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

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Bible Quotations For today
‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17/01-04/:"Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, "I repent", you must forgive.’"

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 12-13/2025
On the 24th Anniversary of 9/11: Remembering an Unprecedented Crime and a Warning Bell for Humanity/Elias Bejjani/September 11/2025
Text & Video: The Fawning Over Qatar’s Ambassador in Lebanon and the Hollow Arab Leaders’ Statements Condemning Israel’s Strike in Doha Against Hamas Terror Chiefs/Elias Bejjani/September 10/2025
Video link to an interview with Dr. Charles Chartouni from the “Al-Badil”youtube platform
U.S. Approves $14 Million Security Package for Lebanon as Syrian Forces Arrest Hezbollah Cell
Lebanon: A nation built on the idea of freedom/Marwan El Amine/The Beiruter Openion/September 12/2025
Charlie Kirk was an American hero/John Hajjar/X platform/September 12/2025
Amer Fakhoury Foundation
Two people wounded in Israeli drone strike on Aita al-Jabal
Lebanon Central Bank Says Higher Global Interest Rates Complicate Eurobond Debt Restructuring
Syria Says it Busted Hezbollah-linked Cell Despite its Denial
Support for Lebanese Army Tops French’s Envoy’s Meetings in Beirut
Lebanon licenses Elon Musk’s Starlink for satellite Internet services
Report: US-French-Saudi plan gives Lebanon 16-month grace period
Salam condemns Adraee 'provocative' tour in Khiam
Weapons handover looms in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps, raising security focus
Disarmament begins Saturday at Ain al-Hilweh and al-Beddawi camps
Cabinet names regulatory authorities for electricity and telecom sectors
Senior politician says Hezbollah 'only asking for two guarantees'
Cracking down on smuggling: Key reform for Lebanon’s economy
We have Bashir/Imad Moussa/Nidaa Al Watan/September 13, 2025
Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: September 1–7, 2025/David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/September 12/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 12-13/2025
Utah Man Suspected in Charlie Kirk Murder Taken into Custody
UN Overwhelmingly Endorses Declaration on Two-State Solution for Palestinians, Israel
UN Security Council Condemns Strikes on Qatar, Does Not Mention Israel
Doha to Host Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit after Israeli Strike
Trump to meet Qatari prime minister after Israeli attack in Doha
Rubio to Visit Israel amid Middle East Tensions
2 People Injured in Attack at Hotel Outside Jerusalem
Israel Intensifies Gaza City Strikes as Many Residents Refuse Evacuation
Saudi Arabia Condemns Netanyahu’s Hostile Statements against Qatar
NATO to Beef up Defense of Europe’s Eastern Flank After Poland Shoots Down Drones
US General Meets Syria's Sharaa in Damascus, US Military Says
Syrian president meets new chief of US CENTCOM
Kremlin Says Russia-Ukraine Talks are Paused, Accuses Europe of Hindering Them
US Sanctions Houthi Illicit Revenue and Procurement Networks
Israeli strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels damage residential homes, forcing families to live in ruins

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 12-13/2025
Israel’s Daring Air Strike on Hamas in Qatar Was Long Overdue./Jonathan Spyer/The Australian/September 11/2025
Al-Sharaa's Damascus Regime: Is Sharaa Really Doing All He Can or Was President Trump Set Up?/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/September 12/2025
Please bear with me as I discuss the Palestinian plan for establishing a state/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Face Book/September 12/2025
Baghdad Has an Opportunity To Counter Illicit Iranian Activity in Iraq. Will the Government Take It?/Bridget Toomey/FDD/September 12/2025
France: The Populist Hour Strikes/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
An Expanded Israel and the 'Sykes–Picot' Borders/Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Conflict That Could Go in Any Direction/Osman Mirghani/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Trump has opportunity to recalibrate US defense posture/Luke Coffey/Arab News/September 12, 2025
Returning Arab expatriates offer economic opportunities/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/September 12, 2025
Israel and the myth that Christians are flourishing in Palestine/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 12/2025
Slected X tweets For September 12/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 12-13/2025
On the 24th Anniversary of 9/11: Remembering an Unprecedented Crime and a Warning Bell for Humanity
Elias Bejjani/September 11/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147179/
On this day in 2001, terrorism struck at the heart of the United States when Al-Qaeda, led by the global terrorist Osama bin Laden, carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in modern history, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people from various nationalities and religions, and spreading fear and destruction in New York and Washington. That dark day was a grim reminder to the world of the danger of political Islam, which uses religion as a cover to justify violence, murder, and hatred, turning young people into destructive human bombs.
Political Islam: A Dual Cancer Threatening Humanity
Sunni Political Islam
Sunni political Islam is represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt, which became the ideological and organizational incubator for most extremist terrorist groups in the Muslim world. From its womb emerged bloody groups such as:
Al-Qaeda, which carried out the 9/11 attacks.
Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria, which carried out mass executions and imposed its extremist ideology by force.
Boko Haram in Nigeria, which kidnapped hundreds of girls and massacred civilians.
Hamas in Gaza, which hides behind the façade of “resistance” while practicing bloody terrorism that targets civilians and drags the Palestinian people into disasters and wars.
These groups use terrorism as a political tool to achieve their so-called “caliphate project,” seeking to overthrow civil and democratic systems through violence, assassinations, and coups, while spreading hate speech and opposing values of pluralism, freedom, and human rights.
Shiite Political Islam
On the other side stands Shiite political Islam, the other face of the same terrorist coin, led by the Iranian regime of the mullahs, which has turned religion into a tool of regional domination under the slogan of “exporting the revolution.” Tehran deploys a network of armed terrorist proxies across several countries to destabilize and destroy national sovereignties, most notably:
Hezbollah in Lebanon, which turned South Lebanon into an Iranian military base, dragged Lebanon into devastating wars, assassinated national and political figures, and today controls the Lebanese state by force of arms and intimidation.
The Houthi militias in Yemen, which ignited a bloody civil war and attacked neighboring countries with Iranian missiles and drones.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq, which committed sectarian crimes and destroyed Iraq’s state institutions.
Iranian militias in Syria and Gaza, which contributed to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and supported tyrannical regimes.
Hezbollah is the most dangerous spearhead of this network, having become a parallel army inside Lebanon that engages in kidnapping, smuggling, and drug trafficking, and threatening regional and international peace on behalf of Tehran.
Hamas and Hezbollah: A Dual Model of Cross-Border Terrorism
Hamas not only overthrew the democratic order in Gaza by force in 2007, but also turned the Strip into a base for launching indiscriminate rockets at civilians, using the population as human shields, and triggering repeated devastating wars.
Hezbollah imposed its hegemony over Lebanon’s political decision-making, dragged the country into international isolation, carried out terrorist operations and assassinations inside and outside Lebanon, and continues to threaten regional security in the service of Iran’s agenda.
Neither of these groups seeks to liberate their people or achieve justice. Instead, they serve foreign agendas of expansion and domination, leading their own societies into death, destruction, poverty, and collapse.
The Need to Eliminate Political Islam in Its Sunni and Shiite Forms
Twenty-four years after the 9/11 attacks, it has become clear that defeating global terrorism requires uprooting its ideological and organizational foundations — namely, the elimination of political Islam in both of its forms:
Overthrowing the Iranian regime of the mullahs, which sponsors, funds, and commands the most dangerous Shiite terrorist networks in the world.
Designating the Muslim Brotherhood and all its branches worldwide as terrorist organizations, cutting off their funding sources, and shutting down their propaganda institutions.
Dismantling Iran’s armed proxies militarily, foremost among them Hezbollah in Lebanon, through decisive operations carried out by legitimate international and regional forces, and arresting their leaders to bring them before international justice.
In Summary, The world has paid a heavy price for decades of ignoring the danger of political Islam, and today terrorism once again threatens global peace and security. Protecting humanity’s shared future requires a firm international alliance to put a final end to this dual cancer, and to close the chapter of exploiting religion to justify violence, tyranny, and domination. Without such action, the world will continue to relive the tragedies that began on that dark September morning.

Text & Video: The Fawning Over Qatar’s Ambassador in Lebanon and the Hollow Arab Leaders’ Statements Condemning Israel’s Strike in Doha Against Hamas Terror Chiefs
Elias Bejjani/September 10/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147141/
The gravest danger facing the Middle East today—its Arab states in general and Lebanon in particular—is the deliberate, hypocritical blindness to the true existential threat: the expansionist project of Iran’s clerical regime. Iran spreads its influence directly through the Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force, and indirectly through its sectarian proxy militias, in full coordination with the Muslim Brotherhood network financed and run by Qatar and Erdoğan’s Turkey. At the forefront of this deadly alliance stands Hamas, which turned Gaza into a bloody prison and a jihadist base that threatens Palestinians and the entire region.
The Stark Reality
*In Lebanon, Hezbollah hijacked the state and turned it into an Iranian colony.
*In Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces erased sovereignty and placed strategic decisions in Tehran’s hands.
*In Syria, the Assad regime—long an enemy of Arabs and a loyal Iranian tool—collapsed. Israel played a major role in striking and dismantling it both militarily and politically.
*In Yemen, the Houthis blackmail the Gulf with missiles and drones, all in service of Iran.
*In Gaza, Hamas surrendered the strip to Iran, turning it into a doomed battlefield against Israel.
Yet despite this catastrophic landscape, some Arabs persist in portraying Israel as their existential enemy. But Israel has not occupied their capitals nor dismantled their institutions—while Iran has destroyed Lebanon and four Arab republics and stripped them of sovereignty. The undeniable truth is this: the existential threat comes from Iran and its proxies, alongside the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas—not from Israel.
Hamas: The Brotherhood’s Terror Arm
Hamas is nothing more than a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, designated as a terrorist organization in most Arab countries. Nevertheless, yesterday we witnessed a hysterical wave of Arab statements condemning Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha. These populist outbursts are hollow and meaningless, nothing but a cheap show that recalls the empty propaganda of Egypt’s Ahmed Said, Hamas’s Abu Ubaida, and Iraq’s “Comical Ali” Muhammad al-Sahhaf. Empty words, devoid of substance, exposing the impotence of regimes that prefer slogans to action.
Israel Is Not the Enemy—Iran Is
The Arab states issuing condemnations know very well that Israel is not their existential threat. Their true enemy is Iran’s expansionist regime, which has already swallowed five states: Lebanon, Syria (before Assad’s fall), Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza through Hamas. Those who pretend otherwise are willfully blind to the reality of Wilayat al-Faqih and its mercenaries tearing apart their nations—with political Islam, funded and orchestrated by Qatar and Turkey, as well political Sunni and Shiite extremism.
The Direct Consequence of Hamas’s Crimes
What the region suffers today is a direct result of Hamas’s terrorist assaults on Israel. Whoever plants terror will reap only fire and destruction. Hamas brought calamity upon Gaza, dragged the region into endless wars, and put the entire Middle East on the global frontline.
Israel Lifted the Iranian Threat from You Arab countries
Those who issue shrill, emotional condemnations of Israel should remember: it was Israel that dismantled Assad’s regime, their long-time enemy and Iran’s Syrian proxy. It was Israel that struck Hezbollah in Lebanon, weakened Hamas in Gaza, and contained the Iranian threat that terrifies their capitals night and day. Instead of lamentations and hollow denunciations, they should admit Israel is doing what they themselves were too weak—or too cowardly—to do.
Qatar and Turkey: Sponsors of Terror
The Doha operation once again exposed Qatar as the banker and sponsor of Islamist terrorism, in league with Erdoğan’s Turkey, which deploys the Muslim Brotherhood across dozens of Arab, European, and Latin American states. Those who cheer Qatar and Erdoğan today are either blind, ignorant, or complicit in the terror project.
Greater Israel: A Reality, Not a Scarecrow
As former minister Yusuf Salameh wrote today in a statement published on my web site, “Greater Israel” is not the mythical land “from the Nile to the Euphrates.” It is a sphere of influence extending from Lebanon through Syria, Doha, and Yemen, all the way to Iran—made real by Israel’s unmatched military and intelligence reach, freely crossing Arab skies without deterrence. The wise see “Greater Israel” as an undeniable reality; the foolish repeat it as an empty scarecrow.
The Right to Pursue Terrorists Anywhere
The pursuit of Hamas leaders, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra, Hezbollah, the Iraqi PMF, all Jihadist organizations and Iran’s many terrorist armed proxies is a legitimate right everywhere in the world. Terrorism knows no borders, and every state has the right to uproot it wherever it exists.
Empty Statements and Hollow Heroics
Those who flattered Qatar’s ambassador in Lebanon, or who issued hollow statements of “condemnation,” are nothing but hypocrites. Their words are shallow and meaningless, ignoring the Iranian monster and political Islam that threaten their very survival.
In the end, only by reining in the Iranian beast can Arab states understand their inevitable enemy. If Arab rulers and peoples fought wars with the same passion they write empty statements and poetic slogans, they would dominate the world today. Instead, they remain blind, submissive, and trapped in cardboard heroics and parroting rhetoric.
Elias Bejjani – Lebanese Diaspora Activist
Phoenicia@hotmail.com

Video link to an interview with Dr. Charles Chartouni from the “Al-Badil”youtube platform
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147231/
A realistic analysis in many essential and crucial issues: The necessity of peace with Israel and an end to postponing wars and temporary patchwork operations; the absurdity of holding elections in the shadow of weapons and the imbalances in sovereign decisions; practical plans to confiscate illegal weapons; the objectives of the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar; patriotic rulers and what is required of them; the inevitability of the Lebanese issue returning to Israeli priorities; Israel’s interest in peace and stability with and in Lebanon, not the other way around; a warning that any rash action could squander opportunities.
September 12, 2025

U.S. Approves $14 Million Security Package for Lebanon as Syrian Forces Arrest Hezbollah Cell
FDD//September 12/2025
Security Package for Lebanon: The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced a $14.2 million Presidential Drawdown Authority security assistance package for Lebanon on September 10 aimed at building “the capability and capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to dismantle weapons caches and military infrastructure of non-state groups, including [Iran’s terrorist proxy] Hezbollah.” Equipment in the package will include “shaped charges, demolition charges, detonating cords, electric and non-electric blasting caps, time blasting fuse igniters, time blasting fuse igniters with shock tubes, time blasting fuses, generators,” and unspecified “transportation.” The DOD said that the “package will provide the LAF with capabilities to conduct patrols and safely remove and dispose of deadly unexploded ordnance and Hezbollah weapons caches, in support of the November 2024 Cessation of Hostilities between Lebanon and Israel.”
Syrian Troops Arrest Hezbollah Operatives: The Syrian Interior Ministry announced on September 11 that the forces from the Internal Security Command, in cooperation with the Syrian Intelligence Agency, arrested several members of a Hezbollah terror cell that was active in the towns of Saasaa and Kanaker in “the western Damascus countryside.” The statement noted that the apprehended cell members had received training in Lebanon and were planning “operations” inside Syria that would threaten the “stability and stability of its citizens.” During the arrests, Syrian security forces confiscated 19 Grad rockets, anti-tank missiles, and rocket launch bases, “along with individual weapons and large quantities of various ammunition.”
Hezbollah Issues Denial: Hezbollah denied that the terrorist organization had a presence in Syria following the Interior Ministry’s announcement, dismissing the claims “in their entirety.” The statement asserted that Hezbollah has “no presence and carries out no activity on Syrian territory.” Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force struck several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley on September 11, hitting weapons depots belonging to the Iran-backed terrorist organization.
FDD Expert Response
“Efforts to disarm Hezbollah should be among our top regional priorities. If we have a partner willing to at least partially advance that objective, we should ensure they have the means to do so and are held accountable for tangible and timely results.” — Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center of Military and Political Power
“The arrests in Syria show that Iran and its proxies still maintain ambitions there. Hezbollah continues to move weapons through Syrian territory, albeit at a slower pace, but with some shipments still reaching Lebanon despite interceptions. Syria remains central to Iran’s regional strategy: a platform for supplying Hezbollah and a base for applying pressure on Israel. Any future agreement between Israel and Syria should prioritize countering Iran’s proxies, who pose a threat to both countries.” — Ahmad Sharawi, Research Analyst

Lebanon: A nation built on the idea of freedom
Marwan El Amine/The Beiruter Openion/September 12/2025
Lebanon is not merely a small country on the map of the Middle East; it is a historical experiment and a founding idea rooted in freedom. This freedom is not a passing political slogan but a profound human value from which all other principles that govern Lebanese society stem, serving at the same time as the essential safeguard for the coexistence of its diverse communities.
Lebanon’s uniqueness lies primarily in its demographic composition. The absence of a dominant numerical majority has prevented sectarian hegemony, unlike in neighboring states. In Iraq, the Shiite majority has shaped the structure of political power, while in Syria the Sunni majority has underpinned the political and social order. In Lebanon, by contrast, the relative balance among the major sects has blocked any attempt by one group to impose its way of life on the others.
Politically and constitutionally, this demographic reality is reflected in the identity of the state. Lebanon’s constitution does not recognize an official state religion—unlike most Arab countries where Islam is declared the religion of the state and the primary source of legislation. Here lies the singularity of the Lebanese experience: citizens enjoy full freedom of belief, including the right to change their religion or political affiliation without fear or threat to their lives. This principle also shapes public life, where open criticism of authority, the formation of associations and political parties, and the practice of open opposition are not privileges to be granted or withdrawn but protected rights.
On the socio-cultural level, freedom extends beyond the individual’s relationship with the state to create a way of life built on diversity. In towns and villages alike, Maronites, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, and others coexist within the same space. Each community maintains its own religious and cultural institutions, yet they all share a public sphere wide enough to accommodate differences. Freedom in Lebanon is not confined to constitutional texts; it is a lived reality, tested daily in education, media, art, and open dialogue across society.
While this model has provided all communities with unprecedented space for expression in the region, here, I would like to focus specifically on the Lebanese Shiites and what Lebanon has offered them. Compared to their counterparts in Iran—often regarded as the epicenter of political Shiism and the most influential actor among Lebanese Shiites—the contrast is stark. In Iran, Shiites live under a repressive authoritarian system, facing strict political and social constraints. In Lebanon, by contrast, Shiites have enjoyed political, social, and intellectual freedom. This freedom to speak, to criticize, to think independently, and to mobilize has made Lebanon the only place in the region where Shiites possess rights that others, especially in Iran, can only aspire to.
In this sense, Lebanon has offered an exceptional model in a troubled region: one that makes freedom not just an abstract value but a daily practice that safeguards diversity and prevents authoritarianism. True, the Lebanese system suffers from recurrent structural crises. Yet the founding idea of the state, freedom intertwined with plurality, remains the safety valve preventing Lebanon from becoming just another replica of its regional neighbors.
Lebanon may not be a perfect state, but it continues to serve as a living laboratory for an uncommon idea in the Middle East: that freedom, not numerical majority, is what protects identity, and that partnership in diversity is stronger than any form of unilateral dominance.

Charlie Kirk was an American hero
John Hajjar/X platform/September 12/2025
Charlie Kirk was an American hero, a tireless fighter and builder who, almost single handedly, turned the youth of America into patriots and defenders of liberty. He brilliantly and cheerfully broke the shibboleths of the left such as 'diversity is our strength' or ' Islam is a religion of peace' with logic and facts that devastated those who he debated but always with respect and good grace. Charlie will be sorely missed but leaves a legacy that will grow stronger through the years. Like the organization he formed, let this be a turning point in our country. Let us turn even more strongly to our founding principles of liberty, freedom, the rule of law and divine Providence. Rest in Peace good and faithful servant.

Amer Fakhoury Foundation
September 12/2025
Six years ago today, Amer Fakhoury was kidnapped in Lebanon, tortured, and unlawfully detained for seven months. He returned in a deteriorated state and passed away a few months later. His case sparked the creation of the Amer Foundation, which advocates for victims of unlawful detention and works to advance democracy and human rights. Amer spoke out against extremism, including Hezbollah, and his story underscores the risks faced by those who advocate for accountability. This past year, a landmark ruling held Iran responsible—through Hezbollah in Lebanon—for Amer’s kidnapping and detention. Amer’s case exposed how Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, was thoroughly embedded into the Lebanese government and its judicial system. The Amer Foundation is proud to see the new Lebanese government push for dismantling Hezbollah and similar groups in Lebanon. We hope this will lead to a path of true democracy in Lebanon and hopefully other nations in the Middle East will follow. Silence is not an option. We should speak out when we see an injustice even if the cost might be heavy. Since launching the foundation six years ago, the Fakhoury family has received numerous threats from Hezbollah members. This has not deterred them from fighting for justice and speaking out. The Amer Foundation has come a long way and has supported and provided financial assistance to many families affected by unlawful detention and human-rights abuses. We would like to thank all the supporters of the foundation because without your help we would not be where we are today.

Two people wounded in Israeli drone strike on Aita al-Jabal
Naharnet/September 12/2025
Two people were wounded Friday in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern town of Aita al-Jabal, as Israel seemed to intensify its strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire reached in late November. Israeli soldiers also detonated a house Friday in the outskirts of the border town of Aitaroun. Israel has continued to carry out attacks on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah operatives or sites, despite the November truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of open war. On Thursday, Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed one person and wounded at least five. Israel also targeted Thursday the Bekaa, near Syria's border, and said the strikes targeted "infrastructure inside a site for producing and storing strategic weapons for Hezbollah."The strikes on the south targeted vehicles in Kfardounin and on the Ain Baal-Bazouriyeh road, killing a person and wounding five others. Under heavy U.S. pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government last month ordered the military to draw up a plan to disarm Hezbollah, and has since said the army would begin the plan's implementation. Thursday's raids came as French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Lebanon for talks with senior officials.

Lebanon Central Bank Says Higher Global Interest Rates Complicate Eurobond Debt Restructuring
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Lebanon's central bank warned on Friday that elevated global interest rates would complicate the country's efforts to restructure its international bonds, which have surged in recent weeks amid hopes the country is making progress towards a debt overhaul. The warning came in the bank's mid-year Macroeconomic Review, the first public overview it has shared in years. Deputy central bank governor Salim Chahine told reporters that its publication offered "an opportunity to bolster the market confidence that we lost and would now like to rebuild."Lebanon's economy began unravelling in 2019 after years of corruption and profligate spending by the country's ruling elite, and tipped into a sovereign default on its $31 billion of outstanding international bonds in March 2020, Reuters reported. Lebanon's defaulted bonds have had a stellar rally with bonds rising from just over 10 cents at the start of the year to around 23 cents on Friday, when they eked out small gains on the day. The Bank's review also cited growth in its liquid foreign currency reserves to reach $11.3 billion and in the value of its gold reserves to $30.28 billion, due to higher gold prices.

Syria Says it Busted Hezbollah-linked Cell Despite its Denial
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Syria said Thursday that its forces dismantled a cell affiliated with Lebanon's Hezbollah, drawing a swift denial from the group. "Specialized units in cooperation with the general intelligence service... were able to arrest a terrorist cell belonging to the Hezbollah militia that was active" in the Damascus countryside, an interior ministry statement said, quoting a local commander. "Preliminary investigations showed that the cell members underwent training in military camps in Lebanese territory, and were planning to carry out operations inside Syrian territory that threaten national security and stability," the statement said.
Forces seized ammunition and weapons including Grad-type rockets, launchers and anti-tank missiles, it said, adding the case was referred to the judiciary. Hezbollah strongly denied Thursday’s accusations, reiterating that it has no presence or activities in Syria and that it is “fully keen on Syria’s stability and its people’s security.”Hezbollah openly backed former Syrian president Bashar Assad from 2013 until his ouster last December.Hezbollah lost a key supply route from backer Iran through Syria after the new authorities took power.

Support for Lebanese Army Tops French’s Envoy’s Meetings in Beirut
Beirut: Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Support for the Lebanese army was the focus of discussions between top Lebanese officials and French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian. The envoy arrived in Lebanon on Thursday and met with President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. Talks also tackled Paris’ efforts to host a conference to support the army and another on Lebanon’s reconstruction given the “influential” role France played in extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Aoun informed Le Drian that backing the army is as important as Lebanon’s reconstruction following last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah. He called for more pressure from the US and France on Israel to cease its violations, which would help the army complete its security plan. This was Le Drian’s first trip to Lebanon since the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate. Sources following the visit told Asharq Al-Awsat that the conference in support of the army, which was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in August, topped Le Drian’s discussions in Beirut. The sources revealed that efforts are underway to hold the conference, which may be held outside of France. Other informed sources said France is prioritizing stability in Lebanon and along the border. It also wants to ensure the country’s revival through supporting the army and the implementation of needed reforms.
Le Drian stressed after meeting Aoun that France continues to support Lebanon “in all fields”, especially in regard to holding the two conferences. He noted that Lebanon’s decisions to impose state monopoly over weapons and the army’s ensuing plan to implement it, as well as the issuing of laws related to financial and economic reforms, were positive steps that would increase foreign support for Lebanon in all domains, said a presidency statement. Aoun, for his part, expressed his gratitude to the role Macron is playing in preparing the two conferences.
He added that Lebanon is committed to completing the reforms, which are not just international demands, but also concern Lebanon itself because they are the main path to economic revival. Moreover, he stressed that the army continues to implement the security plan, starting from south of the Litani River, to remove all weapons – both Lebanese and Palestinian – that are outside state control. The ongoing Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories is however hindering the army’s progress towards the border. Lebanon has repeatedly called on Israel to commit to the November 27, 2024 ceasefire, but to no avail. Israel continues to violate Lebanon, it has not released any Lebanese prisoners and it has not committed to UN Security Council resolution 1701, said Aoun. Following talks with Aoun and later Berri, Le Drian met with Salam. He reiterated to the PM France’s commitment to supporting Lebanon in its reconstruction, army and economic recovery. The military is the main guarantor of internal stability and creates trust among the people, remarked the envoy.Salam briefed Le Drian on the situation in Lebanon in wake of the government's decision to limit possession of weapons to the state, saying this has become an “irreversible national choice.”Furthermore, he said the government is prioritizing the reconstruction and economic recovery conference, the conference in support of the army and the Beirut 1 conference on investment that should consolidate the international community’s trust in Lebanon. Salam stressed that these three conferences are connected as there can be no economic revival without stability and no stability without strong institutions and an attractive investment environment, adding that the success of these meetings demands support from France and Lebanon’s Arab and international friends.

Lebanon licenses Elon Musk’s Starlink for satellite Internet services
AP/September 12, 2025
BEIRUT: Lebanon has granted a license to Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide satellite Internet services in the crisis-hit country known for its crumbling infrastructure. The announcement was made late Thursday by Information Minister Paul Morcos who said Starlink will provide Internet services throughout Lebanon via satellites operated by Musk’s SpaceX. The announcement came nearly three months after Musk spoke with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun by telephone and told him about his interest in working in the country’s telecommunications and Internet sectors. During the same Cabinet meeting, the government named regulatory authorities for the country’s electricity and telecommunications sectors. Naming a regulatory authority for Lebanon’s corruption-plagued electricity sector has been a key demand by international organizations. The naming of a regulatory authority for the electricity sector was supposed to be done more than 20 years ago but there have been repeated delays by the country’s authorities. The move is seen as a key reform for a sector that wastes over $1 billion a year in the small Mediterranean nation. State-run Electricite du Liban, or EDL, is viewed as one of Lebanon’s most wasteful institutions and plagued by political interference. It has cost state coffers about $40 billion since the 1975-90 civil war ended. Since taking office earlier this year, Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have vowed to work on implementing reforms and fighting corruption and decades-old mismanagement to get Lebanon out of an economic crisis that the World Bank has described as among the world’s worst since the 1850s. Lebanon has for decades faced long hours of electricity cuts but the situation became worse following an economic meltdown that began in late 2019. The 14-month Israel-Hebzollah war that ended in late November also badly damaged electricity and other infrastructure in parts of Lebanon. In April, the World Bank said it will grant Lebanon a $250 million loan that will be used to help ease electricity cuts.

Report: US-French-Saudi plan gives Lebanon 16-month grace period
Naharnet/September 12/2025
A U.S.-French-Saudi plan presented by French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Lebanese officials calls for supporting the army and extending the grace period given to Lebanon to 16 months that end with the termination of UNIFIL’s mission in Lebanon, the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal reported on Friday. “This means that the government’s welcoming of the Lebanese Army’s plan in the Sep. 5 session was not a retreat nor a compromise, but rather confirmation of the decisions of the Aug. 5 and 7 sessions with international support and embracement and a more diplomatic language,” al-Anbaa added.
Le Drian’s talks in Lebanon “apparently carried foreign satisfaction with the Lebanese government’s decisions, accompanied by a plan of additional military and economic support that enables the government to continue the implementation of its security and reform plans,” the news portal said. “The five-nation group that supports Lebanon and the countries sponsoring the ceasefire agreement have agreed to give the Lebanese army and government an additional 16-month grace period during which the Lebanese Army extends its control over all military posts in Lebanon and completes the plan of removing or containing illegal weapons, including Hezbollah’s arms,” al-Anbaa reported. In his meetings, Le Drian focused on the ongoing preparations for holding an international conference for supporting the Lebanese Army in November, with approval and attendance from the U.S., France and Saudi Arabia, after the U.S. Congress approved $14.2 million for supporting the army, unnamed sources told al-Anbaa.

Salam condemns Adraee 'provocative' tour in Khiam
Naharnet/September 12/2025
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned a "provocative" tour by the Israeli army's spokesperson Avichay Adraee in the southern town of al-Khiam. In a statement, Salam described the tour in occupied Lebanese territories as an "aggressive behavior", calling on the international community to "exert maximum pressure on Israel to completely withdraw from the Lebanese territories it still occupies and to stop its land, sea, and air violations." Adraee had posted Thursday on X a video of him in Khiam. In the video, Adraee told the Lebanese Shiites that they deserve to live in peace and that Hezbollah has destroyed their villages. Villages of south Lebanon and especially the border villages were extensively destroyed and damaged by the Israeli war that ended in a ceasefire in late November. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continued to carry out attacks on Lebanon and used explosives and bulldozers to destroy and damage civilian structures and agricultural land, claiming that they had previously been used by Hezbollah fighters.

Weapons handover looms in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps, raising security focus
LBCI/September 12/2025
On Friday, the Beddaoui camp experienced an ordinary day. Shops and cafes continued their usual activity, and mosques welcomed worshippers for prayers. Nothing exceptional occurred, and Lebanese-Palestinian commercial activity flowed as usual through its narrow streets. No weapons were delivered, as previously reported. However, Lebanese sources and sources from the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee said that weapons would actually be handed over at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with three trucks of arms arriving at the camp entrances and being transported to the army barracks in Terbol. The Beddaoui camp, which has not posed a military or security burden for many years, had not received any instructions until the afternoon. The same Lebanese sources mentioned that four or five shipments of weapons are expected to be delivered from the Ain al-Hilweh camp in Sidon, the largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon, away from media attention, noting that some logistical arrangements are still being finalized. Even in Ain al-Hilweh, however, the head of Palestinian National Security Forces in Lebanon, General Sobhi Abou Arab, was unaware of the delivery arrangements or instructions in the camp. While awaiting instructions and the implementation of new weapon deliveries from the Palestine Liberation Organization—following previous phases in Tyre and Beirut—the dialogue committee has held recent communications with other Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad and Hamas. According to sources, the committee’s chairman, Ramez Dimashkieh, informed Palestinian parties of the need to begin exploring ways to fully resolve the Palestinian weapons issue, opening the path for state sovereignty over the camps. This is intended as part of practical steps aligned with government decisions, the ministerial statement, and the presidential oath, while ensuring the security, stability, and dignity of the Palestinian community.

Disarmament begins Saturday at Ain al-Hilweh and al-Beddawi camps
Naharnet/September 12/2025
The handover of Palestinian weapons at the Ain al-Hilweh and al-Beddawi refugee camps will begin Saturday and continue for three days, the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee announced on Friday. “Dialogue with Hamas is ongoing for the handover of its weapons,” Committee sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel, adding that they expect the file to be finalized at the end of the month. So far only the Fatah Movement has handed over weapons from several camps in Beirut and its suburbs and the southern region of Tyre. During a visit to Beirut in May, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun agreed that weapons in Lebanon's Palestinian camps would be handed over to the Lebanese authorities. The implementation of the deal -- part of Lebanese authorities' decision to disarm all non-state groups -- began in August as Abbas' Fatah movement surrendered its weapons in south Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh camp. By longstanding convention, the Lebanese Army stays out of the Palestinian camps -- where Fatah, Hamas and other armed groups are present -- and leaves the factions to handle security. Lebanon hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA. The move to collect the Palestinian factions' weapons comes as the Lebanese government, under heavy U.S. pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli military action, has tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year. During a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that largely ended with a November ceasefire, Palestinian groups including Hamas claimed rocket fire towards Israel.

Cabinet names regulatory authorities for electricity and telecom sectors
Naharnet/September 12/2025
The government has named regulatory authorities for the country's electricity and telecommunications sectors, Information Minister Paul Morcos said late Thursday after a cabinet session. Naming a regulatory authority for Lebanon's corruption-plagued electricity sector has been a key demand by international organizations. The naming of a regulatory authority for the electricity sector was supposed to be done more than 20 years ago but there have been repeated delays by the country's authorities. The move is seen as a key reform for a sector that wastes over $1 billion a year in the small Mediterranean nation.
State-run Electricite du Liban, or EDL, is viewed as one of Lebanon's most wasteful institutions and plagued by political interference. It has cost state coffers about $40 billion since the 1975-90 civil war ended. Since taking office earlier this year, President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have vowed to work on implementing reforms and fighting corruption and decades-old mismanagement to get Lebanon out of an economic crisis that the World Bank has described as among the world's worst since the 1850s. Lebanon has for decades faced long hours of electricity cuts but the situation became worse following an economic meltdown that began in late 2019. The 14-month Israel-Hebzollah war that ended in late November also badly damaged electricity and other infrastructure in parts of Lebanon. In April, the World Bank said it will grant Lebanon a $250 million loan that will be used to help ease electricity cuts. During the same Cabinet meeting, Lebanon granted a license to Elon Musk's Starlink to provide satellite internet services in the crisis-hit country known for its crumbling infrastructure.

Senior politician says Hezbollah 'only asking for two guarantees'
Naharnet/September 12/2025
A senior political source has told MTV that “Hezbollah is in depth only asking for two guarantees to endorse the arms monopoly plan, which are halting the Israeli aggression and the start of Israel's withdrawal.”“The issue of Hezbollah's arms will be resolved and what the party is saying in closed-door meetings is different than what it's saying in speeches,” the source added. Israel has continued to carry out attacks on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah operatives or sites, despite a November truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of open war with the Iran-backed group.
Under heavy U.S. pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government last month ordered the Lebanese Army to draw up a plan to disarm the once-dominant Hezbollah, and has since said the army would begin the plan's implementation.

Cracking down on smuggling: Key reform for Lebanon’s economy
LBCI/September 12/2025
Controlling smuggling and increasing customs revenues is one of the reforms required both locally and internationally. While the army works to close illegal land crossings along the border with Syria, the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Administration are working to regulate legal land, sea, and air crossings. The Customs Administration needs to strengthen its capabilities, including personnel, patrol vehicles, and modern detection equipment, particularly at land crossings. Currently, there is only one scanner at the Masnaa border crossing, which does not have the technical capacity required for such a facility. Available information indicates gaps at this crossing that allow smuggling to continue. Customs revenues, which include customs duties and VAT, reached approximately $1.681 billion last year. In 2025, through the end of August, revenues reached $1.454 billion. Revenues could be increased through further anti-smuggling measures. It cannot be denied that Lebanon needs funding from countries and donor institutions, but the amount could be lower than widely reported if the economy and investment were to function properly and if corruption and tax evasion were controlled. Additionally, appointments within the Customs Administration need to be addressed to prevent the agency from being subjected to political interference.

We have Bashir
Imad Moussa/Nidaa Al Watan/September 13, 2025
We have Bashir, and they have their own saints, mujahideen, legends, and martyr leaders who fell on the road to Jerusalem. We have Bashir, a magnified image of our small and big dreams. In him, we have a role model and the courage to express our opinions, make decisions, and confront them. As a leader, he did not fight his wars from dungeons, cellars, or through screens. Rather, he was among us, with us, and in front of us, along with his people from all social classes. He feared for us more than we feared for him. With him, we outstripped Lebanese history, living it rich in dreams and real struggle. We have Bashir, who resides in our daily lives. We have Bashir in our stem cells. We have Bashir in the photographs hanging on the walls of memory. The scene remains vivid in my memory, as if it had happened two months ago, not 47 years ago. On the afternoon of July 1, 1978, I was wandering the almost empty streets of Achrafieh, intending to pass under a young woman's balcony, perhaps hoping for a date or an invitation to have a drink under her mother's supervision. I was surprised by a flying Syrian checkpoint, a few meters from the Lebanese Bank of Commerce (ABC side), stopping a white American car and asking the driver to get out and open the trunk. I could almost hear the driver say, "The trunk is open." The soldier insisted that the driver open it himself. The driver was none other than Bashir Gemayel. He got out in sportswear, his expression impassive and confident. Moments later, a special forces soldier got into the car, behind him. The car headed towards Rizk Tower. Moments later, I disappeared at the Karam Hospital intersection. I was alone in the street. Or so I thought. I ran to the Phalange headquarters in Achrafieh. News of the Pasha's arrest had already preceded me to his second home and grave. The war did not take long; the Hundred Days War. Bashir was among us. He didn't lead the confrontation with the Syrian regime's army from the Hariz shelter, but rather moved between newly created positions, braving the heavy bombardment. I remember well that he instructed all fighters, both the inexperienced and the seasoned, to wear helmets to reduce head injuries. Our heads were warm. Who among us hasn't met "the Pasha" eating a shawarma sandwich in a small restaurant (opened by George Freiha's brother) near Zahrat al-Ihsan, or riding a bicycle at the Jesuit University, or embracing the father of a martyr? We loved him because he was one of us and for us, even if we didn't know him personally. A brave leader who spoke our language. The language of honesty at all times and in all places, even if the haters hated it. For years, as a non-Phalange youth, I attended the Tuesday meetings at the Kataeb House in Achrafieh and heard Bashir's recountings of events in which he was a key player. On September 14, 1982, seconds before the crime occurred, I was standing at the intersection leading to the "Phalange House," waiting for one of the Ain al-Rummaneh bombers. I ran. I stood in front of the destruction. Part of me is still standing there. Part of me followed the incomplete life.

Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: September 1–7, 2025
David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/September 12/2025
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted numerous operations throughout Lebanon against Hezbollah between September 1 and September 7, 2025. Activity this week was slightly more intense than in previous weeks, occurred both north and south of the Litani River, and included targeted assassinations of Hezbollah operatives and widescale strikes on the group’s infrastructure and assets.The IDF conducted operations in 20 Lebanese locales, some of them more than once. The Israeli military carried out 20 airstrikes or other aerial activities, dropped leaflets over two areas, and executed two ground activities, one detonation, and one artillery strike. Map instructions: Click the top-left icon or an icon on the map to open the Map Key and adjust the map’s zoom as desired. Click the top-right icon to open a larger version of the map.
Nabatieh Governorate
Bint Jbeil District: Ayta Ash Shaab, Yaroun, and Yater
Hasbaya District: Shebaa
Marjayoun District: Houla, Khiam, Marjayoun, Meiss al Jabal, Rab al Thalatheen, Taybeh, and Wazzani
Nabatieh District: Ansar
South Lebanon Governorate
Jezzine District: Deir Taqla
Sidon District: Aadloun-Abu al Aswad, Aadloun-Babliyeh, Ansariyeh-Deir Taqla, Kawthariyet al Rez, Kharayeb, and Zrariyeh
Tyre District: Tayr Harfa
Casualties
Between September 1 and September 7, 2025, Israeli operations in Lebanon killed four individuals, three of whom were either Hezbollah operatives or linked to the organization, and wounded 16 individuals.
September 3, 2025: Two Hezbollah operatives were killed, one Lebanese Resistance Brigades operative was killed, one unidentified individual was killed, and one Syrian was national killed; eight Lebanese adults, three Lebanese children, four Syrian adults, and one Syrian child were wounded.
September 4, 2025: No casualties were reported.
September 5, 2025: No casualties were reported.
September 6, 2025: No casualties were reported.
September 7, 2025: No casualties were reported.
Chronology of Israeli operations against Hezbollah, September 1–7, 2025
September 1
At 7:38 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted an excavator in Rab al Thalatheen in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District. The IDF released a statement the next day saying that the engineering equipment it had targeted was “being used to restore Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure” in the town, in “violation of the understandings between Lebanon and Israel.”
At 8:49 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped an explosive near a bulldozer in Yaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District. The IDF released a statement the next day saying the engineering equipment it had targeted was “being used to restore Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure” in “violation of the understandings between Lebanon and Israel.”
September 2
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) claimed that, at an unspecified hour on September 2, Israeli quadcopters dropped four explosives near peacekeeping forces operating southeast of Marwahin in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District, to remove roadblocks blocking the route to their base.
At 10:47, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive in Wazzani in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
At 11:30 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped leaflets in Rab al Thalatheen in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District, accusing Hezbollah of rebuilding its underground military installations under the cover of reconstruction.
At 7:29 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter fell after dropping an explosive near an excavator in Meiss Al Jabal in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
At 7:31 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone quadcopter dropped an explosive near an excavator in Yaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
September 3
NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli forces conducted overnight detonations on the outskirts of Aitaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District, after an Israeli ground force entered the area and detonated a house located hundreds of meters away from the IDF’s Tal al Aoueidah Post in south Lebanon. At 3:33 pm, the IDF released a statement saying forces belonging to its 810 “HeHarim” Brigade, under the command of the 210th Division, had conducted overnight operations near the Shebaa Farms/Har Dov region in which they “destroyed several outposts that had been used by Hezbollah in the past.”
At 10:18 am, NNA reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive near unidentified Lebanese nationals reportedly hauling the rubble of their houses in Houla in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
At 1:51 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in Yater in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District. The strike killed one person. Hezbollah-affiliated social media later announced the death of Abdelmenem Mousa Sweidan, whose nom de guerre was Osama, from Yater. At 7:52 pm, the IDF released a statement acknowledging that its air force, at the direction of the 91st Division, had targeted and killed Sweidan, describing him as “the terror organization’s local representative in Yater.”
At 3:36 pm, NNA Lebanon reported an Israeli airstrike on a wadi between Zrariyeh in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Sidon District and Ansar in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Nabatieh District. At 3:52 pm, the IDF announced that it had targeted and destroyed an installation for the production of equipment for “restoring Hezbollah’s presence and advancing terror initiatives,” whose presence it said “was in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
At 3:50 pm, NNA Lebanon reported two Israeli airstrikes on the outskirts of Kharayeb and Kawthariyet al Rez in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Sidon District, at least one of which targeted a building. The strikes killed one person and wounded another. Pro-Hezbollah social media announced the death of Hezbollah operative Rida Ali Zreiq, whose nom de guerre was Hajj Hadi, from Adsheet.
Death announcements for Abdelmenem Mousa Sweidan (Left) and Rida Ali Zreiq (Right).
At 4:46 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery struck a home on the outskirts of Shebaa in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Hasbaya District, killing one person. Hezbollah-affiliated social media later announced the death of Hezbollah auxiliary force Lebanese Resistance Brigades operative Ali Mohammad Tuffaha, whose nom de guerre was Maher, from Shebaa. At 7:52 pm, the IDF released a statement acknowledging that its forces, at the direction of the 210th Division, had targeted and killed Tuffaha, “a terrorist who operated within the ‘Lebanese Resistance Brigades’ terror organization at the direction of the Hezbollah terror organization in Shebaa,” stressing his activities “violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Death announcement for Ali Maher Tuffaha.
At 6:28 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted Taybeh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District. The strike killed one person. The fatality was not identified.
At 10:56 pm, NNA Lebanon reported a series of Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Sidon District that killed one Syrian national and lightly wounded several people. These strikes targeted a construction machinery lot and resulted in significant damage to nearby homes. Additional Israeli airstrikes targeted Deir Taqla in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Jezzine District and Ansariyeh in the Sidon District, where the outlet said the IDF had targeted a bulldozer repair hangar. A final Israeli airstrike targeted Tayr Harfa in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District. The strikes wounded 16 people: eight Lebanese adults, three Lebanese children, four Syrian adults, and one Syrian child. The IDF released a statement saying it had targeted “a position belonging to the terror organization Hezbollah used to store engineering equipment employed in the organization’s reconstruction [efforts] and to advance terror initiatives near the village of Ansariyeh in south Lebanon.” The IDF also targeted a Hezbollah rocket launcher near Jebbayn.”
September 4
At 12:52 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted a prefabricated structure on the outskirts of Ayta Ash Shaab in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
At 3:40 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped leaflets in Khiam in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District, warning locals against cooperating with Hezbollah. The quadcopter then crashed in Khiam.
At 5:04 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive near an unidentified Lebanese citizen in Yaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District, igniting fires in a nearby field.
At 8:52 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that the IDF told Khiam residents to clear the DT café before it was targeted. No subsequent strike was reported.
At 10:59 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli troops directed gunfire toward the valley of Marjayoun and Khiam.
September 5
At 11:55 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive near a motorbike in Yaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
At 11:54 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli troops positioned at the Tel Hamames Post in south Lebanon directed gunfire toward the outskirts of Khiam in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
September 6
No operations were reported.
September 7
At 8:18 am, NNA Lebanon reported that, at an unspecified time after midnight, an Israeli drone targeted a bulldozer with two missiles in Maaliyeh in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District.
**David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 12-13/2025
Utah Man Suspected in Charlie Kirk Murder Taken into Custody
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
A young Utah man suspected of killing the conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a university forum has been taken into custody, Governor Spencer Cox said on Friday, ending a two-day manhunt that helped fuel national concern over a rising tide of political violence in the US."We got him," Cox told reporters at a briefing. The suspect, identified as Tyler Robinson, had confessed to a family friend – or "implied that he had committed" the murder to that friend – and that person in turn contacted the Washington County sheriff's office on Thursday. A family member interviewed by investigators said Robinson had become more political recently and spoke in a disparaging manner about Kirk, Cox said. Robinson was taken into custody on Thursday night, about 33 hours after Kirk's murder, FBI Director Kash Patel said at the press conference. Kirk, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, was killed by a single bullet as he spoke onstage at an outdoor amphitheater at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Trump called the shooting a "heinous assassination."Kirk's killing has stirred outrage among Kirk's supporters and denunciations of political violence from Democrats, Republicans and foreign governments. "It is an attack on all of us," Utah's governor said at the press conference, drawing parallels between Kirk's murder and the assassinations of President John Kennedy, his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s. "It is an attack on the American experiment," the governor said. "It is an attack on our ideals." The shooting has punctuated the most sustained period of US political violence since the 1970s. Reuters has documented more than 300 cases of politically motivated violent acts across the ideological spectrum since supporters of Trump attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
TRACKING DOWN THE SUSPECT
Previously, US investigators said they had found the bolt-action rifle believed to have been used to kill Kirk - a charismatic 31-year-old credited with building support for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. They released a series of security camera images of a person of interest and asked the public to help identify him. Investigators spoke to Robinson's roommate, who showed them comments Robinson had made on Discord, a chat and streaming platform popular with gamers, discussing retrieving a rifle from a drop point and then dropping it in a bush wrapped in a towel. That matched the description of the gun recovered after the shooting in a wooded area near campus. Ammunition found at the scene had been inscribed, Cox said. Politicians, commentators and amateur sleuths have filled social media and online forums with speculation and blame-casting about the killer's identity and ideology. Cox told reporters he would leave interpretation of the messages on the ammunition to others for now. Kirk, a well-connected activist, author and podcast host, was friends with Vice President JD Vance, Trump's family and others at the highest echelons of the US government. Patel, the FBI director, also offered a personal tribute at the news conference. "Rest now brother, we have the watch. I'll see you in Valhalla," he said in closing his remarks, referring to the heavenly reward for warriors in Norse mythology. Kirk, co-founder and president of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, appeared at Utah Valley on Wednesday as part of a planned 15-event "American Comeback Tour" of US college campuses.

UN Overwhelmingly Endorses Declaration on Two-State Solution for Palestinians, Israel
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly voted to endorse a declaration outlining "tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps" towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of a meeting of world leaders.
The seven-page declaration is the result of an international conference at the UN in July - hosted by Saudi Arabia and France - on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event. A resolution endorsing the declaration received 142 votes in favor and 10 against, while 12 countries abstained. The vote comes ahead of a meeting of world leaders on September 22 - on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly - where Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state. The declaration endorsed by the 193-member General Assembly condemns the attacks against Israel by Palestinian Hamas fighters on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza. It also condemns the attacks by Israel against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, siege and starvation, "which have resulted in a devastating humanitarian catastrophe and protection crisis." French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the resolution secured the international isolation of Hamas. "For the first time today, the United Nations adopted a text condemning it for its crimes and calling for its surrender and disarmament," he said in an X post.
The resolution was supported by all Gulf Arab states. Israel and the United States voted against it, along with Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga. The declaration endorsed by the resolution says the war in Gaza "must end now" and support the deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission mandated by the UN Security Council. The United States described the vote as "yet another misguided and ill-timed publicity stunt" that undermined serious diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. "Make no mistake, this resolution is a gift to Hamas," US diplomat Morgan Ortagus told the General Assembly. "Far from promoting peace, the conference has already prolonged the war, emboldened Hamas and harmed the prospects of peace in both short and long term." Israel, which has long criticized the UN for not condemning Hamas by name for the October 7 attacks, dismissed the declaration as one-sided and described the vote as theater. "The only beneficiary is Hamas …When terrorists are the ones cheering, you are not advancing peace; you are advancing terror," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said. The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 64,000 people, also mostly civilians, have since been killed during the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities.

UN Security Council Condemns Strikes on Qatar, Does Not Mention Israel
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar's capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including the United States. Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump's unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar," read the statement, drafted by Britain and France. The widely condemned Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
"Council members underscored that releasing the (Israeli) hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority," the Security Council statement read. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani accused Israel of trying to derail efforts to end the war in Gaza by attacking Hamas leaders in Doha, but pledged to continue its mediation efforts. "Attacking our territories while we were busy with negotiations has uncovered the intention of Israel. It is trying to undermine any prospect of peace. It is trying to perpetuate the suffering of the Palestinian people," he told the council. "It also shows that extremists that rule Israel today do not care about the hostages. This is not a priority." Algeria voiced its disappointment that the Security Council statement was not stronger. “Violence breeds violence. Impunity breeds war. Silence in the international community, and of this very Security Council, fuels chaos,” Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the council. “This very council remains constrained, unable even to name the aggressor, to qualify aggression as a violation of international law,” he said.

Doha to Host Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit after Israeli Strike
Cairo: Fathiya al-Dakhakhni/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit aimed at forging a unified response to Israel’s strike on Doha that killed senior Hamas leaders, Arab diplomats told Asharq Al-Awsat. Qatar’s state news agency said on Thursday the summit will convene on Sunday and Monday to discuss Israel’s air raid, which struck Hamas’ top command in the Qatari capital on Tuesday while the group discussed a US ceasefire plan for Gaza. The attack drew condemnation from Gulf, Arab and international organizations. Arab League spokesman Gamal Roshdy said the timing of the summit reflected “an Arab and Islamic recognition of the gravity of Israel’s assault on Qatar” and the need for a common stand to uphold international law and reject what he called Israel’s “rogue behavior.”“The summit will review the fallout and steps needed to stop the region sliding into further conflict and violence,” Roshdy told Asharq Al-Awsat. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in a CNN interview on Wednesday that Doha was consulting regional partners on a response. He affirmed that there will be a regional reaction and said it is under consultation with other partners in the region. Arab diplomats said the summit would also set a “roadmap for joint Arab action” based on a Saudi-Egyptian initiative adopted at the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo earlier this month. That framework called for ending Israel’s occupation of Arab territories and rejected any durable regional cooperation under continued occupation or threats of annexation. The gathering comes ahead of this month’s United Nations General Assembly, with sources expressing hope the summit would issue “firm decisions,” citing expectations of broad Arab and Islamic participation. Cairo-based political scientist Ahmed Youssef Ahmed said the summit must go beyond condemnation to punitive measures. “It should also be a moment of frankness with Washington,” he said, noting that Israel struck a state President Donald Trump has described as a trusted ally, one that hosts the region’s most important US base.
Trump himself said he was “not happy” with Israel’s strike on Qatar. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said it ran counter to Trump’s stated goal of achieving peace in Gaza.

Trump to meet Qatari prime minister after Israeli attack in Doha
Reuters/September 12, 2025
NEW YORK: President Donald Trump planned to meet the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, a White House official said, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha. The official did not elaborate on the timing of the meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani or its agenda. Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge. Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests. Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, and for a post-conflict plan for the territory. Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace, but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator. The Qatari leader will also meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department said late on Thursday. Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed over 64,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, while internally displacing almost all Gaza’s population, and set off a starvation crisis. Multiple rights experts and scholars say Israel’s military assault on Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel has rejected that determination. It launched its offensive in Gaza after an October 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of the Gaza conflict.

Rubio to Visit Israel amid Middle East Tensions
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
US President Donald Trump's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, will fly to Israel this weekend amid tensions in the Middle East over Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Friday that Rubio would depart on Saturday to visit Israel before joining up with Trump's planned visit to Britain next week. Rubio in Israel will emphasize Washington and Israel's shared goals, Pigott said in a statement, citing the need to ensure Hamas never rules Gaza again and the return of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by fighters that killed 1,200 people and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s nearly two-year-long campaign in response has killed more than 64,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, according to local authorities. It has also led to allegations Israel is committing genocide, including this month by the world's biggest group of genocide scholars. Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha on Tuesday, in what US officials described as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.The strike sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar. Rubio’s visit comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month, where countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood.Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Rubio and Israeli leaders will discuss "our commitment to fight anti-Israel actions including unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state that rewards Hamas terrorism, and lawfare at the ICC and ICJ," Pigott said. He was referring to the International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant for Netanyahu's arrest, and the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide. "The Secretary will also meet with the families of hostages and underscore that their relatives’ return remains a top priority," Pigott said.

2 People Injured in Attack at Hotel Outside Jerusalem
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Israeli police said Friday that a Palestinian from east Jerusalem had stabbed several guests at a hotel outside of the city, the second attack in the area this week. Israeli paramedics said they were evacuating two men, aged approximately 50 and 25, to the hospital. They said both had been stabbed in their torsos and the older man was in critical condition. Israeli police said the attacker, who was a hotel employee, was arrested, The AP news reported. The suspect was first tackled to the ground by an off-duty police officer who was spending time with family at the hotel when the stabbing occurred, police said. Other hotel guests then helped restrain the attacker until police arrived. Officers also took three other people into custody on suspicion of being involved in the attack. There was no information about their identities.Friday’s stabbing comes days after a shooting by two Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank that killed six people in Jerusalem. The militant Hamas group, which runs Gaza, claimed responsibility for Monday’s attacks. The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and sparked a surge of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Israel Intensifies Gaza City Strikes as Many Residents Refuse Evacuation
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Israeli strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Friday, local health authorities said, most of them in Gaza City, where many residents are staying put despite Israeli evacuation orders because they have nowhere safe to go. Israel has stated its intention to take full control of the ruined city, where about a million people are sheltering, as part of its plan to wipe out the group Hamas, and has been intensifying its attacks. "The explosions never stopped since yesterday," said father-of-two Adel, 60, who lives in Gaza City close to Beach refugee camp. He did not wish to give his full name for safety reasons.
"Many families left their homes and that is what the occupation wants," he told Reuters via a chat app. "By these bombardments they are telling people 'You either leave your area or die there'."The army said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City this week, targeting more than 500 sites, and that it had destroyed reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots. In a statement, it said it would "continue to intensify the pace of strikes in a focused manner, based on precise intelligence, with the aim of hitting Hamas' infrastructure".Palestinian health authorities said several deadly strikes had hit targets in the south of the territory, where some of those fleeing the bombardment of Gaza City have been heading. Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, which liaises with the UN and international aid groups, told Reuters an estimated 10% of people in Gaza City had left since Israel announced its plan to take control a month ago.
ISRAEL EXPANDS CROSSING TO ALLOW IN MORE AID TRUCKS
The Israeli army said it had started expanding an area of the southern Gaza Strip it calls "Crossing 147" in order to increase the volume of aid entering a designated humanitarian zone. This was in preparation to receive the population leaving the northern area, it said.
"It should be emphasized that upon completion, the crossing's intake capacity will rise to 150 trucks per day - triple the current level, thereby enabling increased entry of aid, with an emphasis on food," the army said in a statement. The UN and many foreign governments, including those of countries traditionally allied with Israel, have condemned the Gaza City evacuation order, called for a ceasefire, and sharply criticized conditions in the humanitarian zone. Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, mostly civilians, according to local health authorities, caused a hunger crisis and wider humanitarian disaster, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble. The territory's health ministry has said at least 411 people, including 142 children, have died of malnutrition and starvation in the enclave. The war was triggered by Hamas-led attacks launched from Gaza on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. On Friday, Israeli police said an attacker from a Palestinian area of the West Bank had been arrested after carrying out a stabbing attack on guests of a hotel at a kibbutz near Jerusalem. Israel's ambulance service said two people had been taken to hospital.

Saudi Arabia Condemns Netanyahu’s Hostile Statements against Qatar
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned on Friday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hostile statements against Qatar, reiterating its solidarity with Doha in wake of Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders. A Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said: "Such hostile statements and practices, and Israel's grave and dangerous violations of international laws and norms obligate the international community to continue to take actual measures to put a stop to its destructive policies in the region."On Wednesday, Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or "bring them to justice. Because if you don't, we will." He also accused Qatar of providing safe haven and financing to Hamas, drawing a sharp rebuke from Doha. In a statement, Qatar's foreign ministry condemned what it described as Netanyahu's "explicit threats of future violations of state sovereignty". "Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar's mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel," the ministry added. "We will work with our partners to ensure Netanyahu is held accountable and that his reckless and irresponsible actions are brought to an end," it said.

NATO to Beef up Defense of Europe’s Eastern Flank After Poland Shoots Down Drones
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
NATO announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe's eastern flank on Friday, two days after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace in the first known action of its kind by a member of the Western alliance during Russia's war in Ukraine.
Warsaw has portrayed the drone incursions as an attempt by Russia to test the capabilities of Poland and NATO to respond. Earlier on Friday, it rejected Donald Trump's suggestion that the incursions could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the US president from one of Washington's closest allies. Russia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time of the drone incursions and that it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland. "It's reckless and unacceptable. We can't have Russian drones entering allied air space," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told a press conference, announcing operation "Eastern Sentry".
NUMBER OF ALLIES TO JOIN MISSION
The mission, which begins on Friday evening, will involve a range of assets integrating air and ground bases. Allies, including Denmark, France, Britain and Germany have so far committed to the mission with others set to join, Rutte added. NATO's top military official, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich, who is a US Air Force general, said the alliance would defend every inch of its territory. "Poland and citizens from across the alliance should be assured by our rapid response earlier this week and our significant announcement here today," Grynkewich told the same press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The United Nations Security Council was set to meet on Friday at Poland's request to discuss the incident. Responding to Trump's comment on Thursday that the incursion could have been an accident, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded on X: "We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn't. And we know it." Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin was "sort of running out and running out fast", but stopped short of threatening new sanctions over the war.
After strong condemnation of Russia by European leaders over the incident, Germany said it had extended air policing over Poland and summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday.

US General Meets Syria's Sharaa in Damascus, US Military Says
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
The top US general overseeing American forces in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at his presidential palace in Damascus on Friday, US Central Command said in a statement, Reuters reported. The two men were joined in their meeting by US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack, the statement said. The men discussed efforts to counter Islamic State militants in Syria. Cooper and Barrack also praised Syria for helping in the recovery of US citizens inside the country, the statement added.

Syrian president meets new chief of US CENTCOM
AFP/September 13, 2025
DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met the new head of the US military’s Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper in Damascus on Friday, his office and CENTCOM said. The United States has for years maintained a troop presence at a series of bases in Syria as part of efforts against the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014. “The meeting addressed prospects for cooperation in the political and military fields in the service of shared interests and consolidating the foundations of security and stability in Syria and the region,” the Syrian presidency said in a statement. The meeting, which was joined by US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, “reflected the positive atmosphere and shared interest in strengthening the strategic partnership and expanding channels of communication between Damascus and Washington,” it added. A CENTCOM statement said Cooper and Barrack thanked Sharaa for “his support to counter Daesh in Syria,” using another acronym for the jihadist group. “Eliminating the Daesh threat in Syria will reduce the risk of an Daesh attack on the US homeland while working toward President (Donald) Trump’s vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors,” CENTCOM said. They also “offered praise to Syria for supporting the recovery of US citizens inside the country,” it added. Several US citizens went missing or were killed during Syria’s civil war which erupted in 2011. In April, the Pentagon announced it would roughly halve the number of troops it has in the country to fewer than 1,000 in the coming months as part of a “consolidation” of US forces. Barrack said in June that the military would eventually close all but one of its bases in Syria. The United States periodically targets the jihadist group’s remnants with raids or strikes to prevent its resurgence. Cooper was appointed in early August to lead CENTCOM, the US military command responsible for the Middle East. Earlier this month, he was in Israel on his first visit to the US ally since taking up post, the Israeli military said. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December, despite opening an unprecedented dialogue with the Islamist transitional authorities.

Kremlin Says Russia-Ukraine Talks are Paused, Accuses Europe of Hindering Them
Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
The Kremlin said on Friday that there was a pause in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and accused European countries of hindering a process it said that Moscow remained open to. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held three rounds of direct talks this year in Istanbul, most recently on July 23, which have yielded several agreements to return prisoners of war and the bodies of the dead. But the two sides remain far apart on what a possible peace deal might look like, Reuters reported. Russia accuses Kyiv of not recognizing what it calls "the realities on the ground", while Ukraine says Moscow is feigning interest in talks while continuing to try to take more of its territory. Efforts by US President Donald Trump to broker a deal have so far come to nothing. Asked whether talks between Kyiv and Moscow were now deadlocked, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The channels of communication are in place and functioning. Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through these channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to say that there is a pause."Moscow has bridled against proposals by European countries and Britain to provide security guarantees to Ukraine that might involve deploying NATO troops on the ground after any peace settlement, saying it could not accept such a move. Peskov blamed the pause in talks on such ideas. "The Russian side remains ready to pursue the path of peaceful dialogue. But the fact that the Europeans are hindering this is indeed true. This is not a secret to anyone," he said.

US Sanctions Houthi Illicit Revenue and Procurement Networks
Washington : Ali Barada/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
The US on Thursday imposed the largest sanctions to date targeting Yemen’s Houthis in an effort to disrupt the group’s fundraising, smuggling and attack operations. In a statement, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it is issuing sanctions against 32 individuals and entities as well as four vessels. “Those targeted today finance and facilitate the Houthis’ acquisition of advanced military-grade materials, including ballistic missile, cruise missile, and unmanned aerial vehicle components, used to attack United States forces and our allies, as well as commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” the Treasury noted. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said: “The Houthis continue to threaten US personnel and assets in the Red Sea, attack our allies in the region, and undermine international maritime security in coordination with the Iranian regime.”“We will continue applying maximum pressure against those who threaten the security of the United States and the region,” he added. The Treasury statement said Houthis generate substantial revenue by importing oil and other commodities through ports under their control, overseeing complex smuggling operations, and laundering vast sums of money on behalf of senior Houthi leadership. The proceeds from these illicit activities finance the group’s global weapons supply chain, which relies on procurement operatives, front companies, shipping facilitators, and various suppliers, the Treasury noted. The Houthis have disrupted commerce since late 2023 by launching hundreds of drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Israeli strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels damage residential homes, forcing families to live in ruins
AP/September 13, 2025
ADEN, Yemen: Israel’s deadly airstrikes this week targeting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have damaged residential areas in the country’s capital of Sanaa, leaving many houses in ruins and residents without help from authorities and unable to afford repairs on their own.
Wednesday’s strikes killed 46 people — including 11 women and five children — and wounded 165, according to a toll released late Thursday by the rebel-run health ministry in Sanaa. Most of the casualties were in Sanaa. Rebel officials said 11 local journalists were also killed in the strikes. The strikes followed a drone launched by the Houthi rebels that breached Israel’s multilayered air defenses and slammed into a southern Israeli airport, blowing out glass windows and injuring one person. In yemen, a military headquarters and a Sanaa fuel station were also hit, the rebels said previously, as well as a government facility in the city of Hazm, the capital of northern Jawf province. The National Museum of Yemen was also damaged, according to the rebels’ culture ministry, with footage from the site showings damage to the building’s façade. In Sanaa, where Yemen’s yearslong civil war has impoverished many, residents told The Associated Press they cannot afford any major repairs and that the local authorities are not offering compensation or help with reconstruction. Dozens of homes in Sanaa’s central Tahrir area were damaged. One of the residents from there, Um Talal, said she has no faith the authorities will help repair the house where she lives with her daughter and two sons. The airstrikes knocked out their living room walls and damaged the kitchen, leaving dirt, debris and rubble, speaking to The Associated Press over the phone. “Everything was lost in the blink of an eye,” she said. “Authorities haven’t even called us to this day. ”Despite the destruction, she said the family will fix what they can and continue living in their home. Another resident, Ahmed Al-Wasabi, said he and his family — luckily — were not home when one of the airstrikes partially destroyed their house. “The explosions terrified people who went running and children and women were crying and screaming,” said Khaled Al-Dabeai, a grocery shop owner who added that the force of the explosions knocked products off his shelves. Israel has previously launched waves of airstrikes in response to the Houthis’ firing missiles and drones at Israel. The Houthis say they are supporting Hamas and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea for over 22 months, saying they are attacking in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
Houthi leader Mahdi Al-Mashat vowed on Wednesday to continue the attacks, warning Israelis to “stay alarmed since the response is coming for sure.”

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 12-13/2025
Israel’s Daring Air Strike on Hamas in Qatar Was Long Overdue.”
Jonathan Spyer/The Australian/September 11/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147205/
Qatar’s Activities in the Middle East Have Handily Been Described as Combining the Functions of the Arsonist and the Firefighter
Israel’s strike on a gathering of the Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar, appears to signal that Jerusalem is no longer willing to accommodate and indulge the role that the tiny and fabulously wealthy Gulf emirate has allotted to itself in recent years in the region. That is progress.
Whatever the outcome, the operation is welcome in that it suggests that Doha is from now on set to pay the price of its associations.
The Qatari role in the Israel-Hamas conflict over the last decade has been complex, subtle, sometimes only semi-visible, and entirely negative in its effect. It’s not yet clear if the Israeli raid succeeded in removing the senior Hamas leadership, in whole or in part. But whatever the outcome, the operation is welcome in that it suggests that Doha is from now on set to pay the price of its associations. That is, if a country wishes to domicile and facilitate the lives and activities of a murderous Islamist terror group, then it will do so. But it should not expect then to remain immune from the attentions of the victims and intended targets of the said terror group.
Qatar’s activities in the Middle East have handily been described as combining the functions of the arsonist and the firefighter. In the former role, Doha draws close to organisations and regimes committed to Islamic revolution and the practice of violence in support of this goal. Its assistance to such organisations is vital, and can take the form of domiciling, provision of finances, facilitation of safe passage, and a variety of other aspects.
Doha’s provision of these services is not doled out at random. Rather, it is one aspect of a broader strategic orientation in which Qatar has over the last two decades enthusiastically fanned the flames of instability and Islamist revolt across the Middle East. Thus, the emirate’s slick and lavishly funded al-Jazeera channel offered enthusiastic support to Islamist forces seeking to bring down pro-western regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, Doha offered financial backing to jihadi groups in Syria (including the now ruling Hayat Tahrir al Sham organisation, currently engaged in an undeclared war against Syria’s minorities), Qatar offered residence and a platform to the late Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the most prominent Muslim Brotherhood publicist and preacher of his day. And so on.
It has long been known in Israel that many former security officials, seeking business opportunities after concluding their service, found their way to contracts and involvement with Doha.
But alongside this fire-setting activity, Qatar has presented itself to the west, and to Israel, as an appropriate mediator, a douser of the very fires it helps to set. Precisely because of its cultivated links and relations with the groups and individuals fomenting instability, it has been able to present itself as a supposedly indispensable mediator – with the Taliban, for example, vis a vis the United States, and with Hamas, in regard to Israel. It has been a remarkably successful strategy. Using it, the emirs of Qatar have parlayed themselves and their tiny, gas-rich state to a seat at the top tables of Middle East diplomacy.
Permitting Doha to pursue this strategy has not been a cost-free exercise. Following illusions and mirages in the Middle East rarely is. In Israel, the massacres of October 7, 2023, were the result of a long period in which the Israeli security and political system laboured under a series of delusions. Qatar was at the very least an enthusiastic facilitator of these delusions, and may well have played a more active role in their formulation and dissemination. The central illusion, which led directly to the situation in which less than 700 IDF soldiers were stationed at the border when 3000 jihadist gunmen rushed it on the morning of October 7, was that the Hamas rulers of Gaza had become content with administering the Strip, were deterred by Israel’s strength and were hence keen on a quiet life. Qatar, with the agreement of Israeli governments who had bought this illusion, provided $30 million per month to Hamas-controlled Gaza in the pre-Oct 7 period. Ostensibly to facilitate Gaza’s transition to peaceful co-existence with its larger neighbour, and, as it turned out, to grease the wheels of the Gaza Islamists’ preparations for war.
The extent to which Qatar had penetrated Israel’s political-security nexus has since become clear. The myriad strands of Qatari influence may well have extended into the Israeli Prime Minister’s Bureau itself. Three former senior officials of the bureau are currently on trial in Israel, suspected of multiple offences related to their lobbying work for Qatar, conducted at the same time that they were employed in the highest sanctum of Israeli policymaking.
This is an opening of daylight onto one of the strangest and murkiest corners of the opaque Middle East strategic picture. It is long overdue.
But Doha’s influence was broader, and deeper. It has long been known in Israel that many former security officials, seeking business opportunities after concluding their service, found their way to contracts and involvement with Doha. What were the messages travelling down the multiple channels of communication, formal and informal, that Doha maintained into influential Israeli circles prior to October 7? How far did such messages contribute to the fatal paralysis of mind which gripped Jerusalem with regard to Hamas and Gaza in that period? Most of this is still submerged beneath the water line, awaiting investigation when the fighting is over. But the implications of what is already known are grave.
This week’s strike on Doha suggests that Israel has now awakened to the role played by Qatar, and no longer feels bound to indulge it. Rather, the normal rule according to which a state that domiciles a terror group may find its territory targeted by another state that is at war with said terror group, is now to be applied also to Qatar. This is an opening of daylight onto one of the strangest and murkiest corners of the opaque Middle East strategic picture. It is long overdue.
Jonathan Spyer
Jonathan Spyer oversees the Forum’s content and is editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Mr. Spyer, a journalist, reports for Janes Intelligence Review, writes a column for the Jerusalem Post, and is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal and The Australian. He frequently reports from Syria and Iraq. He has a B.A. from the London School of Economics, an M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. He is the author of two books: The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict (2010) and Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (2017).

Al-Sharaa's Damascus Regime: Is Sharaa Really Doing All He Can or Was President Trump Set Up?
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/September 12/2025
The Trump administration will likely pressure Sharaa's regime not to threaten Syria's Kurds, who make up a large portion of the pro-US Syrian Democratic Army in northeast Syria.
Sharaa might also have to count on the US to resist pressure from his benefactor Turkey, which may be urging him to target Syria's Kurds.
The question, however, remains if Sharaa is actually doing all he can to "protect all minorities" as he promised, or did Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, in pressuring US President Donald Trump to give Sharaa a chance to govern, set Trump up?
Is Sharaa truly on a path to joining the Western alliance, or is he really just a terrorist in a suit and tie?
Is Syria's new ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, actually doing all he can to "protect all minorities" as he promised, or did Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, in pressuring US President Donald Trump to give Sharaa a chance to govern, set Trump up? Is Sharaa truly on a path to joining the Western alliance, or is he really just a terrorist in a suit and tie?
One of the most unheralded geopolitical developments in the Middle East, following Israel's military victories over regional enemies, is Israel's diplomatic reaction to the new regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) in Syria. Recent meetings in Paris between high-level Israeli and Syrian diplomats have reportedly resulted in a de-escalation of tensions as well as in establishing significant security improvements for Israel along its border with Syria.
Israel's Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer was apparently successful in extracting a promise from the Sharaa regime not to dispatch Syrian military forces south of Damascus. This agreement exists in large part to safeguard Druze communities in Syria's Suweida Province. Syria's concession was in keeping with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated intention to defend the Druze against any repeat of July massacres by regime-affiliated terrorists and Bedouin tribesmen. An estimated 1,300 people were killed in the attacks, many of whom were Druze civilians, including women and children. Netanyahu's pledge of protection to the Druze was possibly given to thank so many of Israel's Druze citizens who have loyally been serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Just as significant was the Syrian regime's agreement to demilitarize two of its provinces, Quneitra and Dara, both of which lie along Israel's border. Now, evidently, no heavy weapons will be permitted in these Syrian provinces.
Damascus apparently did not challenge Jerusalem's recent move into a new area in the Golan Heights that had been administered by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force since 1974. The new area is now being safeguarded by the IDF as a buffer zone between Israel and Syria.
Israel's diplomatic triumph was facilitated by the tenuous hold on power of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime in Damascus, led Sharaa, the former Commander of al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra. Sharaa controls Damascus and its environs, but much of Syria's traditional territory may not be totally under his control. Sharaa does not seem to have firm control over the thousands of foreign jihadists in Syria who came from Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tajikistan and China's Muslim Uyghur community, who helped the HTS to seize power by overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad last December.
Sharaa's greatest potential threat to continued HTS rule might be a still-potent Islamic State (ISIS) challenging his administration. ISIS has already been attempting to recruit dissatisfied foreign-born terrorists from Sharaa's Syrian National Army -- which has also been busy recruiting former anti-Assad rebels.
Israel's negotiations with Sharaa were encouraged by the United States, which apparently hopes, among other objectives, to protect Syria's Kurdish population.
The Trump administration will likely pressure Sharaa's regime not to threaten Syria's Kurds, who make up a large portion of the pro-US Syrian Democratic Army in northeast Syria.
Sharaa might also have to count on the US to resist pressure from his benefactor Turkey, which may be urging him to target Syria's Kurds.
The question, however, remains if Sharaa is actually doing all he can to "protect all minorities" as he promised, or did Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, in pressuring US President Donald Trump to give Sharaa a chance to govern, set Trump up?
Is Sharaa truly on a path to joining the Western alliance, or is he really just a terrorist in a suit and tie?
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21898/sharaa-syria-regime
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
© 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.

Please bear with me as I discuss the Palestinian plan for establishing a state
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Face Book/September 12/2025
https://www.facebook.com/61553631413159/videos/31223025904009592
Please bear with me as I discuss the Palestinian plan for establishing a state. This is not a swipe against Palestinians, only a discussion about the impossibility of their 77-year old plan. This is Palestinian UN Envoy Riad Mansour outlining the plan: The world is now aligned against [delegitimized and boycotted] Israel, whose continued existence is sustained only by America. This is similar to America coming out late against Apartheid South Africa, but once America did join the world, the South African government collapsed. Mansour says he is optimistic that the world is getting there and that Israel will soon collapse and a Palestinian state will emerge. I disagree with Mansour (and the majority of Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs) and I don't think that the world is getting there for the following reasons:
1- South African segregation was a relic of time past, the case against it was a slam dunk. In the case of Israel, the Jewish state is not really holding on to expired concepts. Don't believe media, the politicians or the hype. Even the UK government, now the champion of Palestine, found that there was no genocide going on in Gaza. So when rubber hits the road, shouting and bullying will not make imaginary Palestinian concepts real. Israel disputing land with Palestinian secessionists is not a big deal by historic and international norms, just another familiar problem.
2- South Africa collapsed at the height of global Liberalism, post Cold War. Today, Liberalism is at its lowest and replaced by "might makes right" and a world moving Right and endorsing identity politics (in which the world is not seen as a harmonious place but a place where everyone fights for themselves, their interests and their allies). It'll be a long time before "ethics" bounce back to influence global affairs. Don't expect China, Russia, India or the rest of Shanghai or BRICS gang to care much about "oppressed" Palestinians. The majority of these countries will continue to seek their interests first. Their pro-Palestinian vote at the UN is populism, mainly designed to spite America. Russia, for example, certainly loves Israel multifold than it does any Arab or Muslim country.
3- South Africa had a bigger-than-life peacenik, Mandella, who offered a compelling alternative for a better South Africa. Palestinians have none. Their leaders are a bunch of corrupt secret police strongmen (Rajoub, Tirawi, Faraj, Sheikh). Barghouthi is only popular because he is in prison. The minute he steps out, he'll be vying for control like the other Palestinian oligarchs. No one around the world trusts that a Palestinian is peaceful or wise enough to suppress Palestinian revenge against Israelis and build a binational government for all. If Israel lays down its arms, Jews will be massacred like on Oct 07 or like the Alawites or the Druze (or Kurds in Iraq under Saddam).
4- The experience of post-Apartheid South Africa, one of the most corrupt and misgoverned states in the world, does not really encourage the world to die on the hill of the Palestine state. Granted the world would like to see the Gaza War end, but the most the world hopes for is a return to pre-Oct 07 status quo, which is called "the peace process" toward "a two state solution." An endless process with professional processors preaching an end goal that Israel will never accept: The two state solution is a two Palestines solution.
My two cents...

Baghdad Has an Opportunity To Counter Illicit Iranian Activity in Iraq. Will the Government Take It?
Bridget Toomey/FDD/September 12/2025
Past Iraqi investigative committees have been largely toothless when it comes to targeting Iran-backed criminals, and history may now repeat itself.
On September 6, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al Sudani announced the formation of a committee to investigate the smuggling of Iranian oil through Iraqi ports and waters, which has oftentimes been accomplished by mixing it with legitimate Iraqi exports. While Sudani’s statement “emphasized no leniency in this file,” the track record of similar committees investigating Iran-aligned actors suggests the perpetrators may not be held to account.
Illicit Oil Smuggling Schemes Through Iraq Earn Iran Billions
Iran has devised numerous illicit schemes to generate revenue. These plans are dependent upon the participation of Iraqi businesses, Iran-backed militias, and even government officials. Reporting by Reuters in 2024 identified oil smuggling routes that generated at least $1 billion, and potentially reached more than $3 billion, annually. This illicit activity includes oil blending, other methods of camouflaging the oil’s origin, and the misuse of Iraqi fuel allocations.
Iran’s oil smuggling is enabled by Iran-backed militias’ capture of government oil positions. These militias, many of which have political arms that are part of the governing coalition, have used their influence in the Iraqi government to put members and allies in key offices that control essential elements of Iraq’s oil sector.
The Trump Administration Is Addressing Iraq as Part of Maximum Pressure on Iran
In early March, the Trump administration chose not to renew a waiver that enabled Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce encouraged “the Iraqi Government to eliminate its dependence on Iranian sources of energy as soon as possible.” However, a similar waiver for gas purchases remains in place.
In early September, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned an Iraqi national “for smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil,” which generates about $300 million annually for Iran and others involved in the scheme. In early July, the department targeted a network run by Iraqi Salim Ahmed Said for selling Iranian oil, which companies in Said’s network falsely describe as Iraqi, implicating Iraqi officials who provided documentation. This network moved billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil.
Previous Committees Fail To Hold Iran Accountable
Past investigative committees of the Iraqi government have largely failed to hold Iran accountable for a range of malign activities in Iraq. For example, following drone attacks on military bases throughout Iraq in June, widely credited to Iran-backed militias, an investigative committee determined the drones were made outside of Iraq, but did not identify the weapons’ country of origin.
Similarly, when members of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia that is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), engaged in a firefight in the Ministry of Agriculture and killed a policeman, the investigative committee condemned the militia and recommended the removal of two Kataib Hezbollah commanders from their roles in the PMF. While Sudani accepted the recommendations of the investigation, the government does not appear to have followed through on them.
U.S. Should Pressure Sudani To Ensure an Unbiased Investigation and Swift Action
The United States should tell Sudani that this committee is an opportunity to put an end to rampant illicit activity in Iraq that funds and enables the regime in Tehran. He should staff the committee with impartial experts and provide them with unfettered access to oil officials, relevant sites, and businesses, as well as records. Then, the government should quickly address problems they identify, executing a substantive campaign of reforms to decrease Iran’s influence in Iraq’s oil sector and put an end to its sanctions evasion.
If this committee instead conducts a sham investigation and the government fails to reform, then the United States should expand its sanctions to include Iraqi oil officials who enable and benefit from Iranian oil smuggling.
*Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Bridget and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Bridget on X @BridgetKToomey. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

France: The Populist Hour Strikes
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Having just ended its ninth month in office, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou stepped down after the National Assembly endorsed a non-confidence vote with a huge majority. That handed President Emmanuel Macron with a hot potato in the shape of naming yet another Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, the outgoing Defense Minister of the Armies, the fifth in just two years with no certainty that he would be the lucky fifth. Macron is in a hurry because he wants to fly to New York to settle the Ukraine war, ensure recognition of a Palestinian state, solve the Iranian nuclear problem and offer a master plan for rebuilding Lebanon and Syria. Meanwhile, the French have reverted to their classical response to political crisis by taking to streets, sabotaging railway lies, looting luxury shops and, of course, flying-picket strikes across the land. Talk of a general strike is making the rounds with a whiff of revolution polluting the autumn air. Because the French political vocabulary is full of military terms such as “combat,” “resistance,” “siege” and, of course “revolution,” the narrative of current events might sound more awesome than it need be. Seasoned politologue Roland Cayrol says: “The French system is paralyzed.”Other commentators suggest that France needs an institutional “revolution.” The hard-left coalition of The New Popular Front leader Jean-Luc Melenchon in a meeting with a Palestinian flag waved behind him calls for “the abolition of the Fifth republic and the foundation of a Sixth Republic,” casting himself as savior.
“France needs a savior,” says a senior European diplomat here worried about the damage that the French crisis might do to the European Union. Finding themselves like a headless chicken since the Great Revolution France has always been looking for a savior.
Distinguished historian Jean Garrigues says the abolition of monarchy left a huge hole in the French national life that two empires, two restored monarchies and five republics haven’t been able to fill. President Macron agrees and has for years hoped to fill that hole by insisting that the buck always stops with him, giving critics the excuse to dub him “Jupiter.”
Is France today in a populist mood and looking for savior?
At first glance the key conditions for the rise of populism are easily detected.
The first is when the base challenges an elite which rightly or wrongly, is perceived as incompetent, corrupt and out of touch with “the real people” whatever that means. As a longtime observer of French politics, I can claim that none of those charges stick.
But so what?
In politics, perception is often stronger than reality.
The second condition is a sense of exclusion by a significant segment of society. We say that in the “Yellow Vests” movement that drove France to the edge of revolution a few years ago. Again, those who claimed to be “excluded” were in fact rather well-to-do provincial bourgeois who chose to exclude themselves. The third condition is the structural weakness of political parties whose presence is needed if a democracy is to function properly. That condition may well be present in France today as traditional governing parties have shrunk to narrow coteries. The next condition, also present, is the dislocation of constituencies. Part of Communist and other radical left voters have shifted to the radical-right camp with the National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen in the lead. A segment of the left has moved towards the traditional authoritarian right idolizing Vladimir Putin and adopting anti-Semite positions with the Palestinian “cause” as an excuse.
In a populist context, those competing for power have an interest in exaggerating the problems, spreading fear of the future, nurturing resentment against “the other,” notably old or new immigrants, and envy against “the rich.”
The biggest fear that the populists of both right and left try to spread, so far with some success, is that of reforms that might threaten the “acquired social benefits” such as early retirement and long holidays. The silver bullet that killed Bayrou’s government was the plan to cut annual holidays by just two days to cover part of the nation’s budget deficit. Lurking in the background was the decision to cut retirement age by two years for sole workers while populists campaign for retirement at 60. People usually make revolutions to bring about change. The French, in their populist mode, however, beat the drum of revolution to prevent change. The irony in all this is that French democracy - its imperfections not withstanding - has always triumphed over populism but ultimately failed to translate its victory into solid institutions. Some French democrats may be making the same mistake today that they made when they rallied around wannabe saviors. Other aspirant democrats are suggesting a variety of solutions, including proportional representation elections and a return to shaky governments under the Fourth Republic. The real challenge is to fill the hole that Garigue and to some extent Macron have detected in the heart of the Fifth Republic, a system that is neither fully presidential nor parliamentary. Tailor-made for General De Gaulle, the system worked well as long as the French regarded the president as a savior, first from the Second World War defeat and then from the challenge of costly colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria.
The fifth republic also worked because Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac managed it form strong electoral coalitions. Under presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, those coalition disintegrated pulling the president into the cesspool of cheap political battles.
Switching to a Rhenish political system with proportional representation, coalition building and parliamentary compromises could take years to adapt to and could be discredited with the inevitable initial bumps on the road. The alternative is a full presidential system partly modeled on that of the United States. One thing is certain: France’s problems won’t be solved by riots, strikes and what is known in French as jacquerie.

An Expanded Israel and the 'Sykes–Picot' Borders
Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Several weeks before the Israeli assault on the Qatari capital, US Special Envoy for Syria and Lebanon Ambassador Tom Barrack had said that Tel Aviv believes the Sykes–Picot borders as meaningless during an interview with Mario Nawfal. “In Israel's mind, these lines that were created by Sykes-Picot are meaningless. They will go where they want, when they want, and do what they want to protect the Israelis and their border.”After the assault on Doha, Tel Aviv showed that Ambassador Barack was right. It will do whatever it wants, wherever it wants; its battlefield is no longer confined to territories where it has boots and tanks on the ground- any site its air force can reach is a potential target. It thereby extended its airspace beyond its immediate borders, going beyond the ring of states that share a border with historic Palestine on the Sykes–Picot map, striking deep into the Arab world and beyond (previously striking deep inside Iran) and sending a new, far-reaching geo-strategic message. Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s political and military elite have been seeking to impose new geopolitical conditions on the region. Driven by ideological, demographic, and territorial ambitions, the aim is to expand the borders of the Israeli entity geographically and militarily. On the ideological front, this ruling elite is open about its determination to reclaim control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip because they are the “Biblical lands” of Judea and Samaria. That is, they are openly seeking to reassert geographical control over the entirety of historic Palestine and territories on its borders that are considered strategic: from southern Lebanon (Upper Galilee) to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
On February 4, 2025, US President Donald Trump made vague comments about Israel’s size. His remarks came a few months after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had, at a press conference on September 3, 2024, presented a map of Israel that included the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Then, on August 14, of this year, Netanyahu presented a map of “Greater Israel” that disregards every norm of international relations. Through his political positions and military actions (most recently the bombing of a state that had been playing a mediating role), Netanyahu is seeking to exempt his country from obligations under international law and compliance with UN Resolutions, which it has never committed to since its founding, notably those tied to the two-state solution. Israel has not even respected the borders that the Sykes–Picot Agreement had drawn before it was founded.
The ruling Israeli elite insists on opposing a Palestinian state. It plans to annex the West Bank and regards the occupied Syrian Golan as part of its territory. Israel refuses to withdraw from the five positions it occupies in southern Lebanon, and it is preventing residents from returning to their villages on Lebanon’s southern border. It seemingly has no interest in the US-Lebanese roadmap for Hezbollah’s disarmament and the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. In practice, it is nibbling away at territory while confining demography in the West Bank, and carrying out genocide in Gaza. All its actions show that it is moving ahead with its project to expand its borders at the expense of Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian geography. Geographical expansion, “expanded Israel,” has become tied to the expansion of Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and its strikes in Syria and Lebanon, where there is growing fear that Israel could decide to wage another war under the pretext that it is destroying Hezbollah weapons and implementing UN Resolution 1701. This would entail expanding military operations south and north of the Litani River, and possibly refusal to withdraw from territories under the pretext of protecting Israel’s security, even if this comes at the expense of Lebanese and Syrian sovereignty. Accordingly, through the assault on Doha and its other actions, Tel Aviv has announced that it will not be bound by UN Resolutions and international law or the Sykes–Picot Agreement. It is redrawing the regional map, geographically and strategically, in line with its security needs, even at the cost of international stability.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Conflict That Could Go in Any Direction
Osman Mirghani/Asharq Al Awsat/September 12/2025
Just before the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was officially inaugurated two days ago, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reiterated controversial statements about his country’s need for access to the sea. He insisted that Ethiopia is determined to regain a presence on the Red Sea and “correct the mistakes of the past.”
Is there a link between the two?
There are many reasons to believe that Abiy Ahmed’s government does not merely see the dam as a hydroelectric project. In their minds, the dam is a step toward turning Ethiopia into a regional power with ambitions it can pursue unilaterally. The rhetoric of Abiy Ahmed and other Ethiopian officials about “historic” and “water rights,” be it with regard to the Blue Nile or the Red Sea, reinforces this assessment. Their discourse indicates that Addis Ababa intends to reshape the regional order and as part of a push framed as the pursuit of “historic rights” and "existential needs.”
On the eve of the dam’s inauguration, Abiy Ahmed told an interviewer that the ceremony inaugurated a new beginning for Ethiopia’s geopolitical trajectory; the GERD is only the beginning, as Ethiopia is capable of building more dams and implementing additional projects to generate energy. He stressed that such initiatives are not crimes and that Ethiopia has a legitimate right to carry them out. In the same interview, he went on to underline his country’s determination to reclaim access to the Red Sea after losing it following Eritrea’s independence, calling the loss of the Assab port a “mistake” that had been made three decades ago and “will be corrected tomorrow.”Such remarks plainly illustrate the link between the GERD and Abiy Ahmed’s regional ambitions. His government is becoming increasingly convinced that it can move forward with its plans regardless of external pressures. It believes it can shift from a defensive posture (preoccupation with civil wars, ethnic strife, and poverty) to go on the offensive, consolidating nationalist sentiment to entrench Ethiopia’s status as a rising power.
This approach will inevitably fuel tensions with Sudan and Egypt- the two countries most directly concerned by projects on the Blue Nile, which provides around 80 percent of the Nile’s water. It also raises the spectre of conflict with neighbors such as Eritrea, Somalia, and Djibouti, who are alarmed by Ethiopia’s uncompromising rhetoric about obtaining a seaport, even if that means seizing it through force.
Ethiopia may speak of cooperation and mutual benefit, but its policies do not achieve it. Indeed, these policies are heightening tensions and deepening regional suspicions. In the case of the GERD, Addis Ababa chose a unilateral path, proceeding with the project without accommodating Egypt and Sudan’s concerns over filling, operation, and technical monitoring. It did not sufficiently engage with regional or international mediators to secure compromises or a binding legal agreement either.
Now that the dam is a fait accompli, there are only two potential paths forward. The first is cooperation: committing to the principle that negotiations are the means for resolving disputes and reaching consensual solutions. This would culminate in a binding agreement consistent with international law governing shared rivers and that respects the interests and rights of all parties concerned, which entails agreeing to guarantees regarding operation, technical monitoring, and data-sharing. Should this be achieved, the door would open to economic integration, with the dam becoming a collective benefit rather than a catalyst for a conflict fraught with risks. The second path is for Ethiopia to conclude that it can impose its regional ambitions and achieve its objectives without concessions or real costs. The resulting trajectory would escalate regional tensions and possibly engender military clashes. Disputes over Nile waters with Egypt and Sudan could intersect with tensions with Eritrea, Somalia, and Djibouti as Ethiopia insists that it will retain maritime access “by any means necessary, including the use of force.” In this case, Ethiopia could find itself confronting a coalition of aggrieved neighbors, risking a broader regional struggle that could spiral into a military conflict. The GERD is not just a hydroelectric project. It is a turning point in the struggle for influence and resources in the region. Ethiopia sees the dam as a symbol of its rising ambitions and projection of new strength. Given its nationalist discourse and recent assertions about the country’s need for access to the sea, it is clear that Addis Ababa is willing to challenge the existing regional order and seize what it deems its “legitimate rights,” regardless of the risks. The cause for alarm is that, unless these pursuits are tempered by flexible diplomacy and a recognition that negotiations are the sole path to consensual solutions, this push could ignite conflicts that destabilize a region already plagued by chronic unrest that is exploited by foreign powers eager to exploit and inflame its divisions.

Trump has opportunity to recalibrate US defense posture
Luke Coffey/Arab News/September 12, 2025
In the opening months of President Donald Trump’s second term, he and many of his senior officials have emphasized what they view as an imbalance in global burden-sharing between the US and its partners and allies. Equally important, they believe the defense of the US homeland has been neglected by previous administrations — especially the border. To address these concerns, the administration signaled early on that it would release a new Global Posture Review and a National Defense Strategy this year, with publication expected “by the end of the summer.”
It has been nearly four years since the last Global Posture Review was released in November 2021. Reviews are useful — ensuring US strategy, forces and equipment remain aligned with evolving threats — but the forthcoming documents must avoid idealistic frameworks disconnected from geopolitical realities.
Inside the second Trump administration, competing schools of thought are shaping the debate. The first, drawn from the traditional Republican foreign policy establishment, maintains a hawkish, robust view of America’s global role. This camp is smaller than in past administrations but it still has influence with the president, as seen with the recent strikes against Iran’s nuclear program. The second — likely the largest in terms of numbers but best described as a plurality rather than a majority — consists of isolationists, who argue for disengaging from overseas commitments, reducing defense spending and bringing US troops home, often framing border security as the central national security challenge.
Beyond the symbolism of shifting US forces from certain regions to the Indo-Pacific, the reality is more complicated
The third, who are increasingly influential, are the “prioritizers” that see China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific as the paramount threat. They argue that all tools and resources must be concentrated on this challenge, even if that means scaling back America’s responsibilities or interests in Europe and the Middle East.
In the posture debate, isolationists and prioritizers are clearly setting the pace. Among those two camps, the prioritizers appear best positioned to carry the day: more of their supporters are embedded in the Department of War (formerly known as the Department of Defense) and are helping shape the posture review and strategy. But beyond the symbolism of drawing down US forces in certain regions and shifting them to the Indo-Pacific, the reality is more complicated.
A majority of the US Navy’s combat power is already oriented toward the Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile, the overwhelming share of America’s ground forces are based on the continental US. It is misleading to suggest America has large numbers of troops idly stationed abroad, ready to be redeployed to Asia.
There is also the practical dilemma of resourcing and funding large troop movements. The last significant reduction in Europe occurred in 2013, when President Barack Obama announced a cut of 10,000 US troops on the continent. Crucially, he did not plan to relocate those forces back to the US — a move that would have demanded new schools, housing, medical facilities and community services for thousands of troops and families. Instead, the overall army end strength was reduced. Trump, by contrast, has committed to maintaining — if not expanding — the current size of the military, making such a reduction politically infeasible. Relocating forces from Europe or the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific would be even more costly. Creating the infrastructure for thousands of service members and their families is far more expensive in parts of East Asia, especially on remote Pacific islands. Even in well-developed hubs like Japan or South Korea, any addition to US posture would require years of consultation and coordination with those governments. The logistics and political complexity involved far exceed those required simply to move units back to the US.
In Europe, one plausible outcome would be trimming rotational deployments and rotating more of those units to Asia. Today, there are nearly 85,000 US service members in Europe, of whom about 20,000 are on rotational deployments — figures that fluctuate with exercises and crisis events. But such a policy would clash with Trump’s recent pledge, alongside Poland’s president, that US forces would not only remain in Poland but that their number might even increase — because most of the US presence there is rotational.
Decisions should be grounded in geopolitical realities rather than placating the different views inside the government
The Middle East presents another dilemma. America’s military footprint there is already a fraction of what it was two decades ago. Yet there is a perception among many Americans that large numbers of troops remain stationed in the region. In reality, only a modest presence persists. Further reductions would be shortsighted. Syria’s future is uncertain, Iraq remains fragile, transnational terrorism has not disappeared and the Houthis continue to destabilize the region. Meanwhile, the Middle East remains vital to the global economy: energy from the region sustains US partners in Asia and some of the world’s busiest sea lanes pass through its waters. With so few forces currently deployed, pulling out more risks far more than it saves. Europe is also too important to ignore. It remains America’s largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign direct investment into the US. The prosperity of the transatlantic economy depends in part on the stability of the European continent — stability supported by a credible US military presence. Neglecting this would undercut not only Europe but also America’s economic interests. As the Trump administration moves to publish the new strategy and posture review, decisions should be grounded in geopolitical realities rather than placating the different views inside the government. Americans want leadership in foreign policy and, if the commander-in-chief makes a clear, compelling case for why US forces must remain forward deployed in this era of great power competition, the public will support it. But indecision, inconsistency or poor communication will inject partisanship into what should be a unifying national debate. The White House has an opportunity to recalibrate America’s defense posture in a way that safeguards national interests, reassures allies and deters adversaries. It should seize this moment wholeheartedly.
**Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. X: @LukeDCoffey

Returning Arab expatriates offer economic opportunities
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/September 12, 2025
Across the Middle East and North Africa region, a growing number of expatriates are choosing to return to their countries of origin, bringing with them financial capital, remittances and entrepreneurial ambition. This reverse flow of talent is gradually reshaping local economies, reinforcing national development strategies. In 2023, remittances to MENA countries totaled $55 billion, evidence of the immense role that expatriates continue to play. However, what is emerging today goes beyond financial transfers: returning expats are becoming active economic actors at home, investing in businesses, launching startups and contributing to key sectors such as technology, healthcare and education. Their return marks a critical shift for the region, signaling that the future of MENA’s growth may increasingly rely on the circulation of skills and knowledge, not just capital. The diasporas of MENA countries are increasingly driving investments and supporting local economic development models, positioning themselves as a key social and economic stabilizer amid the growing challenges facing the region. Governments have become acutely aware of the role their communities abroad play in sustaining their national economies. In Lebanon, for instance, remittances from the diaspora have helped prevent a complete collapse of the state in the face of hyperinflation and the currency’s downfall.
In Morocco, authorities are undertaking a broad revision of the mechanisms designed to encourage investment from Moroccans abroad. This follows King Mohammed’s speech on last year’s Green March anniversary, in which he stressed the limited contribution of Moroccans residing abroad, who account for only 10 percent of total national private investment. The future of MENA’s growth may increasingly rely on the circulation of skills and knowledge, not just capital
Over the past two decades, King Mohammed has repeatedly called on the country’s political and administrative forces to better integrate the diaspora into Morocco’s political and economic life. These efforts can be symbolized by initiatives such as Operation Marhaba, which facilitates the return of Moroccans living abroad and supports their reintegration. Such initiatives are now bearing fruit, helping transform the Moroccan diaspora into a genuine strategic force.
With 5.4 million expatriates worldwide, the Moroccan diaspora contributes 7.7 percent of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product, amounting to more than $11 billion in 2024. This was up 2.1 percent compared to 2023 and accounted for about 15 percent of national private investment. In Lebanon, the diaspora stands out as one of the largest and most influential in the region due to its wide geographical presence across all five continents. Beyond this remarkable global dispersion, the Lebanese case is exceptional in that its diaspora, estimated at between 8 million and 14 million people worldwide, outnumbers the country’s current population of about 5 million. This striking contrast highlights just how crucial the diaspora is for Lebanon’s development and its economic prospects.
As in Morocco, the Lebanese diaspora represents the main source of external currency inflows. In fact, in Lebanon’s case, remittances even exceed foreign direct investment and official development assistance, reaching $5.8 billion in 2024. This is equivalent to 17.7 percent of GDP. In a country grappling with a fragile trade balance, driven by a heavy dependence on oil imports, diaspora remittances covered 55 percent of Lebanon’s trade deficit in 2024. However, beyond the officially recorded transfers, significant sums are sent through informal channels. Taken together, the volume of money sent home by the diaspora is immense. Regionally, Morocco and Lebanon rank second and third, respectively, for remittance flows. It is Egypt that receives the most from its expatriates. The Egyptian diaspora, estimated at 10 million and concentrated mainly in Gulf countries, the UK and the US, contributed $32 billion in 2024. Remittances are a cornerstone of the Egyptian economy, representing 6 percent to 7 percent of GDP. Beyond their strong macroeconomic importance, diaspora remittances play a prominent role in poverty reduction. In Morocco, transfers from expatriates, traditionally the second-largest source of receipts in the country’s balance of payments, support a large number of families, particularly in rural areas, and improve access to education and healthcare. In Lebanon, remittances similarly provide crucial relief for households whose purchasing power was devastated by the 2019 crisis and the sharp depreciation of the Lebanese pound, which pushed more than a third of the population below the poverty line.Diasporas are thus among the strongest sources of funding for MENA economies, in some cases even surpassing total foreign direct investment, as seen in Lebanon. At the same time, expatriates often represent a vital market for the tourism sector. In Morocco, for example, they accounted for 49 percent of the 17.4 million tourist arrivals in 2024. Beyond seasonal returns during the summer, a growing “back to Morocco” trend is emerging. It is driven by the diaspora’s strong social and cultural attachment to their homeland and reinforced by increasingly hostile sociopolitical climates, marked by racism and Islamophobia in parts of the West. As such, in Morocco, where the business ecosystem has expanded significantly in recent years, the strong return of expatriates emphasizes a new north-to-south dynamic. It reflects both the enduring attachment of diasporas to their homeland and the fact that some Arab countries are increasingly viewed as offering better opportunities through a more robust business climate and economic advantages. Currently, among the 33 million Arabs living outside their countries of origin, 44 percent remain within the MENA region itself, mostly in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. This shows that migration from the Arab world is not only directed toward Europe or North America. The return-to-origin trend among MENA diasporas represents an important opportunity. To harness its full potential, governments must develop new regulatory frameworks and adopt strong, pro-productivity policies. By doing so, they can maximize the economic benefits of expatriates who return with advanced education, expertise and skills. This is particularly crucial in the face of mounting youth emigration and the persistent challenge of brain drain. In turn, such policies would help to stimulate productive investments that strengthen national economies.
**Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council. X: @Moulay_Zaid

Israel and the myth that Christians are flourishing in Palestine
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 12/2025
In an effort to ramp up its hasbara, or propaganda, Israel is trying to appeal to US Christians. Early this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on a podcast run by a conservative Christian commentator. The host talked about a “great experience” he had when visiting Israel as part of a church group. However, he mentioned that, during the visit, the congregation’s pastor was spat on by a child. Netanyahu was barely able to refrain from laughing. While Israeli propaganda tries to show the world that Christians are flourishing in Israel, the reality is totally different. In fact, the number of Christians there is dramatically decreasing. Before the First World War, 11 percent of the population of Ottoman Palestine, which included present-day Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, were Christians. That has dropped to about 1.7 percent now that historic Palestine is under Israeli jurisdiction.
Jerusalem is especially affected. There is a status quo governing religious rights in the city that dates back to the Ottoman era. It was formalized in international law by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. However, Israel has been deliberately breaking the status quo and infringing on the Christian character of the city to the advantage of the Jewish character.Tel Aviv has resorted to several methods to drive out the native Christians. One of them is the acquisition of the property of the church. The Armenian Church and the Greek Orthodox Church have been especially affected. Israel has been deliberately breaking the status quo in Jerusalem and infringing on the Christian character of the city
In March, the Jerusalem Municipality demanded back taxes on church-owned commercial properties, threatening to auction them off in violation of long-standing agreements. The municipality claims that the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem owes the state millions of shekels in unpaid taxes. The tax claim, which dates back to 1994, is unproven and has no legal foundation. The Greek Orthodox Church is the second-largest landowner in Israel. It owns about 30 percent of the walled Old City, Jerusalem’s historic core. But Ateret Cohanim, a Jewish settler group, has been using shell companies to acquire Palestinian-owned properties in strategic locations in Jerusalem, some for nominal amounts, to increase Jewish control in the city.
When the church tried to protest these transactions, the Israeli court sided with the buyer. In addition to bullying the church into accepting these fraudulent transactions, the mayor of Jerusalem in 2018 revoked the tax-exempt status of any building not being used for prayer. However, this greatly affected the church, as it uses the revenues from its commercial properties to fund its religious and charitable activities. To increase pressure on the church, the municipality last month froze its bank accounts.
Israel also plans to turn the Mount of Olives, a site of pilgrimage and one of the most sacred places in Christianity, into a national park. Though the plan has been shelved for the moment, Israel is encircling the area with settlements. Organizations like Elad, a settler association funded by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, have been involved in developing tourism and archaeological projects in the area in a bid to strengthen the Jewish presence and claims in East Jerusalem.
In addition to infringing on Christian property and heritage, churches and cemeteries have been desecrated and the clergy have been harassed. Clergymen and nuns are regularly assaulted and spat on. This supremacist habit has been defended by Itamar Ben-Gvir, national security minister in the Netanyahu government, who dismissed the act as “not criminal.”Israel is also preventing the manifestation of Christian festivities. During Easter celebrations in April, Israeli authorities imposed strict limitations on Christian worshippers. Only 4,000 permits to enter Jerusalem were issued for Palestinian Christians from the West Bank, a fraction of the usual number. And those who managed to reach the city faced aggressive policing, threats and violence, including reported incidents of police brutality and attacks by ultranationalist Jewish settlers.
In addition to infringing on Christian property and heritage, churches have been desecrated and the clergy harassed
The settlers have also been attacking Taybeh, the only fully Christian village in the West Bank. Residents fear for their lives as settler violence has increased in an attempt to drive them away from their homes. The Israeli authorities have been accused of abetting the attacks. In July, Israeli settlers set fires at Taybeh’s Church of Saint George and near a Christian cemetery. In addition to the erosion of the Christian character in the West Bank, the Christians in Gaza have been the victims of Israeli atrocities, just like everyone else in the Strip. Their churches have been bombed. At least 44 Christians, or 5.5 percent of the Christian population of Gaza, have been killed, 23 of them while sheltering in churches. But Christians have still refused to leave Gaza. They know their presence goes beyond themselves — it represents the presence of Christianity in the Holy Land.
While claiming to cherish Christians, Israel actually wants to erase their presence. They do not want the Occupied Territories to have an element that the West can sympathize with. This way, they can frame their aggression on the Palestinians as a conflict between Israel, representing the “good” civilized Western culture, and the “evil, barbaric” Muslims. This duality of good and evil was last week echoed by Mike Huckabee, an ardent Zionist and US ambassador to Israel.
It is time for the West to wake up and realize that, while Israel claims to be a defender of “Western civilization,” which is supposedly Christian, it is working on erasing the Christian character of the Holy Land.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

Slected X tweets For September 12/2025
Pierre Poilievre
Charlie Kirk was a 31-year-old father of two, mercilessly assassinated yesterday on a university campus for simply expressing his views. We must unite around this important principle: political violence is never acceptable. Freedom of speech and expression must be protected. My prayers are with his wife, his children, and all who loved him.

Tucker Carlson News
BREAKING: Marco Rubio's State Department will ban any foreigner from entering the country who celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk online, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau confirms.
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Benjamin Netanyahu
https://x.com/i/status/1966186465051947437
Charlie Kirk was a defender of our common Judeo-Christian civilization.
Charlie was more than a friend of Israel. He was a great champion of our shared roots and values. May his memory be a blessing.

Zéna Mansour
The left and Islamic political movements in the ME use hate speech, accuse of treason, and show contempt against ancient peoples like Jews, Druze, Christians, Alawites & Kurds. They use the same rhetoric against the West and whites.

John Bolton
President Reagan is the prime example of how to govern from the Oval. He had his own very clear philosophy, coupled with some excellent cabinet secretaries who would argue and discuss in front of the President, who ultimately made the final call. This back-and-forth helped the President make the best decision.

Mira
https://x.com/i/status/1966478411729084823
@MiraMedusa
Weddings in #Syria, where Syrian Muslims celebrate by chanting hateful slogans against the Druze community.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Emir of Qatar attended Hamas funeral of Hamas commanders.
Hamas seeks to annihilate Israel.
By any legal measure, Qatar is complicit in attempts to destroy Israel, which makes it a fair target for the Jewish state.

 Isaac Herzog
The same hatred and terror that struck America on 9/11 – 24 years ago – is the same hatred and terrorism that butchered Israelis on Oct 7, massacred our Druze sisters and brothers in Syria, and murdered innocent civilians in Jerusalem just this week.
We have the right to defend ourselves — and we are defending the entire free world! From my speech tonight at the @UJIAcharity event in London, also attended by families of the victims of terror, and by the courageous
@EmilyDamari1 and her family.

Pope Leo XIV
Fraternity is the most authentic name for closeness. It means rediscovering the face of the other. For those who believe, they recognize the Mystery: the very image of God in the face of the poor, the refugee and even the adversary. #HumanFraternity

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
What makes anyone think a State of Palestine would differ from Islamist Syria or authoritarian Turkey? Why assume it would respect human rights, women’s rights, or LGBTQ rights? Why not address these questions before insisting Israel stops policing what could become a lawless piece of hell living in perpetual civil war?