English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  November 13/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me,
John/10/17-21/ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 12-13/2025
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: A very important commentary by the distinguished historian and media figure Ibrahim Issa,
A video link to a podcast interview with the writer and director Youssef Y. El-Khoury from "Poli Cast with Sabine"
Reports: Israeli combat in Lebanon a matter of time amid concerns over Hezbollah response
Reports: All-out war ruled out between Israel and Hezbollah
Israeli army accuses Hezbollah of operating south of Litani
Army has reportedly completed 95% of disarmament plan south of Litani
KSA reportedly advises Lebanon to expedite arms monopoly, go to 'direct negotiations'
Aoun says Hezbollah not operating south of Litani
Berri urges unity, says threats to south are threats to 'all Lebanese'
Geagea says 1701, 2024 agreement and govt. decisions call for disarmament across Lebanon
Sami Gemayel says Hezbollah weapons clearly 'aimed at Lebanese' now
Lebanese Say Israel Preventing Post-war Reconstruction
Washington Tightens Squeeze on Hezbollah From Battlefield to Economy
Israel Says Hezbollah Trying to Rebuild, Smuggle in Arms from Syria
Hezbollah stirs sectarian tensions amid pressure over arms and finances
PM Salam: We Have Worked on Reconnecting Lebanon to the Arab World
On Lebanon’s Daily Test of Sovereignty/Rami al-Rayes/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 12/2025
A video link to a visit, a faith tour, and a report from Anthony Rahayel’s Youtube Platform, telling the story and history of Beit Maroun Monastery in Deir al-Ahmar

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 12-13/2025
Partition of Gaza risks becoming a de facto reality as Trump’s plan is mired in uncertainties
Deadlock in Second Phase of Ceasefire Puts Gaza on Brink of Renewed War
Israel Reopens Zikim Crossing in Northern Gaza for Aid Trucks, COGAT Says
Growing US Role in Gaza Raises Israeli Alarm
Trump Request to Pardon Netanyahu Sparks Israeli Concerns Over US Influence
Germany Arrests Another Alleged Member of Hamas Cell
Syria’s Sharaa: Trump Backs our Position on Israel’s Withdrawal to Pre-Dec. 8 Borders
Syria Opens Probe into Robbery at National Museum
UNDOF Raises Flag at Former Syrian Site Opposite Israeli Base
Austria Charges Two Syrian Ex-Officials Over Civil War Crimes
US Treasury Issues Iran-Related Missile and Drone Sanctions
Iran Nuclear Stalemate Drives Escalation with Israel, No End in Sight
IAEA says Iran yet to allow access to bombed nuclear sites, verification ‘overdue’
Tehran Taps Run Dry as Water Crisis Deepens Across Iran
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Presses G7 Allies for Support as Russia Targets Energy Grid Before Winter
Coalition led by Iraqi PM al-Sudani comes first in Iraq’s election, commission says
Israel’s longest war is leaving a trail of traumatized soldiers, with suicides also on the rise
UN watchdog hasn't been able to verify Iran's stockpile of near-weapons grade uranium in months
Iran Is Rebuilding Its Nuclear Program Deep Underground

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on November 12-13/2025
From New York to Gaza/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 12/2025
To Combat Iran’s Assassination Attempts, the US Must Project Strength/Tzvi Kahn/The Algemeiner/November 12/2025
The Flood that Sunk the Palestinian State/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/This is Beirut/November 12/2025
Erhurman’s election a step towards peace, but beware of Ankara’s appetiteSinan Ciddi & William Doran/Kathimerini/November 12/2025
Israel's Important New Allies, and an Old Enemy, Turkey/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/November 12/2025
Saudi Arabia is setting a new standard for peace and global diplomacy/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
The alignment between the United States and Syria/Bjorn and Lilian Schmid/Prayer Coordinators/November 12/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 12-13/2025
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: A very important commentary by the distinguished historian and media figure Ibrahim Issa,
Issa logically, rationally, and through experience and past examples, exposes the impossibility of political Islamist groups practicing governance while adhering to patriotism, constitutions, freedoms, democracy, and acceptance of others.
Title of the commentary: The True Face of the Muslim Brotherhood!
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/149098/
November 12/2025

A video link to a podcast interview with the writer and director Youssef Y. El-Khoury from "Poli Cast with Sabine"
The Interview addresses the scandals and corruption of the government, rulers, and the system (al-Manzuma), and the inevitable war to uproot Hezbollah.
November 12, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/149090/
The interview was broadcast on the YouTube Platform "Poli Cast with Sabine". The interview was conducted by journalist Sabine Youssef.
Main Headings, Quotes, and Interview Axes
Hezbollah is finished, meanwhile the real confrontation must be with the System's gang (al-Manzuma) that controls the state's joints and all its institutions.
The American policy in the Middle East is determined by Israel.
Complete understanding between Israel and the USA on the inevitability of eradicating Hezbollah, and USA is the one rushing, not Israel.
The prominent Shiites Hezbollah opponents so far are the left-wing group, while in reality there is no difference between them and Hezbollah.
It is required to strengthen the Shiites Right-wing opposed to Hezbollah.
Israeli peace with Lebanon is coming by force.
The Lebanese state is complicit with Hezbollah.
Nawaf Salam was supposed not to include Amal and Hezbollah in the government.
Nawaf Salam is part of the System's individuals, and if he wasn't core to it, he would have resigned the day Hezbollah defied him by illuminating the Raouche Rock.
Elections serve the System (al-Manzuma) to preserve the immunity and gains of its members, including Hezbollah, and the international community is conspiring with it.
Bank thefts are organized and internationally covered.
No salvation without dismantling and bringing down the System. (al-Manzuma)
The Scandal of the Endowment Lands in Diman 
The Pope's Visit and What He Should Know About Corruption
Bashir Gemayel and the Losing of the War 
Direct Quotes
"We want to get rid of Hezbollah and move towards peace."
"America and Israel are in agreement this time, and the plan is clear."
"The decision has been made... and the strike may target 1,200 objectives."
"Hezbollah gave the permission to Berri... and the Shiites rift is widening."
"The Elio crime, the drug file, and the investigations — no justifications."
"No reconstruction before confining Hezbollah's weapons — and the right of the expatriate to vote is fundamental."
"There is no hope for salvation until we openly address the issue of peace with Israel, the rights of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), and until justice is served for our people who took refuge in the State of Israel in 2000."
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/149090/

Reports: Israeli combat in Lebanon a matter of time amid concerns over Hezbollah response
Naharnet/November 12/2025
The Israeli army is “prepared for several days of combat in Lebanon” and the issue is “a matter of time,” Israeli reports have quoted a senior Israeli military official as saying. Concerns have meanwhile surfaced in the Israeli press over Hezbollah’s possible response to any operation in Lebanon. “Hezbollah’s resumption of firing at Israel might escalate the situation in the region into an all-out war,” the reports said. “The political leadership and the security and military agencies are not revealing their vision for the end-game of the days of combat and how they would guarantee that they would not lose control of the situation,” the reports added.

Reports: All-out war ruled out between Israel and Hezbollah
Naharnet/November 12/2025
All-out war between Israel and Hezbollah is ruled out in the foreseeable future, unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decides to commit a “foolishness that he might need before the Israeli elections,” political sources said. “But the current situation is the best for Israel, because it is waging war and achieving several goals without incurring human and material costs, and because any all-out war might push Hezbollah to respond and threaten the security of the (Israeli) north, after Netanyahu’s government said that it waged war on Lebanon to restore security in the settlements,” the sources told al-Binaa newspaper. “Israel does not go to a major war with Lebanon without coordinating with the Americans, whereas President Trump’s administration does not prefer an expansion of the war in Lebanon and its spread to the region amid the Americans’ preoccupation with several files such as Syria, Gaza, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, in addition to the domestic U.S. crises,” the sources said. The sources added that “any all-out Israeli war would require a ground incursion to achieve the military, security and political goals, and accordingly the scenario of the 66-day war will be repeated, after the Israeli forces failed to seize full land control of a single village.”The sources, however, noted that Israel might expand its strikes through major assassinations and incursions into border villages.

Israeli army accuses Hezbollah of operating south of Litani
Naharnet/November 12/2025
The Israeli army has accused Hezbollah of seeking to rebuild its combat abilities in south Lebanon. Military spokesman Nadav Shoshani also accused Hezbollah of operating south of the Litani River in violation of the ceasefire agreement. 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," he added.

Army has reportedly completed 95% of disarmament plan south of Litani
Naharnet/November 12/2025
The Lebanese Army has completed 95 percent of a plan to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani river, official sources told al-Binaa newspaper. Since a ceasefire was reached with Israel last year, the United States has increased pressure on Lebanese authorities to disarm Hezbollah. In August, the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise a disarmament plan. Since then, the army has briefed the government twice on the plan but the discussions were kept secret. The army says the Israeli occupation of five hills in south Lebanon and the near-daily strikes are obstructing its deployment in the south.
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said Tuesday that Washington is trying to force the country to make concessions to Israel with no commitments offered in return, vowing that Hezbollah will not give up its weapons. Meanwhile, Egyptian diplomats are willing to mediate between Lebanon and Israel to resolve sticking points and ease the border tensions, diplomatic circles told al-Binaa. Qassem said Tuesday that there is no danger on the residents of north Israel, urging it to withdraw from south Lebanon and release the Lebanese prisoners.

KSA reportedly advises Lebanon to expedite arms monopoly, go to 'direct negotiations'
Naharnet/November 12/2025
Saudi Arabia has advised Lebanon to quickly finalize the monopolization of weapons in the country and go to “direct negotiations” with Israel, Gulf diplomatic sources said.
“The alternative will be costly and in the form of a destructive new Israeli war or a complete shunning of Lebanon by the Arab world and the West,” the sources warned, in remarks to the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper. Criticizing the latest Egyptian initiative, the sources said “Saudi Arabia believes that the mediations that overlook arms monopolization and direct negotiations will not be able to protect Lebanon.”

Aoun says Hezbollah not operating south of Litani
Naharnet/November 12/2025
President Joseph Aoun revealed Wednesday that he has told Hezbollah that “the rhetoric of war does not solve the problem,” adding that Hezbollah is not operating in the South Litani area. Explaining why he has called for negotiations with Israel, Aoun said: “If we lack the ability to go to war, war has led us into tragedies, and there is a wave of settlements in the region, what can we do?”“We have mentioned the principle of negotiation and we are yet to discuss the details, but we have not received an (Israeli) answer to our proposal. When we get an approval, we would talk about our conditions. The essential point that I’m raising remains: are we capable of entering a war and can the rhetoric of war solve the problem? Let someone answer these two questions,” the president added, in a meeting with a delegation from the Press Editors Syndicate. Asked whether he has asked Hezbollah these two questions, Aoun said he has openly said that to Hezbollah, adding: “The approach of force is no longer of use and we must go to the force of logic. After 15 years of war in Vietnam, the United States was obliged to go to negotiations, and Hamas has also been obliged to go to negotiations.”Noting that “Hezbollah is not operating in the South Litani area,” the president stressed that “the army is performing its duties to the fullest” and that the army and the security forces are doing a “mighty work” across the country that is being lauded by the international community. As for the issue of negotiations with Israel and the stance of Lebanon and the U.S., Aoun said that Lebanon has not yet received any U.S. feedback in this regard, adding that he is waiting for the arrival of the new U.S. ambassador to Lebanon who might be carrying “an Israeli answer.”

Berri urges unity, says threats to south are threats to 'all Lebanese'
Naharnet/November 12/2025
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urged Wednesday the ceasefire monitoring committee and member states (the U.S. and France) to stop Israel's attacks and occupation, and called on the Lebanese to stay united in the face of the Israeli aggression.
Despite a ceasefire reached in November last week, Israel has kept up its near-daily attacks on south and east Lebanon and is occupying five hills it deems "strategic" in the south. Berri called for unity and coexistence -- key components that, according to him, make Lebanon's unique identity in the face of Israel's "racism".Berri said the Israeli threats to south Lebanon are threats to all of Lebanon, urging the Lebanese to overcome sectarian and political divisions and address the issue with "patriotism".

Geagea says 1701, 2024 agreement and govt. decisions call for disarmament across Lebanon
Naharnet/November 12/2025
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday responded to Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem’s speech, stressing that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, the 2024 ceasefire agreement and the Lebanese government’s decisions call for disarming Hezbollah across Lebanon and not only south of the Litani River. “This clarification is only aimed at preserving your credibility, not more, not less,” Geagea added, addressing Qassem. Hezbollah’s leader had reiterated Tuesday that “the November 27, 2024 agreement is exclusively for the South Litani area,” emphasizing 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.

Sami Gemayel says Hezbollah weapons clearly 'aimed at Lebanese' now
Naharnet/November 12/2025
Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel said Wednesday that Hezbollah's weapons are now a threat to the Lebanese people, after Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said that there is no danger on the residents of north Israel, urging it to withdraw from south Lebanon. "If the arms do not threaten the northern settlements according to Sheikh Naim's latest statement, then they have certainly become a tool to intimidate and pressure the Lebanese, and sway the elections." The parliamentary election is scheduled for May 2026, but there is a debate over the voting system for the large Lebanese diaspora, with the LF and the Kataeb calling for the participation of the expats in the voting for all 128 seats. Hezbollah and its allies made a strong showing in municipal elections earlier this year in the group’s traditional political strongholds, which the group is hoping to translate into gains in the parliamentary polling. They say that they do not enjoy the same campaigning freedom that the other parties enjoy abroad and are objecting the requested amendment to the electoral law. The current law allows expats to vote for only six newly-introduced seats. After Qassem's speech in which he complained that Washington is trying to force the country to make concessions to Israel with no commitments offered in return, the Kataeb party said in a statement that the speech threatened the Lebanese more than it threatened Israel. "What is the role of these arms and of the resistance if its priority today is to reassure Israel not to confront it? It has become clear today that Hezbollah's threats are aimed at its domestic enemy — the Lebanese government and state," the statement said. Qassem had said that the government's role is not to listen to the U.S. "diktats", as Washington pushed to cut off Hezbollah's funding sources while also pressing the Lebanese government to disarm the group. In August, the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise a disarmament plan. Since then, the army has briefed the government twice on the plan but the discussions were kept secret.

Lebanese Say Israel Preventing Post-war Reconstruction
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
When engineer Tarek Mazraani started campaigning for the reconstruction of war-battered southern Lebanon, Israeli drones hovered ominously overhead -- their loudspeakers sometimes calling him out by name. Despite a ceasefire struck last November aiming to put an end to more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah, Israel has kept up near-daily strikes on Lebanon. In addition to hitting alleged militants, it has recently also targeted bulldozers, excavators and prefabricated houses, often saying they were part of efforts to restore Hezbollah infrastructure. The bombing has prevented tens of thousands of people from returning to their homes, and has made rebuilding heavily-damaged border villages -- like Mazraani's Hula -- almost impossible. "For us, the war has not ended," Mazraani, 61, told AFP. "We can't return to our villages, rebuild or even check on our homes."In cash-strapped Lebanon, authorities have yet to begin reconstruction efforts, and have been hoping for international support. They have also blamed Israeli strikes for preventing efforts to rebuild, which the World Bank estimates could cost $11 billion. Eager to go back home, Mazraani established the "Association of the Residents of Border Villages" to call for the return of displaced people and the start of reconstruction. He even started making plans to rebuild homes he had previously designed. But in October, Israeli drones flew over southern villages, broadcasting a message through loudspeakers. They called out Mazraani by name and urged residents to expel him, implicitly accusing him of having ties with Hezbollah, which he denies. Asked by AFP, the Israeli army would not say on what basis they accuse Mazraani of working with Hezbollah. "They are bombing prefabricated houses, and not allowing anyone to get close to the border," said Mazraani, who has moved to Beirut for fear of Israel's threats. "They are saying: no reconstruction before handing over the weapons," he added, referring to Israel's demand that Hezbollah disarm. Amnesty International has estimated that "more than 10,000 structures were heavily damaged or destroyed" between October of last year -- when Israel launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon -- and late January. It noted that much of the destruction followed the November 2024 truce that took effect after two months of open war. Just last month, Israeli strikes destroyed more than 300 bulldozers and excavators in yards in the Msaileh area, one of which belonged to Ahmed Tabaja, 65. Surrounded by burned-out machinery, his hands stained black, Tabaja said he hoped to repair just five of his 120 vehicles destroyed in the strikes -- a devastating loss amounting to five million dollars. "Everyone knows there is nothing military here," he insisted. The yards, located near the highway, are open and visible. "There is nothing to hide," he said. In a nearby town, Hussein Kiniar, 32, said he couldn't believe his eyes as he surveyed the heavy machinery garage his father built 30 years ago. He said Israel struck the family's yard twice: first during the war, and again in September after it was repaired. The first strike cost five million dollars, and the second added another seven million in losses, he estimated.
"I watched everything burn right before my eyes," Kiniar said.
The Israeli army said that day it had targeted "a Hezbollah site in the Ansariyah area of southern Lebanon, which stored engineering vehicles intended to rebuild the terrorist organization's capabilities and support its terrorist activity." Kiniar denied that he or the site were linked to Hezbollah. "We are a civilian business," he said. In October, Israel killed two engineers working for a company sanctioned by the United States over alleged Hezbollah ties. Under US pressure and fearing an escalation in strikes, the Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan the movement and its allies oppose. But Israel accuses Beirut of acting too slowly and, despite the stipulation in the ceasefire that it withdraw, it maintains troops in five areas in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, meanwhile, insists Israel pull back, stop its attacks and allow reconstruction to begin before it can discuss the fate of its weapons. In the aftermath of the 2006 war with Israel, Hezbollah spearheaded rebuilding in the south, with much of the effort financed by Iran. But this time, the group's financial dealings have been under heightened scrutiny. It has insisted the state should fund post-war reconstruction, and it has only paid compensation for its own associates' rent and repairs. For three long seasons, olive grower Mohammed Rizk, 69, hasn't been able to cultivate his land. He now lives with his son just outside the city of Nabatiyeh, having been forced out of his border village where his once-vibrant grove lies neglected. "The war hasn't ended," he said. "It will only be over when we return home."

Washington Tightens Squeeze on Hezbollah From Battlefield to Economy
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
The US strategy in Lebanon and Syria is moving on two parallel tracks: field and logistical pressure in the south to shrink Hezbollah’s area of operations, and a financial squeeze targeting its civilian funding network. At the same time, Washington’s renewed security engagement with Damascus has become a new arm in its effort to contain the group by cutting off its supply routes.
Tighter financial chokehold
In Beirut, the visit of a US Treasury delegation signaled the start of a tougher phase in Washington’s financial crackdown. The delegation, which included Treasury officials and White House counterterrorism experts, delivered a clear message to Lebanese officials: The issue is no longer only about weapons, but about the parallel economy that sustains Hezbollah. The Americans called for the closure of Hezbollah-affiliated financial institutions, most notably Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, and for tighter oversight of currency exchange offices and cash transfers through which Iranian funds flow.
They also urged Lebanon to reinforce banking compliance mechanisms ahead of the 2026 elections. According to economic sources, the United States believes Lebanon’s “cash economy” has become an indirect lifeline for Hezbollah, with transfers from Tehran exceeding $1 billion since the beginning of the year. The Treasury delegation reportedly gave Beirut a short deadline to enact financial reforms or face expanded sanctions on individuals and institutions accused of facilitating Hezbollah’s financing.
From battlefield pressure to financial warfare
Lebanese lawmaker Mark Daou told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Washington’s approach to Hezbollah has clearly shifted from military confrontation to financial and logistical strangulation.”He said the latest US delegation’s visit to Beirut — which included Treasury officials and White House counterterrorism experts, “carries implications that go beyond financial monitoring.”“The visit comes as part of broader efforts to target Hezbollah’s domestic financing network, especially after the group’s reduced military activity in recent months,” Daou said. “The United States views the financial supply route as the main channel for rebuilding Hezbollah’s military capabilities, and that’s why it is tightening its oversight.”
Expanding to Syria
Daou added that “Washington’s efforts are not limited to Lebanon. They extend to Syria, where we are beginning to see a political and security opening toward Damascus aimed at tightening border control and preventing the use of Syria as a logistical corridor for Hezbollah.” He said the United States believes “border cooperation with Damascus serves its core goal of containing Hezbollah and Iran, whom it views as direct adversaries in the region.”Daou noted that “US focus now includes civilian institutions linked to the group, such as Al-Qard Al-Hassan and other social and educational associations,” adding that “the attention on Al-Qard Al-Hassan stems from its role in providing liquidity to Hezbollah through the liquidation of gold and guarantees after its access to traditional banking channels was restricted.”He said some of these entities are already showing signs of financial strain. “Even Hezbollah-run schools are struggling to collect tuition and pay teachers’ salaries, reflecting the growing pressure on the parallel economy the group built over decades.”
A growing push to reclaim the south
According to sources familiar with meetings held by US envoy Morgan Ortagus during her recent visit to Beirut, “the American side spoke seriously about the need to prevent Hezbollah’s development and social institutions from dominating southern Lebanon.”
The sources said Washington stressed that Hezbollah’s civilian presence “is no less dangerous than its military one,” describing these institutions as “a permanent incubator and an alternative source of funding for its organizational structure.”
Civil network under pressure
Political analyst Marwan El-Amine told Asharq Al-Awsat that “certain groups in Syria are now collaborating with Hezbollah and the Iranians in smuggling weapons, not for ideological or political motives but for financial gain. Hezbollah pays these groups to move arms and storage facilities from Syria into Lebanon.”He added that Syria’s formal participation in the international coalition against terrorism, coupled with international calls for Damascus to reassert state control over its entire territory, “is expected to curb this type of smuggling into Lebanon and, by extension, to Hezbollah.”El-Amine noted that the US delegation’s recent visit to Beirut “was not merely consultative — it also addressed Hezbollah’s continued money smuggling through ports and crossings, with emphasis on tightening monitoring in this regard.”He stressed that “pressure on Hezbollah is no longer just political or military, but directly financial, targeting the group’s funding structure and global networks.”
A choice ahead
El-Amine said the region has entered “a new phase defined by economic stability and cross-border development projects, where entities like Hezbollah or Hamas that threaten these initiatives will no longer be tolerated.”“Drying up Hezbollah’s sources of funding,” he added, “will gradually weaken its social and educational institutions, leaving it with two options: either to become a political party operating within the law, or to remain a group pursued internationally.”

Israel Says Hezbollah Trying to Rebuild, Smuggle in Arms from Syria
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
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.

Hezbollah stirs sectarian tensions amid pressure over arms and finances
The Arab Weekly/November 12/2025
Warnings from Hezbollah MPs have multiplied in recent days against tampering with the position of speaker of parliament, in what some observers see as an attempt by the Shia party to play the sectarian card in Lebanon to ease internal and external pressure aimed at disarming it and cutting off its financial channels. Hezbollah uses the boycott of parliamentary sessions by some blocs as a pretext to suggest that the Shia community is being targeted, while boycotting MPs say their aim is to correct the constitutional course.
Several Lebanese political forces, led by the Lebanese Forces Party, the Kataeb Party and a number of the Forces of Change MPs, have been boycotting legislative sessions to pressure Speaker Nabih Berri to include a draft amendment to the electoral law on the parliament’s agenda. Berri has rejected the demand, saying the timing is inappropriate, though his reasoning has failed to convince many. Boycotting MPs argue that Berri’s stance is political, as he views the amendment as weakening the prospects of the Shia duo, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, in next year’s parliamentary elections.
The proposed amendment concerns the clause on expatriate voting. “Sovereigntist” forces insist that Lebanese abroad should be entitled to vote for all parliamentary seats rather than being limited to six seats distributed by continent, as stipulated by the current law. The Shia duo, together with the Free Patriotic Movement, reject the change, arguing that the last elections showed expatriates’ tendency to vote for sovereign and reformist forces. Boycotting blocs are maintaining their stance until Berri changes his position. In response, Hezbollah has escalated its rhetoric, implying that the speakership itself is under threat, and attributing the issue to sectarian motives. MP Ihab Hamadeh, from Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, said that tampering with the powers of the speaker “means tampering with all of Lebanon,” stressing that “no one will be allowed, under any pretext, to encroach on these powers enshrined in the constitution and laws.”At a political meeting in Hermel, Hamadeh added that “undermining the speakership amounts to targeting a point of strength in Lebanon that has long served as a safety valve for the country, by everyone’s admission,” and that “it also means targeting Lebanon as a whole. No one should think they can isolate a main component of this country.” He argued that “some in Lebanon, in line with an external project, are focusing on striking points of strength in Lebanon, just as resistance has been one such point, and they are now trying to weaken or eliminate it if possible.” He added that Berri represents not only the parliament but also the Shia duo and a principal component of Lebanon, describing the speakership as “a pillar of strength” for Hezbollah’s direction and its vision in confronting Israel. Lebanon’s top political posts are distributed along sectarian lines: the presidency and army command go to Maronite Christians, the speakership to Shias and the premiership to Sunnis. Some observers warn that Hezbollah’s latest statements are dangerous, amounting to an attempt to mobilise the Shia community by suggesting a plot to besiege and target it. They argue that such rhetoric could complicate the government’s efforts to maintain stability and widen the gap of trust not only between political actors but also among social groups. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah earlier said that “the domestic equation is delicate and sensitive, and no one has the right to tamper with it because doing so threatens Lebanon’s internal stability. We do not want to threaten Lebanon internally, but some insist on this path at a time when the enemy is killing our people, and we see this domestic campaign. But who does this campaign target? Some claim there is consensus, but where is it? Others practise isolationist politics, but against whom? I am not speaking here only of the Shia Muslims of Lebanon, but of the resistance’s social base, which extends across all sects.”He added, “It is true that Lebanon’s Shias are proud to bear the banner of resistance and to be at its forefront, offering sacrifices, but this resistance extends throughout the country. Can anyone imagine they can isolate or besiege this part of the Lebanese people?”

PM Salam: We Have Worked on Reconnecting Lebanon to the Arab World
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed on Tuesday that he has been working with President Joseph Aoun to “reconnect Lebanon to the Arab world after years of isolation.” Speaking at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), the PM said his government aims rebuild the Lebanese state on the foundations of efficiency and productivity by focusing on economic growth and prosperity. Salam cited initiatives to modernize public administration and establish a Ministry of Technology and Artificial Intelligence.
He added that the government has worked on institutional reform to rebuild trust in the state, to restore its sovereignty and to extend its authority across the country. “Middle East Airlines has proven that our institutions can succeed when they are built on professionalism and responsibility - free from clientelism and sectarian loyalties,” he said. Moreover, Salam noted that MEA survived its first big blow in 1969 during an Israeli raid on Beirut’s international airport. “The company's fleet was almost destroyed and the scene of planes burning could suggest that the company will close. But instead of collapsing, MEA rose from the ashes.”“Then came the war of 1975 and the 1982 Israeli invasion, one of the most difficult phases the country faced in its modern history. The airport was repeatedly shut down, navigation disrupted, and workers were in direct danger, some kidnapped and others killed.” And yet, he noted, “the company survived and became a big, close family, combining courage, discipline and loyalty.”Later, during the 2006 war with Israel, the airport was again shut down. Salam said the company's facilities were damaged, but it was one of the first sectors to recover after a ceasefire was reached. The 2024 war with Israel once again demonstrated a spirit of resilience when MEA became the only option for travel, Salam remarked. “While the skies seemed threatening, the faces of pilots, flight attendants and technicians reflected calm courage,” he stressed. At the event, MEA Chairman and CEO Mohammed al-Hout announced the launch of Fly Beirut, a national low-cost carrier expected to begin operations in 2027 with a fleet of six new aircraft. He also revealed plans to restore Beirut’s role as a maintenance hub for international airlines, which he said will require new facilities.

On Lebanon’s Daily Test of Sovereignty
Rami al-Rayes/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 12/2025
Recent political developments have affirmed that the country is at a dangerous and unprecedented turning point, perhaps even more delicate and critical than the civil war period (1975–1990), when barricades were raised and the Lebanese were split as a result of local schisms and foreign influence. Escalation in the region (from Israel’s war on Gaza to its war on Lebanon, and finally the direct clash between Israel and Iran) has reshuffled regional cards. The contours of a new phase are currently being drawn in blood and fire, not negotiation, which, at least as far as Lebanon is concerned, has not yet crystallized.
Even indirect negotiations are not an option for Lebanon, whose sovereignty is violated daily by land, sea, and air. Indeed, the “mechanism” formed to oversee the implementation of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement has been paralyzed by Israel’s disregard. The Lebanese must find ways to confront Israel’s ongoing aggression themselves. Indeed, these assaults could escalate and expand at any moment, without any political, moral, or legal restraints.
Lebanon’s current strife, which has deep historic roots, presents new and grave risks. Fragmentation deepens disputes that are not about minor details but about major strategic choices that bear directly on Lebanon’s future and existence. Making things worse. This division coincides with growing anger and despair among the many Lebanese who have lost their homes in the recent war. Moreover, nothing suggests that reconstruction will begin anytime soon.
The surreal political scene swings between two extremes. One narrative advocates maintaining the arms, even for rearmament and confrontation, despite seeing some of its capacities vanish and its old theories have collapsed following a harsh, if not fatal, blow. The other narrative gives no weight to Israeli attacks, turning a blind eye as though they targeted parts of the country that do not matter.
At this critical moment for Lebanon, it must abandon outdated theories and avoid reviving modes of resistance that have already failed in practice. On the other hand, the stop cheering for Israel and its brazen behavior in Lebanon must also stop. It is not tenable to keep overlooking Israel’s aggression or antagonizing a segment of Lebanese who have lost their homes, property, and livelihoods, and who cannot even harvest their tobacco or olive crops. Both contradictory narratives have brought ruin. They deepen Lebanon’s fragmentation and pose serious threats to Lebanon’s existence. Nothing facilitates the foreign assault on the country more than aggravating divisions. It is dangerous to make inflammatory speeches without providing serious and realistic alternatives to the approaches that had collapsed during the war. While surrender and defeatism cannot be accepted, neither can subjecting the country to renewed peril. Between these two sides of the binary, Lebanon remains trapped in a waiting game. Meanwhile, neighboring countries move forward along new paths. While these paths have yet to fully develop, they clearly indicate that Lebanon is failing to align with the emerging regional dynamic. The Lebanese must engage in a genuine national dialogue that is neither folkloric nor performative, finding solutions that address the dangerous circumstances the country is now facing. Unifying the domestic front, however difficult, remains the only viable course for preventing further losses and allowing Lebanon to speak to the world with a single voice. All other options fail the daily test of sovereignty.

A video link to a visit, a faith tour, and a report from Anthony Rahayel’s Youtube Platform, telling the story and history of Beit Maroun Monastery in Deir al-Ahmar
Beit Maroun: Monks' Building The Village of Saint Maroun in Deir el Ahmar
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/11/149102/
Maroun House: The Monks' Building in the Village of Mar Maroun in Deir El Ahmar
Following in the footsteps of the hermits of Saint Maroun, whose strength lies in their faith, whose glory is in their humility, whose self-reliance is in their worship, and with "hearts intoxicated with the love of Jesus," a new congregation, the "Maroun House Servants of the Cedar of Lebanon" (بيت مارون خدام أرزة لبنان), was launched from the town of Majdaloun, Baalbek, on August 15th, which coincided with the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.
The five founding monks of the congregation are: Father Elias Maroun Gharious, Father Pierre Matar, Father Maroun Sassin, Father Jean-Marie Ayoub, and Father Tanios Youssef El Ghossein. They pronounced their perpetual monastic vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, as well as the vow of the Word. They died to themselves and chose a life in the open, witnessing to Jesus in the harshest living conditions, taking the sky as their cover and the rough, dry ground as their bed.
Beit Maroun is a religious community located in Deir El Ahmar, Lebanon, known for constructing the Church of the 350 Martyrs.
The monks of Beit Maroun are building the church by hand to honor the 350 Maronite monks martyred in 517 A.D. for their faith. The project is intended to be a center for spiritual nourishment and a revitalization of traditional Maronite religious life.
Location: The community is situated in the region of Deir El Ahmar, Lebanon, and is approximately 15 minutes from Majdaloun.
Purpose: The project, the Church of the 350 Martyrs, is an act of faith by the monks to commemorate the 350 Maronite monks who were killed for their adherence to the Council of Chalcedon's doctrines.
Activities: The monks of Beit Maroun are building the church by hand. The community also aims to be a place for prayer, joy, and deep peace for visitors.
Significance: The initiative is a part of an effort to revitalize the Maronite Church through traditional religious life and serve as a center for spiritual nourishment.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 12-13/2025.
Partition of Gaza risks becoming a de facto reality as Trump’s plan is mired in uncertainties
The Arab Weekly/November 12/2025
A de facto partition of Gaza between an area controlled by Israel and another ruled by Hamas is increasingly likely, with efforts to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war beyond a ceasefire reportedly faltering. European officials with direct knowledge of the efforts to implement the next phase of the plan told Reuters it was effectively stalled and that reconstruction now appeared likely to be limited to the Israel- controlled area. That could lead to years of separation, they warned. Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi said at a Manama security conference this month “We cannot have a fragmentation of Gaza. Gaza is one, and Gaza is part of the occupied Palestinian territory.”Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin also rejected territorial division of Gaza, and said the Palestinian Authority was ready to assume “full national responsibility.”“There can be no genuine reconstruction or lasting stability without full Palestinian sovereignty over the territory,” she added. Under the first stage of the Trump plan, which took effect on October 10, the Israeli military currently controls 53 percent of the Mediterranean territory, including much of its farmland, along with Rafah in the south, parts of Gaza City and other urban areas.Nearly all Gaza’s two million people are crammed into tent camps and the rubble of shattered cities across the rest of Gaza, which is under Hamas control. Drone footage shot in November shows cataclysmic destruction in the northeast of Gaza City after Israel’s final assault before the ceasefire, following months of prior bombardments. The area is now split between Israeli and Hamas control. The next stage of the plan foresees Israel withdrawing further from the so-called yellow line agreed under Trump’s plan, alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of a multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas and the start of reconstruction. But the plan provides no timelines nor mechanisms for implementation. Meanwhile, Hamas refuses to disarm, Israel rejects any involvement by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and uncertainty persists over the multinational force. Without a major push by the United States to break the impasse, the yellow line looks set to become the de facto border indefinitely dividing Gaza, according to sources, among them a former US official familiar with the talks.
Riviera scenario
The United States has drafted a UN Security Council resolution that would grant the multinational force and a transitional governing body a two-year mandate. But diplomats said governments remain hesitant to commit troops. European and Arab nations, in particular, were unlikely to participate if responsibilities extended beyond peacekeeping, and meant direct confrontation with Hamas or other Palestinian groups, they said. US Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s influential son-in-law Jared Kushner both said last month reconstruction funds could quickly begin to flow to the Israel-controlled area even without moving to the next stage of the plan, with the idea of creating model zones for some Gazans to live in. The idea sounds much like the initial Riviera scenario advanced by President Trump and which would make Gaza a prime piece of real estate development with the fate of the Palestinians becoming a side issue.
It remains unclear who would finance rebuilding parts of Gaza under Israeli occupation, with Arab Gulf nations loath to step in without involvement of the Palestinian Authority and a path to statehood, rejected by Israel. Reconstruction costs are estimated at $70 billion. Any de facto territorial break up of Gaza would further set back Palestinian aspirations for an independent nation including the West Bank and worsen the humanitarian catastrophe for a people without adequate shelter and almost entirely dependent on aid for sustenance. Such US proposals suggest the fragmented reality on the ground risks becoming “locked into something much more longer term,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, US programme director of think-tank International Crisis Group. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said Israel has no intention of re-occupying or governing Gaza, even though far-right ministers in his cabinet have urged the revival of settlements dismantled in 2005. The military, too, has resisted such demands for a permanent seizure of the territory or direct oversight of Gaza’s civilians. Netanyahu has instead pledged to maintain a buffer zone within Gaza, along the border, to block any repeat of the October 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war. Israeli forces have placed large yellow cement blocks to demarcate the withdrawal line and are building infrastructure on the side of Gaza its troops control.
Israel’s military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said the soldiers were there to prevent militants crossing into the Israel-controlled zone, saying Israel would move further from the line once Hamas met conditions including disarming and once there was an international security force in place.
As soon as “Hamas holds their part of the agreement we are ready to move forward,” Shoshani said. Nearby, in Palestinian areas of the city, Hamas has reasserted itself in recent weeks, killing rivals. It has provided police for security and civil workers who guard food stalls and clear paths through the broken landscape. “We really need to fill the vacuum within the Gaza Strip for security,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said at the Manama conference, urging speed and warning an Hamas resurgence could trigger renewed Israeli military operations in Gaza. Hazem Qassem, an Hamas spokesman in Gaza City, said that the group was ready to hand over power to a Palestinian technocrat entity so that reconstruction could begin. “All the regions of Gaza deserve reconstruction equally,” he said. European and Arab states want the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and its police to return to Gaza alongside the multinational force to take over from Hamas. Thousands of its officers trained in Egypt and Jordan are ready for deployment, but Israel opposes any involvement by the Palestinian Authority. European officials said that without a major shift in the Hamas or Israeli positions, or US pressure on Israel to accept a role for the Palestinian Authority and path to statehood, they did not see Trump’s plan advancing beyond the ceasefire. “Gaza must not get stuck in a no man’s land between peace and war,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said at the Manama conference. A screengrab from a handout video shows an Israeli military vehicle moving barrier blocks to mark the “Yellow Line”, in location given as Gaza. A screengrab from a handout video shows an Israeli military vehicle moving barrier blocks to mark the “Yellow Line”, in location given as Gaza.

Deadlock in Second Phase of Ceasefire Puts Gaza on Brink of Renewed War
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Efforts to move into the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip remain stalled, heightening fears of renewed fighting. Israel is insisting that Hamas hand over the remaining bodies of four Israeli hostages, take clear steps on governing the enclave, disarm Palestinian factions, and start reconstruction only in areas under Israeli control. These demands are closely tied to Israel’s full withdrawal behind what it calls the “yellow line.”In response, sources from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said the impasse was pushing events toward what Israel wants, a resumption of war, particularly as Israeli forces still control more than 53 % of Gaza’s territory, the area lying behind the yellow line seen as an initial withdrawal boundary. Israel also continues to keep the Rafah crossing closed and strictly limits the entry of humanitarian aid.
Body recovery dispute
Field sources from Palestinian factions told Asharq Al-Awsat that major difficulties have hampered the search for the remaining bodies, a process that could take considerable time. One source said that at least one body was in the custody of the Islamic Jihad, while another was believed to be held by Hamas’s military wing, al-Qassam Brigades.
The sources said the two remaining bodies “could be found if search operations were intensified without Israeli restrictions, especially since they are believed to be in areas east of the yellow line.” During the ceasefire negotiations, Hamas had already warned that returning the bodies would be a complicated process requiring time, a position that several sources said mediators understood. On Wednesday, Israel allowed a joint team from Hamas and the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter the center of the Shujaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza to search for the bodies of Israeli hostages. Two bodies had been recovered in recent days during separate operations in the same residential block where Israel had previously assassinated senior commanders of the Shujaiya Battalion during the war.
‘Target bank’
Hamas sources believe Israel is deliberately obstructing the implementation of the remaining clauses of the truce agreement, despite Trump’s public and private assurances through mediators that progress need not be strictly sequential and that certain steps could be completed while others were delayed. According to Hamas and other Palestinian faction sources, Israel has intensified its intelligence surveillance, using drones to track leaders and activists in the resistance, compiling a “target bank” in preparation for potential violations of the ceasefire, as it did twice within two weeks of the truce taking effect. “These operations aim primarily to disrupt the agreement and block the transition to the second phase,” one source said. “Israel’s focus is to resume the war, whether by the same methods or through new ones.”
‘Israel won’t operate freely’
A Hamas political source said any response to Israel’s refusal to implement the truce would be made “by consensus through a unified Palestinian position,” adding that “we will not allow Israel to remain inside the Gaza Strip and act with unchecked security freedom.”The source said Israel has yet to honor all provisions of the first phase of the deal, continuing to restrict the entry of basic goods, heavy engineering equipment for clearing rubble, and construction materials needed to repair hospitals, schools, and key infrastructure. It has also blocked fuel shipments for Gaza’s only power plant and for municipalities to provide essential services. Hamas, the source added, is monitoring these developments with mediators, “but Israel sees itself above everyone and acts accordingly,” while Palestinian factions remain committed to fulfilling their side of the agreement “to deny Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any pretext to restart the war.”
Pressure on civilians
Mustafa Ibrahim, a political analyst and writer, said Israel’s policy of restricting food and fuel supplies was aimed at reminding civilians that “the war has not truly ended and will not stop unless Hamas leaves Gaza.”He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel was complicating the situation by rejecting several options proposed by mediators. Ibrahim said Netanyahu and some of his ministers were trying to evade the ceasefire’s political implications for domestic reasons by reigniting tensions in Gaza. “They are doing this through daily killings of Palestinians under weak pretexts, as well as the two major bombardments that hit various parts of the Strip since the truce took effect, and by escalating on the Lebanese front,” he said. “These are clear indicators of Israel’s intentions.”He predicted that the situation in Gaza would likely remain unchanged as Israel continues using these pretexts to stall progress on the second phase of Trump’s plan. “Mediators now face a major test to prove they can compel Netanyahu’s government to comply,” he said. “Only the US administration has the power to make that happen.”

Israel Reopens Zikim Crossing in Northern Gaza for Aid Trucks, COGAT Says
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Israel reopened the Zikim Crossing in northern Gaza to allow humanitarian aid trucks into the enclave on Wednesday, COGAT, the Israeli military's arm that oversees aid flows, said. UN aid agencies have been calling for the reopening of the crossing for more aid to flow into the devastated northern part of the enclave, especially after last month's Israel-Hamas ceasefire. The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said that the crossing was shut on September 12 and no aid groups have been able to import supplies since. Israel's military has not responded to a request for comment on its reasons for the closure.
Some humanitarian aid was allowed into northern Gaza through the south, but more was needed as the northern Gaza City and surrounding areas were officially suffering from famine, a global hunger monitor had said a month earlier. A COGAT statement said the crossing opened "in accordance with a directive of the political echelon.""The aid will be transferred by the UN and international organizations following thorough security inspections by the Land Crossings Authority of the Ministry of Defense," it added. Separately, Israel's Defense Minister said on Wednesday that he would propose to the government shutting down the army's radio station, calling the move necessary to preserve the military's non-partisan nature and strengthen public trust.The station is expected to end broadcasts by March 1, 2026, according to a statement.

Growing US Role in Gaza Raises Israeli Alarm
Ramallah : Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Growing US involvement in the Gaza Strip is stirring growing concern in Israel, where security sources have voiced alarm over Washington’s reported plan to build a large military base in the enclave, a move they say signals “an unprecedented insistence on intervening in Gaza, and in the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.”According to the sources cited by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the plan “reshapes the map of influence after Israel did everything it could since the 1967 war to limit international intervention in the Palestinian territories.” Until recently, US military presence in Israel was extremely limited. After the ceasefire agreement was signed, the United States sent about 200 troops to Israel. They are currently operating from an American command center in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel. The United States also deployed a THAAD missile defense battery during the Israel-Iran war in June to help intercept Iranian missiles. Yedioth said the planned base forms part of US measures that have already reduced Israel’s freedom of action inside the enclave, particularly with regard to allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, which Israel had used as a pressure tool on Hamas. Israeli sources said the US command center in Kiryat Gat is expected to assume full control over the distribution of humanitarian aid, leaving Israel only a marginal role in coordinating government activity in the territories. Michael Milstein, a Hamas expert at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, told The Guardian that the military coordination center in Kiryat Gat will be responsible for most of the activity in Gaza, and Israel’s status as the main player in the enclave will change. All of this has fed rising accusations in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the ceasefire brokered by Washington. Critics argue the Americans have taken the initiative in Gaza out of Israel’s hands. Netanyahu has been forced to defend himself and his relationship with the United States repeatedly in recent weeks, following Israeli claims that Washington has entrenched its dominance over Israel through a political airlift of senior officials, a military headquarters in the south monitoring Gaza minute by minute, and American drones operating over the enclave. They say the Americans have prevented Netanyahu and his government from taking action against Hamas or carrying out attacks or even imposing sanctions, have intervened in the search for bodies, brought in foreign teams despite initial Israeli objections, want Hamas members extracted alive from Rafah, and are effectively deciding the nature of the next phase, who will govern the enclave, and who will participate in any international force. Many Israelis, including politicians, writers, and analysts, say the United States has taken the initiative in the Gaza Strip and is now openly determining Israeli security and political affairs in a way that has turned Israel into a de facto American “protectorate.”Israeli commentators have written about “Bibi’s guardianship,” “a single deciding party,” the internationalization of the conflict, and “tight American supervision.”These sentiments intensified with a report about US plans to build a 500-million-dollar military base near the Gaza border to support the ceasefire.Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday, citing Israeli officials, that the planned US base along the Gaza boundary would host several thousand troops tasked with maintaining the ceasefire. In recent weeks, US officials have raised the proposal in discussions with the Israeli government and the Israeli army and have begun surveying potential sites around Gaza. After the ceasefire agreement was signed in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh in October, about 200 American troops were deployed in Israel from the central US military coordination center in Kiryat Gat, although Washington stressed it would not send soldiers into the enclave.

Trump Request to Pardon Netanyahu Sparks Israeli Concerns Over US Influence
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent a letter to Israel's president asking him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a long-running corruption trial that has bitterly divided the country. It was the latest attempt by Trump to intervene in the case on behalf of Netanyahu, raising questions about undue American influence over internal Israeli affairs. Trump also called for a pardon for Netanyahu during a speech to Israel's parliament last month, when he made a brief visit to promote his ceasefire plan for the war in Gaza. In Wednesday's letter to President Isaac Herzog, Trump called the corruption case “political, unjustified prosecution.”“As the Great State of Israel and the amazing Jewish People move past the terribly difficult times of the last three years, I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister, and is now leading Israel into a time of peace,” Trump wrote. Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters. Netanyahu rejects the allegations, and in Trump-like language has condemned the case as a witch hunt orchestrated by the media, police and judiciary. Netanyahu has taken the stand multiple times over the past year, but the case has been repeatedly delayed as he has dealt with wars and unrest stemming from Hamas-led attacks of October 2023. Israel's presidency is a largely ceremonial office, but the president does have the authority to grant pardons. Herzog acknowledged receiving the letter, but said that anyone seeking a presidential pardon must submit a formal request. Herzog has declined to say how he would respond to a request by Netanyahu, saying publicly only that he believes the trial has been a distraction and source of division for the country and that he would prefer to see Netanyahu and the prosecution reach a settlement. When Trump called for a pardon in his speech last month, he received a raucous standing ovation from Netanyahu's allies in parliament. But it has also raised questions about American influence over Israeli policies, especially relating to security in the Gaza Strip. Those concerns came to a head during a series of visits from senior American leaders, from Vice President JD Vance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Israeli media called the visits “Bibi-sitting,” a word play on Netanyahu's nickname, saying the officials were coming to ensure that Israel continues to hold up its side of the fragile ceasefire. Both Netanyahu and Vance rejected the suggestions and say the countries have a tight partnership. Opposition Yair Lapid noted that the pardon could have unintended consequences for Netanyahu. “Reminder: Israeli law stipulates that the first condition for receiving a pardon is an admission of guilt and an expression of remorse for those actions,” he wrote on X. According to Israeli law, a presidential pardon can only happen for Netanyahu if Netanyahu makes a formal request, which sets in motion a long procedure that includes recommendations from the Justice Ministry, said Amir Fuchs, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute and an expert in constitutional law. Fuchs added that pardons are usually issued for people who are convicted of a crime. “Pardon is a word for forgiveness, a pardon without some kind of admission of guilt is very unusual and even illegal,” said Fuchs.He also said that if a pardon were granted after the Trump letter, it risked giving a “green light” to corruption. “The message will be undermining of rule of law,” he said. In June, Trump also condemned Netanyahu’s trial as a “WITCH HUNT,” using the same language that both he and Netanyahu have long used to describe their legal woes. Both contend they are the victims of hostile media, crooked law enforcement and political opponents.

Germany Arrests Another Alleged Member of Hamas Cell
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
German prosecutors said Wednesday that police had arrested another alleged member of a Hamas cell plotting attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions. The man, identified as Lebanon-born Borhan El-K., was arrested late Tuesday while entering Germany from the Czech Republic, the federal prosecutor's office said. Prosecutors allege that in August "he procured an automatic rifle, eight Glock pistols and more than 600 rounds of ammunition in Germany" and had them transferred to another suspect, Wael F.
The latter was one of three men who were arrested in Berlin last month on suspicion of procuring firearms and ammunition. Danish police also searched addresses in and around Copenhagen connected to Borhan El-K. and another suspect. A further suspect was arrested last week in London at the request of German authorities. Hamas has denied any connection to the alleged plot.

Syria’s Sharaa: Trump Backs our Position on Israel’s Withdrawal to Pre-Dec. 8 Borders
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Monday he will preserve the right of the Syrian people to see ousted President Bashar al-Assad brought to justice. Sharaa told the Washington Post that US President Donald Trump supports Syria’s position on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Syrian territories it occupied after December 8, the date of the regime’s ouster. Sharaa held a historic meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday, the first by a Syrian president since the country gained its independence in 1946. Asked about Israel’s repeated attacks against Syria, he said: “Syria got into war with Israel 50 years ago. Then, in 1974, there was a disengagement agreement. This agreement lasted for 50 years, but when the regime fell, Israel revoked this agreement. They expanded their presence in Syria, expelled the UN peacekeeping mission and occupied new territory.” “They have conducted over 1,000 airstrikes in Syria since December 8, and that included bombing the Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Defense. But because we want to rebuild Syria, we didn’t respond to these aggressions,” he added. “The advances that Israel made into Syria are not coming from their security concerns, but from their expansionist ambitions,” Sharaa warned. “Israel has always claimed that it has concerns about Syria because it is afraid of the threats that the Iranian militias and Lebanon’s Hezbollah represent. We are the ones who expelled those forces out of Syria,” he stressed. He further continued: “We are engaged in direct negotiations with Israel, and we have gone a good distance on the way to reach an agreement. But to reach a final agreement, Israel should withdraw to their pre-December 8 borders.” “The United States is with us in these negotiations, and so many international parties support our perspective in this regard. Today, we found that Trump supports our perspective as well, and he will push as quickly as possible in order to reach a solution for this,” he revealed. Asked if Syria would agree to demilitarize the region south of Damascus, he replied: “To talk about an entire region demilitarized, it will be difficult, because if there is any kind of chaos, who will protect it? If this demilitarized zone was used by some parties as a launching pad for hitting Israel, who is going to be responsible for that?”“And at the end of the day, this is Syrian territory, and Syria should have the freedom of dealing with their own territory,” Sharaa added. “Israel occupied the Golan Heights in order to protect Israel, and now they are imposing conditions in the south of Syria in order to protect the Golan Heights. So, after a few years, maybe they will occupy the center of Syria in order to protect the south of Syria. They will reach Munich on that pathway,” he said.
Russia and Assad
Noting that Assad is in Moscow being essentially protected by the government of Vladimir Putin, Sharaa was asked if he had raised the issue with the Russians, to which he replied: “We were in war against Russia for 10 years, and it was a hard, difficult war. They announced that they killed me several times.”However, “we need Russia because it’s a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. We need their vote to be on our side in some issues, and we have strategic interests with them. We don’t want to push Russia to take alternative or other options in dealing with Syria,” he explained. “The issue of Bashar al-Assad is troublesome for Russia, and our relationship with them... we’re still in the beginning. We will preserve our rights as Syrians to call for bringing Assad to justice,” he declared.
Common interests with US
On his landmark visit to the White House, he said: “The most important objective is starting on - building the relationship between Syria and the US, because in the past 100 years, it wasn’t a very good relationship.”“We were looking for common interest between the US and Syria, and we found that we have a lot of common interests that we can build on, such as security interests and economic interests. The stability of Syria will impact the entire region, and the instability of Syria, as well, will impact the region,” he went on to say. “Stability is linked with the economy, and the economy, or economic development, is linked with the lifting of sanctions. This discussion has been going on for months now, and I believe that we reached good results. But we are still waiting for the final decision,” he remarked.
ISIS fight
On his past as a fighter in Iraq and Syria, Sharaa said: “Fighting is not something shameful if it is done for noble objectives, especially if you are defending your own land and the people who are suffering from injustice. I believe this is something good that people should be commended for. I have fought so many wars, but I have never caused the death of an innocent person.”“When somebody engages in fighting, they should have a very strong ethical background. The region was affected by the policies - western policies and US policies - and today, we have so many Americans who agree with us that some of these policies were a mistake and that they caused so many wars that were pointless,” he stressed. On the fight against ISIS, Sharaa said: “We were in a war with the group for 10 years, and we did that without coordination with a Western force or any other country. Syria today is capable of shouldering this responsibility. Keeping Syria divided or having any military force that is not under control of the government, represents the best environment for ISIS to flourish.”“The best solution is that the US troops present in Syria should supervise the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the central government’s security forces. The task of protecting Syrian territory will be the responsibility of the state,” he explained.

Syria Opens Probe into Robbery at National Museum
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Syrian authorities have temporarily closed the national museum in Damascus and launched an investigation after thieves made off with several pieces, an official told AFP on Wednesday. The robbery took place overnight Sunday to Monday in the so-called classical wing of the facility, which was spared during Syria's civil war between 2011 and late last year and which houses priceless artifacts dating back to antiquity. "Official investigations have begun and the museum will remain closed temporarily until the collection of evidence has finished," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"An inventory of all the archaeological items is currently underway to ensure no other pieces are missing," they added. An official from the department overseeing museums, also requesting anonymity, told AFP that "six small Roman-era statues of the goddess Venus" were taken. An official had previously told AFP that gold ingots were stolen.Syria's antiquities and museums department said in a statement Tuesday that an official investigation had been opened in coordination with security authorities, without specifying which items were stolen. It said it had taken "immediate measures to ensure the safety of the collections and support the protection and monitoring system inside the museum".The classical wing is one of the museum's most important sections, home to artifacts from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras. The museum was closed on Wednesday and a security guard told AFP that "there are no tourist visits until next week".The national museum had shut its doors due to fears of looting shortly before longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was deposed last December by an opposition coalition. It reopened in January. The collections include tens of thousands of items from Syria's long history, ranging from prehistoric tools to Greco-Roman sculptures to pieces of Islamic art.During the civil war, many pieces stored elsewhere in the country were brought to the facility for safekeeping. The war saw archaeological sites bombed, museums looted and many artifacts stolen, generating millions of dollars for traffickers.

UNDOF Raises Flag at Former Syrian Site Opposite Israeli Base
Damascus : Muwafaq Mohammed/Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
A local source in the village of Kudna in southern Quneitra province, southern Syria, said that the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), a peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria, raised its flag in an area opposite a base previously established by the Israeli army.The source suggested that UNDOF may have set up a monitoring point in the area, amid local concerns that Israel’s presence in Syrian towns and villages along the ceasefire line could evolve into a permanent occupation. Mohammad Ahmed al-Tahan told Asharq Al-Awsat that the western part of Kudna has witnessed UNDOF military movements, with soldiers arriving in armored vehicles and UNDOF transport to a former Syrian army military site, where they raised the UN flag. Al-Tahan noted that the location where the flag was raised is only a few hundred meters from the Israeli base established in Tel Ahmar West after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. He added that UNDOF patrols conducted several rounds over the past two days, covering both Tel Ahmar West and Tel Ahmar East, which are administratively part of Kudna. Al-Tahan said that Israel’s base in Tel Ahmar West has seen heavy military activity over the past two days, with troops and vehicles from the occupied Golan Heights arriving. He said local residents find UNDOF’s movements “unclear” and speculated that they may be establishing a monitoring point. Asharq Al-Awsat sought comment from a UN or diplomatic source in Damascus on UNDOF’s actions but was unable to obtain a response. However, journalist and local activist Omar al-Hariri wrote on X that raising the flags over the site west of Kudna is a routine UNDOF procedure during inspections, as the location is a former Syrian army barracks. He said that, to date, there has been no change in Israeli positions or any operational role for UNDOF following the deployment of Israeli troops in the buffer zone.
On Tuesday, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that a delegation led by the commander of the 40th Division, Brigadier General Binyan al-Hariri, met with UNDOF Commander Major General Anita Asmah and her accompanying delegation. The ministry said on its Telegram channel that the meeting focused on enhancing joint cooperation and developing field coordination mechanisms to support UN peacekeeping missions and promote security and stability along the separation lines. These developments coincide with daily Israeli army incursions into towns and villages in Quneitra and Daraa provinces along the ceasefire line.=The Quneitra Media Center reported that Israeli forces advanced along the road connecting the villages of Abu Ghara and Suwayseh in southern Quneitra, establishing two checkpoints, fully closing the road, and preventing civilians from passing. Residents of towns and villages along the ceasefire line, where Israeli troops have advanced and established bases, fear this could turn into a permanent occupation, al-Tahan said. Strategic military analyst and defected Colonel Ahmed Mohammad Deeb Hamadeh told Asharq Al-Awsat that the 1974 disengagement agreement mandated the presence of UN forces from Mount Hermon in northern Quneitra to the Yarmouk Valley in the south, operating in a buffer zone to oversee the ceasefire. Hamadeh said UNDOF raising its flag in Kudna marks the start of the UN force resuming its role in the area, in line with the 1974 agreement and UN resolutions calling for a UN presence to separate the fighting forces. Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December, Israel has targeted Syrian military sites to destroy them and prevent the rehabilitation of their infrastructure, while conducting ground incursions in the Damascus, Quneitra, and Daraa countryside. Israel has taken control of the buffer zone along the Syrian-Israeli border, established several military bases, and carried out raids in border areas, including arrests. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told the Washington Post that US President Donald Trump supports Syria’s position on Israel withdrawing from territories it occupied after December 8.

Austria Charges Two Syrian Ex-Officials Over Civil War Crimes
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Prosecutors in Austria on Wednesday said they have charged two officials of Syria's former government for allegedly abusing detained civilians during the country's brutal civil war. Austria hosts one of the biggest Syrian diasporas in Europe and several similar cases related to crimes committed during the Syrian civil war have been heard in the country's courts, as well as in Germany, France and Sweden. Vienna prosecutors charged the two ex-officials with several offences, including causing grievous bodily harm and sexual coercion, they said in a statement. One of the accused is also charged with committing torture, they added. The two officials allegedly committed the crimes against civilians detained in the city of Raqqa from 2011 to 2013 to suppress protests against the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was president at the time. The accused are a former brigadier general of Syria's intelligence service and the former head of the investigative department of the local criminal police with the rank of lieutenant colonel. "To date, 21 victims have been identified," prosecutors said. Both accused applied for asylum in Austria in 2015 and have been living in the country since then. They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Across Europe, Syrian refugees have drawn on the principle of universal jurisdiction to ensure suspected war criminals are held accountable. Longtime Syrian ruler Assad was ousted last year. Some 100,000 Syrians live in Austria.

US Treasury Issues Iran-Related Missile and Drone Sanctions
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
The US on Wednesday sanctioned individuals and entities in several countries related to their support of Iran's ballistic missile and drone production, in the latest attempt to pressure Tehran. A total of 32 individuals and entities based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye, China, Hong Kong, India, Germany and Ukraine that operate multiple procurement networks are being targeted in Wednesday's designations, the Treasury Department said in a statement. "These networks pose a threat to US and allied personnel in the Middle East and to commercial shipping in the Red Sea," the department said in a statement. The US, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear program as a veil for efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Iran Nuclear Stalemate Drives Escalation with Israel, No End in Sight
Washington: Elie Youssef/Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
With no direct negotiations or meaningful international monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program, and growing uncertainty over the size of its stockpile of enriched material, fears are rising across the region that a fresh confrontation between Iran and Israel has become a matter of time. Although the likelihood of war appears high, most analysts say the moment has not yet arrived, as both sides continue rebuilding their military capabilities at a rapid pace amid unprecedented diplomatic paralysis. Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says the chance of a new war between Iran and Israel is very high, but adds that indicators do not point to it being imminent.”He told Asharq Al-Awsat that both sides will likely try to delay the inevitable through limited diplomatic efforts to contain escalation, while frantically rebuilding their arsenals.
Escalation and denial of mediation with Washington
Iran continues to issue threats while insisting on its conditions for any future talks, projecting a sense of confidence that has been reflected in statements by several Iranian officials. They have stressed their readiness to respond “with greater force” to any Israeli attack, while denying that Tehran has sent messages or shown willingness to negotiate with Washington. Some of these warnings, analysts say, have even been channeled through outlets operating from within the US capital itself. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, denied that Tehran had sought to lift sanctions through any mediation or correspondence with the US administration, insisting that Iran “will not surrender to American hegemonic tendencies even if that means facing a new confrontation.”Larijani said “the American narrative about Iran’s weakness is ridiculous,” adding that the country “has chosen the path of resistance despite economic hardships,” and “will not burden itself with empty talk from any government.”Nadimi says Iran’s hardened rhetoric in recent weeks reflects “growing confidence within the regime,” whose leaders believe their performance during the last twelve-day war with Israel was “successful” and earned them domestic momentum. Iran, he says, “believes it can perform even better in any future confrontation after reactivating its missile and drone production lines around the clock.”
Nuclear stalemate and absence of international oversight
Analysts say the region has entered a phase of “dangerous stagnation” following the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal and the return of strict US sanctions, as Iran continues to bar International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from accessing suspected enrichment sites, including the new facility under the Pickaxe mountain.According to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, Iran still holds about 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a quantity nearing weapons-grade levels that has heightened Israeli concern that Tehran is approaching a “red line.”Some warn that continued uncertainty over Iran’s nuclear capabilities “may push Israel to act again to complete what it sees as an unfinished mission during the last war.”Iran, however, appears increasingly willing to deter such action, arguing that any new attack would offer an opportunity to restore balance and shed the image of weakness left by the previous conflict. Since the end of the brief military confrontation between Iran and Israel last summer, regional power dynamics have shifted markedly. Iran now appears more isolated than at any time since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, while several Arab states have strengthened their influence in Washington through close economic and strategic ties with President Trump’s administration, which continues to support Israel politically and militarily. Even so, these states are working to keep communication channels open with Tehran to avoid a full-scale regional war. They do not want another conflict, but recognize that Iran, despite its relative weakness, remains capable of sowing turmoil through its regional proxies. This vulnerability, Nadimi says, “may make Iran more dangerous because it could resort to reckless options in an attempt to restore its regional stature.”
No alternative to force
On the Israeli side, the government does not hide its intention to resume military operations against Iran “the moment it moves closer to producing a nuclear weapon.”Tel Aviv believes containing Iran’s nuclear program “will not be achieved through negotiations, but through preemptive strikes,” even as Arab states increase pressure on Washington to rein in any uncalculated Israeli escalation. Chances of returning to the negotiating table now appear almost nonexistent, particularly after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared that “America’s arrogant nature accepts nothing but surrender,” signaling rejection of any talks under US terms. Most assessments converge on the view that any future confrontation between Iran and Israel, if it occurs, will be broader and bloodier than previous rounds. Tehran is preparing to use its missile and drone arsenal on an unprecedented scale, while Israel continues to deliver precision strikes on sites believed to house secret enrichment facilities.

IAEA says Iran yet to allow access to bombed nuclear sites, verification ‘overdue’
Reuters/12 November/2025
Iran still has not let inspectors into the nuclear sites Israel and the United States bombed in June, the UN atomic watchdog said in a confidential report on Wednesday, adding that accounting for Iran’s enriched uranium stock is “long overdue.”The IAEA’s own guidelines stipulate that it should verify a country’s stock of highly enriched uranium, such as the material enriched to up to 60 percent purity in Iran, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons grade, every month. The IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to the stock and let inspections fully resume quickly. The two sides announced an agreement in Cairo in September that was supposed to pave the way for a full resumption but progress has been limited, and Iran now says that agreement is void. “The Agency’s lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification ... is long overdue,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the report to member states seen by Reuters. “It is critical that the Agency is able to verify the inventories of previously declared nuclear material in Iran as soon as possible in order to allay its concerns ... regarding the possible diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful use,” it added. The report reiterated that the quantity of highly enriched uranium Iran has produced and accumulated is “a matter of serious concern.” The IAEA has now lost so-called continuity of knowledge of Iran’s enriched uranium stocks, it added, meaning re-establishing a full picture will be long and difficult. The agency has so far only inspected some of the 13 nuclear facilities that were “unaffected” by the attacks and none of the seven that were. Before the attacks, which completely destroyed one of Iran’s three enrichment facilities operating at the time and at least badly damaged the others, the IAEA estimated that Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent in uranium hexafluoride form, which can be fed into centrifuges for further enrichment. That is enough material in principle, if enriched further, for 10 nuclear bombs, according to an IAEA yardstick. As a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran must send a special, detailed report to the IAEA on the status of the bombed facilities “without delay” but still has not done so, the report said. Only then can the IAEA inspect them.

Tehran Taps Run Dry as Water Crisis Deepens Across Iran
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Iran is grappling with its worst water crisis in decades, with officials warning that Tehran — a city of more than 10 million — may soon be uninhabitable if the drought gripping the country continues. President Masoud Pezeshkian has cautioned that if rainfall does not arrive by December, the government must start rationing water in Tehran. "Even if we do ration and it still does not rain, then we will have no water at all. They (citizens) have to evacuate Tehran," Pezeshkian said on November 6, AFP reported. The stakes are high for Iran's clerical rulers. In 2021, water shortages sparked violent protests in the southern Khuzestan province. Sporadic protests also broke out in 2018, with farmers in particular accusing the government of water mismanagement.
WATER PRESSURE REDUCTIONS BEING APPLIED
The water crisis in Iran after a scorching hot summer is not solely the result of low rainfall. Decades of mismanagement, including overbuilding of dams, illegal well drilling, and inefficient agricultural practices, have depleted reserves, dozens of critics and water experts have told state media in the past days as the crisis dominates the airwaves with panel discussions and debates. Pezeshkian's government has blamed the crisis on various factors such as the "policies of past governments, climate change and over-consumption". While there has been no sign of protests yet this time over the water crisis, Iranians are already struggling under the weight of a crippled economy, chiefly because of sanctions linked to the country’s disputed nuclear program. Coping with persistent water shortages strains families and communities even further, intensifying the potential for unrest, when the clerical establishment is already facing international pressure over its nuclear ambitions. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. Across Iran, from the capital’s high-rise apartments to cities and small towns, the water crisis is taking hold. When the taps went dry in her eastern Tehran apartment last week, Mahnaz had no warning and no backup. "It was around 10 p.m., and the water didn’t come back until 6 a.m.,” she said. With no pump or storage, she and her two children were forced to wait, brushing teeth and washing hands with bottled water. Iran’s National Water and Wastewater Company has dismissed reports of formal rationing in Tehran, but confirmed that nightly water pressure reductions were being applied in Tehran and could drop to zero in some districts, state media reported. Pezeshkian also warned against over-consumption in July. The water authorities said at the time 70% of Tehran residents consumed more than the standard 130 litres a day.
TEHRAN'S RESERVOIRS AT AROUND HALF CAPACITY
Iranians have endured recurrent electricity, gas and water shortages during peak demand months in the past years. "It’s one hardship after another — one day there’s no water, the next there’s no electricity. We don’t even have enough money to live. This is because of poor management," said schoolteacher and mother of three Shahla, 41, by phone from central Tehran. Last week, state media quoted Mohammadreza Kavianpour, head of Iran’s Water Research Institute, as saying that last year’s rainfall was 40% below the 57-year average in Iran and forecasts predict a continuation of dry conditions towards the end of December. The capital depends entirely on five reservoirs fed from rivers outside the city. But inflow has plummeted. Behzad Parsa, head of Tehran’s Regional Water Company, said last week that water levels had fallen 43% from last year, leaving the Amir Kabir Dam at just 14 million cubic meters — 8% of capacity. He said Tehran’s reservoirs, which collectively could once store nearly 500 million cubic meters, now hold barely 250 million, a drop of nearly half, which at current consumption rates, could run dry within two weeks. The crisis extends far beyond Tehran. Nationwide, 19 major dams — roughly 10% of Iran’s total — have effectively run dry. In the city of Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, with a population of 4 million, water reserves have plunged below 3%. "The pressure is so low that literally we do not have water during the day. I have installed water tanks but how long we can continue like this? It is completely because of the mismanagement," said Reza, 53, in Mashhad. He said it was also affecting his business of carpet cleaning. Like the others Reuters spoke to, he declined to give his family name.
CLIMATE CHANGE INTENSIFIED WATER LOSS
The crisis follows record-breaking temperatures and rolling power outages. In July and August, the government declared emergency public holidays to reduce water and energy consumption, shutting down some public buildings and banks as temperatures topped 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas. Climate change has intensified the problem, authorities say, with rising temperatures accelerating evaporation and groundwater loss. Some newspapers have criticized the government’s environmental policies, citing the appointment of unqualified managers and the politicization of resource management. The government has rejected the claims.Calls for divine intervention have also resurfaced. "In the past, people would go out to the desert to pray for rain,” said Mehdi Chamran, head of Tehran’s City Council, state media reported. "Perhaps we should not neglect that tradition."Authorities are taking temporary measures to conserve what remains, including decreasing the water pressure in some areas and transferring water to Tehran from other reservoirs. But these are stopgap measures, and the public has been urged to install storage tanks, pumps, and other devices to avoid major disruption. "Too little, too late. They only promise but we see no action," said a university teacher in the city of Isfahan, who asked not to be named. "Most of these ideas are not doable."

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Presses G7 Allies for Support as Russia Targets Energy Grid Before Winter
Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies met with Ukraine's foreign minister Wednesday as Kyiv tries to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country ahead of winter. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said at the start of a meeting on Ukraine and defense cooperation, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his counterparts attended, that Kyiv needs to overcome what will be a "very difficult, very tough winter.""We need the support of our partners," Sybiha said. "We have to move forward to pressure Russia, to raise the price for the aggression, for Russia, for Putin, to end this war."Canada announced new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, and the United Kingdom a day earlier pledged money toward Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Rubio made no immediate announcements Wednesday about new US initiatives but said on social media that the meeting delved into ways "to strengthen Ukraine’s defense and find an end to this bloody conflict." "The United States remains steadfast in working with our partners to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy and engage directly with Ukraine for a durable and lasting peace," he posted on X. The Trump administration’s support for Ukraine and President Donald Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been erratic and marked by repeated policy changes during unsuccessful US efforts to bring Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin together to agree on a peace deal. US arms transfers to Ukraine have waxed and waned, and Trump has at several points said Ukraine must be prepared to cede territory that Russia has occupied since the start of the conflict, only later to suggest that Ukraine is capable of retaking those areas and back yet again to doubting Kyiv could win. The Ukraine talks were part of the G7 meeting that Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand is hosting in southern Ontario, coming as tensions rise between the US and traditional allies like Canada over defense spending, trade and uncertainty over Trump’s ceasefire plan in Gaza and his Russia-Ukraine peace efforts. "We are doing whatever is necessary to support Ukraine," Anand said. Zelenskyy has said he wants to order 25 Patriot air defense systems from the United States. Russian missile and drone strikes on the power grid have coincided with Ukraine’s frantic efforts to hold back a Russian battlefield push aimed at capturing the eastern stronghold of Pokrovsk. Canada on Wednesday announced additional sanctions on Russia that target 13 people and 11 entities, including several involved in the development and deployment of Moscow’s drone program. "Those who enable Russia's war will face consequences," Anand said. Britain says it will send 13 million pounds ($17 million) to help patch up Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches and Russian attacks intensify. The money will go toward repairs to power, heating and water supplies and humanitarian support for Ukrainians. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who made the announcement before the meeting, said Russian President Vladimir Putin "is trying to plunge Ukraine into darkness and the cold as winter approaches" but the British support will help keep the lights and heating on. Canada recently made a similar announcement. The two-day meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, near the US border, comes after Trump ended trade talks with Canada because the Ontario provincial government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the US that upset him. That followed a spring of acrimony, since abated, over the Republican president’s insistence that Canada should become the 51st US state. Anand will have a meeting with Rubio, but she noted that a different minister leads the US trade file. Trump has placed greater priority on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies than on collaboration with G7 allies. Rubio had brief talks with the UK's Cooper, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, and America's top diplomat was expected to see several participants others on the sidelines of the larger meeting. The State Department had no immediate comment on the substance of those discussions. The G7 comprises Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Anand also invited the foreign ministers of Australia, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine to the meeting, which began Tuesday.

Coalition led by Iraqi PM al-Sudani comes first in Iraq’s election, commission says
Reuters/12 November/2025
A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came first in Iraq’s parliamentary election, the Independent High Electoral Commission said on Wednesday. His coalition received 1.317 million votes in Tuesday’s election, the commission said. Reuters reported earlier that al-Sudani placed first, citing two electoral commission officials with knowledge of the results. Al-Sudani was seeking a second term in Tuesday’s election, but many disillusioned young voters saw the vote simply as a vehicle for established parties to divide Iraq’s oil wealth. However, al-Sudani tried to cast himself as the leader who could make Iraq a success after years of instability, arguing he had moved against established parties that brought him to power. No party can form a government on its own in Iraq’s 329-member legislature, so parties build alliances with other groups to become an administration, a fraught process that often takes many months. The final total turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary election reached 56.11 percent, the electoral commission said earlier on Wednesday. “The voter turnout is clear evidence of another success, reflected in the restoration of confidence in the political system,” al-Sudani said in a televised speech following the announcement of the initial results.

Israel’s longest war is leaving a trail of traumatized soldiers, with suicides also on the rise
SAM MEDNICK/AP/November 12, 2025
SDOT YAM, Israel (AP) — Wrapped tightly around his forearms, the former Israeli soldier feels the snakes’ cold skin against his, and for a moment he’s able to breathe.
It’s been nearly 18 months since he left the army after fighting in the war in Gaza, and the flashbacks and panic attacks haven’t ceased. He was wounded in a Hamas missile attack on his military base, and said two of his friends — also soldiers in their 20s — died by suicide. This farm in central Israel dedicated to helping soldiers has been a lifeline, he said. “It doesn’t matter if a plane goes by or if the drone goes by or if someone is yelling. ... Because I’m here with the snake right now,” said the 27-year-old sergeant major, who called the experience grounding. Like other soldiers who spoke to The Associated Press, he insisted on anonymity to discuss private mental health matters. Israel’s longest war is leaving a trail of traumatized soldiers, with a growing number suffering from mental health illnesses after two years of war with Hamas. Reports of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health problems are increasing among soldiers, as are suicides.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. Helplines outside the U.S. can be found at www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts. Israel’s defense ministry says it has documented nearly 11,000 soldiers suffering from “mental health injuries” since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza. That accounts for more than a third of the total 31,000 troops with such injuries in all of Israel’s conflicts since its founding nearly 80 years ago. The ministry defines mental health injuries as PTSD, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. Suicides have also spiked. In the decade preceding the war, the number of soldiers taking their own lives in the army averaged 13 per year. Since the war, the number has risen, with 21 soldiers dying by suicide last year, according to the army. The figures — which account for active duty and reserve troops — don’t include soldiers who took their own lives after leaving the military. A report published by Israel’s parliament last month said an additional 279 soldiers tried to take their own lives from January 2024 through July 2025 but survived. “There’s now a genuine understanding that psychological injuries have profound consequences and that treatment is both necessary and practical,” said Limor Luria, deputy director general and head of the defense ministry’s Rehabilitation Department. “We’re seeing a generational difference," she said. "While many wounded veterans from previous wars never sought help, today’s wounded are responding very differently.”The army is scrambling to address the crisis, mobilizing hundreds of mental health officers. It has sent experts to the front lines to help soldiers during combat, established a hotline and provided group therapy sessions to fighters once they’ve left service. Yet experts warn Israel is not yet equipped to deal with the scale — a gap the rehabilitation department acknowledged, saying it impacts the entire national health system. The length and intensity of this war on multiple fronts — with tens of thousands of active duty and reserve troops called up for repeated deployments — haven’t allowed soldiers to properly heal, which could have long-term consequences for the country, said Tuly Flint, a trauma therapy specialist who has counseled hundreds of Israeli soldiers.“Those victims of war, if not treated, lose the potential for personal and social development possible for them and may become a burden on themselves, their families and society,” he said. Half a dozen soldiers who spoke to the AP, as well as psychologists who have treated fighters, said they lacked purpose, had difficulty concentrating or having relationships, and as the war dragged on, a sense of hopelessness set in.
Flint said some also suffered from what he called “moral injury.”
“Soldiers come back asking themselves who are they after what they’ve seen and done, what kind of people are they?” he said.
Rescue animals help soldiers heal
The 27-year-old former soldier, who worked as a radio technician for about six months at the start of the war, said he came to the farm earlier this year because he felt lost. A missile struck his base on the border with Gaza, badly injuring his back. After that, he was anxious, triggered by noise, constantly on edge.
“Everything got louder, like my aggressions, my yelling, my feelings, everything just went up,” he said — as though “someone broke the volume.”He’s receiving therapy from the army, but the farm has allowed him to heal in a different way, surrounded by others with similar experiences and allowing him to calm his mind by focusing on the animals, he said. Nestled in the Sdot Yam kibbutz, the Back2Life farm is among several grassroots organizations stepping in to support the growing number of soldiers needing help. It was co-founded by Assi Nave and dedicated to his friend from an elite military unit, Amir (Dani) Yardenai, who suffered severe PTSD for years after fighting in Gaza in 2014, and died by suicide last year. “Dani’s loss left me with the sense that he’s not the last one,” Nave said. The farm has become an oasis for dozens of veterans who have participated in its sessions — which in addition to traditional counseling includes therapy with dogs and other animals — to the backdrop of chirping birds and clucking chickens. Former soldiers work with rescue animals, each helping the other to heal. Psychologist Guy Fluman, who works with former soldiers and is among the mental health experts advising the farm on therapeutic approaches, said a major challenge veterans face is readjusting to civilian life and being with animals is grounding. “You need to help them resolve their memories, be able to live in peace with what has happened ... and on the other hand to reconnect them to life,” he said.
Stigma persists
One 31-year-old deployed in Gaza and the West Bank for a year said upon returning home everything was a struggle: His relationship ended and he had difficulty connecting with family and friends. “I felt like I was back there,” he said “My body is here, but my mind is not.”He was among several veterans who told the AP he suffered from mental illness for years, triggered by fighting in Israel’s previous wars, yet this was the first time he felt comfortable seeking support. “Stigma around mental health persists” among soldiers, acknowledged Luria, the rehabilitation program director. “Combating this stigma is a top priority.”“We’re addressing it on multiple fronts,” including public campaigns and media outreach, she said, as well as programs designed to engage younger veterans, like rehabilitation farms and adventure sports. A 32-year-old reservist who was assigned to collect bodies in southern Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage said his flashbacks were less connected to the sight of the decaying men and women but to the smell. “I started to smell dead bodies ... all the time,” he said. He’d get triggered changing his child’s diaper. A therapist himself, he recognized the signs and sought help for PTSD. He then started working with others to help with the army’s growing need. He said the best way for soldiers to come forward is for their commanders on the ground to let them know that it’s OK.“When the commander of the soldier says you can get help,” he said, “it works better and you have less stigma.”
**Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

UN watchdog hasn't been able to verify Iran's stockpile of near-weapons grade uranium in months
Stephanie Liechtenstein/The Associated Press/November 12, 2025
VIENNA (AP) — The International Atomic Energy Agency has not been able to verify the status of Iran’s near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since Israel and the United States struck the country’s nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June, according to a confidential report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog circulated to member states and seen Wednesday by The Associated Press. The agency warned that it "lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the previously declared inventories of nuclear material in Iran” at facilities affected by the war and stressed that this issue must be “urgently addressed.”
The report stressed that the IAEA's “lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification — according to standard safeguards practice — is long overdue.” According to the IAEA’s last report in September, Iran maintains a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned in a recent interview with the AP. He added that it doesn’t mean that Iran has such a weapon. Iran long has insisted its program is peaceful, but the IAEA and Western nations say Tehran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003.
IAEA seeks special report by Iran
According to the safeguards agreement that Iran has with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iran is obliged to produce a “special report” detailing the location and status of its nuclear material, including its highly enriched uranium stockpile, following events such as attacks or earthquakes. The special report must also address the status of the facilities affected by the June war. The IAEA said Wednesday that “the provision of such a report is indispensable for the Agency to provide assurances that nuclear material subject to safeguards in Iran remains in peaceful nuclear activities and that the facilities subject to safeguards are not being misused.”The report said that Iran explained in a letter to the IAEA on Nov. 11 that “any cooperation with the Agency is conditional on the decision of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) of Iran.” The IAEA report on Wednesday also said that Iran has not granted IAEA inspectors access to sites affected by the war. Tehran did, however, allow the IAEA to inspect undamaged facilities after Grossi reached an agreement with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo at the beginning of September. Those facilities include the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, the Tehran Research Reactor and three other nuclear facilities in Tehran. The report also said that IAEA inspectors are traveling to Iran on Wednesday to conduct inspections at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center site. The facility, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran, employs thousands of nuclear scientists. It is also home to three Chinese research reactors and laboratories associated with Iran's atomic program. During the war, Israel struck buildings at the Isfahan site, among them a uranium conversion facility. The U.S. also struck Isfahan with missiles.
Sanctions further isolate Tehran
Iran suspended all cooperation with the IAEA after the war with Israel.
IAEA chief Grossi then reached an agreement with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo at the beginning of September to resume inspections. But later that same month, the U.N. reimposed crushing sanctions on Iran, drawing an angry response from Tehran and leading the country to halt implementation of the Cairo agreement. Iran is legally obliged to cooperate with the IAEA under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. European powers decided to reimpose the U.N. sanctions via the so-called snapback mechanism after Iran failed to enter into direct talks with the U.S., resume full cooperation with the IAEA and clarify the status of its near weapons-grade uranium stockpile. The sanctions freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran, and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures, further squeezing the country’s reeling economy and isolating Tehran after its atomic sites were repeatedly bombed during a 12-day war with Israel.

Iran Is Rebuilding Its Nuclear Program Deep Underground
RFE/RL staff/November 12, 2025
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/iran-rebuilding-nuclear-program-deep-170000971.html
US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June slowed down the nuclear program, likely buried Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and effectively paused enrichment activities. The attacks prompted Iran to reevaluate its nuclear strategy, and after declaring the end of international oversight of its nuclear program due to the expiry of the 2015 nuclear deal in October, Tehran -- which maintains it has never and will not seek to weaponize its nuclear program -- now operates with strategic opacity.
Recent satellite images analyzed by experts at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) suggest that while there is little to no activity at the three sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow, Iran has stepped up construction at a site buried in Pickaxe Mountain near Natanz. Iran began building the facility in 2020 after a fire broke out in the Natanz enrichment facility. It was initially said to be a centrifuge assembly site, but recent developments suggest that Tehran may be expanding its original plans for the site, according to Joseph Rodgers, a deputy director of the CSIS’s Project on Nuclear Issues. So, we've acquired recent satellite imagery from the aftermath of the US strikes in June, and we've been monitoring the three sites that the US struck at Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow. And what we see is that there is not a ton of activity at those sites. In fact, there’s still debris in the road outside of many of the buildings at Fordow and Isfahan, which indicates that there's not an extensive recovery effort to grab and sort of salvage materials or equipment from the buildings, because that would require that they drive trucks up, and they can't pass through the debris.
But what we do see is just south of Natanz, the construction of an underground facility. And it appears that in the aftermath of the June strikes, construction has really stepped up at this other facility that is called Pickaxe Mountain.
This is the same facility we heard about before the June war.
That's correct. Construction has really stepped up. It appears that they're digging deep into the mountain. There's still underground tunneling going on at Pickaxe Mountain. And there's also the construction of a security perimeter fence. And that might be driven by security concerns about having [Israel’s] Mossad or other intelligence agencies go and put equipment on the mountain. Maybe they try and sneak in and put seismic monitoring sort of equipment or something in the facility.
Let’s take a step back. Why do you think there’s not much activity at the three sites hit in June?
I think this gets to a broader point about the status of the Iranian nuclear program, which I think, if I had to use one word to describe, I would describe as limbo.
I think the Iranians are figuring out what to do next with their program. And they've instead banked on constructing facilities like Pickaxe Mountain. Rather than trying to make extensive immediate progress towards rebuilding enrichment facilities or trying to salvage any equipment that was at the sites that the US struck. Northern lights dazzle the night sky from Wisconsin to Florida. Here's where and when you might see them tonight.
It's easier for Iran right now to build facilities that could sort of be used for nuclear activities in the future, but not directly accumulate the political costs of taking immediate action on nuclear activities right now..
You spoke about protective measures Iran is taking at the new site. Didn’t the three sites that were struck by the US have similar security measures?
There are many ways that you can protect a facility against attacks, and there are many types of attacks that you'd want to protect from.
So, at other Iranian nuclear sites, we see, fences, for example, and fortifications around the perimeter of these sites. And that's likely because they're trying to prevent foreign spies from coming in and putting monitoring equipment on the perimeter. Because if you're posting radionuclide detectors or things that could sort of send back information about what's going on at the site, then you need perimeters – fences -- to prevent that.
Additionally, we see at Pickaxe Mountain the construction of really deeply buried tunnels, which fortifies against many of the penetrating bombs that Israel or the US could use. I think, at the tunnel entrances to Pickaxe Mountain, we see fortified entrances that actually have a curve in them. And that curve can prevent, if somebody tries to collapse the tunnel or explode munitions just outside of the tunnel entrance, then the curve will force the blast to hit a wall instead of going deep inside of the mountain with the full explosive force of the shockwave.
There's many different types of fortifications that you use at military sites, and we see many of those signatures at Pickaxe Mountain as well.
Some reports say the Pickaxe Mountain site is planned to be a new enrichment facility. Based on your assessments, what do you think the purpose of this site will be?
In 2020, when Iran started the construction of the site, Iranian leadership said that it was going to be used for centrifuge assembly. So, not an enrichment site, but instead for assembling the centrifuges that they would use at other enrichment sites. However, since the June strikes, we've seen a lot more tunneling into the facility. And that might indicate that Iran has decided to shift additional activities deeper underground.
One outcome is that Iran may choose to shift some of the metallurgy and the construction of some of the activities that were going on at Isfahan. For example, taking yellow cake and making it into uranium hexafluoride, the gas that you use to spend uranium in centrifuges.
I think the worst possible outcome is if Iran is building an undeclared enrichment site at Pickaxe Mountain. But that's all really speculative.
Again, the only thing that Iran has officially stated at the government level is that Pickaxe Mountain is going to be used for centrifuge assembly. And that activity used to happen at Natanz, but was subject to sabotage in 2020.
As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), do you think Iran will begin enriching uranium at an undeclared facility? And if it does, what would that mean for its status as an NPT signatory?
If Iran decides to declare or to pursue undeclared uranium enrichment at a secret site, then that would be a very clear violation of the NPT, and it would also result in larger international backlash.
I think that if Iran decides to pursue enrichment at an undeclared level and the United States finds out, then the likelihood of US retaliation is very high.
At the international level with respect to the NPT, only a very small handful of countries have tried to develop undeclared enrichment sites and pursue enrichment. It has turned out very poorly for all of them. So, I don't think that it's a productive way forward for Tehran right now.
But if they decide to, then it's going to be very difficult for them to be successful at a clandestine program. I think it is likely that Israel and the United States would find out fairly quickly.
The Israeli and US strikes were so effective because Mossad has quite clearly deeply penetrated the Iranian nuclear program.
Do you think despite Iran being secretive about this site and building it separately from larger facilities, it will eventually allow inspectors to visit it?
I think that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] is going to increasingly put pressure on Iran to allow access to Pickaxe Mountain.
The IAEA has requested access for many years and has been told no. But interestingly, when the president of Iran was confronted about three or four weeks ago with some Washington Post reporting on Pickaxe Mountain, he said that we need to allow IAEA inspectors to go visit the site. That might have just been political posturing and a quick response to what was a question he wasn't expecting. But I do think that there is increasing pressure to allow IAEA access.
Any part of a future deal between Iran and the IAEA will certainly involve conversations about Pickaxe Mountain and I think about the status of the former enrichment sites at Fordo and Natanz, as well.
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The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 12-13/2025
From New York to Gaza...
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 12/2025
Many hyperbolic and false claims, in both directions, have been made about the New York mayoral race and Zohran Mamdani’s victory.
Contrary to the campaign that smacks of McCarthyism launched by his opponents, he is not a communist nor a jihadist, nor is he a threat to Americans. And contrary to the narrative pushed by some of his supporters and admirers, he is not the symbol of a radical shift about to sweep through the United States, nor a crushing defeat of capitalism. Tangible and quantifiable factors explain Mamdani’s success, including the deterioration of the city’s services and economy, which has led to a spike in the cost of living, broad discontent with President Donald Trump's policies and performance, and the ways in which Mamdani, who has many identities, reflects the pluralism of the city. Pluralism, as we know very well, has deep roots in a country which has traditionally been defined as a nation of immigrants but is now implementing immigration policies - particularly for "non-white" immigrants - that challenge this characterization.
Moreover, the victor successfully spoke to both the long-standing opposition politics of labor and newer opposition politics of identity and gender, as well as a desire for political and partisan change shared by many New Yorkers - a sentiment that brings with it hostility to portraying the strong and influential’s domination as something perpetual. If there are reasons to doubt whether Mamdani can deliver on anything beyond the bare minimum of the changes he has promised, especially on the economic front, two things can be said with certainty: first, the city's younger and more educated voters are not content with the status quo and do not share Trump’s confidence that he is making "America great again." Second, the winner's success is a powerful testament to the health of American democracy, which some believe will be confirmed and validated by the Midterm elections. Accordingly, those who are keen on American democracy and broadening participation in the political process should replace their fearmongering with a more welcoming tone.
Another reason to welcome his victory is that the Israel-Palestine question now weighs on the American public, or at least the residents of New York, which, as per the cliche we are constantly reminded of, is home of the world’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel. The Gaza war has played a prominent role in this regard. Attitudes have changed, including among Jewish New York - a third of them voted for Mamdani according to a CNN exit poll, with younger and more educated Jewish New Yorkers twice as likely to give him their vote.
David Rosenberg, an Israeli writer for Haaretz, concluded his column last week with this: "These Jews who voted for Mamdani in New York were willing to set aside their tribal interests as well in the name of the values they believe in. Those values conflict with the values espoused by the current Israeli government, if not a great many Israelis. A similar trend among global Jewry could endanger the very relationship itself between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora."
The fact is that the Jewish state’s savagery under Netanyahu, whose war has far exceeded the bounds of self-defense and morphed into a genocide, is now increasingly anathema to global sensibilities, particularly those of young people. While its reputation for "strength" and "heroism" had benefited Israel since the 1967 war, painting an appealing picture of the country to the world, a show of force against the population and children of Gaza is not the same as a show of force against three armies and the leadership of Nasser, who had made the first move when he shut the Gulf of Aqaba. It seems that its "iron wall" mentality cannot be suited to the new mood, which is more sympathetic to the weak and anti-hero and more infuriated by impunity.
It seems that fostering this shift and rendering it fruitful demands changes that will not be easy to make, especially if the goal is for these shifts in public opinion - not just in New York, but in America and Europe - to translate to parliamentary seats. What is needed, first and foremost, is Palestinian leadership that engages with these new global trends and speaks their language. Here lies the importance of attunement to pluralistic environments and freedoms of all kinds, and from there, of joining both the old and new progressive global consensus, starting with the condemnation of antisemitism. Pitting the Palestinian cause against freedoms that could contradict deeply rooted traditional cultures, or glorifying allies for whom "the damnation the Jews" is a key slogan, would be to offer the Palestinians a poisonous gift.
Fostering this global shift also calls for concerning ourselves with the struggles of others, whose solidarity we seek, as well as contributing to political life in Western countries whenever possible. We know that over the past few decades, when the principle that "positions on the Palestinian question determine our position on global questions," Arab and Palestinian pursuits have come to nothing. Accordingly, considerable effort must be channeled toward identifying viable pursuits, turning the page on the kinds of overblown promises that Mamdani had made, or hinted at, during his election campaign, and the populism that came with it and comes with every election campaign in America. It could be reasonable to argue that many steps of this sort could consummate the shift in Western public opinion, as well as push in the direction of humanizing capitalism and empowering the rule of law. However, presenting the New York mayoral election result as a crushing defeat for Israel, capitalism, the West, and "white identity" - saying things like, "we defeated them on their own turf" - does nothing more but add to an already saturated lexicon of idiocy.

To Combat Iran’s Assassination Attempts, the US Must Project Strength
Tzvi Kahn/The Algemeiner/November 12/2025
https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/11/11/to-combat-irans-assassination-attempts-the-us-must-project-strength/
“It is highly relevant that this was a cross-border crime,” declared US federal judge Colleen McMahon at a sentencing hearing for agents of Iran responsible for an assassination attempt on US soil. She added, “It is highly relevant that foreign citizens who were agents of a foreign power conspired to commit, and tried to commit, and almost succeeded in committing, a murder inside the United States — where, presumably, an American citizen like Ms. Alinejad should be safe in her own home.”The context: In 2022, an assassin dispatched by agents of Tehran stepped onto the Brooklyn porch of Iranian American dissident Masih Alinejad.Fortunately, the attempted murderer — Khalid Mehdiyev — failed to achieve his goal. Alinejad was on a Zoom call at the time, and didn’t answer the door. After his arrest, Mehdiyev pled guilty to attempted murder, and awaits sentencing. In late October, the two agents who hired him, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, faced justice, receiving 25-year prison terms at McMahon’s orders. The judge’s statement reflects her understanding of the longstanding ambitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran — and it points to the vulnerability of the United States to attacks on its soil.
In fact, according to the US State Department, Tehran has killed hundreds of dissidents in more than 40 countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Trump administration should not forget that the Iranian threat to the US homeland remains real and ongoing — and that a posture of strength constitutes the best way to combat it. Iran’s malignant ambitions have always transcended its borders, reflecting the regime’s authoritarian and revolutionary creed.
Tehran seeks not only regional hegemony, but also global leadership rooted in its radical, pan-Islamist interpretation of Shiite Islam. Its assassination attempts have spanned the entire globe, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Pakistan, Turkey, Cyprus, Iraq, India, Azerbaijan, France, Austria, Germany, Iraq, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Thailand, and the Philippines, among others. “The Islamic Revolution does not have any borders,” said Ahmad Qolampour, a senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has committed the bulk of the assassinations, in 2016. The paramilitary force, he added, “does not have the word ‘Iran’ in its title. This means that it seeks to defend the Islamic Revolution and its achievements without regard to particular borders.”Qolampour understood his marching orders. As the Islamic Republic’s constitution states, the IRGC seeks to fulfill “the ideological mission of jihad in God’s way; that is, extending the sovereignty of God’s law throughout the world.” Or, as the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s first supreme leader, said, “Islam is a sacred trust from God to ourselves and the Iranian nation must grow in power and resolution until it has vouchsafed Islam to the entire world.”How does Iran choose its targets? The regime’s decisions often stem from its perception of the value and prominence of the potential victim, frequently selecting well-known dissidents — like Alinejad — whose death could send a deterrent message to like-minded individuals. At the same time, in the absence of a clear organizing calculus, Tehran also attacks obscure or little-known dissidents — sending a message that nobody is impervious to the long arm of the Islamic Republic. In so doing, Iran seeks to sap the resolve of all dissidents, both at home and abroad, who continue resisting the regime. Perhaps more importantly, Tehran’s decisions also emerge from its conception of an assassination’s likely political fallout. If the target appears unwilling or unable to exact retribution, or if Tehran judges that a government’s reprisals would not be painful, prospects for assassinations rise. All too often, particularly in Europe, governments have chosen to offer token condemnations of Iranian assassinations without taking significant countermeasures, thereby emboldening Tehran. Thus, Iran has rarely targeted the United States. After all, America maintains a powerful security infrastructure geared toward discovering and foiling potential plots and thwarting other Iranian illicit activities, such as sanctions-busting and export control violations. This reality, along with Iran’s fear of US retaliation, likely explains why Tehran has carried out only two successful assassinations in America prior to its attempted murder of Alinejad — and those were way back in 1980 and 1992. An additional foiled attempt occurred somewhat more recently: In 2011, America charged two agents of Tehran with plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States at a restaurant in Washington DC.
And the 2022 assassination attempt against Alinejad was hardly the first or last time that Iran targeted her. In 2021, for example, the United States unsealed an indictment alleging a plot by Iranian intelligence officials, beginning in at least June 2020, to kidnap the activist and take her back to Iran. And in November 2024, the US Department of Justice announced another murder-for-hire plot and related charges against three men engaged in an IRGC-directed plot to kill Alinejad. What emboldened Tehran to target Alinejad after years of reluctance to traverse US soil? The answer remains unclear. But the timing may be instructive. At the start of the first plot, a US election was on the horizon, with the possibility that President Donald Trump would soon leave office. And during the second and third plots, President Joe Biden had been advancing an extraordinarily conciliatory policy toward Iran.
In all three cases, Iran’s decisions to act when it did may have stemmed from its perception that Washington lacked the will to retaliate. In particular, Trump’s preoccupation with remaining in office potentially led Tehran to believe, rightly or wrongly, that he sought no new conflict with Iran. Biden, for his part, sedulously sought the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Trump had abandoned in 2018. To achieve this goal, Biden lifted key sanctions on Iran, refused to enforce many sanctions still on the books, and failed to take meaningful action against Tehran’s aggression in the Middle East. In response, the Islamist regime likely concluded that it had golden opportunities. Biden’s efforts to resuscitate the JCPOA failed. And to its great credit, the Trump administration rendered the accord largely irrelevant when it bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, restoring the posture of US strength that Biden had dismantled. The agreement became effectively dead when Trump triggered the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran in September. But the case of Alinejad offers a lesson: When Washington lowers its guard against Iran, the regime feels emboldened to strike, harnessing its founding impulses to eliminate those who stand in the way of its violent ideological agenda — no matter where they may reside.
**Tzvi Kahn is a research fellow and senior editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on X @TzviKahn.

The Flood that Sunk the Palestinian State
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/This is Beirut/November 12/2025
https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/articles/1329293/the-flood-that-sunk-the-palestinian-state
When the world needed Palestinian grownups to help solve the problems in Gaza, it found none. The PLO was too corrupt and Hamas too irrational. The Palestinian state is now history, owing to Hamas’s 2023 Al-Aqsa Flood attacks on Israel that dealt a fatal blow to Palestinian nationhood, a project that began in 1968 and peaked with the 1993 Oslo Accords. Hamas’s folly has prompted the UN Security Council to consider ending its longtime orthodoxy in support of a Palestinian state and reviving instead international mandate-style authority over Palestinians, this time under a Board of Peace (BOP), led by the U.S.
When the world needed Palestinian grownups to help solve the problems in Gaza, it found none. The PLO was too corrupt and Hamas too irrational. From now on, the BOP will represent Palestinians, manage their affairs, rebuild Gaza, and decide their fate. The Board will appoint a technocratic committee togovern the Strip and deploy an international force to police it. Even though the BOP’s term is set at two years, the Palestinian problem teaches us that everything intended as interim ends up becoming permanent. The anticipated UN Security Council resolution on Gaza will effectively replace all previous understandings concerningPalestinians. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will cease to be the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” as outlined by the UN General Assembly in 1974. The recent wave of recognition of a “Palestinian state” will amount to nothing.
The celebration of the Al-Aqsa Flood is mind-boggling. Many argue that the Flood led world capitals to recognize the Palestinian state. Others went as far as saying that the Flood awakened the world and resulted in the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York. But in reality, the Flood ended the Gaza Strip’s autonomy, decimated Hamas and demonstrated that the PLO is a relic of the past. Renewing the international mandate over Palestinians might help manage their affairs, but will not solve their problems. Until Palestinians grow up, become realistic in their view of the world, understand cause and effect – and prioritize them over history and emotion – their self-determination will remain elusive. Perhaps the Palestinians, like the people of many failing Arab states, were not cut out for sovereignty. Perhaps they fare better under the rule of others. Consider the Gulf, for example, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians thrive. They live, work, and raise their families, but have no political rights whatsoever. Then ask any Palestinian whether they would want to trade places with a Lebanese in Lebanon or a Syrian in Syria, where the Lebanese and Syrians are sovereign and enjoy full political rights, but have failed to set up states capable ofoffering a fraction of the good life that Arab expats enjoy in the Gulf. A rational Palestinian will likely choose life in the Gulf rather than under a corrupt and failing — even if sovereign — Palestinian state. Sovereignty is a means not an end. Sovereignty is supposed to serve the interests of its people, not cause their endless death and misery. As per the famous Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, good life trumps political rights. It is ideal when humans can have both — high standards of living in their own sovereign state — like in Israel, the U.S., and many other states around the world. But if sovereignty is prohibitively costly and unattainable, as in the case of Palestinians, why waste another century throwing away the lives of one generation after another? What happens if Palestinians get their sovereign country? They will, in all likelihood, construct a failed state whose population periodically engages in civil war and communal violence. The Al-Aqsa Flood ended Palestine. In Lebanon, it killed Hezbollah. The Lebanese have had a year to restore their sovereignty, but have refused to revive their nation-state. Instead, they continue to peddle fallacies about a state that shares its sovereignty with a militia.  Hamas in Gaza peddles similar falsehoods, announcing that it will not govern Gaza again, but that it will linger in the West Bank and Gaza as an auxiliary force, a “resistance” that will spring into action whenever the homeland is in danger. The paradox is that while such “resistance” militias are too weak to defend the homeland, their grip on power is so strong they have been suffocating their nations and undermining their sovereignty. Hamas and Hezbollah invited destruction on themselves and their populations. They would do the Palestinians and the Lebanese a favor if they admitted fault and retired. But knowing that Islamism is delusional, Islamist militias will never stop rearming and warring. They will focus all their energy on rebuilding their ranks, at the expense of building sovereign states and good governments. The end result is more losses and more death, nothing else.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD).

Erhurman’s election a step towards peace, but beware of Ankara’s appetite
Sinan Ciddi & William Doran/Kathimerini/November 12/2025
https://www.ekathimerini.com/opinion/1286305/erhurmans-election-a-step-towards-peace-but-beware-of-ankaras-appetite/
The election of the new Turkish-Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman in the recent presidential election is a blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions on the island, but his cadre is far from accepting defeat. Statements buzzing through the highest echelons of the Turkish government range from stifled disappointment to calls for annexation. The self-declared “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” – an occupation zone which only Turkey recognizes as a state – held its election on October 19. Ending the day with nearly two thirds of the popular vote, opposition nominee Tufan Erhurman unseated the incumbent, pro-Erdogan Ersin Tatar. A liberal, pro-reunification leader like Erhurman has the potential to revive the Cyprus peace process. But any push for peace must inevitably face an uphill battle against the Turkish government’s heavy hand in the occupation.
But perhaps there is more to these results than meets the eye: Perhaps Erdogan favored this result and wanted Erhurman’s victory?
Opposition victory is a blow to Erdogan’s ambitions
Erhurman is a member of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), the main opposition party in the Turkish north, which possesses kinship with Turkey’s liberal Republican People’s Party (CHP). The CTP runs on a pro-federation platform, seeking reunification with the Republic of Cyprus as two regional governments under one state. Accordingly, the CTP is far more open to negotiations and the peace process than the National Unity Party (UBP). By contrast, Tatar and the UBP support the Turkish north’s assertion of statehood at the expense of Cypriot sovereignty.
What’s particularly important about Erhurman’s victory is the message it conveys about local public opinion. With 63% of the popular vote, Erhurman defeated Tatar by nearly 30 points. Erhurman ran on a platform not only of restarting negotiations but also reinforcing secularism in the face of Tatar’s pro-Erdogan Islamist bent. Major protests broke out in April and May after Tatar, at Ankara’s behest, legalized the wearing of headscarves in schools. The results may also indicate that Erdogan may be poised to re-engage unification talks on the island, something he has not credibly attempted since the failure of the UN-backed Annan plan brokered in 2004.
Rumors are circling through Turkey’s political establishment suggesting that Erdogan actually favored Erhurman’s victory above Tatar’s, causing a serious rift between Erdogan and his governing coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli. Erdogan previously supported Tatar’s election in 2020, but his vocal enthusiasm for Tatar was far more muted in 2025. Could it be that Erdogan is seriously interested in rekindling the unification process in Cyprus? Only time will tell; however, without Erdogan’s active support, the unification process cannot proceed. The one reason Erdogan would back reunification talks would be to kick-start Turkey’s stalled EU accession dream – a process which German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently said he fully supported during his visit to Ankara. Without resolving the Cyprus question, Ankara’s EU aspirations are little more than a pipe dream. All member-states would have to accept Turkey’s bid, and for that to happen, Ankara must accept the existence of all EU members, which it presently does not! Locals have expressed through the election a desire to return to peace talks, secular liberalism, and a growing discontent with Turkey’s influence. On the other side of the buffer zone, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides congratulated Erhurman and voiced his desire to meet “as soon as possible” and resume peace negotiations. Depending on what Erdogan wants, this may or may not be bad news. If he had been interested in propping up the status quo, he could certainly have put his thumb on the electoral scales and ensured a Tatar victory. On the other hand, maybe Erdogan wrongly underestimated Erhurman’s chances.
Ankara is poised to obstruct peace efforts on the island
One need not search extensively through Turkish state media to find a range of negative reactions from Erdogan’s government. Perhaps the most diplomatic of the regime’s remarks came from the likes of the president himself, whose lukewarm, boilerplate congratulations may be masking deeper sentiments.
Others in Erdogan’s inner circle were less “cordial,” so to speak. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan refrained from issuing any congratulatory message, but was keen to express on election day his view that only a “two-state solution” (that is, no peace process) is possible for Cyprus.
Far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli voiced his outrage for all to hear, decrying the “low-turnout” election as invalid. What’s more, he urged the “parliament” in the occupied Turkish north to immediately vote to join the Turkish state – a fancy way to say Turkish annexation of one third of Cyprus. If Erdogan decides to proceed with reunification in a serious manner, it is clear his coalition with Bahceli is likely to be jeopardized. The government in Ankara is far more powerful than its client in northern Cyprus, and from these reactions alone it is not hard to imagine the difficulties Erhurman will face in pushing for peace. But it does not stop there – Erdogan’s administration has abundant means and intentions to interfere in politics in the north in a scenario where Erdogan intends to preserve the status quo and Erhurman were to proceed alone with reunification talks. For one, Turkey maintains at least 35,000 soldiers, equivalent to almost 10 percent of the area’s population – making it one of the most militarized places on Earth. This massive force presence translates into massive leverage for Ankara over local politics. For another, Erdogan and his underlings effectively dominate northern Cypriot affairs, making it a structural problem. Opposition has chafed under Erdogan’s interference, most recently the president’s deployment of the Islamist Yunus Emre Institute to organize events during election season and public urgings that Tatar must win. Ankara’s yoke creates a difficult environment for Erhurman to navigate when it comes to seeking peace with the Republic of Cyprus. Bahceli’s call for annexation aside, the “parliament” is still UBP-dominated and recently voted in favor of the “two-state solution.” And Erhurman has also told pro-Erdogan media that he will not pursue any foreign policy decisions without prior consultation with Turkey – likely to dispel rumors of him bearing anti-Ankara sentiments.
Cypriot reunification is a good deal
US President Donald Trump, a dealmaker at heart, should consider the current situation in Cyprus with interest. For the first time since talks broke down in 2017, the occupied north is looking for a peace deal.
The United States would be wise to step in at the forefront of peace talks. While UN auspices are likely to set the stage for talks between the Cypriot parties, Washington should remember the problems that led to the Annan plan’s failure in 2004. Cyprus needs a security guarantee, not an arms ban – supplying Nicosia with defense technologies through the US-Israeli-Cypriot-Greek partnership (the “3+1”) is a must. Likewise, President Trump should push for a clearly defined sunset on all Turkish forces stationed in the north. The island’s 700,000+ Greek Cypriots will have little desire to accept a peace plan without terms for a total Turkish withdrawal, nor should they. And the president isn’t afraid to play hardball – in 2020, Erdogan earned his country a CAATSA sanctions designation for buying S-400 missile systems from Russia. Turkey needs access to US technology for its own defense sector, evidenced in Ankara’s trouble procuring General Electric engines for its upcoming fifth-generation fighter jet, the Kaan. The Republic of Cyprus is a critical ally in the Eastern Mediterranean, fulfilling a vital role in counterterrorism, maritime policing, and energy security. Cypriot reunification under one banner and one state, with security and democracy for all its citizens, is an opportunity Washington would be remiss to pass up.
**Sinan Ciddi is a senior fellow and director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington DC, where William Doran is an intern.

Israel's Important New Allies, and an Old Enemy, Turkey
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/November 12/2025
US President Donald J. Trump announced the latest addition to his remarkable Abraham Accords last week: China's and Russia's neighbor, Kazakhstan. One hopes that at some point, Azerbaijan, too, might join the Abraham Accords. Although Azerbaijan has enjoyed close relations with Turkey, relations between Turkey and Israel have now reached an all-time low. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – after accusing Israel of genocide and crimes against humanity, and issuing arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- reportedly took Trump's assurance of a Turkish role in the future of Gaza, without consulting Israel, as a green light to assemble 2,000 special forces troops to occupy Gaza. What could possibly go wrong? Erdogan is also trying to buy F-35 jets – to use for what? -- from the US, which always appears delighted to make a sale. If Trump has any interest in peace in the Middle East, this is one sale he must unquestionably turn down. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to buy F-35 jets – to use for what? -- from the US, which always appears delighted to make a sale. If Trump has any interest in peace in the Middle East, this is one sale he must unquestionably turn down. US President Donald J. Trump announced the latest addition to his remarkable Abraham Accords last week: China's and Russia's neighbor, Kazakhstan. Not only thanks to its oil and mineral deposits is it the largest and wealthiest country in Central Asia; its leadership is eager for closer ties with the US. Europe and the West, and the widening opportunities for growth that spring from them. Israel's friendly ties with Azerbaijan are also perhaps one of the Jewish state's most potentially advantageous bilateral relationships. Israel and Azerbaijan, which have had diplomatic relations since 1992, have thriving military and economic linkages. Israel, incongruously, is now the leading importer of Azerbaijani oil. Azerbaijan, a Muslim-majority state, celebrates Israel's existence. Azerbaijan has, moreover, refrained from condemning Israel during the war in Gaza. One hopes that at some point, Azerbaijan, too, might join the Abraham Accords. There is an enduring respect between Israel and Azerbaijan: Azeri Jews, a.k.a. "Mountain Jews," have always been treated well by Azeri Muslims. About 30,000 Jews still live in the country, practicing their faith without state or societal prejudice. Strategically, for Israel, it may be additionally significant that Azerbaijan has a 268-mile border and miserable relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Israeli arms exports account for about two-thirds of Azerbaijan's weapons requirements, including anti-tank guided missiles, drones, and surface-to-surface guided missiles. The two countries cooperate on intelligence matters as well. Azerbaijan has allowed the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, a branch office in the country. No doubt Mossad's intelligence-gathering mission in Azerbaijan proved to be advantageous before and during Israel's recent "12 Day War" with Iran. There is, additionally, the sale of satellites and the sharing of satellite technology. This imagery of the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh, along with advanced Israeli weaponry, helped secure Azerbaijan's victory over Armenia in its "One Day War" on September 19, 2023. The mutually advantageous links between Jerusalem and Baku may well have facilitated the Trump administration's intercession in helping to transform deep-rooted hostile relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The White House hosted an August meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, which resulted in a bilaterally signed "Treaty of Peace and Prosperity" between the historical enemies.
The US, as well, benefits from the reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In addition to America signing economic agreements with both south Caucasus countries, the US was granted exclusive rights to develop an approximately 40-kilometer corridor bordering Iran. This commercial gateway, called the Zenga Uren Corridor, now, thanks to the treaty, links Azerbaijan with its formerly disconnected exclave territory, Nakhichevan. Leaders of both nations are grateful for the new corridor, which is being called the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" (TRIPP).
The increasingly pro-Western orientation of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the exclusive grant to the US for TRIPP could effectively shut out both Iranian and Russian access to commercial and investment activity in the region -- a US diplomatic and economic triumph that is likely cause for concern in Moscow and Tehran. The Iranian regime would be vexed about the prospects of US and Israeli security cooperation directly on its border. Iranian relations with Azerbaijan have not exactly flourished since the latter became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991. For centuries, Iran has assumed an attitude of superiority in relations with Azerbaijan, which was a satrapy of several Persian imperial dynasties. Azeris constitute, by far, "the largest and best-integrated ethnic minority in Iran, making up 16% of its population," concentrated in Iran's northwestern provinces along its border with Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Iranian regime might view Azerbaijan's new alliances as complicating its plans to destroy Israel, as it has been vowing -- and attempting -- to do since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Although Azerbaijan has enjoyed close relations with Turkey, relations between Turkey and Israel have now reached an all-time low. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – after accusing Israel of genocide and crimes against humanity, and issuing arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- reportedly took Trump's assurance of a Turkish role in the future of Gaza, without consulting Israel, as a green light to assemble 2,000 special forces troops to occupy Gaza. What could possibly go wrong? Erdogan is also trying to buy F-35 jets – to use for what? -- from the US, which always appears delighted to make a sale. If Trump has any interest in peace in the Middle East, this is one sale he must unquestionably turn down. **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.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22044/israel-new-allies
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Saudi Arabia is setting a new standard for peace and global diplomacy
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 12/2025
Saudi Arabia should indeed take the credit for not only promoting peace verbally, but for translating those words into real, measurable action. The Kingdom has demonstrated that true leadership in the Middle East and beyond is not defined by slogans or declarations, but by deliberate diplomacy, mediation, and tangible efforts to reduce suffering and rebuild nations torn by war.
The recent visit of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House marks a defining moment – one that symbolizes the fruit of years of Saudi-led engagement, negotiations, and coordination. This was not an overnight development but rather the culmination of a strategy that reflects the Kingdom’s broader commitment to peace and stability. Saudi Arabia has emerged as the indispensable actor that bridges divides, restores relations, and pushes the world toward dialogue instead of destruction.
In the case of Syria, the transformation is historic. Syria was a nation shattered, divided, and isolated. Yet, out of that chaos, a new phase has emerged – one that carries the fingerprints of Saudi diplomacy. It was Riyadh’s quiet yet determined engagement that helped open the channels between Washington and Damascus, paving the way for the first official visit of a Syrian leader to the White House in modern history. For decades, Syria had been cut off, burdened by sanctions, and excluded from the international system. But through Saudi mediation, that wall of isolation began to crumble. The Kingdom helped organize crucial meetings between President al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump, meetings that created a foundation of understanding that Washington could no longer ignore. As a result, the US and Western powers gradually began lifting sanctions on Syria and its leadership – a step that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Syria has gone beyond diplomacy; it has extended into financial support, reconstruction, and humanitarian assistance. The Kingdom has played a central role in paying off portions of Syria’s outstanding international debts, ensuring that the country could access much-needed development and recovery funds from global institutions.
Riyadh has also contributed to paying public sector salaries, particularly for teachers, doctors, and civil servants, helping stabilize the day-to-day lives of ordinary Syrians. These acts are not merely symbolic; they demonstrate what responsible statecraft looks like – a blend of humanitarian compassion and geopolitical pragmatism. By standing with the Syrian people during one of the darkest periods of their history, Saudi Arabia has shown that leadership is measured by one’s willingness to help rebuild rather than exploit.
This is precisely what the region needs – not the perpetuation of rivalry and destruction, but the construction of bridges, economies, and trust.
The Kingdom’s role in Sudan further illustrates its unwavering commitment to mediation and peacebuilding. From the very beginning of the Sudanese conflict, Saudi Arabia positioned itself not as a distant observer but as an active, constructive player. The Jeddah Declaration, hosted and brokered by Riyadh, represented a turning point, setting the foundation for a ceasefire and humanitarian relief corridor. Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic strategy has since evolved into what is now known as the Quartet Plan, developed in partnership with the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
This plan represents one of the most comprehensive blueprints for restoring order in Sudan – focusing on a humanitarian truce, a permanent ceasefire, and a clear timeline for a return to civilian rule. What distinguishes Riyadh’s efforts from many others is its consistency: it has remained engaged even when negotiations faltered, when violence flared, and when others lost interest. Saudi Arabia has proven that peace processes demand patience and persistence, and that diplomacy requires more than statements – it requires long-term commitment and moral conviction.
Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian vision extends beyond politics and diplomacy. The Kingdom has played a major role in addressing humanitarian suffering in Gaza and throughout the Palestinian territories. As the crisis in Gaza deepened, Saudi Arabia stepped forward with both financial and diplomatic support, calling for an immediate ceasefire, de-escalation, and the protection of civilians. It significantly increased its contributions to humanitarian organizations such as UNRWA and worked with international partners to deliver food, medical supplies, and housing support to displaced Palestinian families. Beyond aid, the Kingdom has consistently reaffirmed that there can be no sustainable peace in the Middle East without the establishment of a two-state solution. The Kingdom’s longstanding principles are being translated into decisive action – one that commands global respect and sets an example of how a leading power can balance compassion with strategic influence.
Saudi Arabia’s role as a mediator has also expanded beyond its regional boundaries, reflecting its growing weight on the global stage. The Kingdom has increasingly become a neutral and respected platform for international dialogue – from hosting negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to facilitating humanitarian exchanges and prisoner releases. These efforts demonstrate that Saudi diplomacy is no longer confined to Arab or Islamic issues; it has evolved into a broader, global force for stability. This transformation underscores the Kingdom’s strategic vision: to position itself as a center for peace, energy cooperation, and economic interdependence rather than conflict and division. By engaging with global powers, Riyadh has managed to enhance its credibility while reducing tensions that have destabilized entire continents. It is a sign that Saudi Arabia’s influence now operates on both regional and global levels – a bridge between East and West, between tradition and modern diplomacy.
The world today faces an unprecedented set of challenges – from climate change and economic disparity to wars that have displaced millions. In such an environment, Saudi Arabia’s example stands out. Its leadership embodies a new model of statecraft: one that promotes peace not through domination, but through mediation; not through division, but through dialogue.
The Kingdom has demonstrated that a nation’s power is not merely in its wealth or military might, but in its ability to heal wounds, mend relations, and build a shared future. The peace initiatives it has led – in Syria, Sudan, Gaza, and even between Russia and Ukraine – show that with will, resources, and strategic foresight, peace can indeed be pursued and achieved.
In conclusion, Saudi Arabia’s expanding leadership represents a turning point in peace and global diplomacy. It is a reminder that even in a world marked by polarization and conflict, nations can still choose the path of reason and cooperation. Saudi Arabia has shown that when words are matched by deeds, peace ceases to be a distant ideal and becomes a living reality. This should be the model for others to follow. This is how peace is promoted – through consistent action, compassion, and commitment to stability. In doing so, Saudi Arabia is not only serving the Middle East but performing a service to humanity itself, embodying the principle that real strength lies in the power to build, to reconcile, and to lead with purpose.

The alignment between the United States and Syria
Bjorn and Lilian Schmid/Prayer Coordinators/November 12/2025
Spheres of Influence
lilianschmid@prayerstrategy.org
The alignment between the United States and Syria is crucial because it directly impacts regional stability, counterterrorism efforts, and the broader geopolitical balance in the Middle East.
Here’s a breakdown of why this alignment matters so much:
Regional Stability and Security
Post-Assad transition: With the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria is undergoing a fragile political transition. U.S. support can help stabilize the country and prevent a power vacuum that extremist groups or rival powers might exploit
Counterterrorism: Syria has been a hotspot for terrorist organizations like ISIS. U.S. alignment ensures continued pressure on these groups and prevents their resurgence
Geopolitical Influence
Limiting adversaries: Without U.S. engagement, powers like Iran and Russia could dominate Syria’s future, undermining American interests and those of its allies in the region.
Support for allies: A stable Syria reduces threats to neighbouring countries like Jordan, Israel, and Turkey, reinforcing U.S. alliances and influence across the Middle East
Reconstruction and Humanitarian Aid
Rebuilding Syria: U.S. involvement is key to unlocking international aid and investment for Syria’s reconstruction. This includes lifting sanctions and supporting infrastructure, healthcare, and education.
Human rights and governance: The U.S. can help shape a democratic and inclusive political system in Syria, promoting human rights and preventing the return of authoritarianism.
Diplomatic Leverage
Peace negotiations: U.S. alignment gives Washington a seat at the table in shaping Syria’s future, including constitutional reforms, elections, and reconciliation efforts.
Sanctions relief as leverage: The U.S. can use economic tools to encourage reforms and deter malign behaviour by Syrian factions or foreign actor
How this alignment affects U.S. domestic politics, Syrian diaspora communities, or relations with Russia and Iran?
Impact on U.S. Domestic Politics
Foreign policy debates: U.S. involvement in Syria is a flashpoint between interventionist and isolationist camps. Aligning with Syria’s transitional government could be framed as nation-building or strategic containment.
Congressional oversight: Any military or financial support to Syria requires congressional approval, sparking debates over defence budgets, humanitarian aid, and sanctions.
Election narratives: Syria policy can influence presidential campaigns, especially regarding national security, immigration, and Middle East strategy.
Syrian Diaspora Communities
Refugee resettlement: U.S. alignment with Syria’s reconstruction could lead to expanded refugee programs, affecting Syrian-American communities and immigration policy.
Civic engagement: Syrian diaspora groups often advocate for democratic reforms and human rights in Syria. U.S. support empowers these voices and strengthens their role in shaping policy.
Cultural diplomacy: Stronger ties can foster educational exchanges, cultural programs, and business opportunities between Syrian-Americans and their homeland.
Relations with Russia and Iran
Strategic rivalry: Russia and Iran have backed the Assad regime militarily and politically. U.S. alignment with opposition or transitional forces challenges their influence and could escalate tensions.
Proxy dynamics: Syria is a battleground for proxy conflicts. U.S. involvement affects the balance of power in Lebanon, Iraq, and the Gulf.
Diplomatic leverage: U.S. engagement in Syria gives Washington bargaining chips in broader negotiations with Moscow and Tehran, including nuclear talks and arms control.
How can we pray for these issues and new alignment
1. Pray for Truth to Prevail
Ask God to expose lies and bring truth into the light.
Prayer focus:
That false narratives and propaganda would be revealed.
That leaders, media, and influencers would be convicted to speak truth.
That the Holy Spirit would guide people into all truth (John 16:13).
Example prayer:
“Lord, You are the God of truth. Shine Your light into the darkness. Expose every lie and deception that seeks to destroy peace and justice. Let Your truth reign in Syria, in America, and across the world.”
2. Pray for Wisdom and Discernment
Ask for spiritual clarity for leaders, citizens, and believers.
Prayer focus:
That decision-makers would discern truth from manipulation.
That Christians would not be swayed by fear or falsehood.
That the Church would be a voice of clarity and peace.
Example prayer:
“Father, grant wisdom to those in power and to Your people. Help us to see with spiritual eyes and not be deceived. Let Your Word be our compass.”
3. Pray for Healing and Reconciliation
Invite God’s presence into the pain and division.
Prayer focus:
Healing for those wounded by war, lies, and betrayal.
Reconciliation between divided communities and nations.
That the Church would be a bridge of peace and hope.
Example prayer:
“Jesus, Prince of Peace, bring healing to the brokenhearted and unity where there is division. Let Your love overcome hatred and Your peace silence the chaos.”
4. Pray with Authority Against the Spirit of Deception
Use spiritual authority to stand against evil.
Prayer focus:
Binding the spiritual forces of deception and confusion.
Declaring God’s kingdom and righteousness over nations.
Interceding for spiritual awakening and revival.
Example prayer:
“In the name of Jesus, we come against every spirit of deception and confusion. We declare that no weapon formed against truth shall prosper. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
References
After Assad: The Future of Syria
Post-Assad Syria: Challenges, Opportunities, and the US Role in Shaping its Future - Foreign Policy Research Institute
The US and Syria: Between strategic success and unfinished business
Post-Assad Syria: Challenges, Opportunities, and the US Role in Shaping its Future - Foreign Policy Research Institute
Pivotal U.S. Summit Could Help Mend a Fractured Syria | Council on Foreign Relations
https://ncusar.org/aa/2025/01/syria-in-transition-charting-a-new-path-for-regional-stability-and-us-policy/
Bjorn and Lilian Schmid
Prayer Coordinators
Spheres of Influence
www.prayerstrategy.org
https://prayerstrategy.org/books

Selected Face Book & X tweets for November 12/2025