airstrikes, the continued occupation of
Lebanese territory, and the creation of “so-called buffer zones.” UNIFIL
spokesperson Dany Ghafri said last week that Israel had carried out more than
7,000 airspace violations since the cessation of hostilities in November last
year, Arafa noted. UNIFIL has warned that the airstrikes breach Resolution 1701,
“threaten the safety of civilians, and undermine progress toward a political and
diplomatic solution,” he added. Lebanon also condemned Israeli attacks on UNIFIL
personnel and positions, describing them as “a blatant violation of
international law.” Arafa expressed gratitude to the leadership of the UN force,
and the countries that contribute troops, for their “dedication and sacrifice”
since the mission was established in 1978. He called for the avoidance of any
“security vacuum” during the upcoming transitional period, while maintaining
stability and respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Israel Says Hezbollah Trying to Rebuild, Smuggle in Arms
from Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 11/2025
The Israeli military accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Tuesday of
seeking to rebuild its combat abilities in south Lebanon to the point of
threatening Israel's security and undoing last year's ceasefire deal. Military
spokesman Nadav Shoshani said Iranian-backed Hezbollah was operating south of
the Litani River in violation of the truce accord and that Israeli forces were
conducting strikes on Hezbollah targets in that area. Hezbollah says it is
committed to the ceasefire deal. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun and Prime
Minister Nawaf Salam say Israel is violating the truce deal, pointing to the
occupation of five hilltop positions in southern Lebanon by Israeli troops as
well as Israeli air strikes and deadly ground incursions into Lebanese
territory.
TENSION OVER DISARMAMENT PUSH
Shoshani told a news briefing that Hezbollah was also trying to smuggle in
weapons from Syria and via other routes to Lebanon. "We are working to prevent
that from happening and to block the ground routes from Syria into Lebanon to a
high level of success, but they still pose a threat to us," Shoshani said. "We
are committed to the agreement but it must be held. We will not return to the
reality of October 7 (2023) with a threat of thousands of terrorists on our
border within walking distance of our civilians."Hezbollah denies it is
rebuilding its military capabilities in south Lebanon. It has not fired at
Israel since the ceasefire came into force, and Lebanese security officials told
Reuters that Hezbollah has not obstructed Lebanese army operations to find and
confiscate the group's weapons in the country's south. In a televised speech on
Tuesday, Hezbollah head Sheikh Naim Qassem said Hezbollah remained committed to
the 2024 ceasefire and that there was "no alternative" to that deal. He said if
Israel withdrew, stopped its attacks on Lebanon and released Lebanese nationals
detained in Israel, then northern Israeli towns would have "no problem" with
security. But he reiterated Hezbollah's rejection of full disarmament and said
Israel's destructive and deadly strikes "cannot continue", adding: "There is a
limit to everything." Israel has been pressing Lebanon's army to be more
aggressive in disarming Hezbollah by searching private homes in the south for
weaponry, according to Lebanese and Israeli officials. The army is confident it
can declare Lebanon's south free of Hezbollah arms by the end of 2025, but has
refused to search private dwellings for fear of reigniting civil strife and
derailing a disarmament strategy seen by the army as cautious but effective,
Lebanese security officials told Reuters. Hezbollah was severely weakened in a
year-long war that saw an Israeli incursion into south Lebanon backed by heavy
air strikes, but still wields considerable power among Shiites in Lebanon's
fragile sectarian-based system of governance.
Israel army detonates houses in Aitaroun in south Lebanon
Naharnet/November 11/2025
An Israeli army force detonated Tuesday at dawn four houses in the southern
border town of Aitaroun in south Lebanon. A force had also detonated houses in
Houla on Monday, with the Israeli army saying that the "buildings were used by
Hezbollah."
Despite a ceasefire reached in November last year, Israel has continued to
launch near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon and to occupy several strategic points
on the Lebanese side of the border. Troops have entered many times into border
areas in south Lebanon.
An Israeli armed incursion last month killed a municipal worker in the southern
border town of Blida.
Israel says has killed 15 Hezbollah members this month
Agence France Presse/November 11/2025
Israel said it has killed 15 Hezbollah members since the start of November, as
it launched further strikes on Lebanon. The Israeli military launched multiple
attacks on Monday, hitting the south and east of the country, while at least one
person was killed according to the Lebanese health ministry. The Israeli
military said that it had killed Samir Ali Faqih, whom it accused of smuggling
weapons for Hezbollah. It said it had killed two more people on Sunday and that
"these terrorists are in addition to the 12 Hezbollah terrorists eliminated
since the beginning of the month". Israel has intensified its strikes on
Lebanon, accusing the Iran-backed Hezbollah group of rearming, nearly a year
into a ceasefire that brought an end to their most recent war. On Monday, the
Israeli military said it struck the Bekaa area in eastern Lebanon and the
Nabatiyeh area of southern Lebanon. Both are Hezbollah strongholds. The military
said that in Nabatiyeh it hit a Hezbollah site with "weapons aimed at the State
of Israel" while in Bekaa it struck "strategic weapons production and a storage
site". It said "Hezbollah continues to attempt rehabilitation of its terror
assets across Lebanon". Lebanon's National News Agency reported several strikes
in mountainous areas of Nabatiyeh around midday and two others in the
Anti-Lebanon mountain range in the east, near the Syrian border.
The Lebanese health ministry said Monday "an Israeli strike on a car in
the area of Baissariyeh killed one person".An AFP journalist saw a bombed-out
car on the road linking the cities of Sidon and Tyre, with traffic piling up as
rescuers worked to retrieve the remains. Despite a ceasefire in place since
November 2024, Israel has kept up attacks on Lebanon, where it continues to hold
five military positions.
Netanyahu says Israel will enforce Lebanon ceasefire with
'iron fist'
Agence France Presse/November 11/2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel would strongly
enforce its ceasefire agreements in Lebanon and Gaza, vowing that "whoever seeks
to harm us, we harm them". "We are determined to enforce with an iron fist the
ceasefire agreements where they exist against those who seek our destruction,
and you can see what happens every day in Lebanon," Netanyahu told lawmakers in
parliament on Monday.
What were the US Treasury delegation's demands?
Associated Press/November 11/2025
A high-ranking U.S. Treasury delegation that visited Beirut Monday pushed
Lebanese officials to crack down on the flow of funding to Hezbollah. Local and
western media outlets reported a list of demands conveyed by the delegation.
1. Shutting down Hezbollah-affiliated al-Qard al-Hasan, a nonprofit organization
operating outside the Lebanese financial system as a quasi-bank.
2. Monitoring exchange houses and money transfer companies.
3. Prosecuting people who are violating sanctions and using institutions to fund
Hezbollah.
4. Preventing Hezbollah from benefiting from all public institutions.
5. Implementing stringent screening procedures at Beirut's international airport
to prevent the transfer of funds coming from Iran to Lebanon.
6. Disarming Hezbollah.
7. Monitoring border crossings and closing illegal crossings.
8. Taking the necessary financial reforms to end the cash economy in Lebanon.
Since last year's war, Lebanon has implemented more stringent screening
procedures at its sole international airport, and direct flights from Iran —
Hezbollah's main backer — have been stopped.
But Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley, who
came with the delegation, said funds for Hezbollah continue to come in as cash
and gold carried in suitcases. Before arriving in Lebanon, the U.S. delegation
visited the United Arab Emirates and Turkey and urged them to choke off the flow
of funds coming from Iran to Lebanon. Hezbollah has also moved money through
cryptocurrency, the Associated Press said. The Treasury had announced, before
visiting Beirut, new sanctions that it said target financial operatives who
channel funds to Hezbollah through exchange shops.
It said Hezbollah is using exchange houses to take advantage of Lebanon’s
cash-based financial sector.
Bin Farhan to visit Beirut at head of big delegation
Naharnet/November 11/2025
The Saudi envoy in charge of the Lebanese file, Prince Yazid bin Farhan, will
arrive in Beirut on Wednesday at the head of a big Saudi delegation. The
delegation will comprise 27 figures specialized in the investment, economic,
developmental and touristic fields, a diplomatic source in Beirut told the Nidaa
al-Watan newspaper. “The step reflects the kingdom’s seriousness in addressing
the Lebanese file from a new angle, called investing in opportunities not
illusions, in a manner leading to the Lebanese people’s welfare,” the source
added.
Aoun says Lebanon asked friendly countries to pressure Israel as violations
continue
Associated Press/November 11/2025
President Joseph Aoun said Tuesday that Lebanon has asked friendly countries to
pressure Israel to abide by a ceasefire agreement reached in late November last
year. "So far we have not reached a result," Aoun said
from Sofia where he met with Bulgarian officials. The latest Israel-Hezbollah
conflict began the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered the
war in Gaza. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas and
the Palestinians. Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. The low-level
conflict escalated into full-scale war in September 2024. A U.S.-brokered
ceasefire agreement nominally halted the hostilities last November, but Israel
has continued to launch near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon and to occupy several
strategic points on the Lebanese side of the border. It says it aims to keep
Hezbollah from regrouping.
Why has Hezbollah rejected the Egyptian proposal?
Naharnet/November 11/2025
Hezbollah saw “fundamental gaps” in the latest Egyptian proposal, considering it
“closer to the Israeli-U.S. vision regarding the situation in the South,
although it carried a single clause that can be considered attractive for
Hezbollah, which is keeping its arms in the North Litani region,” sources linked
to Hezbollah said. In remarks to An-Nahar newspaper, the sources said Cairo had
proposed that Hezbollah declare handing over all its arms in the South Litani
region and disclose any secret depots or bases there. Egypt had also proposed
that the group announce that it does not intend to attack Israel after which
weapons north of the Litani would enter a so-called “strategic dormancy”
state.“Hezbollah learned of the proposal during the presence of (Egyptian
intelligence chief Hassan) Rashad in Beirut, prompting it to swiftly tell the
relevant officials that it totally refused to deal with the offer,” the sources
added.
Hezbollah Leader Condemns US Pressure on Lebanon
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 11/2025
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem complained on Tuesday that Washington is
trying to force the country to make concessions to Israel with no commitments
offered in return. Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah's funding sources
while also pressing the Lebanese government to disarm the armed group. Hezbollah
was greatly weakened in its most recent war with Israel, which ended in a
November 2024 ceasefire, but Israeli strikes have continued at a lower rate.
"America... is putting pressure on the government to make concessions without
any reciprocal commitments or guarantees... and wants to give Israel free rein,"
Qassem said, on Hezbollah's al-Manar television. "The government's role is not
to listen to American diktats and begin implementing them."A delegation from the
US Treasury, which met with Lebanese officials on Sunday and Monday, urged them
to take action to halt Iranian funding of Hezbollah. The US "administration is
very serious about cutting off Iran's funding" to Hezbollah, deputy director for
counter-terrorism John Hurley told journalists on Monday. According to the US
Treasury, Iran has transferred more than a billion dollars to the group since
January. A Lebanese official who requested anonymity to speak freely, told AFP
that the US delegation delivered a "clear and firm" message on the need to
actively fight against Hezbollah's funding sources. Hezbollah emerged from the
last war with Israel without Qassem's predecessor Hassan Nasrallah, who was
assassinated, and with much of its military capability destroyed. Hezbollah's
grip on Lebanese politics has since weakened, but it refuses to hand over its
weapons to the Lebanese army in defiance of a government decision to impose
state monopoly over arms. "We will not give up our weapons, which give us
strength and determination," the Hezbollah chief reiterated on Tuesday.
Qassem reassures Israel on settlements but warns it
against continuing its attacks
Naharnet/November 11/2025
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Tuesday reassured Israel over the
“security” of its northern settlements, as he warned it against continuing its
attacks in Lebanon. “Israel and America want to
interfere in Lebanon's future -- in its army, economy and policies. They are
exerting pressure because they believe that the (ceasefire) agreement gives
Lebanon gains,” said Qassem in a televised speech marking Hezbollah’s ‘Martyr
Day’.“They are pressing the (Lebanese) government to offer concessions without
guarantees,” he warned, cautioning that “Israel does not want to withdraw
because it wants to control Lebanon politically and
geographically.”“Unfortunately our Lebanese government has only focused on arms
monopolization from the entire ministerial statement,” Qassem lamented. He
added: “The Lebanese government is claiming that arms monopolization is aimed at
eliminating the Israeli alibis, and there is a new alibi today which is that
Hezbollah is regaining its strength and financing. The alibi will then become
the existence of Hezbollah itself.”“Why hasn't the Lebanese government devised a
plan with a timetable for regaining Lebanese sovereignty?” he asked, criticizing
the government’s plan for collecting all non-state arms in the country. Noting
that “America is using Israel as a tool,” Qassem added that “when we say
Israel's aggression we actually mean the Israeli-American aggression.”“They are
interfering in our domestic affairs,” he warned. Pointing out that “the November
27, 2024 agreement is exclusively for the South Litani area,” Qassem emphasized
that “Israel must withdraw and release the captives” and that “there is no
danger” facing its northern settlements. He added that the Lebanese state is in
charge of removing Israel from Lebanon and that the 2024 ceasefire agreement
cannot be replaced with a new agreement. “After the implementation of the
agreement, there can be an internal discussion among the Lebanese over all
issues,” Qassem said. He meanwhile warned that “the aggression's continuation in
this manner cannot persist and everything has its limit.”“I will not say more
and let the relevant officials take action,” he added. “Intimidation and
pressure won't change our stance, we won't give up our arms and any price is
less costly than surrender,” Qassem went on to say.
Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah’s funding
sources while also pressing the Lebanese government to disarm the group.
Beirut, Lebanon/The Arab News/November 11/2025
A US official visiting Lebanon called on its authorities on Monday to end “the
malign influence of Iran through Hezbollah”, adding that his country was
determined to cut off Tehran’s funding of the pro-Iranian militant group.
Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah’s funding sources while also pressing
the Lebanese government to disarm the group. Hezbollah was weakened in its most
recent war with Israel, which was halted by a November 2024 ceasefire. “We think
the key for the Lebanese people getting their country back is ending the malign
influence of Iran through Hezbollah in Lebanon,” said deputy director for
counter-terrorism John Hurley. The US “administration is very serious about
cutting off Iran’s funding” to Hezbollah, he told journalists at the US embassy.
“If we could remove the malign influence of Iran from Lebanon, reassure Israel
that Lebanon is not a threat to Israel, I think … the region would be better
off,” he said. Hurley is part of a delegation led by Sebastian Gorka,
Washington’s counter-terrorism director, which has been meeting Lebanese
officials since Sunday.“We were very frank with the president, the prime
minister and the other senior officials that there’s a window right now,
particularly the window between now and the election” scheduled for May 2026,
Hurley said. President Joseph Aoun said he told US officials on Sunday that
“Lebanon strictly applies the measures adopted to prevent money-laundering,
smuggling, or its use in financing terrorism”. Since January 2025, Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards have “transferred over $1 billion” to Hezbollah, “mostly
through money exchange companies”, said a US Treasury statement. One particular
route has been money-laundering via cash-based money exchanges. Speaking of the
funding, Hurley said “a lot of it’s cash, a lot of it’s gold, some of it’s
crypto”.He said he had visited the United Arab Emirates and Turkey to discuss
“strategies we can pursue together to try to choke that off”. “Certainly
historically, we’ve seen significant flows from those two countries that come
here from the IRGC (Iran’s Revolutionary Guards), ultimately destined for
Hezbollah,” he added. On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on three
members of Hezbollah who it said had facilitated the transfer of funds from
Iran, via money exchanges, which the group was using to rebuild its military
capability. Hurley acknowledged that Lebanese authorities have had “some success
in stopping cash at the airport, stopping gold at the airport” in Beirut. “We’d
love to see that extend to the ports. We’d love to see that extend to all the
borders,” he added. A Lebanese official who requested anonymity to speak freely,
said the US delegation delivered a “clear and firm” message on the need to
actively fight against Hezbollah’s funding sources. “They want real action
before the end of the year,” the official said. “They want Lebanese authorities
to counter money-laundering, the cash economy and close Al-Qard al-Hassan,” the
official added, referring to a Hezbollah-linked financial firm sanctioned by
Washington. Asked if the United States had asked Lebanon to shut down the firm,
Hurley said: “We’ve identified this as an organisation of concern.”“There should
be prosecutions of people … who are violating sanctions using that entity to
fund Hezbollah. And so we are encouraging them (Lebanese authorities) to take
action,” he added. In the meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on
Monday that Israel would strongly enforce its ceasefire agreements in Lebanon
and Gaza, vowing that “whoever seeks to harm us, we harm them.
“We are determined to enforce with an iron fist the ceasefire agreements where
they exist against those who seek our destruction, and you can see what happens
every day in Lebanon,” Netanyahu told lawmakers in parliament. The Israeli
military said on Monday it had killed 15 Hezbollah members since the start of
November. The Israeli military launched multiple attacks in Lebanon on Monday,
hitting the south and east of the country, while at least one person was killed
according to the Lebanese health ministry. The military said it had killed Samir
Ali Faqih, whom it accused of smuggling weapons for Hezbollah. It said it had
killed two more people on Sunday and that “these terrorists are in addition to
the 12 Hezbollah terrorists eliminated since the beginning of the month”. Israel
has intensified its strikes on Lebanon, accusing the Iran-backed Hezbollah group
of rearming, nearly a year into a ceasefire that brought an end to their most
recent war. On Monday, the Israeli military said it struck the Bekaa area in
eastern Lebanon and the Nabatiyeh area of southern Lebanon. Both are Hezbollah
strongholds. The military said that in Nabatiyeh it hit an Hezbollah site with
“weapons aimed at the State of Israel” while in Bekaa it struck “strategic
weapons production and a storage site”.It said “Hezbollah continues to attempt
rehabilitation of its terror assets across Lebanon”. Lebanon’s National News
Agency reported several strikes in mountainous areas of Nabatiyeh around midday
and two others in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range in the east, near the Syrian
border. The Lebanese health ministry said on Monday “an Israeli strike on a car
in the area of Baissariyeh killed one person”. Despite a ceasefire in place
since November 2024, Israel has kept up attacks on Lebanon, where it continues
to hold five military positions.
Lebanon’s Historic Pines Are Dying, One Cone at a Time
Asharq Al Awsat/November 11, 2025
In the heart of southern Lebanon, where pine trees once stood tall and abundant,
a quiet crisis is unfolding. The cones are barren, the trees are drying and a
forest that was a lifeline for entire communities is under siege. Farmers in
Bkassine forest have watched their pine yields dwindle for years. At first, they
blamed seasonal weather changes. Then, in 2015, scientists confirmed what many
feared: an invasive insect had taken hold, one that feeds on the cones that
produce Lebanon's prized pine nuts. "It's not just the nuts," said Dr. Nabil
Nemer, a forest health expert at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK).
"This insect attacks the cones over three years. It doesn't just reduce
productivity, it wipes it out."In some cases, up to 82% of a cone's seed pods
are left as empty shells, according to Nemer. Trees weakened by the ravages of
climate change are particularly vulnerable. The insect, Leptoglossus
occidentalis, is originally from North America and likely arrived in Lebanon via
untreated wooden shipping pallets. It has since spread across the Mediterranean
to Türkiye, and other areas, according to his research. Livelihoods are under
threat in the Bkassine reserve, the Middle East's largest productive pine
forest. The trees grow in other parts of Lebanon, but largely not commercially.
For decades, Miled Hareb's family survived on the forest's bounty. That is no
longer the case. "This work was passed down to me. I built my house with it and
raised my family with it. But then the trees started dying, and so did our way
of life," Hareb told Reuters. Harvesting pine cones is grueling work. Workers
climb towering trees with narrow ladders, balancing on narrow branches without
safety gear to collect cones nestled high in the canopy. Injuries are common and
pay has dwindled along with the yields. Nabil Assad, a Syrian laborer who has
harvested pine cones in Lebanon for more than a decade, still remembers when up
to 250 pine-pickers worked simultaneously in Bkassine. "Now it's just around 20
or 30 people. There's no work anymore," he said.
A DWINDLING ECOSYSTEM
Most of Lebanon's pine forests were planted hundreds of years ago. These older
trees are still within their productive lifespans, but droughts, erratic
rainfall and rising temperatures triggered by climate change have made them more
vulnerable to the pests.
"A healthy tree can fight back," Nemer said. "But when it's thirsty and starved,
it has no defense."Ahead of this month's COP-30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil,
UN officials stressed the importance of shielding forests from pest infestations
and other risks, describing forests as "the planet's most powerful natural
defense". Bkassine forest was once home to around 100,000 productive pine trees,
according to the UN Development Program. The number has fluctuated: years of
climate stress and pest infestations decreased them and efforts at replanting
aimed to offset those losses, but no recent studies offer accurate new figures,
Nemer said. In addition to the cone-eating insect, wood-boring beetles are also
killing pines. Dead trees litter the forest floor, attracting more pests and
accelerating the decline. Decades of political and economic turmoil in Lebanon
have also taken a toll. After the country's brutal 1975-1990 civil war,
state-led forest management fell by the wayside. Illegal logging has surged
since an economic meltdown in 2019. As productivity drops, market prices have
gone up - but few Lebanese can afford them. A kilogram of pine nuts now sells
for nearly $100, from around $65 five years ago. Families and even restaurants
have swapped out pine nuts for cheaper sliced almonds for Lebanese dishes that
call for a crunch. Efforts to fight back have been slow. Spraying pesticides
requires helicopters, which are controlled by the Lebanese army. Logistical
delays mean treatments often miss the critical window when insects lay their
eggs. Lebanon's agriculture ministry announced a national spraying campaign for
this past August. But Nemer warns that without a broader strategy that involves
farmers themselves, it won't be enough.In Bkassine, farmers are learning to
identify pests, report outbreaks and participate in forest management, through
training programs led by USEK, the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, FAO and the
United Nations Environment Program. "We need to manage the forest as a whole,"
Nemer said. "This isn't a garden. It's not a farm. It's a living ecosystem."
Hannibal Gadhafi released in Lebanon after decade-long
detention, destination unknown
Beirut, Lebanon/The Arab News/November 11/2025
“We left, he is free,” said French lawyer Laurent Bayon, hours after Gadhafi’s
bail of $900,000 was paid. Hannibal’s lawyer said his client’s release reflected
a restoration of judicial independence under Lebanon’s new government. Lebanon
released Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, on
bail on Monday after nearly a decade in prison, his lawyer said. “We left, he is
free,” Laurent Bayon said, hours after Gadhafi’s bail of $900,000 was paid. The
younger Gadhafi, 49, was accused of withholding information about the 1978
disappearance of Lebanese Shia cleric Mussa Sadr in Libya, but never put on
trial. He was two years old at the time of Sadr’s disappearance. “The bail was
paid this morning,” Bayon had said earlier on Monday. “Hannibal Gadhafi will
finally be free. It’s the end of a nightmare for him that lasted ten years.”In
October, a judge ordered Gadhafi’s release against bail set at $11 million,
which was reduced to $900,000 last week after an appeal by his defence team. A
Lebanese judicial source confirmed earlier on Monday that the bail was paid and
said Gadhafi’s legal team had been completing release procedures. Bayon said his
client was set to leave Lebanon for a “confidential” destination, adding that he
holds a Libyan passport. “If Gadhafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in
Lebanon for ten years, it’s because the justice system was not independent,”
Bayon said. He said his client’s release reflected a restoration of judicial
independence under Lebanon’s new government that was formed in January. Mussa
Sadr, the founder of the Amal movement, now an ally of militant group Hezbollah,
went missing during an official visit to Libya, along with an aide and a
journalist. Beirut blamed the disappearances on then Libyan ruler Muammar
Gadhafi, who was overthrown and killed decades later in a 2011 uprising. Ties
between the two countries have been strained ever since the trio went missing.
Married to Lebanese model Aline Skaf, Hannibal Gadhafi fled to Syria after the
start of the Libyan uprising. He was kidnapped in December 2015 by armed men who
took him to Lebanon, where authorities released him from the kidnappers and
later detained him.
Lebanon on the brink of war
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/November 11, 2025
Tensions are at an all-time high in Lebanon. US envoy Tom Barrack has reportedly
given Beirut until the end of November to disarm Hezbollah, warning that Israel
will launch a military action if nothing changes once this deadline has passed.
Lebanon is on the brink of a war. Some say the US is just raising the stakes
before negotiations. However, the stakes are already very high and nothing
should be left to chance. The internal situation is very tense. It has exceeded
the rhetoric. Parliamentarians in Lebanese Forces circles have filed a legal
complaint against Naim Qassem, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, accusing him
of inciting a civil war. According to my source, prior to the lawsuit there were
some talks between the two parties, but now there is no more communication. On
the international front, the US last week imposed another round of sanctions on
Hezbollah operatives who are taking advantage of the cash economy. The group is
cornered and this is dangerous. A cornered animal will attack and will not
acquiesce. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on Sunday published an article claiming
that the ceasefire, which has been holding only on paper, would collapse in a
matter of days. Israeli tanks are reportedly being deployed on the border. The
potential scenarios for Lebanon are very grim. Israeli tanks are reportedly
being deployed on the border. The potential scenarios for Lebanon are very grim.
While, initially, there was momentum to disarm Hezbollah in the wake of last
year’s ceasefire agreement, the government now seems to have cold feet. This has
raised the ire of factions like the Lebanese Forces, which is adamant about
disarming the group.
Meanwhile, a disagreement between President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf
Salam on the issue of Hezbollah has become visible. In late September, the group
marked the first anniversary of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah by
projecting his image onto Raouche Rock. Salam condemned it for doing so, saying
that this move was considered a private use of a public facility. However, Aoun
awarded army commander Rodolphe Haykal the National Order of the Cedar after his
actions at the memorial, despite his troops being accused of not doing enough to
prevent Hezbollah from lighting up the rock.
The state comes across as weak. The president and the prime minister are not in
line. Aoun is worried that a clash with the group will lead to the army being
broken up. Salam, on the other hand, is insisting on the issue of disarmament.
The state cannot control the sparring between the different factions.
Facing Israel, Lebanon is weak. The Lebanese army is no match for the Israeli
army. While Hezbollah’s arms are the reason Israel hits Lebanon, they at least
create some kind of deterrence. They are a double-edged sword.
There was the threat made by Hezbollah that it would attack Israel’s Karish and
Leviathan gas fields. Nasrallah threatened this several times if Lebanese
maritime rights were not settled. It was in the interest of Israel to settle the
issue with Lebanon and remove any pretext for the group to attack its gas
fields. The threats curbed companies’ appetite to invest in the fields. This
leverage does not exist anymore.
While Hezbollah’s arms are the reason Israel hits Lebanon, they at least create
some kind of deterrence.
Lebanon has no deterrent, no bargaining power at all, while Israel has all the
leverage. Unlike Syria, which has the support of Saudi Arabia and Turkiye,
Lebanon is on nobody’s priority list. So, what should it do? Disarming Hezbollah
by force is not an option. Not only would this result in an internal clash, but
there is no guarantee the army can conduct this task. On the other hand, if the
disarmament is to be conducted through negotiations, the state cannot offer
guarantees to the group. Can the state guarantee that Hezbollah will not be
targeted if it disarms? Not really.
The state cannot act as a bystander anymore, it should assume leadership. To
start with, Aoun and Salam should quickly resolve their differences. They should
agree on an action plan. They should be realistic. Hezbollah will not disarm
without a political settlement. Nonstate actors like the Irish Republican Army
and the PKK have disarmed after reaching a political settlement. They should
have a clear action plan to discuss with Hezbollah, then with regional powers
and then with the US, before entering negotiations with Israel. The Lebanese
state should seek help. Like Syria, it needs the backing of regional powers. But
their backing will not come for free. The Lebanese state should have a clear
roadmap. This does not involve only Hezbollah but also reforms. Nobody wants to
spend their political capital and energy on a failed state. Once regional powers
are convinced about supporting Lebanon, the Lebanese state can start direct
negotiations with Israel. It would then have backing, some sort of leverage. For
Hezbollah to accept, it should be made clear that any agreement with Israel
would have to include guarantees that the group will not be targeted and that it
can continue to operate as a political party. Also, a show of strong leadership
will tone down the internal quarrels. Once the different factions see there is
decisiveness at the top, they will stand with the state. A show of leadership
would also entice the US to reign in Israel, as Washington’s priority is
stability in the region. The ball is in the Lebanese state’s court: this is a
chance for the Salam-Aoun government to prove to the Lebanese and the
international community that it can lead. Today, this government is facing its
most crucial test. If it fails and Lebanon faces a devastating war, it will
emerge as a lame duck and no one will trust it.
**Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on
lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace
Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
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November 11-12/2025
Trump Vows to Do Everything He Can to Help Syria After Landmark Talks
with Sharaa
Asharq Al Awsat/November 11, 2025
US President Donald Trump vowed on Monday to do everything he can to make Syria
successful after landmark talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Sharaa's
visit capped a stunning year for the rebel-turned-ruler who toppled longtime
autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad and has since traveled the world trying to
garner support to unify his war-ravaged nation and end its decades of
international isolation. One of Sharaa's chief aims in Washington was to push
for full removal of the toughest US sanctions. While he met with Trump behind
closed doors, the US Treasury Department announced a 180-day extension of its
suspension of enforcement of the so-called Caesar sanctions, but only the US
Congress can lift them entirely. Trump met with Sharaa in the first-ever visit
by a Syrian president to Washington, six months after their first meeting in
Saudi Arabia, where the US leader announced plans to lift sanctions, and just
days after the US said he was no longer a "Specially Designated Global
Terrorist." In an unusually muted welcome, Sharaa arrived without the fanfare
usually given to foreign dignitaries. He entered through a side door where
reporters only got a glimpse instead of through the West Wing main door where
cameras often capture Trump greeting VIPs. Speaking to reporters, Trump praised
Sharaa as a "strong leader" and voiced confidence in him. "We’ll do everything
we can to make Syria successful," he said. But Trump also gave a nod to Sharaa's
controversial past. "We’ve all had rough pasts," he said. Sharaa later told Fox
News his association with a militant group was a matter of the past and was not
discussed in his meeting with Trump.
Syria was now seen as a geopolitical ally of Washington and not a threat, Sharaa
said.
Promising "continued sanctions relief," the Treasury Department announced a new
order to replace its May 23 waiver on enforcement of the 2019 Caesar Act, which
imposed sweeping sanctions over human rights abuses under Assad. The move
essentially extended the waiver by another 180 days. Sharaa, 43, took power last
year after his opposition fighters launched a lightning offensive and overthrew
longtime President Assad just days later on December 8. Syria has since moved at
a dizzying pace, away from Assad's key allies Iran and Russia and toward Türkiye,
the Gulf and Washington.
Security was also expected to be a top focus of Sharaa's meeting with Trump, who
in a major US policy shift has sought to help Syria's fragile transition. The US
is brokering talks on a possible security pact between Syria and Israel, which
remains wary of Sharaa. Reuters reported last week that the US is planning to
establish a military presence at a Damascus airbase. Syria recently signed a
political cooperation declaration with the US-led "Global Coalition to Defeat
ISIS," the Syrian information minister said in a post on X on Monday.
ASSASSINATION PLOTS
Just hours before the landmark talks, word emerged of two separate ISIS plots to
assassinate Sharaa that had been foiled over the last few months, according to a
senior Syrian security official and a senior Middle Eastern official. Over the
weekend, the Syrian interior ministry launched a nationwide campaign targeting
ISIS cells across the country, arresting more than 70 suspects, government media
said. Sharaa's arrival at the White House was muted. Most heads of state are
driven up the driveway festooned with their national flags. But on Monday there
was none of that. Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who was also in the
White House to meet Trump administration officials, was invited to join part of
the meeting, he told Turkish media. Following the meeting, Trump sharply rebuked
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said on X that she would "really
like to see nonstop meetings at the WH on domestic policy not foreign policy and
foreign country’s leaders." Saying the Georgia Republican had "lost her way," he
added: "I have to view the presidency as a worldwide situation... We could have
a world on fire where wars come to our shores very easily." As Sharaa left the
compound, he exited his motorcade just in front of the White House and briefly
greeted a cheering crowd of supporters, some waving Syrian flags. Sharaa was
expected to strongly advocate for a repeal of the Caesar Act, which will help
spur global investment in a country ravaged by 14 years of war and which the
World Bank estimates will take more than $200 billion to rebuild. Several
influential members of Congress have called for the lifting of the 2019 Caesar
sanctions, passed in response to human rights abuses under Assad. A few of
Trump’s fellow Republicans want the sanctions to stay in place, but that could
change if Trump applies pressure. Syria's social fabric has been more recently
tested. New bouts of sectarian violence left more than 2,500 dead since Assad's
fall, deepening civil war wounds and putting into question the new rulers'
ability to govern for all Syrians. Trump's focus on Syria comes as his
administration seeks to keep intact a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal between
Israel and Hamas and push forward on his 20-point plan for an end to the
two-year-old war there.
Syrian official says his country has joined the anti-IS
coalition but not the military mission
Abby Sewell/The Associated Press/November 11, 2025
BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian official said Tuesday that his country joined the global
coalition against the Islamic State group during President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s
historic visit to Washington, but that Syria is not part of the U.S.-led
military mission fighting the extremist group. Al-Sharaa met with U.S. President
Donald Trump on Monday and announced his country’s “desire, intentions and
readiness” to join the 89 other countries making up the coalition, which have
committed to combat IS, but there is no signed agreement, Syrian Minister of
Information Hamza al-Mustafa said in a telephone interview. “The political
coalition is different from Operation Inherent Resolve, which is a military
operations room,” he said, referring to the U.S-led military mission against
ISIS in Iraq and Syria, which has for years partnered with Iraqi security forces
and with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria. The U.S.
had no diplomatic relations with Syria under former President Bashar Assad, but
ties have warmed since Assad’s fall last year in a rebel offensive led by al-Sharaa,
the former commander of an Islamist insurgent group. “There is coordination
between the United States of America and the Syrian government at present, in
some cases” on anti-IS operations, Mustafa said. “But Syria is not part of the
Operation Inherent Resolve that is carrying out the operations of this
coalition.”The U.S. has not publicly announced Syria’s entry into the coalition.
A senior U.S. administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity
because there hadn’t yet been a formal announcement said after al-Sharaa’s
meeting with Trump on Monday that Syria formally confirmed that it would join
the global coalition. While the Islamic State group
lost hold of all of the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq years ago,
cells of the extremist group have continued to carry out attacks in both
countries and abroad. U.S. Central Command reports there have been 311 IS
attacks in Syria and 64 in Iraq so far this year, down from 878 in Syria and 160
in Iraq in 2024. Al-Sharaa’s visit was the first to
the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country
gained independence from France in 1946. Apart from
entry into the coalition, al-Sharaa used the visit to push for a permanent
repeal of sanctions that punished Syria for widespread allegations of human
rights abuses by Assad’s government and security forces. While the Caesar Act
sanctions are currently waived by Trump — a waiver that was renewed Monday for
another six months — a permanent repeal would require Congress to act. Israel
has regarded al-Sharaa warily. Since Assad’s fall, Israeli forces have seized a
formerly U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria set up under a 1974
disengagement agreement, launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military
sites, and pushed for a demilitarized zone south of Damascus. The two countries,
which do not have diplomatic relations, have been negotiating a potential
security agreement. Hamza said there are ongoing negotiations but “nothing new
regarding the possibility of reaching a security agreement.” A full
normalization of diplomatic relations as part of a series of U.S.-mediated deals
known as the Abraham Accords is not on the table, he said, a position that has
been previously stated by al-Sharaa. “We’re not in the position now to talk
about the Abraham Accords, because Israel is occupying part of our country,”
Hamza said. Before discussing normalization of relations, he said, the two
countries must return to the 1974 agreement or reach another agreement that
“includes the withdrawal of Israel from all territory occupied after Dec. 8”
when Assad’s government fell.
For Many Syrians, Sharaa's US Visit Marks New Beginning
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 11/2025
On the streets of Damascus on Tuesday, Syrians viewed their leader's visit to
Washington as a shift towards the West that could pave the way to reviving the
country's war-battered economy. On Monday, Donald Trump received Ahmed al-Sharaa,
a first for a Syrian head of state since independence in 1946. "God willing,
this visit will be a new beginning for Syria and an opening to the world after
years of isolation," law student Boushra Abdel Bari said. "We hope that this
visit... will facilitate the reconstruction of Syria with the United States and
the rest of the world." As Sharaa made his historic visit to Washington, the
State Department announced a pause of US sanctions under the Caesar Act, pending
their possible permanent lifting by Congress. The law imposed wide-ranging
sanctions on investment in Syria in an effort to ensure accountability over
abuses under Assad, banning the country from the global banking system.
Historically, Syria has been in the orbit of first the Soviet Union then Russia,
which was autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad's main ally during more than 13
years of civil war.But since overthrowing Assad in December 2024, the interim
Syrian president has made numerous overtures to the West and Gulf, while being
careful not to burn his bridges with Moscow. For Abdel Bari, Assad's ally Russia
"has brought us nothing but ruin and destruction." Omar Nassar, a 36-year-old
printer, also welcomed Syria's move towards the Western camp. "Syria paid the
price for aligning itself with the socialist camp in the past... and was
isolated from its Arab and international environment," he said. "We are very
optimistic after this visit. We expect positive repercussions in the economic
and diplomatic spheres." Saddam Hajjar, who runs a coffee kiosk in the Syrian
capital, also believed that "things are getting better". "We hope to be part of
the new Middle East in the future," he said. "The Syrian people deserve a better
life after making so many sacrifices." Assad's fall ended a civil war that
lasted more than 13 years, which broke out after the government cracked down on
a peaceful uprising in 2011. The war killed more than half a million people,
displaced or forced millions of Syrians into exile, and brought the economy to
its knees. Layal Kaddour, a 25-year-old NGO worker, thought the visit to
Washington was "a bold political move" that broke years of isolation. "The
possible repercussions are an easing of sanctions and the opening up of economic
prospects," she said. But she wondered if her country will now be "subject to
international pressure that would influence independent political
decision-making," alluding to concerns about US pressure on Syria to make peace
with Israel, which has long been an enemy.
More than 160,000 passengers pass through Syria’s
Damascus airport in October
Arab News/November 11, 2025
LONDON: The Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced on Tuesday that 160,000
passengers passed through Damascus International Airport in October, as the
country undergoes recovery after the civil war. The authority recorded a total
of 828 flights in October, which included 84,965 departures and 77,076 arrivals.
Currently, 15 airlines operate at the airport, and 4,964 visas were issued on
arrival during the same period. The 828 flights included 801 passenger flights,
20 diplomatic flights and 7 charter flights. The data emphasizes efforts to
revitalize Syria’s air transport sector and enhance the airport’s services as
part of a national plan to improve connectivity and operational capacity,
according to the SANA news agency. Damascus International Airport, located south
of the capital, has seen a gradual recovery in flight activity following the
fall of the Bashar Assad regime in December 2024. The new authorities have
signed several agreements to reconstruct services in Damascus, including a $4
billion investment project at the airport, signed with Qatar’s UCC Holding in
August. There are currently 15 airlines operating flights to Damascus, including
those from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait and Romania,
among others. Damascus International Airport is the largest in the country and
connects to other domestic destinations, such as Aleppo in the north.
Germany jails three Syrians who fought for ‘terror
group’
AFP/November 11, 2025
BERLIN: A German court on Tuesday sentenced three Syrian men to prison for
involvement in a foreign terrorist group during the civil war after a trial that
lasted more than a year. The three defendants, identified only partially as Amer
Tarak A., Sohail A. and Basel O., received sentences ranging from four and a
half to nearly 10 years from the Munich court. All three belonged to an armed
rebel group called Liwa Jund Al-Rahman, which Amer Tarak A. allegedly founded,
and two were also found guilty of war crimes. The group fought against Syrian
ruler Bashar Assad and later merged with the jihadist Daesh group. Amer Tarak A.
allegedly seized control of an oil field in the eastern Syrian province of Deir
Ezzor, using the profits to fund his armed group and enrich his family. He also
ordered a massacre of Shiite Muslims in the village of Hatla, which was filmed
by co-defendant Sohail A. The presiding judge in the case sought expert
testimony to place the crimes in the context of the long Syrian civil war. The
armed rebel group reportedly started as a secular force aimed at fighting the
regular Syrian army — but took on Islamist traits before joining the IS group in
2013. The defendants tried to argue that they were engaged in a legitimate armed
struggle for freedom against the Assad regime. But that defense was rejected by
the Munich court. All three men fled Syria for Germany after the defeat of the
IS group. The men could still appeal against the verdict, reached after more
than 14 months of proceedings.
Exiled Syrian Opens up About Death-Defying Smuggling
Operation That Showed Proof of Assad’s Cruelty
Asharq Al Awsat/November 11, 2025
He waited for his brother-in-law to cross the front line smuggling documents
stolen from the Syrian dictatorship’s archives. Detection could mean
dismemberment or death, but they were committed to exposing the industrial-scale
violence used to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power. Ussama Uthman, now 59,
was building a vast record of the brutality — photographs that showed Assad’s
government was engaging in systematic torture and extrajudicial killings. Now,
safely in exile in France and with Assad having fallen in a surprise opposition
offensive last year, Uthman is sharing how he, his wife and her brother teamed
up to smuggle evidence of the horrific crimes out from under Syria’s infamous
surveillance apparatus as war tore the country apart. The photos of broken
bodies and torture sites — records were apparently kept to show orders were
being followed — began appearing online in 2014. They spurred US sanctions, and
are being used to prosecute suspected war crimes and help Syrians find out what
happened to family members who disappeared. “We have hundreds of thousands of
mothers waiting for news of their loved ones,” said Uthman. During a recent
interview in northern France — The Associated Press agreed to withhold the exact
location for security reasons — the only time Uthman's voice broke was when he
recounted sending a woman photos of a brutalized body and asking if she
recognized her son. “I send her five snapshots of her son’s body, torn under
Bashar al-Assad’s whips, and she rejoices. She says, ‘Thank God, I have
confirmed that he is dead,’” he recalled. “This sadness should have kept our
flags at half-staff in Syria for years.”
Family secrets, risks and duty
With the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings in the Middle East in 2011, protests
in the southern city of Daraa inspired demonstrations throughout Syria. The
government responded with force, but rather than crushing the demonstrations,
the brutality sparked a civil war that spurred foreign intervention and pitted a
patchwork of opposition groups against the armor and air power of the military
and Assad’s allies. When news broke that first year of a massacre in Hama,
Uthman, a construction engineer from the Damascus suburb of al-Tall, swore he'd
help topple Assad. He didn’t know how until he got a call from his wife’s
brother Farid al-Mazhan, a military police officer who asked him to meet in
person — electronic communications were too risky. Al-Mazhan showed Uthman gory
images taken by photographers in the military forensic pathology department that
he helped run. He said he could access more. The two launched a secret operation
that would eventually smuggle more than 53,000 photographs out of Syria showing
evidence of torture, disease and starvation in the country's lockups. The
operation was incredibly dangerous but straightforward. As an officer, Al-Mazhan
could pass government-run checkpoints; his connections in the opposition-held
town where he lived and eventually Uthman’s secret coordination with the
opposition enabled him to cross checkpoints staffed by their fighters. He would
then secretly pass CDs, hard drives and USB sticks containing photos and other
documents to Uthman. He also slipped them to his sister, Khawla al-Mazhan, who
is married to Uthman. She was the first to suggest using the photos to try to
topple Assad. “Why don’t we use these images to bring down the regime?” Uthman
recalled her saying. Uthman adopted the nom de guerre Sami. Farid al-Mazhan took
Caesar. Their operation would become known as the Caesar Files.
Justice for Syria, from exile
Deciding to escape Syria — an estimated 6 million people fled during the war —
the team uploaded 55 gigabytes of photos and documents dating from May 2011 to
August 2014 to a foreign server. They then began furtively moving their extended
families to neighboring countries. Diplomats eventually helped Uthman’s family
settle in France in 2014. Once safely out of Syria, they began publishing the
material, sparking immediate and widespread condemnation of Assad. As families
scoured the ghastly archive for signs of what happened to their loved ones, the
team gave copies to European prosecutors. Authorities in France, Germany,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland have arrested or initiated legal
proceedings against former Syrian officials accused of torture and killings. The
release of the files marked “a key point in Syria’s history,” said Kholoud Helmi,
co-founder of the independent Syrian news site Enab Baladi. Both the
international community and Syrians were faced with “striking proof” of the
Assad government’s crimes. “Almost nobody believed us or thought we were
exaggerating,” said Helmi, who fled during the war. The Caesar Files team are
heroes, said Lina Chawaf, editor-in-chief of Radio Rozana, an independent Syrian
media outlet. “You know the price that you will pay, but it will cost all of
your family,” said Chawaf, who also fled Syria. Hoping to plug the leak, Syrian
authorities tightened their grip on their archive. Gradually, the team
reorganized and grew to roughly 60 members both inside and outside of Syria.
They built a second tranche of evidence, the Atlas Files, from 2014 until 2024.
Late last year, as they were starting to organize this new catalog — it's nearly
three times the size of the first — startling news broke: The opposition had
seized Syria’s second-biggest city, Aleppo.
Accountability under a new regime
Within 10 days, opposition forces sprinted across government-held territory to
take Damascus, forcing Assad to flee to Russia and ending his family's nearly
54-year rule. The sudden power vacuum bred chaos, with opposition forces
flinging open the doors of the country's most feared prisons. Team members still
in Syria and families of the missing rushed to the sites in search of
information — more than 130,000 Syrians disappeared during the war, according to
international bodies. Helmi, of the Enab Baladi news site, considers her family
lucky to have found proof of her brother Ahmad's execution. “They killed him 27
days after he was detained, and we’ve been waiting for him for 13 years,” said
Helmi, who thinks the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former
opposition leader, hasn't done enough to help families. Uthman went further,
saying so much evidence was lost in the immediate aftermath of Assad's ouster
that it was akin to the new authorities “destroying evidence, tampering with the
crime scene.”Documents lay scattered on rainy streets, psychologically shattered
prisoners wandered out of broken jails, and wild dogs chewed on bones in mass
graves, he said. The government — which hopes the US will permanently lift the
sanctions imposed for the abuses exposed by the Caesar Files — says it is doing
all it can to reckon with Assad’s bloody legacy. During Sharaa’s visit to
Washington on Monday, the Treasury announced a waiver of the sanctions had been
renewed for another six months. In a news conference last week in Damascus, Reda
al-Jalakhi, who heads the government's National Commission for the Missing,
acknowledged that “in the first two days of the liberation, there was some chaos
and a lot of documents were lost.”But he said the authorities quickly took
control of Assad's old lockups and is preserving the remaining evidence. He
thanked the Caesar Files team for providing some documentation to the
commission, but he didn't signal any plans for ongoing cooperation, saying the
government would build a centralized database to find the missing. With a
defiant twinkle in his eyes, Uthman said his team's work will continue to fight
any impunity in Syria as fresh sectarian violence bloodies the country. The team
dreams that one day Assad might face their evidence at trial.
Turkish, Egyptian Foreign Ministers to Discuss Gaza
Ceasefire, Post-War Efforts
Asharq Al Awsat/November 11, 2025
The foreign ministers of Türkiye and Egypt will discuss the Gaza ceasefire and
international efforts to rebuild the enclave once the war is over during talks
in Ankara on Wednesday, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Tuesday. NATO
member Türkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel's two-year
assault on Gaza, calling it a genocide, which Israel denies. Along with Egypt
and Qatar, it has helped mediate the fragile ceasefire, emerging as a crucial
player and vowing to monitor the strict implementation of the accord. The source
said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would host Egyptian counterpart Badr
Abdelatty for Wednesday's talks on the possible next phases of the US-brokered
ceasefire agreement. Fidan would "state that, despite Israel's violations, the
Palestinian side is adhering to the conditions of the ceasefire and managing the
process in a positive way", the source said, adding Fidan would also note the
need for world powers to help rebuild the enclave and repeat Türkiye’s offer to
play a role in such efforts. Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have
repeatedly accused each other of breaching the October truce deal, with Israel
saying Hamas was stalling over returning hostage remains and Hamas saying Israel
continued to obstruct aid deliveries. With US urging, Türkiye has repeatedly
voiced its desire to join task forces to monitor the implementation of the
ceasefire, including an international stabilization force for which a UN
Security Council resolution is being sought. However, Israel has voiced its
opposition to such Turkish involvement, saying there would be no forces from
Türkiye present in Gaza. The ministers would also hold the inaugural meeting of
the Türkiye-Egypt Joint Planning Group, the source said. The meeting will
convene officials to work on preparations for high-level talks to be held in
Cairo next year, in line with an agreement signed last year. Ankara has
repeatedly praised Egypt for its role in taking in and facilitating humanitarian
aid shipments for Gaza. It has sent thousands of tons of aid and offered to help
Hamas find bodies of Israeli hostages as per the deal. Earlier this month,
ministers from seven Muslim countries met in Istanbul to discuss Gaza, but Egypt
did not attend the meeting. Fidan also held talks with US officials on Syria and
Gaza while on a visit to Washington on Monday, after which he said they had
discussed possible next steps in the ceasefire deal.
Macron warns any planned West Bank annexation a ‘red
line’
AFP/November 11, 2025
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday that any Israeli plans
for annexation in the West Bank would be a “red line” and would provoke a
European reaction. He spoke as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas visited Paris
one month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following two years of
war triggered by the militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.
Abbas, 89, is the longtime head of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises
limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and is being
considered to possibly assume governance in Gaza under the deal. Macron, whose
country in September recognized a Palestinian state, warned against any Israeli
plans for annexation in the West Bank following an uptick in violence in the
Palestinian territory. “Plans for partial or total annexation, whether legal or
de facto, constitute a red line to which we will respond strongly with our
European partners,” Macron said at a joint press conference with Abbas. “The
violence of the settlers and the acceleration of settlement projects are
reaching new heights, threatening the stability of the West Bank and constitute
violations of international law,” the French president said. Violence in the
West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023. At least
1,002 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by
Israeli forces or settlers since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the
Palestinian health ministry. During the same period, 43 Israelis, including
soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to
official Israeli figures. Following their meeting to discuss the next steps
after the Gaza ceasefire, Macron and Abbas announced the creation of a joint
committee “for the consolidation of the state of Palestine,” the French leader
said.It “will contribute to the drafting of a new constitution, a draft of which
President Abbas presented to me.”Abbas renewed his commitment to “reforms,”
including “holding presidential and parliamentary elections after the end of the
war.”“We are nearing completion of a draft of the provisional constitution of
the state of Palestine and the laws on elections and political parties,” he
added. Under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, an international
security force drawn from Arab and Muslim allies would stabilize Gaza as Israeli
troops withdraw, while a transitional authority would take over the territory’s
administration from Hamas until the Palestinian Authority has carried out
reforms. Trump said last week he expected an International Stabilization Force
tasked with monitoring the ceasefire to be in Gaza “very soon.”Last month’s
ceasefire has been tested by fresh Israeli strikes and claims of Palestinian
attacks on Israeli soldiers. Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths
of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally
based on official Israeli figures. The Israeli military’s retaliatory campaign
has since killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according
to Gaza’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United
Nations.
Israeli settlers attack two Palestinian villages in the
West Bank
AP/November 11, 2025
JERUSALEM: Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked a pair of Palestinian
villages in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, setting fire to vehicles and
other property before clashing with Israeli soldiers sent to halt the rampage,
Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
It was the latest in a recent series of violent attacks by young settlers in the
West Bank. Israeli police said four Israelis were arrested in what it described
as “extremist violence,” while the Israeli military said four Palestinians were
wounded. Police and Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said they were
investigating. Videos on social media showed two charred trucks engulfed in
flames, with a nearby building on fire. Settler violence has surged since the
war in Gaza erupted two years ago. The attacks have intensified in recent weeks
as Palestinians harvest their olive trees in an annual ritual.
The UN humanitarian office last week reported more Israeli settler attacks on
Palestinians in the West Bank in October than in any other month since it began
keeping track in 2006. There were over 260 attacks, the office said. Earlier on
Tuesday, tens of thousands of Israelis attended the funeral of an Israeli
soldier whose body had been held in Gaza for 11 years, overflowing and blocking
surrounding streets as somber crowds stood with Israeli flags. The burial of Lt.
Hadar Goldin was a moment of closure for his family, which had traveled the
world in a public campaign seeking his return. The huge turnout also reflected
the importance of the case for the broader public in Israel, where Goldin became
a household name during the struggle to bring his remains home. Hamas returned
his remains on Sunday as part of the Trump-brokered ceasefire deal that began
last month. The bodies of four hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel
on Oct. 7, 2023, are still in Gaza.
Settler violence in the West Bank
Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police of
failing to halt attacks by settlers. Israel’s government is dominated by West
Bank settlers, and the police force is overseen by Cabinet minister Itamar Ben-Gvir,
a hard-line settler leader. In Tuesday’s incident, the army said soldiers
initially responded to settler attacks in the villages of Beit Lid and Deir
Sharaf. It said the settlers fled to a nearby industrial zone and attacked
soldiers sent to the scene and damaged a military vehicle. Palestinian official
Muayyad Shaaban, who heads the government’s Commission against the Wall and
Settlements, said the settlers set fire to four dairy trucks, farmland, tin
shacks and tents belonging to a local Bedouin community. He said the attacks
were part of a campaign to drive Palestinians from their land and accused Israel
of giving the settlers protection and immunity. He called for sanctions against
groups that “sponsor and support the colonial settlement terrorism
project.”French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the attacks during his
meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Tuesday. “Settler
violence and the acceleration of settlement projects are reaching new heights,
threatening the stability of the West Bank and constituting violations of
international law,” he said.
Palestinians in Gaza still struggling to access food
On Tuesday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in
Gaza has risen to 69,182. Its count — generally considered by independent
experts as reliable — does not distinguish between militants and civilians, but
the ministry says more than half of those killed were women and children.
Displaced Palestinians in central Gaza say they continue to rely heavily on
charity kitchens for their only daily meal, as soaring market prices and the
lack of income have left them struggling to afford daily living costs. Scores of
people, most of them children, lined up with empty pots at a charity kitchen in
Nuseirat refugee camp on Tuesday waiting to be served rice — the only food
available that day. “The rockets and planes stopped but increasing living costs
has been the hardest weapon used against us,” said Mohamed Al-Naqlah, a
displaced Palestinian living in Nuseirat. The latest war began with a Hamas-led
attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when around 1,200 people, mostly civilians,
were killed, and 251 people were kidnapped. Funeral for Israeli soldier held
hostage for 11 years after his death. Goldin was 23 when he was killed two hours
after a ceasefire took effect in the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. For
years before the 2023 attack, posters with the faces of Goldin and Oron Shaul,
another soldier whose body was abducted in the 2014 war, stared down from
intersections as their families campaigned for the return of their bodies.
Israel’s military long ago determined that Goldin had been killed based on
evidence found in the tunnel where his body was taken, including a blood-soaked
shirt and prayer fringes. The military retrieved Shaul’s body in January. On
Tuesday, it announced it had dismantled the tunnel shaft where his body was
found. “Hadar, we waited for you 11 years, that’s a long time. A very long time.
I honestly can’t explain how we did it,” Goldin’s mother, Leah, said as she
stood next to his grave. Eulogies from Goldin’s siblings, parents, and former
fiancee at his funeral never mentioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who
was also prime minister when Goldin was kidnapped and for most of the period
since. They continuously thanked the Israeli military, including reserve
soldiers, who tirelessly searched for Goldin’s body over the years. Netanyahu
did not attend the funeral, though Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen.
Eyal Zamir, gave a eulogy on behalf of the military. Benny Gantz, an opposition
lawmaker who was the chief of staff during Goldin’s abduction, attended with
former military leaders. For years, Israel had four hostages in Gaza: Goldin,
Shaul, and two Israelis with mental health issues who had crossed into Gaza on
their own and were held since 2014 and 2015. All four were returned in the past
year. In the 2014 war, over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds
of civilians, and widespread damage was inflicted on Gaza’s infrastructure.
Another 73 people were killed on the Israeli side during 50 days of fighting.
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer resigns
Reuters/November 11, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who played a leading
role in negotiations during the Gaza war and was a close confidant of Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned on Tuesday. His departure follows weeks of
speculation in Israeli media and marks the end of a tenure that began in late
2022, when he was tapped for the post after years as Israel’s ambassador to
Washington. “I am writing to inform you of my decision to end my position as
minister for strategic affairs,” Dermer wrote in a two-page letter to Netanyahu
released to the media. There was no immediate response to a request for comment
from the prime minister’s office. The US-born Dermer wrote that when he became
minister of strategic affairs in December 2022, he promised his family he would
serve for no more than two years and twice he extended it with their blessing.
He wrote the first time was to work with Netanyahu to remove the existential
threat of Iran’s military nuclear capability in June and the second was to
negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza in October and the return of Israel’s hostages
held in Gaza. “What I am to expect in the future I don’t know but one thing I
know for sure: In all that I will do, I will continue to do my part to secure
the future of the Jewish people,” he wrote. Dermer was one of Netanyahu’s most
trusted advisers, negotiating the October ceasefire with both the Trump
administration and Arab countries. Dermer was ambassador to Washington from
2013-2021. His service there overlapped with Republican President Donald Trump’s
first term from 2017-2021. Many Democrats regarded Dermer as having gotten too
close to the Republicans during his Washington tenure, undermining the
bipartisan relationships nurtured by previous Israeli envoys in the US capital.
UNICEF says Israel blocking one million syringes needed to vaccinate Gaza
children
Reuters/November 11, 2025
GENEVA: UNICEF said on Tuesday essential items including syringes to vaccinate
children and bottles for baby formula are being denied entry into Gaza by
Israel, preventing aid agencies from reaching those in need in the
war-devastated territory. As UNICEF undertakes a mass children’s vaccination
campaign with a fragile ceasefire in place, it said it faces serious challenges
getting 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered fridges to store vaccine vials
into Gaza. The syringes have awaited customs clearance since August, UNICEF
said. “Both the syringes and the ... refrigerators are considered dual-use by
Israel and these items we’re finding very hard to get them through clearances
and inspections, yet they are urgent,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said.
“Dual-use” refers to items Israel deems to have possible military as well as
civilian applications. COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid
flows into Gaza, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has
previously said it is not limiting the entry of food, water, medical supplies
and shelter items. It has also accused Hamas of stealing humanitarian supplies,
accusations the Palestinian militant group denies. UNICEF launched the first of
three rounds of catch-up immunizations on Sunday to reach over 40,000 children
under three who missed routine vaccines against polio, measles and pneumonia,
following two years of war in Gaza. On the first day of the campaign it reached
over 2,400 children with multiple vaccines. “The vaccination campaign has
started, but we have two rounds to go, and for that we need more supplies,”
Pires said. UNICEF said more humanitarian aid is getting into Gaza but some
critical items continued to be denied entry by Israeli authorities, including
938,000 bottles of ready-to-use infant formula and spare parts for water trucks.
“That’s nearly one million bottles that could be reaching children who have been
suffering from different levels of malnutrition,” Pires told a news briefing in
Geneva. The October 10 truce was meant to unleash a massive surge of aid across
the enclave, but relief agencies have repeatedly said not enough is getting in
to meet the needs of a largely displaced and malnourished population of 2
million.
Israeli Parliament Advances Death Penalty Bill Backed by
Ben-Gvir
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 11/2025
The Israeli parliament has advanced a bill that would mandate the death penalty
for Palestinian militants convicted of killing Israeli citizens, with some
lawmakers believing it would prevent future prisoner-release deals. In a vote
held late on Monday - the first of four needed for the measure to become law -
the bill passed with 39 in favor and 16 against, out of 120 lawmakers. Far-right
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had called on all political factions
to back the bill, which he has said was aimed at creating deterrence against
"Arab terrorism"."This is how we fight terror; this is how we create
deterrence," he said in a statement after the initial vote. "Once the law is
finally passed — terrorists will be released only to hell."
SOME PARTIES BOYCOTTED MONDAY'S VOTE
The bill will now move to a parliamentary committee for further debate before a
second and third vote. It is not guaranteed that it will become law, with
several key political parties having boycotted Monday's initial vote. Opposition
leader Yair Lapid was quoted by Israeli media as saying that he would not vote
in favor of the bill.
The PLO, the Palestinian national umbrella political group, condemned the vote,
with Palestinian National Council Speaker Rawhi Fattouh calling the draft law "a
political, legal, and humanitarian crime". The vote was also criticized by
Hamas. Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954, and the only
person ever executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, an
architect of the Nazi Holocaust, in 1962.Ben-Gvir has argued that imposing the
death penalty would deter anyone considering an attack similar to the Hamas-led
assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people,
most of them civilians, and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza,
according to Israeli tallies. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza killed more
than 69,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health officials
in Gaza. A tenuous ceasefire was agreed last month that included the release of
20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza, plus the remains of deceased ones in
exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
PRISONER RELEASE DEALS
Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees since
October 2023 in exchange for the release of the hostages that were being held by
Palestinian fighters.
Most of the hostages have been released except for the remains of three deceased
Israelis and one foreigner. Tzvika Foghel, a member of Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power
party and chair of the parliamentary national security committee, where the bill
will now be debated, said imposing the death penalty would mean no more prisoner
deals. Palestinians who have been released have included some convicted of
serious crimes, including murder. There were also many who had not been
convicted of any crime. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October
2023 attack on Israel, was released in 2011 as part of an exchange of more than
1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier held in Gaza. Far-right
Israeli politicians such as Ben-Gvir have, during the war in Gaza, opposed the
release of Palestinians who were involved in the killings of Israelis. Ben-Gvir
handed out sweets to fellow lawmakers after the initial vote passed. In Gaza,
some Palestinian militants had handed out sweets to the public after the October
2023 attack.
Iran Says Dismantled US-Israeli Spy Network
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 11/2025
Iran said Tuesday it had broken up a spy network linked to both Israeli and US
spy agencies, months after the war between the country and its archenemy Israel.
"An anti-security network led by the US and Israeli intelligence services was
identified inside the country and dismantled after several stages of
observation, surveillance, and other intelligence measures," the intelligence
organization of the Revolutionary Guards said. "The operation was carried out in
a coordinated manner in a number of provinces," the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC), the ideological arm of Iran's military, said in a statement
carried by state television. It did not provide any details on the time or the
location of the crackdown nor the number of any arrests. In June, Israel
launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, killing more than a
thousand people, according to Iranian official figures, including senior
military commanders and nuclear scientists. Tehran retaliated with missile and
drone attacks on Israel. The United States briefly joined the war, with a night
of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel
has been in place since June 24. Last month, Iranian authorities approved a bill
toughening penalties for those convicted of spying on behalf of Israel and the
United States. Iran has since hanged several people accused of espionage for
Israel.
Yemen's Houthi rebels signal that they've stopped
attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping
JON GAMBRELL/Associated Press/November 11, 2025
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels are signaling they’ve
stopped their attacks against Israel and shipping in the Red Sea as a shaky
ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip. In an undated letter to Hamas’ Qassam
Brigades published online by the group, the Houthis offered their clearest
signal that their attacks have halted. “We are closely
monitoring developments and declare that if the enemy resumes its aggression
against Gaza, we will return to our military operations deep inside the Zionist
entity, and we will reinstate the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and
Arabian Seas,” the letter from Maj. Gen. Yusuf Hassan al-Madani, the Houthi
military's chief of staff, reads. The Houthis have not offered any formal
acknowledgment their campaign in the region has halted. Israel's military, which
has launched attacks killing senior Houthi leaders, declined to comment Tuesday
when reached by The Associated Press. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz
threatened in September to hit the Houthis “sevenfold” for attacks targeting
Israel following a drone attack on Eilat that wounded 22 people.The Houthis
gained international prominence during the Israel-Hamas war with their attacks
on shipping and Israel, which they said were aimed at forcing Israel to stop
fighting. Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, no attacks have been claimed by
the rebel group. While the Houthis insisted their campaign targeted
Israel-affiliated vessels, the ships attacked have had limited — if any —
relationship to the Israel-Hamas war.
The campaign has killed at least nine mariners and seen four ships sunk. It
upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed
each year before the war. The rebels’ most recent attack hit the Dutch-flagged
cargo ship Minervagracht on Sept. 29, killing one crew member on board and
wounding another. The attacks greatly disrupted
transits through Egypt's Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea to the
Mediterranean. The canal remains one of the top providers of hard currency for
Egypt, providing it $10 billion in 2023 as its wider economy struggles. The
International Monetary Fund in July said the Houthi attacks “reduced foreign
exchange inflows from the Suez Canal by $6 billion in 2024.”While traffic has
inched up recently in the lull in attacks, many shippers continue to go around
Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The U.S. launched an intense bombing campaign targeting the rebels
earlier this year that President Donald Trump halted just before his trip to the
Mideast. The Biden administration also conducted strikes against the Houthis,
including using America's B-2 bombers to target what it described as underground
bunkers used by the Houthis. Meanwhile, the Houthis
have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and taken dozens of workers at U.N.
agencies and other aid groups as prisoners, alleging without evidence that they
were spies — something fiercely denied by the U.N. and others.
Israel passes first reading of bill proposing death penalty for people it deems
terrorists
Yolande Knell - Middle East correspondent/BBC/November 11, 2025
Israel's parliament has passed the first reading of a bill proposing the death
penalty for those it deems to be terrorists acting against the state - a
requirement which means it is likely to be used only against Palestinians
convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis. The bill -
which has been condemned by the Palestinian Authority and human rights groups -
was backed in the 120-seat Knesset by 39 votes to 16.
Far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir - whose Jewish Power party
brought the vote - celebrated late on Monday by handing out sweets.
In the same session, the Knesset also approved the first reading of
another controversial bill allowing the Israeli government to close a foreign
media outlet without court approval. That vote was 50 in favour and 41 against.
The legislation aims to turn a temporary order that allowed the closure
of Qatari-owned Al Jazeera in May 2024, into a permanent law. It has been
opposed by the government's legal advisers. While the
death penalty does exist for a small number of crimes in Israel it has only been
used twice since 1948 when the state was created. The last time was when the
Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, was hanged in 1962, after a public trial.
An amendment to the penal code was demanded by the Jewish Power party and
signed off by the Knesset's National Security Committee, which said in a
statement that its purpose was to "nip terrorism in the bud and create a weighty
deterrent".The statement read: "It is proposed that a terrorist convicted of
murder motivated by racism or hatred towards the public, and under circumstances
where the act was committed with the intent to harm the State of Israel and the
rebirth of the Jewish nation in its homeland will be sentenced to the death
penalty - mandatory."The clause about harming Israel makes it likely that
Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, but not Jewish Israelis, will be
sentenced to death. The foreign ministry of the
Palestinian Authority - which governs parts of the occupied West Bank - called
the proposed law a "new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality
against the Palestinian people".
Ben-Gvir had long pushed for the death penalty bill to be brought to a Knesset
vote, but such a move was previously opposed by Israeli political and security
leaders who argued it could complicate efforts to free living Israeli hostages
held by Hamas in Gaza. That is no longer a concern
since their return after the start of the Gaza ceasefire last month. Ben-Gvir
was one of just a few Israeli ministers who voted against the Gaza ceasefire
deal which aimed to end the war. This saw 20 living hostages sent home in
exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including about 250 serving life
sentences, many convicted of killing Israelis. "A dead terrorist does not get
released alive," commented Limor Son Har-Melech, a member of Jewish Power, and
sponsor of the bill. In 2003, during the Second
Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, a then-pregnant Har-Melech and her husband -
who lived in a settlement in the occupied West Bank - were attacked by
Palestinian gunmen while in their car. Her husband was killed and she was
injured, leading her to give birth by an emergency caesarean section.
She told the Knesset one of her husband's killers went on to be released
in a previous exchange deal to bring home an Israeli soldier held captive in
Gaza. She said he went on to command a deadly attack on another Israeli and take
part in the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, before he was killed during the
Gaza war.
Responding to the draft bill, Palestinian human rights organisations said its
"most alarming aspect" would be that if it became law, it could be used to apply
retroactively. They suggested its intent was
"executing collective death sentences that could target hundreds of Palestinian
detainees from the Al-Qassam Brigades' elite forces who were arrested on or
after 7 October", referring to Hamas's military wing.
Israel's justice minister has already said he is seeking Knesset legislation to
set up a special criminal tribunal to try Gazans accused of involvement in the
attacks of 7 October 2023, in a process that could result in death sentences
being handed down to those convicted. Some 1,200 people were killed two years
ago in the cross-border attack on southern Israel by several thousand armed
Hamas fighters. In the war that it triggered, the Hamas-run health ministry said
more than 69,000 people were killed in Gaza.
The push by Israeli lawmakers to formalise what has become known as the "Al
Jazeera Law" also follows on from the Gaza ceasefire.
During the war, a ban imposed by Israel's ministry of communications forced Al
Jazeera to close its office at a hotel in occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli
military then ordered the closure of the network's office in the West Bank city
of Ramallah, claiming it was a threat to national security. Israel accused Al
Jazeera of anti-Israel bias and of supporting Hamas in its news coverage. Al
Jazeera has repeatedly denied such accusations and condemned Israel's actions.
The new international media legislation would give the government permanent
powers to stop foreign broadcasters in Israel, even outside times of war or
national emergency and would remove the need for judicial oversight.
Last year, when petitioning the High Court of Justice against the
temporary order allowing sanctions on foreign broadcasters, the Association for
Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) argued that "the law violates freedom of
expression, the right to information and freedom of the press, and blocks
citizens and residents from receiving a variety of information that does not fit
the Israeli narrative or is not broadcast on Israeli media channels."The two
controversial bills are expected to be prepared for second and third
parliamentary readings.
A suicide bomber targets an Islamabad court, killing 12 people and wounding 27,
minister says
Munir Ahmed And Ishtiaq Mahsud/The Canadian Press/November 11, 2025
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber struck outside the gates of a district court
in Islamabad on Tuesday, detonating his explosives next to a police car and
killing 12 people, Pakistan's interior minister said, the latest in an uptick in
violence across the country. Witnesses described scenes of mayhem. The blast,
which also wounded 27 people, was heard for miles away and came at a time of day
when the area outside the court is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors.
A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group,
claimed responsibility for the attack. But shortly after, Sarbakaf Mohmand, a
commander from the group, sent WhatsApp messages insisting they had not made any
such claim. His group quit the Pakistani Taliban, or
TTP, after the head of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was killed in a blast in Afghanistan in
2022. Though some members recently rejoined the TTP, others keep their distance,
indicating continuing differences among the insurgents.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has staged smaller attacks in the past but its ability to
hit the Pakistani capital is likely to further compound the struggles of the
Pakistani government as it faces a resurgent Pakistani Taliban, border tensions
and a fragile ceasefire with neighboring Afghanistan. The attacker tried to
"enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle,”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists. Earlier reports by Pakistani
state-run media and two security officials said a car bomb caused the explosion.
Without giving evidence, Naqvi alleged that the attack was “carried out
by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the Pakistani
Taliban. Still, he said authorities are “looking into all aspects” of the
explosion. The attack drew drew widespread condemnation from the international
community, including from the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey
and several other countries.
Outside the court
Police quickly cordoned off the area around the court as a cloud of smoke rose
into the sky. The casualties were mostly passersby or those who had arrived for
court appointments, according to Islamabad police. “People started running in
all directions,” Mohammad Afzal, who was at the court at the time, told The
Associated Press. Naqvi said the discovery nearby of a
severed head, which the police said belonged to the attacker, confirmed the
blast was a suicide attack. The attacker was also later spotted in CCTV footage
from the site, he said.
Overnight attack at an army-run college
Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces said they foiled an attempt by militants to
take cadets hostage at an army-run college overnight, when a suicide car bomber
and five other attackers targeted the facility in a northwestern province.
The authorities blamed TTP — a separate militant group but allied with
the Afghan Taliban. The TTP denied involvement in Monday's attack and on
Tuesday, its spokesman Mohammad Khurasani also denied involvement in Tuesday's
attack. The attack on Monday evening started when a
bomber tried to storm the school in Wana, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
near the Afghan border. The area had until recent years served as a base for the
Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaida and other foreign militants.
According to the local police chief, Alamgir Mahsud, two of the militants
were quickly killed by troops while three others managed to enter the compound
before being cornered in an administrative block. He said the clearance
operation was still underway on Tuesday, some 20 hours after the attack.
The block is away from the building housing hundreds of cadets and other
staff, who were quickly evacuated to safer places by Pakistani commandos.
There were no immediate reports of casualties among the students or
staff. The army has not provided any information about military casualties.
Prime minister promises accountability
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the two attacks and called for
a full investigation, according to a statement issued in Islamabad. “We will
ensure the perpetrators are apprehended and held accountable,” he said. Sharif
described attacks on unarmed civilians as “reprehensible” and added: “We will
not allow the blood of innocent Pakistanis to go to waste.” Pakistan’s Defense
Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on X that the country is in a state of war
and laid the blame with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which Islamabad
accuses of sheltering the TTP. Afghanistan "can act to stop terrorism in
Pakistan, but bringing this war to Islamabad is a message from Kabul,” Asif said
and warned that Pakistan “has the strength to respond fully.”Pakistan has
outlawed the TTP, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, while the United
States and the United Nations have designated the group a terrorist
organization. The Afghan Taliban takeover in Kabul in 2021 emboldened the TTP,
and many of its leaders and fighters are believed to have taken refuge in
Afghanistan. Kabul denies it's protecting the TTP.
Militant attacks in Pakistan have surged in recent years. The deadliest assault
on a school occurred in 2014, when a breakaway TTP faction killed 154 people,
mostly children, at an army-run school in Peshawar. The military claimed the
attackers in Wana wanted to repeat the assault. Tensions between Pakistan and
Afghanistan have risen in recent months. Kabul has blamed Islamabad for drone
strikes on Oct. 9 that killed several people in the Afghan capital and vowed
retaliation. The ensuing cross-border fighting killed dozens of soldiers,
civilians and militants before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which
remains in place. Since then, two rounds of peace talks have been held in
Istanbul — the latest on Thursday — but ended without agreement after Kabul
refused to provide a written assurance that the TTP and other militant groups
would not use Afghan territory against Pakistan. An earlier, brief ceasefire
between Pakistan and the TTP, brokered by Kabul in 2022, collapsed later after
the group accused Islamabad of violating it. Mahsud reported from Dera Ismail
Khan, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar,
Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Iraq Parliamentary Election Paves Way for Tough Talks to
Form Govt
Baghdad: Fadhel al-Nashmi/November 11/2025
Iraq closed ballot boxes on Tuesday evening in its sixth parliamentary election
since 2005, ending a relatively calm voting day with no significant violations
reported, amid a boycott by followers of the Sadrist movement led by influential
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat the turnout figure is expected to approach 40
percent, a relative improvement from the previous election. They attributed the
rise to fresh momentum in western and northern cities, in Baghdad’s belt areas,
and to high participation rates in the Kurdistan region. By midday, the
Independent High Electoral Commission had announced a low turnout of 23 percent.
Technical performance and violations
On security and technical breaches, the sources said the electoral commission
showed marked improvement after quickly dealing with several problems during the
day, including fingerprint failures for elderly voters, manual laborers and
diabetes patients, as well as malfunctioning surveillance cameras. The
commission also replaced iris scans with special election ink for identity
verification. The sources said there were violations, but monitoring networks
saw nothing likely to affect the results. Jumana al-Ghalai, spokesperson for the
Commission, said the election process was successful and that it did not record
technical breaches during Tuesday’s general vote. She said the Commission was
completing procedures for manual counting and sorting and matching them with
electronic results.
Tough negotiations ahead
Politically, sources said competing parties agree on the need to launch rapid
negotiations to form a new government, though substantive talks will only begin
once final results are settled. They expect difficult talks among all Shiite
parties under the banner of the “largest bloc”, which is required to put forward
a nominee to form the next government. As soon as results are announced and
parties know the size of their blocs, and even before the Federal Supreme Court
certifies them, side negotiations among winning lists will start. Most observers
expect these talks to be long and difficult. The ruling pro-Iran Coordination
Framework alliance said in a statement it was committed to respecting
constitutional timelines and to working seriously to form a government that
meets reform aspirations. Iraqi judicial authorities expect the Federal Supreme
Court to certify the results as soon as possible. Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani
said on Tuesday Iraq had “overcome the first hurdle by holding the election on
time without delay”. Al-Mashhadani told Asharq Al-Awsat the second hurdle was
also cleared, as the voting process proceeded smoothly and democratically with
very few violations.
He said the next phase requires shifting from power struggles to state building,
adding that this requires a government of competencies in a secure and
prosperous environment with a successful economy, not a government built on
political loyalties.
Sadr’s boycott
The complete absence of the Sadrist movement was evident after its leader
Moqtada al-Sadr ordered a boycott, leaving a large gap in the Shiite landscape
and lowering turnout because of the movement’s weight. The bloc won 72 seats in
the last election, a little under the total Shiite share in parliament. Sadr
issued two statements on election day urging followers to stay away, saying in
one, “I left a community that does not believe in the homeland or reform, and
denies them. The tried should not be tried again. We are boycotting corruption
and subservience.” These messages translated into near total abstention by his
supporters in their strongholds in Baghdad and other provinces. At the end of
the day, Sadr issued a third statement saying that although he had ordered a
boycott, his movement did not seek to disrupt the vote. “We are not seekers of
power but a project to save the homeland,” he said. He added full responsibility
now lies with those benefiting from the votes cast to restore Iraq to its
rightful path, pull it out of its bottleneck, end foreign interference, and
ensure all weapons are under the control of the state, including the Popular
Mobilization Forces.
Official congratulations
Senior officials congratulated Iraqis on the “success of the election process”.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Iraqi people had once again
taken a distinguished step toward greater stability and success and toward
strengthening the democratic system that reflects their free constitutional will
and their desire to continue building the state and supporting its institutions.
Al-Sudani said that the successful organization and implementation of the sixth
parliamentary election under Iraq’s permanent constitution meant the government
had fulfilled one of its major commitments in its executive program, as well as
its obligation to constitutional timelines and requirements ensuring peaceful
power transfer.
Main competing blocs
More than 7,740 candidates, about one third of them women, competed for 329
parliamentary seats across Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni blocs and parties. On the
Shiite side, participants included the Construction and Development Alliance led
by Prime Sudani, the State of Law Coalition led by former PM Nouri al-Maliki,
and other lists led by Badr Organization chief Hadi al-Amiri and Asaib Ahl al-Haq
Secretary General Qais al-Khazali. On the Sunni side, the Taqadum (Progress)
Party alliance led by former parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was the
most prominent, alongside the Sovereignty and Azm alliances. In the Kurdish
region, the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan, headed the field, joined by the New Generation Movement and
other nationalist and Islamist parties spread across the Kurdistan region.
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November 11-12/2025
Veterans, families brave cold to mark
Remembrance Day
Kyle Duggan/The Canadian Press/November 11/2025
OTTAWA — Canadians paused to remember the military members who put their lives
on the line to serve their country as Remembrance Day ceremonies got underway
Tuesday morning from coast to coast. Family members of
the war dead staked out spots hours in advance in the nation's snowy capital,
braving chilly weather to get a good view of the ceremony at the National War
Memorial. Brian Revet, who said he lost an uncle in the Second World War who
served as an aircraft gunner, travelled to Ottawa from Saskatoon for the
event.He arrived at 8 a.m. so that he could witness up close a ceremony he has
watched on television since he was a teenager."It's always meant a lot, ever
since I was 16 years old. I've never served, I couldn't imagine what it would be
like," he said. This year marks eight decades since
the end of the deadliest military conflict in history.Second World War veteran
John Preece, 99, told The Canadian Press he still remembers trudging through the
muck in poor weather during the war. "It was muddy and
cold and raining and snowing," he said. "It wasn't very nice."Preece, who served
as a private, was wounded when a sniper bullet struck his arm as he was
operating a Bren light machine gun in Holland in April 1945.He is one of just a
few thousand Canadian veterans from that pivotal war still alive."I don't know
any veterans (from the war). Never seen any. When I go to the old regiment in
Toronto to visit, there's nobody. Everybody's gone," he said. "How many people
do you know who are 100 or more?"
Veterans Affairs Canada said it estimates that as of this year, there are 3,691
surviving Canadian veterans of the Second World War — 667 women and 3,024 men.
"The events of the Second World War are very rapidly moving from the
realm of lived history of people you can talk to ... into history where you
can't talk to the people who remember them," said Jeff Noakes, Second World War
historian at the Canadian War Museum. The stories of that war — from the bloody
horrors of combat to the aftermath of post-war economic uncertainty — are
passing from the realm of living to recorded history as the number of veterans
who remember those days dwindles. "Even if you were
five years old when the war ended, you'd be 85 now." said Noakes. "So it's this
big shift from knowing a neighbour or a family member or somebody you could talk
to about this into ... moving out of the experience of lived history."
Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife Diana arrived at the National War
Memorial at about 10:45 a.m. He said in a media statement that the day honours
those who "sacrificed years away from loved ones," those who returned from
combat forever changed, and those who never came back at all. "We pause to
remember those acts of heroic service. We remember that our rights, our
freedoms, our way of life were fought for and were won by Canadians who answer
the call," Carney said. In his own media statement, Conservative Leader Pierre
Poilievre thanked military members for their "service on sea, land and air,"
adding "we honour the memories of all those who fell in our nation’s wars.""May
we all, in our own small ways, carry on their selfless spirit."In a rare turn of
events, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon was absent from the ceremony as she recovered from
a respiratory virus in hospital. Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner
stepped in to preside over the ceremony in Ottawa in her place. At the service
in Halifax, N.S., Boston’s newly reelected Mayor Michelle Wu was among the
attendees. Mayor Wu accompanied Halifax Mayor Andy
Fillmore, and said she was happy to attend the ceremony as a show of the
continuing relationship between Halifax and Boston. Wu laid a wreath at the
local cenotaph on behalf of the City of Boston.
Israel and India, Both Under Threat, Solidify Ties
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute./November 11, 2025
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22043/israel-india-solidify-ties
Both Israel and India have pledged to cooperate on future
dual-use technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing and
robotics, as well as space projects.
India, a Hindu-majority country, is, like Israel, a democracy bordered by
authoritarian states. India, like Israel, is exposed daily to internal and
external threats, with the neighboring Islamic Republic of Pakistan seeking
India's destruction.
Perhaps the most meaningful dimension of this growing alliance, apart from the
benefits of the often outstanding education in both nations, is the element of
shared values and trust. It is a strengthening alliance, uplifting to watch.
Israel and India have in recent years been developing increasingly amicable
relations and deepening military cooperation. Their activities include
co-production of weapons systems such as drones and air-defense missiles, joint
defense exercises, and intelligence exchanges between their special forces.
Perhaps the most meaningful dimension of this growing alliance, apart from the
benefits of the often outstanding education in both nations, is the element of
shared values and trust.
Israel, reacting to the usual condemnations from its supposed European allies,
is understandably seeking assurance that its armed forces will have, in any
future military crisis, an uninterrupted supply of critical weapons, spare parts
and ammunition.
As some European states that were arms suppliers to Israel, such as Germany,
have embargoed the delivery of weaponry, India seems to be a prime candidate to
satisfy Israel's ongoing needs.
India, a Hindu-majority country, is, like Israel, a democracy bordered by
authoritarian states. India, like Israel, is exposed daily to internal and
external threats, with the neighboring Islamic Republic of Pakistan seeking
India's destruction.
Israel and India are both multiethnic, politically pluralistic societies. Both
countries are threatened by a large minority of residents who do not share the
democratic values of the majority, and both were recently reminded of this
vulnerability when India was victimized by a Pakistani-sponsored terrorist
murder of 26 tourists in Kashmir, and Hamas-affiliated terrorists attacked
passengers on a Jerusalem bus, murdering six people.
Israel and India have in recent years been developing increasingly amicable
relations and deepening military cooperation. Their activities include
co-production of weapons systems such as drones and air-defense missiles, joint
defense exercises, and intelligence exchanges between their special forces.
Israel and India have joined the "I2U2 Group" of US, Indian, Israeli, and UAE
member states who have pledged to maintain maritime security. Freedom of the sea
lanes from the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea is critical for
India's export trade to Europe and for the delivery of imports from the Far East
to the Israeli port of Haifa.
Increased political cooperation on the international scene between the two
states is also clearly apparent. India has abstained on several UN resolutions
condemning Israel for its military presence in Gaza. Israel, for its part,
supported India's military retaliation against Pakistan during May 2025's
conflict between the two nuclear powers. Both Israel and India have pledged to
cooperate on future dual-use technologies, including artificial intelligence,
quantum computing and robotics, as well as space projects.
There is no history of nativist anti-Semitism in India. Many young Israelis,
after their obligatory national military service, spend time vacationing there.
Tens of thousands of Indian Jews immigrated to Israel following its founding in
1948.
Perhaps the most meaningful dimension of this growing alliance, apart from the
benefits of the often outstanding education in both nations, is the element of
shared values and trust. It is a strengthening alliance, uplifting to watch.
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense
Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in
the Air Force Reserve.
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen... is Not Dormant!
Mashari Al-Zaydi/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 11, 2025 (Translated from
Arabic)
As a reminder, the "Al-Qaeda" organization was—and still is—a present danger and
a visible threat. The fact that the media, or most of it, here has stopped
following its news and exposing its calamities does not mean that it has
vanished and dissolved into the historical sea of darkness. The "Arabian
Peninsula" has been among the organization's targets since the days of its
founder and first symbol, Osama bin Laden. The two most important countries in
this peninsula, according to the organization, are Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Saudi
Arabia, because it is the ultimate goal of all militarized fundamentalist
organizations, both Sunni and Shia, due to its status as the wellspring of
Islam, the birthplace of revelation, and the land of the two Holy Mosques, in
addition to its symbolic Arab value, historical appeal, and global economic and
strategic weight.
Yemen, because it has historically been a stronghold for extremist organizations
and groups fleeing the center, from the days of the Ismaili movements, to the
Zaydi Imamates, and to "Al-Qaeda" organizations from the moment of its birth,
and because of how Osama bin Laden viewed the great value of Yemen to the
organization. Today, speaking of the Zaydi—I mean the extremist version of
it—the extremist Houthi version, and speaking of the "Al-Qaeda" organization, it
is worth noting this "new" news which states that American airstrikes were
launched late last Sunday night in the town of Khawra, in the Lower Markhah
district of the Shabwah governorate in southeastern Yemen. The location of
Khawra, which is more than 120 kilometers from the center of Shabwah and borders
Al-Bayda governorate, is considered part of what observers have described as the
"Triangle of Cooperation" (Takhadum), as stated in Al-Arabiya Net's commentary
on the news.According to the local news website "News Yemen," rugged areas
shared between Shabwah, Abyan, and Al-Bayda cooperate in providing a safe haven
for Al-Qaeda elements, with logistical and technical support from the Houthi
militia.
Observers in that report confirm that the unannounced cooperation between the
Houthis and Al-Qaeda in this "Triangle of Cooperation" constitutes a continuous
threat to regional security. It provides the terrorist organization with secure
sanctuaries amidst caves and rugged mountains, making any attempt by the armed
forces to enter these locations fraught with danger, and, as described by the
sources, is equivalent to a suicide announcement. Place this "cooperation" (Takhadum)
between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda in the rugged southern regions, Shabwah and
others, alongside the "cooperation" (Takhadum) between the Houthis and the "Al-Shabaab"
organization in Somalia (Al-Qaeda in its Somali form), and the latter and the
"Al-Qaeda" organization itself in Yemen.
After Al-Qaeda's defeat in Saudi Arabia in the days of (Al-Ayiri, Al-Muqrin,
Saleh Al-Oufi) and others, the organization moved its center to Yemen. It still
has Saudi elements today, and its sinister goals against Saudi Arabia have not
faded. Therefore, paying attention to these dangers is an imperative matter,
security-wise, politically, and media-wise... and most importantly, studying and
monitoring these dangers and their development, just as a doctor monitors the
"case" before him constantly, and not settling for the first session... The
health of minds and nations is like the health of bodies, or greater.
Mamdani... and New York’s ‘Swallow’!
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/November 11/2025
The British are fond of the proverb: “One swallow does not make a summer.” This
reference to migrating birds conveys the idea that one-off exception cannot be
taken as a rule that applies everywhere at all times. A young Muslim candidate
of the left’s victory in the New York mayoral race is one such exception. It’s
not every day that Americans elect young men like Zohran Mamdani, who now leads
the largest city and economic capital of the United States. Mamdani openly calls
himself a Muslim and a socialist. This young man of Indian descent, raised in
Africa (Uganda), won the race in a city that happens to have the world’s
second-largest Jewish community, with around a third of Jewish New Yorkers
voting for him! This is certainly an extraordinary development, so we cannot
simply overlook it. Indeed, we immediately saw a torrent of takes from across
the spectrum.
Some reacted negatively, expressing “deep concern” that the US could be lost and
decrying the “fall” of New York to a four-year “Muslim occupation,” as one
conservative Republican senator from Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, put it. Others
were more “reassuring.” The British magazine The Economist, while critical of
Mamdani and his political ideas, argued that New York has unique dynamics and
that, therefore, the result does not reflect a national political shift. In my
humble opinion, The Economist is right to point out New York’s particularity,
albeit with a tone that betrays a touch of wishful thinking, perhaps the result
of its apprehension at seeing the left make electoral progress in the West, even
when it is merely a reaction to excessively conservative policies. The fact is
that many of the prominent European and American publications are not
comfortable taking sides in clear-cut contests between left and right.
At present, with the far right rising on both sides of the Atlantic,
“respectable” media outlets (like The Economist) find themselves faced with a
dilemma. Tangible factors prevent them from endorsing what they see as the
radical left. Their respect for the traditions of democracy and civil liberties,
however, means that they are terrified of fascist and racist right-wing forces.
Despite its population of about 8.5 million, New York City certainly does not
represent the entire country; the United States has a population of over 340
million people. The divergences of American society (between states, cities,
religions, sects, and ethnic origins) are immense, and it is a country of vast
disparities in wealth, financial resources, development, education, culture, and
so on. A striking post on X caught my attention a few weeks ago: an infographic
highlighting some of the vast disparities between the states and how these
disparities reflect on voters’ political choices. Two examples were contrasted
to reflect the broad and deep political and developmental divides among
America’s fifty states. The first is Oklahoma. President Donald Trump and the
Republican Party’s candidates won every electoral district there in 2024. The
second is Massachusetts, where the Democratic Party’s candidates won every
district.
Oklahoma, located in the heart of the American interior and along the
conservative, fundamentalist “Bible Belt,” is one of the leading oil-producing
states. It was among the last to join the Union, originally established as a
reservation for Native American tribes.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, is in the far northeast, and it played a
prominent role in shaping the American “nation” in the early stages. Its
capital, Boston, is the country’s oldest major city, as well as its academic and
cultural “stronghold” and the home to the old American aristocratic families who
built schools and universities and founded banks and corporations. Let’s set
history aside and focus, instead, on the socioeconomic indicators that political
analysts use to explain political behavior and voting patterns.
Oklahoma currently ranks 44th in education, 49th in healthcare, 44th in quality
of life, and 50th- dead last- in standardized test scores. It also ranks among
the ten poorest states in the country. In contrast, Massachusetts ranks first in
education, second in healthcare, first in quality of life, and first in
standardized testing. It is also one of the ten least impoverished states. These
figures tell us two things. First, there are many Americas, not one. Second, the
Republican and Democratic parties currently reflect a stark political divide
regarding the country’s present and its future.
In the past, the Republican Party represented urban elites who advocated for a
strong “centralized state.” Cities like New York and Boston were among its
political strongholds. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, represented rural
America, large landowners, and “state rights” advocates. Today, however, the two
major parties have been transformed: the Republican Party is now a coalition of
religious conservatives, the social and economic right, and libertarian
oligarchs. For their part, the Democrats have become a broad “tent” uniting
liberals, moderates, and socialists.
Accordingly, I believe that the battle over the United States’ “identity” has
now entered a new stage, and it will be a while before we know the outcome. I
remember that when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, many were under
the impression that the United States had entered a new era. They saw his
victory as a rupture that would herald an America of racial, religious, and
cultural openness. However, that illusion collapsed under the weight of the
slogans that figures like Steve Bannon raised during Donald Trump’s 2016
campaign. For that reason, I believe it would be wise to wait and see before
drawing conclusions about the real implications of Mamdani’s victory in New
York, especially since we are in the age of algorithms shaped by a right-wing
oligarchy.
Anti-Jewish hate in Toronto reaching breaking point,
advocate says
:Bryan Passifiume/Toronto Sun/November 11/2025
'I think it's going to escalate into deadly violence,' Aviva Klompas says
Toronto’s institutional tolerance of anti-Israel activism is putting the city’s
Jewish population at risk, according to a prominent international advocate.
And it’s just a matter of time before somebody loses their life in this wave of
hatred, said Aviva Klompas, founder and CEO of pro-Israel think tank Boundless.
Klompas told the Toronto Sun the latest antisemitic attack against Kehillat
Shaarei Torah on Bayview Avenue — the tenth time the orthodox synagogue was
targeted by anti-Israel activists in two years — represents a worrying turning
point in Toronto’s antisemitism crisis. The message these attacks send is clear,
Klompas said. “The message being sent is that Jews can be targeted, and there
are no consequences in Toronto,” she said. “If any other house of worship was
vandalized 10 times, it would be a national emergency — it would be front-page
news, and the question that every Canadian, every person of conscience should be
asking is why isn’t anyone doing anything to stop it?”
Cops have yet to make arrest
Toronto Police have yet to make an arrest in the city’s latest example of
anti-Jewish hate, a wave of discrimination and intimidation that both Mayor
Olivia Chow and Chief Myron Demkiw have done little to quench.
“That’s the synagogue that I grew up in,” said the U.S.-based Klompas, who was
born in Toronto. “It’s the synagogue where I had my bat mitzvah, where I served
as youth director.”
Selected Face Book & X tweets for
November 11/2025
"Lest We Forget"—
Edmond El-Chidiac
today, Canadians honor the memory of all veterans who have fallen and sacrificed
their lives for freedom and liberty around the world. On Remembrance Day, marked
annually on November 11, we pause to reflect on their courage and selflessness,
wearing the iconic red poppy as a symbol of gratitude and remembrance. Their
legacy inspires us to preserve peace and cherish the liberties earned through
the sacrifices of Canadian men and women in times of war and conflict.
Charles Elias Chartouni
Notice on the controversy caused by the conference organized by Henry Laurens on
Palestine at the Collège de France under Qatar:
You've chosen militancy at the expense of science; you've succumbed to the
spirit of profit by accepting Qatar's money that controls partly this conference
with CAREP's Salam Kawakibi and their boss Azmi Bechara. Stop complaining you
are a victim of your choices and interests of this lowly world. Finally you have
compromised the reputation of this venerable institution that dates back to the
renaissance that is the Collège de France whose motto "Docet Omnia" has been
tainted by ideological turpitudes and venality. I worked there for three years
as a PhD student from the time of the greats: Raymond Aron, Claude Lévi Strauss,
Michel Foucault, Charles Henri Puech, Jacques Berque, Roland Barthes, Henri
Cazelles, André Lemaire, Pierre Bordreuil, Javier Teixidor,... We had never
known such an outrageous atmosphere of ideological pollution. One should be
ashamed and more critical. Specialists in the matter are Georges Ben Soussan,
Pierre Birnbaum, Zeev Sternhell, Benny Morris, Simha Flapan, Itamar Rabinovitch....
Critical retrospection and moral honesty would be helpful in this case. The
support of Régis Debray and others serves as a fake fugitive ... One should be
grateful to Professor Thomas Römer, the current administrator of the Collège de
France, for protecting the reputation of this great institution like no other