English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 19/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
The Gospel Parable of the Wise and Foolish
Virgins
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Matthew 25/01-13: “‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten
bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were
foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil
with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom
was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a
shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those
bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, “Give
us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “No!
there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers
and buy some for yourselves.” And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom
came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the
door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open
to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”Keep awake
therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Titles For The Latest English
LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October
18-19/2025
Aouraba or Cosmoarabisme Is Not Arabism — The Two Are Entirely
Different/Elias Bejjani/October 18/2025
Exposing Hezbollah’s Lies and Mythical Victories: Neither Did It Liberate the
South in 2000, Nor Did It Win the 2006 War/Elias Bejjani/October 16/2025
Video link to an interview from the "DNA" Youtube Platform with General Halim
Feghali
Headlines from the interview with retired General Halim Feghali
Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south
Israel says it foiled weapons smuggling attempt from Syria to Lebanon
Ain el-Tineh says arms handover ongoing quietly, Aoun and Berri preparing
indirect talks with Israel
Syrian FM Says Damascus Seeks to "Correct" Ties with Lebanon, Ensure Dignified
Refugee Return
Lebanese President joins Vatican ceremony to declare Bishop Maloyan a saint
Lebanon’s health minister clears Tannourine water after contamination concerns
Beirut Port director says port committed to preserving national archive and
cultural heritage
Fadel Chaker’s case returns to Military Court as new trial phase begins — the
details
The Event In the Vatican Today: Blessed Maloyan... A Saint
Syria: Israeli Army Announces Foiling Arms Smuggling Attempt to Lebanon
Netanyahu Reveals: Iran Planned to Send Two Air Divisions to Rescue Nasrallah
"We Broke the Axis of Evil"... Netanyahu: If We Had Attacked the North First, We
Would Have "Sunk in the Mud"
Lebanese Welcome and International Relief for Aoun's Negotiating Initiative with
Israel... Based on the Maritime Demarcation Experience... Aligning with Arab
Trends
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October
18-19/2025
Netanyahu says Gaza war not over until Hamas
disarms
US warns Hamas planning attack on Palestinian civilians in apparent violation of
Gaza ceasefire
Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 68,000, as Israel identifies the remains of
one more hostage
Egypt expected to lead proposed post-war Gaza stabilization force: Diplomats
Palestinians, Israel disagree on whether Gaza’s crucial Rafah crossing will
reopen Monday
Israel says Rafah crossing reopening depends on return of hostage bodies
Gaza civil defense says 9 killed when Israeli forces fired at bus
Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in attack on bus
UN aid chief foresees ‘massive job’ ahead on tour of ruined Gaza
US envoy Witkoff says he felt ‘betrayed’ by Israeli attack on Qatar
ICC rejects Israel appeal bid over arrest warrants
British military says ship ablaze after being struck off the coast of Yemen in
the Gulf of Aden
Iran says no longer bound by ‘restrictions’ on its nuclear program
Expiration of JCPOA deal casts cloud of uncertainty over future Iran nuclear
talks
Pakistan and Afghanistan hold peace talks in Doha after fierce clashes
Three killed in blast at Russian chemical factory: Official
Work begins to repair Ukraine nuclear plant’s power lines
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
on October
18-19/2025
What does the Bible mean when it says, “Do
not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1)./GotQuestions site/October
18/2025
Europe Has Apparently Learned Nothing/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone
Institute/October 18, 2025
Some Reflections on Two Years of War in Gaza/Jonathan Spyer/Australian/October
18/2025
Sharaa’s visit to Moscow/Amjad Ismail Agha/The Arab Weekly/October 18/2025
Washington’s clear signal on the Sahara issue/Said Temsamani/The Arab
Weekly/October 18/2025
Humanity and the Prospects of a New Social Contract/Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/October
18/2025
Selected English Tweets from X Platform For 18 October/2025
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published oon October
18-19/2025
Aouraba or Cosmoarabisme Is Not Arabism — The Two
Are Entirely Different
Elias Bejjani/October 18/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/140944/
The term “Aouraba” (Cosmoarabisme العوربة), coined by Lebanese journalist and
politician Nowfal Daou, expresses a concept that is fundamentally different from
traditional Arabism (العروبة)—the ideology promoted by the Arab nationalist
movement led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Muslim Brotherhood.
To understand the distinctions between the two, we can summarize them as
follows:
1. Traditional Arabism (Arab Nationalism)
Emerged as a political and ideological project aimed at uniting Arab states
under a single nationalist identity.
Focused on cultural and identity-based unity, believing that all Arabic-speaking
peoples belong to one nation, regardless of political or economic differences.
Adopted a centralized socialist approach to the economy, with the state
controlling major sectors.
Took a hostile stance toward the West and Israel, framing Arab nationalism as a
struggle against “colonialism and Zionism.”
Supported nationalist movements such as the Baath Party and Nasserism, and was
often tied to Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, who used Arabism as a
bridge for their political-Islamic project.
2. Aouraba-Cosmoarabisme (According to Nowfal Daou)
A modern economic and political concept that focuses on economic integration
among Arab countries rather than forced ideological or political unification.
Views Arabism as an economic and mutual-interest bond, not as a cultural or
nationalist identity imposed on peoples.
Advocates economic openness and cooperative development based on shared
interests, free from ideological frameworks such as Nasserism or political
Islam.
Rejects linking Arabism to confrontation or isolation, instead calling for Arab
alliances built on development, modernization, and constructive engagement with
the West.
Criticizes regimes and movements that have used Arabism to justify
authoritarianism, repression, and destructive dictatorial projects that harmed
Arab societies.
The Fundamental Difference
Traditional Arabism was an ideological and political doctrine seeking to merge
Arab states under centralized authority—often associated with repressive regimes
and closed economies.
In contrast, Aouraba, as presented by Nowfal Daou, offers a modern, pragmatic
vision that promotes integration based on mutual interests rather than imposed
identity, emphasizing cooperation, openness, and progress instead of conflict
and division.
In essence, Aouraba represents a realistic and forward-looking alternative to
the old model of Arabism—free from empty slogans and failed projects that led
only to wars, tyranny, and economic collapse.
Exposing Hezbollah’s Lies and Mythical
Victories: Neither Did It Liberate the South in 2000, Nor Did It Win the 2006
War
Elias Bejjani/October 16/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148263/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueIlXYmCeFA
The terrorist Iranian armed proxy, Hezbollah’s leaders, members, officials, and
religious figures falsely claim to be the most honorable, intelligent, pure, and
devout people. Yet, they have never been ashamed of their absolute, public, and
brazen subservience to Iran’s rulers and the doctrine of the Supreme Leader
(Iranian Guardianship of the Jurist/Velayat-e faqih). In this doctrine, there is
no allegiance to Lebanon as a state, its constitution, or its borders—just as is
the case with the followers of this religious ideology in Syria, Iraq, and
Yemen. Their only and absolute loyalty is to Iran.
In reality, they live in a delusional state, feeding on fantasies,
hallucinations, and daydreams, completely detached from the reality of military
and scientific capabilities—whether their own or those possessed by Israel, the
United States, and the Western nations they label as “the Great Satan”
(America), “the Little Satan” (Israel), and “infidels” (any country not under
their control).
This hostile culture of betrayal, division, and slander has never ceased since
Iran and Hafez al-Assad’s regime established Hezbollah in 1982. During Syria’s
occupation of Lebanon, Hezbollah was handed control over Shiite-populated areas
through force and terror. One of the bloodiest milestones was the battle of
Iqlim al-Tuffah in March 1988, where Hezbollah eradicated the Amal Movement’s
military presence, killing more than 1,200 fighters, and leaving thousands
wounded and maimed, thus ending Amal’s military existence and subjugating it
entirely to Hezbollah’s Iranian agenda.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine, Naim Qassem, Nabil Qaouq, Mohammad Raad,
Hussein Mousawi, and the rest of the leaders of this misguided faction—both the
living and the dead—deluded themselves into believing that their Persian empire
project was within reach. Yet, this illusion is collapsing under relentless
blows, their leaders are being eliminated, their strongholds are being
destroyed, and their so-called “supportive environment”—which is in fact a
hostage population—is turning against them.
Hezbollah, its members—whether civilian, military, or clerical—do not belong to
Lebanon, to Arab identity, or to any nation. They are entirely detached from
reality and from all that is humane. They have built castles of illusions,
locked themselves inside, hearing only their own voices and seeing only their
own reflections. To them, anyone different is nonexistent, and in their
extremist ideology, the blood of Lebanese, Syrians, and Arabs is permissible.
With every crime, explosion, assassination, and defeat, their arrogance and
impudence only increase. They are indifferent to the suffering of others, taking
sadistic pleasure in it, celebrating tragedies by distributing sweets. They have
taken their own sect hostage, turning its youth into cannon fodder for Iran’s
reckless wars in Syria, Yemen, and beyond.
They believe they can humiliate and subjugate the Lebanese people, forgetting
that Lebanon, a civilization over 7,000 years old, has crushed, expelled, and
humiliated all invaders and outlaws like them. The last of these was Assad’s
army, which was disgracefully expelled in 2005.
Hezbollah is practically finished at the hands of Israel, backed by Arab and
Western powers. It will not rise again. The unprecedented human and economic
losses it has inflicted on Lebanon’s Shiite community guarantee that, once the
Lebanese state regains its sovereignty, the people will turn against Hezbollah
and reject it. For this reason, all those involved in public affairs—especially
in the Lebanese Diaspora—must understand that any Lebanese, whether expatriate
or resident, who supports or collaborates with Hezbollah under any pretext is an
enemy of Lebanon, its sovereignty, identity, and independence.
The Myth of “Liberating” the South and “Victory” in the 2006 War
The terrorist-Jihadist Hezbollah that claims to be a resistance and liberation
movement has never been either of the two, but merely a military Iranian proxy.
The narrative of the “liberation of the south” in 2000 is nothing but a colossal
lie, as Israel withdrew from Lebanon by an internal decision, after its presence
became costly and futile, and Hezbollah did not play a decisive role in that. As
for the 2006 war, the results were catastrophic for Lebanon, where more than
1,200 Lebanese were killed, infrastructure was destroyed, and the Shiite
environment was completely devastated. Hezbollah did not achieve any victory,
but all of Lebanon emerged defeated and destroyed… and the, the catastrophic,
the disastrous, and the complete defeat of its foolish recent war against
Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza, has led to its end and to the entire world
standing behind the necessity of implementing international resolutions related
to Lebanon 1559, 1680, and 1701, which stipulate its disarmament, the
dismantling of its military institutions, and the extension of Lebanese state
authority by its own forces over all Lebanese territories, and confining the
decision of war and peace to the Lebanese state alone.
Based on well-documented Lebanese, Arab, Israeli, and international facts,
Hezbollah neither liberated the South nor won the 2006 war. It is certainly not
a resistance movement nor an opposition force. It is, in fact, Lebanon’s
foremost enemy, as well as that of all Arabs. It must be dealt with accordingly,
along with all its allies—politicians, parties, officials, and clerics. Any
other approach is sheer foolishness and self-deception.
In conclusion, Hezbollah has destroyed Lebanon, impoverished its people,
displaced them, and turned the country into an arms depot and a launch pad for
Iran’s futile wars.
Lebanon can only be saved by dismantling Hezbollah, disarming it, arresting its
leaders, and holding them accountable for the devastation they have inflicted on
the nation.
Video link to an interview from the "DNA" Youtube
Platform with General Halim Feghali diagnosing the cancer of Iran’s Hezbollah
and proposing extermination treatments, naming the negligent and the hesitant
without euphemism.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148311/
October 18, 2025
Headlines from the
interview with retired General Halim Feghali
(Full transcription, editing and summary by the LCCC site publisher Elias
Bejjani)
October 18, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148311/
The solution in Lebanon regarding Hezbollah will not be internal because the
interior — meaning the government, rulers, officials and institutions — have
failed and do not confront it but rather appease the terrorist Hezbollah which,
as he says, is rebuilding itself.
According to Lebanese law and all its constitutional ramifications, Hezbollah is
not a political party; rather it is an armed terrorist gang composed of villains
and an agent of foreign powers… and the allegiance is to Iran, since this gang's
leaders have, since its founding in 1982, boasted of this and practiced it in
their military and security actions, in their dealings with the state and the
Lebanese, they assert it in their rhetoric, and they prove it by force
culturally, socially, in loyalty and by overt proclamation of their allegiance
to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The free world and the Arab world wanted Lebanon to carry out its governmental,
military and legal duties and to end Hezbollah and dismantle its system in all
its forms (in accordance with international resolutions, the ceasefire agreement
and the Lebanese constitution), not to appease it, bring it into government and
give it the fourth government signature (Ministry of Finance) to stall
government decisions.
It is required of Lebanon — the government and the rulers — to necessarily
dismantle the entire Hezbollah system, not merely to confiscate or take control
of its weapons and to dismiss its ministers from the government.
As a result of peace between Israel and the Arabs, Hezbollah’s role has ended,
as has the role of its mullah masters — the "bogeyman" whose goal was to
frighten the Arabs and prevent peace with Israel.
Israel and the free and Arab world will dismantle Hezbollah militarily,
organizationally and structurally so that it cannot be resurrected in the
future.
Israel can no longer accept Iranian armed proxies on its borders, and therefore
war is coming with Hezbollah and against it.
The Lebanese state must dismantle (break) by force and in accordance with laws
and the constitution the necks of anyone who disobeys its orders.. Hezbollah,
represented in the government, is disobedient to its orders, openly challenges
it, and threatens killing and war against anyone who approaches its weapons...
Accordingly and because of this defiance, those representing Hezbollah in the
government must be expelled.
The Lebanese government, officials and rulers do not fulfill their local,
regional, international and constitutional duties to end the Hezbollah
occupational status... Meanwhile everything announced about withdrawing and
confiscating weapons and plans in this regard is secret and the people know
nothing about it, which undermines their seriousness and credibility.
Lebanon has a historic opportunity to recover its sovereignty and independence
and to end the Iranian mini-state status, yet the government and rulers, as has
always been Lebanon’s condition, squander the opportunity.
Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south
AFP/18 October/2025
An Israeli strike on a construction vehicle in southern Lebanon killed a man,
the Lebanese health ministry reported on Saturday. “The Israeli enemy’s
airstrike on a vehicle in the town of Deir Kifa, in the Tyre district, resulted
in one martyr,” the health ministry said in a statement. Lebanon’s state-run
National News Agency reported that it was a drone strike which “targeted an
excavator with two missiles on the Kfar Dounine-Deir Kifa road.”The Israeli
military said it was looking into the reports when asked for comment. Israel has
repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that brought to an end
more than a year of hostilities with the militant group Hezbollah that
culminated in two months of open war. As part of that deal, Israeli forces were
to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to dismantle its forces in
the region. Under US pressure and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the
Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan which the
movement and its allies oppose. On Friday, at least one person was killed and
seven injured in Israeli strikes which were denounced by Lebanese President
Joseph Aoun, who said they targeted ‘civilian facilities’ and were a breach of
the ceasefire agreement. Israel usually says that it is targeting Hezbollah
fighters and infrastructure. In October 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets
at Israel in support of Hamas in the Gaza war, triggering months of border
exchanges that escalated into open warfare in September 2024.
Israel says it foiled weapons smuggling attempt from Syria to Lebanon
LBCI/18 October/2025
The Israeli army said it thwarted an attempt to smuggle weapons from Syria into
Lebanon near Mount Hermon. According to Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee,
troops from the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade, in coordination with Unit
504, carried out a nighttime operation that led to the arrest of several
suspects attempting to smuggle hand grenades, pistols, anti-tank rockets, and
ammunition. Adraee said the suspects were detained for questioning and that
Israeli forces remain deployed in the area “to safeguard the security of Israeli
citizens and residents of the Golan Heights.”
Ain el-Tineh says arms handover ongoing quietly, Aoun and
Berri preparing indirect talks with Israel
Naharnet/18 October/2025
The handover of Hezbollah's weapons is underway in a quiet manner, Ain el-Tineh
circles told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper. "There are preparations for indirect
negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, in coordination between President
Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri," the sources added. The report comes after
talks between Aoun, Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Syrian FM Says Damascus Seeks to "Correct" Ties with
Lebanon, Ensure Dignified Refugee Return
This is Beirut/18 October/2025
Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani said Saturday that Damascus aims to
“correct” its relationship with Lebanon and guarantee a “dignified return” for
Syrian refugees, in comments broadcast on Syrian state television. Al-Shaibani,
appointed earlier this year, said his government is “working to address the
effects of the previous regime’s policies, which relied on blackmail diplomacy.”
He added that “the new Syria is mentioned today in international forums as an
example that makes us proud, unlike the previous period,” stressing that the
country seeks to shield itself “from any polarization or targeting of the
transformation that has taken place in Syria.”The foreign minister also
described Syrian diplomacy as “a fundamental pillar of reconstruction and the
first line of defense for Syrian interests.” In a rare note of criticism toward
Moscow, al-Shaibani said that “Russia was a partner of the former regime and
participated in the Syrian tragedy.”
Lebanese President joins Vatican ceremony to declare Bishop Maloyan a saint
LBCI/18 October/2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and First Lady Nehmat Aoun departed Beirut’s
Rafic Hariri International Airport heading to Rome to attend a celebratory Mass
at the Vatican on Sunday, during which Blessed Bishop Ignatius Maloyan will be
declared a saint.
The Mass will be presided over by Pope Leo XIV, with Armenian Catholic Patriarch
Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian participating in the ceremony. Blessed Bishop
Maloyan belonged to the Armenian Catholic Church.
Lebanon’s health minister clears Tannourine water after contamination concerns
LBCI/18 October/2025
Lebanon’s Health Minister, Rakan Nasreddine, stressed at a press conference that
“the health of Lebanese citizens knows no color, sect, religion, or political
affiliation. The Ministry of Health has always served, and will continue to
serve, all Lebanese.”The minister explained that after complaints surfaced on
social media regarding Tannourine water, the epidemiological monitoring team
collected six samples from markets across Lebanon and sent them to Rafik Hariri
University Hospital, where three tested positive for contamination. He added
that the ministry later collected 11 samples directly from the company’s plant.
Testing revealed that only one of these contained the same bacteria, while the
remaining samples were clean. Nasreddine highlighted that Tannourine
demonstrated a high level of cooperation and addressed the technical issues,
prompting the ministry to allow the company to resume bottling and distributing
drinking water nationwide.
Beirut Port director says port committed to preserving
national archive and cultural heritage
LBCI/18 October/2025
Beirut Port Chairman and Director General Omar Itani affirmed the port’s
commitment to actively supporting national cultural initiatives and preserving
Lebanon’s historical heritage. He noted that he had previously discussed this
initiative during his recent meeting with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara
Boutros al-Rahi, in the presence of concerned parties. The meeting highlighted
the goals of the initiative and mechanisms for cooperation to prepare for a
scientific conference focused on showcasing the shared historical heritage,
especially since Beirut Port holds a national archive documenting Lebanon’s
civilizational history since the Phoenician era. Itani reaffirmed Beirut Port’s
readiness to actively contribute to the success of the conference, describing it
as a cultural initiative with national dimensions that reflects awareness of the
dangers surrounding Lebanon, the “nation of message.” He added that the support
of religious authorities for the initiative reflects their commitment to
coexistence within a capable state that guarantees justice and equality for its
citizens. Itani also stressed the port’s commitment to developing its economic
role while preserving its national cultural heritage. At the end of the meeting,
the delegation toured the port’s archive and photo exhibition. It was agreed to
establish an executive follow-up mechanism for a series of activities related to
the initiative, in cooperation with the relevant religious and civil
authorities.
Fadel Chaker’s case returns to Military Court as new trial
phase begins — the details
LBCI/18 October/2025
Fadel Chaker remains detained at the Ministry of Defense in Yarzeh, but his case
has been referred back to the Military Court after the Lebanese army’s
intelligence directorate completed its preliminary investigations. According to
LBCI, Chaker's lengthy testimony and the investigations revealed his links to
funding Ahmed al-Assir’s group, joining it, and incitement. However, the probe
did not establish his involvement in fighting the army or in the killing of
soldiers in Aabra. Following the intelligence investigations and the referral of
the case by the government commissioner at the Military Court, Judge Claude
Ghanem, to the court’s presidency, the in-person trial phase will begin. This
will automatically nullify the existing absentia convictions against Chaker, who
had been in hiding in the Ain al-Hilweh camp after the Aabra events. The four
absentia convictions against Chaker include the 2013 Aabra events. The judicial
body annulled charges of direct participation in the killing of Lebanese army
officers and personnel but convicted him of involvement in murder and terrorist
acts, sentencing him to 15 years of hard labor. In another case, Chaker was
sentenced to five years for harming Lebanon’s relations with another state and
inciting sectarianism. He received a seven-year sentence for money laundering
aimed at financing terrorist acts. The fourth case resulted in a 15-year
sentence for involvement in terrorism through providing logistical support.
While awaiting the reading of all four cases and Chaker's new testimony, a
delegation of families of the soldiers killed in Aabra met with army commander
General Rodolph Haykal, Defense Minister Michel Menassa, and Judge Claude Ghanem.
They called for justice for their fallen sons and the completion of legal
proceedings. The delegation was reassured of confidence in the judicial process
and the Military Court, emphasizing its commitment to enforcing the law fairly
and transparently, despite differing opinions or social media campaigns.
The Event In the Vatican Today: Blessed Maloyan... A
Saint
Nidaa Al-Watan/October 19, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Politics briefly steps aside in the morning, making way for a distinctively
religious and spiritual event. At 10:00 AM Sunday, Rome time, all eyes will turn
to St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City, where seven new saints will be raised
to the altars of the Church. Among them is the Blessed Martyr Archbishop
Ignatius Maloyan, Bishop of Mardin for the Armenian Catholics.
The celebratory mass, presided over by Pope Leo XIV, will be attended by a
Lebanese delegation led by President of the Republic Joseph Aoun, who arrived in
Rome yesterday, Saturday. From there, he announced that Lebanon awaits the visit
of the Holy Father and has begun all arrangements for its completion.
Immediately upon arrival, President Aoun visited the Armenian Pontifical College
and met with the Armenian Catholic Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, who
granted the President the "Cross of Faith Medal," the highest distinction in the
Patriarchate. The Patriarch addressed Aoun, stating that his presence "is not
merely an official participation in an ecclesiastical celebration, but a clear
testimony that Lebanon remains a country of faith, and that the roots of faith
within it are stronger than the storms that have swept over it." For his part,
President Aoun thanked Patriarch Minassian for his initiative, expressing his
joy at participating in the canonization of Archbishop Maloyan. In his speech,
he wished upon "the religious leaders of all confessions, not to allow
generations to grow up without education, because it is the foundation for
building nations, and especially for building Lebanon."
The Pope to Al-Rai: "Lebanon is in My Heart"
In the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV received the Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara
Boutros Al-Rai, in their first meeting. The Holy Father affirmed that Lebanon is
in his heart, as is the dispersed Maronite Church, and that preparations for his
visit to Beirut are underway with great joy and complete paternal affection for
the homeland of the message and of saints. Al-Rai, in turn, informed His
Holiness the Pope about the situation of Christians in Lebanon and the East and
the worrying state of emigration caused by wars and economic crises, expressing
the enthusiasm of the Lebanese people from all walks of life to welcome him at
the end of next month.
Foiling Arms Smuggling between Lebanon and Syria
Domestically, while indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel are slowly
simmering, the Israeli army continued its raids on Lebanon, announcing it had
targeted a Hezbollah element in the Dhounine region of southern Lebanon who was
using an engineering vehicle to rebuild infrastructure destroyed during
Operation "Northern Arrows." Also in the field, the Israeli army announced that
it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons in the Mount Hermon region, on the
border between Syria and Lebanon, during a nighttime field operation that led to
the arrest of several suspects while they were attempting to smuggle weapons
from Syrian territory into Lebanese territory. According to the statement,
quantities of hand grenades, pistols, anti-tank missiles, and various ammunition
were seized. Regarding relations between Beirut and Damascus, Syrian Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani confirmed that his
country's government seeks to correct the relationship between the two
countries, and that there is a legacy from the past for which the new Syrian
government does not bear responsibility.
Syria: Israeli Army Announces Foiling Arms Smuggling
Attempt to Lebanon
Al Modon/October 18, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The Israeli army announced that it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons in
the Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) area west of Syria, to Lebanon. Meanwhile, an
Israeli force raided the Druze-majority village of Hader and arrested a person
suspected of involvement in the arms smuggling operation towards Lebanese
territory.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that the occupation forces foiled
an attempt to smuggle "means of combat" in the Hermon summit area (Jabal
al-Sheikh), in a security operation carried out by the "Mountain Brigade - 810,"
in cooperation with "Unit 504" of the Israeli army.
Adraee claimed in a statement that the Israeli army arrested a number of
suspects during their attempt to smuggle weapons from Syrian territory into
Lebanese territory, clarifying that the seized items included hand grenades,
pistols, anti-tank missiles, and various ammunition. He indicated that the
occupation army handed over the detainees to the Israeli security authorities
for investigation and confiscated the weapons and ammunition in their
possession. Meanwhile, Al Modon's correspondent in Quneitra reported that a
force from the Israeli occupation raided the Druze-majority town of Hader, north
of the Quneitra governorate, on the border with the occupied Golan, adding that
they arrested a person named Kamal Naqqour, who is suspected of being involved
in arms smuggling operations through illegal routes passing from Jabal al-Sheikh
towards Lebanese territory.
The area extending across the Jabal al-Sheikh mountain range and Shebaa Farms is
considered one of the most active smuggling lines, due to its proximity to the
Syrian-Lebanese border, in addition to the difficulty of monitoring it because
of the rugged mountainous terrain that hinders monitoring and surveillance
operations. The villages and towns of Jabal al-Sheikh have also been known for
years to be used as smuggling corridors, given the complex geographical nature
that provides cover for smugglers.
Netanyahu Reveals: Iran Planned to Send Two Air Divisions
to Rescue Nasrallah
Nidaa Al-Watan/October 19, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed this evening, Saturday, that
Iran was planning to send two air divisions to Syria to save Hassan Nasrallah
from collapse, noting that the Israeli Air Force received his order to intervene
and deter that plan.
Netanyahu clarified that "the war with Iran is something that has haunted me for
40 years," and indicated that the Iranian nuclear threat is one of the
motivations for the ongoing confrontation, as he believed that Israel would be
in existential danger if Tehran acquired a nuclear weapon. Touching upon the
decision he took regarding the targeting of Nasrallah, he said: "We must
understand that we eliminated Nasrallah, and thus we were on the verge of
destabilizing the Syrian regime. An additional step was needed, because Iran
intended to send two air divisions to save them. I ordered the Air Force and
they were indeed deterred." He added that Iran, after the fall of Nasrallah,
"accelerated the nuclear path," considering that the collapse of the
Iranian-Syrian-Lebanese axis opened the way for Tehran to speed up the
development of the nuclear bomb. Netanyahu acknowledged that his mission as
Prime Minister is to remove the Iranian nuclear threat as quickly as possible,
and that what he actually warned about was "delaying and setting back the
threat." He also indicated that the confrontation with Hezbollah and Iranian
influence in the region is not yet over, and that Israel continues to be fully
prepared for any escalation or future threat.
"We Broke the Axis of Evil"... Netanyahu: If We Had Attacked the North First, We
Would Have "Sunk in the Mud"
Nidaa Al-Watan/October 19, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated this evening, Saturday,
in the inauguration ceremony of the new studio for the program "The Patriots" (Ha'Patri'otim)
on Channel 14, in the presence of artistic and security figures, including
singer Ofer Levy and Tzvika Mor, the father of released captive Eitan. The
Israeli Prime Minister revealed his intention to present a decision to the
government on Sunday to officially adopt "The War of Rising" as the name for the
ongoing war in Gaza, saying: "I will conclude this war with a decision that I
will present to the government tomorrow to call it 'The War of Rising'—that is
its name." Netanyahu used his appearance on Israeli Channel 14 to showcase what
he described as a "dramatic transformation" in Israel's regional and
international standing, stating: "Two years ago, we faced an existential threat,
and today, after this war, Israel is described as a power, and some say: a
global power. We rose from the depths to the peak." He added that this
transformation was achieved thanks to the "bravery of the soldiers, the fallen,
and the wounded," and the "difficult decisions" made by his government, in
addition to the support from US President Donald Trump.
In response to a question about the end of the war, Netanyahu said: "The war in
Gaza will not end before Israel's conditions are met," explaining:
First, the recovery of all hostages, alive and dead.
Then, the disarmament of Gaza and the complete dismantling of Hamas.
The Israeli Prime Minister touched upon the Iranian threat, revealing that Iran
intended to send two air divisions to Syria, adding: "We were able to eliminate
a number of senior Iranian leaders, but like tumors in the body, they may
return, which is why we always remain vigilant." Regarding the assassination of
Hassan Nasrallah, Netanyahu revealed that he refrained from informing the
Americans of the plan beforehand, justifying this by saying: "Informing them
would have been immediately leaked to Nasrallah." He asserted that Israel
destroyed in hours what Hezbollah had built in missiles over years, and that he
expected a massive missile response from Iran following the assassination of
Nasrallah, but this did not happen. He added, "I read a secret report about
Nasrallah and understood that eliminating him would break the axis of evil, so I
decided to carry out the operation without informing anyone, not even the
Americans."
Netanyahu spoke about the northern front, considering that postponing the
confrontation with Hezbollah was the correct strategic decision. He said: "If we
had attacked the north at the beginning of the war, we would have sunk in the
mud, and we would not have achieved what we accomplished in the south."
Netanyahu showed criticism of the Biden administration, accusing it of
"submitting to international pressure" and "freezing arms deliveries." He
recounted telling the then-US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken: "If we don't
have weapons, we will fight with our bare hands." Netanyahu referred to what he
called the "eighth front," in reference to the internal criticism he faces,
saying: "It is not easy for your family to be attacked, for you to be threatened
with death, and for your reputation to be tarnished locally and internationally.
But I persevered, because I knew that if I succumbed to pressure to stop the
war, the days of the State of Israel would be numbered." In conclusion,
Netanyahu stressed what he described as the "great spirit of the people of
Israel," adding: "You walk in the streets and feel the pride and high morale;
the soldiers are the ones who gave me strength."
Lebanese Welcome and International Relief for Aoun's
Negotiating Initiative with Israel... Based on the Maritime Demarcation
Experience... Aligning with Arab Trends
Beirut: Nazir Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 18, 2025 (Translated
from Arabic)
The Lebanese political establishment received the initiative of President of the
Republic Joseph Aoun to negotiate with Israel positively, in an effort to move
the deadlock in the existing field situation. The initiative did not provoke the
anger of "Hezbollah," which seemed calm in dealing with it, while simultaneously
stipulating indirect negotiations, a form of negotiation not proposed by Aoun,
whose approach is based on the experience of the maritime border demarcation
negotiations three years ago.
Aoun's proposal appeared to be a political initiative intended to move the
Lebanese situation out of stalemate, amidst a field crisis that escalates daily,
following Israel's transition to targeting civilian facilities, industrial and
commercial institutions, and its persistence in preventing the return of life to
the border region, targeting returnees and their properties, and its obstinacy
in refusing to withdraw from the occupied points. This occupation, in turn,
prevents the Lebanese army from completing its deployment south of the Litani
and fully enforcing the exclusivity of weapons in the area, in implementation of
a Cabinet decision.
Field Reality and Gaza Negotiations
Sources familiar with Aoun's position told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun's recent
proposals are based on two realities: first, the field situation remains stuck
in a stalemate, while a diplomatic solution is at the forefront of the options
proposed to end the crisis in the South and the ongoing Israeli attacks, given
that the option of war to end the crisis is "almost non-existent."
It is also based on the experience of negotiation to end the war in the Gaza
Strip and aligns with the Arab vision for conflict resolution, at a time when
settlements are leading the region's options for resolving pending
issues—options that enjoy Arab and international blessing. Aoun had affirmed
that "we cannot be outside the current path in the region, which is a path of
crisis settlement; rather, we must be part of it, as it is no longer possible to
bear more war, destruction, killing, and displacement." He added during his
meeting with journalists earlier this week: "Today, the general atmosphere is
one of settlements, and negotiation is necessary... The form of this negotiation
will be determined when the time comes."
War Probabilities Are Almost Non-existent
A ministerial source monitoring Aoun's initiative said that the Lebanese
President believes that all confrontations are supposed to end in one of two
solutions: either the military victory of one side and the defeat of the other,
or a diplomatic solution based on negotiation and dialogue that is supposed to
end in an agreement. The source added in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat that war
"is not likely to lead to a result, and the possibilities of war are already
almost non-existent, which confines the options to negotiation." The source
stressed that Aoun "did not talk about a peace agreement or normalization, but
about negotiation, whose form he did not specify, for the purpose of reaching a
solution that ends the ongoing Israeli occupation, establishes the land border
points, removes Israeli violations on the border, and resolves the crisis of the
occupied areas pending since 2006," referring to the segment of the village of
Ghajar and all other disputed border points.
Maritime Border Demarcation
Although Aoun did not specify the form of negotiation, the experience of the
maritime border demarcation negotiations with Israel between 2020 and 2022,
under the auspices and flag of the United Nations and with American mediation,
is in the background of the proposal. The ministerial source says that this
experience "yielded important results" in resolving a border dispute, and the
strength of the agreement was greater than to be breached in a war that lasted
for 13 months between Israel and "Hezbollah," where "the agreement stood firm
despite the expansion of the war and the bombing of Beirut, the suburbs, Tel
Aviv, and Haifa. Hezbollah did not target Israeli offshore facilities, nor was
there any Israeli occupation of Lebanese territorial waters recorded,"
suggesting that the Israeli naval entry did not exceed the issue of violations
of Lebanese waters, similar to land and air violations.
No Negotiation Under Fire
Aoun presented his initiative to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and Prime
Minister Nawaf Salam over the past two days, and clarified in those meetings
that the initiative, which seeks to break the existing deadlock and put an end
to Israeli attacks, stipulates "no negotiation under fire," meaning there is an
agreement to cease hostilities that Israel does not respect or implement.
Conversely, "Lebanon cannot negotiate under occupation and under military and
security pressure and attacks," according to sources following the movement.
Therefore, "Israel must remove the factors of explosion and prepare the
atmosphere for serious negotiations that end the occupation and attacks,
liberate prisoners, and end border disputes."
Western Relief for the Proposal
The sources indicate "American, European, and international relief at Aoun's
positions," noting that the translation of this relief on the ground "is
achieved by pressuring Israel to facilitate the proposed negotiation and
implement the agreements." While the Western orientation months ago was inclined
towards putting the file of talks between Lebanon and Israel on track,
regardless of the level of those involved in the talks, the sources confirm that
after the Israeli excessiveness and military pressures, "there is now Western
understanding of the Lebanese position," as "the initiative found positive
echoes at the international level." They noted that those concerned and
influential in the Lebanese file "understand that there is a plan for the
exclusivity of weapons that is being implemented in stages, while Israel is
obstructing the completion of its implementation through the continuous
occupation of Lebanese territories."
Flexibility... But No Direct Negotiations
The international understanding extends to internal Lebanese support for the
initiative, which did not provoke the anger of "Hezbollah" and its allies. It
was commented upon indirectly, with calm language and flexibility, without
direct rejection of the core of the initiative. After the parliamentary bloc of
"Hezbollah" (Loyalty to the Resistance) stressed the "sovereign priorities that
must govern the course of politics, positions, and approaches in the country to
confront the occupation and achieve security and stability in it," Hezbollah MP
Hassan Fadlallah said on Saturday that "it is the duty of the government to
assume its responsibilities and compel the sponsors of the agreements to stop
the attacks," clarifying that "the resistance will meet any positive step from
the government with positivity because the goal is to stop the bloodshed and
stop the Israeli sabotage."
It appeared that Hezbollah's reservation is focused on direct negotiations, as
its MP Ali Ammar stressed: "As we await the Lebanese government to fulfill its
diplomatic and political duty, on the condition that this action does not lead
us to other positions, especially since we hear some talking about direct
negotiation with the enemy," emphasizing that "there is no direct negotiation
with this Zionist enemy."
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October
18-19/2025
Netanyahu says Gaza war not over until Hamas disarms
AFP/October 19, 2025
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
warned on Saturday that the war in Gaza would not be over until Hamas was
disarmed and the Palestinian territory demilitarized. His declaration came as
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, handed over the remains of
two further hostages on Saturday night under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu’s office said late Saturday that a Red Cross team had received the
remains of two hostages from Hamas and handed them to Israeli forces in Gaza,
from where they would be taken to Israel to be identified. The issue of the dead
hostages still in Gaza has become a sticking point in the implementation of the
first phase of the ceasefire. Israel has linked the reopening of the key Rafah
crossing to the territory to the recovery of the hostages’ remains. Netanyahu
cautioned that completing the ceasefire’s second phase was essential to ending
the war and involved the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza
Strip. “When that is successfully completed — hopefully in an easy way, but if
not, in a hard way — then the war will end,” he added in an appearance on
right-wing Israeli Channel 14. Hamas has so far resisted the idea and since the
pause in fighting has moved to reassert its control over Gaza. The US State
Department on Saturday said it had “credible reports” that Hamas was planning an
imminent attack against civilians in Gaza, warning that would be a “ceasefire
violation.”“Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to
protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,” it said
in a statement, without elaborating on the nature or target of such an attack.
Rafah crossing closed
Under the ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has so far
released all 20 living hostages, along with the remains of nine Israelis and one
Nepalese. In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners
and 135 other bodies of Palestinians since the truce came into effect on October
10. Hamas has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the
remaining bodies, which it says are buried under Gaza’s rubble. Netanyahu’s
office said he had “directed that the Rafah crossing remain closed until further
notice.”“Its reopening will be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its part in
returning the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and in implementing the
agreed-upon framework,” it said, referring to the week-old ceasefire deal. Hamas
warned late Saturday that the closure of the Rafah crossing would cause
“significant delays in the retrieval and transfer of remains.”
Digging latrines
Further delays to the reopening could also complicate the task facing Tom
Fletcher, the UN head of humanitarian relief, who was in northern Gaza on
Saturday. “To see the devastation — this is a vast part of the city, just a
wasteland — and it’s absolutely devastating to see,” he told AFP. Fletcher said
the task ahead for the UN and aid agencies was a “massive, massive job.”He said
he had met residents returning to destroyed homes who were trying to dig
latrines in the ruins. “We have a massive 60-day plan now to surge in food, get
a million meals out there a day, start to rebuild the health sector, bring in
tents for the winter, get hundreds of thousands of kids back into school.”
Gaza killings continue
Some violence has persisted despite the ceasefire. Gaza’s civil defense agency,
which operates under Hamas authority, said on Saturday that it had recovered the
bodies of nine Palestinians — two men, three women and four children — from the
Shaaban family after Israeli troops fired two tank shells at a bus. Two more
victims were blown apart in the blast and their remains have yet to be
recovered, it said. At Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Hospital, the victims were laid out
in white shrouds as their relatives mourned. “My daughter, her children and her
husband; my son, his children and his wife were killed. What did they do wrong?”
demanded grandmother Umm Mohammed Shaaban. The Israeli military said it had
fired on a vehicle that approached the so-called “yellow line,” to which its
forces withdrew under the terms of the ceasefire, and gave no estimate of
casualties.
US warns Hamas planning attack on Palestinian civilians in apparent violation of
Gaza ceasefire
AP/October 19, 2025
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: The US State Department said Saturday that it has
“credible reports” that Hamas could violate the ceasefire with an attack on
Palestinian civilians in Gaza.If the attack takes place, it “would constitute a
direct and grave violation” of the agreement forged by President Donald Trump to
end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, the statement said. No further
details were disclosed about the potential attack. ”Should Hamas proceed with
this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve
the integrity of the ceasefire,” the State Department said. Trump previously
warned on social media that “if Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which
was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”
Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 68,000, as Israel identifies the remains of
one more hostage
AP/October 18, 2025
TEL AVIV: Israel said the remains of another hostage that Hamas handed over the
day before were identified as Eliyahu Margalit, as the Palestinian death toll
surpassed 68,000 people amid searching beneath the rubble.Israel’s Prime
Minister’s Office said Saturday that Margalit’s body was identified after
testing by the National Center for Forensic Medicine and his family has been
notified. The 76-year-old was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked
Israel, from the horse stables where he worked in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Margalit is
the 10th returned hostage body since the ceasefire went into effect over a week
ago. Hamas handed over an 11th body this week, but it wasn’t that of a
hostage.The effort to find the remains followed a warning from US President
Donald Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t
live up to its end of the deal and return all hostages’ bodies, totaling 28.
Hamas has said it is committed to the terms of the ceasefire deal, including the
handover of bodies. However, the retrieval of bodies is hampered by the scope of
the devastation and the presence of dangerous, unexploded ordnance. The group
has also told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli
troops. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that more than 68,000
Palestinians have been killed in the two-year-long war. The ministry said the
number of dead has climbed since the ceasefire went into effect, with the
majority of the newly counted dead bodies being found during recovery efforts
under the rubble. The figures of the Health Ministry, which is part of the
Hamas-run government in the territory, are seen as a reliable estimate of
wartime deaths by UN agencies and many independent experts. Israel has disputed
them without providing its own toll. Thousands more people are missing,
according to the Red Cross.
Egypt expected to lead proposed post-war Gaza stabilization force: Diplomats
Arab News/October 18, 2025
LONDON: Egypt is expected to take the lead in an international stabilization
force being developed to oversee security inside Gaza under a proposed UN
Security Council mandate backed by the US and European partners, according to
diplomatic sources. The proposed force, which would have broad powers similar to
those granted to international troops in Haiti to combat armed groups, is being
shaped as part of a European and US-backed UN motion, The Guardian newspaper
reported on Saturday. Washington is said to favor a UN mandate for the mission,
without establishing it as a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation. Turkiye,
Indonesia, and Azerbaijan are among the countries being lined up as key troop
contributors alongside Egypt. While no European or British troops are expected
to participate, the UK has deployed advisers to a coordination unit operated by
the US inside Israel, The Guardian also reported. The unit is tasked with
helping implement the second phase of a 20-point plan drafted by US President
Donald Trump. British officials have underlined that the long-term objective
remains the establishment of a Palestinian state encompassing Gaza, the West
Bank, and East Jerusalem.
The UK has already been training a contingent of Palestinian police officers,
but under the new proposal the international force would take the lead on
security responsibilities. Should the operation prove effective, Israel would
withdraw further from areas of Gaza, although Israeli officials insist that a
significant buffer zone will remain under their control to guard against future
Hamas attacks. Diplomatic sources acknowledge that one of the most contentious
elements of the plan involves the decommissioning of Hamas weapons and British
officials are drawing on lessons from Northern Ireland’s peace process, where
weapons controlled by both the IRA and loyalist groups were put beyond use under
independent supervision. The UK also appears to support a role for its former
prime minister Tony Blair on a newly proposed “board of peace,” outlined in
Trump’s plan, which would oversee the work of a 15-member committee of
Palestinian technocrats. Blair’s potential appointment has drawn backing from
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who told CNBC during a recent
interview: “Tony Blair is a person acceptable to the Iraqis and a friend, having
contributed to the decision to go to war with President Bush, at the time, and
to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime.”He added: “(Blair) is a great friend of
the Iraqis and visits us often and I also hold meetings with him. We certainly
wish him success in this mission and we will support him.”Blair’s position on
the board, which will be chaired by Trump, is expected to be confirmed by early
November, ahead of a major reconstruction conference in Cairo that Egypt will
host to mobilize donor and private sector funding for Gaza’s recovery. Officials
say the cost of rebuilding Gaza is estimated to exceed $67 billion, requiring
not only contributions from Gulf donors but also significant private investment.
Questions remain over the precise relationship between the Palestinian Authority
(PA) and the proposed board. PA Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian said her
government had learned from past mistakes and was intent on reform. Speaking at
a conference in Naples organized by Italian think tank IPSI, she said one of the
PA’s key initiatives was overhauling its education curriculum. “If we develop
that curriculum to the best standards of the world but children that are taught
that curriculum continue to live under dire occupation, will that give them a
narrative of peace? No,” she said.
“What will bring them a narrative of peace, and internalize it, is when children
do not experience, on a daily basis, checkpoints, a humiliation, trees being
uprooted, the farms being burned and the fathers killed.”
Palestinians, Israel disagree on whether Gaza’s
crucial Rafah crossing will reopen Monday
AP/October 18, 2025
CAIRO: The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen Monday for
people returning to Gaza, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said Saturday, but
the territory’s sole gateway to the outside world will remain closed to people
trying to leave. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a
statement within minutes, saying that the Rafah crossing wouldn’t reopen “until
further notice,” adding that it would depend on how Hamas fulfills its role in
returning all the bodies of the dead hostages. Israel’s foreign ministry on
Thursday had said that the crossing would likely reopen Sunday — another step in
the fragile ceasefire. The Rafah crossing is the only one not controlled by
Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took
control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for
Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens
of thousands of Palestinians. It’s unclear who will operate the crossing’s
heavily damaged Gaza side once the war ends.
Israel says Rafah crossing reopening depends on return of hostage bodies
AFP/18 October/2025
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that
the Rafah crossing would reopen only after Hamas hands over the bodies of all
deceased hostages still held in Gaza. “Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed
that the Rafah crossing remain closed until further notice,” the statement read.
“Its reopening will be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its obligations to
return the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and to implement the
agreed-upon terms” of the ceasefire, the office added. Earlier on Saturday, the
Palestinian embassy in Cairo announced that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and
Egypt would reopen on Monday to allow Palestinians living in Egypt to return to
Gaza. On Thursday, Israeli authorities said that when the crossing reopens, it
would permit only the movement of people, not the passage of humanitarian aid.
Israel’s army took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on May
7 last year, claiming the facility had been “used for terrorist purposes” and
expressing strong suspicions that it was also being used to smuggle weapons.
Following the takeover, all access through the crossing was suspended, including
that of United Nations personnel.
The crossing briefly reopened during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that
took effect on January 19, 2025.
Gaza civil defense says 9 killed when Israeli forces
fired at bus
Agence France Presse/18 October/2025
Gaza's civil defense agency said that Israeli forces killed nine people in an
attack on a bus Friday, while the military stated it had fired at a vehicle that
crossed the so-called "yellow line". "Civil defense crews were able to recover
nine bodies following the Israeli occupation's targeting of a bus carrying
displaced persons east of the Zeitun neighboorhood yesterday," Mahmoud Bassal, a
spokesman for the agency, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP on
Saturday.
Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces killed nine
Palestinians in attack on bus
Al Arabiya English/18 October/2025
Gaza’s civil defense agency said that Israeli forces killed nine members of a
single Palestinian family when they fired on a bus Friday, after the military
confirmed it had targeted a vehicle that crossed the so-called “yellow
line.”“Civil defense crews were able to recover nine bodies following the
Israeli occupation’s targeting of a bus carrying displaced persons east of the
Zeitoun neighborhood yesterday,” Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the agency,
told AFP on Saturday. Bassal said the victims were members of the Abu Shabaan
family and were killed while “trying to check on their home” in the Zeitoun
neighborhood. The Israeli military said a vehicle had been identified crossing
the “yellow line,” the boundary behind which Israeli troops are stationed under
the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. “The troops fired warning shots toward the
suspicious vehicle, but the vehicle continued to approach the troops in a way
that caused an imminent threat to them,” the military said in a statement. “The
troops opened fire to remove the threat, in accordance with the agreement.”The
ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas is now in its second week, but
several incidents have been reported since it began, with the military saying
its troops fired at individuals who approached or crossed the “yellow line.”
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza in search
of their homes since the ceasefire began, often struggling to find them amid the
vast devastation left by more than two years of war. Several Gazans who spoke to
AFP said they were unable to locate their houses – or even familiar landmarks –
in neighborhoods now buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and
debris.With AFP
UN aid chief foresees ‘massive job’ ahead on tour of ruined Gaza
Al Arabiya English/18 October/2025
The United Nations’ aid chief took stock of the monumental task of restoring
basic necessities in the devastated Gaza Strip on Saturday, and Israel received
the remains of another October 7 hostage as a ceasefire entered its second week.
In a short convoy of white UN jeeps, relief coordinator Tom Fletcher and his
team wound their way through the twisted rubble of shattered homes to inspect a
wastewater treatment plant in Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza City. “I drove
through here seven to eight months ago when most of these buildings were still
standing and, to see the devastation, this is a vast part of the city, just a
wasteland, and it’s absolutely devastating to see,” he told AFP. The densely
packed cities of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians,
have been reduced to ruins by two years of Israeli bombardment and intense
fighting between Hamas and the Israeli army. Just over a week since US President
Donald Trump helped broker a truce, the main border crossing to Egypt has yet to
be reopened, but hundreds of trucks roll in daily via Israeli checkpoints and
aid is being distributed. Hamas has returned the final 20 surviving hostages it
was holding and has begun to hand over the remains of another 28 who died. On
Friday night, it turned over a set of remains identified by Israel as Eliyahu
Margalit, 75, who died in the October 2023 attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
Surveying the damaged pumping equipment and a grim lake of sewage at the Sheikh
Radwan wastewater plant, Fletcher said the task ahead for the UN and aid
agencies was a “massive, massive job.”The British diplomat said he had met
residents returning to destroyed homes trying to dig latrines in the ruins.
“They’re telling me most of all they want dignity,” he said. “We’ve got to
get the power back on so we can start to get the sanitation system back in
place. “We have a massive 60 day plan now to surge in food, get a million meals
out there a day, start to rebuild the health sector, bring in tents for the
winter, get hundreds of thousands of kids back into school.” According to
figures supplied to mediators by the Israeli military’s civil affairs agency and
released by the UN humanitarian office, on Thursday some 950 trucks carrying aid
and commercial supplies crossed into Gaza from Israel. Relief agencies have
called for the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to be reopened to speed the flow
of food, fuel and medicines, and Turkey has a team of rescue specialists waiting
at the border to help find bodies in the rubble. Israel’s Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu approved the ceasefire but is under pressure at home to
restrict access to Gaza until the remaining bodies of the hostages taken during
the October 2023 attacks have been returned. On Saturday, his office confirmed
that the latest body, returned by Hamas via the Red Cross on Friday night, had
been identified as Margalit, the elderly farmer who was known to his friends at
the Nir Oz kibbutz as “Churchill.” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Friday
that the group “continues to uphold its commitment to the ceasefire agreement...
and it will continue working to complete the full prisoner exchange
process.”Under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, negotiated by
Trump and regional mediators, the Palestinian militant group has returned all 20
surviving hostages and the remains of 10 out of 28 deceased ones. With AFP
US envoy Witkoff says he felt ‘betrayed’ by Israeli
attack on Qatar
AFP/18 October ,2025: 08:19 PM GST
US envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Middle
East, has said that he felt “betrayed” when Israel launched a strike targeting
Hamas negotiators in Qatar last month. In a CBS interview alongside Jared
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who worked with Witkoff on the brokering of a Gaza
ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the presidential envoy said he learned
of the September 9 attack in Doha the morning after it happened. Qatar is a key
US ally and acted as mediator in the push to end the Gaza war. “I think both
Jared and I felt, I just feel we felt a little bit betrayed,” Witkoff told the
CBS news program “60 Minutes” in excerpts released Friday. The full interview is
scheduled to air on Sunday. At the time, the strike halted the indirect
negotiating process to end the fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip, triggered
by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. “It had a metastasizing effect
because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and
the Turks,” Witkoff said. “We had lost the confidence of the Qataris. And so
Hamas went underground, and it was very, very difficult to get to them.”Trump
wrote on social media at the time that the decision to conduct the Doha air raid
came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel and Hamas ultimately
accepted a 20-point peace plan presented by Trump that called for hostage and
prisoner releases and a ceasefire after two years of deadly conflict. Under
pressure from Trump during a White House visit this month, Netanyahu called
Qatar’s prime minister to apologize for the Doha strike.
ICC rejects Israel appeal bid over arrest warrants
AFP/18 October/2025
The International Criminal Court Friday rejected Israel’s bid to appeal against
arrest warrants for its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense
minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war. In a ruling that made headlines around
the world, the ICC in November found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu
and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes
against humanity in Gaza. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three top
leaders from the Palestinian militant movement Hamas but dropped these after
their deaths. The warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant sparked outrage in
Israel and also in the United States, which has since slapped sanctions on top
ICC officials. Netanyahu described it as an “anti-Semitic decision” and the then
US president Joe Biden slammed it as “outrageous.” Israel had asked the court in
May to dismiss the warrants while it weighed a separate challenge over whether
the ICC had jurisdiction in the case. The court rejected this on July 16, saying
there was “no legal basis” for quashing the warrants while the jurisdiction
challenge was pending. A week later, Israel asked for leave to appeal that
ruling, but judges ruled on Friday that “the issue, as framed by Israel, is not
an appealable issue.” “The Chamber therefore rejects the request,” said the ICC
in a complex, 13-page ruling. ICC judges are still weighing a wider Israeli
challenge over jurisdiction. When the court originally issued the arrest
warrants in November, it simultaneously rejected an Israeli appeal against its
jurisdiction. However, in April, the ICC’s Appeals Chamber ruled the Pre-Trial
Chamber was wrong to dismiss the challenge and ordered it to look again in
detail at Israel’s arguments. It is not clear when it will hand down a ruling on
that issue.
British military says ship ablaze after being struck off
the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden
AP/October 18, 2025
DUBAI: A ship caught fire Saturday in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen after being
struck by a projectile, the British military said, with one report suggesting
its crew was preparing to abandon the vessel. The incident comes as Yemen’s
Houthi militants have been attacking ships through the Red Sea corridor.
However, the militants did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take
them hours or even days to do so. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime
Trade Operations center issued an alert about the vessel, describing the
incident as taking place some 210 kilometers (130 miles) east of Aden.
“A vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, resulting with a fire,” the
UKMTO said. “Authorities are investigating.” The maritime security firm Ambrey
described the ship as a Cameroon-flagged tanker that was “en route from Sohar,
Oman, to Djibouti.” It said radio traffic suggested the crew was preparing to
abandon ship and a search-and-rescue effort was underway. Details offered about
the ship appeared to correspond to the Falcon, a Cameroon-flagged tanker that
carries liquefied petroleum gas. The Falcon previously had been identified by
United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based pressure group, as operating
allegedly in an Iranian “ghost fleet” of ships moving their oil products in the
high seas despite international sanctions. The ship’s owners and operators,
listed as being in India, could not be immediately reached for comment. The
Houthis have gained international prominence during the Israel-Hamas war over
their attacks on shipping and Israel, which they said were aimed at forcing
Israel to stop fighting. Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, no attacks have
been claimed by the militant group. The Houthi campaign against shipping has
killed at least nine mariners and seen four ships sunk. It upended shipping in
the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before
the war. The militants’ most recent attack hit the Dutch-flagged cargo ship
Minervagracht on Sept. 29, killing one crew member on board and wounding
another. Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and
taken dozens of workers at United Nations agencies and other aid groups as
prisoners, alleging without evidence they were spies — something fiercely denied
by the world body and others.
Iran says no longer bound by ‘restrictions’ on its nuclear program
AFP/18 October/2025
Iran said on Saturday that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear
program as a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though
Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy.” The 2015 deal -- signed in
Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States --
saw the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic republic in
exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. But the pact had already been
in tatters after Washington unilaterally withdrew during President Donald
Trump’s first term, with Iran later pulling back from its commitments. The
reimposition last month of UN sanctions at the urging of three of the deal’s
European signatories rendered the accord effectively moot. From now on, “all of
the provisions (of the deal), including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear
program and the related mechanisms are considered terminated”, Iran’s foreign
ministry said in a statement on the day of the pact’s expiration. “Iran firmly
expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” it added. Western powers have long
accused Iran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons -- something it has repeatedly
denied, insisting its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes such as
energy production. The deal’s “termination day” was set for October 18, 2025,
exactly 10 years after it was enshrined in the UN’s Security Council resolution
2231. The accord capped Iran’s uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent in exchange
for sanctions relief and provided for strict supervision of its nuclear
activities by the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). But Washington left the deal in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, after
which Tehran began stepping up its nuclear program. According to the IAEA, Iran
is the only country without a nuclear weapons program to enrich uranium to 60
percent. That is close to the threshold of 90 percent required for a bomb, and
well above the level needed for civilian nuclear use.
‘Irresponsible actions’
In July, Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA following the war with Israel,
with Tehran pointing to the agency’s failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes
on its nuclear facilities. The unprecedented bombing campaign by Israel and the
retaliation by Iran during the 12-day war derailed ongoing nuclear negotiations
between Tehran and Washington. At the initiative of France, Britain and Germany,
widespread UN sanctions against Iran returned into force in late September for
the first time in a decade. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a
letter addressed to the United Nations on Saturday that the expiration of the
2015 deal renders the sanctions “null and void.”Britain, France and Germany
accuse Iran of not cooperating with the IAEA and would like it to return to
negotiations with the United States. “Iran’s efforts to revive the exchanges
(with the IAEA) that led to the agreement in Cairo were also sabotaged by the
irresponsible actions of the three European countries,” the Iranian foreign
ministry said in Saturday’s statement, referring to a recent framework to resume
cooperation.
Expiration of JCPOA deal casts cloud of uncertainty over
future Iran nuclear talks
The Arab Weekly/October 18/2025
Iran said on Saturday that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear
programme as a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though
Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy”. From now on, “all of the
provisions (of the 2015 deal), including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear
programme and the related mechanisms are considered terminated”, Iran’s foreign
ministry said in a statement on the day of the pact’s expiration. But “Iran
firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” it added. The landmark 10-year
deal world powers signed with Iran to rein in its nuclear programme officially
ends Saturday. But the deal began to fall apart years ago, and wide-ranging UN
sanctions were re-imposed last month on the Islamic republic, effectively
burying the agreement but creating space for something new, according to
experts. The deal’s “termination day” was set for October 18, 2025, exactly 10
years after the adoption of resolution 2231, with which the UN Security Council
enshrined it. Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
the agreement between Iran and China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the
United States saw the lifting of international sanctions against Iran in
exchange for restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear programme. But Washington left the
deal in 2018 during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office and
re-instated sanctions. Tehran then began stepping up its nuclear programme.
Talks to revive the agreement have failed so far, and in August, Britain,
Germany and France triggered the so-called “snapback” process, leading to the
re-imposition of the UN sanctions. “Termination day is relatively meaningless
due to snapback,” Arms Control Association expert Kelsey Davenport said.
Though “lifeless” for years, snapback “officially buried” the nuclear deal, with
“its sorry fate continuing to cast a shadow over the future”, said Ali Vaez, the
International Crisis Group’s Iran project director. Western powers and Israel
have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran
denies. Nuclear talks between Iran and world powers are currently deadlocked.
“Iran remains sceptical of the utility of engaging with the US given its history
with President Trump, while Washington still seeks a maximalist deal,” Vaez
added.
On Monday, Trump said that he wanted a peace deal with Iran, but stressed the
ball was in Tehran’s court. Tehran has repeatedly said it remains open to
diplomacy with the United States, provided Washington offers guarantees against
military action during any potential talks. The US joined Israel in striking the
Islamic republic’s nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June. The three European
powers also last week announced they will seek to restart talks to find a
“comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement”. Iranian top diplomat Abbas
Araghchi said during an interview last week that Tehran does “not see any reason
to negotiate” with the Europeans given they triggered the snapback mechanism.
Despite the challenges, the death of the 2015 deal “creates space to explore
creative solutions to the Iranian nuclear crisis”, analyst Davenport said.
“Diplomacy remains the only viable option to reduce Iran’s proliferation risk in
the long-term,” she added. But she warned the more time elapsed, “the more
challenging it will be to negotiate a deal down the road and the greater the
risk of conflict re-erupting”.
Pakistan and Afghanistan hold peace talks in Doha after fierce clashes
Al Arabiya English/18 October/2025:
Afghanistan and Pakistan were holding peace talks in Doha on Saturday, both
sides said, after the South Asia neighbors extended a ceasefire following a week
of fierce border clashes. They are seeking to find a way forward after the
clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the worst violence between the two
countries since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. “As promised,
negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha,” Afghan
government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said, adding that the Kabul team led
by Defense Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob had arrived in Doha. Pakistan’s
foreign office said Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif would lead
discussions with representatives of the Afghan Taliban. “The talks will focus on
immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan emanating from
Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border,” it
said. It was not immediately clear how long the talks would last. Officials on
both sides have said they could be extended from Saturday, adding senior
intelligence officials from both countries were part of the talks. The ground
fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their
contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded
that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they
operated from havens in Afghanistan. The Taliban denies giving haven to
militants to attack Pakistan and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading
misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering ISIS-linked militants to
undermine its stability and sovereignty. Islamabad denies the accusations.
Militants have been waging a war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid
to overthrow the government and replace it with their strict brand of Islamic
governance system. On Friday, a suicide attack near the border killed seven
Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13, security officials said. “The Afghan regime
must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are using
Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan,” the Pakistan Army
chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, said on Saturday, addressing a graduation
ceremony of cadets.
Afghanistan withdraws from cricket series over strikes
The Afghan government spokesperson said Pakistan had conducted airstrikes in
Afghanistan hours after the ceasefire, which began on Wednesday, was extended on
Friday for as long as the talks continued. He said the attacks targeted
civilians, adding that Kabul reserved the right to respond but that Afghan
fighters had been directed to refrain from retaliating to respect the
negotiating team. Afghanistan withdrew from the Twenty20 international
tri-series in Pakistan next month following the death of three local cricketers
that the Afghanistan Cricket Board said were due to military strikes in Paktika
province. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X on
Saturday that Pakistan had struck “verified” camps of militants along the border
areas and rejected that the strikes had targeted civilians. He said militants
had attempted to launch multiple attacks inside Pakistan during the ceasefire
period. He said more than 100 militants were killed by Pakistani security
forces, the majority of them in strikes against a militant group that he said
had carried out Friday’s suicide attack on the military camp. With Reuters
Three killed in blast at Russian chemical factory:
Official
AFP/18 October/2025
An explosion at a chemical plant in southern Russia has killed three people, the
regional governor said Saturday without giving the cause of the blast. The
Avangard factory, located in the Bashkortostan region’s Sterlitamak, produces
weapons and ammunition for Russia’s war in Ukraine, Russian media outlets
reported.Ukrainian drones targeting a major oil refinery hit the same region a
month ago. Bashkortostan’s governor, Radiy Khabirov, said on Telegram on
Saturday that “a pretty violent explosion destroyed one of the buildings” at the
chemical factory site, killing three women. He said another five people were
wounded and hospitalized, two of them in serious condition. The factory “carries
out an important state-mandated mission” and “handles explosive materials,”
Khabirov said. He said the cause of the blast was being evaluated by experts. On
September 18, Ukrainian drones hit the Bashkortostan oil refinery run by
state-controlled giant Gazprom, as part of a Kiev counter-offensive targeting
Russian energy revenues used to fund the military. Khabirov at the time
confirmed that two drones had hit the refinery.
Work begins to repair Ukraine nuclear plant’s power lines
AFP/18 October/2025:
Work has started to repair damaged power lines to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear
plant after a lengthy outage, following the establishment of local ceasefire
zones, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said Saturday. The site, occupied by Russian
forces since March 2022, lost its connection to the grid on September 23 for the
tenth time – marking the longest outage of external power supply to the facility
since Russia invaded Ukraine. Repairs to the off-site power lines began after
the “establishment of local ceasefire zones to allow work to proceed,” Rafael
Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on X. The
IAEA said that both sides had worked with the agency to allow the “complex
repair plan” to proceed. “Restoration of off-site power is crucial for nuclear
safety and security,” it said. The agency did not indicate how long the work
would take. It has previously said repairs are needed on both sides of the front
line, several kilometers from the plant. Since the outage, the largest nuclear
power plant in Europe has been powered by backup diesel generators. The IAEA
says safety has been maintained with reactors continuing to be effectively
cooled. Located near the city of Enerhodar along the Dnieper River, the nuclear
plant is close to the front line. Its six reactors, which produced about
one-fifth of Ukraine’s electricity before the war, were shut down after Moscow
took control. However, the plant needs electricity to maintain its cooling and
safety systems to prevent a disaster. At the beginning of October, Moscow
claimed that the situation was “under control” in Zaporizhzhia following
concerns raised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Moscow and Kyiv have
repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear disaster by attacking the
site and have blamed each other for the latest power outage.
The Latest English LCCC analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources
on October
18-19/2025
What does the Bible mean when it says, “Do not judge, or you too will be
judged” (Matthew 7:1).
GotQuestions site/October 18/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/10/148307/
Answer: Jesus’ command not to judge others could be the most widely quoted of
His sayings, even though it is almost invariably quoted in complete disregard of
its context. Here is Jesus’ statement: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”
(Matthew 7:1). Many people use this verse in an attempt to silence their
critics, interpreting Jesus’ meaning as “You don’t have the right to tell me I’m
wrong.” Taken in isolation, Jesus’ command “Do not judge” does indeed seem to
preclude all negative assessments. However, there is much more to the passage
than those three words.
The Bible’s command that we not judge others does not mean we cannot show
discernment. Immediately after Jesus says, “Do not judge,” He says, “Do not give
dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs” (Matthew 7:6). A little
later in the same sermon, He says, “Watch out for false prophets. . . . By their
fruit you will recognize them” (verses 15–16). How are we to discern who are the
“dogs” and “pigs” and “false prophets” unless we have the ability to make a
judgment call on doctrines and deeds? Jesus is giving us permission to tell
right from wrong.
Also, the Bible’s command that we not judge others does not mean all actions are
equally moral or that truth is relative. The Bible clearly teaches that truth is
objective, eternal, and inseparable from God’s character. Anything that
contradicts the truth is a lie—but, of course, to call something a “lie” is to
pass judgment. To call adultery or murder a sin is likewise to pass judgment—but
it’s also to agree with God. When Jesus said not to judge others, He did not
mean that no one can identify sin for what it is, based on God’s definition of
sin.
And the Bible’s command that we not judge others does not mean there should be
no mechanism for dealing with sin. The Bible has a whole book entitled Judges.
The judges in the Old Testament were raised up by God Himself (Judges 2:18). The
modern judicial system, including its judges, is a necessary part of society. In
saying, “Do not judge,” Jesus was not saying, “Anything goes.”
Elsewhere, Jesus gives a direct command to judge: “Stop judging by mere
appearances, but instead judge correctly” (John 7:24). Here we have a clue as to
the right type of judgment versus the wrong type. Taking this verse and some
others, we can put together a description of the sinful type of judgment:
Superficial judgment is wrong. Passing judgment on someone based solely on
appearances is sinful (John 7:24). It is foolish to jump to conclusions before
investigating the facts (Proverbs 18:13). Simon the Pharisee passed judgment on
a woman based on her appearance and reputation, but he could not see that the
woman had been forgiven; Simon thus drew Jesus’ rebuke for his unrighteous
judgment (Luke 7:36–50).
Hypocritical judgment is wrong. Jesus’ command not to judge others in Matthew
7:1 is preceded by comparisons to hypocrites (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16) and followed
by a warning against hypocrisy (Matthew 7:3–5). When we point out the sin of
others while we ourselves commit the same sin, we condemn ourselves (Romans
2:1).
Harsh, unforgiving judgment is wrong. We are “always to be gentle toward
everyone” (Titus 3:2). It is the merciful who will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7),
and, as Jesus warned, “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and
with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2).
Self-righteous judgment is wrong. We are called to humility, and “God opposes
the proud” (James 4:6). In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector,
the Pharisee was confident in his own righteousness and from that proud position
judged the publican; however, God sees the heart and refused to forgive the
Pharisee’s sin (Luke 18:9–14).
Untrue judgment is wrong. The Bible clearly forbids bearing false witness
(Proverbs 19:5). “Slander no one” (Titus 3:2).
Christians are often accused of “judging” or intolerance when they speak out
against sin. But opposing sin is not wrong. Holding aloft the standard of
righteousness naturally defines unrighteousness and draws the slings and arrows
of those who choose sin over godliness. John the Baptist incurred the ire of
Herodias when he spoke out against her adultery with Herod (Mark 6:18–19). She
eventually silenced John, but she could not silence the truth (Isaiah 40:8).
Believers are warned against judging others unfairly or unrighteously, but Jesus
commends “right judgment” (John 7:24, ESV). We are to be discerning (Colossians
1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). We are to preach the whole counsel of God, including
the Bible’s teaching on sin (Acts 20:27; 2 Timothy 4:2). We are to gently
confront erring brothers or sisters in Christ (Galatians 6:1). We are to
practice church discipline (Matthew 18:15–17). We are to speak the truth in love
(Ephesians 4:15).
Europe Has Apparently Learned Nothing
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October
18, 2025
Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging
in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran's
rapacious ambitions.
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), acting as the European Troika,
declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with
Iran.
At the core of the E3's plan lies the deeply flawed assumption that Iran can be
wooed into restraint through incremental "incentives." These generally consist
of easing financial pressure, lifting trade restrictions, or delaying
multilateral sanctions in exchange for ephemeral commitments.
Sadly, Europe appears to be pursuing the worst lessons of appeasement: the
dangerous illusion is that you can temper a ravenous aggressor by conciliation,
weakness and generosity. The aggressor immediately sees that the best route for
him is to demand more. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing.
By treating the Iranian regime as a legitimate negotiating partner — and by
discounting the moral and strategic gulf that separates it from liberal
democracies — Europe is bankrolling the terrorism industry.
President Donald J. Trump's current posture — doubling down on sanctions,
refusing immediate diplomacy until leverage is secured — should jolt Europe out
of its passivity.
The European Troika's charade must stop. Anything less just prolongs the threat.
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have declared their intention to revive
the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran. Once again, Europe seems to
have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging in polite diplomatic
parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran's rapacious ambitions.
Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging
in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran's
rapacious ambitions.
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), acting as the European Troika,
declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with
Iran. In a joint statement, they pledged to "reopen a path toward a
comprehensive, lasting, and verifiable agreement."
This is the same play we have seen before: bold headlines, carefully phrased
commitments, and the faint hope that seduction can substitute for strength.
Unfortunately, these gestures always carry a hidden cost. Once the diplomatic
machinery is set in motion, we soon hear about sanctions relief, softening of UN
mandates, and felicitous loopholes to reintegrate the Iranian regime into global
markets. What begins as promise too often ends as reward for terrible behavior
and a prelude to even more.
At the core of the E3's plan lies the deeply flawed assumption that Iran can be
wooed into restraint through incremental "incentives." These generally consist
of easing financial pressure, lifting trade restrictions, or delaying
multilateral sanctions in exchange for ephemeral commitments. That path amounts
to legitimizing the regime by granting it breathing room, access to resources,
and a veneer of normalcy it does not merit.
When European officials talk about reopening "verifiable" safeguards or
restoring frozen assets, they always seem to forget who is sitting across the
table. The Iranian regime executes dissidents, imprisons journalists, traffics
in terrorism, and crushes not only women's rights but also any protests against
this abuse. The Iranian regime is not a pitiable, misunderstood actor in need of
trust, but a malignant force that uses every opening to expand its power.
Europe's diplomatic overtures risk becoming a balm for that evil — not a
deterrent.
If the EU persists in re-embarking on this flawed strategy, it is important to
ask: Will these feckless Western negotiators ever internalize the lessons of
history? The 2015 JCPOA "nuclear deal" was hardly an abstraction — it is the
blueprint for what happens when a regime gets the keys to its own treasury.
Under that deal, Iran received billions in sanctions relief, which it promptly
diverted to its regional militias and proxy networks. Iran bolstered Hezbollah,
sharpened its militias in Iraq and Syria, and channeled arms to Hamas. Those are
the forces that play a central role in destabilizing the region.
President Barack Obama's and President Joe Biden's windfalls only empowered the
networks that produced the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre. Are European leaders
so eager to believe that Iran will behave differently this time? Or are they so
eager for money, photo-ops and short-term press releases from Iran that they do
not care?
The ghosts of the 1930s should haunt any serious diplomat — when appeasement
toward Nazi Germany only propelled Hitler further. Sadly, Europe appears to be
pursuing the worst lessons of appeasement: the dangerous illusion is that you
can temper a ravenous aggressor by conciliation, weakness and generosity. The
aggressor immediately sees that the best route for him is to demand more. The
cycle becomes self-reinforcing.
The strategy is familiar: in every case, the aggressor uses any breathing space
to strengthen his hand. By treating the Iranian regime as a legitimate
negotiating partner — and by discounting the moral and strategic gulf that
separates it from liberal democracies — Europe is bankrolling the terrorism
industry.
Instead, Europe needs to deepen financial sanctions on Iran, choke off its
energy revenue flows, crack down on its banking access, and tighten restrictions
on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its global networks.
Iran's economy is currently under severe pressure, and internal dissatisfaction
simmers. The regime is reeling. This is when the West should increase pressure,
not suggest soft diplomacy and friendly talks. It would be a gift to the people
of Iran to pressure the regime until the threats of nuclear weapons and
ballistic missiles disappear entirely or until the regime decides to surrender
power.
Cut Iran's oil exports. Cut its diplomatic cover. Reduce its ability to spread
terrorism. Do not grant it breathing room. The goal should be total
dismantlement of all of Iran's nuclear capabilities — not a face-saving
compromise that allows it to persist in its malign path, just under new rules
that it will not adhere to anyway.
President Donald J. Trump's current posture — doubling down on sanctions,
refusing immediate diplomacy until leverage is secured — should jolt Europe out
of its passivity. His leadership has shown that pressure can be maintained.
Europe nevertheless seems intent on returning to its old script: talk first,
pressure later – if ever. The pattern is always the same: Crisis, offers to
negotiate, pressure is lifted, the regime reconstitutes, next crisis. If Europe
cannot break this cycle, it will forever play the fool. The only way to end this
game is to finish it once and for all. If the EU cannot summon the will to be
strong when the regime is weak, then it is causing the next act of aggression.
European leaders, stop treating Iran's regime as if it were a partner. Stop
giving it diplomatic cover. No further bailouts. No symbolic talks. No
concessions. More pressure.
The European Troika's charade must stop. Anything less just prolongs the threat.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and
board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on
the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
**Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter)
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21995/iran-europe-learned-nothing
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
Some Reflections on Two Years of War in Gaza
Jonathan Spyer/Australian/October 18/2025
At the Gama Junction, a few kilometers from the Gaza border, I met Gadi Mozes.
Among the crowd of people waiting to greet the convoy bearing the last 13 of the
living Israeli hostages from Gaza. Gadi, who is 80 years old, is a member of
Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was standing amid a group of residents of the kibbutz. They
had a banner bearing the name of their community and a Hebrew message saying “We
aren’t tired – we are the pavers of the path.”
Tiny Nir Oz was the community perhaps hardest hit of all in the massacres of
October 7. 47 of its 400 residents were killed on that day, and another 76 taken
hostage. Gadi’s long term partner, Efrat Katz, was among those murdered. Gadi
was held as a hostage for 482 days, most of it in solitary confinement, by
Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He met my gaze steadily when I approached him after
recognizing him, and politely declined to be interviewed. “You can photograph
me, though,” he said, so I did. I was lucky because Gadi’s son made a joke just
before I pressed the shutter, so he’s smiling warmly in the photograph. That
isn’t what he looks like most of the time. Mostly, there was that unreachable
gravity about him that people who have suffered the unimaginable often have.
A few minutes later, the convoy bringing the 13 hostages came down the road. The
shouting was unexpectedly loud. I stood at the front to get a clear line for
photographing, so I couldn’t see people for a moment, and it was like a great
wave of sound behind me. A sort of wall of cheering and applause. “Youre
heroes,” someone called out. It was over quickly and the convoy moved on, on its
way to Tel Aviv. It occurred to me that we had just witnessed the last act of
the two year war between Israel and Hamas.
It affected me more than I had expected. Perhaps it was the ride down from
Jerusalem, and the point at which we entered what I think of, like Paul Simon
says in ‘Graceland’ as the cradle of the war. The names, once just nondescript
Hebrew locations, have now become signifiers of something monumental and somber,
that is already solidifying into history. One after another. Kibbutz Beeri, the
scene of one of the most terrible massacres. And then Alumim, which the Hamas
men failed to enter. A desperate attack by a few self-mobilized men from the air
force commandos held them up, and bought time. One of the commandos, who was
killed in that fight, was Ido Rosenthal, a relative of some good friends of mine
from Jerusalem. I remembered him from when we were younger. A preternaturally
calm man, with the unmistakable look of an elite fighter, and no interest
whatsoever in making a thing out of it. Except when it mattered.
And then, further south, the site of the Nova festival. This has already become
a kind of shrine. There are portraits and little messages about many of the
people killed there, all arranged in what was the main dancing area of the
festival, where much of the slaughter took place. Mainly you’re struck by how
impossibly young they all were. Some of the messages have a kind of sweetly
exhortary tone which for those who know the country well is immediately
identifiable as quintessentially Israeli. Not the Israeliness that gets talked
about and that people think they know, but another element. The memorial for Dor
Hanan Shafir, for example, exhorts the reader to “do good deeds, which were
characteristic of Dor, in his memory: 1. Check in on a friend, especially if
they are going through a tough time. 2. Complete tasks fully. 3. Honor your
parents.” Shafir, who was 30, and his fiancée Savyon were both murdered at the
Nova site.
The arrival of the last 13 living hostages to Israel effectively brings the
curtain down on the war that the massacres of October 7 initiated.
The conflict has been of monumental dimensions. Western coverage has
concentrated on Gaza, and on the plight of its civilian population. At its
height, however, in the 15 month period between April 2024 and July 2025, this
was a region-wide, state to state conflict. Gaza was the spark that ignited it.
The narrow coastal strip then formed a single front within the larger picture,
before returning to be the sole arena of combat in the final months. The region
wide conflict came about because of the alliance system of which Hamas was and
is a part, namely the group of states and movements aligned with and supported
by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The most immediately striking outcome of the
war is the very significant weakening of this alliance, though not yet its
destruction.
Evidence which has emerged since October 7 suggests that the attacks were not
part of a coordinated effort by Iran and its allies. Rather, Hamas leader Yahya
Sinwar chose to act alone. So from Hamas’s point of view, October 7 was
something of a leap in the dark. A handwritten document authored by Sinwar and
recovered by the IDF during the fighting in Gaza indicates that the Hamas leader
expected, without knowing for sure, that bold action by his movement would
launch a much wider regional conflagration. It also appears that he expected
that the attacks would trigger a wider uprising west of the Jordan River,
bringing in both West Bank Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel.
A passage from the document reads “There may be indications of enemy collapse
already at the outset, and the movements of our people “inside” in Jerusalem and
the West Bank, as well as Hezbollah’s attack, may encourage this. Therefore, we
must be prepared to expand the attack to the maximum.” Elsewhere, Sinwar writes
of the need for images “which will trigger a surge of euphoria, frenzy, and
momentum among our people, especially among the residents of the West Bank, the
“internal” [Israeli Arabs], Jerusalem, and our entire Islamic nation.”
Sinwar got his images, all right, but they didn’t produce the results he
expected, or hoped for. In the event, there was no joining of the fray by Arab
Israelis or Arab Jerusalemites, or West Bank Palestinians. The Hamas leader’s
hope wasn’t absurd. In the events of May, 2021, there had been some stirrings in
these areas in sympathy with Gaza and the supposed defence of Al Aqsa Mosque.
But not this time.
The regional response, Sinwar’s ‘Hizballah attack’ did come, but it came late,
and piecemeal. This appears to have been the product of the Hamas leaders’
decision to go it alone, without seeking the prior assent or approval of their
allies. This left the allies in the position of either being seen to desert Gaza
in its hour of need, or risking entry into a major war with Israel before they
were completely ready (ie mainly before Iran had gone nuclear, but also before
their various assets and forces had reached the needed levels of capacity and
power).
The result: Iran and its allies tried to split the difference, entering the war,
but not, they hoped, to a level that would bring down major Israeli retribution.
They also seem to have failed to coordinate their response. The result was that
Israel was able to focus on each of the component parts in turn, rather than
being forced to deal with all of them simultaneously.
Hizballah in Lebanon entered the war as early as October 8. Israel responded
defensively for a year, even as 70,000 Israelis were forced to leave their homes
in the north. A major operation began against the organization in September,
2024 and by the end of the year Hizballah was pulverized, its leadership dead,
with the IDF deployed in five outposts north of the border.
The Yemeni Ansar Allah (Houthis) organisation began its attacks on Israel on
October 19, 2023. The Houthis achieved their main successes, however, against
international shipping on the Gulf of Aden-Red Sea route. They hardly penetrated
Israeli airspace. Israel, in response, destroyed large swathes of infrastructure
in the Houthi controlled part of Yemen, killing also the Houthis’ prime minister
and a large part of his Cabinet.
Iran itself chose to enter the war in April, 2025, with a ballistic missile and
drone attack on Israel, repeated in October of that year. Israel’s major
response came in June, 2025, in coordination with the US, causing massive damage
to Iran’s nuclear sites, destroying its air defenses and killing a number of
senior officials, before Teheran accepted a ceasefire.
In a historically significant by-product of the weakening of the Iran-led axis,
the weakened Assad regime in Syria was finally over-run in December 2024 by the
Islamist insurgency under way against it since 2012.
Finally, with the war once more reduced to a single front, Hamas in October 2025
agreed to a ceasefire which would include the release of all Israeli hostages,
while leaving Israel in control of part of Gaza.
From this quick tour, it’s plain that the main result of Sinwar’s decision to
launch the October 7 attacks has been the decimation of the area he controlled,
and the profound weakening of the alliance of which he was part.
In the specific context of Gaza, however, Israel has not achieved a complete
victory. Hamas is already re-emerging in the 47% of the Strip from which the IDF
has withdrawn. The organisation still musters somewhere around 20,000 fighters.
The clan based Palestinian militias operating in cooperation with Israel will
seek to stand against them. This means that the reassertion of de facto control
in part of Gaza by Hamas, or renewed strife as other elements seek to prevent
this looks likely. The ‘International Stabilisation Force’ envisaged by
President Donald Trump’s plan does not yet exist. In the meantime, other forces
will fight in the vacuum. Hamas has not surrendered or disarmed, and will not do
so of its own free will. This matter remains to be settled.
So the outcome of the war on the ground, across the region, is very favourable
for Israel. The country, its defence forces and its civil society recovered
quickly from the shock of October 7, re-sealed the border, and went on to
deliver crushing, tho not yet terminal blows against a regional axis arrayed
against them. That’s the way it looks from the Middle East, where hard power and
its uses are understood by both friend and foe.
On the diplomatic and international stage, the picture is different. Western
media coverage concentrated on Gaza throughout the war. The framing of the
coverage often, somewhat surreally, depicted events as a kind of senseless
assault by Israel on a civilian population. This picture bears no resemblance to
the truth. Israel’s Gaza operations in many of their details and in their
results resembled the global coalition’s war against the Islamic State. I say
that not as a passive observer, but as a correspondent who covered both those
wars on many occasions from the front lines.
But the extent to which this false depiction has penetrated large swathes of
public consciousness in the west gives reason for pause. The crowds of thousands
in western capitals calling for the destruction of Israel, and the strong
support afforded those crowds by powerful political forces up to and including
governments in the west, and up to and including rewarding Hamas with
recognition of a Palestinian state, all form troubling elements of the picture
of the last two years.
There is a point at which this shades into the area of the intangible. Why does
a disproportionate, furious anger against the Jews seem to re-surface, in
altered form, generation after generation? But there is also something deeply
tangible here. It is the growth of Islamist political power, as a result of
ideological currents and demographic changes, in a series of western countries.
This phenomenon, and its alliance with a part of the political left, lies behind
these developments in the west. Israel needs, and has lacked, a diplomatic and
political strategy for addressing these matters. Perhaps, now there is time,
such a strategy may be assembled.
The rise of anti Israel and anti Jewish sentiment in the west, the emergence of
Hamas as a force, and the Iran-led alliance are ultimately products of the same
source. This source is the revolutionary political Islam which has erupted to
prominence over the last half century. When seen from this point of view, it is
clear that the root cause that led to the October 7 massacres has not yet been
vanquished, even if some of its manifestations have been severely weakened. So
there are undoubtedly many chapters to come. But this is a chapter now
concluded, with considerable success and achievement, from the Israeli point of
view.
The day the last hostages came home was the festival of Simchat Torah. Two years
exactly in the Jewish calendar from the day of the massacres in 2023. The first
day of the war, and its last. I came home from reporting on the Gaza border to
my neighborhood in Jerusalem. At the local corner store, Max, the owner, a
veteran immigrant from Kharkov in Ukraine was giving out free drinks of some
powerful smelling spirit, poured in plastic cups, to his customers. “My father’s
moonshine,” he answered, when I asked what it was. “He makes it out of sugar,
with aniseed, and a bit of ginger.” I drank a shot of it and departed. Further
down the road, at one of the neighborhood synagogues, I watched through the
window for a while as the young, black bearded Rabbi and some of his congregants
danced with the Torah scrolls, in the brightly lit room, as is customary on this
festival. I remembered a time, a few days after October 7, 2023, when this rabbi
and I had taken part in a hurried meeting at an apartment in the neighborhood.
The meeting was about efforts to form an emergency response unit, in case the
late Yahya Sinwar’s vision of inter-communal war began to look like coming true
in our seam-line neighborhood of Jerusalem. They were looking for people with
the right military background, to register a local unit of this kind. After the
meeting, the rabbi and I and four or five others had walked around the
neighborhood, mapping out places where such a unit might deploy in the event
that an October 7 type attack erupted here. I remember the urgency and the
strangeness of it all. Two years later, almost to the day, the rabbi is dancing
with his Torah scroll, and I’m drinking Max’s father’s homemade vodka. There
will be further chapters to be written in this, no doubt. Good that this one’s
over, anyway.
Sharaa’s visit to Moscow
Amjad Ismail Agha/The Arab Weekly/October 18/2025
The visit hardly reflects real shifts in policy or strategy, nor does it go
beyond the scope of traditional bilateral relations in the context of Syria’s
precarious situation. Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to Moscow cannot be considered a
strategic event in the context of the current Syrian context, nor does it
reflect a pivotal shift or transformation in the region. This is because the
situation in Syria is subject to a complex internal dynamic, with the new rulers
in Damascus, represented by Sharaa, still face a major challenge imposing their
domestic legitimacy. As a result, Sharaa’s visit is more symbolic than
practical. It is part of the new government’s attempts to highlight its
diplomatic presence and secure some form of international recognition,
particularly from Russia, which was a pivotal ally of the former Assad regime.
However, the visit hardly reflects real shifts in policy or strategy, nor does
it go beyond the scope of traditional bilateral relations in the context of
Syria’s precarious situation. In fact, domestic Syrian issues today hold
absolute priority, as ongoing internal conflicts and challenges will determine
internal legitimacy and the possibility establishing a solid system that
reshapes the Syrian state after years of war and division. Moreover, the
circumstances surrounding the visit indicate that it comes at a time of decline
in Russia’s previous role, as Moscow itself reassesses its means of intervention
and influence in Syria. This means that Sharaa’s meetings with Putin did not
offer a venue to reformulate key strategies, but rather merely an occasion to
reach agreements on specific issues without ever transcending the boundaries of
immediate mutual interests.
While it is true that the Moscow visit had some symbolic weight, it cannot be
considered a truly significant turning point that could reshape the Syrian
landscape, internally or externally. From the perspective of the new
transitional authorities, the visit is an important step towards seeking
international legitimacy. Cooperation with Moscow requires recalibrating
relations on new foundations. However, this cooperation will remain limited in
impact unless it produces tangible results at the Syrian domestic level with
repercussions on the economy, security, and the strengthening of national
institutions.
Herein lies another dilemma for the regime: If the success of the visit is
measured by its impact on domestic legitimacy and its ability to address
pressing national issues, the new government’s true legitimacy cannot be built
on strong external relations.
Rather, it must stem from building deep internal trust among the various
components of Syrian society and its ability to resolve the national crisis at
its roots, based on clear national principles. The absence of this internal
legitimacy means that any external support, no matter how substantial or
qualitative, will be insufficient. The fundamental challenge for the new Syrian
leadership, currently headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, does not simply consist in
achieving harmony or resetting relations with Moscow as an influential and
decisive international player in Syria. Rather, it is putting on track a
comprehensive national construction process to re-establish the Syrian state
from within on new foundations. This requires anchoring a solid system at home
capable of overcoming the deep divisions left by long years of conflict with
sectarian, ethnic, political and security dimensions.
In this sense, it is essential that the primary goal of this transitional
government be to create an inclusive political framework that ensures genuine
participation by all components of Syrian society in the political process,
while strengthening internal national legitimacy based on justice,
reconciliation, and consensus on the principles of the new state’s leadership
and administration. In other words, when the Syrian regime lacks political and
popular cohesion at home, any external support, no matter how substantial, will
have no major effect in rebuilding Syria as a sovereign state with strong and
viable institutions.
**Amjad Ismail Agha is a Syrian writer.
Washington’s clear signal on the Sahara issue
Said Temsamani/The Arab Weekly/October 18/2025
In an era when US foreign policy often appears reactive, Washington’s
consistency on this issue stands out.
When Massad Boulos, special advisor to the US president for Africa, recently
spoke about the Moroccan Sahara, his words carried more than diplomatic weight,
they reflected a deeper shift in American strategic thinking toward North
Africa. In reaffirming Washington’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty and
calling the autonomy plan “the only basis for a just and lasting solution,”
Boulos was not simply restating old policy. He was clarifying the trajectory of
US engagement in a region whose stability has become increasingly central to
global security.
During his interview with Acharq, Boulos did not hedge his language. Referring
to the territory as “Morocco’s Sahara,” he invoked the recognition first made by
President Donald Trump in December 2020, a decision the current administration
has quietly, but firmly, upheld. The announcement that Washington plans to open
a consulate in Dakhla, one of Morocco’s southern cities, adds substance to that
stance. It suggests that the United States intends to move beyond symbolic
support and toward a more concrete presence on the ground.
In an era when US foreign policy often appears reactive, Washington’s
consistency on this issue stands out. The region that stretches from the
Mediterranean to the Sahel is increasingly volatile, a crossroads of terrorism,
migration and geopolitical rivalry. Yet Morocco has remained a rare pillar of
stability, an ally with both institutional depth and a credible vision for
regional integration.
By reaffirming support for the Moroccan autonomy plan, the US is also signalling
something larger: a belief that durable peace in North Africa will not come from
frozen UN negotiations or maximalist claims, but from pragmatic arrangements
rooted in local governance and shared prosperity.
Boulos also hinted at growing coordination between the US and several European
partners in search of a “final and consensual solution” at the United Nations.
Behind the scenes, this reflects a quiet but significant diplomatic convergence.
European governments, from Madrid to Berlin, have begun to align with Morocco’s
position, acknowledging the autonomy plan as the most realistic path forward.
That alignment is not driven by sentiment but by necessity. Europe’s southern
border is under growing pressure from irregular migration, jihadist instability
in the Sahel and the ripple effects of global energy and food crises. In this
context, Morocco’s political stability and security cooperation have become
indispensable. Boulos’ reference to King Mohammed VI’s recent Throne Day speech
was also revealing. The king’s message, reaffirming Morocco’s commitment to
dialogue and its “extended hand” toward Algeria, stood in sharp contrast to the
region’s prevailing tensions. Washington appears to recognise this posture for
what it is: a strategic offer of regional partnership rather than confrontation.
That tone of statesmanship has helped Morocco build enduring credibility with
both African and Western partners. Its approach to the Sahara, combining local
development, decentralisation and international engagement, increasingly looks
like a template for conflict resolution in an era when traditional diplomacy
often fails to deliver. As the UN Security Council prepares to revisit the
Sahara issue, Washington’s renewed clarity could prove decisive. The message is
straightforward: the time for endless procedural debate is over. What is needed
now is a definitive, mutually-accepted political settlement, one that secures
the rights of local populations while reinforcing regional security. For the
United States, reaffirming this position is not just about supporting an ally.
It is about defending a vision of order in a region where uncertainty has become
the norm. In choosing to double down on Morocco’s autonomy plan, Washington is
betting on stability, partnership, and progress and, just possibly, on the
emergence of a new model for peace in North Africa.
**Said Temsamani is a Moroccan political analyst focusing on diplomacy,
governance and international affairs.
Humanity and the Prospects of a New Social Contract
Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 18/2025
Many theories of the social contract and natural rights were developed between
the 17th and 18th centuries. The most famous among the theorists behind them
include Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and, later, Immanuel
Kant. Each of them, in his own way, sought to resolve the problem of political
authority. The central premise of the “social contract” theory is that law and
political order are not natural phenomena but human constructs. Accordingly, the
social contract (and the political system it gives rise to) is a means toward an
end: the well-being of the people who are bound by it.
The contract remains legitimate only so long as those involved uphold their
mutual commitments. Does the current moment call for a new social contract - one
suited to what the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) famously
called “the time of monsters”?
An overwhelming sense of disappointment has prevailed across the world.
Successive national social contracts have broken down, and the international
order is growing increasingly frail, raising the alarming prospect of a
collapse. This state of affairs urges us to develop a new global social contract
grounded in progress, anchored in security and stability, veering toward the
refinement of nations and the cultivation of peoples, and guided by a belief
that we have a shared destiny.
However, what the Scottish moral philosopher and economist Adam Smith
(1723–1790) once called the “circles of sympathy” that produce a cooperative
rather than a conflictual society seem distant.
Successive crises have revealed the pressing need for a genuine global social
contract over the past five years. They began with the COVID-19 pandemic, which
exposed our fragility and revealed the dangers of neglecting underfunded health
systems, gaps in social protection, and deep structural inequalities within
societies. Our world is languishing under the weight of inequality and the
shadow of historical injustices and political colonial legacies; some are the
result of patriarchal power structures, others of the digital divide.
The need for a new contract grows ever stronger, especially in Gramsci’s time of
monsters. Our current challenges are not familiar, nor even unpacked by the
ancients.
Take, for instance, the ecological question. Our blue planet now stands on the
brink of extinction, as the danger has surpassed the stage of mere global
warming and entered an era of boiling. The entire future of planet Earth has now
become uncertain.
Tragically, the world’s major powers, chief among them the United States,
believe that the alarm around climate change is exaggerated, even a big lie.
Meanwhile, China continues down the path of carbon-based energy, leaving
humanity to its fate.
One of Gramsci’s “monsters” threatening the old world order (without the
capacity to generate an alternative), economic peril stands out. Many now expect
a global financial collapse and a worldwide depression worse than that of the
1930s. One need only contemplate the state of global debt, especially that of
the US. Another of Gramsci’s monsters that call for a new social contract is the
resurgence of nationalism and populism, both synonyms for the exclusion and
isolation of “the other,” as well as the notion that the planet’s resources
cannot sustain us all.
There is, in fact, a strong inverse correlation between levels of development
and prosperity on the one hand, and the movements of right-wing fundamentalism
rejecting immigration and cultural globalization on the other. When people feel
insecure in their own countries, they turn inward out of fear of competition.
Divided and anxious societies become fertile ground for populism, nationalism,
selfishness, and individualism. Conversely, when the earth flourishes and yields
abundance, it becomes easy for nations, peoples, and tribes to show generosity
toward the deprived - both at home and abroad.
Are there other factors that urge us to develop a new, modern social contract?
Those who listened to President Trump’s recent speech to the generals in
Virginia, and his remarks on the trillion-dollar US military budget, cannot help
but conclude that the world is on the cusp of a senseless arms race worse than
that of the Cold War era.
What is both alarming and extraordinary is the introduction of new players such
as China, which is seeking to build a land-based nuclear arsenal, as well as
aspiring to join Russia and the United States in the militarization of outer
space.
One question demands a discussion of its own: artificial intelligence. Sam
Altman, founder and CEO of OpenAI, has written about the urgent need for a new
social contract because the basic conditions of humanity, and the state of
humankind itself, are irreversibly transformed.
Selected English Tweets from X Platform For
18
October/2025
Pope Leo XIV
Dear Roma, Sinti, and Traveller brothers and sisters, you can be
living witnesses of three essential truths: to trust in God alone, to cling to
no worldly good, and to show an exemplary faith through your deeds and words.
Living in this way is not easy. It is learned by receiving God’s blessing and
allowing Him to transform our hearts. #Jubilee2025
Eastern christians
https://x.com/i/status/1979472520832045425
h joy. Jesus died for us, and now we rise for Him. Over 5,000 youth gathered in
prayer and praise, proclaiming that Jesus is enough. The Pioneers of the Virgin
Mary are shaping Lebanon’s faith with love and devotion.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
For every action there is a reaction. As the Democratic Party turns more
Islamist, the Republican Party will become more Christian nationalist. Do the
math: Democrats will win a few big cities and districts, the Republicans will
win the rest, including all branches of the federal government. Democrats are
such in a bad shape for midterm elections, which is theirs to lose, that they’re
working on gerrymandering California to make up the difference (justifying by
“they Texas are doing it too”).
Europe is going down the same road.
If you think the West is “waking up” and turning against Israel, think again.
Don’t let the noisy mob and winning minor election victories distort the picture
for you. When all is said and done, Israel will remain the West’s top ally, and
Palestine will remain anti-Western, whether Nazi, Soviet or Islamist.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Lebanese "Hezbollah Light" MP proclaims herself an expert on Zionism, comparing
Jabotinsky to Ben-Gurion and urging Lebanese unity against Israel, the "alien
enemy" threatening Lebanon's very existence. But she ignores Hezbollah's
violations of the Lebanese constitution, UN Security Council resolutions, and
Lebanon's commitments to the Cessation of Hostilities with Israel. Her expertise
focuses on Zionism but overlooks Hezbollah lethal threat to Lebanon's existence.
She deflects by calling for unity against Israel, never addressing domestic
problems.
With nonsense like this, Lebanon is doomed.
Zéna Mansour
Defending identity rights and existence is a legitimate right. This call
highlights the need to improve the political, constitutional, and socioeconomic
situation of Maronites and Christians and change the downward trajectory of the
population.