English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 21/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all
Mark 10/35-45: "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and
said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he
said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’And they said to him,
‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your
glory.’But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you
able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with?’They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup
that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you
will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to
grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ When the ten heard
this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said
to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their
rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is
not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the
Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for
many.’"
Titles For The Latest English
LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September
20-21/2025
Naim Qassem lives in a pathological state of denial. His constant
existence in an underground pit has rotted his mind and distanced him from
reality./Elias Bejjani/September 20/2025
Doha Summit: Islamizing the Palestinian Cause While Arab Leaders Ignore the Fact
that Iran and Turkey—Patrons of Political Islam—Are the Real Enemies, Not
Israel/Elias Bejjani/September 16/2025
Video link to an interview from the "Spot Shot" Youtube Platform with writer and
director Youssef Yaacoub El-Khoury
Lebanon says one dead in Israel strike on south
Faced with pressures, Hezbollah seeks implausible dialogue with Saudi Arabia
Inauguration of the Maronite Monastery of St. Charbel in France... From Ain
Kraya to the Heart of Europe... Opening of the first monastery dedicated to St.
Charbel in France
Lebanese man killed in Israeli airstrike on Khardali road in southern Lebanon
Avihai Adra'i/ Two years ago, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a proxy war with
the Hamas terrorists,
Orthagus in Beirut... and Bin Farhan reaffirms the Kingdom's position on Lebanon
Aoun takes the issues of weapons and reforms to the United Nations
What's behind the scenes of Bin Farhan's visit?
Israel Monitors Lebanon from "Mountaintop": New Intelligence Details!
Prince Yazid bin Mohammed al-Farhan holds phone call with Lebanon’s parliament
speaker
Israel targets vehicle in South Lebanon's Marjayoun
Lebanon's Culture Ministry denies false claims about Baalbek Citadel
Support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, state authority underlined by Saudi approach,
US source says
Lebanon’s public works minister outlines priorities, stresses stability and
infrastructure projects
Shifting regional dynamics: Hezbollah urges Saudi Arabia to 'open a new page'
Qassem calls for 'new page' with Saudi Arabia as regional tensions escalate
US pressure and regional tensions: Israel and Syria near landmark security
agreement
Justice Minister Adel Nasr: "No going back" on the arms control decision;
Hezbollah cannot address a foreign state
The "Pager" Incident: A Lesson for the Times/Mashari Al-Zaidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September
20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from Arabic)
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 20-21/2025
LCCC/Video Link – A Highly Important Historical and Religious Islamic
Study By writer and historian Ibrahim Issa, published on Al-Hurra Youtube
Platform
Hamas warns hostages face fate of missing pilot if Israel assault continues
Israel presses on with Gaza City assault, at least 60 Palestinians killed
Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes ‘raise ethnic cleansing concerns’
Israel presses ahead with military assault on Gaza city, says 480,000 fled south
‘Better late than never’: Palestinian FM says UK recognition of state a
‘courageous step’
Crown Prince, French president speak ahead of two-state summit
Macron takes risk with Palestinian statehood recognition
Trump threatens Venezuela with 'incalculable' consequences if it doesn't take
back migrants
Saudi Arabia to support Yemeni government with around $368 million: Source tells
Reuters
Russia slams UN vote to reimpose Iran nuclear sanctions
Austrian energy executive fired over alleged Russian spying links — magazine
report says
Serbia stages a large military parade to showcase tanks, jets and missile
systems
Zelensky says will meet Trump next week as Russia intensifies attacks
Titles For The Latest
English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 20-21/2025
Question: “Are we living in the end
times?”/GotQuestions.org/September 20/2025
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: A Masterstroke/Tariq Al-Humaid/Al-Sharq Al-Awsat/September
20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from Arabic)
Ramshackle Provocateur: Late Regime Cuban Subversion Against America/Amb.
Alberto M. Fernandez*/MEMRI Daily Brief No. 851/September 20/2025
Iran Regime’s Long Game: Today Diplomacy, Tomorrow Retaliation/Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 20/2025
Israel under Netanyahu has no red lines/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/September 20,
2025
The unraveling of the UN/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/September 20, 2025
Slected X tweets For September 20/2025
The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on
September 20-21/2025
Naim Qassem lives in a pathological state of denial. His constant existence in
an underground pit has rotted his mind and distanced him from reality.
Elias Bejjani/September 20/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147431/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH3I4a6yFUY&t=174s
The speeches of Sheikh Naim Qassem are no longer worth delving into. They are
repetitive, parrot-like, and recycle the same lies and hypocrisy of a so-called
“resistance” that was nothing but an Iranian criminal terrorist project—now gone
forever. Hezbollah has been stripped bare of its heresies and empty bravado
after Israel inflicted on it a crushing defeat, eliminated its commanders, and
continues—on a daily basis—to hunt down its operatives across multiple Lebanese
areas, without the group being able to respond with even a single bullet.
This criminal Hezbollah has now been reduced to a mere sound organization:
militarily, politically, and through its media mouthpieces. Empty threats,
ridiculous posturing, and accusations of treason against the overwhelming
majority of Lebanese who reject it and demand its removal—militarily,
politically, and criminally—through the enforcement of international resolutions
and the ceasefire agreement that amounted to an act of surrender signed by
Hezbollah and its patron Iran.
As for Naim Qassem, who hides underground in a dark pit where no light or sun
reaches him—terrified of Israel—he has become completely detached from reality.
Rot seems to have infected his mind, and perhaps the drugs he consumes (hashish,
Captagon) are adulterated, causing him hallucinations and daydreams, just as was
evident in his speech yesterday on the occasion of the “anniversary of Ibrahim
Aqil’s killing.”
The man lives in absolute denial—blind to all the developments, defeats, and
disasters Hezbollah has inflicted upon Lebanon and upon its Shiite community.
Moreover, this state of denial is not limited to him; it engulfs Hezbollah’s
MPs, officials, media voices, and supporters. It is a pathological denial,
coupled with anger, leaving them incapable of moving through the natural stages
of dealing with pain (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance).
Qassem, Iran, and Hezbollah’s leadership remain shackled and imprisoned in the
stage of denial and anger, and all their discourse reflects this diseased
mindset.
His call for Saudi Arabia in his yesterday speech to “open a new page” with
Hezbollah and to engage in dialogue to freeze disputes is nothing short of a
mental farce. Saudi Arabia is a sovereign state, not a gang. It cannot and will
not negotiate with an organization designated globally as terrorist—an Iranian
jihadist criminal group that has been and continues to be behind the Houthis’
attacks on the Kingdom, the Gulf states, and international shipping routes.
A final piece of advice to the remaining Hezbollah officials still alive, and to
their clerical patrons in Iran: take Sheikh Naim Qassem out of his underground
hole and place him in a mental hospital. His speech of September 19, 2025, was a
disgraceful bundle of denial, hallucinations, daydreams, and delusions—a
pathetic farce. And as a person, he remains revolting and repulsive.
Doha Summit: Islamizing the Palestinian
Cause While Arab Leaders Ignore the Fact that Iran and Turkey—Patrons of
Political Islam—Are the Real Enemies, Not Israel
Elias Bejjani/September 16/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147332/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfY7_9m0kuo&t=704s
The so-called “Arab-Islamic Emergency Summit” held in Doha, the capital of
Qatar, on September 15, 2025, gathered leaders from 60 Arab and Islamic states
under the pretext of showing solidarity with Qatar after the precise Israeli
airstrike that targeted Hamas leaders in Doha—a strike for which Israel’s Prime
Minister openly claimed full responsibility.
Yet this summit was not about supporting Qatar. It was a theatrical propaganda
show aimed at reviving the delusion of “Islamizing” the Palestinian
cause—turning it from a national struggle for rights into a religious jihadist
crusade. This represents a dangerous ideological regression and an undeserved
gift to Israel.
Islamizing the Palestinian Cause:
Arabizing the Palestinian cause was the fatal mistake to which Said Akl pointed
out.
Decades ago, the great Lebanese poet and philosopher Said Akl warned against the
sin of "Arabizing" the Palestinian cause, saying, "They made the Palestinian
cause an Arab cause, opening the door for Israel to turn its cause into a Jewish
cause. Thus, they transformed the conflict from a political dispute into an
endless war of religions." This is precisely what the Doha Summit did: It
removed Palestine from its national, human rights, and humanitarian dimensions,
placing it in the category of Arab fanaticism, religious extremism, and
isolationism, just as the extremists on both sides, Turkey and Iran—the sponsors
of terrorist and jihadist political Islam, in keeping with the entire culture of
the Muslim Brotherhood—wanted. This is also the case, as the majority of the
countries that participated in the farcical summit.
Erdogan and the “Liberation of Palestine”… A Renewed Ottoman Jihadism
One of the clearest moments exposing the summit’s true nature was Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement declaring that “the Islamic Ummah is
responsible for liberating Palestine.”
This was not support for Palestine but an open declaration of a “new Ottoman”
project—draping Turkish expansionism in the cloak of religion. Erdogan, who
occupies northern Syria, blackmails Arab states politically and economically,
and shelters Hamas’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders, came to Doha to sell the
illusion of “liberation” in exchange for influence and control.
Iran and Turkey’s Presence: Sheer Folly and Sectarian Blindness
The most surreal sight at the summit was seeing the Iranian and Turkish
presidents sitting in the front rows, leading large delegations—even though they
are, in reality, the Arab world’s fiercest enemies:
Iran represents the Shiite wing of political Islam, invading the Arab world
through its militias: Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and the
Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.
Turkey represents the Sunni wing of political Islam, embracing the Muslim
Brotherhood and Hamas and financing transnational jihadist movements.
Allowing these two regimes to sit at the head of an Arab summit was the peak of
strategic blindness—granting legitimacy to the very enemies who destroyed Arab
capitals and wrecked regional stability.
A Sarcastic Question: Where Were Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis at This
“Jihad Summit”?
If this summit was truly “Islamic” and “jihadist” as its organizers wanted, why
weren’t the groups that embody this jihadism on the ground invited?
Where was Hamas, the group supposedly being supported?
Where were Hezbollah and the Houthis, whose “cause” the Iranian axis falsely
claims is Palestine?
The answer is clear and ironic: their visible presence would have exposed the
summit as neither Arab, nor peaceful, nor humanitarian—just a stage to whitewash
jihadist terrorism with diplomatic neckties.
The Real Enemies of the Arabs: Iran and Turkey, Not Israel
What Arabs must understand—and what the Doha Summit completely ignored—is that
their real enemies are Iran and Turkey, not Israel. Iran seeks to swallow the
Arab East and turn it into a patchwork of sectarian Persian-controlled zones.
Turkey dreams of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire on the ruins of Arab
sovereignty. Both exploit the Palestinian cause as blackmail to dominate Arabs,
while Israel at least does not claim to represent or lead the Arab world.
From the Arab League’s Failure to the Doha Summit’s Collapse
Since the Arab League was founded in the mid-20th century, all its summits have
been nothing but empty slogans and meaningless final statements. It has neither
liberated a single inch of occupied land, nor stopped a war, nor protected one
Arab state from collapse or occupation. The Doha Summit did not break this
miserable tradition—it was an even more pitiful and shallow version, laced with
a high dose of jihadism, Islamization, and deception.
An Iranian-Turkish Summit with an Arab Façade… and Arab Witnesses of Falsehood
Despite its “Arab-Islamic” label, the Doha Summit was in reality an
Iranian-Turkish summit with an Arab façade. The Arab leaders present were mere
witnesses of falsehood—blind to their real enemies, applauding jihadist
speeches, and granting Arab cover to Persian and Ottoman expansionist projects
that have nothing to do with Palestine or peace. They have willingly reduced
themselves to tools of their own destruction.
Qatar… Sponsor of Jihadist Terrorism and Muslim Brotherhood Propaganda
Any discussion of the Doha Summit must also recall Qatar’s long-standing
destructive role:
Financing political Islam movements and jihadist groups from Afghanistan to
Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza.
Sheltering the leaders of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood and offering them
media platforms.
Sponsoring and funding Hamas politically, militarily, and through propaganda.
Running Al Jazeera TV, which has turned into a global platform to market
jihadist and incitement rhetoric, whitewash terrorists, and amplify their
narratives under the guise of “journalism.”
Video link to an interview from the "Spot Shot" Youtube
Platform with writer and director Youssef Yaacoub El-Khoury
September 20/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147486/
"Lebanon is heading towards federalism"... Youssef E-Khoury reveals the message
of "escalation" to Aoun and Qatar within the battle!
Spot Shot Website/ In this interview, writer and director Youssef El-Khoury
confirmed that Hezbollah has dismantled some countries and achieved Israel's
demand, noting that the entire region is heading towards dismantling, and that
Lebanon "will grow" and move towards federalism. El-Khoury added: "Whoever does
not realize that we have entered the Israeli era is living in an illusion, and
Israel's goal is stability."
El-Khoury talked about the governmental situation in Lebanon, describing the
government as "living outside of time," warning that Lebanon's fate could be
worse than Gaza. He considered the current escalation to be part of the
solution, explaining that the message is directed directly to President Aoun,
and said: "This is not how Lebanon will be tomorrow."
El-Khoury added that Lebanon has become a battleground, pointing to Qatar's
entry into this battle, and said: "Walk in peace and be done with it,"
expressing his frustration with President Aoun's speech at the last summit,
which reminded him of Hafez al-Assad's speech at his last summit. He confirmed
that the Lebanese identity, specifically the Christian identity, has become in
real danger.
(Free Translation from Arabic by LCCC editor)
Lebanon says one dead in Israel strike on south
AFP/September 20, 2025
BEIRUT: Lebanon said an Israeli strike killed one person in the south on
Saturday, the latest deadly attack despite a months-old ceasefire between Israel
and the Hezbollah militant group. An AFP correspondent saw first responders
attending the scene in the Marjayoun area, where the partially burnt-out
wreckage of a white vehicle sat beside the road. “The Israeli enemy strike on a
vehicle on the Al-Khardali road killed one person,” the health ministry said in
a statement. Israel has continued to carry out attacks on Lebanon despite the
November truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the
Iran-backed group. It has also maintained troops in five areas of the south it
deems strategic.The Israeli military has said previous strikes targeted
suspected Hezbollah militants or facilities. On Friday, Israeli strikes killed
two people in the south the military said were Hezbollah operatives. A day
earlier, the Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah weapons storage
facilities in several areas after urging civilians to flee. In the face of heavy
US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government is
seeking to disarm Hezbollah.Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has said the army
will complete the disarmament of its militants in the border area within three
months. The army said Thursday’s strikes took Israeli violations of the
ceasefire to 4,500 and warned they risked slowing down Hezbollah’s disarmament
Faced with pressures, Hezbollah seeks implausible dialogue
with Saudi Arabia
The Arab Weekly/September 20/2025
Seeking to ease the pressure his group faces Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem called
on Friday for dialogue with Saudi Arabia in order to turn “a new page”,
following years of hostility that have pushed Riyadh away from Lebanon. Since
2016, Hezbollah has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Saudi Arabia
and other Gulf states. In recent months, Riyadh has joined Washington and
Hezbollah’s rivals within Lebanon in backing the Lebanese government’s bid to
disarm the group, which was badly weakened by last year’s war with Israel. In a
televised address on Friday, Qassem said that regional powers should see Israel,
not Hezbollah, as the main threat to the Middle East and proposed “mending
relations” with Riyadh. “We assure you that the arms of the resistance
(Hezbollah) are pointed at the Israeli enemy, not Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, or any
other place or entity in the world,” Qassem said.
He asserted that “dialogue” would “freeze the disagreements of the past, at
least in this exceptional phase, so that we can confront Israel and curb it”,
and said that pressuring Hezbollah “is a net gain for Israel.”Analysts in Beirut
dismissed Qassem’s proposal as mere political posturing by Hezbollah as it finds
itself painted into a corner. Qassem’s suggestion was seen as unlikely to prompt
any serious follow up from Saudi Arabia, especially that it sought to involve
Riyadh in Lebanon’s internal affairs and implicitly push for a radical change in
Saudi foreign policy towards confrontation with Israel. Lebanon’s Minister of
Justice Adel Nassar rejected Hezbollah’s initiative. He told Al Arabiya-Al
Hadath TV channel no political party should address foreign states nor try to
set its own foreign policy agenda. He added that no political party should
attempt to act as a state within the state. “All parties should be at the
service of the state not the other way around,” he said.
Saudi Arabia once spent billions in Lebanon, depositing funds in the central
bank and helping rebuild the south after a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel
– only to see the group impose its political and military hegemony in Lebanon
and pursue Iran’s agenda in the region. There was no shortage of provocations on
the part of Hezbollah driven mostly by hubris as the Iran-backed militant party
saw its power grow. Relations soured sharply in 2021 when Saudi Arabia expelled
the Lebanese ambassador, recalled its own envoy and banned Lebanese imports. A
statement in Saudi state media at the time said Hezbollah controlled the
Lebanese state’s decision-making processes. Hezbollah’s then-secretary general
Hassan Nasrallah called Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman a
“terrorist” and repeatedly assailed Saudi’s role in Yemen. But recent months
have seen seismic political shifts in the region, with Israel pummelling
Hezbollah last year and killing Nasrallah, and rebels toppling the group’s
Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad in December. Hezbollah is now caught between a
US-backed government’s intent to dismantle its military arsenal and relentless
attacks from Israel with little or no help possible from Iran. Israel said on
Thursday it had launched fresh airstrikes against Hezbollah military targets in
southern Lebanon to stop the militant group rebuilding in the area. The US
brokered a truce in November between Lebanon and Israel after more than a year
of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza, but Israel has continued sporadically to
attack Iranian-backed Hezbollah across the border. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf
Salam said the evacuation warning contradicted international peace efforts.
Hezbollah has said it would be a serious misstep even to discuss disarmament
while Israel is continuing airstrikes on Lebanon and occupying swaths of
territory in its south.
Inauguration of the Maronite Monastery of St. Charbel in
France... From Ain Kraya to the Heart of Europe... Opening of the first
monastery dedicated to St. Charbel in France
Neda Al Watan/September 21, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from
Arabic)
The first monastery dedicated to St. Charbel in France was inaugurated today,
Saturday, September 20, 2025, in the town of Villiers-sur-Marne, in the
Val-de-Marne department of the Île-de-France region. The inauguration took place
during a solemn liturgical celebration presided over by His Beatitude Maronite
Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rāī. In his homily during the Mass,
Patriarch al-Rāī described this day as "a day of light and silence, a day of
culmination and new beginnings," noting the profound joy at the inauguration of
the new monastery of the Lebanese Maronite Order, in the presence of its
Superior General, Abbot Hady Maftouh. He pointed out that this new shrine
continues the spiritual mission that began at the Monastery of the Sisters of
Mary-Joseph and Mercy, represented by their Superior General, Sister Véronique
Louvier. The Patriarch also touched upon the historical and longstanding
relationship between the Maronite Church and the Church of France, which dates
back to the 12th century, emphasizing the shared values and deep-rooted
friendship between Beirut and Paris, describing this cooperation as "the
greatest alliance for democracy and freedom in the Middle East." He expressed
his gratitude to the Sisters of Mary-Joseph and Mercy for their support of the
project, and to the Lebanese Maronite Order for its zealous and apostolic
approach to designing the monastery. He also commended Ms. Pascale Vernier, a
member of the arbitration committee for the construction and project management,
who contributed to the completion of the project despite a serious health
condition, during which she sought the intercession of St. Charbel. The bishop
described the monastery as "a place of prayer, a source of peace, and an oasis
of silence and contemplation," explaining that its purpose is not merely to
build a structure, but to establish a living sanctuary where people can find
space for listening and prayer amidst the noise and distractions of the world.
He recalled the words of Pope Saint Paul VI during the beatification of Mar
Maroun, emphasizing the need for "prayer, silence, hidden virtues, and
asceticism in a world dominated by noise, commotion, and media clamor." In his
address, he quoted the philosopher Pythagoras and the Christian philosopher
Gustave Thibon, highlighting the importance of silence as a spiritual state that
allows one to encounter God. He added that "every stone in this monastery bears
the imprint of prayer, and every wall will resound with holy praise." He urged
the residents of the monastery to remember that they are stewards of God's
house, calling on them to be "living witnesses to the Kingdom," and to open
their hearts to all who knock seeking comfort, silence, or light. He said, "The
Gospel does not shout, but whispers. It does not impose, but invites." In
conclusion, the bishop extended his congratulations to the Lebanese Maronite
Order and all its members, expressing his hope that the monastery would "prosper
through the power of the Holy Spirit, offering solace to souls, a place of
repentance for hearts, and a glimpse of heaven on earth."
Lebanese man killed in Israeli airstrike on Khardali road in southern Lebanon
Beirut: Asharq Al-Awsat/September 20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from
Arabic)
The National News Agency in Lebanon reported that one person was killed in an
Israeli airstrike on the Khardali River road in southern Lebanon earlier
Saturday. Al-Jadeed TV had previously reported that an Israeli drone had
targeted a vehicle on the Khardali road. The National News Agency added that the
strike, which targeted a Rapid brand vehicle on the Khardali road, caused a
fire. Civil defense vehicles from the Qal'iat station and Lebanese Red Cross
ambulances rushed to the scene. A ceasefire has been in effect in Lebanon
since November following a conflict that lasted more than a year between Israel
and Hezbollah, which escalated into open warfare in September. Despite the
ceasefire, Israel continues to launch airstrikes in various parts of Lebanon,
particularly in the south, often claiming to target Hezbollah members or their
facilities. The ceasefire agreement stipulated that Hezbollah withdraw from the
area south of the Litani River (approximately 30 kilometers from the border with
Israel in southern Lebanon) and dismantle its military infrastructure there, in
exchange for a strengthened deployment of the Lebanese army and the UN
peacekeeping force (UNIFIL). It also stipulated the withdrawal of Israeli forces
from areas they had advanced into during the war, but Israel maintained its
presence in strategic hills, from which Lebanon demands its withdrawal.
Avihai Adra'i/ Two years ago, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon
into a proxy war with the Hamas terrorists,
its adventure was like "digging its own grave." Israel
didn't want a war, but when faced with a challenge, it knows how to respond
courageously
.X platform/ September 20, 2025
Avihai Adra'i tweeted: Two years ago, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a proxy war
with the Hamas terrorists, and its adventure was like "digging its own grave."
Israel didn't want a war, but when faced with a challenge, it knows how to
respond courageously. They thought our patience stemmed from fear and weakness,
but we delivered a surprise attack. Operation #Northern_Arrows launched,
delivering a crushing blow to this evil organization: We eliminated Nasrallah
and his lieutenants, and toppled the entire terrorist leadership. We destroyed
missile and drone depots, and erased the contact lines they dared to build to
invade our towns. Despite the strength of our strike, we protected Lebanese
civilians; we were the shield that protected them, while those who call
themselves "friends" dragged them into danger and exposed them to death. Today,
a year later... everyone knows that terrorism has no future against our strength
and determination. Let what happened a year ago serve as a lesson for those who
heed it.
On this day a year ago, the Air Force raided Beirut and eliminated prominent
leaders of the Al-Rizwan force, including the terrorist Ibrahim Aqil. Aqil was
the head of Hezbollah's operations unit since 2004, and he signed what they
called the "Galilee invasion plan," which we thwarted. Aqeel's hands were
stained with the blood of many Israelis, but they were also stained with the
blood of many Arabs and Lebanese. Aqeel met his end and descended into hell—a
fitting fate for such a notorious Hezbollah terrorist, awaiting the arrival of
other top Hezbollah terrorists who will join him there.
Orthagus in Beirut... and Bin Farhan reaffirms the
Kingdom's position on Lebanon
Aoun takes the issues of weapons and reforms to the United Nations
Nidaa Al-Watan/September 21, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from Arabic)
Starting tomorrow, Monday, New York will be the focus of the world's attention
for an entire week, due to the annual meetings of the United Nations General
Assembly, which will begin its 80th session on Tuesday, under the slogan
"Together for a Better Future: 80 Years and Beyond for Peace, Development, and
Human Rights." Regional and global issues will be the main topics of discussion
at the UN General Assembly, and Lebanon will also be represented by an official
delegation headed by President General Michel Aoun, who left for New York on
Saturday, accompanied by First Lady Nimat Aoun. The official delegation includes
Foreign Minister and Minister of Emigration Youssef Rajeh, and the Permanent
Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, Ambassador Ahmed Arifeh. "Nidaa
Al-Watan" learned that President Aoun, who will hold a series of meetings and
discussions on the sidelines of the summit, including with members of the
Lebanese diaspora, will also attend the official reception hosted by US
President Donald Trump for heads of state and government representatives and
representatives of participating organizations at this annual international
event. According to "Nidaa Al-Watan," President Aoun, who will deliver Lebanon's
statement to the 80th session of the General Assembly, will speak about the
reforms Lebanon has implemented so far and those it intends to implement. He
will also emphasize the state's commitment to the principle of maintaining the
monopoly on the use of force, and he will affirm that Lebanon has taken
significant steps to extend its control over all Lebanese territory. He will
reiterate the call to the international community to pressure Israel to stop its
attacks on Lebanon and end its occupation of the five hills. In Beirut, where US
envoy Morgan Ortagus is arriving today for a visit with a military and technical
focus, Saudi Foreign Minister's Advisor, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, continues his
meetings with Lebanese officials, keeping them away from media scrutiny. After
holding talks with the President on Friday night before departing for New York,
he met on Saturday with several members of parliament, ministers, ambassadors,
and political figures, and attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Tammam
Salam. He is scheduled to conclude his visit today, Sunday, with a meeting with
Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. Sources told "Nidaa Al-Watan" that Prince
Faisal bin Farhan reiterated during his meetings the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's
support for Lebanon's decision to move forward with implementing the plan to
control weapons and complete the necessary reforms, thus encouraging Arab
investors to resume their business and projects in Lebanon.
What's behind the scenes of Bin Farhan's visit?
Central News Agency/September 20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from Arabic)
MTV reported that Saudi envoy Prince Yazeed bin Farhan will meet with more
Lebanese officials tomorrow, and that he had a phone call with Speaker Nabih
Berri. The report indicated that "Bin Farhan raised with the President the issue
of the upcoming meeting in New York on the two-state solution, seeking to
understand the Lebanese position before Aoun departs for the United States
today." It also noted that "Bin Farhan discussed with Lebanese officials the
possibility of holding a conference to support the Lebanese army in the first
half of November." In this context, sources told MTV that the French discussed
with the Saudis the idea of a conference to support the Lebanese army,
particularly during the phone call between Macron and Bin Salman. Consequently,
the conference will be held in the Kingdom, not in Paris. During his meetings,
Bin Farhan emphasized the need for the Lebanese army to complete its mandate to
enforce the disarmament plan and the importance of maintaining the current
momentum of the government's efforts. The report further stated that the Saudi
envoy stressed the necessity for Lebanon to implement the required financial
reforms and conditions, and therefore, no economic and financial conference will
be held before Lebanon fulfills its obligations. The report also confirmed that
Bin Farhan's visit to Lebanon is unrelated to the statement made by Hezbollah
Secretary-General Naim Qassem, as it had been scheduled earlier.
Israel Monitors Lebanon from "Mountaintop": New Intelligence Details!
Central News Agency/September 20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from Arabic)
The Emirati website, Iram News, published a new report quoting Syrian sources as
saying that Israel has transformed Mount Sheikh into an intelligence
surveillance center equipped with the latest monitoring and espionage devices,
following its occupation of the mountain last December. The mountain is
considered the highest peak in the region, allowing whoever controls it to
monitor any movement dozens of kilometers away in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and
surrounding areas. The website also stated that Israel has installed radars
capable of intercepting communications and tracking movements deep within Syrian
and Lebanese territory, and even along the Iraqi border. It added that "the main
reason Israel continues to hold onto its control of Mount Sheikh lies in the
strategic importance of the mountain's location, which could lead to the failure
of the current negotiations with the Syrian side for a security agreement." Over
the past period, the Syrian and Israeli sides have held several rounds of talks,
under US auspices, with the aim of reaching a security agreement after the
Israeli army occupied the demilitarized zone between the two countries, and vast
areas of southern Syria, including Mount Sheikh, Quneitra, and the Yarmouk Basin
in Daraa province. While the Syrian side insists on Israel's withdrawal from the
areas it occupied after the fall of the previous regime and a return to the
demilitarized zone agreed upon in 1974, Israel refuses to do so unless Damascus
relinquishes its claim to the Golan Heights and Mount Sheikh. Mount Sheikh is a
strategic vantage point for Israel, enabling it to monitor any infiltration
attempt from Syria or southern Lebanon. Furthermore, in the event of war, it
provides Israel with a strategic launching point for any potential offensive or
defensive operations in the future.
Prince Yazid bin Mohammed al-Farhan holds phone call with Lebanon’s parliament
speaker
LBCI/September 20/2025
Sources told LBCI that Prince Yazid bin Mohammed al-Farhan held a phone call
Saturday with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, with MP Ali Hassan Khalil
also present. The discussion focused on local and regional affairs and ways to
strengthen relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Israel targets vehicle in South Lebanon's Marjayoun
LBCI/September 20/2025
An Israeli drone struck a vehicle on the Khardali–Marjayoun road in South
Lebanon, according to initial reports. As a result, one person was killed due to
the strike.
Lebanon's Culture Ministry denies false claims about Baalbek Citadel
LBCI/September 20/2025
Lebanon's Culture Ministry on Saturday dismissed as false a social media
interview in which a former lawmaker alleged the presence of suspicious
materials belonging to political parties inside the ancient Baalbek Citadel. In
a statement, the ministry said the claims were “completely baseless and
unrelated to reality,” stressing that the only forces inside the UNESCO-listed
site are Lebanese security agencies tasked with protecting it. The ministry also
noted that the Baalbek site carries the Blue Shield emblem and has been placed
on the list of enhanced protection under the Second Protocol of the Hague
Convention, underscoring its safeguarded status. The ministry urged the public
to rely on official sources for information about Lebanon’s archaeological
sites, which it affirmed remain free of any illicit or suspicious materials.
Support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, state authority
underlined by Saudi approach, US source says
LBCI/September 20/2025
A U.S. source told LBCI that reports of Saudi Arabia dealing with Lebanon on a
state-to-state basis reflect the kingdom’s commitment to supporting President
Joseph Aoun and the Lebanese state. The source emphasized that weapons should
remain exclusively under state control, with the ultimate goal of establishing a
secure and sovereign Lebanon.
Lebanon’s public works minister outlines priorities,
stresses stability and infrastructure projects
LBCI/September 20/2025
Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, Fayez Rasamny, said the
government is working in full harmony, with consensus on major issues regardless
of the remaining term of the cabinet. He expressed hope that parliamentary
elections will be held on schedule.
Rasamny highlighted ongoing government discussions on the national budget,
noting that while ministry requirements have been detailed, funds remain
limited, especially for southern regions affected by the recent war. He
emphasized that Israel’s attacks continue to hinder foreign aid, and the
government is working to address the challenge. On infrastructure, Rasamny
confirmed plans to expand the Beirut Airport to accommodate an additional two
million passengers within a year. The resumption of Beirut-Moscow flights
depends on international factors and sanctions, he said. The minister also
discussed the upcoming licensing for Qlayaat Airport, stressing careful
investment planning, and underscored the need for public-private partnerships to
attract investment. He added that road rehabilitation efforts are underway.
Regarding ports, Rasamny noted efforts to modernize the Port of Beirut and to
operate Jounieh's Port commercially and for tourism, positioning it as a gateway
to Cyprus. Plans are also in place to improve Lebanon’s public transport system,
including the integration of new buses from Qatar and potential support from
China, which could significantly enhance daily service for thousands of
passengers.
Shifting regional dynamics: Hezbollah urges Saudi Arabia to
'open a new page'
LBCI/September 20/2025
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem called on Saudi Arabia to "open a
new page" with the group, a striking appeal that overshadowed a 40-minute speech
and signaled a possible softening after years of hostility. The remarks marked a
notable shift from the fiery rhetoric that defined Hezbollah's relationship with
Saudi Arabia throughout the past decade, particularly during the Gulf conflict
with Yemen's Houthi movement. Qassem framed his call within a broader context,
naming Israel as Hezbollah's sole enemy and insisting the group's weapons are
aimed only at Israel. The timing of the appeal follows a series of setbacks for
Hezbollah in Israel's recent war, which weakened the group's regional and
domestic standing. It also comes in the wake of Israel's attack on Qatar and a
series of Saudi-Iranian contacts in Riyadh and on the sidelines of the emergency
summit in Doha. While Saudi Arabia has issued no public response, sources told
LBCI that Riyadh remains committed to Lebanon's stability and prosperity,
approaching relations on a state-to-state basis. A U.S. official cited by LBCI
said the Saudi stance reflects continued support for President Joseph Aoun and
the Lebanese state, while reiterating that weapons must remain exclusively under
government control to ensure a secure and sovereign Lebanon.
Qassem calls for 'new page' with Saudi Arabia as regional tensions escalate
Associated Press/September 20/2025
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has called on Saudi Arabia to "open a new
page" after years of tension and animosity, saying that the weapons of the
Iran-backed group are directed toward Israel and not the oil-rich kingdom.
Qassem's comments came in the wake of rising regional tensions following this
month's Israeli strike on energy-rich Qatar, a neighbor of Saudi Arabia. The
Sept. 2 strike hit the headquarters of Hamas' political leadership killing six
people. It was not immediately clear how Saudi Arabia, which lists Hezbollah as
a terrorist organization, would respond to Qassem's proposal. The tension
between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah is part of the yearslong struggle between the
kingdom and Iran, the main backer of the Lebanese militant group — a rivalry
that has often spilled into countries including Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria.
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia remain cold despite an agreement reached
in China in March 2023 to restore diplomatic relations. "I call on Saudi Arabia
to open a new page with the resistance," Qassem said in a televised speech
Friday afternoon. He added that a dialogue between the two sides should be based
on the basis that "Israel is the enemy and not the resistance." Qassem added
that putting pressure on Hezbollah serves Israel and argued that if militant
groups are defeated, other regional countries would be next to be targeted by
Israel. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a
mutual defense pact that defines any attack on either nation as an attack on
both — a key accord in the wake of Israel's strike on Qatar. Relations between
Lebanon and Saudi Arabia hit a low point in 2021 when the kingdom recalled its
ambassador from Beirut and banned Lebanese imports over allegations that they
were being used to smuggle drugs. The ambassador later returned to Beirut but
the ban on imports remains in place.Verbal attacks between the kingdom and
Hezbollah have decreased over the past two years. During a harsh war of words
Saudi officials and media referred to Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and
accused it of exporting drugs to oil-rich countries. In response, Hezbollah
officials blasted the kingdom, blaming it for spreading extremist Islamic
ideology in the Middle East.In 2016, the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council
branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization for its role in fighting alongside
Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and helping Iran-backed Houthi rebels in
Yemen.
US pressure and regional tensions: Israel and Syria near
landmark security agreement
LBCI/September 20/2025
Less than 24 hours after dismissing the prospect of progress in talks with
Syria, Israel announced that the two sides have reached understandings on
roughly 95% of a sweeping security deal. According to sources familiar with the
negotiations, the agreement, which remains outside the framework of the Abraham
Accords, reportedly includes a series of side arrangements and could pave the
way for a follow-up accord. Sources said the deal is nearly finalized and only
requires final touches after Israel secured key demands, including maintaining
its presence atop Mount Hermon, establishing a buffer zone, preventing Turkish
involvement in training Syrian forces, and removing strategic weaponry—such as
air defenses and missiles—from Syrian territory. U.S. officials have reportedly
increased pressure on both Tel Aviv and Damascus to finalize the accord.
Remaining obstacles, particularly regarding the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon,
were resolved by deferring those issues for future negotiations in exchange for
Syria's commitments to prevent attacks against Israel from its soil, curb
Iranian influence and proxies, and ensure political participation for minority
groups within a unified Syria, according to Israeli sources. Carmit Valensi, an
analyst on Iranian affairs, said both parties have strong incentives to reach a
deal regardless of U.S. pressure. She argued that Syria's acceptance would
amount to Israeli recognition of the Damascus government, bolster the position
of Ahmed al-Sharaa, and reinforce Syria's image as a sovereign state. While
urging Israeli decision-makers not to miss what she called a "rare opportunity,"
Valensi warned that Tel Aviv must remain cautious and prepared for unforeseen
developments given Syria's fragile situation. If successful, analysts say the
agreement would mark a major diplomatic breakthrough for Israel, translating
military gains into long-term arrangements that could secure quiet borders,
weaken Iranian influence, enhance Israel's regional and global standing, and
contribute to broader Middle East stability.
Justice Minister Adel Nasr: "No going back" on the arms
control decision; Hezbollah cannot address a foreign state
Al-Markazia/September 20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor from
Arabic)
Justice Minister Adel Nasr stressed that no political party has the right to
impose its will on the state or dictate its terms, and the arms control decision
is final. In excerpts from his exclusive interview to be aired on Al-Arabiya,
Nasr affirmed that there is "no going back" on the arms control decision, and
its implementation is clear. Responding to Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh
Naim Qassem, Nasr stated: "No political party has the right to act on behalf of
the people, and Hezbollah cannot address a foreign state. A political party must
serve the state and cannot impose its will on it or dictate terms to the state."
Regarding the issue of the two Syrian positions, the Justice Minister revealed
that an agreement between the two countries is possible, and three judges in
Damascus are awaiting the upcoming second meeting in Beirut. Concerning the
Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons, Nasr emphasized that the Lebanese have the
right to know the fate of their sons, and the Syrian side wants to address this
issue through an agreement within a legal framework, noting that Lebanon is
particularly concerned about any detainee in Syrian prisons. Regarding the
Hannibal Gaddafi case, the Justice Minister indicated that a bail request was
submitted by his lawyer and is pending before the investigating judge, awaiting
his decision. Regarding the port explosion case, he stated that the ministry is
continuing to communicate with the Bulgarian ambassador regarding the arrest of
the ship owner, Rousos, assuring that the necessary logistical coordination to
expedite the investigation is ongoing.
The "Pager" Incident: A Lesson for the Times
Mashari Al-Zaidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor
from Arabic)
Today, Saturday, September 20, marks the anniversary of the events that unfolded
on September 17 and 18 of the previous year, 2024, when the Lebanese group
Hezbollah suffered its most devastating and dangerous attack since its founding
by Iranian planners in the early 1980s. On those two days, an unprecedented
series of bombings targeted thousands of pagers and radios used by Hezbollah
members, resulting in the deaths of more than 420 people and injuries to some
3,700 others. Subsequent reports indicated that the group had imported these
devices months before the attack, and it is believed that the Mossad and the
Israeli army managed to plant explosives inside them as part of a meticulously
planned operation that had been ongoing for years. The attacks did not stop
there; further Israeli operations targeted the "elite" leadership of Hezbollah,
including its "historic" leader, Hassan Nasrallah, his relative, Hashem Safi
al-Din, and other key military and security leaders, such as Shaker and Aqeel.
For decades, the group presented itself as the protector of Lebanon, and indeed
the entire region, from the Israeli threat, and we remember Nasrallah's speeches
about "divine" victory, the missiles that would destroy Haifa and beyond, and
the concept of deterrence and the balance of power that the group's rhetoric
often emphasized. Today, the group is fighting for survival and to retain its
advanced weaponry, and it is trying to intimidate its adversaries, or even its
former allies who supported the Lebanese state's policy of maintaining the
exclusive right to possess weapons and make decisions about war and peace. The
notion that Hezbollah's weapons are a guarantee of Lebanon's security, or a
guarantee of the party's own protection and that of its members, or of its
popular base and "environment," has been debunked. Only the state remains the
guarantor of security, stability, international legitimacy, and access to Arab,
Islamic, and international support. Anything else is mere illusion and a proven
recipe for disaster. Why does Hezbollah persist in its refusal to rely on the
state? Does it truly believe it can impose its will on Lebanon, or defeat
Israel? This is the crux of the matter, and the justification the party uses to
maintain its weapons and its control over political decision-making. There are
only two paths for these weapons: either Israel forcibly disarms Hezbollah, at
the cost of a devastating toll on Lebanese lives, homes, and infrastructure; or
Hezbollah surrenders its weapons to the Lebanese state. Which of these two paths
is more fitting, more sensible, and more beneficial for Hezbollah? Those who
learn from history are fortunate; those who don't become cautionary tales for
others.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 20-21/2025
LCCC/Video Link – A Highly Important
Historical and Religious Islamic Study By writer and historian Ibrahim Issa,
published on Al-Hurra Youtube Platform
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147479/
The study examines the rise, history, present reality, dangers, and spread
of the Iranian concept of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) via
Hezbollah's role
Ibrahim Issa opens the file of the most dangerous system that mixes religion
with politics and raises the bold question: “Who holds accountable those who
speak in the name of the Imam?”
Wilayat al-Faqih: Absolute power exercised in the name of the “Hidden Imam”!
**Al Hurra/"Wilayat al-Faqih": A tyrant ruler speaking in the name of the Hidden
Imam
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147479/
"Wilayat al-Faqih": Absolute power exercised in the name of the Hidden Imam!
Ibrahim Eissa opens the file on the most dangerous system that blends religion
and politics, posing the bold question: Who holds accountable the one who speaks
in the name of the Imam?
Hamas warns hostages face fate of missing pilot if
Israel assault continues
AFP/September 20, 2025
GAZA CITY: Hamas’ armed wing published Saturday “farewell” photographs of most
of the remaining hostages in Gaza, warning that Israel’s assault on Gaza City
could endanger them. With the images, it evoked the case of an Israeli pilot
missing since 1986 after being shot down over Lebanon. Of the 251 people seized
by Palestinian militants during their attack on Israel in October 2023, 47
remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead. “Due to (Prime
Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s obstinacy and (military chief Eyal) Zamir’s
submission.... a farewell photograph taken at the start of the operation in
Gaza” City, the Brigades wrote alongside the photos. Israel launched a ground
assault on Gaza City on Tuesday, following weeks of heavy air strikes that
continue on the territory’s largest urban center. Hundreds of thousands of
residents have fled, while families of hostages have urged the government to
halt the offensive, warning it risks the lives of their loved ones still in
captivity in Gaza. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades released 46 photographs of
hostages on its Telegram channel, each one labelled with the name of Ron Arad,
an Israeli air force navigator whose plane went down over southern Lebanon in
1986 during the Lebanese civil war. Arad was believed to have been initially
held by Shiite groups in Lebanon and is now presumed dead, with his remains
never returned. He has been a cause celebre for decades in Israel, where
bringing home lost or captured soldiers is considered a national duty.
Israel presses on with Gaza City assault, at least 60 Palestinians killed
Reuters/September 20, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza
Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures
in attacks that killed at least 60 Palestinians, according to Gazan health
authorities. The assault came as 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium,
Britain and Canada, are scheduled to formally recognize an independent
Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual leaders’ gathering at the UN
General Assembly next week. Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign
targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground
assault. Its forces, which control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs, have been
pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas from where they would be
positioned to advance on central and western parts of the city. Most of Gaza
City’s population is sheltering in those parts. The military estimates it has
demolished up to 20 Gaza City tower blocks over the past two weeks. It also
believes, according to Israeli media, that more than 500,000 people have left
the city since the start of September. The militant group Hamas, which controls
Gaza, disputes this, saying just under 300,000 have left and around 900,000
remain, including Israeli hostages. On messaging site Telegram, Hamas’ military
wing earlier released a montage-type image of Israeli hostages, warning that
their lives were at risk due to Israel’s military operation in Gaza City. Hamas
also estimates that since August 11, Israel’s military has destroyed or damaged
more than 1,800 residential buildings in Gaza City, and destroyed more than
13,000 tents housing displaced families. In almost two years of fighting,
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gazan
health authorities, spread famine, demolished most structures and displaced most
of the population, in many cases multiple times. Israel says the hunger crisis
in Gaza has been exaggerated and that much of the blame lies with Hamas. COGAT,
the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the enclave, said
earlier that Hamas fired at UN teams on Saturday and prevented the opening of a
new humanitarian route in the southern Gaza Strip. Hamas categorically rejected
the claims, saying criminal gangs granted protection by Israeli firepower and
air cover are attacking aid trucks, looting and stealing. The UN was not
immediately available to comment. “We have been calling day and night (for) UN
organizations to carry out their humanitarian and relief work,” a senior Hamas
media official told Reuters. The war began after Hamas led attacks in Israel on
October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. A total of 48 of
the hostages remain in Gaza, and around 20 are thought to be alive.
Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes ‘raise ethnic cleansing concerns’
Reuters/September 20, 2025
GAZA CITY: For a decade, Palestinian bank worker Shady Salama Al-Rayyes paid
into a $93,000 mortgage on his flat in a tall, modern block in one of Gaza
City’s prime neighborhoods. Now, he and his family are destitute, after fleeing
an Israeli demolition strike that collapsed the building in a cloud of black
smoke and dust. The Sept. 5 attack on the 15-story Mushtaha Tower marked the
start of an intensified Israeli military demolition campaign targeting high-rise
buildings ahead of a ground assault toward the heart of the densely populated
city, which started this week.Over the past two weeks, Israel’s armed forces say
they have demolished up to 20 Gaza City tower blocks they say are used by Hamas.
The campaign has made hundreds of people homeless. I never thought I would leave
Gaza City, but the explosions are non-stop. I can’t risk the safety of my
children, so I am packing up and will go for the south.
Shady Salama Al-Rayyes, Bank worker
In a similar time frame, Israeli forces have flattened areas in the city’s
Zeitoun, Tuffah, Shejaia, and Sheikh Al-Radwan neighborhoods, among others, 10
residents said. The damage to scores of buildings in Sheikh Al-Radwan since
August is visible in satellite imagery reviewed by the news agency. Al-Rayyes
said he feared the destruction was aimed at permanently clearing the population
from Gaza City, a view shared by the UN Human Rights Office, or OHCHR. Its
spokesperson, Thameen Al-Kheetan, said in a statement that such a deliberate
effort to relocate the population would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. “I
never thought I would leave Gaza City, but the explosions are non-stop,” Al-Rayyes
said. “I can’t risk the safety of my children, so I am packing up and will leave
for the south.”Al-Rayyes vowed, however, never to leave Gaza entirely. Israel’s
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in May that most of Gaza would soon be
“totally destroyed” and the population confined to a narrow strip of land near
the border with Egypt. Israel, which has called for all of Gaza City’s civilian
residents to leave during the offensive, last week closed a crossing into
northern Gaza, further limiting scarce food supplies. In response to questions
for this story, Israel’s military spokesperson Lt-Col. Nadav Shoshani said
“there’s no strategy to flatten Gaza.” The goals of Israel’s military and its
politicians are not always aligned, two Israeli security sources said, with one
citing ideas such as clearing Palestinians from areas of Gaza for future
redevelopment as diverging from military goals.
The offensive is the latest phase in Israel’s war in Gaza.
Before the war, Mushtaha Tower was popular with Gaza City’s professional class
and students drawn to its ocean views and convenient location near a public park
and two universities. It originally housed about 50 families, but that number
had tripled in recent months as people took in relatives displaced from other
parts of Gaza, said Al-Rayyes. Scores of tents housing more displaced families
had spread around the tower’s base. Previous strikes had damaged the upper
floors of the building. On the morning of Sept. 5, a neighbor got a call from an
Israeli army officer instructing him to spread the word to evacuate the building
within minutes or they were “going to bring it down on our heads,” Al-Rayyes
said. “Panic, fear, confusion, loss, despair, and pain overwhelmed all of us. I
saw people running on our bare feet; some didn’t even take their mobile phones
or documents. I didn’t take passports or identity cards,” said Al-Rayyes, who
had once hoped to pay off his mortgage by this year. “We carried nothing with
us, my wife and my two children, Adam, 9, and Shahd, 11, climbed down the stairs
and ran away.”Video filmed by Reuters shows what happened next. From the air,
two projectiles exploded almost simultaneously into the base of the tower,
demolishing it in around six seconds. Dust, smoke, and debris billowed over the
streets and tents of displaced people, who scattered, running and screaming. The
UN’s OHCHR said the Israeli military had also not provided evidence to
demonstrate that other buildings described as terrorist infrastructure were
valid military targets. Al-Rayyes, who headed the building’s residents’
association, said the tactic of demolition “makes no sense,” even if there was a
Hamas presence, which he denied. “They could have dealt with it in a way that
doesn’t even scratch people, not to destroy a 16-floor building,” he said, using
a different count of its height. After a couple of weeks with family in the
city’s Sabra district, Al-Rayyes has left, and was setting up a tent in central
Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah on Thursday. In preparation for the ground assault, in
recent weeks, up to a dozen homes have been destroyed daily in Zeitoun, Tuffah,
and Shejaia, the residents said.Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian Local
NGOs Network, estimated that over 65 percent of buildings and homes in Gaza City
had been destroyed or heavily damaged during the war. Extensive damage to
suburban areas in recent weeks is visible in satellite images of several
neighborhoods.
Israel presses ahead with military assault on Gaza city,
says 480,000 fled south
The Arab Weekly/September 20/2025
The Israeli military on Friday said around 480,000 Palestinians have fled
southwards from Gaza City since late August, as it presses its ground offensive
in a bid to seize the territory’s largest urban centre while forcing
Palestinians out of the enclave. When asked for a figure since the end of
August, the military said: “The estimate is approximately 480,000.” The United
Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people were living
in Gaza City and its surroundings. Israel’s military said it had expanded
operations in Gaza City on Friday and bombarded Hamas infrastructure, while
displaced Palestinians traumatised by the advance said they had no means to
flee. Israeli forces control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs and in recent days have
been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas, from where they would be
positioned to advance on central and western areas, where most of the population
is sheltering. The Gaza health authorities said 33 Palestinians had been killed
in the last 24 hours. Satellite imagery from September 18 shows new tents
appearing in the areas south of Gaza City after September 5. It also shows
crowds of people on the Al Rashid road and what appear to be vehicles on the
Salah al Din road. In leaflets dropped over Gaza City, the military had told
Palestinians they could use the newly reopened Salah al Din road to escape to
the south. The IDF said an airstrike had killed Mahmoud Yusuf Abu Alkhir, whom
it identified as deputy head of military intelligence in Hamas’ Bureij
Battalion. It said he had taken part in “terrorist attacks against Israeli
troops and the state”.
Hamas, the militant group administering Gaza, triggered the war when it attacked
Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as
hostages, according to Israeli figures. Families of the remaining 20 or so
surviving hostages have been imploring Netanyahu to stop the offensive and
instead negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas to free their loved ones. Dozens of
protesters gathered on the Israeli side of the border, calling for an end to the
war. They held banners or placards with slogans that included “Stop the genocide
in Gaza” and “Free Gaza, isolate Israel”.
The armed wing of Hamas said on Thursday that the hostages were distributed
throughout the neighbourhoods of Gaza City. “The start of this criminal
operation and its expansion means you will not receive any captive, alive or
dead,” it said in a written statement.
Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said on X: “If Hamas does not release
the hostages and disarm, Gaza will be destroyed and turned into a monument to
the rapists and murderers of Hamas.”In almost two years of fighting, Israel’s
fierce offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza
health authorities, and demolished most of the structures in the tiny enclave,
which is now gripped by hunger and even famine. Israel says the extent of hunger
has been exaggerated and that Hamas could end the war at once if it surrendered,
freed the hostages, disarmed and disbanded. Hamas says it will not disarm until
a Palestinian state is established. Numerous attempts to mediate an end to the
conflict have failed. Displaced Palestinian Osama Awad said the Israeli
shelling, bombing, airstrikes and naval bombardment were coming closer: “For one
week, we have been living nights of horror.”It is a horror that most of Gaza’s 2
million Palestinians have experienced over and over again in repeated Israeli
onslaughts and multiple displacements. All around Awad, children sat on top of
piles of their families’ meagre belongings while others moved a few possessions
on carts.
‘Better late than never’: Palestinian FM says UK
recognition of state a ‘courageous step’
Arab News/September 20, 2025
LONDON: The UK will be taking “a courageous step at a very difficult time” by
officially recognizing a Palestinian state, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign
minister has said, predicting the move will inspire other countries to follow
suit. Varsen Aghabekian told Sky News’ Adam Parsons that the UK’s expected
announcement in the coming days was “better late than never.”She added:
“Britain, with its weight, can influence other countries to come forward and
recognise, because that is the right thing to do.”The UK, alongside France,
Canada and Australia, is preparing to formally recognize the State of Palestine
at the United Nations. Aghabekian said the move should be seen as upholding
international law and supporting the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians.
“Britain has been supporting the existence and flourishing of Israel for some
time,” she said. “But today Britain is looking at the matter objectively — in
terms of people’s rights, in terms of complying with international law, and in
terms of the future of this area.”She dismissed claims that recognition rewards
Hamas terrorism, arguing that withholding recognition would only “reward
extremists.”She added: “If we wait until Israel decides it wants to go into
negotiations with the Palestinians, then it won’t happen.” Aghabekian also said
she expected Gaza to eventually return to Palestinian governance. Three-quarters
of UN member states already recognize Palestine, which comprises the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip — collectively known as the
Occupied Palestinian Territories. The West Bank has been under Israeli
occupation since 1967, while Gaza has endured repeated bombardment since Hamas’
Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 people and saw around
250 taken hostage. Since then, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza,
according to Palestinian figures, while 48 hostages remain in captivity, 20 of
whom are believed to be alive. Aghabekian confirmed that Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas has provided assurances to world leaders that Hamas will
not be part of Gaza’s governance. But she cautioned against talk of eliminating
the group entirely. “Hamas is an ideology, not a building that you bring down,”
she said. “Those who support Hamas need to see a future … that there might be a
state in which their children and grandchildren might prosper. What people see
today is darkness and destruction, violation of rights, helplessness and
hopelessness. People need to see progress, and once that happens, the mood will
shift.”
Crown Prince, French president speak ahead of two-state
summit
Arab News/September 20, 2025
RIYADH: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a phone call on Saturday with
French President Emmanuel Macron, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The two
leaders reviewed the outcomes of the high-level international conference on
resolving the Palestinian issue through peaceful means and implementing the
two-state solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France. They also discussed
preparations for the resumption of the conference at summit level on Sept. 22,
as part of efforts to end the war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace leading to
the establishment of a Palestinian state. The call highlighted the adoption of
the New York Declaration, issued by the conference and endorsed by an
overwhelming majority at the UN General Assembly. Both sides noted the growing
number of countries announcing their intention to recognize a Palestinian state,
reflecting a broad international consensus on advancing toward a peaceful future
that ensures the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to independence, SPA
reported.
Macron takes risk with Palestinian statehood recognition
AFP/September 20, 2025
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron scored a major diplomatic coup by
declaring his intention to recognize a Palestinian state but the move risks
being followed by bitter retaliation from Israel while not providing concrete
benefits to the Palestinians, analysts and sources say. Macron sent a shockwave
through the international community with his pledge over the summer. His
announcement in a speech in New York at a conference on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly on Monday is now to be matched by recognition by nine other
states including Australia, Belgium, Canada and the UK, according to the Elysee.
The recognition marks the growing international frustration with Israel over its
assault and aid blockades on the Gaza Strip first launched in response to the
October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas. The
implications are historic — France and the UK will be the first permanent UN
Security Council members to recognize a Palestinian state and, along with
Canada, the first G7 members to do so. “This recognition is not the end of our
diplomatic efforts. It is not a symbolic recognition. It is part of a broader
and very concrete action,” said French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal
Confavreux, pointing to the French-Saudi roadmap that is to accompany the
recognition.Defending the move on Israeli television this week, Macron said it
was the “best way to isolate Hamas.”
‘Lot of noise’ -
Diplomats from both sides, asking not to be named, are expecting reprisals from
Israel in the wake of the move although the retaliation is not expected to
extend to Israel cutting diplomatic relations with France. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could shut down France’s consulate in Jerusalem
which is intensively used by Palestinians or annex part of the West Bank where
Israel has expanded settlements in defiance of international outrage, they
said.“There is going to be a lot of noise,” said one diplomat, asking not to be
named. “The Israelis are prepared for anything, and the French response is
likely to be quite limited,” said Agnes Levallois, deputy president of the
Paris-based Institute for Research and Study of the Mediterranean and Middle
East. “Ultimately, it is the Palestinians who have the most to lose in this
crisis,” she said, adding the move needed to be followed by sanctions against
Israel to have any impact.
“The annexation of the West Bank is a clear red line,” warned a French
presidential official, asking not to be named. “It is obviously the worst
possible violation of UN resolutions.”The United States also vehemently opposes
the move and its ambassador to Paris, Charles Kushner, has made his feelings
clear in a series of posts on X denouncing “unmet French conditions” for the
recognition. “From the beginning, we have made it clear that recognition of a
Palestinian state by France, without any conditions, would complicate the
situation on the ground rather than advance peace,” Joshua Zarka, Israel’s
ambassador to France, told AFP. Zarka said France should have not taken the step
without demanding that all the Israeli hostages held by Hamas were released
first. But the Palestinian representative in France, Hala Abou Hassira, said
France needed to go further, urging “concrete sanctions, such as an arms embargo
on Israel, a severance of relations with Israel which includes the total
termination of the association agreement between the European Union and Israel.”
‘Diplomatic lever’ -
After months of wavering on the issue, Macron made the decision on the plane
traveling from the Egyptian border point of El-Arish in April where he met
wounded Palestinians and could witness the suffering caused by the blockade,
people close to him said. Politically embattled at home — Macron just appointed
his seventh prime minister — and failing despite intense efforts to end Russia’s
war on Ukraine, the recognition gives the president a chance to seal a concrete
step in his legacy.He sees this recognition “as a diplomatic lever to put
pressure on Netanyahu,” said a person close to him, asking not to be named.
For former ambassador Michel Duclos, resident fellow at the Montaigne Institute,
“this could become a success for France,” in line with the French “no” under
late president Jacques Chirac to oppose the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Trump threatens Venezuela with 'incalculable'
consequences if it doesn't take back migrants
AFP/September 20, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened Venezuela with "incalculable"
consequences if it refuses to take back migrants it has "forced into the United
States," as tensions soar with Caracas."We want Venezuela to immediately accept
all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions... forced into the
United States of America," Trump said, adding in all-caps "or the price you pay
will be incalculable!"
Saudi Arabia to support Yemeni government with around $368 million: Source tells
Reuters
Reuters/September 20, 2025
Saudi Arabia will provide around 1.38 billion riyals ($368 million) in economic
support to the internationally recognized Yemeni government based in Aden, a
source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The new grant will be
given through the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen with
the aim of supporting the government's budget, the source said.
Russia slams UN vote to reimpose Iran nuclear
sanctions
AFP/Reuters/September 20, 2025
MOSCOW: Russia has slammed the UN Security Council vote to reimpose economic
sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and warned of a risk of an
“escalation of tensions.” “The Russian side has repeatedly pointed out the
provocative and illegal nature of the actions of the European countries
participating in the JCPOA,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Britain, France, and Germany were among the parties to a 2015 deal known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which provided Iran with relief from UN
sanctions in exchange for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.
FASTFACTS
• Russia has warned that the reimposition of sanctions against Iran risked
‘irreparable consequences.’
• Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s envoy to the UN, described the vote as the
‘politics of coercion.’
The three governments claim Iran has reneged on its commitments under the deal,
which has been effectively moribund since Washington pulled out in 2018.
The UN Security Council voted on Friday, after European pressure, to reimpose
the UN sanctions on Iran. “These actions have nothing to do with diplomacy and
lead exclusively to a further escalation of tensions surrounding the Iranian
nuclear program,” the Russian ministry said. Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s envoy to
the UN, described the vote as the “politics of coercion.”“Today’s action is
hasty, unnecessary and unlawful. Iran recognizes no obligation to implement it,”
he told the Security Council. In August, Moscow warned that the reimposition of
sanctions against Iran risked “irreparable consequences.”Tehran and Moscow have
been strengthening their political, military, and economic ties over the past
decade. Also on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that Iran
would overcome any reimposition of sanctions on it through a so-called
“snapback” process. “Through the ‘snapback’ they block the road, but it is the
brains and the thoughts that open or build the road,” Pezeshkian said in remarks
carried by state television. “They cannot stop us. They can strike our Natanz or
Fordow (nuclear installations attacked by the US and Israel in June), but they
are unaware that it is humans who built and will rebuild Natanz,” Pezeshkian
said. “We will never surrender in the face of excessive demands because we have
the power to change the situation,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state
media.
The “snapback” process would reimpose UN sanctions on Iran unless an agreement
is reached on a delay between Tehran and key European powers within about a
week. The snapback would reimpose an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment
and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of
delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze, and travel bans on Iranian
individuals and entities.“We urge (Iran) to act now,” said British Ambassador
Barbara Woodward after casting a vote against a resolution that would have
extended the current suspension of the sanctions.
Austrian energy executive fired over alleged Russian spying links — magazine
report says
Reuters/September 20, 2025
VIENNA: Austrian oil, gas and chemicals group OMV has fired an executive over
allegations of spying for Russia and a Russian diplomat has been summoned to the
Foreign Ministry in Vienna as a result of the affair, news magazine Profil
reported. Profil magazine said the OMV employee allegedly attracted attention
through meetings with a Russian diplomat suspected by Western intelligence
services of being an agent of Russia’s domestic intelligence service FSB. The
magazine said that Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence had
been monitoring the OMV executive, who was not identified, for several
months.OMV told Reuters it had terminated the employee’s contract with immediate
effect and the company was cooperating fully with the relevant authorities. “For
data protection reasons, we cannot comment on further details regarding
individual employment relationships,” an OMV spokesman said. The Austrian
Foreign Ministry told Reuters it was aware of the allegations and the pending
criminal proceedings against a Russian diplomat. The chargé d’affaires of the
Russian embassy in Vienna has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry, and asked
to waive the diplomat’s immunity. “Otherwise, he would have been considered
persona non grata and would have to leave Austria,” the Ministry told Reuters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.
Serbia stages a large military parade to showcase tanks, jets and missile
systems
AP/September 20, 2025
BELGRADE: Serbia on Thursday staged a large-scale military parade in the capital
Belgrade, showcasing tanks, missile systems and fighter jets in what officials
described as the country’s biggest display of army strength in its history.
President Aleksandar Vucic reviewed the parade, which included about 10,000
troops, saying the show of force underscored Serbia’s ability to defend its
independence and sovereignty and act as a deterrent against any foreign
aggressor. Serbia is mostly surrounded by NATO-member states. Columns of troops
marched through the New Belgrade district of the capital as crowds waved
national flags, while aircraft roared overhead. The event featured both
domestically produced weapons as well as rocket launchers from Israel, drones
purchased from the United Arab Emirates as well as tanks supplied by Russia and
anti-aircraft systems from China, reflecting Belgrade’s close ties with Moscow
and Beijing despite its declared goal of joining the European Union. What caught
most of the attention of military experts was the Israeli PULS system, a
versatile rocket artillery platform capable of launching a range of munitions
with varying ranges and payloads. Its range is up to 300 kilometers (185 miles),
meaning it can reach most of the Balkan capitals. `Another surprise appearance
was a couple of the French air force’s Rafale fighter jets. Serbia has ordered
12 such multi-purpose aircraft that are due for delivery in the coming years.
Critics said the parade was designed less to showcase the strength of the
military than to bolster Vucic’s populist rule that has been challenged by
student-led protests and growing international scrutiny of his increasingly
authoritarian grip on power. Opposition leaders accused the government of using
the army as a political prop, while rights groups noted that some state
employees were pressured to attend the parade and were transported in hundreds
of buses. Hundreds of university students and other opposition supporters, who
have for more than 10 months staged anti-corruption protests against Vucic and
his government, were prevented by riot police from joining other spectators of
the parade. Vucic has refused a student demand to call an early parliamentary
election. He has instead stepped up a crackdown on the protests, which have
drawn hundreds of thousands of people in the past months. The anti-government
protests first started in November last year after a concrete canopy collapse at
a renovated train station in the northern city of Novi Sad killed 16 people. It
ignited a nationwide movement seeking justice for the victims and blaming
corruption-fueled negligence for the tragedy.
Zelensky says will meet Trump next
week as Russia intensifies attacks
AFP/September 20, 2025
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would meet US counterpart
Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week
as Russia intensified strikes across his country.Russia carried out one of its
largest aerial attacks overnight, firing 40 missiles and some 580 drones at
Ukraine in a barrage that killed at least three people and wounded dozens,
Zelensky said Saturday. A Ukrainian strike, meanwhile, killed four people in
Russia’s southwestern Samara region, local governor said, in one of the
deadliest Ukrainian retaliatory strikes on Russia since Moscow launched its
invasion in 2022. Zelensky said he would hold “a meeting with the President of
the United States,” adding he would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and
sanctions on Russia during the talks with Trump. Ukraine has insisted on
Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks. Russian
President Vladimir Putin has however warned that any Western troops in Ukraine
would be unacceptable and legitimate targets. A US-led push for a quick end to
the war has stalled and Russia effectively ruled out a meeting between Putin and
Zelensky — something that Kyiv says is the only way toward peace.“We expect
sanctions if there is no meeting between the leaders or, for example, no
ceasefire,” Zelensky said in comments released by the Ukrainian presidency on
Saturday. “We are ready for a meeting with Putin. I have spoken about this. Both
bilateral and trilateral. He is not ready,” Zelensky added. In Russia’s latest
aerial assault of Ukraine, “a missile with cluster munitions directly struck an
apartment building” in the central city of Dnipro, Zelensky said earlier on
social media. He posted pictures of cars and a building on fire and rescuers
carrying a person to safety amid rubble scattered nearby. In the Dnipropetrovsk
region, the strikes killed one person and wounded at least 30, with one man in a
serious condition, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said.
‘Intense’ fighting -
The strikes come a day after three Russian fighter jets violated the airspace of
Estonia — a NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank — an allegation Moscow
denied. But it triggered fears in the West of a dangerous new provocation from
Moscow after Poland last week complained that around 20 Russian drones overflew
its territory. Zelensky repeated the call for “joint solutions” to shoot down
drones over Ukraine “together with other countries.”Russia, which has been
chipping away at Ukrainian territory for months, announced on Saturday its
troops had captured the village of Berezove in the Dnipropetrovsk region. In the
northeastern Kharkiv region, “intense actions” were ongoing in the key area of
Kupiansk, Zelensky said, referring to a rail hub Ukraine recaptured in its 2022
offensive. In Russia, four people were killed “in an enemy drone attack last
night,” Samara governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on social media. He earlier
said “fuel and energy facilities” were targeted, without specifying the damage.
Ukrainian General Staff said “strategic objects of the Russian aggressor were
struck,” adding its forces “inflicted damage” on the Saratov Oil Refinery and
struck the Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery in the Samara region. “Preliminary
information indicates that explosions and fires were recorded at the site as a
result of the strike,” it said on social media. The Russian defense ministry
said on Saturday its air defense alert systems “intercepted and destroyed” 149
Ukrainian drones overnight, including 27 over the Saratov region and 15 over the
Samara region. Three rounds of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in
Istanbul have failed to yield anything more than large-scale prisoner exchanges.
Russia has maintained a series of hard-line demands, including that Ukraine
fully cedes the eastern Donbas region — parts of which it still controls. Kyiv
has rejected territorial concessions and wants European troops to be deployed to
Ukraine as a peacekeeping force, something Moscow sees as unacceptable
The Latest English LCCC
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 20-21/2025
Question: “Are we living in the end
times?”
GotQuestions.org/September 20/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147474/
Answer: The Bible prophesies of many events that will occur in the end times.
These events can be categorized as natural signs, spiritual signs, sociological
signs, technological signs, and political signs. We can look to what the Bible
says about these things, and, if the signs are present in abundance, we can be
certain that we are, in fact, living in the end times.
Luke 21:11 lists some of the natural signs that will occur before Jesus’ second
coming: “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various
places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.” While we shouldn’t
interpret every natural disaster as a sign of the end times, an increase in
natural disasters seems to be a warm-up to what is coming next—“birth pangs,” as
Jesus called them (Matthew 24:8).
The Bible lists both positive and negative spiritual signs. In 2 Timothy 4:3–4
we discover that many people will follow false teachers. We see now an increase
in cultic groups, heresy, deception, and occultism, with many choosing to follow
New Age or pagan religions. On the positive side, Joel 2:28–29 prophesies that
there will be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel’s prophecy was
fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16), and we are still seeing the
effects of that outpouring in revivals and Spirit-led Christian movements, and
in the worldwide preaching of the gospel message.
Along with the signs in the natural and spiritual realms, there are signs in
society. The immorality rampant in society today is a symptom of mankind’s
rebellion against God. Abortion, homosexuality, drug abuse, and child
molestation are proof that “evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse”
(2 Timothy 3:13). We are now living in a hedonistic and materialistic society.
People are lovers of themselves—“looking out for number one”—and doing what is
right in their own eyes. All these things, and many more, can be seen around us
every day (see 2 Timothy 3:1–4).
The fulfillment of some end-times prophecies seemed impossible until the advent
of modern technology. Some of the judgments in Revelation are more easily
imagined in a nuclear age. In Revelation 13, the Antichrist is said to control
commerce by forcing people to take the mark of the beast, and, given today’s
advances in computer chip technology, the tools he will use may very well be
here already. And through the internet, radio, and television, the gospel can
now be proclaimed to the entire world (Mark 13:10).
And there are political signs. The restoration of Israel to her land in 1948 is
the single most impressive fulfilled prophecy proving that we live in the end
times. At the turn of the 20th century, no one would have dreamed that Israel
would be back in her land, let alone occupying Jerusalem. Jerusalem is
definitely at the center of geopolitics and stands alone against many enemies;
Zechariah 12:3 confirms this: “On that day, when all the nations of the earth
are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the
nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” Matthew 24:6–7
predicted that “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
“Wars and rumors of wars” are definitely characteristic of this present age.
These are just a few of the signs that we are living in the end of the age.
There are many more. God gave us these prophecies because He does not want
anyone to perish, and He always gives ample warning before pouring out His wrath
(2 Peter 3:9).
Are we living in the end times? No one knows when Jesus will return, but the
rapture could occur at any moment. God will deal with sin either by grace or by
wrath. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but
whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their savior will remain under the
Lord’s wrath.
The good news is that it’s not too late to choose eternal life. All that is
required is acceptance, by faith, of God’s free gift of grace. There is nothing
you can do to earn grace; Jesus has paid the price for you (Romans 3:24). Are
you ready for the Lord’s return? Or will you experience His wrath?
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: A Masterstroke
Tariq Al-Humaid/Al-Sharq Al-Awsat/September 20, 2025 (Translate by LCCC Editor
from Arabic)
I haven't asked anyone about their reaction to the joint defense agreement
between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, signed in Riyadh in the presence of Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,
without receiving the response: "A masterstroke!" This is the reaction of the
elites and the general public, diplomats in the region, and experts, and it is a
correct and accurate assessment of the signing of this important and historic
agreement, for several reasons, and it also has significant implications for the
present and the past. First, this is indeed a historic agreement, with
historical depth and significance, as it is a "joint strategic defense
agreement" aimed at "developing aspects of defense cooperation between the two
countries and strengthening joint deterrence against any aggression." Most
importantly, it stipulates that "any attack on either country is an attack on
both." After its signing, Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman
stated on X (formerly Twitter): "Saudi Arabia and Pakistan... standing together
against the aggressor... always and forever." Why a "masterstroke"? As
mentioned, this agreement has historical depth and significance, as the
Saudi-Pakistani relationship is built on solid foundations, encompassing all the
treaties between the two countries, and is the result of an investment in a
historic strategic relationship that is evident to all observers. It is a
strategic agreement between a military, economic, spiritual, and diplomatic
power represented by Saudi Arabia, and a Muslim, nuclear-capable, and militarily
diverse Pakistan, not to mention its large population and strategic geographical
location. This move is a masterstroke, demonstrating a clear understanding of
priorities, especially since Pakistan is not an adventurous or expansionist
state, but rather one seeking development and stability. For Saudi Arabia, this
represents diversification of its alliance partners, which is natural for a
country striving for peace, stability, prosperity, and economic and social
transformation, and which plays a crucial role in finding political solutions,
not only regionally but also internationally. Saudi Arabia, as we have been
saying for years, is an open workshop for change and development, and finds
itself in a region veering towards unpredictable directions since the events of
October 7, 2023, and the subsequent wars and military strikes in Gaza, Lebanon,
Iran, Syria, and Yemen. Following all of this, the Israeli strike targeting
Hamas leaders in Doha represents a dangerous new variable, unlike anything seen
since the Suez Crisis, and for the Gulf states, since the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait. Saudi Arabia is a key player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the
originator of the Arab Peace Initiative and a driving force for the Palestinian
cause amidst the current dangerous developments in the region since October 7.
Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20, a trusted international mediator in the
Russia-Ukraine crisis, and a true force for stability and prosperity in Syria,
as well as for strengthening Arab governments against the encroachment of
militias in the region. It is enough to consider the number of Arab, Islamic,
and international leaders who have visited Saudi Arabia in the past two years.
Therefore, this agreement is a significant achievement, as it is the result of a
developing historical context, not a hasty move into uncharted territory, but
rather a serious strategic step and a demonstration of genuine Saudi political
acumen, by a nation that continues to evolve and develop through partnerships,
not out of expansionist ambitions, but rather to promote moderation, growth, and
peace.
Ramshackle Provocateur: Late Regime Cuban Subversion
Against America
Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez*/MEMRI Daily Brief No.
851/September 20/2025
Sometimes two unconnected storylines seem to intersect. So, it was for me with
the recent "Trantifa"[1] assassination of conservative Christian activist
Charlie Kirk and news about the deepening economic crisis in the 66-year-old
communist regime in Cuba.
Despite concerted efforts to obfuscate (by the media and others) we now know
that the assassin of Charlie Kirk was left-leaning and connected to the LGTBQ
world (through his transitioning male to female paramour). This was a political
assassination, the highest profile, most successful political murder in the
United States in more than 50 years, since Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King,
Jr. in 1968.
While the scenario as of September 18th is that the alleged assassin Tyler
Robinson acted alone, news reports revealed that authorities are looking at a
variety of groups and individuals. One group that received public, and
supposedly FBI, scrutiny was called Armed Queers – SLC (Salt Lake City, Utah), a
"transgender-led gun group championing Marxist-Leninist militancy," which is led
by Iranian-American Ermiya Fanaeian.[2] There are several similar far-left gun
organizations, such as the John Brown Gun Club, Redneck Revolt, the Socialist
Rifle Association, and the Pink Pistols among others.[3]
According to material put out by Armed Queers – SLC themselves (now taken off
the Internet), two leaders of the group, including the 22-year-old Fanaeian,
traveled to Cuba in May 2025 where "they returned home with a discipline for
revolution and a belief that 'victory is ours.'"[4]
For me the real Cuban connection with radical Americans is more interesting than
any (still unproven) link between AQSLC and the Charlie Kirk murder. Cuba today
is an economic basket case, enduring the worst economic crisis in the Castro
regime's history. More than ten percent of the island's population – often the
younger and most productive part – has fled in the past few years. Food,
electricity, water are all in short supply.[5] Cuba produces less sugar and
receives fewer tourists than in the past.[6] The regime exercises ferocious
control over the island, holds over a thousand political prisoners, monopolizes
all political power, and yet never has it looked so weak and discredited.[7]
And yet this ramshackle, undead regime not only inspires (easy to inspire from
afar) but has the capacity to host and motivate a wide swath of radicals based
in the United States on a variety of issues.
Fanaeian herself as an individual is a whirlwind of ferocious leftist activity,
involved at different or simultaneous stages in LGBTQ, pro-abortion, gun
control, campus activism, Palestine and socialist/communist volunteerism.[8]
As the regime in Havana seems to be slowly imploding, individuals and
organizations in the United States connected or hosted by the regime have kept
up a frenetic pace of activity.
Calla Walsh (center) with the Young Communist League in Cuba in 2025
Activist Calla Walsh, a 21-year-old Boston activist from an upper-class
background, also has a Cuban connection, traveling as a guest of the regime
several times and co-chairing the pro-regime National Network on Cuba.[9] Walsh
quit the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 2021 because she saw the
leftist group as too soft on Zionism. In November 2023, Walsh and her comrades
were arrested while vandalizing an Israeli Elbit Systems facility in
Massachusetts.[10] They were given a suspended sentence of one year, actually
spending on 60 days in prison. At her sentencing, Walsh was unrepentant, while
the courtroom was packed with supporters, mostly young, White women, and the
majority wearing Palestinian keffiyehs. The comrades cried, shouted support, and
made heart shapes with their hands as each woman was taken away by deputies.[11]
Walsh later resurfaced in Tehran, attending the "International Memorial for the
Media Martyrs of the Struggle against the Zionist Regime" in July 2025 and
chanting "Death to America!" This time the pro-Cuba communist activist was
described as a member of Palestine Action U.S. and part of the Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.[12]
Cuba's supporters on American college campuses and in leftist organizations are
deeply involved in the pro-Hamas anti-Israel protests we have seen since October
7, 2023.[13] These are not so much directly orchestrated by Havana as fomented
by a broad front of likeminded American groups loosely linked to each other and
to the ramshackle regime on the island.
De los Santos sharing the stage with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in June
2024
Manolo de los Santos of the New York City non-profit The People's Forum (TPF) is
still another Cuba-linked subversive like Walsh and Fanaeian. The 35-year-old
Dominican American first went to Cuba in 2006 as a teenager with the progressive
Pastors for Peace group.[14] De los Santos was deeply involved in BLM protests
in 2020 and – no surprise – emerged as a high-profile agitator for the
pro-Palestine protests of 2023-2025.[15] One thing the Cuban regime generally
lacks is money. In this case the TPF reportedly received millions from the
Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, a case of Wall Street funding revolution.[16]
The leftist assault on America, aided by our foreign adversaries in Cuba and
China[17] and implemented by hundreds of homegrown organizations and individuals
is hydra-headed.[18] It is not structured around one thing or one cause but
many. It is adventitious, attaching itself to whatever seems to be the hot
left-leaning cause of the moment. That can be Palestine or racial issues or
trans ideology or whatever comes next. As De los Santos himself said in 2024,
"we have to bring down this empire with one million cuts. And those one million
cuts have to come from every sector of struggle in this room."
The Cuban regime has a long and sordid history of terror and subversion against
the United States. [19] There is the long-discussed connection with the
assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, support for radical student
revolutionaries beginning in the Sixties, highly successful cases of espionage.
Cubans interrogated American POWs in Vietnam and supported terrorist groups in
Puerto Rico and New York. [20] Today, despite the regime's tremendous internal
difficulties, they continue to sow toxic seeds of revolution.
[1] Newsweek.com/what-trantifa-far-left-movement-transgender-violence-1807032,
June 16, 2023.
[2] Msn.com/en-us/crime/general/what-we-know-about-the-armed-queers-group-under-scrutiny-in-charlie-kirk-investigation/ar-AA1MIU66?ocid=BingNewsSerp,
September 17, 2025.
[3] Rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/john-brown-gun-club-armed-anti-fascist-1234733200,
May 18, 2023.
[4] X.com/DataRepublican/status/1968002940586922168, September 16, 2025.
[5] Diariolasamericas.com/america-latina/cuba-enfrenta-la-crisis-mas-profunda-su-historia-advierte-food-monitor-program-n5382142,
September 9, 2025.
[6] Cnn.com/2025/08/22/americas/cuba-crisis-energy-economy-intl-latam, August
22, 2025.
[7] Dw.com/es/cu%C3%A1nto-m%C3%A1s-puede-deteriorarse-la-situaci%C3%B3n-en-cuba/a-70301219,
September 23, 2024.
[8] Bearingarms.com/camedwards/2020/11/28/from-march-for-our-lives-to-the-pink-pistols-n39666,
November 28, 2020.
[9] Misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/solidarity-rally-called-front-cuban-embassy-us
[10] Nhjournal.com/from-boston-to-tehran-young-dem-leader-now-calls-for-death-to-america,
July 22, 2025.
[11] Nhjournal.com/anti-israel-vandals-get-jail-time-for-attack-on-elbit-in-merrimack,
November 14, 2024.
[12] See MEMRI TV Clip No. 12168, U.S. Activist Calla Walsh At Martyr Memorial
Ceremony In Tehran: 'Glory To All The Martyrs! Glory To The Axis Of Resistance!
Death To America! Death To Israel!', July 20, 2025.
[13] Wsj.com/opinion/how-cuba-fuels-the-campus-protests-outside-agitators-118823bc,
May 12, 2024.
[14] Thesouthern.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/religion/pastors-for-peace-caravan-to-cuba-cruising-to-a-stop-in-carbondale/article_7b6f9f2b-f1e7-5354-81cb-b76c471bde1b.html,
August 8, 2017.
[15] Canarymission.org/individual/Manolo_De_Los_Santos, May 1, 2024.
[16] Nypost.com/2024/01/17/metro/goldman-sachs-urged-to-cut-ties-with-anti-israel-communist-organization-over-leaders-nazi-rhetoric/,
January 17, 2024.
[17] Oversight.house.gov/release/comer-and-luna-ramp-up-probe-into-ccp-linked-funding-fueling-civil-unrest-in-the-united-states,
September 15, 2025.
[18] Americanmind.org/memo/how-to-dismantle-far-left-extremist-networks,
September 17, 2025.
[19] Nationalinterest.org/feature/cuban-regimes-triple-threat-209117, February
5, 2024
Iran Regime’s Long Game: Today Diplomacy, Tomorrow
Retaliation
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 20/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147467/
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has made it clear that if biting UN
sanctions are reinstated by the West, there will be no nuclear inspections.
Whenever the Iranian regime begins to speak the language of cooperation and
compromise, it is not because its leaders have chosen moderation out of
principle or newfound goodwill. Iran’s leadership is using the threat of
non-cooperation as leverage: it is signaling that nuclear inspections will be
blocked and compliance will be withheld unless the West grants concessions or
delays reinstating sanctions. The leadership in Tehran understands that failure
to prevent this could most likely spell the beginning of the end for its rule.
That is why it has chosen to play the card of conditional diplomacy and
intimidation.
What Tehran seeks now is exactly what it received a decade ago during the Obama
years: time and relief. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “nuclear
deal” was portrayed by the West as a breakthrough for peace and
nonproliferation. In reality, it offered the Islamic Republic a lifeline.
Billions of dollars were unlocked through sanctions relief, oil revenues surged,
and access to the global financial system was restored. Rather than moderating,
Iran used those resources to arm Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other
proxies. The Islamic Republic of Iran has never responded to anything but
credible force. The destruction of its nuclear facilities this summer proved
this, and the knowledge that further strikes could follow is one of the few
things restraining the regime’s ambitions. Verification, not promises, must be
the standard. Inspections should be immediate, intrusive and unconditional. Any
attempt by Tehran to delay, restrict or politicize access must be met with swift
consequences.
Its threats regarding nuclear inspections make it clear that Tehran is trying to
force the West into concessions while maintaining the ability to obstruct
verification. This is the old game it has played time and again. The West cannot
afford to be deceived once more. The victims of 1983, 1994, 2001 and October 7,
2023 stand as a reminder of what happens when Iran is given space to recover.
The snapback sanctions must proceed, military pressure must remain, and the West
must deny the regime the “oxygen” it seeks. Iran’s threats demonstrate that its
“cooperation” comes with strings attached, designed to intimidate and extract
concessions. Do not fall again for its trap. Do not let the devil get up. The
Islamic Republic of Iran has never responded to anything but credible force. The
destruction of its nuclear facilities this summer proved this, and the knowledge
that further strikes could follow is one of the few things restraining the
regime’s ambitions. Verification, not promises, must be the standard. The
Iranian regime has suddenly shifted its tone in recent weeks. It is now — sort
of — presenting itself as willing to cooperate with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA). Headlines have been dominated by announcements that Tehran
is – maybe — prepared to allow inspectors back into its nuclear facilities, to
resume talks with Western powers, and to abide by stricter oversight of its
atomic activities.
At first glance, these gestures may seem like a breakthrough. Unfortunately,
history demands a more skeptical reading. This is not a sign of fundamental
change within the regime. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has made it
clear that if biting UN sanctions are reinstated by the West, there will be no
nuclear inspections. Iran’s willingness to “cooperate” is conditional and
coercive. The regime is threatening to withhold compliance to pressure the
international community into softening sanctions and granting concessions, all
while seeking a carefully staged maneuver designed to buy time, regain breathing
space, and prepare for a stronger counterpunch down the line.
Whenever the Iranian regime begins to speak the language of cooperation and
compromise, it is not because its leaders have chosen moderation out of
principle or newfound goodwill. Rather, it happens when the regime is under
unbearable pressure, when it finds itself weakened, cornered, and with no other
path of survival. In the past few months, Tehran has been battered from multiple
directions. This summer, its nuclear facilities suffered devastating blows in
Israeli and US airstrikes, destroying advanced centrifuge installations and
uranium enrichment infrastructure that had taken decades to develop. Senior
military and scientific leaders were killed in precision strikes, robbing the
regime of expertise and operational capacity. Iran’s economy is collapsing under
the weight of sanctions, mismanagement, corruption and international isolation.
On the regional stage, Iran has watched its allies and proxies weaken under
relentless military pressure, and its once-vaunted reach across the Middle East
is severely diminished.
The collapse the Assad regime in Syria last December was a particularly
devastating blow. For years, Syria had been Iran’s most critical Arab ally,
providing a land bridge to Hezbollah in Lebanon and serving as a forward base
for projecting Iranian influence. With Assad gone, Tehran has lost a cornerstone
of its regional strategy. Combined with the setbacks its militias and proxies
have faced from Israeli operations in Lebanon, and US and Israeli operations in
Iraq and Yemen, Iran’s ability to export its Islamist revolution through
terrorist networks has been badly eroded. Domestically, meanwhile, the regime
faces a restless population that has risen against it multiple times in the past
decade, each wave of protest harder to suppress and more widespread than the
last. Against this backdrop, Tehran’s sudden willingness to talk should not be
misunderstood. In Iran, cooperation is not born out of strength — it is born out
of desperation and coercion. The regime knows that if it refuses to appear
conciliatory, it risks triggering its endgame. By late October, United Nations
sanctions are set to “snap back” under the terms of Security Council Resolution
2231, unless the regime demonstrates full compliance with its nuclear
obligations. These sanctions would further strangle Iran’s economy, cut it off
from crucial international financial networks, and deal a devastating blow to
its legitimacy.
Iran’s leadership is using the threat of non-cooperation as leverage: it is
signaling that nuclear inspections will be blocked and compliance will be
withheld unless the West grants concessions or delays reinstating sanctions. The
leadership in Tehran understands that failure to prevent this could most likely
spell the beginning of the end for its rule. That is why it has chosen to play
the card of conditional diplomacy and intimidation.
What Tehran seeks now is exactly what it received a decade ago during the Obama
years: time and relief. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “nuclear
deal” was portrayed by the West as a breakthrough for peace and
nonproliferation. In reality, it offered the Islamic Republic a lifeline.
Billions of dollars were unlocked through sanctions relief, oil revenues surged,
and access to the global financial system was restored. Rather than moderating,
Iran used those resources to arm Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other
proxies. That period of empowerment culminated in the horrific October 7, 2023
terrorist invasion of Israel by Hamas, an operation made possible in large part
by the networks and resources Iran had been able to build up, thanks to the 2015
nuclear deal. Today, the same pattern has reappeared. Tehran needs sanctions
lifted, it needs hard currency inflows, and it needs international legitimacy.
It needs these things not to reform itself, but to rebuild what has been broken,
to rearm its proxies, and to prepare for something bigger than before. Iran’s
Supreme Leader and his inner circle inner circle do not think in terms of
election cycles, but of decades.
Unlike democratic governments in Israel, the United States or Europe, which
change every few years and must answer to shifting public moods, the leadership
in Tehran is entrenched for life. This allows them to play a long game, feigning
weakness when necessary, waiting patiently for openings, and striking with
devastating force once conditions favor them again. That is why it would be a
dangerous mistake to ease pressure now. If the West allows itself to be fooled
once again, Iran will use this reprieve to rebuild its nuclear infrastructure,
possibly in more secretive and hardened facilities. It will funnel new resources
into Hezbollah, militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen. It will
expand its missile and drone programs, making them more lethal and precise. And
it will work methodically toward another round of aggression, one potentially
larger and more destabilizing than anything the region has yet witnessed. The
only responsible course of action is to maintain maximum pressure. The UN
sanctions snapback must not be delayed or watered down. It should be fully
reinstated and rigorously enforced, cutting off Iran’s access to global markets
and further constraining its already fragile economy. At the same time, Western
military options must remain firmly on the table.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has never responded to anything but credible force.
The destruction of its nuclear facilities this summer proved this, and the
knowledge that further strikes could follow is one of the few things restraining
the regime’s ambitions. Verification, not promises, must be the standard.
Inspections should be immediate, intrusive and unconditional. Any attempt by
Tehran to delay, restrict or politicize access must be met with swift
consequences. Economic pressure must continue, targeting the regime’s illicit
trade networks, its access to dual-use technologies, and its smuggling
operations. International coordination must be strong, with the United States,
Europe and regional partners standing together to prevent Tehran from exploiting
divisions.
The Iranian regime has perfected the art of playing for time. It feigns
cooperation when cornered, breathes once sanctions are lifted, and then lashes
out with renewed aggression once it has rebuilt its capacity. Its threats
regarding nuclear inspections make it clear that Tehran is trying to force the
West into concessions while maintaining the ability to obstruct verification.
This is the old game it has played time and again. The West cannot afford to be
deceived once more. The victims of 1983, 1994, 2001 and October 7, 2023 stand as
a reminder of what happens when Iran is given space to recover.
Tehran’s apparent turn toward cooperation is not a signal of peace but a ploy
for survival. It is the mask of weakness worn by a regime waiting for the chance
to strike harder than before. The world must not be lulled into complacency. The
snapback sanctions must proceed, military pressure must remain, and the West
must deny the regime the “oxygen” it seeks.
Iran’s threats demonstrate that its “cooperation” comes with strings attached,
designed to intimidate and extract concessions. Do not fall again for its trap.
Do not let the devil get up. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21915/iran-regime-long-game-retaliation
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and
board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on
the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
**Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter)
© 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.
Israel under Netanyahu has no red lines
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/September 20, 2025
At the present time, the gravest danger to Israel’s long-term security and the
well-being of its people emanates from its own government — first and foremost
its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. His decision to carry out a strike on
senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha was criminally reckless. The
Israeli government, drunk with the success of being able to hit targets across
the region at will, has lost any sense of judgment and fails to recognize any
red lines. Qatar, a close ally of the US, is by no definition an enemy country.
No act of military hostility against Israel has ever originated from its soil,
and it is a crucial mediator in efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. So to
launch an airstrike on its capital in an attempt to kill those who are supposed
to be negotiating a ceasefire, and the return of the hostages, as much as you
might perceive them as worthy of death, was an act of extreme folly, cynicism,
and opportunism. To make it even worse for Netanyahu, he also needs to explain
why the operation failed to achieve its objective of killing the Hamas
leadership. Ironically, this might be the only silver lining in this episode:
that at least there is some Hamas leadership left to negotiate a desperately
needed end to the hostilities, especially as Israel intensifies its assault on
Gaza City.Netanyahu’s ploy is to keep Israeli society, for as long as possible,
sunk deep into the trauma of Oct. 7, 2023. As long as there are enough people
crippled by the existential fear that shook them so badly in what was Israel’s
lowest point in its history, he and his government will be able to manipulate
the situation and continue this never-ending war.
Only this scenario keeps them in power, and considering the authoritarian
trajectory that Netanyahu is taking the country on, it is possible that he might
attempt to postpone or even cancel the next election, or, should they lose,
refuse to recognize its validity. The Netanyahu rhetoric of not only defeating
Hamas, but also completely eliminating the organization and its people, points
to years of continuous war. The irrationality and ill-intention of Israel’s
strike on Doha, beyond the distorted logic of Netanyahu’s method of clinging to
power, has led to international condemnation, particularly by countries across
the region, which have used the strongest language possible. The international
community is at a loss to provide an answer to the question of how to contain a
trigger-happy Israel that enjoys the backing of Washington.
The very idea that Qatar, a country that during the past two years has played a
major part in negotiating a ceasefire, and which remains at the heart of such
negotiations, should be attacked with complete disregard for its sovereignty and
for international law, has instilled genuine fear in the Middle East that as
long as the current government in Israel remains in power, it will be the single
most threatening source of regional instability. It seems that no country,
friend or foe, will be spared from Israeli aggression to serve its alleged
security interests, which will be carried out without any consideration of
political consequences. Hence, the international condemnation of the strike on
Qatar was only to be expected, and the damage to relations in the region was
inevitable.
The gravest danger to Israel’s long-term security emanates from its own
government.
The emergency summit of Arab and Islamic countries called immediately after the
Israeli strike and convened in Doha reflected this sense of outrage and urgency
to unite against such aggression. This led to closer cooperation among GCC
countries, with wider international support. The consensus was that the aim of
the attack was to kill off the negotiations by assassinating the Hamas leaders
who were considering the latest ceasefire proposal, and thereby alienate one of
the main mediators. This scenario suits Netanyahu perfectly as Israeli forces
enter Gaza City, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Hundreds have been
killed already in the past week. It remains to be seen how the joint statement
by the Doha summit urging “all states to take all possible legal and effective
measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian
people,” including “reviewing diplomatic and economic relations with it, and
initiating legal proceedings against it,” will be translated into actionable
measures. However, Israel will be making a grave mistake if it ignores the mood
expressed by this statement. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who is no
friend of Hamas, has warned that Israel’s current actions are hindering any
chances of new peace treaties in the Middle East, “and even abort(ing) existing
ones.” Israel ignores these warnings at its peril. Over the last few decades
what has improved Israel’s security has always been reaching peace deals and
normalization measures with its neighbors. When such goals have failed to
materialize, especially with the Palestinians, instead of reaching a
constructive compromise that ensures the rights and security of both, Israel has
preferred to oppress and dispossess them, creating conditions on the ground to
deliberately undermine the right of Palestinians to self-determination. This has
ended in disaster.Over the past two years, enjoying the goodwill of a number of
countries in the region was crucial in defending Israel from Iranian and Houthi
missile attacks. The Arab League has explicitly stated that Hamas will not be
part of governing Gaza at the end of this war, but Netanyahu continues to refuse
to take this on board, although that scenario could benefit both Israelis and
Palestinians. Instead, the Israeli leader and his ultra-nationalist government
are exhausting the patience of regional leaders who now face growing demands
from their own people to go beyond condemnation and warnings, and in the case of
Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain, to reconsider severing diplomatic
relations. Moreover, further normalization with other states in the region seems
at this point to be an extremely distant possibility.
Two developments, separately or together, could restrain or even bring down the
most damaging government in Israel’s history, to its own people, and to the
region. Either the US administration changes its approach and stops supporting
the war in Gaza and/or the Israeli people take to the streets and act with
determination until Netanyahu calls a general election. Neither the US nor
Israel’s citizens can afford to allow their interests to be flouted by those who
are either trying to escape justice or harboring messianic delusions.
**Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate
fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg
The unraveling of the UN
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/September 20, 2025
The UN enters its 81st year expecting to be viewed as a beacon of global
governance — but is more like a patient in intensive care. The prognosis,
derived from internal assessments and financial autopsies, is dire. A 30 percent
reduction in system-wide funding, forced by the withdrawal of its largest donor,
has triggered a cascade of institutional failure. The Secretariat is on the
brink of insolvency, with simulations indicating an inability to meet payroll by
the end of this year. What is dismissed as mere budget shortfalls is in fact
systemic cardiac arrest.
In response, the UN80 reforms initiative, touted as a rejuvenation of the
institution, is nothing more than capitulation — managed decline disguised as
transformation. The highly anticipated mandate review revealed a body
suffocating under the weight of its own history: more than 40,000 resolutions
that remain technically active, 86 percent of which lack sunset clauses or
termination mechanisms, creating a paralyzing inheritance of 4,000 active
directives. It is no longer a system that evolves with global needs but a
collapsing museum of outdated intentions.
The organization’s fundamental dysfunction is rooted in a pathological refusal
to confront its own structural decay, which is epitomized by the Mandate
Implementation Review, an 18-month exercise that conspicuously failed to
establish any tangible connection between the flood of directives and the
financial means required to implement them. This omission amounts to an
institutional admission of surrender, confirming a system content to operate in
a state of deliberate fiction.
The scale of this delusion can be easily quantified by the 15 percent of new
mandates that are adopted without any dedicated funding and explicitly demand
execution “within existing resources.” Such phrasing has become the mantra of UN
operational culture, perfectly framing a world of magical thinking where
ambition consistently outpaces capacity. Naturally, the resulting bloat is both
operational and existential: 27,000 formal meetings are convened annually, and
more than 1,100 reports are produced, nearly two-thirds of which are downloaded
fewer than 2,000 times. Such output does not constitute governance; it is
self-referential performance art, a ritualized production of documents that
substitutes for impact and obscures a total absence of accountability. In the
end, we have a system that only accumulates, layering new obligations atop a
brittle and underfunded base, mistaking volume for value, and procedure for
progress. Consequently, field operations that roughly speaking represent the
organization’s most tangible value are being systematically dismantled. Core
humanitarian agencies, eviscerated by the withdrawal of US funding, are
confronting existential contractions. The World Food Programme, which relied on
Washington for half of its $9 billion budget, and the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, which depended on it for two-fifths of its operating capacity, have
been forced to terminate thousands of staff. The drastic cuts have necessitated
the adoption of a doctrine of “hyper-prioritization,” in which life-saving
assistance is allocated not based on need but by the cold calculus of budgetary
convenience and donor preference.
The UN is no longer an institution that evolves with global needs but a
collapsing museum of outdated intentions.
Unfortunately, the human consequences of this strategic retreat only increase
exponentially. In Gaza, for instance, Israel’s genocidal blockade and targeting
of UN infrastructure has crippled aid delivery amid famine in a campaign of mass
extermination. Elsewhere, the same operational collapse is mirrored by the
Security Council’s state of advanced paralysis, with any potential for coherent
action undercut by its most powerful members’ erratic engagements. The result is
a descent into procedural squabbling and strategic incoherence, leaving hot
spots, from Haiti to Myanmar, to fester without any meaningful intervention or
even consistent diplomatic attention. Broadly speaking, it leaves a hollowed-out
UN that is failing to fulfill its mandates and is instead forced to merely
preside over its dwindling operational relevance. Worse yet, the UN80
initiative, far from arresting the organization’s decline, has become the
primary instrument of its managed demise, masquerading as renewal. The directive
to slash the Secretariat’s staffing by a fifth, for instance, which is framed as
a strategic recalibration, is more of a blunt financial amputation, a reaction
to a 30 percent systemic funding decrease and a liquidity crisis so severe the
organization risks insolvency.Furthermore, much-touted relocations to Nairobi
and Vienna, with price tags that reach about $76,000 per employee, are correctly
diagnosed by insiders as merely a costly performance of efficiency that ignores
the UN’s structural flaws. Besides, the entire process is crippled by a
fundamental absence of strategic direction, reduced to a transactional exercise
in cost-cutting that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres himself has reportedly
conceded is a substitute for the profound institutional reforms he lacks the
time and political capital to pursue.Thus, the ensuing leadership vacuum is
merely a symptom of a deeper, terminal political failure among member states.
The reform process, for instance, is paralyzed by an irreconcilable ideological
schism: Western members, led by a US administration that has accrued $1.5
billion in arrears, demand a return to a narrowly defined “peace and security”
core, effectively seeking to essentially unilateralize the UN’s agenda through
financial pressure.
Naturally, this is met with justified resistance from the Global South, which
rightly perceives these forced “reforms” not as streamlining but as abandonment
of foundational commitments to development, climate action and human rights, the
very pillars that grant the organization its universal legitimacy. The result is
a deadlock that precludes any consensus on the UN’s purpose in the 21st century,
ensuring that no vision can emerge.
Nowhere are the UN’s institutional failures more evident than in Libya. The
absence of a coherent and empowered peace-building mission has ceded ground to
an illegitimate coalition led by a warlord whose personal ambitions are the
single greatest obstacle to the stabilization and democratization of the
country.
A dysfunctional Security Council signs off on mandates despite the UN mission’s
inability to project authority or facilitate a unified political process. The
ensuing chaos in Libya has only enabled spoilers and prolonged instability, as
malign actors pursue unilateral initiatives while the UN looks on helplessly — a
familiar pattern that repeats globally. The UN’s unraveling is therefore a
choice, not an inevitability. It is the product of a collective unwillingness to
make hard decisions: to sunset obsolete mandates; to fund priorities adequately;
and to demand accountability for results. The organization is trapped between
member states that demand more with less, and a bureaucracy that delivers less
with less. The upcoming selection of a new secretary-general threatens to become
a contest to choose who can best manage austerity, rather than a debate about
the revitalization of global cooperation. Without a radical shift in political
will, the UN will continue its descent from a world organization to a weakened
institution, its relevance measured only by the crises it is no longer equipped
to handle.
• Hafed Al-Ghwell is senior fellow and program director at the Stimson Center in
Washington and senior fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian
Studies.
X: @HafedAlGhwell
Slected X tweets For
September 20/2025
ܬܐܘܕܪܘܣ ܒܪܝܘܠܝܘܣ ܐܠܟܣܢܕܪ Amine Bar-Julius Iskandar
@Amineiskandar2
Ottoman map dated 1893, showing, in the heart of the Levant, in red, the unique
Christian autonomous state of Mount Lebanon.
Mira
@MiraMedusa
https://x.com/i/status/1969113325876179121
So apparently, the ISIS terrorist killed in Syria today took part in the Sweida
massacres. 👀
He’s the jihadist who called Druze ‘Jews sons of Jews and heretics.’
Laura Loomer
@LauraLoomer
https://x.com/i/status/1969175297929949499
Today, Turkish President Erdogan
@RTErdogan
said he will make sure Israel and Netanyahu don’t get even “a pebble”of
Jerusalem. He is essentially reinforcing his desire and plans to create a global
Islamic caliphate. Turkey is one of the biggest funders of the Muslim
Brotherhood. Today, President Trump said he plans to host President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at the White House on September 25th.
I hope President Trump is stern with Erdogan and tells him to stop with his
calls for a caliphate and to stop threatening to have an Islamic takeover of
Israel. Erdogan needs to understand that neo-Ottomanism is DEAD. He will never
recreate the Ottoman Empire, and his threats should be met with retaliation.
Designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist org would be a death blow to
Erdogan’s plans to dominate the West. You’ll recall, Erdogan also threatened to
send US soldiers back in coffins during a speech in 2019. It’s time to designate
the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and send these cavemen back
to where they came from.
Mira ⛥
@MiraMedusa
https://x.com/i/status/1969356405820801057
Live from Dignity Square in #Sweida: Anything less than independence will not be
accepted. #Druze
Sarah For Trump
A Pakistani imam in Italy preached that muslims must fight infidels or suffer
‘catastrophic consequences.’ The next day, PM Giorgia Meloni called for his
deportation , despite him living in Italy for 30years. Do you support her
decision?
Wall Street Apes
The Islamic Takeover of America is underway
- Mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, Muslim
- Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, Muslim
- Mayor of Richardson, Texas, Muslim
- Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council, Muslim
- US House Representative Ilhan Omar, Muslim
- US House Representative Rashida Tlaib, Muslim
- US House Representative Andre Carson, Muslim
- New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Muslim
- Minneapolis mayor candidate Omar Fateh, Muslim
- Islam is the third-largest religion in the United
- Around 6-8 millions Muslims in US
- 2,769 mosques were counted in the 2020 US Mosque Survey. The number of mosques
has nearly tripled since 2000.
- Around 300 Islamic schools in the US
- About 30,000 Americans convert to Islam per year
- In 2023, Muslims became the majority in Dearborn, making up approximately 55%
of the city's 110,000 residents
- Major urban centers, especially in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Houston, Detroit, and Washington, DC. Conversion to Islam in large cities and in
prisons have also contributed to its growth over the years
- New Jersey has the largest Muslim population by percentage with 3% of the
total population being Muslim