English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 08/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
Luke 10/17-20: "The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 07-08 July/2026
Khamenei's Funeral Turned Quranic Verses into Diplomatic Tools Serving Iran's Terrorist, Sectarian, and Expansionist Project/Elias Bejjani/July 06/2026
Conscience in Faith Concepts: The Divine Voice Dwelling in Man/Elias Bejjani/July 05/2025
The Framework Agreement Between Lebanon and the State of Israel Is the Last Opportunity to Liberate Lebanon from Iranian Occupation, and Israel Is a Friend, Not an Enemy/Elias Bejjani/July 03/2026
Lebanon must remove Hezbollah threat from south: German minister
UN envoy pushes Lebanon-Israel truce consolidation as humanitarian crisis deepens
Israeli Flag Raised on Ali al-Taher Ridge in Southern Lebanon
Next round of Lebanon-Israel talks to be held next week in Rome
Israeli Army Carries Out Explosion Operations in Deir Seryan
Italy welcomes Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome in mid-July
Israeli shelling, detonations, and warnings continue in south Lebanon
UN special coordinator for Lebanon visits Israel
Aoun's heart open 'but Hezbollah refusing to cooperate', report says
Aoun denies US vetting of Lebanese soldiers, says framework deal 'not perfect'
Aoun condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians
Jumblat slams 'inexperienced' and 'power-hungry' officials who agreed Israel deal
Bassil lauds Christians of south, slams framework agreement
Abolishing the Death Penalty/Laura Hülsemann/Now Lebanon/July 07/2026
Lebanese FM: Lebanon Has No Alternative but Negotiations to Achieve Peace
High Ground, Deep Tunnels: Israel’s Push for Ali al-Taher/Kaline Antoun/This Is Beirut /July 07/2026
Lebanon’s south takes a breath as families return to shattered homes
German minister says Lebanon must remove 'Hezbollah danger' from south
IDF Says Hezbollah Weapons Cache Found Inside Civilian Home in Southern Lebanon
Chekka: Forgotten Massacre, Lost Victory/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/July 07/2026
On the Edge of Meaning... A Word in a Time of Noise/Father Tony Bou Assaf/Facebook/July 07/2026
US-Iran deal is a unique opportunity for Lebanon/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/June 26, 2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 07-08 July/2026
Trump says he will lift Turkey sanctions, decide on selling F-35s
Iran warns of ‘decisive’ action after US strikes around Strait of Hormuz
US military launches ‘powerful strikes’ against Iran to impose ‘heavy costs’: CENTCOM
US launches new strikes against Iran after three ships were hit in Strait of Hormuz
US revokes temporary sanctions waiver on Iranian oil
Qatar summons Iran deputy ambassador over LNG tanker attack
Qatari LNG Tanker at Risk of Explosion After Reported Iranian Attack in Strait of Hormuz
Kingdom condemns Iran for targeting Saudi and Qatari tankers
Crowds bid farewell to Khamenei in Iranian holy city of Qom
Coffin of slain Iranian supreme leader arrives in Iraq’s Najaf, Iraqi state TV says
Syria president says relying on French help to stop Israeli escalations
Bomb attack rocks Damascus during Macron visit
Cardinal tipped to be pope accused of molesting several women
Cardinal tipped to be pope accused of molesting several women
Israel’s Netanyahu says he and Trump align on big things over Iran
Israeli forces raid homes, destroy property in Nablus
Gaza’s future still unclear after Hamas dissolves governing body
UN experts demand Israel urgently release Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safiya
Israel parliament advances bill for inquiry into Oct 7 failures
Israeli fire kills seven people, including a child, in Gaza, medics say
Qatari and Irish FMs discuss Middle Eastern stability after US-Iran detente

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 07-08 July/2026
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s War on Christians/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/July 07/2026
Doling out tough love to European countries should top Trump’s NATO summit agenda/RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and John Hardie/New York Post/July 05/2026
Don’t Decimate U.S. Military Posture in Europe /Cameron McMillan and Bradley Bowman/Real Clear Defense/July 07/2026
Are They Not Ashamed Before Qasim, Saddam, and the Two Arifs?/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 07/2026
Will the Memorandum of Understanding Become the Final Agreement Itself?/Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 07/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on 07 July

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 07-08 July/2026
Khamenei's Funeral Turned Quranic Verses into Diplomatic Tools Serving Iran's Terrorist, Sectarian, and Expansionist Project
Elias Bejjani/July 06/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/07/155706/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuVErvArXao
Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.(Isaiah 33:01)
The funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was not merely a farewell ceremony for a man who ruled Iran for decades. Rather, it was a massive political and ideological display that once again exposed the essence of Iran's terrorist regime, which uses religion to serve a dictatorial authority and exploits religious texts to justify influence, expansion, and domination.
In reality, Khamenei was not a religious symbol or a spiritual authority. He was the head of a criminal and terrorist regime responsible for decades of internal repression against the Iranian people, foreign interference, and the export of the mullahs’ revolutionary project based on the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih. During his rule, Iranians were subjected to repeated waves of killings, arrests, persecution, impoverishment, displacement, humiliation, and isolation, while the country's wealth was squandered on wars, militias, terrorism, Shiite proselytization, and expansionist projects stretching from Lebanon to Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza.
Therefore, the image that Iran's rulers attempted to present as a popular referendum on Khamenei's popularity does not change the fact that millions of Iranians view his legacy very differently—as a legacy of repression, poverty, international isolation, and the squandering of the nation's resources.
Iran's Quranic Diplomacy
The most striking aspect of the funeral ceremonies was not the crowds or the foreign delegations, but what can be described as "Quranic diplomacy," whereby a specific Quranic verse was assigned to each official or political delegation attending the funeral.
The issue was not the recitation of the Quran itself, but the transformation of Quranic verses into political messages carrying meanings of endorsement, classification, criticism, or praise depending on each delegation's position toward Iran's regional project.
First: The Saudi Delegation
The following verse was recited:
"There has already been for you a sign in the two armies that met in battle: one fighting in the cause of Allah and the other disbelieving." (Quran 3:13)
From a political perspective, this verse speaks of a confrontation between believers and unbelievers. Many therefore viewed its selection during the reception of the Saudi delegation as intentional and politically insulting, suggesting an ideological and moral classification of the other side.
If this interpretation is correct, then the Iranian regime used a Quranic text to send a negative and offensive political message to a major Arab and Islamic country officially participating in the event.
Second: The Hamas Delegation
The following verse was recited:
"Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah..." (Quran 33:23)
This verse speaks of loyalty, steadfastness, and sacrifice. Politically, it appeared to be a direct tribute to Hamas, its leaders, and its members, while reaffirming its place within the Iranian axis.
Third: Hezbollah's Delegation
The following verse was recited:
"Whoever takes Allah, His Messenger, and the believers as allies, then indeed the Party of Allah will be victorious." (Quran 5:56)
Here, the message required little interpretation. The appearance of the phrase "Party of Allah" (Hezbollah) in the verse made its selection a direct declaration of solidarity with the Lebanese group that represents one of Iran's most important political and military arms outside its borders.
It was clear that the mullahs' regime intended through this verse to reaffirm its commitment to the expansionist and sectarian project it built in Lebanon through Hezbollah, which the author views as an Iranian army made up of Lebanese mercenaries, despite the destruction, divisions, crises, displacement, poverty, and futile wars that this project has caused.
Fourth: The Official Lebanese Delegation
The following verse was recited:
"If We had prescribed for them: 'Kill yourselves' or 'Leave your homes,' they would not have done so except for a few of them." (Quran 4:66)
The verse speaks about the unwillingness of most people to endure major sacrifices or carry out difficult commands. Politically, many observers interpreted it as a message of criticism directed at the Lebanese state and as an indication that Lebanon was not moving in accordance with Tehran's wishes or providing the level of commitment expected to its regional project.
The message was viewed as arrogant, offensive, and an intrusion into Lebanese affairs, coming from a defeated, terrorist, and criminal regime that has no right to judge the patriotism of the Lebanese people or the choices of their state.
The Most Dangerous Aspect
The most dangerous aspect of the funeral was that the conduct of the mullahs' regime reflected a political and sectarian mentality immersed in illusions, delusions, and fantasies, detached from reality, while presenting itself as the guardian of truth, religion, scripture, and the classification of nations and peoples.
Instead of being a human or national occasion, the funeral became a platform for reproducing divisions and political axes, and a political festival using the Quran as a diplomatic and propaganda tool.
Turning Quranic verses into political messages does not serve religion. Rather, it places religion in the service of power and transforms sacred texts into instruments of conflict and influence.
It was neither surprising nor new that chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" were repeatedly heard from participants in the funeral.
Official Lebanese Participation
In Lebanon, the decision to send an official high-level delegation to the funeral sparked criticism from many Lebanese who believe that the Iranian regime occupies Lebanon, bears responsibility for wars carried out through Hezbollah, and continues to undermine Lebanese sovereignty through its ongoing support for the group.
From this perspective, many believe that the official participation ignored the heavy price Lebanon has paid as a result of being transformed into a battleground for regional conflicts linked to Iranian policies.
Conclusion
The funeral was less a funeral ceremony than a massive political event aimed at reinforcing the image of the Supreme Leader as the symbol of a regional axis that transcends borders and at affirming the continuation of the path that has governed Iran for decades.
The clearest message emerging from the event was that the Iranian regime still views religion as a political and ideological tool used to justify influence, classify allies and opponents, and provide a religious aura to an expansionist authoritarian project that has burdened both Iran and the wider region with conflict, war, and destruction.
The question remains: When will the countries of the region free themselves from the logic of axes and foreign tutelage and build sovereign states that do not seek anyone's approval, do not submit to blackmail, and do not allow any external power, regardless of its religious or revolutionary slogans, to confiscate their national decision-making or the dignity of their peoples?
The author is a Lebanese expatriate activist.
Author's website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com
Email: phoenicia@hotmail.com

Conscience in Faith Concepts: The Divine Voice Dwelling in Man
Elias Bejjani/July 05/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/07/146391/
The study of conscience in the evangelical tradition is not merely an inquiry in psychology or ethics, but a spiritual journey to explore the intimate relationship between Creator and creature. Conscience, in its essence, is not simply a human feeling or a product of social upbringing, but the Divine voice dwelling in man—the presence of God guiding us to discern between good and evil. It is the inner compass placed by the Creator in every human heart to be the “judge” of thoughts and actions.
Conscience as a Divine Compass and Grace
Conscience is the “presence of God” within us. This is what distinguishes it from a mere “feeling of guilt.” Saint John Chrysostom said: “Neither fame, nor wealth, nor authority, nor bodily strength, nor a splendid table, nor elegant clothes, nor any other human distinction can bring true happiness; but all these come from a pure conscience.” This teaching affirms that true happiness springs from inward harmony with God’s will, realized only through a straight conscience. Christ likened conscience to the eye, saying:
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” (Matthew 6:22-23)
Here the “eye” is conscience—pure and undefiled, allowing the light of God to fill the whole of life.
Conscience as an Inner Witness and the Voice of God
God, who created man in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), did not abandon him in the face of trials. He gave him conscience as a living voice, a witness warning and restraining him—a kind of inner adversary against evil intentions. Christ in the Sermon on the Mount said:
“Agree with your adversary quickly… lest your adversary deliver you to the judge.” (Matthew 5:25)
This “adversary” is the conscience, confronting our wrongful desires to bring us back to repentance before standing in divine judgment. The Apostle Paul emphasized this truth, showing that conscience serves as a law written in the heart even for the nations that did not receive the written Law: “For when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, by nature do the things in the Law, these, although not having the Law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” (Romans 2:14-15)
The Relationship Between Conscience and Freedom
In Christian understanding, freedom is not liberation from God but liberation from sin. Jesus said:
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
Conscience directs and guards freedom. Neglect of conscience turns freedom into demonic chaos leading to moral and social corruption. True freedom, however, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, freeing man from slavery to passions. Paul declared:
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)
Thus, a pure conscience empowers man to exercise freedom responsibly, without falling captive to desires, while considering the weakness of others:
“Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?” (1 Corinthians 10:29)
Conscience and Shame as Signs of Spiritual Life
Shame is the fruit of a living conscience. When man feels guilt, it is proof his conscience is still listening to God’s voice. After the Fall, Adam and Eve felt fear and shame:
“I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)
Likewise, when Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees,
“Those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.” (John 8:9)
The Apostle Paul warns against a “seared conscience”: “Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Timothy 4:2)
The death of conscience is the greatest spiritual danger—losing the ability to hear God’s voice, leading to corruption and destruction.
The Saving Dimension of Conscience
A pure conscience leads to the Kingdom, for it brings repentance and holiness. True peace comes only through forgiveness and the cleansing of conscience. Paul proclaims:
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14)
Baptism is not merely an external washing but the renewal of conscience:
“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21)
The Christian Mission of Conscience
The believer is called to maintain a pure conscience and bear witness to truth in a world that justifies sin under false slogans. Paul declared:
“This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” (Acts 24:16)
And again: “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:12)
Conscience in the Qur’anic Understanding: The Voice of God Within Man
Surah Ash-Shams (91:7–8)
Qur’anic text: {وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا • فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: By the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness.
Surah Al-Qiyamah (75:2)
Qur’anic text: {وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: And I swear by the self-reproaching soul — the one that reproaches its owner and blames him for his deeds.
Surah Al-Hashr (59:18)
Qur’anic text: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْتَنْظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: O you who believe, fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has sent forth for tomorrow (the Day of Judgment).
Surah Al-Infitar (82:10–12)
Qur’anic text: {وَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ لَحَافِظِينَ • كِرَامًا كَاتِبِينَ • يَعْلَمُونَ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: Indeed, over you are appointed guardians, noble recorders, who know whatever you do.
Surah Qaf (50:16)
Qur’anic text: {وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: We have certainly created man, and We know what his soul whispers within him.
Surah Al-Isra (17:14)
Qur’anic text: {اقْرَأْ كِتَابَكَ كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: Read your book; sufficient are you today against yourself as reckoner.
Surah Aal ‘Imran (3:30)
Qur’anic text: {يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ سُوءٍ}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: On that Day, every soul will find present whatever good it has done, and whatever evil it has done.
Surah Az-Zalzalah (99:7–8)
Qur’anic text: {فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ • وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ}/Interpretive translation in Arabic: So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.
Surah At-Takwir (81:14) Qur’anic text: {عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَا أَحْضَرَتْ} Interpretive translation in Arabic: Then every soul will know what it has brought forth.
Conclusion
In both the Bible and the Qur’an, conscience is understood as the inner voice of God.
In Scripture: a witness of truth, guiding freedom, convicting of sin, and leading to holiness.
In the Qur’an: the self-reproaching soul, the divine inspiration within man, God’s knowledge of hidden thoughts, and the call to a pure heart.
Conscience, therefore, is the sacred meeting point between Creator and creature. Whoever keeps his conscience pure lives in God’s light and tastes already the pledge of the Kingdom. Whoever silences his conscience becomes enslaved to sin and strays from God.
Let us pray to preserve this divine voice within us—alive, active, and obeyed—so that our lives may glorify God and lead us into His eternal presence.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com
**Elias Bejjani
Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
Email phoenicia@hotmail.com & media.lccc@gmail.com

The Framework Agreement Between Lebanon and the State of Israel Is the Last Opportunity to Liberate Lebanon from Iranian Occupation, and Israel Is a Friend, Not an Enemy
Elias Bejjani/July 03/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/07/155769/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZTjdmjXhEk&t=3s
The essence of Lebanon’s crisis is no longer hidden from anyone. The problem is neither a disputed border issue, nor a temporary internal political disagreement, nor a governance crisis that can be resolved through another short-lived compromise. The core of the crisis is that Lebanon has been under the hegemony of the Iranian jihadist and imperial project for decades, through its terrorist army composed of Lebanese mercenaries falsely and blasphemously called "Hezbollah."
Hezbollah is not an ordinary Lebanese political party with which Lebanese citizens may agree or disagree. It is, in every practical sense, an Iranian army of Lebanese mercenaries operating on Lebanese soil and implementing an agenda that has nothing to do with the concept of the Lebanese state or the interests of the Lebanese people. Without this Iranian mercenary army, Lebanon would not have become a failed state, its institutions would not have collapsed, its sovereignty would not have been confiscated, and its strategic decisions would not have become hostage to the will of the rulers in Tehran.
For this reason, the Framework Agreement signed under American sponsorship between the State of Israel and the Lebanese government carries exceptional significance that goes far beyond its security or border-related dimensions. This agreement is not merely a technical arrangement. It represents a historic turning point that opens the door to restoring Lebanese sovereignty, reestablishing state authority over all Lebanese territory, and bringing an end to the era of Hezbollah's occupation.
The Lebanese government must implement this agreement in full, without clever maneuvering, political gamesmanship, evasions, or attempts to buy time. The era of political maneuvering is over. There is no longer room for the traditional tactics that Lebanon’s ruling class has perfected for decades. What is required is the actual and practical implementation of all obligations undertaken by the Lebanese state, alongside the full enforcement of international resolutions and the elimination of all illegal weapons outside state authority.
Any attempt to obstruct the implementation of the agreement or strip it of its substance will lead to only one outcome: Israel remaining in the South and Lebanon continuing as a state with incomplete sovereignty under Hezbollah’s domination. Neither the international community is prepared to turn back the clock, nor is the United States willing to tolerate further delays, and Israel will not accept a return to the reality that enabled Hezbollah to transform southern Lebanon into an advanced Iranian military base.
The current reality that many in Lebanon and the Arab and Islamic countries are trying to ignore, whether out of fear, subservience, sectarianism, or ideology, is that the vital interests of Israel and those of a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon have converged in an unprecedented way. Israel seeks the permanent removal of the Iranian threat from its northern border, while Lebanon seeks liberation from the disguised Iranian occupation that has usurped its state, its decision-making process, and its future. At this specific point, the interests of both countries, Lebanon and Israel, meet directly and unmistakably.
The past years have demonstrated that the Lebanese state is incapable, on its own, of confronting the military machine that Hezbollah has built with massive Iranian support. Experience has also proven that all efforts at accommodation, dialogue, and internal political settlements have failed. Therefore, the Framework Agreement—with its American sponsorship, international guarantees, and new realities on the ground—represents the most serious opportunity in decades to end Hezbollah’s occupation and control over Lebanon’s national decision-making process.
As for the rhetoric still promoted by Hezbollah and its media mouthpieces regarding victories, resistance, and so-called steadfastness, it has collapsed under the weight of reality. After decades of slogans, Lebanon has harvested nothing but destruction, economic collapse, isolation, poverty, emigration, and the loss of sovereignty. The so-called “Axis of Resistance” has brought Lebanon nothing except deeper dependence on Iran and additional wars and confrontations that do not serve Lebanon’s national interests.
The liberation of Lebanon begins by acknowledging the reality and truth as is: Hezbollah is an Iranian mercenary army controlling Lebanon’s sovereign decision-making process through force, intimidation, terrorism, criminality, and fully occupying the country. Therefored the Framework Agreement provides the most realistic path toward ending this occupation and restoring the authority of the state. Any delay in implementation will only prolong the crisis and deepen the suffering of the Lebanese people.
Today, Lebanon faces a clear historic choice that leaves no room for ambiguity: either a free, sovereign, and independent state that governs itself and honors its international commitments, or continued submission to Iranian jihadist and malign schemes through Hezbollah. Unless the Lebanese state makes its choice through action rather than words, Lebanon will remain captive to Iranian domination regardless of changing slogans and political narratives.
As for the opposition to the Framework Agreement by figures such as Nabih Berri, Walid Jumblatt, Suleiman Frangieh, Gebran Bassil, and others who oppose Lebanon’s sovereignty for whatever reason, they should be held politically and legally accountable for positions and actions that have contributed to undermining Lebanese sovereignty and perpetuating foreign influence over the country.
In conclusion, Israel stands today as the only power capable of helping liberate Lebanon from the grip of Iranian-backed jihadist occupation. Consequently, from both a strategic standpoint and the perspective of Lebanon’s true national interest, Israel should be openly recognized as a vital partner and friend rather than an adversary.
The message is clear: anyone invested in Lebanon's future and genuinely dedicated to its liberation must now listen and act.
**The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

Lebanon must remove Hezbollah threat from south: German minister
AFP/July 07, 2026
JERUSALEM: Germany’s foreign minister on Tuesday urged Lebanese authorities to confront Hezbollah and reassert state control over the country’s south, where the militant group has been engaged in hostilities with Israeli forces. During a visit to Jerusalem, Johann Wadephul, who backed Israel’s ground invasion of southern Lebanon earlier this year, also praised the US-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon, pledging Germany’s support for what he described as a “historic” initiative. “What is crucial is that Lebanon now needs determination on its side, to assert itself and ensure that Hezbollah no longer actually exercises control in southern Lebanon,” Wadephul said at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart. Lebanon must “in particular ensure that no danger whatsoever to Israel emanates from Lebanese territory,” he said. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli airstrikes. Israel has since carried out a massive campaign of strikes and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon that have killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon, while occupying a large swathe of the country’s south. The Israeli military has also reported deaths of 38 soldiers in the campaign and a civilian contractor. Wadephul welcomed the ongoing US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon, which are due to resume in Rome next week, and pledged European and German support for the dialogue.
“The agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon is a glimmer of hope for people on both sides of the border, who are jointly suffering under Hezbollah’s terror,” he said. “It has so far been underestimated what a historic step it is that Israel and Lebanon are now conducting these negotiations with each other. “I believe that if this path can be supported by Europeans, then Israel and Lebanon can count on German support there at any time,” he added. Wadephul also touched upon the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “In the West Bank, Palestinians need a perspective for a political and economic future,” he said. He urged Israel to release tax and customs revenues it has been withholding from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to prevent its collapse.“The PA is not perfect. It urgently needs to be reformed. But weakening the PA does not serve Israel’s security; rather, it can create a vacuum that other, more radical forces could fill,” he said.Wadephul warned that Israel’s continued settlement expansion was undermining prospects for peace.“That is why we view continued settlement construction with great concern,” he said.
“A de facto annexation of parts of the West Bank cannot be accepted internationally, and Germany cannot see how it would be legal.” Tuesday’s meeting between the two diplomats was the ninth such encounter over the past year, and it saw the signing of an agreement under which Germany will provide annual financial support of 5 million euros by 2030 to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem center for Holocaust research, documentation, education, and remembrance.

UN envoy pushes Lebanon-Israel truce consolidation as humanitarian crisis deepens
Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/July 07, 2026
NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s top official for Lebanon began a visit to Israel on Tuesday for talks with senior officials on consolidating the cessation of hostilities and advancing implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, as humanitarian agencies warned that conditions on the ground in Lebanon remain critical despite a reduction in hostilities. Jean Arnault, officer-in-charge of the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, is scheduled to meet senior Israeli officials, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a daily briefing. Dujarric told Arab News the envoy was pressing for the full respect of Resolution 1701 to end hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, for all parties to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for a return to calm along the Blue Line on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border, “for the sake of people on both sides.”
The visit follows a series of meetings Arnault held in Lebanon in recent days. He met Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar on Monday and separately with Lebanese Army chief Gen. Rodolph Haykal, with discussions focused on recent developments and efforts to strengthen stability in the country, Dujarric said. On the humanitarian front, Dujarric said the situation in Lebanon remains critical, with major protection concerns and significant gaps in essential services, despite the reduction in hostilities since the ceasefire was announced on June 19. He said the return of displaced people is continuing but military activities and security incidents are still being reported, with conditions remaining fragile in many areas. More than half-a-million people have begun returning to their shattered communities, but tens of thousands remain displaced, including more than 34,000 people still living in collective shelters, according to the UN. Dujarric added that many families are reluctant or unable to return because of damaged housing, insecurity, unexploded ordnance and the absence of basic services in their home villages. Children continue to bear a disproportionate burden in the crisis, Dujarric said. UNICEF figures show an estimated 308,000 children remain displaced, more than 1 million children require some form of humanitarian assistance, and 62 unaccompanied or separated children have been identified. Disrupted education, psychosocial distress and limited access to services continue to affect children across conflict-affected areas, he said. Humanitarian partners are reporting increased protection concerns linked to child labor, school dropouts, exploitation, gender-based violence, domestic violence, harassment, movement restrictions and barriers to accessing humanitarian services, particularly in conflict-affected communities, Dujarric said. He added that the UN and its humanitarian partners are responding despite these challenges, but funding remains below required levels. The revised Flash Appeal launched by the UN and the Lebanese government on June 5 seeks $640 million to support 1.4 million vulnerable people through August. The appeal is currently only 42 percent funded, leaving critical and active gaps in the response.

Israeli Flag Raised on Ali al-Taher Ridge in Southern Lebanon
This is Beirut/July 07/2026
An Israeli flag was raised Tuesday atop the strategically significant Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, according to images circulating from the area. The ridge has become one of the focal points of Israel’s military operations in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli military seeking to consolidate control over the elevated position overlooking the Nabatieh region and surrounding areas.

Next round of Lebanon-Israel talks to be held next week in Rome
Naharnet/July 07/2026
The next round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will be held next week in Rome, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said. The talks will take place on July 14 and 15, Leiter said Monday in an interview, adding that President Joseph Aoun will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on July 21. Leiter said both Israel and Lebanon consider that the trilateral framework agreement supersedes the clause on Lebanon in the U.S.-Iran MOU. The Israeli ambassador said Israel does not have any territorial ambitions in Lebanon but that troops will remain there until Hezbollah is disarmed. "Lebanon is gonna have to get ahold of itself.. make the choice — that it comes down to the side of accommodationism — those who have threatened the notion of Israel’s existence and that Lebanon can be used as a conduit to fulfill Iran's dreams of annihilating Israel cannot succeed." Leiter claimed that Hezbollah activists and sympathizers are members of the Lebanese army and said Israel has submitted a proposal to have the U.S. vet the army to weed out Hezbollah sympathizers. The Times of Israel reported that President Trump had suggested that Israel should be the one to vet and train the Lebanese soldiers, but U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded that the army hates Hezbollah "but they’re not ready to love the Israelis yet."Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed on Tuesday that the next round of talks with Lebanon will take place in Rome. "Less than two weeks ago, Israel, Lebanon and the United States reached a historic framework agreement. These talks are due to continue next week in Rome, Italy," Saar said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Jerusalem, adding that "Israel has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon."

Israeli Army Carries Out Explosion Operations in Deir Seryan
This is Beirut/July 07/2026
The Israeli Army conducted an explosion operation targeting Deir Seryan in the Marjaayoun District, according to the National News Agency (NNA). An additional explosion operation was reported soon after, also in the town of Deir Seryan.

Italy welcomes Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome in mid-July
Agence France Presse/July 07/2026
Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors are due to hold direct talks in Rome this month, Italy's foreign ministry said Tuesday, after several rounds of discussions in Washington aimed at de-escalation. "We welcome with pleasure the announcement that the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon mediated by the U.S. will take place in Rome," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X. A ministry spokesman said the talks would take place at the ambassador level on July 15 and 16. This round of talks will be the sixth since spring between Lebanon and Israel which do not have diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war. Lebanon, Israel, and the United States signed a framework agreement last month aimed at "lasting peace", five days after the entry into force of a fragile ceasefire in the fighting between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah that has been going on since March 2. This framework agreement stipulates that the Lebanese army will restore its authority in the south of the country, subject to Hezbollah’s disarmament, starting with "pilot zones" from which the Israeli army would withdraw.

Israeli shelling, detonations, and warnings continue in south Lebanon
Naharnet/July 07/2026
The Israeli army shelled Monday evening into Tuesday several southern border towns including Houla, Deir Seryan, Touline, Qabrikha and al-Qantara. Forces also detonated houses in Haddatha, Beit Yahoun, and al-Qantaa. The Israeli army warned Monday Christian villages in Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, including Jdeidet Marjayoun, Ebel El Saqi, Al-Qlaiaa, Bourj El Mlouk, and Deir Mimas, against "the infiltration of Hezbollah members" into their villages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had asked to be annexed by Israel, in order to be protected from Hezbollah militants. 15 Christian towns denied these allegations. The mayor of the Christian village of Rmeish, Hanna al-Amil said that even contemplating the idea was "absolutely out of the question". Israeli forces have continued to clash with Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon despite a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon intended to pave the way toward a lasting end to hostilities. A school principal, her mother, a foreign domestic worker, and a male Syrian worker were killed on Monday when an Israeli drone targeted the car they were traveling in as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, just outside the Israeli-declared Yellow Line.

UN special coordinator for Lebanon visits Israel
Naharnet/July 07/2026
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jean Arnault, began Tuesday an official visit to Israel, his office said. He is scheduled to meet with senior Israeli officials for discussions on “the importance of consolidating the cessation of hostilities and the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006),” the office said in a statement.

Aoun's heart open 'but Hezbollah refusing to cooperate', report says
Naharnet/July 07/2026
The Lebanese army is fully committed to the Lebanese state’s decisions and the implementation of the framework agreement and does not deviate from Lebanon's political authority, MTV quoted President Joseph Aoun as telling his visitors. Aoun is banking on international and Arab diplomatic efforts to enforce the framework agreement. He told his visitors that the state's path is underway but actual implementation hinges on Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the ongoing U.S.-Iran talks in Lucerne. According to Aoun, Washington is applying serious pressure on Israel to withdraw from pilot zones.
The President is relying on Iran to rein in Hezbollah, while also counting on an active Arab role, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, MTV said. MTV reported that ties between Aoun and Hezbollah are currently severed. While Aoun expressed readiness to engage in dialogue, Hezbollah remains unwilling to cooperate. "My door is open and my heart is open, but unfortunately, Hezbollah is refusing to cooperate," MTV journalist Joyce Akiki quoted Aoun as saying. Conversely, Aoun told his visitors that he understands Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's position and is betting on his wisdom.

Aoun denies US vetting of Lebanese soldiers, says framework deal 'not perfect'
Naharnet/July 07/2026
President Joseph Aoun is preparing to visit the White House to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this month, after a new round of Lebanon-Israel talks that will be held next week in Rome. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said said Aoun will meet with Trump on July 21.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are also meeting soon. A report published Tuesday in An-Nahar confirmed that Aoun will not meet with Netanyahu and that "he would leave immediately if he found himself in the same room with him."In an interview with the daily, Aoun said the framework agreement is not "perfect" but is a result of the balance of power on the battlefield. Aoun revealed that the first pilot zone will be in Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Zawtar al-Gharbiya, noting progress in the military talks. He stated that the Lebanese delegation had discussed the Ali al-Taher Hill with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, requesting that it be handed over to the Lebanese Army. According to Aoun, while Israeli Netanyahu agreed to the proposal, Hezbollah rejected it. On Tuesday, the Israeli army raised Israel's flag in Ali al-Taher, amid Israeli claims that Hezbollah fighters are hiding in tunnels there. Israel claims that an extensive, heavily fortified Hezbollah tunnel system sits directly beneath the hill, where dozens of fighters — including elite Radwan force members — remain entrenched and cut off. Aoun denied that there was a rift between diplomatic and military negotiators in Washington, refuting claims that a new army brigade would implement the agreement or that the U.S. would vet Lebanese soldiers. Israeli Ambassador Leiter claimed in an interview Monday that Hezbollah activists and sympathizers are members of the Lebanese army and said Israel has submitted a proposal to have the U.S. vet the army to weed out Hezbollah sympathizers. The Times of Israel reported that President Trump had suggested that Israel should be the one to vet and train the Lebanese soldiers, but U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded that the army hates Hezbollah "but they’re not ready to love the Israelis yet."Aoun stated that the troops currently operating in the south would implement the agreement, expressing full confidence in the military institution. The President said he discussed with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Lebanon's participation in the "Geneva Cell" — an international diplomatic and military coordination body that will oversee, implement, and monitor the ceasefire in Lebanon. He said the Lebanese Army would be represented by an officer serving in south Lebanon, alongside representatives from the United States, Iran, Qatar, and Pakistan. Aoun denied any rift with Speaker Nabih Berri, noting that they both agree on prioritizing the fortification and reconstruction of the south, as well as the return of displaced residents to their towns.

Aoun condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians
Naharnet/July 07/2026
President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday condemned the continued Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians and the death of four people yesterday in an Israeli drone strike on their car in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. “I reiterate my call to the international community to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire,” Aoun urged. The strike killed a school principal, her mother, a female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker. In an apparent jab at Hezbollah, the president added: “I will not accept under any circumstances that anyone negotiate on behalf of Lebanon. We have extracted from Israel an admission that it has no ambitions on Lebanese territory.” “Unfortunately, there is a group in Lebanon today whose choices differ from those of the majority of Lebanese people. It is subject to Iranian influence and works to be an alternative to the state, negotiating on its behalf,” Aoun said. “The state’s train is in motion, and the decision to restrict weapons will be implemented,” Aoun emphasized. "There is no alternative to the rise of the state to achieve the interests of all Lebanese. We cannot afford to wait for stability to resolve financial and economic matters, and I constantly emphasize the enactment of the law on bank restructuring and the financial gap law," the president went on to say.

Jumblat slams 'inexperienced' and 'power-hungry' officials who agreed Israel deal
Naharnet/July 07/2026
Druze leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday stated that "the framework agreement is a unilateral agreement imposed by Israel on a Lebanese faction, inside and outside the country, that has limited experience in law and diplomacy," emphasizing that peace with Israel is impossible. During a speech at a meeting of the Druze Religious Council, he explained that "this treaty is a 'dictation,' and it makes no mention of an Israeli withdrawal." "This is what happens when the fate of the country is entrusted to groups with no experience in international politics and whose only concern is power," Jumblat lamented.
Separately, he called on the state, "if it has the resources, to prepare new shelters in the south, even though they have rejected this proposal and continue to do so."

Bassil lauds Christians of south, slams framework agreement
Naharnet/July 07/2026
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has lauded the Christian residents of the southern border towns for “clinging to the 10,452 square kilometers,” in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that they had asked to be annexed to Israel. Separately, Bassil expressed grief over the death of a Lebanese school principal and her mother in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Moreover, the FPM chief blasted the framework agreement that was reached in Washington between Lebanon and Israel. “It is a scary scene when authorities are impotent in the face of an agreement that has exposed Lebanon and granted Israel the cover to attack and occupy, preventing us from even complaining and making us fear more for Lebanon,” Bassil added.

Abolishing the Death Penalty
Laura Hülsemann/Now Lebanon/July 07/2026
Justice Minister Adel Nassar arrives at the presidential palace in Baabda where the first meeting of Lebanon's new government was held on the eastern outskirts of Beirut, on February 11, 2025. Lebanon is taking steps to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment. This decision comes at a crucial moment, as regional powers like Israel are moving in the opposite direction, Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar told Now.  Since March, Lebanon has found itself in the middle of a war between Hezbollah and Israel, with millions of people displaced, houses destroyed and territory occupied by the Israeli military. Amid the chaos, Lebanon is working to abolish the death sentence. “Making such a national decision at a time when the country is itself affected by war and violence — and when Israel … has reinstated it in a selective manner — carries significant meaning,” Adel Nassar told Now.
“Making such a national decision at a time when the country is itself affected by war and violence — and when Israel … has reinstated it in a selective manner — carries significant meaning,” Adel Nassar told Now. Nassar’s comments come as several countries in the region continue to actively use or expand capital punishment. In Iran, 1,639 people were executed last year, according to two human rights NGOs, Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty. This is not only a record since 1989 but also a 68 percent increase compared to the year before.
Lebanon’s initiative also stands in contrast to the developments in Israel. In March, the Israeli parliament approved a new death penalty law for Palestinians accused of terrorism. The decree has taken effect in the West Bank through a “military order” issued in May. While the new law sparked major criticism internationally, reactions in Israel were mixed. Some activists warned about the law, while far-right politicians such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated with champagne. Nassar said Lebanon’s approach stands apart in this regional context. “More than any other country in the region, Lebanon is capable — even in wartime — of being at the forefront of progress in human rights,” he argues.
Aligning Lebanon’s justice system with international law
The newly declared goal of Nassar received international attention on Tuesday, during the International Congress Against the Death Penalty in Paris. The Justice Minister reiterated his support for ending the country’s practice, receiving applause from French President Emmanuel Macron, according to L’Orient le Jour. Lebanon last carried out an execution in 2004. Three men convicted of murder were killed by firing squad and hanging. Amid strong international pressure after the incident, Lebanon stopped executions, while courts continued to occasionally issue death sentences. The country is now seeking to make the de facto rule a legislative reality. The draft law was approved in early May by parliament’s justice committee, but still has to pass parliament. According to Nassar, the state will replace the death penalty with life imprisonment. This might increase citizens’ trust in the government, he argues. To underline his point he gave copies of Victor Hugo’s The Last Day of a Condemned Man to ministers and members of parliament. “Capital punishment has no place in a modern society respectful of human rights,” he said about the book’s message. Abolishing the death penalty also has other benefits for Lebanon. Suspending the death sentence without outlawing it “creates an obstacle to extradition requests for accused persons who have taken refuge in countries that have abolished capital punishment,” Nassar explains. This either prevents trials or postpones them, thereby also delaying justice. A prominent example is the investigation into the Beirut port blast. Last year, a Bulgarian court rejected the extradition of a suspect related to that case. Bulgaria sought assurance from Lebanon that Igor Grechushkin would not face the death penalty once extradited and tried. Grechushkin was the owner of the vessel MV Rhosus, which transported the ammonium nitrate to Beirut that was later stored in Beirut before exploding in 2020. To Nassar, there is, however, “no link” between the abolition of the death penalty and the port explosion investigation.
A moral question
While the death penalty has not been used for more than 20 years, officially outlawing it could help Lebanon. It is not only a symbolic act, but also one that might speed up trials. There is little evidence for the effectiveness of the death sentence. “No study has been able to demonstrate that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on crime,” Nassar argues. While families of victims have a legitimate and natural right to demand justice, they will not find consolation in the death of the perpetrator, the Justice Minister says. “Witnessing an execution does not bring relief”. In the process of issuing a life sentence, there are many actors involved — including the judge and the executioner. “A judge should not bear the responsibility of taking a life,” Nassar says. Without the death penalty, these moral questions cease to exist. In the coming weeks and months, it is up to the Lebanese Parliament to determine whether the 20-year practice will be codified into law. If passed, Lebanon would become one of the few countries in the region to fully remove the death penalty from its legal system.

Lebanese FM: Lebanon Has No Alternative but Negotiations to Achieve Peace
Al Markazia/This is Beirut/July 07/2026
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi reaffirmed Tuesday that Lebanon remains committed to negotiations with Israel, saying there is “no alternative” to diplomacy as the country seeks peace, stability and prosperity. "We agreed that peace requires political courage. Lebanon seeks peace because it is the only path to prosperity, stability, and a dignified future for all Lebanese," Raggi stated. Speaking after meeting Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan in Beirut, Raggi said the U.S.-brokered framework agreement is not a final settlement but rather the basis for continuing negotiations aimed at consolidating the ceasefire, securing a full Israeli withdrawal, obtaining the release of prisoners and completing the demarcation of the land border. He described the framework as “the beginning of the beginning,” emphasizing that Lebanon remains fully committed to the negotiating process. “We are moving forward, and there is no other choice but negotiations,” Raggi said, adding that peace “requires political courage” and is “the only path to prosperity, stability and a dignified future for all Lebanese.”Raggi also argued that the framework agreement’s most significant achievement is that it preserves the independence of the Lebanese negotiating track from the Iranian one, despite what he described as Tehran’s continued interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs. He reiterated that the Lebanese government remains committed to implementing its decision to place all weapons exclusively under the authority of the state, stressing that the policy is intended to strengthen state sovereignty rather than satisfy Israel. “There cannot be an armed group operating alongside the Lebanese Army,” he said, arguing that such duality has brought “nothing but destruction” to Lebanon.

High Ground, Deep Tunnels: Israel’s Push for Ali al-Taher
Kaline Antoun/This Is Beirut /July 07/2026
An Israeli drone circled high above southern Lebanon scanning the terrain below. Moments later a Hezbollah operative emerged from an underground access shaft only to be killed in an Israeli missile strike. The July 2 strike was the latest in what has become a tightening Israeli siege of a key military site. The Ali al-Taher hills have become a key Israeli objective for both their dominant high ground, which provides strategic sightlines, and what lies beneath, a major Hezbollah subterranean military complex. “This is an underground military fortress that Hezbollah spent twenty years constructing,” Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on June 21 during a tour of southern Lebanon. He told troops that the Ali al-Taher hills were among the primary operational focuses of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A day earlier, the IDF had reportedly been instructed to freeze its attempts to enter the tunnels as a fragile truce took effect. The Israeli military had been conducting major ground operations in the area, engaging in heavy fighting with Hezbollah. Now, as Israel lays siege to Ali al-Taher hills backed by air power, This is Beirut spoke with experts on the site’s strategic importance, Israel’s objectives, and Hezbollah’s remaining options. “Whoever controls Ali al-Taher hills and the chain of elevations surrounding it controls, through firepower and surveillance, all these areas.”
Commanding Heights
In a conflict transformed by technological innovations, the struggle for the hills is a reminder that geography can still shape the course of war. “The military importance of the hill lies in the fact that it is a commanding height over the surrounding region,” retired Lebanese Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Said Kozah said. Security analyst Riad Kahwaji echoed this assessment. “The hills overlook Nabatieh, the main city and the capital of the Nabatieh province. Controlling Ali al-Taher means Nabatieh has militarily fallen,” he told This is Beirut. Situated north of the Litani River and a few kilometers outside Nabatieh, the Ali al-Taher hills rise approximately 600 meters above sea level. Rather than an isolated summit, they are part of an interconnected chain of heights, including the nearby Dabsheh Hill, where the IDF has established an outpost. From Ali al-Taher, visibility extends across virtually every potential military axis in southeastern Lebanon. To the west, the hills overlook Nabatieh and nearby villages. To the north, they provide vantage points over Iqlim al-Tuffah and the Rihan heights. To the south, they watch over the Litani River valley and the historic Crusader-era Beaufort Castle, captured in late May by the IDF. Eastward, the hills command the approaches toward the Western Bekaa.
“Whoever controls Ali al-Taher hills and the chain of elevations surrounding it controls, through firepower and surveillance, all these areas,” Kozah said. The hills are a gateway for one side and a shield for the other. Control of the Ali al-Taher hills could give Israel a launching pad for a ground advance toward a key Hezbollah redoubt deeper in Lebanon. “Just as Hezbollah’s political headquarters is located in Beirut’s southern suburbs, its primary military command is believed to be in Iqlim al-Tuffah,” Kozah said. For Hezbollah, Kozah said, retaining the area would preserve its ability to exercise fire control over IDF positions and troops movements in the surrounding area. This could potentially constrain Israeli military operations, he explained.
Hidden Fortress
While the hills’ geography explains its strategic value, its underground tunnel network is the reason Israel has sustained its efforts in the area. The IDF assesses that the underground complex serves as a “nerve center” for Hezbollah’s Badr Division, responsible for territory north of the Litani.
Consisting of several tunnels, one of which extends over a kilometer, the complex includes command-and-control centers, weapons caches, and launch shafts used to stage rocket attacks, according to the Israeli Alma Research and Education Center. “The Israelis place particular emphasis on the command-and-control facilities,” Kozah said, highlighting why the IDF is focused on the site.
A Lebanese military source told This is Beirut that the complex houses missiles and UAVs, with its tunnel network enabling Hezbollah to move personnel and equipment underground, reducing their exposure to aerial surveillance. The source added that missile launches from the Ali al-Taher sector have, in some cases, been carried out from underground launch positions rather than exposed surface batteries. Kozah said that Ali al-Taher could serve as a launch platform from which Hezbollah could threaten northern Israeli communities in the Upper Galilee with Kornet and Almas anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) weapons as well as Katyusha rockets. Kahwaji, for his part, noted that the Ali al-Taher hills are located roughly ten kilometers from a number of northern Israeli communities. “Israel wants the depth of its security zone to be at least ten kilometers,” he said.
Why Israel Is Not Finished Yet
While the IDF announced on June 26 that it had “changed the equation” and established “complete control” of the Ali al-Taher hills, its military mission appears far from over. Rather than fully controlling the heights, Israel has established effective dominance while maintaining a siege, Kozah said.
“In practical terms, no one is allowed to approach the area,” Kozah said. “Anyone emerging from any of the tunnel entrances would almost certainly be immediately targeted by Israeli drones.”Likewise, Kahwaji said Israel is no longer attempting to breach the tunnels beneath Ali al-Taher, but instead aims to isolate Hezbollah operatives inside until they surrender or exhaust their supplies. The IDF says that it has trapped around 30 Hezbollah militants within the complex. Nonetheless, the IDF’s fire control alone is not sufficient to achieve Israel’s strategic objectives, Kozah said. He argues that only once the summit is fully secured could Israeli forces establish permanent observation posts, firing positions, and surveillance systems capable of dominating the surrounding battlefield. To penetrate the complex, the Israeli military needs boots on the ground. Composed largely of solid rock, the Ali al-Taher hills are a geological shield against Israeli bombardment. Even Israel’s largest conventional munitions, which weigh around 2,000 kilograms, would struggle to penetrate Hezbollah’s underground complex, according to Kozah. “The underground infrastructure beneath Ali al-Taher lies at depths ranging from 30 to 50 meters,” he said.
"Hezbollah doesn't have the ability to mount an effective counteroffensive against Israel in the Ali al-Taher hills, it does not have the air cover, it does not have the firepower... Hezbollah has not been able to regain any territory lost in this war.”“At this stage, it has become extremely difficult to deny that non-Lebanese groups are fighting alongside Hezbollah in southern Lebanon."
Hezbollah’s Shrinking Options
If Israel’s objective is to isolate and eventually neutralize Hezbollah’s complex beneath the Ali al-Taher hills, the group is prioritizing preventing that outcome. “Hezbollah has attempted to advance toward Ali al-Taher hills from the Nabatieh and Kfar Roumane axes,” Kozah said. “However, it has failed to achieve any meaningful progress or break the siege imposed by Israeli forces.” He attributes that failure to what he describes as the overwhelming disparity in military capabilities between the two sides. “Israel possesses overwhelming air superiority,” Kozah said, adding that the IDF has been systematically neutralizing any attempt by Hezbollah fighters to reach the hills.
Kahwaji, for his part, ruled out Hezbollah’s ability to mount an effective counteroffensive against Israel in the Ali al-Taher hills. “It does not have the air cover, it does not have the firepower,” he said, noting that “Hezbollah has not been able to regain any territory lost in this war.”Instead, Kahwaji argued, Hezbollah’s options have been reduced to localized attacks designed to impose costs on the IDF. “Hezbollah can only carry out ambushes, fire rockets, use drones to hit a vehicle, to kill a soldier, to injure, or so forth.”While ruling out a large-scale offensive, Kozah believes Hezbollah still retains the ability to conduct infiltration operations through the tunnel systems in the area, enabling it to stage ambushes, carry out sniper attacks and fire anti-tank guided missiles. Hezbollah has been scrambling to muster forces for its military efforts in the area. Citing funeral announcements, Kozah said that non-Lebanese fighters, including Iranian nationals, have been killed in attempts to infiltrate Israeli lines around Ali al-Taher. “At this stage, it has become extremely difficult to deny that non-Lebanese groups are fighting alongside Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,” he added. Kozah added that Hezbollah has also reportedly been recruiting fighters under the age of 18, which he cited as another indication of the group’s declining capacity.
Over the Ridge
If Israel’s siege of the Ali al-Taher hills leads to a lasting military foothold, the effects would ripple across the front in southern Lebanon. Most immediately, Hezbollah would lose what Kozah describes as its main defensive line protecting the city of Nabatieh. It would also expose a chain of rear positions north of the Litani River, disrupting Hezbollah’s lines toward the western Bekaa and open a route for Israel toward Iqlim al-Tuffah, one of Hezbollah’s key military redoubts, the retired general said. Israel would be able to establish permanent military positions on the summit, deploying surveillance systems, reconnaissance equipment, and electronic warfare assets, and monitor virtually the entire depth of southern Lebanon. “This would also significantly degrade Hezbollah’s ability to make use of its underground infrastructure throughout this sector, both south and north of the Litani River,” Kozah said.
Israel’s campaign around Ali al-Taher is no longer about seizing high ground. It is about turning battlefield superiority into permanent operational control, while denying Hezbollah access to what Israeli assessments describe as one of its most valuable military assets south of the Litani.

Lebanon’s south takes a breath as families return to shattered homes
The Arab Weekly/July 07/2026
On a beachfront in the coastal city of Tyre, war has finally abated just enough for children to play in the waves and families to gather under parasols as life slowly returns to southern Lebanon. But away from the shore, people coming home after months of exile are having to adapt to harsh new realities: the threat of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah flaring up again and the challenge of rebuilding from the destruction Israeli bombs have wreaked on their hometowns.“People are coming back to Tyre to rebuild, to work … all the restaurants are open again,” said local resident Ali Skaiky, wet from a swim in the sea and holding a rubber lilo. “We still hear strikes and fighting at night, but it’s far away. There’s destruction beyond imagination, but we hope everything will stay calm.”
Skaiky is among some 400,000 people who have returned to southern Lebanon in the weeks since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The truce has not halted fighting, but it has lowered the intensity. Returnees are cleaning debris from damaged homes, reopening businesses and trying to rebuild the routines the war shattered. Yet for many, normality now means keeping a suitcase packed, following the news obsessively and never straying too far from home. For Fadlallah Qassim, 42, returning home meant confronting the destruction the war had left behind, including a hit on his house.
“We returned to find the whole house caved in with rubble, and all the furniture ruined,” he said. “I cleaned up, fixed it, and brought some basic things for the house, now my wife, children and I all live in one room.”In the nearby village of Srifa, where entire neighborhoods were damaged, Suzan Fakih, 55, said the hardest part of returning was realising home no longer felt like home.
“The moment you arrive, it doesn’t feel like your village anymore,” she said. “Everything is black and grey. It hurts your soul. You look around and think, ‘This can’t be the village I’ve lived in all my life.’”
‘You pack your bags and run’
Srifa lies in the deep south of Lebanon, close to where Israeli troops occupy a strip of territory and launch regular attacks on what the Israeli army says are Hezbollah targets. In areas nearby, Israel has demolished almost entire villages. Fakih said people remain haunted by the possibility they could be forced to flee again. “I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t living with a bag packed, ready to leave. A few quiet years pass, then you pack your bags and run again,” she said. The ongoing hostilities and levels of destruction have left 600,000 more people internally displaced, according to Lebanon’s social affairs ministry. Many families whose homes were destroyed are still living in schools or in the rented homes they fled to during the conflict. Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the regional war triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. The conflict spread to Lebanon on March 2, when Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of Tehran, triggering an Israeli air and ground campaign. More than 4,300 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry.
Renting backup homes
Some 32 km farther north, Mohammad Sweid and other residents who recently returned to the Bekaa Valley town of Sohmor, said they live with the same uncertainty. Sweid still pays rent for the house he and his family fled to during the war, keeping it as a backup home if they need to leave again.
“If something happens again, we may not find another place,” the 31-year-old manual worker said. In the Lebanese capital Beirut, whose Hezbollah-controlled suburb of Dahiyeh has been battered by Israel at intervals over the last two years for being home to Hezbollah’s leadership, residents are also cautiously trying to rebuild their lives. Moussa Ghamloush, 68, has been repairing his bomb-damaged home and reopening his restaurant, which was completely destroyed in a separate strike, but says his permanent home will always be Dahieh. “We’re not the kind of people who leave. Our roots are here. We stayed, and if there’s a third war, we’ll stay again.”

German minister says Lebanon must remove 'Hezbollah danger' from south
Agence France Presse/July 07/2026
Germany's foreign minister on Tuesday urged Lebanese authorities to confront Hezbollah and reassert state control over the country's south, where the militant group has been engaged in hostilities with Israeli forces. During a visit to Jerusalem, Johann Wadephul, who backed Israel's ground invasion of southern Lebanon earlier this year, also praised the U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon, pledging Germany's support for what he described as a "historic" initiative. "What is crucial is that Lebanon now needs determination on its side, to assert itself and ensure that Hezbollah no longer actually exercises control in southern Lebanon," Wadephul said at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart. Lebanon must "in particular ensure that no danger whatsoever to Israel emanates from Lebanese territory," he said. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, and in response to 15 months of Israeli attacks and ceasefire violations. Israel has since carried out a massive campaign of strikes and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon that have killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon, while occupying a large swathe of the country's south.The Israeli military has also reported deaths of 38 soldiers in the campaign and a civilian contractor. Wadephul welcomed the ongoing U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon, which are due to resume in Rome next week, and pledged European and German support for the dialogue. "The agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon is a glimmer of hope for people on both sides of the border, who are jointly suffering under Hezbollah's terror," he said. "It has so far been underestimated what a historic step it is that Israel and Lebanon are now conducting these negotiations with each other. I believe that if this path can be supported by Europeans, then Israel and Lebanon can count on German support there at any time," he added.

IDF Says Hezbollah Weapons Cache Found Inside Civilian Home in Southern Lebanon
This is Beirut/July 07/2026
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that troops from the 769th Brigade Combat Team, operating under the 91st Division, uncovered Hezbollah weapons stockpiles in the village of Tallousa in the Marjaayoun District. Israeli forces said they uncovered multiple Hezbollah weapons caches containing RPG launchers, anti-tank missiles, explosives, ammunition, and small arms.According to the IDF, troops also discovered a stockpile of weapons hidden inside the bedroom of a civilian home, including explosive devices, anti-tank launchers and missiles, RPG rockets, tactical vests, helmets, and Hezbollah flags. The IDF said the operation is part of its ongoing efforts to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure in southern Lebanon and will continue operations inside the security zone in southern Lebanon to eliminate threats against Israel. Hezbollah has not yet commented on the Israeli claims.

Chekka: Forgotten Massacre, Lost Victory
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/July 07/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/07/155765/
Who remembers the Camp Speicher Massacre? Or what happened in Al-Qahtaniyyah in Iraq in 2007 or to the Al-Shaitat tribe in Syria in August 2014? All were notorious slaughters carried out by the so-called Islamic State but largely unknown to the global community. The events at Camp Speicher – second only to the 9/11 terrorist attack in terms of the number of deaths – were even captured on video by Islamic State propagandists themselves.[1]
Not all massacres are "equal" in terms of the attention they garner. The massacre of a thousand in Africa today can seem like a minor detail in the eyes of Western public opinion and an easily distracted international media.
Fifty years ago, a brutal civil war raged in Lebanon, a conflict that would feature many massacres of and by different groups. It was exactly 50 years ago, in July 1976, that Palestinians and their Lebanese and Arab allies would massacre two hundred Christian civilians at Chekka.[2] One of several massacres of Christians during the Lebanese Civil War, it is far less known than the fall of the heavily fortified Palestinian camp of Tel Al-Zaatar which happened a few weeks later. The two events – battles and massacres both – are actually connected but Tel Al-Zaatar is far better known, partly because of what Lee Smith has called "the Global Empire of Palestine," a pro-Palestinian international echo chamber, already existed 50 years ago as it exists today.[3]
It was early in the morning that the attack began on July 5. By nine in the morning, Chekka was cut off, thousands of Palestinian fighters, Arab gunmen from various countries and fighters from the leftist leaning Lebanese National Movement (LNM), had come from four directions. Palestinian fedayeen had even landed by sea at Heri beach.
Chekka, a mostly Christian town – half Maronite, half Greek Orthodox – was defended by just a few dozen local fighters equipped with small arms. The attackers had access to U.S.-supplied M41 tanks, M113 armored personnel carriers, and artillery looted from the Lebanese Army (LAF), one of the leaders was in fact an LAF officer, Mustafa Suleiman of what was dubbed the Lebanese Arab Army. They even used a naval ship, the "Sour" amphibious landing craft, to shell Christian positions.[4]
One of the goals of the Palestinian-Lebanese attack against Chekka was, no doubt, to relieve pressure on the siege of Tel Al-Zaatar in Beirut. That siege had intensified on June 22. But Chekka quickly became an exercise in murder more than a strategic ploy. Ironically, the area was a political stronghold of the SSNP, a political party opposed to the Lebanese Christian forces besieging Tel Al-Zaatar.[5] But political differences among Christians did not matter to the attackers.
Inside the town, the killings were gruesome in the extreme. These were not mostly people killed by bombing from afar or as a result of the heat of battle. People had their throats cut in bed, their bodies dragged behind cars, others were burned alive in their own vehicles. The killing was accompanied by looting, both actions distracting from the developing military situation. Some writers have described Chekka as "revenge" for Tel Al-Zaatar but that is not true. Tel Al-Zaatar would only fall on August 12, 1976, more than a month later.
The time wasted in slaughter slowed what could have been an even more dangerous military advance into Lebanon's Christian heartland. Also decisive was the action of handful of heroic Kataeb fighters led by Edmond Sahyun – some accounts say they were 14 – from the Batroun village of Kfar Abida who under enemy fire scaled the heights to a strategic mountaintop monastery and church, Mar Semaan at Ras ash-Shaq'a overlooking the Chekka tunnel, eliminated the invading forces present and prevented Palestinian/LMN artillery from dominating the battlefield.
As the killing took place, the Christians from elsewhere in the area reacted, with church bells calling local militia men to action. Some troops did indeed leave the siege of Tel Al-Zaatar and head north, but others came from Christian redoubts in Northern Lebanon, such as Bsharre and Zgharta. By four in the afternoon, newly arrived Christian militiamen began advancing, led in person by Amin Gemayel, the future president and reached the southern edge of the town. Christian leaders who would later be at each other's throats all worked together to retake the town over the next 48 hours. In addition to Gemayel and the Kataeb fighters, also present were men led by a young Samir Geagea and Marada fighters loyal to the Frangieh clan of Zgharta. Women and teenagers also fought.[6]
The Lebanese Christian forces were probably never as united again as they were during this operation which not only retook Chekka but advanced beyond it to secure Amioun and much of the Koura district.[7] Two years later both Geagea and the hero of Chekka, Edmond Sahyun, were involved in leading the notorious operation that killed Tony Frangieh at Ehden.
Fifty years after the massacre and the subsequent battle saw relatively low-key memorials marking this date, whether human tragedy or military victory.[8] Massacres are a sensitive subject in a country with so many of them.[9] There were memorial requiem masses in both Greek Orthodox and Maronite Catholic churches in the area and the laying of wreaths at various monuments.
Lebanon's future – and most certainly its Christian future – is very much in flux. It seems abundantly clear that the existence of Hezbollah as an independent armed force, and even as a political parasite on Lebanese governance, constitute an existential threat to Lebanon thriving and to Lebanese Christians surviving as a significant community inside the country.[10]
Ironically, today's Lebanese Christians, Druze, and Sunni Muslims – adversaries 50 years ago – seem to largely agree about Lebanon's future but it is unclear whether American diplomatic pressure, Lebanese government action, and Israeli power can bring about a decisive reordering in Lebanon's domestic situation. The possibility for change is closer than before. But that real change will actually come is not at all assured. There are many forces, not just Hezbollah and Iran, who prefer the tenuous and disastrous situation in Lebanon to continue for a while longer, like a slow-motion strangulation.
https://www.memri.org/reports/chekka-forgotten-massacre-lost-victory
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
[1] Nytimes.com/2014/09/04/world/middleeast/surviving-isis-massacre-iraq-video.html, September 13, 2014.
[2] Facebook.com/watch/?v=4224939214497917, July 20, 2025.
[3] Tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/global-empire-of-palestine, December 19, 2023.
[4] Eliasbejjaninews.com/2023/07/119826, July 5, 2023.
[5] X.com/beirut_politics/status/2073737690860659165, July 5, 2026.
[6] Lebanese-forces.com/2017/08/07/chekka-and-koura-battle-joumana-naser, August 7, 2017.
[7] Vdl.me/special-reports/%D8%B4%D9%83%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF%D8%AA-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86/?__cf_chl_f_tk=Wm7JkwZ3hhfFBzbRcek7WPjEEzbbFecSQOMMvfyPChY-1783344502-1.0.1.1-X2UtFx3K76GjDtPiA8IPxco5bQz7XtxN25iR7bgEvDY, April 9, 2025.
[8] Vdl.me/news/%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b2-%d9%81%d8%af%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%b3-%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%88%d8%aa-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%88%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b4%d8%a9vdl24-%d9%85%d8%ac%d8%b2%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%b4%d9%83%d8%a7-1976, July 5, 2026.
[9] Daraj.media/%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%91%D8%A7-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%A7-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D9%86%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7, August 2, 2025.
[10] Ncregister.com/commentaries/fernandez-lebanon-on-the-brink-again, June 8, 2026.

On the Edge of Meaning... A Word in a Time of Noise
Father Tony Bou Assaf/Facebook/July 7/ 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/07/155757/
In a time when the Middle East is being reshaped amidst wars and settlements, and maps are drawn behind closed doors before being announced on screens, a question imposes itself harshly: Where are the Christians? And where are the Christian elites?
Is it conceivable that the region's equations are being formulated while those who played a historical role in the establishment of Lebanon are merely observing? Has the highest aspiration of the Christian elites become simply reacting to events instead of shaping them?
History provides the answer. When World War I ended, and the great powers began dividing the spoils of the Ottoman Empire, the Maronite Patriarchate and the Christian elites did not wait for others to decide their fate. They carried a clear project and waged a fierce political and diplomatic battle until Greater Lebanon was born. Back then, Christians had a vision, they had a project, and they had statesmen who knew that homelands are not given as gifts but seized through wisdom and courage.
Today, however, the picture is bleak. A new Middle East is being forged, agreements are being made, alliances are shifting, and spheres of influence are being redrawn, while Christian elites are mired in petty calculations, sterile divisions, and leadership struggles that have only led to further decline.
Where is the Christian project? Where is the political platform being presented at the decision-making tables? Where is the vision that protects Lebanon, not just positions of power? Where are the men and women who think a hundred years ahead, not just about the next election?
Politics abhors a vacuum, and what the people of the land don't write, outsiders will. Those who are absent from the negotiating table will inevitably find themselves on the list of losers. It is not enough to invoke past glories and lament a lost historical role while our present is being sold off piecemeal and our children's future is being mortgaged to those who have a project, while we are left with nothing but reactions.
Christians are not a minority seeking guarantees; they are founding partners in this nation and guardians of the idea of ​​a free, sovereign, and pluralistic Lebanon. But this truth is not preserved by history alone; it is also preserved by active participation and political will. Those who relinquish their role gradually relinquish their right to influence.
The most dangerous thing facing Christians today is not the shift in the balance of power, but their transformation into mere spectators of history being written before their very eyes. Nations do not die when they are defeated, but when they lose the will to take initiative and succumb to the illusion that others will preserve their existence and mission.
The time has come for a moment of conscience. Either the Christian elites will rediscover the courage of the founding fathers and move from a defensive logic to a proactive one, shaping the future, or they will bear the responsibility before history for the loss of their role—not because others were stronger, but because they were too weak to rise to the occasion.
Homelands are not protected by nostalgia, but by visionary leaders. History does not forgive the hesitant; it remembers only those who knew how to forge the future when everyone else was waiting for it.
Fr. Tony Bou Assaf
Theology Of Existence

US-Iran deal is a unique opportunity for Lebanon
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/June 26, 2026
A current theme among Levantine geopolitical analysts is that the US negotiations with Iran will lead to Lebanon falling deeper under the control of the Iranian regime. I disagree with these views and believe Lebanon has a unique opportunity to break free from the Iranian occupation. The process has indeed already started. Moreover, there are several conditions in place that would make it unlikely for the regime in Iran to regain control of Hezbollah. The first major change is the neighborhood. The Syrian territory under Bashar Assad gave Iran a logistics corridor for the transfer of weapons, missiles, drones, and ammunition to Hezbollah in Lebanon. While Hezbollah developed a local production capacity, it was dependent on this corridor for resupply. Syria played a pivotal strategic role in supporting Hezbollah, and complemented the financial and military assistance provided by Iran.
The Assad regime also allowed Hezbollah to use its territory for weapons storage and fighter training, the movement of its commanders, and the establishment of military facilities in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards. Politically, the Syrian regime provided Hezbollah with protection and support, too. This is also why Hezbollah deployed thousands of fighters to support the Assad regime during the civil war. This close partnership is now gone. Hezbollah can no longer count on a friendly backyard to support its operations, especially during times of confrontation with Israel.
Hezbollah can no longer count on a friendly backyard to support its operations, especially during times of confrontation with Israel.
And this is the second point: will a US-Iran agreement, even if it includes Lebanon, stop future confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel? Let us answer this question with a question. Did the 2006 agreement stop new strikes? The answer is clearly no.
Another element, symbolic but important, is the domestic situation in Lebanon. After decades of occupation, the Lebanese government has, for the first time, announced a plan to disarm Hezbollah. It has also loudly condemned Iranian interference in its affairs. This comes after the political change in Syria, as well as Israeli attacks that crippled Hezbollah’s operations.
The pager attack of 2024 and the targeted assassinations of Hezbollah’s leaders have broken the might of this Iranian military wing. This has allowed, in turn, the Lebanese government to increase the severity of its tone toward Hezbollah and its master in Tehran. While actions have not been at the level of the declarations, we can nevertheless be assured that, for now, even the Rafic Hariri airport, another supply point from Iran, can no longer be used with the same impunity as in the past. Moreover, flights are observed with scrutiny when they take off from Iran. Lebanon will not fall back into the control of Iran or, more appropriately, stay under Iranian occupation.
Now, without the change in Syria and the decapitation of Hezbollah executed by Israel, the government would have stayed silent. The current government and its declared plan to disarm Hezbollah are signs and a consequence of this change in power. And this new wave will not stop. Hezbollah has lost its image of might, and the first consequence is the fact that tongues are loosening. What was impossible to say in the past is now common conversation. Lebanon will not fall back into the control of Iran or, more appropriately, stay under Iranian occupation, but is on its way to free itself from it. No agreement will change it. This does not mean that Hezbollah and Iran do not have cards in their hands. They have the capacity to disrupt and bring chaos to the domestic situation, but this play will lead to civil war. Hezbollah still has the capacity to control or influence the military directly or indirectly. However, Hezbollah’s capacity will continue eroding, so the only change possible for Iran to regain control of Lebanon is to order Hezbollah to organize a coup and take over the country. This is also a possibility, and the consequences would be catastrophic. Going back to the neighborhood, the new Damascus will not allow this to happen. It would clearly be a threat to its own national security. So the negotiations with Iran are in fact a historic opportunity for Lebanon and all its communities. It is a time for optimism and for a new path for the country.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is the CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 07-08 July/2026
Trump says he will lift Turkey sanctions, decide on selling F-35s
Reuters/07 July ,2026
US President Donald Trump said he would lift sanctions off Turkey and make a decision on a potential sale of F-35s to Ankara as he began a meeting on Tuesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO summit.“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump told reporters when asked about the measures imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. In 2020, Washington imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems. It also removed Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program, a move Turkey called unjust and illegal. Trump was expected to throw his support behind the potential sale of F-35s during the visit to Ankara, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, even as legal and congressional hurdles have yet to be fully resolved.“It’s a decision we’re going to make,” Trump said. He said he and Erdogan would also discuss trade.

Iran warns of ‘decisive’ action after US strikes around Strait of Hormuz
AFP/July 08, 2026
TEHRAN: Iranian state media on Tuesday reported a series of explosions heard in the Strait of Hormuz region, moments after US officials announced “powerful” strikes on Iran.
IRIB news reported six explosions were heard on the Iranian island of Qeshm, seven explosions were heard in the city of Sirik and more were heard in the major port city of Bandar Abbas.
Iran’s foreign ministry warned of retaliation and said the United States has repeatedly violated their memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Middle East war, pointing to ongoing aggression in Lebanon and other threats. “Iran is issuing a serious warning about the consequences of America’s breach of the treaty, and will take decisive measures to protect its interests and national security,” the ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram by IRIB News. The US revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil Tuesday after three tankers were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, raising pressure on Tehran as it negotiates with Washington over ending the Middle East war. British maritime security agency UKMTO said an “unknown projectile” hit a tanker overnight, causing a fire, before two more vessels were struck, at least one by a drone. All three vessels were struck close to Oman, which had proposed a temporary transit corridor hugging its coastline — an initiative opposed by Iran as it seeks to impose fees on ships using the Strait of Hormuz.

US military launches ‘powerful strikes’ against Iran to impose ‘heavy costs’: CENTCOM
Al Arabiya English/08 July ,2026
The US military said overnight Wednesday that it had launched a ”series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs” for attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. “US Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X. Iran has attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, including Qatari and Saudi vessels.“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said. The attacks came hours after the US revoked sanctions waivers that authorized sale of Iranian oil because of the attacks. A US official told Al Arabiya English that the Iranian attacks in the Strait “were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences.

US launches new strikes against Iran after three ships were hit in Strait of Hormuz
AP/July 08, 2026
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: The US military launched new strikes against Iran early Wednesday, hours after three merchant ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest exchange of fire to threaten the interim deal to end the fighting between the two countries. The renewed attacks were sure to add to the difficulty of the negotiations aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war launched Feb. 28. In a statement posted to social media, US Central Command said American forces launched the strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.” “Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” the command said in their statement. A similar spate of Iranian attacks on shipping and US retaliation occurred late last month. Hours after the three tankers were struck by projectiles, and the United States revoked a license that had authorized the sale of Iranian oil as part of the interim deal to end the fighting between the US and Iran. The new assaults in the fuel-shipping waterway were the most in a single day since late April, according to the UN International Maritime Organization. The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war. A US official said the license was revoked because Iran’s actions in the strait were unacceptable and needed to be met with consequences. The official spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to share insight into the reasoning behind the move. The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the US move to revoke the license, saying in a statement that it violates the interim deal and that “the US government bears responsibility for the consequences of this breach of commitment.” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, also said in a post on X that the new attacks by the US are a violation of that agreement.
One tanker caught fire after getting hit
One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault. The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the UK maritime agency said. Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.
Location details provided by the UK agency showed that all three attacks occurred off the coast of Oman or the neighboring United Arab Emirates, making it likely that the ships were using the route near Oman. In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel.
The license issued by the US authorized the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil through Aug. 21. US Vice President JD Vance said at the time that lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” to end the war.
US sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil had been in place since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. After the US and Israel launched the war, and after the closure of the strait, the US had authorized the temporary sale of Iranian oil at least twice as an incentive toward a deal.
Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the US appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war.
Qatar calls attack a violation of international law
One tanker was carrying liquid natural gas south through the strait near Limah, Oman, when a projectile hit the left-side engine room and sparked a fire, the UK Maritime Trade Operations center said.
Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He called it a “serious and explicit violation” of international law.In a post on X, he said Qatar holds Iran “fully legally responsible.”Later Tuesday, the UK maritime agency reported that an oil tanker was hit on its left side as it exited the strait near the Omani-Emirati border. A third tanker was struck by a drone off Oman, the agency said. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the US Navy, told shippers Monday that the route around Oman “has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”Ships going to the north on the Iranian route must register with Tehran. Those going south work with Oman and the US. Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the vessels’ routes and later charge fees for passage, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway. The US and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. The data firm Kpler reported that at least 108 ships crossed through the strait last weekend using various routes. Mourners gather in Qom for Khamenei’s funeral. Authorities flew Khamenei’s body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners honored him Tuesday. Iranian state television aired live images of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for the funeral service. Shiites believe the mosque once hosted Muhammad Al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and is supposed to one day reappear to bring justice to the world. Khamenei’s son, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to make an appearance at the ceremonies, which began Saturday in Tehran. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Khamenei’s body arrived late Tuesday in Najaf, Iraq, where it was received by senior officials from both countries. Processions are planned for Wednesday in Najaf and Karbala, the two holy cities of Iraqi Shiism. Iraq has a sizable Shiite population and is home to major Shiite religious sites and centers of learning. Khamenei, who was 86, will then be returned to Iran to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

US revokes temporary sanctions waiver on Iranian oil
AFP/July 07, 2026
WASHINGTON: The US Treasury Department on Tuesday revoked a license that temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran, calling Tehran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz “wholly unacceptable.”“Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences,” a US official told AFP, after attacks on tankers in the key waterway.The waiver announced in June had originally allowed the Islamic republic to produce, sell and deliver crude oil and related products through August 21. Washington’s move comes after three tankers including a Qatari LNG vessel were struck within hours in the Strait of Hormuz, according to maritime monitors and Qatar.Peace mediator Doha denounced an “unacceptable” Iranian attack.The developments have revived concerns about freedom of navigation after Iran lifted its blockade of the waterway following a fragile ceasefire with the United States. The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that its memorandum of understanding with Iran “is entirely performance-based,” warning that Tehran will only see benefits if it shows “good behavior.” But the official maintained: “Our negotiators continue to work in good faith toward a final deal.” The future of Hormuz, the main route for Gulf energy exports, has been a sticking point during negotiations between Tehran and Washington to permanently end the conflict that began in late February.

Qatar summons Iran deputy ambassador over LNG tanker attack
Al Arabiya English/07 July ,2026
Qatar summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador on Tuesday to lodge a complaint after an attack on a Qatari LNG tanker as it was transiting off the coast of Oman, which Doha had earlier blamed on Iran. The Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement that it handed a diplomatic note to the “deputy ambassador,” demanding an explanation for the incident and calling on Iran to “immediately cease any practices undermining regional security and to refrain from endangering the safety of international shipping and global energy supplies.”Earlier on Tuesday, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said the targeting of Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was an unacceptable attack on the security of international navigation and global energy supplies. Describing the incident as a clear violation of international law, he urged Iran to immediately halt actions threatening regional security and maritime navigation, and said Tehran bore full legal responsibility for the attack and any resulting damage or consequences. The Qatari LNG tanker Al Rekayyat is at risk of exploding due to a fire in its engine room, a source briefed on the incident told Reuters on Tuesday. The Al Rekayyat was damaged near the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired missiles at ships in the waterway overnight, sources said. The Al Rekayyat was loaded with liquefied natural gas and sent out distress signals seeking assistance after it was hit on its port side, one source said. with agencies

Qatari LNG Tanker at Risk of Explosion After Reported Iranian Attack in Strait of Hormuz
This is Beirut/July 07/2026
A Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is at risk of exploding after reportedly coming under attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, triggering a fire in its engine room and forcing the evacuation of its crew, according to sources cited by Reuters. The vessel, Al-Rekayyat, owned by Qatar’s state-linked shipping company Nakilat, reportedly issued a distress call after sustaining damage to its port side during the incident. Sources familiar with the matter said the crew was safely evacuated, but the fire continued to burn in the engine room, raising fears of a possible explosion due to the intense heat and thick smoke, which have prevented authorities from assessing the full extent of the damage. According to Reuters, the ship’s captain transmitted a distress message stating: “Mayday… This is Al-Rekayyat. We are under attack by drones on the port side above the engine room.”Qatar condemned the attack, describing the targeting of one of its LNG carriers near the Strait of Hormuz as “an unacceptable attack” on international maritime security. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry held Iran fully responsible for the incident and any resulting consequences, calling on Tehran to immediately cease actions that undermine regional security and threaten freedom of navigation through one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.
Conflicting Accounts
Earlier Tuesday, Iranian state television reported that a gas tanker had been targeted in the Strait of Hormuz after allegedly ignoring Iranian warnings, but did not identify the vessel or provide further details.Meanwhile, Axios, citing U.S. officials, reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired at least two missiles toward commercial vessels transiting the strait, damaging two ships without causing casualties. Iranian authorities have not officially commented on that account. The attack comes despite the temporary memorandum of understanding reached between the United States and Iran, which included arrangements aimed at maintaining maritime navigation during the current ceasefire period. However, disagreements reportedly persist over shipping routes and the management of maritime traffic through the strategic waterway.

Kingdom condemns Iran for targeting Saudi and Qatari tankers
Arab News/July 07, 2026
RIYADH: The Kingdom strongly condemned Iran on Tuesday for targeting the Saudi tanker Wedyan as it transited the Strait of Hormuz. It also condemned Iran for targeting Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker Al-Rekayyat and said these “unacceptable attacks” constitute an assault on the security and safety of international navigation and on the security of global energy supplies. Saudi Arabia said it held Iran fully responsible for the attacks and their repercussions. Three tankers including Wedyan and Al-Rekayyat were struck within hours in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime monitors said on Tuesday.
The string of attacks after more than a week of respite revived concerns about freedom of navigation after Iran lifted its blockade of the vital waterway following a fragile ceasefire with the United States. A foreign ministry statement said: “The Kingdom affirms that Iran’s continued launching of these attacks constitutes a grave violation of international law and norms, and of Security Council Resolution No. 2817, which guarantees freedom of maritime navigation and safe passage of sea lanes.”The ministry said the Kingdom demands that Iran immediately stop everything that might threaten the security of the region and the safety of international navigation and energy supplies. Qatar summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador on Tuesday to lodge a complaint after the attack on Al-Rekayyat, which Doha had earlier blamed on Iran. The Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement that it handed a diplomatic note to the “deputy ambassador,” demanding an explanation for the incident and calling on Iran to “immediately cease any practices undermining regional security and to refrain from endangering the safety of international shipping and global energy supplies.”Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said it was an unacceptable ​attack ‌on ⁠the security ​of international ⁠navigation and global energy supplies, and a clear violation of international law.

Crowds bid farewell to Khamenei in Iranian holy city of Qom
Associated Press/July 07, 2026
Iranian state television early Tuesday aired live images from a helicopter of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for Khamenei. The mosque is believed by Shiites to have once hosted the Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and will one day reappear to bring justice to the world. Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, were displayed on banners and posters held by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. At the height of the war, before an April ceasefire, Israel targeted top Iranian leaders, in at least one case likely using their public appearances to fix their position. It has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday and will end Thursday as Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace. Khamenei was 86.

Coffin of slain Iranian supreme leader arrives in Iraq’s Najaf, Iraqi state TV says
Reuters/July 07, 2026
NAJAF: The coffin of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arrived in Iraq’s ​holy city of Najaf on Tuesday after funeral ceremonies in Iran, bringing a multi-day procession to one of Shiite Islam’s most sacred sites following the leader’s death in a February 28 US-Israeli strike.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi and senior Iraqi officials received the coffin at ‌Najaf International Airport ‌ahead of funeral ceremonies and ​a ‌mass ⁠public ​procession, state ⁠TV reported. Najaf holds special significance for Shiites worldwide as the burial place of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also arrived in Najaf to participate in the ceremonies. The official reception at ⁠the airport was attended by Iraqi political ‌leaders and Shi’ite ‌religious figures, before the coffin is ​carried through the ‌city in public mourning events expected to draw ‌large crowds on Wednesday. Iran’s state-organized funeral ceremonies, which began on Friday, have been designed as both a religious commemoration and a demonstration of continuity by ‌the Islamic Republic following the death of the leader who ruled Iran ⁠for nearly ⁠four decades.
The procession moved from Tehran to the Shiite seminary city of Qom before arriving in Iraq. Iraqi authorities tightened security around Najaf ahead of the arrival as large numbers of mourners traveled from across Iraq and neighboring countries. The procession is due to continue to the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala before the coffin returns to Iran for burial ​in Mashhad later this ​week.

Syria president says relying on French help to stop Israeli escalations
AFP/July 07, 2026
DAMASCUS: Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa said Tuesday that he is counting on an “active French role” to halt Israeli escalations against his country. During a joint press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Damascus, Al-Sharaa condemned “systematic Israeli attacks,” saying “we are counting on an active French role to stop this escalation and ensure respect for international agreements.” Al-Sharaa also announced an agreement with Macron to reappoint ambassadors, with the French embassy in Damascus closed since 2012 during the country’s bloody civil war. “I am pleased to announce today our agreement to begin the process of exchanging resident ambassadors between Damascus and Paris as soon as possible, signaling the return of diplomatic relations to their normal state,” Al-Sharaa said. Macron, meanwhile, said that France is ready to ​help rebuild Syria’s economy and banking sector. “We ‌want ​to ‌continue working on ‌the restructuring of the banking sector,” Macron said ‌at the news conference alongside Al-Sharaa. France was working on helping the Syrian central bank, Macron added. The French president added that Syria should not let the blasts that wounded 18 people during his landmark visit to Damascus on Tuesday affect the country’s stability. Macron called to “not let ourselves be destabilized” after the attacks, while Al-Sharaa saluted Macron’s “courage” for continuing his visit after the bombings.

Bomb attack rocks Damascus during Macron visit
AFP/July 07, 2026
DAMASCUS: Two bombs exploded on Tuesday near ​a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron spent the night, wounding 18 people and overshadowing the first visit to Syria by a European Union head of state since Bashar Assad was toppled. Macron, whose motorcade left the hotel shortly before the blasts, pressed ahead with his visit, meeting President Ahmed Al-Sharaa at the presidential palace. His office said he had not heard the blasts. The attack underlined lingering security challenges facing Sharaa who has built close ties with Western states as he has sought to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war. The explosions struck a busy area of Damascus between the Tourism Ministry and the national museum across the street from the Four Seasons hotel, where a source in Macron’s delegation and Syrian security sources said he had spent the night and had met civil ‌society groups on ‌Tuesday morning. Posting on X just after the blasts, Macron said his visit continued and praised the “dignity, ​courage ‌and ⁠determination” of Syrians ​he ⁠had met. “We are not naive about the risks, but they are being managed,” Macron said later in a news conference with Sharaa. “Certain groups” sought to prevent “Syria’s full and complete reintegration into the international community,” he added. Macron also said France was working to redefine its security and military cooperation with Syria, including the potential support of French special forces to fight Daesh, which has claimed several attacks on Syrian forces this year.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attack. Sharaa said investigations were ongoing. Macron, who led calls for the lifting of Western sanctions on Syria last year, was accompanied by business leaders, including the CEOs of TotalEnergies and shipping group CMA CGM.
He said France was ready to help rebuild Syria’s economy and banking sector. The Elysee said CMA ⁠CGM signed a partnership deal with Syria, including air cargo freight handling at Damascus airport, and that France ‌and Syria would start a process to restore to Syria €51 million ($58.3 million) of assets confiscated ‌from the late Rifaat Assad, Bashar’s uncle. TotalEnergies’ CEO said his company would discuss signing ​an offshore exploration contract with Syrian officials, but that lingering insecurity meant a ‌return to onshore oil activities was still not a viable option. The first blast hit soon after Macron’s motorcade left ‌for the presidential palace. Reuters footage showed flames and smoke billowing from the site, when a second explosion was caught on camera a few meters (yards) away. The second blast went off next to an ambulance parked at the scene, where some two dozen people had gathered. Reuters video showed Macron’s motorcade heading along a highway toward the presidential palace before the blasts. Daesh, an adversary of Sharaa during the civil war, declared a new phase of operations against his government in February. Aron Lund of the ‌Century International think-tank said such attacks could dent confidence in Syria’s recovery, but they posed no threat to government control over the country. “It’s a worrying phenomenon, but I don’t think we should overstate it. ⁠It’s been 1-1/2 years and Islamic ⁠State hasn’t re-emerged in the way many feared,” he said.

Cardinal tipped to be pope accused of molesting several women
AFP/July 07, 2026
RABAT: A Catholic cardinal touted as one of the favorites to replace Pope Francis said he was “stepping back” from office Tuesday after an AFP investigation revealed at least five women had accused him of sexual assault. Spanish-born Cristobal Lopez Romero, 74, the Archbishop of Rabat in Morocco, denies wrongdoing. One woman who said he molested her made a written complaint about the cardinal in May to the Vatican embassy in Morocco, which AFP has seen. She accused him of “particularly insistent and prolonged hugs” and “an attempt at physical intimacy that could be likened to an attempt” to kiss her, which she said she “barely managed” to avoid. A church source in the archdiocese said at least five accounts describing similar incidents have been brought to its attention.Lopez admitted he had been “accused of inappropriate behavior toward adult women. This situation has led the Church to open a preliminary investigation,” he added in a written reply to AFP. “I have committed neither assault nor violence nor sexual harassment,” he insisted.
JOVIAL ‘STREET PRIEST’
But the archdiocese source condemned “a culture of complicity and silence” among those around the cardinal, accusing them of helping to protect him. The source told AFP that “close associates” who have known the cardinal for years reported similar behavior when he was a missionary in South America. Lopez was known as a jovial “street priest” working with the poor and later became a leader of his missionary Salesian order in Paraguay, Bolivia and in Spain. After the death of Pope Francis in April last year, Lopez had been hailed by some Vatican watchers and “not a few of his fellow cardinals,” according to the influential Catholic website Crux, as “a potential Successor of Peter.”The National Catholic Review said his “personal biography of bridge-building cultures and continents” could make him “a compelling contender for the church’s top job.” But he pulled out of the conclave to replace Francis last year just four days before the voting, saying he had “absolutely no ambition” to be pope, and “if I am elected, I will flee to Sicily.” The cardinal’s deputy, Vicar General Marc Helfer, told AFP that the Church’s internal bodies should be allowed to conduct their investigation before Lopez’s shock statement on Tuesday. “We do not know whether (the reported acts) really amount to sexual assault,” he said. “We are not covering up for anyone,” he insisted. However, he questioned “the relevance” of maintaining Lopez “in his office” in an October document, which was sent to Papal Nuncio Alfred Xuereb last month with a complaint from another alleged victim who said the cardinal sexually assaulted her several times, the woman told AFP. The Catholic Church has been dogged by child abuse by paedophile priests for decades, with Pope Francis — who vowed to tackle the “culture of abuse” — criticized for not doing enough to stop cover-ups.Marie Collins, an Irish victim he appointed to the Vatican commission to tackle the problem, resigned after three years in 2017 claiming senior clerics were still putting “other concerns” before the safety of children and vulnerable adults.
LETTERS TOLD OF SEXUAL ABUSE
Nadia Debbache, a Moroccan lawyer specializing in sexual violence, said the acts the cardinal is accused of could amount to “aggravated sexual harassment and aggravated sexual assault... the aggravating factor being the abuse of authority by their alleged perpetrator.” Although no criminal complaints have as yet been made in Morocco, the courts there impose heavier sentences in such crimes when they are committed by a person in a position of authority, according to Debbache. They can also punish failure to report a crime or attempted crime, the lawyer added. Another source who requested anonymity sent AFP four letters addressed to the nunciature and to the Vatican’s doctrinal office referring to allegations of “sexual abuse by clergy, including by Father Cristobal himself.”The source said Lopez had recently requested the appointment of an eventual successor, suggesting he was contemplating a transition before his mandatory retirement at the age of 75, in 2027. But Nuncio Xuereb said that would be “normal practice” given his age. He told AFP that “the presumption of innocence must be preserved... until the facts are established by the competent authorities.”

Israel’s Netanyahu says he and Trump align on big things over Iran
Agencies/07 July ,2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a CNN interview on Tuesday that despite occasional disagreements with US President Donald Trump on Iran, they see “eye to eye” on the big things related to handling Tehran.Netanyahu said it was too early to say what would happen after Washington and Tehran signed an interim peace deal. “The President believes that he can stop Iran’s nuclear program,” Netanyahu told CNN, but added that he has his doubts. “On the big things we see eye to eye, and occasionally we don’t, but we’re true allies,” he said. Netanyahu also said that the US sale of F-35 stealth warplanes to Turkey would “destroy” the balance of power in the Middle East. “It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East, because Turkey, I think, has aggressive aspirations,” Netanyahu said. “When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake.”

Israeli forces raid homes, destroy property in Nablus
Arab News/July 07, 2026
LONDON: Israeli forces raided several Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, according to media reports. The Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, reported that Israeli troops raided homes belonging to the Al-Ziraa and Al-Shakhshir families in an area behind National Hospital, while military vehicles surrounded the neighborhood. Photographs published by Turkiye’s state-run Anadolu Agency showed firefighters trying to extinguish a fire after the raids.Troops surrounded a Palestinian-owned house and destroyed it with explosives, Anadolu reported. Israel has staged repeated military operations across the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, since the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. In a situation report published on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israeli operations, demolitions, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank continued to drive humanitarian needs and displacement amid worsening economic conditions and funding shortfalls. Israel said it raided homes in the West Bank for security reasons but critics, including rights groups and UN agencies, said they also function as intimidation, collective punishment or broader control over Palestinian communities.

Gaza’s future still unclear after Hamas dissolves governing body
AFP/July 07, 2026
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas made a political move by dissolving its governing body in Gaza this week, but experts say the decision does not resolve the main issue of the stalled ceasefire process: the Islamist movement’s weapons.
WHAT IS HAMAS DISSOLVING?
Hamas announced on Monday that it was dissolving the 15-member committee that has administered civil affairs in the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it seized power in the territory following elections and clashes with rival Palestinian movement Fatah. The body oversaw Gaza’s ministries and public services, which were devastated by two years of war with Israel. Hamas says it wants to transfer these responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body made up of Palestinian technocrats and meant to manage the territory during the transition period. On paper, this means that Hamas agrees to no longer be in charge of Gaza’s day-to-day governance. A Hamas official told AFP that ministry officials were already coordinating with the NCAG to prepare for the transfer of their powers.The NCAG’s chairman Ali Shaath, who like the rest of the committee has been stuck in Egypt for months and unable to enter the territory, says he is ready to assume his duties.
WHY THIS ANNOUNCEMENT?
“It’s coming during full stagnation and zero progress vis-a-vis advancing the Trump plan,” said Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), pointing to daily violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel. “From Hamas’s perspective, this serves several purposes: it shows they are moving the (ceasefire) process forward and highlights what they describe as Israel’s failure to fulfill its commitments,” a diplomatic source told AFP. Hamas regularly says that Israeli authorities do not allow sufficient aid into Gaza, as provided for under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan. Israel denies the accusations. “The aim is to deprive Israel of its arguments,” said Iyad Al-Qarra, a Gaza-based academic specializing in political communication, who believes that Hamas’s administration is used by Israel as a “pretext” to continue the war. “It is also a message to the mediators, as well as to the people of Gaza,” said Jamal Al-Fadi, a professor at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, who noted that if the NCAG does not soon take over the administration of Gaza, the move could appear to be “nothing more than a tactical maneuver.”For Shehada, Hamas is “still the dominant force in Gaza, but they’re basically in a corner.”The movement’s members “don’t have the resources or (the) open supply chains like Hezbollah does in Lebanon with Iran, so they cannot provide for their civil servants or for the Gazan population and so that’s why they’re very invested into that sort of relinquishing of power,” he said.
WHAT MIGHT COME NEXT?
Hamas’s civil administration is only one component of its power in Gaza, where it continues to maintain its fighters and weapons arsenal. In Israel, both media outlets and government officials described the announcement as a “ruse.”Israel believes the war can only truly end once Hamas has surrendered its weapons and Gaza has been completely demilitarised. But Hamas says it won’t give up its principal source of leverage until a Palestinian governing authority has been established and the start of an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza. Since the ceasefire came into effect last October, Israeli forces have further extended their control over more than 60 percent of the tiny territory. Trump’s phased peace plan for Gaza, which was endorsed by the United Nations, envisions the possibility of a full withdrawal of Israeli troops only in the very long term. “I think this is simply a symbolic gesture by Hamas to show that it is prepared to give up governing Gaza, but the issue is not the dissolution of its governing committee — it is whether it agrees to disarm,” said Gaza-based political scientist Mkhaimar Abusada.

UN experts demand Israel urgently release Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safiya
Ephrem Kossaify/July 07, 2026
NEW YORK CITY: UN experts on Tuesday called on Israel to immediately release Palestinian physician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all health and care workers held in what they described as arbitrary detention. The experts said Abu Safiya’s continued detention without charge or trial reflects Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers and the continued destruction of Gaza’s health system, aimed at inflicting conditions leading to the mental and physical destruction of Palestinians. The independent experts include special rapporteurs Francesca Albanese, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Morris Tidball-Binz and Ben Saul. Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was detained by Israeli forces on Dec. 27, 2024, when the facility was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza. The experts said he was illegally detained alongside other medical staff and patients under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law, a statute they previously flagged as incompatible with international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The experts said they first raised the alarm in October 2023, urging member states to halt the escalation of war, and have since engaged directly with Israel over reports of arrests and detentions of health care workers. Violations of the special protections owed to civilians and medical personnel under international humanitarian and human rights law have been immeasurable, they warned, accusing Israel and its allies of ignoring rulings from the International Court of Justice and UN mechanisms without facing consequences. Citing continued reports of severe torture and recent indications that Abu Safiya’s injuries could prove fatal, the experts demanded Israel provide him with immediate and adequate medical care. They described Abu Safiya’s dedication, expertise and compassion as vital to the delivery of essential health services to Gaza’s most vulnerable populations, and said Israel has turned the practice of medicine into a crime, making health workers targets of harassment, intimidation, arrest, torture and death. The experts renewed their call for the immediate release of Abu Safiya and all detained health and care workers.

Israel parliament advances bill for inquiry into Oct 7 failures
AFP/July 07, 2026
JERUSALEM: The Israeli parliament approved a bill in its first reading on Monday to set up a commission of inquiry into the security failings that led to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. “The purpose of the proposed law is to bring about a full, thorough, and independent investigation of the events of the... October 7 massacre” and the wars that followed, an explanatory note to the bill said. The bill passed its first reading in the Knesset, Israel’s 120-seat parliament, with 59 votes in favor and none against or abstaining. Opposition lawmakers, who want a different kind of commission not appointed by politicians, boycotted the vote. Under the proposed law, the commission’s six members would be appointed by a two-thirds majority of Knesset members. In the absence of an agreement, however, three members would be appointed by the ruling coalition and three by opposition lawmakers. Former hostages or bereaved family members would serve as observers, while the commission’s deliberations would be broadcast to the public, according to the bill. Likud party lawmaker Ariel Kallner, who initiated the legislation, defended the body’s bipartisan composition. “Only a commission appointed in an egalitarian manner will allow us both to uncover the truth and maintain the public’s trust. This will be a commission that can investigate any entity that influenced Israel’s security policy at its core,” he said in a statement published by the Knesset. Opposition figures have said they would boycott a commission appointed by politicians. In such a scenario, the power to appoint members would ultimately fall to the speaker of parliament, effectively handing control of the process to the governing coalition.
‘Whitewash’ -
The opposition has long called for the establishment of an independent state commission of inquiry, a mechanism Israel has frequently used to investigate major national failures in the past. Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Israelis across the political spectrum support such a body conducting the probe. Members of a state commission of inquiry would be appointed by the president of the Supreme Court, which has long been at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over a range of issues. Opposition leader Yair Lapid explained the boycott of Monday’s vote.
“The opposition will not be part of a sham whose sole purpose is to whitewash and prevent the investigation of the greatest disaster to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he wrote on X. The bill will now return to the Knesset Constitution Committee for further discussion ahead of final readings, which are expected to take place next week before the Knesset dissolves. On Thursday, thousands of people took to the streets in Tel Aviv and elsewhere across Israel to mark 1,000 days since the October 7 attack and to call for a state commission of inquiry. Eight people were arrested for causing disturbances during the demonstrations, police said.

Israeli fire kills seven people, including a child, in Gaza, medics say
Reuters/July 07, 2026
CAIRO: Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the territory’s health officials said. Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed a man and wounded two children in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The Israeli military told Reuters they had targeted a Hamas militant. Another Israeli airstrike hit near a tent encampment housing displaced families in western Gaza City, killing one person and wounding five others, medics said, while a third airstrike ‌in Khan Younis ‌killed one person and wounded three others. The Israeli military ​said ‌both ⁠of ​those strikes ⁠had also targeted militants. The Popular Resistance Committees, a militant group that has long carried out armed attacks against Israel, said one of the two Israeli strikes in Khan Younis had killed a senior leader of the group, Waheed Abu Salem. Later on Tuesday, one Palestinian was killed and nine others were wounded by Israeli gunfire in an area of Rafah in the south of Gaza, medics and witnesses said. Meanwhile, in Gaza City’s Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, ⁠an Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle, killing three people, including a child, ‌medics said, taking Tuesday’s death toll across the ‌Gaza Strip to at least seven. One of the three ​dead was identified as Mohammad Al-Waheidi, who ‌worked for the Egyptian relief committee, which provides aid to Palestinians in the enclave. The ‌Israeli military did not immediately comment on the last two incidents.
CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS
Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes in Gaza since a US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas was reached last October, saying it is targeting militants who threaten its forces or who took part in the October 2023 attack on ‌Israel. Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. Nikolay Mladenov, US President Donald Trump’s appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, ⁠has said both ⁠sides have violated the agreement. Since the ceasefire took effect eight months ago, more than 1,070 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to figures released by the two sides. Hamas does not disclose the number of its fighters killed.Israeli troops control more than 60 percent of Gaza, patrolling what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes as a buffer zone to deter Hamas attacks. Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw from the territory.Israel’s devastating aerial and ground bombardment of Gaza displaced nearly the entire population of 2 million people, most of whom now live in tents or damaged buildings in a narrow coastal strip of territory governed by Hamas. Hamas-led fighters ​killed 1,200 people during their cross-border attack ​into Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. The Gaza health ministry said more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since then.

Qatari and Irish FMs discuss Middle Eastern stability after US-Iran detente
Arab News/July 07, 2026
LONDON: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Qatar, discussed regional developments with Helen McEntee, the Irish minister for foreign affairs, trade, and defense. The two ministers discussed diplomatic efforts to improve security and stability in the Middle East after a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran last month ended over 100 days of conflict. Following the meeting in Doha, an MoU was signed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi and McEntee, establishing political consultations between the Qatari and Irish ministries of foreign affairs. Qatar was among 10 countries targeted by Iran with missile and drone attacks after Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched a war against Tehran. Qatar and Pakistan acted as mediators between US and Iranian negotiators to establish a ceasefire agreement in June, which started negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 07-08 July/2026
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s War on Christians
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/July 07/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/07/155761/
A new 2026 annual report, “Scapegoats: Rights Violations Against Christians in Iran,” published by Article18 in partnership with Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Middle East Concern, sheds an alarming light on the persecutions of Christians in Iran. House churches have been labeled as enemy groups. IRGC involvement in raids tends to be characterized by increased brutality. The IRGC agents, singling out whoever was wearing a cross, tore them off and conducted body searches. After they wounded several individuals, the agents blocked emergency medical personnel who attempted to assist them.
Last month, regime security forces moved to seize Saint Peter Evangelical Church in Tehran. They ordered residents of the church compound to leave their homes, and worshippers were told to find a different church. The seizure of Saint Peter, built in 1876 and also known as Qavam Church, and the eviction of its residents, who belong to Iran’s recognized Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities, come after a state organization moved to enforce a court order issued nearly 30 years ago. The order, issued by a Revolutionary Court in 1998, ruled that the entire church compound — around 10 acres, which includes two schools and dozens of homes — should be handed over to the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order.
“House churches are commonly raided, often followed by arrests, interrogations, pressure to inform on other Christians and long-term imprisonment. This is typically under charges of breaching ‘national security’. The conditions in prison are dire… Each year, thousands of converts flee Iran to escape persecution.” — Open Doors. A year after the Bible Society’s closure [in 1990], Iran’s representative at the United Nations wrote to the UN’s special rapporteur, saying the Bible Society had been “temporarily closed”, pending investigation of “violations of the Islamic Republic’s laws and regulations” – without specifying which – and adding that “when the situation of the accused becomes clear, the Society could continue its activities.”
Yet, 36 years later, Iran’s Bible Society remains closed, and the Bible and other Christian books are frequently treated as illegal contraband and evidence of a crime. The same regime that terrorizes its own citizens has also been demanding the right to develop and build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and plans the continued use of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in its underground site at Pickaxe Mountain. The Islamic Republic has also declared that it will charge “fees” from commercial maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and retain control of its main terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, which is now controlling beautiful Lebanon — known before its 1975-1990 civil war as the “Switzerland of the Middle East.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention of giving up exporting its terrorism throughout the wider Middle East. It funds, arms, and trains a network of terrorist proxies, in addition to Hezbollah in Lebanon: the Houthis in Yemen and various Islamic militias in Syria and Iraq. The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding that the Trump administration signed with Iran is most likely regarded by Iran’s IRGC regime as an irrelevant infidel document. It will do nothing to curb their hatred for Christians, Jews, their own citizens, and the West.
Ordinary Christian activities are criminalized and punished in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Christians are arrested and imprisoned over charges related to church activities, such as baptism, Communion, gathering for prayer or Bible study, including those conducted abroad. Last month, regime security forces moved to seize Saint Peter Evangelical Church in Tehran, which was built in 1876 (pictured). They ordered residents of the church compound to leave their homes, and worshippers were told to find a different church.
A new 2026 annual report, “Scapegoats: Rights Violations Against Christians in Iran,” published by Article18 in partnership with Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Middle East Concern, sheds an alarming light on the persecutions of Christians in Iran. According to the report, at least 21 Christians have received custodial sentences in 2025 related to their alleged involvement in the distribution of Bibles in Iran, in addition to other forms of punishment, such as fines, exile, and social deprivation.
In June 2025, two Christian converts were convicted under Article 500 of “propaganda activity of deviant Christian ‘Zionist’ beliefs opposed to the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Each was sentenced to 10 years in prison. They were also accused of “distributing smuggled goods” (Bibles) under Articles 22 and 24, for which they received two years and additional fines. They were tried in absentia, with the only evidence produced against them being Bibles and other Christian literature found in their homes.
Contempt for the Bible, the report states, can also be seen in a reference to it as a “prohibited book” in a different indictment of two Iranian-Armenians and three Christian converts. In June 2025, they were charged with “propaganda” and “collusion,” and in November were sentenced to a combined total of more than 50 years in prison. In other court verdicts in 2025, the Bible was referred to as a “distorted”, “deviant”, “corrupt”, or “misleading” book.
Other trends, according to the report, include the increasing involvement of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in arresting Christians, targeting those involved in distributing the Bible; severe mistreatment of Christian detainees; consistent use of Article 500 of the penal code (relating to “propaganda contrary to the holy religion of Islam”) to convict Christians; and the monitoring of Christians’ overseas activities, such as attending theological seminars. The IRGC is now playing an expanding role in gathering intelligence on and persecuting Iran’s Christians. As the IRGC’s declared role is to defend the Islamic Republic, the increasing arrests of Christians would suggest that the regime sees them as a threat. House churches have been labeled as enemy groups. IRGC involvement in raids tends to be characterized by increased brutality. On the evening of February 6, 2026, for instance, at least 20 plainclothes IRGC agents raided a gathering of around 80 Christians in Gatab, Mazandaran Province, confiscated Bibles and musical instruments, and arrested a Christian convert, Somayeh Rajabi.
The IRGC agents, singling out whoever was wearing a cross, tore them off and conducted body searches. After they wounded several individuals, the agents blocked emergency medical personnel who attempted to assist them. A day after her arrest, Rajabi was permitted a brief phone call to her family, in which she informed them that she was being held in a prison in Sari. She was later transferred to Mati Kola Prison in Babol. On March 8, she was released on bail of more than $40,000 after being charged with “gathering and collusion” and “propaganda against the regime”. On April 15, Rajabi and six others were summoned to the prosecutor’s office of Babol to offer their final defense, the final step before an indictment. At the time of the report’s release, no further updates had been received.
In 2021, Iran’s parliament amended Articles 499 and 500 of the penal code to increase penalties and broaden the scope against those who could be charged with membership of a group “aiming to perturb the security of the country” or of engaging in “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran”. Civil rights organizations, such as Article18, warned that these provisions would be used to “choke… freedoms” and intensify criminalizing minorities. The UN Human Rights Committee subsequently called on the Islamic Republic to “repeal or amend” the articles. The Islamic Republic has nevertheless abused its laws to crack down on Christians even further. In 2025, according to the report, 254 Iranian Christians were arrested, nearly twice as many as in 2024, and sentenced to a total of more than 280 years in prison. In the vast majority of cases (nearly 90%), charges against Christians were brought under the amended Article 500 of the penal code, which criminalizes “propaganda contrary to the holy religion of Islam.”
The convictions and imprisonments of Christians continue. On July 3, Article18 reported that the sentences of five Iranian Christians condemned to a combined more than 70 years in prison — for ordinary Christian activities, such as praying, performing baptisms, taking Communion and celebrating Christmas — have been upheld by an appeals court. On top of the prison sentences, the Christians’ personal property, including Bibles and other Christian literature, was confiscated by the state for the “research” purposes of the Ministry of Intelligence – as in another case last year in which two Christians were sentenced to 12 years each in prison for “smuggling” Bibles into Iran.
Last month, regime security forces moved to seize Saint Peter Evangelical Church in Tehran. They ordered residents of the church compound to leave their homes, and worshippers were told to find a different church. The seizure of Saint Peter, built in 1876 and also known as Qavam Church, and the eviction of its residents, who belong to Iran’s recognized Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities, come after a state organization moved to enforce a court order issued nearly 30 years ago. The order, issued by a Revolutionary Court in 1998, ruled that the entire church compound — around 10 acres, which includes two schools and dozens of homes — should be handed over to the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO). EIKO has also been responsible for the confiscations of Assyrian Presbyterian churches in Tabriz and Mashhad, as well as an Assemblies of God church in Gorgan and a retreat center in Karaj.
According to a report on Iran by the organization Open Doors:
“[Chrisian] converts are most in the firing line. House churches are commonly raided, often followed by arrests, interrogations, pressure to inform on other Christians and long-term imprisonment. This is typically under charges of breaching ‘national security’. The conditions in prison are dire, and bail sums can be extortionately high, financially paralyzing families. For Christians who are released, that typically comes with strict conditions, such as exile to another part of Iran, or self-censorship… Each year, thousands of converts flee Iran to escape persecution.”
For 47 years, the Iranian people have been subjected to a regime that brutally quashes dissenting voices, opinions and beliefs. For 47 years, the Islamic Republic has systematically repressed its own citizens, including the Muslim majority, through ruthless state-sponsored violence, discrimination, and political persecution targeting any citizen who dissents from the government’s radical religious and political mandates. If citizens criticize the regime or protest economic distress, they face heavy state surveillance, arbitrary detention, and lethal force. Women and girls who refuse to comply with mandatory hijab laws face savage crackdowns, imprisonment, and physical and sexual abuse by “morality” police.
Apart from tormenting their own Muslim population, the Islamic Republic of Iran also criminalizes conversions to Christianity, church activities and the printing and possession of Bibles. Printing and distributing Bibles within Iran has been a criminal offense since the Islamic regime closed the Bible Society in 1990.
Globally, the Bible Society plays a key role in the translation, publishing and distribution of Bibles, and the presence of the Bible Society in Iran dates back to 1811, with the visit of Henry Martyn and the revision of his Persian translation of the New Testament. This changed in Iran in February 1990, when regime authorities raided the Bible Society of Iran in Tehran and ordered its closure. The organization had served for decades as the country’s principal publisher and distributor of Persian-language Bibles and Christian literature. Its closure effectively ended the legal printing and publication of Christian texts in Persian — the language spoken by the overwhelming majority of Iranians — and marked a significant escalation in state efforts to restrict public access to Christian teachings. Since the forced closure and confiscation of the Bible Society’s premises in Tehran in 1990, Christians have found it challenging to access printed Bibles and the Iranian authorities have criminalized importing and distributing Bibles.
A year after the Bible Society’s closure, Iran’s representative at the United Nations wrote to the UN’s special rapporteur, saying the Bible Society had been “temporarily closed”, pending investigation of “violations of the Islamic Republic’s laws and regulations” – without specifying which – and adding that “when the situation of the accused becomes clear, the Society could continue its activities.” Yet, 36 years later, Iran’s Bible Society remains closed, and the Bible and other Christian books are frequently treated as illegal contraband and evidence of a crime. Ordinary Christian activities are also criminalized and punished by the Islamic regime. Christians are arrested and imprisoned over charges related to church activities, such as baptism, Communion, gathering for prayer or Bible study, including those conducted abroad.
On December 28, 2025, mass protests erupted in Iran, leading to weeks-long nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to the Islamic Republic’s leadership of the country. “The response to those protests has been horrifying, with reports of many thousands killed, including several Christians, and every Iranian — regardless of their religious background -– affected,” states the recent report by Article18, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Middle East Concern
The same regime that terrorizes its own citizens has also been demanding the right to develop and build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and plans the continued use of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in its underground site at Pickaxe Mountain. The Islamic Republic has also declared that it will charge “fees” from commercial maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and retain control of its main terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, which is now controlling beautiful Lebanon — known before its 1975-1990 civil war as the “Switzerland of the Middle East.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention of giving up exporting its terrorism throughout the wider Middle East. It funds, arms, and trains a network of terrorist proxies, in addition to Hezbollah in Lebanon: the Houthis in Yemen and various Islamic militias in Syria and Iraq. The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding that the Trump administration signed with Iran is most likely regarded by Iran’s IRGC regime as an irrelevant infidel document. It will do nothing to curb their hatred for Christians, Jews, their own citizens, and the West.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22678/iran-war-on-christians
**Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Doling out tough love to European countries should top Trump’s NATO summit agenda
RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and John Hardie/New York Post/July 05/2026
https://nypost.com/2026/07/05/opinion/trumps-nato-summit-agenda-dole-out-the-tough-love/
This week’s NATO summit in Ankara arrives at a fraught moment: Even as America and its allies face growing threats from authoritarian powers, differences over Ukraine, Iran, Greenland and US military commitments in Europe have strained transatlantic ties. That gives President Donald Trump and Secretary General Mark Rutte a golden opportunity to put NATO on the right path.
Their first order of business must be spurring further European investment in defense.
At last year’s summit, allies committed to allocate 5% of GDP to defense and other security-related priorities by 2035 — a historic decision for which Trump deserves much credit.
Some countries, such as Poland and the Baltic states, are already there. Germany, the industrial workhorse of Europe, has begun ramping up spending to correct decades of underinvestment, aiming to become the continent’s strongest conventional force next decade. Yet others, like the UK, are moving in the right direction — but much more slowly. In Ankara, Trump should lavish praise upon the high achievers while pushing the laggards to pick up the pace. The trick is to dish out this tough love without undermining the alliance’s credibility.
Trump should emphasize that he seeks not to disengage from Europe, but to strengthen NATO through proper burden-sharing. The allies now understand that Washington expects Europe to “take primary responsibility for its own conventional defense,” as the Pentagon’s 2026 National Defense Strategy declared in January. But getting there will require a generational effort. This transition was never going to be easy, but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. Trump and Rutte therefore should publicly commit to develop — and then stick to — a reasonable NATO transition framework.
Allies should never be blindsided by US decisions — as they were in May, when the Pentagon suddenly canceled an Armored Brigade Combat Team’s rotational deployment to Poland, sparking widespread concern. That should have been a lesson: Withdrawing US capabilities before the Europeans can replace them risks inviting Russian aggression.
The alliance must set realistic timetables for handing Europe specific defense responsibilities, decide which functions should remain America’s bailiwick and establish an agreed floor for a permanent US posture in Europe. The US Army’s current forward presence in Eastern Europe, for example, deserves immediate attention. Confusion over the Combat Team’s canceled deployment to “model ally” Poland — which Trump sought to soothe by declaring that he’d send 5,000 additional troops there on an unspecified timeframe — still linger. The administration has since said that Washington is planning to shift some forward-stationed forces from Germany to Poland, following a broad six-month Pentagon review of US force posture and basing in Europe. But building the infrastructure to house those troops and their families will likely take years — leaving our eastern-flank allies in the lurch in the meantime.
As an interim solution, Trump should direct the Pentagon to resume the rotational ABCT deployments. These forces, which aren’t needed in the Pacific, would bolster deterrence of Russia — and prove to the Europeans that Washington rewards allies who step up. Trump should also use the gathering to put Russia on notice: Vladimir Putin no longer “has the cards” in Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have gained some momentum on the battlefield — and Trump has publicly taken note. Russian territorial advances have grown even slower and more casualty-intensive, and Ukraine has even managed to claw back a little land. The Ukrainian army has stopped bleeding manpower, while the European Union has put Kyiv’s finances on a sustainable footing. Kyiv has expanded its advantage in drone warfare, improved its command-and-control through newly established army corps, and developed successful counters to Russian tactical adaptations. Meanwhile, Ukraine is pressuring Russian logistics using “middle strike” drones while pounding energy infrastructure and defense-industrial plants deep in the rear, resulting in a worsening domestic fuel crisis. Russia’s prospects of achieving even Putin’s minimal objective of seizing the rest of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region look increasingly dim. Yet Putin continues to condition peace on maximalist demands that outstrip his military leverage. In Ankara, Trump should emphasize that if peace is to be achieved, Moscow must bring its negotiating terms in line with battlefield reality. Until then, he should tighten sanctions on Russia’s energy and financial sectors and work with allies to reinforce Ukraine’s long-range strike and air defense capabilities. This summit can set NATO up for long-term success — and cement Trump’s legacy as the president who got Europe to heed America’s call for partners willing to put skin in the game. For all its flaws, NATO remains the most successful military alliance in history, and one of America’s greatest strategic assets. With the right combination of unity and tough love, Trump can ensure that NATO leaves Ankara stronger than it arrived. Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral, is a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where John Hardie is deputy director of the Russia program.

Don’t Decimate U.S. Military Posture in Europe
Cameron McMillan and Bradley Bowman/Real Clear Defense/July 07/2026
As NATO leaders gather in Ankara next week, there is much to celebrate. Ukraine is gaining the upper hand on the battlefield against Russia. European defense spending is way up. Many European allies are stepping forward to carry more of the security burden on the continent. These are major, positive developments. Despite this good news, transatlantic ties have been strained in the past year. That could explain the calls for unity in pre-summit statements from many leaders, reflecting in part the need for more of it. Indeed, many European allies are understandably upset about the policy President Donald Trump pursued regarding Greenland and nervous that America may dangerously reduce its commitment to the alliance and its defense. Understanding the stakes, one decision that policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic will be watching is where Washington will come down on U.S. troop posture in Europe. The Trump administration has already taken troubling steps, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on June 18 a “review” of America’s military force posture in Europe, which could lead to further reductions of American combat power on the continent.
Excessive or premature American military withdrawals from the continent will send a dangerous message to Putin regarding America’s political will and reduce the American combat power necessary to deter costly additional Russian aggression.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the United States had generally maintained at least four Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) in Europe: the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CR) Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) in Germany, the 173rd Airborne Brigade headquartered in Italy, a rotational Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) in Poland, and a rotational Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) in Romania and surrounding countries. But the cumulative impact of the administration’s successive drawdowns has brought America’s military force posture on the continent closer to pre-2022 levels.
Last fall, the administration decided to end the rotational IBCT deployment to Romania, bringing the number of BCTs on the continent to three. Then, in early May, the administration announced that it would withdraw roughly 5,000 troops from Germany, with reports suggesting it would likely impact 2CR. It seems clear these reductions in Germany were little more than White House-directed political retribution for Berlin rather than thoughtful reductions based on a serious and objective strategic assessment of American security interests and the strategic situation on the continent.
Two weeks later, in what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound to U.S. national security interests, the administration reportedly halted the deployment of an ABCT to Poland, which many feared marked the end of the rotational ABCT along NATO’s eastern flank.
While the administration announced in late May that it would maintain three BCTs in Europe, the fate of 2CR and the Poland ABCT remains in flux. If 2CR is withdrawn from Europe or the rotational ABCT deployments to Poland are ended, America would lose its large armored or mechanized combat formations on the continent. That would be a serious mistake — a cause for celebration in Moscow and serious concern for Americans and Europeans.
The administration’s 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) called for NATO allies to “take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense, with critical but more limited U.S. support.” That is an understandable goal given the possibility of simultaneous great power wars and the need to increase deterrence in the Pacific. This is a concern emphasized in a new book on the Axis of Aggressors. But how we get from here to there — and the pace of the transition — matters greatly and should not be done at the expense of vital American interests in Europe.
Still, it is difficult to justify many of the administration’s previous and prospective cuts to U.S. Army Europe with that logic. Formations designed for large-scale ground combat, such as ABCTs and SBCTs, are more valuable deterring Russia in Europe than countering China in the maritime-dominated Pacific. Likewise, while the administration’s NDS makes clear that Europe must bear most of the burden of conventional defense of the continent, it commits to maintaining what it describes as “critical support.” That presumably means units or enablers that require a relatively small American footprint but offer capabilities that Europe would have difficulty fully replicating in the near to medium term, such as certain long-range fires and critical air and naval assets.
But that is exactly what some of the administration’s cuts target. Take the long-range fires battalion (LRFB) of the 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force (2MDTF), for instance. The Pentagon reportedly canceled the planned deployment of the 2MDTF’s newly activated LRFB in May as well.
Elements of 2MDTF are already stationed in Germany and, in a 2024 joint statement with Berlin, Washington committed to begin deploying the LRFB to Germany this year. It includes critical capabilities, such as a HIMARS battery armed with GMLRS rockets and PrSM missiles, a Typhon Mid-Range Capability battery armed with Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles, and a Dark Eagle long-range hypersonic missile battery.
Though other U.S. artillery, air, and naval units can partially compensate, the LRFB’s absence would weaken 2MDTF’s long-range precision strike capabilities and, by extension, those of NATO. The alliance, which already needs more long-range strike capacity, depends overwhelmingly on the United States for these capabilities. European countries will require years to catch up, which is why Germany viewed the 2024 agreement as a “temporary bridge.”More recently, the administration reportedly informed NATO allies of its intention to significantly reduce the number of aircraft and naval assets made available to the alliance. The cuts will reportedly include a reduction of maritime reconnaissance aircraft, aerial refueling tankers, and roughly a third of America’s F-15s and F-16s for Europe. Cumulatively, these cuts would do serious damage to “critical” American support for the alliance, violating the principle in the administration’s own National Defense Strategy. The essence of strategy is the coordination of ends and means. Sometimes that is easier said than done because ends can be extensive and means finite and insufficient. The United States has vital interests in both Europe and the Pacific, and America lacks sufficient combat formations and its munitions are depleted. There is an urgent need to increase deterrence in the Pacific, but excessive or premature reductions in U.S. combat forces in Europe risk inviting additional Russian aggression that would be a disaster for American interests in Europe and a boon for the Chinese Communist Party.The Trump administration should encourage the expeditious implementation of ongoing European measures to step up their own defenses while avoiding excessive or premature U.S. military withdrawals. If the administration fails to get this balance right, Congress will need to ensure the United States works with allies and partners to establish and maintain sufficient deterrence in both Europe and the Pacific.
**Cameron McMillan is a senior research at the Center on Military and Pollical Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Bradley Bowman is senior director.

Are They Not Ashamed Before Qasim, Saddam, and the Two Arifs?
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 07/2026
Baghdad is witnessing thunderous chapters of the war on corruption. Factual reports are mixed with fabrications, and accurate images with doctored pictures. The Baghdadis’ schadenfreude over the fall of the “big catches” has been loud and public. They watch the news: piles of dollars buried inside walls or in gardens. They pass stories of gold around, and of the crowns of corruption. They laugh in the streets every time the misdeeds of a parliamentarian, a governor, or a senior official are exposed in one of the state's "mines," and they are many.
I visited a well-placed official, and the meeting was as enjoyable as it was instructive. "Please don't compare your corruption to ours. You cannot compare an ordinary appetizer platter with a lavish, indeed fabulous, banquet. Besides, the thieves of Baghdad are far more dangerous than the thieves of Beirut. The figures in your country look terribly modest next to ours. The talk in Baghdad is of a figure close to five hundred billion dollars; now the number keeps climbing."
He added: "Would you believe that a country sleeping on staggering wealth was racing toward an economic collapse - one that would have included an inability to pay salaries - had the matter not been addressed in time?"
The Iraqi street has clearly embraced the battle that Ali al-Zaidi's government has launched against corruption and the corrupt. It is no small matter to haul corrupt figures in for questioning after they had long enjoyed what are known as partisan, factional, or mafia "protections," and to demand they give back what they had looted. Some Iraqis do not hide their fear that the "sponsors of corruption" may set aside their differences to throw political, security, and legal sticks in the wheels of the current government. They fear impediments to the confinement of weapons in the hands of legitimate forces and ending the long era of loose weapons - an era whose costs have proven steep after it battered the state's authority at home and its credibility among its neighbors.
A visitor to Baghdad hears words that would not have been heard a few years ago. A politician who fiercely opposed Saddam Hussein now concedes: "Saddam squandered enormous wealth on wars and their aftermath. But he was not a thief, in the sense that he never reached into public funds to build a personal fortune.”
“Leader Abdul Karim Qasim was poor when he was executed by the first Baath regime in 1963. He did not even own an apartment. President Abdul Salam Arif was never accused of encroaching on public money or of illicit enrichment. As for his brother, President Abdul Rahman Arif, he received assistance from the very man who overthrew him, Saddam, to cope with daily life and retirement,” he added. One sentence, heavy with implication, stayed with me: "Are the looters of public money after the American invasion not ashamed before Qasim, Saddam, and the two Arifs, who never stretched out their hands to seize public funds?"
Baghdad is also busy with what a number of its politicians call a transitional phase in the region, after the hurricane that swept the region and raised many questions searching for answers.
I asked him to explain the hurricane. He replied that, for now, it is enough to note that Iran is holding funeral rites for Ali Khamenei, who led it after the passing of the founding Supreme Leader. Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike at the beginning of the American-Israeli war against Iran - no small matter. The war was then stopped by the force of the memorandum of understanding that Iran concluded with the US. The MoU that will open the door to arduous negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and other issues. Nor can we ignore that Iran signed an agreement with an America led by the man who did what his predecessors had avoided, killing General Qassem Soleimani and launching a war against Iran.
He believes Iran will undergo a transitional phase whose contours, and whose real balance of power, are difficult to predict. He said he has information indicating that Mojtaba Khamenei has the capacity to carry out the major duties entrusted to the Supreme Leader, even though his health keeps him away from day-to-day issues. He noted that Mojtaba had suffered a serious knee injury requiring three surgeries, and a facial wound whose marks reached his lips. In the early period, he resisted his doctors' advice to undergo cosmetic surgery, which may explain, in this man's reading, his public absence.
The hurricane’s remaining chapters are evident. Bashar al-Assad had expected to reside in the presidential palace "forever;” he currently resides in his Russian exile. Syria was hit by the hurricane and now finds itself in the care of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The hurricane's impact is visible in Lebanon and Gaza: the former is without Hassan Nasrallah, the latter without Yahya al-Sinwar.
Similar questions echo through conversations, searching for answers. What Iran will we see in the coming phase? Was Mojtaba forced to drink the poison of the memorandum of understanding to stave off economic collapse, while awaiting the arrival of billions with which to resume the policies of his father's era? Can the countries of the region accept a new Iranian general named the Strait of Hormuz, accompanied by the "proxies"? And can they blunt the significance of the strait and find alternatives, however costly? Will Iraq succeed in confining weapons to the hands of legitimate forces, avoiding a repeat of the actions undertaken from its territory by certain factions - actions that damaged its relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council states?
In Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s office, one hears categorical statements. No tolerance for corruption, and no retreat from confining weapons to the state. The first foreign visit will be to Washington. Iraq wants partnerships and seeks cooperation. It accepts neither tutelage nor the transformation of its territory into an arena for others' conflicts. It wants the best cooperative relations with Türkiye, Iran, and the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
Iraq's Arab identity runs deep and cannot be erased. It is clear that the war on corruption is the test that must be passed if the effort to confine weapons is to succeed, and if Iraq is to go back to being a normal state in this tumultuous region.

Will the Memorandum of Understanding Become the Final Agreement Itself?
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 07/2026
It has been nearly three weeks since the American-Iranian memorandum of understanding, and nothing in the course of the ongoing negotiations suggests that a final agreement is within reach. That brings the future of this negotiating track back into focus once the sixty-day period the memorandum set for negotiating an agreement expires. If that deadline can be extended indefinitely, and if the cost of withdrawing from the negotiations is, in practice, a return to war, will the memorandum of understanding become the agreement itself de facto?
Such a possibility would only deepen anxiety, particularly among regional partners, even if some continue to hope that Washington will reconsider some of its concessions in a way that eases those concerns. There is growing momentum behind strengthening regional defenses and diversifying trade corridors away from traditional chokepoints, particularly the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb. This will likely accelerate investment in armaments and infrastructure development.
The consequences of extending negotiating deadlines without a defined time horizon go beyond the negotiations themselves, affecting a range of far more sensitive issues.
The memorandum stipulates that the Strait of Hormuz is to remain open for sixty days, with freedom of navigation guaranteed for ships without transit fees. After that period expires, Iran is to begin discussions with the Sultanate of Oman and the Gulf states on the management of the strait and "maritime services." Such an arrangement would cement an unprecedented role for Tehran in administering this strategic passage, opening the door to redefining the governance of international sea lanes according to regional balances of power rather than the international rules governing maritime navigation—a dangerous precedent. Moreover, the memorandum does not provide for the disposal of Iran's current stockpile of highly enriched uranium. It merely refers to the possibility of reducing its enrichment level inside Iran, with monitoring of the process to be entrusted to one or more parties yet to be determined.
Nor does the memorandum address the ballistic missile program, a matter Iran insists is not open to negotiation in the first place. Likewise, the activities of Iran's proxies in the region were not simply left off the negotiating agenda. The memorandum's first clause links the handling of the issues it covers to a ceasefire in Lebanon and Israel's unconditional withdrawal from Lebanese territory, thereby providing protection for Hezbollah.
Washington's acceptance of linking negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz and the other issues to Lebanon is a strategic mistake. Tehran's priority is not protecting Lebanon but rescuing Hezbollah. If American officials genuinely want to protect the Lebanese government and preserve any hope of restoring the state's sovereignty, they must not yield to the Iranian demand that addressing the issues set out in the memorandum be made conditional on maintaining the ceasefire in Lebanon. Under the Iranian approach, this condition effectively means ending the war, giving Hezbollah the opportunity to rebuild its capabilities instead of being disarmed, while pressure mounts for an Israeli withdrawal.
To avoid all these scenarios, the United States will have to use the instruments of pressure that both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have repeatedly said remain available to Washington. Yet Trump himself has, through his repeated public statements, sent contradictory signals that undermine the credibility of using those instruments.
The Trump administration's approach appears to rest on the assumption that Iran's desire for economic integration could transform it into a different kind of state. Yet that assumption overlooks the deeply entrenched nature of the regime's ideology and self-image. While many observers believe sanctions relief would benefit the Iranian people, the more likely outcome is that those gains would remain limited, because a large share of the funds would be directed toward priorities determined by the regime, particularly after emerging from the war more hardline and more confident.
Domestically, hardliners categorically reject the memorandum of understanding, while some reformists view it as a victory over America. By contrast, Iranians opposed to the regime believe the memorandum has let them down and that they are its biggest losers.
Ultimately, the memorandum of understanding may not lead to a final agreement. Instead, it could become the agreement itself, entrenching a lasting new regional balance of power in Tehran's favor without any genuine settlement.
The potential trigger for renewed escalation remains Israel's continued military operations in Lebanon. Tehran has warned that these would constitute a violation of the ceasefire and could lead to a new round of reciprocal missile strikes.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on 07 July
Mike Pence
Lifting U.S. sanctions imposed after Turkey acquired the Russian S-400 missile system in 2017 and clearing the way to provide Turkey F-35 fighter jets would be a strategic mistake, undermining the security of the United States, Israel and NATO. Mr. President, Please Don’t.🇺🇸

יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog
I was pleased to welcome @RahmEmanuel to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem today. I congratulated the American people once again on the 250th anniversary of the United States of America’s Independence. During our meeting, I underscored the importance of maintaining bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel partnership, which greatly benefits both our nations.

ראש ממשלת ישראל
@IsraeliPM_heb
Translated from Hebrew
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Haifa naval base of the Navy today, together with the Navy Commander, Maj. Gen. Eyal Harel. During the visit, the Prime Minister received an operational briefing on the Navy's activities and held a conversation with the fighters at the base.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: "Our goal is to ensure the shipping routes and freedom of maritime trade."

Israel Military Channel
https://x.com/IsraelMilitaryC/status/2074490220628828336/video/1
Trump claims his relationship with Erdogan kept Turkey out of the war against Israel. In reality, it is Israel’s undisputed military prowess, cutting-edge technology, and unmatched intelligence that keeps Ankara at bay. Fierce rhetoric cannot match a lethal, high-tech military.

Israel Foreign Ministry
"Israel remains committed to implementing President Trump's plan in full, with the disarmament of Hamas and all other terrorist organizations and the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip at its core."— Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, @gidonsaar , in joint statements with Germany's Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, @AussenMinDE (Dr. Johann Wadephul).

Nikki Haley
This NATO summit is a huge opportunity for the US not only to strengthen our alliances but to rightfully make sure our allies are pulling their weight. Expect tough conversations about Ukraine, defense spending, and ensuring we never see a nuclear Iran.

Israel Army
https://x.com/Israeldefences/status/2074503721208406231/video/1
BREAKING: CONFIRM BY RUSSIA.....
According to the latest reports, Israel has launched a massive missile attack on Turkey. Some of the missiles struck a safe house, resulting in the immediate death of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkish media itself is confirming this news.

Brigitte Gabriel
https://x.com/ACTBrigitte/status/2074505702203072517/video/1
SHOCKING!! Trump just lifted sanctions on Turkey, a primary Muslim Brotherhood sponsor and Hamas haven. No conditions. No explanation. " You don't want to sanction FRIENDS" - Trump
You don't remove leverage on nations bankrolling Islamic terror networks.

George Orwell
https://x.com/OrwellTruth1984/status/2074478043335131624/video/1
@OrwellTruth1984
4h
Tulsi Gabbard, former Trump's National Intelligence Director:
"Erdogan's Turkey is not our ally.""It's time to designate Erdogan's Turkey as a state sponsor of terrorism and remove it from NATO. Stop the genocide of the Kurds. Halt the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamism. Defeat Hamas."Do you agree with @TulsiGabbard ?!

Mossad Commentary
ISRAEL PROPOSES ENERGY CORRIDOR LINKING THE GULF TO EUROPE, BYPASSING IRAN
Energy Minister Eli Cohen says Israel could become the key route for a Gulf-to-Europe oil pipeline, reducing reliance on the Strait of Hormuz and avoiding threats from Iran and the Houthis in the Red Sea. The proposed 700 km pipeline would connect Saudi Arabia to Eilat, use Israel’s existing Trans Israel Pipeline to Ashkelon, and move oil onward to Europe.“The best route is through the State of Israel,” Cohen said.

Political Pen
https://x.com/politicalpen_/status/2074466753459933491/video/1
Maryam Younnes: As Christians in Israel, our crosses are raised and no one is persecuting us
مريم يونس تردّ: كمسيحيين في إسرائيل صلباننا مرفوعة ولا أحد يضطهدنا

Mark R. Levin
The American people do not support providing all these top-line military gifts to Erdogan and his regime. He is a national-socialist Islamist, a brutal dictator, key backer of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and a completely unreliable member of NATO (if we want to talk about NATO). He threatened to destroy Israel the other day, and the administration not only said nothing but went ahead with the F-35 and jet engine sales AND will lift all sanctions against Turkey, and we are doing so while lavishly praising Erdogan. Erdogan is a grave threat to Greece, another NATO member. He is close friends with Putin and the Iranian regime. And the list goes on. I've posted several times about this because I believe it is so troubling and will have to be dealt with by future American administrations for decades to come. It was absolutely unnecessary.

Raph Israël
Translated from French
https://x.com/raphlesioniste2/status/2074375430866440670/video/1
Lebanon  A Shiite opponent of Hezbollah claims that Jerusalem historically belongs to the Jewish people.
During a television broadcast in Lebanon, Hajj Hassan Muhammad, leader of the Free Shiite Movement, states:
"We are Phoenicians, not Arabs."
"Jerusalem and Bethlehem primarily belong to the Jewish people."
"Muslims invaded Jerusalem."
A rare stance in the Arab world, going against the grain of the dominant false narrative.
History is more enduring than lies.