English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  October 09/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
First Letter to the Corinthians/13/01-13/"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 08-09/2025
The "Al-Ma'rabi so called political Party's" sole concern is for the election to take place and not be postponed, even if it marginalizes the Expatriates under the law of "Ba'ath," the "Khazouk" (screwing over/deception), and the "Balff" (bluff/deception) regarding the 6 illusory/hallucinatory parliamentary seats./Elias Bejjani/October 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
Int'l community sets year-end deadline for south Litani disarmament, report says
Report: UK seeks to appoint expert for resolving 'Hezbollah crisis'
Salam, ministers mull stronger diplomatic action in face of Israel
UK political director Christian Turner concludes visit to Lebanon
Army commander begins visit to Qatar
Hannibal Gadhafi's health alarming in Lebanon detention
Report: Gaza deal to reflect positively on Lebanon
Pope Leo XIV Calls for Peace Ahead of Trip to Turkey and Lebanon
Hezbollah’s Support Front, One Year On: Between Denial and Confrontation
Lebanon awaits pope's visit amid instability and ongoing strikes
UK prosecutors to appeal dropped 'terrorism' case against Kneecap rapper
Life at Naqoura port: Fear and silence replace the ‘daily catch’
Lebanon’s justice minister appoints judges to key political assassination cases
Cuba asks Lebanon to support UN resolution calling for an end to US blockade
Samy Gemayel discusses elections and unity of political authority with PM Salam
Who Is Michel Issa, the Businessman Turned Diplomat?
Lebanon Progressing in Imposing State Monopoly over Arms Despite Hezbollah’s Minimal Cooperation
The Dr. of Misguided Bets/Sarah Melki/Face Book/October 08/2025
Aoun 'May' Intervene to Find a Way Out for the Electoral Law
The Shiite Exodus (Al-Taghriba Al-Shi’iyya)/Marwan Al-Amin/Nidaa Al Watan/October 09/2025
Bye Bye "Hamas"/Imad Moussa/Nidaa Al Watan/October 09/2025
What Awaits Pope Leo XIV in Lebanon/Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/October 07/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 08-09/2025
Carney returns to Ottawa without a deal to end the U.S. tariffs
Trump says he may go to the Middle East for Gaza deal
Top Officials from US and Qatar Join Talks Aimed at Brokering Peace in Gaza
Report: Rubio to Attend Paris Meeting on Gaza Transition
Egyptian Source: First Phase of Gaza Deal Could Be Sealed by Friday
Israel’s Ben-Gvir Calls for ‘Gaza Victory’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Turkish FM Says Sides Are Close to a Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
Tehran Losing Rounds in Iraq, but Not the War Yet
Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah
Number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody surpasses 11,100
Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?
US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
Putin Visits Tajikistan for Meetings with Other Ex-Soviet Leaders
French-German National Monterlos Back in France After Release by Iran, France Says
Syria’s Sharaa Discusses with US Delegation, SDF Leader Means to Implement Agreement with Kurds

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on October 08-09/2025
EU, NATO need a robust response to drone incursions/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/October 08, 2025
The ‘Flood’ That Swallowed Its Own/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Syrian elections a step toward unity and inclusion/Hani Hazaimeh/Arab/October 08, 2025
From Pogrom to Propaganda: Hamas's Legacy and the Flotilla Fraud/Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury/Gatestone Institute./October 8, 2025
Selected English Tweets from X Platform For 08 October/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 08-09/2025
The "Al-Ma'rabi so called political Party's" sole concern is for the election to take place and not be postponed, even if it marginalizes the Expatriates under the law of "Ba'ath," the "Khazouk" (screwing over/deception), and the "Balff" (bluff/deception) regarding the 6 illusory/hallucinatory parliamentary seats.
Elias Bejjani/October 08/ 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148041/
MP Ghada Ayoub the member in the "Al-Ma'rabi commercial company so called political Party, has no problem with the 6 Expatriate seats, as her focus is on avoiding the postponement of the elections... Stupidity, lack of vision, and abandoning the expatriates, mirroring the position of the Narcissistic Samir Geagea in 2017, who celebrated, danced, and sang on that day with the Aoun's Evil son-in-law Gebran Bassil and the "Terrorist Duo" for the election law which marginalized the expatriates—the majority of whom are Christian—and gave them the "Khazouq" of the six seats dictated by the Assad's Ba'ath Party and its stooges. Ghada Ayoub exposed the already exposed in the attached interview she conducted with Beirut Times and uncovered the well-known secret... It is absolutely, a million times certain that with a political party company like this, we, the Expatriates will neither eat wheat nor will any wheat come, except the wheat infested with the narcissistic weevil and the blindness of sight and insight. These are definitely Berri's allies, and perhaps also through the mediation of George Adwan, none other than him.
اضغط هنا أو على الرابط في اسفل لمشاهدة وسماع موقف شركة حزب المعرابي
Press here or on the below link to watch and hear what MP Ghada Ayoub said
https://x.com/i/status/1975591951496843344

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.

Int'l community sets year-end deadline for south Litani disarmament, report says
Associated Press/October 08/2025
As the Lebanese government aims to disarm Hezbollah under U.S. pressure, the army is expected 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, reports said. The Lebanese government first aimed to completely disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, but officials later said resources are too limited to meet the deadline. Diplomatic sources told Al Jadeed, in remarks published Tuesday, that the international community will give Lebanon a chance to complete the first phase by the year end. The second phase, north of the Litani, would then start in January. The sources added that Israel would meanwhile keep up its attacks on Lebanon. As army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal briefed Monday the government on its plan to disarm Hezbollah, Israel was carrying out deadly airstrikes in southern and northeastern Lebanon. Despite a November ceasefire, Israel kept up almost daily attacks on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and also maintained troops in five areas of southern Lebanon it deems "strategic". Hezbollah has rejected the disarmament 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.

Report: UK seeks to appoint expert for resolving 'Hezbollah crisis'
Naharnet/October 08/2025
Britain is seeking to strengthen its presence in Lebanon through the gateway of the conflict with Israel, a media report said on Wednesday. “London is trying to fill the void resulting from Lebanon’s non-welcoming of any special French role and the breakdown of U.S. efforts,” unnamed sources told al-Akhbar newspaper, adding that Britain wants to “address a crisis called Hezbollah.”“London’s proposal calls for tasking a British expert with holding dialogue with Hezbollah with the aim of convincing it to give up arms and fully integrate into the state and its institutions,” al-Akhbar quoted a prominent official as saying. “According to information, the candidate for this role is Jonathan Powell, who has served in several official posts before heading a mediation firm that offered its first services in Libya, and had previously played intelligence-linked roles. The British candidate also has an experience in dealing with forces that are usually labeled as ‘rebel’ or ‘terrorist,’” al-Akhbar added. “Powell sent messages through his country’s embassy in Beirut to figures who communicate with Hezbollah, in an attempt to explore its stance on this proposal,” the newspaper said. “Powell has been presented to Lebanese officials as someone who has major experience in negotiation, which led in the past to the Irish Republican Army’s surrender of its weapons and its engagement in public life. He played a key role in securing the guarantees that the group needed in order to finalize this process. He enjoys the confidence of the (British) state’s top officials and has a very high level of coordination with British and foreign intelligence services,” al-Akhbar added.

Salam, ministers mull stronger diplomatic action in face of Israel
Naharnet/October 08/2025
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and a number of ministers are currently discussing possible diplomatic and political measures that the government should take to confront Israel’s reluctance to implement the November 27 ceasefire agreement, a prominent ministerial source said. “The debate kicked off based on the fact that the political efforts have not yet led to tangible results and that there is a problem related to the competency of the Foreign Ministry’s work, especially the performance of Minister Youssef Rajji, amid a belief that the latter is not concerned, neither personally nor politically, with carrying out a special effort in this regard,” the source told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday. “The discussions are taking a serious direction, especially with the presence of figures in the government who are capable of conducting high-level contacts on the regional and international levels,” the source said. “There is a need to press these contacts, not only to respond to the demands of the South’s residents or political forces, but also to confront the state of impasse resulting from the setback that the U.S. mediation efforts have suffered, seeing as the efforts of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and his colleague Morgan Ortagus have not achieved the needed progress,” the source added.

UK political director Christian Turner concludes visit to Lebanon
Naharnet/October 08/2025
Christian Turner, recently appointed as the UK’s next Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, has concluded a two-day visit to Lebanon, the British embassy said on Wednesday. This is part of his regional engagement ahead of assuming his new role in January.
During his visit, Turner held meetings with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji. He also met U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza where they discussed the importance of support from the U.N. and its member states for the security and stability of Lebanon. In Naqoura he met with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Force Commander General Diodato Abagnara, UNIFIL Deputy Head of Mission and the Director of Division for Political and Civil Affairs Hervé Lecoq, and UNIFIL Chief of Staff Major General Paul Sanzey. He also met with UNTSO Observer Group Lebanon. Turner’s visit to Naqoura focused on assessing the current situation in south Lebanon and how the United Kingdom can best support UNIFIL through the upcoming transition period. At the end of his visit, Turner said: “I’ve been in Lebanon today to meet with the Government of Lebanon, UNFIL and other U.N. agencies to discuss how the UK can best continue our support for the Lebanese people.”“As the UNIFIL mandate comes to an end, the UK will continue to work with these partners to make sure there is a responsible and orderly transition. That means continuing our partnership with the Lebanese Armed Forces and strengthening their presence in southern Lebanon, as Lebanon’s sole legitimate defender,” he added. As the UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Turner will lead the UK Mission’s work to drive progress on global peace and development.

Army commander begins visit to Qatar
Naharnet/October 08/2025
ander General Rodolphe Haykal on Wednesday began a visit to Qatar at the invitation of his Qatari counterpart Lieutenant General Jassim bin Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Mannai. A Lebanese Army statement said the visit aims to “boost cooperation between the Lebanese and Qatari armies in light of the current challenges.”Haykal met during the visit with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with the latter stressing that Qatar “will continue to stand by the Lebanese state institutions, the Lebanese Army and the brotherly Lebanese people,” the statement said.
He also met with Qatari Defense Minister Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the discussions tackled “the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, and the missions that the army is performing to preserve Lebanon’s security and stability in the various Lebanese regions.”The two men also discussed the army’s missions in the South, its cooperation with the UNIFIL force and its work on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. Haykal had started his visit by meeting his Qatari counterpart and discussing with him “improving cooperation between the two countries’ armies on the various levels and means to back the military institution amid the delicate circumstances that Lebanon is going through.”

Hannibal Gadhafi's health alarming in Lebanon detention
Agence France Presse/October 08/2025
The health of Hannibal Gadhafi, son of longtime Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, is alarming and he should be released after nearly a decade of pre-trial detention in Lebanon, his lawyer said Wednesday. Lebanese authorities arrested Gadhafi in 2015 and accused him of withholding information about the disappearance of revered Lebanese Shiite cleric Imam Moussa Sadr nearly four decades earlier. Gadhafi, 49, was "urgently hospitalized" after experiencing "very strong abdominal pain," French lawyer Laurent Bayon told AFP, adding that his client also suffers from severe depression. The doctor and judges "explained that this alarming state of health is linked to his isolation in relation to his detention, which has lasted 10 years," Bayon said. Gadhafi returned to prison on Tuesday, but is expected to have frequent hospital visits, he added. Gadhafi's lawyers have previously sounded the alarm about his health.
In August, Human Rights Watch urged Lebanon to immediately release Gadhafi, saying it had wrongly imprisoned him on "apparently unsubstantiated allegations that he was withholding information" about Sadr. Sadr -- the founder of the Amal Movement -- went missing in 1978 during an official visit to Libya, along with an aide and a journalist. Beirut blamed the disappearances on Moammar Gadhafi, who was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising, and ties between the two countries have been strained ever since. Married to a Lebanese model, Hannibal Gadhafi had fled to Syria and was kidnapped in December 2015 by armed men who took him to Lebanon, where authorities ultimately arrested him. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who succeeded Sadr at the head of the Amal Movement, has accused Libya's new authorities of not cooperating on the issue of Sadr's disappearance, an accusation Libya denies.
Bayon called Gadhafi a "political detainee", adding: "The only reason that justifies his detention is that he bears his father's name." He said the public prosecutor had made a recommendation to the examining judge, who must make the final decision on whether to release Gadhafi. A Lebanese judicial source told AFP on condition of anonymity the public prosecutor "was not opposed" to releasing him.

Report: Gaza deal to reflect positively on Lebanon
Naharnet/October 08/2025
In connection with Trump’s plan for ending the war in Gaza, sources told the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal that a possible ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory would have a positive impact on Lebanon. “Trump has an inclination to end the ‘endless wars,’ which indicates that there is a possibility to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and work on a solution for the issue of the monopoly of arms,” the sources said. Former PSP leader Walid Jumblat had announced Tuesday after meeting President Joseph Aoun that “the Lebanese Army is carrying out a mighty work in the South,” adding that “the atmosphere is reassuring despite the uncalculated skepticism campaigns.”A source meanwhile told al-Anbaa that the report submitted by the Lebanese Army to cabinet on the disarmament plan was received by all parties in a positive manner. “They lauded the Lebanese Army and its efforts, especially that it highlighted a tangible progress and presented numbers and details about what it has accomplished and its joint missions with the Mechanism (the U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring committee),” the source added.

Pope Leo XIV Calls for Peace Ahead of Trip to Turkey and Lebanon
This is Beirut/October 08/2025
Pope Leo XIV marked the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel by urging an end to hatred and renewed dialogue for peace in the Middle East. Speaking in Castel Gandolfo, he reflected on the toll of the ongoing conflict, noting that “around 67,000 Palestinians have been killed” since the 2023 assault that killed 1,200 people. Condemning both terrorism and rising antisemitism, the Pope reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to “respect for the dignity of every person” and called on the faithful to continue praying for peace. The remarks came as the Vatican confirmed the Pope’s upcoming visit to Turkey and Lebanon from November 27 to December 2, a trip he said aims to promote unity among Christians and bring “a message of peace and hope” to Lebanon’s people. According to Vatican News, the visit to Lebanon is primarily intended to bring comfort to a nation that, since the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020, has endured one hardship after another. “In Lebanon,” the Pope explained, “I will have the opportunity to once again proclaim the message of peace in the Middle East, in a country that has suffered so much. Pope Francis wanted to go there too. He wanted to embrace the people of Lebanon after the explosion, after everything they’ve endured. We will try to bring this message of peace and hope.”

Hezbollah’s Support Front, One Year On: Between Denial and Confrontation
Bassam Abou Zeid/October 08/2025
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah entered the support war against Israel alongside Hamas, which had launched the Al-Aqsa Flood operation the day before. At the time, Hezbollah was at the peak of its military strength, accumulated over decades, and many expected it to advance into Israel’s Galilee region.
Hezbollah’s support front ended on November 27, 2024, while the Gaza conflict continued. The Iran-backed group emerged severely weakened, having lost nearly all its military infrastructure and arsenal, built over decades at the cost of billions of dollars.
The material losses were compounded by spectacular assassinations of leaders and military officials, bombings of key sites, and the deaths of prominent figures including Secretaries-General Hassan Nasrallah and his presumed successor Hashem Safieddine. Hezbollah was forced to find ways to limit further losses and avoid total collapse. Reports indicate that Iran played a decisive role in persuading the group to accept the ceasefire, even if it effectively amounted to a document of surrender, believing that preserving Hezbollah in its fragile state was better than allowing it to disintegrate and that with Iran’s support the group could, in time, rebuild itself. Hezbollah emerged from the support war stripped of any legitimacy to retain its weapons, having surrendered that right under the ceasefire agreement, which recognized only six official bodies as authorized to bear arms in Lebanon. The government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam nullified all previous ministerial statements that had vaguely legitimized Hezbollah’s arsenal. The Lebanese Army then drafted a nationwide plan to centralize all weapons, effectively dismantling Hezbollah’s geographic presence and leaving it without a military foothold south or north of the Litani River — or anywhere else in the country. The events of the support war and their aftermath revealed that Hezbollah was never grounded in reality. Israel, which the group had long dismissed as “weaker than a spider’s web,” penetrated deep into its ranks and carried out assassinations and bombings with unprecedented success. It continues to assert its dominance daily, targeting Hezbollah officials and remaining military infrastructure without facing any effective retaliation. On the anniversary of the support war, had Hassan Nasrallah been alive, he might have repeated his famous remark from the 2006 July War, “If I had known.” The group’s losses in this conflict far exceed those of 2006. Yet instead of using these setbacks and the new reality as an opportunity to draw lessons, Hezbollah, together with Sheikh Naim Qassem, reinforced a state of denial, returning to a rhetoric of invincibility, not against Israel, but against the Lebanese state which is determined to assert its sovereignty.

Lebanon awaits pope's visit amid instability and ongoing strikes
Naharnet/October 08/2025
Pope Leo XIV has said his first foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon next month, would provide a historic opportunity to promote Christian unity while bringing a message of peace and hope to Lebanon's long-suffering people and the broader Middle East.
Leo outlined the trip, announced by the Vatican Tuesday on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel, during an encounter with reporters as he left the papal country estate south of Rome. Leo will travel first to Turkey from Nov. 27-30, then Lebanon from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. The trip to Turkey will include a pilgrimage to Iznik to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity's first ecumenical council. The anniversary is an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations, since the 325 A.D. Nicea meeting predates the schisms that divided Christianity's East from West and is accepted by Catholic and Orthodox churches alike. Leo told reporters as he left the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday that the anniversary offered "a moment of authentic unity in the faith" with Orthodox Christians, "a historic moment not to look back but to look forward."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 pontificate that he intended to fulfill Francis' plans.
Christian community in Lebanon
The trip will give the first American pope a chance to speak in broad terms about peace in the Middle East and the plight of Christians there. Leo told reporters he was also fulfilling a wish of Francis to go to Lebanon to embrace its people and bring a message of hope and "peace in the Middle East, and in a country that has suffered so much."Francis had long hoped to visit Lebanon, but the country's political and economic instability prevented a visit during his lifetime. The Mediterranean nation of around 6 million, including more than 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees, has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East and is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state. However, the Vatican fears the country's instability has been particularly dangerous for the continued presence of its Christian community, a bulwark for the church in the Mideast. Lebanon is currently struggling to recover after years of economic crisis and a bruising war between Israel and Hezbollah that ended with a U.S. and France-brokered ceasefire in November. Formation of a new, reformist government ended a two-year political vacuum and brought hopes of recovery but the situation remains tense. Israel has continued to occupy five strategic points on the Lebanese side of the border and carry out near-daily airstrikes that it says aim to stop Hezbollah from regrouping. Hezbollah is under increasing domestic and international pressure to give up its remaining arsenal but has refused to do so until Israel withdraws and halts its strikes. There are fears of civil conflict if Lebanese authorities attempt to forcibly disarm the group.
'A sign of unity for all'
Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, leader of Lebanon's Maronite Church, said Lebanon awaited the pope's visit with "great joy and renewed hope." "We hope that this apostolic visit to Lebanon will bring peace and stability and be a sign of unity for all Lebanese, Christians and Muslims alike, at this critical stage in our nation's history," he said in a statement. The last pope to visit Lebanon was Pope Benedict XVI in September 2012 on what was the last foreign trip of his papacy. About one-third of Lebanon's population is believed to be Christian, though there is no official number since there hasn't been an official census since 1932. The Maronites are the largest and most powerful sect and, by convention, Lebanon's president is always a Maronite Christian.
Tightrope over Mideast issues
The pope's trip was announced as Israel marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks and criticized the Vatican for what it considered to be problematic comments about the anniversary by the Vatican's top diplomat. In an interview with Vatican Media, Cardinal Pietro Parolin had condemned the "inhuman massacre" of innocent people in Israel by Hamas and the rise of antisemitism. But he also said Israel's razing of Gaza was itself a disproportionate massacre, and called on countries to stop supplying Israel weapons to wage the war. In a statement Tuesday on X, the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See said Parolin's interview, "though surely well-intentioned, risks undermining efforts to both end the war in Gaza and counter rising antisemitism." It criticized his "problematic use of moral equivalence" by referring to massacres on both sides. Leo declined to enter into the dispute on Tuesday. He has consistently called for peace and dialogue in the Middle East, especially as Israel's offensive rages on in Gaza, and repeated that on Tuesday. He condemned the Oct. 7 attacks as "terrorism" and said terrorist groups were unacceptable. But he also cited the 67,000 Palestinians killed in Israel's war in Gaza as evidence of "how much hatred exists in the world." "It makes you think about how much violence and evil humans are capable of," he said. "We must reduce hatred, we must return to the ability to dialogue, to seek peaceful solutions."

UK prosecutors to appeal dropped 'terrorism' case against Kneecap rapper
Agence France Presse/October 08/2025
The UK’s public prosecution body Tuesday said it would appeal a court’s decision to drop a charge of supporting "terrorism" brought against a Northern Irish singer from rap group Kneecap. "We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified," a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said, referring to the case against Liam O’Hanna, also known by his stage name Mo Chara. O’Hanna had been charged under the UK’s terrorism laws for allegedly displaying a flag belonging to the banned Lebanese group Hezbollah during a concert in November 2024.

Life at Naqoura port: Fear and silence replace the ‘daily catch’
LBCI/October 08/2025
At Naqoura port, the scene is no longer what it once was. Fishermen’s boats sit in silence, no longer sailing as before, nor returning with their usual catch.
Israeli attacks continue to strike the town intermittently, and the Israeli army maintains a constant presence that spreads fear among the fishermen, whose daily routines have been disrupted. Trips have been reduced, schedules altered, and some have abandoned the sea entirely as the profession has become increasingly risky. Those who still venture out are confined to areas designated by Israeli forces. Drones follow every boat, while flares are dropped near fishermen to intimidate them. Even the town’s once-bustling local fish market has fallen silent. Israel bombed part of it, forcing its closure for an indefinite period. For fishermen already struggling under difficult living conditions, their sole source of income has been under threat since the start of the war. The once-vibrant southern shore, once alive with activity and income-generating work, has become a scene of caution and fear.

Lebanon’s justice minister appoints judges to key political assassination cases
LBCI/October 08/2025
Lebanon’s Justice Minister, Adel Nassar, has appointed judicial investigators to handle high-profile political assassination cases, part of his efforts to end impunity in the country. The appointments cover some of the most sensitive and notorious cases in recent Lebanese history:
Judge Amira Sabra: assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Assaf.
Judge Fadi Akiki: attempted assassination of engineer Moustafa Maarouf Saad.
Judge Yahya Ghabourah: armed attack in the town of Ehden, which resulted in the killing of MP Tony Frangieh, members of his family, and some of his aides.
Judge Joseph Tamer: attempted assassination of former President Camille Chamoun.
Judge Alaa al-Khatib: incidents and clashes in the Bourday area of Baalbek.
Judge Fadi Sawan: assassination of former minister Elie Hobeika.
Judge Samer Younes: assassination of MP Antoine Ghanem and associates.
Judge Kamal Nassar: killing of Sheikh Saleh al-Aridy in the town of Baisour.
Judge Sami Sader: assassination of MP and minister Pierre Amine Gemayel and his aide Samir Chartouni.
Judge Samer Lishaa: assassination of journalist Samir Kassir.
Judge Claude Ghanem: assassination of MP and journalist Gebran Ghassan Tueni and his associates.
These appointments are seen as a key step in addressing Lebanon’s longstanding issues with political violence and holding perpetrators accountable.

Cuba asks Lebanon to support UN resolution calling for an end to US blockade
LBCI/October 08/2025
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla requested Lebanon’s support for a draft resolution that Cuba plans to submit again at the United Nations General Assembly at the end of October. The Cuban foreign minister conveyed in a message delivered by Cuba’s ambassador to Lebanon, Jorge León Cruz, that the resolution calls for an end to the economic, trade, and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States. The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and ways to further develop them.

Samy Gemayel discusses elections and unity of political authority with PM Salam
LBCI/October 08/2025
Kataeb Party leader MP Samy Gemayel met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to discuss the latest developments, focusing on the upcoming parliamentary elections and the voting rights of expatriates. Gemayel said both sides agreed that the government must assume its responsibility by submitting an electoral law proposal to parliament to settle the debate over expatriate participation, ensuring they can vote for all 128 MPs as in previous elections. He rejected proposals to limit expatriates’ voting power to six MPs, calling such ideas “illogical” and a means of isolating them from Lebanon’s political life. Gemayel also stressed the importance of political unity and cooperation among state institutions, describing it as the only path to saving Lebanon and restoring state authority. He added that with both a president and a prime minister committed to sovereignty and reform, Lebanon now has an opportunity to move forward — provided all parties unite to complete the disarmament process, eliminate armed militias, and create the stability needed to attract aid, investment, and economic recovery.

Who Is Michel Issa, the Businessman Turned Diplomat?
This is Beirut/October 08/2025
Michel Issa is set to take up his post in Beirut as the new US Ambassador to Lebanon, following the departure of Lisa A. Johnson, whose term ended on September 28, 2025. Appointed by President Donald Trump, Issa represents a notable departure from the traditional career diplomat, a businessman and former banker stepping into a sensitive diplomatic posting. His nomination was announced in March and approved by Congress but was confirmed by the US Senate on Tuesday. Issa’s nomination is not a traditional diplomatic appointment. Instead of a career envoy, the United States is sending a figure shaped by decades in international finance and private enterprise. Born in Lebanon, Issa began his academic journey in Paris, where he earned a degree in Economics from the University of Paris X Nanterre before pursuing advanced banking studies at the Cours d’Études Supérieures de Banques, according to his bio on the US State Department website. Fluent in Arabic, English, and French, he brings both cultural fluency and a personal connection to Lebanon. Professionally, Issa built an extensive two-decade career in international banking, holding senior roles at institutions including Crédit Agricole Indosuez in New York, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Banco Português do Atlântico in Paris. Renowned for his expertise in foreign exchange trading, he led trading operations, developed complex financial instruments, and chaired compliance and credit committees before retiring from the financial sector in 1999.
That same year, he shifted gears to pursue his passion for automobiles, founding a company that acquired Porsche, Audi, and Volkswagen dealerships in the United States. Under his leadership, the company achieved over $35 million in annual sales and expanded significantly. Today, Issa is president and CEO of Newton Investment Group LLC, based in New Jersey. Outside the boardroom, he is known for his passion for cars, golf, and tennis—and for a longstanding personal relationship with President Donald Trump, with whom he is said to golf regularly. With a career spanning finance, entrepreneurship, and now diplomacy, Michel Issa’s appointment underscores a broader US trend of drawing from the private sector for key foreign policy roles. For Lebanon, his arrival could signal a pragmatic approach, one shaped by business insight, global experience, and a personal understanding of the country he is returning to.

Lebanon Progressing in Imposing State Monopoly over Arms Despite Hezbollah’s Minimal Cooperation
Beirut: Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Lebanon is slowly moving forward in implementing its plan to impose state monopoly over arms despite Hezbollah’s minimal cooperation and continued escalatory stances. Authorities in the country believe the mission won’t be simple, but it is not impossible, said ministerial sources. The government discussed on Monday the army’s first report on its efforts to impose state monopoly and has kept its decisions related to it confidential. The sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat however that President Joseph Aoun is a “satisfied” with the efforts. He received former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and MP Taymour Jumblatt at the presidential palace on Tuesday. Following the talks, the former said he was “reassured about the progress despite the criticism against the army... the military is carrying out massive efforts in the South.”
No cooperation and no confrontation
The sources said Walid Jumblatt’s sentiments reflect Aoun’s. They acknowledged persistent obstacles, namely Israel’s continued occupation of some Lebanese territories and its daily violations, as well as Hezbollah’s minimal cooperation with the military. They explained that the army is dismantling Hezbollah’s arsenal in areas south of the Litani River, but the Iran-backed party is not cooperating the way it should with it, in that it is not disclosing the location of its military facilities, tunnels and weapons caches.“Hezbollah is not resisting or confronting the army’s work,” they stated.
The sources noted, however, that some residents of the South have been informing the military of the location of some caches. As for tunnels, the army, should it find any, has been sealing rather than destroying them, citing an incident in August when six soldiers were killed during an explosion while they were removing ammunition from a Hezbollah facility.
Hezbollah in crisis
Hezbollah’s refusal to cooperate with the army and lay down its weapons is in violation of the ceasefire agreement that was reached in November and that it agreed to. Its officials continue to escalate their rhetoric and defy the ceasefire and government decision to impose state monopoly over arms. MP Ashraf Rifi, a fierce Hezbollah critic, said these positions “reflect the crisis the party is going through in that its officials are unable to tell the truth to their supporters.”He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “All signs indicate that Iran’s role in the region is ending, but Hezbollah is facing a main obstacle that is its leadership’s inability to come clean with the truth with their supporters.”“The party continues to make escalatory statements because it fears an adverse reaction from its supporters who may turn on it, especially with all the destruction and losses caused by Israel’s latest war on Lebanon,” he remarked. Rifi said the state’s efforts to impose monopoly over weapons “are on the right path,” wishing that it would pick up the pace to ease the pressure off Lebanon. The Kataeb party welcomed the military’s progress in implementing the disarmament plan, echoing Rifi’s call that it should speed up its work throughout the country. It also called on the international community to pressure Israel to cease its violations against Lebanon. Commenting on Hezbollah’s refusal to lay down weapons in regions north of the Litani, the Kataeb said: “The party’s abandoning of its arms in the South reflects its intention to avoid a fight with Israel, so, what use are the weapons for in areas north of the Litani?”“Are they keeping the weapons so that they would continue to have power over the Lebanese people and defy the state and legitimacy?” it asked. On Monday, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah declared that the party was “not concerned” with the government’s plan to limit possession of weapons to the state. He said Hezbollah is a resistance movement and continues to be so given Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territories.

The Dr. of Misguided Bets
Sarah Melki/Face Book/October 08/2025
One day, while we were gathered in one of the diaspora cities, one of Samir Geagea’s longtime companions appeared someone who, to this very day, holds a senior position within the Lebanese Forces party. The meeting included a small circle of influential figures and activists concerned with Lebanese affairs.
At one point, one of the attendees asked him: “How do you assess Geagea’s repeated failures in various issues?”
His response was telling:
“He’s like a bus driver, he performs regular maintenance as required, makes sure the vehicle never runs out of fuel, drives with more caution than necessary, and takes every turn smoothly and cleanly. Yet, when he reaches an intersection, he chooses the wrong path.”
With that, the conversation ended, and we moved on to another topic.
Based on this metaphor, we offer a brief overview of Geagea’s series of misguided choices, which we list as follows:
1. He engaged in the Mountain War before securing support from the Lebanese Army.
2. He withdrew from East Sidon without obtaining adequate guarantees, leading to a catastrophic outcome and the mass displacement of its Christian inhabitants.
3. He closed the Israeli liaison office in Dbayeh and shifted his focus to Iraq.
4. Alongside Michel Aoun, he obstructed the election of Mikhail Daher, which ultimately paved the way for Aoun’s own ascension.
5. He and Aoun allied themselves with Saddam Hussein—the adversary of the faction that supported the Christians, and an enemy of the United States.
6. He knowingly or unknowingly facilitated Michel Aoun’s rise to power in 1988.
7. He took part in the Taif Agreement, which was later transformed into a constitution, thereby bringing an end to the role of Christians in the entity they had founded—after having previously toppled the Tripartite Agreement, which was not a constitution but merely an accord.
8- He gravely misjudged the threat posed by Aoun following the signing of the Taif Agreement.
9. He surrendered the Lebanese Forces’ weapons without negotiating any meaningful concessions in return.
10. He boycotted the 1992 parliamentary elections, further weakening Christian representation within the state.
11. He ignored President Elias Hrawi’s advice to leave the country a decision that culminated in disaster: the imprisonment of a Christian leader in the dungeons of a Syrian security regime, an occurrence unseen in centuries.
12. He either participated in or turned a blind eye to the “Quadripartite Agreement,” despite being imprisoned at the time.
13. He abandoned the Orthodox Electoral Law without securing any alternative benefit.
14. He later voted for one of the greatest calamities to befall the Christian community Michel Aoun.
15. He sidelined the Lebanese Forces’ hardliners without obtaining anything in exchange.
16. He supported the election of Joseph Aoun without personally knowing him—as he himself admitted—and without reviewing his vision or program, if any existed.
In summary, these missteps form part of a long chain of disappointments and misguided decisions.
We leave it to you our readers to comment: either to defend these choices or to highlight the additional miscalculations we may have overlooked
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Aoun 'May' Intervene to Find a Way Out for the Electoral Law
Nidaa Al Watan/October 09/2025 (Translated from Arabic)
More than one issue—electoral, environmental, judicial, and military—is crowding the domestic scene, but the parliamentary election law file remains stuck with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. Berri is refusing to respond to a petition signed by sixty-one lawmakers, leaving the parliamentary elections stalled between the nearly impossible clause for the six expatriate MPs and the rejection of non-resident expatriates voting for all one hundred and twenty-eight MPs.
President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun seems insistent on holding the elections and reiterates this position to all his visitors. During his reception of Charles Fries, Deputy Secretary-General for Peace, Security, and Defence of the European External Action Service, at Baabda Palace, he requested the European Union's participation in observing the parliamentary elections next May. Nidaa Al Watan learned that President Aoun is firm on holding the parliamentary elections on time, showing no leniency or slackness on the matter, and stressing the need to take logistical measures and preparations. While keen on the expatriate community's participation in determining the country's fate, he may intervene to find a way out between the divided parliamentary forces at the appropriate time.
Army Commander in Qatar
After presenting the monthly report on the application of the exclusive state control over weapons plan, Army Commander General Rudolph Hekal began a two-day visit to the State of Qatar at the official invitation of Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant General Pilot Jassim bin Mohammed Al Mannai. The goal is to enhance cooperation between the Lebanese and Qatari armies in light of current challenges.
General Hekal met with Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed Qatar's continued support for Lebanese state institutions, the Lebanese Army, and the Lebanese people. General Hekal, in turn, expressed his gratitude for the unconditional Qatari support at all levels. The Army Commander also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Thani. Discussions covered the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, the missions the Army is carrying out to preserve Lebanon's security and stability across all Lebanese territories, as well as its missions in the South and its cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in addition to working on implementing the cessation of hostilities agreement.
General Hekal had started his visit by meeting the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Jassim bin Mohammed Al Mannai, at the Qatari Ministry of Defence, where an official welcoming ceremony and honors were held. They then discussed developing cooperation between the armies of the two countries at various levels and ways to support the military institution amidst the delicate circumstances Lebanon is experiencing.
Minister Shehadeh: "Hezbollah" Does Not Cooperate
Minister of the Displaced and Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence, Kamal Shehadeh, revealed that "the Army Commander presented a detailed report at the Council of Ministers session about the first phase of the weapons control plan, which spans one to three months, and one-third of that time has passed." Shehadeh pointed out that "the Army found some weapons under the rubble of demolished buildings, and it takes time to extract them." He added that "the latest American initiative provided a significant boost," as Washington offered $240 million to support the security forces, of which $195 million is for the Lebanese Army, which is double what it previously provided. He clarified that "the Army has begun the process of containing armed presence across all of Lebanon, starting from the eastern and northern borders with Syria and around the Palestinian camps," confirming that "the first phase in the South is expected to be completed within an additional fifty days." He stated: "Israel has not stopped its aggression, but no one outside Hezbollah knows the weapon storage locations," noting that the party "did not hand over this information to the Army, and there is no cooperation regarding tunnels and traps." He stressed that he heard from diplomats that the Israeli strikes will not stop until the party hands over its weapons to the Army south of the Litani and that the plan's implementation begins north of the Litani, and that "the government's policy is clear: complete disarmament."
Council of Ministers and the Waste Crisis
Today, a session of the Council of Ministers will be held at the Grand Serail, chaired by President Nawaf Salam. The first item on the agenda is the Jdeideh landfill issue. There is talk of reopening the landfill after its expansion, despite the opposition of the area's officials and lawmakers.
Judicial Investigators for Political Assassinations
Also on the ministerial front, and in a judicial surprise, Minister of Justice Adel Nassar appointed judicial investigators in political assassination cases. (Details on page 5)
No Brokerage in the Foreign Ministry
In another ministerial context, the efforts initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, under the direct guidance and supervision of Minister Youssef Reji, to combat corruption and bribery in the Ministry's Certifications Department seem to be bearing fruit. The State Security apparatus, through its periodic field procedures and follow-ups in state administrations and institutions to fight corruption, has confirmed that there is no longer any brokerage or bribes at or around the Ministry's headquarters to push through any certification transaction. Instead, there is strict adherence to the instructions given in implementation of the Minister's plan, which has been described as successful. The State Security apparatus praised the Foreign Ministry's measures in this regard and suggested that this model be circulated to the rest of the ministries for its transparency and facilitation of citizens' affairs, and as a genuine embodiment of the state of law and institutions to which we aspire.

The Shiite Exodus (Al-Taghriba Al-Shi’iyya)
Marwan Al-Amin/Nidaa Al Watan/October 09/2025  (Translated from Arabic)
Throughout its modern history, Lebanon has witnessed a wide diversity of political forces and militias that have contributed, to varying degrees, to shaping its political life, whether through individual action or through a series of alliances.
While some of these forces adopted policies and choices that made the interest of Lebanon a priority above all else, other forces emerged from cross-border ideological backgrounds and political projects, placing their intellectual or doctrinal identity above the national interest. Despite the sharp contradictions, deep conflicts, and wars that characterized the relationship between political forces of various orientations—from leftist and Christian to Arab nationalist—each produced an elite of thinkers, writers, poets, and artists who enriched the country's cultural and intellectual landscape.
Thus, the conflict in Lebanon was not confined to the fields of politics and arms alone, but extended to become a parallel intellectual and cultural battle, waged by these forces through a political document, a poem, a novel, or a work of political thought, ensuring Lebanon remained an arena where ideas clashed alongside rifles.
In contrast, the Hezbollah experience, spanning four decades, appears completely different from the experiences of other political forces. Throughout this long journey, the "Party" has not produced a prominent writer or poet, nor has its experience yielded political documents, a novel, or a theatrical work that sparks intellectual or cultural debate in the country, whether among supporters or opponents.
This absence may be attributed to the nature of the role for which the "Party" was created, as weapons form the essence of its existence and the pillar of its political and doctrinal presence. Its function does not take into account the Lebanese composition or stem from a final allegiance to Lebanon to incentivize it to leave a cultural and intellectual legacy, but rather from an organic link to a regional project that transcends state borders. This project serves the influence of the Iranian regime and works to eliminate diversity within the Shiite sect, linking it to this transnational agenda. Within this equation, the incentive for cultural and intellectual production based on debate and pluralism is absent, replaced instead by a sectarian fanaticism supported by a surplus of power and weapons. Thus, the criterion of power becomes dominance, not creativity, and language transforms from a means of expression into a tool of loyalty. Reason and dialogue are sidelined in favor of emotion and mobilization, leading to a culture that glorifies power and marginalizes thought. The slogans raised by Hezbollah supporters, such as “Shi'a, Shi'a, Shi'a” and “Siki Leh Leh” (a coarse, sectarian rallying cry), may be the clearest expression of this state of intellectual and cultural sterility. These slogans summarize the path of four decades of mobilization work based on emotion, instinct, and a reliance on force, with a complete absence of thought and creativity.
These slogans bear no relation to the Lebanese identity, which is rich in its diversity and openness. Rather, they entirely contradict the ancient cultural legacy of the Shiite community, especially in Jabal Amel (South Lebanon), which throughout history was a beacon of knowledge, literature, religious jurisprudence, and intellectualism. However, since its founding, the "Party" has worked to alienate the Shiites from their civilizational heritage, replacing the culture of Ijtihad (independent reasoning) and debate with a culture of obedience and monolithic isolation, and transforming the community from an environment productive of thought and art into a mobilized bloc managed by a slogan-based discourse that consecrates power and excludes reason. Thus, a loud voice becomes a substitute for an idea, and emotion a substitute for awareness, in a scene that reflects the moral, intellectual, and cultural decline that has afflicted the Shiite component, under the cloak of a project that neither resembles it nor is connected to its heritage and pluralistic spirit.

Bye Bye "Hamas"
Imad Moussa / Nidaa Al Watan/October 09/2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The "Party's" storyteller put President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza on the dissection and study table and concluded that it is full of "grave dangers" and aims to "strip the resistance of its elements of strength, and it is an Israeli plan in an American guise"—a stunning discovery on par with the discovery of penicillin. The malicious plan is also an "attempt to enable Israel to achieve its goals through politics after failing to do so through aggression, genocide, and famine." This language is consistent with the "Party's" narratives and literature. Oh God, how wonderful are the elements of strength we tried in the war of support, the result of which was that instead of heading towards Jerusalem, the occupation came back and "stuck" (referring to the Israeli presence).
Before the public could enjoy the elements of strength and rejoice in the storyteller's heroism, the same "Party", emerging from the victory of the Raouche, issued a statement 24 hours after his assistant secretary-general's speech, affirming support "for the position taken by the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas], in consultation with the rest of the Palestinian resistance factions, regarding US President Donald Trump's (may his shadow endure) plan to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip."
"Gaza will have a peaceful civilian administration run neither by Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority" was stated in His Excellency the American President's plan. Meanwhile, the Barack plan did not address the "Party's" role as a component of the political system but stressed the exclusivity of weapons in the hands of state agencies, and granted the Lebanese authority full confidence. President Mahmoud Abbas ended up neither here nor there.
Trump's plan for Gaza and the humiliation it entails for "Hamas" is supported by the "Party."
And the Barack plan, which gave Lebanon an opportunity to recover, restore sovereignty, reconnect with its surroundings, settle its problems with its neighbor Syria, and erase the effects of aggression, is considered submission and surrender to the American Taghout (tyrant/idol). More importantly, Trump's plan for Gaza speaks of "destroying all military, terrorist, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons production facilities, which will not be rebuilt. There will be a process for disarming Gaza under the supervision of independent observers, which will include permanently taking weapons out of use..."
The bitter irony is that the "Party" considered Hamas's approval of the American plan to stem from its keenness to stop the "brutal" Israeli aggression on the sector's residents, while also reflecting its adherence to the constants of the Palestinian cause and its rejection of any relinquishment of the rights of the Palestinian people. Therefore, to be consistent with itself, let the "Party" hand over its weapons to the state out of a keenness to stop the "brutal" aggression, and let it adhere to its constants forever. In short, the Trump plan (the personal friend of colleague Charles Jabbour) eliminated any role for Hamas in Gaza. It won't even play an extra. Thus, in the final analysis, Hamas has agreed, or is close to it. The "Party" agreed to what Hamas agreed to. Once again, damn your stupidity, individually and collectively.

What Awaits Pope Leo XIV in Lebanon
Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/October 07/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148052/
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.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 08-09/2025
Carney returns to Ottawa without a deal to end the U.S. tariffs
The Canadian Press/October 08/2025
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Mark Carney returns to Ottawa today without any deals to remove U.S. tariffs from Canadian goods, but he is leaving two of his key ministers behind to keep pressing Canada's case. Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, the second such meeting between the two leaders in less than six months. Trump told reporters ahead of that meeting that Carney was going to walk away "very happy" but showed no signs of relenting on tariffs and no deal was announced. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters at a press conference following the meeting that substantial progress was made and there is now momentum to make deals that wasn't there before Tuesday. He said Carney and Trump directed their teams to move quickly on sector-specific trade deals beginning with steel, aluminum and energy.
LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will both stay in Washington today for further meetings, including a planned conversation between Anand and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.5.

Trump says he may go to the Middle East for Gaza deal
Reuters/October 08, 2025
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he may travel to the Middle East this weekend as his negotiators seek to seal a Gaza hostages-for-ceasefire deal. Trump said at the White House that a deal is “very close,” and that he may depart Saturday for the region. He spoke after talking to his team about the talks. Negotiators have been meeting in Egypt to try to complete an agreement. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to attend a ministerial meeting to be held on Thursday in Paris with European, Arab and other states to discuss Gaza’s post-war transition, three diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. The meeting, to be held in parallel with indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt on US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, is intended to discuss how the plan would be implemented and assess countries’ collective commitments to the process. According to a note sent to delegates, the meeting will follow up a conference on a “two-state solution” at the United Nations and is intended to agree on joint actions to make a contribution to the US plan for Gaza. The two-state solution would involve an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Countries attending on Thursday will include France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, and other regional countries. The note had said Washington’s participation would depend on advances in the negotiations in Egypt. A European diplomatic source said it was vital to have the United States present. An Italian diplomatic source underlined the importance of supporting Trump’s plan, which was “the only one possible.” A French diplomatic source said the United States and Israel had been kept up to date with plans for the meeting and the agenda would include humanitarian aid for Gaza and the enclave’s reconstruction, disarmament of Hamas and support for the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian security forces. The US Embassy in Paris was not immediately available for comment.

Top Officials from US and Qatar Join Talks Aimed at Brokering Peace in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
US President Donald Trump’s top adviser for the Middle East and other senior officials joined the third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas in an Egyptian resort on Wednesday, a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza. Hamas says it's seeking firm guarantees from Trump and mediators that Israel won't resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the group releases all the remaining hostages. All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of the Gaza Strip destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan still haven't been agreed to, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down. Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived Wednesday at Sharm el-Sheikh for the discussions, as did Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top adviser, Ron Dermer. Representatives from fringe armed groups, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which holds an unknown number of Israeli hostages, are scheduled to arrive later Wednesday, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media. Their attendance underscores the aim of the talks to encompass all Palestinian groups. As Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators met with both sides in preliminary talks on Wednesday morning, a senior Hamas official, Taher Nounou, said the group has provided a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israel in return for hostages in Gaza as part of the deal.
Trump’s peace plan
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that fighters in Gaza still hold from their surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that started the war and triggered Israel's devastating retaliation. Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive. It envisions Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force moving in. The territory would be placed under international governance, with Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Wednesday in televised comments that the negotiations so far “were very encouraging.” Netanyahu has accepted Trump’s plan. His office said Tuesday that Israel was “cautiously optimistic,” framing the talks as technical negotiations over a plan that both sides already had approved. In a statement Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its longstanding demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted. Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza. Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ top negotiator, told Egypt’s Qahera TV that the group wanted solid guarantees from Trump and mediators that the war “will not return.” It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.  In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that brought the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Under the agreement, which Trump and Witkoff played a major role in brokering, the two sides were then supposed to enter negotiations over a long-term truce, an Israeli withdrawal and a full hostage release. But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its campaign of bombardment and offensives, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas for the remaining hostage releases. Past rounds of negotiations have frequently fallen apart over the same obstacle, with Hamas demanding assurances of the war's end and Netanyahu vowing to keep fighting until the group is destroyed. The Trump plan attempts to resolve all the issues at once, by laying out Hamas disarmament and a post-war scenario for governing the territory with provisions for a major reconstruction campaign. Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh said that a prisoners’ exchange can happen “in the next few days,” removing any pretext for Israel to mount any further attacks. But he warned in a televised statement to Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV that Israel and its allies shouldn’t expect the Palestinians to “succumb to their conditions and dictation after all the sacrifices.” Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said that the participation of the Qatari prime minister and top intelligence officials from Türkiye and Egypt give the talks “a strong boost toward achieving positive results” while “narrowing Netanyahu’s room for maneuver to continue the aggression and sabotage the negotiations.”
Praying for a deal
In the Hamas-led attack two years ago, fighters stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. Most hostages have since been released in ceasefires or other deals. A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a UN body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide — an accusation Israel denies. More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children, is part of the Hamas-run government. The United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. The ministry said Wednesday that the bodies of 10 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 61 wounded, it said in its daily report. In the Gaza Strip, where much of the territory lies in ruins, Palestinians are desperate for a breakthrough. Thousands fleeing Israel’s latest ground offensive in northern Gaza and Gaza City have set up makeshift tents along the beach in the central part of the territory, sometimes using blankets for shelter. “There is no food, nor good water, and blockage of crossings,” said Um Sulaiman Abu Afash, a displaced woman from Gaza City. “Our kids sleep in the streets. We buy drinking water. Where do we go? There’s no mercy.” Sara Rihan, a displaced woman from Jabaliya, said she was praying for an end to the war. “I hope we return to our places and homes even if there are no homes,” she said. “Our existence in our land is the biggest happiness for us.”

Report: Rubio to Attend Paris Meeting on Gaza Transition
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to attend a ministerial meeting to be held on Thursday in Paris with European, Arab and other states to discuss Gaza's post-war transition, three diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. The meeting, to be held in parallel with indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt on US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, is intended to discuss how the plan would be implemented and assess countries' collective commitments to the process. According to a note sent to delegates, the meeting will follow up a conference on a "two-state solution" at the United Nations and is intended to agree on joint actions to make a contribution to the US plan for Gaza. The two-state solution would involve an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Countries attending on Thursday will include France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye and Canada. The note had said Washington's participation would depend on advances in the negotiations in Egypt. A European diplomatic source said it was vital to have the United States present. An Italian diplomatic source underlined the importance of supporting Trump's plan, which was "the only one possible".A French diplomatic source said the United States and Israel had been kept up to date with plans for the meeting and the agenda would include humanitarian aid for Gaza and the enclave's reconstruction, disarmament of Hamas and support for the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian security forces. The US Embassy in Paris was not immediately available for comment.

Egyptian Source: First Phase of Gaza Deal Could Be Sealed by Friday
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
A well-informed Egyptian source said the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza could be finalized before Friday if the positive atmosphere currently surrounding the Sharm el-Sheikh negotiations continues. The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that progress in the Egyptian-hosted talks will determine the pace of the process, which could stretch for several more days if obstacles arise that disrupt the current momentum. “The agenda has been agreed upon regarding the exchange of prisoners and detainees, and discussions are underway to review withdrawal maps from Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Deir al-Balah, with potential extensions to other areas,” the source said. He noted that Hamas is pressing hard on the prisoner file to secure a domestic win by obtaining the release of senior figures such as Abdullah Barghouti, Marwan Barghouti, and Hassan Salameh. However, he added that it was “too early to say” whether such demands would be met, given the sustained pressure from Trump, who is expected to receive regular briefings on the negotiations and their outcomes. The same Egyptian source predicted that a preliminary agreement could be reached on Thursday or Friday and announced by Trump, though “if obstacles persist, the decision could be delayed until Sunday at the latest.”The main hurdle, the source said, remains the ongoing Israeli military operation. “Hamas is discussing the logistical requirements needed to hand over hostages and is pushing for time and guarantees, such as the removal of barriers, troop withdrawals, flight suspensions, or the release of prisoners held by other factions,” he explained.The source expected the first phase to last no longer than a week, possibly concluding by Friday or earlier. Later stages - dealing with more complex issues such as Hamas’s weapons - are likely to require greater effort and US pressure to reach compromises or partial understandings. Meanwhile, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha on Tuesday that the Sharm el-Sheikh negotiations included “detailed talks that lasted four hours,” adding that outcomes are expected “in the coming days.”He said a Qatari delegation is participating closely in the talks, working toward an agreement that extends beyond the first phase. “Our focus is to reach a practical plan that avoids obstacles Israel could use as a pretext to resume its aggression,” al-Ansari said. Egyptian state-run al-Qahera News reported on Tuesday that indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel continued for a second day, describing the atmosphere as “positive so far.”The discussions are centered on three main aspects of Trump’s first-phase plan: establishing mechanisms for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners; setting out arrangements for a ceasefire and phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza; and ensuring sufficient humanitarian aid reaches the enclave to ease the suffering of its population. The indirect talks, which began Monday in Egypt, bring together delegations from Israel and Hamas to discuss prisoner exchanges, a ceasefire, and humanitarian access to Gaza as part of Trump’s peace initiative for the Middle East. Trump unveiled the 20-point plan on Sep. 29, outlining steps for releasing Israeli hostages in Gaza, halting the fighting, and disarming Hamas.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir Calls for ‘Gaza Victory’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Wednesday and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue "complete victory" over Hamas in Gaza. In a video on the edge of one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East, Ben-Gvir said that two years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war, Israel was "winning" at the Jerusalem compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. "Every house in Gaza has a picture of the Temple Mount, and today, two years later, we are winning on the Temple Mount. We are the owners of the Temple Mount," Ben-Gvir said in the video released by his Jewish Power party. "I only pray that our prime minister will allow a complete victory in Gaza as well – to destroy Hamas, with God's help we will return the hostages, and we will win a complete victory," Ben-Gvir said. His remarks were released as Israel and Palestinian group Hamas are deep in indirect negotiations in Egypt to release all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and end the war there. Ben-Gvir, known as a hardliner well before he helped Netanyahu form the most right-wing coalition government in Israel's history, heads the pro-settler, nationalist-religious Jewish Power party. He has previously threatened to quit Netanyahu's government unless Hamas is utterly destroyed. The Al-Aqsa compound, in Jerusalem's walled Old City, is Islam's third holiest site and the most sacred in Judaism. Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there. Ben-Gvir has previously challenged those rules, prompting Netanyahu to issue statements saying Israel was committed to the status quo there. Suggestions that Israel would alter rules at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked outrage in the Muslim world and ignited violence in the past.

Turkish FM Says Sides Are Close to a Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Talks on bringing an end to the war in Gaza are on the verge of reaching a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday. Turkish, Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators are working to realize an American plan that calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. “If an agreement is reached today, a ceasefire will be declared,” Fidan told a news conference in Ankara with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. Fidan earlier said that “a lot of progress has been achieved so far” in the negotiations. “What is good news is that the parties have showed great will for the release of the prisoners and the hostages,” he added. All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of Gaza destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan still haven’t been agreed, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down. Fidan told reporters that technical details were “being discussed at the moment,” adding that “if the positive views are heard today, the necessary steps will be taken for the first part of the agreement.”The two ministers also discussed security in Syria — an issue that neighboring Türkiye takes a keen interest in. Al-Shaibani criticized the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, for delaying the implementation of an agreement made in March for them to integrate into Syria’s new military. The SDF has recently clashed with security forces around the northern city of Aleppo. “The SDF has taken it very slowly in making the right steps,” he said. “Any delay in terms of implementing this agreement will only serve for further losses and we will have huge trouble in fighting terrorism.”Both al-Shaibani and Fidan attacked Israel’s involvement in Syria, with the Syrian minister saying Israel’s “aggression still jeopardizes our safety and security.” Tensions soared between Israel and Syria following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, when Israeli forces seized control of the UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria set up under the 1974 agreement and carried out airstrikes. Al-Shaibani on Wednesday reiterated Syrian calls to return to the 1974 boundaries. Israel stepped up its intervention when violence erupted in Syria’s Sweida province in July between Bedouin clans and government forces on one side and armed groups from the Druze minority on the other.

Tehran Losing Rounds in Iraq, but Not the War Yet
London: Ali Saray/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Two years ago, Iraq’s armed factions were eager to make their presence felt in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” scenes. That enthusiasm faded in the months after October 2023 amid what officials described as highly complex negotiations between the government and those groups to keep Iraq out of the war.
There is no evidence that Iran has lost Iraq entirely, as it did in Syria. But it has begun to lose round after round to the Americans in Baghdad’s arena, while its proxies have grown accustomed to living peacefully alongside “the two most dangerous men in the world these days, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu,” as a former Iraqi minister put it. Politicians in Baghdad cite three “boxing rounds” that the Americans have won over the Iranians: the release of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov from Kataib Hezbollah custody without a deal; the withdrawal of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) law that was ready for a parliamentary vote; and, before that, a long truce with US forces even during the 12-day US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Two years after the “Unity of Fronts” declaration and following Hamas’s Oct. 7 operation, Iraq’s factions were missing from the closing scenes of the “Flood.” For many, that is good news — for now.
Searching for “Plan B”
A Shiite politician who recently visited Tehran returned to Baghdad with a vague outlook ahead of campaign season for the November 2025 parliamentary elections. The politician, who officially launched his campaign on Oct. 3, said Tehran is looking for a “Plan B” to avoid a knockout blow. “It may surprise many with what it has in store,” he said, suggesting Iran might “make up for Syria elsewhere.”Shiite politicians in Baghdad, he added, have a habit of “reading the election book in a language the Iranians understand.”But how accurate is such a forecast? There is no clear metric to measure Iranian influence in Iraq. Analysts remain divided over whether it has diminished to the point that, after Syria’s “domino” fell, its allied groups in Iraq have also tumbled. In reality, Iraqi public opinion — and the partisan instruments that shape it — often revolve around narratives that are constructed, improvised, or deliberately ambiguous.
Factions Ask, Iran Doesn’t Answer
Reports of a possible war against Iran have put Baghdad’s factions under pressure. According to sources, leaders of several groups met in late September 2025 and sent a consultation request to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seeking guidance on what to expect if war breaks out. A senior member of a faction recently added to a US terrorism list said Tehran has yet to respond. At the same time, an IRGC team tasked with managing Shiite electoral alliances in Iraq has been holding meetings with figures in the Coordination Framework coalition. Cross-cutting sources described the team as “Iran’s election committee,” overseeing the distribution of Shiite parties across competing lists — a group that previously engineered influential coalitions in past parliaments. But this “expert” committee failed to convince Shiite party leaders to implement Tehran’s proposed blueprint to merge lists or reshuffle candidates in key constituencies across central and southern Iraq. Some Shiite figures accused of defying Iranian directives belong to resistance factions that briefly joined the “Al-Aqsa Flood” front before retreating to the “backyard,” seeking new sources of leverage.
Empty Spaces
In cities liberated from ISIS, Sunni parties are running relatively stable campaigns. Many sense that the loosening of Iran’s grip has allowed them to move more freely — though few dare say so aloud. There are visible efforts to remain cautious and avoid provoking the “Axis of Resistance.”Former parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi — ousted in 2023 by a Tehran-aligned coalition — is now staging a strong comeback. His associates attribute that to “personal skill and precise calculation,” though it also reflects his use of spaces left vacant by waning Iranian influence, whether by design or under US pressure. Still, Sunni rivals seeking to counter Halbousi need alliances with Shiite power brokers to secure political “horses to bet on.” In Nineveh, Salahuddin, and Kirkuk, several Sunni figures are shaping their lists in coordination with factions loyal to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. For that reason, Iraq’s “empty” spaces may be little more than a mirage. According to a Shiite politician, powerful factions recently received Iranian requests to help relocate activities of allied groups from other “resistance” countries to Baghdad — and that has already begun. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Ali Larijani, secretary-general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, is overseeing arrangements to assist Tehran’s war-strained proxies. Larijani was recently in Beirut, where he said before departing: “Hezbollah is quickly regaining strength and will shift the balance.”
“Bin Laden’s Fate Is Not Inevitable”Four Iraqi factions — Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Imam Ali, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada — were recently added to the US State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, bringing Iraq’s total to six.
A few years ago, that same list included al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq was designated in 2020, while Kataib Hezbollah has been listed since 2009. Both groups still hold seats and cabinet posts in parliament and government. “You don’t have to share bin Laden’s fate just because you’re on that list,” said a former Iraqi minister who served in Adel Abdul Mahdi’s 2018–2019 government. “Iran-backed groups are now learning to coexist with the world’s two most dangerous men — Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.”In Baghdad, voices within Shiite parties have begun to ask whether the US president is deliberately delaying Israeli strikes in Iraq, leveraging American pressure on the government and decision-makers to sever ties with Tehran. “Will Trump Protect Us from Netanyahu?”The same former minister, who asked not to be named, said Washington has won battles inside Tehran because Iraqis responded to pressure at a moment of Iranian confusion. “For months,” he added, “Shiite factions have been asking: Will Trump really protect us from Netanyahu? It appears so.” He sees signs of the “Plan B” Iran is developing: “New Shiite political players who stayed out of the Al-Aqsa Flood fallout are now trying to rebrand themselves — updating their radical image with a civilian face to escape the danger zone.”It’s like a man standing in a sniper’s sights, a laser dot fixed on his chest. He cannot move right or left — any motion could be fatal. The sniper will not tire as long as the target remains frozen. “What if the target changes his face, name, and behavior?” the former minister asked. “Some militia leaders are now toying with the idea of returning weapons to storage and shaving their beards — which could make them very useful to both Washington and Tehran.”A Shiite politician close to the scene agrees: “A militia commander thinking that far ahead will be valuable to Iran once the storm calms.” He added that “four years with Trump is a long time — and even longer with Netanyahu. Survival demands change.” Autumn nights are settling over Baghdad amid a blazing election summer. Even as talk grows of a new Iran-Israel war, militia leaders who once spread out maps of Tel Aviv to plan rocket strikes are now opening their offices to liberal and secular elites — for long conversations about elections whose intrigue has already begun.

Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah
Arab News/October 09, 2025
LONDON: A 26-year-old man was killed on Wednesday evening when an Israeli settler opened fire on a group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, east of Ramallah. Jihad Mohammed Ajaj was shot on a main road between the towns of Deir Jarir and Silwad. He was taken to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah but could not be saved, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Fathi Hamdan, the head of Deir Jarir Council, said the settler had stopped Palestinian vehicles on the road before shooting at a group of people who approached him. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Ajaj was hit by several bullets, and two other people were wounded, one in the groin and the other in the abdomen. Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have increased sharply since October 2023. They have blocked roads used by Palestinians, targeted private and commercial properties, and sabotaged agricultural land in a number of places over the past two years. Ajaj is the 13th Palestinian killed by Israeli settlers this year, and the 34th since Oct. 7, 2023, Wafa said.

Number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody surpasses 11,100
Arab News/October 08, 2025
ng-term prisoners are 17 individuals incarcerated since before the 1993 Oslo Accord
LONDON: The total number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody exceeded 11,100 in October, as reported by prisoners’ institutions on Wednesday. It is the highest number since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 and nearly twice the figure prior to October 2023, when there were about 5,250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Among the long-term prisoners are 17 individuals incarcerated since before the 1993 Oslo Accords. This group includes Ibrahim Abu Mokh, Ibrahim Bayadseh, Ahmad Abu Jaber and Samir Abu Na’meh, all detained since 1986, the Wafa news agency reported. There are 350 prisoners serving life sentences or awaiting verdicts for life terms. Among them, Abdullah Al-Barghouthi is serving the longest sentence, with 67 life terms, followed by Ibrahim Hamed who has 54 life terms. There are 131 prisoners serving sentences of 10 to 20 years and 166 prisoners serving sentences of 21 to 30 years. Among the prisoners, there are 53 females, including three from Gaza and two girls. Additionally, more than 400 child prisoners are being held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons. The Israeli Prison Service reports that about 3,380 prisoners are detained without trial as of October. Additionally, there are 3,544 individuals held under administrative detention, which allows Israeli authorities to imprison people without charge or trial for a six-month period that can be renewed indefinitely.

Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?
Reuters/October 08, 2025
JERUSALEM: A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that negotiators from his group and Israel had exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages who would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt.
Following are some of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It is not yet clear if any of them will be released: Abdullah Al-Barghouti: He was sentenced to 67 life terms in 2004 by an Israeli military court for his involvement in a series of suicide attacks in 2001 and 2002 that killed dozens of Israelis. A father of three, he was born in Kuwait in 1972. In 1996, he moved with his family to live in Beit Rima village near Ramallah in the West Bank. Ibrahim Hamed: He was handed 54 life terms after he was arrested in 2006 in Ramallah. He is accused by Israel of planning suicide attacks that killed dozens of Israelis. Hamed, who had been on Israel’s wanted list for eight years before his arrest, was the top West Bank commander of the Izz El-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing. Hassan Salama: Born in Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp in 1971, Salama was convicted of orchestrating a wave of suicide bombings in Israel in 1996 that killed dozens of Israelis and wounded hundreds more. He was sentenced to 48 life terms in jail. Salama said the attacks were a response to the assassination of Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash in 1996. Salama was arrested in Hebron in the West Bank later that year. Marwan Al-Barghouti: A leading member of the Fatah movement that controls the Palestinian Authority, Barghouti is seen as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He made his name as a leader and organizer in both of the Intifadas, or uprisings, waged by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1987. He was arrested in 2002, charged with orchestrating gun ambushes and suicide bombings and sentenced to five life terms in 2004. Ahmed Saadat: Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was accused by Israel of ordering the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. Pursued by Israel, he took shelter at the Ramallah headquarters of Arafat. Under a deal with the Palestinian Authority in 2002, Saadat stood trial in a Palestinian court and was incarcerated at a Palestinian Authority jail, where he was held under international supervision. The Israeli military seized Saadat in 2006 following the withdrawal of the foreign monitors, and put him on trial in a military court. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2008.

US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
Abdul Aziz Abdul Wahid/Arab News/October 08, 2025
WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was adding 15 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list for facilitating the purchase of American electronic components found in drones operated by Iranian proxies including Houthi and Hamas militants. Ten companies in China were placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for facilitating the purchase of components found in weaponized unmanned aircraft systems operated by proxies including Yemen’s Houthi militants, according to a post in the Federal Register. Five additional Chinese companies were listed after information that around October 7, 2023, Israel Defense Forces recovered numerous weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Iranian proxies including Hamas, the post said, and the debris showed multiple US-origin electronic components.
Hamas-led militants staged an attack in Israel that day that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and triggered the war in Gaza. In all, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 29 entries to the list. Arrow China Electronics Trading in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) are among the companies being placed on the list over US components for weaponized drones operated by Iranian proxies like the Houthis. Both companies are subsidiaries of Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics, a components distributor which says it had global 2024 sales of $28 billion. The companies have been and are continuing to operate in compliance with export regulations and the law, according to a statement from the US-headquartered company. “We are in discussion with BIS concerning these listings and will provide further details as soon as they become available,” Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said in the statement. “In the meantime, we will work to minimize supply chain disruptions to our partners.”The US also added another Chinese company to the list for being part of an illicit network that obtains and supplies UAV and other components to front companies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force (IRGC-QF). Companies are placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for activities deemed contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests. Licenses are required to export to companies on the list, and are likely to be denied.

UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
Reuters/October 08, 2025
A United Nations staff member who was recently detained by Yemen’s Houthi authorities has been released, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday. “We continue to urge the de facto authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all UN and humanitarian workers who are supporting the most vulnerable people in Yemen,” Dujarric said. He did not provide information about the timing or circumstances of the detention, which comes after nine other UN personnel were detained by Houthis. Dujarric said 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, adding that some have been held since 2021. Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations during a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies. WFP says it provided assistance to 15.3 million people, or 47 percent of the population, in 2023. WFP was among the UN offices raided by Houthis in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in August. Eleven UN personnel were detained as a result of the raid. The raid, which followed an Israeli strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several other ministers, was condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the detentions as “intolerable.”Houthi officials said last month that the UN personnel’s legal immunities should not shield espionage activities. The Houthi-run foreign ministry also accused the UN of bias for condemning what they called “legal measures taken by the government against spy cells involved in crimes,” while failing to denounce the Israeli attack.

Putin Visits Tajikistan for Meetings with Other Ex-Soviet Leaders
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin began a state visit Wednesday to Tajikistan, a three-day trip that includes a series of meetings with leaders of other nations that once were part of the Soviet Union. Trade and other ties with Tajikistan and other countries in Central Asia are increasingly important for Russia amid sweeping Western sanctions over its military action in Ukraine.Putin is set to have talks with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon, followed by a Russia-Central Asia summit involving leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. On Friday, they will be joined by leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus for a broader meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of other former Soviet nations. Rakhmon, in power for nearly 33 years, is the longest-serving of all ex-Soviet leaders. The 73-year-old former collective farm head came to power in 1992 following a devastating civil war that engulfed the country after the demise of the USSR. He crushed or cowed all opposition to his rule soon after coming to power, and he later pushed constitutional changes that allow him to rule for life.
Putin turned 73 on Tuesday, but has only been in power in Russia for a quarter century. Russia has maintained a military base in Tajikistan, which shares a porous 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border with Afghanistan.Tajikistan is a member of the International Criminal Court that in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes stemming from Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, but he faces no risk of arrest in the country that relies on close political, economic and military ties with Russia. The ICC has no police force and relies on members to assist in arrests.

French-German National Monterlos Back in France After Release by Iran, France Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
French-German national Lennart Monterlos has been released from detention in Iran and is back in France, outgoing French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday. Iran had been holding the 18-year-old cyclist after arresting him in June on espionage charges. Monterlos was acquitted on Monday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. "Lennart Monterlos is free!" Barrot wrote in a post on the social media X. Both Barrot and President Emmanuel Macron reiterated demands that Iran release French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been held in the country since 2022. On Monday, the two countries said talks for the release of all three prisoners were progressing. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested in mid-September the French nationals could be exchanged for Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon who was arrested this year over anti-Israel social media posts.

Syria’s Sharaa Discusses with US Delegation, SDF Leader Means to Implement Agreement with Kurds
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa received in Damascus on Tuesday US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack and Commander of the US Central Command Brad Cooper for talks on the latest developments in the country and ways to support the political process. They also tackled the executive mechanism of the March 10 agreement that calls for integrating the Kurdish US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with the state’s security forces. SDF leader Mazloum Abdi attended the meeting between Sharaa and the US delegation. The US officials had met with Abdi on Monday before heading to Damascus. Also on Tuesday, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra met with Abdi following clashes between security forces and Kurdish fighters in neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo. Abu Qasra said in a statement that he agreed with Abdi “on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and northeastern Syria.” On Sharaa’s meeting with the US delegation, Syrian sources in Damascus said the American officials underlined that starting the new year, Washington will not intervene politically or militarily should the SDF fail to meet its end of the agreement.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on October 08-09/2025
EU, NATO need a robust response to drone incursions
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/October 08, 2025
Mysterious drone flights in the airspace of EU and NATO countries in recent weeks have alarmed the public and politicians alike. The intrusions, some of which have been blamed on Russia, have reached an unprecedented scale. Many European officials have rushed to describe the incidents as Moscow testing the EU and NATO responses, raising questions about how prepared they are to defend member states after three full years of war between Ukraine and Russia on Europe’s eastern flank. The quick answer is that they are poorly prepared and remain divided despite the existential threats they face.If anything, the incursions by Russian military drones into Poland and Romania, along with other cheap, nonmilitary drone sightings near key civilian and military installations in Denmark, Norway and Germany, make a perfect case for Europe that modern hybrid warfare is at its doorstep. Meanwhile, its countries squabble over what policies to adopt and who will pick up the bill. The Ukraine war has once again proven how, in warfare, nothing should be neglected. It has revealed the need for boots and tanks on the ground, as well as air capabilities and counter measures and intelligence and technological supremacy to secure the EU’s eastern front. The bloc also needs to close the holes that could cause disruption or sabotage further to the west — on the ground, in the air, through cyberattacks or all of these combined.
The European Commission’s “drone wall” idea, tabled at last week’s informal EU summit in Denmark, is showing cracks even before intercepting its first Russian intruder. This points to the continued lack of unity across the bloc, even when it needs to immediately spend money on this idea to benefit some of its member states, while the technology could be a precursor to a more elaborate defense dome in the future.
The European Commission’s “drone wall” idea is showing cracks even before intercepting its first intruder. Though it falls short of immediate deterrence, once operational, the system would detect and destroy suspicious drones entering EU airspace, based on an intricate system of detection capabilities, such as radars, acoustic sensors and other high-tech tools. It must be capable of detecting all types of drones, including ones that fly at low altitudes, and interface with systems that track them before neutralizing them.
But the initiative, which would protect 10 member states (Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Finland), was criticized by Italy and Greece, nations that are reluctant to spend money that does not benefit the EU as a whole.
The apprehension expressed by some EU nations should not be ignored as, despite the urgency to secure its eastern flank, this or any other measure could be bypassed and may never be permanent, since threats and technologies are constantly evolving. Protective measures should also focus on threats emerging from within EU territory, not only at its borders.
The Kremlin, or whichever actor is behind the intrusions, has deployed a form of hybrid deniable warfare against EU and NATO member states that the leaderships of these nations are reluctant to grasp. They are also unwilling to scale up their unity in response. That is not difficult to see. Moscow is using classic military means, such as incursions into Estonian airspace by manned jets or violating Polish and Romanian airspace with unarmed attack drones. Small, commercially available drones are also being deployed, maybe handled by Russia’s own network of intelligence or special forces operatives or by some drone fanatics, whether paid or unpaid. These disruptive flights have recently caused shutdowns at key Western airports such as those in Copenhagen, Oslo, Brussels, Berlin and Munich. It is evident that these threats are a response to the West’s unbroken resolve in its support of Ukraine
It is evident that these threats are a response to the West’s unbroken resolve in its support of Ukraine and its willingness to keep delivering money, lethal conventional weaponry and, recently, even strategic longer-range missiles. All this could deny Russia its anticipated victory once the West becomes fatigued and its support falters.The incursions appear to have been designed to challenge and weaken social and political resilience in key European countries and test NATO’s resolve, unity and responses, as well as its military capabilities. Though there is a tacit belief they could increase in frequency, the West is still working on the premise that such incidents are aimed at causing harassment and are not meant to instigate a larger conflict beyond Ukraine. But mistakes can happen.
Russia remains bogged down in Ukraine but it still has the ability to launch hybrid warfare elsewhere to expose Western vulnerabilities, as seen over recent weeks. It is seeking to exact a higher economic cost on those supporting Ukraine and to weaken their resolve, while sowing anxiety within society.
Plans such as the “drone wall” alone will not be enough. Yes, it would ensure some readiness and enable states to avert any catastrophe, but it is not the strategic response needed to counter the hybrid warfare deployed by Russia. The cost of realizing this idea would likely come from funds for helping Ukraine — and that is what Russia wants. What the EU needs above all is unity and for its member states to stop showing an inclination to waver. Divisions while the enemy is at the gate are to the detriment of peace, security and prosperity for the nations of the bloc and will surely be exploited by Russia and others. If the EU does not want to see its airspace, airports and other critical infrastructure disrupted, it ought to unite behind the “drone wall” scheme as a first step. But its members also need to act in ways that counter Moscow’s strategy of scaring the EU. They should dare to deploy something that could alter the cost-benefit calculations of the Kremlin on the tactical and strategic levels. Otherwise, the EU and NATO should brace for the continued testing of their drone resilience today, their infrastructure dependence tomorrow and maybe their democratic societies and liberties the day after.
**Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.

The ‘Flood’ That Swallowed Its Own
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 08/2025
Two years have passed since the October 7, 2023 operation that Hamas called a “flood”. The operation changed the region, especially the “lawless spaces” where the state has been hollowed out: Lebanon, Assad’s Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and at the center, Iran. Two years into a war that could have ended months after it began, if Hamas and its backers, particularly what intelligence agencies dubbed the “Beirut Room,” where the operation was plotted and planned, had weighed the consequences, or if Netanyahu and Israel had wanted the war to end. Hamas convinced itself that “steadfastness” was victory and that Netanyahu would be crushed by the weight of the domestic divisions that had preceded the attack. Their base amplified the illusion and believed in it. Hamas’s most grave miscalculation was assuming that Iran and its proxies would rush to its aid under the banner of a “unity of fronts.” That never happened. Netanyahu dismantled those “fronts” one by one. Like Hamas, he had no interest in ending the war. Israel hit Hezbollah hard with the pager operation, after which Hassan Nasrallah delivered what sounded like a farewell speech, seemingly aware that it was “game over” for him and his reckless party.
Israel hunted Hamas leaders down. It took out Hezbollah’s top brass after having already begun targeting the party in Syria. Its operations signaled that Iran itself would be next, though its ongoing diversion campaigns kept many guessing.
Some believed that former President Biden would restrain Netanyahu. He did not. Netanyahu escalated. He bombed Iran’s consulate in Damascus and assassinated Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran under the nose of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In Iraq, those in power saw the imbalance. The militias waned, and some surrendered without a fight. Just yesterday, our paper published a striking investigative report on the Iraqi cliques tied to Iran, which was itself hit by a 12-day campaign. The report quoted a former Iraqi minister laying Iran’s “Plan B” in Iraq. “New Shiite political players who stayed out of the Al-Aqsa Flood fallout are now trying to rebrand themselves, updating their radical image with a civilian face to escape the danger zone.” He then added: “It’s like a man standing in a sniper’s sights, a laser dot fixed on his chest. He cannot move right or left - any motion could be fatal. The sniper will not tire as long as the target remains frozen.”In fact, “some militia leaders are now toying with the idea of returning weapons to storage and shaving their beards, which could make them very useful to both Washington and Tehran,” according to the same minister. But that too was misguided - an extension of the consistent misjudgements that followed October 7. It is misguided because some still pin their hopes on President Trump, or whoever comes after him, reining in Netanyahu, even as recent reports show that under Biden and now Trump, the United States has provided Israel with no less than $21.7 billion in military aid since the “flood” that swallowed its own. The battle will certainly not end with a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu and Trump have larger targets: Iran itself, whether by force or sanctions. As for the Houthis, they are a minor detail, and their demise is only a matter of time.
It has been two years. But they felt like an eternity, and it isn’t over.

Syrian elections a step toward unity and inclusion
Hani Hazaimeh/Arab/October 08, 2025
Syria this week witnessed a historic moment. For the first time since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December 2024, Syrians went to the polls under the transitional leadership of President Ahmad Al-Sharaa to elect a new People’s Assembly. These legislative elections, carried out under a framework that combines both direct elections and presidential appointments, represent more than a political procedure — they are the clearest sign yet that Syria is beginning to turn a painful page in its history and step toward a new era of unity, reconciliation and national rebirth.
The transitional system expands the People’s Assembly to 210 members: 140 chosen through electoral colleges and 70 appointed by the president. While not yet a full expression of universal suffrage, this structure reflects a pragmatic balance, allowing governance to move forward despite the immense logistical and political challenges created by years of war, displacement and destruction. It is an imperfect model but an important first step — and a clear sign of the political will needed to break with the stagnation and authoritarianism of the past.
Observers have already noted shortcomings. One described the new parliament as “overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and male,” reflecting the persistent challenges of ensuring fair representation for women and minorities. Indeed, the higher electoral committee itself acknowledged these deficiencies, pointing out that women’s representation remains unsatisfactory and that only two seats were won by Christians — far below their demographic presence in Syria. These gaps are reminders that inclusivity is a process, not a single event, and that reforms must continue to ensure the new Syria lives up to its promise of diversity.
While not yet a full expression of universal suffrage, this structure reflects a pragmatic balance. Another major challenge was the postponement of elections in areas outside government control, including Kurdish-held parts of the north and northeast and the Druze-majority province of Sweida, leaving 21 seats vacant. Authorities linked the delay to security concerns and to ongoing negotiations over integrating the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the national framework. While disappointing in the short term, the government’s stated commitment to hold elections in these zones once conditions allow shows seriousness about eventually bringing all Syrians under one democratic umbrella. Still, the most powerful symbol of these elections is not merely the numbers or procedures, but the spirit they embody. After nearly 14 years of war, Syrians have longed for institutions that reflect their collective will. These elections, however limited, begin to create that possibility. They are a message to the world, and to Syrians themselves, that the country is on the path of rebuilding — not only its cities and infrastructure but also its sense of belonging, trust and shared future.
The importance of these elections lies in three main areas.
Firstly, stability. A war-shattered country cannot heal without credible institutions. By creating a legislative body that reflects Syrians from diverse regions and communities, the country begins to replace rule by decree with rule by representation. Every seat filled, every ballot cast is a rejection of violence as the only language of politics. Stability begins not with perfect systems but with shared commitments, and Syria has now made one. Secondly, reconciliation. These elections are more than a political exercise, they are an invitation to Syrians to see themselves once again as part of a shared national story. Kurds, Arabs, Alawites, Sunnis, Christians, Druze — all have a stake in the rebuilding of Syria. Though gaps in participation remain, the parliament can become the forum where grievances are heard, compromises are forged and a new social contract is written. The mere act of holding elections after years of division already carries immense symbolic weight. It says: reconciliation is possible. Thirdly, international credibility. Syria’s new leadership knows the world is watching. Donor nations, the UN and millions of displaced Syrians abroad are measuring whether these elections are inclusive, transparent and meaningful. By moving forward with this process, Syria is signaling its seriousness about reconstruction and reform. Progress on Kurdish participation and the greater inclusion of women and minorities will give the process the legitimacy it needs to unlock international support and investment in the country’s recovery.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this week’s elections is psychological. For years, Syrians have lived in despair, their futures clouded by violence, displacement and uncertainty. This vote offers hope. It offers a visible break from the past, showing that the country is no longer trapped in cycles of dictatorship and war and is moving toward governance that represents rather than represses.
These elections are an invitation to Syrians to see themselves once again as part of a shared national story. Of course, the challenges ahead are daunting. Electoral systems must be refined, displaced Syrians must be integrated into the democratic process and constitutional reforms must enshrine protections for minority and regional rights. But the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step — and Syria has now taken that step. The incomplete inclusion of Kurds, Christians and women in this election is not the end of the story but the beginning of a process that must expand. It shows that the new Syria is not yet built for all Syrians, but it is moving in that direction — and that direction matters. Diversity — geographic, ethnic and cultural — must become the country’s greatest asset in building a stable and inclusive state.
In time, this parliament can become a space where disagreements are debated, compromises are crafted and a new Syrian identity is forged — one that is not imposed from above but built collectively from below. The people who suffered so long under authoritarianism and war are beginning to write their own future. As Syrians cast their ballots, they are not just choosing representatives; they are choosing hope over despair, dialogue over division and unity over fragmentation.
The message is clear: Syria is no longer defined only by its wounds but by its will to heal. And with every vote, with every step toward inclusivity, it is proving that renewal is not only possible — it is already underway.
*Hani Hazaimeh is a senior editor based in Amman. X: @hanihazaimeh

From Pogrom to Propaganda: Hamas's Legacy and the Flotilla Fraud
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury/Gatestone Institute./October 8, 2025
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21954/pogrom-propaganda-hamas-october-7-flotilla
The only just response to such barbarism [Hamas's October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel] must be unflinching: to rescue the hostages, hold the perpetrators and their sponsors to account, and refuse to normalize propaganda that celebrates murder and rape.
Through its Al-Jazeera television empire, Qatar has promoted violent jihadist activity for Hamas and other Muslim Brotherhood-inspired terrorist groups. In addition, during the 2011 "Arab Spring," it virtually single-handedly whipped up unlimited jihadist propaganda to oust the Egyptian government.
Continuing its terrorist financing, Qatar seems to be in the process of orchestrating yet another "Arab Spring", this time to oust the current government of Egypt.
Qatar has already spent "nearly $100 billion" just in the US to gain influence there, according to MSNBC.
For any future in a Gaza that actually hopes for real peace, it is crucial that Qatar be totally out of the picture.
This combination -- of staged humanitarian pretenses fronting for violent networks -- is the new hybrid threat of our age.
The Global Sumud Flotilla incident also highlights a deeper problem: selective outrage in which states and NGOs deploy the language of human rights in an unequal way.
Democracies and civil-society actors should strip terrorists from their enablers, sanctuaries and financiers. Humanitarian language should not be weaponized to hide terrorism.
For the hostage families still waiting, for the communities still grieving, and for the future of a rules-based international order, the only acceptable response to the October 7 atrocity is the application of justice, the dismantling of the terrorist networks that made it possible, and the refusal to tolerate any narrative that excuses or sanitizes savage, unprovoked cruelty.
On October 7, 2023, an orgy of slaughter and sexual violence was unleashed on Israeli civilians. It was a measured, premeditated pogrom, broadcast with grotesque pride. The world watched as terrorists streamed their atrocities across social media, turning murder and rape into a live propaganda show.
That day was not merely another episode in the long, tragic history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was an operational and moral rupture, a mass atrocity whose reverberations continue to shatter families. The event also exposes an international discourse in which moral clarity too often gives way to equivocation.
Two years later, the consequences persist. 1,200 Israelis were murdered in the Hamas invasion. Forty-eight Israeli hostages — of whom only 20 are thought to be alive — are still being in captivity by Hamas. The beachfront Gaza Strip, which was transformed into a terror command-and-control hub, and a dispute has been distorted by selective outrage and cynical politicians.
The only just response to such barbarism must be unflinching: to rescue the hostages, hold the perpetrators and their sponsors to account, and refuse to normalize propaganda that celebrates murder and rape.
The massacre and its human toll
October 7 was not a spontaneous eruption of violence. It was the product of planning, intelligence and ruthless intent. It was an incursion coordinated with Iran. The Palestinian jihadists from Gaza invaded Israel, attacked civilian communities, tortured and murdered residents, beheaded adults and children alike, burned families alive, and used unimaginable, sadistic sexual violence as a weapon.
The scale of the atrocity -- the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust -- reaffirmed that modern terrorism is not constrained by any code of conduct. While exact casualty totals vary by source, the enduring human facts are clear: 1,200 murdered, many more thousands wounded, families shattered, and 251 people kidnapped and taken hostage -- now either dead, still held in captivity for a prolonged, brutal imprisonment, or released earlier. Forty-eight remain, of whom only 20 are believed still to be alive. The victims have been starved (here and here) and forced to dig their own graves.
Every day that these hostages remain in Hamas's hands is a moral stain on the international community that professes to protect the innocent.
Propaganda as a weapon: the social-media spectacle
Hamas turned atrocity into a spectacle. The terrorists livestreamed their violence. Footage of brutality was rapidly circulated and weaponized to terrorize populations and recruit sympathizers. This was not merely brutality; it was psychological warfare meant to shatter the Israeli public and force political and military concessions. The social-media broadcasts of sex crimes and sickening mutilations -- and the expectation that Western platforms post this content under the claim of "context" or "news" -- present a test for internet companies, Western civil liberties groups, and every democracy. Internet platform policies and human rights rhetoric have become a cover for normalizing and amplifying mass criminality.
The sponsors and facilitators: Iran, Qatar, and the regional axis
Hamas does not operate in a political vacuum. For years Iran has been one of the two principal state sponsors of Hamas, providing funding, transfers of weapons, training, and plans for the destruction not only of Israel but of the US (here and here).
American and Israeli estimates -- as well as numerous open-source analyses -- have documented Iran's financial and material support to Hamas, a relationship that turns Gaza into an extension of a malign regional strategy.
Qatar is the other longtime supporter of Hamas -- as well as numerous other Islamic terrorist organizations (such as here and here).
Known as "the arsonist and the firefighter," Qatar, while offering diplomatic channels, and hosting negotiators, has demonstrated tolerance for and acquiescence to Hamas political and media networks, and provided Hamas as well as countless other terror groups with financing, diplomatic cover and logistical lifelines.Through its Al-Jazeera television empire, Qatar has promoted violent jihadist activity for Hamas and other Muslim Brotherhood-inspired terrorist groups. In addition, during the 2011 "Arab Spring," it virtually single-handedly whipped up unlimited jihadist propaganda to oust the Egyptian government.
Continuing its terrorist financing, Qatar seems to be in the process of orchestrating yet another "Arab Spring", this time to oust the current government of Egypt.
Qatar has already spent "nearly $100 billion" just the US to gain influence there, according to MSNBC.
For any future in a Gaza that actually hopes for real peace, it is crucial that Qatar be totally out of the picture.
Together, Iran's hard-power sponsorship and Qatar's enabling funding and propaganda and diplomatic posture have helped sustain Palestinian terrorist organizations that continue to threaten civilians.
Flotillas, fraud and the exposure of foreign backing
The recent Global Sumud Flotilla -- claimed by its backers to dramatize the humanitarian crisis in Gaza -- has exposed a different truth: terrorist-linked networks are active within this ostensibly humanitarian campaign.
Israeli authorities report that documents recovered in Gaza demonstrate direct Hamas involvement in organizing and financing elements of this flotilla effort -- a finding that demonstrates how terror groups exploit humanitarian cover for political and operational ends. The flotilla produced an international outcry and drew sympathetic headlines, while behind the cameras, a web of coordination, money flows, and strategic messaging advanced Hamas's objectives. This combination -- of staged humanitarian pretenses fronting for violent networks -- is the new hybrid threat of our age.
Global hypocrisy: human rights actors, selective outrage and moral inversion
The Global Sumud Flotilla incident also highlights a deeper problem: selective outrage in which states and NGOs deploy the language of human rights in an unequal way. Prominent human rights organizations and many Western politicians have publicly condemned Israel's interception of flotilla vessels. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Article 19 and others decried the boarding as illegal or "disproportionate." Yet the same organizations have often been muted, equivocal or even apologetic about the reality of Hamas's mass atrocities, hostage-taking, and use of civilians as human shields. This moral inversion -- condemning the interdiction of propaganda activist ships that have confirmed links to a terrorist organization, while underplaying or "relativizing" the premeditated mass-murder of civilians and ongoing hostage abuse -- erodes credibility and enables a dangerous narrative that tries to confuse the public about who is the perpetrator and who is the victim -- inversions that, unfortunately, sometimes succeed.
Human rights advocacy might at least try to be applied equally: condemn both alleged human rights abuses by state actors and the deliberate targeting of civilians by non-state terror groups.
Pakistan's recent posture and a troubling record
Pakistan's recent statements, condemning Israel for intercepting the Global Sumud Flotilla, add another uncomfortable layer. Islamabad's strong denunciation of Israel's actions -- and the laughable characterization of detained activists as "innocent" humanitarian workers --emerges against a long, well-documented history in which Pakistani institutions and networks have facilitated Islamist terrorism across South Asia and beyond.
From training and logistics to ideological propagation, elements within Pakistan have supported groups that share tactics and goals with Hamas and other jihadist actors. This history should immediately make Islamabad's moralizing ring hollow and invite scrutiny. When a state that, in many documented instances, has been a source of support for terrorist organizations, starts emitting moral condemnations of counterterror operations, the international community might press for credible evidence to see if its positions are principled rather than transactional and hypocritical.
What justice requires: accountability
The October 7 attackers and their chain of command need to be exposed, prosecuted and isolated. The states and institutions that have been providing funding, safe haven or diplomatic cover to terror groups need to be sanctioned and brought to account. Platforms that allow the distribution of atrocity footage without context need to be held to upgraded standards. International law and human rights norms demand an honest, equal application: condemn hostage-taking and sexual violence, investigate and prosecute war crimes, and refuse to let political patronage create impunity.
Crucially, the world must prioritize the immediate safe return of the remaining hostages. Nothing else should outrank this moral imperative. Two years after October 7, the international conversation has been poisoned by a fatal mixture of cynicism, selective outrage and geopolitical calculation. Some governments and institutions, particularly in the West -- such as France, Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway, Portugal, Ireland and Spain -- prefer moral acrobatics. These countries issue statements that comfort domestic electoral constituencies while failing to defend universal human values. There can be no neutrality in the face of mass murder, hostage-taking and rape. To equivocate is to enable. Democracies and civil-society actors should strip terrorists from their enablers, sanctuaries and financiers. Humanitarian language should not be weaponized to hide terrorism. Above all, every possible diplomatic, legal and operational effort must be marshaled to free the hostages from captivity in Gaza and prevent another attack like that of October 7. For the hostage families still waiting, for the communities still grieving, and for the future of a rules-based international order, the only acceptable response to the October 7 atrocity is the application of justice, the dismantling of the terrorist networks that made it possible, and the refusal to tolerate any narrative that excuses or sanitizes savage, unprovoked cruelty.
*Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an award-winning journalist, writer, and editor of the newspaper Blitz. He specializes in counterterrorism and regional geopolitics. Follow him on X: @Salah_Shoaib
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Selected English Tweets from X Platform For 08 October/2025
Pope Leo XIV
The Risen Lord walks alongside each of us, as we journey every day. With infinite care, he asks to let Him warm our hearts. He waits patiently for the moment when our eyes will open to see His friendly face, so He can transform our resignation into hope. #GeneralAudience

Pope Leo XIV
Christ’s resurrection teaches us that no story is ever so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope. No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to bleed forever. However distant, lost or unworthy we may feel, there is no distance that can extinguish the power of God’s love. #GeneralAudience

Kurds in Global Politics
@hadi_elis
Al Qaeda and all others trained by Turkey in Idlib, not only militarily but also ideologically. The ideological training mostly about anti-Kurdish racism policies, and we know why Al Shaara even didn’t recognize Kurdish New Year celebrations known in Kurdish as Newroz. Anti-Kurdish racism became one of be two main principles that Al Qaeda follows in Syria, the other is Neo-Ottomanism policies making Syria an Islamic Republic and gathering maximum amounts of terrorists to go for armed conflict with Israel.

Joseph Gebeily
Warm congratulations to Amb. Michel Issa on his confirmation as @USAmbLebanon
We look forward to his arrival in #Lebanon and count on his determination to advance Lebanon’s sovereignty & prosperity, disarm militias—especially #Hezbollah—and uphold the vision shared by President
@realDonaldTrump “A new chance for a Lebanon free from the grip of Hezbollah — a once-in-a-generation opportunity to forge a nation prosperous and at peace with its neighbors.”

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
It’s not an anti Israel protest.
It’s a celebration of global non-state violence (terrorism) that committed a massacre against Israel on October 7, 2023.
If anyone thinks this massacre targets Jews or Israelis only, think again.
If radical Islamism is not stopped, 9/11, Charlie Hebdo or any other terror attack will come to a place near you.