English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 21/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are
First Letter of John 03/01-10: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.”

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 20-21/2026
Israel will expose and dismantle Erdogan's Ottoman illusions and ambitions, just as it exposed and defeated the hallucinations of the Iranian axis of evil./Elias Bejjani/August 20/2026
General Labor Confederation President Bechara Al-Asmar Appointed Chairman of the Social Security Fund Board… What a Choice/Elias Bejjani/August 18/2026
A Political Class Hatched by the Incubators of Occupations/Elias Bejjani/August 18/2026
US amends Hezbollah designation to specify it as an Iranian proxy, not Lebanese resistance
US hits Hezbollah with fresh sanctions, emphasizing ties to Iranian government
Israel Moves to Gradually Seize Ali al-Taher After Hezbollah Rejects Evacuation
IMF welcomes Lebanon bank law changes as ‘major step’
Vatican expresses 'serious concerns' over Israel-Lebanon deal implementation
Strikes, shelling and demolitions in south Lebanon: Latest developments
Has Hezbollah offered to withdraw from Ali al-Taher?
Is the US serious about talking to Hezbollah?
Berri says ending UNIFIL is 'greatest crime against south'
Report: US to name new pilot zone if Lebanon and Israel fail to agree
Major UAE business delegation set to visit Lebanon: Can renewed interest turn into real investment?
Syria receives Assad-era general after extradition from Lebanon
From Zahrani to the region: Lebanon eyes renewed role on energy map
US Embassy welcomes Banking Resolution Law, calls for further action
UNIFIL says peacekeepers remain fully committed to their mandate in south Lebanon
Vatican Says 'Serious Concerns' over Israel-Lebanon Deal Implementation
Saudi Ambassador Inaugurates 3rd Phase of Lebanese Land Exports to the Kingdom
Khaddam Recounts Final Damascus Meeting… Bashar to Hariri: ‘Whoever Defies Me, I Will Break His Bones’
Like Iraq, Lebanon Must Arrest Militia Commanders/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/ This Is Beirut/August 20/2026
Canadian official condemns Israel's 'unlawful invasion', announces new aid to Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 20-21/2026
Katz: Erdogan 'Dragging Türkiye Into Dangerous Adventures in Syria'
Syria Says No Turkish Build-up Planned
Turkey denies military visit to Syria air base hit by Israel
Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar Condemn Israeli Attacks on Gaza, Call on Israel to Comply with Ceasefire Obligations
Israel slams UK demand to halt West Bank settlement project
Key European leaders demand Israel halt West Bank settlement project
Israelis return to last West Bank settlement closed over 20 years ago
Syrian Kurdish leader says integration with Damascus complete
Syrian police investigator to face prosecution after detainee with hemophilia dies
Iran Executes Afghan National over 2026 Protests
Sources: Ghalibaf’s Baghdad Visit Fell Short of All Objectives
Ghalibaf Discusses Iranian Plan in Baghdad to ‘Hide’ Faction Weapons
Bessent says US will impose toughest ever sanctions on Iran, urges China to cooperate
New US carrier arrives in Mideast to relieve long-deployed ship
Iran condemns new US sanctions, calls them ‘economic terrorism’
Trump pledges 'economic warfare' on Iran, prompting Tehran derision
Oman says lasting security in Strait of Hormuz requires regional peace
US approves $4.5 bln sale of KC-46A refueling aircraft to Qatar
Foreigners with connections to IRGC killed in Yemen
US sends 20 deportees to Liberia, part of 1,200 migrants the country will receive

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 20-21/2026
Islamismes et politiques de subversion/Dr. Charles Chartouni/Ici Beyrouth/août 20/2026
Islamisms and Politics of Subversion/Dr. Charles Chartouni/Ici Beyrouth/August 20/2026
Israel lessens strikes after US-backed disarmament plan, rejects initial withdrawal; IDF reports 16 Gaza ceasefire violations July 31-August 18/Samuel Ben-Ur/ FDD's Long War Journal/August 20/2026
Russia helps Iran sharpen its sword/FDD's Long War Journal/August 20/2026
Tehran’s Negotiators Are Not a Counterweight to the IRGC/Janatan Sayeh/ Policy Brief-FDD/August 20/2026
Israel Is Drawing the Line Against Turkey in Syria/Ahmad Sharawi/ Policy Brief-FDD/August 20/2026
Palestinians' Preferred Leaders: A Convicted Fatah Terrorist or Hamas/Bassam Tawil/ Gatestone Institute/August 20, 2026
Backwardness as a Cultural Condition: The Role of Religion/Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 20/2026
Libya Absolutely Rejects the Settlement of Migrants/Dr. Jebril El-Abidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 20/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on August 20/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 20-21/2026
Israel will expose and dismantle Erdogan's Ottoman illusions and ambitions, just as it exposed and defeated the hallucinations of the Iranian axis of evil.
Elias Bejjani/August 20/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156826/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqIzZHNWY4I
The state of Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has proven its exceptional ability to completely alter the face of the region, thereby exposing the ugly reality of jihadist political Islam and the Iranian axis of evil, which was long built upon illusions, hallucinations, populist daydreams, and wishful thinking. By delivering precise intelligence and military strikes, Israel succeeded in eliminating the core of the mullahs' axis of evil. The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and all Hezbollah leaders from the first, second, and third tiers proved beyond a doubt that Israeli intelligence knows the inner workings of this Iranian terrorist organization better than its own leaders, masters, and patrons among the mullahs of Iran. The exact same firm policy was applied to the jihadist Hamas, culminating in forcing it to accept in principle to surrender power in Gaza and lay down its arms, regardless of its ongoing attempts to hide behind taqiyya (dissimulation) or temporary political maneuvering.
This visionary and leading Israeli approach did not stop at shattering the myth of the mullahs' regime and dismantling its false slogans through the assassination of its political, military, and nuclear scientific leaders—carried out in cooperation with the United States under President Trump. Rather, it dragged the jihadist mullahs' regime in Iran into a state of absolute strategic weakness. This weakness will inevitably open the door soon for the oppressed and persecuted Iranian people to overthrow the criminal mullahs' regime, which is obsolete, rooted in the darkness of eras of raids and ignorance, and utterly disconnected from the demands of the modern age.
In the same context, Israel is firmly moving today to expose and dismantle the dreams, schemes, incursions, and illusions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who seeks to revive Ottoman ambitions and acts as the prominent patron of Islamist jihadists. Just as the Iranian illusion collapsed, the failure of Erdogan's Turkish gambits will come as a shock to several regional capitals—foremost among them Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Pakistan—that were fooled by the deception that Erdogan is a strong, effective leader capable of ending Israel's regional role or casting it into the sea.
As part of containing these expansive, delusional, deceitful, and populist Ottoman plots, Israeli warplanes carried out precise strikes deep inside Syrian territory on August 18, targeting the "Abu Duhur airbase" in the Idlib governorate, roughly 70 kilometers south of the Turkish border. Eight strikes hit the base's runway and storage facilities.
This decisive military action came after intelligence and satellite surveillance detected the entry of a high-level, highly experienced Turkish military and intelligence delegation into the "Abu Duhur airbase" in Syria's Idlib governorate, in preparation for the Turkish military to seize control of it and threaten the freedom of Israeli aerial navigation. The Israeli forces waited until the Turkish delegation departed before striking the base, thereby drawing a definitive red line against Erdogan and his evil ambitions. While the Israeli Prime Minister's Office indicated that a previous security understanding existed with Damascus to prevent breaches of the status quo by allowing Turkish forces to deploy, Syrian jihadist officials rushed—to save face regionally, nationally, and islamically—to deny the existence of any such understanding, condemning the strikes as a violation of sovereignty. Meanwhile the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack—who is a personal supporter of Erdogan's project and entirely ignorant of the region's history—expressed his concern over this escalation.
Israel, which has always been clear regarding its red lines, has maintained a secure buffer zone inside Syria since the collapse of "Bashar al-Assad's regime" in December 2024, and has executed preemptive strikes against bases slated for Turkish occupation, such as the T4 airbase in February 2025.
There is no doubt that the current Syrian leadership, led by al-Golani (Ahmed al-Sharaa), falls under direct Turkish hegemony and control; Ankara occupies a third of Syrian territory via 12 military bases, and its overt objective is to reach the Israeli border through terrorist jihadist organizations, mirroring the role played by the Jihadist-Iranian terrorist Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
In conclusion, Erdogan—with his jihadist, Islamist, and expansionist Ottoman illusions and schemes—represents the real and operational threat looming over the Middle East. This rancorous Islamist, dreaming of reviving an empire buried in the depths of time, poses a grave strategic threat that dwarfs the danger of Iran's mullahs and their criminal regime. He openly flaunts his blatant hostility toward the state of Israel while exploiting regional alliances to advance his agenda. His expansionist, Ottoman-minded Muslim Brotherhood project threatens Arab nations collectively, not just Israel, especially given that Israel's objective is to forge peace and cooperative agreements with regional states through the civilized, peaceful, and economic Abraham Accords, rather than threatening them, occupying their lands, and spreading jihadist organizations as Erdogan and the Iranian mullahs' regime do.
Consequently, a strong, visionary Israel dedicated to peace, stability, openness, freedom, and a dignified life will unquestionably not allow Erdogan to execute his expansionist and radical Islamist project. It will not hesitate to apply the exact same rigorous military rules used to subdue the mullahs' regime and its evil proxies—Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis—to shatter Erdogan's illusions and expose the reality of his power and capabilities.

General Labor Confederation President Bechara Al-Asmar Appointed Chairman of the Social Security Fund Board… What a Choice!
Elias Bejjani/August 18/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156755/
With each passing day, enlightened, free, and sovereignty-minded Lebanese become increasingly convinced that the tenure of Joseph Aoun and the government of Nawaf Salam, along with most of those who revolve within the orbit of power, the owners of the country’s political parties enterprises and political parties agencies, and their networks of vested interests, is nothing more than a blatant and transparent continuation of the approach that ruled Lebanon throughout the years of Syrian and Iranian occupations.
From this perspective, the election of Bechara Al-Asmar, President of the General Labor Confederation, as Chairman of the Board of the National Social Security Fund can only be understood within the context of the continuation of the same ruling establishment that brought the country to collapse and whose real levers of power remain firmly in the hands of Nabih Berri and Hezbollah.
It is well known that the General Labor Confederation, which was supposed to serve as the umbrella defending the rights of Lebanese workers, has for many years been transformed into an instrument subordinate to the political establishment and its apparatuses, losing both its independence and its genuine trade-union role. In the eyes of large numbers of Lebanese workers, the Confederation no longer represents their interests or aspirations. Instead, it has become part of a system of political patronage and dependency that has stripped national institutions of their true purpose and national character.
The experience of past decades confirms that the majority of labor and professional unions that fell under the domination of the traditional political parties—the poisonous legacy of successive occupations—have been transformed into tools of political and electoral mobilization rather than institutions dedicated to defending the rights of their members.
In this context, the names of Bechara Al-Asmar and Bassam Tlais stand out as prominent figures within a union structure that has become closely associated with the projects and interests of the forces dominating Lebanon’s political decision-making, foremost among them the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
If the National Social Security Fund constitutes the last social safety net for hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens, then placing it under the management of figures affiliated with the same political establishment raises legitimate concerns among citizens who have suffered from corruption, waste, and political patronage throughout the past decades. Genuine reform begins by removing public institutions from the influence of political parties and occupation forces and restoring them to competent, experienced, and independent leadership.
In recent years, the Lebanese people have endured an unprecedented financial and economic collapse, while the official union leadership remained largely absent from any serious and effective defense of workers, retirees, and low-income citizens. It also failed to prevent the erosion of wages, protect social security and mutual assistance funds, or confront policies that pushed hundreds of thousands of Lebanese into poverty and forced many into emigration.
Accordingly, what is required is not merely opposition to the appointment of this individual, Rather, it is a fundamental reassessment of Lebanon’s labor movement, its liberation from partisan and political tutelage and from subservience to occupation forces, and the enactment of modern laws that guarantee its independence and transparency, thereby restoring its natural role as the foremost defender of workers’ rights and interests.
In conclusion, the heresy of installing Bechara Al-Asmar at the head of the National Social Security Fund Board under the false pretense and deception of an “election” constitutes yet another indication that the mentality of political quotas and patronage still controls the state and its institutions, and that the presidency tenure of Joseph Aoun and the government of Nawaf Salam serves merely as a façade for Iranian domination as represented by Nabih Berri and Hezbollah.
Real reform will begin only when Lebanon frees itself from occupation and when competence, integrity, and independence become the sole criteria for assuming public office, free from partisan loyalties and regional agendas.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

A Political Class Hatched by the Incubators of Occupations
Elias Bejjani/August 18/2026
The entire political class, from top to bottom, from the middle to the seventies, is a scumbag, hatched by the incubators of occupations... emasculated, with fabricated files, opportunists, corrupt, narcissistic, with no vision or cause. And there are no exceptions... politicians, party-owning companies, religious figures, and rulers who are themselves ruled. And of course, the flocks of sheep belonging to the party-owning companies.

US amends Hezbollah designation to specify it as an Iranian proxy, not Lebanese resistance
Al Arabiya English/20 August ,2026
The US has formally amended its designation of Lebanese Hezbollah to specify that the group is an Iranian proxy, “not a stand-alone operation as implied by the previous designation,” a State Department official said Thursday. Executive Order 13224 now specifically states that Hezbollah has been sanctioned for acting for or on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF). The amendment underscores that Hezbollah operates with little to no regard for Lebanese sovereignty, the Lebanese people, or the Lebanese state, the official said. “This determination formally recognizes that Hezbollah’s military operations, external security activities, and major financing networks function as an extension of the IRGC-QF, Iran’s primary instrument for conducting terrorism beyond its borders,” the official said. “It is not a Lebanese resistance movement.”The official pointed to Hezbollah officials’ repeated pledges of loyalty and allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader, saying the Quds Force also exerts decisive influence over the group’s military and strategic decisions. Washington remains committed to disrupting the networks that enable Iran to use Hezbollah as a tool to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, threaten regional stability, and advance Tehran’s terrorist agenda, the official said. The official also accused Hezbollah of twice dragging Lebanon into devastating wars with Israel over the past two years, saying the group remains an obstacle to Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability, and economic recovery.
Beirut has banned Hezbollah’s military and intelligence activities, but the group has refused to surrender its weapons and come fully under state authority. “The disarmament and dismantlement of Hezbollah is essential for any credible path forward for Lebanon, and we are working with partners to advance that goal,” the State Department official said.

US hits Hezbollah with fresh sanctions, emphasizing ties to Iranian government
Reuters/20 August ,2026
The US on Thursday issued fresh sanctions targeting Lebanon’s Hezbollah, including re-designating it over actions on behalf of the Iranian government, according to a statement seen by Reuters. The Treasury Department redesignated the group “for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force,” according to the statement. A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the redesignation was intended to show that Hezbollah is acting on behalf of the Iranian government, specifically Iran’s Quds Force. Hezbollah was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2001. Hezbollah is both a political party and an armed group in Lebanon. Sanctions seek to disrupt funding networks and isolate targets by imposing asset freezes, banning banks from dealing with named entities and prohibiting the flow of goods, services and material support. The US official said Thursday’s move was not part of new actions the US has vowed it will take against Iran. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday of economic consequences against any country that provided “any type of lifeline to Iran” as the United States looks to resolve a war it began alongside Israel nearly six months ago. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier on Thursday that he would hold a press conference on Monday about “the toughest sanctions in history” that Washington plans to impose on Iran. The US sanctions on Thursday also designated 10 people whom it accused of smuggling cash for Hezbollah, targeting a Turkish businessman who Washington said manages a network of couriers moving money between countries in the region and Hezbollah’s base in Lebanon. The businessman uses Turkey-based exchange houses as fronts and provided front companies and bank accounts for money transfers connected with the Quds Force, according to the statement. Several couriers were targeted in the action. Iran’s IRGC founded Hezbollah in 1982 during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, part of Tehran’s effort to export its 1979 Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon in 1982. Hezbollah runs its own social services, including schools and hospitals, and has solid backing among Lebanon’s Shia Muslims.

Israel Moves to Gradually Seize Ali al-Taher After Hezbollah Rejects Evacuation
Beirut: Nazir Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 20/2026
Israel is seeking to gradually seize the strategic Ali al-Taher Heights east of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, while piling diplomatic pressure on the Lebanese state and Hezbollah, which categorically rejects any discussion of evacuating the site, according to sources familiar with the group’s position.
The standoff raises the risk that Israel could turn to a “third option”: resuming fighting in southern Lebanon.Hezbollah’s refusal to discuss evacuating Ali al-Taher rests on one point: the site lies “north of the Litani River,” sources familiar with the group’s position told Asharq Al-Awsat. The group “insists on implementing the Nov. 27, 2024 agreement, based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which provides for an end to the aggression, an Israeli withdrawal and exclusive state control over weapons south of the Litani,” the sources said. Hezbollah’s reading of the resolution and the agreement, they added, is that “exclusive control over weapons applies only south of the Litani, while the resistance’s weapons north of the river are a Lebanese matter governed by the national security strategy.”
Freedom of movement
Hezbollah says the “Islamabad agreement” was what brought about the de-escalation and ended the war in Lebanon. At the same time, Tel Aviv entered direct negotiations with Lebanon in Washington, seeking to move away from the US-Iranian negotiating track and separate the two files. Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s position say that reality “gave Israel freedom of movement and freedom to carry out attacks,” leaving unoccupied areas near the yellow line virtually deserted, including Ali al-Taher. Even so, they said, “the arrangement failed to satisfy part of the Israeli public that supports the war and did not restore confidence among residents of northern Israel.”That, the sources said, led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inflate the political and security significance of Ali al-Taher, turning it into a symbol so that any seizure of the hill could be presented as a major achievement. Yet “the presumed facility on the hill is smaller than other facilities Hezbollah handed over to the Lebanese army south of the Litani,” they said.
US proposal to evacuate the site
Israel has been seeking for about 10 weeks to take control of the strategic high ground, with war kept as the last option. A source said Washington is calling for the Lebanese army to take over the site, after which Israel would verify the handover. Hezbollah received the proposal but views it as “a maneuver,” the source said, because all sides already know the group will reject it. The group also sees the request as an attempt by the Lebanese authorities to show Washington that “Lebanon did what was required of it, but Hezbollah refused.”The source said the proposal offers “no guarantees” that the site would not ultimately be handed to Israel if the Lebanese army were told to withdraw, or if it pulled back under Israeli fire. Hezbollah also sees the proposal as an attempt to draw it into arrangements outside the agreement it says it continues to uphold: the November 2024 cessation-of-hostilities deal.
The source said the United States had informed Lebanon that it would allow Israel to take control of the high ground without triggering an escalation.
Military option
With Hezbollah rejecting any proposal to evacuate the site, Israel is left with the military option.
That could begin with “gradual encroachment,” Lebanese sources familiar with Israeli movements around the heights said. The strategy involves “making the area unlivable, cutting off supplies and preventing fighters from being rotated in and out,” they said, weakening the position until it falls and allowing Israel to enter after only a limited battle. Israel has been pursuing that approach for about 10 weeks, according to the sources. They said failure of the strategy before Israel’s elections “could lead to an open battle similar to what prevailed before the ceasefire agreement took effect on June 14.”
Hezbollah is betting on Iranian intervention if Israel broadens the fighting and breaks with the rules of engagement in place since the ceasefire. That calculation rests on Tehran’s stated position that it would not allow any new territory in southern Lebanon to be carved off by force. Hezbollah also points to remarks by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, made hours after an Israeli strike targeted Hezbollah commanders deep in southern Lebanon last Saturday.Ghalibaf said he was in contact with Hezbollah fighters on the front and checked on them daily to assess conditions and readiness for any new support operation.
Risk of renewed war
Such developments carry the risk of renewed fighting between Israel and Iran and a fresh deterioration in regional security. But the prospect of war resuming in Lebanon “remains on the table,” the source said. “Ali al-Taher Heights is a flashpoint that could reignite the war,” the source added. “Israel is seeking a security achievement before the elections. Hezbollah, for its part, will not retreat from its firm position that exclusive state control over weapons applies south of the Litani, not north of it.” The source also rejected reports of proposals under which Hezbollah would evacuate its Ali al-Taher facility in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied city of Bint Jbeil or the town of Khiam. Both lie inside the “yellow line” created by Israel, extending about 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanese territory in what it calls a “security zone.”Hezbollah says no such proposals exist and describes the reports as “baseless.”It views them as “part of a disinformation effort” aimed at blaming Hezbollah for any failure by Israel to withdraw if fighting resumes. The group also accuses the Lebanese state of “deceiving itself,” arguing that Israel “does not accept discussion of a new area, and every time it is given something, it demands more without offering any concession in return.”

IMF welcomes Lebanon bank law changes as ‘major step’
Reuters/20 August ,2026
The International Monetary Fund has welcomed the Lebanese parliament’s passing of amendments to a bank resolution law as a major step, but challenges to implementing the law could further delay recovery for an economy battered by years of financial collapse and the conflict with Israel.
The reforms are among the IMF’s requirements for Lebanon to access funding to bring government debt out of default after decades of profligate spending by the country’s ruling elite, sending the economy into a tailspin in late 2019. Banks imposed sweeping capital controls, locking depositors out of their savings, and stopped issuing loans. In January the IMF had demanded changes to the draft rescue law, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told Reuters at the time. Now, the bank resolution law aims to address vast funding shortfalls in the financial system and is among a set of measures that ultimately aim to fix the banking sector and allow depositors who have been frozen out of their savings to gradually recover their money.
Changes to governance procedures
“We met 99 percent of what they wanted,” legislator Alain Aoun, who sits on Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee, told Reuters. The most notable amendments to the law include changes to the Central Bank’s governance procedures. The makeup of the Higher Banking Commission – a governing body within the Central Bank — will be altered, Aoun said. The amendments empower the body to “decide the fate of Lebanon’s banks,” and would determine if a bank requires restructuring or liquidation and any further steps to rehabilitate it. Federico Lima, the IMF representative in Lebanon, said on Wednesday that the “effective implementation of this new bank resolution framework is critical.”“In addition, we are continuing discussions with the Lebanese authorities on the improvements needed to align the draft Financial Stabilization and Depositor Recovery (FSDR) law with international principles,” he added. In 2022, the government put losses from the financial crisis at about $70 billion, a figure that analysts and economists forecast is now likely to be higher.
Possible challenge
Last week, the parliament passed amendments to the law, but it would still be pending approval by the Lebanese president. The possibility of members challenging the law before the Constitutional Council — which has precedent for annulling provisions of earlier financial legislation — could also bring further delays. The draft had already undergone several rewrites because of competing demands from different financial institutions; the IMF called on Lebanon to improve the law to bring it in line with international standards and consider tax reforms to spark public spending on reconstruction efforts.
The World Bank ranks the Lebanese economic crisis among the worst globally since the mid-19th century. Depositors were frozen out of dollar accounts and the Lebanese pound fell by more than 90 percent. Additionally, the war with Israel was estimated to have caused $7 billion in damages.
“This is the only country in the world that has had a banking crises for seven years and has not tried to find a solution,” a senior Lebanese official told Reuters. “Staying where we are shouldn’t be an option.”

Vatican expresses 'serious concerns' over Israel-Lebanon deal implementation
Naharnet/20 August 2026 
President Joseph Aoun met Thursday with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and thanked him for his efforts to support Lebanon in resisting Israeli aggression and securing the liberation of its territory.Aoun urged the Pope to compel Israel to commit to the U.S.-brokered Framework Agreement, halt its daily strikes, and withdraw from the territories its forces are occupying in south Lebanon.The Vatican expressed "serious concerns" about problems implementing the deal between Israel and Lebanon. "The Holy See, whilst welcoming the signing of the document, has expressed serious concerns about the difficulties being encountered in implementing it, and has pledged its support for efforts to that end," the Vatican said in a statement.

Strikes, shelling and demolitions in south Lebanon: Latest developments
Naharnet/20 August 2026 
Israeli strikes and shelling targeted overnight into Thursday Houla, Markaba, Wadi Slouqi, Qabrikha, al-Mansouri, Majdalzoun, Ali al-Taher and Touline, as troops carried out detonations in Zawtar al-Sahrqiyeh, Majdalzoun, al-Mansouri and al-Khiam. The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon handed meanwhile one of its positions near al-Khardali to the Lebanese Army. UNIFIL's mission ends this year. It now counts some 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries and has been in place since 1978. There is a French-Italian initiative to set up a force to replace UNIFIL, alongside Lebanon's army. A framework agreement reached in June between Israel and Lebanon calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region. Despite a lull in fighting, Israel has kept up intermittent strikes and heavy demolition operations in south Lebanon, where its forces are operating in a strip of territory around 10 kilometers deep inside the Lebanese border.

Has Hezbollah offered to withdraw from Ali al-Taher?
Naharnet/20 August 2026 
Hezbollah proposed earlier this week to hand over the strategic Ali al-Taher area to the Lebanese Army, amid “the decline of its ability to hold onto it and its attempt to withdraw the fighters and equipment that are present there,” an informed Western diplomatic source said. “This information gains significance when compared to the situation approximately two months ago, when the Lebanese Army offered to take control of the Ali al-Taher area. However, Hezbollah refused at the time, even threatening to target any force entering the area,” the source told LBCI television. However, the same source added that “Israel rejected this proposal, which later prompted Hezbollah to deny the offer through several of its MPs and to assert that its fighters would not leave the area.”Two local sources meanwhile denied to LBCI the remarks of the Western diplomatic source.

Is the US serious about talking to Hezbollah?
Naharnet/20 August 2026 
U.S. President Donald Trump “has said that he would be willing to talk to Hezbollah if it would lead to an end of conflict, or peace,” Ed Gabriel, the head of the American Task Force on Lebanon, said. “We talked to the Americans this week, here at the embassy, and they’ve also said that President Trump was serious about talking directly to Hezbollah,” Gabriel told al-Jadeed TV during his latest visit to Lebanon. “But there’s no reason to talk to Hezbollah just to talk to them, so you have to get to a point where it’s ripe enough to make a difference by having that conversation,” he added. “I don’t think that the U.S. feels as though that Hezbollah is serious enough yet to have that conversation,” Gabriel went on to say.

Berri says ending UNIFIL is 'greatest crime against south'
Naharnet/20 August 2026 
Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri has emphasized the importance of UNIFIL forces' presence in southern Lebanon and their assigned role, both in “maintaining security in the south and in supporting the Lebanese Army's deployment across all Lebanese territory up to the international border, as stipulated in Resolution 1701.”In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper, he lamented that "the greatest mistake and the greatest crime committed against the south would be ending UNIFIL's mandate there.”“This termination would effectively nullify Resolution 1701, the full implementation of which is essential at this stage, along with the continuation of UNIFIL's mission," Berri added. The Speaker also warned of Israel's intentions and the dangers of its actions in the south, "particularly its intensified attacks on towns, villages, and their civilian and residential areas, and the extensive detonations of southern villages, which not only destroy their infrastructure and completely eliminate life within them, but also create very serious cracks and fissures in their foundations."

Report: US to name new pilot zone if Lebanon and Israel fail to agree
Naharnet/20 August 2026
If Lebanon and Israel fail to agree on a new pilot zone in south Lebanon, Washington will designate the aforementioned zone, U.S. General Joseph Clearfield told Lebanese officials during his latest visit to Beirut, according to a senior Lebanese official. The Lebanese official spoke to al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Thursday. The framework agreement reached in June calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the region, starting in "pilot zones".Despite a weeks-long lull in fighting, Israel has kept up intermittent strikes and heavy demolition operations in south Lebanon. Its forces are operating in a strip of territory around 10 kilometers deep inside the Lebanese border.

Major UAE business delegation set to visit Lebanon: Can renewed interest turn into real investment?
LBCI/20 August 2026
The United Arab Emirates is interested in Lebanon, and that interest is translating into clear economic and investment initiatives. Looking back, the UAE was among the first countries to take economic steps toward Lebanon following the election of President Joseph Aoun. It sent several delegations to Beirut at a time when Lebanon was seeking to restore the confidence of Arab countries and investors. Today, that Emirati momentum is continuing. On Aug. 26 and 27, a major new UAE economic delegation is set to visit Lebanon, headed by Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. The delegation will include around 70 businesspeople and representatives of companies from various sectors. The objective is clear: to explore investment and partnership opportunities in both the public and private sectors. In the public sector, there is interest in entering into partnerships with the Lebanese government through public-private partnerships, or PPPs, involving Emirati companies with experience managing and implementing major projects.

Syria receives Assad-era general after extradition from Lebanon
Agence France Presse/20 August 2026
Syria's interior ministry said authorities took custody of a former general under deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad who was extradited from Lebanon on Wednesday and is accused of crimes including murder and torture. "Today, Syrian authorities received from the Lebanese authorities the former officer in the defunct regime army, major general Adel Issa," a ministry statement said, after Syria issued an arrest warrant in absentia for him. Issa was formerly the commander of the army's 17th division and commander of ground forces in eastern Deir Ezzor until 2016. He is accused of crimes including murder, "torture leading to death, and crimes of aggression with the aim of inciting civil war and sectarian fighting", the ministry added. A Lebanese judicial official had told AFP a day earlier that Lebanon had decided to extradite Issa "to stand trial for crimes he is accused of committing on Syrian soil" during the Assad era.
The official said the decision was made under a 1951 judicial agreement between Beirut and Damascus. Issa, 67, had headed to the Syrian embassy in Beirut for paperwork earlier this month, another judicial official had told AFP at the time. Staff called on the Lebanese authorities to detain him after learning of an arrest warrant from Damascus for "crimes of killing and crimes against humanity during his time with the Syrian army". Since Assad's fall in December 2024, Syrian authorities have arrested dozens of people they say committed crimes during the country's 13-year civil war, and trials began in April.
Last week, Syria sentenced Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher in absentia to death for atrocities committed during the conflict, in the first such ruling under the new authorities.

From Zahrani to the region: Lebanon eyes renewed role on energy map
LBCI/20 August 2026
Off the coast of Zahrani, the Lebanese government is seeking to turn geography into reality by reclaiming Lebanon’s role as a link between East and West through these offshore mooring facilities. Technically, the facilities' current role is limited to receiving ships and unloading their cargo through these moorings before storing petroleum products and selling them on the local market. Today, however, the government is working to transform the facilities' role from a local one into a regional and international hub by expanding their storage capacity. This would allow them to accommodate larger quantities of diesel and gasoline and increase their re-export capacity. Historically, Lebanon was a key part of the region's oil infrastructure, from the Tripoli Oil Installations to the Zahrani Oil Installations, before the Lebanese Civil War and the shutdown of pipelines led to a decline in that role. Today, as the region's energy map is being reshaped, the government is seeking to capitalize on these assets, particularly as disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have highlighted the importance of diversifying energy transportation routes and securing alternative routes to markets. According to LBCI information, the vision goes beyond storage and includes developing transportation pipelines, with the possibility of establishing or restoring refining capacity at a later stage, following a feasibility study. Technically, Lebanon is not starting from scratch. The offshore oil pipelines are already in place, and inspection and maintenance work is ongoing. There are three pipelines: one for diesel, another for fuel oil, and a third for gasoline. However, activating these facilities now requires maintenance and rehabilitation of the storage tanks and mooring facilities to enable them to handle larger quantities. In this context, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has tasked a committee of specialists with examining the logistical, security and technical aspects of importing petroleum products into Lebanon and re-exporting them. The location, facilities and pipelines are already in place, and the decision has been made to transform this existing infrastructure into a genuine regional role, but can Lebanon reclaim its place on the energy map between East and West?

US Embassy welcomes Banking Resolution Law, calls for further action
LBCI/20 August 2026
The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon welcomed Parliament’s passage of the Banking Resolution Law and urged the Lebanese government to continue efforts to enact the “Gap Law.”In a statement, the embassy said the two measures are critical steps toward strengthening Lebanon’s state institutions, restoring confidence in the financial sector, and supporting sustainable economic recovery. The embassy reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to supporting “meaningful, transparent, and accountable reforms” aimed at promoting long-term stability and prosperity for the Lebanese people.

UNIFIL says peacekeepers remain fully committed to their mandate in south Lebanon
LBCI/20 August 2026
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Thursday that peacekeepers from around 50 countries remain fully committed to their mandate, “maintaining a visible presence across south Lebanon through daily operations, including patrols, monitoring, liaison and support for humanitarian partners.”In a statement, the peacekeeping mission stated that “civilians bear the heaviest burden when conflict disrupts daily life. Families face uncertainty, displacement and concerns for their safety.”It added: “Every effort peacekeepers make to reduce tensions, prevent misunderstandings and keep communication channels open helps prevent escalation. Instability is not in anyone’s interest.”UNIFIL also urged “all actors to renew their commitment to Security Council Resolution 1701, cease violations of the resolution and avoid any provocative action that could increase tensions or trigger further violations.”

Vatican Says 'Serious Concerns' over Israel-Lebanon Deal Implementation
Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
The Vatican expressed "serious concerns" Thursday about problems implementing a US-brokered deal between Israel and Lebanon, following a meeting between Pope Leo XIV and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. During a private, 30-minute audience at the Vatican, Aoun had urged the pontiff to support Beirut's push to secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon envisaged by the deal, the Lebanese presidency said. "The Holy See, whilst welcoming the signing of the document, has expressed serious concerns about the difficulties being encountered in implementing it, and has pledged its support for efforts to that end," the Vatican said in a statement. Lebanon and Israel launched US-sponsored direct talks after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.
The framework agreement reached in June calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in "pilot zones". Despite a weeks-long lull in fighting, Israel has kept up intermittent strikes and heavy demolition operations in south Lebanon. Its forces are operating in a strip of territory around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep inside the Lebanese border. At the Vatican, Aoun also met with the Holy See's second-in-command, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and its top diplomat, Paul Richard Gallagher.The "cordial talks" focused on the US-mediated deal, the Vatican said. Aoun called on the head of the Catholic Church to "support Lebanon's efforts to achieve a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories, paving the way for the reconstruction of what Israel has destroyed," according to the Lebanese presidency. He also urged the Pope and Vatican officials to "continue their diplomatic efforts" to ensure that Israel implements the terms of the deal and ends attacks against civilians, infrastructure, and villages, it said. It was the second private audience between Pope Leo and Aoun at the Vatican. The Chicago-born leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics visited Lebanon late last year, and has repeatedly urged de-escalation in the Middle East and a need for a diplomatic solution. Aoun is also expected to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday. Rome has hosted the last two rounds of Israel-Lebanon talks. Italy and France said in June they wanted to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, whose mandate ends this year.

Saudi Ambassador Inaugurates 3rd Phase of Lebanese Land Exports to the Kingdom
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Dosari inaugurated on Thursday the third phase of Lebanese exports to the Kingdom. Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the resumption of Lebanese exports to the Kingdom. The exports will pass through the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria. Thursday’s inauguration ceremony was attended by Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport Fayez Rasamny, representing the prime minister, along with several government officials. Rasamny praised the Kingdom’s decision to resume imports of Lebanese products, describing it as a direct support for the national economy and a step that opens new opportunities for Lebanese producers. The ceremony also included the activation of the scanner at Masnaa. This was followed by an inspection visit to the site designated for the establishment of a new land border crossing center.

Khaddam Recounts Final Damascus Meeting… Bashar to Hariri: ‘Whoever Defies Me, I Will Break His Bones’
London: Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam reveals new details in his memoirs about a meeting between former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Damascus in the summer of 2004, describing it as the harshest encounter in the period leading up to Hariri’s assassination.The memoirs, edited and introduced by Ibrahim Hamidi, are due to be published in early September by Raff Publishing, a subsidiary of the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG).The book cover. According to the memoirs, Assad summoned Hariri in July for a meeting at 7:30 a.m. attended by Maj. Gen. Ghazi Kanaan, Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh and Col. Mohammed Khallouf. Assad’s harsh words caused Hariri’s blood pressure to rise and his nose to bleed. The memoirs trace the roots of the crisis to the 1998 election of Lebanese army commander Gen. Emile Lahoud as president. Khaddam recounts that Bashar al-Assad pushed for Lahoud to succeed President Elias Hrawi, persuading his father, President Hafez al-Assad, to back the army commander despite objections from most Lebanese leaders close to Damascus, including Walid Jumblatt, Nabih Berri and Hariri. Khaddam also says Ghazi Kanaan pressured Lebanese lawmakers to support Lahoud.
Khaddam says he subsequently asked Hafez al-Assad to relieve him of responsibility for the Lebanon portfolio because his opposition to Lahoud was well known. The file then passed to Bashar al-Assad. “Thus ended the political management of this complicated file, and it fell into the hands of the Syrian security services,” Khaddam writes. Later that same morning, Khaddam says he was scheduled to meet Assad and found him “agitated and tense.” Assad recounted his meeting with Hariri directly to him. “Rafik Hariri was here, and I spoke to him clearly and frankly in the presence of the officers,” Khaddam quotes Assad as saying. “I told him he was not allowed to work to bring in a president other than Emile Lahoud. I am the one who chooses who governs Lebanon, and whoever defies me, I will break his bones.”From right: Fares Boueiz, Khaddam says he was stunned by the remarks and challenged Assad: “You are speaking to the prime minister of Lebanon, who represents the Sunni Muslims in his country. Have you considered the repercussions if your words reach the media? How can you address Lebanon’s prime minister this way in the presence of these officers?”
According to Khaddam’s account, Assad then calmed down and asked his vice president to invite Hariri to meet him in an effort to “erase the consequences” of the encounter. The memoirs say Hariri initially refused, telling Khaddam by telephone: “After my last visit, I will not visit Damascus.”He later agreed to meet Khaddam in Bloudan, northwest of Damascus, where he appeared “hurt.”“I will never forget my meeting with Bashar al-Assad as long as I live,” Hariri told him. The memoirs go on to recount the dispute over extending Lahoud’s presidential term. On Aug. 18, 2004, Khaddam says Assad told him he had decided against an extension.“No one in the world supports Lahoud. The Arab states do not support him, and the majority of Lebanese oppose him,” Assad is quoted as saying, adding that he had been “firm” with the Lebanese president.Just three days later, however, while Khaddam was in France, Hariri called to tell him that Assad had changed his mind and summoned him to Damascus for a brief and tense meeting.
“You have to decide where you stand. Are you with Syria or against it?” Assad told Hariri, according to Khaddam’s account of what Hariri later told him. Khaddam writes that Hariri told him Jumblatt had advised him to accept the extension and then resign. Khaddam himself advised Hariri to agree to the extension, leave Lebanon and announce his resignation from abroad. Hariri subsequently informed Rustom Ghazaleh that he accepted the extension and traveled to Sardinia to join his family. Days later, Khaddam says, Hariri called him and asked: “If I return to Lebanon, will my life be in danger?”
Khaddam reassured him that he had agreed to everything demanded of him and that Assad “still needs him because the constitutional amendment has not yet been completed.”The memoirs also recount a last-minute attempt, through Spanish mediation, to avert a UN Security Council meeting. After five hours of contacts, Washington, Paris and London agreed to cancel the session in return for a Syrian commitment to abandon the extension. But Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa told his Spanish counterpart: “Lebanon is an independent state and we have nothing to do with the matter.”
The Security Council met the following day and adopted Resolution 1559, which called for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and political independence, the withdrawal of remaining foreign forces and a presidential election free from foreign interference. The memoirs characterize the resolution as having been adopted under Chapter VII and as placing the Syrian regime under Security Council scrutiny. Khaddam’s testimony carries particular significance because of his position at the heart of Syria’s governance of Lebanon. For decades, he was the Syrian official responsible for the Lebanon portfolio before, as he recounts, responsibility passed to Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian security services.In his account, a single threat uttered during a deeply personal confrontation becomes a key to understanding a period that culminated in a complete breakdown between Damascus and broad segments of Lebanese society.
The full account of the meeting, as well as the events preceding and following it, appears in the book’s chapter titled “The Assassination of Rafik Hariri.”

Like Iraq, Lebanon Must Arrest Militia Commanders
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/ This Is Beirut/August 20/2026
While Iraq is acting like a sovereign state in its effort to disarm militias, Lebanon has largely become a bystander as Israel pursues the dismantlement of Hezbollah. Iraq on Monday arrested Abbas al-Yaaqoubi, a commander in the pro-Iran Nujaba militia, on charges of planning attacks against U.S. targets. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the country’s top officials over the weekend denounced what they believed was an “Israeli massacre of a whole family.” Hezbollah later announced that the strike had actually killed Ali al-Hajj Hassan, a commander in its Radwan Force, who had vowed in a video to attack and overwhelm Israelis.The contrast is striking. While Iraq is acting like a sovereign state in its effort to disarm militias, Lebanon has largely become a bystander as Israel pursues the dismantlement of Hezbollah. The Lebanese government has been largely irrelevant to the effort to seize Hezbollah’s non-state weapons, despite making that objective its platform. If a foreign intelligence service can flawlessly locate and eliminate Hezbollah commanders actively plotting the next regional war, there is no logical reason why the Lebanese judiciary cannot act as well.
Beirut must immediately issue formal arrest warrants for these militants on charges of violating the cabinet’s March 2, 2026, resolution, which explicitly banned the militia’s military activities. Once issued, Lebanese military intelligence can locate and apprehend these outlaws and bring them before the courts to face justice under Lebanese law.
For decades, Beirut has recycled the tired argument that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) lack the capability to confront Hezbollah in open battle. Apologists for inaction routinely warn that any state-led crackdown would immediately trigger a bloody and uncontrollable civil war. This, however, is a false choice driven by political cowardice. Issuing arrest warrants for Hezbollah commanders requires precise, targeted law enforcement, not a massive military campaign. Any militants who choose to violently resist arrest will be forced to deal directly with Lebanese domestic security forces, fully supported by the LAF. Executing these pinpointed, intelligence-driven arrest missions is a far easier and less costly task than asking the LAF to dismantle Hezbollah’s massive subterranean fortress cities, such as the sprawling underground networks carved into Beaufort or the strategic heights of Ali al-Taher.
Bringing Hezbollah’s military leadership to justice will yield far greater security dividends than any experimental, localized “pilot zone.” Once Israel detects genuine sincerity from Lebanon, the strategic calculus will shift. Confronted with a reliable sovereign partner in Beirut, Israel will find it politically and militarily viable to hand over border territories it previously seized to eliminate the militia threat. Global investors will also view Lebanon through a radically different lens. Capital will flood back into the country if Beirut demonstrates a baseline resolve to establish the rule of law. Reining in Hezbollah will finally end the perpetual cycle of existential anxiety, stopping the constant speculation over when the next devastating war will break out and instantly wipe out foreign investment.
Once the militia state-within-a-state is systematically dismantled, Lebanon will finally project safety, stability, and institutional predictability. Under a responsible government, reconstruction will drive itself naturally through organic economic growth and robust private capital, ending Lebanon’s embarrassing reliance on begging foreign nations for humanitarian donations and emergency aid.
Yet, Lebanese officials—from the presidency and prime minister’s office to parliamentarians—continue to audition for Hezbollah’s approval. State leaders routinely cater to radicalized factions, including segments of the Sunni community that have become deeply hostile toward regional normalization due to relentless Turkish efforts to obstruct peace.Instead of coddling Hezbollah loyalists, President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and other state officials must prioritize earning the trust of two critical groups. First, they must reassure Israel, whose confidence in a strong Lebanese state will accelerate border stabilization. Second, they must reassure international investors, who expect to see rogue warlords held accountable under Lebanese law. Unfortunately, when Aoun and Salam craft their statements, they abandon strategic policies and instead pander to cheap, short-term political goals. Similar institutional cowardice has rendered the Lebanese parliament utterly irrelevant. A recent Parliament vote granted Lebanese who fled to Israel in 2000 the right to return without fear of state reprisal. However, these citizens understand the harsh reality: the government lacks the spine to protect them from Hezbollah’s immediate vengeance. By abdicating its sovereign duties, Beirut has forced outside powers to do its job. Continued state paralysis ensures the prolonged depopulation of southern Lebanon. The ongoing Lebanese tragedy can only be averted if Lebanon steps up and emulates Iraq’s example. Global trust will only return when Beirut demonstrates it will enforce its own sovereignty.
Regrettably, history teaches us that Lebanon specializes in empty rhetoric rather than concrete action. While Iraq seems to have chosen the path of a sovereign state, no one is holding their breath for Beirut.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a columnist focusing on Lebanon and broader Arab affairs.

Canadian official condemns Israel's 'unlawful invasion', announces new aid to Lebanon
Associated Press/20 August 2026
A Canadian government official condemned what he called Israel's "unlawful invasion" of Lebanon, saying Beirut should govern its own space and have sovereignty over its lands. Randeep Sarai, Canada's secretary of state for international development, visited Lebanon to announce new humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country, where the U.N. says some 360,000 people remain displaced as a result of the latest conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. "We have been working actively, I think, through diplomatic channels to do whatever possible to stop that and to allow Lebanese communities that are from those areas to be able to move back," Sarai said in an interview with The Associated Press late Tuesday. Israel is now occupying dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon, many of which have been almost completely demolished. Israeli officials have said they will not pull out from Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. Canada has criticized Israel's military actions in Gaza and Lebanon. It lists Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and has condemned its attacks on Israel. During his visit, Sarai announced that Canada is launching three new programs in Lebanon to support vulnerable families and women, raising the total of its assistance to the nation so far this year to more than 71 million Canadian dollars ($50.23 million). Canada, which is home to a large Lebanese diaspora, has given Lebanon about 800 million Canadian dollars ($575 million) in assistance over the past 10 years, including nearly $38 million in funding in March to provide basic necessities such as food, medical and health services, Sarai said. "Our commitment is long-term, and we're there for Lebanon," said Sarai, who visited shelters housing people displaced by the war and Syrian refugees during his visit. Sarai also met President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who both took their posts last year promising to reinstate state authority over all parts of Lebanon and to implement reforms to fight corruption. The country is still struggling with an economic crisis that began in late 2019 rooted in decades of corruption.
"There's a lot of optimism and I hope Lebanon will be able to deliver on these," said Sarai about the pledged reforms. "The world is really watching and supportive of this government, and optimistic that they will achieve those goals."Sarai said Canada is trying to help create a safe environment in Syria with access to food, drinking water and schools, so that more refugees can return. "We'll do whatever we can to make sure that environment is safe when they do decide to go back," he said. At one point during Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, Lebanon hosted an estimated 1.5 million refugees. Some half-million Syrians have returned since former Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, according to Lebanon's social affairs minister.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 20-21/2026
Katz: Erdogan 'Dragging Türkiye Into Dangerous Adventures in Syria'
Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
The Israeli defense minister on Thursday accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of dragging Türkiye into "dangerous adventures in Syria,” after Israel tacitly acknowledged a strike on a north Syria air base earlier in the week. "Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security," Israel Katz wrote on X in both Hebrew and Turkish. "It is preferable for Erdogan to continue delivering empty, delusional speeches against Israel in the Turkish parliament rather than testing Israel's resolve to defend itself," he added. The Turkish presidency said Wednesday that Israeli allegations that Syria had allowed Turkish forces to deploy at Abu al-Duhur were “baseless.”Israel carried out eight airstrikes Tuesday on the base in southeastern Idlib province near the Turkish border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Syria of accepting a Turkish troop deployment, saying Israel had repeatedly warned Damascus that such a move would threaten its security but that those warnings had been ignored. Israel “will not tolerate any threats to its security,” the statement said, adding that it would welcome a return to the status quo.

Syria Says No Turkish Build-up Planned
Damascus: Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani has said that he made clear to Israel his government wasn't working with Türkiye to amass a military presence at a Syrian airbase — but Israel went ahead and attacked the site anyway. Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Syria on Tuesday, warning Syria was on the verge of violating a "status quo agreed with Israel in security matters" by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase. "[T]here was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site," Al-Shaibani said in one of eight written responses to questions from Axios on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump told Axios in a phone call that he'd been briefed on the Israeli strike, but did not criticize it. "I can't talk about it," he said. He declined to say whether his briefing came before or after the strike. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was "dragging Türkiye into dangerous adventures in Syria.” Katz, in a post on X, said his country would not "allow any entity to threaten its security." The strikes on Tuesday follow worsening security tensions between Israel and Türkiye and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two countries over Syria, where both countries' militaries are active. Türkiye firmly rejected on ⁠Wednesday what it called "untenable allegations" by Israel regarding its military position in Syria after Israel said Syria was on the verge of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there.

Turkey denies military visit to Syria air base hit by Israel
Agence France Presse/20 August ,2026
Turkey on Thursday denied having any military presence at an air base in north Syria struck by Israel earlier this week, and vowed to continue "resolutely" supporting Syrian sovereignty. The denial came two days after Syria accused Israel of hitting a disused military air base near the northwestern city of Aleppo that was damaged during the civil war and has been out of service since 2012. Israel said a Turkish military delegation had recently visited the site, with a Syrian war monitor saying it was part of efforts to reactivate the base. "There was no Turkish military delegation at the Abu al-Zuhur airbase before or during the attack carried out by Israel," a defense official told journalists, speaking on condition of anonymity. Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu's office also said Turkish forces had recently toured the base, with the prime minister himself warning that Israel would not tolerate a "threat" from a Turkish presence there. "We will not tolerate a Turkish military entrenchment moving southward, because it threatens us," Netanyahu told an army radio podcast. But Turkish defense ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk said the strikes were "unacceptable" and that Ankara would act "resolutely" to protect Syria's efforts to establish post-war stability. "Israel's attack on the Abu al-Zuhur air base is aimed at harming Syria's stability, security, unity, integrity and infrastructure. Attacks violating Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable," he told journalists. "In this context, our efforts and contributions to protect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and help it establish a stable and secure environment, will continue resolutely." The Turkish presidency was quick to clarify that it was not considering retaliation, however. "We are experienced enough not to fall into the trap of figures like Netanyahu, who aim to undermine peace and stability in our region," stated Burhanettin Duran, the presidency's communications director, in an interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency. He said Netanyahu was "clinging to this irrational stance due to upcoming elections, internal political tensions, and fears. He views hostility toward Turkey as a political lifeline".The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had on Tuesday said the Israeli strikes took place after "a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days as part of efforts to reactivate it".

Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar Condemn Israeli Attacks on Gaza, Call on Israel to Comply with Ceasefire Obligations
Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
Türkiye, Egypt and Qatar on Thursday strongly condemned recent Israeli strikes in Gaza, saying in a joint statement that Israel must comply with its obligations under a ceasefire agreement and refrain from steps that could escalate tensions. "The mediating countries underline that the intensification of Israeli attacks undermines regional and international efforts at a critical juncture, as intensive efforts are under way to implement the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, including the meeting between the Board of Peace and Israeli officials, and constructive steps are being taken in the negotiation process," they said, Reuters reported. The international community and Board of Peace must take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the ceasefire and prevent further escalation, they added.

Israel slams UK demand to halt West Bank settlement project
Agence France Presse/20 August ,2026
Israel's foreign minister on Thursday slammed a demand by the UK government to halt a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli authorities opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the area. Britain said it had summoned Israel's charge d'affairs over the E1 plan, which was green-lit by Israel last year and has drawn international condemnation. The U.N. secretary general said at the time that E1 posed an "existential threat" to a contiguous Palestinian state. The project would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank. British foreign minister Ed Miliband on Wednesday called the move "an unacceptable and destructive act" and said it would "endanger the viability of a two-state solution"."The Israeli Government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion," Miliband said in a statement. Miliband said he delivered the message directly to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar and that Israel's charge d'affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry. Saar on Thursday said he rejected "outright" Miliband's statement and "the patronizing tone of his words"."The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom," he wrote on X. Saar went on to accuse the UK of "blaming only Israel while ignoring Palestinian extremism" which he said was fueling antisemitic attacks against the British Jewish community. "The UK Government's decision to damage the relationship between our countries is deeply unfortunate," he added, vowing that "Israel will defend its rights, its interests and its people". The British government on Wednesday also pledged to unveil "a comprehensive set of measures" in the coming weeks, including sanctions targeting people involved in the "illegal settlement expansion". "Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two state solution," Miliband said. Israel approved the plans for the roughly 12-square-kilometre (five-square-mile) parcel of land known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, in August last year. The plan seeks to build around 3,400 homes on the ultra-sensitive tract of land, which lies between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. The latest tender covers more than 1,200 housing units, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now. Peace Now said Israel's housing ministry published the tender on August 18 and immediately opened it for bids. Submissions are due by October 19, one week before Israeli elections scheduled for October 27. The group said the homes accounted for about one-third of the planned E1 development and accused the government of trying to advance construction commitments before the vote. Israel heavily restricts the movement of West Bank Palestinians, who must obtain permits from authorities to travel through checkpoints to cross into east Jerusalem or Israel.Last year, Britain and France were among 21 countries who condemned Israeli approval of the E1 project, calling it a violation of international law and urging Israel to reverse the decision. Excluding east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians. About 500,000 Israeli settlers also live there.

Key European leaders demand Israel halt West Bank settlement project
AFP/20 August ,2026
France, Italy, Britain and Germany on Thursday piled on mounting international condemnation of a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli authorities opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the area. The E1 plan was green-lit by Israel last year and would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank. “At a time of grave instability in the West Bank with unprecedented levels of violence by settlers against civilians, and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy, this decision is even more concerning,” the joint statement from Paris, Rome, Berlin and London said. “We urge the Government of Israel to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank,” it added, warning businesses against bidding for the construction tenders at risk of “involving themselves in serious breaches of international law.”The UN secretary general has said the E1 plan posed an “existential threat” to a contiguous Palestinian state. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot called the tenders “unacceptable” on Thursday, saying the project “would seriously undermine the viability of the two-state solution.”His condemnation echoed a statement by Britain’s top diplomat Ed Miliband on Wednesday demanding an end to the project and settlement expansion in the West Bank, with London summoning Israel’s charge d’affaires.
‘Israel will defend its rights’
Miliband said he delivered the message directly to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar. Saar on Thursday said he rejected “outright” Miliband’s statement and “the patronizing tone of his words.”“The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom,” he wrote on X. Saar went on to accuse the UK of “blaming only Israel while ignoring Palestinian extremism” which he said was fueling antisemitic attacks against the British Jewish community. “The UK Government’s decision to damage the relationship between our countries is deeply unfortunate,” he added, vowing that “Israel will defend its rights, its interests and its people.”The British government on Wednesday also pledged to unveil “a comprehensive set of measures” in the coming weeks, including sanctions targeting people involved in the “illegal settlement expansion.” Israel approved the plans for the roughly 12-square-kilometer (five-square-mile) parcel of land known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, in August last year. The plan seeks to build around 3,400 homes on the ultra-sensitive tract of land, which lies between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. The latest tender covers more than 1,200 housing units, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now. Peace Now said Israel’s housing ministry published the tender on August 18 and immediately opened it for bids. Submissions are due by October 19, one week before Israeli elections scheduled for October 27. The group said the homes accounted for about one-third of the planned E1 development and accused the government of trying to advance construction commitments before the vote. Israel heavily restricts the movement of West Bank Palestinians, who must obtain permits from authorities to travel through checkpoints to cross into east Jerusalem or Israel. Last year, Britain and France were among 21 countries who condemned Israeli approval of the E1 project, calling it a violation of international law and urging Israel to reverse the decision. Excluding east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians. About 500,000 Israeli settlers also live there. Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers has increased since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

Israelis return to last West Bank settlement closed over 20 years ago
Agence France Presse/20 August ,2026
Israelis began moving into the occupied West Bank settlement of Kadim on Thursday, the local settler council said, the last of four communities from which Israel withdrew more than two decades ago to be repopulated. It came a week after Israel officially reopened neighboring Ganim, in a move emblematic of the current government's policy of rapid settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Samaria regional council, which administers Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, described the return to Kadim as a "historic milestone". "At this very moment, the families of the pioneering settler core are moving into Kadim, a community that was uprooted during the disengagement," it said in a statement. It said that 30 families were moving to live permanently in the settlement, accompanied on Thursday by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and head of the Samaria regional council, Yossi Dagan. Kadim is one of four Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that Israel evacuated under former prime minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan in 2005, which also included abandoning all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. The move came partly because of their isolated location in the north of the West Bank, among many Palestinian cities and villages. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, settlement construction and expansion have surged, including with the re-establishment of all four evacuated communities -- Ganim, Sa-Nur, Homesh and now Kadim. "Twenty-one years after the crime of the expulsion from northern Samaria, today we have completed the rectification," Smotrich was quoted as saying in the statement on Thursday. "These communities constitute a real security buffer for the entire State of Israel," he added, vowing to establish 19 settlements in the northernmost part of the West Bank. Dagan said: "We have come home, and this time to stay and grow twentyfold.""We are raising the flag again, closing the circle, and continuing to build Samaria with full force," he added, using the Biblical term for the northern West Bank. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the territory, which are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians. Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers has increased dramatically since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

Syrian Kurdish leader says integration with Damascus complete
AFP, Qamishli/20 August ,2026
Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said on Thursday that the integration of the Kurdish administration within Syria’s state institutions was complete, months after an agreement on the matter was reached. The Kurds, backed by the United States, had built a self-governing administration with its own civilian and military institutions in the north and northeast following the outbreak of the country’s civil war in 2011, and spearheaded the battle against ISIS until its territorial defeat in Syria in 2019. “I want to say that the phase of integrating military, security, and administrative institutions into national state institutions is complete and finished,” Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said at an event in Qamishli in northeastern Syria.“From now on, we begin a new phase.” The announcement follows months of negotiations between the two sides after the agreement, which called for the full integration of civil and military Kurdish institutions into the state - a move Washington deemed “historic.”

Syrian police investigator to face prosecution after detainee with hemophilia dies
Associated Press/20 August ,2026
A Syrian police investigator who slapped a man during interrogation despite having been warned that he had hemophilia will face prosecution, officials said Thursday. Syria's interior ministry earlier this week launched an investigation into the death of Mohammad Ghamira and on Thursday announced initial results of the probe. Ghamira, a 29-year-old father of two, was a former volunteer with the White Helmets civil defense organization, which operated in opposition-held areas before the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in December 2024. Ghamira died in a hospital in Latakia on Sunday after being released from jail. He had been detained days earlier following a theft allegation, according to Latakia's internal security command. Family members said they had told police that Ghamira had hemophilia, a condition affecting the blood's ability to clot, and warned against hitting him. Ghamira's death sparked widespread outrage in Syria, where it stirred up dark memories of torture and other abuse in detention centers under the Assad dynasty's decades-long rule. Maj. Gen. Ahmed Latouf, head of the committee formed to investigate Ghamira's death, said Thursday that medical experts found that he had died of complications from a cerebral hemorrhage. Investigators found that a police interrogator had slapped Ghamira in the neck during interrogation, despite Ghamira having told police personnel about his medical condition, Latouf said. The interrogator was referred to the public prosecution division, and disciplinary investigations into other police personnel are ongoing, he said. Rights groups have said that abuses in detention centers have persisted under the country's new authorities. However, one of the groups, Syrians for Truth and Justice, said it did not find evidence of a "single centralized system equivalent in structure and direction to the torture apparatus entrenched by the Assad regime."

Iran Executes Afghan National over 2026 Protests
Asharq Al Awsat/20 August 2026
Iran on Thursday executed an Afghan national convicted over the killing of police officers during anti-government demonstrations, the 30th in a wave of hangings since the start of the Middle East war, a rights group said. Ghaem Hosseini was executed after being convicted of involvement in the deaths of four police officers, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website reported. It said he was a foreign national, without providing further details. But, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group said the 21-year-old was from Afghanistan and was hanged at Isfahan central prison. Mizan Online said Hosseini was convicted "of drawing a weapon and causing fear and terror, creating widespread insecurity, acting against people's physical integrity and national security in a manner that seriously disrupted public order". But according to IHR, Hosseini was accused of kicking one of the policemen and the "authorities have presented no evidence proving that his actions led to the death of any of the policemen". The case "is a stark example of collective punishment and the arbitrary use of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. He is the fifth person to be hanged over the case involving the death in Isfahan of four policemen during the nationwide protests that peaked in January. He is also the second Afghan national to be executed over the protests, after Gol Mohammad Mohammadi was hanged in the same case in July. At least 12 defendants in the case have been sentenced to death, said IHR. IHR said that since wartime executions resumed on March 19, at least 30 protesters have been executed -- 28 in connection with the January protests and two in connection with the "Woman. Life. Freedom." protests that erupted in 2022."That is an average of more than one protester execution per week," it said. IHR says hundreds of other protesters have been sentenced to death or are facing charges which could carry the death penalty, including over 70 in Isfahan, the main city of central Iran which saw intense protests in January. Iran's escalating use of the death penalty has triggered international concern, with rights groups and governments accusing Tehran of using executions to instil fear into society and prevent further protests. According to Amnesty International, Iran executed at least 2,159 people in 2025. But authorities now appear to be intensifying executions of protesters and others deemed political prisoners during the conflict.More than 30 nations, including France, Britain and Canada, last week condemned Iran's use of capital punishment, saying the Islamic republic was executing protesters to "silence dissent".

Sources: Ghalibaf’s Baghdad Visit Fell Short of All Objectives
Baghdad: Hamza Mustafa/Asharq AlAwsat/20 August 2026
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday backed Iraq’s push to bring weapons under state control amid a Sept. 30 deadline. Ghalibaf also reaffirmed Tehran’s commitment to security agreements between the two countries. He arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday with a high-level Iranian delegation for an official visit due to end on Thursday with a trip to Najaf after meetings with Iraqi political and religious leaders, particularly the main factions in the Coordination Framework. His visit comes as the issue of armed factions moves to the center of Iraq’s political agenda ahead of the deadline set by the country’s main political forces for bringing weapons under state control. The State Administration Coalition, which includes leading Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish political forces, said after an Aug. 5 meeting that weapons must be confined to state institutions. It described groups operating outside official structures in ways that threaten national security as “illegitimate.”
Visit falls short of its aims
Informed Iraqi sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Ghalibaf’s visit “did not achieve all its objectives,” particularly an effort to “soften Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s position” on enforcing the state monopoly on weapons once the deadline expires at the end of September. While in Baghdad, Ghalibaf met several Shiite leaders and attended a Coordination Framework meeting on Wednesday evening, which was also attended by al-Zaidi. The talks come as political forces search for a way out of one of the government’s most sensitive disputes, while armed factions, according to the same sources, have begun putting forward new conditions over how their weapons should be handled. Al-Zaidi, according to prevailing political assessments, remains committed to the deadline for handing weapons over to the state, despite pressure from political forces and armed factions seeking to revise either the deadline or the terms of implementation. An informed Iraqi politician said Coordination Framework leaders were no longer as well placed to mediate between al-Zaidi and factions rejecting the weapons plan, citing divisions within the alliance and the growing overlap with other political and judicial disputes. The source also linked that weakness to the role of Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan, amid the possibility that anti-corruption measures could widen to include other leaders and figures within the Coordination Framework. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Baghdad, Iraq, August 19, 2026. Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office/Handout via REUTERSAl-Zaidi digs in Political assessments suggest al-Zaidi has told lawmakers and officials in private meetings that he does not intend to retreat from the Sept. 30 deadline. One scenario under discussion is al-Zaidi’s resignation, an option the sources say some forces implicated in corruption cases may favor in hopes of reshuffling the political landscape. But al-Zaidi could instead take his case directly to the public, a move that could weaken his political opponents, particularly if he wins the backing of Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist movement, one of the most prominent Shiite blocs.
Other sources familiar with discussions inside the Coordination Framework said some parties were seeking to tie the countdown to the Sept. 30 weapons deadline to the anti-corruption campaign, which has no fixed timetable.Such a move, they said, could open the door to political bargaining between the two issues.The Iraqi politician who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat said one scenario would see al-Zaidi score gains in the anti-corruption campaign against political, administrative, and government figures, regardless of their level of responsibility, potentially strengthening his standing with the public. In return, political forces could push to extend the weapons deadline, either by freezing the process, concealing weapons, or moving them outside Iraq. The proposal has so far failed to persuade al-Zaidi, the source said, citing what he described as international commitments the prime minister made during his visit to the United States.
Dispute over control of key issues
Behind the scenes, some Coordination Framework parties believe al-Zaidi may have gone too far in his handling of the weapons and corruption files. From their perspective, allowing one side to control both issues would be difficult because of their political overlap and because rival forces do not want a single actor, even the prime minister, to manage them alone. Those holding that view argue that al-Zaidi reached the premiership with the backing of the main Shiite forces and therefore cannot, in their view, override or challenge them on issues directly tied to their political and security interests. In that context, comments by Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, carried particular significance. “The choice of Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister was born in this room,” al-Fayyad said in a television interview, referring to the room where the interview was being conducted. The PMF is an institution linked to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, a position held by al-Zaidi.
Legal route emerges
Legislation specifically aimed at bringing weapons under state control has emerged as one possible route for the government to navigate the political and security complications surrounding the Sept. 30 deadline.
Saif al-Saadi, an expert on political and legislative affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sept. 30 was “not merely a deadline set by the government.”Rather, he said, it represented “a referendum on the legitimacy of reclaiming the Iraqi state and its institutions from the encroachment of the parallel state.”
He said the deadline would also test al-Zaidi’s decisions: whether they prove strong and enforceable, or strong in wording but weak in implementation. Saadi said al-Zaidi’s government maintains, in principle, that the decision to bring weapons under state control “is not discussed in the capitals of other countries.”
But he said armed factions have what he described as ideological ties that cross borders and are ideologically linked to Iran’s supreme leader. Saadi said al-Zaidi’s government was moving toward sending legislation to parliament specifically aimed at restricting weapons to the state, describing the move as highly pragmatic. Such legislation, he said, would allow the prime minister to move beyond the Sept. 30 deadline, ease external pressure represented by Iranian influence and reduce domestic pressure from political actors with armed wings before “throwing the ball into parliament’s court.”
Asked whether an armed confrontation could erupt after Sept. 30, Saadi ruled out that scenario, saying he did not believe fighting would break out after the deadline because al-Zaidi had warned of the risk of internal collapse. Saadi also ruled out applying Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005 to anyone who manufactures, uses, or possesses drones without official authorization on the grounds that such acts constitute terrorist crimes subject to the law’s severe penalties. He said al-Zaidi’s government had, in his view, failed its first test in the case of Abbas al-Yaqubi, a leader in Harakat al-Nujaba who was arrested and released without investigation on Wednesday. Instead, Saadi said Iraq was more likely to face the risk of financial collapse as a result of US sanctions, while adding that he could not rule out “strikes on selected targets inside Iraq.”

Ghalibaf Discusses Iranian Plan in Baghdad to ‘Hide’ Faction Weapons
Baghdad: Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/20 August 2026
Iran is pushing proposals to avert a confrontation between Iraq’s government and Tehran-aligned armed factions over their weapons, with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf taking the effort to Baghdad ahead of a Sept. 30 disarmament deadline. Iraqi sources said Ghalibaf’s visit to Baghdad on Wednesday goes well beyond its stated parliamentary purpose, with talks focused on political and security issues — chiefly the fate of armed factions’ weapons as the deadline to bring all arms under state control approaches. The sources said Ghalibaf was carrying Iranian proposals aimed at averting a direct confrontation between the Iraqi government and Tehran-aligned factions. The ideas include “freezing” or concealing heavy weapons and possibly transferring a large portion of them temporarily to Iran until a political settlement is reached over the future of the factions’ arsenals. The details of the proposals could not be independently verified, and neither Tehran nor the Iraqi government has announced them publicly. An Iraqi government source, who asked not to be identified, said the government was “determined to respect its deadlines” and bring weapons under state control by the end of September, coinciding with the completion of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq under a timetable agreed by Baghdad and Washington. The Iraqi government has said Sept. 30 marks the end of the timeline for implementing its weapons-control plan. The government source said the position was reaffirmed during meetings held by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi after his return from Washington, and at the latest meeting of the State Administration Coalition, which backed efforts to bring weapons under state control. The coalition had previously voiced support for the plan, while the government has taken practical steps including forming a committee to oversee disengagement and integration, creating a weapons database and closing fictitious offices linked to the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Pressure builds with armed factions
Ghalibaf’s visit comes as tensions rise between the government and some armed factions, particularly Kataib Hezbollah, which has rejected handing over what it calls “resistance weapons.”The government source said the authorities would not be drawn into “wars of words” or “ill-considered confrontations” and would press ahead with enforcing the constitution and the law. He said the increasingly sharp tone of some faction statements, along with videos and remarks seen as inciting or threatening the prime minister, showed the pressure building around the weapons-control plan. Statements by Kataib Hezbollah have stirred debate within political circles and among the factions themselves, particularly over the language used against al-Zaidi. Media outlets and social media platforms have also carried statements and videos containing direct threats or warnings to the prime minister, including the phrase “don’t play with the big boys,” attributed to a local official in Babil province, according to the sources. The government source said al-Zaidi’s refusal to respond in kind, coupled with his insistence on sticking to the timetable, had put Shiite forces within the Coordination Framework in a difficult position. They now face, he said, regional and international support for the prime minister on one side and political pressure and corruption cases involving some figures linked to them on the other. The source said some leaders affected by those cases had left the country, while others had disappeared from public view, prompting factions within the Coordination Framework to look for a settlement that could prevent an inter-Shiite confrontation.
“Freeze,” hide or move the weapons
A well-informed political source told Asharq Al-Awsat that one option under discussion was to extend the deadline implicitly without making a formal announcement. Under that approach, the prime minister would be persuaded that progress had been made in bringing weapons under state control, while the continued possession of arms by two or more factions whose leaders had their own “convictions and conditions” could be handled through dialogue rather than armed confrontation. The source said those backing the proposal feared a clash between the government and Shiite factions. But al-Zaidi, he added, remained committed to enforcing the law and was relying on judicial support for the weapons-control effort. According to the source, the prime minister believes any retreat from the deadline or from the substance of the plan would leave him a prime minister “stripped of authority.” He believes some faction statements have sought to reinforce that image by questioning his political legitimacy, describing him as still merely “designated” to form a government and criticizing his young age. The government says the plan is rooted in its ministerial program, which calls for bringing weapons under state control, enforcing the rule of law, unifying security decision-making and placing military resources and capabilities within the official state system. The political source said one version of the proposal Ghalibaf is believed to be discussing with the factions, al-Zaidi and some Coordination Framework leaders would “freeze” or “conceal” the factions’ heavy weapons. It would also raise the possibility of moving a large portion of those weapons to Iran as a “deposit” until talks are completed. The source said the idea was designed to offer a face-saving way out for factions that regard the weapons as “Shiite weapons” that cannot be negotiated away, while allowing them to avoid a complete break with the prime minister and the Shiite forces backing him, as well as Sunni and Kurdish forces that support bringing weapons under state control.
Why Ghalibaf matters
Ghalibaf’s visit carries added weight because of his position within Iran’s political establishment and is not confined to parliamentary ties. He arrived in Baghdad at the head of a parliamentary delegation but has since held meetings and conducted activities with a wider political and security dimension.
The way he was received at Baghdad airport also carried political significance, according to the sources. Adnan Fayhan, first deputy speaker of parliament and a senior figure in the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, received Ghalibaf instead of Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi. In his remarks in Baghdad, Ghalibaf openly acknowledged the political and regional dimension of the visit. He said the “resistance” in Iraq had become a fundamental element of the country’s strength and that ties between Baghdad and Tehran were moving toward consolidating a “new regional order” free from foreign interference.
Ghalibaf said the visit aimed to strengthen cooperation among countries in the region and to build new security and regional arrangements. His remarks align with a broader Iranian view of the role armed factions play in regional security calculations. Tehran’s recent moves suggest the factions’ weapons have become part of a wider discussion between Iran and Iraqi political forces, rather than simply an internal dispute over enforcing a government decision. Ghalibaf’s visit was preceded by an unannounced trip to Baghdad by Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, whose meetings covered the factions’ weapons and regional developments, according to Iraqi sources.

Bessent says US will impose toughest ever sanctions on Iran, urges China to cooperate
Reuters/20 August ,2026
The United States will impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday as he urged Beijing to cooperate with Washington. Bessent said he would hold a press conference on Monday to discuss details. “It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade (on Iran), and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” Bessent told CNBC. “It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this regime.”“It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision,” he said. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday of economic consequences against any country that provided “any type of lifeline to Iran” as the United States looks to resolve a war it began alongside Israel nearly six months ago.“I think oil markets are misinterpreting what this economic pressure means,” Bessent said. Oil prices climbed to more than three-week highs on Thursday. “We have asymmetric information, and I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this,” Bessent said. “If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart.”When asked if the United States could target China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were best to have in private. “We are confident that everyone wants the Strait (of Hormuz) reopened, and for energy prices to come back down,” he said. “Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50 percent (of their) energy from inside the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get with the program.”China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bessent’s remarks. China buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. If the US engaged in further economic warfare with China, a major exporter to the US, including vital rare-earth minerals, it would risk retaliation. Iran has weathered punishing economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Trump’s comments an attempt to divert American public opinion from domestic financial problems, including record debt and rising interest rates.

New US carrier arrives in Mideast to relieve long-deployed ship
AFP/20 August ,2026
A new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced Thursday, after conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh criticism of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. “The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theater yesterday,” Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X. The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier – deployed since November 2025 – had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war. Several outlets, including specialist military publications, quoted relatives of crew members as saying that living conditions had deteriorated on the Lincoln, with food shortages and broken plumbing. Notably, there have been reports of several suicide attempts. Trump dismissed the concerns but confirmed another carrier would swap out with the Lincoln. The Japan-based USS George Washington had been operating in the Pacific.Its transfer means there is no longer any US aircraft carrier in that region – a boon for an assertive China. The Lincoln had departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February.

Iran condemns new US sanctions, calls them ‘economic terrorism’
Agencies/20 August ,2026
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned newly announced US economic and trade sanctions on Thursday, saying they targeted ordinary Iranians and amounted to “economic terrorism” and crimes against humanity. US President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday of sweeping economic consequences for any country that provided what he called “any type of lifeline to Iran,” threatening economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale. The Iranian foreign ministry said the measures would not weaken Tehran’s resolve to defend its independence, national sovereignty and interests. Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed Trump’s economic punishment plan for Tehran as a continuation of “failed policies,” which he said would bring Washington “further defeat.”“The so-called ‘Economic D-Day’ is a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs. Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat – and enmity of Iranians,” Araghchi said in a post on X. “US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide.”In a post on his Truth Social, Trump said he was announcing “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.”“ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” he said.

Trump pledges 'economic warfare' on Iran, prompting Tehran derision
Agence France Presse/20 August ,2026
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged "economic warfare" against Iran and threatened any country that trades with it, prompting Iran to dismiss the plan on Thursday as a continuation of failed policies. The war between the two countries, started by the U.S. and Israel in February, appears stalemated, with peace talks stalled, Tehran keeping the key Strait of Hormuz shut and Washington persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran. Under pressure at home over the economic impacts of this unpopular war and with midterm elections looming, Trump appeared to be searching for alternative ways to pressure Tehran. In a post on his Truth Social, the U.S. leader said he was announcing "the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale". "ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences," he said. The U.S. has maintained punishing sanctions against Iran for decades, with Trump in his 2017-2021 first term ratcheting them up as part of a "maximum pressure" strategy in which he tore up a nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday dismissed the plan as a continuation of "failed policies", which he said would bring Washington "further defeat". "The so-called 'Economic D-Day' is a diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs. Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat -- and enmity of Iranians," Araghchi said in a post on X."U.S. economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide."
'Oil smuggling' -
Despite the heavy international sanctions, Iran found ways to continue exporting its oil, with China the biggest buyer. In his threat to those helping Iran, Trump did not mention any country by name, nor did he say what punishment third countries might face, although last August, the U.S. slapped an additional 25 percent tariff on India for buying Russian oil. The US leader listed several activities that he said needed to stop immediately: "oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies".Like Russia, Tehran operates a so-called shadow fleet of tankers, all of which are under international sanctions, to continue its oil trade. It's unclear what additional impact any fresh sanctions would have, given the US blockade of Iranian ports. Tehran, though, continues to exert its own economic pressure campaign by keeping the strait of Hormuz largely closed. Before the war, around a fifth of global oil supplies travelled through the strait. Attacks on shipping in Hormuz have continued, despite the lull in the wider war, while on Wednesday Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Gulf countries against assisting the U.S. That came after the United Arab Emirates said it was severing economic ties with Tehran over attacks on its shipping.
Diplomacy is doomed
While it has been several weeks since the last round of tit-for-tat strikes, Iran has taken a more confrontational stance say analysts. Ahmad Zeidabadi, a Tehran-based international relations expert, told AFP the shift reflected Iran's assessment of Washington's intentions. "The Islamic republic believes the United States has likely ruled out war and now seeks to perpetuate the status quo including the U.S. naval blockade and the economic pressure," he said. He said the "Iranians believe that diplomacy is doomed to fail in the current climate" and that "they may feel compelled to resort to offensive action to force the U.S. to accept Iranian conditions". The tougher stance was also reflected in Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei appointing a number of hardliners to senior security positions in recent weeks."These appointments are demonstrative of Iran believing it will be in a wartime footing for the foreseeable future," said Jason Brodsky, policy director of the U.S.-based United Against Nuclear Iran think tank. The war has also continued to spread, sucking in and reigniting Yemen's smoldering civil war. On Thursday, the Revolutionary Guards warned that Saudi Arabia would not be able to contain Tehran's allies, the Houthi rebels. The group, which controls swathes of Yemen and has been at war with Riyadh for over a decade, has declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and attacked ships in the Red Sea.

Oman says lasting security in Strait of Hormuz requires regional peace
Reuters/20 August ,2026
Oman said lasting security in the Strait of Hormuz required permanent peace in the region and rejected further escalation or conflict, its foreign minister told his Japanese counterpart on Thursday.
Iran has said a deal with Oman on new shipping lanes through the strait was in its final stages.

US approves $4.5 bln sale of KC-46A refueling aircraft to Qatar
Al Arabiya English/20 August ,2026
The US has approved the possible $4.50 billion sale of four KC-46A refueling aircraft to Qatar, according to a Congressional notification from the State Department. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic regional partner that has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East,” according to the notification. The sale will also increase Qatar’s capability to meet current and future threats, while reinforcing Qatar’s strategic role in regional security, the State Department said. The principal contractors will be Boeing, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, RTX Corporation, and Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Foreigners with connections to IRGC killed in Yemen
Al Arabiya English/20 August ,2026
Three foreign experts linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been killed in Yemen on Thursday in clashes with government forces, Yemeni military sources told Al Arabiya English. One of the three was an Iraqi national while the two others were Iranian citizens, the sources said. Meanwhile, the commander of the Houthis’ Third Brigade called “al-Fatah Brigades” was wounded in a drone strike. Al Arabiya’s correspondent earlier reported heavy clashes between government and government-affiliated troops with the Houthis on the western coast of Yemen. Fierce clashes occurred between the government-affiliated National Resistance and the Houthis in several areas, including the al-Barah front in Taiz and Jabal Dubas in the Hays district, south of the Governorate of Hodeidah. The Houthis reportedly suffered “heavy losses” after trying to infiltrate positions held by government forces. National Resistance commander of the al-Barah District Bridadier General Numan al-Fatimi told Al Arabiya English that forces had surprised the Houthis with new combat strategies involving drones, delivering “harsh lessons” to them using information obtained by the group’s intelligence.

US sends 20 deportees to Liberia, part of 1,200 migrants the country will receive
The Associated Press/20 August ,2026
The United States sent 20 deportees to Liberia, who arrived on Thursday as part of 1,200 migrants that the African country will receive under a new deal. The deportees arrived at the Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia. The Liberia-US agreement is among the largest third-country deportations driven by the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. The 1,200 deportees will include African nationals and also nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah. During a briefing on Tuesday, Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh said that the majority of the deportees had committed migration-related violations and offenses, and that they could seek asylum in the West African country if they wished. Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that aren't their own, advocates say, with about 10 of them in Africa. Immigration lawyers have said the Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum-seekers back to their home countries. In many cases, migrants are deported to countries they’ve never been to or where they face safety risks and are left with little choice other than to return to the home countries, they were fleeing from.

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 20-21/2026
Islamismes et politiques de subversion
Dr. Charles Chartouni/Ici Beyrouth/août 20/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156820/
L’action subversive des islamismes militants avance au gré de l’instabilité politique qui prédomine sur l’ensemble de la géopolitique moyen-orientale et ses incidences en Europe et aux États-Unis. Il s’agit d’une confluence qui est loin d’être accidentelle, dès lors que les effets délétères de cette convergence circonscrivent le cadre d’une conflictualité interstitielle et en définissent la trame. On peut difficilement séparer ses enjeux qui se déploient dans des théâtres politiques et opérationnels divergents. Les cas de Z. Mamdani et d'A. al-Sayed aux États-Unis, ainsi que celui de la LFI, illustrent l’interdépendance entre les agendas islamistes et ceux de la gauche woke, ainsi que leur instrumentalisation par les acteurs concernés.
Il n’est pas fortuit que les questions de politique publique soient réinterprétées à partir du prisme "palestiniste" qui sert désormais de levier et de modulateur à des stratégies de déstabilisation et d'islamisation. Il ne s’agit pas d’un lien factice. Bien au contraire, il est question d’un vecteur de mobilisation emblématique en vue de provoquer et d’entretenir les dynamiques conflictuelles, alors que manifestement on ne voit pas de relation entre les deux volets politiques. Ces acteurs islamo-gauchistes tentent d’avancer sur un terreau de revendications sociales factices sans aucune relevance, ou de défense communautaire comme si les musulmans aux États-Unis pâtissaient de déclassement social ou de discrimination, alors qu’il s’agit du contraire.
Les communautés et les individus musulmans ont réussi leur intégration socio-économique sans obstacles ni restrictions d'aucun ordre que ce soit. Autrement, ces islamo-gauchistes n’ont aucune influence en milieux afro-américains et aucun apparentement avec la tradition des droits civils des Églises noires. Leurs agendas sont d’un ridicule affligeant en raison de leur inexpérience en matière de gouvernance et de leur méconnaissance des dossiers de politiques publiques. S’ajoute à cela leur rôle essentiel dans la mise au point du mouvement des “démocrates socialistes” qui s’avère à son tour sans aucune consistance.
Il s’agit d’une simulation grotesque d’un bolchevisme anachronique et entièrement dévalorisé. Le fait de reprendre la rhétorique bolchevique décontextualisée dénote l’inconsistance d’un mouvement bricolé et sans aucun lien avec les réalités du terrain. Ceci est d’autant plus pertinent lorsqu’on récapitule leur programme politique qui projette le démantèlement des institutions politiques américaines, de la constitution fédéraliste et de la charte des droits (Bill of Rights). Ils proposent d'abolir la présidence, la Cour suprême et le Sénat, de supprimer le budget de la police, de libérer tous les prisonniers et d'instaurer une économie de troc…
La LFI succède à l'implosion de la sphère de gauche et à la disparition du récit traditionnel de celle-ci. L'échec brutal du socialisme correspond à l'éclipse conjuguée du discours et de la pratique. Le passé ne sert plus à rien, et les défis de l'avenir sont totalement incompréhensibles. Le logiciel est anachronique et ne correspond en rien à un environnement marqué par des mutations technologiques, socio-économiques et géo-économiques. La déculturation politique et opérationnelle, ainsi que la délinquance du mouvement, font référence à des défaillances intellectuelles, morales et institutionnelles. La jonction effectuée entre la LFI et les islamistes est révélatrice des dynamiques politiques actuelles et atteste les contradictions d'une France en pleine transition. Il s'agit d'un phénomène résiduel instrumenté par un islamisme de subversion.
La récapitulation de ce bavardage nous renvoie à une réalité tout à fait autre. Il s'agit de la remise en cause de la paix civile, ainsi que du démarrage d’un séparatisme islamiste. Il s'agit aussi du questionnement des règles d’une république procédurale. Dans ce cadre, l’adjudication des différences ethniques, culturelles et religieuses s’effectue sur la base d’un socle commun de valeurs politiques et civiques autour desquelles s’organise la dynamique de la vie institutionnelle. S’ajoute à ces facteurs l’instrumentalisation des conflits politiques domestiques au bénéfice des politiques de puissance musulmanes ainsi que de leurs variantes terroristes.
Il faudrait examiner de manière critique les discours et les manifestations publiques pour percevoir les visées sous-jacentes à cette lame de fond qui traverse la mouvance islamo‑gauchiste et rappeler les antécédents de l'internationale socialiste ainsi que ses multiples variations. L’indistinction statutaire, derrière laquelle s’abritent les énergumènes en question, remet en cause la constitutionnalité de l’exercice du pouvoir. En effet, les paradoxes statutaires de l’imam qui préside à la prière, associés à ceux du maire, font que les administrations publiques se transforment en lieux de culte pour marquer le territoire. La gesticulation désordonnée de Mamdani, qui va dans tous les sens, illustre le manque de clarté dans le débat sur la constitutionnalité de l’exercice du pouvoir. Elle témoigne aussi d'une volonté de se jouer des institutions de manière arbitraire et au service d'une politique islamiste financée et appuyée par des pôles d'influence identifiés.
En outre, A. al-Sayed annonce un programme de conquête systématique des espaces publics et privés, comme si la vie politique en démocratie opérait dans un vide normatif et institutionnel où tout est avalisé tant que cela sert les objectifs de la subversion en question. La transformation de la ville de Dearborn dans l’État du Michigan et de Minneapolis dans le Minnesota en enclave islamiste où la charia prime sur le droit constitutionnel, et où l’extraterritorialité se mue en séparatisme de fait lié aux objectifs politiques du régime iranien, ou de zones de repli au mouvement terroriste des "chababs" en Somalie ne sont pas des syndromes mineurs. Le citoyen lambda se rend compte des risques liés à une immigration musulmane de masse pilotée par les politiques islamistes. Paradoxalement, la conduite de ce candidat au Sénat se départit de toutes normes de constitutionnalité et de respect de l'éthique et de la normativité contraignante de l'État de droit. Ceci est d'autant plus grave qu'il démontre son ignorance et sa désinvolture à l'endroit de l'État de droit.
Le décryptage de ces mouvements et de leurs liens avec les politiques de puissance islamistes représentées par l'Iran, la Turquie, le Pakistan, l'Arabie saoudite et le Qatar est essentiel. C'est une clé de compréhension des dynamiques transversales de la vie internationale et de ses articulations géopolitiques. Le cas de l'impérialisme musulman s'inscrit parfaitement dans le schéma d'action décrit précédemment, qui est en passe de devenir un paradigme de la scène internationale et de la conflictualité post-westphalienne. La topographie de ce phénomène en pleine mutation est à répertorier.

Islamisms and Politics of Subversion
Dr. Charles Chartouni/Ici Beyrouth/August 20/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156820/
The subversive action of militant Islamisms advances in tandem with the political instability that predominates across Middle Eastern geopolitics and its repercussions in Europe and the United States. This convergence is far from accidental, as the deleterious effects of this confluence circumscribe the framework of interstitial conflictuality and define its texture. It is difficult to separate its stakes, which unfold across divergent political and operational theaters. The cases of Z. Mamdani and A. al-Sayed in the United States, as well as that of LFI (La France Insoumise), illustrate the interdependence between Islamist agendas and those of the woke left, alongside their instrumentalization by the actors involved.
It is no coincidence that public policy issues are reinterpreted through the "Palestinianist" prism, which now serves as a lever and modulator for destabilization and Islamization strategies. This is not a fictitious link. On the contrary, it is an emblematic vector of mobilization intended to provoke and sustain conflict dynamics, even when no apparent relationship exists between the two political components. These Islamo-leftist actors attempt to advance on a terrain of fabricated and irrelevant social grievances, or under the guise of community defense as if Muslims in the United States suffered from social degradation or discrimination—when the exact opposite is true.
Muslim communities and individuals have successfully achieved socio-economic integration without obstacles or restrictions of any kind. Otherwise, these Islamo-leftists hold no influence within African-American circles and share no affiliation with the civil rights tradition of Black churches. Their agendas are distressingly ridiculous due to their inexperience in governance and ignorance of public policy files. Added to this is their essential role in formulating the "Democratic Socialists" movement, which in turn proves utterly devoid of substance.
This is a grotesque simulation of anachronistic and entirely devalued Bolshevism. Resorting to decontextualized Bolshevik rhetoric denotes the inconsistency of a cobbled-together movement entirely disconnected from ground realities. This is all the more relevant when one reviews their political program, which projects the dismantling of American political institutions, the federalist constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They propose abolishing the presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Senate, defunding the police, releasing all prisoners, and establishing a barter economy...
LFI succeeds the implosion of the leftist sphere and the disappearance of its traditional narrative. The brutal failure of socialism corresponds to the combined eclipse of discourse and practice. The past is no longer useful, and the challenges of the future are completely incomprehensible. Their software is anachronistic and bears no relation to an environment marked by technological, socio-economic, and geo-economic transformations. The political and operational deculturation, along with the movement’s delinquency, point to intellectual, moral, and institutional failures. The junction made between LFI and the Islamists is revealing of current political dynamics and attests to the contradictions of a France in the midst of transition. It is a residual phenomenon instrumentalized by a subversion-driven Islamism.
The recap of this chatter redirects us to an entirely different reality: the challenging of civil peace and the onset of Islamist separatism. It also involves calling into question the rules of a procedural republic. Within this framework, the adjudication of ethnic, cultural, and religious differences takes place on the basis of a common foundation of political and civic values around which the dynamics of institutional life are organized. Added to these factors is the instrumentalization of domestic political conflicts for the benefit of Muslim power politics and their terrorist variants.
One must critically examine discourses and public demonstrations to perceive the underlying goals of this groundswell sweeping through the Islamo-leftist movement, and recall the antecedents of the Socialist International and its multiple variations. The statutory indistinction behind which these malcontents shelter calls into question the constitutionality of the exercise of power. Indeed, the statutory paradoxes of the imam leading prayer, combined with those of the mayor, mean that public administrations are transformed into places of worship to mark territory. Mamdani's erratic gesticulation, shooting off in all directions, illustrates the lack of clarity in the debate over the constitutionality of the exercise of power. It also testifies to a desire to toy with institutions arbitrarily and in the service of an Islamist policy financed and supported by identified power centers.
Furthermore, A. al-Sayed announces a program of systematic conquest of public and private spaces, as if political life in a democracy operated within a normative and institutional vacuum where everything is endorsed as long as it serves the objectives of the subversion in question. The transformation of the city of Dearborn in Michigan and Minneapolis in Minnesota into Islamist enclaves where Sharia takes precedence over constitutional law, and where extraterritoriality mutates into de facto separatism linked to the political objectives of the Iranian regime or to safe havens for the "Al-Shabaab" terrorist movement in Somalia, are not minor symptoms. The ordinary citizen is well aware of the risks associated with mass Muslim immigration piloted by Islamist policies. Paradoxically, this Senate candidate's conduct departs from all norms of constitutionality, ethical respect, and the binding normativity of the rule of law. This is all the more grave as it demonstrates his ignorance and nonchalance toward the rule of law.
Decrypting these movements and their links with the Islamist power politics represented by Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar is essential. It is a key to understanding the cross-cutting dynamics of international life and its geopolitical articulations. The case of Muslim imperialism fits perfectly into the action scheme described previously, which is on the verge of becoming a paradigm of the international scene and post-Westphalian conflictuality. The topography of this rapidly mutating phenomenon needs to be mapped.

Israel lessens strikes after US-backed disarmament plan, rejects initial withdrawal; IDF reports 16 Gaza ceasefire violations July 31-August 18
Samuel Ben-Ur/ FDD's Long War Journal/August 20/2026
After Israel rejected the Board of Peace’s (BoP) disarmament plan, US Special Envoy for Peace Missions Jared Kushner and BoP officials met with Hamas and Israel to bridge the gaps. After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington shifted its position to prioritize Hamas’s disarmament before Israeli withdrawal and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups violated the ceasefire 16 times between August 1 and 18, according to Israeli reports.
Since the Board of Peace announced its July 31 Hamas disarmament agreement, the implementation of the plan has stalled over sequencing. The roadmap envisioned phased Hamas demilitarization alongside phased Israeli withdrawal. However, on August 4, Netanyahu publicly rejected that formula, saying Israel would not leave its current lines until Hamas was completely disarmed. Washington responded by shifting from an all-at-once roadmap to a step-by-step implementation strategy of Hamas compliance. On August 16, Jared Kushner and other US and Board of Peace officials met Hamas political leader Khalil al Hayya in Egypt. The group privately reaffirmed its willingness to demilitarize and transfer governing authority, though its public statement did not explicitly repeat the disarmament pledge. Kushner then met Netanyahu for nearly four hours on August 17. The emerging formula is that Hamas must first take a visible, verifiable step—such as surrendering weapons—before Israel makes concessions.
The plan’s disarmament mechanism was also partially fleshed out. Hamas weapons would be transferred through the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) for decommissioning and ultimately destruction, with American-backed verification led by officers such as US Major General Jasper Jeffers. Israeli officials also discussed possible US military supervision. Netanyahu and Kushner further agreed that major reconstruction would not begin before demilitarization. They established a working group on Hamas’s disarmament and another on sanitation and water.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes briefly fell under US pressure, then resumed as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hamas operatives were rebuilding military capabilities, moving weapons, planning attacks, and crossing ceasefire lines. Washington and Israel also agreed to create a deconfliction mechanism involving Egyptian mediators, but Israel retains the right to strike imminent threats. An unresolved question is what qualifies as an imminent threat that justifies Israeli strikes amid the peace process.
The IDF reported 16 Israeli strikes and ceasefire violations by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups between July 31 and August 18:
On July 31, the IDF and Shin Bet intelligence service said that they killed Abd al Rahim Abd al Hay Yosef Khardi, a “deputy cell commander” in Hamas’s military wing who also worked as a doctor at Shifa Hospital. Israel said that Khardi infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre and was involved in holding Romi Gonen hostage and holding the body of Noa Marciano after her murder. He had recently attempted “to advance terror attacks against IDF forces and civilians,” according to the Israeli military.
On August 1, the IDF and Shin Bet said that they destroyed five Hamas weapons-storage facilities across Gaza containing “Kalashnikov-type firearms, explosive charges, ATGM launchers, ammunition, and additional military equipment.” One facility near Shuhada al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah also served as a shelter for Hamas members, according to the Israeli military. On August 2, the IDF said that it killed Salem Jamal Abdel Rahman Abu Labed, “head of a Nukhba unit” in Hamas who infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre, and Muhammad Abdel Nasser Muhammad Khatib, a commander in Hamas’s Maazi Battalion. Both had recently attempted to advance attacks against Israeli forces, according to the IDF.Later the same day, the IDF said that it killed Alaa Emad Khamis Taramsi, a member of the Army of Islam, Hassan Ibrahim Shhada Kahman, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) member, and Ahmed Hadari, a member of Hamas’s Jabalia Battalion. The three had attempted “to advance terror plots against IDF forces and Israeli civilians,” according to the Israeli military.
On August 3, the IDF said that it killed Mahmoud Fatair, “a Nukhba commander” in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (PFLP) Central Camps Brigade. Fatair infiltrated Israel on October 7, participated in holding Rom Braslavsky hostage, and later appeared at ceremonies where the PFLP transferred several hostages to Israel. He had recently attempted to advance attacks against Israeli forces and civilians, according to the IDF.
Later the same day, the IDF and Shin Bet said that they killed Abdullah Adnan Taha Abu al Taif, “a Nukhba commander” in Hamas who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre, and Jalal Sabih, a commander in Hamas’s Deir Tufah Battalion. Both had recently attempted to advance attacks against Israeli forces and civilians, according to the Israeli military.
On August 11, the IDF said that it shot a Hamas sniper who approached Israeli forces near the Yellow Line in northern Gaza and “posed an immediate threat.” The military said a hit was confirmed.
On August 12, the IDF said that it struck the head of a Hamas cell in northern Gaza who was planning attacks against Israeli forces. The military said it carried out the airstrike “to remove the threat” to troops operating in Gaza.
On August 13, the IDF said that Paratroopers Brigade troops shot an armed individual who crossed the Yellow Line in southern Gaza and approached Israeli forces in a manner that “posed an immediate threat.”
Later the same day, the IDF said that it struck a Hamas company commander in Khan Younis who was planning attacks against Israeli forces operating in Gaza.
Also on August 13, the IDF and Shin Bet said that they killed Jamal Mahmoud Abu Kamila, a Hamas commander who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre. Abu Kamila had continued to advance attacks against Israeli forces and civilians throughout the war, according to the Israeli military.
On August 14, the IDF said that it killed Khadifa Khaled Suleiman Kaware, “a company commander” in Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade. Kaware trained Hamas members, transferred weapons across southern Gaza, and participated in efforts “to rehabilitate” the group’s military capabilities, according to the IDF.
On August 16, the IDF said that it struck a PFLP member in Khan Younis and a Hamas member in Nuseirat. Both were “advancing terror operatives” when they were targeted, according to the Israeli military.
On August 18, the IDF said that it killed Tarek Anwar Khamis Raai, “a platoon commander in the supply array” of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Raai raided Kibbutz Be’eri during the October 7 massacre and participated in the abduction of an Israeli civilian, according to the Israeli military.
Later the same day, the IDF said that it struck several Hamas commanders in the Shati area of northern Gaza who were planning attacks against Israeli forces.
Also on August 18, the IDF said that a strike targeted a meeting of Hamas Nukhba commanders, including “a platoon commander, three squad commanders, and several additional terrorists.” The group had been advancing attacks against Israeli forces, and one of those targeted had infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre, according to the Israeli military.
Samuel Ben-Ur is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Russia helps Iran sharpen its sword
FDD's Long War Journal/August 20/2026
Russia is shipping explosives and other military goods to help Iran replenish arsenals depleted in fighting with the United States and Israel, according to an August 17 report by NBC News. If accurate, this adds to the growing list of Russian aid provided to the Islamic Republic, which this week threatened to launch coercive “offensive” strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and across the region. The Russians are supplying TNT explosive material as well as unspecified “ammunition” and “drone components” to Iran via the Caspian Sea, NBC News reported. It cited “a European government document” that was “verified by a Western official” and was “based on information as of last month.” The outlet provided no further specifics regarding the goods involved. According to the report, Russia has delivered the cargo to Amirabad port in northern Iran using more than two dozen vessels owned by Russian company MG-FLOT. The firm, which was previously known as Transmorflot, is based in Russia’s Dagestan region and is under Western sanctions. Since 2022, MG-FLOT has accumulated a long record of transporting arms between the two authoritarian powers, initially to supply Russia with Iranian weapons. These included Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 long-range one-way attack (OWA) drones and, later, close-range ballistic missiles (though there is no public evidence that Russia has ever actually employed the latter in Ukraine). More recently, the Russians have been returning the favor. According to Western officials, Moscow has provided Tehran with guidance on drone employment and electronic warfare, informed by Russia’s experience in Ukraine. Russia has also supplied intelligence to help Iran track and target US forces. During the war that began in February, Iran has struck expensive radars, communications equipment, and aircraft, and 18 American service members have lost their lives. In addition, Moscow reportedly has been sending Tehran drone components and possibly entire Shahed-type OWA drones, upgraded versions of which the Russians now produce under an Iranian license. These components likely include “Kometa”-series controlled reception pattern antennas, or CRPAs, which bolster resistance to jamming of satellite navigation. According to Reuters, Western intelligence analysts suspect Iran used “Russian-enhanced” Shaheds to strike the CIA station in Riyadh in March.
Furthermore, Bloomberg recently reported that unnamed Western allies believe Iran may have received unspecified Russian missiles produced within the last year. This could be related to a contract for “Verba” man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), reportedly struck following the June 2025 Israel-Iran war. The deal reportedly called for Russia to supply 500 launchers, each equipped with “Mowgli-2” thermal imaging sights, along with 2,500 9M336 missiles by 2029.
Separately, Reuters reported last month that Iran would soon receive an initial shipment of QW-12 and FN-16 MANPADS from China, with a total of 300 to 400 ordered. Tehran is seeking to rebuild air defenses decimated by Israel and the United States, though so far there is no public evidence that Moscow or Beijing intends to supply more sophisticated, longer-range surface-to-air missile systems.
In 2022, Washington released intelligence indicating Russia planned to transfer Su-35 fighter jets to Tehran and had begun training Iranian pilots on the aircraft. But the deal has yet to come to fruition, and its prospects are unclear.
This week’s NBC News report marks the first time in recent years that Moscow has been accused of providing explosives to Tehran. The Iranians can use the Russian-supplied TNT along with other chemical agents to fill warheads for ballistic missiles and OWA drones, helping to replace munitions expended or destroyed during fighting with the United States and Israel. Iran is also believed to have obtained chemical precursors from China for producing solid rocket fuel in both 2025 and 2026.
Russia’s aid to Iran costs the Kremlin little, and Moscow surely relishes the chance to gain some deadly payback against Washington for its support for Ukraine. In addition, the Gulf conflict has raised prices for Russian oil and other commodity exports, reducing the hole in the Kremlin’s budget. It has also drained US stocks of key munitions, including Patriot air defense missiles desperately needed by Kyiv. Russia has an interest in keeping the United States bogged down in the Middle East as long as possible. As the Islamic Republic races to rearm for future rounds of fighting, Moscow will undoubtedly continue helping Tehran sharpen its sword.
*John Hardie is the deputy director of FDD’s Russia Program and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal.

Tehran’s Negotiators Are Not a Counterweight to the IRGC
Janatan Sayeh/ Policy Brief-FDD/August 20/2026
Whatever separates Tehran’s senior leadership, a strategy of escalation to extract concessions from Washington unites them. President Donald Trump confirmed on August 17 that his administration has been in direct contact with Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), after Washington questioned whether Tehran’s official negotiators actually represented the guards’s position. That day, an IRGC spokesperson described Iran’s Foreign Ministry and IRGC as separate functions within the same system, while Vahidi had privately told the Trump administration in May that he fully supported the negotiators. Washington is right about where ultimate authority lies in the Islamist regime. But that does not put Iran’s political leaders heading the talks, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, at odds with the IRGC. They may still want to negotiate, but only through the guards’s playbook of escalation to impose costs and extract more concessions. This alignment gives Washington little reason to ease its economic pressure in hopes of empowering a more pragmatic negotiating camp.
Tehran’s Political Leadership and the IRGC Are Aligned on Escalation
On July 8, two days after Iran violated the June Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by striking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Ghalibaf threatened that the chokehold would reopen only under “Iranian arrangements.” When Washington demanded that Tehran renounce the attacks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian instead expressed support for the IRGC’s aggression, claiming that the regime had “acted responsibly.” On July 13, two days after the guards declared the strait “closed,” Araghchi stated Iran would remain “the guardian of the Strait” forever. On July 15, Ghalibaf asserted that Iran’s armed forces and negotiators were working from the same strategy on Hormuz.
Internal Rivalries Among Hardliners Are About Power, Not Ideology
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s latest government reshuffle filled key national security posts with figures from networks closest to him, including Vahidi, new Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, and Basij Commander Hossein Taeb. What set them apart was proximity to Mojtaba, not policy toward Washington. Rezaei had already aligned himself closely with the new supreme leader, becoming his military adviser in March, opposing the April ceasefire, threatening an escalatory response to Washington, and later shielding Mojtaba from blame for the failed MOU by arguing that Mojtaba had favored a different course. Taeb is another longtime Mojtaba ally, dating back to their service in the same Iran-Iraq War battalion and years of collaboration in internal politics.
Economic Pressure Maximizes U.S. Leverage
During the initial blockade of Iranian ports from April to June, CENTCOM disrupted more than 150 vessels, while Iran’s crude oil exports fell to zero in May. Since the blockade resumed on July 14, CENTCOM has interdicted roughly 70 more vessels. Washington has also issued eight sanctions packages since July targeting the regime’s shadow fleet, weapons procurement, cryptocurrency networks, and Strait of Hormuz extortion schemes. July inflation averaged 66 percent annually and reached 87.9 percent year over year, while food prices climbed more than 134 percent. The rial sank to a record 1.95 million per dollar in July and was still trading near 1.88 million in early August. Regime officials are treating the economy as a national security threat after past hardship fueled nationwide unrest and could do so again.
Maximum Pressure Needs a Domestic Contingency
The blockade and sanctions have already constricted the regime’s cash flow. Washington should therefore be reluctant to bargain them away, making its refusal to revive an already moribund MOU the right call. Whether sustained pressure ultimately forces Tehran to compromise remains uncertain. But if economic deterioration again pushes Iran toward nationwide unrest, Washington should be ready to pair maximum pressure with a contingency plan for that moment by preserving protesters’ internet access and helping them withstand a regime armed and prepared for another crackdown.
**Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he focuses on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s regional malign influence. For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD and @FDD_Iran. Follow Janatan on X @JanatanSayeh. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Israel Is Drawing the Line Against Turkey in Syria
Ahmad Sharawi/ Policy Brief-FDD/August 20/2026
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/08/19/israel-is-drawing-the-line-against-turkey-in-syria/
For the first time since March, Israeli jets struck deep inside Syria on August 18, targeting the Abu Duhur airbase in Idlib governorate, roughly 70 kilometers south of the Turkish border. According to official Syrian sources, Israel carried out eight strikes targeting the base’s runway and storage facilities.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Israel and Syria had previously reached an understanding to preserve the security status quo, which Damascus was allegedly on the verge of breaching by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at the airbase. Syrian officials denied that any such understanding existed and condemned the strikes as a “violation of sovereignty.” Meanwhile, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Thomas Barrack expressed concern that the strikes constituted an “unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”
Israel has been clear about its red lines and concerns over threats emanating from Syria. Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, Israel has maintained a security zone inside Syrian territory and conducted airstrikes against perceived threats, including military bases that were slated to host Turkish forces, such as the T4 airbase in central Syria, which Israel struck in February 2025.
Syrian Army Capabilities
After Assad’s fall, Syria’s new leadership moved quickly to rebuild their armed forces by combining numerous militias into a more unified military structure. Today, the force reportedly numbers nearly 150,000 personnel and its conventional capabilities remain limited following Israeli strikes in December 2024. A 2026 estimate puts Syria’s inventory at 104 military aircraft, including 52 fighter jets, of which an estimated 21 are operationally ready. Despite the lack of capabilities, the Syrian Defense Ministry announced the graduation of 1,000 cadets in July, and this month, two Syrian Su-22 fighter jets were flying over northern Syria, the first flight under the new leadership.
Israeli Red Lines
Turkey has made little effort to conceal its determination to maintain a long-term presence in Syria. Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in February that Ankara has no intention of withdrawing from its bases in northern Syria. Israel worries that Ankara could eventually use its military presence in Syria as a platform to pressure or threaten Israel, and remains wary of the close relationship between Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and the Turkish leadership. Israel’s concerns, however, extend beyond Turkey itself. Sharaa’s background as a former al-Qaeda leader has made Israeli officials skeptical of his intentions since the earliest days of his rule. Those concerns have been reinforced by his government’s integration of extremists and foreign fighters into the Syrian military, as well as by the massacres targeting minority communities in 2025. Rhetoric from within the Syrian armed forces has added to these fears. In one video posted on August 16, Syrian army soldiers assembled outside the historic Damascus Citadel were filmed chanting explicitly anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans, including: “I am coming for you, Jew … I will make your blood flow in rivers.”
Washington Should Address Turkey’s Military Entrenchment in Syria
U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack has signaled that he is working on a Turkey-Syria-Israel deconfliction framework aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future. While such an arrangement is important for regional deescalation, it would not provide a long-term solution to the potential threat Turkey could pose to Israel through its military presence in Syria. Washington has also been mediating efforts toward a security agreement between Syria and Israel, an initiative that Sharaa himself has expressed openness to.
Although Turkey’s role was likely discussed during previous negotiations that continued through January, the question of Turkish military entrenchment in Syria should become a central element of any future understanding between Damascus and Jerusalem, who share an interest in weakening Hezbollah and Iranian militias. The United States should also take Israeli concerns about Ankara’s expanding military footprint in Syria more seriously and ensure that any agreement includes mechanisms to prevent Syrian territory from becoming a platform for future Turkish pressure or military threats against Israel.
**Ahmad Sharawi is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Ahmad on X @AhmadA_Sharawi. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Palestinians' Preferred Leaders: A Convicted Fatah Terrorist or Hamas
Bassam Tawil/ Gatestone Institute/August 20, 2026
The survey, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between August 5 and 8, 2026, reveals that... the fundamental political attitudes that have plagued Palestinian society for decades remain largely intact. Hamas remains a major political force; convicted terrorists and Hamas leaders remain popular candidates for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency; overwhelming majorities oppose the unconditional disarmament of Hamas; and Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen continue to enjoy remarkably high approval ratings.
Asked who is most suitable to succeed PA President Mahmoud Abbas, 39% chose imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti... An Israeli court convicted him in 2004 of five counts of murder stemming from three terrorist attacks.
Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 years. Yet this is the man whom a majority of likely Palestinian voters would like to see as their next president.
The second-place candidate is the head of Hamas.
The PA parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 28, 2026, with presidential elections expected in early 2027. The PSR poll offers a warning of what those elections could produce. Hamas could still win another Palestinian Authority election (as it did in 2006).
An overwhelming 72% say Hamas should not disarm before Israel completely withdraws from the Gaza Strip.US envoy Jared Kushner recently met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and other Hamas officials in Cairo as part of US efforts to advance President Donald J. Trump's Gaza peace plan.
Whatever the administration's intentions, such meetings provide Hamas with something it has sought for years: international legitimacy. When representatives of the world's leading superpower sit directly with Hamas leaders, Hamas can present the encounter to Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims as evidence that its strategy has succeeded.The message is that terrorism pays. If you carry out attacks, take hostages, retain your weapons and survive long enough – eventually the Americans will negotiate with you.
These figures are difficult to reconcile with claims that Palestinian society is undergoing a transformation toward moderation.
What exactly are these elections expected to accomplish?
Elections are not automatically synonymous with democracy, moderation, or peace.
The PA held a parliamentary election in 2006. Hamas participated and won. A year later, Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip. Now the Palestinians may be heading toward another election in which Hamas could again emerge as the largest faction....
Why, then, should the international community rush toward elections that could legitimize extremists and terrorists rather than marginalize them? Before elections, Palestinians need real political reform. The Palestinian Authority needs accountable institutions, independent courts, freedom of expression, an end to corruption, and, most importantly, a political culture that does not glorify terrorists or treat armed groups as legitimate alternatives to government. Nearly three years after Hamas's October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel and following the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, one might have expected a fundamental change in Palestinian public opinion. Palestinians might have turned away from Hamas, terrorism, and the Iran-backed "Axis of Resistance." Palestinians also might have demanded new leaders committed to democracy, reform, an end to corruption, and peaceful coexistence. The latest Palestinian public opinion poll, however, presents a disturbing picture. The survey, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between August 5 and 8, 2026, reveals that although support for Hamas has declined, the fundamental political attitudes that have plagued Palestinian society for decades remain largely intact. Hamas remains a major political force; convicted terrorists and Hamas leaders remain popular candidates for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency; overwhelming majorities oppose the unconditional disarmament of Hamas; and Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen continue to enjoy remarkably high approval ratings.
Perhaps the most alarming finding concerns the identity of the Palestinians' future leaders.
Asked who is most suitable to succeed PA President Mahmoud Abbas, 39% chose imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya came second with 16%, followed by former Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan with 15%. In a hypothetical presidential election involving Abbas, Barghouti, and al-Hayya, Barghouti would receive an astonishing 54% of the votes among likely voters. Al-Hayya would receive 26%, while Abbas would receive only 14%.
Who is Marwan Barghouti?
He is not some imprisoned Palestinian political dissident. An Israeli court convicted him in 2004 of five counts of murder stemming from three terrorist attacks. He was also convicted of attempted murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 years. Yet this is the man whom a majority of likely Palestinian voters would like to see as their next president. The second-place candidate is the head of Hamas. That alone should cause alarm in Washington, Brussels and other Western capitals that continue to talk about Palestinian elections as though voting, by itself, will magically produce moderation and democracy. The PA parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 28, 2026, with presidential elections expected in early 2027. The PSR poll offers a warning of what those elections could produce. If legislative elections were held today, Fatah would receive 32% of the votes and Hamas's "Change and Reform" list would receive 29%. In the Gaza Strip, Hamas would actually come first, with 34% compared to 30% for Fatah.
In other words, Hamas could still win another Palestinian Authority election (as it did in 2006).
This is the same Hamas that carried out the October 7 massacre. Yet after everything that has happened since then, the terrorist group remains within striking distance of Fatah in an election.
True, Hamas has lost some support. Overall identification with Hamas has dropped from 35% ten months ago to 24%. Satisfaction with Hamas's performance during the Gaza war has fallen from 60% to 42%. These changes should not be ignored. Moreover, they should not be confused with a Palestinian repudiation of Hamas or its ideology. When Palestinians are asked which faction is most deserving of representing and leading them, Hamas still beats Abbas's Fatah: 28% to 21%. An encouraging 44% say neither faction deserves to lead, but Hamas nevertheless remains a major political player and retains the support of nearly one-quarter of the population.Even more revealing is what Palestinians say about Hamas's weapons. An overwhelming 72% say Hamas should not disarm before Israel completely withdraws from the Gaza Strip. Only 20% support disarmament before a full Israeli withdrawal. Opposition to disarming Hamas reaches 79% in the West Bank and 62% in Gaza.
This is crucial. The problem, therefore, is not whether Palestinians approve or disapprove of Hamas's performance. The issue is whether they believe Hamas should be allowed to retain its weapons and continue functioning as an armed organization. The answer from nearly three-quarters of the respondents is clear: Yes, at least until Hamas's condition of a full Israeli withdrawal is met.
This should be of particular concern to the Trump Administration and anyone expecting Hamas to disarm as part of the latest Gaza arrangements. Hamas is not operating in a political vacuum. It knows that a large majority of Palestinians oppose requiring it to surrender its weapons before an Israeli withdrawal.
The poll also shows why direct American engagement with Hamas is dangerous. US envoy Jared Kushner recently met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and other Hamas officials in Cairo as part of US efforts to advance President Donald J. Trump's Gaza peace plan. Whatever the administration's intentions, such meetings provide Hamas with something it has sought for years: international legitimacy.
When representatives of the world's leading superpower sit directly with Hamas leaders, Hamas can present the encounter to Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims as evidence that its strategy has succeeded.
A US-designated terrorist organization that perpetrated the October 7 massacre is no longer merely being pressured to surrender; its leaders are sitting across the table from senior American representatives.
The message is that terrorism pays. If you carry out attacks, take hostages, retain your weapons and survive long enough – eventually the Americans will negotiate with you.
This perception is particularly dangerous just months before Palestinian elections. Instead of politically isolating Hamas, direct high-level engagement helps portray the terrorist group as an indispensable regional actor. The PSR poll contains another warning: Palestinian admiration for Iran and its terrorist proxies remains extraordinarily high. Satisfaction with the Houthis in Yemen stands at 61%. Hezbollah and Iran each receive 50%. Moreover, when Palestinians were asked where they stood during the recent US-Iran war, 45% said they sided with Iran, compared to only 12% who opposed Iran.
These figures are difficult to reconcile with claims that Palestinian society is undergoing a transformation toward moderation. The Houthis have attacked Israel, Saudi Arabia and international shipping. Hezbollah has long functioned as Iran's heavily armed proxy in Lebanon. Iran has funded and armed terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Yet these are among the regional actors receiving the highest Palestinian satisfaction ratings. There are, admittedly, some encouraging findings in the poll. Support for armed struggle as the most effective strategy has fallen from 41% to 27%, while support for negotiations has increased from 36% to 44%. These are significant changes.Yet even here, caution is required. Half of Palestinians still reject the proposition that armed resistance has failed to protect Palestinians or end the conflict despite the destruction suffered in Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Moreover, 36% still support a return to confrontations and an armed intifada (uprising) against Israel. The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, faces its own crisis of legitimacy. Seventy-nine percent of Palestinians want Abbas to resign. Eighty-three percent believe there is corruption in PA institutions. Sixty-five percent say the PA has become a burden on the Palestinian people rather than an achievement. Only 20% are satisfied with Abbas's performance. This raises a question Western governments should answer before celebrating the announcement of new Palestinian elections: What exactly are these elections expected to accomplish?Elections are not automatically synonymous with democracy, moderation, or peace. The PA held a parliamentary election in 2006. Hamas participated and won. A year later, Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip. Now the Palestinians may be heading toward another election in which Hamas could again emerge as the largest faction – or close enough to remain a dominant political player. Meanwhile, the leading candidate for PA president is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison, and his principal Islamist rival is the leader of Hamas.
Why, then, should the international community rush toward elections that could legitimize extremists and terrorists rather than marginalize them? Before elections, Palestinians need real political reform. The Palestinian Authority needs accountable institutions, independent courts, freedom of expression, an end to corruption, and, most importantly, a political culture that does not glorify terrorists or treat armed groups as legitimate alternatives to government.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22802/palestinians-preferred-leaders-terrorists
**Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple who wish to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Backwardness as a Cultural Condition: The Role of Religion
Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 20/2026
The most prominent question the famous sociologist Max Weber posed was this: Why do some groups succeed, and make greater economic leaps, than others? The conclusion Weber reached affirms a strong relationship between religion and economic achievement. Examining the records of the German state of Baden, he observed the following: Protestants achieved more than Catholics, and Jews more than Protestants. These comparisons led him to conclude that religion plays a profound role in propelling some groups toward success and holding others back. What Weber meant was the values and ideals a religion urges on its adherents, not the article of faith itself: values such as hard work, thrift, honesty, rationality, and austerity. All of them spur the groups that hold them toward prosperity, and lead them to see the marks of success as proof of God's favor. These values gave rise to what later became known as capitalism, which rests on saving and then investment, so that capital accumulates and wealth takes shape.
The Catholics, for their part, went in another direction.
Their focus on the next world made them less able to compete economically in this one; they adopted values different from those of the Protestants and the Jews. There is a further point. The paternal relationship between clergy and laity left people subject to the clergy and unwilling to depart from their teachings — unlike the Protestants, whose freedom and direct relationship with God weakened clerical authority over them. One advantage of escaping that authority was learning to read and write, which deepened people's knowledge and skills, whereas Catholics needed a cleric to read the holy book to them: there was an intermediary between the servant and his Lord. Before the Asian tigers rose, Weber wrote, too, about the values and habits of conduct that had pushed those societies toward stagnation. Drawn from Eastern religions, these values were an obstacle to development. They left a person stripped of will and subject to forces greater than himself, forces that decide his fate. Added to this were powerful traditions of blind obedience to fathers, submission to custom, and excessive family loyalty — all of which made change extremely difficult.
Weber is not saying that some religions are better than others, or that there are correct creeds and mistaken ones. What he explains is that the values Protestants hold contain teachings more conducive to economic prosperity, and that from childhood they implant, in the mental and psychological structure, principles that sink deep, shaping conduct and inclining a person toward success more than others.
Values such as continuous work, self-discipline, saving rather than spending, respect for time, education and reading, and the treatment of professional success as a moral duty: All of these drove the accumulation of capital and, in turn, the Industrial Revolution. On the Asian side, before the region prospered, it was submerged in paternalistic teachings, in an exaggerated respect for tradition and custom, and in the individual's sense of being bound and directed — and this led to its decline.
The psychologist David McClelland poses the more important question: Why do some countries develop faster than others?
The answer lies inside human beings and societies, not outside them. The forces that produce development, lead to success, and stimulate change are deep drives in the human psyche before they are in factories and natural resources. McClelland believes development occurs when a society produces a greater number of people possessing what he called the need for achievement: People who strive hard for personal success, set clear goals, take on responsibility, prefer accomplishment to comfort, and seek out challenge. Societies where this type of personality is more common come closer to surpassing others.
McClelland analyzed children's stories in some thirty countries and found that stories glorifying diligence, success, initiative, and self-reliance were later associated with higher rates of economic growth, which is to say that planting such a culture early is like planting seeds that will open later into economic and social success.Among the most famous ideas he advanced are those concerning upbringing and its supreme importance. He holds that the years of childhood are decisive in forming the motive to achieve and the drive to succeed. The best values and habits for this stage, he argues, are these: Standards for the child that are high but at the same time reasonable; encouragement of the child's independence; parental intervention that is limited rather than suffocating; and open pride in the child's accomplishments.
The child needs you to set high standards, but not crushing ones; to teach him to rely on himself; to have his father intervene in a limited way, not in a manner that disfigures his personality; and to be proud of him rather than grinding him down. Excessive indulgence does harm, and so does excessive domination.
And he offers governments an important piece of advice. Do not look at economic plans, he says, but at their effect on people's values, motives, and behavior — for these are the factors that determine the success of development over the long term.

Libya Absolutely Rejects the Settlement of Migrants
Dr. Jebril El-Abidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 20/2026
What sparked the wave of popular anger in Libya was the attempts to push through settlement projects, exploit the political division to sign and pass suspicious agreements, and bring them into effect. This amounts to tampering with a demographic makeup that has remained stable for thousands of years.
The root of the problem lies in the provocative concept of settlement adopted by international organizations. They view resettlement as a process that enables refugees to rebuild their lives in another country and become fully participating members of a society in which they can settle permanently. Yet this will not achieve the stability sought for them. Instead, it will tamper with the demographics and social stability of the countries targeted by this misguided remedy, which international organizations openly advocate.
Settlement projects, whether for migrants or refugees, in societies other than their own, without preparing them or reaching agreement with those societies, would amount to driving them into the furnace and corrupting the land and its people. Claiming to protect these groups while disregarding the cohesion, culture, and heritage of the societies into which they are transferred constitutes a deliberate attempt to harm those societies, at the expense of people fleeing their own countries under different labels, ranging from displaced persons, to forcibly displaced persons, to voluntary migrants, to refugees. These labels differ in meaning and in their underlying causes, but none of them justifies or permits their integration into societies of which they are strangers merely because there is a vast expanse of land in the "victim" country where they are intended to be settled.
Resettling migrants and conflating them with refugees in societies that do not accept certain behaviors that fall outside their traditions amounts to destroying social peace. This applies particularly to societies that reject the presence of certain categories of migrants who openly engage in behavior that conflicts with the country's culture, customs, norms, and even its religion. Libya is not a country of origin but a country of transit for migrants. It has also become their victim and a substitute homeland, even if only a transit one, while the European countries that migrants seek to reach make no meaningful effort beyond attempting to export the migration crisis to Libya without offering any genuine solutions of their own.
Invoking Libya's sparse population and vast territory, and treating it as a suitable place to settle these people, is an affront to Libyan society, which is ethnically and religiously homogeneous and rejects attempts to tamper with this homogeneous demographic makeup that has existed for thousands of years.
On the other hand, the European Union asks Libya to act as a border guard for its shores free of charge, without contributing to these operations in any way. Yet European pressure may push Libya toward adopting tougher positions, particularly because it sees the proposed solutions as failing to serve Libya's national interests, violating its sovereignty, and tampering with its homogeneous demographic makeup. Libya is not responsible for a crisis created by Europe through closing its doors to employment opportunities for migrants, in addition to detaining them as soon as they reach its shores.
A solution at someone else's expense is the essence of how international organizations understand settlement: keeping irregular migrants in the country of transit, granting them a legal status that allows them to remain there, rather than allowing them to continue onward to other countries or return to their countries of origin. This harms Libya's situation and turns it into the victim of a solution designed to serve European countries' interests. The divided political situation and unstable security conditions, particularly in western Libya, make the country unable to bear the burden of migrants at the expense of its own social or political security. This has further intensified both popular and political rejection of settlement in Libya, despite the weakness of some politicians in the face of Western and American dictates, in exchange for political recognition of governments whose terms and legitimacy have expired.
In Libya, Law No. 24 of 2023 on Combating the Settlement of Foreigners in Libya is clear. It criminalizes settlement and punishes with imprisonment and a fine anyone who participates in or assists in a settlement operation, whether legal entities, including government entities, or ordinary individuals.
Most Libyans, including activists, view the settlement of migrants in Libya as a genuine threat to national security. They believe it could lead to the spread of organized crime, increased foreign interference, the destruction of the social fabric, and the introduction of cultures rejected by Libyan society.
Many Libyans believe that improving conditions in refugees' countries of origin is sufficient reason for them to return. They also believe that the European Union would do better to contribute to the development of those countries and regulate labor migration rather than press for settlement, while also supporting voluntary-return programs. Libya is a victim of migration, not a cause of it, and it is not a country for settlement.
The problem of conflating refugees and displaced persons with irregular migrants and putting them all in the same basket has harmed both sides. Libya is not responsible for migration to Europe, nor is it responsible for the reasons that forced these people from their homelands, whether poverty, disease, limited employment opportunities, weak sustainable development, or the proliferation of conflicts and civil wars. Nor is Libya responsible for those who infiltrated its territory. They entered without the knowledge or permission of the authorities in order to acquire the right to protection, but instead infiltrated through smugglers and migration traffickers in the desert. Accordingly, Libya is not responsible for spending money on them or resolving their status at the expense of its sovereignty.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on August 20/2026
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Told ILTV that if I were Syrian, I'd have been insulted to hear Tom Barrack responding to Israeli strike in Syria by calling for a deconfliction line between Israel and Turkey, shows American recognition that Turkey is the mandatory power over Syria.
Prez Trump and Turkish Prez Erdogan are friends, but friendship has its limits, evident as America has yet to bring Turkey back to F35 program. If clashes erupt between Israel and Turkey, I think America will not take the side of either country, will call on both to deescalate.
Iran and Prez Trump are playing a game of chicken, each betting that the other will blink first under economic pressure. When the Iranians threaten with going on the offensive, that's a sign that they can't hold it anymore. See less

Mel Gibson
Dear God, protect President Trump. He's battling an evil we can't even imagine. Keep him safe from those who seek to destroy him. Amen!

Recep T. Teke
Turkish statements yesterday suggest that Ankara is reading the latest crisis with Israel primarily through the lens of Netanyahu’s provocations ahead of the Israeli elections. This allows Turkey to avoid climbing the escalation ladder while saving face and positioning itself as the rational actor in contrast to Netanyahu’s recklessness. So Turkey condemned the Israeli attacks and did nothing further, exactly as I predicted yesterday. This policy may disappoint some and infuriate others. But patience is key. Any Turkish retaliation would almost certainly trigger a tit-for-tat cycle between Turkey and Israel, playing directly into Netanyahu’s hands as he desperately seeks to manufacture another conflict before the elections. It would also be deeply damaging to Syria, which would likely be the first victim of any such confrontation. In that sense, kudos to both the Turkish and Syrian leaderships for showing restraint in the face of constant Israeli provocations. The attacks may appear to go unpunished and cost-free. But this is not the case at all. With every unjustified attack, Israel further isolates itself both regionally and internationally, while burning through whatever political credit it still has with the U.S. administration and the American public. The restraint and rationality displayed by Turkey and Syria only sharpen the contrast with Israel’s increasingly reckless behavior. For now, waiting out the Israeli elections seems to me the most sensible course. That does not necessarily mean optimism for what comes after. But it will at least give us a chance to determine whether the problem is with Netanyahu or whether Tel Aviv itself is behind Israel’s regional destabilization, assuming, of course, Netanyahu loses. Turkey and Syria will then calibrate their policies accordingly. In the meantime, Erdoğan and Sharaa can continue aura-farming by being the grown-ups in the room while dealing with a Bibi who apparently needs constant babysitting.

Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער
I reject outright the statement of the UK Foreign Secretary and the patronising tone of his words.The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom. More than a century ago, the Balfour Declaration formally recognised the historic right of the Jewish people to re-establish their national home in the Land of Israel - including in the area in question. Britain itself still controls colonial territories thousands of miles from its shores. It is absurd for Britain to lecture the Jewish people about where they may live in their historic tiny homeland, when the Jewish people’s connection and right to this land is the most extensively documented of any people in human history. There have been no new decisions regarding development in E1. The decision was made on 2025. The tender process has been underway for several months, with certain tender documents published only in recent days. The British Foreign Secretary’s statement is entirely one-sided. It condemns Israel while turning a blind eye to Palestinian terrorism, incitement and the Palestinian Authority’s continued financial support for terror - the “pay for slay” policy.
The UK Government’s systematic policy of blaming only Israel while ignoring Palestinian extremism has already contributed to a massive wave of antisemitic hatred and attacks against the British Jewish community. Continuing down this path will only make the situation worse. The UK Government’s decision to damage the relationship between our countries is deeply unfortunate. But Israel will not be a passive victim of this policy. Israel will defend its rights, its interests and its people.

Salman Sima
It is truly wonderful that His Imperial Highness Crown Prince @PahlaviReza, and @PierrePoilievre , Leader of the @CPC_HQ , are going to meet each other in person again.
The cause of freedom in Iran should be a non-partisan issue. I sincerely hope that Prime Minister @MarkJCarney and Foreign Affairs Minister @AnitaAnandMP will do the same. Canada has historically played a very important role against the apartheid regime in South Africa and led the world in recognizing Nelson Mandela as the legitimate leader of the opposition to that regime. Millions of freedom-loving Iranians have taken to the streets at the invitation of His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. It is time for regime change in Iran — indeed, it is long overdue. A free Iran will be in the best interest of Canada as well. Freedom for the Iranian people means greater safety for Canadians. Standing with the people of Iran is also a Canada-first approach.

Seth Frantzman
Syria's FM visiting Pakistan two days after the Israeli strikes is a clear message. Pakistan-Turkey and Saudi Arabia have formed a new alliance. In this context, Syria’s foreign minister wanted to show that Syria would continue to do high level historic diplomacy, despite the strikes. Instead of seeing the strikes as a crises, Damascus sees it as an opportunity.

Pierre Poilievre
It was a pleasure to speak with Crown Prince @PahlaviReza about the mission for a free and democratic Iran, returned to the Iranian people and free from the terror of the regime in Tehran.
I shared with him the tremendous support I saw from Canada’s Persian

TrendingPolitics.ca
CPC Leader @PierrePoilievre has extended an invitation to Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran, for a formal meeting to discuss democratic reform and diaspora security.
Poilievre stated that any diplomatic dialogue remains grounded in the principle that Iran’s political future must be determined solely by its citizens.

Claudio Cordone
Israel’s strike on the Abu al-Dhuhur airbase was a deplorable escalation in Israel’s attacks on Syria. Diplomacy should prevail, in full respect of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and relevant Security Council resolutions.