English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  February 01/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
The Judgment Day: Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 25/31-46/:”‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 31/February 01/2026
One dead in Israeli strike on south Lebanon
Israel reports strike on Hezbollah member in Markaba
Israeli army targets south Lebanon with series of violent strikes
Lebanon's Government Approves a Deal to Transfer Syrian Prisoners Back to Syria
Syrian prisoners become bargaining chip in Lebanon-Syria talks
Earthquake in Annaya – Jbeil!
Bassil: I'll do what's in the interest of the FPM in the elections
The Crime of Collective Silence: We Shall Win a Round Against "Eternity"
Rasha Al-Meer/Facebook/ January 31, 2026
Despite the Extended Hand... Hezbollah: Submit to Us or War!/Lara Yazbek /Al-Markazia/January 31, 2026
Washington-Bound: General Heikal’s Visit to Define Lebanon’s Fate Amid Trump’s "Carrot and Stick" Policy with Iran
Israel Manages Hezbollah, While Washington Targets the "Snake's Head": Iran

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 31/February 01/2026
Trump Expects Iran to Seek Deal to Avoid U.S. Strikes
Gas leak triggered Bandar Abbas building blast: Report
Iran army chief warns US, Israel against attack, says forces on high alert
US urges Iran’s IRGC to refrain from ‘escalatory behavior’ at sea
U.S. Approves Major Arms Deals to Israel, Saudi
Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes kill 32
War on Gaza Palestine Gaza Ramallah West Bank
Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes killed 32
Egypt urges all parties to show restraint before Gaza’s Rafah crossing reopens
Qatar, Jordan and Egypt condemn Israeli ceasefire violations in Gaza
Supplies running out at Syria’s Al-Hol camp as clashes block aid deliveries
Turkiye blocks aid convoy to Syria’s Kobani: NGOs
US envoy Witkoff reports ‘constructive’ Ukraine talks with Russia

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 31/February 01/2026
President Trump, Please Do Not Leave Iran's Regime in Place!/Dr. Majid Rafizadehi/Gatestone Institute./January 31/2026
'Suicidal Empathy': Is the West Committing Suicide-by-Compassion?/Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute./January 30, 2026
Deal reached with Kurdish-led SDF is a ‘victory for all Syrians,’ Syrian ambassador to UN tells Arab News/Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/February 01, 2026
Demolishing UNRWA headquarters an act of folly and weakness/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/January 31, 2026
The Arctic remains a zone of sustained competition/Luke Coffey/Arab News/January 31, 2026

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 31/February 01/2026
One dead in Israeli strike on south Lebanon
AFP/January 31, 2026
BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said, as the Israeli army said it targeted an operative from the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Israel has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon despite a November 2024 truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war with Hezbollah. It usually says it is targeting members of the group or its infrastructure, and has kept troops in five south Lebanon border areas that it deems strategic. Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed in a strike on the village of Rub Thalatheen, close to the Israeli border. The state-run National News Agency reported a man was killed in the strike while “carrying out repair work on the roof of a house.”The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed a Hezbollah operative “who took part in attempts to reestablish Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the Markaba area,” adjacent to Rub Thalatheen. It called the alleged activities “a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”This month, Lebanon’s army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area south of the Litani river, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border. Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army’s progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons. More than 360 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.

Israel reports strike on Hezbollah member in Markaba
LBCI/January 31, 2026
The Association of Banks in Lebanon warned that liquidity constraints pose a major challenge to restoring financial stability, saying the funds required to repay deposits of up to $100,000 would exceed $20 billion. In the opening editorial of its monthly report, the association said the Central Bank’s assumption of banks’ financial obligations would prevent them from meeting their own liabilities, further complicating efforts to stabilize the sector. The report noted that there is no clear plan for the fate of depositors at banks that may be unable to continue operating, cautioning against offering depositors promises that may not be fulfilled. It also warned that the possibility of some banks halting payments during any repayment period cannot be ruled out. According to the association, banks’ ability to meet their obligations would change if the state were to fulfill its commitments toward the central bank. However, it cautioned that wiping out capital and imposing additional burdens would eliminate any incentive for banks to pursue recapitalization. The association said liquidity management remains a key test for achieving financial regularization amid Lebanon’s prolonged economic crisis.

Israeli army targets south Lebanon with series of violent strikes
Naharnet/January 31, 2026
At least 17 Israeli airstrikes targeted Friday several regions in south Lebanon, including the valley between Msayleh, Tefahta and al-Najjariyeh. The Israeli army said it is targeted "Hezbollah infrastructure" in the South Lebanon, while local media outlets reported a series of violent strikes.
Earlier on Friday, an airstrike targeted a car in the southern town of Siddiqin in the Tyre district, killing one person. The Israeli army said it targeted a Hezbollah member in the strike.Israel has kept up its strikes mainly on south and east Lebanon, despite a ceasefire reached in November 2024 and despite the Lebanese army announcing earlier this month the completion of Hezbollah's disarmament south of the Litani River.

Lebanon's Government Approves a Deal to Transfer Syrian Prisoners Back to Syria
Asharq Al Awsat/31 January/2026
Lebanon’s Cabinet approved an agreement to transfer Syrian prisoners serving their sentences in Lebanon back to their home country. The issue of prisoners has been a sore point as the neighboring countries seek to recalibrate their relations following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Lebanon and Syria have a complicated history with grievances on both sides. Many Lebanese resent the decades-long occupation of their country by Syrian forces that ended in 2005. Many Syrians resent the role played by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah when it entered Syria’s civil war in defense of Assad’s government. A key obstacle to warming relations has been the fate of about 2,000 Syrians in Lebanese prisons, including some 800 held over attacks and shootings, many without trial. Damascus had asked Beirut to hand them over to continue their prison terms in Syria, but Lebanese judicial officials said Beirut would not release any attackers and that each must be studied and resolved separately. The deal approved late Friday appeared to resolve that tension. Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said other issues remain to be resolved between the two countries, including the fate of Lebanese believed to have been disappeared into Syrian prisons during Assad’s rule and the demarcation of the border between the two countries. Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that about 300 prisoners would be transferred as a result of the agreement. Protesters gathered in a square below the government palace in downtown Beirut ahead of the Cabinet vote to call for amnesty for Lebanese prisoners, including some who joined militant groups fighting against Assad in Syria. Some of the protesters called for the release of cleric Ahmad al-Assir, imprisoned for his role in 2013 clashes that killed 18 Lebanese army soldiers. “The state found solutions for the Syrian youth who are heroes and belong to the Syrian revolution who have been imprisoned for 12 years,” said protester Khaled Al- Bobbo. “But in the same files there are also Lebanese detainees. ... We demand that just as they found solutions for the Syrians, they must also find solutions for the people of this country.”"

Syrian prisoners become bargaining chip in Lebanon-Syria talks
LBCI/January 31, 2026
Syria is making the issue of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon a key condition for discussions on all outstanding matters between the two countries, including border demarcation. For Lebanon, the file carries an added interest: easing overcrowding in its prisons, as Syrians currently make up 31% of the total inmate population. After months of negotiations, the Lebanese government approved an agreement to transfer convicted Syrian prisoners. The focus now is on the agreement’s key provisions and who will be covered. Lebanese prisons currently hold about 2,700 Syrian inmates. Of these, roughly 350 have final, irrevocable sentences and fall within the scope of the agreement, regardless of the crimes committed, with a specific exception for convictions of rape or murder if less than 10 years of the sentence have been served. Under the agreement, prisoners convicted of murder or rape are not eligible for transfer unless they have completed at least 10 years of their sentence. In practice, this equals seven and a half years served, as a prison year is calculated as nine months. As a result, not all 350 inmates will necessarily be transferred. In addition to the stated exclusions, prisoners must consent to the transfer and must have paid compensation to victims, either personally or through a formal commitment by the Syrian state. This constitutes the first phase of the agreement, under which transferred inmates would complete their sentences in Syria. A second phase is expected to include another category of prisoners: those convicted of certain crimes while simultaneously being detained without verdicts in other cases. Their number is estimated at around 370, and their status will be determined once their judicial files are completed. Between these two categories, information points to about 80 inmates of particular interest to Syria, some of whom are expected to be released in the first phase. As for detainees who have not been convicted, the issue is more complex. Their transfer would require a separate treaty to shift jurisdiction over their trials to Syria. This would require approval by Lebanon’s Parliament, which would need to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure. Beyond its legal complexities, the issue could open another sensitive file: that of Lebanese detainees, along with the broader question of a general amnesty. Lebanon would then face a difficult balancing act between domestic demands and its external interests, not only with Syria but also with Arab and Western countries supporting Damascus on the issue, amid shifting regional power dynamics and political changes across the region.

Earthquake in Annaya – Jbeil!
Al-Markazia/January 31, 2026
The National Center for Geophysics reported that at 4:49 AM local time this Saturday, an earthquake measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale was recorded. The epicenter was located in Annaya, Jbeil district.

Bassil: I'll do what's in the interest of the FPM in the elections
Naharnet/January 31, 2026
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil,/ stated in an interview on Al-Jadeed TV that the FPM is "much stronger outside of power.""Only our presence in government weakened us popularly. Similarly, nothing weakened President Michel Aoun except his time in office; he was stronger before the presidency," Bassil said. Bassil argued that the problem with Hezbollah is their belief that "their weapons are tied to their existence or honor." He suggested that to change this, the "other side" must prove they do not accept Israeli actions. He described current negotiations as "regressive and submissive," asserting that the FPM supports a "just and true peace that secures Lebanon's rights." Noting that "Hezbollah is a social environment, not just weapons," and warned against incitement, Bassil stated that "no matter what you take from them, you cannot strip their ability to fight for survival."Bassil also called the Lebanese Army "sacred" and warned against attempts to drag it into conflict with Hezbollah. "When I shook hands with Hezbollah, I did it for Lebanon, not Iran. Former Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was a decision-maker in the 'Axis,' but after his martyrdom, it appears the entire Axis was martyred," Bassil added. He criticized the "Unity of Arenas," saying it brought only "woes" to Lebanon and noted that the Syrian regime did not support Nasrallah in the "Support War" that he launched in soldiarity with Gaza. As for the parliamentary elections, Bassil admitted that some forces intend to delay the elections by a year or two.Regarding his own strategy, he said: "Internally, I would not rename Nabih Berri for Speaker, but if the Shiite sect is being targeted, I would. No one can prevent me from allying with Hezbollah, nor can anyone force me. I will do what is in the interest of the Free Patriotic Movement."

The Crime of Collective Silence: We Shall Win a Round Against "Eternity"
Rasha Al-Meer/Facebook/ January 31, 2026  (Translated from Arabic)
On Wednesday, February 3, 2021, at midday, Lokman [Slim] bid his wife Monika farewell and headed to meet his friends in Niha, South Lebanon.
Seven semi-professional killers from a well-known assassination squad, driving luxury cars (of various makes, provided to them with forged license plates), were lying in wait for him. More than eighty instigators and executioners were aware of the crude and poorly-executed plan; so why didn't a single one of them utter a word or a whisper to add to the forensic and precise technical information gathered to date regarding the assassination?
Simply put, it is because the "Parallel State"—planted and nurtured by the Ba'ath, the [Revolutionary] Guards, and the accompanying mafias and gangs (which mock borders and nationalities)—employs Taqiyya (dissimulation), esotericism, the "cellar" [secrecy], silence, and internalization to achieve its goals. It embraces darkness and dictatorial oppression, just as it excels at manipulating both silence and its opposite.
The blackness of the media and social platforms is "under its control," or under the control of those who fight it yet resemble it in essence. Rumors, lies, and a sinful silence: "If I reveal it to you, I kill you," as they say in the world of intelligence.
The silence of those who know—and they are, God willing, many—is stained with treason and blood. As for the noise of those who expressed ecstasy the day the news of Lokman’s assassination broke, it does not honor its authors; rather, it condemns them unequivocally. The silent and the ecstatic are one and the same; both are shielded by the brutality of those who bet on "Eternity" [the regime's permanence]. Eternity is entrenched even if it staggers, yet courage and speaking out are immortal. So come, perhaps we shall win at least one round against "Et

Despite the Extended Hand... Hezbollah: Submit to Us or War!
Lara Yazbek /Al-Markazia/January 31, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
Al-Markazia – In his television interview on Thursday evening, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea distinguished between Hezbollah as a military entity and Hezbollah as a political and popular movement. He declared that the moment the group hands over its weapons, there would be no issue in dealing with them politically. This stance follows lengthy speeches by Geagea reaching out to the Shia community, affirming that "they are partners in the nation and no one seeks to marginalize them."Similarly, during his parliamentary intervention on Wednesday, Kataeb Party leader MP Samy Gemayel sought to reassure the Shia community, stating: "We do not accept that any sect in Lebanon feels broken, nor that any group’s rights be violated. We know the meaning of exclusion and will not accept it for any other group." He added, "We care for every Lebanese living on this land; we must return to believing in partnership, respecting one another, and reassuring each other. To those who believe something other than the State protects them: we have tried adventures and hit a wall; we tried regional projects and paid the price. Betting on Arab nationalism and conflicts has led everyone into a dead end." He concluded: "Enough betting on regional axes; we are each other's only guarantee."
The Internal Threat of Conflict
In contrast to this open and flexible discourse, sovereignist political sources told Al-Markazia that Hezbollah continues, unfortunately, to brandish the threat of civil war. On Thursday, MP Ali Fayyad of the "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc spoke in Parliament, saying: "On national and sectarian levels, we are worried and angry, and we want to translate that into an insistence on partnership and dialogue. However, we are a community being assassinated by the Israeli enemy while simultaneously being pounced upon from within. This atmosphere could lead to a civil war." He further claimed that "the trio of the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Central Bank Governor is practicing a policy of strangulation against our community."
Incitement vs. Reassurance
Despite all the extended hands, Hezbollah insists on keeping the ghost of war looming over Lebanon. By this logic, it keeps its support base mobilized and fearful of fellow Lebanese citizens—ready even to attack them if the party’s weapons are challenged. The party portrays the surrender of its arsenal as a prelude to the marginalization and exclusion of its community, even though the positions of its national partners indicate the exact opposite. Furthermore, the party tells its people that new official financial measures are intended to "suffocate" them. In reality, these measures aim to stifle the smuggling economy and the financing of terrorism and illegal arms. If such activities continue, they will trigger an economic blockade and potentially an Israeli war on Lebanon as a whole—and the party’s base specifically—while also preventing reconstruction.
Conclusion
Hezbollah is selling its people new illusions and attempting to turn them against other Lebanese for non-existent reasons. Does the party realize the danger of the game it is playing? Is the goal to force a total reversal of the decision to restrict weapons to the state, demanding that everyone—including the State—submit to Hezbollah’s will, or face "war"?

Washington-Bound: General Heikal’s Visit to Define Lebanon’s Fate Amid Trump’s "Carrot and Stick" Policy with Iran
Nidaa Al-Watan/February 1, 2026  (Translated from Arabic)
The High-Stakes Visit to Washington All eyes are on Washington next week as Lebanese Army Commander, General Rudolf Heikal, begins a pivotal visit. This trip is expected to define the U.S. stance toward the Lebanese state and evaluate President Donald Trump’s administration's view on the plan to restrict weapons to legitimate security forces. Political sources suggest that the aftermath of Heikal’s visit will be a turning point for Lebanon; the outcomes could either stabilize or destabilize the country’s fragile security and will likely influence the upcoming army support conference in Paris this March.
The U.S. administration is expected to demand a firmer stance from Lebanon regarding Hezbollah’s arsenal. However, Hezbollah shows no signs of cooperation, potentially waiting for a signal from Tehran, which remains under the shadow of a potential U.S. military strike.
Trump’s Strategy: Negotiations or Escalation President Donald Trump has sent clear messages to the Iranian regime. In a Fox News interview, Trump stated that while the U.S. doesn’t reveal its plans to allies, "The plan is that Iran is negotiating with us, and we will see what we can do; otherwise, we will see what happens." Highlighting his military readiness, he added, "We have a large fleet heading there... and we still have one in Venezuela." This "carrot and stick" approach keeps the door to diplomacy open without ruling out military action if talks fail.
Conflicting Signals from Tehran In response, Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, noted on "X" that a structural framework for negotiations is progressing despite "media-induced war rhetoric." Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi expressed Iran's readiness to commit to a nuclear-free status within a "fair and balanced" agreement.Military Tensions and Regional Escalation Simultaneously, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released images of maintenance on the USS Mitscher and warned the Iranian Revolutionary Guard against "unsafe behavior" during naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz. On other fronts, Gaza witnessed its most violent Israeli airstrikes since the October ceasefire, while U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reported "productive" peace talks regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Florida.

Israel Manages Hezbollah, While Washington Targets the "Snake's Head": Iran
Daoud Rammal/Nidaa Al-Watan/February 1, 2026  (Translated from Arabic)
Shift in Strategic Focus The region is at a critical crossroads where military and technological pressures intersect. While Israel focuses on containing Hezbollah with relative ease, the United States is shifting its weight toward the source of power: Iran. Israel’s "Smart Attrition" of Hezbollah Israel currently operates with a high degree of comfort against Hezbollah, utilizing absolute technological and intelligence superiority to manage the conflict without direct human cost. This strategy aims for cumulative degradation of Hezbollah’s military and psychological infrastructure while keeping the engagement below the threshold of total war. The "Red Line" in Venezuela The primary driver of U.S. escalation is Iran’s shift from regional meddling to encroaching on the U.S. "vital strategic space"—specifically Venezuela. By collaborating with the Maduro regime to build drones and, more critically, a ballistic missile program, Tehran crossed a major American red line. This move echoed the Cuban Missile Crisis, prompting a swift U.S. response. Reports indicate a precision operation recently disabled Iranian air defenses and missile facilities in Venezuela, resulting in dozens of Iranian casualties—a clear message that approaching U.S. borders carries a heavy price.Trump’s Priorities: Lebanon as a File, Iran as a Target The distinction in U.S. priorities was evident in President Trump’s recent press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump spoke briefly about Lebanon, urging caution, but dedicated over fifteen minutes to Iran, addressing the Iranian people directly. Diplomatic indicators suggest that a strike on Iran is no longer a mere possibility but an inevitability, likely timed before the U.S. midterm elections. The strategic logic is simple: striking the "head" (Tehran) will naturally dismantle or neutralize the "arms" (Hezbollah). A Warning to Lebanon The prevailing international advice for Lebanon is to use this narrow window of time to reach an internal agreement on state-exclusive control of weapons. As a regional storm approaches Iran within weeks or even days, Lebanon must fortify its internal front to avoid being, once again, the primary battlefield for the proxy wars of others.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 31/February 01/2026
Trump Expects Iran to Seek Deal to Avoid U.S. Strikes
This is Beirut/January 31/February 01/2026
President Donald Trump predicted on Friday that Iran would seek to negotiate a deal rather than face American military action, despite Tehran warning that its arsenal of missiles would never be up for discussion. "I can say this, they do want to make a deal," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programs, Trump said, "Yeah, I have," but refused to say what it was. "We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now," Trump said, referring to a US naval carrier group in waters off Iran. "Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens." Trump cited what he said was Iran's decision to halt the executions of protesters, after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed -- as evidence to show Tehran was ready to negotiate.
'Doing the right thing'
Washington's allies in the region are concerned that any US strike on Iran could cause instability and economic chaos. One senior Gulf official in touch with the Trump administration said that the United States was closely guarded on what it has planned. "We hope that whatever happens, it is going to lead to stability. That outcome could be reached by the Iranians doing the right thing, and we hope that happens," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the head of Iran's top security body, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, met Tehran's ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow. No details of their talks emerged, but Moscow has offered to mediate between Washington and Tehran. Iran's top diplomat said Friday that his country's missile and defense capabilities would "never" be on the negotiating table. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was "ready to begin negotiations if they take place on an equal footing." But, he emphasized, "Iran's defensive and missile capabilities will never be subject to negotiation," adding there were no plans to meet with US officials on resuming talks. US news site Axios reported this week that Washington officials say any deal would have to include a cap on Iran's arsenal of long-range missiles, the removal of enriched uranium from the country and a ban on independent enrichment. Serhan Afacan, director of IRAM, the Ankara-based Centre for Iranian Studies, told AFP that trying to link a nuclear deal with other issues would likely "be impossible.""For now, the ballistic missile program remains a red line, as it sits at the core of Iran's defense architecture," he said.
'Reducing' tensions
Iran has warned that it would respond instantly with missile strikes against US bases, ships and allies, notably Israel. "We are not limiting the geography of confrontation to the sea alone and have prepared ourselves for broader and more advanced scenarios," the head of Iran's Defence Council, Ali Shamkhani, said Friday, according to the Tasnim news agency. Speaking at a joint news conference in Istanbul with Araghchi, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Israel was pushing for the United States to attack Iran, and urged Washington to "not allow this to happen." Iran has blamed the United States and Israel for the protests that erupted in late December over economic grievances and peaked on January 8 and 9, accusing the two countries of fueling a "terrorist operation" that turned peaceful demonstrations into "riots."The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,563 people killed in the demonstrations, including 6,170 protesters and 124 children, as internet restrictions imposed on January 8 continue to hinder access to information inside the country.
But rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher, with estimates in the tens of thousands.Iranian authorities give a toll of more than 3,000 deaths in the protests but say the majority were members of security forces or bystanders killed by "rioters."AFP

Gas leak triggered Bandar Abbas building blast: Report
Reuters/31 January/2026
A gas leak caused the explosion at a building in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, citing the local fire department chief. At least one person was killed and 14 injured in an explosion in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, a local official told Iranian news agencies. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander had been targeted in the explosion were “completely false.”Separately, four people were killed after a gas explosion in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border, according to state-run Tehran Times. No further information was immediately available.

Iran army chief warns US, Israel against attack, says forces on high alert
AFP/31 January/2026
Iranian army chief Amir Hatami on Saturday warned the United States and Israel against an attack, saying his country’s forces were on high alert following Washington’s heavy military deployments in the Gulf. He also insisted the Islamic Republic’s nuclear expertise could not be eliminated, after Trump said he expected Tehran to seek a deal to avoid US strikes. “If the enemy makes a mistake, without a doubt it will endanger its own security, the security of the region, and the security of the Zionist regime,” Hatami said, according to the official IRNA news agency. He noted that Iran’s armed forces were “at full defensive and military readiness.”Washington sent a naval strike group to the Middle East led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, with Trump threatening to intervene militarily after a deadly crackdown by Iranian authorities on two weeks of anti-government protests. The deployment has raised fears of a possible direct confrontation with Iran, which has warned it would respond with missile strikes on US bases, ships and allies – notably Israel – in the event of an attack. On Friday, Trump said he predicted that Iran would seek to negotiate a deal over its nuclear and missile programs rather than face American military action. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said earlier that Tehran was ready for nuclear talks, but its missiles and defense “will never be negotiated.”
‘Cannot be eliminated’
The US carried out strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites in June when it briefly joined Israel’s 12-day war against its regional foe. Israeli attacks also hit military sites across the country and killed senior officers and top nuclear scientists. But Hatami on Saturday insisted that Iran’s nuclear technology “cannot be eliminated, even if scientists and sons of this nation are martyred.”On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would conduct “a two-day live-fire naval exercise” in the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit hub for global energy supplies. In a statement, CENTCOM warned the IRGC against “any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near US forces.”The United States designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2019, a move the European Union followed on Thursday. The EU decision drew angry reactions from Tehran, which vowed to reciprocate.
Deadly crackdown
Nationwide protests against the rising cost of living erupted in Iran on December 28, before turning into a broader anti-government movement that peaked on January 8 and 9. Iranian authorities have said the protests began peacefully before turning into “riots” involving killings and vandalism, blaming the United States and Israel for fomenting the unrest in a “terrorist operation.”The official death toll from the authorities stands at 3,117. However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,563 deaths, including 6,170 protesters and 124 children. The protests have since subsided. On Saturday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian urged his government to heed public grievances after the demonstrations. “We must work with the people and for the people and serve the people as much as possible,” Pezeshkian said in a speech broadcast on state TV. “If we act justly, the people will see it and will accept it, and under such conditions, no power can cripple a government, a society, or a nation that acts justly, fairly, and on the basis of rights.”On Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei visited the shrine of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, in southern Tehran. In a video carried by his official website, Khamenei offered prayers at the shrine on the occasion of 10-day celebrations marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

US urges Iran’s IRGC to refrain from ‘escalatory behavior’ at sea
Al Arabiya English/31 January/2026
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) urged Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to conduct their announced two-day live-fire naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in a safe and professional manner. While acknowledging that Iran has a right to operate in international airspace and waters, CENTCOM warned against the consequences of unprofessional behavior. “Any unsafe or unprofessional behavior near US forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation, and destabilization,” an official statement released on Friday said. CENTCOM added that it will ensure the safety of US personnel, ships and aircraft operating in the Middle East. “We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions including overflight of US military vessels engaged in flight operations, low-altitude or armed overlfihgt of US military assets when intentions are unclear, highspeed boat approached on a collision course with US military vessels, or weapons trained at US forces,” the statement added.The Strait of Hormuz is an international sea passage and an essential trade corridor that supports regional economic prosperity, which witnesses the passage of roughly 100 merchant vessels on a daily basis, according to CENTCOM.

U.S. Approves Major Arms Deals to Israel, Saudi
This is Beirut/31 January/2026
The United States on Friday approved multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, at a point of high tensions with Iran. The State Department said it green-lighted a $3.8 billion sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Israel, which has agreed to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. "The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the State Department said in a statement. "This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," it said. Also in the package was a $1.8 billion sale of joint light tactical vehicles. The United States sends billions of dollars' worth of military supplies per year to Israel, largely in aid rather than sales. Israel and Hamas reached a US-backed ceasefire in October that largely paused two years of war. Tensions are high elsewhere in the region as the United States deploys a major military contingent in waters near Iran. The State Department also approved a $9 billion sale to Saudi Arabia for 730 Patriot missiles, which are used to defend against incoming attacks. Israel last year carried out a major bombing campaign aga nst nuclear and other military sites in Iran. Iran has faced growing pressure after major protests against the clerical state, which has responded by killing thousands of protesters.Saudi Arabia, while no friend of Iran, has voiced caution about an attack on Iran as Gulf monarchies fear instability that could jeopardize their reputation as business havens.Saudi Arabia for years has been considering a historic normalization with Israel, which increasingly seems distant as the kingdom looks warily at Israel's military campaigns in the Palestinian territories. The Trump administration has said that the Gaza ceasefire is now in its second phase, with a focus on disarming Hamas. Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally that includes hostages who died or were killed during their captivity in the Gaza Strip. Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel's retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza's health ministry. AFP

Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes kill 32
AFP/January 31, 2026
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israeli air strikes killed 32 people including children in Gaza on Saturday, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defense agency, as the military said it had attacked in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation.Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the agreement. The latest bloodshed comes after Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday for the “limited movement of people.”“The death toll since dawn today has risen to 32, most of them children and women,” said the civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, updating an earlier toll of 28. “Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in the statement. A unit in an apartment building of Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood was left entirely destroyed, and blood spatters were visible on the street below, an AFP journalist reported. “Three girls died while they were sleeping. We found their bodies in the street,” Samer Al-Atbash, a relative of the family, told AFP. “What truce are you talking about? Everyone is deceiving everyone else,” added Nael Al-Atbash, another relative. One strike hit the police station in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban center. Gaza’s general police directorate said seven people were killed in that attack, while Bassal said the dead included four female police officers.
Ceasefire violations -
About a dozen first responders rushed to the devastated building and pulled bodies from the rubble, an AFP journalist reported. Another Israeli attack hit a shelter in Al-Mawasi, an area of south Gaza where tens of thousands of displaced Gazans live in tents and makeshift shelters, an AFP journalist reported.
Large plumes of smoke rose above the thousands of densely pitched tents.The number of casualties from this strike was still not known. Although people have been killed almost daily in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on October 10, Saturday’s toll was particularly high. Israel’s military said that the air strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, which it said violated the fragile ceasefire. It said forces “struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across the Gaza Strip.”Hamas political bureau member Suhail Al-Hindi rejected the military’s claims. “What happened today is a fully fledged crime committed by a criminal enemy that does not abide by agreements or respect any commitments,” he told AFP. The health ministry, which operates under the Hamas authority, has said Israeli attacks have killed at least 509 people in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.Israel’s military says four soldiers have been killed in the same period in Gaza in suspected militant attacks.Rafah reopening -
Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have meant that AFP has been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover the violence. Key mediators Egypt and Qatar condemned what they said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Egypt demanded that all parties “exercise the utmost restraint” ahead of Sunday’s reopening of Rafah crossing, while Qatar said it denounced the “repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire.” The violence was a “dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce,” the Qatari foreign ministry said.
Israel has said reopening of the Rafah crossing will only allow the “limited movement of people.”The reopening is a key element in the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Israel had previously expressed its unwillingness to reopen the gateway until it received the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage to be held in Gaza, who was recovered earlier this week and laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday. The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliation flattened much of Gaza, which was already suffering from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007. The two-year war has left at least 71,769 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

War on Gaza Palestine Gaza Ramallah West Bank
AP/January 31, 2026
ISTANBUL: Iraqi calligrapher Ali Zaman gazes with pride at his masterpiece — a colossal, handwritten manuscript of the Holy Qur’an that has taken six years of craft and devotion to complete. The finished work consists of 302 double-sided scrolls, each measuring 4 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width. The sheets, resembling heavy parchment, were custom-made for Zaman with a blend of traditional materials including eggs, cornstarch, and alum. “Anytime I think of this Qur’an … it gives me a very nice feeling that the mighty God gave me the life to be able to finish this thing and complete it. I feel very proud,” the 54-year-old said at a mosque in Istanbul where the manuscript is kept. The art of calligraphy was very attractive to me … I felt that I could find my soul in it.
Ali Zaman, Iraqi calligrapher
Islamic calligraphy is regarded as one of the most valued artistic traditions in the Muslim world. The art form served to preserve and embellish the holy book and was later also used to adorn mosques, palaces, and manuscripts. In Turkiye, it flourished during the Ottoman era when the art was supported by the state, and calligraphers developed distinctive styles. Today, Istanbul is considered an important center for art, known as “hat” in Turkish. Art expert Umit Coskunsu says that because of the Islamic tradition’s restrictions on depicting figures, calligraphy became a central form of artistic expression. He describes “hat” as a form of worship. “The art of hat is not just calligraphy; it is seen as a means of worshipping God and coming closer to Him,” Coskunsu said. Zaman was born in Ranya, a town in Sulaymaniyah governorate, in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region. He moved his family to Istanbul in 2017 to pursue his Qur’an project and hone his craft because he says the art of calligraphy is more valued in Turkiye than in his home country. Zaman says he developed an interest in Islamic calligraphy around age 12, when he first encountered it in Iraq. “The art of calligraphy was very attractive to me … I felt that I could find my soul in it,” he said. Each sheet of the manuscript was entirely handwritten. Zaman says he labored from dawn to dusk for six years in a small room reserved for him at the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Istanbul. The manuscript is being touted as the world’s largest, though it has not yet received official recognition. Zaman’s son remembers long absences while his father worked on the project. “We only saw him when we would bring him food or when he came home at night to sleep,” said Rekar Zaman. “Thank God, we see more of him now.”The manuscript is stored in stacked scrolls and covered to protect it from dust and moisture at the mosque where he created it. His ultimate wish is for it to go to a buyer who can put it on public display. “I want for this Qur’an to be in a country — in a museum, or in a place that is special for calligraphy — where it can be appreciated and valued,” Zaman said.

Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes killed 32
AFP/31 January/2026
Israeli airstrikes killed 32 people including children in Gaza on Saturday, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defense agency, as the military said it had attacked in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation. Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the agreement. The latest bloodshed comes after Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday for the “limited movement of people.”“The death toll since dawn today has risen to 32, most of them children and women,” said the civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, updating an earlier toll of 28. “Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted, resulting in this humanitarian catastrophe,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in the statement. A unit in an apartment building of Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood was left entirely destroyed, and blood spatters from its occupants were visible on the street below, an AFP journalist reported. “Three girls died while they were sleeping. We found their bodies in the street,” Samer al-Atbash, a relative of the family, told AFP. “What truce are you talking about? Everyone is deceiving everyone else,” added Nael al-Atbash, another relative. One strike hit the police station in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban center.
Gaza’s general police directorate said seven people were killed in that attack, while Bassal said the dead included four women police officers. “The killed included police officers and personnel as well as civilians who were present at the station at the time,” the directorate said.
Ceasefire violations
About a dozen first responders rushed to the devastated building and pulled bodies from the rubble, an AFP journalist reported. Another Israeli attack hit a shelter in Al-Mawasi, an area of south Gaza where tens of thousands of displaced Gazans live in tents and makeshift shelters, an AFP journalist reported.
Large plumes of smoke rose above the thousands of densely pitched tents. The number of casualties from this strike was still not known. Although people have been killed almost daily in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on October 10, Saturday’s toll was particularly high. Israel’s military said that the airstrikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, which it said violated the fragile ceasefire.It said forces “struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas in a statement condemned Saturday’s strikes as “a brutal crime.”The health ministry, which operates under the Hamas authority, has said Israeli attacks have killed at least 509 people in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.
Israel’s military says four soldiers have been killed in the same period in Gaza in suspected militant attacks.
Rafah reopening
Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have meant that AFP has been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover the violence. Egypt, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, condemned what it said was Israel’s “repeated violations” of the truce and demanded all parties “exercise the utmost restraint” ahead of Sunday’s reopening of Rafah crossing. Israel has said reopening of the Rafah crossing will only allow the “limited movement of people.”The reopening is a key element in the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Israel had previously expressed its unwillingness to reopen the gateway until it received the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage to be held in Gaza, who was recovered earlier this week and laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday. The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliation flattened much of Gaza, which was already suffering from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007.The two-year war has left at least 71,769 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Egypt urges all parties to show restraint before Gaza’s Rafah crossing reopens
AFP, Cairo/Published: 31 January/2026
Egypt condemned Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza on Saturday and urged all parties to respect a fragile US-brokered ceasefire ahead of the long-awaited reopening of the territory’s Rafah border crossing. In a statement from its foreign ministry, Egypt condemned Israel’s “repeated violations” of the truce and demanded all parties “exercise the utmost restraint,” after Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed 28 people on Saturday. Israeli forces are due to allow the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to reopen on Sunday on a trial basis and to allow only the “limited movement of people,” not aid shipments.

Qatar, Jordan and Egypt condemn Israeli ceasefire violations in Gaza
Arab News/January 31, 2026
LONDON: Qatar, Jordan and Egypt on Saturday strongly condemned Israel’s repeated violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, warning that the attacks risk dangerous escalation and undermine regional and international efforts to restore stability. Israel pounded Gaza on Saturday with some of its most intense ​airstrikes since the October ceasefire was brokered, killing more than 30 people including three girls from one family, in attacks on houses, tents and a police station, Palestinian health officials said. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the breaches, which have resulted in fatalities and injuries, threaten the political pathway aimed at de-escalation and jeopardize efforts to create a safer environment for Palestinians in Gaza, the Qatar News Agency reported. Doha urged Israel to fully comply with the ceasefire agreement, calling for maximum restraint from all parties to ensure the success of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803. The ministry also stressed the importance of creating conditions conducive to early recovery and reconstruction in the enclave. Jordan echoed the condemnation, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates describing the latest incidents as a blatant breach of the ceasefire and a dangerous escalation. Ministry spokesperson Fouad Majali called for strict adherence to the agreement and its provisions, including the immediate, adequate and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as moving forward with the second phase of the deal, the Jordan News Agency reported. Majali urged the international community to fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities to ensure Israel’s compliance, while warning against actions that could derail de-escalation efforts. He also reiterated Jordan’s call for a clear political horizon leading to an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative. Egypt, meanwhile, condemned what it described as recurrent Israeli breaches that have led to the deaths of at least 25 Palestinians. Cairo warned that such actions risk turning the situation into a tinderbox and threaten ongoing efforts to stabilize Gaza at both the security and humanitarian levels. In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry appealed to all parties to exercise maximum restraint, safeguard the ceasefire, and avoid measures that could undermine the political process. It stressed the need to maintain momentum toward early recovery and reconstruction, emphasizing that continued violations directly threaten prospects for lasting stability in the enclave.

Supplies running out at Syria’s Al-Hol camp as clashes block aid deliveries
AP/January 31, 2026
DAMASCUS: An international humanitarian organization has warned that supplies are running out at a camp in northeast Syria housing thousands of people linked to the Daesh group, as the country’s government fights to establish control over an area formerly controlled by Kurdish fighters.
The late Friday statement by Save the Children came a week after government forces captured Al-Hol camp, which is home to more than 24,000 people, mostly children and women, including many wives or widows of Daesh members. The capture of the camp came after intense fighting earlier this month between government forces and members of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces during which forces loyal to interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa captured wide areas in eastern and northeastern Syria. The SDF signed a deal to end the fighting after suffering major defeats, but sporadic clashes between it and the government have continued. Save the Children said that “critical supplies in Al-Hol camp are running dangerously low” as clashes are blocking the safe delivery of humanitarian aid. It added that last week’s clashes around the camp forced aid agencies to temporarily suspend regular operations at Al-Hol. It added that the main road leading to the camp remains unsafe, which is preventing humanitarian workers from delivering food and water or running basic services for children and families. “The situation in Al-Hol camp is rapidly deteriorating as food, water and medicines run dangerously low,” said Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children Syria country director. “If humanitarian organizations are unable to resume work, children will face still more risks in the camp, which was already extremely dangerous for them before this latest escalation.”Muhrez added that all parties to the conflict must ensure a safe humanitarian corridor to Al-Hol so basic services can resume and children can be protected. “Lives depend on it,” she said. The SDF announced a new agreement with the central government on Friday, aiming to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting and lay out steps toward integrating the US-backed force into the army and police forces.

Turkiye blocks aid convoy to Syria’s Kobani: NGOs
AFP/January 31, 2026
ANKARA: Turkish authorities have blocked a convoy carrying aid to Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria encircled by the Syrian army, NGOs and a Turkish MP said on Saturday. They said the aid was blocked before it reached the Turkiye-Syria border, despite an agreement announced on Friday between the Syrian government and the country’s Kurdish minority to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state. Twenty-five lorries containing water, milk, baby formula and blankets collected in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkiye’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, “were prevented from crossing the border,” said the Diyarbakir Solidarity and Protection Platform, which organized the aid campaign. “Blocking humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic necessities is unacceptable, both from the point of view of humanitarian law and from the point of view of moral responsibility,” said the platform, which brings together several NGOs. Earlier this week, residents of Kobani told AFP they were running out of food, water and electricity because the city was overwhelmed with people fleeing the advance of the Syrian army. Kurdish forces accused the Syrian army of imposing a siege on Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab in Arabic. “The trucks are still waiting in a depot on the highway,” said Adalet Kaya, an MP from Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party who was accompanying the convoy. “We will continue negotiations today. We hope they will be able to cross at the Mursitpinar border post,” he told AFP.
Mursitpinar is located on the Turkish side of the border, across from Kobani. Turkish authorities have kept the border crossing closed since 2016, while occasionally opening it briefly to allow humanitarian aid to pass through. DEM and Turkiye’s main opposition CHP called this week for Mursitpinar to be opened “to avoid a humanitarian tragedy.” Turkish authorities said aid convoys should use the Oncupinar border crossing, 180 kilometers (110 miles) away. “It’s not just a question of distance. We want to be sure the aid reaches Kobani and is not redirected elsewhere by Damascus, which has imposed a siege,” said Kaya. After months of deadlock and fighting, Damascus and the Syrian Kurds announced an agreement on Friday that would see the forces and administration of Syria’s Kurdish autonomous region gradually integrated into the Syrian state.Kobani is around 200 kilometers from the Kurds’ stronghold in Syria’s far northeast. Kurdish forces liberated the city from a lengthy siege by the Daesh group in 2015 and it took on symbolic value as their first major victory against the militants. Kobani is hemmed in by the Turkish border to the north and government forces on all sides, pending the entry into the force of Friday’s agreement.

US envoy Witkoff reports ‘constructive’ Ukraine talks with Russia
AFP, Washington/31 January/2026
US envoy Steve Witkoff said Saturday he held constructive talks with a Russian envoy as part of the US drive to end the war in Ukraine. “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine,” Witkoff posted on X after his talks with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, also attended the talks.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 31/February 01/2026
President Trump, Please Do Not Leave Iran's Regime in Place!
Dr. Majid Rafizadehi/Gatestone Institute./January 31/2026
Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, China, and other states provide Iran with safe geography, money, energy markets, financial loopholes, proxy shelters, and diplomatic cover.
Iran's regime enjoys a "back door" that keeps it alive even under heavy international pressure. It is a door that the West has left open for too long.
President Donald J, Trump's solution appears to be a "deal" that Iran's neighbors have evidently conned him into accepting, to spare them having to live in a truly democratic and peaceful Middle East where their corrupt dictatorships might be exposed.
Worse, this "deal" would seemingly leave in place the savage mullahs who slaughtered more than 36,000 of their own citizens, apparently in just one night: January 8-9.
Iran's mullahs need to be offered an off-ramp to take the money and run, as Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was. A transitional government with the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, with the help of the US, could hardly be worse than the transitional government in Venezuela headed by Delcy Rodriguez.
If countries such as Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan -- all committed sponsors of terror -- do not want to see a Middle East freed of it, too bad for them. For only then will not just the Iranian people -- but the entire region -- be able to move forward toward stability and security, far away from their destructive reach.
Iran's mullahs need to be offered an off-ramp to take the money and run, as Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was. A transitional government with the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, with the help of the US, could hardly be worse than the transitional government in Venezuela headed by Delcy Rodriguez. Pictured: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on October 22, 2016, in Tehran. (Image source: khamenei.ir)
One of the most effective ways to keep weakening Iran's brutal regime, hopefully on the path to escorting it out, is not only to put direct pressure on the regime itself, but also on the countries that allow it to operate freely, fund its proxies, and expand its influence.
Iran's regime survives largely because it has enablers to help it move money, recruit people, transfer weapons, and rebuild after every round of sanctions. If these countries face real consequences for advancing Iran's activities, the regime's ability to rearm itself will shrink dramatically. Weakening Iran requires cutting off not just its internal power, but also the foreign platforms that let it breathe, operate, and grow.
Iran's networks across the region demonstrate how deeply the regime depends on other countries to advance its agenda. Recent discoveries of Hamas activity in Turkey highlight that the terrorist group has been using Turkish territory as a logistical and financial hub, benefiting from Iran's sponsorship and direction. Findings from Israeli intelligence revealed that individuals affiliated with Hamas had been operating, fundraising, and coordinating from Turkey, reinforcing long-standing concerns that Tehran uses the country as a safe bridge to move money and connect its proxy networks.
This appears part of a larger pattern: Iran identifies countries where enforcement is weak, political cover is available, or financial systems can be exploited, then proceeds to build layers of infrastructure there. When these countries do not face consequences, Iran's regime becomes more resilient, knowing that when pressure builds at home, it can still expand abroad.
In Iraq, Iran-backed militias have for years operated with impunity, shaping security, politics, and the economy. Iran's militias control border crossings, smuggling routes, and major economic contracts, giving the regime a revenue stream and influence far beyond its borders. Iran uses Iraq not just as a military platform but as a financial artery. Iran's regime moves funds through banks, exchanging currencies, and uses corrupt networks to bypass sanctions. With no pressure on Iraq to restrain these groups and clean up its financial system, Iran's regime enjoys a "back door" that keeps it alive even under heavy international pressure. It is a door that the West has left open for too long.
Lebanon presents an even clearer example. Hezbollah essentially functions as a branch of Iran, controlling large sections of Lebanon's political system, ports, military, security agencies, and border crossings. Lebanon's weakness has allowed the Iranian regime to turn the country into its most important forward operating base, one that sits directly on Israel's border. Hezbollah receives funding, training, and weapons from Iran, and uses Lebanon's political paralysis to keep itself untouchable. If no one pressures Lebanon's political elites and institutions to stop tolerating Hezbollah's dominance, Iran will continue to enjoy a permanent military stronghold there. This is why pressuring Iran alone is never enough; its proxies are anchored in states that permit their presence.
Outside the Middle East, China plays a critical role by purchasing large amounts of Iranian oil, even when sanctions are in place and even when the international community attempts to impose restrictions. By buying Iranian oil, China gives Tehran the hard currency it needs to fund Hezbollah, Hamas, and other proxy militias in the Middle East. Its oil exports also help Iran stabilize its economy at home and avoid the financial collapse that sanctions are supposed to cause. China essentially has been giving Iran financial oxygen at just the moment when the international community has been trying to suffocate it.
Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, China, and other states provide Iran with safe geography, money, energy markets, financial loopholes, proxy shelters, and diplomatic cover. Leaving those countries untouched while sanctioning Iran is like cutting off water in one room while leaving a faucet running in another. It does not work, and the mullahs, of course, know that.
President Donald J, Trump's solution appears to be a "deal" that Iran's neighbors have evidently conned him into accepting, to spare them having to live in a truly democratic and peaceful Middle East where their corrupt dictatorships might be exposed.
Worse, this "deal" would seemingly leave in place the savage mullahs who slaughtered more than 36,000 of their own citizens, apparently in just one night: January 8-9.
It is not even enough to sanction Iran and the countries that allow the regime to breathe. Iran's mullahs need to be offered an off-ramp to take the money and run, as Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was. A transitional government with the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, with the help of the US, could hardly be worse than the transitional government in Venezuela headed by Delcy Rodriguez.
If countries such as Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan -- all committed sponsors of terror -- do not want to see a Middle East freed of it, too bad for them. For only then will not just the Iranian people -- but the entire region -- be able to move forward toward stability and security, far away from their destructive reach.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22239/do-not-leave-iran-regime
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
*Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter)
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

'Suicidal Empathy': Is the West Committing Suicide-by-Compassion?
Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute./January 30, 2026
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22238/suicidal-empathy
According to [Gad] Saad's thesis, empathy becomes misdirected into a type of benevolent altruism that prioritizes the perceived feelings and needs of "marginalized" or external groups at the expense of the survival, security, and interests of one's own group and its values. The outcome is the weakening, and ultimately the destruction, of the very civilization that expressed this emotion.
The problem? This concept of suicidal empathy unfortunately does not work. As the term predicts, it ends up killing its host.
What we observe, however, in many people, is a highly selective empathy, precisely the opposite of caring about everyone. What shows up is an exclusive, and exclusionary, concern for certain groups — asylum seekers, ethnic minorities, people unhappy with their gender, racialized people (whatever that means), criminals, for example — at the same time paired with indifference or even open hostility toward other groups that might be equally minoritized, victimized, or marginalized.
What becomes harder to defend as genuine empathy is the increasingly common pattern of displaying loud, intense, public identification with distant victims while simultaneously showing indifference, contempt or outright hostility toward victims right under one's nose, here in one's own society, whose suffering is visible and immediate.
We might be dealing then with a moral posture, a political performance, a selected narrative for virtue or social status.
In short: selective empathy -- with selective hostility or indifference nearby -- is not "higher", "purer" or "more universal". It is just a posture wearing empathy's clothes.
Many people seem to be incubating a rage looking for somewhere to go. Dogmas that admit no dissent provide a perfect vehicle for that. This new rage appears to have nothing to do with empathy — or even selective empathy — but more with envy, frustration, and possibly opportunism, perhaps accompanied by large payments.
When there are real protestors out on the streets risking their lives, as recently in Iran, there is scant support. What vibrates in Western outbursts, on the left and on the right, appears to be rage looking for a cause, and constantly feeding on new dogmas. Sadly, there seems to be no shortage of them.
The theory of "suicidal empathy," taken up and developed by Canadian Professor Gad Saad in his book Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, describes a psychological and societal condition in which excessive or misguided compassion leads Western societies — particularly, it seems, "progressive" ones — to adopt self-destructive attitudes and policies that will ultimately "succeed" in destroying them. The process, however well-intentioned, is a form of civilizational suicide.
According to Saad's thesis, empathy becomes misdirected into a type of benevolent altruism that prioritizes the perceived feelings and needs of "marginalized" or external groups at the expense of the survival, security, and interests of one's own group and its values. The outcome is the weakening, and ultimately the destruction, of the very civilization that expressed this emotion.
Saad draws on evolutionary psychology to suggest that empathy is a natural adaptive mechanism designed to promote cooperation within small groups, such as family or the community. In modern societies, however, this mechanism has become "hijacked" by big-hearted supporters who take pride in what they see as a virtue of caring about others.
The problem? This concept of suicidal empathy unfortunately does not work. As the term predicts, it ends up killing its host.
Suicidal empathy, according to Saad, rests on a fundamental misunderstanding. Empathy, a feeling, can open you up to feel with and understand another, or you can stay closed, enabling you to stay safely detached. Half-measures — selective empathy toward only carefully curated, presumably "deserving" groups — can become something else entirely: political manipulation, pity, narcissistic preening, virtue-signaling, or emotional tourism.
Empathy can embrace humanity — or in many people, may not exist whatsoever. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it," Harper Lee wrote in To Kill a Mockingbird. Ideally, empathy might extend to everyone: "Love thy neighbor as thyself," perhaps impossible to do, is still a noble aspiration.
What we observe, however, in many people, is a highly selective empathy, precisely the opposite of caring about everyone. What shows up is an exclusive, and exclusionary, concern for certain groups — asylum seekers, ethnic minorities, people unhappy with their gender, racialized people (whatever that means), criminals, for example — at the same time paired with indifference or even open hostility toward other groups that might be equally minoritized, victimized, or marginalized.
Consider the case of our Jewish compatriots. It is no exaggeration to say that the contemporary Western left has grown accustomed to the mistreatment of American and European Jews, even though they consist of only the tiniest minority in Europe (only 0.16% of Europe's population) as well as the US (2.3% of the population).
What, then, is the criterion for this so-called "selective empathy"? We are told: victimhood. Jews are -- based on "evidence" that probably applies just as well to successful Christians and other non-Jews -- are deemed "dominant." How is a Jewish child beaten in the street in Europe, and targeted only for being Jewish, "dominant"? Because, we are told, Jews are not victims: Look, they say, at what is happening in Gaza.
European And American Jews, however, have no connection to Gaza, except through the smoky notion of "collective responsibility," which holds that any crime committed by one person renders all people from that group responsible, whether Blacks, Jews, Whites, Asians, Muslims, non-Muslims, and so on. This notion of collective responsibility -- as opposed to judging people one-by-one based on individual merits -- has, even since earliest biblical times, been considered immoral: Let not the sins of the father be visited upon the children.
Having empathy does not require it to be universal toward everyone — any more than love, friendship and loyalty are required to be universal. Empathy, like all emotions, is elastic – one minute you might love someone, the next minute hate him. You can enjoy the deepest, most intense love for your spouse and children, but feel only mild benevolence (or even indifference) toward the rest of humanity; no one would seriously claim that your feelings are therefore "fake" or "not real love." You can be profoundly moved by the suffering of abused children in your own neighborhood while remaining relatively unmoved by equally terrible suffering occurring in distant countries you have never visited. That does not make your empathy inauthentic.
Empathy follows exactly the same path. It is probably common to feel more deeply about those who are physically close (family, friends, neighbors), those who belong to "our" group (shared language, culture, history, values, appearance...), and those whose pain we can see, hear or share directly. The farther someone is removed from us (in space, time, culture, or identity), the more deliberate mental work might be required to generate a comparable emotional response.
This is not hypocrisy; it is simply human nature. What becomes harder to defend as genuine empathy is the increasingly common pattern of displaying loud, intense, public identification with distant victims while simultaneously showing indifference, contempt or outright hostility toward victims right under one's nose, here in one's own society, whose suffering is visible and immediate.
We might be dealing then with a moral posture, a political performance, a selected narrative for virtue or social status.
In short: selective empathy -- with selective hostility or indifference nearby -- is not "higher", "purer" or "more universal". It is just a posture wearing empathy's clothes.
The psychological mechanism of the contemporary Western "left" seems to be unfolding in two stages. First came the collapse of Marxism in 1989, with the Berlin Wall being dismantled, piece by piece, was also the main ideology of the left, undergoing deconstruction. Marxism was the dominant ideological framework of the Western left through much of the 20th century. In The Age of Extremes (1994), the Communist historian Eric Hobsbawm argues that Marxism was the dominant intellectual and ideological framework of the Western left for much of the twentieth century. He explained that communist parties, socialist movements, trade unions, and left-wing intellectual circles largely operated within conceptual horizons shaped by Marxist theory — even when they were not strictly Marxist in doctrine. In other words, Marxism structured how the left understood history, capitalism, class, and political struggle throughout most of the century. The collapse of Soviet communism in 1989 symbolized the failure of Marxism as a viable political-economic system. Therefore, the left lost its core ideology and began searching for replacements.
A hatred of the West, of capitalism, of "inequality," has been around at least since the writings of Karl Marx. In the West, this rejection of what exists, and of what has founded our civilizational predominance, has been a constant—at least since the French Revolution in 1789. Marxism, later, proposed a supposed "solution" — false and unachievable, but claiming theoretical, even "scientific," coherence. None of that, however, has ever existed.
This outrage and anger then seized upon a motley collection of ideological substitutes, some good, such as the abolition of slavery and universal suffrage; some not good, such as the abolition of borders, radical environmentalism, political Islam, and the abolition of prisons. What appears lost is the freedom to disagree. Diverge from these new precepts, and you exit humanity itself. You become a figure of evil.
Anyone who departs from these fragile dogmas, even marginally, is now denounced, excommunicated, morally disqualified, and, whenever possible, socially destroyed. Many people seem to be incubating a rage looking for somewhere to go. Dogmas that admit no dissent provide a perfect vehicle for that. This new rage appears to have nothing to do with empathy — or even selective empathy — but more with envy, frustration, and possibly opportunism, perhaps accompanied by large payments.When there are real protestors out on the streets risking their lives, as recently in Iran, there is scant support. What vibrates in Western outbursts, on the left and on the right, appears to be rage looking for a cause, and constantly feeding on new dogmas. Sadly, there seems to be no shortage of them.
**Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of The Green Reich (2020).
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Deal reached with Kurdish-led SDF is a ‘victory for all Syrians,’ Syrian ambassador to UN tells Arab News
Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/February 01, 2026
NEW YORK: A landmark ceasefire and phased integration agreement between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was announced on Friday, a deal senior Syrian officials described as a major step toward national unity and stability following years of conflict and stalled negotiations.Speaking with Arab News in New York, Ibrahim Olabi, the Syrian Arab Republic’s permanent representative to the UN, described the agreement as not only a military and administrative achievement but a symbolic victory for all Syrians, one that reflects the country’s collective aspirations for peace, reconstruction and international cooperation. He said that stability, equitable resource distribution and internal security underpin the deal’s significance. He also highlighted broad international support and specific engagement from countries such as Saudi Arabia and the US. He said that Saudi Arabia had played a consistent diplomatic role in encouraging de-escalation and supporting Syria’s reintegration into the regional and international system, including through calls to lift sanctions and back state institutions. As for Washington, Olabi said, it had come to view a unified Syrian state as serving US and regional interests, and saw integration within the Syrian government as the SDF’s most viable long-term protection.“We are viewing the milestone that was achieved today as a success for all Syrians and for Syria. All Syrians benefit from stability, from having security apparatus in their towns. All Syrians benefit from resources being under the control of the state because they can be equitably distributed. The same thing goes for borders. All Syrians benefit when there is calm, domestically, which then also has regional implications and reconstruction implications,” he said.
“So, we view it as a success, as a victory for all Syrians.”He added that the agreement built on existing momentum generated by earlier understandings and international endorsements, as well as shifting political and military realities, creating conditions that made this phase more likely to hold.
The core of the Jan. 30 agreement is a phased integration of SDF military units and administrative bodies into Syrian state structures, beginning with security arrangements and progressing toward full institutional incorporation.
This model, Olabi said, was intended to avoid abrupt shifts that could destabilize fragile local dynamics.“The phased integration approach falls within the wider theme that the Syrian government has always been open to proposals, to ideas, to debate whatever really works in having a united, strong, stable Syria,” he said. “It starts with the security component, then it goes to the administrative component, then it goes to state institutions. We thought one month would be a reasonable timeframe. The idea is not to rush things, but also not for things to take too long, all Syrians are interested in moving ahead to the future, putting the past 14 years of conflict and factionalism behind them.” Under the agreement, SDF fighters will begin joining national security units and brigades, and Interior Ministry forces will be deployed in key Kurdish-held cities including Hasakah and Qamishli, where the Syrian government’s presence had been limited for years. A new military formation, including three brigades drawn from SDF elements, will be part of the broader Syrian army structure, with Kurdish civil institutions integrated into the state’s administrative framework.
Olabi stressed that the accord gave time for orderly integration, not immediate absorption, and that this timeframe was agreed in consultation with the SDF to promote confidence and minimize friction. Addressing concerns over the sincerity of guarantees for SDF members against reprisals or loss of status, Olabi pointed to the government’s longstanding overtures and previous interactions with the Kurdish leadership, and to the government’s conduct throughout negotiations as evidence of its approach. “(SDF chief) Mazloum Abdi was welcomed in Damascus as a hero, not as a villain or as an enemy. The SDF as a whole were always welcomed in Damascus, and we were always engaging with them and always trying to find ways. They have seen that we have no interest in reprisals, no interest in the situation deteriorating. We would like to move forward. International partners have also noticed that the Syrian government has no interest in escalating a situation,” he said.
BIO
Ibrahim Abdulmalik Olabi was appointed the permanent representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN on Aug. 19 last year. Before that, he served as special adviser on international legal affairs to Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates from Feb. 2025. He holds a master’s in public policy from the University of Oxford, an LLM in security and international law, and an LLB from the University of Manchester.
On the question of dispute resolution, Olabi made clear that all disputes would be addressed internally, through dialogue among Syrian factions, keeping the process fully within the country’s control. “Any sort of disputes that may arise are things that we have to resolve together. The door has always been open. We didn’t want to resort to any military solutions, and the same will apply again. People have seen that we went into not one agreement, but four or five different versions of it. There is no judge or jury or adversarial group — it’s Syrian factions coming together to build the Syria they want.”
The agreement follows months of intense clashes between Syrian government forces and Kurdish armed groups in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah districts in December 2025 and January 2026. The fighting left dozens of fighters dead on both sides and forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Several ceasefire agreements collapsed before this latest deal, underscoring the fragility of trust and the risks of renewed escalation. Olabi said that the current deal differed because it advanced those earlier understandings into a more detailed, time-bound and technically defined agreement, shaped by new political and military realities and reinforced by international and UN backing. “We believe this agreement is the next step from the initial agreement. It has more technical details, more timeframes, and is more nuanced than the framework agreement signed a couple of days ago. International powers and the UN have welcomed it, and the new political and military realities all contribute to its success,” he said. Saudi Arabia has welcomed the ceasefire and integration deal, lauding it as a step toward peace, national unity and stability. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement reaffirmed the Kingdom’s support for Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. It said that the deal could help to advance security and stability, ease humanitarian suffering, and create conditions conducive to reconstruction and the return of displaced Syrians, while emphasizing the importance of a Syrian-led political process.
Olabi characterized Saudi support as consistent with the Kingdom’s long-standing backing for a sovereign, unified Syria. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been a key partner and key ally of the Syrian people, first of all, for many, many, many years and of the new Syrian government and the new Syrian leadership. We’ve seen that since day one. We’ve seen that when President Trump met President Ahmad Al-Sharaa; it was the first time that happened in Riyadh,” he said.
“We’ve seen their support for calling for the ending of sanctions, the institutional support that they’re giving in terms of working with us to build our capacity so that we have a stable Syria. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been a key ally, and the fact that they are welcoming such a statement is in line with the policies that they’ve had in supporting a united, strong and stable Syria,” he said. Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, welcomed the agreement in a post on X on Friday. He described it “as a profound and historic milestone in Syria’s journey toward national reconciliation unity and enduring stability,” adding that it affirmed “the principle that Syria’s strength emerges from embracing diversity and addressing the legitimate aspirations of all its people.”Olabi said that the US administration recognized the mutual benefits of a stable, unified Syria. “The United States, under President Trump and his envoy to Syria, Ambassador Tom Barrack, have seen that it is in US interests to have a stable, unified Syria. They have also seen that the SDF’s best protection, best success story is within the Syrian government,” he said.
Barrack noted that this moment was of “particular significance” for the Kurdish people, whose “extraordinary sacrifices” and “steadfast resilience” have been crucial in defending Syria and protecting vulnerable populations.
The recent Presidential Decree No. 13 represents a “transformative stride” toward equality, restoring citizenship, recognizing Kurdish as a “national language,” and correcting “longstanding injustices” to affirm the Kurds’ place in a secure, inclusive Syria. Earlier this month, President Al-Sharaa issued a decree formally recognizing and protecting Kurdish cultural and civil rights, including language and representation, as part of broader efforts to address longstanding grievances. The move was presented by the Syrian government as a state decision independent of ongoing negotiations with armed groups.
Olabi said: “That question should be separated from the rights of Kurds, because for us, the Kurds are a key component that live all across Syria — in Damascus, in Aleppo, in Afrin, in Idlib and elsewhere. As you know, the decree granting Kurdish rights was issued independent of the negotiation. It wasn’t an outcome of the negotiation, it wasn’t during the negotiation.”
Israel has continued military operations inside Syria over the past year following the removal of Bashar Assad from power, carrying out repeated airstrikes and ground incursions that Al-Sharaa’s government says have violated its sovereignty and killed Syrian civilians, even as it has signaled its openness to diplomatic engagement.labi referred to a December 2025 tweet by President Trump after an Israeli incursion that killed 13 Syrians. “The Syrian government has said since day one that we will uphold the 1974 agreement between Syria and Israel, an agreement that withstood the test of time for over 50 years. We even engaged publicly and openly with Israel through US mediation,” he said. “But Israel’s actions have been against Syrian interests. Syria is not going to be a threat to anyone. We are always open to diplomacy and constructive engagement. If there are legitimate security concerns, we can address them. But land grabs and destabilization are something we cannot tolerate. No government in Syria can give away Syrian rights.”On how trust can be rebuilt after years of factional fighting, Olabi emphasized a distinction between the SDF as an armed faction and Syria’s Kurdish population at large, who have endured decades of discrimination. “The Kurds have seen our discipline in operations, the decree protecting their rights, and our openness to engage. That is why many chose to move from Aleppo to Afrin,” he said. The Syrian government on Friday declared the Al-Hol and Roj camps northeast Syria, which house families linked to former Daesh fighters, as formal security zones. Security at the camp collapsed following the withdrawal of SDF amid intense fighting, with reports of escape by possibly 1,500 Daesh-linked individuals.
Humanitarian aid is now blocked. The camp holds roughly 24,000 people — mostly women and children — including about 14,500 Syrians, 3,000 Iraqis and 6,500 foreign nationals. “The Syrian government inherited a very complicated situation at Al-Hol, with many families of former Daesh fighters. We have taken responsibility for both security and humanitarian management. We are also urging states whose nationals are detained there to take responsibility. The UNHCR and other UN agencies are engaged, and we hope to address this in a humane, just, and secure way over the coming weeks,” he said. As Syria and the SDF embark on this integration phase, analysts caution that while the ceasefire provides a framework, deep-seated distrust, unresolved grievances and external pressures could destabilize progress.
Olabi, however, maintained that the focus remained on Syrian autonomy and the state’s responsibility to protect all citizens. “People have seen that we have no interest in reprisals. We would like to move forward,” he said.

Demolishing UNRWA headquarters an act of folly and weakness
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/January 31, 2026
In every sphere of activity in which Israel’s government operates, it does so in a thuggish and mindless manner. Nuance, subtlety, restraint, consideration, and weighing options are just not in its vocabulary. The immorality of this approach is obvious and in the long term self-defeating, leaving the country living by the sword, with fewer friends, and constantly losing public sympathy. The latest episode in this long-running series of acts of sheer folly took place last week when the government sent its enforcers, accompanied by security forces, to demolish the headquarters of UNRWA, the UN agency that since 1949 has been in charge of providing services for the well-being and protection of Palestinian refugees until a just resolution of the question of Palestine is found.
This is an Israeli government that tries to conceal its true intentions and incompetence with performative politics. Does it really believe that if UNRWA ceases to exist, the Palestinian refugees will disappear with it, and that their political, human, and civil rights will no longer exist? Israel blames UNRWA for perpetuating the Palestinian right of return by granting refugee status to successive generations. However, it is not UNRWA that perpetuates the right of return; it is their legal right in line with international law and UN General Assembly Resolution 194, for instance, which states that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return.”Mistakenly, negotiations over the issue of refugees were framed as addressing the right of return rather than how to translate this right into practical terms that would avoid a mass return leading to new difficulties. The right of return is recognized under international law, and hence not negotiable as such. UNRWA is not the custodian of this right — international law is. Years of negotiations to translate this right into practice have yielded a number of plans for workable solutions, including trade-offs for those who will not return, such as becoming citizens of a Palestinian state, becoming citizens of their current host countries, and compensation for their loss and suffering.
Destroying the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem will not make the Palestinian refugees and their rights go away. It is a mere act of vandalism, which activated a piece of legislation passed in the Knesset in October 2024, barring the agency from operating in Israeli territory and curtailing its activities in Gaza and the West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with it. In addition, late last year, in another act of harassment, a law prohibiting the provision of electricity or water to facilities owned by or operated on behalf of UNRWA passed its third and final reading in the Knesset. This was another Pyrrhic victory, which appeals to the current government’s electoral base that has been fed endless lies about the objectives and operations of this UN agency, leading the base to believe that it is hostile to Israel. Awareness among Israelis of the humanitarian nature of the organization and its contribution to the well-being of millions of Palestinians, to whose plight Israel has been a major contributor for so many decades, is almost nonexistent. By declaring all-out war on UNRWA, Israel gets closer to a moment of reckoning when it must demonstrate that it has found an alternative humanitarian instrument to the UN agency. Demolition of the UNRWA headquarters is both a physical and symbolic manifestation that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are simply not interested in peace.
Unquestionably, UNRWA is at a crossroads. However, the answer to whether it stays or goes should be given by the international community, not by Israel. In December last year, 151 countries supported renewing the agency’s mandate for three years. On the face of it, this was an overwhelming vote of confidence in the work of the organization — support that was earned not only by sweat but also by blood since the war in Gaza has cost the agency the lives of 382 of its personnel and others supporting its activities.
Nevertheless, as important as extending the mandate is, it has not been matched by allocating adequate long-term funding to meet the growing needs of the 5.9 million Palestinian refugees eligible for UNRWA’s services, which include health, education, protection, relief, and social services, as well as microfinance. Last year, the agency secured £1.4 billion. However, in light of the surge in humanitarian needs, it needs almost double this amount — a shortfall with grave consequences for refugees. Moreover, international political support is needed while Israel is harassing and bullying the agency and its staff, but this backing is half-hearted. Israel replaced the UN flag with the Israeli flag over the demolished headquarters in Jerusalem, but it has not come up with an alternative in terms of budget and a qualified workforce to supply the services that UNRWA has been providing, despite the fact that the UN did not create the refugee problem in the first place, and it is not the UN that has occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.
It is not beyond the current Israeli government to take actions that would deliberately cause the situation in the West Bank to explode, and then use that as an excuse for further oppression on its march to annexation. In this case Israel’s distorted logic would mean eliminating UNRWA and exacerbating the humanitarian situation. Consequently, armed resistance becomes more likely, resulting in a harsh response in terms of using military force, building more settlements, and taking further steps toward making the life of Palestinians even more unbearable.
Eliminating UNRWA’s capacity as a service provider is an act of brutality directed at Palestinians, but also an act of self-harm by Israel, especially given the lack of a viable alternative. It is morally bankrupt to deprive millions of people under your control access to the most basic needs; it is also a recipe for unrest that risks pushing the population, especially the young, into the hands of the radicals while alienating those who want to live in peace with Israel. Demolition of the agency’s headquarters is both a physical and symbolic manifestation that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are simply not interested in peace, if anyone needed further evidence.
*Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg

The Arctic remains a zone of sustained competition
Luke Coffey/Arab News/January 31, 2026
US President Donald Trump’s recent statements about the need to acquire Greenland caused considerable division within the transatlantic community. Fortunately, these tensions appear to have been resolved for now. One positive consequence of the Greenland debate, however, has been to elevate the strategic importance of the Arctic region on the international agenda.
The Arctic region is home to some of the harshest terrain and environmental conditions on Earth. There are eight countries that can call themselves Arctic states: the US, Canada, Denmark via Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Many more countries are now seeking to expand their influence in the region.The region is important for scientific, environmental, trade, transit, and energy reasons. Tourism has also been growing, boosting local economic activity. The region is widely believed to contain vast amounts of untapped oil and gas reserves, along with significant quantities of rare earth minerals. The challenge lies in finding ways to access and extract these resources that are both economically viable and environmentally responsible. This is made even more difficult by the lack of infrastructure and limited logistical connectivity.
The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental body led by the eight Arctic states, was established to promote cooperation on issues such as search and rescue coordination, environmental protection, and scientific research. However, the council has all but stopped functioning since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, severely limiting one of the few institutional mechanisms for Arctic-wide cooperation.
For the US, it is clear that the Trump administration views the Arctic primarily through the lens of great power competition. The US became an Arctic state in the 1860s with the purchase of Alaska from Russia. What was widely seen at the time as a mistake has since proven to be one of the most strategic decisions made in the post-Civil War era. Despite the rhetoric from multiple Washington administrations, however, relatively little emphasis has been placed on improving American capabilities or presence in the Arctic. For example, the US Coast Guard currently operates only one heavy icebreaker there.
So far in his first year in office, Trump has placed renewed focus on the region, including moving forward with a significant purchase of new icebreakers in cooperation with Finland. Even during the first Trump administration, the US role in the Arctic was framed largely in the context of great-power competition, particularly in relation to China. There is little reason to assume the second Trump administration will approach the region any differently.
Russia is the world’s largest Arctic state, with roughly half the world’s Arctic coastline located within the Russian Federation. For Moscow, the Arctic has long been a source of national pride and identity, dating back to the era of Peter the Great. After many Arctic bases and military facilities were shuttered at the end of the Cold War, President Vladimir Putin has invested heavily in reopening, modernizing, and expanding these installations. In recent years, Russia has also fielded specialized military units designed to operate in extreme Arctic conditions.
Trump has placed renewed focus on the region.
Moscow also views the Northern Sea Route, the shipping corridor between Europe and Asia that runs along its Arctic coastline, as both geopolitically and economically significant. Russia has invested substantially in infrastructure along this route in an effort to attract more commercial shipping between European and Asian markets. However, many of Russia’s ambitious cargo-volume targets have not been met, and it remains unclear whether the route will become as commercially viable as Russian officials hope.
For China, the Arctic represents yet another region where Beijing seeks to expand its global influence. Although China is not an Arctic country, it has declared itself a “near-Arctic state,” despite being roughly 1,200 km from the Arctic Circle at its closest point. Beijing has leveraged international institutions such as the Arctic Council to expand its presence in the region and has taken advantage of Russia’s growing isolation from the West to deepen Arctic cooperation with Moscow, often in ways that disproportionately benefit China.
China has tried to pursue investments in key Arctic infrastructure projects, including some located in NATO members, and maintains a small, but strategically significant, scientific outpost in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. While China has not conducted overt military activity above the Arctic Circle, it has sent numerous scientific missions, research vessels, and icebreakers to the region — assets that could serve dual civilian and military purposes. In the years ahead, China can be expected to seek an even greater role in the Arctic.
Meanwhile, it has not always been clear to Europeans, beyond those countries that are Arctic states, what role the rest of the Continent should play in the region. While the EU as an institution holds policy competencies over many issues that directly affect the Arctic, member states that are Arctic countries have largely kept decision-making at the national level. In fact, the EU has attempted multiple times to join the Arctic Council as an observer, only to be blocked.
In the wake of Trump’s rhetoric over Greenland, however, Europe has begun to step up its engagement in the Arctic, a development that will be welcomed in Washington. From a security perspective, the accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO means that seven of the eight Arctic states now fall under the same security umbrella. For the first time, NATO itself has adopted a more direct and active role in the region.
Still, the future of Arctic cooperation hinges on the growing competition and divisions among the great powers. With relations between the West and China increasingly uncertain, and with the Arctic Council sharply reducing its activities due to the breakdown in relations between Russia and the other Arctic states, it is clear that the region will remain a zone of sustained competition. What must be avoided at all costs is allowing the Arctic to become the next theater of global conflict.
**Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. X: @LukeDCoffey
 

Selected X tweets for January 31/2026