English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  September 22/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels
Mark 08/31-38: “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. ’He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 21-22/2025
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
President Aoun and First Lady Begin Official Program in NY
Bin Farhan Meets Aoun as Naim Qassem Calls for Dialogue with Riyadh
Five Dead in Israeli Drone Attack on Southern Lebanon
Report: Lebanon given a month before possible escalation
Israeli drone strike kills one in south Lebanon
PM Salam hails UK, Canada, Australia for recognizing Palestine
President Aoun condemns Israeli strike in Bint Jbeil, calls on international community to act
Peace with Syria and Lebanon Is on the Way...
The art of remembering: Lebanon’s memorials and the existential question of peace/Mariella Succar/LBCI/September 21/2025
The Path to Peace Is Underway
The Full Story of Rania Al-Saheli's Dismissal from Her Position in Hezbollah
Rana Al-Saheli Dismissed from Her Position in the "Party"... She Responds
Waiting for the Maronite Hikmat Hijri's Move/Hisham Bou Nassif/Nidaa Al-Watan/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Hezbollah: From an Iranian Proxy to an Iranian Mouthpiece/Jean El-Fagali/Nidaa Al-Watan/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
Netanyahu: Our victories against Hezbollah opened the door to peace with our northern neighbors
Ortegaus leaves Beirut: Reaffirming support for the army and acknowledging concerns over Israeli violations
Official Condemnation of the Bint Jbeil Massacre and President Aoun: No Peace on the Blood of Our Children

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 21-22/2025
US warns of limited time for Gaza deal as Israel intensifies strikes
With US backing, defiant Netanyahu vows response to countries recognizing Palestinian state
Britain recognises Palestinian state after Israel ignores ultimatum
Canada recognizes state of Palestine, offers help to build peaceful future with Israel
Netanyahu to expand settlements in the West Bank
France’s Macron says no embassy in Palestine until Gaza hostages freed
Israel kills 34 people in Gaza, say health officials, ahead of UN meeting
Israel army says two projectiles fired from Gaza, intercepts one
Two Israeli far-right ministers urge West Bank annexation as Western countries recognize Palestinian state
Iranian official denies reported meeting with European officials
UK, Australia and Canada recognize a Palestinian state, prompting angry response from Israel
Exposing Iran's ‘narco-terrorism’: Global crime network outsourced by Tehran
Israel making progress on Syria pact but deal still far off, Netanyahu says
Syria to hold parliamentary elections on October 5
Pope Leo decries 'forced exile' of Gaza civilians

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 21-22/2025
'Good Guy - Bad Guy' Confusion: Anti-Israel Protests in the West/Jon Abbink/Gatestone Institute/September 21, 2025
Qatar crisis reshapes Gulf security architecture/Hassan Al-Mustafa/Arab News/September 21, 2025
High stakes at UN’s annual Climate Week/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/September 21, 2025
Time to delink climate action from Western election swings/Arnab Neil Sengupta/Arab News/September 21, 2025
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and a 'Masterstroke'/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 21/2025
Slected X tweets For September 21/2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 21-22/2025
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.

President Aoun and First Lady Begin Official Program in NY
This is Beirut/September 21, 2025
President Joseph Aoun and First Lady Nehmat Aoun will begin their official program in New York on Sunday by attending a celebratory Mass at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral at 11:30 AM local time (6:30 PM Beirut time). After the service, they are expected to meet members of the Lebanese parish community. The presidential couple and their accompanying delegation landed in New York on Saturday evening at John F. Kennedy Airport and arrived at 5 PM local time (midnight Beirut time). They were received by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Youssef Raggi, Lebanon’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ahmad Arafa, Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Middle East Airlines’ US director Adeeb Kassis and several members of the diplomatic mission. Following their arrival, President Aoun and the First Lady headed to their residence at the Marriott Hotel, where the president held a coordination meeting with Minister Raggi, Ambassadors Arafa and Moawad and his advisors. Talks centered on the series of meetings Aoun will hold with Arab and international leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and on finalizing Lebanon’s address to the world body.

Bin Farhan Meets Aoun as Naim Qassem Calls for Dialogue with Riyadh
Bassam Abou Zeid/This is Beirut/September 21, 2025
Saudi envoy Yazid bin Farhan’s visit to Beirut coincided with a call by Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem for dialogue with Saudi Arabia. Political sources said the overlap was coincidental. The Saudi envoy offered no reaction, suggesting Riyadh merely took note of the statement. According to the same sources, bin Farhan’s meeting with President Aoun reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s support for the Lebanese state as the sole legitimate authority over political and military decision-making. The sources stressed that all Lebanese factions must fall under the state’s authority and abide by the Constitution, the Taif Agreement, Lebanese laws and international resolutions. In this context, the “choice of the state” means exclusive control of weapons and the end of any armed activity both inside and outside Lebanese territory.
They said that Saudi Arabia has never been hostile toward any Lebanese faction. Hezbollah, however, has placed itself in confrontation with the kingdom, undermining its interests, security and stability. The sources cited the group’s involvement in regional conflicts, in Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria, as well as its efforts to impose control over Lebanon. Reports have even suggested attempts by Hezbollah to interfere directly in Saudi Arabia, coupled with rhetoric openly hostile to its leadership. From this perspective, the sources argued, Saudi Arabia seeks stability in Lebanon and the broader region. That said, stability requires a strong state with sole authority over arms and decisions of war and peace, an arrangement Hezbollah has yet to accept. They warned that the party may be using its dialogue proposal to secure political concessions in exchange for the weapons issue, which would undermine the Taif Agreement – something Riyadh will not allow. Regionally, the sources said Iranian policies, often advanced by Hezbollah, have blocked prospects for compromise and peace, leaving Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis, Yemenis, and even Iranians in ruins. Reversing this, they argued, requires a fundamental shift in Tehran’s approach. Iran must accept the need for calm and stability as a prerequisite for addressing regional crises. At the heart of these crises lies the Palestinian issue, which, in their view, can only be resolved through a diplomatic settlement leading to a two-state solution, after Iranian policies contributed to the devastation of Gaza and left Palestinians, and the wider region, adrift.

Five Dead in Israeli Drone Attack on Southern Lebanon
This is Beirut/September 21, 2025
Five people were killed and two others wounded on Sunday in an Israeli drone strike on Bint Jbeil, the latest in a string of attacks in south Lebanon in recent days. The strike which targeted a motorcycle, also hit a car that was passing by killing and wounding its passengers, a family of six. Three children are among the dead. According to Saudi Al-Hadath Television, the target of the raid was a Hezbollah member from the Mrouwe family. The strike came amid heightened tensions along the border, where the Israeli army earlier in the day fired flares between Bint Jbeil and the nearby town of Aitaroun. In a separate incident, an Israeli patrol dropped a bomb in the town square of Kfar Kila. The Lebanese Army (LAF) Engineering Regiment safely detonated an Israeli drone that had crashed at the entrance of Aita al-Shaab.The escalation followed a Saturday night incursion in Ramya, where Israeli forces reportedly entered the town, blew up a house, and withdrew at dawn on Sunday.

Report: Lebanon given a month before possible escalation
Naharnet/September 21, 2025
Lebanese officials have been informed of a one-month deadline for settling the arms file, a media report said. “There is a possibility of an Israeli escalation and a broad aerial attack” if Lebanon does not comply, the report said. “The U.S. atmosphere has become more strict toward Lebanon, which has led to the Iranian initiative toward Saudi Arabia through Hezbollah,” the report added. It also said that U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus, who will visit Lebanon on Sunday to take part in a meeting for the ceasefire monitoring committee, will tackle the issues of the ceasefire and the arms file with a more uncompromising tone.

Israeli drone strike kills one in south Lebanon
Agence France Presse/September 21, 2025
Lebanon said a strike in the country's south killed one person Saturday while Israel said it targeted a Hezbollah operative, the latest deadly attack despite a months-old ceasefire between Israel and the militant group. An AFP correspondent saw first responders attending the scene in the Marjayoun district, 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. The Israeli military said in a statement that it "struck and eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist" who "took part in attempts to gather intelligence" on Israeli troops in south Lebanon. 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.
On Friday, Israeli strikes killed two people in the south who 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 U.S. pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government is seeking to disarm Hezbollah. Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji 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.

PM Salam hails UK, Canada, Australia for recognizing Palestine
LBCI/September 21, 2025
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam praised the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia for their historic move to recognize the State of Palestine. Speaking on X, Salam said the decision underscores that there can be no lasting solution or stability in the region without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, in line with the Arab Peace Initiative adopted at the Beirut Summit in 2002.

President Aoun condemns Israeli strike in Bint Jbeil, calls on international community to act
LBCI/September 21/2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, speaking from New York where he is attending discussions on peace and human rights, condemned Israel’s continued violations of international resolutions, including the ceasefire agreement. He said Israel “committed a new massacre in Bint Jbeil, which claimed the lives of five people, including three children.”President Aoun urged the international community, particularly the sponsors of the November 27, 2024 declaration, to take action to halt violations of international resolutions, press Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory, and fully comply with the declaration. He added: “There can be no peace over the blood of our children.”

Peace with Syria and Lebanon Is on the Way...
This is Beirut/AFP/September 21, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah has created the opportunity of peace with Lebanon and Syria. “Our victories in Lebanon against Hezbollah have opened a window of opportunities that was unimaginable before our recent operations; there is a possibility of peace with our northern neighbors,” Netanyahu said ahead of a government meeting. “We are in contact with the Syrians; there has been progress, but it’s not immediate,” he added. Since an Islamist coalition took power in Damascus in December 2024, Syria and Israel, technically at war for decades, have begun dialogue. Negotiations are advancing and are expected to result in “several security agreements” by the end of the year, Damascus announced last week. Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against military positions in Syria. The Israeli army has also entered the demilitarized buffer zone of the Golan Heights, bordering the part of the plateau occupied by Israel since 1967, regularly carrying out incursions and holding positions in southern Syria. On the Lebanese front, Israel continues strikes targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024 after over a year of hostilities, including two months of open war, with the Iran-backed Lebanese movement. Under U.S. pressure, the Lebanese government asked in August for the army to prepare a plan to disarm Hezbollah, which has been severely weakened by the war. Netanyahu also warned that creating a Palestinian state would threaten Israel’s existence and vowed to oppose such calls at the UN General Assembly. “We will have to (...) fight at the UN and on all other fronts against the false propaganda against us and the calls for creating a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence and reward terrorism,” the Israeli prime minister said ahead of a cabinet meeting. “The international community will hear from us on this in the coming days,” he added.

The art of remembering: Lebanon’s memorials and the existential question of peace
Mariella Succar/LBCI/September 21/2025
“Peace is never a perfect achievement. It is a constant process, a never-ending task.” – Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize lecture, 2001
On September 21, the world observes the International Day of Peace. But in Lebanon, peace is not a settled truth — it is an open question. What does peace mean in a country where war memories are etched into the streets, where old divisions resurface with every crisis, and where even remembrance itself is controversial? Walking through Beirut, the past meets you at every corner. Martyrs’ Square stands as a symbol of sacrifice but also of unfinished struggles. The Sursock Museum and Beirut Art Center reinterpret war and memory through art, forcing visitors to confront what many would prefer to forget. And then there are the murals — from Gemmayzeh to the southern suburbs — bold, unfiltered reminders of resilience, injustice, and survival painted onto city walls.
White Wall • Beirut Art Center
The Road to Peace: Paintings in Times of War, 1975-1991 • Beirut Art Center
Each of these spaces raises unspoken questions: Do we remember to unite, or to divide? Do we preserve memory to heal, or to reopen wounds? Peace in Lebanon is fragile precisely because memory is fragmented. Some memorials are embraced by one community and rejected by another. Murals that glorify resilience for some can feel like provocation to others. Scholars warn that when societies disagree on their past, reconciliation becomes even harder. But does silencing memory help? Or does it only deepen the wounds?
Spotlight on Yazan Halwani, Beirut's Street Artist · Global Voices
Despite the controversies, there are lessons worth drawing. At Martyrs’ Square, a plaque whispers of the cost of freedom. At Sursock, art reframes trauma into dialogue. Street murals carry voices that politicians often ignore — voices demanding justice, dignity, coexistence.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/su...
Even without words, these places teach. They remind us that peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to live with memory without letting it consume us. In Lebanon, peace feels like an existential crisis. It is not just about stopping violence — it is about how we define ourselves as a people. Can a country fractured by memory ever build a future of coexistence? Can murals, plaques, and museums carry enough weight to bridge divides that politics refuses to mend? The answers may lie in small steps. Walking tours that connect Martyrs’ Square, Sursock, and Beirut’s murals could turn memory into education. Schools could adopt nearby memorials as living classrooms. Artists and young people could reinterpret Lebanon’s past through photography and storytelling. These gestures won’t solve political deadlock, but they can chip away at indifference. Kofi Annan once said peace is a never-ending task — and nowhere is that more true than in Lebanon. Here, peace is not signed on paper; it is built on memory, argued over in cafés, painted on walls, and mourned in squares. Our memorials and murals are not relics of the past — they are warnings and invitations. Warnings of what happens when we forget, and invitations to imagine something better. In Lebanon, remembering is not about nostalgia. It is about survival — and about whether we can transform memory from a burden into the foundation of a future where peace is more than a pause between wars.

The Path to Peace Is Underway
This is Beirut/September 21, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration on Sunday that peace with Lebanon and Syria is now “possible” may be the most consequential statement on regional diplomacy in years. Coming after decades of hostility, wars, and missed opportunities, the prospect of reconciliation with Israel’s northern neighbors is being hailed as a potential turning point for the Middle East.
A Window of Opportunity
Netanyahu credited Israel’s recent military gains against Hezbollah and ongoing negotiations with Syria as creating “an unimaginable window of opportunity.” While he was careful to stress that agreements might still be distant, the fact that such a possibility is openly discussed signals a dramatic shift in tone after years of entrenched conflict.
For Syria, which is under a new leadership following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, talks with Israel represent a chance to stabilize borders and rebuild a nation scarred by civil war. Lebanon, meanwhile, finds itself at a crossroads: weakened by economic collapse and Hezbollah’s setbacks, it faces the possibility of normalizing ties with a neighbor it has technically remained at war with since 1948.
Why Peace Is Capital
The stakes could not be higher. Peace between Israel, Lebanon, and Syria would:
• Reshape regional geopolitics: A northern peace would redraw the map of alliances in the Middle East, significantly reducing Iran’s leverage and curbing the cycle of proxy wars.
• Stabilize Lebanon and Syria: Both countries have endured decades of turmoil. Peace could bring demilitarization along borders, open pathways for reconstruction aid, and attract needed foreign investment.
• Boost Israel’s security and economy: Ending hostilities in the north would allow Israel to redirect military resources, expand trade, and open new routes for regional integration.
• Create a precedent for wider Arab-Israeli reconciliation: Success on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks could inspire renewed confidence in resolving other intractable conflicts.
In short, such a breakthrough would not merely reduce the risk of war — it would alter the strategic balance of the Middle East and bring a measure of stability to a region that has known little of it for decades.
Challenges Ahead
For all its promise, peace will require difficult compromises. Syria insists on respect for its sovereignty and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied areas. Lebanon will need to confront Hezbollah’s armed presence, an existential and dangerous issue. And in all three countries, hardline factions remain opposed to reconciliation.
Trust will not be easy to build. International guarantees, from the United States, and possibly Gulf states, may be essential to verify compliance and reassure all parties.
A Crucial Prospect
Despite the hurdles, the fact that peace is now part of the political conversation marks a seismic change. For decades, Israel’s northern border has been synonymous with instability. Today, Netanyahu’s words suggest a different horizon: one where diplomacy may succeed where force has failed. Peace with Lebanon and Syria is not just a regional issue. It is capital because it would redefine the Middle East’s trajectory, turning the page on decades of conflict and proving that reconciliation remains within reach. For Lebanese, Syrians, and Israelis alike, the opportunity is historic.

The Full Story of Rania Al-Saheli's Dismissal from Her Position in Hezbollah
Al-Madain/September 21, 2025  (Translated from Arabic)
Leaked information circulating on social media and some websites regarding the dismissal of Rania Al-Saheli from her position as coordinator in the Media Relations Unit of Hezbollah has sparked widespread questions about the reasons behind this move, especially since no official statement has been issued by the unit to confirm or deny these leaks. Sources told Al-Madain that Al-Saheli was relieved of her duties as media coordinator, but not dismissed from her role in media relations, a position she has held for nearly twenty years. The sources also mentioned that others were relieved of their duties within the office as part of a plan to reorganize the work and restructure responsibilities, a move evidenced by the distribution of new phone numbers for contacting the media relations office, including one for coordinating with the Arab media and another for coordinating with foreign media. Al-Saheli's name has become prominent in recent years due to her work with the media and her coordination efforts. Her name is closely associated with the party's media relations official, Mohammad Afif. Hezbollah supporters view her as one of the figures who made sacrifices and worked during the last war under bombardment and gunfire. The leaks have led to differing opinions within the media community, and the debate has also extended to media professionals and activists affiliated with Hezbollah. While some expressed their solidarity with Al-Saheli, others rejected any criticism of the decision, considering it an unacceptable interference in the party's internal affairs. This group emphasized that appointment and dismissal decisions are purely organizational matters, issued by the leadership based on its assessment of the party's interests and priorities, and therefore do not require justification or explanation to the public. Those interviewed emphasized that compliance with these decisions is essential, as they reflect the wisdom of the leadership and its highest interests. According to sources in Al-Maden, the media relations unit is currently undergoing internal organizational changes, with the unit's head, Dr. Yousef Al-Zain, initiating modifications to its structure. Information indicates that these changes included relieving Al-Saheli of her current duties, with the intention of assigning her other responsibilities, which may be announced later depending on the nature of the position, either within the media relations unit or in other units and areas within Hezbollah, based on her expertise and experience. The procedures also included adopting a new communication system, establishing a call center with three phone numbers and an email address, operating 24/7, allowing journalists and political figures to contact the unit directly. This aims to enhance institutional operations and reduce the workload on any one individual, according to sources familiar with the changes. Last March, Al-Saheli was honored at a special reception attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Hezbollah Political Council, former Minister Mahmoud Qamaty, along with media and union figures, who recognized her role in supporting resistance media and her support for journalists during difficult times. Following the leaks and subsequent reactions, Al-Saheli sent a message to media professionals, thanking those who expressed their support, reaffirming her commitment to her media approach and to serving the resistance movement from whatever position she holds. Clearly, as evidenced by the content of Al-Saheli's message, she has been relieved of her previous duties, but she emphasized that she remains part of Hezbollah and is ready to continue serving the organization. This further confirms the information in the leaked documents and the reports by "Almaden" sources regarding her being relieved of her previous duties and assigned to other tasks.

Rana Al-Saheli Dismissed from Her Position in the "Party"... She Responds
Nidaa Al-Watan/ September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The news of Rana Al-Saheli's dismissal from her position as head of media relations for the "Party" sparked widespread debate on social media. In her first statement following her dismissal, Al-Saheli addressed her colleagues in the media and party activists with a message of gratitude, expressing her appreciation for the love and support she received throughout her media career. "I sincerely thank you for your affection, which I consider a badge of honor throughout my life," she said. Al-Saheli also recalled some key moments in her career, from the Jabal Amil war to the Naqoura incident and the 2006 war, and expressed her gratitude for every sincere and loving word the public has directed towards her. In her statement, Al-Saheli affirmed that she is "a daughter of this organization" and that she will remain loyal to the resistance, emphasizing, "We will remain loyal to this resistance wherever we are and in whatever position, and God willing, we will be together." She also called for focusing on the memory of the assassination of the former secretaries-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safi al-Din, preferring that attention be directed towards "a more significant and higher occasion." It is worth noting that Al-Saheli previously worked alongside Mohammad Afif, the former official spokesperson for the "Party," who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike last November.Subsequently, the party announced the appointment of Youssef Al-Zein as the new head of media relations.

Waiting for the Maronite Hikmat Hijri's Move
Hisham Bou Nassif/Nidaa Al-Watan/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
The Syrian Druze community's efforts to sever their ties with Damascus carry immense risks. Both the Turkish and Arab regional powers are against them. US policy is not in their favor. And the Sunni majority in Syria is mobilized against "division and federalism." Therefore, Hikmat Hijri's project inherently involves a great gamble. However, a simple reading of the text of the Syrian constitutional declaration, signed by Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus last March, is enough to show that Hijri has no other choice than what he is doing. This is because the constitutional declaration made Islam the official religion of the state and Islamic jurisprudence the primary source of legislation. Since traditional Islam (not to mention Islamist movements) does not consider the Druze to be Muslims, this constitutional provision guarantees that the Syrian Druze will remain marginalized in the state and society if their fate remains tied to that of the majority. Furthermore, while Hijri's attempt to break away from the dominant Sunni consciousness may be risky, surrendering to those who condemn a group of people to a life of humiliation as a second-class community solely based on their religious affiliation is tantamount to suicide. Therefore, the Syrian Druze have no viable alternative to what Hikmat Hijri is trying to do. I have been following his statements for some time, and I find them clear and courageous. In 1982, the Israeli army liberated Lebanon from the cancer of the PLO, but no one in our country thanked them, even though Yasser Arafat's record of atrocities against our country is only surpassed in its brutality by that of Hafez al-Assad. In contrast, Hikmat Hijri openly thanked Israel for protecting his community. In contrast to a century of accommodating rhetoric used by Lebanese Christians, Hikmat al-Hijri openly declares that he does not trust the intentions of the Muslim regime in Damascus towards his community, and that the only guarantee of their future lies in establishing a separate region. Al-Hijri is right on two counts: first, because he refuses to grant trust to those who do not deserve it; and second, because he understands that a policy of appeasement and compromise cannot last forever. There comes a time when vibrant communities must confront their reality if they are to survive. For the Druze of Syria, that time has come. And the same is true for the Christians of Lebanon. Not necessarily in the form of war, which they have grown weary of, but rather through the necessary honesty with themselves first, and then with others. This honesty requires Lebanese Christians to openly express what they already privately discuss: that handing over the fate of their society to the regional actors in Lebanon is tantamount to handing it over to those very actors themselves, and this is something they reject. It is true that these actors are not all equally bad, and that no one is as despicable, past or present, as the Iranian mullahs. But ultimately, all of these actors are outsiders to their society, and they therefore do not recognize the legitimacy of their constant and brazen interference in their affairs. While some in Lebanon may find these actors appealing, others in Lebanon certainly do not. The solution, therefore, lies in allowing Christians to govern themselves within a clearly defined geographical area, where they would control their own foreign policy, based on complete neutrality towards a surrounding environment whose intentions, values, and deep-rooted identity they do not trust. They are only interested in maintaining mercantile relations, but are prepared to abandon even these if the price is political submission to that environment. This is the solution that most Christians desire for themselves, and for the other Lebanese communities living nearby, each within their own geographical space. It is well known that the original agreement among the peoples of Lebanon was supposed to be based on the principle of "neither East nor West," and that this agreement has been violated countless times, always by those aligned with the "East." The recent expansion of power by Iranian-backed Shiites is merely the latest link in a chain of reliance on foreign powers, a trend that began long before, and from which the Christian community has grown weary. If this community does not want to try again to coexist with its neighbors, it is not because it is extremist or "isolationist," but because it has lost thousands of its best young people in conflicts for which it feels it had done nothing to provoke, and because it has seen hundreds of thousands of its members emigrate during and after the war, and now, even the right to vote is denied them by the current Shiite leadership, represented by Nabih Berri. Therefore, the various communities in Lebanon need to have an honest dialogue. And they would have had such a dialogue long ago if the Christians had their own independent political entity, one that would definitively break with the Lebanese discourse that the majority of the Christian population no longer accepts. But such a Christian political entity is currently lacking. Consequently, the discourse of the ruling Christian elites, both ecclesiastical and political, remains merely a worn-out, repetitive mantra. The future remains uncertain and worrisome, even if the otherwise monotonous present occasionally offers glimpses of hope that soon appear to be illusory.

"Hezbollah": From an Iranian Proxy to an Iranian Mouthpiece
Jean El-Fagali/Nidaa Al-Watan/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
No rational person can believe that what Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said about Saudi Arabia came "from his own mind." It is more logical that it was an Iranian statement delivered through one of Iran's proxies. But can Hezbollah, through this sudden shift in rhetoric, erase its history of bloody and political conflict with the Kingdom?
This conflict dates back to the founding of the "party" in the first half of the 1980s. One of the early incidents was when Hezbollah accused the Kingdom, and behind it, the United States, of being behind the assassination attempt against Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Bir al-Abed, using a car bomb, and specifically named Prince Bandar bin Salman as the perpetrator.
Hezbollah has not deviated from its hostility towards the Kingdom since that time. On one occasion, one of Hezbollah's television channels referred to the Kingdom as "the Saudi enemy." Although it later deleted the news item from its website, the message had already been spread after being captured via a screenshot. The former Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, also frequently used derogatory terms and epithets against the Kingdom, describing it as "the source of Takfiri ideology," "the exporter of the ISIS ideology," and as seeking "normalization without any concessions." Without prior warning, Hezbollah abruptly changed its political rhetoric towards Saudi Arabia, dropping a political bombshell through the words of Sheikh Naem Qassem, who stated: "I call on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to open a new chapter with the resistance movement." He accompanied this call with six points, which he termed as foundational principles: "A dialogue that addresses issues, answers concerns, and secures interests; a dialogue based on the premise that Israel is the enemy, not the resistance; a suspension of past disagreements, at least during this exceptional period; the fact that the resistance's weapons are directed at the Israeli enemy, not Lebanon or Saudi Arabia; that exerting pressure on the resistance is a net gain for Israel; and that when the resistance is eliminated, it will be the turn of the states to be targeted. Finally, normalizing relations and standing together on the basis that the enemy is Israel, and that we are not enemies, even if we disagree at some point in the future." With this approach, Hezbollah has seemingly swept aside the numerous outstanding issues between itself and Saudi Arabia, ranging from its support and training of the Houthis in Yemen, to the smuggling of Captagon into the Kingdom, and its hosting of media outlets hostile to Saudi Arabia in its media center in Awza'i. Saudi Arabia has responded with extreme caution to this shift in Hezbollah's stance, which came after the meeting between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, followed by a visit to Riyadh by Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran. This caution was reflected in the way Saudi media outlets covered Qassem's remarks. One newspaper headlined the story: "Hezbollah Secretary-General Sends Reassuring Messages to Both Internal and External Audiences, Emphasizing Opposition to the 'Israeli Threat' and Making General Calls for Dialogue." The headline did not mention that Qassem had addressed the Kingdom directly. One Gulf analyst, based in a Gulf state, commented that "Qassem's statement was ill-advised. First, Saudi Arabia is not a political organization, but rather a sovereign state, and indeed the largest and most powerful state in the region today. ​​Furthermore, his remarks were presented as if they came with specific conditions, which Riyadh will not accept." It was also noteworthy that most Gulf analysts, who usually comment on any development related to the Gulf states, remained silent this time. This silence could be attributed to one of two reasons: either a lack of trust in Hezbollah's approach, or a desire to assess the true nature of this maneuver and what Iran intends to gain from it. The Islamic Republic has used one of its strongest tools, Hezbollah, to the fullest extent, and now it is using another of its "mouthpieces"—again, Hezbollah.

Netanyahu: Our victories against Hezbollah opened the door to peace with our northern neighbors
Al Markazia/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
As Damascus continues to reiterate that negotiations are ongoing with Israel for an imminent agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged during a cabinet meeting on Sunday that there is progress in the talks with the Syrians. "It is still far away," Netanyahu stated, adding that "Israel's victories against Hezbollah opened a window to a possibility that was previously unimaginable: the possibility of peace with our neighbors to the north," referring to Syria. He also confirmed that the Israeli side is holding "discussions with the Syrians," adding, "There is some progress, but an agreement is still far off," according to Israeli media reports. These statements came after a meeting between Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Shaban in London last Wednesday, as confirmed by sources to Israeli Channel 12. The sources also explained that the agreement being negotiated aims to replace the 1974 Disengagement Agreement (between Syria and Israel).
Mount Hermon and air control
According to information leaked about the outlines of this potential agreement or the discussions, Tel Aviv insists on maintaining its presence at Mount Hermon and its surroundings, expanding the buffer zone, establishing three demilitarized zones, and implementing security arrangements extending to the outskirts of Damascus, along with air control in the south, as reported by Al-Majalla magazine. The Israeli side also demands an air corridor to the Iraqi border for access to Iran, in addition to full Syrian relinquishment of the Golan Heights, while being prepared to make some concessions.

Ortegaus leaves Beirut: Reaffirming support for the army and acknowledging concerns over Israeli violations
Al Markazia/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
US envoy Morgan Ortagus left Beirut for New York after a series of official meetings with Lebanese officials. A Lebanese source revealed that Ortagus expressed broad US interest in providing full support to the Lebanese army, reaffirming Washington's commitment to stability in Lebanon. The Lebanese side also informed the US delegation that frequent Israeli violations hinder any serious efforts to ensure that only the state holds weapons. The US delegation responded positively to these Lebanese concerns.

Official Condemnation of the Bint Jbeil Massacre and President Aoun: No Peace on the Blood of Our Children
Al Markazia/September 22, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
President General Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli massacre that took place today in Bint Jbeil. Speaking from New York, he said:
"While we are in New York discussing peace and human rights issues, Israel continues its violations of international resolutions, most notably the ceasefire agreement, by committing a new massacre in Bint Jbeil, which left five martyrs, including three children, dead. From New York, we appeal to the international community, whose leaders are present at the United Nations, to exert all efforts to stop these violations of international resolutions, especially the signatory states of the November 27, 2024 declaration, and to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and abide by the aforementioned declaration. There can be no peace on the blood of our children."
For his part, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri condemned the massacre carried out by Israeli drones in the city of Bint Jbeil, which left five martyrs, including children, dead. Speaker Berri said: "Five martyrs—a father and three of his children, and their wounded mother—had their blood shed in cold blood in the city of Bint Jbeil, in full view of the technical committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, following its meeting in Naqoura, in the presence of the American envoy, Ortogus."
Berri added: "The blood of these Lebanese children, their father, and their wounded mother, who hold American citizenship, is on the conscience of those who were gathered in Naqoura, and on the conscience of the global demonstration that has begun to gather at the United Nations headquarters." The Speaker continued: "We ask: Is Lebanese childhood the existential threat to the Israeli entity? Or is the behavior of this entity, in its indiscriminate killing without any accountability, the real threat to international peace and security?" Speaker A. Bri concluded: "May God have mercy on the martyrs, and may the wounded recover soon." Former Prime Minister, N. Salam, commented on the Bint Jbeil massacre on his X account: "Israel has committed another massacre in Bint Jbeil, killing five people, including three children: Seline, Hadi, and Asil. This is a heinous crime against civilians and a message of intimidation targeting our people returning to their villages in the south. The international community must condemn Israel in the strongest terms for its repeated violations of international resolutions and international law. The guarantor countries of the ceasefire agreement must exert maximum pressure on Israel to immediately cease its attacks, withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory, and release the prisoners. May God have mercy on our martyrs and grant them eternal peace. In a related context, MP Hassan Fadlallah issued the following statement: "The Israeli enemy committed a heinous crime against civilians, including children, in Bint Jbeil, adding another crime to its record, all under the watchful eye of the ceasefire monitoring committee, which has become a silent witness to the enemy's continuous violations of the ceasefire agreement. This committee has offered no guarantee of security for Lebanon, while the Lebanese state, at best, remains powerless to take any meaningful action. Perhaps the just cries of the people of the south will finally reach the ears of those in power, prompting them to act to stop this blatant disregard for their lives. Once again, they have seen that relying on official protection under international auspices has not provided them with security and stability."
MP Faysal Karami wrote on X: “Words are inadequate to describe the brutality and savagery of the Israeli enemy, which continues its aggression against Lebanese territory and targets innocent civilians. Its latest massacre occurred in Bent Jbeil, where an entire family was wiped out. This new massacre confirms that this entity lacks any shred of humanity or morality, and that its possession of such power poses a danger to the entire world, especially since its criminal leaders consider themselves God’s messengers and proclaim this with utter arrogance. May God have mercy on the martyrs, and may the wounded recover quickly. Our deepest condolences to their families.” Former MP Amal Abu Zaid expressed his sorrow over the targeting of the family in Bent Jbeil, writing on X: “Bent Jbeil, the South, and Lebanon mourn the loss of an entire family in a barbaric Israeli attack... A scene that shakes the conscience and stirs the soul, an unbearable pain and indescribable grief. They left us all together in one instant...” He added, “This is a clear war crime, and the blood of this innocent family cries out to the conscience and demands the strongest condemnation... May God have mercy on the martyrs, and may their grieving mother find strength and healing.” MP Jamil al-Sayyed wrote in a post on his X account, addressed to President Nof Salam: “An Israeli drone targeted this family today in Bent Jbeil, and only the mother and a child, who are currently in the hospital, survived. He asked: “Will you convene the government immediately and demand the complete Israeli withdrawal from the South as a condition for implementing any army deployment plan, so that its role does not become that of a protector of the occupation?” Raji: Foreign Minister and Minister of Emigrants, Joseph Raad, wrote on X: “I received with profound sadness the news of the Israeli airstrike that targeted a civilian family in Bint Jbeil, resulting in the martyrdom of three children and their father, while the mother is in critical condition. Targeting civilians, especially children, constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and all conventions that guarantee the protection of innocent civilians during conflicts. The international community must assume its responsibilities to stop the ongoing Israeli violations on Lebanese territory.”
Social Affairs Minister Hanin Sayyed wrote on X: “While the Lebanese state is making every effort to achieve security through diplomatic and military means, Israel continues its heinous war crimes, the latest being the airstrike in Bint Jbeil that claimed the lives of five people, including three innocent children: Saline, Hadi, and Asil. These children, who dreamed of life, were brutally murdered. What happened is a heinous crime against civilians and a message of intimidation targeting the children of the south and all of Lebanon. May God have mercy on the martyrs and our condolences to their families.”
For his part, Minister of Information, lawyer Paul Merhi, wrote on X: “Despite the Israeli attacks that spare neither families nor children, the flame of a new Lebanon under this presidential term—a flame of hope, aspiration, and action—will not be extinguished.”
In the same context, Minister of Telecommunications, Charles Hajj, wrote on X: “This heinous crime should shake the conscience of humanity and the international community, just as the Lebanese people’s hearts were deeply wounded by this massacre that claimed the lives of innocent children.” "Silence has become more than a scandal; it is tantamount to complicity." As Economy and Trade Minister Amer Bassa wrote on X: "No words can adequately describe the horror of the brutal Israeli aggression in Bint Jbeil. While Lebanon redoubles its efforts to ensure stability, both politically and militarily, and to fulfill its commitments, Israel continues to commit crimes against civilians. What happened today is not merely a violation; it is a human tragedy and a barbaric crime that should shake the conscience of the world." The Free Patriotic Movement strongly condemned "the massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the south, which claimed the lives of innocent civilians, including children." In a statement, it added: "This crime adds to a long record of violations, and we demand that the international community take its responsibility and pressure Israel to stop its attacks and immediately withdraw from Lebanese territory." The Bint Jbeil Municipality issued a statement condemning "in the strongest terms" the massacre committed by Israel this afternoon against a family from the town, describing it as "a barbaric crime" and "a new chapter in the ongoing aggression." The statement continued: "This heinous crime is a stain on the conscience of everyone who remains silent in the face of the transgressions of an enemy that knows no humanity." We, the Municipality of Bent Jbeil, hold the Lebanese state fully responsible for this crime, and we demand a clear and unequivocal stance from it, in defense of the dignity of our nation and the blood of its people.” The municipality added, “We call on the international community to take immediate and concrete action, as statements of condemnation are no longer effective, and silence in the face of these crimes constitutes an unacceptable moral and humanitarian complicity.” The statement concluded, “The blood of the children of Bent Jbeil will not be shed in vain; it will remain a curse that will haunt this arrogant enemy, and a testament to the silence of a world that claims to defend human rights.” The following were the victims of this massacre: Muhammad Majed Marwa, Shadi Subhi Sharara, child Salene Shadi Sharara, child Hadi Shadi Sharara, and child Aseel Shadi Sharara.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 21-22/2025
US warns of limited time for Gaza deal as Israel intensifies strikes
Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom/Euronews/September 21, 2025
US warns of limited time for Gaza deal as Israel intensifies strikesScroll back up to restore default view. The Gaza Strip came under heavy bombing overnight on Monday, as Israel launched a barrage of strikes towards Gaza City, the enclave's biggest city. Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Tuesday that "Gaza is burning," reaffirming Israel's stance that it will not back down until the completion of the mission. The Shifa Hospital received the bodies of 12 people killed, and at least 90 others were injured, after a strike hit multiple houses in the west of the city, the hospital's managing director Dr Rami Mhanna said. It comes amid reports that Israel launched its ground offensive on Gaza's once most populous city, forcibly displacing thousands of Palestinians to the overcrowded south. US top diplomat Marco Rubio warned there is now only a "short window of time in which a deal can happen." “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks so it's a key moment, an important moment,” the US secretary of state said, speaking to journalists before his departure to Qatar. Last week, Israel struck a residential area in the Qatari capital Doha, in what it said was a targeted strike at Hamas' top officials. The move has been condemned internationally, including by the United Nations Security Council. Rubio acknowledged the dangers Israel's intensified military campaign posed to Gaza, and said the US would like to see a negotiated settlement soon. “The only thing worse than a war is a protracted one that goes on forever and ever,” Rubio said. “At some point, this has to end. At some point, Hamas has to be defanged, and we hope it can happen through a negotiation. But I think time, unfortunately, is running out.”Both Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the elimination of Hamas and the release of the 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, is the only way to end Israel's offensive in Gaza. Hamas said it would only free the hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip.
Israel is committing genocide, UN probe finds
A team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations' Human Rights Council issued a report on Tuesday, which concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, calling on the international community to end the atrocities and take steps to punish those responsible for it. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention," Commission Chair Navi Pillay said in a statement. According to the 72-page report, Israeli forces committed “committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide".The report said the Israeli authorities are responsible for "killing," "causing serious bodily or mental harm," "deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians, and "imposing measures intended to prevent births."
The commission also accused Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of inciting genocide. Israel has immediately slammed the UN report, categorically rejecting "the distorted and false report" and calling for "the immediate abolition of the Commission of Inquiry,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. According to the statement, the inquiry resulted in a “report that relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods,” while the authors were proxies of the militant group “whose horrific statements about Jews have been condemned worldwide.”
Throughout the course of the nearly two-year-long war, the Israeli government has maintained that it has conducted its military operations in Gaza in accordance with international law.

With US backing, defiant Netanyahu vows response to countries recognizing Palestinian state
Analysis by Dana Karni, Oren Liebermann, CNN/September 21, 2025
With the backing of the United States, a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a response to a number of countries recognizing a Palestinian state. At the weekly government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel will fight at the UN and other international forums “against the slanderous propaganda aimed at us,” as well as the calls to create a Palestinian state that he said “will endanger our existence and constitute an absurd prize for terrorism.”He vowed the international community “will hear from us on this matter in the following days,” a possible reference to internal discussions about annexation of the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu has not said publicly what he intends to do, but in a video statement on Sunday evening he said that Israel’s response would come after he meets US President Donald Trump next week. Without Trump’s backing, Netanyahu has few options for how Israel would respond. But with that backing – which Netanyahu is clearly signaling he has – the Israeli leader feels he can do just about anything, under a blanket of US diplomatic protection. The Israeli prime minister hinted at part of what would come. He said Israel has doubled Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law, “and we will continue on this path.”For weeks, Israel had accused Western countries of recognizing a Palestinian state only for domestic politics reasons, insisting that the symbolic move wouldn’t change the reality on the ground. But now that the moment is here, Israel is lashing out. Netanyahu’s far-right allies are pushing him to go as far as he can, calling for Israel to annex the entire West Bank or large swaths of it. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the “only response” is annexation of the entire West Bank and “removing the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda once and for all.” Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said he would propose applying sovereignty at the next government meeting and called to dismantle the Palestinian Authority. The fact that the UK, Canada, and Australia are considered among Israel’s closest allies did little to blunt their angry reaction or sway their calls for annexation. Instead of changing Israel’s course, the recognitions only emboldened the government in its diplomatic melee with a growing list of Western countries. The only country Israel needs, according to Netanyahu’s worldview, is the US, and he has gotten the public backing of the Trump administration. But if the question of a Palestinian state has shown the extent of US support for Israel, it has also shown the limits of US influence elsewhere. During a visit to Israel last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he’d spoken with the countries who were set to recognize Palestine to try to convince them that the move was counterproductive. “I’ve expressed that to them on multiple occasions,” he said at a press conference last Monday. But none of the countries who said they would recognize a State of Palestine has changed its policy. The goal of the recognition is twofold: ending the war in Gaza after nearly two years and supporting a two-state solution. But both of those goals seem distant at best, especially as Israel escalates the war in Gaza and unabashedly expands West Bank settlements with the intent of killing the idea of a Palestinian state.
Former Israeli consul general Alon Pinkas predicted that Netanyahu would be unlikely to annex large parts of the West Bank, if at all. “Even if he does annex, it’s going to be a token annexation of some swath of land in area C that no one (cares) about it,” Pinkas told CNN, referring to the area of the West Bank that falls under Israeli security and civil control.Israel has “ample warning time” to prepare for the recognition of a Palestinian state, Pinkas said, and to see what steps it would take to convince the countries to pursue other options. “You had enough time for a diplomatic campaign, complimented by alleviating the humanitarian situation in Gaza to show good faith and good will,” Pinkas said. But Israel failed to do that. Opposition leader Yair Lapid blasted Netanyahu and the countries recognizing a Palestinian state together. “The same government that brought upon us the worst security disaster in our history is now also bringing upon us the most severe diplomatic crisis ever,” he said on X.

Britain recognises Palestinian state after Israel ignores ultimatum
Catarina Demony, Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill/Reuters/September 21, 2025
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Sunday it was recognising a Palestinian state after Israel failed to meet conditions including a ceasefire in the nearly two-year-old Gaza war. "Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X. London's step aligns it with more than 140 other nations but will irk both Israel and its main ally the United States. The decision carries symbolic weight as Britain played a major role in Israel's creation as a modern nation in the aftermath of World War Two and has long been its ally. Canada and Australia also recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday and other countries are expected to do so this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a move that put Starmer at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump, Britain had issued Israel with an ultimatum in July saying it would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel took steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza. Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission in London, called the decision a "long-overdue recognition" that "is not about Palestine, but about Britain's fulfilment of a solemn responsibility". "It marks an irreversible step towards justice, peace, and the correction of historic wrongs," he added in a statement. Starmer had said in July that Britain would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel reached a ceasefire with Hamas militants, let more aid into Gaza, made clear there would be no annexation of the West Bank, and committed to a peace process delivering a two-state solution. "Since that announcement in July, in fact, with the attack on Qatar, a ceasefire at this point lays in tatters, and the prospects are bleak," Lammy said, noting Israel had also moved forward with a settlement plan. Starmer has been under pressure from many of his own lawmakers, angry at the rising death toll in Gaza and images of starving children.
BRITAIN'S HISTORIC INVOLVEMENT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month there will never be a Palestinian state and has accused countries that recognise a Palestinian state of rewarding "Hamas's monstrous terrorism". Londoners voiced mixed reactions. "A whole lot needs to happen and peace needs to come to that region," said 56-year-old charity director Michael Angus. "This is the first step in actually acknowledging that those people have a right to have somewhere to call home."Retiree Stephen, who declined to give his last name, said the government "probably means well" but argued the move was misguided: "They are sort of abandoning Israel... and with Hamas, (they) are almost sort of supporting them." Lammy previously said Britain has a historic responsibility to facilitate a two-state solution, dating back to the 1917 Balfour Declaration which pledged that the creation of a Jewish state would not infringe on Arab rights. British troops captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire in 1917, and in 1922 the League of Nations awarded Britain an international mandate to administer Palestine during the post-war deal-making that redrew the map of the Middle East. "While a welcome step, Britain owes Palestine far more than recognition," said Victor Kattan, public international law professor and adviser to the "Britain Owes Palestine" campaign, arguing for an apology and reparations for engineering violent divisions.The decision may mean the Palestinian Mission in London is upgraded to embassy status. It could also result in banning products that come from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

Canada recognizes state of Palestine, offers help to build peaceful future with Israel
CBC/September 21, 2025
Canada now officially recognizes the state of Palestine and is doing so with international partners to preserve the prospect of a two-state solution, according to a statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney's office released Sunday morning. "Over many decades, Canada's commitment to [a two-state solution] was premised on the expectation that this outcome would eventually be achieved as part of a negotiated settlement," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said. However, that possibility "has been steadily and gravely eroded" by several developments, including the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, the Israeli parliament's resolution supporting annexation of the occupied West Bank and the Israeli government's restrictions on humanitarian aid. "Hamas has terrorized the people of Israel and oppressed the people of Gaza, wreaking horrific suffering," the PMO statement said. "Hamas has stolen from the Palestinian people, cheated them of their life and liberty and can in no way dictate their future." In addition, "the current Israeli government is working methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established.... It is now the avowed policy of the current Israeli government that 'there will be no Palestinian state."The PMO added that Canada offers its partnership in "building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel."The announcement comes as Carney prepares to meet with world leaders in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. On Sunday morning, Australia and the United Kingdom announced they were recognizing the state of Palestine. In a video statement posted to social media, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government is "acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution.""That means a safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable Palestinian state. At the moment, we have neither," Starmer said. Carney first announced Canada's move in July and said recognition was conditional on the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, making certain commitments. Those commitments include governance reforms, general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part and the demilitarization of the Palestinian state. The PMO said that "Canada will intensify efforts to support the Palestinian Authority's implementation of this reform agenda, on which progress has already been made."
'A necessary moment,' says Canada's UN ambassador
In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday morning, Canada's ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, said the federal government "has decided that it's a necessary moment" and recognition is not an "impulsive decision" by Canada. "I think it's important for us to make it clear — including, frankly, the government of Israel — that we do not think that annexation of any other possible political path is a route that's sustainable or in the best interests of Israel or anybody else," Rae told host Rosemary Barton. Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry said on social media on Sunday morning that recognition "is nothing but a reward for jihadist Hamas.... Don't let Jihadist ideology dictate your policy." Avi Abraham Benlolo, CEO of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative in Toronto, told CBC News his organization is "shocked that it just happened this quickly" and that Carney is moving ahead with recognition despite the Palestinian Authority not meeting the conditions laid out by Canada. "He's basically reneged on his own words and promise to Canadians," he said, adding that the Jewish community "is feeling both very angry, very upset and also very fearful of what the future holds here in Canada."Benlolo also said the Palestinian Authority "has no control over Gaza, and Gaza is still at war." When asked how some could see Canada's recognition of the state of Palestine as offensive, Rae said, "Of course we understand people's feelings. I think it's also important for people to understand the need to think consequentially because there's no point in thinking impulsively about this.""We all recognize the existence of feelings, but it's important for us to recognize the reality that two states is the best steps to security, both for Israel and for the people of Palestine."On Friday, a group of U.S. Republicans wrote a letter to Carney, Starmer, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and French President Emmanuel Macron calling recognition a "reckless policy that undermines prospects for peace."The Republicans also argued that recognition sets a precedent "that violence, not diplomacy, is the most expedient means for terrorist groups like Hamas to achieve their political aims." Rae said he disagrees "most emphatically with that view" and that Canada's approach is not meant to embolden Hamas. "This is not intended in any way, shape or form to change Canada's support for the existence and the security of the state of Israel," he said.
The PMO's statement said Canada's recognition "in no way legitimizes terrorism, nor is it any reward for it."

Netanyahu to expand settlements in the West Bank
AFP/September 21, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after Britain, Canada and Australia recognized a Palestinian state. "For years, I have prevented the creation of this terror state despite enormous pressure both domestically and internationally," he said in a statement."We have done so with determination and political wisdom. Moreover, we have doubled Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria and we will continue on this path," he said using the Biblical name for the West Bank. Netanyahu on Sunday accused foreign leaders of giving a “prize” to Hamas.
BACKGROUND
Last week, independent experts commissioned by the UN’s Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He put out an angry statement after Britain and other Western allies said they were unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state in a step seen as a show of displeasure with Israel.
Netanyahu added: “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”Netanyahu said he would announce Israel’s response after a trip to the US, where he is to meet President Donald Trump at the White House. He is set to give a speech to the General Assembly on Friday before heading to see Trump. The UK has for decades supported an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but insisted recognition must come as part of a peace plan to achieve a two-state solution. However, the government has become increasingly worried that such a solution is becoming all but impossible – and not only because of the razing of Gaza and displacement of most of its population during nearly two years of conflict, which has seen more than 65,000 people killed in Gaza, displaced around 90 percent of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Last week, independent experts commissioned by the UN’s Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Also vexing the UK is Israel’s government has been aggressively expanding settlements in the West Bank, land Palestinians want for their future state. Much of the world regards Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which is ostensibly run by the Palestinian Authority, as illegal. “This move has symbolic and historic weight, makes clear the U.K.’s concerns about the survival of a two-state solution, and is intended to keep that goal relevant and alive,” said Olivia O’Sullivan, director of the UK in the World Programme at the London-based think tank, Chatham House. For the Palestinians, President Mahmoud Abbas stressed that Sunday’s moves constituted an important and necessary step toward achieving a just peace in accordance with international law.Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian head of mission in the UK, said that recognition would right a colonial-era wrong. “The issue today is ending the denial of our existence that started 108 years ago, in 1917,” he said. “And I think today, the British people should celebrate a day when history is being corrected, when wrongs are being righted, when recognition of the wrongs of the past are beginning to be corrected.”A senior Hamas official hailed Britain, Canada and Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state, describing it as a victory for the rights of Palestinians. "These developments represent a victory for Palestinian rights and the justice of our cause, and send a clear message: no matter how far the occupation goes in its crimes, it will never be able to erase our national rights," Mahmoud Mardawi said

France’s Macron says no embassy in Palestine until Gaza hostages freed
AFP/September 21, 2025
WASHINGTON: France’s planned recognition of a Palestinian state will not include the opening of an embassy until Hamas frees the hostages it is holding in Gaza, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview that aired Sunday. “It will be, for us, a requirement very clearly before opening, for instance, an embassy in Palestine,” Macron told CBS News in an interview taped Thursday. The interview was aired as Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday recognized a Palestinian state in a coordinated, seismic shift from decades of Western foreign policy. The move triggered swift anger from Israel, which finds itself under huge international pressure over its war against Hamas in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation in the besieged territory. Portugal was also set to recognize Palestinian statehood later Sunday, while France says it will do so along with other countries Monday at the United Nations. Macron also spoke out strongly against any plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza — which they want to be part of a future sovereign state — when rebuilding the territory. “But if the precondition of such a plan is to push them out, this is just a craziness,” Macron said on “Face the Nation.”“We should not be — for the credibility of the United States, for the credibility of France — we cannot be implicitly or explicitly complacent with such a project.”

Israel kills 34 people in Gaza, say health officials, ahead of UN meeting
Samy Magdy/AP/September 21, 2025
CAIRO (AP) — Israeli strikes killed at least 34 people in Gaza City overnight, including children, said health officials on Sunday, as Israel presses ahead with its offensive in the famine-stricken city and several countries prepare to recognize a Palestinian state.
Health officials at Shifa Hospital, where most of the bodies were brought, said the dead included 14 people killed in a late-night strike Saturday, which hit a residential block in the southern side of the city. Health staff said a nurse who worked at the hospital was among the dead, along with his wife and three children.
Israel did not comment on the strikes.
The latest Israeli operation, which began this week, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire further out of reach. The Israeli military, which has told Palestinians to leave, hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months. Israel says the operation is meant to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages and surrendering.
Several countries to recognize a Palestinian State
Saturday night's strikes come as some prominent Western countries prepare to recognize Palestinian statehood at the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday. They include the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg. Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday. Ahead of the U.N. assembly, peace activists in Israel have hailed the planned recognition of a Palestinian state. On Sunday, a group of more than 60 Jewish and Arab organizations representing about 1,000 activists, including some veteran organizations promoting peace and coexistence, known as It's Time Coalition, called for an end to the war, the release of the hostages and the recognition of a Palestinian state. “We refuse to live forever by the sword. The UN decision offers a historic opportunity to move from a death trap to life, from an endless messianic war to a future of security and freedom for both peoples," said the coalition in a video statement. On Saturday night, tens of thousands of people in Israel protested, calling for an end to the war and a hostage deal. Yet a ceasefire remains elusive. Israeli bombardment over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas of the strip, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.
Israel claims killing a Hamas sniper
In a statement Sunday, the military stated it killed Majed Abu Selmiya, who it said was a sniper for Hamas’ military wing and was preparing to carry out more attacks in the Gaza City area, without providing evidence. Majed was the brother of the director of Shifa hospital, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, who called the allegations a lie and said Israel was trying to justify the killing of civilians. Dr. Selmiya told The Associated Press that his brother, 57, suffered from hypertension, diabetes and had vision problems. As the attacks continue, Israel has ordered hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City to move south to what it calls a humanitarian zone and opened another corridor south of the city for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate. Palestinians were streaming out of Gaza City by car and on foot, though many are unwilling to be uprooted again, too weak to leave or unable to afford the cost of moving. Along the coastal Wadi Gaza route, those too exhausted to continue stopped to catch their breath and give their children a much-needed break from the difficult journey. Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. They are appealing for a ceasefire so aid can reach those who need it.
Pope Leo XIV denounces Palestinians’ ‘forced exile’
Pope Leo XIV blasted what he called the “forced exile” of Palestinians from their homes in Gaza, saying there was no future for the “martyred” Gaza Strip based on violence and vendetta. During his Sunday noon blessing, Leo issued another appeal for peace and expressed appreciation for the work of Catholic organizations active in helping Palestinians, which had representatives present in St. Peter’s Square. Families of hostages still held by Hamas have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of condemning their loved ones to death by continuing to fight rather than negotiating an end to the war.

Israel army says two projectiles fired from Gaza, intercepts one
Agence France Presse/September 21, 2025
The Israeli military said two projectiles were launched from northern Gaza on Sunday, one of which was intercepted while the other landed in southern Israel. "Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the areas of Lakhish and Ashdod, two projectiles were launched from the northern Gaza Strip," the military said. It added that the air force brought down one, while the second fell in an open area. No casualties were reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the launches, which have become rare amid the Israeli military's intense air and ground assault on Gaza City in recent weeks. Gaza's civil defense agency reported six people were killed in Israeli strikes since dawn on Sunday. Witnesses told AFP that overnight, Gaza City shook with strikes and artillery fire as the military pressed its offensive. Israel has pummeled Gaza City with air strikes and tank fire in its bid to seize it, nearly two years into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory. On Saturday, nearly 90 people were killed across the territory, most of them in Gaza City.

Two Israeli far-right ministers urge West Bank annexation as Western countries recognize Palestinian state
AFP/September 21, 2025
JERUSALEM: Two Israeli far-right ministers on Sunday called for the annexation of the Israeli-occupied West Bank following Britain, Canada and Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state. “The recognition by Britain, Canada, and Australia of a Palestinian state... requires immediate countermeasures: the swift application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the complete dismantling of the Palestinian Authority,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said in a statement, using the Israeli name for the Palestinian territory. “I intend to submit a proposal for applying sovereignty at the upcoming cabinet meeting.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has also repeatedly called for the annexation of the West Bank, made a similar statement. “The days when Britain and other countries would determine our future are over. The mandate is over, and the only response to this anti-Israeli move is sovereignty over the historic homeland of the Jewish people in Judea and Samaria, and permanently removing the folly of a Palestinian state from the agenda,” Smotrich said on X. “Mr prime minister, the time is now and it is in your hands,” he wrote.

Iranian official denies reported meeting with European officials
Reuters/September 21, 2025
DUBAI (Reuters) -An Iranian official denied a state media report on Sunday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was to meet with officials from Britain, France and Germany in Vienna as sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme loom again. Nournews had reported the talks, without giving a date. But an Iranian Foreign Ministry official told Reuters that was not the case, with Araqchi heading to New York, not Vienna. In a bid to avert the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran, Iranian and European ministers engaged in discussions last week but they did not yield breakthroughs, diplomats said. The three European nations launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose U.N. sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to delay the so-called "snapback mechanism". The European trio has proposed a conditional delay of up to six months on the reimposition of sanctions on Iran. This is contingent upon Iran granting access to U.N. inspectors, who aim to verify and account for the substantial stockpile of enriched uranium. Additionally, Iran is expected to engage in negotiations with the United States. The status of Iran's enriched uranium reserves has remained uncertain since June, following the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites by Israel and the United States. The West says the advancement of Iran's nuclear programme goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran says it wants nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.

UK, Australia and Canada recognize a Palestinian state, prompting angry response from Israel
Pan Pylas/AP/September 21, 2025
LONDON (AP) — The U.K., Australia and Canada formally recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, prompting an angry response from Israel, which ruled out the prospect. The coordinated initiative from the three Commonwealth nations and long-time allies reflects growing outrage at Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the steps taken by the Israeli government to thwart efforts to create a Palestinian state, including by the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has faced pressure to take a harder line on Israel within his own governing Labour Party over the deteriorating situation in Gaza, said the U.K.’s move is intended “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis.” He insisted it wasn’t a reward for Hamas, which was behind the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which the militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. “Today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly as prime minister of this great country that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the state of Palestine,” Starmer said in a video message. “We recognized the state of Israel more than 75 years ago as a homeland for the Jewish people. Today we join over 150 countries who recognize a Palestinian state also.”The moves by the three countries prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say that the establishment of a Palestinian state “will not happen” while Hamas urged the international community to isolate Israel.
Announcement came as no surprise
The U.K. announcement was widely anticipated after Starmer said in July that the U.K. would recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, allowed the United Nations to bring in aid and took other steps toward long-term peace. More countries are expected to join the list recognizing a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including France, which like the U.K., is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Portugal is set to do so as early as Sunday evening.
Palestinian and Israeli reactions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the three countries for profering a “prize” to Hamas. “It will not happen,” he said. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”Netanyahu, who is set to give a speech to the General Assembly on Friday before heading to see U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, said he would announce Israel’s response after the trip. Netanyahu has threatened to take unilateral steps, including the possibility of annexing parts of the West Bank, in response to world leaders’ recognition of a Palestinian state. Such a move would clear the way for Israel to deepen its control over the territory -- and escalate tensions with the international community. Hamas hailed the decision, calling it a “rightful outcome of our people’s struggle, steadfastness, and sacrifices on the path to liberation and return.” The Islamic militant group, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, called on the world to isolate Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy in towns and cities in the West Bank, said the U.K. announcement is an important step towards achieving a “just and lasting peace in the region based on the two-state solution,” the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
Historical overlay
The U.K. and France have a historic role in the politics of the Middle East over the past 100 years, having carved up the region following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. As part of that carve-up, the U.K. became the governing power of what was then Palestine. It was also author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which backed the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people.”However, the second part of the declaration has been largely neglected over the decades. It noted “that nothing shall be done, nothing which may prejudice the civil and religious rights” of the Palestinian people. “It’s significant for France and the U.K. to recognize Palestine because of the legacy of these two countries’ involvement in the Middle East,” said Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East Security at London-based Royal United Services Institute. “But without the United States coming on board with the idea of a Palestine, I think very little will change on the ground.”Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian head of mission in the U.K., told the BBC that recognition would right a colonial-era wrong. “The issue today is ending the denial of our existence that started 108 years ago, in 1917,” he said. “And I think today, the British people should celebrate a day when history is being corrected."
Diplomatic shift
The U.K. has for decades supported an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but insisted recognition must come as part of a peace plan to achieve a two-state solution.
However, the government has become increasingly worried that such a solution is becoming all but impossible – and not only because of the razing of Gaza and displacement of most of its population during nearly two years of conflict, which has seen more than 65,000 people killed in Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Last week, independent experts commissioned by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a charge that Israel rejected as “distorted and false.” Also vexing the U.K. is Israel’s government has been aggressively expanding settlements in the West Bank, land Palestinians want for their future state. Much of the world regards Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which is ostensibly run by the Palestinian Authority, as illegal. “This move has symbolic and historic weight, makes clear the U.K.’s concerns about the survival of a two-state solution, and is intended to keep that goal relevant and alive,” said Olivia O’Sullivan, Director of the U.K. in the World Programme at the London-based think tank, Chatham House. The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is seen internationally as the only realistic way to resolve the conflict for the long-term.

Exposing Iran's ‘narco-terrorism’: Global crime network outsourced by Tehran
National Post/September 20, 2025
JERUSALEM — Iranian intelligence services are systematically outsourcing terrorist attacks to international criminal organizations, using drug cartels, biker gangs, and local criminals as proxies to target Jewish communities, Israeli interests, and Iranian dissidents worldwide, according to intelligence reports, government documents, and The Press Service of Israel’s interviews. The strategy reflects a deliberate shift by Tehran to maintain plausible deniability while expanding its shadow war against Israel and Jewish communities. Recent arrests and foiled plots from North America to Germany to Australia reveal how the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence recruit criminals-for-hire to carry out surveillance, assassinations, and terror attacks. Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador in August 2025 after confirming that the IRGC had ordered arson attacks on Jewish institutions in Sydney and Melbourne. But Iran’s connection to other attacks abroad has drawn less attention. Analysts describe Tehran’s approach as “narco-terrorism” — leveraging drug cartels, smuggling rings, and transnational criminal networks to fund operations and strike adversaries while shielding the Iranian state. “What is being revealed does not reflect the full scope of Iran’s activity,” counterterrorism expert Moran Alaluf told TPS-IL. Alaluf is an Iran and Hezbollah researcher at the David Institute for Security Policy and a research fellow at the Institute for Israel-Africa Relations. “Because of its sophistication, its ability to avoid fingerprints on the ground, and support from criminal organizations, local collaborators, and the extreme left, Iran is managing to remove its name from many actions,” she explained. Dr. Omer Dostri, who studied IRGC criminal partnerships in 2022, documented how Iranian forces repeatedly relied on Turkish and Cypriot crime groups, Afghan heroin cartels, and Mexican gangs like Los Zetas to pursue strategic objectives. “The use of organized crime provides Iran plausible deniability because these acts appear informal; there is no reason to respond or condemn them,” Dostri’s report said, published by the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.
Sweden
Iran’s criminal partnerships became evident in March 2025 when the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish-international crime organization involved in drug trafficking. U.S. Treasury officials said the network carried out attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets across Europe at Tehran’s instruction, including an assault on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January 2024. Foxtrot’s leader, Rawa Majid, coordinated directly with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. The arrangement allowed Tehran to maintain “plausible deniability” while leveraging criminal expertise in weapons, logistics, and local networks. Majid and Foxtrot were linked to attacks on Israeli embassies in Stockholm and Brussels, as well as the Elbit Systems offices in Gothenburg, recruiting teenagers to carry out the operations. Majid remains at large, reportedly living in Iran under Tehran’s protection.
Germany
In Germany, federal prosecutors arrested a Danish citizen of Afghan origin in June 2025 on espionage charges. Ali S., according to German court records, conducted surveillance of Jewish institutions and individuals in Berlin for the IRGC’s Quds Force, which specializes in operations outside Iran. “In early 2025, Ali S. received an order from an Iranian intelligence service to collect information on Jewish localities and specific Jewish individuals in Berlin. To this end, he surveilled three properties in June 2025, presumably in preparation for further intelligence activities in Germany, possibly including terrorist attacks on Jewish targets,” Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General’s office said in January. Sacha Stawski, president of the Frankfurt-based antisemitism watchdog Honestly Concerned, said intimidation has forced many Jews to “hide their symbols” or consider leaving Germany.
“The third option is to fight as long and as strongly as you can. We know these attacks will keep happening, and Iran is involved. Awareness is rising,” he told TPS-IL.
Greece
Greek authorities grew suspicious in 2024 when an Iranian man was arrested alongside an Afghan and a Greek attempting to set fire to an Athens synagogue. A senior politician in Greece’s ruling New Democracy party, familiar with intelligence and security issues, told TPS-IL that Tehran has established contacts with far-left and anarchist groups, including Rouvikonas, a violent organization linked to the dismantled “17 November” terrorist group, which coordinates anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish actions. “Iran now considers Greece hostile territory because of Israel,” the source said, adding that Tehran uses local figures to destabilize Greek-Israeli relations.
United Kingdom
Britain’s MI5 disclosed that it had disrupted at least 15 Iranian plots to kidnap or kill dissidents, journalists, and regime critics.
United States
As far back as 2011, an Iranian agent tried to recruit a Los Zetas cartel member to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Washington, as well as diplomatic targets in Argentina. In 2022, four Iranian operatives were charged with attempting to abduct journalist Masih Alinejad, part of a larger campaign to target dissidents in Canada, Britain, and the UAE. Naji Sharifi Zindashti, a drug lord under IRGC protection, was sanctioned by U.S. and U.K. authorities in 2023 for links to assassination plots, including attempts to hire a Hells Angels biker to kill an Iranian defector in Maryland.
Iranian-American human rights activist Masih Alinejad in 2024. In November 2024, a federal indictment in New York accused Farhad Shakeri, an IRGC asset in Tehran, of using a U.S. criminal network of former prison associates for contract killings. Court documents showed Shakeri ordered surveillance and the murder of two Jewish American business owners who supported Israel, offering $500,000 per target, and planned a mass shooting of Israeli tourists at Sri Lanka’s Arugam Bay, supplying AK-47s to local operatives. Evidence included recorded conversations, messages, photos, and payments for reconnaissance and planning.
Canada
In 2024, Canadian authorities thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, a long-time critic of Tehran. Joe Adam George, a Canadian analyst specializing in Islamist threats, explained to TPS-IL that “local criminal gangs can be recruited to act on Iranian orders, creating challenges for law enforcement.” George also specializes in Islamist threats in Canada for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Middle East Forum. “Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah, have a documented history of exploiting criminal networks in Canada and elsewhere to carry out terrorism, illicit financing, drug trafficking, intimidation, and violence—all while maintaining plausible deniability,” he said. “This creates significant political, operational, geographic, and legal hurdles for law enforcement, as the individuals directing these operations are often based abroad, particularly in Iran and other rogue states.”
George called for a “comprehensive, multi-faceted approach,” including sanctions, military deterrence, intelligence sharing, IRGC designation as a terrorist organization, and stronger law enforcement.
International Response
The U.S. Treasury noted that Iran “increasingly relies on organized criminal groups…to maintain plausible deniability,” complicating detection and attribution. In July 2025, 14 Western nations, including the U.S., U.K., Canada, and 11 European allies, issued a joint statement condemning Iran for collaborating with international criminal organizations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and officials. “We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty. These services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organizations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and current and former officials in Europe and North America. This is unacceptable,” the statement said. For Jewish communities, Iran’s strategy creates unprecedented vulnerability. Criminal networks operate differently from traditional terror cells, complicating conventional counterterrorism approaches. Analysts cautioned that arrests, sanctions, and intelligence revelations likely reflect only a fraction of Tehran’s broader activity. Many plots remain undetected or unattributed, keeping Western security services one step behind. “There are many dormant cells waiting for the green light,” Alaluf warned. Alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Irwin Cotler condemned by MPsVictims of Iranian state violence urge Canada to sanction regime’s top ministers

Israel making progress on Syria pact but deal still far off, Netanyahu says
Reuters/September 21, 2025
(Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday there has been progress on a security deal with Syria but an agreement was not imminent. Speaking at the outset of a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said victory against Hezbollah in Lebanon had opened up the possibility of peace with Israel's northern neighbours. "We are holding talks with the Syrians, there is some progress, but there was still a ways to go," he said. "In any case these discussions, as well as the contacts with Lebanon, would not have been possible without our decisive victories on the northern front and others." Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results "in the coming days." He said a security pact was a "necessity" and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations. Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

Syria to hold parliamentary elections on October 5
Reuters/September 21, 2025
(Reuters) -Syria will hold its first parliamentary election under its new Islamist-led administration on October 5, state news agency SANA said on Sunday. The new assembly is expected to lay the groundwork for a broader democratic process following the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad last December after nearly 14 years of civil war. Critics say the current system lacks sufficient participation from minority groups. It will also be tasked with approving legislation aimed at overhauling decades of state-controlled economic policies and ratifying treaties that could reshape Syria's foreign policy alliances. Voting for the 210-member People's Assembly will take place "across all electoral districts", SANA said, even though the electoral commission said last month voting would be delayed in three provinces due to security concerns. A third of the People's Assembly seats will be appointed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Syria initially said an election would take place in September and that voting in Sweida — which witnessed clashes in July between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes — as well as in the provinces of Hasaka and Raqqa, which are partly controlled by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, would be postponed. In March, Syria issued a constitutional declaration to guide the interim period under Sharaa's leadership. The document preserves a central role for Islamic law while guaranteeing women's rights and freedom of expression. However, it raised concerns about the concentration of power among the country's Islamist-led leadership.

Pope Leo decries 'forced exile' of Gaza civilians
AP/September 21, 2025
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo spoke out against the forced displacement of Gaza civilians on Sunday as Israel intensified its military demolition campaign in the Palestinian enclave's main city. "Together with the pastors of the churches in the Holy Land, I repeat that there is no future based on violence, forced exile, and revenge," the Pope said during his weekly Angelus prayer. The Holy Land encompasses parts of modern-day Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Egypt, which are sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Leo's role in advocating for peace in Gaza has become starker since Israel struck the territory's only Catholic church in July. "The people need peace. Those who truly love them work for peace," the first pope from the US added. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza City and at a refugee camp killed more than 40 people, including 19 women and children. Health officials at Shifa Hospital, where most of the bodies were brought, said the dead included 14 people killed in a strike late on Saturday, which hit a residential block in the southern side of the city. Health staff said a nurse who worked at the hospital was among the dead, along with his wife and three children. Another strike that targeted a group of people in front of a clinic in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least eight Palestinians, according to the Al-Awda Hospital. The dead include four children and two women, the hospital said. Another 22 people were wounded, it said.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on September 21-22/2025
'Good Guy - Bad Guy' Confusion: Anti-Israel Protests in the West
Jon Abbink/Gatestone Institute/September 21, 2025
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21920/israel-good-guy-bad-guy-confusion
The Israel-Hamas-Iran conflict, still dominating world news, remains volatile. Anti-Israel demonstrations — often devolving into violent riots – have taken place in many countries in the past 23 months.
October 7 did not happen because of the lack of a 'Palestinian state', but because of the existence of one: Gaza since 2005 has been fully under Palestinian control, and since 2007, fully under Hamas control. There has been no peace.
Since 2005, more than 20,000 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel, a country roughly the size of New Jersey, along with at least 100 suicide bombings. How many rockets, missiles and suicide bombings would France, England, Canada or Australia tolerate?
Proposals to make Israeli citizens defenseless against indiscriminate rocket fire are therefore tantamount to inviting mass murder.
Hamas, on the other hand, has a straightforward policy of targeting Israeli civilians, obliterating Israeli communities and of using its own people as human shields and putting them in harm's way.
So we seem to have here a serious case of mixing up the "good guy" and the "bad guy". While in any war there will be mistakes, Israel cannot simply be labeled the "bad guy". Apart from any country thus attacked having the right to forcefully act in self-defense, nowhere in history has any country gone to such pains as Israel not to harm its adversary's civilians. Nowhere in history have people under attack brought such amounts of humanitarian aid to the people under a regime trying to destroy them.
The UN has admitted that 90% of what it tried to deliver was intercepted by "armed actors" before reaching its destination. The GHF has been vilified and falsely accused of killing Gazans.
Israel has been accused of "targeting civilians" in Gaza (sadly, civilians were killed, as in any conflict, but Israel never targeted them as such); was "genocidal"... committed "ethnic cleansing", and so on.
The waves of anti-Jewish hate-mongering, in fact, began even before Israel entered Gaza, and by now have become commonplace. Even large American teachers' unions, to their shame, have been spouting anti-Semitism. This rampant vilification, already seen at universities such as Harvard and Columbia, has become a serious problem... and urgently needs to be confronted.
Israel is a state well-founded in international law. Its existence cannot seriously be a point of dispute. Israel has always wanted simply to be left alone.
The Abraham Accords, politically stabilizing and economically beneficial both to Israel and several Arab countries, show that real peace can be achieved. It is revealing that no demonstrations criticizing Israel's campaign against the Iranian regime and its proxies have been seen in Arab countries.
Today, the remaining hostages are being deliberately starved, given -- only occasionally -- contaminated water, and forced to dig their own graves.
Palestinians, and least of all groups such as Hamas, have not expressed a clear desire to recognize and live in peace with a Jewish state in any borders.
It now turns out, in addition, that the Trump Administration's "helpful" mediator, Qatar -- champion of virtually every Islamic terrorist group – instead of ordering Hamas to release the hostages, has been ordering Hamas not to release them.
That there is no demonstrable will on the Palestinian side yet to accept a Jewish state and live in peace with it is also shown by the still existing "pay-for-slay" "jobs program" of Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority.
A Palestinian state now would not only be a de facto reward for terrorism, it would also inspire other terror movements to intensify their violence. The lesson the terrorists would take home would certainly be, "Terrorism works, so let's keep on doing it."
What the recent public demonstrations in the Netherlands and elsewhere show is mostly "selective outrage," morally and politically lopsided. There appears to be hardly any interest in reconciliation or efforts at dialogue, and more in condoning or stimulating antipathy against Israel.
The Israel-Hamas-Iran conflict, still dominating world news, remains volatile. Anti-Israel demonstrations — often devolving into violent riots – have taken place in many countries in the past 23 months. Some were even held on, or just days after, the Hamas massacres in Israel on October 7, 2023 - in support of the massacres. There have been so many events and social media statements that amount to vilifying Israel and the Jewish people. 
The Israel-Hamas-Iran conflict, still dominating world news, remains volatile. Anti-Israel demonstrations — often devolving into violent riots – have taken place in many countries in the past 23 months. Some were even held on, or just days after, the Hamas massacres in Israel on October 7, 2023 - in support of the massacres. There have been so many events and social media statements that amount to vilifying Israel and the Jewish people -- too many "incidents" to ignore. As a Dutch academic, I plead here for less emotion and more dispassionate factual debate on this tragic conflict and about the need for honest solutions for both sides.
In June this year and onwards, students in the Netherlands organized blockades on campuses to enforce an academic boycott and blacklist Israeli institutions. The students pressured universities to end cooperation with Israeli universities -- an effort that betrays academic research and freedom. Many activists and protesters said they were "inspired" by the students on US campuses during the past year. My university, Leiden, joined as well. An "Advisory Committee," in what appears to be another example of misplaced virtue-signaling, pressed the university to cut academic links with Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It halted all academic exchanges. Such a boycott is unacceptable and will, of course, hit the wrong persons and not produce anything except sabotaging scientific cooperation. It would also not help the Palestinians.
In addition, an opposition party spokesperson in Parliament (of the socialist PvdA-Green Left) proposed a law last June to prohibit the Netherlands from exporting spare parts used for Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system, which protects its citizens. A more perfidious proposal cannot be imagined – brought exactly at the moment when Israel was engaged in armed conflict with Iran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, led by an Islamist-theocratic regime, has been a problem for the entire 46 years of its existence. According to its current leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime has prepared for decades to annihilate Israel and the United States – "not as a slogan but as a policy." The anti-rocket system being targeted by Dutch and other politicians has been protecting Israeli civilians of all faiths and backgrounds against the thousands of Hamas rockets fired at Israel on and after Oct. 7, and against those fired by Hezbollah.
While Palestinians voiced their local grievances and continued their anti-Israel agenda, the big "inspiration" for the recent actions of these terror movements was apparently Iran's theocratic regime. It has a record of well-documented Israel-hate, abuse of its own citizens, decades of international terrorism -- and a relentless suppression, torture, imprisonment and murder of women, children, and minorities -- as well as crushing other domestic freedoms. Iran's policy seems to consist of continuing its terror and planning for the destruction of Israel (the "Little Satan"), the destruction of America (the "Great Satan"), infiltrating Latin America, and killing Americans. These are hardly matters of doubt. The mullahs also appear to have a long-term, wider goal of infiltrating and transforming the rest of the planet:
"We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry 'There is no god but Allah' resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle."
— Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran had already infiltrated and taken over at least four countries -- Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria – at least until November 2024, when Assad's regime collapsed. Western protesters never seem concerned about that. Proposals to make Israeli citizens defenseless against indiscriminate rocket fire are therefore tantamount to inviting mass murder. It is deeply worrying that, since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, many critics of Israel, such as a Dutch parliamentarian, often seemed to support Iran over Israel, and have sympathy for Hamas as a supposed "resistance" rather than as the jihadist terrorists they are, and to show more concern for the "innocent civilians" in Gaza than for the victims and kidnapped hostages from Israel. It is often glossed over what Hamas's intentions are:
"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." — Hamas Charter, 1988, Article 13
So we seem to have here a serious case of mixing up the "good guy" and the "bad guy". While in any war there will be mistakes, Israel cannot simply be labeled the "bad guy". Apart from any country thus attacked having the right to forcefully act in self-defense, nowhere in history has any country gone to such pains as Israel not to harm its adversary's civilians. Nowhere in history have people under attack brought such amounts of humanitarian aid to the people under a regime trying to destroy them. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tweeted on 8 August:
"How much food has Starmer and the UK sent to Gaza? @IsraeliPM has already sent 2 MILLION TONS into Gaza & none of it even getting to hostages. Maybe UK PM ought to sit this one out & follow Arab League who said Hamas should disarm & release ALL hostages immediately."
Thousands in Israel remain internally displaced, a fact never mentioned by the United Nations or anyone else. In addition, "one-fifth of the Israelis who were forced to evacuate" by the war -- roughly 50,000 out of 250,000 -- have lost their business or means of livelihood. The massive terror, destructive sexual violence, torture, sadism, burning alive of people, decapitation, and the extermination of entire families of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks reveal the group's hate-based genocidal ideology, already formulated in its charter:
"As the prophet [Muhammad],may the prayer of Allah and his blessing of peace be upon him, said: 'The time [Judgment Day] will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them and until the Jew hides behind the rocks and trees, and [then] the rocks and trees will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew hiding [behind me], come and kill him...'" – Hamas Charter, 1988, Article 7
It is consequently shocking to see the "reversal of blame" in many mass demonstrations and in the statements of many countries, including EU members France, Ireland and Spain. They blame Israel -- not Hamas -- for the violent conflict and for just about anything else.
Before October 7, 2023, Israel had generously granted, as a good-will gesture -- nearly 20,000 work permits to Gazans to enable them to come daily to Israel, where they could receive higher wages than in Gaza. As some commentators have claimed, Israel is therefore accused of having "brought it all upon itself".
Before the statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 8, 2025, that Israel intended to occupy Gaza City to root out the remnants of Hamas, Israel was also accused of being the "occupying" power in Gaza. Not exactly. In 2005 the Israeli government removed and even forcibly expelled every last Jew from Gaza to give the Palestinians autonomy there and a chance to build a "Dubai on the Mediterranean". All the same, Israel has been accused of "targeting civilians" in Gaza (sadly, civilians were killed, as in any conflict, but Israel never targeted them as such); was "genocidal" – even though for more than 70 years -- since the 1948 war -- Israel has been trying to protect itself from genocide; that Israel had "denied aid" to Gazans, even though it was left to Israel, not the UN, to deliver humanitarian aid to its adversaries in a war zone, committed "ethnic cleansing", and so on.
Scrutinizing these charges shows them to be incorrect. One example: "genocide" is not just any term but legally means mass lethal violence under "intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such". Israel is not involved in this: there is simply no intent. The only aim is to defeat Hamas, the Islamist terrorist force that massacred, raped and kidnapped civilians with the professed intent to murder as many Jews and Israelis as possible. Hamas terrorists were even chanting the "Khaybar Ya-Yahood" slogan – used in the Islamic prophet Mohammed's time during the extermination war in the year 628 CE against the Jews of the town of Khaybar. Another example is the so-called famine -- incorrectly named, due to deep flaws in reporting and in the UN's opportunistic IPC manipulation.
For the record, it is always necessary to dismantle all incorrect charges on any war, as well as expose mistakes and tragic events. Yet, the malicious narratives about Israel keep thriving regardless of this effort. So, part of the problem lies in understanding how the narratives are produced and recycled, and by whom, and a broader critical analysis -- rather than a pro-Israel narrative of denial, however justified -- is needed. In this effort, reports from Al Jazeera (an unreliable Qatar outfit), the UN's OHCHR, institutions such as the European Parliament, or 'human rights' NGO's like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, cannot be considered as offering decisive evidence.
Ever since the State of Israel was officially founded in 1948, it has had to survive in a hostile region. The country has done so with extraordinary success, despite continual efforts by its neighbors to destroy it. It has defended itself in the various wars and waves of terrorism against it, and thwarted the recent efforts of Iran and its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Shi'ite militias – to eradicate it.
Since 2005, more than 20,000 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel, a country roughly the size of New Jersey, along with at least 100 suicide bombings. How many rockets, missiles and suicide bombings would France, England, Canada or Australia tolerate?
It is shocking is that after Hamas's Oct. 7 violent assault, the waves of "anti-Zionist" hate were directed not only against Israelis but also, increasingly, against Jews worldwide -- including in the United States -- and often spearheaded by Muslim activists and people on the extreme "left" and extreme "right" in a strange alliance – one that has usually not turned out well, as in post-1979 Iran.
Most of the anti-Israel/anti-Zionist agitation has been accompanied by the frantic denial that one is "not anti-Semitic" – but it is an "argument" that no longer convinces anyone. The waves of anti-Jewish hate-mongering, in fact, began even before Israel entered Gaza, and by now have become commonplace. Even large American teachers' unions, to their shame, have been spouting anti-Semitism. This rampant vilification, already seen at universities such as Harvard and Columbia, has become a serious problem. This vilification and boycotting now also extends to the cultural domain (music, theater, movies) and urgently needs to be confronted.
Israel is a state well-founded in international law. Its existence cannot seriously be a point of dispute. Israel has always wanted simply to be left alone. It had no need to seek war with any neighbor, and every need not to seek war. The Abraham Accords, politically stabilizing and economically beneficial both to Israel and several Arab countries, show that real peace can be achieved. It is revealing that no demonstrations criticizing Israel's campaign against the Iranian regime and its proxies have been seen in Arab countries. Indeed, many Arab governments -- notably the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia -- appear, behind the scenes, quite comfortable with Iran's regime being held to account.
Iran's policies, sadly, have not helped the Palestinians and, unfortunately, have made their situation worse. Iran's propaganda and bankrolling of Hamas -- together with that of Qatar, the champion and sponsor of effectively every Islamic militant organization --.created an infrastructure of terror that not only blighted the Palestinians and Gazan society but, as first-hand expert Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas, noted, successfully poisoned its young generation.
Israel, a sovereign state, did not need permission from anyone to try to neutralize the Hamas-Hezbollah-Houthi-Iran threats before or after Oct. 7. Many individuals in the West apparently like to deny or ignore that these major threats apply not only to Israel but to all global security.
The anti-Israel demonstrators in the Netherlands and elsewhere, who are often intimidating passers-by, blockading public roads, occupying buildings and campuses, probably are either paid or think they know everything better -- or both -- at a time when Israeli citizens and civil institutions are being targeted, along with hospitals and research institutes. Israel's hospitals, unlike those in Gaza, do not house terror command centers. The Weizmann Institute, a renowned Israeli research center serving world science, had 45 laboratories destroyed by an Iranian missile.
It is painful to see that these demonstrators and parliamentary activists always accuse Israel of the violence initiated by Hamas. Why is so little ever said about Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and the Houthis? People seem to refuse to recognize that the war was jointly orchestrated by Iran's repressive Islamist regime and its proxies – the same Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis -- as a long-term policy. The exuberance these protesters seem to feel to "put Israel in its place" and demonstrate "because civilians are killed in the Gaza war" is distorted, biased and regrettable. The deaths of Gazans are unarguably sad, and sympathy with non-combatant victims is entirely understandable, but there have been deaths of non-combatant civilians on both sides. Hamas and many Gazans have recorded them with glee and immediately vowed to repeat them.
People unfortunately get killed in wars. In Hamas's case: If you do not want your people killed, do not start an unprovoked war. Israel cannot sit back and decline to defend itself. Israel's response to an extremely violent and cruel adversary has been violent, but Israel still has taken pains not to "mirror" the Hamas violence and become like them, even at the cost of exposing its own soldiers to great risks.
In Gaza, the large majority of casualties have actually not been civilians, as Hamas has tried to claim. Even the UN had to halve its own casualty statistics.
Conversely, Hamas, rather than trying to prevent the death of their citizens, deliberately puts them in harm's way. The terrorist group continues to use their own people as human shields, and shoots at them if-- at the urging of the Israelis -- they try to flee to safety or if they try to seek the humanitarian aid intended for their use. Far from regretting the deaths of ordinary Gazans, Hamas simply blames Israel for them, and fakes the numbers for use as anti-Israel propaganda. The real nature of the war is not clearly represented in the media, which would do better in heeding true experts such as John Spencer or Andrew Fox.
The genocidal slaughter carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 in the most barbaric manner was the culmination of countless media demonizations -- online and off – as well as constant acts of terror, rooted in jihadist ideology, against Israel as well as Jews in the rest of the world. Appallingly, Hamas's slaughter was often "lauded" by sympathizers across the globe -- not only hardcore Islamists, but notably also in Western "far-Leftist circles". Many of these critics ideologically -- and wrongly -- tried to redefine Israel as a "colonialist" entity, despite Israel having been strongly anti-colonialist, intent on opposing Britian's failed policies against the Jews -- including many Jews ordered hanged -- during the British Mandate for Palestine – from 1917 until Israel's independence in 1948.
If you watch recordings of October 7, 2023, made by Hamas terrorists themselves on GoPro cameras, it can be seen that they were extremely proud of what they did. Just recently, a young Palestinian who elatedly telephoned his parents from the field to brag about how many Jews he had murdered, was "neutralized" by the IDF. The immediate "statements of support" for the atrocities committed in the October 7 attack, even among academics in Western institutions, were distressing -- and not acceptable.
Today, the remaining hostages are being deliberately starved, given -- only occasionally -- contaminated water, and forced to dig their own graves.
Even before 2023, Palestinian leaders and their worldwide backers rejected all initiatives for peace, mutual acceptance, and dividing land for a Palestinian state -- including even the most generous proposals.
Since the Oslo Accords, the Palestinians have had far-reaching autonomy and self-rule in most of the "territories" under dispute. Discussions on definitive solutions have so far proven impossible: there have not even been serious Palestinian counter-offers. Former PA President Yasser Arafat's rejection of the most generous offer ever -- in former US President Clinton's words -- for a Palestinian state in 2000 by the then Israeli PM Ehud Barak is just one example.
"For the last century," noted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 10 August, "[the Palestinians] have been offered a state of their own. And they refused, because their goal is not to create a state for themselves, it's to destroy...the Jewish state. That's their national goal. So we're not going to ...commit national suicide."
The Palestinians, to clarify what seems some confusion, are Arabs who had lived in Israel before 1947. When five Arab armies – Egypt, Lebanon Iraq, Syria and Trans-Jordan (now Jordan) -- invaded Israel the day of its birth, May 21, 1948, to try to kill the new country before it could begin -- most of the Arabs there were urged by others to flee to make it easier to kill the Jews -- then return in "in 2 hours":
"We left, I mean, the one who made us leave was the Jordanian army, because there were going to be battles and we would be under their feet. They told us: 'Leave. In 2 hours we will liberate it and then you'll return.' We left only with our clothes. We didn't take anything because we were supposed to return in 2 hours. Why carry anything? "
— Fuad Khader, Refugee from Bir Ma'in, Official PA TV, May 15, 2013.
The Arabs lost and now call this defeat and its aftermath the naqba (the "Catastrophe"). When those Arabs who had fled (and indeed in some cases were chased away in the heat of the war) later tried to return, Israel declined for security reasons to admit them. Their Arab brethren also refused to admit the Palestinian-Arab refugees who had fled from the War of Independence in the former Mandate territory and now suddenly Israel—instead, requiring them to linger in refugee camps.
The Arabs in Israel who did not flee currently make up 20% of its population are equal citizens as the Jews in Israel with equal rights, except for mandatory military service, from which they are excused, if they wish. Many of Israel's Arabs are leaders in medicine, politics and the government, business, the Israel Defense Forces (voluntarily) and even on the Supreme Court.
Notably, Zohair Mohsen, one of the former senior officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization, set up in 1964 and the precursor of the Palestinian Authority, publicly admitted in 1977, is that the Palestinians are an invented people that actually "does not exist":
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons."
— Senior PLO official Zuheir Mohsen, interviewed by James Dorsey, Trouw (a Dutch newspaper), March 31, 1977.
Now, after decades of violent rejection and terrorism, the Palestinian momentum appears to have passed. Palestinians, and least of all groups such as Hamas, have not expressed a clear desire to recognize and live in peace with a Jewish state in any borders.
At the moment, especially after the massacre of October 7, 2023, a separate state for Palestinians is more remote than ever, despite the attempt by France's President Emmanuel Macron to hook it up to life-support. He seems to have the view that placing a terrorist state, openly dedicated to wiping Israel off the map, back on the border of Israel will lead to a "just and lasting peace" – or perhaps some "other" solution.
What is clear is that his announcement succeeded in torpedoing all ceasefire talks, previously underway, and dealing a death blow to a deal on Hamas returning the remaining hostages. Macron, followed in his wake by other European leaders, such as Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the UK and Prime Minister Bart De Wever of Belgium may have effectively signed the hostages' death sentence.
"Talks with Hamas fell apart on the day [French President Emanuel] Macron made the unilateral decision that he's going to recognize the Palestinian state," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. ".... If I'm Hamas, I'd basically conclude let's not do a ceasefire, we can be rewarded, we can claim it as a victory."
"Such a move," Prime Minister Netanyahu replied to Macron, "rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launchpad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it."
It now turns out, in addition, that the Trump Administration's "helpful" mediator, Qatar -- champion of virtually every Islamic terrorist group – instead of ordering Hamas to release the hostages, has been ordering Hamas not to release them.
The US administration's view is clear from the words of US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, telling Fox News on May 31:
"If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I've got a suggestion for them − carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state. They are welcome to do that, but they are not welcome to impose that kind of pressure on a sovereign nation."
That there is no demonstrable will on the Palestinian side yet to accept a Jewish state and live in peace with it is also shown by the still existing "pay-for-slay" "jobs program" of Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA). Each year, the PA rewards the relatives of terrorist killers who murder Jewish Israelis to funds totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Who pays for this? The European Union -- accompanied by Abbas transferring the operation to the PA "security services" to hide what it is funding -- as well as others in the international community. Even the Canadian Federal Court had already condemned this PA policy in a 2020 judgement.
The Palestinian leadership has also long insisted on a 'Jew-free' future for the Palestinian state, even in Hebron -- one of the four oldest Jewish cities, and where Arabs annihilated the Jewish community in 1929. Macron's gesture is destructive, if not treacherous.
Britain, Canada and recently Australia and Belgium followed suit, although with preconditions – and Britain with a tinge of blackmail. A unilateral recognition is also in contradiction with the Oslo Agreements of 1993 and 1995 and has other problems. A Palestinian state now would not only be a de facto reward for terrorism, it would also inspire other terror movements to intensify their violence. The lesson the terrorists would take home would certainly be, "Terrorism works, so let's keep on doing it."
Who, moreover, would lead such a state? What would be its borders? The simple point these Western countries miss is that October 7 did not happen because of the lack of a "Palestinian state", but because of the existence of one: Gaza since 2005 has been fully under Palestinian control, and since 2007, fully under Hamas control. There has been no peace.
Most anti-Israel demonstrators in the Netherlands and elsewhere are probably of good will, concerned about the loss of human life in Gaza. So, while this alleged cause is good – such as compassion and asking a halt to the killing of Gaza's civilians -– it cannot go at the expense of another cause: stopping the murderous terrorist violence of Hamas and related entities against Israel and the Jews and victimizing their own people in Gaza. There need to be serious calls on the Palestinians, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, and radical Islamist imams to stop the politics of violence, of which Palestinians are equally the victim. The demonstrators never do that. The pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas crowds also never show the slightest concern about the Israeli hostages. 48 are still held in the Hamas tunnels, in worse than medieval dungeons, and abused, tortured, starved, as well as an estimated 30 of them possibly already murdered or dead. If all the hostages would have been released, the conflict in Gaza could have ended long ago. Not one Palestinian – Hamas member or civilian -- ever came forward to help and inform on their whereabouts.
For most demonstrators in both the Netherlands and elsewhere in the West, nothing else ultimately seems to matter except blaming Israel and Jews, and expressing indignation and hatred, seemingly out of some self-ascribed moral superiority. Many protests also appear to be funded and organized by outside actors. Since 2023, Europe alone has donated more than 13 million euros to undermine Israel. The civilians in Gaza need attention and protection, but will not be helped in the least by biased pro-Hamas performances of "concern". Such hand-wringing will not eliminate either Hamas or its abuse – in particular, that of its own people. Ironically, hand-wringing only serves to reinforce the violence: the publicity appears irresistible.
Why is real, practical concern for the suffering Palestinians not paramount among the protestors? Just look at the global media and NGOs' reactions to the recently established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that since May 2025 has been providing humanitarian food aid to Gazans to bypass Hamas's channels for stealing it. Hamas would take all the humanitarian aid for itself and then sell it at extortionist prices to the people for whom it was intended for free. Hamas has reportedly made more than half a billion dollars from stolen aid. The "acquisitions" not only pulled in increased revenues for Hamas, but were apparently also be used as bait to recruit hungry new jihadists to fight. The GHF was partly set up to supplement and also bypass the slow UN (also still active, but collaborating with Hamas) to break Hamas's stranglehold. The UN has admitted that 90% of what it tried to deliver was intercepted by "armed actors" before reaching its destination. The GHF has been vilified and falsely accused of killing Gazans most likely by default: because its actions were carried out by Israel and the US. Despite serious deadly incidents around logistics and distribution points – mostly due to Hamas sabotage and killings, but also some initial, insufficient IDF "crowd control" incidents -- it has been fairly successful in getting food supplies to the public. It is disturbing to see the global media refuse to admit that the GHF is breaking the UN-supported Hamas grip on incoming aid, which has delayed the proper delivery of the supplies to the Gazans. There is enough supply; the problem is its distribution, due to Hamas theft and the UN's failure to timely and properly deliver the aid. Some in the media evidently also saw no problem in broadcasting news about Israeli "aid massacres" that never happened.
In much of the global reporting, there has not only been undue castigation of Israel but shades of plain old Jew-hate -- often, it appears, largely based on Soviet propaganda as well as Islamic theological culture, or rather its abuse. In it, the Jews are vilified, as well as repetitions of these vilifications in schools, mosques, textbooks, summer camps, social media, television and even crossword puzzles, that keeps them current. For Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran, it is standard fare.
Most Western activists, oddly, are never heard expressing any real knowledge of the historical backgrounds of the conflict, as a recently "converted" activist admitted. Perhaps there is no interest. There certainly is no serious understanding of, or compassion with, the murdered, abused and injured Israeli citizens -- whether Jewish, Druze, Christian, Muslim -- or with the visiting African students or Thai workers who were also victims of the Oct. 7 assault. They, too, were taken hostage, tortured, burned alive or butchered. No word either on the 12 Druze children murdered in a Hezbollah rocket attack on a football field in Majdal Shams on July 27, 2024.
What about the people who died in Gaza? Yes, thousands of Gazans tragically became victims of the war. A war, however, cannot be judged only by its effects. The intention of Hamas, which initiated the war, was mass-murder and destruction, whatever the consequences. There were many civilian victims in Gaza but the largest group of those killed in Gaza were Hamas terrorists and operatives. Hamas targets civilians, including its own. No one can maintain that it is Israel's policy to target civilians. An analysis of its methods of war reveal multiple warnings to civilians before battle, such as millions of phone calls, leaflets, texts, as well as knocks on the roof and slow house-to-house and tunnel-to-tunnel advances. Even then, sadly, as is inevitable in all wars, occasionally mistakes are made.
Hamas, on the other hand, has a straightforward policy of targeting Israeli civilians, obliterating Israeli communities and of using its own people as human shields and putting them in harm's way. Hamas has consistently embedded its command posts, weaponry, rocket launchers, and other weapons, in Gazan civilian areas as well as in its sophisticated and extensive tunnel system under residential buildings, mosques, hospitals, schools and the like. Hamas also kills Gazans who contest its terror reign (here and here), and violently intimidates and selectively shoots those distributing and accepting humanitarian aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Plenty of online speeches by Hamas spokesmen confirm their utter cynicism regarding the ordinary Gazans who, to them, seem to be nothing but human shields. All civilians killed in the crossfire are literally declared "good for the cause". Even when, as now, Hamas loses support among the Gazans, it still tries to retain a murderous grip on them.
What the recent public demonstrations in the Netherlands and elsewhere show is mostly "selective outrage," morally and politically lopsided. There appears to be hardly any interest in reconciliation or efforts at dialogue, and more in condoning or stimulating antipathy against Israel. As noted, this view often seems shaped by Islamist and (post-) Soviet propaganda discourse targeting Jews and Israel (as detailed by Izabella Tabarovsky). Dutch media also do their best to keep the biased narrative going (as analyzed already in 2019 in Els van Diggele's study The Deception Industry (De Misleidingsindustrie).
It is painful to see so much false rhetoric produced in the public demonstrations and misguided boycott initiatives in the Netherlands and elsewhere. On June 21, 2025, the Dutch PvdA-Green Left Party Congress resolution adopted a "total arms embargo" on Israel -- including spare parts for its Iron Dome protective system. On August 8, Germany's new government also voted to embargo arms sales to Israel. And worst of all was the Spanish government, led by the rabid anti-Israel Prime Minister P. Sánchez, who, next to his exaggerated anti-Israel rhetoric, in September declared a total boycott of arms imports and exports from/to Israel and a closure of all Spanish ports to any Israel-bound vessels. Such 1930s-like embargoes not only sell out Israel's civilian population to lethal terrorists; they also demonstrate insensitive posturing by people who have no idea of the kind of war that is going on and apparently are not even interested in finding out. Even domestic protesters in Israel against PM Netanyahu's policies in Gaza do not go along with such proposals that endanger their homeland.
Admittedly, the suffering in Gaza is real. There has been food scarcity, death and despair. However, what realistically can be done to defeat and neutralize Hamas, including its abuse of its own civilians? Hamas started the genocidal campaign on Oct. 7, 2023, and have repeatedly said that they intend to do it time and again, "until Israel is annihilated." Members of Hamas sacrifice 'their own' people –- sometimes with reference to the Qur'an -- and reject every meaningful hostage return and ceasefire – most recently on July 24 and September 9. There is adamant refusal to hand over the 48 remaining hostages, only 20 of whom are thought still to be alive. It is an impossible and needless war, started by an Islamist movement, Hamas, that is violent by nature. Since 2005, Hamas has been wholly in charge of an unoccupied, independent territory, Gaza, supported by Iran, which is called by the US Department of State the "largest state sponsor of terrorism."
Few if any demonstrators ever came out in support of the Oct. 7 victims in Israel -- 1200 murdered in the most unspeakable manner, and the 251 hostages abducted – or showed much concern for Iranian citizens blindfolded and hanged from building cranes. These demonstrators have neither shown particular concern for Yazidis, Kurds, Druze, Alawites, or ordinary Syrian citizens murdered by Islamist extremists, or for the thousands of Christians being slaughtered throughout Africa and the Middle East (here, here, here and here). In most public demonstrations about the Middle East, only the Israelis are targeted. Regrettably, the frequent lies and false accusations produced have consequences. Anti-Semitic attacks on Jews worldwide have increased, especially in the West, and Jewish life there has become less secure. Homes, synagogues and businesses have been vandalized, and individuals murdered solely because they were Jews.
The gross neglect by those "noble" demonstrators of other long-standing violent conflicts in the world outside the Middle East, where tens of thousands of civilians are also killed, is indeed breathtaking: Sudan, Ukraine-Russia, Myanmar, the DRC, Somalia, the Syrian civil war, the harsh repression of Muslim Uyghurs in China (more than half a million in camps) and the gross repression and erasure of women in Afghanistan, on which even the UN is dismayed. Yet there are no public demonstrations on these anywhere.
Media in the Netherlands and globally often appear uninformed -- and perhaps blissfully unaware of it. Failing to present news in a balanced manner and undermining honesty and integrity in reporting is a lack of professionalism. Recently there was media mayhem about a Gazan boy in the arms of his mother (in a Pietà-like position) as a so-called victim of starvation. In reality, he has cystic fibrosis – although lack of nutrition may have aggravated his condition -- and had been brought to Italy for treatment. Corrections of mistakes (or of knowingly false reports) are rarely published by the media; if they are, they can usually be found only on a back page. In the Netherlands, we already knew that the Dutch dailies NRC, the Volkskrant -- let alone some of the Dutch opinion weeklies – constantly attack Israel. The attacks often do not appear to be "legitimate criticism," which would be appropriate, but more like demonization, fed by ill-will and a seemingly painstaking omission of all relevant facts. In addition, the (originally Christian-oriented) Dutch newspaper Trouw has turned squarely against Israel and the Jewish people, and joined the chorus of misinformation and misleading criticisms, often based on substandard reporting, along with delegitimization and glaring double standards. As in the NRC newspaper, the label "genocidal" is carelessly and deviously applied to Israel's actions – throwing its precise meaning in international law out the window. Citing dubious "experts' in the matter does not help either.
Lately a new theme has been systematically to accuse Israel of causing deaths by famine. As recently as August 2025, a UN IPC report declared "famine" in Gaza. The charge is rightly contested. This seemingly political move was made days after Israel announced it would enter Gaza City, the last stronghold of the Hamas forces. The UN IPC, basing its report largely on unreliable Hamas data, also lowered some of its usual criteria for concluding that a famine had been reached. That mistaken venture once again undermined the UN's authority and credibility. There are serious conditions in Gaza, but the blame has to be laid at the feet of the UN for refusing to deliver the aid, and at those of Hamas for stealing the aid then selling it to Gazans at inflated prices.
One need not sacrifice the truth to admit those failures, or completely neglect the misery of death, trauma and displacement in Israel itself. Trends in foreign news media reveal that many seem happy to blame Israel without bothering to get the facts. The BBC, for instance, which has long had a serious bias problem, was corrected dozens of times for its often intentionally misleading reporting. In the background, the UN and its unreliable and often scurrilous reports have had, as probably intended, a distorting impact on the media.[1] The UN's Commission for Human Rights, populated by solid human rights abuser-countries and with its strange and frequently off-the-mark chairperson Volker Turk, has for years made it an everyday job to accuse Israel. Together with the UN's so-called special rapporteur "for the occupied Palestinian territories", Francesca Albanese -- an unprofessional person frequently shown to utter anti-Semitic remarks -- they all have done enormous damage, also as probably intended. Their reports are hardly reliable guides in assessing any aspect of the Middle East. Israel, which will go nowhere, is fighting for its people, its survival and for the survival of the West.
As a state, Israel is well-rooted in international law, contrary to what many uninformed Western critics seem to think. They like to cite what many call the "Leftist fringe" in Israel (such as the newspaper Haaretz: decades ago a worthwhile, respectable paper, but since then (here and here) producing questionable stories and maneuvering itself into the margins. It is read by barely 16% but adored by those in the media who are looking for material with which to demonize Israel ("Even Jews say it!"), or by self-appointed "Jewish spokespersons" in the West to criticize Israel's policies and efforts at self-defense. Peter Beinart comes to mind, or, recently, Omer Bartov, who falsely accused Israel of "genocide".
Mainstream news outlets do not seem aware of the subtleties of internal Israeli debates or that they themselves often perpetuate the stereotypes, prejudices, hate and "blood libels" towards Jews who have trodden through more than 3000 years. Outside powers also interfere in Israeli domestic politics, e.g. by funding government opponents. For example, since 2023, Europe alone has donated more than 13 million euros to them.
The media also neglect -- or deny -- the pervasive humiliation and persecution of Jews since the seventh century in the Arab and Muslim world, and that Arabs were major slave-traders and still are (here and here). Arab and Muslim history may have had episodes of mutual tolerance and cooperation, but it was also full of unpredictable violent outbursts. In 15th century North Africa in the Sahara region, as just one example, there was an extermination of the Jewish community of Tamantit, reportedly motivated by Islamic theology. More recently, the 1941 Farhud in Baghdad, Iraq was a gruesome massacre of Jews.
Seeing the gross media bias, distortion and orchestrated lies in the press coverage and the hypocrisy among so-called progressives, as a non-Jewish (former) leftist, I have woken up, so to speak – despite my still socio-economically left-of-center attitudes. The "progressive" political leftism on this conflict is fake and often utterly mistaken. It is important to realize its sources. Lingering Soviet propaganda is one of them. Yes, right-wing blah-blah on Jews, Israel and the Middle East is also obnoxious (US commentator Tucker Carlson comes to mind), and support for Israel is not, and should not be, just a "right-wing" cause. The so-called progressives of today, however, are of an ideological, history-immune bent and are apparently prepared to sell out the ideals of the Enlightenment: women's emancipation, empirical evidence, reason, justice and compassion, when they collide with their sympathies for certain groups of victims -- in this instance, "the Palestinians". The Palestinians are indeed victims – but of their own corrosive, corrupt leaders -- lavishly funded by Qatar, Iran and Europe –not of Israel or the Jews. It seems that self-appointed progressives love carefully selected "victims", who are never blamed and are usually denied any agency. Of course, Palestinians very much do deserve support and a better chance to live their lives, which includes leaving Gaza if they wish. However, by backing Hamas and other violent jihadist radicals, the supporters of terrorists in the West -- a remarkable number of whom appear to be in academia -- do not give the Palestinians a chance for better lives, careers or governance. These activists spoil the university environment to no good purpose and stimulate Israel -- and Jew-hatred -- even if they vehemently deny it: "We are only anti-Zionist", which has produced exactly nothing and only perpetuates the Palestinians' decay.
The contending parties in this Middle East conflict should, of course, go back to balance, reason, and compassion; those commenting on it should abandon their agitprop on both Israel and the Middle East. We can't escape the need for more fact-based debate. Sympathizers of Hamas-like groups might also do with some study of history. Many do not see that evolved mindsets in the Middle East are quite different from Western ones. The expansionist and violent Islamism of Iran's regime, the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah (and in the background, Qatar) is rooted in dogmatic theological hatred, not in "social justice" or "universal rights", except as defined by shari'a law. This view has only brought repression, misery and death. The Druze community in southern Syria has come under attack from the forces of Syria's new regime, in particular from its associated jihadist militias in what seems horrifying "purging" and mass murder. The Druze and other minorities in Syria are still under direct threat. The world, it seems, barely cares, least of all the "pro-Palestine" demonstrators.
Only Israel has vowed to protect the Druze. It did so despite already being attacked on more than seven fronts if you include international diplomacy, and the risks of escalation. In the rest of the world, no demonstrations were organized in support of the Druze community, certainly not in the West, nor was there any response by organizations such as the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, ICG, Human Rights Watch, or all the so-called "concerned" NGOs.
International mediation has not, so far, been successful, perhaps because there has been too much of it, such as faulty Western interference. Too often, as well, "help" has been delivered by problematic mediators, such as Qatar (which, behind the scenes, seems to have been instructing Hamas to hold out). More local initiatives and dialogues are needed to sort matters out, although such proposals first have to be produced within Palestinian society itself. A commendable initiative was also that of imams from Europe visiting Israel trying to build bridges. European governments and parliaments here offered exactly no follow-up. It may indeed be that in such conflicts as in Gaza, one side must win and the other side be totally defeated - as in World War II – to prevent the dispute from simmering indefinitely. Only that kind of shock might provoke self-reflection, admitting past mistakes, changing mindsets, eventually respecting the different "other", and working toward some sort of new accommodation.
One cannot negotiate when the other side wants your people dead. Up to now, that has been the position of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, jihadists, many other Palestinians and Iran towards Israel and the Jews. As Israel seems to have concluded, this objective cannot be allowed to last.
The most positive development would be to work towards a joint future of recognition of each other's existence, economic exchange and integration, as under the successful Abraham Accords. A fundamental change of regime in Iran would also denote major progress. It may be unrealistic, however, to expect the Iranian people to attempt an uprising again without outside coordination and help, but the departure of bellicose mullahs would certainly help -- as would dismantling Hamas, removing the corrupt and violent Palestinian Authority, and removing the Hezbollah terrorist movement from Lebanon's political and military landscape.
Demonstrations and public protest are, of course, basic rights in the West. In Middle Eastern conflicts, however, they have been biased towards terrorist movements and their supporters, and even largely based on bankrolled disinformation (here, here and here). The resulting boycotts against Israel now in Germany, Spain, the UK and Canada are not even slightly useful; they only serve to completely kill any possibility of negotiating for the release of Hamas's remaining hostages, as well as negatively pressurizing governments (recently the Dutch) into dead-end and biased anti-Israel policies.
Finally, just after France and the UK joined a number of European countries in announcing their intention to "recognize" a "Palestinian state", Hamas published videos of totally emaciated, starved Israeli hostages, one of whom, Evyatar David, was photographed digging his own grave. It is quite clear who is "the bad guy", European recognition or not. Unfortunately but predictably, the UN General Assembly held on September 12, 2025 duly followed suit, endorsing again the so-called "two-state solution". Allying with people dedicated to upholding terror movements, if not subverting international law and dismantling civilizational standards as some Western governments now seem to be doing, may well be a sign of impending political collapse. Israel's legitimate case and wider geopolitical security in the Middle East will not be furthered by it. The frame must be reset.
**Jon Abbink is an anthropologist-historian (emeritus professor). He has worked at the universities of Nijmegen, Amsterdam (UvA and VU) and Leiden in The Netherlands, as well as at Kyoto University, Japan.
[1] Incidentally, the same biased media mechanisms were at play in the conflict in Ethiopia 2020-22. There, the so-called reputable global media took the side of a violent insurgent movement that initiated a war against the federal Ethiopian government with a one-day massacre in November 2020. While the Ethiopian government forces later also engaged in war transgressions, in the past few years the assertions and accusations of the media on the gross abuse of the insurgents were dismantled and shown to be incorrect. No one called the media and their biased reporting to account. Skepticism on these "legacy media" therefore is entirely justified, even more so in the case of the Middle East, and specifically Israel.
© 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.

Qatar crisis reshapes Gulf security architecture
Hassan Al-Mustafa/Arab News/September 21, 2025
The Gulf Cooperation Council’s statement following last week’s emergency summit in Doha established a unified Arab Gulf position supporting Qatar, proclaiming that “council member security remains indivisible” and declaring that “aggression against any member state constitutes aggression against all members.”
The summit’s most consequential decision mandated the Joint Defense Council’s urgent convening in Doha to assess defensive capabilities and activate collective security mechanisms. This transition from diplomatic condemnation to operational planning demonstrates Gulf determination to establish concrete deterrent frameworks, rather than accept Israeli aggression as a precedent.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s immediate pledge that the Kingdom deploy “all its capabilities to support Qatar as it takes measures to protect its security and preserve its sovereignty” exemplifies this shift toward actionable commitment. Riyadh’s position transcends diplomatic courtesy, representing the calculated protection of national and regional interests with the aim of constraining Israel’s future operational choices and preventing the repetition of what Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani termed its “treacherous” aggression.
The Qatari leader’s address to the emergency Arab-Islamic summit conveyed unmistakable anger alongside political rhetoric. Qatari officials repeatedly characterized the Sept. 9 Israeli operation targeting the Hamas leadership in Doha as treacherous.
This perception of betrayal stems from Qatar’s pivotal role in mediating between Israel and Hamas, which is conducted in coordination with Egypt and is backed by Washington. Doha had welcomed Israeli Mossad delegations during sensitive negotiations, creating reasonable expectations of operational immunity. Qatar viewed the attack as undermining hostage and prisoner release efforts.
Sheikh Tamim stated categorically: “We were subjected to a treacherous attack that targeted a residence housing the families of Hamas leaders and their negotiating delegation.” He characterized it as “a flagrant violation of (Qatar’s) sovereignty and security and a clear violation of the rules and principles of international law.”
For Gulf states known for their patient, calculated responses, such public displays of anger signal the fundamental violation of boundaries — precisely Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s transgression.
Following his military victories against resistance forces, Gaza’s devastation and Israel’s confrontation with Iran, the Israeli PM perceives an unprecedented opportunity for regional dominance. Gulf states are determined to establish concrete deterrent frameworks, rather than accept Israeli aggression.
This assessment, reinforced by an extreme right-wing expansionist ideology and “Greater Israel” ambitions, drove the decision to attack a peace-engaged state, despite understanding the significance of Qatar’s mediation and while disregarding the constraints of international law. Netanyahu’s display of power generated extensive Islamic-Arab solidarity with Qatar. Participants at the emergency summit demonstrated this support clearly. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi argued that the Israeli approach “undermines the future of peace … and even aborts the existing peace agreements with countries in the region.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that Israel had exceeded all boundaries, requiring a unified response and international legal accountability. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that summit participants translate their declarations into “concrete actions, including economic pressure.”
While politically significant, this solidarity raises questions about the possible subsequent steps and pressure mechanisms that are available to Arab and Islamic states seeking accountability for Israel. Popular sentiment favors severing Israeli relations, replacing American security arrangements with Russian or Chinese alternatives, and establishing new military partnerships. Yet these proposals reflect emotion rather than strategic viability.
Saudi analyst Abdulrahman Al-Rashed offered a sobering assessment in his Sept. 14 Asharq Al-Awsat column, advocating realism over wishful thinking. “The Arab countries that have relations with Israel will not sever them, the countries hosting Washington’s military bases will not close them, Egypt will not withdraw from the gas import agreement, and Mahmoud Abbas will not leave power in Ramallah,” he observed. He characterized these as “high political prices and, even if the countries concerned sacrifice them, neither they nor the Palestinians will obtain any concessions or victories in return.” He advocated expectations based on “what can be achieved within a practical political horizon, not on unrealistic proposals.”
The most feasible approach involves supporting the Saudi-French initiatives promoting the implementation of the two-state solution, expanding the recognition of a Palestinian state and encouraging American engagement in comprehensive peace processes, while developing Arab or Gulf capabilities to create regional security networks that limit Israeli aggression and constrain its expansionist objectives.
Gulf states have consistently demonstrated a capacity for transcending disagreements during crises that affect their shared interests — a reflection of the fundamental values in regional political culture. Activating joint defense mechanisms, coordinated diplomacy and comprehensive partnerships across the economic, security and political dimensions could establish effective barriers preventing any further Israeli aggression.
*Hassan Al-Mustafa is a Saudi writer and researcher interested in Islamic movements, the development of religious discourse and the relationship between the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Iran. X: @Halmustafa

High stakes at UN’s annual Climate Week
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/September 21, 2025
UN Climate Week has begun its 17th edition, convening in New York City under the theme “Power On.” This runs parallel to UN General Assembly High-Level Week and will gather people from different areas, including heads of government, corporate leaders, civil society actors and researchers. The discussions occur at a pivotal moment, as states also prepare for November’s COP30 climate change conference in Belem, Brazil. The deliberations in New York highlight the central debates shaping the UN climate agenda and the steps that ought to be taken to translate commitments into tangible and verifiable outcomes. One of the issues to concentrate on is the persistent gap between global climate pledges and implementation. Despite successive rounds of announcements, aggregate greenhouse gas emissions remain inconsistent with trajectories compatible with the Paris Agreement’s goals. This is partially because the financing of adaptation and resilience measures in developing economies remains particularly constrained, even as estimates of annual needs continue to rise.
As a result, it is critical to align political will, financial flows and technical standards in advance of COP30. Brazil’s hosting of the conference will most likely expand key debates on tropical forests, financing instruments and indigenous rights, given the centrality of the Amazon to global climate stability. A second important issue to focus on is the scale and allocation of climate finance. While commitments from various actors appear to have grown, flows toward adaptation continue to lag behind those for mitigation. Some private sector investments tend to favor renewable energy and low-carbon infrastructure in middle-income markets, leaving the most vulnerable countries underserved. Therefore, paths should be designed to make adaptation projects more attractive to private capital. There is also a focus on creating investment vehicles that can bring in private finance without displacing the limited public resources that remain critical for high-need adaptation projects.
A third issue is related to the modes of delivery. Current channels, which include multilateral development banks, national budgets and project-based instruments, seem to be inadequate in terms of meeting projected adaptation needs. As a result, there ought to be more attention paid to project preparation facilities and technical assistance to allow the translation of pledged funds into outcomes on the ground.
It is worth noting that this year’s theme, “Power On,” is highlighting the increase in renewable energy deployment, grid modernization and efficient-energy strategies. Discussions should extend beyond technology to encompass just transition policies that address the socioeconomic impacts of the phasing out of fossil fuels. This is due to the notion that the international community needs to ensure there are equitable outcomes for workers and regions that are dependent on hydrocarbons. Energy transitions must be socially sustainable as well as environmentally necessary, particularly in developing economies and regions facing high energy poverty.
The debates will shape the steps to be taken to translate commitments into tangible and verifiable outcomes.
A fourth issue is the governance of tropical forest finance. Brazil’s proposed tropical forest financing facility is intended to mobilize significant capital, yet some believe that it raises questions regarding safeguards, baseline measurement, permanence and indigenous participation. This can be addressed by an effective design that ensures the protection of rights and verifiable conservation outcomes, particularly in the context of the Amazon’s ecological and cultural importance. There also needs to be robust monitoring, reporting and verification systems to ensure that financial flows translate into tangible reductions in deforestation and degradation, while also providing meaningful benefits to local communities.
Another key theme that is normally discussed at the UNGA is accountability and measurement. Some argue that there is a need for third-party-verified metrics to track both emissions reductions and resilience outcomes. Transparent and standardized climate finance reporting and nonstate contributions are a central tenet of the credibility of the international climate regime. There should be the capability to monitor progress and enforce accountability. Another topic, in addition to the technical and financial dimensions, is the broader challenge of how to implement climate commitments within complex political and social contexts. The credibility of climate action depends on how measurable outcomes are delivered by institutions, rather than the accumulation of pledges. Potential methods include linking decarbonization to social protections and embedding safeguards within finance mechanisms.
The participation of local governments, civil society organizations and indigenous communities is central to the successful implementation and long-term sustainability of climate change projects. But there seems to have been a clear shift from rhetorical ambition to the practical, technical and political work of implementation at the 2025 UNGA debate on climate change. Nevertheless, we should remember that the international climate regime’s credibility depends on measurability and accountability. This means the capacity to track finance, produce adaptation outcomes, reduce emissions and ensure social protections with precision. The focus ought to be on designing systems and instruments that can translate intent into action. The effectiveness of international climate efforts will be determined not by further promises and pledges, but by the ability of institutional and financial arrangements to produce verifiable outcomes at the necessary scale and speed. Finally, the exploration of innovative approaches, from new blended finance structures to decentralized monitoring systems, should be continued. Climate action requires coordination between governments, financial institutions, private corporations and civil society. This multifaceted and integrated approach reinforces the notion that measurable climate solutions reflect the complex, interconnected nature of contemporary climate governance.
In a nutshell, this week’s crucial UNGA climate change debate should focus on the convergence of science, policy and finance in the pursuit of actionable climate solutions. Bringing together diverse people and institutions helps realize global commitments. Accountability, transparency and rigor in implementation are also essential to meeting any climate-related objectives.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Time to delink climate action from Western election swings
Arnab Neil Sengupta/Arab News/September 21, 2025
The publication of a recent US Department of Energy report, which evaluates the impact of greenhouse gases on the American climate, has triggered a debate that has long been whispered outside Western capitals but rarely acknowledged within them: How reliable is climate science and how wise has it been to entrust such an important subject to the shifting trends in Western politics and academia? In recent decades, climate change has been treated not simply as a scientific challenge but as a moral crusade. International conferences, sweeping pledges and grand declarations have often run far ahead of financial feasibility. Policymakers, particularly in the West, pushed ambitious timelines for “energy transition” and “net zero,” mostly based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s warning with very high confidence that anthropogenic warming is the primary driver of observed warming.
However, there is uncertainty concerning the exact magnitude, pace and regional effects. Even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which uses the most rigorous climate science for its periodic reports, admits that attributing short-lived weather events to climate change is difficult. The US Department of Energy report, by opening the door to reassessing how greenhouse gases actually affect the climate, should be welcomed as an opportunity to depoliticize climate science and anchor global action to evidence, economic realities and innovation.
For a start, the climate is too important to be left to the short attention spans of Western politicians. Political cycles last four or five years; by contrast, the climate operates on scales of decades or centuries. When one party is in power, climate policies are inflated with lofty promises and costly commitments. When the political pendulum swings, those policies are dismantled or reversed. This lurching from one extreme to another has made genuine progress nearly impossible.
The loudest voices on climate policy have often been a Western academic and activist elite with unapologetically liberal worldviews. That perspective has not always matched the harsh realities of developing economies, where cheap, reliable fossil fuels remain indispensable to growth, stability and poverty alleviation. The insistence on abrupt transitions has sometimes been little more than dogma dressed as science.
Despite decades of rhetoric warning of imminent scarcity, the world remains rich in fossil energy. Estimates of proven reserves — technologically and economically recoverable at today’s prices — suggest that coal, oil and gas can continue to support the global economy for decades at present consumption. This is not an argument for destroying the planet but a reminder that the foundations of continued industrial growth and energy security remain intact. To pretend otherwise is to live in a world of illusion.
Many of the costly policies forced on the international community under the climate banner were not backed up by scientific certainty. Subsidies for renewable technologies, bans on internal combustion engines and punitive carbon taxes have often preceded the technological readiness or affordability of alternatives. The resulting backlash — from European farmers to British consumers — was almost inevitable. It is a cautionary tale of what happens when ideology overtakes science.
The insistence on abrupt transitions has sometimes been little more than dogma dressed as science. The return of Donald Trump to the White House has already overturned many of the assumptions that informed Western climate policy. For some, this is a betrayal. But it could very well be a reset. By stripping climate change of its ideological baggage, the world can rebuild an agenda that is based on scientific evidence, technological progress and economic pragmatism. This does not mean abandoning renewable energy or electric vehicles. They remain attractive for reasons that have little to do with climate models: cleaner air in crowded cities, public health improvements, reduced dependence on imported fuel, and the creation of cutting-edge industries. Gulf countries, for instance, are pursuing net-zero strategies not because Washington or Brussels demand it, but because diversification and innovation are central to their national interests. For all we know, technological breakthroughs will ultimately do more to solve climate challenges than conferences or slogans. Advanced nuclear power, carbon capture, green hydrogen and next-generation batteries are emerging clean energy fields that require investment and patience. Depoliticizing climate science would allow these technologies to be judged on their merits, not on the ideological leanings of their advocates.
To be certain, it would be naive to dismiss the risks altogether. To state that fossil fuels remain abundant is not to claim that their continued use will carry no costs.
Researchers believe climate change has made torrential downpours more frequent across the globe. Extreme weather events — floods, fires and hurricanes — are increasingly visible and, for many communities, they do seem to be intensifying. Even though proving that any one storm, heat wave or drought was caused by global warming is difficult, the lived reality cannot be ignored. Average global temperatures continue to rise, having reached 1.48 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in 2023, and each summer seems hotter than the last. This affects agriculture, water security and public health. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said that 2024 was the warmest year on land and sea since record-keeping began in 1850, while the 10 warmest years in the 175-year record have all occurred during the past decade.
To sum up, the credibility of climate science itself suffers when uncertainties are glossed over. As climate scientists themselves keep saying, predictions are probabilistic, not absolute. Admitting this truth openly will strengthen public trust and allow societies, both rich and poor, to prepare better for the worst-case scenarios. The US Department of Energy report should be seen not as a setback to climate action but as an invitation to realign it with reality. Multiple studies have found that policy reversals tied to elections stall investment and slow transitions. Climate science should not be a hostage to the doctrines of the fashionable left or the populist right. It should be the rock-solid common foundation on which long-term national strategies are built.
**Arnab Neil Sengupta is a senior editor at Arab News. X: @arnabnsg

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and a 'Masterstroke'
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 21/2025
"Everyone I asked about the mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan - signed in Riyadh in the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif - gave the same response: 'A masterstroke.'This was the reaction of elites and the general public alike, as well as diplomats in the region and experts. It is a correct and accurate reaction to the signing of this important and historic pact for several reasons. It carries significant implications for both the present and the past. First, this is indeed a historic agreement with deep historical roots. It is a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” aimed at “developing aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthening joint deterrence against any aggression.”Most importantly, it states that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”After its signing, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz posted on X (formerly Twitter): “KSA and Pakistan.. One front against any aggressor.. Always and forever.”
So why is this a ‘masterstroke’?
As mentioned, this agreement has historical depth and significance. The Saudi-Pakistani relationship is built on solid foundations and long-standing commitments between the two states - the result of investments in a historical strategic relationship recognized by any informed observer. It is a strategic agreement between a military, economic, spiritual, and diplomatic power, which is Saudi Arabia, and a Pakistani military Islamic power that possesses nuclear capabilities and a diverse military industry, not to mention a large population base and a strategically important geographic location.
It is a 'masterstroke' because it reflects a clear understanding of how to prioritize especially considering that Pakistan is not an adventurous or expansionist state, but one that seeks development and stability. For Saudi Arabia, it represents diversification in its alliances, which is natural for a country striving for peace, stability, prosperity, and economic and social transformation. It’s a country that promotes political solutions not just regionally, but globally.
Saudi Arabia, as we’ve been saying for years, is an open workshop for change and development. Yet it finds itself in a region veering into unpredictable directions, especially since the events of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing wars and military strikes in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Yemen.
Most recently, an Israeli strike targeted Hamas leaders in Doha, which represents the most dangerous shift in the known rules of engagement since the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt, and for the Gulf States, since Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Saudi Arabia is a key player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, being the initiator of the Arab Peace Initiative and the main supporter of the Palestinian cause amid ongoing dangerous regional shifts since October 7. It is a member of the G20, a trusted international mediator in the Ukraine-Russia crisis, and a real stabilizing force supporting Syria’s recovery. It is also helping Arab governments resist the expansion of militias across the region. One only needs to consider the number of Arab, Islamic, and international leaders who have visited Saudi Arabia in the past two years. Therefore, the pact is truly a 'masterstroke,’ the product of a steadily evolving historical context, not a hasty leap into the unknown. It represents a serious strategic step and a demonstration of genuine Saudi political know-how, from a country that continues to change and develop based on partnerships - not expansionist ambitions – aiming to broaden the scope of moderation, growth, and peace.

Slected X tweets For September 21/2025
Pope Leo XIV
Dear representatives of various Catholic associations, committed to showing solidarity with the population of the Gaza Strip! I appreciate your initiative and the many others throughout the Church that express closeness to the brothers and sisters suffering in that tormented land. Together with you and the pastors of the Churches in the Holy Land, I repeat: there is no future based on violence, forced exile, or revenge. People need peace: those who truly love them, work for peace.

Pope Leo XIV
Let us #PrayTogether that the leaders of nations may be free from the temptation to use wealth against humanity, turning it into weapons that destroy peoples and monopolies that demean workers. Whoever serves God becomes free from wealth, but whoever serves wealth remains its slave! Whoever seeks justice transforms wealth into the common good; whoever seeks domination transforms the common good into the prey of their own greed.

איוב קרא ايوب قرا ayoob kara
اليوم الساعه ثلاثه بعد الظهر بناء عن توكيل منً الهيئه الروحيه في السويداء سنعلن في موءتمر باريس عن حق السويداء في تقرير مصيرها والاستقلالية التامه. من هذا اليوم التاريخي 21.9.2025 اصبحت السويداء دوله /كونفدرالية مستقلة تتعايش مع كل دول العالم بسلام وتعاون اقتصادي لكي تكون قسم من الاتفاقيات الابراهميه في الشرق الاوسط
ايوب قرا
היום בשעה 15:00, בהתבסס על מנדט מהמועצה הרוחנית בסווידה, נכריז בוועידת פריז על זכותה של סווידה להגדרה עצמית ועצמאות מלאה. החל מיום היסטורי זה, 21 בספטמבר 2025, סווידה הפכה למדינה/קונפדרציה עצמאית המתקיימת בדו-קיום עם כל מדינות העולם בשלום ובשיתוף פעולה כלכלי, ובכך הפכה לחלק מהסכמי אברהם במזרח התיכון.
איוב קרא
Today at 3:00 PM, based on a mandate from the Spiritual Council in Sweida, we will announce at the Paris Conference Sweida's right to self-determination and full independence. From this historic day, September 21.1.#2025, Sweida has become an independent state/confederation coexisting with all countries of the world in peace and economic cooperation, thus becoming part of the Abraham Accords in the Middle East.
Ayyub Kara
Aujourd'hui à 15h00, conformément au mandat du Conseil spirituel de Soueida, nous proclamerons lors de la Conférence de Paris le droit de Soueida à l'autodétermination et à la pleine indépendance. Depuis ce jour historique, le 21 septembre 2025, Soueida est devenue un État/confédération indépendant coexistant avec tous les pays du monde dans la paix et la coopération économique, adhérant ainsi aux accords d'Abraham au Moyen-Orient.
Ayyub Kara

Dr Walid Phares
Latakiya US base?
The United States should consider establishing a major base port on the Syrian coast, with #Latakia (possibly) being the optimal location. Such a presence would enhance security in the eastern Mediterranean and strategically complement the reactivation of #Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. An expeditionary force based in Latakia could consist of approximately 20,000 military personnel.

Syria Justice Archive
As-Suwayda: Large-scale protests took place in Al-Karama Square in the city of As-Suwayda, calling for the right to self-determination. Demonstrators raised the flags of the Druze community, the United States, and Israel.
The protest comes at the same time that Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in the United States, ahead of a planned visit by the terrorist Abu Mohammad al-Julani to sign a security agreement with Israel aimed at consolidating the rule of the terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (an al-Qaeda affiliate) in Syria.

Benjamin Netanyahu:
https://x.com/i/status/1969792487452823740
"I got a message to the same leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the October 7 horrifying massacre: you reward terrorism. And I got another message: There will not be a Palestinian state."

Mossad Commentary
To Canada, the UK, and Australia: SHAME ON YOU FOR DECLARING A PALESTINIAN STATE!
From the heartland of Israel, my response is simple:
• This is not a “Palestinian state.” This is Jewish land for 3,500 years.
• You are weak and naïve, lecturing us while your own cities crumble under foreign flags.
• You just recognized a Trojan horse for jihad, not peace.
• Israel will never retreat. We will annex Judea & Samaria, extend sovereignty, and live here forever.
One state. One people. One land.

Dr Walid Phares
Jihadists are indoctrinated by ideologues in a way that no amount of money can bring about reform. Jihadists are defeated not by force alone, but by reformers who challenge the ideology at its core.

Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון
Empty declarations that ignore the reality and the sinister forces of our region do not advance anything. No declaration of any country will change the simple fact that before everything the hostages must be returned and that Hamas must be defeated. The defeat of Hamas and the end of the war will not be achieved by performative speeches at the UN, but by the

Israel Foreign Ministry
In response to the statement of the U.K. and some other countries regarding the recognition of a Palestinian state:
Israel categorically rejects the one-sided declaration of the recognition of a Palestinian state made by the United Kingdom and some other countries.
This declaration does not promote peace, but on the contrary - further destabilizes the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future.
Called by Hamas leaders “the fruits of the October 7 massacre”, the declaration not only rewards the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust by a terror organization that is calling and acting for the annihilation of Israel, but also solidifies the support Hamas enjoys.
It is destructive to separate statehood – one of the final status issues – from peace.
This move goes against all logic of negotiation and reaching a compromise between two sides, and it will push the desired peace further away.
Moreover, The Palestinian Authority did not meet any of its requirements and obligations; it did not stop neither the incitement, nor the pay-for-slay policy, nor did it take the required measures to combat terrorism – as demonstrated recently with the discovery of rockets and missiles near Ramallah last week.
The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem and not part of the solution. This is also the reason why the United States imposed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and prevented its senior officials from entering its territory.
In any case, Israel will not accept any detached and imaginary text that attempts to force it to accept indefensible borders. Political gestures aimed at a domestic voting audience only harm the Middle East and are not helpful. Instead, if the countries that signed this declaration truly wish to stabilize the region, they should focus on pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and to disarm immediately.

Ambassador Mike Huckabee
https://x.com/i/status/1969780105422528547
Today we mark the joyous occasion of Rosh HaShanah. We know this has been a trying time for the Jewish people, but we pray that the new year brings renewed blessings and a resurgence of hope. Now, bear with me as Rabbi ShemTov teaches me how to blow the shofar. Shanah Tovah!

JD Vance
Last week, we brought my dear friend Charlie Kirk home one last time.
Today, we return to Arizona to remember Charlie and honor his sacrifice. May he eternally rest in peace, and may God watch over Erika and their beautiful children.