English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  September 07/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2025/english.September07.25.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006 

Click On The Below Link To Join Elias Bejjaninews whatsapp group
https://chat.whatsapp.com/FPF0N7lE5S484LNaSm0MjW

اضغط على الرابط في أعلى للإنضمام لكروب Eliasbejjaninews whatsapp group

Elias Bejjani/Click on the below link to subscribe to my youtube channel
الياس بجاني/اضغط على الرابط في أسفل للإشتراك في موقعي ع اليوتيوب
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAOOSioLh1GE3C1hp63Camw

Bible Quotations For today
We speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts
First Letter to the Thessalonians 02/01-13/:”You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. You remember our labour and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was towards you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you should lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.”.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 06-07/2025
The Cabinet’s Failure to Adopt a Timeline for Disarming Hezbollah…A Big Difference Between “Welcomed” and “Approved”/Elias Bejjani/September 05/2025
Hezbollah’s Sanctification of Its Weapons Is Idolatry… Worshiping a God of Iron Destined to Rust/Elias Bejjani/September 04/2025
Hezbollah says Lebanon move on army plan is 'opportunity,' urges Israel to commit to ceasefire
Hezbollah MP vows group will not surrender its weapons
Berri says army's weapons monopoly plan 'preserves civil peace'
Details of army's weapons monopolization plan emerge
Hezbollah's Qmati says govt. statement an 'opportunity to return to wisdom'
Report: Cabinet's statement result of Aoun-Berri agreement
A win for stability: Lebanon steps away from civil strife
Lebanese President urges US to pressure Israel on withdrawal
Lebanese Minister Kamal Chehadeh outlines army's five-phase disarmament plan
France welcomes Lebanon's plan to place all weapons under state control
Arms collection roadmap: Lebanese Army maps out multi-stage disarmament plan—Key phases
UNIFIL launches education support project in South Lebanon
Link to a text & Video documentary fro the ... BBC Investigation Reveals Potential First Clue in the Case of Imam al-Sadr's Disappearance

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 06-07/2025
Israel calls on famine-stricken Gaza City residents to leave as it targets high-rises
Arab bloc says no peace without end to ‘hostile’ Israel actions
Gaza aid flotilla from Tunisia delayed
Egypt says describing displacement of Palestinians as voluntary is ‘nonsense’
UAE, Jordan, Arab Parliament condemn Israeli calls for displacement of Palestinians
Palestinian Ministry of Justice condemns US sanctions on rights groups
Israel army urges Gaza City residents to leave for ‘humanitarian zone’
Turkey denies role in alleged plot to assassinate Israeli Minister Ben Gvir
UK police arrest dozens at latest protest for banned Palestine Action
Iraq moves to revive Syrian export route, expand refining capacity
Turkiye opposition calls extraordinary congress for Sept 21
Displaced Bedouin families in limbo as Syrian government and Druze authorities remain at odds
’Trump’s legacy crumbles’, Israelis call on US President to end Gaza war
US President Trump says more Gaza hostages may be dead
How war’s hidden weapons endanger culture and communities from Syria to Ukraine

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 06-07/2025
From Sydney to Buenos Aires: Iran's Global Terror Campaign/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 06/2025
Question: “What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)?”/GotQuestions.org/September 06/2025
Israel and the Houthis Are Entering a Dangerous Escalation Cycle/April Longley Alley/Washington Institute/September 05/2025
Iran’s Nuclear Reconstitution Options/Richard Nephew//Washington Institute/September 04/2025
Algeria has become the primary enforcer of Europe’s southern frontier/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/September 06, 2025
Blackmailing Egypt and Jordan/Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Alarabiya English/September 06/2025
Slected X tweets For September 06/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 06-07/2025
The Cabinet’s Failure to Adopt a Timeline for Disarming Hezbollah…A Big Difference Between “Welcomed” and “Approved”
Elias Bejjani/September 05/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147031/
Clearly, the Lebanese Cabinet has failed in dealing with the Lebanese Army’s plan, which—constitutionally, and in accordance with international resolutions and the ceasefire agreement—was supposed to set a timeline for the withdrawal, dismantling, or surrender of Hezbollah’s weapons and all other illegal arms to the state before the end of the current year.
In a deceitful linguistic maneuver, the government used the term “welcomed” the army’s plan, instead of saying “approved” it, while the plan itself was kept secret, with no dates set for implementation. All that was agreed upon was that the army would present a monthly report to the Cabinet about its progress on the plan’s provisions. This is very similar to the way  to the chronic Lebanese judicial and parliament's heresy in referring certain case to committees for endless study.
Simply put, what happened today is nothing but a scandal, a dilution, a cover-up, and outright submission to the thuggery of Nabih Berri and the bullying of Hezbollah, leaving the militia-state in control of the state. The most absurd part of the Cabinet’s decisions was linking the implementation of the Barrak-Lebanese plan to the approval of both Israel and Syria.
The fact remains: if the government, backed by the president, is truly serious about reclaiming the state from the militia-mini state and liberating the Shiite community from its Iranian captor and its local Trojan agents, then the immediate requirement is the dismissal of Iran’s five Shiite ministers from the government and the appointment of free Lebanese Shiite ministers instead.
As for the so-called “king” Shiite minister, Fadi Maki, he must be dismissed immediately, as he is a coward, submissive, and spineless. He failed to take a courageous national stance to liberate his community from Iranian domination, hiding behind excuses that only confirm his cowardice and fear.
In conclusion, Lebanon must put an end to Nabih Berri’s theatrics and Hezbollah’s immorality and arrogance. The five pro-Iranian Shiite ministers must be immediately dismissed and replaced with free, truly Lebanese Shiite ministers—of whom the community has no shortage.

Hezbollah’s Sanctification of Its Weapons Is Idolatry… Worshiping a God of Iron Destined to Rust
Elias Bejjani/September 04/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/146998/
Hezbollah's transformation into idolatry
It is no longer hidden from anyone that what is called “Hezbollah” is no longer merely an armed militia or a military proxy of Iran, but has in its rhetoric and practices transformed into an idolatrous gang that sanctifies weapons made of iron and worships them as if they were a divine revelation. These weapons, which were deceitfully and falsely presented as a means to defend Lebanon, the resistance, liberate Palestine, and pray in Jerusalem have today become an end in themselves, a sacred text placed above the state and above human beings, to which obedience and loyalty are imposed—even at the cost of the Lebanese people’s lives, dignity, and future.
It is not surprising that such heresies come from a mafia-like gang that has mastered terrorism, crime, and assassinations, traded in every forbidden thing from drugs to money laundering, supported the criminal Assad regime, and carried out terrorist operations in Lebanon and dozens of other countries. Whoever practices this degree of violence and depravity, it is no wonder that he openly declares his blasphemy and denial of God, and boasts that his weapon is “sacred” and tied to the honor, pride, destiny, and very existence of his Lebanese Shiite community—whom, since 1982, has kidnapped and taken hostage, fighting with their youth and sacrificing them in terrorist operations and in Iran’s sectarian and expansionist wars.
Blasphemy and Heresy
This gang calls itself, in blasphemy and heresy, “Party of God,” and in boundless arrogance claims that its weapons are sacred—meaning it does not even understand the meaning of its own name—while worshiping weapons that are mere iron. And iron, no matter how long it lasts, will rust. What kind of god is this that Hezbollah worships, whose end is rust and inevitable extinction? The undeniable truth is that just as the ancient idols fell with their worshippers, this iron idol—these weapons—will also fall, and those who sanctify them will be defeated.
The Phenomenon of Weapon Sanctification in Political Discourse
Since Iran created Hezbollah in 1982, with the cooperation of Hafez al-Assad’s Baathist Syrian regime, It has transformed its weapons from an alleged means of defense into a “sacred end.” This heresy appeared in its ugliest forms in the speeches of this Iranian armed proxy leaders—most recently Sheikh Naim Qassem, who spoke of the weapons as though they were a revealed creed. Similarly, Nabih Berri, head of the Amal Movement and Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, in his most recent speech also leaned toward the same idolatry, elevating the weapons to the level of gods that must be sanctified and guarded with souls.
But the truth is that these weapons are nothing but iron. And iron, as science, history, and experience all attest, rusts. What kind of “god” is this that is worshiped, when it is destined for decay?
The Bible says: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything... You shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (Exodus 20:4–5).
And the Qur’an says: “Have you considered al-Lat and al-‘Uzza, and Manat, the third—the other?... They are nothing but names which you have named—you and your fathers—for which Allah has sent down no authority” (Al-Najm 19–23).
These texts clearly reveal that what Hezbollah is doing—sanctifying and worshiping a new idol called “weapons”—is idolatry.
The Consequences of This Sanctification on the Lebanese State
When a tool of war is transformed into a sacred text, political dialogue is abolished and the state is killed. The Lebanese citizen is asked to offer his water, electricity, medicine, and education as sacrifices upon the altar of iron. The state is no longer an end in itself, but merely a detail in service of a mafia-idolatrous project.
History delivers its stern judgment: “Every nation that sanctified its sword ended up burying itself with it.”
The Relationship Between Hezbollah and Iran and Its Influence on Lebanon
Hezbollah has never been a Lebanese party. Since its inception, it has been a military, security, and cultural arm of Iran, established to serve the "Welaet Al Fakeah," not the Lebanese state. Therefore, the sanctification of weapons is merely a reflection of the sanctification of Iran itself, which views Lebanon as a mere colony run from Tehran.
The Political and Social Control the Party Exercises over the Shiite Community
Since 1982, the party has worked to hijack the Shiite community and turn it into a hostage in the service of Iran's project. Lebanese Shiites have been forced to sacrifice their sons in wars that have nothing to do with them: in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza. Entire neighborhoods in the south and the southern suburbs have been transformed into weapons depots and tunnels, and their residents are no longer free citizens, but soldiers in a foreign army.
The losses incurred by Lebanon and the Shiite community as a result of Hezbollah's wars 
Since Hezbollah embroiled Lebanon in absurd wars, the Lebanese people in general, and the Lebanese Shiite community in particular, have paid a heavy price, including thousands of martyrs and victims, unprecedented displacement, the collapse of the economy and infrastructure, massive destruction in the south, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley, impoverishment, and stifling international isolation.
National decision-making has been confiscated and the state has been transformed into a failed entity.
The latest chapter of these disasters was the 2023 war, when Hezbollah declared war on Israel in support of Hamas. The result was a crushing defeat, in which most of its leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, were killed. The "sacred" party has become a burden, begging for a ceasefire and then refusing to abide by it.
Conclusion
Hezbollah is neither a resistance party nor a movement of faith. It is a gang of deceivers and hypocrites who turned iron into an idol they worship, while true religion forbids the worship of idols. The party knows neither faith nor principle. It is a Persian occupation project seeking to keep Lebanon captive and colonized, using weapons as an eternal excuse for domination.
“Having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).
“And of the people are some who take others as equals to Allah. They love them as they should love Allah” (Al-Baqarah 165).
The god of Hezbollah is a weapon made of iron. And its weapon will rust, and its project will collapse, just as all idols throughout history have collapsed.


Hezbollah says Lebanon move on army plan is 'opportunity,' urges Israel to commit to ceasefire
Reuters/September 06/2025
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday’s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms "an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown". Lebanon's cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities. But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army's progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan. Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government’s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a U.S. roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel's commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s implementation of the plan should remain “suspended until further notice.”
Lebanon's cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a U.S. roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon. Qmati said that Hezbollah “unequivocally rejected” those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy. Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday. A national divide over Hezbollah's disarmament has taken centre stage in Lebanon since last year's devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group. Lebanon is under pressure from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah's domestic rivals to disarm the group. But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south. Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem last month raised the spectre of civil war, warning the government against trying to confront the group and saying street protests were possible.

Hezbollah MP vows group will not surrender its weapons
AFP, Beirut/September 06/2025
A Hezbollah lawmaker vowed Saturday that the group will not abandon its weapons, a day after the Lebanese government ordered the army to begin implementing a plan to disarm it. Amid heavy pressure from the United States and fears Israel might intensify its military operations, the government last month ordered the army to draw up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year. At a meeting on Friday snubbed by Hezbollah and its allies, the cabinet welcomed the army’s plan. Speaking afterwards, Information Minister Paul Morcos said the army would begin implementing the plan “in accordance with the available capabilities.”He said the army commander had warned of “constraints” on the plan’s implementation, particularly “Israeli attacks,” and gave no timeframe for the operation. A government statement conditioned progress on “the commitment of other parties, foremost Israel.”Lawmaker Hassan Ezzedine said Hezbollah would “not abandon (its weapons) under any circumstances or pretext at all,” the state-run National News Agency reported. Those who “drew up the sinful, hasty, reckless decision represented by the removal of (Hezbollah’s) weapons and gave in to this decision must reconsider it and correct their mistakes,” he told an event in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah enjoys strong support. “Otherwise, they will bear the responsibility and the repercussions... that may follow,” he added. Ezzedine praised the “courageous stance” of the Shis ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal who walked out of the cabinet meeting “when the army commander began explaining and presenting the plan.”Multi-confessional Lebanon has a sect-based power-sharing system in which, by unwritten convention, legitimacy derives from consensus. The government says Hezbollah’s disarmament is part of the implementation of a US-brokered ceasefire that ended more than a year of hostilities between its fighters and Israel in November. Israel has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah targets despite the truce, saying they will continue until the group has been disarmed. It has also maintained troops in five places in the south it deems strategic. France called the cabinet’s decision “a new positive step.”“France calls on all Lebanese actors to support the peaceful implementation of the plan without delay,” the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Berri says army's weapons monopoly plan 'preserves civil peace'
Naharnet/September 06/2025
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said “things are positive,” after Cabinet on Friday welcomed the Lebanese Army’s plan for the disarmament of Hezbollah and all armed groups in the country. “I believe that the toxic winds have started to subside,” Berri added, in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. “The army’s military plan preserves civil peace,” the Speaker said. Cabinet on Friday welcomed the army's weapons monopolization plan and decided to keep its details confidential while asking the army to submit monthly reports on its implementation, Information Minister Paul Morcos said after a key session that witnessed a walkout by all five Shiite ministers. Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Saturday that the “compromise” statement was issued as a result of an agreement between Berri and President Joseph Aoun. Morcos said that the army “will start implementing the plan, but according to the available resources — there are limited material and human logistical resources” and that the military “has the right of operational discretion.”He did not specify a new timeline for implementation. Morcos also said that Israel had not held up its end of the agreement laid out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Since then, Israeli forces have continued to occupy five strategic hills inside Lebanese territory and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. “Israel, like Lebanon, has clear obligations” under the agreement, Morcos said. “However, its continued violations constitute evidence of its reneging on these obligations and seriously threaten regional security and stability," he added.

Details of army's weapons monopolization plan emerge
Naharnet/September 06/2025
The plan devised by the Lebanese Army for monopolizing weapons in the country consists of four stages, media reports said on Saturday, after Cabinet said it “welcomes” the plan and asked the army to submit monthly reports on implementation. According to the reports, the first stage will be implemented over three months and is dedicated to the continuation of arms removal in the area south of the Litani River near Israel’s border. The bearing and transfer of arms will also be prohibited across Lebanon during this stage, the reports said. The second stage will afterwards be implemented in the area between the Litani River and the al-Awali River, the third in Beirut and its suburbs and the fourth in the Bekaa. Cabinet on Friday welcomed the Lebanese Army's weapons monopolization plan and decided to keep its details confidential while asking the army to submit monthly reports on its implementation, Information Minister Paul Morcos said after a key session that witnessed a walkout by all five Shiite ministers. Morcos added that the army “will start implementing the plan, but according to the available resources — there are limited material and human logistical resources” and that the military “has the right of operational discretion.”He did not specify a new timeline for implementation. Morcos also said that Israel had not held up its end of the agreement laid out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Since then, Israeli forces have continued to occupy five strategic hills inside Lebanese territory and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. “Israel, like Lebanon, has clear obligations” under the agreement, Morcos said. “However, its continued violations constitute evidence of its reneging on these obligations and seriously threaten regional security and stability," he added.

Hezbollah's Qmati says govt. statement an 'opportunity to return to wisdom'
Naharnet/September 06/2025
Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that Hezbollah considers Friday's cabinet session on the Lebanese Army's plan to establish a state monopoly on arms "an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown."Information Minister Paul Morcos said after Friday's meeting that the army “will start implementing the plan, but according to the available resources — there are limited material and human logistical resources” and that the military “has the right of operational discretion.”He did not specify a new timeline for implementation.
Morcos also said that Israel had not held up its end of the agreement laid out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Since then, Israeli forces have continued to occupy five strategic hills inside Lebanese territory and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. “Israel, like Lebanon, has clear obligations” under the agreement, Morcos said. “However, its continued violations constitute evidence of its reneging on these obligations and seriously threaten regional security and stability," he added.

Report: Cabinet's statement result of Aoun-Berri agreement
Naharnet/September 06/2025
The government’s statement on the Lebanese Army’s weapons monopolization plan reflected “the political settlement that was reached prior to the session between President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam on one side and the Amal-Hezbollah duo on the other,” the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday. “What happened yesterday was a governmental step that made everyone act as if they are a winner,” the daily said. It added that “the negotiations that took place between the (Shiite) Duo, the president and Army chief Rodolphe Haykal prompted the incumbent authorities to reverse the course they had carved for themselves, especially after Hezbollah and the Amal Movement mulled the idea of resigning from the government.”“The statement that was issued was formulated a night before by Aoun and (Speaker Nabih) Berri and Salam agreed to it, which was reflected in the remarks of Berri, who said in his first comment on the resolutions that ‘things are positive,’” al-Akhbar quoted unnamed sources as saying. Cabinet on Friday welcomed the Lebanese Army's weapons monopolization plan and decided to keep its details confidential while asking the army to submit monthly reports on its implementation, Information Minister Paul Morcos said after a key session that witnessed a walkout by all five Shiite ministers.

A win for stability: Lebanon steps away from civil strife
LBCI/September 06/2025
In Lebanon, few political battles stay confined to the halls of government. Almost every showdown spills into social media, where rival factions claim victory. Supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement hailed the latest developments as a win, while their opponents also declared triumph. However, the real winner may be Lebanon itself, which avoided sliding into civil conflict. The country's three top leaders agreed that unity was essential to prevent chaos, with a consensus forged around language that replaced "approval" with "welcome" in cabinet records. Army commander Rodolph Haykal will deliver monthly reports to the government, a compromise designed to ease tensions over the sensitive issue of arms. Lebanon's fragile calm stands in stark contrast to the turbulent region around it.  In Syria, Iran has lost influence following the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime, leaving a Saudi-backed administration under Ahmed al-Sharaa still struggling to consolidate power. Congressman Darrell Issa: Lebanon entering 'a new dawn,' stability must be supported From streets to state authority: Lebanon positions itself as part of a stable Middle East. Meanwhile, Tehran is seeking ways to reassert its presence and reestablish supply lines to Hezbollah. Iraq remains unstable, Gaza is still at war with no ceasefire in sight, and Yemen's grinding conflict shows no sign of abating. From Baghdad to Gaza and Yemen, the fragmented regional landscape underscores an uncertain future, with the possibility of either a U.S.-Iranian settlement or a confrontation that could upend the status quo. Amid this uncertainty, Lebanese leaders recognized that any internal spark could ignite uncontrollable unrest. Friday's cabinet session marked a turning point, endorsing the principle that all weapons should ultimately fall under state authority, without imposing deadlines that could further divide the country. For now, Lebanon has taken a step toward shielding itself from regional fires, even as it waits to see how the broader Middle East picture will unfold.

Lebanese President urges US to pressure Israel on withdrawal
LBCI/September 06/2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday called on the United States to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and to activate the work of the joint mechanism committee tasked with implementing the ceasefire agreement. Following a meeting in Beirut with U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper, Aoun stressed the importance of continued American support for the Lebanese Army, saying it enables the military to carry out its many missions despite severe economic challenges. For his part, Cooper praised what he described as the “remarkable work” of the Lebanese Army and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to sustaining military assistance. He also announced that the committee overseeing the implementation of the November ceasefire will convene on Sunday to review the situation in South Lebanon.

Lebanese Minister Kamal Chehadeh outlines army's five-phase disarmament plan
LBCI/September 06/2025
Lebanon's Minister of Displaced and Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Chehadeh said the Lebanese Army's newly adopted plan to consolidate weapons under state control, known as “Shield of the Nation,” consists of five integrated phases. In an interview with Al-Hadath channel, Chehadeh noted that the first stage of the plan will focus on the area south of the Litani River, followed by a second phase extending to the region south of the Awali River. He stressed that the strategy relies on geographic sequencing to ensure systematic and secure implementation.
“The plan includes field measures such as raids in targeted areas, in full coordination with security and military agencies,” Chehadeh said. He noted that there is a broad national consensus on the necessity of placing all arms under state authority, calling the plan “a strategic step toward restoring full sovereignty and strengthening state institutions.”Chehadeh said a clear timetable has been set for the first stage, with all of the army’s resources currently focused on south of the Litani. He added that Lebanon’s military needs have been communicated to allied countries, with Washington increasing its support for the army. On the broader defense strategy, Chehadeh emphasized that dialogue would not take place with any party outside the government, underscoring that “the state alone is the sole reference in this matter.” He pointed out that approval of the disarmament plan came under a cabinet decision issued on August 5, and that implementation has already begun, with “tangible results expected in the coming weeks.”

France welcomes Lebanon's plan to place all weapons under state control
LBCI/September 06/2025
France said Saturday it welcomed the Lebanese government's adoption of an army-proposed plan to restore the state’s exclusive authority over weapons across the country. In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry described the move as “a new and positive stage” following the Lebanese cabinet’s decision on August 5. It urged all Lebanese parties to support the plan’s peaceful and immediate implementation to advance toward a stable, sovereign, and prosperous Lebanon, with secure borders and peaceful relations with its neighbors. France reaffirmed its readiness to stand by Lebanese authorities in carrying out their commitments, working with European, American, and regional partners. It pointed to its involvement in the ceasefire monitoring mechanism established in November 2024, its support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, and its role in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Paris also said it was prepared to organize two conferences—one in support of Lebanon’s armed forces and another to back recovery and reconstruction efforts once conditions allow. The ministry renewed its call on Israel to fully comply with its obligations under the November 26, 2024, ceasefire agreement and to withdraw from South Lebanon.

Arms collection roadmap: Lebanese Army maps out multi-stage disarmament plan—Key phases
LBCI/September 06/2025
When the Lebanese Cabinet reviewed the army's plan on Friday to place all weapons under state control, the proposal was rooted in more than nine months of field experience. During that time, the Lebanese Army, working with U.N. peacekeepers (UNIFIL), carried out operations south of the Litani River, dismantling facilities and seizing arms and ammunition belonging to Hezbollah. That effort forms the backbone of the plan's first stage. According to the roadmap, the first phase will complete disarmament south of the Litani. The second stage will move north of the river, up to the Awali River at the gateway to South Lebanon. The third phase will focus on Beirut and its suburbs, followed by the Bekaa Valley in the fourth stage. The fifth and final phase will extend to the rest of the country, including northern Lebanon. In addition, the army is tasked with preventing the transfer of weapons between regions, tightening control over the northern and eastern land borders, curbing smuggling, and addressing the presence of arms in Palestinian refugee camps. Army commander General Rodolph Haykal, who briefed ministers on the plan, declined to specify a timeline for each stage. He replied to the ministers who were asking while he presented the plan that the army could determine when a phase begins, but not when it ends, since caches and facilities could be more extensive than anticipated. Haykal also outlined key obstacles: ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory, the level of domestic cooperation with the army's mission, and the need for a favorable regional and international climate. A direct confrontation between Iran and Israel, he noted, would complicate implementation. The army's limited resources also weigh heavily. Most engineering units are deployed in the south, where some soldiers have already been killed in operations, and shortages in manpower, equipment, and funding hinder the pace of progress. Haykal stressed the urgent need for material, human, and technical support to carry out tasks across Lebanese territory. While the government had initially set the end of the year as the deadline for completing the disarmament process, it will now monitor implementation through monthly reports from the army leadership. Officials acknowledged that the December target is not likely to be definitive.

UNIFIL launches education support project in South Lebanon
LBCI/September 05/2025
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Saturday inaugurated a project aimed at strengthening public education in five towns in the country’s southeast. The initiative was launched in Ghandouriyeh by General Ricardo Esteban Cabrejos, commander of UNIFIL’s eastern sector, during a ceremony held at the town’s public school. The event was attended by Bint Jbeil district commissioner Charbel Al-Alam, local mayors, Indonesian battalion commander Raja Gunung Nasution, and community representatives. The project includes delivering school supplies to enhance students’ welfare and academic development, as well as upgrading educational infrastructure to create a safer and more effective learning environment. “This is an important day, not only because this project benefits five towns, but because its true heroes are the children — the future of Lebanon,” Cabrejos said. “UNIFIL’s mandate will end in 16 months, but we will continue implementing projects in the south until then. My hope is that Lebanon will flourish as it deserves, in peace and security.” UNIFIL says it found 50-meter tunnel, unexploded ordnances in south Lebanon. Nasution emphasized the peacekeepers’ commitment to supporting education rather than conflict. “Today we come to these schools not with weapons, but with books, supplies, and renewable energy, because we believe peace is built in classrooms,” he said. The project directly benefits five public schools in Touline, Souaneh, Qabrikha, Ghandouriyeh, and Froun, improving learning conditions for students and enhancing teaching quality across the Indonesian battalion’s area of responsibility.

Link to a text & Video documentary fro the ... BBC Investigation Reveals Potential First Clue in the Case of Imam al-Sadr's Disappearance
Al-Modon/September 2, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147057/
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has published a comprehensive investigation revealing what could be the first clue in the 1978 disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr, along with his companions Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoub and journalist Abbas Bader al-Din, in Libya. The report, which coincides with the 47th anniversary of the crime, is based on advanced forensic analysis, previously undisclosed testimonies, journalist accounts, and an official Lebanese position.
On August 30, 2025, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reaffirmed the state's commitment to pursuing the case of Imam Musa al-Sadr judicially and politically, stating that "the best tribute to al-Sadr is to adhere to his message of building a just and unified Lebanon." On August 31, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri emphasized that the case is "bigger than a sectarian issue; it is a national issue that will not die," urging Libyan authorities to end their hesitation and cooperate seriously with the Lebanese judiciary.
On the judicial front, investigative judge Zaher Hamadeh explained on July 10, 2025, that the judicial cooperation agreement between Lebanon and Libya is still in place. However, the Lebanese side is awaiting the official version of the Libyan investigation, which a Libyan delegation promised to deliver during a visit to Beirut in the fall of 2024 but has not yet provided, leaving the case stalled.
The BBC investigation originated from a photo taken by Lebanese-Swedish journalist Qassem Hamada in 2011 at a secret morgue in Tripoli, Libya. At the time, a source told him that the body in the photo might be that of Imam Musa al-Sadr, who was last seen on August 31, 1978, leaving a Tripoli hotel in an official car after a six-day wait for a meeting with the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The image was later sent to the University of Bradford in the UK, where a scientific team led by Professor Hassan Ugail used a sophisticated facial recognition algorithm called "Deep Face Recognition" to compare it with authenticated photos of the Imam from different stages of his life. The result showed a match percentage in the 60s, which was considered a "high probability" that the body belonged to the Imam. However, the investigation noted that a hair sample taken from the body in 2011 for a DNA test later disappeared from the possession of relevant Lebanese parties due to what was described as a "technical error," leaving the scientific truth unresolved.
The BBC report also included testimonies from Libyan and Lebanese figures, including former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who confirmed that Gadhafi had ordered the Imam's killing and that forged documents were created at the time to suggest he had left for Rome, while in reality, he was held and killed in Libya. The report also suggested that hardline Iranian factions, who were uncomfortable with the Imam al-Sadr's calls for a more moderate approach on the eve of the Iranian revolution, might have had shared interests with Gadhafi, possibly playing a role in the crime.
On August 31, 2025, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri gave a televised speech on the 47th anniversary of the Imam and his companions' disappearance. He affirmed that their absence was a crime committed by the Gadhafi regime and that the current Libyan authorities are responsible for the continued ambiguity due to their lack of cooperation with the Lebanese judiciary. Berri stated, "No matter how long it takes, we will not forget, we will not compromise, and we will not forgive. This case is bigger than a sectarian issue; it is a national issue, and the nation does not die." Berri stressed that continued Libyan procrastination raises suspicion, considering that the Imam's disappearance targeted Lebanon's role and national unity and that the official Lebanese position will remain firm until the full truth is revealed.
Journalist Qassem Hamada, who took the photo of the body in 2011, revealed in June 2023 that he and three BBC journalists were kidnapped in March of the same year while preparing a documentary on the same case. According to his account, the team was stopped near the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs building and taken to a secret prison where they were subjected to harsh interrogations, death threats, and accusations of espionage before being released five days later due to British and Swedish diplomatic pressure. Hamada said the interrogators leveled contradictory accusations against them, from being Israeli agents to planning assassinations in Libya, concluding that the authorities wanted to prevent any independent investigation into the case for fear of sensitive information being exposed. The disappearance of al-Sadr has created a constant stream of conspiracy theories. Some people believe he was killed, while others claim he is still alive and being held somewhere in Libya. To his most passionate followers, his disappearance is as mysterious as the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 06-07/2025
Israel calls on famine-stricken Gaza City residents to leave as it targets high-rises
AP/September 06, 2025
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel’s army called Saturday on Palestinians in Gaza City to move to a humanitarian area it designated in the south as it expanded its operations in preparation for seizing the famine-stricken city. including targeting high-rise buildings.
Parts of the city, home to nearly 1 million people, are already considered “red zones,” where evacuation orders have been issued ahead of the expected offensive. Aid groups have repeatedly warned that a large-scale evacuation of Gaza City would exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation, after the world’s leading authority on food crises declared the city to be gripped by famine, Palestinians have been uprooted and displaced multiple times during the nearly two-year-long war, with many being too weak to move and having nowhere to go.
Israeli army tells residents to move to a ‘humanitarian zone’
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in X that the army declared Muwasi — a makeshift tent camp in southern Gaza Strip — a humanitarian area and urged everyone in the city, which it called a Hamas stronghold and specified as a combat zone, to leave. The army said they could travel in cars down a designated road without being searched. The military, in a statement, provided a map showing the area in Khan Younis that the humanitarian area encompasses, which includes the block where Nasser Hospital is located. The area around the hospital has been considered a red zone, though not the medical facility itself. Last week, Israel struck the hospital, killing 22 people, including Mariam Dagga, who worked for The Associated Press and other media outlets. The hospital was not under evacuation. The designated safe zone would include field hospitals, water pipelines, food and tents, and relief efforts “will continue on an ongoing basis in cooperation with the UN and international organizations,” the statement said. The declaration of a so-called “humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza was done by the Israeli authorities unilaterally, and the UN and the wider humanitarian community are not part of that designation, said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In a statement Saturday, the UN said it is staying in Gaza City to provide aid and warned that the continued offensive will push people into an even deeper catastrophe. It said those who decide to move must have their essential needs met and must able to voluntarily return when the situation allows. Israeli forces have struck such humanitarian areas throughout the war, including Muwasi, which they previously declared a safe zone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel on Saturday issued warnings for two high-rises in Gaza City and the tents around them, saying Hamas had infrastructure inside or near them. It comes a day after Israel struck another high-rise building in Gaza City, saying Hamas used it for surveillance, without providing evidence.
Airstrikes also continued in Gaza City and the surrounding areas on Saturday. Officials at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said they received the bodies of 15 people, including a family of five whose apartment was struck in the Shati refugee camp on the edge of the city. Others were killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid near the Zikim crossing, said the officials. Despite Israel’s warnings many Palestinians in Gaza City say they won’t leave. “They only order us to leave from one town to another? What are we going to do with our children? Those who have an ill person, or an elderly or a wounded, where are we going to take them?” said a woman who identified herself as Families of hostages appeal to Trump.
Israel’s offensive has also sparked widespread protests among Israelis who fear it will endanger hostages still held in Gaza, some of whom are believed to be in Gaza City. There are 48 such hostages, 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive. Hamas released a propaganda video Friday of two hostages in Gaza City. The video shows Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a car, at one point joined by another hostage, Alon Ohel. Families of the hostages say the government isn’t prioritizing their loved ones, with most looking to US President Donald Trump to get the captives out. On Saturday, families of the hostages thanked Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff for their “unwavering determination, courage and compassion” in advancing ceasefire negotiations. The statement, released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said Trump demonstrates that “true leadership is measured by bold decisions.”A lasting ceasefire has so far been elusive. Last month Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire. Israel has not yet responded and says it is still committed to defeating the militant group. Israel says the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is disarmed, and that it will retain open-ended security control of the territory of some 2 million Palestinians. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The war started after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in their attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Most have since been released in ceasefires or other agreements. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.

Arab bloc says no peace without end to ‘hostile’ Israel actions
AFP/September 06, 2025
CAIRO: The Arab League has said that peaceful coexistence in the Middle East cannot be achieved without a Palestinian state and an end to what it described as Israel’s “hostile practices.”In a resolution submitted by Egypt and Saudi Arabia and adopted on Thursday, the League said that “the failure to reach a just solution to the Palestinian cause and the hostile practices of the occupying power” remain major obstacles to “peaceful coexistence” in the region. The resolution was part of a wider meeting in Cairo where foreign ministers endorsed a “Joint Vision for Security and Cooperation in the Region.”The meeting came as Israeli forces intensified their military offensive around Gaza City — the territory’s largest urban center — and days after Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for annexation of swathes of the West Bank to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”In the resolution, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, the Arab bloc said that lasting peace, cooperation and coexistence in the Middle East are not possible while Israel continues to occupy Arab land or “issues implicit threats to occupy or annex further Arab lands.” Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with Israel. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized relations with Israel in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords. In its resolution, the League said any lasting settlement must be based on a two-state solution and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offers a full normalization of relations in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territories it occupied in 1967. Egypt said on Friday that there was “no room for allowing any party to dominate the region or enforce unilateral security arrangements that compromise its security and stability.”

Gaza aid flotilla from Tunisia delayed
AFP/September 06, 2025
TUNIS: The departure from Tunisia of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza with aid boats has been postponed, organizers said on Saturday. It was planned for Sunday, but organizers said they rescheduled the boats’ departure from Tunis to Wednesday, September 10, due to “technical and logistical reasons beyond management’s control.”The Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, which aimed to join boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla that have already left from Spain and Italy, had already been delayed by bad weather.

Egypt says describing displacement of Palestinians as voluntary is ‘nonsense’
Reuters/September 06, 2025
CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Saturday that describing the displacement of Palestinians as voluntary is “nonsense.”Israel earlier called on Gaza City residents to leave for the south, as its forces advance deeper into the enclave’s largest urban area. The Israeli army told Gaza City residents to flee to a “humanitarian zone” in the south on Saturday ahead of a planned offensive to capture the territory’s largest urban center. The military gave no timeline for the assault, and has previously indicated it would not be announced in advance to maintain the element of surprise. “Take this opportunity to move early to the (Al-Mawasi) humanitarian zone and join the thousands of people who have already gone there,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media. The army said separately that Al-Mawasi, on Gaza’s southern coast, has “field hospitals, water pipelines, and desalination facilities, alongside the continued supply of food, tents, medicines, and medical equipment.” It said relief efforts there “will continue on an ongoing basis in cooperation with the UN and international organizations, in parallel to the expansion of the ground operation.”Israel first declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone early in the war, but has carried out repeated strikes there since, saying it targeted Hamas fighters hiding among civilians. Gaza City residents told AFP on Saturday that they believed it made little difference whether they stayed or fled. “Some say we should evacuate, others say we should stay,” said Abdel Nasser Mushtaha, 48, a resident of the city’s Zeitoun neighborhood now sheltering in a tent in the Rimal area. “But everywhere in Gaza there are bombings and deaths. For the past year-and-a-half, the worst bombings that caused massacres of civilians have been in Al-Mawasi, this so-called humanitarian zone,” he added. “It no longer makes any difference to us,” said his daughter Samia Mushtaha, 20. “Wherever we go, death pursues us, whether by bombing or hunger.”
- US in ‘deep negotiation’ -
The military’s call for people to leave comes as it steps up its operations around Gaza City despite mounting domestic and international pressure to end the nearly two-year conflict. Hamas agreed last month to a proposal for a temporary ceasefire and staggered hostage releases, but Israel has demanded the militant group release all the hostages at once, disarm and relinquish control of Gaza, among other conditions. At the White House on Friday, President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks with Hamas over the captives being held in Gaza. “We’re in very deep negotiation with Hamas,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
‘Disaster’
The UN estimates nearly one million people remain in and around Gaza City, where it declared a famine last month. It has warned of a looming “disaster” if the assault proceeds.Israel has said it expects the offensive to displace a million people further south. The vast majority of Gaza’s population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli military.

UAE, Jordan, Arab Parliament condemn Israeli calls for displacement of Palestinians
Arab News/September 06, 2025
ABU DHABI/AMMAN/CAIRO: The UAE and the Arab Parliament on Saturday both strongly condemned remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that Palestinians in Gaza should be allowed to voluntarily leave, warning that such comments amount to a violation of international law and threaten regional stability. Israel on Saturday called on residents of Gaza City to leave as its forces advance deeper into the enclave’s largest urban area. The Israeli army told people to flee to a “humanitarian zone” in the south ahead of a planned offensive to occupy the urban center.
In a statement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed the country’s support for Egypt’s efforts to stand with the Palestinian people, prevent displacement, and push for an immediate ceasefire, the Emirates News Agency reported.
The ministry described Netanyahu’s remarks as “a dangerous continuation of occupation policies” and stressed that any attempt to uproot Palestinians from their land constitutes “a flagrant violation of international law and United Nations resolutions.”
The UAE reiterated its categorical rejection of forced displacement or any attempt to undermine the Palestinian cause, affirming that defending Palestinian rights is a moral, humanitarian, and legal obligation. It also emphasized that lasting stability in the region depends on a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state. Jordan also reaffirmed its stance, with Minister of Government Communication Mohammed Momani saying the kingdom stood with a united Arab front in rejecting displacement. He described Israel’s far-right aggression as a violation of international law and human rights, calling forced displacement a war crime, and stressed that Palestinians have an inalienable right to self-determination and statehood. Separately, Arab Parliament Speaker Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Yamahi condemned Netanyahu’s comments as part of a longstanding policy of “ethnic cleansing and forced displacement” by the occupation authorities. He said such rhetoric amounted to war crimes that “do not drop with time” and represent “a direct threat to international peace and security.” Al-Yamahi reiterated the Arab Parliament’s rejection of any displacement attempts in Gaza, the West Bank, or elsewhere in occupied Palestinian territory. All three condemned any attempt to undermine the Palestinian cause and urged the international community and UN bodies to act to halt violations, protect Palestinians, and support their right to an independent, sovereign state.

Palestinian Ministry of Justice condemns US sanctions on rights groups

Arab News/September 06, 2025
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Ministry of Justice on Saturday denounced the US for imposing sanctions on three leading Palestinian human rights organizations, the Wafa news agency reported. The US administration announced measures on Thursday against the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza and Al-Haq, prompting what the ministry described as “a dangerous and unacceptable targeting” of Palestinian civil society. It said in a statement that the groups documented violations committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians, their land and holy sites, and operated in line with international law and humanitarian standards. The ministry voiced full support for the sanctioned organizations and urged Washington to reverse its decision. It also called on the international community and UN bodies to intervene “to protect the Palestinian people and their institutions.”

Israel army urges Gaza City residents to leave for ‘humanitarian zone’
AFP/06 September/2025
The Israeli army urged Gaza City residents to leave for a “humanitarian zone” in the south on Saturday ahead of a planned offensive to capture the territory’s largest urban center. In a message to the city’s residents posted on social media, army spokesman Avichay Adraee said: “Take this opportunity to move early to the (Al-Mawasi) humanitarian zone and join the thousands of people who have already gone there.”Adraee did not specify when the new offensive would start, and another spokesman has previously said it would not be announced in advance to preserve the element of surprise.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Saturday that describing the displacement of Palestinians as voluntary is “nonsense”.The UN estimates there are about a million people in and around Gaza City, warning of a coming “disaster” if the Israeli military goes ahead with its plans to seize the city.
Israel has come under mounting pressure at home and abroad to call off the offensive and end the war in Gaza. Its foe Hamas agreed to a ceasefire proposal last month that involved a temporary truce and the staggered release of hostages held in Gaza. Israel, however, has demanded the Palestinian militant group release all the hostages at once, lay down its arms and give up control of Gaza, among other conditions. In a separate statement Saturday, the military said the humanitarian zone in the south had essential “infrastructure such as field hospitals, water pipelines, and desalination facilities, alongside the continued supply of food, tents, medicines, and medical equipment.”It added the humanitarian efforts in the zone “will continue on an ongoing basis in cooperation with the UN and international organizations, in parallel to the expansion of the ground operation.”Israel first declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone early in the war, which was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. However, the army has carried out numerous bombings in the area since then, saying it was targeting Hamas fighters hiding among civilians. Dozens of Palestinians interviewed by AFP in Gaza City in recent weeks have said there is “no safe place” in the territory, with many saying they would rather die than be displaced again.

Turkey denies role in alleged plot to assassinate Israeli Minister Ben Gvir
Abeer Khan, Al Arabiya English/06 September/2025
Turkey has denied any involvement in a plot to assassinate Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, deeming the allegations circulated in Israeli media as a “deliberate disinformation campaign” against the country. “The reference to [Turkey] in certain Israeli media reports about an alleged assassination plot against an Israeli minister is the result of a deliberate disinformation campaign targeting our country,” a statement from the Turkish presidency’s Center for Combating Disinformation said. Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service said on Wednesday it had thwarted a planned Hamas attack, involving the use of explosive drones, against the far-right cabinet minister. Shin Bet said members from a cell, which it believed operated a Hamas headquarters in Turkey, had been arrested in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “Funded by Hamas in Turkey, the cell abandoned the plan after a test failed,” The Jerusalem Post said Thursday on X. However, the Turkish statement noted that those detained in connection with the alleged assassination plot have clarified that they have no connection to Turkey, adding that Red Cross officials have also previously confirmed this. “The real aim of these news reports is to create a deliberately misleading perception against [Turkey] in the international public opinion, and in doing so, to harm [Turkey’s] policy on Palestine,” the statement added. After having cut direct ties with Israel in May last year, demanding a permanent ceasefire and the immediate entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Turkey in August closed its airspace to Israeli planes in protest at the ongoing war in Gaza. “We have completely cut off our trade with Israel. We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports. We do not allow their planes to enter our airspace,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had told a special parliamentary debate on Gaza in Ankara.

UK police arrest dozens at latest protest for banned Palestine Action

Reuters/06 September /2025
British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization. Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in just one day last month, many of them over the age of 60. On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban on Saturday, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”London’s Metropolitan Police said officers had begun arresting those expressing support for Palestine Action. Police did not say how many arrests were made but a Reuters witness said dozens of people were detained. Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. “I can be unequivocal, if you show support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – you will be arrested,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said on Friday.“We have the officer numbers, custody capacity and all other resources to process as many people as is required.”Human rights groups have criticized Britain’s decision to ban the group as disproportionate and say it limits the freedom of expression of peaceful protesters. The government has accused Palestine Action of causing millions of pounds worth of criminal damage and says the ban does not prevent other pro-Palestinian protests.

Iraq moves to revive Syrian export route, expand refining capacity
Arab News/September 06, 2025
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said on Saturday that his government has begun work to revive the Iraqi-Syrian oil export line as part of efforts to diversify export outlets and expand refining capacity. Speaking at the Baghdad International Energy Forum, Al-Sudani said talks had been held “weeks ago” on reactivating the route, adding that work was underway on a 685 km Basra–Haditha pipeline aligned with the project. “Iraqi oil will continue to feed global markets for more than 120 years at the least estimates, although our export share is not commensurate with the size of the reserve, productive capacity and population,” he said, according to the Iraq News Agency. Al-Sudani highlighted the government’s drive to attract investment, particularly in refining and gas utilization. He said Iraq aims to end the flaring of associated gas and make full use of around 1.3 billion standard cubic feet per day.
He also noted expansions at existing refineries, the inauguration of the Karbala refinery, and six new investment opportunities in the refining sector designed to strengthen partnerships with the private sector. Al-Sudani said Iraq’s strategic goal was to convert at least 40 percent of its crude production into higher-value derivatives by 2030, with several projects already launched to support the plan.

Turkiye opposition calls extraordinary congress for Sept 21

AFP/September 06, 2025
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s main opposition party has announced it will hold an extraordinary congress on September 21 after a court ousted its Istanbul leadership on graft allegations, a party source confirmed to AFP on Saturday. The decision comes amid growing political pressure on the Republican People’s Party (CHP) after a court this week annulled the outcome of its Istanbul provincial congress in October 2023, throwing out its leader Ozgur Celik and 195 others. More than 900 CHP delegates on Friday submitted a petition to a local election board in the capital Ankara to authorize the congress, the source told AFP.
The congress is expected to shape the party’s strategy as it faces legal uncertainty. The CHP, the largest opposition force in the Turkish parliament, won a huge victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP in the 2024 local elections. Since then, the party has become a target of a wave of arrests and legal cases that culminated in March with the jailing of Istanbul’s popular and powerful mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption allegations that he denies. The arrest and jailing of Imamoglu, seen as a key rival to Erdogan, sparked street protests unprecedentedly in a decade.Authorities have clamped down on demonstrations detaining nearly 2,000 people including students and journalists — most of whom were later released. On Tuesday, the court ousted the CHP Istanbul leader and scores of party delegates and named a five-man team to replace them in a move that saw the stock market plunge 5.5 percent. The CHP has filed an appeal against the ruling. Political analyst Berk Esen told AFP the move was a “rehearsal” for the bigger case against the party’s national leadership seeking to hobble it as an opposition force.
’CHP stands tall’-
An almost identical lawsuit is hanging over its national leadership in a closely-watched case that will resume in Ankara on September 15. A petition of over 900 party delegates demanding an extraordinary congress within just a day and a half comes against the possibility of a similar court ruling, observers say. Gul Ciftci, a CHP deputy leader responsible for election and legal affairs, said the extraordinary congress “will not only determine the future of our party but will also reaffirm faith in pluralism, diversity, and democratic politics in Turkiye,” in a comment on X on Friday. She hailed the decision for the congress, made with the delegates’ will, as “the strongest proof that the CHP stands tall against all attempts at intervention by the government.”The party source told AFP that to boost the chances of the request for an extraordinary congress being accepted, signatures were not collected from the 196 Istanbul delegates who were suspended by the court order.

Displaced Bedouin families in limbo as Syrian government and Druze authorities remain at odds

AP/September 06, 2025 05:21
ABTAA, Syria: The classrooms at a school building in Abtaa, in Syria’s southern province of Daraa, have turned into living quarters housing three or four families each. Because of the lack of privacy and close quarters, the woman and children sleep inside, with the men bedding down outside in the courtyard. The Bedouin families evacuated their villages during sectarian fighting more than a month ago in neighboring Sweida province. Since then, the central government in Damascus has been in a standoff with local Druze authorities in Sweida, while the displaced have been left in a state of limbo. Munira Al-Hamad, a 56-year-old from the village of Al-Kafr in the Sweida countryside, is staying with her family in the school, which is set to reopen this month. If that happens, she doesn’t know where her family will go. “We don’t want to live in tents. We want the government to find us houses or someplace fit to live,” she said. “It’s impossible for anyone to return home. Just because you’re Muslim, they’ll see you as the enemy in Sweida.”
Conflict displaces tens of thousands
What began last month with small-scale clashes between local Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and members of the Druze sect — who are a minority in Syria but the majority in Sweida — escalated into heavy fighting between Bedouins and government fighters on one side and Druze armed groups on the other. Israel intervened on the side of the Druze, launching airstrikes. Hundreds of civilians, mostly Druze, were killed and Sweida has remained under what residents describe as a siege since then, with limited aid and supplies going in. Amnesty International reported this week that it had documented 46 cases of “Druze men and women deliberately and unlawfully killed,” in some cases by “government and government-affiliated forces in military and security uniforms.” Although the fighting has subsided, more than 164,000 people remain displaced by the conflict, according to UN figures. They include Druze internally displaced within Sweida and Bedouins who fled or were evacuated from the province and now see little prospect of going back, raising the prospect of permanent demographic change. Al-Hamad said her family “remained under siege for 15 days, without bread or anything coming in” before the Syrian Arab Red Crescent evacuated them. Her cousin and a neighbor were attacked by armed men as they fled and had their cars stolen with all the belongings they were transporting, she said. Jarrah Al-Mohammad, 24, said dozens of residents trekked overnight on foot to escape when the fighting reached their village, Sahwat Balata. Nine people from the area were gunned down by Druze militants, including three children under the age of 15, all of them unarmed, he said. The Associated Press could not independently verify the account. “No one has gone back. There are houses that they burned and destroyed and stole the furniture,” he said. “We can’t return to Sweida — there’s no longer security between us and the Druze … And we’re the minority in Sweida.” At a hotel in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab that has been converted into a shelter for the displaced, Hamoud Al-Mukhmas and his wife, Munira Al-Sayyad, are mourning their 21- and 23-year-old sons. They said the two were shot and killed by militants, along with Hamoud’s niece and cousin, while unarmed and trying to flee their home in the town of Shahba. Al-Sayyad is unhappy in the hotel room, where she has no kitchen to cook for her younger children. The family said food aid is sporadic. “I need assistance and I need money — we don’t have a house,” Al-Mukhmas said. ”I don’t think we’ll go back — we’d go back and find the Druze living in our houses.”
Few answers from the government
Government officials have insisted that the displacement is temporary, but have not offered any “clarity on for how long people will be displaced, what are the mechanisms or plans or strategies that they have in order to bring them back,” said Haid Haid, a senior research fellow at the Arab Reform Initiative and the Chatham House think tank. Returning the displaced to their homes will likely require a political solution that appears to be far off, given that the government in Damascus and de facto authorities in Sweida are not even holding direct talks, he said. Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, a prominent Druze leader in Sweida, is calling for independence for southern Syria — a demand rejected by Damascus — and recently announced the formation of a “national guard” formed from several Druze armed factions. Government officials declined to comment on their plans for addressing the displacement. For some, the situation recalls unpleasant memories from Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, when fighters and civilians opposed to former President Bashar Assad were evacuated from areas retaken from rebels by government forces. The green buses that transported them became for many a symbol of exile and defeat.
Intercommunal tensions now harder to solve
The Bedouins in Sweida, who historically work as livestock herders, consider themselves the original inhabitants of the land before the Druze came in the 18th century, fleeing violence in what is now Lebanon. The two communities have largely coexisted, but there have been periodic tensions and violence.
In 2000, a Bedouin killed a Druze man in a land dispute and government forces intervened, shooting Druze protesters. After a 2018 Daesh group attack on the Druze in Sweida that killed more than 200 people, the Druze accused the Bedouins of helping the militants. The latest escalation began with a Bedouin tribe in Sweida setting up a checkpoint and attacking and robbing a Druze man, which triggered tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings. But tensions had been rising before that. A Bedouin man displaced from Al-Kafr, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security fears, said that his brother was kidnapped and held for ransom in 2018 by an armed group affiliated with Al-Hijri. On July 12, a day before the clashes started, he said, a group of armed men came to the family’s home and threatened his father, forcing him to sign a paper giving up possession of the house. The Druze “are not all bad people,” he said. “Some of them supported us kindly, but there are also bad militants.”He threatened that “if the state does not find a solution after our homes have been occupied, we will take our rights into our own hands.”Al-Sayyad, the mother of the two young men killed, also took a vengeful tone. “I want the government to do to these people what they did to my sons,” she said. Haid said that intercommunal tensions could be resolved with time but have now become secondary to the larger political issues between Damascus and Sweida. “Unless there is some sort of dialogue in order to overcome those difference, it’s difficult to imagine how the local disputes will be solved,” he said.

’Trump’s legacy crumbles’, Israelis call on US President to end Gaza war

Reuters/September 07, 2025
TEL AVIV: Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages. Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists’.
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!“
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister. There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials. Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens. “We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American. Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas. Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war. A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare. The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”Hamas has offered to release some hostages for a temporary ceasefire, similar to terms that were discussed in July before negotiations mediated by the US and Arab states collapsed. The militant group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza. Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering. The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war. Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.

US President Trump says more Gaza hostages may be dead
AFP/06 September/2025
US President Donald Trump said Friday that more hostages may have died in Gaza and that the United States was in “deep negotiation” with Hamas amid a new Israeli offensive. “There could be some that have recently died, is what I’m hearing. I hope that’s wrong, but you have over 30 bodies in this negotiation,” Trump, a staunch ally of Israel, told reporters in the Oval Office. Militants seized 251 hostages during the massive October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, with 47 still in Gaza. The Israeli military says 25 of them are dead. Israel is seeking the return of their remains. Trump at one point said there were “about 38 dead people -- young, beautiful dead people” before giving the numbers of 20 and then 30. Trump suggested that the United States remained in talks with Hamas. “We’re in very deep negotiation with Hamas,” Trump said. On Hamas-held hostages, Trump said, “We said let them all out right now, let them all out, and much better things will happen for them. “But if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty.”Israel plans to seize Gaza City, the largest city in the territory already in rubble from the war, and has warned it will target all tall buildings it believes are used by Hamas.The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Israel’s attacks have killed at least 64,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza.

How war’s hidden weapons endanger culture and communities from Syria to Ukraine

GABRIELE MALVISI/Arab News/September 06/2025
LONDON: Ancient landmarks across the Middle East and Central Asia face not only the ravages of time but also landmines and explosives from years of war. From the colonnades of Palmyra in Syria to Afghanistan’s Herat Citadel, cultural treasures remain at risk and often out of reach. The danger goes far beyond heritage. Despite being banned in 165 countries under the 1997 Ottawa Convention, landmines remain entrenched in conflict zones, claiming lives and causing life-altering injuries. In 2023, they caused 2,426 deaths and 3,331 injuries worldwide, according to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. Civilians made up 84 percent of the victims, and more than one-third were children. The toll — the highest for the ninth year in a row — reflects both an increase in armed conflicts and the growing use of improvised mines. The use of landmines “on such an extensive scale” presents immediate dangers and long-term consequences, as “areas remain contaminated for extended periods, causing casualties long after the violence has ceased,” according to Anne Hery, advocacy director at Humanity and Inclusion. Yemen shows the scale of the challenge. The Masam project, which Arab News explored in The demining initiative, run by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, has helped reduce the threat posed by landmines to civilians, including children, women and the elderly. Although fighting in Yemen has subsided, the legacy remains deadly — in 2023 alone, 499 people were killed or injured by mines.Yemen, along with Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Ukraine and parts of Africa, remains among the hardest-hit regions.
Infographic from the Landmine Monitor 2024 report
The danger is not limited to civilians, however. Landmines and unexploded ordnance also threaten a key part of the identity of nations: cultural heritage. “There’s always going to be war, and it’s hard to see a conflict where there’s not going to be some residual risk of explosive contamination to civilians, and that’s where we come into it,” Damien O’Brien, operations manager for The HALO Trust’s Middle East programs, told Arab News.
Infographic from the Landmine Monitor 2024 report
Founded in Kabul in 1988 in response to the crisis left by the Soviet withdrawal, HALO now operates in 30 countries with a staff of more than 9,000. The Middle East remains a priority, where clearing mines in urban and rural areas, including heritage sites, is essential to giving communities, and their culture, a chance to recover. “Any site, regardless of what it is, needs to be surveyed so that we understand what the conflict history was, what the evidence is of any remaining unexploded items, and then also what is the intended use of that site,” O’Brien said.
FASTFACTS:
• Historic areas in Syria’s Hama, Homs, Aleppo and Damascus suburbs are heavily mined or contaminated with unexploded ordnance after over 14 years of conflict.
• Afghanistan is one of the world’s most heavily mined countries, with millions of explosives posing risks to civilians and heritage sites.
• The HALO Trust and other groups are clearing mines in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan and beyond. Where people have remained active, he added, many “hazardous items have probably been found and removed.”
The impact goes beyond safety. “What we do reduces the number of casualties because we’re removing items, but it is also designed to help restore livelihoods,” O’Brien said. “And of course, tourism is extremely important in a place like Syria or Afghanistan.”
Years of war have devastated economies across Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. O’Brien emphasized that HALO’s work seeks to balance humanitarian needs with development.
“You might say that getting people back to their homes and resettled is a more urgent priority in terms of human safety and in terms of the economy than rehabilitating heritage sites,” he said. “That’s a discussion.”
Ultimately, he added, the decision is one for “the local government to make — we would work in line with their reconstruction strategy.”
HALO operates across the region during and after conflict, often in partnership with local and international authorities.
In Afghanistan, O’Brien noted, a robust mine action system has endured through political upheaval, enabling HALO to clear about 30,000 tons of ammunition at sites including Kabul’s Bala Hissar fort, Ghazni Bala Hissar and the Herat Citadel. At the latter, HALO partnered with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which carried out conservation work.
The organization also assisted the Turquoise Mountain Foundation at Shashpul Caravanserai near Bamiyan, along the Silk Road, and cleared ordnance from the Musallah Minarets complex in Herat. Removing mines from historic sites is especially difficult. At the Musallah Minarets — a 13th-century complex of mausoleums, madrassas and mosques once home to 20 towers, now reduced to five and a half — clearance required careful manual excavation.
Carried out between 2017 and 2018, O’Brien said the intervention was prompted by a child’s accident with an anti-personnel mine near the site.
“There was a lot of important archeological excavation work that needed to be done,” he said. “And suddenly local museum officials were aware that there was a risk of explosive ordnance. “It was quite a delicate operation. Because of the proximity to these monuments, we were not able to use machines, (such as) mechanical excavators with armor.
“So, we had to dig manually, sometimes as deep as a meter.”
This picture taken on November 10, 2021 shows a deminer from the HALO Trust scanning the ground for mines with a hand-metal detector in Nad-e-Ali village in Helmand province. (AFP) During the work, complicated by ongoing archaeological digs, HALO teams discovered “sacks” full of blue mosaic fragments that had fallen from the minarets. The pieces were carefully sorted and catalogued at the local museum.
O’Brien was also among the first to return to Palmyra in central Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime on Dec. 8. The ancient site, dating to the Neolithic period, held some of the best-preserved Roman ruins before Daesh militants arrived.
However, Daesh caused extensive destruction and violence in Palmyra between 2015 and 2017. The terrorist group destroyed iconic historic monuments, including the Temple of Bel, Temple of Baalshamin, the Arch of Triumph, and parts of the Roman theater using explosives and sledgehammers.
In 2015, Daesh executed the 82-year-old head of antiquities, archaeologist Khaled Al-Asaad, publicly beheading him for refusing to reveal the locations of hidden artifacts.
“We had this request to go out to the eastern border, and it was on the way, and couldn’t really miss the opportunity,” O’Brien said. “I went with a Syrian colleague who had never visited Palmyra even before the war.”
The visit provided a preliminary assessment of the extensive work needed. O’Brien expressed hope that HALO would soon be involved in clearing the site. For now, the group is focused on training Syrians and Afghans, many formerly engaged in risk education, to take on demining and site restoration.
“When we gave them the opportunity to train to dispose of these items, both men and women, seize the opportunity,” he said. “I think that to be taking on such an important role in the reconstruction of their country is something that they feel tremendously proud of.”
Reflecting on the value of restoring heritage, O’Brien said he feels “privileged” to have contributed. Labourers work at the site of the remains of the Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus built during the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor, and destroyed by Islamic State (IS) group militants in 2015, in the ruins of Syria's Roman-era ancient city of Palmyra on May 9, 2022. “My academic background is in ancient languages. I studied those because I thought that was the best way for me to try to understand the world (and) to understand where cultures come from,” he said. “Whatever is happening at the moment, or whatever happened in recent history, there was a time before, and there’ll be a time afterward. “A very unpleasant chapter in Syria’s history has just ended. Anything historical that predates that is a common heritage. It’s something which will bring people together at some point.”Ultimately, O’Brien said, “when people have been through such an appallingly traumatic experience where so many things have been broken, that process of reconnection, however done, is extremely valuable.”

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 06-07/2025
From Sydney to Buenos Aires: Iran's Global Terror Campaign

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 06/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147050/

Investigations revealed that the IRGC had employed intermediaries in Australia, including organized crime networks, to carry out these attacks, demonstrating the regime's continuing reliance on proxies to pursue its hostile objectives abroad.
From the 1980s onward. Iran has been implicated in multiple deadly attacks against American troops in Lebanon, killing hundreds of U.S. diplomats and military personnel, all carried out by Hezbollah under Tehran's guidance.
The Iranian regime also had a role in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. In 2018, a U.S. federal court ruling determined that Iran provided material support to Al-Qaeda in the period leading up to and following the 9/11 attacks, resulting in a multibillion-dollar judgment for the families of the victims.
[I]t is difficult to understand why some international actors have advocated for engagement, negotiation or sanctions relief with Iran. Diplomatic overtures and economic incentives have not only failed to curb the regime's aggressive behavior; they have emboldened it.
Closing Iranian embassies and consulates, expelling diplomats, and halting trade with Iran -- and especially secondary sanctions: banning trade with countries that trade with Iran -- would disrupt its operations, curb its influence, and send a message that the regime's pattern of aggression and antisemitism will not be tolerated.Closing Iranian embassies and consulates, expelling diplomats, and halting trade with Iran -- and especially secondary sanctions: banning trade with countries that trade with Iran -- would disrupt its operations, curb its influence, and send a message that the regime's pattern of aggression and antisemitism will not be tolerated. Iran's deep involvement in antisemitic attacks in Australia should serve as a kick-in-the-head wake-up call to the European Union and the wider international community. Australia made the unprecedented decision to expel the Iranian ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, the first such diplomatic action in the country since World War II. This unexpectedly welcome action came after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation uncovered that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had orchestrated a series of antisemitic attacks on Australian soil. The attacks targeted a kosher restaurant in Sydney and a synagogue in Melbourne, causing significant property damage and sowing fear within the Jewish community, although fortunately nobody was killed in the attacks. Investigations revealed that the IRGC had employed intermediaries in Australia, including organized crime networks, to carry out these attacks, demonstrating the regime's continuing reliance on proxies to pursue its hostile objectives abroad.
Despite Iran's official denial of these allegations -- calling them as baseless and a conspiracy to undermine Iran-Australia relations -- the Australian government stood firm, emphasizing that such acts of terrorism and antisemitism could not be tolerated. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, further solidifying Australia's stance, signaled plans to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. This move underscores the necessity of a proactive and uncompromising approach to dealing with a regime that consistently operates through violence and intimidation, setting a clear contrast to the more cautious diplomatic engagements often observed from the European Union and the West.
The attacks in Australia are just part of a broader pattern of antisemitism and bellicosity from the Iranian regime against Jewish communities across the world. Iran's belligerency toward Jewish communities extended far beyond its borders. For decades, Iran, using terror and intimidation to advance its ideological agenda. Iran has systematically targeted Jewish institutions and individuals in multiple countries. The 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killed 85 people. Investigations revealed that Iran directed this attack in coordination with Hezbollah operatives, who carried out the bombing under Tehran's supervision. In 2024, Argentine courts, labeling Iran a terrorist state, reaffirmed its culpability for the 1994 terror attack. Iran's predations not limited just to antisemitism; they extend broadly to global terrorism They have targeted Americans and other Westerners in foreign countries, from the 1980s onward. Iran has been implicated in multiple deadly attacks against American troops in Lebanon, killing hundreds of U.S. diplomats and military personnel, all carried out by Hezbollah under Tehran's guidance.
The Iranian regime also had a role in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. In 2018, a U.S. federal court ruling determined that Iran provided material support to Al-Qaeda in the period leading up to and following the 9/11 attacks, resulting in a multibillion-dollar judgment for the families of the victims.
Iran regularly uses violent tactics abroad to advance its strategic goals, leveraging proxy organizations, so that Iran can maintain plausible deniability.
The regime has also targeted exiled Iranian dissidents in countries such as Iraq and Turkey, and has abducted and assassinated individuals who oppose it.
The regime actively plots terrorist attacks abroad, often leveraging its diplomatic missions as hubs for coordination with proxy groups and intelligence gathering.
Domestically, Iran's record is equally troubling. The regime routinely suppresses its own citizens through brutal measures, which include arbitrary detention, torture and executions, and demonstrates a savage disregard for civil liberties and human life. Human rights organizations have documented instances where even minors have been subjected to violent repression, including hanging children as young as nine (more atrocities here, here and here).
This dual approach — external aggression coupled with domestic repression — demonstrates a regime that thrives on intimidation, using both overt and covert operations to project power and maintain its authoritarian grip, leaving the international community exposed to its persistent threat.
Given Iran's long, documented history of antisemitism, terrorism and domestic repression, it is difficult to understand why some international actors have advocated for engagement, negotiation or sanctions relief with Iran. Diplomatic overtures and economic incentives have not only failed to curb the regime's aggressive behavior; they have emboldened it. Australia's unequivocal response to Iranian terrorism is instructive. By expelling Iran's ambassador, severing diplomatic ties, and moving toward formally designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization, Australia has set a precedent that European nations and other members of the international community would do well to follow. Closing Iranian embassies and consulates, expelling diplomats, and halting trade with Iran -- and especially secondary sanctions: banning trade with countries that trade with Iran -- would disrupt its operations, curb its influence, and send a message that the regime's pattern of aggression and antisemitism will not be tolerated.
The Israeli and American airstrikes on Iran's nuclear weapons sites, and now Australia's decisive new stance, demonstrate the path forward: a refusal to tolerate terror by a regime that has brought nothing but suffering and instability, both inside Iran and across the globe.
**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://outlook.live.com/mail/0/inbox/id/AAkALgAAAAAAHYQDEapmEc2byACqAC%2FEWg0AQD3AMaXtfEW1haoJocBU4gAIhzKGRQAA
© 2025 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Question: “What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)?”
GotQuestions.org/September 06/2025
Answer: In an extended practical teaching on holy living (Ephesians 4:17—5:21), the apostle Paul tells believers, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). His command not to grieve the Spirit falls under Paul’s initial instructions covering what not to do to cultivate holiness and walk in Christian purity.
grieve Holy Spirit
The Greek word translated as “grieve” in Ephesians 4:30 means “to cause to feel sorrow, pain, unhappiness, or distress.” As the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has a personality and the ability to feel emotions like joy (Luke 10:21), outrage (Hebrews 10:29, ESV), and sorrow (Ephesians 4:30, NLT).
In Acts 7:51, Stephen condemns “resisting” the Spirit, and in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Paul instructs believers not to “quench” the Spirit. But the only time “grieving” the Spirit is mentioned in the New Testament is here in Ephesians 4:30. Paul’s command not to grieve the Spirit seems to be inspired by two Old Testament verses that speak of God’s Spirit being “distressed,” “grieved” (Isaiah 63:9–10), and “made bitter” (Psalm 106:33, ESV). In both Isaiah 63:9–10 and Ephesians 4:30, grieving the Holy Spirit is associated with God’s people having an inappropriate response to His redemption.
“Do not grieve the Spirit” appears to complement Paul’s opening exhortation to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3). Believers grieve the Spirit when they do not maintain peace and harmony in the body of Christ.
Paul then gives specific ways we grieve the Spirit by living as we used to before our salvation when we were “separated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:17–19). We grieve Him when we don’t speak truthfully to our brothers and sisters in Christ (Ephesians 4:25), when we let anger control our actions (4:26–27), when we steal from each other (4:28) and when we speak foul and abusive words to one another, instead of uplifting and encouraging words (4:29). We also grieve the Spirit when we don’t “get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior” (Ephesians 4:31, NLT), and when we fail to “be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32, NLT).
The Holy Spirit of God lives within the Christian (John 14:17; 2 Timothy 1:14). We are His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), and when we don’t walk in the holiness and love of Christ and in harmony with fellow believers, we grieve the Spirit of God with our sinful thoughts and behaviors (Ephesians 5:1–21).
Grieving the Holy Spirit is similar to “quenching” the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) in that both negatively impact the believer, the church, and the world. Quenching the Spirit speaks of stifling or suppressing the fire of God’s Spirit that burns within every believer. The Holy Spirit desires to express Himself in our actions and attitudes. When we do not allow God’s Spirit to be seen in our behavior, when we do what we know is wrong, we suppress or quench the Spirit. We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself as He wants to, with “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). Both quenching the Spirit and grieving the Spirit hinder a godly lifestyle. Both happen when we sin against God and follow our own worldly desires, living as we did before accepting Christ’s salvation. The only correct road to follow is the one that leads the believer closer to God and purity and farther away from the world and sin. Just as we do not like to be grieved, and just as we do not seek to quench what is good, we should not quench or grieve the Holy Spirit by refusing to follow His leading.

Israel and the Houthis Are Entering a Dangerous Escalation Cycle
April Longley Alley/Washington Institute/September 05/2025
Despite their confident saber rattling, both sides face real constraints that could impede their operational goals, and their actions increase the risks to maritime security, energy exports, and broader regional stability. Festering hostilities between Israel and the Yemeni Houthis saw another significant shift over the past week. On August 28, an Israeli airstrike in Sanaa killed at least twelve members of the Houthi-controlled government, including the prime minister, and critically injured many others (though the degree to which these ministers were actually affiliated with the group is complicated, as will be discussed below). In response, the Houthis appointed an acting prime minister, organized a massive funeral for the slain officials, and continued their barrage of missiles toward Israel, none causing damage, but one of which carried a cluster bomb warhead (only the second reported use of this weapon). They also fired a missile at the Israeli-owned chemical/oil tanker Scarlet Ray on September 1 as it was sailing near Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu—an area that is outside the group’s normal range for maritime attacks and dangerously close to critical energy export facilities. A day later, they claimed a drone and missile attack on the Liberian-flagged container ship MSC ABY in the northern Red Sea, which is still unconfirmed as of this writing. Israel’s decision to target the government seems predictable in hindsight. Relying in part on support and arms from Iran, the Houthis have been attacking Israeli territory and commercial shipping in the Red Sea under the banner of “defending Palestine” since the Gaza war began in 2023. Israel held its fire for months until July 2024, when a Houthi strike resulted in a civilian casualty. Since then, Israeli forces have bombed infrastructure in Houthi-controlled areas, targeting the Red Sea port of Hodeida, Sanaa airport, power stations, and fuel facilities. The decapitation of the Houthi-controlled government is a dramatic reminder of Jerusalem’s determination to strike back at the most active branch of Iran’s “axis of resistance” and deter future attacks. The operation was enabled by Israel’s stepped-up intelligence gathering in Yemen, which reportedly includes a new unit of 200 intelligence personnel. Fearing such penetration, the Houthis have amplified their internal crackdown efforts since the strike, targeting perceived spies and internal dissenters. They even raided UN facilities in Sanaa, detaining at least nineteen staff. Going forward, the incident will almost certainly push the Houthi leadership further underground, slowing the group’s communications and possibly interfering with the frequency and lethality of its attacks. Yet the Israeli operation is also notable for what it did not do. None of the confirmed dead were Houthi military or political decisionmakers. In fact, the majority of these officials—including the prime minister and foreign minister—were not part of the Houthi movement at all, but Yemeni politicians and technocrats who hailed from various parties and regions and had no adherence to Houthi ideology. In effect, the Israelis eliminated a largely figurehead government. Moreover, some of those killed and injured were individuals who could have communicated with and influenced the Houthis if negotiations to end Yemen’s civil war ever resume. In conversations with the author, Yemenis have expressed concerns that the Sanaa strike will work to the Houthis’ advantage, facilitating their internal crackdown and unifying residents in opposition to a common Israeli foe. Meanwhile, efforts to target the core Houthi military and political leadership will likely become even more difficult given their growing wariness and decades of experience hiding in the north.The immediate trajectory seems to be mutual military escalation. The Houthis have threatened revenge and declared that they will continue their attacks, while Israeli officials warned that this is only the start of a campaign against the group’s leadership—one that could continue even if the Houthis follow through on their promise to halt attacks once a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. The targeting of a ship off the northern Saudi coast is a particularly worrisome step. If it proves to be the start of a Houthi campaign in parts of the Red Sea that were previously deemed safe, it would seriously challenge the group’s detente with Saudi Arabia, which the kingdom is keen to maintain. Clearly, the group’s leaders are sending a message to Riyadh that they will escalate if they are squeezed further. Despite their confident, even arrogant, saber rattling, both the Houthis and Israel face real constraints. If Israel continues striking leadership and infrastructure targets, it will present logistical challenges to Houthi military operations. Killing key leaders could even destabilize the group and loosen its grip on northern Yemen, though this effect would likely be temporary—after all, the factions that compose the internationally recognized Yemeni government are deeply divided and at times more inclined to fight each other than the Houthis, so they are hardly positioned to reassert control in the event of further Israeli decapitation strikes. For its part, Jerusalem will have to deal with the budgetary and logistical challenges of sustaining military operations in a country over 2,000 kilometers away, particularly amid a long list of other regional priorities (though it may see benefit in terms of obtaining operational experience and telegraphing its capabilities to Tehran). Moreover, airpower alone—even a brutal application that targets critical infrastructure—will not halt Houthi attacks or dislodge the group from power. In short, both sides appear to be entering a dangerous period of escalation whose only guaranteed outcome is more suffering for civilians and increased risks to maritime and regional security.
April Longley Alley is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and former senior political advisor to the UN special envoy for Yemen.

Iran’s Nuclear Reconstitution Options
Richard Nephew//Washington Institute/September 04/2025
Iran’s leaders have several paths to restoring or reconfiguring their nuclear program—some more realistic or risky than others—so Washington should focus on shaping which route they choose rather than discounting the possibility altogether.
Immediately following the cessation of hostilities between Israel, the United States, and Iran in June, debate erupted about Tehran’s ability to reconstitute its nuclear program. Yet there has been less public consideration of what rebuilding might actually mean. Iran took the better part of twenty years to build the program in the first place; does it intend to follow that blueprint again or build something different?
Warring Timelines and Definitions
The Trump administration initially claimed that the nuclear program was “totally obliterated” and that Iran would not choose to rebuild its uranium enrichment capabilities, essentially precluding any estimated timelines for potential reconstitution. Shortly thereafter, however, U.S. language shifted to a more technocratic bent as the CIA, Israel, France, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and others variously concluded that Iran might make some form of nuclear progress within a few months or years. For their part, some Iranian officials suggested the program was severely damaged enough to make further access by IAEA inspectors impossible, while others (including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) described the damage as modest or even insignificant. These differing claims and conclusions may stem from a variety of factors, including the difficulty of conducting battle damage assessments for air campaigns against deeply buried sites. Yet the biggest differentiator could be that each of these assessments appears to use different benchmarks for what “reconstitution” might mean. Currently, Iran appears to have four primary options that could credibly be defined as a reconstituted nuclear program: (1) refocusing on foreign civil nuclear cooperation, (2) pursuing a full, declared rebuild, (3) pursuing a full, undeclared rebuild, or (4) revamping the program altogether. These scenarios are discussed separately below, though some elements could be combined to create alternative “in-between” approaches.
Foreign Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Iran confines the program to foreign-supplied reactors and fuel, with limited scientific and research/development activities of its own. Although much smaller in scope than the other options presented below, this form of reconstitution would still leave Iran with a nuclear program. Namely, Tehran could contract foreign vendors to build additional reactors (supplementing the second reactor that Russia is building at Bushehr) and supply fuel for these facilities. It could also continue with some small-scale research activities, including at its research reactors. Paying for foreign reactors would be financially costly, but this approach would decrease the risk of losing those assets to war. Notably, the Bushehr power plant was not targeted in June’s hostilities, presumably because (1) it is an operating nuclear reactor that could release radioactive materials if attacked, and (2) it was deemed less likely to contribute to potential nuclear weapons proliferation, since Iran does not possess the technology to extract plutonium from Bushehr’s spent reactor fuel, and any such attempted misuse would be quickly detected. Although this option could help relieve Iran’s deep concerns about long-term energy needs and reduce the risk of future war, it is probably the regime’s least likely choice. For one thing, it would mark a significant walk-back of Tehran’s previous rhetoric and posture. Iranian leaders repeatedly argued in the past that they could not abandon uranium enrichment because of the blood and treasure the nation had already paid for it, so they are unlikely to make this concession now after a foreign military attack. This option would also enshrine Iranian dependency on foreign nuclear supply—an arrangement that Tehran has come to view as unreliable. Hence, if the regime chooses this route, it would almost certainly be an unstated decision demonstrated by the absence of overt rebuilding work, which would be difficult for the United States and Israel to trust.
Full, Declared Rebuild
Iran restores the program to its pre-June level, with substantial declared facilities for uranium conversion and enrichment as well as expanded plans for domestic reactor construction. This option would essentially entail relaunching the pre-June program, rebuilding its various components (likely in different, harder-to-attack locations), and opening them to IAEA inspections. Such a program would be time-consuming and expensive, though the idea carries certain political and technological advantages. First and foremost, a program of this scale would enable Iran to continue arguing that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful and fully consistent with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Civil nuclear facilities often require more material and equipment than nuclear weapons do, so Iran could aim to construct facilities of a size and scale that would give it a considerable weaponization option while purporting to stay within the space allotted to civil pursuits. Of course, Tehran realizes by now that even IAEA-inspected facilities could readily be attacked again by Israel and/or the United States if they suspect a proliferation risk. As such, it is unlikely to pursue this type of rebuild absent a longer-term political deal with associated security guarantees—an arrangement that does not appear forthcoming.
Full, Undeclared Rebuild
Iran attempts to restore its uranium conversion facilities, tens of thousands of centrifuges, and other prewar program elements, but without declared facilities open to IAEA inspections. This option is effectively the same as a declared rebuild, except in this instance Iran would bar IAEA access to its sites in perpetuity or for as long as possible. In doing so, the regime would create ambiguity about its intentions and legal obligations while reaping the benefits of a full, declared rebuild. Yet this scenario would carry the same high costs as the previous option, as well as a higher risk of war given the added justification of flagrant nuclear noncompliance.
Revamp
Iran changes the program’s nature, abandoning “reconstitution” of destroyed capabilities in order to focus on maintaining weaponization options, with smaller facilities and no IAEA declarations. If Iran intends to pursue undeclared nuclear activities, it is far more likely to redefine the program than repeat its past approach. As noted above, a weapons program can be smaller than a civil energy program. If Tehran wants nuclear weapons but concludes that it will never be permitted to build the large sites necessary for a realistic civil energy program, it may pursue the far cheaper and more secure option of paring its activities down to a smaller, weapons-dedicated enterprise. The facilities needed for such a program could be much smaller, require less nuclear material, and be much more deeply buried and secure because the costs and complications of doing so would decrease. Consequently, this sort of program could be much easier to hide from international observation even if U.S. and Israeli intelligence penetration persists, with the net effect of lessening the risk of future attacks. Such a revamped program would abandon the pretense of civil nuclear energy, thereby limiting Iran’s ability to persuade the international community that its activities are legitimate. Yet it is unclear whether this factor will matter given the possibility that broad foreign criticism of the United States and Israel may obscure their claims about Iran’s nuclear noncompliance in the long term, even when said claims are accurate. Tehran has also used civil nuclear energy to secure domestic legitimacy for the program in the past, pointing to it as proof that the Islamic Republic is exercising its rights abroad and working to develop economically at home. It is unclear whether the war has reduced the value of this concept to Iran’s leaders.
Policy Recommendations
Iran has many options for reconstitution and probably has not decided which to pursue. At this point, the most important realization is that it could probably develop crude nuclear weapons without rebuilding its program to any significant degree. Iran likely retains enough high-enriched uranium and the chemical processing equipment required to fashion this material into several crude bombs, even if they are not missile-deliverable. Moreover, given Tehran’s frequent emphasis on unconventional defense and force projection via proxies, missiles, and drones, it could make similar unconventional choices about its nuclear armament, particularly in the near term. These possibilities have multiple implications for policymakers in Washington and abroad. First and foremost, U.S. officials should avoid any further statements calling into question whether Iran could reconstitute its nuclear program. Unless conclusively proven otherwise, the Trump administration should operate on the assumption that Iran has the capability to rebuild the program in some form and may choose to do so. Washington and its partners could then focus on trying to shape Tehran’s choice, guided by four essential priorities: Detection: Identifying where and how Iran is working to recreate elements of the program. Prevention: Enforcing current export controls and technology transfer prohibitions, which can help reduce Iran’s ability to execute any of these options. The pending “snapback” of UN sanctions will help in this regard, as Iran will remain under nuclear-related sanctions in perpetuity if this measure takes effect as planned next month. Education: Ensuring that industry and government figures understand the nature of Iran’s nuclear program, what it is trying to do, and what legal obligations Tehran is still under in terms of avoiding nuclear weapons proliferation.
Diplomacy: Convincing foreign governments not to contribute to any reconstitution effort that would be inconsistent with Iran’s IAEA and NPT obligations, while simultaneously pressing Tehran to adopt an approach that permits broader use of nuclear energy for civil purposes without the risk of weaponization. A new nuclear deal with intrusive inspector provisions remains the most efficacious way to achieve both of these goals and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in the future.
*Richard Nephew is the Bernstein Adjunct Fellow at The Washington Institute and former U.S. deputy special envoy for Iran.

Algeria has become the primary enforcer of Europe’s southern frontier
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/September 06, 2025 22:35
The migration dynamics between Algeria and Spain are a brutal convergence of geopolitical bargaining, externalized border controls, and human desperation. Once a champion of pan-African solidarity, Algeria has undergone a radical transformation into a primary enforcer of Europe’s southern frontier, detaining and expelling over 31,000 people to Niger in 2024 alone through a network of formal and informal sites before abandoning them at the border without sustenance. This is no mere change in policy but a calculated strategic alignment, driven by European pressure and domestic political expediency, evidenced by its new cooperation with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, the International Organization for Migration, and Italy on police training and border management. The consequences are a humanitarian catastrophe characterized by lethal maritime routes — a record 11,455 Algerians risked the journey by sea to Spain in a single year, a number that has since drastically increased — and abandonment in the desert, with children, women, and men forced to march kilometers to the nearest village. This manufactured crisis, fueled by Algeria’s use of migration as a “bargaining chip” with the global north, creates a cycle of exploitation and instability for migrants who survive the journey, reducing human beings to mere instruments in a transaction of power between continents. The human cost of this manufactured corridor is both staggering and deliberately obscured. The 225 documented deaths on the central Mediterranean route and 123 on the western Mediterranean route in just the first few months of 2025 are a direct outcome of deliberate policy choices. At present, the rate at which fatalities are climbing is set to pass the previous year’s grim record of more than 500. It is pure carnage funded by and funding a sophisticated and mercenary economy where desperation is the sole commodity. Migrants are often coerced into mortgaging their futures for up to €10,000 ($11,721) — a sum more than 32 times the average Algerian monthly wage — for a one-way passage on an overcrowded death trap, financing criminal networks that invest millions in logistics and high-speed boats. Meanwhile, the Algerian state’s contribution to this economy of cruelty is not intervention but predation, criminalizing the very act of flight with prison sentences of two to six months, and fines under a penal code that perversely equates seeking a future with a criminal act. The entire architecture — from the smuggler’s fee to the state’s fine — is built on the systematic monetization of despair, a closed loop where every actor profits from the cycle of movement and repression except the human being at its center.
On interception or arrival, the migrant’s ordeal is transformed rather than ended.
Spain’s reception system operates in a state of deliberate abdication or dysfunction, chronically underfunded and outsourced to NGOs that scramble to meet the needs of thousands with minimal state support. For the 4,119 Algerians who arrived in the first half of 2025, a temporary reprieve exists not by design but by diplomatic rupture; the 2022 suspension of the Spain-Algeria friendship treaty effectively neutered a functional readmission protocol, leaving Madrid able to issue 9,995 orders for Algerians to leave the country, but politically incapable of executing them.
This is no mere change in policy but a calculated strategic alignment, driven by European pressure. However, forced liminality is not protection but state-sanctioned misery, channeling individuals into an economy of exploitation where contracts promise €1,300, but deliver €800, with employers extorting additional daily fees simply for transportation to where their labor is needed. This state-sponsored system is further enforced by constant police harassment and the rising specter of far-right vigilantism, where groups linked to political parties such as Vox organize patrols targeting North Africans, transforming cities like Murcia into theaters of social tension where young Algerians can be assaulted with impunity and told, even by a homeless Spanish national, to understand their place.
The Algerian state’s role is particularly worrisome. Domestically, it performs a pantomime of control for European audiences, wielding Law 09-01 to imprison its own citizens for the “crime” of seeking a future, sentencing them to months of detention and fines of up to €430 for the act of departure — a legislative framework enacted in 2009 under direct EU pressure. Such internal repression is merely the prelude to its externalized brutality. Beyond its borders, Algeria has industrialized human disposal, perfecting the practice of “desert dumps,” where over 31,400 people in 2024, and a further 2,222 in just 21 days during April this year, were transported in unofficial convoys to the Nigerian border and abandoned at the “zero point” without food, water, or shelter, forcing a 15 km march through the desert to Assamaka. It is far from effective border management, but a deliberate policy of dehydration and exposure, a fact so systematized that the International Organization for Migration and Nigerian authorities have been compelled to erect signposts along the route. This forms one link in a “chain deportation” corridor, a regionally integrated machinery of repression where migrants are first apprehended in Tunisia, violently pushed into Algeria, detained again, and then transported south for expulsion — all coordinated through high-level summits and interior minister meetings with Italy. Algeria has thus commodified its sovereignty, transforming its territory into a transit zone for state-sanctioned suffering and using the very bodies of the dispossessed as its primary bargaining chip in relations with the global north. A fundamental contradiction lies in the absolute closure of legal pathways. Algerian citizens face the highest visa refusal rates in the Schengen area, with 34 percent of applications rejected in 2024. This policy, engineered by Europe, deliberately funnels migration into irregular channels, ensuring a constant supply of people to be intercepted, criminalized, and used as bargaining chips. The EU avoids direct funding to Algiers, instead channeling resources through international agencies for training and “capacity building,” thus maintaining a veneer of deniability while financing the architecture of repression. The outcome is a perfectly engineered crisis. Europe achieves its political objective of reduced arrivals by outsourcing violence. Algeria leverages its border enforcement for diplomatic capital and police cooperation agreements. Meanwhile, the migrant is caught in a loop: fleeing unemployment that officially affects 29.3 percent of Algerian youth, risking death at sea, surviving exploitation in Spain, and facing the constant threat of a violent expulsion back to the very deserts he or she crossed.This system is not a failure of policy, but a success of design — a design where human life is the cheapest variable in the cold calculus of money, power, and borders.
**Hafed Al-Ghwell is senior fellow and program director at the Stimson Center in Washington DC and senior fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies. X: @HafedAlGhwell

Blackmailing Egypt and Jordan
Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Alarabiya English/September 06/2025
In previous articles, I pointed to the organized campaigns targeting Gulf states, despite their continuous efforts to address regional crises, their humanitarian and charitable contributions, and their consistent positions in defending Palestinian rights and supporting the Palestinian Authority and people. Yet these campaigns have not stopped – and, tellingly, they will not stop – because the issue runs deeper than a fleeting dispute. They are tied to a long-term project by political Islamist groups and their supporters. The goals of these groups are exposed and clear, and they are not fundamentally connected to the Palestinian cause. Instead, they use it as a pretext and a tool to achieve broader objectives. The first goal is to undermine the legitimacy of Gulf states by exploiting humanitarian tragedies and directing accusations against them. The second goal is to stir up Gulf societies from within and push them toward explosion by portraying their governments as partners or complicit in the Palestinian tragedy. The third goal is to strike at the idea of the nation-state embodied by these countries, while glorifying the cross-border militia model – elevating its leaders while delegitimizing the leaders of national states. The fourth goal is to spread inciting, mobilizing rhetoric, which thrives in these emotional atmospheres and provides fertile ground for recruitment and agitation. The fifth goal is to drive a new wave of the “Arab Winter” through chaos and direct incitement. We have seen examples of this in calls to storm borders and attack embassies, or in organizing convoys aimed at embarrassing these states and portraying them as complicit in tragedy. The core idea behind all this is not to defend Palestine or expose Israel’s horrific crimes in Gaza, but rather to exploit these issues to destabilize and dismantle Gulf states from within.
What Jordan and Egypt face is not far from this context. They too are subjected to organized and systematic attacks despite their historic and central roles in serving the Palestinian cause. Both countries face the same campaigns that attempt to portray them as complicit or partners, even though the reality is that their conflict with political Islamist groups is fundamental and deep. They have taken clear positions by criminalizing and banning these groups. The reason is simple: practical experience has proven that when such groups – whether Sunni or Shia – reach power or control, the outcome is catastrophic. It is enough to look at what happened in Iran, Sudan, Yemen, and Lebanon with Hezbollah to understand the danger of these models. It is the right of national states such as Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf countries to protect their stability and citizens from repeating this fate, and to focus instead on economic development and integration into the modern world. For this reason, they face organized attacks and relentless campaigns of political and media blackmail.
One of the starkest ironies is that the states allied with these groups, or those providing them with political and financial support, are spared any attack or criticism – even though some of them maintain official and public relations with Israel. This fact alone reveals that the Palestinian cause is nothing more than a pretext within these groups’ project. Another dangerous objective is the attempt to undermine alliances among national states. This is done by spreading rumors and false news to sow discord and weaken trust among them. Any crack in the wall of national alliances means a victory for the cross-border militia model, which is built on chaos and destruction. It is a recipe for total devastation from which no state can escape. What makes matters worse is that some populist voices contribute to these campaigns, unaware of the danger of their actions or their destructive consequences.
What is reassuring, however, is that the alliances of national states remain strong and solid. Time and again, they have proven their ability to withstand pressure and attacks. More importantly, the continuity of these strong alliances is the real guarantee not only for defending the Palestinian cause and other Arab issues but also for preserving the region from total collapse and from sliding into unending chaos.

Slected X tweets For September 06/2025
EXCLUSIVE Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran, Defeating Hamas & Operation Rising Lion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydSKSCCr68
Erick Stakelbeck on TBN
Sep 4, 2025 Israel / Gaza Border News | The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins Erick Stakelbeck for an exclusive interview on crushing Iran's terror axis, Operation Rising Lion, his historic partnership with President Trump, Western appeasement, and the future of Judeo-Christian civilization. A raw, historic conversation on civilization, war, and truth in the Middle East. Watch now
.

Hanin Ghaddar
The #LAF disarmament plan and the government’s reaction was confusing on purpose. Let’s walk through it:
- the LAF submitted a plan with phases. Phase 1 - south of Litani - will take 3 months! The rest have no timeline.
- the cabinet statement read by the info minister did not mention a timeline.
- then the PM posted on X that the deadline would be under the cabinet’s August 5 decision. Everyone thinks we now do have a deadline. But not really.
- the main official statement that is binding is the cabinet’s readout - not a post on X!
And when asked about the timeline during the press conference, the info minister refused to answer.
- Therefore, no, we do not have a clear timeline!

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
In case I'm not saying this enough, I cannot even begin to describe the amount of damage that @USAMBTurkiye
Tom Barrack has done to America's diplomacy in #Lebanon and how much he's derailed it from its original course.
I say this with utmost respect to Mr. Barrack, but a blunder is a blunder.
He should have stuck to reviving the Ottoman Empire of his grandfather.


Hussain Abdul-Hussain

To appreciate how many losses the State of #Lebanon has inflicted on #Hezbollah (at least constitutionally and politically) over past 31 days, check out how cabinet today said that even the “national security strategy,” which Hezbollah uses as code word for maintaining its militia, will see arms monopolized by the state. This is the cabinet’s statement:
The Lebanese Government commits, pursuant to the inaugural address and the ministerial statement, to set a national security strategy -- in line with applying the authority of the Lebanese State over all its territory and monopolizing arms in the hands of the State, and confirms Lebanon's right to self-defense pursuant to the UN Charter.

איוב קרא ايوب قرا ayoob kara
@ayoobkara
https://x.com/i/status/1963951343455912377
لازم نعلن خلال اسبوعين على اقامة فدراليه في السويداء ونفس الشي العلويه الكرد المسيحيه وباقي المكونات السوريه

Elie Abouaoun

1- Particularity of Lebanon: you can be against "political communitarianism" but fully into sectarian politics.
2- Every spineless minister comes with flashy eyeglasses !!!
That’s all for today


EXCLUSIVE Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran, Defeating Hamas & Operation Rising Lion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydSKSCCr68

Erick Stakelbeck on TBN
Sep 4, 2025 Israel / Gaza Border News | The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins Erick Stakelbeck for an exclusive interview on crushing Iran's terror axis, Operation Rising Lion,
his historic partnership with President Trump, Western appeasement, and the future of Judeo-Christian civilization. A raw, historic conversation on civilization, war, and truth in the Middle East. Watch now.