English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  October 08/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
Luke 05/33-39: “Then they said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.’Jesus said to them, ‘You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.’He also told them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, “The old is good.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 07-08/2025
Political Islam, Both Sunni and Shiite, the Jihadi Raids of October 07–08, 2023, and Their Crushing Defeats/Elias Bejjani/October 07/2025
Feast of Saints Sergius and Bacchus/Elias Bejjani/October 07/ 2025
Lebanon says two killed in Israeli strikes on south
Lebanese Government Reviews Exclusive Arms Control Report, Suspends Risalat Association’s License
Pope Leo to visit Lebanon from November 30 to December 2
Qassem says Hezbollah emerged strong from war, thanks Iran for support
Haykal reportedly tells cabinet disarmament plan going as planned
Junblat 'reassured' after 'friendly' meeting with President Aoun
Head of American Task Force says Aoun determined to 'get things done'
Report: Aoun believes focus must be on arms plan, not on 'provoking' Hezbollah supporters
Lebanon Christian leader says Hezbollah must disarm ‘as soon as possible’
What Awaits Pope Leo XIV in Lebanon/Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/October 07/2025
On Believing And Not Believing One’s Words, And One’s Intelligence And Stupidity/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 07/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 07-08/2025
Two years have passed since the October 7 attack/Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו/X Platform/October 07/2025
Trump says ‘real chance’ of Gaza peace deal
Trump: We Seek Peace Through Strength
Trump Expresses Optimism About Reaching a Gaza Deal
Without Tangible Progress... Second Day of Israel-Hamas Talks Concludes
Qatari Prime Minister and Turkish Delegation Join Gaza Talks in Egypt
Israeli Army Intercepts 3 Drones from Yemen in Eilat Area
Israeli forces shell Gaza on war anniversary, Hamas and Israel discuss Trump plan
Hamas says working to ‘surmount all obstacles’ in Gaza truce talks
Six high-profile Palestinian prisoners at the center of Hamas-Israel negotiations
Italy PM Meloni says she and ministers reported to ICC over Gaza genocide complicity
Syria announces ‘comprehensive ceasefire’ with Kurds after clashes
US envoy hails ‘great meetings’ after brokering ceasefire between Syrian forces, SDF
CENTCOM says senior al-Qaeda–linked militant killed in Syria
UK PM Starmer visits India to build business ties after clinching trade deal
Trump talks ‘love’ and ‘conflict’ with Carney during Canadian prime minister’s visit

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on October 07-08/2025
October 7 Was Not the Reason/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya English/08 October/2025
From Gaza to Lebanon: The State Repels Sedition and Aggression/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 07/2025
Diplomacy without pressure won’t end Iran’s nuclear program/Tzvi Kahn/FDD/October 07/2025
The 'Fertile Crescent' Amid Major Global Shift/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 07/2025
Selected English Tweets from X Platform For 07 October/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 07-08/2025
Political Islam, Both Sunni and Shiite, the Jihadi Raids of October 07–08, 2023, and Their Crushing Defeats
Elias Bejjani/October 07/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148001/
Two years have passed since one of the most monstrous chapters of contemporary savagery: Hamas’s terrorist onslaught on October 07, 2023 — a day when the true face of political Islam, in all its guises, was revealed in brutal clarity. That day saw armed gangs from Hamas and allied jihadist factions pour out of the Gaza Strip to carry out a massacre marked by murder, rape, arson, degradation of corpses, and the kidnapping of children, the elderly and women — acts that have no place in any claim to religion or morality.
On the very next day, October 8, 2023,the Iranian Jihadist & terrorist proxy, Hezbollah opened a cross-border front from Lebanon, firing rockets and artillery and escalating the carnage — a move that served the regional project of theocratic Iran and dragged Lebanon into destruction. The ensuing exchanges and months of conflict devastated communities on both sides of the border and produced yet another bitter chapter of suffering for ordinary people.
After two years, the human cost is horrific: Gaza has suffered catastrophic losses and massive displacement, while Lebanon saw its south, large regions of the Beqaa and southern suburbs of Beirut turned into battle fields. The result of these campaigns was not liberation but ruin — the collapse of local institutions, mass casualties, and ultimately negotiated cessations of hostilities that read like the defeat of the armed movements that launched the violence. A multilateral ceasefire and diplomatic proposals have since taken hold, underscoring that the path of violence led only to humiliation and defeat for the armed political movements.
The clear and unavoidable conclusion is this: political Islam — whether in its Iranian Shiites form with all its armed proxies, or in its Sunni variants championed by regimes in Turkey and Qatar and by the Muslim Brotherhood movement — is a criminal, barbaric force. It does not stand for civilization, pluralism or peaceful coexistence. Its culture of glorifying violent jihad and using religious rhetoric to justify terror poses a mortal danger to humanity, to civilization, and to the fragile prospects for peace in the region.
Therefore, the response must be decisive and unambiguous:
• The theocratic mullah regime in Tehran is not a partner for stability; it is a revolutionary, expansionist machine that must be dismantled politically and economically. The international community should support policies that weaken the clerical regime’s control, empower democratic and secular opposition forces, and cut off the regime’s regional proxies and funding.
• Governments must treat the rulers of Qatar and Turkey with firmness — not flattery. Their support, diplomatic cover, or tolerance for Islamist networks that export political-religious violence must be met with strict measures: conditional engagement, pressure, and clear consequences for policies that enable extremism.
• The Muslim Brotherhood and its organized branches, which have repeatedly provided institutional cover for extremist violence and political subversion, should be placed on global terrorist lists and subjected to the full range of legal and financial tools used against transnational terror movements. Recent legislative efforts in several countries to move in this direction underline the seriousness of this proposal and why it must be advanced internationally.
In conclusion, Political Islam in all its forms and entities is not an abstract ideology that can be negotiated with while pretending its aims are benign. It is a coherent political project that has shown, again and again, that its instruments are violence, coercion, and subversion.
On the second anniversary of October 07 & 08 barbaric invasions, we remember the victims — and we must commit ourselves, without apology or equivocation, to dismantling the institutions, funding streams, and regimes that make such atrocities possible. Only by doing so can we protect civilization, human dignity, and the hope of lasting peace.

Feast of Saints Sergius and Bacchus
Elias Bejjani/October 07/ 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/147977/
The Catholic Church around the world celebrates the Feast of Saints Sergius and Bacchus on October 07 of every year. Who were they, and what is their story of faith and sainthood?
Who They Were and Where They Came From
Saints Sergius and Bacchus were two high-ranking officers in the Roman military who lived in the late third and early fourth centuries A.D., during the reign of Emperor Maximian. Historical sources indicate that they originated from the Roman province of Syria, which then included parts of modern-day Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Some accounts suggest they were born in Edessa (modern-day Urfa), which was a major early Christian center in the East.
Their Life and Faith
Both saints served with honor and loyalty in the Roman army and enjoyed the emperor’s favor for their bravery and discipline. Yet they were also devout Christians, secretly devoted to Christ during a time when Christianity was fought against and persecuted. When their faith was discovered, they were ordered to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods. They refused boldly, declaring that their allegiance was first and foremost to God alone. Furious, the emperor stripped them of their military ranks, clothed them in garments of humiliation, and subjected them to brutal torture. Saint Bacchus was the first to die under torture in Barbalissus (northern Syria) around 303 A.D., while Saint Sergius was later transferred to Resafa (Sergiopolis), where he was beheaded for refusing to renounce his faith. His tomb became an early pilgrimage site for Christians.
Their Spiritual Life
Though they were not monks—since organized monasticism had not yet fully emerged—Sergius and Bacchus lived as lay ascetics devoted to God within the world, embodying purity, discipline, and unshakable devotion to Christ. Their lives combined military valor with spiritual heroism, making them models of faith in public life.
Veneration and Their Place in the Church
Their names appeared in the early Christian martyrologies by the fourth century, and their memory was celebrated in the Byzantine, Syriac, and Latin liturgies. In the Catholic Church, their feast day is observed on October 7, and they are also venerated by the Eastern Orthodox, Syriac, and Coptic Churches as “martyrs for Christ.” They are recognized as patron saints of soldiers and defenders of the faith, and believers seek their intercession for courage, loyalty, and strength in times of persecution.
The Spread of Their Veneration in Lebanon
Devotion to Saints Sergius and Bacchus reached Lebanon in the early Christian centuries through Antiochian, Syriac, and Maronite monks who migrated from northern Syria and Edessa to the mountains of Lebanon.
The first churches dedicated to them were established near rocky caves and mountain valleys, where Christians fleeing Roman persecution sought refuge. Over time, this devotion spread widely, and today their names are deeply woven into the spiritual and cultural fabric of Lebanon. The Lebanese people found in these saints symbols of courage and steadfast faith, identifying with their struggle against tyranny and their unyielding witness to Christ. Consequently, dozens of churches across Lebanon bear their names—a testimony to the living faith of the Lebanese Christian people. Among the many places that honor them are:
District Notable Areas and Churches
Jbeil: Al-Mansif, Al-Barbara, Bjeh, Behdidat, Beit Habak, Halat, Tartej, Janné, Fghal, Qartaba, Mechmech, and Mifouq.
Keserwan: Zaitre, Kfour, Aachqout, Rayfoun, Faitroun, and Ghabaleh.
Northern Metn: Jdeideh, Bourj Hammoud, Dhour el-Souwan.
Zahleh: Ferzol.
Baalbek: Ainata.
Bsharri: Bsharri, Diman, Blouza, Beit Monzer, Hadchit, Tourza, Abdine, Qannat, and the Valley of Qannoubine.
Koura: Amioun, Bchmizzine, Rachdein, Zakroun, Qlayhat, Kfifoun, and Kousba.
Zgharta: Zgharta, Ehden, Ijbeh, Ardeh, Aslout, Aitou, Bsalouqit, Harf Miziara, Rachaaine, Srajl, Arjes, Kfardlaqous.
Dinnieh: Zghartghrine.
Batroun: Bchaaleh, Tannourine el-Fouqa, Mazraat Bel’aa, Jran, Hardine, Douma, Rashkadé, Zane, Chabtine, Kfifré: Kfaraabida, Marah Chdid (Deir Shwah), and Wata Houb.
This remarkable presence across all Lebanese regions illustrates the depth of devotion and faith that Lebanese Christians hold for these two great martyrs, whose feast day, October 07, is celebrated as a national and spiritual occasion expressing stability in faith and unity in hope.
The Faith of Lebanese Christians and the Example of Saints Sergius and Bacchus
For centuries, the Lebanese Christians have seen in Saints Sergius and Bacchus a reflection of their own unwavering faith in Christ, finding in their martyrdom a model of courage and adherence to Divine Truth regardless of the severity of persecution. Throughout history, the Lebanese people in their mountains lived a faith similar to theirs, carrying the Cross in the face of every invader and conqueror who sought to erase their religious and human identity. From the Mamluks to the Ottoman Empire, and through waves of invasions and persecutions that targeted the Maronite and other Eastern Churches, the Christians of Lebanon remained steadfast, invoking the intercession of Saints Sergius and Bacchus for the protection of their land, people, and faith. Every time the Lebanese mountains faced invasion or injustice, the believers recalled the saints’ story, finding in it the power of hope and the strength to continue their spiritual resistance, just as the two saints refused to bow to idols despite the threat of death.
Thus, their feast on October 7 is not merely a historical commemoration—it is a celebration of Lebanese Christian courage, a renewal of resilience against tyranny, and an affirmation that those who hold fast to Christ are never defeated, no matter how severe the tribulations. Saints Sergius and Bacchus are honored not only as martyrs for Christ in history but as companions on the path for every Lebanese believer who carries their cross daily and witnesses to the truth in a world full of injustice and selfishness.
Reflection & A Prayer
O holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus, teach us to stand firm in faith as you two stood firm, to forgive as you two forgave, and to carry our crosses with joy and hope.
Intercede for Lebanon—land of the Holy Cedars, faith, and martyrs—that it may remain a beacon of Christ amid all trials. And may its mountains, like your courageous lives, be transformed into a living witness to Truth and Light.

Lebanon says two killed in Israeli strikes on south
AFP/07 October/2025
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed two people on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with Israel saying it had targeted members of Hezbollah. Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that followed more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group that culminated in two months of open war. The health ministry said in a statement that an “Israeli drone strike” on an excavator in Yater killed one person. It also reported a separate air strike on Deir Aames, which killed one person and wounded another. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had killed Mahmoud Ali Issa in Deir Aames, alleging he was “responsible for the financial and military connections between Hezbollah and the residents of the village.”It also said it killed a Hezbollah member who “operated an engineering vehicle in the Zibqin area,” near Yater, accusing him of trying to "reestablish Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites.”Israel carries out strikes in southern Lebanon on a near-daily basis, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah. The United Nations said last week it had verified the deaths of 103 civilians in Lebanon since the November truce, demanding a halt to the ongoing suffering.
Tuesday’s attacks follow an Israeli strike the day before that killed a man who had been previously wounded and lost his sight when Israel blew up hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members last year. The man’s wife was also killed in the strike.Hezbollah, which was severely weakened by the war, faces a push to give up its arsenal. Under intense US and Israeli pressure, Lebanon’s government is seeking to disarm the group, and the Lebanese army has drawn up a plan to do so beginning in the country’s south.

Lebanese Government Reviews Exclusive Arms Control Report, Suspends Risalat Association’s License
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/7 October 2025
The Lebanese government on Monday reviewed the first report on its Exclusive Arms Control Plan, presented by Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal, in line with the cabinet decision of September 5. During the same session, the government suspended the operating license of the Risalat Association following public backlash over the illumination of Beirut’s Raouche Rock last week with images of Hezbollah’s late secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hashem Safieddine. The cabinet meeting followed days of intense political mediation to prevent a government crisis over the Raouche incident. Ahead of the session, President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a private meeting. Hezbollah reportedly warned the government against revoking the association’s license after Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar proposed dissolving Risalat, which is affiliated with the group. The association had sought permission to hold a memorial for Nasrallah at Raouche Rock, in what officials deemed a violation of state regulations. The Interior Ministry’s request appeared second on the cabinet’s agenda, following a briefing from the Justice Minister on legal actions taken regarding the September 25 Raouche gathering. The army report was listed third. However, following political consultations, ministers agreed to defer discussion of the Raouche-related items until the end of the session. Shiite ministers confirmed they would not withdraw from the meeting, with Environment Minister Tamara el-Zein, affiliated with the Amal Movement, stating: “If the issue of revoking Risalat’s license is put to a vote, we will remain in the session.”While the cabinet kept deliberations on the arms control plan confidential, Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji described the army’s report as “excellent.”Information Minister Paul Morkos later announced that the government had decided to suspend Risalat’s operating license. He added that Aoun and Salam were committed to holding parliamentary elections on time, dismissing rumors of any postponement. Morkos said the cabinet reviewed the army’s monthly report on arms exclusivity and reaffirmed that the discussions would remain classified while the military continues to submit regular updates. Meanwhile, Hezbollah renewed its rejection of disarmament and dismissed the government’s move as politically motivated. MP Hassan Fadlallah questioned the army’s capacity to enforce the plan, accusing some officials of seeking confrontation.In parallel, Risalat held a solidarity gathering in Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying it would continue its activities and pursue legal action. “We carry a sacred mission,” the group said, “and this decision only strengthens our determination.”

Pope Leo to visit Lebanon from November 30 to December 2
Associated Press/7 October 2025
Pope Leo XIV will travel to Turkey and Lebanon next month on the first foreign trip of his papacy, making a symbolically important gesture to Christians and Muslims on a pilgrimage to two countries that Pope Francis had planned to visit.
The Vatican on Tuesday announced that Leo will visit Turkey from Nov. 27-30, and Lebanon from Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The visit to Turkey will include a pilgrimage to Iznik to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, the first ecumenical council.
The anniversary is an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations, and Francis had planned to mark it with his own trip to Turkey in May at the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
Francis died in April, and Leo said from the start of his papacy that he intended to complete Francis' plans. The trip will give history's first American pope a chance to speak in broad terms about peace in the Middle East and the plight of Christians there. Leo, like his predecessor Francis, has consistently called for peace and dialogue in the Middle East, especially as Israel's offensive rages on in Gaza. The last pope to visit Lebanon was Pope Benedict XVI in September 2012 on what was the last foreign trip of his papacy. Francis, who died on April 21, had long hoped to visit Lebanon, but the country's political and economic instability prevented a visit during his lifetime.

Qassem says Hezbollah emerged strong from war, thanks Iran for support
Naharnet/7 October 2025
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said the 2024 war with Israel was “a difficult and very complicated battle.”“Throughout 40 years, we had not faced such a big pressure and such a big danger, but thank God we emerged from this battle with strength, determination, firmness and continuity, and God willing we shall continue,” Qassem said in a message to an Iranian ceremony marking two years since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel. “The sons of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah are heroic jihadists and the families, martyrs and all leaders … will God willing stay in the arena and will not enable Israel to achieve its goals,” Qassem added. “We are strong with the help of God Almighty, and I thank the support that has been presented by the Islamic Republic of Iran, its leader Imam Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the mujahid and heroic Iranian people, the government and all security forces,” the Hezbollah leader went on to say.

Haykal reportedly tells cabinet disarmament plan going as planned
Naharnet/7 October 2025
Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal presented to Cabinet a detailed briefing about the first phase of the army’s plan to monopolize arms in the country, LBCI television said. “He mentioned that it includes three main points: monopolizing arms south of the Litani, containing weapons across Lebanon and controlling the Palestinian camps, which means closing the gaps in the camps and limiting entry and exit to entrances controlled by the army,” LBCI added. “Haykal detailed all these points and explained to ministers what the army has implemented of them, where it was implemented and the extent of progress in the plan, while presenting numbers,” the TV network said. “The army chief said the South’s residents have not obstructed the implementation of the plan’s first phase in the South Litani area, adding that there is cooperation between the army and U.N. forces there,” LBCI added. “Haykal stressed that despite the Israeli obstacles and attacks, the army is implementing its agenda for the first phase and things are going as planned,” the TB network said, adding that Haykal called on the state to “activate its presence in the South.” Cabinet had on September 5 endorsed a Lebanese Army plan for monopolizing arms in the country, tasking the military with submitting monthly reports. The first report was submitted by Haykal on Monday. The first phase of the plan is expected to be concluded by the end of this year.

Junblat 'reassured' after 'friendly' meeting with President Aoun
Associated Press/7 October 2025
Druze leader and former chief of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat held talks Tuesday with President Joseph Aoun in what he described as a "friendly" meeting. "The visit was friendly and reassuring despite all the campaigns that are raising doubts," Jumblat said as he left the Baabda palace.
"The Lebanese Army is doing a tremendous job in the South," he added. The meeting comes as Lebanon's government seeks to disarm Hezbollah under intense U.S. and Israeli pressure. Lebanon's army chief on Monday briefed the government for the first time on its plan to disarm Hezbollah, while Israel carried out airstrikes in southern and northeastern Lebanon that killed two people. The Cabinet decided to keep the plan and all discussions about it “secret.”Hezbollah has rejected the plan, saying it won’t discuss disarmament as long as Israel continues to occupy several hills along the border and carries out almost daily strikes. The Lebanese government first aimed to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, but officials later said resources are too limited to meet the deadline. The current aim is to fully clear a stretch along the Lebanon-Israel border, defined as south of the Litani river, by the end of November before moving into further phases. Lebanon's army has suffered from the repercussions of the country's economic meltdown six years ago but Western and Arab countries have offered support.

Head of American Task Force says Aoun determined to 'get things done'
Associated Press/7 October 2025
Ed Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a nonprofit that aims to build stronger U.S.-Lebanon ties, told journalists that the $190 million for the Lebanese Army and $40 million for Internal Security Forces will be mainly in training and equipment. Gabriel, who met several top officials in recent days including Army chief Rodolphe Haykal and President Joseph Aoun, said the president is "determined to get things (disarmament) done.”He added that the Lebanese government has to make it clear that it is not backing down from full disarmament of Hezbollah, and said a weakness in the plan is that “they don’t have a specific timetable.”He added that the international community wants Hezbollah’s “strategic weapons” such as precision-guided missiles and drones to be removed.

Report: Aoun believes focus must be on arms plan, not on 'provoking' Hezbollah supporters
Naharnet/7 October 2025
President Joseph Aoun is seeking to protect civil peace in parallel with the enforcement of laws and he believes that communication with all parties serves that purpose, Baabda sources said. “The government and the premiership must reassure Hezbollah’s environment instead of provoking it, and must focus on the decisions of removing illegal arms instead of wasting time on decisions that increase the mobilization of Hezbollah’s environment,” the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Monday. “Accordingly, Aoun will work on avoiding a cabinet vote today on withdrawing the license of the (Hezbollah-linked) Rissalat association in order to prevent an increase in tensions. He will also demand that the investigation into the Raouche events be concluded before taking any decision against the association,” the sources said. The sources also dismissed the reports that claimed that top Iranian official Ali Larijani had brought in $300 million in his diplomatic suitcase when he visited Lebanon last month. “The plane and the accompanying delegation were searched individual by individual, while Larijani was allowed to bring in his diplomatic suitcase, which weighed around 10 kilograms,” the sources said, adding: “A million dollar consisting of $100 bills weighs around 15 kilograms, so how would $300 million be brought in in a suitcase weighing 10 kilograms?”

Lebanon Christian leader says Hezbollah must disarm ‘as soon as possible’
AFP/07 October/2025
Lebanon’s leading Christian politician, Samir Geagea, on Tuesday urged Hezbollah to surrender its weapons to the state “as soon as possible,” warning the Iran-backed group it has run out of options. “Hezbollah has no choice but to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state... because the state took this decision,” Geagea told AFP in an interview from his residence in Maarab, north of Beirut. Iran-backed Hezbollah has come under mounting pressure to give up its arms since it was severely weakened by Israel last year, after intervening on the side of its Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza war. Under intense US pressure and fearing expanded Israeli military action, the Lebanese government is seeking to disarm the group, and the army has begun implementing a plan to do so beginning in the country’s south. “Hezbollah must certainly learn from what is currently happening with Hamas. This is an additional reason for it to hand over its weapons to the state as soon as possible,” Geagea, the head of the Lebanese Forces party, said. Hamas and Israel are holding indirect talks in Egypt this week about US President Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the devastating conflict in Gaza and build a roadmap for its post-war governance. In October 2023, Hezbollah initiated cross-border hostilities with Israel in support of Hamas, culminating in two months of all-out war last year before a ceasefire was agreed in November. The group suffered heavy losses, losing much of its top leadership, including leader Hassan Nasrallah. “I don’t understand much of what they (Hezbollah) are doing... I didn’t understand the war in support (of Hamas),” Geagea said, adding it was “clear where it would lead.”
‘Outside the law’
A longtime opponent of Hezbollah, Geagea’s party has the largest number of MPs in Lebanon’s parliament. The Lebanese Forces, like most major groups in Lebanon, surrendered its weapons following the end of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war.
Hezbollah was the only significant armed group to keep its weapons, doing so in the name of resistance against Israel which still occupied southern Lebanon at the time. It has repeatedly rejected calls to lay down its arms. Geagea said Lebanese authorities must show greater “firmness” in implementing a state monopoly on weapons. He said Hezbollah’s opposition to disarmament “places it outside the political game and outside the law, and presents it as a rebel against the state.”Geagea claimed that the real power over Hezbollah’s decision to disarm “rests with Iran,” which has long provided the group with money and weapons. He argued that “the longer (Hezbollah) delays (disarming), the more it loses its ability to be a major political player” in Lebanon. Before the war and the overthrow of its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad shifted the balance of power in the region, Hezbollah was the most powerful political force in Lebanon, able to sway and disrupt governments and block the appointment of premiers and presidents.

What Awaits Pope Leo XIV in Lebanon
Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/October 07/2025
COMMENTARY: To call for peace in Lebanon, much less for 'positive and active neutrality,' is to signal clear opposition to the perpetual war and revolution axis.
That Pope Leo would add Lebanon to his first international trip is a signal of both the country’s importance and crisis situation.
Lebanon may not be very important on the world stage. But what gives it weight in the Vatican is that it is indeed a real bastion of Eastern Christianity, especially Catholic Christianity. With a Christian percentage of “only” 37% of the population, it has an influential critical mass of Christians within the population as a whole not seen anywhere else in the Middle East. And in a not insignificant part of Lebanon — from Bsharre in the north to East Beirut in the south, from the coast to Zahleh — Christians are still the overwhelming majority of the population, something which is tangible in the store and street signs, sidewalk shrines and numerous churches of this region.
But the great issue or crisis in Lebanon is not Muslim-Christian relations. Those relations exist and have tended to be mostly cordial. Lebanon’s problem is sectarian only to the extent that it reflects much more dire political divisions in the country.
On one side are those Lebanese who want to see their country flourish as a normal country at peace with itself and neutral from the violent conflicts that have wracked the region for decades. Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai, the country’s most influential churchman, has called for “an active and positive stance of neutrality.” Cardinal Rai explained that “positive neutrality is a political doctrine that avoids alignment with conflicting regional or international blocs while remaining committed to just causes globally, such as the right of peoples to independence.” Put more bluntly, the patriarch wishes the Palestinian people every success. But he doesn’t want to see Lebanon sacrificed on an altar of perpetual war and turmoil for foreign causes, whether that is under the banner of Palestine or Iran or anyone else.
In stark opposition to this axis of positive neutrality epitomized by the patriarch and many other Lebanese, Christian and Muslim is another axis that one might dub the axis of perpetual revolution represented by the Iranian-supported terror group Hezbollah and its political and armed allies in Lebanon, which include both Muslims and some Christians. The axis of perpetual revolution is the latest iteration of a calamity inflicted upon Lebanon — often with some very real Lebanese acquiescence — for more than 50 years. First it was Lebanon as a platform for revolution in the Arab world and war against Israel. Beirut was called the Hanoi or Stalingrad of the Arabs. Lebanon — or that considerable part of it that was not controlled by Lebanese Christians — was a hostage to the Palestinian nationalist cause, which would then morph into being a hostage to Syrian Assad regime aspirations and finally into serving as a hostage to Iranian regional ambitions. Arafat, Assad, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had different visions, but the impact on Lebanon was the same: to make the country into a tool for others, for their statecraft and violence.
To call for peace in Lebanon, much less for “positive and active neutrality” is to signal clear opposition to the perpetual war and revolution axis. That is the great divide in Lebanon, not necessarily religion. There have been Christians who, either out of conviction or deep cynicism and self-interest, favored the Hezbollah-led axis, such as former President Michel Aoun and his party. And there are Christians that never did.
Some Christians, like former minister and parliamentarian Pierre Amine Gemayel, paid the ultimate price of assassination for their opposition to the war party. But Mohammad Chatah, a former minister and Sunni Muslim, and Lokman Selim, a Shiite Muslim political activist and publisher, were also assassinated because of their brave opposition to the perpetual war party led by Hezbollah and his allies.
So, amid the flurry of diplomatic protocol, official meetings and religious events associated with a papal visit, the Holy Father will face the challenge of clearly communicating and supporting two causes: solidarity and support for Lebanon’s historic Christian community and support for peace, tranquility and neutrality for all Lebanese. The two causes overlap.
Lebanon’s economic crisis, which sees large numbers of young Christians emigrate in search of a better future, is intimately connected to its political crisis, which is directly linked to the distortions caused in the country by the war party.
All of Lebanon’s other problems — the need for an Israeli withdrawal, the rebuilding of the South, the fight against corruption, social justice, religious tolerance — are ameliorated by a rearranging of the status quo and a moving away from the cycle of constant war and the political economic corruption that comes from Hezbollah as being an army of its own and a state within a state.
A papal message calling for this type of change is not only aligned with the foreign policy of the West towards Lebanon, but also that of most Arab Muslim states, and the hopes of most Lebanese, Christian and Muslim.
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/pope-leo-xiv-lebanon-alberto-fernandez
**Alberto M. Fernandez Alberto M. Fernandez is a former U.S. diplomat and a contributor at EWTN News.

On Believing And Not Believing One’s Words, And One’s Intelligence And Stupidity
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 07/2025
We should hope that the leaders of Hezbollah, its spokesmen, and those who promote its discourse do not believe in their discourse. Indeed, soundness of mind and common sense demand as much.
True, proponents are not absolved of other flaws in the event that they are not convinced of the case they are pretending to deeply believe in; it suggests that they are, in one way or another, maliciously or hypocritically deceiving and harming others. Still, the party could, if this were the case, approach this undignified behavior as being a political or partisan necessity, and this approach is typical of non-democratic parties and movements.
Conviction, on the other hand, cannot be defended or justified whatsoever. It would require nothing less than transferring the believer to the nearest hospital.
For whoever utters and believes claims like “Hezbollah protected Lebanon and defended it,” “it empowered Lebanon, imbuing it with strength and dignity after decades of weakness and humiliation,” or that “allying with Iran is necessary for overcoming Lebanon’s hardships and entering history,” is echoing rhetoric that cannot be proven by reason nor empirical observation. In fact, reason and empirical observation only point to the opposite.
It seems relatively well established, however, that myths are summoned and internalized as a response to events that seem unbelievable and incomprehensible. In our particular case, this fact allows for understanding how and why those who found themselves confronted with Israel’s victory- after having been spoon fed by an intellectual apparatus that, time and again, told them this enemy was “weaker than a spider’s web”- would turn to myths and miracles.
Here, we encounter another dimension to this indoctrination, Iran’s role. It is in the interest of Iran, which makes the very same claims as the party, for Hezbollah to believe in this discourse. Hezbollah’s conviction reinforces the notions Tehran needs to project to the world, like its possessions of “strong cards,” and to maintain its guardianship over a cause worth defending that enjoys broad support among the Lebanese.
Accordingly, we can expect to see more belief in the unbelievable so long as Iran, as some of its officials have been reiterating, is “preparing to fight a war with all its might.” We should also expect more of this if Hamas follows through on its compliance with Trump’s plan.
Still, we must always distinguish between one proponent and another, between one purveyor of myth and another purveyor of the same myth.
For example, when “Expediency Discernment Council” member Ali Larijani says such things, and he often does, he is being very shrewd. That does not apply to Naiim Qassem or Mohammad Raad when they do the same. Larijani is clever when he does this because he stands to gain from the fact that Qassem, Raad, and their followers believe in these notions that he does not.
This dynamic resembles authoritarian regimes’ deception of masses who go about echoing the rhetoric they must echo despite this regime knowing it is lying. The more the authorities shape the minds of its people, the more the people are inclined to believe the authorities. North Koreans, for instance, are infinitely more inclined to believe in the exceptionality of Kim Jong-un than Britons or Swedes would believe the same about their leaders.
The German psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich dubbed the manufactured being who believes and obeys “the little man.” After the Second World War ended, Reich published a long essay addressed to the “common man.” “Listen, Little Man!” incites the latter to confront the social and psychological forces perpetuating his subjugation and conformity. The “little man,” in pursuit of security and conformity, abandons his independence and individuality, giving them up to authoritarian figures and institutions. Be they political, religious, or moral, these figures and institutions take control of his reason and capture emotions. Often by appealing to his most base instincts, they manage to turn the “little man” into a proactive participant in his own oppression, the destruction of his mind, and the betrayal of his interests.
Nonetheless, Reich was not entirely pessimistic about the “little man” inclined to believe the unbelievable. He believed that individuals could liberate themselves and break free of their chains, reclaiming their individuality and enjoying the freedom they deserve. Doing so necessarily entails developing the courage to think critically and independently of the masses around them. Accordingly, Reich called for a revolution within the mind that awakens the individual to the unrealized capacities and potential that he possesses and had himself taken part in repressing. Freedom, in this sense, cannot be reduced to the absence of external oppression; it also requires the capacity to think and act independently- many have enjoyed political freedom only to swiftly fall into new forms of intellectual and emotional servitude. Going back to Hezbollah and its readiness to believe the unbelievable, the ultimate catastrophe is that this reflects abstinence from assessing matters on the basis of reason and lived experiences, and consequently from assessing promises that had been made, as well as the absence of any desire to retain free thinking. In the end, communal loyalties, allegiance to the “kin” confiscating their mind, come first, second, and third.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 07-08/2025
Two years have passed since the October 7 attack
Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו/X Platform/October 07/2025
Two years have passed since the October 7 attack - the horrific slaughter of our brothers and sisters, residents of the Western Negev, and participants at the Nova party. We paid a very painful price. Infants, children, and elderly people were brutally and horrifically murdered by Hamas terrorists. 251 men and women were abducted into the terror tunnels of the Gaza Strip. My wife and I bow our heads in memory of our fallen and slain, whose image will be etched in our hearts forever. We embrace the bereaved families with love, wish a full recovery to the wounded, physically and mentally, and are acting in every possible way to bring back all the hostages, the living and the fallen alike. Our bloodthirsty enemies hit us hard, but they did not break us. They very quickly discovered the enormous power of the people of Israel.
The War of Uprising on seven fronts is a decisive war for our very existence and our future. Alongside the immense pain, we feel great pride in our nation’s remarkable resilience. Our soldiers and commanders are delivering powerful blows to those who seek to harm us on every front, both near and far. Whoever raises a hand against us suffers unprecedented crushing strikes. Together we broke the Iranian axis, together we changed the face of the Middle East, together we will secure Israel’s perpetuity.
Citizens of Israel, we are living through fateful days of decision. We will continue to act to achieve all the war’s objectives: the return of all the hostages, the elimination of Hamas’s rule, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.
Together we will stand. And together, with God’s help, we will prevail.

Trump says ‘real chance’ of Gaza peace deal
AFP/ 07 October/2025
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday there was a “real chance” of a Gaza peace deal, as Hamas and Israeli negotiators held indirect talks on the second anniversary of the October 7 attack. “We are very close to making a deal on the Middle East that will bring peace to the Middle East,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump said that US negotiators were involved in the talks now taking place in Egypt. The White House said on Monday that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner would play a role. “There’s a real chance that we could do something,” Trump said. “I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It’s something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately.”“Our team is over there now, another team just left, and other countries, literally every country in the world, has supported the plan.” Trump added that the United States would to “everything possible to make sure everyone adheres to the deal” if Hamas and Israel do agree on a ceasefire to end the war.

Trump: We Seek Peace Through Strength
Al Modon/October 7, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
US President Donald Trump stressed that he would continue "the efforts he is making to return all Israeli captives, and ensure the complete destruction of the Hamas movement," affirming that he seeks "peace through strength" to end the ongoing war in Gaza. Trump's statements came in a thank-you letter addressed to the Forum of Israeli Hostages' Families held in Gaza, after they formally announced his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. In his letter, dated October 7, 2025, Trump confirmed that "the horrific scenes of the events of October 7, 2023, are etched in our memory, and will never be forgotten." He added that "his administration has been determined since that day to return all hostages to their homes, and ensure that those atrocities are never repeated," noting that Washington is "fully committed to ending this conflict, and ending the waves of antisemitism at home and abroad."Trump concluded his letter by saying: "We pray that this war will end in the coming days – or else," a phrase that carried an implied threat, and the letter was not without clear religious employment. Trump's rhetoric, which links "peace" with the elimination of "Hamas," reflects a sharp contradiction between the language of diplomacy and the reality of the bloody war in Gaza, which has resulted in the death of tens of thousands of civilians, most of them women and children, amidst continuous American political and military support for Israel. Trump also continued his complete disregard for the victims of the ongoing war of annihilation in the Strip. The Forum of Israeli Hostages' Families described Trump's nomination for the award as a "historic step," and said in a letter to the Nobel Committee that "Trump's insistence on returning the captives and peace to the Middle East restored our hope after a two-year-long nightmare." The families indicated that "Trump's diplomatic efforts resulted in the release of 39 captives, and the proper burial of a number of the dead," considering that "Trump did not just talk about peace; he actually achieved it, and will not rest until the last captive returns and the war ends." Trump seeks to win the Nobel Peace Prize, believing that "what he has accomplished exceeds what many who have received the award have done." His nomination by the captives' families is seen, according to observers, as a step intended to court him and enhance his commitment to their cause, similar to what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did previously during a White House visit.

Trump Expresses Optimism About Reaching a Gaza Deal
Washington: Hiba Al Qudsi/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 7, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
US President Donald Trump expressed great optimism about the possibility of achieving peace in Gaza, pointing out, upon receiving Canadian Prime Minister Marc Carney at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, that all countries support the 20-point plan he put forward, and that negotiations are at a critical stage. He said: "We are in the midst of very serious negotiations, and I think there is a possibility for peace in the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years!" Trump added: "We want the hostages released immediately, our team is there, and now another team has left, and literally every country has supported the plan. I don't think anyone hasn't supported it, and there is a real chance we can do something." When asked about the guarantees the US is offering to Arab allies, Trump said: "They are doing the negotiations now, and we will do our best, and we have broad authority, and once the Gaza deal is done, we will do everything we can to make sure everyone adheres to it." For his part, the Canadian Prime Minister referred to the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, saying: "As you know, on this day, the horrific October 7 attacks happened, and for the first time in decades and for hundreds and thousands of years, the hope for peace has become possible, and Canada strongly supports these efforts, and we will do our best to support you."In a related context, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman Majid Al-Ansari announced that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani would join the talks in Egypt on the war in Gaza on Wednesday. Al-Ansari said on his 'X' platform account on Tuesday that the Qatari PM "is heading tomorrow morning (Wednesday) to Sharm El Sheikh in the Arab Republic of Egypt to join the ongoing negotiations between the concerned parties regarding Gaza." He added: "His Excellency's joining of the meetings... comes at a delicate stage of consultations, confirming the mediators' determination to reach an agreement that ends the catastrophic war in the Gaza Strip."
American officials are expressing cautious optimism, portraying the talks as the "most promising attempt" so far to end the 24-month-long war, which has claimed the lives of over 41,000 Palestinians. This comes as high-level Qatari, Turkish, and American delegations arrive to discuss proposals between Israeli and 'Hamas' delegations, details of a phased prisoner exchange, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the disarmament of 'Hamas,' and the reconstruction of Gaza under international supervision. As Trump's envoys, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, prepare to engage, the White House briefing on Tuesday painted a more optimistic picture. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt praised the Hamas statement issued on Friday, which represents an implicit approval of the "framework," describing it as a "clear" green light. Leavitt praised Trump's media campaign, "Social Truth," for achieving this "remarkable" consensus among Arabs, the United States, and Israel. White House sources indicated that President Trump met on Monday with both Witkoff and Kushner before their trip to Cairo, stressing the necessity of strict adherence to timelines, examining maps with Ron Dermer (Netanyahu's advisor), coordinating with Gulf states on funding, and cooperating with Qatar on "guarantees" for the 'Hamas' movement. Experts at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy point to the risks of "quicksand," noting the same implementation obstacles that scuttled previous ceasefire agreements. Dennis Ross pointed to "back to the future" obstacles, such as Hamas's insistence on linking releases to "complete" Israeli withdrawals, and Israel's non-negotiable stance on disarmament timelines. Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution views the ongoing talks in Sharm El Sheikh resort as "Trump's test for the Nobel Peace Prize," warning that without Palestinian consent on governance (a technocratic council without 'Hamas'), it will be "peace on paper, and war in practice."

Without Tangible Progress... Second Day of Israel-Hamas Talks Concludes
Riyadh: Al Arabiya.net and Agencies/October 7, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The second day of the Sharm El Sheikh negotiations aimed at ending the war in Gaza concluded on Tuesday without any tangible progress, according to "Egyptian security sources" quoted by the German News Agency (dpa). The talks are being held between Hamas and Israel, with Qatari participation and Egyptian mediation.The second day focused on discussing lists of Palestinian prisoners whose release Hamas is demanding, in addition to examining a mechanism for Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. A senior Egyptian security official familiar with the discussions told dpa that "the situation remains the same compared to the first day," with both the Israeli and Hamas delegations adhering to their positions. The source added that the Hamas delegation still demands firm guarantees that Israel will not resume military operations after the release of the captives, insisting on the necessity of a complete halt to the war before any exchange. The lists of prisoners whose release Hamas is demanding include prominent Palestinian figures, such as Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, Hassan Salameh, and Abbas Al-Sayed. Hamas also demanded clarification on the mechanisms and procedures for implementing Trump's plan, including guarantees that Israel will not return to bombing Gaza. The Egyptian source added that the Israeli delegation has so far refused to provide any commitments regarding these guarantees or discuss a halt to the war before a prisoner exchange. The official said that the US delegation, led by Steve Witkoff, is expected to join the talks on Wednesday, with mediators hoping that American participation will help pressure the Israeli side. The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported late Tuesday that "Hamas demanded that the release of Israeli captives be conditional on a comprehensive withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza."Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atti said that the negotiations are discussing a security mechanism to ensure Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza, adding that the talks are "working to create the conditions for a hostage exchange, and the full, unimpeded entry of aid."

Qatari Prime Minister and Turkish Delegation Join Gaza Talks in Egypt
Riyadh: Al Arabiya.net and Agencies/October 7, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will join the talks in Sharm El Sheikh on Wednesday, "confirming the mediators' determination to reach an agreement that ends the catastrophic war in the Gaza Strip." A source told Reuters: "After two days of talks, the Qatari PM is heading to Egypt to meet other mediators, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with the goal of pushing the Gaza ceasefire plan and captive release agreement." In the same context, a Turkish delegation led by Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalın will also participate on Wednesday, with the core issues being a ceasefire, prisoner exchange, and humanitarian aid. Kalın "held bilateral talks with American, Egyptian, Qatari, and Hamas officials before the negotiations." The US delegation led by Steve Witkoff is also set to join the indirect talks on Wednesday.

Israeli Army Intercepts 3 Drones from Yemen in Eilat Area
Tel Aviv/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 7, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Israeli forces intercepted three drones launched from Yemen within 30 minutes over the Eilat area in southern Israel, a military spokesman reported on Tuesday. Air raid sirens had sounded twice earlier in the coastal city. The Houthi militia in Yemen has been attacking Israel with drones and missiles over the past two years as a gesture of solidarity with 'Hamas' after the outbreak of the October 7, 2023 war.

Israeli forces shell Gaza on war anniversary, Hamas and Israel discuss Trump plan
Reuters/07 October/2025
Israeli tanks, boats and jets pounded parts of Gaza on Tuesday, giving Palestinians no respite on the anniversary of the Hamas attack that led to two years of war and underlining the challenges at talks on Donald Trump’s plan to halt the conflict.Israel pressed on with its offensive, residents said, after Hamas and Israel began indirect negotiations on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on sensitive issues such as Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’ disarmament. The talks on the US president’s plan are widely seen as the most promising yet for ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which killed 1,200 people.
Militant groups mark anniversary with statement
Residents in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and Gaza City in the north reported heavy bombing from tanks and planes in the early hours on Tuesday, witnesses said. Israeli forces pounded several districts from the air, sea and ground, they said. Gaza militants fired rockets across the border early on Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens at Israeli kibbutz Netiv Haasara, and Israeli troops continued to tackle gunmen inside the enclave, the Israeli military said. Marking the anniversary of the attack, an umbrella of Palestinian factions including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and smaller militant groups vowed “the choice of resistance by all means is the sole and only way to confront the Zionist enemy.” “No one has the right to cede the weapons of the Palestinian people. This legitimate weapon... will be passed through the Palestinian generations until their land and sacred sites are liberated,” the statement issued in the name of “Factions of the Palestinian Resistance” said. Israelis marking the second anniversary of the Hamas attack - in which 251 people were taken back to Gaza as hostages - gathered at some of the worst-hit sites of that day and at Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostages Square. “It’s like an open wound, the hostages, I can’t believe it’s been two years and they are still not home,” said Hilda Weisthal, 43. “I really hope that all the leaders will make a push and that this war will end.” In Gaza, Mohammed Dib, 49, voiced similar hopes of an end to the conflict. “It’s been two years that we are living in fear, horror, displacement and destruction,” he said. “We are hoping, with these new negotiations, to reach a ceasefire and a final end to the war.”
Israel increasingly isolated on world stage
Israel is negotiating from a position of strength. It responded to the 2023 attack by launching its offensive to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, while also assassinating the top Hamas leaders outside the Strip and other Iranian-backed groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and weakening Yemen’s Houthis. It also killed Iran’s top military commanders and attacked Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day war which was joined by the United States. But Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza, which local health authorities say has killed over 67,000 people and has flattened the tiny enclave, isolated the country on the world stage. Some Western leaders have recognized Palestinian statehood and pro-Palestinian protests have erupted around the world. Israel and Hamas have both endorsed the overall principles behind Trump’s plan, under which fighting would cease, hostages go free and aid pour into Gaza.The plan also has the backing of Arab and Western states. Trump has called for negotiations to take place swiftly towards a final deal, in what Washington hails as the closest the sides have yet come to ending the conflict.
Trump seeks major foreign policy triumph
Trump has invested significant political capital in efforts to end the war.
Even if a deal is clinched during talks in Egypt, major questions will linger, including who will rule Gaza and rebuild it. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have ruled out any role for Hamas, which seized Gaza in 2007 after defeating its rivals in a brief civil war. Though Trump says he wants a deal quickly, an official briefed on the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he expected the round of talks that started on Monday would require at least a few days. An official involved in ceasefire planning and a Palestinian source said Trump’s 72-hour deadline for the hostages’ return could be unachievable for dead hostages. Their remains may need to be located and recovered from scattered sites. The Israeli delegation includes officials from spy agencies Mossad and Shin Bet, Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk and hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch. Israel’s chief negotiator, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, was expected to join later this week, pending developments in the negotiations, according to three Israeli officials. The Hamas delegation is led by the group’s exiled Gaza leader, Khalil Al-Hayya, who survived an Israeli airstrike in the Qatari capital, a month ago.
The US has sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law who has strong ties to the Middle East, the White House said.

Hamas says working to ‘surmount all obstacles’ in Gaza truce talks
AFP/07 October/2025
Hamas said Tuesday it was working to overcome “all obstacles” as Palestinian militant leaders held indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war. “The delegation of the movement participating in the current negotiations in Egypt seeks to surmount all obstacles to achieving an agreement that fulfils the aspirations of our people in Gaza,” senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised speech. Barhoum said that the October 7 attack on Israel, which according to Israeli officials resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, was a “historic response” to Israel’s actions. “We reaffirm that the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 was a historic response to attempts to eradicate the Palestinian cause,” Barhoum said. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 67,160 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, figures the UN considers reliable.

Six high-profile Palestinian prisoners at the center of Hamas-Israel negotiations
Al Arabiya English/October 17/2025
As indirect negotiations continue in Egypt between Hamas and Israel, one issue remains a major obstacle: the prisoner exchange file. The matter has long been one of the most contentious in Israeli-Palestinian talks, and it is once again dominating discussions as both sides weigh a potential deal. According to the plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, the outline under consideration involves the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 47 Israeli captives held in Gaza, among them the bodies of 25 Israelis. However, Hamas insists that any agreement must include the release of several prominent figures who have been imprisoned in Israel for decades – men considered symbolic leaders of the Palestinian movement.
Marwan Barghouti: The political leader
At the top of Hamas’ list is Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader seen by many Palestinians as a potential future president. Barghouti began his political activity at age 15 in Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement and was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996. Arrested in 2002 during Israel’s “Operation Defensive Shield,” he is serving five life sentences plus 40 years for attacks that killed Israelis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly stated that “symbols of terrorism, led by Barghouti,” will not be included in any stage of a prisoner exchange deal.
Abdullah Barghouti: Hamas’ engineer
Another prominent figure on Hamas’ list is Abdullah Barghouti, known as the “Engineer of Hamas.”A specialist in explosives, he was convicted of directing multiple bombings in Israel and is serving 67 life sentences – the longest prison term ever handed down by an Israeli court. A cousin of Marwan Barghouti, Abdullah is accused of masterminding several high-profile attacks including the 2001 Sbarro restaurant bombing in Jerusalem, the 2002 Cafe Moment explosion, and the Hebrew University bombing, which together killed 66 Israelis, including five Americans. Israeli media describe him as Hamas’ top bombmaker after Yahya Ayyash, who was assassinated in 1996.
Ibrahim Hamed: Israel’s “most dangerous prisoner”
Israel regards Ibrahim Hamed as one of its most dangerous detainees. He led Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank during the Second Intifada and was arrested in 2006 after years in hiding. Convicted of organizing attacks that killed 46 Israelis, he is serving 54 life sentences. Hamed holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science and a Master’s in international relations from Birzeit University. While imprisoned, he has authored studies on the history of the Palestinian cause and spent eight years in solitary confinement, including seven consecutively.
Ahmad Sa’adat: The PFLP’s Secretary-General
Another name frequently raised in negotiations is Ahmad Sa’adat, the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He was arrested in 2006 after Israel’s siege of the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in Ramallah and sentenced to 30 years in prison for leading the group that claimed responsibility for the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. Sa’adat, now in his 70s, has been imprisoned multiple times since 1976 and has spent long periods in isolation. During his confinement, he wrote a book titled “Echo of the Chains,” detailing Israel’s policy of solitary imprisonment. He is the father of four and grandfather of four.
Abbas al-Sayyid and Hassan Salameh
The list also includes Abbas al-Sayyid, convicted for the 2002 Park Hotel bombing in Netanya, one of the deadliest attacks of the Second Intifada, and Hassan Salameh, a senior commander in Hamas’ armed wing, serving 46 life sentences.
An unyielding demand
These six men – political icons and military leaders alike – have become recurring names each time the prisoner exchange file resurfaces in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. For Hamas, their release would mark a symbolic and strategic victory.
For Israel, however, they represent “red lines” – figures considered too central to its security concerns to ever be freed. As talks continue in Cairo, the fate of these prisoners may determine whether the long-stalled deal moves forward – or collapses once again under the weight of history and politics.

Italy PM Meloni says she and ministers reported to ICC over Gaza genocide complicity
Reuters/07 October/2025
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that she and two of her ministers had been reported to the International Criminal Court for alleged complicity in genocide in connection with Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Speaking in an interview with state television company RAI, Meloni said Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had been denounced, and “I think” also Roberto Cingolani, the head of defense group Leonardo. In other remarks, Meloni said she believed that US President Donald Trump had come to the conclusion that Russia was not interested in a peace deal with Ukraine.

Syria announces ‘comprehensive ceasefire’ with Kurds after clashes
Al Arabiya English/07 October/2025
Syria announced a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces after a meeting Tuesday between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi that followed deadly clashes in the northern city of Aleppo. Syria’s authorities, who took power last year after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, have rejected Kurdish demands for a decentralized government giving them greater autonomy. The issue has added to tensions with the Kurdish administration that controls swathes of the north and northeast, while differences between the two sides have held up implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating the Kurds’ civil and military institutions into the state. In a statement on X, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said he had met in Damascus with Abdi, head of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). “We agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, and on points for military deployment in north and northeast Syria,” Abu Qasra said, adding that implementation of the deal would begin immediately. A government source told AFP the meeting came after al-Sharaa met with Abdi, the first such encounter since July, and that the pair had discussed “security issues concerning the March 10 agreement.”US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack and Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the US military’s Central Command, also attended, the source added, on condition of anonymity. Barrack said Monday on X that he and Cooper had visited northeast Syria for “substantive conversations” with Abdi. The Kurdish leader said they had discussed “issues aimed at supporting the political integration in Syria, preserving the country’s territorial integrity, and creating a safe environment for all components of the Syrian people,” as well as ensuring continued efforts to combat ISIS in the region.

US envoy hails ‘great meetings’ after brokering ceasefire between Syrian forces, SDF
Joseph Haboush - Al Arabiya English/07 October/2025
US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Syria said Tuesday he held “great” meetings with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the leader of Kurdish forces, just hours after heavy clashes between the two sides erupted. Both sides agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire, according to US Special Envoy Tom Barrack, who told Al Arabiya English that the meetings also focused on “an implementation and recommitment to the March 10 agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian government.” The March agreement called for integrating Kurdish civil and military structures into the central government by the end of 2025. “Very good meetings, and all going in the right direction,” Barrack said. The US diplomat and US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Adm. Brad Cooper met with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on Monday to discuss relations between the Kurdish-led group and the central government. Hours later, clashes broke out in Aleppo and both sides traded blame over the renewed violence. Barrack and Cooper intervened early Tuesday to bring both sides together and halt the fighting. Barrack, who also serves as US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Lebanon, has played an increasingly active role in mediating disputes across Syria and the wider region. He has worked to ensure rival factions in Syria move toward a peaceful settlement and to build regional and international support for the Syrian government. That effort has included discussions aimed at easing the economic sanctions imposed on Damascus during the Assad era. “My role is always to implement [President Trump’s] policy of promoting peace and prosperity by coaxing, encouraging ushering and encouraging the parties to a mutually acceptable decision,” Barrack told Al Arabiya English.

CENTCOM says senior al-Qaeda–linked militant killed in Syria
Al Arabiya English/08 October/2025
“US forces in the Middle East remain postured to disrupt and defeat efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks,” CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper said. The US military on Tuesday announced that it conducted a strike last week in Syria that targeted and killed a senior al-Qaeda-linked member. “US forces in the Middle East remain postured to disrupt and defeat efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) head Adm. Brad Cooper said. CENTCOM said Muhammad Abedelwahhab al-Ahmad was a member of Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group. The strike was carried out on Oct. 2. The announcement comes days after a senior US defense official said the US military was shifting focus to ISIS threats from Syria while consolidating bases in Iraq and relocating to Erbil. Despite being diminished from its peak a decade ago, ISIS still maintains fighters and operational capabilities inside Syria. The Pentagon estimates around 9,000 ISIS militants are currently detained there, alongside 29,000 displaced persons in camps that pose risks of radicalization and recruitment. “These camps are incubators for radicalization,” the senior defense official warned, urging foreign governments to repatriate their citizens. Washington has been calling on countries for years to take back nationals detained in northeast Syria.

UK PM Starmer visits India to build business ties after clinching trade deal
Reuters/08 October/2025
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer begins a two-day visit to India on Wednesday, joined by over a hundred leaders from the business, culture and university sectors in an effort to promote a recently signed trade deal. Britain and India signed a free trade agreement in July during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing a deal to cut tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars, and allow more market access for businesses. Talks on the trade pact were concluded in May after three years of stop-start negotiations, with both sides hastening efforts to clinch a deal in the shadow of tariff turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump. The deal between the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040. But the government has said that the projections were a floor, not a ceiling, to the ambition of the deal, and the visit with executives from the likes of oil major BP, engine maker Rolls-Royce, telecom firm BT, was aimed at maximizing Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal. “It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a launchpad for growth,” Starmer said, adding that India was projected to be the third-biggest economy in the world by 2028. “The opportunities waiting to be seized are unparalleled.” Starmer will hold bilateral talks with Modi on Thursday. Both sides have said they are looking to ratify the deal and bring it into effect within the next year. Growth is one of Starmer’s key priorities as he tries to reverse a slide in the polls, with a November fiscal budget expected to show a tricky fiscal picture. British Airways, owned by IAG, said it would add a third daily flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Delhi in 2026, while Manchester Airport also said it would add a Delhi route, operated by IndiGo. The trip also features representatives from drinks maker Diageo and the Scotch Whisky Association, with the UK-India trade deal set to cut whisky tariffs faced by UK firms to 75 percent from 150 percent, before reducing them to 40 percent over the next decade. The industry has been lobbying the UK government to reduce US tariffs after a deal between the countries did not cover whisky.

Trump talks ‘love’ and ‘conflict’ with Carney during Canadian prime minister’s visit
The Associated Press/07 October/2025
President Donald Trump said there’s “mutual love” but “natural conflict” between the United States and Canada as he sat down with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday in the Oval Office. Carney’s second visit to the United States comes as one of the world’s most durable and amicable alliances has been fractured by Trump’s trade war and annexation threats. Among the topics up for discussion are trade and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is critical to Canada’s economy and is up for a review next year. Trump said he was willing to revisit the free trade agreement, which was enacted during his first term, or seek “different deals.”“We could renegotiate it, and that would be good, or we can just do different deals,” he said. “We’re allowed to do different deals.”Trump exhibited a fondness for Carney, something he didn’t display toward Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau. He described Carney as a “world class leader” and said he’s a tough negotiator. “We want Canada to do great,” Trump said. “But you know, there’s a point at which we also want the same business.”Asked why the US and Canada have failed to reach a deal on trade, Trump said it’s a complicated situation. “We have natural conflict," he said. “We also have mutual love.” Carney balked at the word “conflict.”“There are areas where we compete, and it’s in those areas where we have to come to an agreement that works. But there are more areas where we are stronger together, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state and his tariffs have Canadians feeling an undeniable sense of betrayal, an idea that he didn’t emphasize except for a joking reference to a “merger” between the two countries. Relations with Canada’s southern neighbor and longtime ally haven’t been worse. “We’ve had ups and downs, but this is the lowest point in relations that I can recall,” said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States and current deputy chairman of TD Bank. “Canadians aren’t being instructed what to do. They are simply voting with their feet," he said. "I talk every day to ordinary citizens who are changing their vacation plans, and I talk to large business owners who are moving reward trips away or executive business trips. There is an outright rebellion."There is fear in Canada over what will happen to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement . Carney is looking to get some relief on some sector-specific tariffs, but expectations are low. “Improving relations with the White House ahead of the USMCA review is certainly an objective of the trip, but opposition parties and part of the Canadian public will criticize Prime Minister Carney if he doesn’t achieve some progress on the tariff front at this stage,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. Carney has said the USMCA, which is up for review in 2026, is an advantage for Canada at a time when it is clear that the US is charging for access to its market. Carney has said the commitment of the US to the core of USMCA means that more than 85 percent of Canada-US trade continues to be free of tariffs. He said the US average tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6 percent and remains the lowest among all its trading partners. But Trump has some sector-specific tariffs on Canada, known as Section 232 tariffs, that are having an impact. There are 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, for example. McKenna said he is hearing Canada might get some relief in steel and aluminum. “It could be 50 percent to 25 percent or agreeing on tariff-free quotas to allow the steel and aluminum to go through at last year’s levels,” he said. The ties between the two countries are without parallel. About $2.5 billion (nearly $3.6 billion Canadian) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. There is close cooperation on defense, border security and law enforcement, and a vast overlap in culture, traditions and pastimes. About 60 percent of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85 percent of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security. “The bigger prize would be getting a mutual agreement to negotiate as quickly as possible the free trade relationship,” McKenna said. “If the United States were to threaten us with the six months’ notice of termination, I think it would represent a deep chill all across North America."

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on October 07-08/2025
October 7 Was Not the Reason
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya English/08 October/2025
There were two things expected before October 7, 2023: that Hamas would carry out military operations, and that Israel had a list of regional targets it intended to destroy. What happened simply gave Israel the license to carry all of that out at once.
Of course, Hamas is to blame for the collapses and tragedies. First, its attacks were a massacre of massive scale by Palestinian standards, with children, women, and civilians among the targets. It is also to blame for prolonging the tragedy, since it could have made the same concessions more than a year earlier – sparing the blood of tens of thousands of Gaza residents who have perished because of Hamas.The October 7 attacks accelerated the changes that Israel had long sought to achieve – even if in different phases. Those changes included destroying Hezbollah’s capabilities, cutting Iran’s supply line through Syria, disrupting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs, and reducing Hamas’s power. All of these were part of Israel’s pre–October 7 objectives.
What Hamas did was help and speed up the transformations Israel had already mapped out. Hamas’s October attacks were akin to President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s closure of the Straits of Tiran in 1967. The Egyptian president miscalculated, and Israel had been waiting for an opportunity to settle its confrontations with Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Abdel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran in the Red Sea – the maritime passage to Israel’s port of Eilat, which became blockaded. Israel considered the closure an act of aggression, and two weeks later it launched its broad war. The scale and speed of that war showed Israel was fully prepared. In just six days, it seized the Sinai Peninsula (which is three times the size of Israel), as well as Jordan’s West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights. The massive and precise operations that eliminated Hezbollah’s leaders, killed and wounded about 4,000 of the group’s members in the famous “Pager Operation,” wiped out the top tier of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership, and ultimately led to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime – all reflect that sequence.
What Hamas committed on October 7 activated Israel’s plan, one it might otherwise have implemented gradually and on separate occasions.
To this day, we still cannot understand why Hamas carried out such a large-scale attack – one that was entirely predictable to provoke an Israeli frenzy and the destruction of Hamas and everyone who stood with it. Ismail Qaani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, which oversees Tehran’s regional military operations, spoke this week in an interview about the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. It is not clear whether the Iranians were involved in its arrangements. He said: “On the day of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, on October 7, I arrived in Lebanon in the evening. I was thinking on the way: how will I discuss this event with Sayyed Hassan [Nasrallah]? What must be done? And what should be avoided?” The operation had taken place after six in the morning, and he arrived at night. He continues: “That night, I was his guest… neither we nor Sayyed Hassan had any prior knowledge of this operation. Even Hamas’s own leadership did not know – Ismail Haniyeh, for example, was on his way to Iraq as a guest of the government, and turned back from the airport upon hearing the news.”He then adds: “The operation had unique characteristics that required the highest degree of secrecy.”
Most likely, Iran was involved in planning and coordination, but was stunned by the horrifying results – and therefore chose to withdraw and leave Hamas to its fate. It advised Hassan Nasrallah not to enter the battle to avoid a potential confrontation. Yet Nasrallah entered the fight late, through limited operations – enough to give Israel justification to destroy him.
To be continued.

From Gaza to Lebanon: The State Repels Sedition and Aggression
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 07/2025
On the second anniversary of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack on October 7, 2023, Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, stunning Netanyahu and disappointing Iran’s proxies in Yemen and Iraq. What remains of Hezbollah, which had already signed its own ceasefire with Israel on November 27, 2024, now has no choice but to support Hamas’s decision to accept President Trump’s plan. The only tenable translation of this support is for Hezbollah handing over its illegitimate arms to the Lebanese Army.
In taking this turn, Hamas has abandoned the discourse of delusion and senseless obstinacy. After having precipitated a catastrophe unparalleled in Palestinian history, it has accounted for and prioritized the Palestinian people’s future for the first time. It explained that its decision stems from its desire to end the war and genocide. For its part, Hezbollah is now faced with the challenge of facing reality. This entails putting an end to its use of its own base, and the people of the South, and the Lebanese as sandbags shielding its illegitimate arsenal, which failed to protect the party itself.
Hezbollah never built anything; it has brought only destruction, playing a central role in the proxy wars against the people of Syria, Yemen and Iraq. At home, its weapons aggravated civil strife and safeguarded corruption, and the party became a partner in the plunder of the country and impoverishment of its people. The alliance between illicit arms and corruption shattered the foundations of the Lebanese state, clearing the ground for the rise of a statelet that imposed its will.
Amid domestic turmoil, Nawaf Salam stressed that “sedition is averted and the state’s integrity is restored through the application of the law” and that “the law is what can stand in the enemy’s way,” following the so-called “clear victory” of the “Laser Raid” in Raouche. Everyone already knows the enemy’s aims. There is no need for additional evidence; our people have long suffered at the hands of criminal schemes. After the constitution had been undercut for decades, with the law applied arbitrarily, ordinary citizens now find themselves with a prime minister committed to the constitution, the law, security, and equality among Lebanese. This sabotage had legalized the cohabitation of the political system with illegal arms, forged an “alliance of villains,” enabled theft of both public and private funds as the World Bank described, and cloaked violations of sovereignty while legitimizing subservience to the axis of ruin.
If it may be understandable that Hezbollah claims its weapons are a “guarantee” of civil peace to justify its insistence on retaining them for the sake of this supposed peace, it is incomprehensible that major platforms would adopt positions accepting such a reality imposed by illegal arms. For the state’s first duty is the protection of its citizens; its legitimate forces are not a buffer between armed illegality and the people, as the “Laser Raid” demonstrated. Hence the prime minister sounded the alarm, stressing: “There is no one state except with one army... There is no one state except with one law applied equally to all.” Beyond that, sedition can be averted only through the enforcement of law. By extension, only a state that guarantees justice for its people is qualified to repel aggression and the dangers that flow from it.
Lebanon has entered a new phase that breaks with the political era imposed on the Lebanese during the war years and the decades (falsely dubbed an era of “civic peace”) that followed. In reality, the post-war decades were a time of distortions, dictates, domination, plunder, and forced displacement, especially of youths and skilled professionals. Since the great collapse of 2019, almost half a million Lebanese have left the country. Because this new era is different, after the attack of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” and, in Lebanon, the “Support War,” all taboos must fall. Rebuilding a capable and just state demands serious and comprehensive national dialogue that ensures accountability. Every policy and practice since the Taif Agreement must be reckoned with. The same is true for the amnesty granted to those in power that allows the highest official in the legislature to boast openly: “Sue me.”
How did the great heist happen? How was the country impoverished? How were its people brought to their knees in the blink of an eye? How much longer will justice for the capital and its people remain suspended following the port blast? How was the country turned into a firing range for foreign actors exchanging messages? How was its infrastructure ravaged? Why was the blood of its citizens spilled in vain? By what right did Hezbollah break and plunder the country, dragging it into a war that incurred catastrophic costs ? Can the thousands of lives wrecked ever be restored?
Who is responsible for uprooting tens of thousands of families, and for the erasure of entire towns- with their history and heritage, carved out by sweat, blood, and the toil of generations? Only the ruthless Israeli enemy. But how was its mission made easier?
The time has come to close the chapter of obfuscation and reckless evasion. The era of branding dissent- the time “the most honorable of people,” of arrogance and condescension, and of “promised victories” has ended, after having left the country weaker than a spiderweb.
After Gaza, Lebanon finds itself in the eye of the storm. More than at any point since the ceasefire agreement, this is a perilous moment. There are an abundance of reasons to fear a resumption of the rampage: Netanyahu’s interests as a war criminal threatened to let him expand the war to the north. Accordingly, no one has the luxury of time. The threats facing the country demand abandoning silence and lethargy, stepping down from the spectator’s seat, and planning and pursuing action. This is especially incumbent on those seeking change and the forces genuinely committed to the country’s sovereignty. Only by imposing a state monopoly on armament and upholding justice can Lebanon stave off sedition and aggression.

Diplomacy without pressure won’t end Iran’s nuclear program
Tzvi Kahn/FDD/October 07/2025
Ottawa should insist that future talks require Tehran to dismantle its atomic program, end uranium enrichment and demolish its ballistic missiles.
Can diplomacy alone spur the regime in Iran to abandon its nuclear program?
This question has long bedeviled Canadian policymakers, who have persistently held out the hope that talks with Iran could lead to a more stable and peaceful future in the Middle East.
In the immediate aftermath of the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran in June, Prime Minister Mark Carney declared that there is now an “opening for diplomacy” with Tehran. And in an Aug. 20 statement, the G7 Non-Proliferation Directors Group, where Canada holds the presidency, said it seeks an “agreement that addresses Iran’s nuclear program.”
Yet Ottawa should check its enthusiasm. Tehran may alter some of its nuclear policies under duress for pragmatic reasons — but it will not halt its nuclear activities without sustained international pressure. Ottawa must make clear that it will support renewed military action if Iran attempts to revive its nuclear program, and that future talks will depend on Tehran’s abandonment of its nuclear ambitions once and for all.
The record of past international negotiations with Iran explains why.
Flawed accord
In 2015, representatives of world powers and Tehran’s regime gathered in Vienna with expectations of an agreement that would not just put the nuclear issue to bed, but lead Tehran to become a more responsible actor on the world stage. The flaws of the resulting accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reflected the misplaced hope that Iran, the world’s most repressive Islamist theocracy, could evolve into a force for stability.
As the deal’s leading proponent, former U.S. president Barack Obama, explained, Iran’s leaders “have the ability now to take some decisive steps to move toward a more constructive relationship with the world community.”
“And the truth of the matter,” he added, “is that Iran will be and should be a regional power.”
Obama’s aspiration became a reality — but not in the way he expected. In the years that followed the JCPOA’s implementation, Tehran, flush with sanctions relief, emerged from international isolation to become a regional hegemon. Yet peace was not on its agenda. Iran proceeded to violate the JCPOA and exploit its weaknesses to advance the regime’s nuclear program. The JCPOA, after all, was a very good deal for Iran, effectively paving its pathway to a nuclear weapon with international approval.
It was the JCPOA that granted Iran, in exchange for transitory and limited restrictions, the right to enrich uranium, overturning multiple UN Security Council resolutions that required Iran to suspend enrichment indefinitely. It was the JCPOA that failed to guarantee access by inspectors to key Iranian sites where the regime may have advanced a nuclear-weapons program. And it was the JCPOA that granted Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief, which Tehran used to finance its campaigns of terror across the Middle East.
The result? Iran increased its military budget by 90 per cent in 2016-17 from the previous year, enabling more cash and matériel to flow to its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria’s Assad regime, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iraq’s Shiite militias. And Iran exploited the weaknesses of the JCPOA’s atomic provisions, stonewalling international inspectors.
These events unfolded not despite the JCPOA but because of it. The regime understood that the Obama administration and its partners were desperate to keep the deal alive and would not hold Tehran accountable for its provocations.
Canada, under the leadership of then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, supported the JCPOA, ever hopeful in the power of diplomacy to effect change. In fact, Trudeau campaigned on a pledge to restore diplomatic relations with Iran, which his predecessor, Stephen Harper, suspended in 2012.
Trump’s maximum-pressure campaign
When Washington withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and began its maximum-pressure campaign, the Trudeau government declared in a statement, “Canada supports an effective rules-based international order, and believes that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is essential to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability and to ensure greater regional and global security.”
But the JCPOA did nothing of the sort, and actually facilitated Iran’s efforts to undermine the rules-based international order.
The first Trump administration’s maximum-pressure campaign recognized this reality. And the campaign worked. Following Washington’s 2020 assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, who led Iran’s terrorist operations across the Middle East, Iran refrained from enriching uranium to high levels. But when former president Joe Biden took office in 2021, he relaxed the pressure, leading Iran to surge ahead with its atomic activities, including uranium enrichment. Meanwhile, crippled by reimposed sanctions, Tehran had less money to finance its proxies.
However, by the time Trump came back to office in 2025, the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023, had spurred regional conflict, and Iran was on the threshold of a nuclear-weapons capability, making the 12-Day War inevitable.
Today, Iran is no longer a dominant regional power thanks to U.S. and Israeli might. Tehran’s proxies are debilitated: Israel has destroyed the majority of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket arsenal, killed its leadership and incapacitated thousands of its fighters. The Assad regime has fallen. Hamas’s military infrastructure in Gaza remains a shell of its former self. And Israel has killed much of the Houthis’ leadership and reduced their kinetic capabilities.
Still, Iran remains determined. Having once reached a deal that overwhelmingly favours its interests, the regime hopes to extract another one from its western interlocutors. Thus, Tehran has insisted that it will not abandon its uranium-enrichment and ballistic-missile program — a position that should be a non-starter for Canada and its allies. If western negotiators concede to Iran’s demands, they will repeat the same mistake that produced the JCPOA — and led to the 12-Day War.
Ottawa must hold the line. Rather than call for negotiations with Tehran, Canada and its allies should join the Trump administration’s renewed maximum-pressure campaign. The Carney government should make clear that it will support resumed military action if Tehran attempts to reconstitute its nuclear program. And Ottawa should insist that negotiations will only be possible once Iran agrees that the purpose of any accord must be to completely dismantle its nuclear program, end uranium enrichment and demolish its ballistic missiles.
As the late U.S. diplomat George Schultz prudently observed, “Negotiations are a euphemism for capitulation if the shadow of power is not cast across the bargaining table.”Canada should act accordingly — and apply power and pressure until Iran is truly ready to give up its nuclear ambitions.
**Tzvi Kahn is a research fellow and senior editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based, non-partisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. X: @TzviKahn

The 'Fertile Crescent' Amid Major Global Shift
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 07/2025
The “Fertile Crescent,” the cradle of Middle Eastern and global civilization, is currently undergoing structural shifts whose repercussions are difficult to gauge in a world where everything moves in several directions at breakneck speed.
This is a piece of territory undergoing upheaval on every front: the tip of the Arabian Gulf, to Iraq, to the northwest toward the slopes of the Anatolian highlands, to the south along the western edge of the Syrian Desert and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, and ending at the Sinai Peninsula....In Iraq, doubts hover over the integrity and effectiveness of the upcoming parliamentary elections, which will be under the watchful eye of Iran. In Syria, there is a similar electoral experiment, but it lacks participants, and it remains riddled with fears and anxieties. In Lebanon, the old-new struggle is resurfacing: “legitimate arms” versus “the arms of the resistance.”
And in Palestine, of course, questions- written in blood, destruction, and tears- keep piling up. In short, this is a region caught in a race between collapse and resilience; between state-building and the disintegration of political entities and components; between pragmatic approaches to ensuring the bare minimum needed for coexistence... And the destructive impact of domestic and external identities.
Yesterday, when this was least expected, dissension into the abyss was averted. Hamas, perhaps with Arab backing, removed the fuse lit by US President Donald Trump’s threat that he would turn Gaza into “hell” unless the movement accepted his “plan,” with all of its shortcomings and favoritism.
In truth, any reasonable person, regardless of their view of Hamas or the idea of normalization with Israel, knows from experience that Washington cannot be a neutral mediator between Israel and any Arab actor. This time, however, certain factors- dreams of a Nobel Peace Prize and hunger for more lucrative deals- loosened the Israeli far right’s hold on Donald Trump. At least for now, the “electoral-financial base” that carried Trump to the White House twice has encouraged the president to “break free” of the stranglehold that Jewish right-wing influence has had over his presidency. It has become clear that some of the hardliners within the white Christian right reject the notion of “Judeo-Christian values” and openly defy its advocates. This is evident within financial, media, and political circles in the US, where the most prominent Israeli lobbies and the forces and figures connected to them have a seat.
These lobbies, forces, and figures have lost confidence in their old, familiar approach to vying for influence. They have gone beyond using money to promote their interests and pushing blunt media campaigns, adding cyber blockades, information control, and “data dominance.”
In other words, the need for someone like late blackmailer Jeffrey Epstein has either faded or declined. These lobbies and their associates now believe that control over traditional media is no longer sufficient. Accordingly, they are aggressively seeking to extend their reach, striving to put their hands on major social media websites and advanced digital applications. Today, we see these forces dominate cutting-edge artificial intelligence industries, along with data harvesting, storage, and deployment. Much of this information is transferred to the intelligence agencies that fund and partner with them. From their perspective, reckless missteps are no longer tolerable in an age of cyber-surveillance and AI’s alarming advances.
Indeed, social media is awash with stories and reports about the ambitions of hardline right-wing billionaires Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, and their security-data company, Palantir. As we know, the billionaire Larry Ellison has just acquired TikTok, adding it to his media empire that already includes Paramount and CBS. Meanwhile, we are seeing a torrent of reports about the massive investment giants like BlackRock and Blackstone, whose enormous portfolios and sprawling networks are difficult to fathom. Former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich (who had served under Bill Clinton) posted a brief list on his X account yesterday, raising the alarm:
“The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?”
And in another striking note on financial concentration and inequality, Reich posted that:
The wealth of the 400 richest men in America is now worth a record $3 trillion, more than what 60 percent of Americans collectively own!
As for the firebrands of the white Christian right (like the media personality Tucker Carlson, activist Nick Fuentes, and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene), they never miss an opportunity to attack Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in their tirades against “Jewish domination.”
They go further, reminding everyone that most of the uber-wealthy financial oligarchs and tech billionaires are Jewish, claiming that “the Jews” are intent on controlling America and “dragging” it into their wars... against its own national interests.
There is no doubt, then, that this is a striking scene, be it in the US or the Arab world. One might even say it is a confusing and dangerous moment for other regions of the globe as well. Europe is hardly free of its racist and Russian anxieties. Asia is uneasy about the fallout of potential Sino-Indian rivalry. And inevitably, every region of Africa and Latin America is vulnerable in the face of the technological, economic, and political shifts of the future. Our world today, as it appears to me, has become unrestrained. The brakes are broken, and we are moving toward a world without principles, values, or norms.

Selected English Tweets from X Platform For 07 October/2025
Pope Leo XIV
This October, as we contemplate with Mary the mysteries of Christ our Savior, let us deepen our prayer for peace, which should become concrete solidarity with people tormented by war. I thank the many children around the world who are praying the #HolyRosary for this intention.

Pope Leo XIV
We will celebrate the next World Youth Day, on 23 November, Solemnity of Christ the King, under the theme: “You also are my witnesses, because you have been with me” (Jn 15:27). As pilgrims of hope and by the power of the Holy Spirit, let us prepare ourselves to become courageous witnesses to Christ. #WYD
@LaityFamilyLife

JD Vance
On this second anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks of October 7, we remember all of the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas. And we continue to work towards President Trump's plan to bring the remaining hostages home and build a lasting peace for all.

Secretary Marco Rubio
On this second anniversary of Hamas’s heinous October 7 attacks, the United States remains steadfast in our support for Israel in our common fight against terrorism and our shared commitment to bringing an end to the suffering of all hostages and their families.

Mark Carney
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a heinous terrorist attack against innocent Israeli civilians. It was the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Nearly 1,200 people were murdered, and well over 200 were taken hostage — 48 of whom remain in Hamas’ captivity.

Rep. Riley M. Moore
Nigeria is the deadliest country in the world for Christians and the world stands by silently.That's why I'm urging @SecRubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern to unlock diplomatic levers to protect our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Joseph Sopholaus
·Betrayed Emil Edde.
Refused to accept Christian autonomy or federalism. His Son Amine betrayed Israel.
Refused to establish a Christian autonomous region. Both their decisions were informed by a limited understanding of politics and petty self-interests.

Doug Ford
https://x.com/i/status/1975533380172145037
Today marks two years since the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas. We remember the innocent lives that were taken, call for the immediate return of all remaining hostages and reaffirm our commitment to the safety of Jewish communities in Ontario and around the world, while strongly condemning the hate and antisemitism that led to these attacks.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
https://www.facebook.com/61553631413159/videos/1347782353484089
On AlHadath: Israel weakened Hezbollah and made it regionally irrelevant. Problem is the Islamist militia retained enough arms and power to suppress the Lebanese even though it spent the last decade promising that its arms will never be turned inwards.
Also, Hezbollah's armament undermines the claim that it is representative of the Shia. Opponents can never dare to defy or campaign against the militia in predominantly Shia Bekaa or South. Let Hezbollah give up its arms, then we'll see who represents what.