English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  June 03/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name
John 15/15-17: "I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.".

Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 02-03 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
Israel says US backs striking Beirut suburbs if Hezbollah attacks north
Lebanon-Israel talks reportedly making positive progress
Hezbollah main obstacle to Israel-Lebanon peace, Rubio says
Rubio hopeful for Iran deal, insists on nuclear curbs
Israel, Hezbollah trade blows despite Trump declaring deal
Baabda says chances of ceasefire high, communication with Hezbollah and Berri direct
'Life and hope': Lebanon hospital resilient after Israeli attack
Aoun: Strength not in waging war but in having courage to end it
Salam calls for cementing ceasefire across Lebanon
After Ghalibaf call, Berri thanks Iran for including Lebanon in any US deal
Berri to guarantee Hezbollah respect for 'global' truce with Israel
Israeli strikes near Tyre hospital killed 4, wounded 127
Qmati says Hezbollah won't accept 'partial ceasefire' with Israel
Lebanese university postpones exams after Israeli strike kills students
Israel risks new quagmire in Lebanon
An analysis in the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations: President Aoun's term, unfortunately, will be a revised version of his predecessors' terms, and he will no longer find anyone to invite him to the White House or any of the decision-making centers/Colonel Charbel Barakat/June 02/2026
Lebanon seeks Iranian pressure on Hezbollah to secure ceasefire, sources say
US hosts fourth round of Lebanon-Israel talks in Washington
Hezbollah will not accept ‘partial ceasefire’ with Israel: Senior official
Etiene Saqr/Abu Arz/Peace with Israel is the beginning of true salvation for Lebanon, and the definitive gateway to restoring its sovereignty, stability, and prosperity.
Israel reportedly targets Imam Hossein Division missile commander in Beirut strike/David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/June 02/2026
13,500 pregnant women in Lebanon struggle to find safe care as hospitals come under fire/Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/June 02, 2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 02-03 June/2026
Trump says Iran talks happening 'continuously'
Trump says he told Iran it’s time to make a deal
Rubio says Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei alive and ‘increasingly engaging’
Iran studying deal to halt war with US as stalemate persists
US Treasury issues new Iran sanctions targeting crypto exchanges
Two Iran-backed Iraqi militias to begin handing over weapons to authorities
US sanctions Iran’s largest digital asset exchange Nobitex and 3 others
UAE nuclear plant attackers ‘knew what they were doing’: IAEA chief
President Trump taps Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence
Kuwait says air defenses intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks
MSC says vessel hit by projectiles in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port on Monday, crew safe
Kyiv orders evacuations from several border villages over increased Russian attacks
British couple in Iran lose appeal against 10-year prison term, family says

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 02-03 June/2026
How double-dealing Oman threatens Trump’s Mideast peace/Ahmad Sharawi and Max Meizlish/New York Post/June 02/2026
Doctors Without Borders: Promoting Hate Through Medicine/Gerald M. Steinberg/Gatestone Institute/June 02/2026
From Beaufort Castle to Hormuz/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 02, 2026
Turkiye’s Fidan issues veiled threat to Israel/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/June 02, 2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on 02-03 June/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 02-03 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

Israel says US backs striking Beirut suburbs if Hezbollah attacks north
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Israel's defense minister said Tuesday Washington had given its backing to potential Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern Dahieh suburb if the Iran-backed group attacked northern Israeli communities."The Prime Minister and I led a coordinated move together with the IDF to establish a new equation... If Israeli towns continue to be attacked, we will evacuate and strike the Shiite Dahieh quarter in Beirut, Hezbollah's stronghold," Israel Katz said at a conference, a defense ministry statement said. "The United States endorsed this principle and conveyed it to the Lebanese government and all relevant actors... either the fire on Israeli communities stops, or -- if fire continues -- we will strike in Dahieh. This equation will be upheld."

Lebanon-Israel talks reportedly making positive progress
Naharnet/June 02/2026
The Lebanese delegation to the Washington peace talks with Israel "sensed Israeli and U.S. acceptance regarding a comprehensive ceasefire, and the three parties presented proposals on specific ceasefire formulas," Baabda sources said on Tuesday. "There is seriousness and a clear effort and interest from the U.S. in reaching a comprehensive ceasefire," the sources told MTV. "Discussions are progressing positively and constructively, and we are waiting for the second round of negotiations tomorrow," the sources said. Sources meanwhile told Israel's public broadcaster that the negotiations with Lebanon are "advancing in a good manner."U.S. President Donald Trump "gave instructions for containing the escalation in Lebanon," the sources said. "Israel won't attack Beirut but it won't withdraw from the areas it controls, and U.S. forces will train and equip the Lebanese Army," the sources added.Al-Arabiya meanwhile reported that the Israeli army would withdraw from Lebanon over a period of 60 days.

Hezbollah main obstacle to Israel-Lebanon peace, Rubio says
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Israel and Lebanon could reach a peace agreement within days were it not for the obstacle posed by Hezbollah, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday, as the two sides began a fourth round of talks in Washington. "Israel and Lebanon can do a peace deal tomorrow," Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.He added: "Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon. Hezbollah is the impediment. There is no Hezbollah without Iran."Rubio stressed that Washington, acting as a mediator, wanted the Israel-Lebanon talks to proceed independently of negotiations with Iran, something Tehran has resisted. The ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon began a new round of direct talks in Washington as Israeli forces and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire, despite Trump announcing an agreement Monday to halt attacks. The fourth meeting between representatives of the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, is taking place at the State Department and is scheduled to last two days. Participants include Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanese envoy Nada Hamadeh Moawad, as well as Daniel Holler, a senior advisor to Rubio. None of the officials made any statements as the talks began Tuesday. However, Israel on Tuesday said it would target Hezbollah's bastions in Beirut's southern suburbs if the Iran-backed group continues to attack northern Israeli towns.
Recent days have seen a dramatic escalation in fighting and bombardment as Israeli troops stage their deepest incursion into Lebanon in two decades. Lebanon's health ministry said Tuesday that Israeli strikes a day earlier near a hospital in the southern city of Tyre killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staff from the facility.

Rubio hopeful for Iran deal, insists on nuclear curbs
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday expressed hope that a deal to end the war in Iran was in the cards, stressing that Tehran must severely curtail its nuclear program before any sanctions are lifted. "There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week," Rubio told a Congressional panel.Rubio was testifying in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as the three-month U.S.-Israeli war on Iran appears to have reached an impasse, with the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz continuing to disrupt global energy markets. Rubio insisted that Tehran must reopen the shipping channel for any peace agreement to take hold, while also agreeing to curb its nuclear activities in order to see sanctions lifted. "Iran is being sanctioned because they've highly enriched uranium, Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities," Rubio said. "If they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief."U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed confidence that a deal with Iran was near, but talks have stalled. And although a ceasefire has largely held since early April, Iranian and US forces have traded strikes in recent days.Rubio sought to downplay the hostilities, saying the conflict had effectively ended. "Well, the war is over," he said. While acknowledging that the Iranians "still have a lot of drones," Rubio defended the decision to go to war, saying it has significantly reduced the Islamic republic's ability to do harm. "Iran has no navy left, they've lost a substantial percentage of their defense industrial base, that Iran has lost a substantial percentage of their missile launchers," Rubio said. He added: "And their economy is far worse today, and I mean, far worse today than it was six to nine months ago."Rubio also stated that Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in U.S.-Israeli attacks and has not been seen in public since assuming office, is alive and increasingly active. "I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level," Rubio told the panel. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28.

Israel, Hezbollah trade blows despite Trump declaring deal
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Israel continued to strike southern Lebanon on Tuesday as Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked its troops there despite an apparent Washington-brokered de-escalation deal and a fourth round of U.S.-hosted talks between Lebanon and Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump had announced an agreement to halt some attacks on Monday, but neither side has publicly accepted it and Israel's defense minister said the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs remained potential targets. The deal, according to a statement from the Lebanese embassy in Washington, would, at first, stop Israeli attacks on Beirut and Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory. Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told AFP in a written statement the group "will not accept a partial ceasefire.""The Zionist enemy should know that any aggression against the suburbs could lead to a deeper and stronger response" from the group, he added. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported Israeli strikes, some of them deadly, on around 30 locations across the south on Tuesday. Hezbollah meanwhile said it attacked Israeli troops in southern Lebanese lands they occupy, but has not claimed attacks in Israel. The Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles from Lebanon, without reporting any injuries.Near Sidon, in the south, rescuers recovered the bodies of six members of the same family, including two children and a woman, following an Israeli strike.Further south in the historic city of Tyre, the Jabal Amel hospital, severely damaged by an Israeli attack nearby on Monday that wounded 39 staffers, resumed operations. Lebanon's health ministry said on Tuesday that Israeli attacks had killed at least 3,468 people since March 2 -- an increase of 35 compared to Monday.At least 26 Israeli soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed over the same time frame.
'Crazy' -
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, and Tehran has insisted that Lebanon be included in any peace deal with Washington. Recent days have seen a dramatic escalation in fighting and bombardment as Israeli troops staged their deepest ground offensive into Lebanon in two decades. Citing what he called Hezbollah's "repeated violations" of a ceasefire officially in place since April 17 but never respected by either side, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a densely populated Hezbollah stronghold. According to U.S. news portal Axios, however, Trump called Netanyahu "fucking crazy" and accused him of putting peace talks with Iran at risk. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Washington "endorsed this principle" that Israel would hit the suburbs if Hezbollah continued firing at Israel. "If Israeli towns continue to be attacked, we will evacuate and strike the Shiite Dahiyeh quarter in Beirut, Hezbollah's stronghold," Katz said. In the southern suburbs, where many residents had fled the day before, many shops were closed on Tuesday, while an Israeli drone flew over the area at low altitude, according to an AFP journalist.
Resident Layla Shehab, 35, decided to return as "we found the situation has calmed down a bit".
'Consolidate the ceasefire'
According to Lebanese authorities, Hezbollah would no longer fire into Israel under the agreement revealed by Trump, while the Israeli military would spare Beirut's southern suburbs. An adviser to Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, told AFP that he would guarantee that the group would respect a "global ceasefire", if one were agreed. Lebanese and Israeli delegations meanwhile began a new round of talks in Washington, the fourth between the two sides, which have no diplomatic relations, since the start of the war. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it was "necessary to consolidate the ceasefire" during the negotiations. "Negotiations are the least costly choice for Lebanon," he reiterated.Hezbollah is vehemently opposed to the talks, while Israel wants the group disarmed.

Baabda says chances of ceasefire high, communication with Hezbollah and Berri direct
Naharnet/June 02/2026
The Lebanese, Arab and international contacts that managed to avert an Israeli strike on Dahieh on Monday will contribute to a better atmosphere in today's talks between Israel and Lebanom in Washington, Baabda sources said on Tuesday. "The Lebanese delegation's demand will be a comprehensive ceasefire and it is clear that the chance has become bigger after yesterday's contacts," the sources told MTV. "Hezbollah must declare whether or not it has agreed to the agreement sparing Dahieh strikes in return for halting attacks on Israel," the sources added.The sources also noted that "all communication with Hezbollah officials and Speaker Nabih Berri is taking place in a direct manner."Adding that the Lebanese delegation to the negotiations is "ready to discuss any draft declaration of intent," the sources said Lebanon's comprehensive stance is based on demanding Israel's withdrawal and the return of captives in parallel with extending state's authority and monopolizing arms in the hands of the state.

'Life and hope': Lebanon hospital resilient after Israeli attack
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
In a south Lebanon hospital heavily damaged by deadly Israeli strikes nearby, Dr Nasser al-Masri held a new-born baby, calling him "a message of life and hope" despite the war.Israeli strikes near the Jabal Amel hospital in Tyre on Monday killed four people and wounded 127, including four doctors, 27 nurses, and eight administrative employees, Lebanon's health ministry said. They also caused "severe and extensive damage" to the facility, it added. "Despite everything that happened yesterday, there was a scheduled delivery today... (and) the mother insisted on delivering at the hospital," Dr Masri said. "This baby was born today, he's just a few minutes old... He brought us a message of life and a message of hope for the future."Glass was scattered across some hospital rooms on Tuesday, while dust and debris covered beds and tables. Medication was strewn on corridor floors, and staff tried to work as others cleaned up around them. "We're taking in any patient that comes to us," Dr Masri said, adding that "even two hours after the raids, we were able to work normally, and the administration is determined to stay and work".Around the hospital, the devastation was stark: a nearby building had been levelled, others were severely damaged and debris was scattered round near parked ambulances. The roof of the hospital's parking collapsed, crushing several vehicles. Bulldozers worked to clear away the rubble.
'Steadfast' -
Inspecting the damage, Mohammad Derbaj, head of the hospital's maintenance department, charged that "the civilian buildings were not the intended target, but rather Jabal Amel was targeted in order to put it out of service, but we are steadfast". "What happened has increased our determination and strength," he added, as the hospital administration "made a decision yesterday that the hospital will return... We will work day and night to restore the hospital to what it was". Israeli strikes have not spared Lebanese hospitals since the start of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2. The health ministry says 17 hospitals have been damaged, with three forced to close, and 128 rescuers and medical personnel have been killed. The Lebanese Italian hospital in Tyre was also damaged by an Israeli attack in April. A strike last month near the city's Hiram hospital wounded 13 staff and damaged it, according to the ministry. At Jabal Amel hospital on Tuesday, Hussein Qassir, head of the intensive care unit, told AFP they transferred patients from one ICU ward after it sustained significant damage in the airstrikes. "We were expecting a strike near or adjacent to the hospital... but I didn't expect that the intensive care unit would be this damaged (but) the situation could have been so much worse.
"Despite this, we continue... it is our duty."
'Criminality' -
Abdinasir Abubakar, World Health Organization Representative to Lebanon, said on Tuesday that "two out of three hospitals" in the Tyre district, Jabal Amel and Hiram, "are damaged although continuing to function, and the third hospital is overwhelmed as it deals with an influx of injured patients".The historic city in southern Lebanon, which still hosts thousands of displaced people from nearby areas, has been subject to repeated Israeli strikes that have continued despite an April 17 ceasefire agreement that has not been respected by either Israel or Hezbollah. Israel's military has repeatedly warned residents of Tyre and its surroundings to evacuate in preparation for what it said are operations against Hezbollah. Staffer Khalil Mustafa, displaced from the border town of Aitaroun, took shelter in the hospital after losing his home. "I no longer have a home. Israel destroyed it and I came to the hospital. I never expected their level of criminality would reach this point," he said. Zainab Fakih, who works in the laboratory, was sitting with her colleagues when the attack came. "We were terrified... We opened the doors and rubble rained down on us, but luckily no one was hurt," she said. "We didn't think they would bomb the area around the hospital. But we come here because this is our job, even though our families object", fearing for their safety.

Aoun: Strength not in waging war but in having courage to end it
Naharnet /June 02/2026
The path of negotiation is "the least costly for the country, especially since wars throughout history have ended with a victor and a vanquished, or with negotiations to resolve the conflict," President Joseph Aoun said on Tuesday. "This is the case for a number of Arab countries that have adopted the negotiation option, as is the case in the current war between the United States and Iran, and other wars," Aoun argued. He added: "Lebanon has lost more than 3,000 martyrs, more than a million displaced persons, and thousands of homes destroyed, and there is no end in sight to this situation. Therefore, it was incumbent upon me, as President of the Republic, to do what my conscience and duty to my country and my people dictate."Noting that "it is the duty of the state to care for its citizens and not stand idly by" in the face of the Israeli war, Aoun emphasized that "there is no other option but negotiation.""It should not be considered surrender, a concession or defeat, because strength does not lie in waging war, but rather in having the courage and wisdom to end it through negotiation for the benefit of one's country, which remains paramount above all else," the president went on to say.

Salam calls for cementing ceasefire across Lebanon
Naharnet/June 02/2026
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam commented Tuesday on the resumption of Israeli-Lebanese negotiations in Washington by saying that "what remains is to consolidate a ceasefire throughout Lebanon."His remarks come a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to de-escalate their attacks. "I reiterate that negotiations are the least costly option for Lebanon and the Lebanese. Our path to ending the occupation and the return of our people in the south to their cities and villages will be shorter whenever all efforts are united under the umbrella of the state," Salam added.

After Ghalibaf call, Berri thanks Iran for including Lebanon in any US deal
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri praised Tuesday Iran for insisting that a ceasefire in Lebanon remains a key condition for any deal with the United States. Iran's parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had said on Monday night that he and Berri had spoken by phone. Ghalibaf told his Lebanese counterpart that "if the Israeli aggression on Lebanon continues, we will not just stop the negotiation process, but we will be in a direct confrontation with the enemy", he said on X, referring to Israel. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Monday that Tehran was no longer engaging in talks with Washington because of Israel's offensive on Lebanon, although there was no official confirmation of this. Berri's Adviser Ali Hamdan told AFP that the Speaker's main demand is a global ceasefire. "If a global ceasefire deal is reached, he will guarantee Hezbollah's respect for it."

Berri to guarantee Hezbollah respect for 'global' truce with Israel
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, will guarantee the Iran-backed group's adherence to a "global ceasefire" with Israel, his adviser told AFP on Tuesday. Berri, who heads the Hezbollah-allied Amal party, has long acted as an intermediary between the group and the United States, which considers Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization. U.S. President Donald Trump said late Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to call off a military raid on Beirut while Hezbollah agreed "all shooting will stop".
Adviser Ali Hamdan told AFP that "speaker Berri's main demand is a global ceasefire. If a global ceasefire deal is reached, he will guarantee Hezbollah's respect for it."Hamdan said a "global ceasefire means a halt to Israeli strikes by air, land or sea, and that it will not carry out detonations or demolitions" in the south, where Israel is accused of razing entire villages. Trump had said that "through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop -- That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel."Netanyahu said late Monday that he had told Trump "that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our towns and our citizens, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut".Hezbollah has not released a statement on the announcement. Lebanon's embassy in the United States said on Monday that Hezbollah had accepted a U.S. proposal on a "mutual cessation of attacks". "Under the proposed arrangement, Israeli strikes on Dahieh would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from launching attacks against Israel, with the ceasefire framework to be expanded to encompass all Lebanese territory," the embassy statement released by the Lebanese presidency added, referring to Beirut's southern suburbs. Iran has insisted that a ceasefire in Lebanon remains a key condition for any deal with the United States to end the Middle East war. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country's chief negotiator, said on Monday night that he and Berri had spoken by phone. Ghalibaf told his Lebanese counterpart that "if the Israeli aggression on Lebanon continues, we will not just stop the negotiation process, but we will be in a direct confrontation with the enemy", he said on X, referring to Israel. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Monday that Tehran was no longer engaging in talks with Washington because of Israel's offensive on Lebanon, although there was no official confirmation of this.

Israeli strikes near Tyre hospital killed 4, wounded 127
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Lebanon's health ministry said Tuesday that Israeli strikes a day earlier near a hospital in the southern city of Tyre killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staff from the facility. The ministry statement said the wounded staff at the Jabal Amel hospital were "four doctors, 27 nurses, and eight (administrative) employees -- four of whom are in critical condition and receiving treatment in intensive care". The attack "also caused severe and extensive damage across the hospital's various floors, departments, and parking lot"," it added.

Qmati says Hezbollah won't accept 'partial ceasefire' with Israel
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Hezbollah will not accept a "partial ceasefire" with Israel, a senior official from the Iran-backed group said Tuesday, refusing to halt attacks against northern Israel in exchange for Israel sparing Beirut's southern suburbs, although they appeared to have stopped on Tuesday.
"We will not accept a partial ceasefire," Mahmoud Qmati told AFP in a written statement, adding that "the Zionist enemy should know that any aggression against the suburbs could lead to a deeper and stronger response" from the group. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal which Lebanese officials later said involved Israel refraining from attacking Beirut's southern suburbs in return for Hezbollah not attacking Israeli territory.The Lebanese embassy in Washington said in a statement overnight that Hezbollah had accepted Trump's equation. "The Lebanese authorities received confirmation of Hezbollah's acceptance of the U.S. proposal providing for a mutual cessation of attacks," said an embassy statement published by President Joseph Aoun's office. It said the confirmation came after a telephone call between Aoun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Lebanese university postpones exams after Israeli strike kills students
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Lebanon's public university said on Tuesday it was postponing some examinations after two students and their father were killed while returning to south Lebanon after sitting exams a day earlier. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said a dentist from the border village of Qlayaa "was killed with his son and daughter when an enemy drone targeted his car on the Nabatieh-Khardali road" on Monday. Father Antonios Farah, a priest for the Qlayaa parish where some people are still holding out despite sweeping Israeli evacuation orders to leave, told AFP the man had been returning home with his son and daughter, both in their early 20s. "The man and his two children went to the university in the morning so they could do their examinations, and on their way back the Israeli drone hit their car," he said. The Lebanese University in a statement on X mourned the loss of the two students "in an Israeli attack targeting civilians on the Khardali road". The institution, "which has lost a large number of its students, lecturers and employees during the Israeli aggression, affirms that the safety of the university community remains the highest priority". It said it would postpone exams on its main campus in Beirut's southern suburbs, and in the southern city of Sidon, until next week "in the face of the current developments".Father Antonios said that "we don't understand why this happened", adding that a bible and prayer book were found in the heavily damaged car. "He's a dentist and his children are university students... this is extremely sad news for the village, everyone is suffering," he added. The NNA reported Israeli airstrikes on dozens of south Lebanon locations on Monday.Lebanon's health ministry said that Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,433 people and wounded 10,395 others since the latest war with Hezbollah erupted on March 2.

Israel risks new quagmire in Lebanon
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
Israel has portrayed the capture of a Crusader-era fortress as a turning point in its offensive against Hezbollah, but the operation has also sparked fears of a new quagmire in south Lebanon. Israeli authorities praised the symbolism of the capture of Beaufort, perched atop a rocky outcrop, as they announced its capture in an assault documented by military drones.
Almost 44 years to the day earlier, Israeli forces had seized the same commanding position overlooking a valley, later turning it into a key base during their two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon. By rapidly distributing footage of troops entering the fortress, the military echoed a famous 1982 image showing then-defense minister Ariel Sharon and prime minister Menahem Begin at the same spot. For many Israelis, however, the fortress remains a symbol not of victory, but of a costly military entanglement that ultimately failed to eradicate the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. "The conquest of Beaufort is the most blatant sign that we haven't learned a thing," Israel's Reichman University professor Nadav Pollak said on X.
'Stupid PR photo-op' -
The Middle East lecturer and former Israeli intelligence officer decried a "stupid PR photo-op" and described Beaufort as "a place that to many Israelis is a symbol of the stupidity of staying in south Lebanon."More than 1,200 Israeli soldiers were killed and thousands more wounded in Lebanon before Israel withdrew in 2000. The military, now conducting its deepest incursion into Lebanon since the withdrawal, argues the site holds genuine strategic value. It says Iran-backed Hezbollah has launched 400 projectiles toward Israel from the area since fighting resumed in early March. Avigdor Kahalani, who commanded the assault on Beaufort in 1982, recalled fierce battles against Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters entrenched there at the time. Though pleased to see the Israeli flag flying over the fortress once again, he told AFP he viewed the operation as a symbolic milestone and a stepping stone northward, rather than a decisive turning point. "I will be excited the moment they will destroy Hezbollah," said Kahalani, a former minister of internal security.
'Historic opportunity' -
According to Lebanese authorities, Hezbollah has accepted a U.S. proposal for a "mutual cessation of attacks", while President Donald Trump hoped that fighting between the two sides would stop for "eternity". Yet, despite an apparent pause in Israeli strikes on Beirut under U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with operations in southern Lebanon. The military says it wants to establish a security zone under its control in the Litani River area, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border with Israel.
Sarit Zehavi, a reserve lieutenant-colonel, told AFP that most Israelis have little appetite for a return to Lebanon. "I grew up in an atmosphere when I was a child that every morning you opened the radio to hear the news of who was killed tonight in Lebanon," said the 50-year-old expert on security challenges on Israel's northern borders. "My father fought in Lebanon. My husband fought in Lebanon. I lost friends in Lebanon. And I lost my cousin's son last week, not in Lebanon, but on the border," said Zehavi, who lives close to Lebanon's border.
Zehavi still believes that Israel has a "historic opportunity" to eliminate Hezbollah which she views has been weakened. With Iran under intense U.S. pressure, Lebanon's government engaged in talks with Israel and much of south Lebanon's population displaced, she believes Israel has an unusually favorable strategic opening.
'This is the moment'
Sam Heller, an analyst at the U.S.-based Century Foundation, is unconvinced.
For him, the images of the Israeli flag over Beaufort do little to alter what he sees as the most likely outcome: a new and prolonged quagmire in Lebanon. Israel's most pressing challenge, he argues, is Hezbollah's explosive drones, which have already killed several Israeli soldiers.
A buffer zone in southern Lebanon would do little to eliminate that threat, Heller told AFP, "for which it doesn't seem like the Israelis have an effective countermeasure."Kahalani, however, was confident that Israel's military would eventually find a solution. "I think the Israelis don't have a dream to stay there," he said, but "we have to destroy the Hezbollah. This is the moment."

An analysis in the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations: President Aoun's term, unfortunately, will be a revised version of his predecessors' terms, and he will no longer find anyone to invite him to the White House or any of the decision-making centers
Colonel Charbel Barakat/June 02/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/06/154989/
Following President Aoun's failure to advance his proposal of "negotiations in exchange for peace," and his adherence to the doctrine of the "Armed Party" (Hezbollah)—which dictates a ceasefire, withdrawal, and subsequent conditions before addressing the weapons dossier—the State of Israel has pressed forward with its attacks against the Party's positions to weaken it. Israel aims to sustain this pressure until the Party itself is forced to swallow the "bitter cup" it is currently drinking from, without having achieved any significant results.
In the wake of these proposals, in which President Aoun demonstrated a lack of vision and hesitation in seizing opportunities—coupled with the literal execution of orders from Speaker Berri, who seems to be retaliating against the residents of Shia areas for unknown reasons by insisting on the destruction of their homes—formal negotiations between the two delegations continued. This week, they transitioned to the military (i.e., executive) level, as viewed by the Americans. The Lebanese delegation, composed of high-ranking specialized officers expected to discuss highly critical matters, was given trivial orders to adhere to a single demand: a ceasefire and a withdrawal schedule. This approach proceeds as though Lebanon were the winning party in this battle and Israel were losing its cities and villages daily, whereas reality witnesses the destruction of homes and infrastructure, alongside the displacement of Lebanese citizens under the gaze of a world that supports Israel's right to continue its operations.
The tragicomic element in these developments is the short-sightedness exhibited by Lebanese rulers. They do not merely echo the rhetoric of the "Armed Party" out of fear of it and its threats; they also deludedly believe that Iran has won the war, and that the entire world is awaiting its approval on the surrender terms for the Israelis and their American allies—who, according to that logic, are incurring losses, facing destruction, and perhaps even displacement.
As for the latest innovation of Iranian ingenuity, it is the demand to prevent Israel from dismantling the status of the Southern Suburb (Dahiyeh) and to secure a commitment not to bomb it. The United States gave this demand significant attention, manifested in a decision by President Trump to block any Israeli attempt to enter or even bombard the Suburb, in exchange for halting the Party's operations against the Israeli interior. Many viewed this as evidence that Iran still possesses the ability to impose its conditions and implement its demands. This, in turn, will prompt the Party to sustain its operations to inflict losses on the "enemy," forcing a humiliated retreat from the battlefield.
This conclusion may well be accurate—that Iran still retains the power to dictate its terms in Lebanon. While this is practically plausible given that the United States is still engaging in dialogue and negotiating with the Iranian regime on various issues (with the Lebanese arena potentially being one of them), it is a matter that should deeply alarm Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It should signal to them that the war of the past two months has ended neither Iran's role nor its proxies, and they may find themselves forced to adapt to its conditions and the continued influence of these proxies across various domains they have previously experienced.
Indeed, these Arab leaders decided to prevent Lebanon from moving forward with the peace process, choosing instead to wait for the conditions of the Beirut Summit to be secured. They have not yet agreed to President Trump's demands to join the normalization process under the Abraham Accords, which were expected to end all conflicts in the region and prevent extremism from returning to the stage in a new guise. President Trump has declared war not only on Iranian proxies but also on branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region, ensuring it is cleared of mobilizing and recruiting elements that foster an environment of violence. Could the elongation of Hezbollah’s lifespan be primarily targeted at these Arab players?
On the domestic Lebanese front, President Aoun has persisted in his hesitation to make correct decisions. He has attempted to play on the humanitarian chord and the emotions fueled by the tragedies of war, yet he has failed to take the necessary steps to end the status of an open-ended battleground. This arena is being exploited to create deeply concerning conditions for the people of the South, leading to their use as "sandbags"—much like the situation in Gaza—instead of asserting control and reaching an agreement between the two neighbors to ensure peace and stability on both sides of the border. Consequently, he leaves the door wide open for the "Armed Party" to initiate communication channels with Israel and the United States to reach solutions that grant it survival and bypass the role of an impotent state.
However, will the clearing operations of the Nabatiyeh region and its surroundings toward the coast be completed? Will the city of Tire and its outskirts be cleared during this borrowed time? And what about the residents' demands to declare them open cities, free of fighters, weapons depots, and combat tunnels, to save them from destruction?
It appears the Party has decided to ignore the residents' opinions and continue fighting in both areas, particularly after Israel—at the request of President Trump—decided not to advance toward the Southern Suburb. Hence, operations to clear cities, villages, depots, and tunnels in the Nabatiyeh and Tire regions will undoubtedly continue. This extends even to Jabal Rehan—from Arab Salim to Kfar Houna and Jabal Safi on both sides—stretching westward toward Sidon and the Awali River, and eastward toward Birket Jabfour and Mashghara, reaching the villages of the Rashaya and Hasbaya districts.
Will the South be completely cleared before returning to the Southern Suburb? Will the Israelis move to solidify the occupation and transition into a new, long-term phase? Or will the Party seek to reach an agreement similar to the October 2024 accord, hoping to violate it once it finishes reorganizing and re-equipping, while attempting to control the government or "moderate" its decisions? This would ensure Lebanon never enjoys any solution that might offer hope for recovery or time to catch its breath.
In either scenario, Lebanon appears to have lost its opportunity to negotiate as a state capable of asserting its right to decision-making. The current leadership—which many believed would differ from previous crisis-management regimes, taking initiative based on altered circumstances and new data under a Trump administration that harbors some affection for Lebanon—has failed once again. It failed to enforce a sovereign stance where the state holds the exclusive right to decision-making, weapons are confined to its official forces, and no group is permitted to bypass its authority. This failure stems from continued reliance on the exact same clique of corrupt figures who dismantled the state, impoverished the people, and dragged the country to this nadir.
Regrettably, President Aoun's tenure will be a revised copy of his predecessors' terms. From this day forward, he will find no one to invite him to the White House or any global decision-making center, for he has proven incapable of comprehending shifting dynamics, nor has he tried to exploit favorable conditions when the wind blew in his favor. As the ancient proverb goes: "If your winds blow, seize the moment... for the wind's habit is to turn still."

Lebanon seeks Iranian pressure on Hezbollah to secure ceasefire, sources say
NAJIA HOUSSARI/June 02, 2026
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has been working through Iranian channels to secure Hezbollah’s commitment to a ceasefire while his country presses ahead with negotiations aimed at ending the war, political sources have told Arab News.
The Amal Movement leader remains central to efforts to ensure Hezbollah abides by any future truce, amid growing recognition that no ceasefire can hold without its participation, according to the sources. The diplomatic push came after Israel threatened to resume strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah prepared attacks deeper inside Israeli territory, raising fears of a wider confrontation. By Monday night, however, Arab and international mediation efforts had succeeded in preventing a further escalation. US President Donald Trump later said that through what he described as “highly placed representatives,” understandings had been reached with Hezbollah to halt exchanges of fire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah denied any direct communication with Washington. Lawmaker Ihab Hamadeh said on Tuesday that the group had not communicated with any party other than Iran, which has maintained daily contact with Berri, particularly over the past two days as Israeli threats against Beirut intensified. A political official closely involved in Berri’s consultations told Arab News that a broader US-Iran deal would significantly improve the prospects of securing a ceasefire. “It would enable the Lebanese delegation, during its negotiation with Israel, to secure Lebanon’s demands, including a comprehensive ceasefire,” the person said. “What is needed is for Iran to pressure Hezbollah to halt its attacks and for the United States to pressure Israel to do the same.”The official, who requested anonymity, said that Berri and the Amal Movement remained committed to the principle that the Lebanese state alone should negotiate on Lebanon’s behalf. “The Lebanese state must remain the negotiating party. That principle is beyond question. But Iranian pressure on Hezbollah remains essential because it can help create the conditions necessary for a ceasefire,” the person said. As head of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah’s closest political ally, Berri has effectively become an intermediary between the group and Washington, which continues to designate it as a terrorist organization. Despite ongoing contacts, Lebanese officials cautioned against expectations of an immediate breakthrough. A source close to Berri said negotiations remained fluid and that attention was now focused on the outcome of the latest round of talks in Washington. “Things need time before results take shape,” the person said. “There is a great deal of analysis and nothing is definitive yet.”A Lebanese official following the Washington negotiations told Arab News that serious attempts were being made on Tuesday and Wednesday to reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, even as Israel escalated its evacuation warnings for Nabatieh, pressed on with its bombardment of the city and continued striking civilians and emergency responders. Hezbollah, meanwhile, announced military operations that had pushed beyond southern Lebanon and into northern Israel for the first time.
“It does not matter who brings about the ceasefire,” the official said, arguing that the focus should be on ending the war rather than assigning political credit.
“This is no moment for political one-upmanship.”He said Hezbollah had not taken steps to place what it called the resistance under state authority or singled its readiness to operate within the state’s framework. “The doors of the presidential palace were never shut in Hezbollah’s face. It was Hezbollah that walked away,” he said. Behind the scenes, an intense diplomatic effort has been underway since late last week. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar spearheaded Arab mediation, while Iranian, American, European and Pakistani officials worked through parallel channels. On Tuesday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on Hezbollah to come to the Presidential Palace and place what it considers points of strength under the authority of the state, urging the group to engage directly with the presidency and support negotiations with Israel rather than obstruct them. “Those who care about Lebanon must work to ensure the success of the negotiations,” he said. “Strength does not lie in waging war but in having the courage and wisdom to end the war through negotiations in the interest of the country.”Aoun’s remarks came only hours before a new round of direct political negotiations with Israel was due to be held in Washington, amid renewed military operations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon despite a partial ceasefire.
According to the Lebanese Embassy in Washington, the agreement would not end the conflict. But it urged Israel to refrain from strikes on Beirut and its suburbs controlled by Hezbollah and the Iran-aligned group to halt its attacks on Israel, with the ceasefire framework to be later expanded to cover all Lebanese territory. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who is leading Iran’s negotiations, said on Monday evening that he had told Berri during a telephone call that “if the Israeli aggression against Lebanon continues, we will not only halt the negotiations, but also move to confront the enemy directly.”
Israel, for its part, remains adamant about securing prior guarantees and security arrangements related to Hezbollah’s weapons. However, meetings hosted by the Pentagon last week between the Lebanese and Israeli military delegations failed to yield a meaningful breakthrough on either the terms of a ceasefire or the mechanisms for implementing it, as both sides held firm on their political and security demands.

US hosts fourth round of Lebanon-Israel talks in Washington
Al Arabiya English/02 June ,2026
Diplomats from Lebanon and Israel met in Washington on Tuesday for a fourth round of US-brokered talks, as both sides seek to build on efforts to ease tensions along their shared border. The fourth meeting between representatives of the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, is taking place at the State Department and is scheduled to last two days.Simon Karam, the Lebanese president’s special envoy, led Beirut’s delegation; Israel’s envoy to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, headed his country’s. Lebanese ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, also took part. Dan Holler, the State Department’s chief of staff, headed the US delegation alongside Michael Needham, who recently left the State Department for the National Security Council. The talks come as Hezbollah and Israel continue to exchange fire, despite US President Donald Trump announcing an agreement Monday to halt attacks. Israel on Tuesday said it would continue targeting Hezbollah’s bastions in Beirut’s suburbs if the Iran-backed group continues to attack northern Israeli towns. Recent days have seen a dramatic escalation in fighting and bombardment as Israeli troops stage their deepest incursion into Lebanon in two decades.Lebanon’s health ministry said Tuesday that Israeli strikes a day earlier near a hospital in the southern city of Tyre killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staff from the facility. With AFP

Hezbollah will not accept ‘partial ceasefire’ with Israel: Senior official
AFP/02 June ,2026
Hezbollah will not accept a “partial ceasefire” with Israel, a senior official from the Iran-backed group said Tuesday, refusing to halt attacks against northern Israel in exchange for Israel sparing Beirut’s southern suburbs.“We will not accept a partial ceasefire,” Mahmoud Qomati told AFP in a written statement, adding that “the Zionist enemy should know that any aggression against the suburbs could lead to a deeper and stronger response” from the group. On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a deal which Lebanese officials later said involved Israel refraining from attacking Beirut’s southern suburbs in return for Hezbollah not attacking Israeli territory.

Etiene Saqr/Abu Arz/Peace with Israel is the beginning of true salvation for Lebanon, and the definitive gateway to restoring its sovereignty, stability, and prosperity.
Facebook/ June 02/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/06/155009/
The military operations carried out by Israel in Lebanon are the only path toward liberating it from the Iranian occupation represented by the so-called "Hezbollah."
Therefore, anyone who attacks or condemns this path—instead of seeing it as an opportunity to save the nation—is either a coward afraid of speaking the truth, a hypocrite selling people empty illusions, or a traitor complicit in the continuation of the tragedy.
The time has come for Lebanese people to break free from the complex of blind hostility toward Israel, and from the culture of hatred that has been planted in minds for decades, which has ultimately brought Lebanon to ruin, isolation, and collapse.
Peace with Israel is the beginning of true salvation for Lebanon, and the definitive gateway to restoring its sovereignty, stability, and prosperity.
Conclusion: Any other talk is sheer nonsense.
At your service, Lebanon (Labbayka Ya Lebanon)

Israel reportedly targets Imam Hossein Division missile commander in Beirut strike
David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/June 02/2026
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2026/05/israel-reportedly-targets-imam-hossein-division-missile-commander-in-beirut-strike.phpOn May 28, at approximately 2 pm, the Israeli Air Force targeted an apartment on the second floor of the Rayyan Project building, near Shuwayfat’s Ajniha Al Khamsa area, just southeast of Beirut. It was the first Israeli strike in the broader Beirut area in just over three weeks.
The Lebanese Health Ministry claimed that three people—a woman, her infant daughter, and a Syrian child—were killed, and 15 people were wounded. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) almost immediately acknowledged that it had conducted a “precise strike in Beirut,” and promised further information.
Strike target: Ali al Hussaini
The IDF has yet to officially announce the target or the result of the strikes. However, media reports, quoting unnamed Israeli security sources, claimed that the target was Ali al Hussaini, saying he headed the missile array force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Forces’ (IRGC-QF) Imam Hossein Division. The reports also stressed his fate remained unclear. Hezbollah and Iranian sources have likewise remained silent on Hussaini’s fate.
There is no information on Hussaini from prior to the strike. Israeli analysts assessed him as a relatively low-ranking figure, a functional missile specialist or commander operating in the IRGC-controlled outfit that had previously fought alongside former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and is now supporting Hezbollah.
Chronology of Israel’s campaign against Imam Hossein Division operatives in Lebanon
Israel has targeted several Imam Hossein Division operatives in Lebanon since the onset of hostilities with Hezbollah on October 8, 2023.
March 2, 2024: Israel targeted a vehicle near Naqoura in the South Governorate’s Tyre District, which it claimed was carrying unnamed “terrorists operating under the Imam Hossein Division” who had overseen rocket fire directed at Israel.
October 1, 2024: Israel targeted and claimed to have killed Al Faqar Hanawi, the Imam Hossein Division’s commander in Beirut.
September 11, 2025: Israel targeted a vehicle on the Ain Baal–Bazouriyeh road in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District. Hezbollah-affiliated social media accounts announced the death of Hezbollah operative Wassim Said Jibaai, whose nom de guerre was Al Hajj Mahdi, from Aitit. At 7:47 pm, the IDF released a statement claiming responsibility for assassinating Jibaai, describing him as a dual operative in Hezbollah and the 14thImam Hussain Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IDF noted that Jibaai “was a central figure in the force-buildup efforts and strengthening of the division, advanced weapons procurement deals,” and “assisted in launching missile and rocket attacks against the State of Israel during operation ‘Northern Arrows.’”
March 12, 2026: Israel claimed to have targeted and killed Ali Muslim Tabaja in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The IDF said Tabaja had succeeded Dhulfiqar Hanawi as commander of the Imam Hossein division and claimed he “joined the Hezbollah terrorist organization and, over the years, held a series of military roles both within Hezbollah and within the division, including serving as the deputy commander of the division.” The IDF additionally claimed Tabaja “was involved in the process of rebuilding the Hezbollah terrorist organization and maintained …contact with senior members of the axis and Iranian officials.” Hezbollah-affiliated social media later acknowledged the death of operative Ali Muslim Tabaja, whose nom de guerre was Abu Ridha, from Deir Qanoun Al Nahr.
March 12, 2026: Israel claimed to have killed Jihad Al Safira, the Imam Hossein Division’s deputy commander, in the same strike targeting Tabaja. The Israelis also claimed to have killed Sajid Al Handasa, whom they identified as the division’s UAV officer, in the same operation.
March 18, 2026: The IDF claimed to have killed Hassan Ali Marwan, Tabaja’s successor, near Beirut. The IDF said he coordinated with Hezbollah military officials and the IRGC-QF, oversaw missile/UAV/rocket launches, and managed the deployment of division operatives in south Lebanon.
April 6, 2026: The IDF said it killed Kamil Melhem, the Imam Hossein Division’s head of artillery, along with other operatives, including aides to division commander Yahya Hussein. The Israeli military said that Melhem oversaw artillery launches, weapons procurement, and the division commander’s chief of staff’s office.
The IRGC-QF Imam Hossein Division
The Imam Hossein Division supports Hezbollah while answering directly to Iran’s IRGC-QF. The unit’s origins are generally traced back to 2016 in Syria, where it was founded by then-IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani. The Imam Hossein Division functioned as one of Iran’s main operational arms in Syria, developed by the IRGC-QF to support the Assad regime, as well as Iranian and Hezbollah objectives in and around Syria. Contemporaneous reporting described the Division as then being mostly comprised of Syrians, but with fighters from Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Reports claimed it had “thousands” of personnel with combat, special forces, HQ/logistics, drone warfare, rocket warfare, and precision-guided munition components. Some analysts claimed that the Imam Hossein Division was embedded in Syria’s military structure by the Syrian regime’s 4th Armored Division, and that Hezbollah played a pivotal role in establishing the force and training its personnel.During the Syrian Conflict, Imam Hossein Division forces were deployed throughout Syria, including in the Golan Heights and other areas opposite Israel after 2018, from where they attempted to conduct multiple rocket and drone attacks. Reports have attributed several attacks against Israel to the division from that period. These operations include a January 2019 surface-to-surface missile attack, a June 2019 rocket attack, and an attempted drone attack in August 2019. The same report claimed that the division was behind the October 2021 drone and rocket barrage on the US garrison in Al Tanf in southeastern Syria. Based on Israeli post-strike claims, it appears that much of Imam Hossein Division’s manpower was redeployed to reinforce Hezbollah after the onset of the October 7 War in 2023, including to Lebanon.
*David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.

13,500 pregnant women in Lebanon struggle to find safe care as hospitals come under fire
Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/June 02, 2026
NEW YORK CITY: The United Nations Population Fund, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, has warned that women and girls in Lebanon are facing a worsening humanitarian emergency as Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities continue despite a ceasefire agreement. It came a day after an Israeli airstrike on Monday severely damaged a hospital in the southern city of Tyre and left dozens of people injured. Anandita Philipose, the agency’s representative in Lebanon, on Tuesday described a time of “deep fear, uncertainty and escalation” across the country. “Despite the ceasefire that’s in place, the hostilities have not stopped,” she said. “People across Lebanon, particularly women and girls, are facing appalling levels of violence, displacement and human loss.”The Israeli strike on Monday hit Jabal Amel Hospital in Tyre. At least 86 people, including healthcare workers, were injured in the attack, which caused significant damage to the emergency department and intensive care unit, according to the World Health Organization, who said the hospital was one of only a handful still functioning in southern Lebanon.
Healthcare services in Tyre District have been particularly hard hit in recent days. On May 31, Hiram Hospital was also damaged by an Israeli attack. The Lebanese Italian Hospital, the third and only other remaining hospital in Tyre is still operational but said to be overwhelmed by the growing number of casualties. The WHO said that six hospitals affected by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah have not yet resumed maternity or delivery services, and currently provide only emergency room care.
Philipose said that over the past weekend alone, Israeli airstrikes also damaged a Population Fund-supported primary healthcare center and safe space for women and girls in southern Lebanon. It was “one of the very few facilities that have continued to be operational and provide lifesaving support in that region,” she added. “In another airstrike on southern Lebanon, there was damage to a public hospital that has maternal health services. It’s one of three hospitals that provide these kind of services in southern Lebanon.
“Again, when maternity wards and hospitals are damaged and destroyed, it is pregnant women who cannot get life-saving services.”According to the Population Fund, there are 13,500 pregnant women among the displaced persons across Lebanon; 1,500 are expected to give birth within the next 30 days.“That means, while we are sitting here today, 15 women may have gone into labor in situations of displacement across the country in a very difficult situation,” Philipose said. An estimated 1,500 pregnant women also remain trapped in southern Lebanon without access to skilled maternity care or safe delivery spaces, she added. Lebanon is facing health and protection crises, Philipose warned, that are becoming increasingly protracted despite the ceasefire agreement and a World Health Assembly resolution, adopted on May 21, that calls for the protection of healthcare in Lebanon.
The WHO said 190 attacks on healthcare facilities have been verified since the latest escalation of violence in the country began on March 2, in which 128 healthcare workers have been killed and 332 injured. In the past week alone there have been 11 assaults on healthcare facilities and personnel.
“These attacks shatter the continuum of care, and they also create fear among people,” Philipose said. “We are deeply worried that women and girls will not seek out lifesaving services because they know that healthcare is under attack.”
The WHO said about 130,000 people currently live in shelters after fleeing fighting, and displacement is increasing following recent Israeli evacuation orders. The health agency is monitoring disease outbreaks in these shelters and host communities, and reports an increasing trend of acute watery diarrhea. Women and girls face particularly severe protection risks at displacement sites, Philipose said. The Population Fund and its partners recently conducted safety audits in shelters and found overcrowding, lack of privacy, lack of gender segregation, poor lighting and unsafe sanitation facilities. Female-headed households, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and people with disabilities were identified as among the groups at greatest risk.
“Women and girls are bearing the brunt of this crisis,” Philipose said. She warned that funding shortfalls put at risk the continuation of relief efforts, and “our ability to sustain this life-saving work is under severe threat.”She pointed out that The Population Fund’s initial flash appeal for the period from March to May 2026 was only 30 percent funded. “Without this immediate and sustained funding, thousands of pregnant women will lose access to skilled birth attendance and … our mobile medical clinics will be forced to stop serving remote areas,” she said. “Scaling down our operations means cutting off more than 75,000 women from critical gender-based violence protection, case management, and safe spaces at the exact moment that they need them the most. “My call to the international community is clear,” she added as she outlined the three priorities the Population Fund is asking of the international community, the first of which echoes the UN “secretary-general’s call for a permanent end to hostilities, as well as respect for international humanitarian law. “The second is sustained funding for the humanitarian response, particularly critical and underfunded areas such as maternal and reproductive health, as well as prevention of and response to gender-based violence. “And third is preserving the health, safety and dignity of the women and girls in Lebanon. Women and girls are not an afterthought; they must remain at the very heart of our collective humanitarian response.”In comments to Arab News, Philipose emphasized that the Lebanese government remains in charge of coordinating the humanitarian response while UN agencies help support national efforts and relay concerns from affected communities. “We work primarily with two line ministries: the Ministry of Social Affairs, that is the one that starts with coordinating the overall response, as well as the Ministry of Public Health, that oversees the health response. We also play that very important license role between the government of Lebanon and our communities on the ground. “So, the government is leading the response, it’s coordinating the response. Our role as the UN is ensuring that what we’re hearing from the ground also informs the government response.“We’re also convening partners around health and protection, so that we’re making sure that at the same table we have government, women-led organizations, and (nongovernmental organization) partners all speaking together. “This is very important for a continued and sustained national ownership and community-driven response to the humanitarian crisis.”The latest escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has taken a devastating toll on Lebanon. According to UN figures, more than 3,400 people have been killed and nearly 10,400 injured, most of them civilians, since fighting intensified on March 2.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 02-03 June/2026
Trump says Iran talks happening 'continuously'
Agence France Presse/June 02/2026
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States and Iran were speaking "continuously," denying reports that Tehran had broken off contact over Israel's attacks on Lebanon. Trump added that "one never knows" where the negotiations would lead, as weeks of direct and indirect talks have failed to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28. "Fake News Reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the U.S.A., stopped speaking a few days ago are false and erroneous," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today." Trump added: "Where they lead, one never knows, but as I told Iran, 'It's time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal. You've been doing this for 47 years, and it cannot be allowed to go on any longer!'"

Trump says he told Iran it’s time to make a deal
Al Arabiya English/02 June ,2026
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that conversations with Iran had not stopped despite Tehran’s claims that the exchange of messages had been suspended, adding that he said it was time to make a deal. “Fake News Reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the U.S.A., stopped speaking a few days ago are false and erroneous,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Media affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have repeatedly said this week that Tehran’s negotiating team had suspended exchanges of messages with the United States through mediators in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Trump said that talks have been going on continuously, “including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today.” He added: “Where they lead, one never knows, but as I told Iran, ‘It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal. You’ve been doing this for 47 years, and it cannot be allowed to go on any longer!’”

Rubio says Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei alive and ‘increasingly engaging’
Agencies/02 June ,2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in US-Israeli attacks and has not been seen in public since assuming office, is alive and increasingly active. “I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28. Rubio was testifying in front of the Senate panel as talks on ending the three-month-old war that has engulfed the Middle East and triggered a global energy crisis have stalled. Rubio expressed hope for a deal with Iran, while insisting that Tehran must severely limit its nuclear program in order to see sanctions lifted. He said that Iran had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it previously refused to discuss. “There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week,” Rubio said. Rubio said that Tehran must agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas. “They have to announce very clearly ‘The straits are now open, we’re not charging a toll’.” We will help remove the mines that they put in there, and they will not fire on ships.”Additionally, he said: “They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and/or cancellation of enrichment activity.”Rubio continued: “Iran is being sanctioned because they’ve highly enriched uranium, Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities, if they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief.”

Iran studying deal to halt war with US as stalemate persists
Al Arabiya English/02 June ,2026
Iran is reviewing a proposed agreement with the US to halt their war, Iranian media reported on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump said talks to reach a deal were continuing. More than three months after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, the conflict has hardened into a stalemate while efforts to negotiate an interim deal have proved inconclusive, leaving the Strait of Hormuz largely shut. Iran has not yet responded to a proposed final text of the temporary deal, and was taking a “stern” approach given what it sees as a history of US non-compliance and longstanding mistrust, the semi-official Mehr news agency cited a source as saying. Trump said on Monday that negotiations with Iran were continuing and there would be a deal over the next week to extend a ceasefire agreed in early April and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Since mid-March, Trump has repeatedly said he is close to signing a peace agreement, though any such deal would postpone thorny issues including the future of Iran’s nuclear program. A ceasefire has largely held since early April, but Iran and the US have exchanged strikes several times over the past week. Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday, paring the previous day’s sharp gains. A senior International Energy Agency official warned that global oil inventories could hit historically low levels.
Israel keeps up strikes in Lebanon
The war that began on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which previously carried about a fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas. It also triggered the latest round of conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, with Israel pursuing its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 25 years. On Tuesday, Israel kept up strikes on a string of towns in southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said, a day after US mediation appeared to have averted an immediate escalation of that war. A partial ceasefire announced by Lebanon on Monday would entail Israel refraining from strikes on Beirut and Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, while the Iran-aligned group would halt its attacks on Israel.But the announcement failed to reassure many Lebanese, 1.2 million of whom have been displaced, and the din of an Israeli drone over Beirut kept residents on edge on Tuesday. Lebanon said it would seek to expand the ceasefire in talks with Israel in Washington on Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing criticism domestically over any agreement to hold back from further attacks on Beirut, ahead of an election later this year that he is projected to lose. Iran pushes for limited deal. In the wider war, Iran is pushing for a limited interim agreement as it tries to ease mounting economic pressure while avoiding major concessions on its nuclear program, according to Iranian sources. As part of any deal, Tehran is seeking an end to hostilities across all fronts including Lebanon, access to billions of dollars in oil revenues, waivers on crude exports, a lifting of a US blockade on its ports, and continued leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump is under pressure to reopen the strait and curb US fuel prices while not making concessions to Iran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that 24 vessels had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, after obtaining permission from the IRGC’s navy. Iran threatened on Monday to expand its blockade to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, another chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea, if Israel resumed strikes on Beirut. Highlighting the risk at sea, the world’s largest shipping group MSC said on Tuesday that one of its vessels was struck by two projectiles while in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port the previous day. Iran’s IRGC claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out in retaliation for a US attack on an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman. With Reuters

US Treasury issues new Iran sanctions targeting crypto exchanges
Al Arabiya English/02 June ,2026
The United States issued new Iran-related sanctions on Tuesday, targeting individuals and crypto exchanges, a notice on the Treasury Department website showed. The US sanctioned four Iranian nationals and four Iran-based digital asset exchanges Nobitex, Bitpin, Ramzinex and Wallex, the Treasury said. Foreign financial institutions and individuals may also be sanctioned if they engage in certain transactions with the four firms, the department added. “While Iran’s economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “Iran’s current economic chaos is proof that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has been a success,” he added. With Reuters

Two Iran-backed Iraqi militias to begin handing over weapons to authorities
The Associated Press/02 June ,2026
Two of Iraq’s Iran-backed militias said on Tuesday that they would begin handing in their weapons to the authorities, a major step in the new government’s effort to rein in militias. One of the groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said it had formed a committee to oversee the move, inventory its fighters, weapons and equipment, and coordinate with the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces. The second group, the Imam Ali Brigades, made a similar announcement, saying the time has come “to build a strong state with full sovereignty.”It added that its aim was now to have weapons only with the state and help boost state institutions. A week ago, influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said his Saraya al-Salam militia, also known as the Peace Brigades, would split from his political movement and integrate into state institutions.

US sanctions Iran’s largest digital asset exchange Nobitex and 3 others
AP/June 03, 2026
WASHINGTON: As part of the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to pressure Iran into a deal that would end an ongoing war with the US and Israel, the US placed sanctions on Iran’s largest digital asset exchange and three other exchanges, Tuesday.
Included in the sanctions are Iran’s largest digital assets firm Nobitex and its chairman and co-founder, Amir Hossein Rad. Treasury says Nobitex has processed more than 50 percent of all Iranian digital asset income last year and supports Iran’s vast sanctions evasion network.
The sanctions come as a pair of semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday that Iran stopped communicating with mediators about extending a ceasefire in the war with the US and Israel. US President Donald Trump has disputed the claim and said talks are continuing.
Treasury accuses Nobitex of moving assets and funds out of the country to shield regime wealth after the start of US combat operations in Iran. A representative from Nobitex could not be reached through email. US officials maintain that Iran relies heavily on cryptocurrency and other digital assets to evade sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Reagan National Economic Forum this month, “We have seized about a billion dollars of their crypto.”The Trump administration’s latest announcement is one of a variety of measures put in place to inflict economic pain on Iran. It has also imposed secondary economic sanctions on countries doing business with people, firms, and ships under Iranian control — including allies like the United Arab Emirates and competitors like China. Banks have received warnings about handling Iranian money. And last week, the US imposed sanctions on Iran’s newly created Arabian Gulf Strait Authority, which is an agency intended to control shipping through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. Treasury calls the agency a “scheme to extort international shipping.” Meanwhile, the US military has stopped merchant vessels trying to break through a US-led blockade of Iranian ports. The US launched the blockade on April 17 after Iran effectively closed the strait after the war in the Middle East began with US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

UAE nuclear plant attackers ‘knew what they were doing’: IAEA chief
AFP/2 June ,2026
The UAE’s nuclear plant was “carefully targeted” last month by attackers who aimed to cause a major incident, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The drone attack on May 17 hit an electricity facility at the plant, risking potentially shutting it down -- a “serious situation indeed,” Rafael Grossi said. “From what we saw this was a very carefully targeted operation,” Grossi told journalists in Abu Dhabi after visiting the Barakah plant. The United Arab Emirates blamed militants in Iraq for the incident, which followed weeks of attacks by Iranian drones and missiles during the Middle East war. “In spite of the fact that the Emirati professionals acted very quickly and could address the situation, (it could have taken) out the reactor because of the loss of external power,” Grossi said. “This means that whoever was behind this knew exactly what they were doing. This is of extreme gravity.”Grossi said he was also visiting the UAE’s Gulf neighbors, who could be affected by any accident at the Arab world’s only nuclear plant. “I think this is pretty serious and this is why we have been very vocal,” he told AFP in separate remarks.“I’ve been to Kuwait, to Qatar, now here, and I’m heading to Riyadh because several countries in the region have serious concerns,” he added. Grossi said he would hold a special session of the IAEA’s board of governors and that the body is providing technical expertise and support for the UAE.The “worst-case scenario” would be a direct hit on Barakah or Iran’s Bushehr plant -- which has also been targeted in the war -- with the potential for a leak of radioactive material, he told AFP. Cutting the power “has the practical effect of... necessitating emergency generation to keep the safety functions of the plant running,” he said. “To get to a meltdown would take much, much more. We would be talking of a situation where you would completely run out of external power.”Hamad Al Kaabi, deputy chairman of the Board of Management of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, said Grossi’s visit “reflects the international community view that an attack on such a plant is not acceptable.”He said Barakah, which has been fully operational since 2024, remains a “cornerstone” of energy infrastructure in the oil-rich country. “Whether we expand (nuclear power) in the future is yet to be decided, but I think Barakah makes a compelling case,” he told AFP. “If anything, it’s proved that these plants can be maintained safely and securely.”

President Trump taps Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence
The Associated Press/02 June ,2026
President Donald Trump has tapped federal housing finance Director Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard. Trump made the surprise announcement Tuesday on Truth Social regarding Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trump says Pulte “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.”Trump says Pulte will keep his other positions even as he fills in for Gabbard, who resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis. If formally nominated, Pulte would need to be confirmed by the Senate to hold the position full time. Pulte’s current role involves ensuring the soundness of the mortgage market, but he morphed into a megaphone who went after the Republican president’s perceived political foes. Pulte has mainly trained his sights on Trump’s domestic rivals, going after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for having not cutting the central bank’s benchmark interest rates as aggressively as the president wanted. It’s unclear what national security expertise Pulte has, but he has been a frequent guest on Air Force One as Trump has traveled to Mar-a-Lago, his home and club in Palm Beach, Florida. With the pick, Trump who has long viewed the nation’s intelligence agencies with suspicion, is forgoing a director with experience in sensitive intelligence and national security matters and instead selecting a loyal aide who made a career in the homebuilding industry and cultivated a combative social media presence. Gabbard was seen as an unconventional pick, but she was a former congresswoman who had served in the military.

Kuwait says air defenses intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks
Updated 03 June 2026 02:37
Reuters/June 03, 2026
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti air defenses were intercepting hostile ​missile and drone attacks on Wednesday, state news agency KUNA reported, quoting the country’s army which did not say where the threats came from. KUNA cited the army’s General Staff as saying any explosions heard ‌were caused ‌by interceptions and ​urged ‌the ⁠public ​to follow safety ⁠instructions and avoid any debris or unidentified objects.The statements came shortly after Iran’s media reported that sounds of explosions had been heard in the area of Qeshm Island, without ⁠saying what caused them. Bahrain’s interior ‌ministry also ‌said a warning siren ​had been sounded and ‌urged citizens and residents to ‌remain calm and head to the nearest safe place. Kuwait has reported several hostile missile and drone attacks in recent days, including ‌incidents it later described as Iranian, but it did not ⁠identify ⁠the source of Wednesday’s threats. Gulf countries, including Kuwait, have come under missile and drone attack during the US-Israel war on Iran. Hostilities have largely eased since a ceasefire came into effect in April, though the truce has been repeatedly tested by further missile and drone attacks, including ​against or ​near Gulf countries hosting US forces.

MSC says vessel hit by projectiles in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port on Monday, crew safe
Reuters/02 June ,2026
MSC, the world’s largest shipping group, said on Tuesday its Sariska V vessel was struck by two projectiles while in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port on Monday, adding that all crew members were safe and unharmed. The company said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had claimed responsibility. MSC described the incident as an unprovoked attack on a neutral commercial carrier with no affiliation to the United States or Israel. “MSC is deeply concerned by these unprovoked attacks and the risk they create for its innocent seafarers and essential maritime trade in the region,” the group said in a statement. Iran’s IRGC said they had targeted the MSC Sariska V container ship with a cruise missile, according to Iranian state media, describing the strike as retaliation for what Tehran said was an earlier attack on an Iranian vessel.

Kyiv orders evacuations from several border villages over increased Russian attacks
AFP/02 June ,2026
Officials in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv bordering Russia on Tuesday ordered the mandatory evacuation of civilians from several settlements, citing increased Russian attacks. The announcement affects seven towns and villages near the northeastern border with Russia, a less-active sector of the front where Moscow has sent troops over Ukraine’s border, as part of efforts to create a buffer zone.“Given the security situation and systematic enemy attacks, we are expanding the mandatory evacuation zone in the Zolochiv direction,” regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on social media. He added that the orders applied to 7,157 people, including 1,702 children and 311 people with limited mobility. Ukraine routinely announces the evacuation of civilians living near the front line, indicating gradual Russian advances, which are being slowed and even reversed in some areas over recent months. Russia forces captured swathes of the Kharkiv region when they invaded in February 2022, but were pushed back later that year in a rout that embarrassed the Kremlin.

British couple in Iran lose appeal against 10-year prison term, family says
Reuters/02 June ,2026
A British couple held in Iran have lost their appeal against a 10-year prison sentence, their family said on Tuesday, adding that the pair were not allowed to attend the hearing and had little information about the proceedings. Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in a Tehran prison last year after Iran charged them with espionage, which they deny. In a voice message recorded from Evin prison in Tehran and shared with Reuters, Craig Foreman said he and his wife were living in a ”war zone” and accused the British government of failing to defend their innocence. He said the couple felt “let down, alone and completely frustrated by the lack of public defence by the people in charge of the government.”

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 02-03 June/2026
How double-dealing Oman threatens Trump’s Mideast peace
Ahmad Sharawi and Max Meizlish/New York Post/June 02/2026
“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up,” President Donald Trump declared Wednesday.
An apparently shocking statement about a nation long regarded as a key US ally.
But as a tentative deal to end the war with Iran appears to be within reach, Washington has grown increasingly frustrated by the Gulf sultanate’s quiet yet significant support for the Islamic Republic.
Located directly across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, Oman was once viewed as a trusted intermediary between the United States and the Tehran regime.
Washington considers Muscat a strategic partner and maintains access to the sultanate’s naval facilities; a longstanding US-Oman free trade agreement meant trade in US goods and services trade totaling $4.3 billion in 2024.
However, Oman is becoming a hub for Iranian sanctions evasion.
Despite being struck by Iranian missiles and drones early in the war, Oman was the first government to congratulate the regime’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on his appointment.
Iranian sources claim the Sultan of Oman recently signed a decree to expand trade and economic ties with Tehran, and suggested that banks in Muscat may even be firing managers who are reluctant to help facilitate that agreement.
The United States is aware of Oman’s support for Iran — but it hasn’t yet moved to stop it, sending instead a set of letters warning of potential sanctions as part of the Treasury Department’s “Operation Economic Fury.”
And since then — in the absence of any sanctions targeting the banks that received warnings — Oman upped the ante.
The sultanate reportedly began discussing with Iran a plan to jointly establish a permanent toll or tax system for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
This critical chokepoint is barely 21 miles at its narrowest point, with shipping lanes squeezed into a corridor just a few miles wide and split between Oman and Iran.
Tehran can’t control the waterway alone — but neither can it and Oman be allowed to slap a price tag on one of the world’s busiest maritime routes.
That’s why, on Wednesday, Trump issued his blunt threat to Oman.
Later that evening, the United States sanctioned Iran’s newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which the regime set up to collect those tolls.
And on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that “Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait, and any willing partners will be penalized.”
Bessent later said he had spoken with the Omani ambassador, who “assured” him that “there were no plans for tolling the strait.”
Still, Oman has neither publicly confirmed nor denied working with or supporting Iran’s PGSA — and has not commented on Iran’s suggested “environmental tax” scheme for Hormuz shipping.Meanwhile, evidence is growing that Oman is welcoming Iranian smugglers and helping them get around the US blockade.
Across social media, shipping accounts based in Iran advertise routes via ports in the Musandam Peninsula at Oman’s northern tip, posting videos of small cargo boats moving through the port of Khasab before crossing the Persian Gulf to Bandar Abbas in Iran.
These boats are difficult to detect, but can carry anything from benign goods like produce and cigarettes to dual-use items like the electronic components Iran needs to rebuild and rearm.
And Iranian banks sanctioned by the United States for financing terrorism — including Bank Melli and Bank Saderat — remain operational in Oman to this day.
They help the regime move funds and bypass western sanctions, with the Omani government turning at least a blind eye. A year ago Iran’s central bank governor even discussed the idea of establishing a joint bank with Oman to “increase banking and trade exchanges.”
While posing as a friend, Oman is acting like an enemy. But Trump doesn’t need to bomb the country — at least not yet. Instead, he should leverage America’s vast sanctions toolkit to target Oman’s financial system. Bessent should sanction the Omani banks already identified as supporting Iranian sanctions evasion. He should push the sultanate to shut down the informal money exchange houses, or hawalas, that swap Iranian rials into US dollars, and present Muscat with a pre-determined list of strategically significant financial targets that the United States commits to sanction should Oman keep supporting Iran.
Oman’s historical ties with the United States cannot excuse its support for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — and Trump doesn’t need explosives to make that point.
He just needs to show that “economic fury” is what’s in store for both the terror regime in Tehran and all who facilitate its aggression. Ahmad Sharawi is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies , where Max Meizlish is a research fellow in the Center on Economic and Financial Power.
https://nypost.com/2026/05/29/opinion/how-double-dealing-oman-threatens-trumps-mideast-peace/
Read in New York Post

Doctors Without Borders: Promoting Hate Through Medicine
Gerald M. Steinberg/Gatestone Institute/June 02/2026
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22579/doctors-without-borders-msf
[L]ike other powerful groups in the NGO industry, MSF has become a major platform for political and ideological propaganda campaigns that often accompany wars and terror atrocities.
A major new report by the NGO Monitor research institute... documents how MSF has been transformed from a medical humanitarian organization into one of the most aggressive institutional promoters of anti-Israel messaging, most notably the canard that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
This is far from the only example of MSF's participation in demonization campaigns that are entirely inconsistent with the humanitarian agenda.
On October 7, while Hamas terrorists were still murdering and raping civilians in Israel, dragging hostages into Gaza, and live-streaming their "conquests," MSF officials were accusing Israel of war crimes.
Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, an MSF-affiliated anti-Israel activist, participated in a grotesque press conference organized by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, to promote the libel.
In a massive understatement, the text acknowledged that MSF lacked the legal expertise to determine genocidal intent – the central element of the crime under international law. But that disclaimer did not stop the organization from running with the libel. At least 272 times.
In parallel, MSF was deafeningly silent on Hamas' real war crimes: embedding of military (terrorist) infrastructure in hospitals (documented by NGO Monitor), schools, and civilian neighborhoods; the theft of humanitarian aid; and the continued holding of Israeli civilian hostages. Across MSF's international social media feeds, hostages were scarcely mentioned – appearing as the primary subject of only three posts out of hundreds.
By embracing false and defamatory accusations, Doctors Without Borders and all who are associated with this NGO have undermined fundamental moral and humanitarian values. They have traded white coats and medical missions for hate slogans and lies.
A major new report documents how Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) has been transformed from a medical humanitarian organization into one of the most aggressive institutional promoters of anti-Israel messaging, most notably the canard that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
For half a century, Doctors Without Borders enjoyed an enviable reputation. They were known and respected for their work in war zones and disaster areas, where volunteers and employees treated the wounded and sick. Known globally as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, the NGO built its credibility on the principle that doctors are there to save lives, not to wage political campaigns.
That reputation is now largely gone, and like other powerful groups in the NGO industry, MSF has become a major platform for political and ideological propaganda campaigns that often accompany wars and terror atrocities.
A major new report by the NGO Monitor research institute, which I founded and lead, documents how MSF has been transformed from a medical humanitarian organization into one of the most aggressive institutional promoters of anti-Israel messaging, most notably the canard that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Since Hamas' October 7, 2023 massacre, MSF and its regional affiliates have falsely accused Israel of "genocide" at least 272 times on social media. This disturbing fact should speak for itself – genocide is not a minor rhetorical flourish. The term was coined by Polish-Jewish jurist Raphael Lemkin to describe the deliberate destruction of a people in the gas chambers and killing fields of the Holocaust. Genocide carries extraordinary moral weight. Historically, and until recently, responsible institutions and individuals have used the term with great caution.
This is far from the only example of MSF's participation in demonization campaigns that are entirely inconsistent with the humanitarian agenda. On October 7, while Hamas terrorists were still murdering and raping civilians in Israel, dragging hostages into Gaza, and live-streaming their "conquests," MSF officials were accusing Israel of war crimes. This NGO's first statement reduced the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust to a vague "escalation between Israel and Gaza."
That framing defined MSF's activities throughout the conflict and continues to this day, accompanied by blatantly false accusations.
For example, on October 17, 2023, an explosion occurred near Gaza's Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. MSF immediately issued statements describing the incident as a "massacre" and promoted physician Ghassan Abu-Sittah as a key witness blaming Israel. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, an MSF-affiliated anti-Israel activist, participated in a grotesque press conference, organized by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, to promote the libel. Assessments by the United States, Canada and France, and an investigation by The New York Times, concluded the damage was caused by a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but the MSF-led campaign never retracted the lie, spread among millions of cumulative social media followers. That failure matters because MSF's authority rests on public trust. When doctors on the ground speak, journalists, diplomats, and policymakers listen. And when the organization's statements promote the opposite of the humanitarian principles it purports to support, the consequences extend far beyond a single news cycle. In Gaza, MSF's role in demonization and false accusations against Israel expanded. In December 2023, MSF's international president Christos Christou accused Israel of "incessant and indiscriminate warfare" and collective punishment. In October 2024, MSF described Israeli operations as "unmitigated slaughter."
These attacks were the prelude to the genocide canard.
In December 2024, MSF published a report titled "Life in a Death Trap," joining the hate-filled chorus alleging that Israel was carrying out ethnic cleansing and genocide. In a massive understatement, the text acknowledged that MSF lacked the legal expertise to determine genocidal intent – the central element of the crime under international law. But that disclaimer did not stop the organization from running with the libel. At least 272 times.In parallel, MSF was deafeningly silent on Hamas' real war crimes: embedding of military (terrorist) infrastructure in hospitals (documented by NGO Monitor), schools, and civilian neighborhoods; the theft of humanitarian aid; and the continued holding of Israeli civilian hostages. Across MSF's international social media feeds, hostages were scarcely mentioned – appearing as the primary subject of only three posts out of hundreds.
The tragedy is that MSF did not need to choose between treating patients and becoming a partisan actor. Humanitarian groups can deliver aid while maintaining discipline, precision, and moral seriousness. Many do.
MSF chose the opposite path. By embracing false and defamatory accusations, Doctors Without Borders and all who are associated with this NGO have undermined fundamental moral and humanitarian values. They have traded white coats and medical missions for hate slogans and lies.
*Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg is founder and president of NGO Monitor.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

From Beaufort Castle to Hormuz
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 02, 2026
The world’s attention is fixed on the Strait of Hormuz, which may have become the most famous hostage in history. A blockage in this artery makes the global economy gravely ill. That is why Iran is demanding the heftiest ransom in history for its release. It is also why it could be said that the world is distracted from the daily horrors in Gaza and the aggravating tragedy in southern Lebanon. Benjamin Netanyahu had hoped to complete the mission in Iran — that is, to launch a new round of the American-Israeli war against it. But going to war alongside the US means there cannot be two leaders, especially when Donald Trump is president. Trump accepts nothing less than the driver’s seat, with no partner beside him.The convergence of Trump’s and Netanyahu’s calculations during the first strike on Iran did not necessarily entail their continued alignment until the end of the war. Indeed, it did not. The American president opened the door to a ceasefire and negotiations with Iran, and that door remains open. Netanyahu is experienced in bending the terms of agreements and circumventing understandings. Familiar with Trump’s temperament, however, he is compelled to accommodate him and avoid a dispute. Trump’s manner of publicly rebuking NATO leaders taught Netanyahu that caution is needed and that provoking the president comes at a price. Netanyahu is apprehensive about the provisions of the memorandum of understanding. Lifting American sanctions, reopening Hormuz and releasing frozen Iranian funds, all before the “mission” has been completed. Trump constantly stresses that Iran will never possess a nuclear weapon. Yet, amid his torrent of statements, he has not dwelled on Iran’s missile arsenal, nor has he addressed the issue of Iran’s regional proxies.
Netanyahu failed to impose a complete separation between the situation in southern Lebanon and the US-Iran talks.In ceasefire agreements or truces, Netanyahu often inserts a clause, or at least an implicit understanding, affirming Israel’s right to self-defense. He uses it to perpetuate the war, albeit at a lower intensity. This happened in Gaza and it is currently happening in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu failed to impose a complete separation between the situation in southern Lebanon and the American-Iranian talks. The proposed understanding between Washington and Tehran involves ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. Netanyahu, heading toward elections, wants a security card to play in northern Israel. Since the “Sinwar Flood” of Oct. 7, 2023, Netanyahu’s government has explicitly decided to eliminate the Iranian-Israeli frontier that Gen. Qassem Soleimani had painstakingly built in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon through a network of tunnels, missiles, drones and mobile “miniature armies.” Netanyahu believes that what unites these arenas is the “Iranian thread,” which allowed Hamas to build its arsenal, developed Hezbollah’s arsenal, and turned Syria into a corridor for missiles within the “Axis of Resistance” that took shape after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.Netanyahu saw the war on Sinwar as part of the war against Iran. The same applies to the war against Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In response to the “Flood,” Netanyahu decided to implement a major strategic shift: eliminating Israel’s borders with Iran on every front, reshaping the actors on the other side of those borders, and creating “security belts” inside neighboring countries.
While the world is preoccupied with the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, Israel is waging an extremely dangerous war in southern Lebanon, which it sees as a war to eliminate its Iranian frontier on the Lebanese front. By choosing to support Iran, Hezbollah demonstrated that the previous round of conflict had not deprived it of the capacity to launch rockets and drones at Israel. Israel responded to Hezbollah’s actions by shifting the “yellow line” in southern Lebanon, just as it had done in Gaza.
While the world is preoccupied with the Strait of Hormuz, Israel is waging an extremely dangerous war in southern Lebanon
Israeli incursions deep into southern Lebanon are extremely dangerous. Israel has effectively destroyed dozens of villages and towns and it is now pummeling major cities, such as Tyre and Nabatiyeh, after Bint Jbeil. Israel has uprooted people and destroyed property, pushing hundreds of thousands toward the Lebanese interior, sparking old and new tensions.
Hezbollah is fighting the Israeli army as it advances into southern Lebanon. It is inflicting losses, but the losses suffered by Lebanon exceed the country’s capacity to endure. Clearing the rubble in southern Lebanon after the war will take a very long time. The same applies to rebuilding infrastructure and then the reconstruction process. It is a war that threatens to break Lebanon’s back and bury it under rubble for many years. Anyone who understands the fragility of the Lebanese house understands the danger that this house may crack under the weight of war, especially since the majority of Lebanese did not support backing Iran and had previously criticized the support war for Gaza.Faced with Israel’s killing machine, Lebanon has no cards to play. It can do nothing but appeal to America and exert pressure on Israel. Yet to play that role, Washington demands a task beyond Beirut’s capabilities: disarming Hezbollah. Restricting armament to the state would, in practice, mean dismantling Iran’s front in southern Lebanon. Neither Iran nor Hezbollah will accept this and the price Lebanon is paying is horrific and devastating.
Netanyahu has retaliated to Trump’s desire to prevent the bombardment of Beirut, except through “precise strikes” — that is, targeted assassinations. Yet the war Israel is waging in southern Lebanon is no less dangerous than targeting the capital itself. Raising the Israeli flag over Beaufort Castle is a painful and alarming message, an omen of a new cycle of Lebanese suffering. Israel’s crimes are horrifying and Lebanese divisions are deep. The destruction of homes in the south shakes the very foundations of the Lebanese house. Will the Lebanese awaken before it is too late?

Turkiye’s Fidan issues veiled threat to Israel
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/June 02, 2026
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan last week gave an interview to Japanese media outlet Nikkei Asia. In it, Fidan made an interesting proposition to Israel, saying it could be part of a regional security architecture if it gave the Palestinians a state on the 1967 borders. On the surface, this might look like a conciliatory message. However, at its core, it carries a veiled threat. When asked about Israel, Fidan started speaking with a positive tone, stating that the two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1949 and, before the Gaza war, bilateral trade was worth about $10 billion a year. He explained that Turkiye stopped trading with Israel in response to its slaughter of Palestinians but added that the relationship could resume if Israel stopped the carnage and allowed Gazans to access food, shelter, medicine and water. He dismissed the claim that Turkiye is a threat to Israel.
This comes after Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard gave an interview in which he said Israel’s next war “will probably be against Turkiye and Egypt.” Though Pollard mentioned both Turkiye and Egypt, his focus was mainly on the former. He said he has been following the development of Ankara’s military doctrine and that any fight with it would be harder than the one with Iran. Hence, for Pollard, Israel should finish off Iran, Gaza and Hezbollah in order to be set for the big fight with Turkiye. Fidan, meanwhile, said that states should respect each other’s sovereignty and integrity. He also pointed to the fact that regional countries have a golden opportunity to learn from recent history and cooperate. Israel is no longer only a threat to the Palestinians, Lebanon and Iran. It is a threat to the rest of the region too
Fidan’s statement did not come from a void, nor is it empty rhetoric. There is a real convergence happening in the region that is driven by the Israeli threat. Israel has always thrived on unconditional Western — namely American — support and, more importantly, regional divisions. It has been very skillful in playing on the animosity and competition among regional states. It first allied itself with Iran at the time of the shah, then with Kemalist Turkiye, and then it tried to team up with the Gulf states against the threat of Iran. It always tried to portray itself as the lesser evil, as regional states had a more immediate threat: the nationalist wave of Nasserism in the 1950s and 1960s, the Muslim Brotherhood movement or Iran and its export of the revolution.
However, Israel’s unbridled actions are today perceived as the main threat. Regional states view Israel as the power that is seeking to destabilize the region. There is nothing that unites people and states more than a threat. And Israel is no longer only a threat to the Palestinians, Lebanon and Iran. It is a threat to the rest of the region too.
Pollard spelled it out clearly. The next war will be with Turkiye and Egypt, two countries that have recognized Israel. Israel’s brutality, contempt for international law and expansionism created this perception of threat. Iran is no longer seen as the main destabilizer in the region — it is Israel. The line of thinking in the region today is as follows: solving problems with Iran is less costly and less damaging than fighting it. Regional countries also realize that containment is no longer an option. The Iran issue needs to be addressed. In fact, as subtly stated by Fidan, Iran can come on to their side.
Fidan said Israel could eventually become part of this framework if it recognized a Palestinian state. The Turkish foreign minister stated that the cooperation framework or alliance could include Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt and the Arab Gulf states. He added: “When things come normal, maybe Iran should also be part of it.” This is another way of saying that — after the Iran war and once the Arab Gulf states and Turkiye streamline their outstanding security issues with Tehran — the Islamic Republic can join this group.
This would be Israel’s worst nightmare: the Middle East united. The region coming together and exerting pressure on Israel. This calamity would be compounded by the erosion of American and Western support for Tel Aviv.
Fidan said Israel could eventually become part of this cooperation framework if it recognized a Palestinian state, alluding to the Arab Peace Initiative. This initiative was spearheaded by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and adopted by all members of the Arab League. The initiative offers full normalization with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Israel has always rejected the proposal. However, Fidan renewed it with a twist.
He said “if that problem is solved,” referring to the issue of Palestinian statehood, “I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too.” This clearly means that Israel has a choice. If it accepts the initiative, it can enjoy security that will be guaranteed by the region’s countries. Otherwise, it will be choosing confrontation. And this time, Israel will not be confronting just one country — it would be an alliance. Israel would have no chance when facing such an alliance.
Fidan’s statement was definitely a veiled threat, but it also constituted an offer that Israel should not refuse. However, the chances are that it will refuse the offer, the same way it refused the Arab Peace Initiative. The reason is very simple: Israel’s behavior has shown that its leaders do not believe in peace, they believe in subjugation. Israel might be able to subjugate the Palestinians and the Lebanese for now but, as Pollard said, “the storm is coming.” What Pollard did not grasp is that the storm will be devastating, as Israel will be alone facing a united region.
**Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on 02-03 June/2026
Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו
Yesterday, we parted ways with the outgoing Mossad chief, Dedi Barnea.
The price that Iran has already paid is very heavy. The foundations of this reign of terror in Iran have been cracked. It will never return to being what it was, and I say to you - it is destined to fall. On my behalf, on behalf of the entire people, I have come to say to Dedi - thank you. Thank you for 30 years of devoted service in the Mossad and a special thank you for the recent years, which yielded striking successes and achievements for the benefit of Israel's security.

ראש ממשלת ישראל
@IsraeliPM_heb/Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו
https://x.com/i/status/2061900883726586251
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the government meeting after approving the massive plans for the North: "We will restore both security and prosperity to the North.""What the government approved today—these are dramatic decisions to strengthen the North. We're talking about the area from the Lebanese border—9 km south. This is a region that desperately needs development, and it's getting it first and foremost through strengthening the settlements, infrastructure, housing, and it's getting it through an additional component—protection. Protection is an addition to security; it's not the component of security or the foundation of security, but it is an addition to security in the great battle we're waging against Hezbollah—and we will succeed in it. We will also solve the drone problem—the best minds in the people of Israel, in the State of Israel, and also outside the State of Israel are currently mobilized for a national project. We will solve this problem. We will restore both security and prosperity to the North. People will flock to the North; we're putting a huge amount of money here. A little more than 13 billion shekels today, in addition to the 7 billion we already gave—that means 20 billion shekels are going to the northern settlements, and rightly so they are going. When I say that people will come to the North, I said the same thing about the South, and people said: 'Well, those are just words.' Today the South, which was challenged security-wise, there are enormous demands there, there is tremendous growth and flourishing there—and that's exactly what will happen here too."

Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Government Meeting following the Approval of the Massive Plans for the North:
“What the Government approved today are dramatic decisions to strengthen the North. We are talking about the area from the Lebanese border line, nine kilometers south. This is an area that is crying out for development, and it is receiving it, first and foremost, through the strengthening of communities, infrastructure, and housing, as well as through an additional component, fortification. Fortification is an addition to security; it is not the sole component of security, nor is it the foundation of security, but it is an addition to security in the major struggle we are waging against Hezbollah, and we will succeed in it.
We will also solve the drone problem – the best minds in the people of Israel, in the State of Israel, and also outside the State of Israel, are currently mobilized for this national project. We will solve this problem. We will restore both security and prosperity to the North.
People will flock to the North; we are investing very big money here. A little over NIS 13 billion today, in addition to the NIS 7 billion we have already given, meaning NIS 20 billion are going to the communities of the North, and rightfully so.
When I say that people will come to the North, I said that about the South as well, and people said: 'Well, those are just words.' Today, the South, which was security-challenged, has tremendous demand, tremendous growth, and a tremendous prosperity, and that is exactly what will happen here as well."

Hiba Nasr
https://x.com/i/status/2061854595442184364
Israel and Lebanon can do a peace deal tomorrow. Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon . Hezbollah is the impediment. There is no Hezbollah without Iran.

Hiba Nasr
Delegations from Israel and Lebanon met today at State for the fourth round of direct talks, held under U.S. auspices. Progress continues on the political and security tracks as we break from the failures of the past 20 years and advance toward a comprehensive agreement aimed at restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring Israel's security. The United States remains fully committed to facilitating these historic negotiations. Another round is scheduled for tomorrow.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
UN replacement of defunct UNIFIL with another peacekeeping force requires a UN Security Council resolution. If force will be observers, we've seen how useless they've been since 1978. If new force will actually hunt down Hezbollah, that'll need intel that such a force does not have and possibility of the UN force losing personnel in gunfights with the Iranian proxy. Guterres doesn't seem to have thought out this one through. He just does whatever is the opposite of US policy. - On Lebanese-Israeli talks, I hope yesterday was a hiccup. Someone in Washington decided to circumvent the exist negotiations channel commanded by Prez Aoun and PM Salam with another channel through Speaker Berri. Israel had not signed on the extra channel and whatever was agreed on did not make sense and failed.

Ambassador Mike Waltz
The path is clear: Hizballah stops attacking Israel.
The Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate Government of Lebanon assert control over Lebanese territory. And Iran stops using Lebanon as a forward operating base.
And the Lebanese people, who have suffered for far too long, finally get a chance to rebuild a country that belongs to them—not Hizballah, not its thug leadership, and certainly not to Tehran.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Marco Rubio the Great: Hezbollah is not just an enemy of Israel and an enemy of America, Hezbollah is an enemy of Lebanon and of the Lebanese people.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) now control Beaufort Castle, 50 miles from Beirut. If a complete ceasefire takes effect, from both sides, more than half a million Lebanese will remain displaced since depopulated Lebanese territory will remain under Israeli control.
Ceasefire is not the solution. Disarming Hezbollah ends the war and allows Israel to withdraw and the displaced to return to their villages.

Department of State
https://x.com/i/status/2061852529185403058
SECRETARY RUBIO: "Hezbollah is not just an enemy of Israel and an enemy of America, Hezbollah is an enemy of Lebanon and of the Lebanese people."

Jonathan Elkhoury- جوناثان الخوري
Former UNIFIL coordinator for the Lebanese government is spreading complete fake AI video about IDF soldiers.
How suitable to his former position where “he didn’t see any Hezbollah south of the Litani river” although they were supposed to make sure they disarmed since 2006!

Nadim Koteich
Let me shoot straight on this Trump-Bibi-Iran-Lebanon mess.
Trump’s heated call with Netanyahu stings Bibi at home, no doubt, especially with his hardliners.
But the real story, it shows the US president is dead set on keeping talks with Iran alive.
Washington calls it a smart short-term de-escalation move. Tehran, on the other hand, is already spinning it as “we forced America’s hand.”
Iran’s Mohammad Ghalibaf jumped on it fast, called Lebanon’s Nabih Berri, then dropped some victory chants on X. Hezbollah held the line, they threatened to walk from the table, and boom… Israel backed down.
It is a spin that makes their whole “unity of fronts” narrative look strong, even when they’re bleeding elsewhere. So the bigger problem here is Trump’s leverage. When you’re publicly hammering your closest ally just to save a deal with Tehran, it quietly whispers “we need this more than you do.” That’s not exactly maximum pressure vibe.
And let’s be real, this so-called “ceasefire” is paper-thin. Purely transactional. Short-term breathing room at best, and maybe some calmer oil prices. But the deeper problem with Iran stays put. And get this: after getting steamrolled, Bibi reportedly said “OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of.”
But is there real room for “everything to be taken care of”? I doubt it.
Iran can’t give Trump what he actually needs on the big stuff, and Trump can’t run on the maximum Iran is willing to concede. This is a win-lose situation at heart, not some grand bargain. Bibi knows that better than anyone else.
My bet? Bibi abides by the big-picture pressure from Trump , but he quietly lines up a precision strike on a real Hezbollah heavyweight in Dahiyeh. Take out a top commander, make Iran’s victory parade go up in smoke. Saves face at home, reminds everyone that proxies aren’t untouchable, and pops the narrative bubble without blowing up the talks.
No matter how much one phone call ripples across the whole region, reality is much more complicated than the spin.
Quote
Barak Ravid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut. Our position remains the same. At the same time, the IDF will continue to x.com/BarakRavid/sta…