English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News
& Editorials
For June 01/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
I am the true
vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears
no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.
John 15/01-08/: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch
that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been
cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you.
Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you
can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and
withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and
become my disciples."
Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related
News & Editorials published on May 31- 01 June/2026
A Spiritual Summit in Preparation... Composed, Written, Directed,
Financed, and Performed by Berri, Jumblatt, and Other Failed Figures of
Power/Elias Bejjani/May 31/ 2026
Jumblatt and Berri are more dangerous than Hezbollah and even the devil
himself./Elias Bejjani/May 30/2026
The Absurdity of the Salam Government’s Crocodile Tears Over Beaufort Castle and
Tyre’s Ruins—While Hezbollah Turned Them Into Military Barracks and
Warehouses/Elias Bejjani/May 29/2026
Video-Link/Israeli Flag Raised over Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle in Deepest
Incursion in 26 Years/@AvichayAdraee/X platform/May 31/2026
Netanyahu says capturing Beaufort a 'dramatic shift' in Lebanon offensive
Israeli Flag Raised over Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle in Deepest Incursion in 26
Years
Israel plants flag on medieval castle, pushes Lebanon ground operation
France requests UN Security Council 'emergency meeting' on Lebanon
Netanyahu Orders Deeper Israeli Incursion into Lebanon to Hit Hezbollah
Israel tells Lebanese to evacuate zone south of Zahrani river
Israeli army says Hezbollah drone kills soldier
War expansion or imminent ceasefire? Conflicting reports as Israel escalates in
Lebanon
Israeli strike near Tyre hospital wounds 13 staffers
Salam says 'scorched-earth policy' won't ensure Israel's security
Lebanon: Southern Activists Mount First Political Challenge to Hezbollah/Youssef
Diab/Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
The Lebanese State: The Biggest Absentee from the Scene/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq
Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published
on May 31- 01 June/2026
Trump Reportedly Asked for Tougher Terms in Proposed Iran War Deal
Iran's Top Negotiator: No US Deal Without Tangible Results
Trump says Iran has agreed to no nuclear weapons, sends it tougher offer
Trump Says Iran Has Agreed to No Nuclear Weapons
Iran restores gas production at three offshore platforms in South Pars gas field
Iran’s IRGC attacks ‘separatist’ groups in northern Iraq
Iran says does not trust US as Trump toughens terms
US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack to serve as Syria, Iraq envoy, Trump says
Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Forces Kill Man Trying to Climb Barrier
Israeli strike kills at least two at Gaza seaport cafe, medics say
Al-Sharaa tells Trump lifting all sanctions essential for reviving Syrian
economy
Ukraine says it struck Russian pipeline and oil depot
Mamdani to skip annual parade celebrating Israel but pledges big police presence
Congo and Uganda report 263 confirmed Ebola cases with 43 deaths, Africa CDC
says
Titles For The Latest
English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on May 31- 01 June/2026
Iran after the war: Victorious or defeated, how will IRGC take
revenge/Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya English/31 May ,2026
The Game and the Conspiracy/Samir Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Iran: Truce Doesn't End Wars/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 31, 2026
What Do the Gulf States Really Want?/Ahmed Charai/Gatestone Institute/May 31,
2026
When Democracies Go to War/Antoine Douaihy/Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Between War and Peace… The Iranian Regime’s Predicament/Mohammed
al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on 31 May/2026
on May 31- 01 June/2026
A Spiritual Summit in
Preparation... Composed, Written, Directed, Financed, and Performed by Berri,
Jumblatt, and Other Failed Figures of Power
Elias Bejjani/May 31/ 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/05/154956/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEJujefuS4w
There is
little doubt that the sudden call for a spiritual summit did not come out of
nowhere. It was not the result of a national or religious awakening among those
in power. The timing, circumstances, and forces behind it suggest that it is
another political attempt led, directly or indirectly, by Nabih Berri and Walid
Jumblatt, who are facing an unprecedented crisis of trust within their Shiite
and Druze communities.
Many things have changed in Lebanon in recent years. The aura that surrounded
sectarian leaders and party bosses for decades has started to fade. Fear and
political glorification are no longer as strong as before. Social media and the
flow of information, documents, and facts have made corruption, political
favoritism, and dependency major topics of daily discussion, even within
communities that were once closed to criticism and accountability.
In this context, Berri and Jumblatt appear to understand the decline in their
public image. Many people blame Berri for protecting the system of corruption
and power-sharing and for aligning with Hezbollah, policies that contributed to
Lebanon’s collapse and repeated conflicts. Jumblatt, meanwhile, faces growing
criticism over his political shifts, alliances, and support for Hezbollah’s
weapons, positions that many opponents believe contradict the aspirations of the
Druze community in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.
More importantly, a growing number of Lebanese, including Shiites and Druze, are
asking serious questions about the relationship between the traditional
political class and Hezbollah’s regional project, as well as the concessions
made at the expense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence. For many
observers, the call for a spiritual summit is an attempt to restore lost
political and moral legitimacy for those in power, especially Berri and Jumblatt,
or at least to reduce the growing opposition they face within their own
communities.
For this reason, it is difficult to separate this summit from political
calculations. Lebanon’s long experience with so-called “spiritual summits” does
not inspire optimism. Most of these meetings have served as religious cover for
political deals or as attempts to provide moral legitimacy to decisions already
made by political leaders. Even worse, they have often been used to justify
various forms of foreign domination and political control.
At the same time, one positive development in Lebanese political life is that
more citizens are gradually freeing themselves from blind loyalty to sectarian
leaders and party establishments. Although this awareness is still developing,
social media has helped expose many realities that were once hidden behind
political patronage and partisan loyalty.
Many members of the traditional political establishment now seem aware of the
decline in their credibility. After decades of political dominance and monopoly
over representation, difficult questions are being asked openly, and corruption,
failure, and regional dependency have become regular topics of public debate.
This brings us back to the upcoming spiritual summit. The key question is: What
have previous spiritual summits actually achieved for Lebanon? Have they ever
solved a national crisis, stopped a collapse, protected sovereignty, or
strengthened the state?
Lebanon’s experience offers little reason for optimism. Most spiritual summits
held over the past decades were closely linked to political interests. They
often served to support political compromises or provide moral cover for
decisions already taken by political forces. In many cases, religious
authorities became instruments of justification or mediators between centers of
power rather than independent moral voices.
The main problem is not the idea of dialogue among religious leaders. The real
problem is the loss of independence. When religious institutions become attached
to political leaders or influenced by them, they lose their ability to act as
independent moral and national authorities.
Over recent decades, Lebanese citizens have witnessed the collapse of the state,
widespread corruption, the strengthening of occupying forces, the paralysis of
institutions, the emigration of young people, the loss of depositors’ savings,
and the subordination of national decision-making to foreign powers. Yet strong
and consistent positions from most religious authorities have been rare.
The true religious mission is to defend justice, human dignity, freedom, and
national sovereignty. When religious platforms become tools for defending failed
policies, supporting domination projects, or accommodating powerful interests,
they lose the essence of their mission.
What Lebanese people need today is not another statement or symbolic gathering
of religious leaders. They need courageous and clear moral positions that
condemn corruption regardless of who commits it, reject foreign dependency
regardless of its source, support the state's exclusive right to bear arms, and
defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and independent national decision-making.
Unfortunately, spiritual summits in their traditional form have rarely
represented genuine religious or national renewal. Instead, they have usually
reflected existing political power balances and defended the status quo.
Therefore, any new summit will gain credibility only if it begins with an honest
review of the past and clearly affirms the independence of religious authorities
from political leaders and all external influences.
If it simply repeats the same speeches and slogans, it will be nothing more than
another media event in a country exhausted by political theater and increasingly
distrustful of its official and religious institutions.
Lebanon’s liberation from Iranian influence and from the control of party bosses
and the corrupt political class will not come through protocol summits or vague
consensus statements. It will come through the return of religious leaders to
their natural role as independent moral authorities and through the awakening of
Lebanese citizens, who must reject the worship of leaders, sects, and
personalities.
Nations are built through accountability, freedom, and dignity—not through
dependency and political glorification disguised as religion.
Jumblatt and Berri are more dangerous
than Hezbollah and even the devil himself.
Elias Bejjani/May
30/2026
Unless the American sanctions target the corrupt and Trojan horse duo of
Jumblatt and Berri, it will not have the desired deterrent effect.
This un-Lebanese and diabolical pair is a million times more dangerous than
Hezbollah.
The Absurdity of the Salam
Government’s Crocodile Tears Over Beaufort Castle and Tyre’s Ruins—While
Hezbollah Turned Them Into Military Barracks and Warehouses
Elias Bejjani/May 29/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/05/154894/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlKn43r3g3M&t=718s
Beaufort Castle
Beaufort Castle, or Qalaat Shaqif Arnoun (known in French as Château de
Beaufort), is a historic fortress located in Lebanon, about one kilometer from
the village of Arnoun. Originally built by the Romans, its structures were later
expanded by the Crusaders and restored by Emir Fakhreddine II. The castle is
built on a high, sheer cliff overlooking the Litani River, the Marjayoun plain,
and the Nabatieh region. Its unique design bends along with the mountain, and
its walls—built from local rock—make it look hidden among the cliffs, even
though its grand silhouette can be seen from miles away. In historical
references, it is known as Beaufort, meaning "the beautiful fortress."
The Trojan and Submissive Comedy in Occupied Lebanon
The ridiculous "Trojan" and submissive theater continues in occupied Lebanon,
accompanied by a chorus of silent weeping and public mourning. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government—which is completely castrated of any national
pride—alongside a bunch of accidental and submissive ministers, are stepping up
today to shed crocodile tears over the ancient city of Tyre and weep for the
fate of the historic Beaufort Castle following Israeli military strikes.
The tragicomic irony is that this so-called "state," falsely named the Lebanese
Republic, is actually just an occupied province belonging to the "State of
Hezbollah"—with all the terror and hostage-taking that implies. This regime begs
the international community and the world's conscience to protect historical
stones. Yet, it has openly conspired and collaborated to hand over the people,
the land, and history to an Iranian terrorist militia that has turned Tyre, its
surroundings, and the towers of Beaufort Castle into military barracks and
rocket warehouses!
Minister Raji and Idle Diplomatic Contacts: Much Ado About Nothing
In a highly dramatic scene, Foreign Minister Youssef Raji releases a statement
dripping with "deep pain and profound anxiety," talking about Tyre’s ancient
neighborhoods, its churches, and its mosques that survived for thousands of
years. The minister boasts about his "intensive diplomatic contacts" to save
this human heritage. In the exact same context came a notable statement by the
Arabist and Nasserist Minister of Culture, Ghassan Salameh.
What heritage are Raji and Salameh even talking about? Their sweet diplomatic
words are completely worthless and lack any credibility. With full intent,
premeditation, and blatant submission, they choose to ignore the naked truth:
the Iranian-backed, jihadist Hezbollah is the one that turned these ancient
neighborhoods and historic sites into military outposts and security zones right
under the cover of Nawaf Salam’s helpless government. Their diplomatic calls are
nothing but an exercise in stupidity, serving as a cover-up for a clear Iranian
occupation that is holding Tyre and its people hostage, while turning Beaufort
Castle into an Iranian military barracks.
The Arnon Municipality and "Enhanced Protection" for a Rocket Arsenal!
Equally detached from reality is the statement issued by the Arnon Municipality.
The municipality condemns the shelling of Beaufort Castle by hiding behind the
2024 Hague Convention protocol, which granted the castle "enhanced protection."
The municipality and the "Green Southerners" association call the strikes a
"systematic cultural genocide" and a war crime.
How short-sighted can these local officials be! International laws and heritage
treaties automatically lose their validity the moment a terrorist militia
transforms a historic site into a strategic military outpost to launch rockets,
dig tunnels, and store weapons. Beaufort Castle, with its strategic location
overlooking the Litani River and the Galilee, stopped being a tourist landmark
the moment Hezbollah decided to resurrect its military "glory" there. Your talk
about the "resilience of its people" over centuries is just a cheap excuse to
justify the presence of Iranian weapon depots. Your statement is completely
meaningless and worthless because you chose to ignore how the castle was
booby-trapped with the spirit of the Mullahs. You stripped it of its cultural
identity and dressed it in a yellow military uniform.
The Baalbek Theater Repeated in the South
This official hypocrisy reminds us of the exact same ridiculous plays staged by
Hezbollah, its submissive state, and its media puppets during the COVID-19 era
when they exposed the Baalbek ruins to the danger of destruction. Back then,
they openly bragged about their military control while the state remained
completely silent. Today, the exact same scenario is repeated in the South: the
militia plants weapons among the ruins, and the government cries over
international law!
Nawaf Salam: Political Coma and Intentional Blindness
As for Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, he treats us on the "X" platform to worn-out
clichés like "nothing justifies these attacks" and demands for a full Israeli
withdrawal and the return of state authority.
Mr. Prime Minister, where is this state authority you are talking about? What
sovereignty are you weeping for when you know damn well that every single inch
of Lebanon—not just Tyre or Beaufort Castle—is a military barracks and a weapons
depot hijacked by the Iranian Supreme Leader (Wali al-Faqih)? How can you act
surprised by these strikes while you cowardly turn a blind eye to the real
occupation sitting inside your government offices and controlling your military
and security institutions?
Conclusion: Shut Up and Accept the Truth
The puppets of this government, the cheerleaders of Hezbollah, and all the
complicit ministers and officials in Lebanon should just shut up, swallow their
tongues, and go away. Stop your cheap media campaigns that claim to protect
history and heritage.
This is a state falsely called a "Republic," but in reality, it is an Iranian
province ruled by a terrorist faction that holds the sole decision over war and
peace. It controls the necks and the tongues of everyone in power. The world
will not believe you, and treaties will not protect you, as long as Lebanon’s
history and present are used as wooden shields to protect Hezbollah's arsenal.
Your screaming has no credibility, and your tears are nothing but waste water
running down the face of a state that has no sovereignty and no dignity
Video-Link/Israeli Flag Raised over
Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle in Deepest Incursion in 26 Years
@AvichayAdraee/X platform/May 31/2026
https://x.com/i/status/2061145187141681330
Israeli Flag Raised over Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle in Deepest Incursion in 26
Years
May 31/2026
Netanyahu says capturing Beaufort a 'dramatic shift' in
Lebanon offensive
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/Associated Press/May 31/2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he ordered the Israeli
army to deepen its deployment in Hezbollah strongholds north of the Litani
River, noting that "soon Hezbollah will no longer have the ability to threaten
northern Israel."Netanyahu also declared that Israeli forces' capture of
Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon marked a "dramatic shift" in Israel's
campaign against Hezbollah. "Today, we have returned to Beaufort in a different
way. We have returned united, determined, and stronger than ever," Netanyahu
said in a video statement. "The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a
dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear.
We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts –- in Syria, in
Gaza, in Lebanon."Netanyahu added that Israel has killed 3,000 Hezbollah
militants since the start of the war. Hezbollah has not disclosed the number of
their casualties.
Israeli Flag Raised over Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle in
Deepest Incursion in 26 Years
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built
castle in southern Lebanon in their deepest incursion into the country in more
than a quarter century, bragging about planting the flag on the medieval
fortress of Beaufort. The capture of Beaufort near the city of Nabatiyeh came after days of intense
fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages where Israeli troops fought Hezbollah
members in the rugged area. The capture of the castle marks a major gain for Israel since the latest
Israel-Hezbollah war began in early March and as the two countries hold direct
talks in Washington.
The Israeli push came despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place since
April 17.The Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted a photograph on X
showing Israeli troops walking outside the castle. Defense Minister Israel Katz also wrote on X, saying that they had raised an
Israeli flag over the castle. "Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of
Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First
Lebanon War (1982), our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and once
again raised the Israeli flag there," Katz said on his Telegram channel.
Israeli troops previously captured the castle in 1982 and held it until they
withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. The Israeli military said in a statement that it launched an operation a few
days ago in the Beaufort Ridge and the Suluki valley further south with the aim
of dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and removing "direct threats to Israeli
civilians.”The statement said the army is ready “to expand the operation if needed.”Israeli troops have been advancing for days in villages close to Beaufort castle
after crossing the Litani River, which the Israeli military previously used as a
de facto boundary. They are now about 5 kilometers from the city of Nabatiyeh, a
major center in southern Lebanon.Also Sunday, the Israeli military warned Lebanese civilians living south of the
Zahrani river to evacuate the region, warning that it was stepping up operations
against Hezbollah. "Residents of southern Lebanon, you must move immediately to north of the
Zahrani," Adraee posted on social media. Hezbollah overnight claimed two attacks
targeting Israeli troops and a Merkava tank in the southwestern town of Bayada
near the border. In recent days, the group has said it has clashed with Israeli
troops in several towns just north of the river near Nabatiyeh and the strategic
castle. Hezbollah in recent weeks has frustrated Israel with attacks on troops
and northern towns using hard-to-detect fiber optic drones.
The Israeli army announced Sunday that one of its soldiers had been killed the
previous day by a Hezbollah explosive drone in southern Lebanon. In total, 25
Israelis have been killed - 24 soldiers and one civilian contractor - since
hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah resumed on March 2.
Israel plants flag on medieval castle, pushes Lebanon
ground operation
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/May 31/2026
Israel's flag flew over the medieval fortress on Beaufort in Lebanon on Sunday
as it warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate a large area of the south of the
country ahead of stepped up ground operations. Shelling was audible and smoke
rose from the surrounding area as the invading army's banner was seen by AFP
above the castle, which Israeli forces famously used as a base during their
previous two-decade long occupation. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said
troops had captured the historic strongpoint, which commands sweeping views of
south Lebanon, as they expanded their ground operations, which Lebanon's prime
minister has condemned as a "scorched earth" policy. "Forty-four years after the
heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell
in the First Lebanon War, our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and
once again raised the Israeli flag there," Katz said, in a social media post.
"Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and my direction, the IDF (army)
expanded the operations in Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the
Beaufort Ridge -- one of the most important strategic points for defending the
communities of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces." The
push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order
to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40
kilometers (25 miles) from the border, warning that it was targeting
Hezbollah.Israeli troops previously captured the castle in 1982 and held it
until they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. The Beaufort fortress, perched high
atop Lebanon’s rolling green hills and overlooking the Litani River, has been a
strategic military asset for many armies over almost 1,000 years. Built as a
Crusader castle around the 12th century on top of previous fortifications, it
has been used by the Crusaders, Saladin’s Jerusalem army, Mamlukes, Ottomans,
the French mandate, the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Israeli
military until 2000, when it was partially restored and opened to visitors. The
Crusaders named it Beaufort which is Old French for “beautiful fortress.” The
1982 capture of the castle from the Palestine Liberation Organization was a
major victory for the Israeli military that was led at the time by Defense
Minister Ariel Sharon, who later became Israel's prime minister. At the time,
the Israeli army pushed all the way north and occupied Beirut. During the
previous Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024, UNESCO gave enhanced protection to 34
cultural sites in Lebanon including Beaufort Castle to safeguard it from damage.
The castle is a few kilometers north of the Israel border and overlooks wide
parts of southern Lebanon and northern Israel. In Arabic, it is called Al-Shaqif
castle, an old Syriac word referring to the formidable rocky area.
France requests UN Security Council 'emergency meeting'
on Lebanon
Agence France Presse/May 31/2026
France has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council
after Israeli forces seized the medieval Beaufort castle in Lebanon, the French
foreign minister said Sunday. "I have requested an
emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council because, while we
recognise Israel's right, like that of all countries, to self-defence... nothing
can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its
ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory," Jean-Noel Barrot said on the
BFMTV channel.
Netanyahu Orders Deeper Israeli Incursion into Lebanon
to Hit Hezbollah
Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered troops
to move further into Lebanon in the battle against the Iran-backed Hezbollah
militant group, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago. The
fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing
more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and evacuation orders
since March 2, when Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into Israel to
back its ally Iran. The incursion has so far killed more than 3,370 people,
according to the Lebanese government. Israel says 24 of its soldiers and four
civilians have been killed over the same period. Tens of thousands of Israelis
in the country's north have also been displaced by Hezbollah rockets and drones.
In the latest advance, Israeli troops seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle
and a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, the military said, a day after one of
the heaviest days of Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel since the April
ceasefire, prompting school closures and restrictions. "I instructed the
(military) to expand its ground manoeuvre in Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a
statement. Israeli troops and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire since the
mid-April ceasefire, with Hezbollah resorting to the use of cheap,
easy-to-assemble kamikaze drones that are hard for air defences to thwart and
that have killed several Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. The Israeli
military already controlled territory up to the Litani River in Lebanon, but
troops are now pushing to the Zaharani River, around 10 km north.
Netanyahu said his aim is to "deepen and expand our grip on the places
that were under Hezbollah's control".Naftali Bennett, a key challenger to
Netanyahu in an upcoming election, said he seeks stronger action in Lebanon,
including hitting suburbs of Beirut.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said soldiers will retain Beaufort as part of
Israel's security zone in southern Lebanon. "The campaign is not over yet," he
said. "We are all determined to crush Hezbollah's power."Talal Atrissi, a
sociology professor at the Lebanese University and an analyst who is close to
Hezbollah, said the Israeli army is managing to achieve its goals in Lebanon.
Israeli troops were also operating near Nabatieh, a major Hezbollah stronghold
in southern Lebanon, the military said.
Israel tells Lebanese to evacuate zone south of Zahrani
river
Agence France Presse/May 31/2026
The Israeli military warned Lebanese civilians living south of the Zahrani river
to evacuate the region Sunday, warning that it was stepping up operations
against Hezbollah. "Residents of southern Lebanon, you
must move immediately to north of the Zahrani," the military's Arabic-language
spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on social media.
Israeli army says Hezbollah drone kills soldier
Agence France Presse/May 31/2026
The Israeli army announced Sunday that one of its soldiers had been killed the
previous day by a Hezbollah explosive drone in southern Lebanon, bringing to 25
the number of Israeli military deaths since early March. Staff Sergeant Michael
Tyukin, 21, "fell in combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a brief
statement. An army spokesman told AFP he was killed by a Hezbollah drone strike.
In total, 25 Israelis have been killed — 24 soldiers and one civilian contractor
— since hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah resumed on
March 2, when the militant group reopened the front in support of Tehran,
following Israeli-U.S. strikes.
War expansion or imminent ceasefire? Conflicting reports as
Israel escalates in Lebanon
Naharnet/May 31/2026
President Joseph Aoun is leading intensive efforts with the Americans in an
attempt to reach a ceasefire or de-escalation and to halt the Israeli advance,
the al-Modon news portal reported on Sunday "Contacts are ongoing with U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an attempt to reach a ceasefire," al-Modon
said. LBCI television meanwhile said that Rubio is leading efforts for
"consolidating the ceasefire in Lebanon," adding that "if these efforts succeed,
that will be announced after the Tuesday negotiations session" between Lebanese
and Israeli diplomats. Israel's Channel 14 meanwhile
reported that after a series of discussions, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz were "inclined to agree to carry out
large-scale attacks across Lebanon within the next 24 hours, including issuing
evacuation notices to hundreds of thousands of civilians, in coordination with
the Americans."Israel's flag flew over the medieval castle of Beaufort in south
Lebanon on Sunday, as it warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate a large part of
the south of the country ahead of stepped up ground operations.
Lebanon's state news agency reported a series of strikes on the
outskirts of the southern city of Tyre, including a strike near a hospital, as
well as strikes on several southern villages.
UPDATES with latest Israeli minister comments, new Hezbollah claimed strikes
Israel's flag flew over the medieval castle of Beaufort in Lebanon on Sunday, as
it warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate a large part of the south of the
country ahead of stepped up ground operations.
Shelling was audible and smoke rose from the surrounding area as the invading
army's banner was seen by AFP above the castle, which Israeli forces famously
used as a base during their previous two-decade long occupation. Israeli Defence
Minister Israel Katz said troops had captured the historic strongpoint, which
commands sweeping views of south Lebanon, as they expanded their ground
operations, which Lebanon's prime minister has condemned as a "scorched earth"
policy. "Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day
commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War, our troops have
returned to the summit of Beaufort and once again raised the Israeli flag
there," Katz said in a social media post. "Under Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and my direction, the IDF expanded the operations in
Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the Beaufort Ridge -- one of the
most important strategic points for defending the communities of the Galilee and
safeguarding the security of our forces." Speaking at a military ceremony later
on Sunday, Katz boasted Israel's Lebanon campaign has achieved "the elimination
of thousands of terrorists and the seizure of hundreds of square kilometres,"
warning that "whoever harms Israeli civilians will lose their territory from
which they operate". The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a
sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the
Litani and around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, warning that it was
targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group. "Anyone present near Hezbollah
elements, facilities, or combat means endangers their life. Any building used by
Hezbollah for military purposes may become subject to targeting!" Israeli
military spokesman Avichay Adraee said, in a social media post. Lebanon's state
news agency reported a series of strikes on the outskirts of the southern city
of Tyre, including a strike near a hospital, as well as strikes on several
southern villages. It also said civil defence workers in the Tyre region
received phone calls from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate.
'Collective punishment' -
Lebanon's prime minister Nawaf Salam had accused Israel on Saturday of pursuing
a "scorched-earth policy and collective punishment" in the south, urging a halt
to the fighting and warning it was "destroying towns and villages, and forcing
their inhabitants into exile".
Military delegations from both countries held security talks in Washington on
Friday, with more US-brokered negotiations planned next week. Salam said the
outcome of the negotiations was "not guaranteed", but called them "the least
costly path for our country and our people".
A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah
officially began on April 17, but has never been observed. Both Israel and
Hezbollah accuse each other daily of violating the ceasefire and justify their
attacks by the other's alleged breaches.
A US statement issued after Friday's Israel-Lebanon talks made no mention of the
truce, but said the "productive military-to-military discussions" would inform
next week's political meeting. Hezbollah vehemently
opposes the direct talks. On Sunday, the Iran-backed armed group said they
targeted Israeli army positions and infrastructure in Shlomi and Nahariya in
northern Israel, while air raid sirens blared in the Acre area. The Israeli
military told AFP that more than 25 projectiles were launched from Lebanon
towards Israel on Saturday, while air alert sirens sounded in the northern
cities of Karmiel and Safed for the first time since the ceasefire, according to
the army's Home Front Command. Public broadcaster Kan aired footage shared on
social media showing rockets falling into the sea off Israel's Nahariya, near
the border, sending beachgoers fleeing. The Lebanese health ministry says that
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,371 people since March 2.
Israeli strike near Tyre hospital wounds 13 staffers
Agence France Presse/May 31/2026
An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre, south Lebanon wounded 13 staffers,
the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel pushes forward its offensive deeper
into the country. "The Israeli enemy launched an
airstrike in the vicinity of Hiram Hospital in Tyre, injuring 13 hospital staff
members and causing significant damage," the ministry said in a statement,
urging "the international community to put an end to the escalating and
expanding Israeli attacks".
Salam says 'scorched-earth policy' won't ensure Israel's
security
Agence France Presse/May 31/2026
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has denounced what he called a dangerous Israeli
escalation in the south, urging an immediate ceasefire and insisting that a
"scorched-earth policy" would not ensure Israel's security. In a televised
address, Salam also defended his government's direct negotiations with Israel --
which Iran-backed Hezbollah opposes -- saying that the talks were the "least
costly path" for Lebanon. "In light of the dangerous and unprecedented Israeli
escalation over the past few days, it is necessary to step up political and
diplomatic efforts to achieve a swift and real ceasefire," Salam said. He
accused Israel of "pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment"
by "destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into
exile."This will bring "neither security nor stability" to Israel, he said.
Salam's broadcast came after Israel's military issued new evacuation
warnings for residents of more south Lebanon villages, and a day after military
delegations from both countries held landmark security talks in Washington.
Those talks took place ahead of U.S.-brokered negotiations early next week --
the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted in March.
Salam said the outcome of the direct negotiations with Israel was "not
guaranteed", but that they "are the least costly path for our country and our
people". A U.S. statement after Friday's talks made no
mention of a ceasefire, and Israel has recently intensified its air and ground
operations against Hezbollah. A truce to halt the fighting officially took
effect on April 17, but has never been observed.
Lebanon: Southern Activists Mount First Political Challenge
to Hezbollah
Youssef Diab/Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Activists in southern Lebanon have opened the first political confrontation with
Hezbollah, issuing two appeals in the names of Tyre and Nabatieh that call for
the cities to be declared “free of weapons” and placed “under the authority and
protection of the Lebanese state.”
Their aim is to protect the cities from Israeli bombardment and prevent them,
along with nearby villages, from being emptied of residents. As Israel’s war on
Lebanon continues, leaving widespread destruction and unprecedented human and
material losses in the south, voices from within the southern community itself
are beginning to call for an end to the war and to the transformation of the
region into an open arena for regional conflicts. The move goes beyond
humanitarian appeals and reaches into the heart of the debate over the south’s
future and the role of weapons there.
Tyre appeal
A number of residents of Tyre and nearby areas issued an appeal calling for
“saving their city from the ongoing destruction caused by Israeli aggression,
which has claimed dozens of its people and seeks to empty it of its residents
and remove it from history and geography through the systematic targeting of
civilians and infrastructure.”The signatories said their moral responsibility
“requires raising their voices loudly and without equivocation.”They said their
goal was “to reach a final end to the war and fully liberate Lebanese land, away
from axis politics and other people’s wars, so that the south does not remain a
card in regional negotiations that have nothing to do with the Lebanese.” They
also stressed “the need to impose the sovereignty of the Lebanese state over all
its territory.” They called for “putting an end to the destruction of Tyre,
working to consolidate a comprehensive ceasefire across all Lebanese territory,
and for the Lebanese government to launch an urgent Arab and international
diplomatic and political initiative to protect the historic city from ongoing
Israeli attacks.”They also urged “strengthening the deployment of the Lebanese
army and official security forces inside the city and around it, and
consolidating the presence of state institutions there in a way that preserves
security and stability and protects residents.”The appeal went further, calling
for Tyre to be declared an “open city” free of weapons, allowing its people to
return, protecting displaced people and arrivals, ensuring access to
humanitarian and medical aid, and keeping basic services running.
Nabatieh appeal
Hours later, residents of Nabatieh picked up the initiative and issued a similar
appeal signed by about 220 figures, including activists, and social, cultural,
academic and economic figures. They called on the Lebanese government to “launch
an urgent diplomatic and political move to protect Nabatieh and its district
from destruction and ongoing Israeli attacks.”They also called for
“strengthening the deployment of the Lebanese army and security forces at the
entrances to the city and around it, and consolidating the presence of state
institutions in a way that protects civilians and reassures residents and the
displaced.” The people of Nabatieh stressed the need to “declare the city and
its surroundings a safe and open area under the care of the Lebanese state and
its legitimate authority, free of everything that could expose its residents to
danger, allowing people to return to their homes and sparing the city further
destruction.”They appealed to the state “to take the necessary measures to
protect Beaufort Castle and all other historical and heritage landmarks in the
area, and to work to impose a ceasefire in Nabatieh and the south, as was the
case in other areas that witnessed relative calm.”
Shift in public mood
The two appeals drew wide political and media attention as possible signs of a
shift in public mood inside southern Lebanon. Academic and political researcher
Dr. Harith Suleiman said the appeals by residents of Tyre and Nabatieh “reflect
a decline in popular confidence in Hezbollah’s military role, and point to a
growing conviction among a segment of southerners that the military option has
failed to protect southern areas or prevent Israeli incursions.”Suleiman told
Asharq Al-Awsat that Hezbollah “has long promoted the idea that it had the
advantage in any ground confrontation with Israel, but recent developments on
the ground showed a clear imbalance in the balance of power in Israel’s favor,
as well as a decline in the party’s ability to inflict losses that would make
any ground incursion costly.”He said the appeals “are, in essence, a political
message showing that a segment of the people of the south now sees the Lebanese
state alone as the refuge capable of providing protection and stability.”At
their core, the demands carry a political position, pointing to a conviction
among southerners that the state alone is their refuge. Suleiman said the
appeals “mark a popular collapse of the military role that the party has played
over the past years, and reflect a growing tendency among Lebanese to entrust
their fate to the state and its diplomatic choices after the bet on military
solutions has receded.” He said southerners “hold the party responsible for the
choices that led to human losses and urban destruction in the region.”“What is
happening in the south, in terms of human and urban catastrophe, is a
translation of Iranian choices that do not care about the fate of Shiites.
Unfortunately, the tragedy befalling the people of the south and the Lebanese
adds nothing to Iran under a balance of power that does not tilt in its favor,”
he said.
Humanitarian catastrophe
The signatories of the Tyre appeal, however, said the demand to declare the city
free of weapons does not stem from a political background as much as from a
desire to protect residents and prevent the city from being used as a pretext
for Israeli targeting. One signatory told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tyre “has been
living through something resembling a humanitarian catastrophe since the
outbreak of the latest war, after it turned into a main center for receiving
displaced people from surrounding villages and towns.”He said large numbers of
displaced people in recent months had arrived in the city. They were housed in
old neighborhoods, schools and public facilities, placing huge humanitarian and
service burdens on residents. He said the main goal of calling for the city to
be free of weapons “is to protect it through legitimate state institutions and
prevent it from being used as a justification for Israeli airstrikes, for which
civilians pay the heaviest price.”“More than half of Tyre has been destroyed,
while preserving the city, its residents and its historical and national role
has become a priority above all other considerations,” he said.
The Lebanese State: The Biggest Absentee from the Scene
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Yesterday, Israel rejected Lebanon’s request for a ceasefire during the period
of direct negotiations currently underway in the US capital, Washington.
With this position, Israel clearly has no fear whatsoever of provoking American
anger. That is because the nature of US-Israeli relations differs fundamentally
from Washington’s ties with any other “allied” state. Consequently, only the
most naïve observers - or those inclined toward denial - can still believe that
Washington is a neutral sponsor of the current negotiating process.
At the same time, the negotiations are unfolding against the backdrop of two
major developments:
First, the expansion of Israeli military operations - in both destruction and
displacement - under the pretext of uprooting Hezbollah’s infrastructure,
together with the political turmoil, sectarian incitement, and economic
devastation these operations are inflicting on Lebanon internally. This is
precisely what the Israeli right seeks as part of its partitionist and
fragmentation project for the Arab East. Second, the reshaping of the strategic
relationship between the United States and Israel amid rapid shifts in
Washington’s international and regional relations, as well as in Israeli
military doctrine. Yesterday, Asharq Al-Awsat published a valuable contribution
from our correspondent in occupied Palestine, quoting reserve General Amos
Yadlin as saying that there is a “deepening crisis in American public opinion
toward Israel. One immediately senses the emergence of an anti-Israel front that
brings together the progressive left in the Democratic Party and the
isolationist camp within the Republican Party. The younger the demographic
groups, the wider this phenomenon spreads, extending even to some moderates in
both parties. This trend is becoming more acute in light of the unprecedented
security cooperation between the two countries in the war against Iran, and
Israel’s major and influential contribution to the joint military operations.”
Yadlin - together with Avner Golov, founder and director of the organization
“MIND Israel” -believes that despite the high regard for the Israeli military
because of its “partnership” in the war alongside the US military against Iran,
an anti-Israel front is nevertheless taking shape within both American parties,
outside the security establishment and President Donald Trump’s inner circle.
This front portrays Israel as having “dragged” the American president into a
regional conflict in pursuit of its ambitions through military force. Therefore,
the two men argue that Israel must offer Washington “not merely another
relationship based primarily on security interests or historical commitments,
but a partnership that provides direct strategic value to the shared interests
of both countries.”Accordingly, the two men call on Israel to strengthen a new
model for its relationship with Washington - one “not limited to receiving aid,
but encompassing partnership” - particularly in the fields of technology,
artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, energy, and
biomaterials.
Important in this context is the enormous growth in American acquisitions, as
well as joint development and manufacturing programs between giant US
corporations and Israeli startup companies excelling in various AI-based
surveillance and sensing applications. By way of example alone, it is enough to
point to Apple’s massive investments in Israel, where the company maintains in
the city of Herzliya its second-largest research and manufacturing facilities in
the world. Conversely - while continuing the discussion of Tel Aviv’s
relationship with Washington - an Israeli researcher critical of his
government’s policies pointed out yesterday that Israeli authorities are uneasy
about being “excluded” from the talks Washington is conducting with Tehran. As a
result, Israel is attempting to influence those talks “from the outside.” The
researcher then listed several reasons for this unease:
First, Israel fears that any agreement between Washington and Tehran may stop at
securing a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, without resolving what
remains the top priority for Tel Aviv: Iran’s nuclear program and its stockpile
of enriched uranium.
Second, Benjamin Netanyahu doubts the sincerity of Washington’s repeated
assurances that no agreement on the nuclear issue will be reached without
eliminating any threat posed by Tehran. Here, Israel believes the goal should be
the destruction of the nuclear facilities and the transfer of enriched materials
outside Iran’s borders. Yet there remains a wide gap between what Israel seeks
and what is actually being proposed. Netanyahu therefore fears that Israeli
elections may arrive before that gap is bridged.
Third, regarding Lebanon, it is entirely clear that Israel, in order to
strengthen and entrench its political position, continues to “create an
occupation reality” on the ground that it can exploit should it be forced to
accept a deal. Otherwise, it will continue sabotaging every opportunity for an
understanding. Fourth, and related to the above, Israel fears that any Iranian
agreement with Washington could lead to the release of frozen Iranian funds
estimated at around $25 billion. Its concerns are heightened by the possibility
that the released funds could reach Tehran’s allies and “proxies” in the region
- especially since Iranian negotiators insist that their talks include a
ceasefire in Lebanon and preventing Israel from striking Hezbollah, which would
further strengthen the party’s already close relationship with Tehran.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s social, economic, and political crises continue to deepen.
In the face of Israel’s insistence on displacement and occupation, and
Hezbollah’s reliance on its regional alliances, official paralysis, popular
division, and the scramble by certain power-hungry politicians for foreign
backing are becoming ever more evident.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on May 31- 01 June/2026
Trump Reportedly Asked
for Tougher Terms in Proposed Iran War Deal
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/May 31/2026
President Donald Trump has sought to change several terms of a proposal to end
the Middle East war, US media reported Saturday, as a finalized deal remains
elusive among the parties.The New York Times reported Trump's changes involved
toughening the terms of the deal, and has sent the new framework back to be
considered by Iran, according to officials familiar with the proceedings. The
report said it was not immediately clear what the changes entailed, but news
site Axios reported Trump wanted to reinforce multiple points of the deal that
he personally felt were important, such as what is done to Iran's nuclear
material.The new tweaks could prolong negotiations between the parties for days
before a decision is reached on whether the deal would end the war which began
after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28. US
sources had told AFP that the proposal had been waiting on Trump's sign-off, but
he made no decision after a White House Situation Room meeting on Friday. Trump
has said his priorities for any deal included Iran agreeing to never develop
nuclear weapons and the re-opening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, through
which roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply transits.
Iran's Top Negotiator: No US Deal Without Tangible Results
Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Iran will not accept any agreement ending its conflict with the US unless there
is certainty that the Iranian people's rights are secured, top negotiator
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday according to state media. "There is no
trust in the enemy's words and promises. Our only criterion is to achieve
tangible results before we fulfill our commitments in return," he added after
taking an oath as the re-elected speaker of parliament alongside its presidium.
Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees
from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons. Trump has said his
priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon
development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
Trump says Iran has agreed to no nuclear weapons, sends it
tougher offer
Agence France Presse/May
31, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from
Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged he had sent a
tougher peace proposal back to Tehran. Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong
even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the
Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite
fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare up of armed conflict.
The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that
Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with "tougher"
terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed. Trump has said
his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon
development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
"The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear
weapons. They've agreed to that, and it was very interesting," he told his
daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on
Saturday night. But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump's assertions and
the parties appeared far apart on their key priorities.
Iran has said it requires the release of $12 billion in frozen assets
before it moved to substantive talks on issues such as its nuclear program and
called earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium -- a precursor for
nuclear weapons -- would be destroyed "baseless", according to Iranian media.
Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon must be included in any end to the war
despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a "scorched-earth
policy" as its forces advanced and carried out further airstrikes it says target
Iran-backed group Hezbollah. After Trump and US
officials earlier said they were on the brink of striking a deal, he struck a
less urgent tone and hinted at renewed military action in the Fox interview.
"I'm in no hurry," he said. "Slowly but surely we're getting, I think,
what we want and if we don't get what we want, we're going to end in a different
way."
Flare ups -
That echoed comments from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth who said at a defense
summit in Asia on Saturday that Washington was "more than capable" of restarting
the war if necessary. Though daily strikes throughout
Iran and the Gulf have stopped since Tehran and Washington struck a temporary
ceasefire in April followed by historic talks hosted by Pakistan, bursts of
armed conflict have continued. Iran's Revolutionary Guards had shot down a U.S.
military drone "about to enter Iranian territorial waters to conduct hostile
operations", Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported, an incident that has not
been confirmed by the United States.Earlier in the week, the worst fighting
since the fragile ceasefire broke out when U.S. forces carried out strikes on
the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory fire from Iran.
Nevertheless diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to reach
an agreement that would lift U.S. and Iranian competing blockades around the
Strait of Hormuz that have choked international oil supplies and threatened the
global economy with rising prices. After Trump said on
social media that Tehran would charge "no tolls" on ships passing through the
strait once the blockades were lifted under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars
cited sources saying "no such clause appears in the text of the
agreement."Iran's ISNA news agency on Saturday cited lawmaker Alireza Salimi as
saying a plan "to implement Iran's management and sovereignty over the Strait of
Hormuz will soon be approved by parliament."
Trump Says Iran Has Agreed to No Nuclear Weapons
Washington: Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
US President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would
not develop nuclear weapons. Trump has said his priorities for any deal include
stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded
Strait of Hormuz. "The one guarantee that I have to
have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that, and it
was very interesting," he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview
broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.
But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump's assertions and the parties
appeared far apart on their key priorities. Iran has said it requires the
release of $12 billion in frozen assets before it moved to substantive talks on
issues such as its nuclear program and called earlier Trump comments that its
enriched uranium -- a precursor for nuclear weapons -- would be destroyed
"baseless", according to Iranian media. Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon
must be included in any end to the war despite ongoing fighting. After Trump and
US officials earlier said they were on the brink of striking a deal, he struck a
less urgent tone and hinted at renewed military action in the Fox interview.
"I'm in no hurry," he said. "Slowly but surely we're getting, I think, what we
want and if we don't get what we want, we're going to end in a different way."
Iran restores gas production at three offshore platforms
in South Pars gas field
Reuters/31 May ,2026
Iran has restored gas production at three offshore platforms in the South Pars
gas field that had been forced to halt output after Israeli attacks disrupted
processing capacity at some onshore facilities, the chief executive of the Pars
Oil and Gas Company told state media on Sunday.
Touraj Dehqani said the platforms had not been damaged. He said production from
the three platforms was being routed to other processing plants in the region
while repairs continue at damaged facilities, including the Phase 14 refinery.
Iran’s IRGC attacks ‘separatist’ groups in northern Iraq
Al Arabiya English/31 May ,2026
The ground forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have
attacked the bases of “separatist” groups in northern Iraq, Iranian state media
said on Sunday.
It was not clear which specific locations had been attacked.
Iran says does not trust US as Trump toughens terms
Agence France Presse/May
31, 2026
Iran's chief negotiator warned the United States is not to be trusted Sunday,
saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully
secures Iranian rights. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's
remarks came as reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a
tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties
still need to close. Any further tweaks to the draft could further delay an
agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz
after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional
flare-ups of violence. Iran was already in negotiations with the United States
about the fate of its nuclear programme in February, when the US and Israel
launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic's
senior leadership. And, while Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear
programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies
have long suspected it aims to develop a weapon.
Nuclear guarantees -
The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a
"tougher" new framework to be considered by Iran, though details remain unclear.
Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear
weapon development and re-opening the Hormuz shipping lane, over which Iran has
sought to impose control since the war began."The one guarantee that I have to
have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that, and it
was very interesting," he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview on
her Fox News show. But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump's assertions
and the sides remain far apart on key issues. "We will not approve any agreement
until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,"
Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television. According to the Tasnim
news agency, "exchanges between Iran and the United States regarding the text of
a possible memorandum of understanding are ongoing, with both parties regularly
proposing amendments. "No agreement has yet been finalised, and it is possible
that any agreement will be rejected," it said.Iran has said it needs the release
of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its
nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium
stockpile would be destroyed as "baseless", according to Iranian media. Tehran
has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing
fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a "scorched-earth policy" as it expands
operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Flare-ups -
Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and
Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April and talks mediated by Pakistan,
sporadic fighting has continued. Iran's Revolutionary
Guards had shot down a U.S. military drone "about to enter Iranian territorial
waters", Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not
confirmed the incident. Earlier this week, the worst fighting since the
ceasefire erupted when U.S. forces struck the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas,
prompting retaliatory fire from Iran. Nevertheless
diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to secure a deal that would
lift competing US and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have
strangled a vital route for global oil supplies. After Trump said Iran would
charge "no tolls" on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian
news agency Fars cited sources saying "no such clause" existed. Iran's ISNA news
agency on Saturday quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan "to implement
Iran's management and sovereignty" over the strait -- which includes imposing
"administrative fees" for navigation -- would soon go before parliament.
US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack to serve as Syria,
Iraq envoy, Trump says
Al Arabiya English/31 May ,2026
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US Ambassador to Turkey Tom
Barrack will serve as Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq while
remaining in his role as ambassador to Turkey. “I am pleased to announce that
United States Ambassador to Türkiye, Tom Barrack, who has done an outstanding
job, will be named Special Presidential Envoy to Syria and, likewise, Special
Presidential Envoy to Iraq,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “As we advance our
strategic cooperation with the Governments of Syria and Iraq, our relationship
with them continues to grow!” he added. “Tom will remain Ambassador to Türkiye,
and operate with the full backing of the United States Department of State. We
greatly appreciate the work that Tom Barrack has done, and his continued
willingness to serve our Country.”
Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Forces Kill Man
Trying to Climb Barrier
Asharq Al Awsat/May 31/2026
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man Sunday as he attempted to enter
Jerusalem by climbing over a barrier separating the city from the occupied West
Bank, Palestinian authorities said. The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah
identified the man as Imad Haroun Ashtiyeh, 26, saying he was killed by Israeli
gunfire near the town of Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem.
Ashtiyeh, a construction worker from the village of Salem near Nablus, had
attempted to climb the barrier at Al-Ram along with a few other men to make his
way to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for work, said Omer, a relative who gave
only his first name.
"But then he was shot while attempting to climb over," Omer told AFP.
An AFP journalist saw Ashtiyeh's corpse shrouded in a Palestinian flag at
the Ramallah medical complex, his relatives weeping over his body.
The Palestinian Authority's press office wrote on X that "Israeli
occupation forces killed a Palestinian man seeking work while crossing the
annexation and apartheid wall". Al-Ram, located near
the Qalandiya checkpoint, is separated from Jerusalem by a section of the
barrier reinforced with barbed wire. The Israeli military and police did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. Israeli security officials say a
significant number of Palestinians from the West Bank attempt to enter Israel
illegally, often by climbing over the barrier. They
are driven largely by economic hardship and the loss of work permits since the
Hamas assault that sparked the Gaza war in October 2023, Palestinian officials
say. Most of them are arrested, while some have died
or been injured fleeing from Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say. Ashtiyeh
is the fifth Palestinian killed trying to cross into Israel this year, and the
52nd since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian General Federation of
Trade Unions. Israel began building the barrier at the height of the second
Palestinian intifada that erupted in 2002, saying it was needed to maintain
security amid suicide bombings in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities. The
barrier cuts into many parts of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since
1967, and Palestinians see it as a land grab and de facto border illegal under
international law. Israel maintains tight restrictions on the movement of the
West Bank's roughly three million residents, who require special permits to
cross checkpoints into east Jerusalem and Israel. Violence has sharply escalated
in the Palestinian territory since the Gaza war began.
At least 1,075 Palestinians -- both militants and civilians -- have been killed
by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 2023, according to
AFP figures based on Palestinian health ministry data. In the same period, at
least 46 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in attacks
or military operations in the West Bank, Israeli official figures show.
Israeli strike kills at least two at Gaza seaport cafe,
medics say
Reuters/31 May ,2026
An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 12 on Sunday
at a Gaza cafe that was packed with people celebrating public holidays, health
officials said. There was no immediate Israeli comment. An October ceasefire,
brokered by US President Donald Trump, has failed to halt Israeli attacks in
Gaza. Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the
second phase of the deal, which includes the group’s disarmament and Israeli
army withdrawals. The ceasefire left Israel in control of more than half of
Gaza, with Hamas controlling a sliver of coastal territory. The cafe struck on
Sunday was on the emergency seaport in Gaza, a floating dock off the coast that
was meant to be temporary. Some 900 Palestinians have
been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce came into effect, according to
figures from Gaza health officials that do not distinguish between combatants
and civilians. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the
same period, the country’s military has said.
Al-Sharaa tells Trump lifting all sanctions essential
for reviving Syrian economy
Al Arabiya English/31 May ,2026
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told US President Donald Trump during a phone
call on Sunday that lifting the remaining sanctions on Syria is essential to
reviving the country’s economy and attracting investment, according to the
Syrian presidency. During the call, al-Sharaa stressed the importance of
continued international support for Syria as it undergoes reconstruction and
recovery, saying that removing the remaining sanctions would help the economy
regain momentum and improve living conditions for Syrians.
He added that such a move would “encourage investment and create a
suitable environment for the return of economic and development projects across
key sectors.”The call also addressed the security situation in the region and
challenges arising from ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the presidency
said. Al-Sharaa “underscored the importance of prioritizing diplomacy and
dialogue to strengthen regional peace and security and prevent further
escalation.”For his part, Trump “stressed the importance of maintaining
stability and supporting Syria’s recovery and reconstruction efforts, according
to the statement. “At the conclusion of the call, both sides reaffirmed the
importance of continuing communication and coordination on issues of mutual
interest in a way that serves the interests of both countries and contributes to
security and stability in the region
Ukraine says it struck Russian pipeline and oil depot
AFP/31 May ,2026
Ukrainian drones on Sunday struck an oil depot in southern Russia and a pumping
station hundreds of kilometers from the front, Kyiv said, with Russian officials
confirming strikes in the areas. Kyiv has stepped up strikes on Moscow’s
infrastructure in the fifth year of war, hitting targets as far as the Urals in
recent weeks. Its army said drones hit a “dispatch station of a major oil
pipeline” in Russia’s Kirov region and an oil depot in the Rostov region, near
occupied Ukraine. It said the pipeline transported oil from Siberia to western
Russia and Belarus. The governor of the Kirov region,
Alexander Sokolov, only said that Ukrainian drones had hit a “facility” and
caused a fire, claiming no casualties and calling for calm. In the town of
Matveyev-Kurgan in the southern Rostov region, regularly hit by Kyiv, local
officials introduced a state of emergency over a huge blaze at an oil depot hit
by a drone. The town’s head Dina Alborova said the fire spread over 3,600 square
meters (39,000 square feet), publishing images of plumes of black smoke. She
said residential houses and several shops were affected.
In Ukraine, authorities were clearing the aftermath of a Russian strike
on a warehouse in Dnipro, belonging to popular postal company Nova Poshta. Nova
Poshta, a private courier company widely used in and outside Ukraine, said its
Dnipro branch was hit by a drone and that “the building burned down
completely.”It added that no employees were injured.
“All these attacks must be stopped,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said online,
posting images of the blaze. “All that’s needed is sufficient support for our
defense and continued pressure on Russia,” he said. Earlier this week, Zelenskyy
urged the United States to provide more ammunition for its Patriot air defense
systems to counter Russian strikes. Talks to end more
than four years of war between Russia and Ukraine have been deadlocked,
sidelined by the Iran conflict.
Mamdani to skip annual parade celebrating Israel but
pledges big police presence
The Associated Press/31 May ,2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will not attend an annual parade honoring
Israel on Sunday, breaking with a decades-long political custom because of his
support of Palestinian rights. Though it has gone by different names over the
years, the Israel Day parade has always been a must-attend event for mayors,
governors and other political leaders eager to win over the throngs of
flag-waving revelers who congregate on Fifth Avenue to celebrate the birth of
the Jewish state in 1948. Not so for Mamdani. Two weeks ago the mayor’s office
released a video commemorating the Nakba, an Arabic word for “catastrophe” that
is used to describe the displacement of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians during
the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment. “I said on the
campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views
on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said at a news conference
Thursday. But he also promised a robust police
presence to make sure it went off “seamlessly and peacefully.” “While I will not
be attending, our administration has been preparing for weeks to ensure the
parade is safe for all those who take part,” he said. The city’s police
commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, told reporters she would attend. “It
is the mayor’s decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly,”
she said as she stood alongside Mamdani at police headquarters. The mayor’s
absence, though long expected, has given fresh fuel to opponents who view his
criticism of the Israeli government as antisemitic.
Rabbi Marc Schneier, founding senior rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue on Long
Island and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which advocates
for better relationships between Jews and Muslims, called Mamdani’s decision to
not attend the parade “a slap in the face to all Jewish New Yorkers.”“Do us a
favor, stay home,” he said. “We don’t need you. We don’t want you.”Schneier also
slammed Mamdani’s Nakba video as “propaganda,” echoing concerns from other
Jewish leaders who said it excluded context about Jewish peoples’ displacement
during the period. The video, which appeared to be the first such recognition
from a sitting New York City mayor, featured the story of a woman who was
displaced at 9 years old, interspersed with text about the Nakba, as she
described a feeling of missing home, saying “it’s the soft hills of Palestine
that actually touched me.”“I’ve lived in different places, and I’ve always been
an outsider,” said the woman, Inea Bushnaq. Supporters of Israel were outraged,
saying the video should have acknowledged the mass displacement of Jews from
Muslim-majority countries or the role that the mass slaughter of Jews in the
Holocaust played in the drive to establish a Jewish state. Mayors in New York
City, which has America’s largest Jewish population, have long been visible
supporters of Israel, often visiting the country.
Support for Israel among Americans has deeply eroded in recent years, though, a
trend that accelerated amid the outcry over Israeli military action in
Gaza.Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, has remained steadfast in his
pro-Palestinian advocacy. He has said he believes
Israel has a right to exist but not as a hierarchy that favors Jewish citizens.
Simultaneously he has pledged to protect Jewish New Yorkers and highlighted the
work of the city’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.
Congo and Uganda report 263 confirmed Ebola cases with
43 deaths, Africa CDC says
Reuters/31 May ,2026
As of May 30, 263 confirmed Ebola cases have been reported in the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Uganda, the director-general of the Africa Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya said. More than 1,100 suspected
cases are being investigated and 43 people are confirmed to have died as a
result of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, Kaseya said in an FT op-ed
published on Sunday. Here are a few other details:
Kesaya said national incident systems must be activated rapidly, and
investments in pandemic preparedness must become permanent. International
partners play an essential role, but their support matters most when it aligns
with strategies that are built by African institutions and African governments,
he said. The Ebola outbreak - the 17th in Democratic Republic of Congo and the
third-largest since Ebola was discovered half a century ago - is outpacing the
global response. Health officials and aid workers say they lack even basic
supplies such as masks after the outbreak spread was undetected for weeks. The
World Health Organization has declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a
public health emergency of international concern.
on May 31- 01 June/2026
Iran after the war: Victorious or defeated, how will IRGC take revenge
Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya
English/31 May ,2026
If Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) emerges from this war as a
partner in power or in control of its levers, then the United States will have
waged a war against Iran only to end up empowering the most hardline wing of the
Islamic Republic. At that point, the question will no longer be who won
militarily and who lost, but rather: what kind of Iran has this war produced,
and who will pay the price for the Iran emerging from beneath the rubble of
strikes, deals, and understandings?
The war waged by President Donald Trump with Israel against Iran since February
has not only exposed the limits of military power; it has exposed the limits of
American political decision-making. The flaw may lie in a president who began
the war and then hesitated to carry it through. Or it may lie in the assessment
of the American military and intelligence establishment, which concluded that
completing the mission against Iran was not possible at the cost it had
envisioned. Yet the outcome is what matters to the region now: did the war
weaken the Islamic Republic, or did it reconstruct it in favor of the
Revolutionary Guard?
That question lies at the heart of the next phase. If the role of the
traditional religious establishment has receded to some extent, what has
advanced to the forefront is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: the
institution most attached to the doctrine of 1979, the least willing to engage
in genuine negotiation, and the least inclined toward give-and-take. The
Revolutionary Guard is not merely a military force; it is the ideological
guardian of the export of the revolution – the transformation of Iranian
influence into a project of regional domination over neighboring states,
particularly the Gulf, and through proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and
previously Syria.In this doctrine, the Gulf is not merely a neighboring
geographic space. It is the opposing model. The Arab Gulf states are no longer
simply political rivals to Tehran; they have become an existential challenge to
the idea of the Islamic Republic because they are building modern economic and
developmental visions that contradict the radical theological model the
Revolutionary Guard seeks to impose upon the region. Therefore, Iranian revenge
against the Gulf is not a passing possibility but part of the logic of the
regime should it emerge from the war either triumphant or wounded. The shape of
revenge is the question Washington must not underestimate, just as it previously
underestimated the mindset of Tehran’s rulers. If the Revolutionary Guard
believes it has won, it will punish all those who thought it was on the verge of
collapse. If it believes it has lost, it will seek an asymmetrical form of
retaliation – low-cost and long-term. In either case, direct retaliation against
the United States is unlikely to be the first choice unless Washington resumes
military operations and escalates toward an open confrontation. At that point,
American bases and naval presence in the region become conceivable targets.
The easier option, however, is the Gulf. Missiles and drones do not require
enormous cost to create massive disruption in economies, confidence, investment,
and strategic vision. Sustained threats to navigation, infrastructure, or
economic centers are enough to unsettle major projects built upon stability,
openness, and global connectivity. Here lies the paradox: Gulf states may not be
direct participants in the war, yet they may end up paying for it twice – once
when targeted in response to the United States and Israel, and again when left
facing an American-Iranian understanding that fails to account for their
security and vision.
For this reason, the alliance between the United States and the Arab Gulf states
appears to be facing an unprecedented test. The question is no longer whether
Washington possesses the capacity to defend the Gulf, but whether it possesses
the political will to do so when tempted by a deal with Tehran. If the war ends
through a framework agreement, side understandings, or secret arrangements led
by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner with the Iranians, then the Gulf question
becomes legitimate: is the United States still a strategic ally, or is it
experimenting with replacing the old alliance through a new understanding with
the Revolutionary Guard? The matter does not stop at the Gulf. The Iranian
people and opposition will read the outcome as betrayal if the war ends by
empowering the Revolutionary Guard. They wagered that Donald Trump was serious
about bringing radical change to Iran. If he accepts a transfer of authority
within the regime from the clerical establishment to the Revolutionary Guard –
as a form of “change,” then Washington will have granted the regime an
opportunity for internal revenge. Executions, systematic killings, and the
elimination of dissidents would then become a message to all who believed the
Islamic Republic was on the verge of collapse.
Then comes the Strait of Hormuz as a decisive test. If any memorandum of
understanding under discussion grants Iran direct or ambiguous influence over
navigation – alone or through some arrangement with Washington – then the Trump
administration will effectively have installed the Islamic Republic as a
policeman over the Gulf’s oil and gas lifeline. This is a scenario whose
consequences are difficult to overstate, because it concerns not only the Gulf
but China as well, which will not take lightly any arrangement affecting energy
security and maritime routes.
Even more troubling would be for the war to end through the systematic
postponement of the very files that created Iran’s real power: uranium later,
the nuclear program later, missiles and drones later, and regional behavior
through proxies later. This would not be a strategic agreement but a purchase of
time for Iran. If Trump accepts such a formula, he will not have surpassed the
agreement reached by Barack Obama and later torn apart; he will have returned to
something weaker. An agreement that postpones missiles, proxies, and regional
conduct gives the Revolutionary Guard room to regroup while leaving Lebanon,
Iraq, Yemen, and the Gulf trapped in the same cycle of pressure and coercion.
The domestic political cost to Trump will not be insignificant. He built part of
his image on being the man who tears up bad agreements and replaces them with
stronger deals. If he ends up with a less stringent agreement, or understandings
that leave Iran’s main instruments of power untouched, he will shift from being
the man of deals to the man of hesitation and indecision. The question in
Washington, as in the region, will then be: did Trump wage war to change Iran,
or to open the way for a new arrangement with its Revolutionary Guard?
What Iran after the war? The answer is not yet complete, but it has begun to
take shape. Either Iran is compelled to revise its doctrine and instruments, or
its Revolutionary Guard emerges more convinced that endurance alone is enough to
secure victory, that time works in Tehran’s favor, and that Washington threatens
loudly only to negotiate over what it should have resolved. At that point, the
war will not have produced a safer Middle East, but rather a Middle East
discovering that deals can sometimes prove more costly than wars.
The Game and the Conspiracy
Samir Atallah/Asharq
Al Awsat/May 31/2026
The simplified mind tends to attribute more power
to the United States than it actually possesses. What is striking about this
global phenomenon is that it sees only the negative side of American power. In
this view, the United States fails to find solutions, yet somehow always
succeeds in plotting conspiracies. In the popular imagination, the "American
conspiracy" has taken the place once occupied by the "British game" during the
era of British dominance. In reality, US power is indeed formidable, but it is
not magical. In the current conflict, even the major fleets were unable to deter
Iran or bring the battle to a conclusion within an acceptable timeframe. Yet
that immense power was able to inflict on Iran a level of destruction beyond
anything most people could have imagined. The same applies to the human losses
inflicted by the United States and Israel on Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza.
Accounts emerging from Iran since the war have painted a horrifying picture of
the scale of the devastation. A report in The New York Review of Books speaks of
"many thousands of dead" in Iranian cities, including, of course, Tehran.
Semi-official estimates, meanwhile, place the death toll across the region at
around 10,000, with roughly 50,000 wounded. A decisive outcome has yet to
emerge. A ceasefire, too, remains elusive. Regardless of the extent of the
damage inflicted on Iran, the absence of a declared American victory would once
again tarnish the standing of the world's leading power. What is certain is that
the uncertainty surrounding the scale of the disasters that have struck the
region's conflict front since October 7 has stripped the notion of victory of
its meaning. Many cities have become part of a single battlefield, itself
transformed into a long expanse of rubble and death. The United States could
have eased the scale of the destruction by restraining Israeli military actions
and limiting their brutality in Gaza and Lebanon. Instead, it insisted on
maintaining its role as Israel's unconditional ally.
Iran: Truce Doesn't End Wars
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 31, 2026
Though Israel was included in the various ceasefires that President Donald Trump
has declared, almost always without securing Israel's consent, it is clear that
Israel will not be a party to the truce mediated by half a dozen countries,
notably Pakistan.
Iran, as it is already threatening, intends to continue its war against Israel
through the Lebanese Hezbollah. Last Tuesday, Tehran said $5 billion of any
Iranian frozen assets that will be released under the truce will go to Hezbollah
in Lebanon to "continue the resistance."
[M]ost of the targets hit by Tehran were civilian structures that had nothing to
do with US or Israeli forces. After the first phase of the war, almost all US
bases in the region were evacuated and temporarily decommissioned.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz was also an act of war, this time not
against the US and Israel, neither of which depends on oil from the region, but
against the entire international community that has paid a heavy economic price.
Under international law, Iran has the right to deny innocent passage to
belligerent powers, that is to say, the US and Israel in this case. But it has
no right to deny passage to ships flying the flags of the other 190 members of
the United Nations.
Since the Khomeinists seized power, Iran has moved from one war to another.
The truce touted by Trump will not end any of those wars, none of which is
likely to end unless Iran breaks with Khomeinism and chooses another trajectory.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz was also an act of war, this time not
against the US and Israel, neither of which depends on oil from the region, but
against the entire international community that has paid a heavy economic price.
Pictured: The Strait of Hormuz as seen from NASA's Terra satellite (Image
source: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC)
With Iran and the US still moving towards some form of truce, it may be too
early to provide a final assessment of the conflict.
A truce, or armistice in military terms, is something more than a ceasefire but
something less than a peace accord. It doesn't end a war; it only mothballs it
sine die.
The USSR and Japan signed an armistice in 1956, more than a decade after
Russians attacked and annexed the Kuril Islands. Technically, therefore, the two
nations are still in a state of war. There are numerous other cases of truce
accords that halt a war without ending it in Latin America, Africa, the Middle
East, and Asia.
Back to the case that interests us today: a truce will not end a war that Iran
launched against the US in November 1979 when pro-Khomeini militants attacked
and occupied the American Embassy in Tehran, which, under international law, was
regarded as sovereign US territory.
Iran started its war against Israel in 1982 through proxies, at first with help
from Syrian intelligence based in Lebanon. For years Israel practiced restraint
in the hope that Iran, because of real or imagined anti-Arab and anti-Sunni
sentiments, might emerge as an ally of the Jewish state. During the Iran-Iraq
War, Israel helped smuggle arms to Iran, provided intelligence material, and
used its international influence to portray Iraq as the aggressor.
Gradually, however, especially with Hezbollah emerging as a nuisance, not to say
a threat, Israeli leaders began to question their illusions about our "Persian
ally".
But even as late as the 1990s, many Israeli leaders were opposed to adopting an
openly hostile posture towards Iran. It was only under Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu that Israel decided to go on the offensive against the Khomeinist
rulers of Tehran.
What started as a cold war rose a few degrees in temperature when Israelis
started their assassination spree against Iranian nuclear scientists while
helping arm secessionist mercenaries based in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Last June's 12-day war solidified the state of war between the two nations, a
position confirmed by the latest phase of the conflict that began almost 100
days ago.
Though Israel was included in the various ceasefires that President Donald Trump
has declared, almost always without securing Israel's consent, it is clear that
Israel will not be a party to the truce mediated by half a dozen countries,
notably Pakistan.
This means that even if a truce is concluded between Tehran and Washington, it
won't necessarily commit Israel to observing it. At the same time, Iran, as it
is already threatening, intends to continue its war against Israel through the
Lebanese Hezbollah. Last Tuesday, Tehran said $5 billion of any Iranian frozen
assets that will be released under the truce will go to Hezbollah in Lebanon to
"continue the resistance."
To make matters more complicated, Iran is technically at war against several
regional countries, from Oman to Jordan and passing by the GCC members that it
has attacked with the flimsy excuse that they shelter American military assets.
In reality, however, most of the targets hit by Tehran were civilian structures
that had nothing to do with US or Israeli forces. After the first phase of the
war, almost all US bases in the region were evacuated and temporarily
decommissioned. The bulk of US attacks came either from Diego Garcia or from
mainland US with stopovers in Britain and Germany. The aircraft carriers that
Trump had assembled 1,000 kilometers from Iranian shores were mostly used as
stage props, with the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv serving as the key aircraft
carrier.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz was also an act of war, this time not
against the US and Israel, neither of which depends on oil from the region, but
against the entire international community that has paid a heavy economic price.
Under international law, Iran has the right to deny innocent passage to
belligerent powers, that is to say, the US and Israel in this case. But it has
no right to deny passage to ships flying the flags of the other 190 members of
the United Nations. At the same time, since the southern coast of the Hormuz
Strait is sovereign territory of Oman, its unilateral blocking is a direct act
of war against the sultanate.
Since the Khomeinists seized power, Iran has moved from one war to another.
The first war was between the new regime and the personnel of the fallen one.
More than 25,000 military, diplomatic, political, bureaucratic, academic,
scientific, art and culture, media, business and social personalities were
executed, and over 50,000, including 6,000 university professors and teachers,
were purged. Over a million others fled into exile; their number grew to almost
nine million by 2026.
The new regime's next war was launched against so-called "minorities" with
massacres of Kurdish dissidents in Naqadeh and Turkoman tribesmen in Gonbad
Kavous.
The next war was launched against Khomeini's initial allies in the 1979
revolution and led to the execution of thousands of Communists, People's
Mujahedin, pro-Mossadeq and "liberal" Islamic figures.
Then there was the 8-year war against Iraq which, technically, has not ended
because there has been no peace treaty. Tehran has violated Iraqi sovereignty by
setting up bases there and raising paramilitary forces led by Iranian
commanders.
The truce touted by Trump will not end any of those wars, none of which is
likely to end unless Iran breaks with Khomeinism and chooses another trajectory.
Prospects for such a momentous event seemed promising at the end of 2025 when a
combination of factors had pushed the regime onto the defensive. The war came to
the rescue at a time that a wave of nationwide protests was gaining momentum,
with part of the regime's base pondering the possibility of switching sides.
Changing Iran by war was always the big enchilada that successive US presidents
avoided. Trump half-heartedly decided to try it, and the result, at least in the
short term, is the slowing of the process of change. The final word must come
from the people of Iran.
Without a regime that is at peace with its people, Iran is unlikely to reach
peace with anyone else.
**Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from
1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications,
published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987.
He graciously serves as Chairman of Gatestone Europe.
What Do the Gulf States Really Want?
Ahmed Charai/Gatestone Institute/May 31, 2026
The confrontation is not with the Iranian people, heirs to a great civilization
and among the first victims of the regime that rules over them. The
confrontation is with the Iranian regime: the Revolutionary Guards, the
militias, hostage diplomacy, ballistic missiles, nuclear ambitions, and the
systematic destabilization of Arab states in the name of resistance.
[S]everal Gulf states continue to preserve relationships with the same Iranian
regime that threatens their sovereignty. Some out of prudence. Some out of
economic necessity. Some because ambiguity gives them room to maneuver.
The United Arab Emirates... made a strategic choice. It normalized relations
with Israel not as symbolism, but as policy: technology, artificial
intelligence, investment, defense modernization, logistics, and global
relevance. Abu Dhabi understood that Israel was not merely a security actor, but
also a partner in innovation, science, agriculture, medicine, entrepreneurship,
and the modernization of regional economies.
The UAE has also shown that realism does not mean weakness. It has stood firmly
against the Iranian regime's destabilizing project and understood the necessity
of deterrence when that regime threatens sovereignty. This is the sophistication
of the Emirati approach: strength without illusion, openness without naivety,
and strategic patience without surrender.
The [Abraham] Accords were not only diplomatic agreements. They introduced a new
political language for the Middle East: development over ideology, trade over
hatred, technology over militias, and opportunity over permanent grievance.
For too long, dignity has been used as a slogan by regimes, militias,
ideologues, and movements that offered young people anger instead of
opportunity.
But young Arabs and young Persians do not need dignity as a word. They need it
as a reality: education, jobs, capital, technology, training, business
opportunities, and access to the modern economy.
This is the practical promise of the Abraham Accords. Israel brings technology,
science, agriculture, medicine, defense, and entrepreneurship. The Gulf brings
capital, ambition, infrastructure, logistics, and a young generation ready for
transformation. Together, they can offer the region an alternative model.
That is what the Iranian regime fears most. It does not fear another speech. It
fears a successful alternative.
Jared Kushner's role should also be recognized. Kushner understood that the
Middle East could not be approached only through old formulas and inherited
excuses. He listened widely. He connected security, economics, technology,
legitimacy, and the aspirations of a younger generation. Then he helped
translate that understanding into action.
The Iranian regime offers militias, fear, isolation, and endless confrontation.
The Abraham Accords offer education, opportunity, investment, technology,
business, security, and access to modernity.
That is the choice before the region. Every Gulf capital should decide where it
stands.
The United Arab Emirates made a strategic choice. It joined the Abraham Accords
and normalized relations with Israel not as symbolism, but as policy:
technology, artificial intelligence, investment, defense modernization,
logistics, and global relevance. Abu Dhabi understood that Israel was not merely
a security actor, but also a partner in innovation, science, agriculture,
medicine, entrepreneurship, and the modernization of regional economies.
There is a question Washington should ask more directly: what do the Gulf states
really want?
The official language is familiar: de-escalation, sovereignty, dialogue,
Palestinian rights, regional stability, and balanced relations. These are
legitimate concerns. But behind the communiqués lies a harder reality. Gulf
capitals know that Israel is no longer isolated. They know that Iran is not
merely a difficult neighbor. They also know that saying one thing in Washington,
another in Tehran, another in Jerusalem, and another to Arab public opinion has
become increasingly difficult to sustain.
Let us be precise. The confrontation is not with the Iranian people, heirs to a
great civilization and among the first victims of the regime that rules over
them. The confrontation is with the Iranian regime: the Revolutionary Guards,
the militias, hostage diplomacy, ballistic missiles, nuclear ambitions, and the
systematic destabilization of Arab states in the name of resistance.
For decades, Gulf states have tried to manage Iran, traded with Iran, mediated
with Iran, denounced Iran, accommodated Iran, and then asked Washington — and
sometimes Israel — to contain Iran. This contradiction can no longer be avoided.
Across the Gulf, Israel is no longer treated as a distant or isolated actor.
Some relationships are formal. Others remain informal, indirect, or discreet.
But the old taboo has been broken. Israel is now understood across the region as
a military, technological, intelligence, economic, and strategic reality.
Yet several Gulf states continue to preserve relationships with the same Iranian
regime that threatens their sovereignty. Some out of prudence. Some out of
economic necessity. Some because ambiguity gives them room to maneuver. But
ambiguity has a cost. In a dangerous region, permanent strategic ambiguity is
not wisdom. It is exposure.
Oman is a useful example. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Muscat,
Oman showed that even without formal relations, it understood Israel's regional
weight. At the same time, Oman has maintained relations with Iran and has often
presented itself as a mediator between Tehran and the West. This is consistent
with Oman's traditional diplomatic culture: cautious, discreet, and focused on
keeping channels open.
But diplomacy must also have direction. Mediation should not become a permanent
substitute for strategic judgment. Oman's challenge is to preserve its
reputation as a serious diplomatic actor while recognizing that the Iranian
regime is not simply one party among others. It is a hostile revolutionary power
that has repeatedly used militias, coercion, and instability as instruments of
regional destabilization.
Qatar presents another complicated case. No serious observer can deny its
achievements: wealth, infrastructure, media influence, and a global profile far
beyond its size. It hosts Al Udeid, the largest U.S. Air Force installation
outside the United States and a central pillar of America's regional posture. It
also shares with Iran the North Field/South Pars gas structure, one of the most
important energy assets in the world, giving Doha a structural reason to avoid
direct confrontation with Tehran.
Qatar has made itself useful by speaking to actors others refuse to meet. At
times, this role has mattered. But usefulness is not the same as strategic
responsibility. Mediation should reduce conflict, not make the mediator
indispensable to conflict. The question is whether Doha is prepared to move from
tactical usefulness to a more responsible regional role.
Saudi Arabia is the most consequential case. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
has set an ambitious course to launch the Kingdom into a new era and, before the
Gaza war reshaped the diplomatic landscape, made clear that normalization with
Israel was no longer fantasy.
Saudi Arabia has also learned directly what the Iranian threat means. Its
territory has been attacked. Its sovereignty has been tested. Its energy
infrastructure has been targeted. Its leadership understands better than anyone
the danger posed by Tehran's regional project. Yet Riyadh restored relations
with Iran while still relying on the United States to contain that same threat.
This is not a simple contradiction. It reflects the caution of a state managing
religion, public opinion, regional influence, energy markets, and security at
the same time. But the essential question remains: can Saudi Arabia's public
diplomacy remain behind its private strategic assessment? The answer to that
question will shape the future of the region.
Bahrain chose differently. It joined the Abraham Accords and normalized
relations with Israel despite its vulnerability to Iranian pressure. That
decision should not be underestimated. Bahrain does not have the strategic depth
or wealth of Saudi Arabia or the UAE. Its exposure is real. Its decision
therefore carried a particular meaning.
Bahrain understood that sovereignty sometimes requires a public decision. It
recognized that normalization with Israel was not only a diplomatic gesture, but
a statement of strategic orientation. It also showed that smaller states can
exercise leadership when they are prepared to define their interests clearly and
act on them.
The importance of Bahrain is not size. It is precedent. By joining the Abraham
Accords, Bahrain demonstrated that vulnerability does not always produce
hesitation. Sometimes it produces resolve. In a region where many states
privately acknowledge the same realities, Bahrain chose to act publicly.
The United Arab Emirates also made a strategic choice. It normalized relations
with Israel not as symbolism, but as policy: technology, artificial
intelligence, investment, defense modernization, logistics, and global
relevance. Abu Dhabi understood that Israel was not merely a security actor, but
also a partner in innovation, science, agriculture, medicine, entrepreneurship,
and the modernization of regional economies.
The UAE has also shown that realism does not mean weakness. It has stood firmly
against the Iranian regime's destabilizing project and understood the necessity
of deterrence when that regime threatens sovereignty. This is the sophistication
of the Emirati approach: strength without illusion, openness without naivety,
and strategic patience without surrender.
The UAE's importance lies in this combination. It did not choose normalization
as a temporary gesture or public relations exercise. It placed it inside a
larger national strategy: diversification, technology, global connectivity, and
regional stability. That is why the Emirati model matters. It shows that a Gulf
state can confront danger while still building for the future.
This is why the Abraham Accords matter more today than ever.
The Accords were not only diplomatic agreements. They introduced a new political
language for the Middle East: development over ideology, trade over hatred,
technology over militias, and opportunity over permanent grievance.
For too long, dignity has been used as a slogan by regimes, militias,
ideologues, and movements that offered young people anger instead of
opportunity.
But young Arabs and young Persians do not need dignity as a word. They need it
as a reality: education, jobs, capital, technology, training, business
opportunities, and access to the modern economy.
This is the practical promise of the Abraham Accords. Israel brings technology,
science, agriculture, medicine, defense, and entrepreneurship. The Gulf brings
capital, ambition, infrastructure, logistics, and a young generation ready for
transformation. Together, they can offer the region an alternative model.
That is what the Iranian regime fears most. It does not fear another speech. It
fears a successful alternative.
Jared Kushner's role should also be recognized. Kushner understood that the
Middle East could not be approached only through old formulas and inherited
excuses. He listened widely. He connected security, economics, technology,
legitimacy, and the aspirations of a younger generation. Then he helped
translate that understanding into action.
Today, the Gulf states cannot continue to seek American protection, Israeli
technology, Western legitimacy, Chinese markets, and Iranian restraint while
avoiding the burden of public strategic choice. That is not diplomacy. It is
evasion.
The issue is not knowledge. Gulf leaders understand the danger. They understand
Israel's value. They understand America's role. They understand what their young
people want. The problem is not analysis. The problem is political courage.
The Gulf states must now decide what they want the Abraham Accords to become: a
diplomatic trophy, or the foundation of a new regional order.
The Iranian regime offers militias, fear, isolation, and endless confrontation.
The Abraham Accords offer education, opportunity, investment, technology,
business, security, and access to modernity.
That is the choice before the region. Every Gulf capital should decide where it
stands.
**Ahmed Charai is the Chairman and CEO of World Herald Tribune, Inc., and the
publisher of the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, TV Abraham, and Radio Abraham. He
serves on the boards of several prominent institutions, including the Atlantic
Council, the Center for the National Interest, the Foreign Policy Research
Institute, and the International Crisis Group. He is also an International
Councilor and a member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
**This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune. It
is reprinted here by the kind permission of the author.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
When Democracies Go to War
Antoine Douaihy/Asharq Al Awsat/May
31/2026
Western democracy is not an ideal political system. As the famous phrase of the
French thinker Raymond Aron put it, it is “the least bad” bad. Still, another
question must be asked as the American administration and the Iranian leadership
talk past each other in their negotiations to end the war: How far can a Western
democracy go in waging war?
The Munich Agreement, concluded on the eve of the Second World War, is among the
worst of the worst stains in the history of twentieth-century European
democracy. The agreement between Nazi Germany Fascist Italy and the two major
democratic powers of the time, Britain and France, then vast empires that
controlled much of the world, was an effort to avoid military confrontation and
safeguard peace in Europe, Britain and France acquiesced to Hitler’s assault on
Czechoslovakia and approved the annexation of part of its territory, without
even inviting their ally and the victim of his aggression to the negotiations.
When French Prime Minister Daladier and British Prime Minister Chamberlain
returned home, they were greeted as heroes and peacemakers by cheering crowds.
They had not secured peace at all, of course. Rather than being satisfied with
this victory, Hitler invaded Poland less than a year later, in early 1939, and
triggered the Second World War, which would become the deadliest conflict in
human history. Around 70 million people perished, nuclear weapons were used, and
unimaginable destruction ravaged Europe, before the war culminated in the
annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The “spirit of Munich,” remains a notion
that symbolizes weakness and preemptive surrender in pursuit of peace that leads
to war. The implication is that if France and Britain had firmly confronted
Hitler over Czechoslovakia, the great war would never have erupted, though this
claim is unfalsifiable. The Old Continent revived the phrase “the spirit of
Munich” following democratic Europe’s failure to confront Putin’s surprise
attack on Ukraine in the winter of 2022. The argument was that allowing Ukraine
to fall would eventually lead to the fall of Western Europe itself. Four years
later, the futile war continues, having claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
In any case, the Munich Agreement was concluded a very long time ago. During
that period, the world has changed. The year 2026 is not 1938, and “Khomeinist
revolutionary Iran” is not Nazi Germany, with its ambitions to dominate Europe
and the world. Yet the question remains: to what extent can Western democracy
sustain the war effort?
How can Iran’s endurance be explained after three months of the American-Israeli
offensive during which the supreme leader and many senior regime figures were
killed, and enormous damage was inflicted on military and industrial
infrastructure? There has been a clear retreat from the war’s originally
declared objectives - from overthrowing the Iranian regime, forcing its
unconditional surrender, and compelling it to abandon its nuclear capabilities,
long-range missiles, and regional proxies - with the current negotiations, which
revolve around a single central issue: reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
What explains Iran’s persistence at a time when virtually no one in the world
supports Tehran’s claim over this international waterway? Exhausted though it
may be, it has endured in the face of the greatest military and economic power
on earth surrounding it from every direction.
Part of the answer undoubtedly lies in Iran’s vast geography, including the ease
with which it can exert control over the Strait of Hormuz. The deeper
explanation, however, lies in the profound difference between American democracy
and Iran’s theocratic system.
The Americans and Israelis hoped that the Iranian regime could be eliminated
through the instantaneous assassination of its supreme leader and most of its
leadership, coupled with the destruction of its military arsenal. When that
failed to happen, time began to work in Iran’s favor, despite its exhaustion.
American democracy vests immense power in the president, but he serves a
four-year term. He is constrained by the House and the Senate, scrutinized by
major media organizations, subjected to relentless opinion polling, and
challenged by the opposition. As a result, the American president must consider
the cost of living caused by war and every American soldier killed on the
battlefield, lest the entire political tide turn against him.
Iran’s theocratic regime, by contrast, is led by a supreme leader, who rules for
life and who answers to no one. He is obeyed by forces that pledge allegiance to
him alone. If the people go poor and hungry, or if tens or even hundreds of
thousands are killed through domestic repression or war, does anything truly
change?
The longer the war drags on, the more impatient American democracy becomes. As
for the European democracies, they are, from the outset, neither inclined toward
war nor equipped to fight it. Yet, this conflict is far from ending.
Between War and Peace… The Iranian Regime’s Predicament
Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al Awsat/May
31/2026
Wars are not the only catastrophe that can befall nations. Limbo is even more
exhausting: “non-war and non-peace.” This is precisely the situation the region
finds itself in today. Tensions between Iran and the United States persist,
markets remain uneasy, and maritime trade is under pressure. No final decision
is taken amid hesitation that stems not only from international calculations,
but also from the dilemma facing the Iranian regime itself, which has yet to
decide on a path.
Tehran wants an agreement that eases the suffocating economic pressures it
faces. At the same time, however, it fears that such an agreement would signal
its political and ideological retreat to the Iranian population, after decades
of mobilizing its base around the idea of confronting the “Great Satan.” As a
result, the Iranian leadership is reconfiguring its priorities such that it can
claim that it has extracted a political or economic victory from Washington,
even if that victory is largely symbolic. Iran wants money, control over Hormuz,
the removal of the American presence, and to retain its proxy networks; the
world seeks nuclear disarmament, freedom of navigation, and an end to Iranian
interference in neighboring countries.
The country is genuinely exhausted. The economy is deteriorating, the currency
has lost much of its value, job opportunities are shrinking, and the middle
class, which once formed the backbone of Iran’s stability, has become
increasingly strained and anxious. Iranian society is visibly seeking relief.
That is why the Iranian negotiating team appears focused on securing the release
of as many frozen assets as possible and obtaining sanctions relief. Those funds
are no longer a political luxury; social implosion cannot be averted without
them.
At the same time, Tehran continues to rely on its traditional pressure tactics.
It waves the card of the Strait of Hormuz, manufactures legal justifications,
draws false comparisons, and repeatedly reminds the world of its ability to
threaten international shipping or vital facilities in the Gulf. It also clings
to its political and military proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, as
maintaining these networks allows Iran to wield influence in the region, and it
raises the cost of any confrontation with its adversaries as Iran gambles on the
outcome of the US Midterm elections.
However, none of these tools are as effective as they once were. Things have
changed since the war. Gulf states have become more prepared to deal with
threats, and the United States appears less eager to offer concessions. In fact,
Washington behaves as though time is on its side, believing that sustained
economic and psychological pressure will gradually wear down Iran’s domestic
front, and that Republicans will continue to gain support in the process. The
clearest indication of the level of anxiety inside Tehran might be the regime’s
inconsistent domestic approach. After allowing unrestricted internet access for
a few hours, the authorities abruptly reversed the decision, reflecting fears
around the speed with which discontented citizens communicated their anger. The
authorities understand that modern communication tools are no longer merely
technical conveniences; they have become mechanisms for sharing grievances,
organizing protests, and breaking the psychological isolation that separates
individuals from one another.
These apprehensions pose a greater threat to the regime than any foreign threat.
History shows that closed ideological regimes rarely collapse because of
military strikes. More often, they fall when they lose the ability to convince
the population that additional sacrifice serves a purpose. Once citizens feel
that their daily lives are deteriorating while the authorities continue
repeating slogans, it begins to erode from within.
This helps explain Tehran’s current delay tactics. The regime does not yet
possess a genuine settlement project, but it does not want a major explosion
either. It postpones, signals, and tests reactions in the hope that time will
provide a better opportunity. Yet time itself may become a heavy burden, because
economic and social crises do not remain static; they accumulate and intensify.
The fundamental problem is that part of Iran’s political establishment still
believes that crisis management can ensure its survival. The facts, however,
suggest that people cannot endure hardship indefinitely. When suffering becomes
a way of life, patience begins to erode.
The Iranian leadership appears to be betting on the international community’s
fatigue as the crises remain unresolved, assuming that major powers may
eventually prefer any agreement, even a flawed agreement, to ongoing tensions.
This reading may not be entirely accurate, as experience has shown that the
Iranian economy is more vulnerable to a war of attrition. Foreign companies
remain hesitant, and youths are decreasingly convinced by the rhetoric of
revolutionary mobilization and more concerned with their own future, living
standards, and personal opportunities.
That is, continued tension imposes a growing domestic political cost on Iran.
Every delay in reaching genuine solutions widens the gap between the state and
society and reinforces the perception, among broad segments of the population,
that their state’s priorities do not align with people’s everyday needs. Iranian
citizens want a stable economy, better services, and greater openness to the
world, while part of the official political discourse remains trapped in the
battles and symbols of the past. Over time, this psychological gap between state
and society becomes more dangerous than sanctions themselves.
In the end, no authority can indefinitely ignore the demands of a society that
seeks a normal life. Eventually, the public will impose its own priorities.
To conclude: war destroys quickly; the absence of peace exhausts slowly.
Selected Face
Book & X tweets
on 31 May/2026
Israel-Alma
Hezbollah planned to cause a national disaster in Lebanon in order to halt the
IDF’s advance north of the Litani River. In a strike carried out near the
Qaraoun Lake Dam, the IDF thwarted a Hezbollah plot to blow up the dam, which is
a strategic national infrastructure asset that supplies electricity and water to
large parts of Lebanon. The collapse of the dam could have unleashed a massive
flood wave, causing widespread flooding, severe damage to critical
infrastructure, destruction of property, and endangering the lives of countless
civilians (many of them Shiites who support Hezbollah...). Why? To make crossing
the Litani River impossible, prevent IDF forces from crossing it, and inflict
damage on troops and equipment operating in the area on their way to seize the
Beaufort Castle sector and the Ali al-Taher Ridge—strategic positions of
significant operational importance. For Hezbollah, the heavy price that could
have been paid by Lebanese civilians and the country's national infrastructure
was simply not a consideration. Full report here:
https://israel-alma.org/hezbollah-planned-to-blow-up-the-qaraoun-lake-dam-to-halt-the-idfs-ground-maneuver-north-of-the-litani-river/
Prime Minister of Israel@IsraeliPM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: For more than 3,000 years, Zion, Jerusalem's
second name, and Zionism – attachment to Jerusalem and the land of Israel – have
been foundations of Jewish identity. Today, the people of Israel embrace Jewish
New Yorkers and friends of Jewish New Yorkers as you celebrate Zionism and the
State of Israel at the Big Apple's annual Israel Day Parade. Am Yisrael Chai!
🇮🇱
Jonathan Elkhoury- جوناثان الخوري
https://x.com/i/status/2061100288908398689
The release of Beaufort in 1982 from the Palestinians. So the military forces of
the Free Lebanon, which later became the SLA, led by Major Saad Haddad and
together with IDF forces, succeeded in repelling the PLO forces and liberating
the fortress.
Hear what Major Haddad says in the video—without the Israelis, we wouldn't have
succeeded in liberating the area. As he raises the Lebanese flag next to the
Israeli one instead, and around him are IDF soldiers and commanders. This was a
partnership that our parents entered into knowingly, because without the
Israelis, we probably wouldn't be alive today.
Hanin Ghaddar
Hezbollah called his supporters to go to the streets to topple the government -
only 76 people showed up! The Shia cannot afford to fight Hezbollah’s battles
anymore. They’ve had it.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Since the day I saw Hezbollah coming together in Baalbek, Lebanon, in summer
1982, I haven’t seen the Iranian proxy militia as militarily weak against Israel
and, more importantly, as hated among the Shia of Lebanon. Shia might not be
saying it out loud, but they’ve had it.
Morgan Ortagus
Honored to keynote the Middle East Forum 2026 Policy Conference in Washington.
My message: strength and sustained pressure have weakened the Iranian regime’s
ability to spread terror and created new opportunities for regional security and
for the Iranian people.
Prime Minister of Israel
https://x.com/i/status/2061046706267996647
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "Last night, our heroic fighters captured the
Beaufort castle. They proudly raised the flag of the State of Israel and the
flag of the Golani Brigade there. I remind you that 44 years ago, this place was
a symbol of a heroic battle by our fighters, but it was also a symbol of deep
division among us.
Today, we returned to Beaufort differently. We returned united, determined, and
stronger than ever. I spoke with the fighters on the northern border on Friday.
They told me: 'Tell the people of Israel what we are doing here. Prime Minister,
the public doesn't know what achievements we have made.'Well, since the
beginning of the War of Redemption we have eliminated 8,000 Hezbollah
terrorists. Since Operation Roaring Lion – 3,000. In the past month alone – 700.
This is more than everyone we eliminated during the Second Lebanon War.
I have instructed the IDF to expand the incursion in Lebanon. Our forces have
crossed the Litani River. They took dominant terrain. They captured the Beaufort
ridge. And now my instruction is to deepen and expand our hold on places that
were under Hezbollah's control.
The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic change in the policy
we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the
initiative, we are operating on all fronts – in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon; we
have established security zones beyond our borders to protect our communities.
On Friday, I spoke with the brigade commanders. They are daring brigade
commanders, inside the territory, leading the heroic soldiers. And they told me:
'Prime Minister, we are carrying out the mission. We are charging forward – and
Hezbollah is fleeing for its life.' And I told them: 'I am with you. The entire
nation of Israel is with you. It will take more time, but we will restore
security to the residents of the North, just as we did for the residents of the
South.'It will take time, but we will complete the mission."