English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News &
Editorials
For June 26/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
The Parable of the Samaritan who helped a wounded man who
was attacked by thieves while a Priest & a Levite ignored him
Luke 10/25-37: “Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said,
‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’He said to him, ‘What is written in the
law? What do you read there?’He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all
your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given
the right answer; do this, and you will live.’But wanting to justify himself, he
asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat
him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down
that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But
a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved
with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on
them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of
him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said,
“Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you
spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell
into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus
said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on 25-26 June/2026
The Jihadists of Political Islam, Both Sunni and Shiite, Are Dragging the
Middle East Back to the Stone Age/Elias Bejjani/June 26/2026
The Summoning of Journalist Sawsan Mhanna for Investigation Over a Social Media
Post Is Another Chapter in the Ongoing Campaign of Intellectual Intimidation and
Attacks on Freedom/Elias Bejjani/June 24/2026
Following Hezbollah's denial, Israel reveals new details about the "besieged
Hezbollah fighters" in Ali al-Taher Hill.
Lebanese-Israeli Negotiations at a Stalemate... Military Source Responds
Netanyahu and Katz: We Will Not Withdraw from Lebanon and Will Remain in the
Security Zone
Homes Burned in Ain Arab, 3 Killed in Car Strike in Zawtar
Israel Says will Only Withdraw Troops from Lebanon after Hezbollah Disarmed
Lebanese State Media Says Three Killed in Israeli Strike on South
Israel Says One Soldier Killed in Lebanon after Vehicle Overturned
Rubio Praises Progress in Israel-Lebanon Negotiations... Declaration of Intent
Between Israel and Lebanon Imminent
A US source told Al-Arabiya: The Lebanon-Israel meeting reached a "dead end"...
disagreements over "Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon."
Israel: Hezbollah's Disarmament a Condition for Withdrawal from Southern
Lebanon...Previous US Confirmation of Israeli Withdrawal from Part of the Buffer
Zone
Israel must withdraw entirely from Lebanon, Iran’s IRGC says
Israel, Lebanon deny reports of Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon
Israel says no timeframe for troop withdrawal from Lebanon, Gaza and Syria
UK Foreign Affairs Committee visits Lebanon to see first-hand impact of conflict
France, Italy want to set up multinational coalition to succeed UNIFIL
IMF: Working with Lebanese Authorities on Economic Crisis Management Measures to
Mitigate the Effects of War
Qassem: Patience Shapes the Future and Breaks the Equations
President Aoun, recalling Imam al-Sadr's words on the anniversary of Ashura at
the start of the Cabinet meeting
Ihab Hamadeh: The Lebanese authorities must change their course and approach,
and Netanyahu is currently facing a genuine existential and strategic dilemma.
Loyalty to the Resistance: The Iranian stance forced the Zionists and Americans
to agree to a ceasefire and established a new equation in the region and the
world.
Beirut Transfers 128 Syrian Convicts Home
Settlement of Destiny: Lebanon from a Negotiating Partner to a Card in the Hands
of Washington and Tehran/Dr. Zeina Mansour/June 25, 2025
A Shift in Tactics, Not Objectives: US Reassurances to Lebanon and Messages to
Iran and Israel/Lara Yazbek/Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026
Assi Rahbani/Aql Awit/Al-Nahar/June 25, 2026
An Existential Battle Between Legitimacy and Tehran/Marwan Al-Amin/Nidaa Al-Watan/June
25, 2025
Dhimmi Per excellence/Imad Moussa/Nidaa Al Watan/June 25, 2025
Why target the town of Qaa?/ The massacre of June 28, 1978/The terrorist
bombings of June 27, 2016/Bashir Matar/June 25, 2026
The Lebanese government’s failed gamble/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/June
25, 2026
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on 25-26 June/2026
Iran’s Ghalibaf rejects US claim that unfrozen
assets will be spent on US goods
Gulf foreign ministers: Iran proxies, missiles must be addressed for lasting
peace
Strait of Hormuz ship evacuation halted after vessel attack
Rubio warns Hormuz tolls would ‘spread like contagion’ to other waterways
Prince Faisal, Rubio discuss US-Iran agreement, Hormuz navigation
Oman confirms Strait of Hormuz will remain toll-free
Iran slams NATO chief’s comments on US support in war
US Senate sides with Trump in fresh vote on Iran war powers
US-Iran deal may leave Netanyahu as biggest casualty
Venezuela reeling after deadly twin earthquakes
Pakistan, Iran agree to strengthen road, rail links after ceasefire diplomacy
Cyprus fears Turkiye will exclude it from UN climate meet
Explosions heard in Kyiv amid air alert
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on 25-26 June/2026
Iran Is Not the Same on the Inside!/Huda al-Husseini/Asharq
Al Awsat/June 25/2026
Sudan: The Economic Crisis and the Multi-Front War/Osman Mirghani/Asharq Al
Awsat/June 25/2026
A New Conception of Economic Development/Tawfiq Alsaif/Asharq Al Awsat/June
25/2026
Turkey: Hamas's Safe Haven and the West's Dangerous Blind Spot/Khaled Abu Toameh/
Gatestone Institute/June 25, 2026
To Police Any New Nuclear Deal, IAEA Access Is Needed — Urgently/Behnam Ben
Taleblu/FDD-Policy Brief/June 25/2026
The Deal With Tehran Comes at the Expense of Iranians/Janatan Sayeh/FDD-Policy
Brief/June 25/2026
Everyone interprets the "memorandum" in their own way: populism and elections...
Where is the truth?/Laura Yamin/Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on 25 June/2026
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on 25-26 June/2026
The Jihadists of Political Islam, Both Sunni and Shiite, Are Dragging the
Middle East Back to the Stone Age
Elias Bejjani/June 26/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/06/155539/
The catastrophe caused by those who are intellectually and culturally
backward—the flag-bearers of Takfirism (excommunication) and
fundamentalism—represents an overt practice of the culture of death and
barbarism. In their dictionary, a human being is a creature stripped of any
distinction that separates them from non-human entities. In their culture, human
life carries no value, no dignity, no freedom, no sanctity, and no rights.
Today, Takfiri and fundamentalist groups spread corruption, murder, destruction,
and displacement across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Egypt, as well as
several African nations, committing the most heinous massacres against humanity.
The forced displacement of Christians from Arab and Islamic countries is an
inherently barbaric act. It is a fully-fledged crime entirely devoid of ethics,
civilization, faith, and the fear of God. These groups are nothing more than
instruments of slaughter, completely detached from human nature after stripping
themselves of their own humanity.
One of the most profound tragedies witnessed by the Middle East in recent
decades is the accelerating collapse of the historic Christian presence. From
Iraq to Syria, Egypt to Gaza, and onward to Sudan, Nigeria, Turkey, and Lebanon,
the Christian presence is tragically receding under the weight of religious
violence, extremism, and the rise of Political Islam in its various jihadist
manifestations.
Political Islam, in both its Sunni and Shiite schools, has fostered a hostile
environment for religious and cultural pluralism. While Sunni Takfiri groups
raised the banners of jihad, slaughter, and religious cleansing, armed Shiite
factions practiced an equally dangerous sectarian approach and dominance across
multiple Arab arenas. The ultimate result has been the displacement of millions,
the destruction of historical communities, and the undermining of the
foundations of coexistence.
In Iraq: Christians faced one of the largest uprooting operations in their
modern history. Ancient towns and villages in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains were
emptied of their inhabitants following terror campaigns led by jihadist
organizations. Properties were confiscated, churches were torched, and families
were forced to choose between displacement or death.
In Syria: The war and the rise of extremist Islamic factions drove massive
numbers of Christians to emigrate. Historic Christian towns faced attacks,
kidnappings, and extortion, as the Takfiri ideology transformed into a
destructive force against all forms of pluralism and openness.
In Egypt: For decades, Copts have lived under the threat of sectarian assaults
and terrorist attacks targeting churches, worshippers, and clergy. Despite
official and security efforts, fears persist regarding an extremist ideology
that views Christians as second-class citizens.
In Gaza: The Christian presence has shrunk dramatically due to being caught
between the hammer of violence and wars, Islamist control, and ongoing conflict,
forcing the vast majority to emigrate in search of safety.
In Turkey: The Christian presence (comprising Armenians, Greeks, and Syriacs)
has dwindled to a tiny fraction of the population after a century of upheavals,
displacement, and profound demographic shifts.
In Africa (Sudan and Nigeria): Decades of political Islamization contributed to
tearing Sudan apart and weakening its Christian presence. Meanwhile, armed
jihadist groups in Nigeria continue to attack villages and churches to sow
terror across vast regions.
This catastrophe is not confined to the Middle East and Africa. Many critics of
Political Islam argue that certain Islamist movements in the West seek to export
these conflicts to Western societies by demanding special religious privileges
or seeking to impose social and cultural norms derived from Islamic Sharia onto
societies fundamentally built on secularism, democracy, and individual
liberties. The danger here lies not in Muslims as individuals and citizens, but
in the political ideologies that prioritize ideological allegiance over the
values of citizenship and integration.
Consequently, defending persecuted Christians and minorities is not a sectarian
religious issue; it is a human, cultural, and moral cause. Societies from which
diversity is expelled and where religious freedoms are suppressed are societies
inevitably marching toward tyranny and collapse. The Middle East will not rise
as long as it remains captive to the culture of Takfirism, sectarianism, jihad,
and fundamentalism. There is no future for stability except through the
establishment of civil states that respect human beings, safeguard freedoms, and
place the law above all religious ideologies.
The Reality of Christians in the “Land of the Cedars”
In Lebanon, facts indicate that Christians face a gradual existential threat
that is no longer limited to emigration and declining numbers, but now directly
endangers their land, identity, and political role. Over the past decades,
large-scale demographic changes have escalated through the transfer of real
estate ownership—by coercion, intimidation, or financial inducements—in
predominantly Christian areas to entities linked to the political, financial,
and military influence of the Shiite Duo (Amal Movement and Hezbollah).
In this context, the area known today as the Southern Suburbs of Beirut
historically encompassed vast expanses and towns of a distinctly Christian
character before wars, displacement, and security, political, and economic
pressures led to a massive shift in its demographic fabric. Today, warnings are
repeatedly raised regarding intensive purchasing operations and the
expropriation of properties and real estate in regions across Keserwan, Jbeil,
the Beqaa, the South, and Mount Lebanon, as part of a long-term demographic plan
aimed at expanding the spheres of influence belonging to the Shiite Duo.
The existence of Hezbollah as a military and security force parallel to the
state—and indeed, one that hijacks its decision-making—has created an imbalanced
reality. This has left many Christians and other Lebanese powerless to confront
the real estate, security, and political expansion practiced by the Iranian
axis. The continuation of this trajectory threatens historic Lebanese pluralism
and undermines the national partnership upon which Greater Lebanon was founded
since its inception.
In conclusion: Protecting the Christian presence in Lebanon cannot be achieved
through slogans, dhimmitude (subservience), and turning a blind eye to the
frightening and terrorizing realities practiced by Christian political leaders
and the clerical shepherds of their churches. Instead, it requires enforcing the
state’s full sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, restricting weapons
exclusively to legitimate state institutions, and preventing any disguised
demographic changes imposed by force of influence or skewed power balances. This
is vital to safeguarding the right of all Lebanese to remain in their land and
preserve their historical identity and heritage.
The Summoning of Journalist Sawsan Mhanna for Investigation Over a Social
Media Post Is Another Chapter in the Ongoing Campaign of Intellectual
Intimidation and Attacks on Freedom
Elias Bejjani/June 24/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/06/155524/
The summoning of journalist Sawsan Mhanna for investigation
because of a social media post expressing her opinion is another chapter in the
series of illegal and intimidating actions targeting activists, journalists, and
free, sovereignty-minded citizens in Lebanon and across the Lebanese diaspora,
especially those who reject Hezbollah’s domination of Lebanese decision-making
and oppose Iran’s project in Lebanon.
This condemned summons is not an isolated incident. It comes as part of a
continuing pattern of using legal complaints and security measures as tools of
pressure and intimidation against opposing voices. Instead of protecting freedom
of opinion and expression, state institutions and security agencies are being
used to pursue people because of their political and intellectual views. This
reinforces the belief of many Lebanese that the state, its judiciary, and its
security institutions remain fully subject to Hezbollah’s influence and
political will.
This summons, as well as many similar investigations and legal actions, must be
strongly condemned. They continuously target journalists, activists, and
citizens who exercise their right to express their opinions and reject illegal
weapons and what they view as Hezbollah’s domination and occupation of the
Lebanese state. These practices are not aimed at achieving justice. Rather, they
seek to intimidate opponents, silence free voices, and create a climate of fear
and self-censorship among Lebanese citizens, whether they live in Lebanon or
abroad.
Because the Lebanese state is viewed by many as being under Hezbollah’s control,
there is little hope that it will fulfill its duty to protect public freedoms.
The problem lies within the state itself and especially within its judicial and
security institutions, which are seen as serving Hezbollah’s political and
security interests. Therefore, attention should be directed toward free nations
and international and regional human rights organizations, urging them to apply
political, legal, and diplomatic pressure to protect freedom of opinion and
expression in Lebanon, help end Iranian influence in the country, and stop the
judicial and security intimidation directed against opponents.
The summoning of Sawsan Mhanna today is, in effect, a warning to every free
journalist, every sovereignty-minded activist, and every citizen who dares to
express an opinion outside the limits imposed by those in power. The real
objective of these actions is clear: to subject Lebanese society to fear and to
encourage self-censorship in order to avoid legal harassment and threats.
Full solidarity with journalist Sawsan Mhanna and with all those targeted
because of their opinions. Freedom of expression is not a crime, and attempts at
intimidation, no matter how frequent, will not silence those who continue to
call for a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon.
***
Below is statement published today (Translate4d from Arabic), June 24, 2026, by
journalist Sousan Mhanna on the X platform:
Sousan Mhanna:To the Lebanese public,
I was informed by the Criminal Investigation Department of the need to appear
before the investigator’s office on Thursday at 12:00 noon, based on
instructions from the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, following a
lawsuit filed by the “Union of Municipalities of the Southern Suburb” because of
a post I published on the X platform.
In light of this measure, legitimate questions arise: Why is the Criminal
Investigation Department tasked with pursuing journalists and media
professionals because of their opinions and publications? And where is the
Publications Court, the competent judicial authority responsible for examining
cases related to publishing and the media? And when will the President of the
Republic intervene to put an end to these practices that constitute a violation
of the most basic legal guarantees granted to journalists, foremost among them
their right to appear before the competent judicial authority, rather than
before security agencies? Resorting to security summonses in matters of opinion
and publication can only be understood within the framework of a policy of
intimidation, attempts to silence voices, and pressure on the free media, at a
time when freedom of expression is supposed to be safeguarded and protected by
law and the Constitution.
Note: The attached image is an AI creation.
Following Hezbollah's denial, Israel reveals new details
about the "besieged Hezbollah fighters" in Ali al-Taher Hill.
Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
After Israeli field reports and a denial from Hezbollah, new information emerged
today, Thursday, regarding what Israeli channels are calling the "siege of
Hezbollah fighters" in Ali al-Taher Hill in Kfar Tebnit, southern Lebanon, amid
unofficial reports of mediation efforts to evacuate them.
What's new? According to what was published by Israel's Channel 12, the Israeli
army reported "a dramatic development in the case of dozens of Hezbollah
members, some from the Radwan Force, trapped inside a complex of tunnels in the
Ali al-Taher Heights, after the army managed to control and close the tunnel
entrances, aiming to tighten the noose around them, similar to the fighting that
took place against Hezbollah fighters trapped in tunnels under Rafah in the Gaza
Strip."The army says the siege began after an intelligence and operational
operation carried out by the 36th Division, during which they managed to
surprise the fighters and force them into the complex underground facility.
Since the location and closure of the compound, Israel has been receiving
messages and appeals from various mediators, attempting to secure the safe exit
of the militants. To date, Israel's response to all mediators has been clear:
"Surrender is the only option; otherwise, the militants will be killed inside
the underground facility."
What has been the response so far?
Security sources involved in the matter told Channel 12 that Israel attaches
great importance to this event, viewing it as a kind of "pilot operation" for an
effective model that allows for the dismantling of Hezbollah's infrastructure
and personnel in the area, a model also present in other battlefields.
The Israeli army's objective is to demonstrate that Hezbollah's underground
advantage can be neutralized, "turning the tunnels into death traps that force
the militants to choose between surrender or elimination."ite the current
ceasefire arrangements allowing for the option of surrender, the militants near
the village of Kfar Tabnit are choosing to remain underground and not emerge. It
is estimated that the tunnels in Lebanon offer a longer survival period and far
more comfortable conditions than those in Rafah. The Israeli news site "Al-Karmel"
quoted a Russian source as saying, "Israel has begun receiving signals and
appeals from various mediators trying to secure the release of dozens of
Hezbollah fighters trapped in tunnels beneath the Ali Taher Heights."
Why might the Radwan Force attempt a kidnapping?
After the Israeli news site "Walla" reported on the issue days ago, Channel 12
reiterated on Thursday, quoting army officials, that "the state of alert among
forces in Lebanon is also increasing due to fears of retaliatory or rescue
attempts. There are growing concerns within the Israeli army that Radwan Force
operatives in the area might attempt to kidnap soldiers."
In detail, Israel fears that Hezbollah might seek an "operational
opportunity" to attack Israeli forces with the aim of kidnapping a soldier, to
be used as a bargaining chip for the release of those trapped.
To this end, Hezbollah has rebuilt its intelligence-gathering
capabilities on Israeli forces in Lebanon. Field commanders told Channel 12 that
"there is a surveillance system monitoring them in order to build a target bank,
and Israel refrains from attacking them because they do not approach the troops
and because, under the ceasefire restrictions, they are not considered a direct
and immediate threat."This danger seems particularly tangible given that part of
the tunnel network Hezbollah dug in southern Lebanon was specifically designed
to facilitate kidnapping operations and to serve as hideouts for abductees.
Furthermore, these are well-camouflaged entrances that are extremely difficult
to locate without precise intelligence, according to Channel 12.
Lebanese-Israeli Negotiations at a Stalemate... Military
Source Responds
Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from
Arabic)
MTV reports that Lebanese-Israeli negotiations are at a standstill on both the
political and military fronts.Meanwhile, reports indicate that the US
administration is seeking to leverage Iranian influence to halt the funding and
arming of Hezbollah, a move that is irreversible according to US and Arab
resolutions. In a related development, it was reported that President Joseph
Aoun briefed Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri on the results of the
negotiations and contacts, but no meeting is scheduled in the near future,
either with Berri or with representatives of Hezbollah.
Furthermore, regarding the refusal to take photos with the Israeli
delegation, a military source asserts that some of the comments made yesterday
about the Lebanese military delegation's refusal to pose for a commemorative
photo with the Israeli delegation reflect a misinterpretation of the nature of
the delegation's mission and the sensitivity of the current situation in
Lebanon. The source explained that the delegation came to carry out a specific
national mission within its mandate, one that safeguards Lebanese interests and
national principles. The success of any negotiations, the source emphasized, is
measured by the tangible results achieved for Lebanon, not by commemorative
photos or protocol. The source added that the blood of the martyred soldiers who
fell victim to deliberate Israeli attacks has not yet dried, and the scars of
the aggression remain visible in many Lebanese regions. This necessitates
respecting the feelings of the Lebanese people and adhering to principles
commensurate with the magnitude of the sacrifices made in defense of the nation.
The source also indicated that the military delegation is committed to
the highest levels of professionalism and discipline, approaching its mission
with complete national responsibility, free from any media or publicity
considerations. This commitment stems from a firm conviction that serving
Lebanon and defending its interests remains the sole criterion governing the
performance of the military institution.
Netanyahu and Katz: We Will Not Withdraw from Lebanon
and Will Remain in the Security Zone
Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026 (Google translation
from Arabic)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Israel does not intend
to withdraw from the positions it designates as the "security zone" in southern
Lebanon at this stage, emphasizing that the Israeli forces will remain there as
long as security necessities dictate. Netanyahu stated that his government has
issued clear instructions to the army to take all measures it deems necessary to
protect the residents of northern Israel, considering that the existing security
challenges on the northern front still require military readiness and the
continuation of preventative operations. He added that the confrontation is not
yet over, indicating that there are additional tasks that must be carried out
regarding Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, in a reference to the continuation of the
Israeli strategy aimed at confronting what it considers multiple threats on more
than one front. Netanyahu added that Israel will achieve "peace with some of its
enemies," asserting that "only the strong survive, and there is no place for the
weak." For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz emphasized his
rejection of any withdrawal from the "security zone" inside Lebanese territory,
asserting that the Israeli security establishment opposes such a move despite
the pressure exerted on Israel regarding this issue. Katz explained that the
army will maintain its presence in the positions it currently controls, arguing
that withdrawing from them under the present circumstances is incompatible with
the security requirements Israel sets for protecting its northern border and
preventing any potential threats. These statements come at a time when the
debate continues regarding the future of the Israeli military presence inside
Lebanese territory, amidst repeated international demands for the implementation
of security agreements and the withdrawal from the positions where Israeli
forces remain stationed along the southern border.
Homes Burned in Ain Arab, 3 Killed in Car Strike in Zawtar
Al-Markaziya/June 25, 2026 (Google translation
from Arabic)
The Israeli army burned several homes in the town of Ain Arab, following
warnings issued yesterday to residents to evacuate the town before 5:00 PM.
Residents of Ain Arab had returned to their town yesterday morning after the
Lebanese army reopened the road connecting Ain Arab to the town of Al-Mari,
which had been closed for an extended period. An Israeli drone strike in the
afternoon targeted a Honda CRV on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun,
resulting in the deaths of three people, according to the Ministry of Health. An
Israeli drone also dropped a stun grenade on the town of Kfar Tebnit. Meanwhile,
Israeli forces released shepherd Mohammed Hilal today, whom they had abducted
the day before yesterday during a patrol incursion into the outskirts of Ibl al-Saqi
towards the town of Al-Mari. The Israeli army announced that its air force
eliminated a Hezbollah member who posed a threat to its forces in the Ali al-Taher
heights in southern Lebanon, and also targeted 5 Hezbollah members in Zawtar al-Sharqiya
after they approached its forces earlier today.
Israel Says will Only Withdraw Troops from Lebanon after
Hezbollah Disarmed
Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/2026
Israel said Thursday that it would only withdraw its forces from southern
Lebanon after Hezbollah was disarmed, as the two countries engaged in
US-mediated talks in Washington.
"We will not withdraw our forces from southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah
remains a threat, are not disarmed and are not demilitarised," David Mencer, a
government spokesman, said in a briefing to journalists. Under US pressure,
Lebanese officials began direct talks in April with Israel in Washington. The
latest three-day round of talks is due to wrap up on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Commenting on the negotiations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two
neighbors were close to making a "commitment of intent". Asked about the talks,
Mencer said: "We are making extremely clear that our responsibility is to our
northern citizens and to the whole of Israel, and we will not allow any
terrorist force anywhere near our border -- which means that any redeployment of
- Israeli - forces comes after, not before, but after the demilitarisation of
southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hezbollah.""We've already been in this
situation in 2024," he added. "Hezbollah were supposed to be disarmed. They
weren't."Meanwhile, Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday
that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after
a US official said Israel had pulled some troops back in a good faith gesture
toward Lebanon's government. A US State Department official said that "Israel
has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer
zone". The so-called buffer zone is a vast area of southern Lebanon that Israeli
forces are occupying north of the Israeli border.
The official described the move as "a significant demonstration of good faith
toward Lebanon's legitimate government.""The (Lebanese Armed Forces) should now
move in and verifiably clear out terrorist weapons and infrastructure. This
model will be repeated across South Lebanon, enabling the safe return of
displaced families, reconstruction of the south, and the restoration of full
Lebanese sovereignty," the official added. A senior Israeli defense official
denied there had been any kind of pullback or withdrawal by Israeli forces, and
said Israel would not be withdrawing from its buffer zone.Another Israeli
military official told Reuters on Wednesday that the military had not received
orders to hand over any position to the Lebanese army and that, for now, it
would not permit the Lebanese army or civilians to cross into the buffer zone.
"We will not allow the Lebanese army to go south from the security line," the
official said.
Lebanese State Media Says Three Killed in Israeli Strike on
South
Asharq Al Awsat/25 June 2026
An Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed three people on
Thursday, Lebanese state media reported, despite a lull in the fighting between
Israel and Hezbollah.Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said "three people
were killed and one person was wounded when an enemy drone targeted a... vehicle
on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun". It is the third deadly incident since
Tuesday, bringing the number of people killed in Israeli attacks this week to
seven. The strike comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials meet in Washington for
a fifth round of direct negotiations.
Israel Says One Soldier Killed in Lebanon after Vehicle
Overturned
Asharq Al Awsat/25 June 2026
An Israeli military official said on Thursday a soldier was killed in
southern Lebanon after a vehicle had overturned. The official described the
incident as an accident, Reuters said. Earlier, the military said a soldier
had died during "operational activity".The pace of violence in Lebanon has
eased recently, but Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stressed that his
forces would remain in southern Lebanon. “We have stated that, in any case, we
will not withdraw, and up to this moment — and this is a diplomatic achievement
— there has been no US request for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” Katz said
in an interview during a conference of local leaders in Tel Aviv. Israel and
Lebanon are currently holding US-mediated talks in Washington aimed at reaching
a diplomatic solution to the conflict, including the disarmament of Hezbollah
and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Since April, Lebanon has engaged in direct
talks with Israel under US pressure, with the aim of ending the latest war
between Hezbollah and Israel. Lebanese authorities have stressed their
determination to keep Lebanon’s file separate from negotiations involving Iran,
Hezbollah’s main backer. On Wednesday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed
that “the negotiations in Washington are separate from the meetings held in
Switzerland last week between the United States and Iran, which were followed by
Qatar and Pakistan.”
Rubio Praises Progress in Israel-Lebanon Negotiations...
Declaration of Intent Between Israel and Lebanon Imminent
Riyadh: Al-Arabiya.net: Agencies/June 25, 2026
(Google translation from Arabic)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the progress made in the negotiations
between Israel and Lebanon, currently being mediated by the United States in
Washington. Speaking to reporters in Bahrain, the final stop on his Gulf tour,
Rubio said, "I think we are very close to achieving our hopes of obtaining a
declaration of intent between the two countries," noting that this "will take
some time and will require a lot of work." He added, "I think we will get a very
positive declaration of intent... whether today or in the coming days, we are
working hard on it. We hope that today will be a day to build on some of the
progress we made yesterday." Since April, Lebanon, under US pressure, has been
engaged in direct talks with Israel. The ongoing negotiations aim for a
diplomatic solution to the conflict, including the disarmament of Hezbollah and
the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The war in Lebanon erupted on March 2nd after
Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei in the first Israeli-American strike on Iran. Following US
confirmation, Israel and Lebanon denied "withdrawing" from part of the buffer
zone. Israel responded with a massive air campaign and a ground invasion of
southern Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of thousands and the displacement of
over a million people, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli officials
confirmed they would maintain control over large areas of southern Lebanon.
Tehran insisted that a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel be included in the
memorandum of understanding with Washington, while Lebanese authorities affirmed
their intention to separate the Lebanese issue from negotiations with Iran, the
party's main backer. Rubio stated on Wednesday that Iran's support for Hezbollah
would be addressed in later stages of the talks, while emphasizing the
continuation of direct negotiations between the Lebanese and Israeli
governments, a path rejected by Hezbollah.
A US source told Al-Arabiya: The Lebanon-Israel meeting
reached a "dead end"... disagreements over "Israeli withdrawal from southern
Lebanon."
Riyadh: Al-Arabiya. June 25, 2026 (Google
translation from Arabic)
An American source revealed to Al-Arabiya TV on Thursday that the meeting
between Lebanon and Israel "reached a deadlock due to the Israeli withdrawal
from southern Lebanon." The American source confirmed that "the Lebanese side is
demanding a clear timetable for the Israeli withdrawal," noting that Washington
is pushing for "an agreement that includes a phased Israeli withdrawal from
southern Lebanon." Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday any
Israeli withdrawal from the buffer zone in southern Lebanon, after an American
official announced that Israel had withdrawn some of its forces from the area as
a goodwill gesture towards the Lebanese government. An Israeli official said on
Thursday that Tel Aviv would not withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon until
Hezbollah is disarmed. Israeli government spokesman David Manser stated during a
press briefing, "We will not withdraw our forces from southern Lebanon as long
as Hezbollah poses a threat and is not disarmed and stripped of its military
capabilities." Israel and Lebanon are discussing a US-backed proposal for Israel
to hand over a portion of Lebanese territory, occupied during its war with
Hezbollah, to the Lebanese army as a step toward restoring Lebanese control over
the occupied land. The proposal to establish a "pilot zone" is part of the
latest round of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, though momentum
has waned as Iran seeks to include the Lebanese issue in its negotiations with
the United States. The US and Iran signed an interim agreement last week ending
hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. They pledged to guarantee
Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which, for Tehran, implies the
withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
Israel: Hezbollah's Disarmament a Condition for Withdrawal
from Southern Lebanon...Previous US Confirmation of Israeli Withdrawal from Part
of the Buffer Zone
Al-Arabiya.net, Agencies/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
As the two countries hold US-mediated talks in Washington, an Israeli official
said on Thursday that Tel Aviv will not withdraw its forces from southern
Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. Government spokesman David Mansor stated
during a press briefing, "We will not withdraw our forces from southern Lebanon
as long as Hezbollah poses a threat, and as long as it has not been disarmed and
stripped of its military capabilities." Earlier on Thursday, senior Israeli and
Lebanese officials denied any Israeli withdrawal from the buffer zone in
southern Lebanon, after a US official announced that Israel had withdrawn some
of its forces from the area as a goodwill gesture toward the Lebanese
government. This came in response to a statement by a US State Department
official who confirmed earlier that day that Israel had withdrawn from part of
the buffer zone it established in southern Lebanon during its war with
Hezbollah. The official described the Israeli withdrawal as a "goodwill" gesture
toward the Lebanese government, noting that Lebanese army forces must now move
into the area from which Israel withdrew. The official did not specify the size
of the territory from which the Israeli forces withdrew or the precise location
of the withdrawal. Israel and Lebanon are discussing a US-backed proposal for
Israel to hand over a portion of Lebanese territory, occupied during its war
with Hezbollah, to the Lebanese army as a step toward Lebanon regaining control
of the occupied land. The proposal to establish a "pilot zone" is part of the
latest round of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, although these
talks have lost momentum as Iran seeks to include the Lebanese issue in its
negotiations with the United States.
Israel must withdraw entirely from Lebanon, Iran’s IRGC
says
Al Arabiya English/25 June ,2026
Israel must withdraw on its own from Lebanon’s entire territory or be forced to
flee in defeat, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’
Quds Force Esmaeil Qaani said on Thursday according to state media. Last week,
the United States and Iran signed an interim deal ending hostilities on all
fronts, including Lebanon, and pledged to ensure Lebanon’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity, with Tehran saying this means Israeli troops must leave
southern Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a US-backed proposal
for Israeli forces to transfer some of the Lebanese territory invaded in their
war with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military, in a possible step toward restoring
Lebanese control of occupied territory. Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle
East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s
supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum
of understanding last week aimed at reaching a permanent settlement between the
two countries, following the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran on
February 28. With agencies
Israel, Lebanon deny reports of Israeli troop withdrawal
from southern Lebanon
Reuters/June 25, 2026
BEIRUT: Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday that there had
been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a US official
said Israel had pulled some troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon’s
government. Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a US-backed proposal for
Israeli forces to hand some of the territory they occupied in their war with
Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military, in a possible step toward restoring Lebanese
control in the south. The “pilot zone” proposal has been part of the latest
round of Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington mediated by the US, which resumed
even as they appeared to be eclipsed by Iran’s move to make Lebanon central to
its own talks with Washington. A US State Department official said that “Israel
has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer
zone.” The so-called buffer zone is a vast area of southern Lebanon that
Israeli forces are occupying north of the Israeli border. The official described
the move as “a significant demonstration of good faith toward Lebanon’s
legitimate government.” “The (Lebanese Armed Forces) should now move in and
verifiably clear out terrorist weapons and infrastructure. This model will be
repeated across South Lebanon, enabling the safe return of displaced families,
reconstruction of the south, and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty,”
the official added.
DISPUTES OVER MECHANISM FOR WITHDRAWAL, OFFICIAL SAYS
A senior Israeli defense official denied there had been any kind of pullback or
withdrawal by Israeli forces, and said Israel would not be withdrawing from its
buffer zone. A senior Lebanese military official said developments on the
ground in recent days “show the opposite of a pullback.”
Israel has been enforcing its buffer zone against anyone approaching, including
the Lebanese army, the official said. Israel’s military said in a statement
there had been no change in the location of its soldiers in the zone. Israel has
established what it describes as a buffer zone about 10 km (6 miles) into
Lebanon from the Israeli border. Its military has forced the local Lebanese
population from their homes and carried out raids on villages, destroying
buildings. Israeli officials say the area is supposed to protect communities in
Israel’s north from Hezbollah attacks. It says it has found Hezbollah weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the military
would not be withdrawing from the area. The talks on handing over Lebanese
territory to the Lebanese army were for a few areas outside the buffer zone,
not within it, the senior Israeli official said.
The State Department official said the pilot zone process was aimed at ensuring
the complete and verifiable destruction of Hezbollah’s weapons and
infrastructure and the dismantling of non-state armed groups. A second Lebanese
military official said the Washington talks had focused on a mechanism through
which the pilot zone plan would be implemented but that disputes had emerged.
Lebanon’s government wants the pilot plan to be implemented within Israel’s
buffer zone, while Israel wants to start by withdrawing from areas north of that
area, the official said. Israel has insisted on separately negotiating each area
it could hand over without setting a timeline, while Lebanon wants to see a
roadmap for full Israeli withdrawal, the official added. Another Israeli
military official told Reuters on Wednesday that the military had not received
orders to hand over any position to the Lebanese army and that, for now, it
would not permit the Lebanese army or civilians to cross into the buffer
zone.“We will not allow the Lebanese army to go south from the security line,”
the official said.
Israel says no timeframe for troop withdrawal from Lebanon,
Gaza and Syria
Agence France Presse/June 26/2026
Israel said Thursday that it had set no timetable for withdrawing its forces
from Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, as Israeli and Lebanese officials engaged in
U.S.-brokered talks in Washington. The Israeli military has launched widespread
airstrikes in Lebanon and sent troops into the country's south after Hezbollah,
the powerful group backed by Iran, entered the Middle East war on the side of
its patron in March. "We must remain in the security zone in Lebanon, in Syria,
and in Gaza, and not for a limited time, in order to defend our residents and
communities from there against jihadist elements," Defense Minister Israel Katz
said at a graduation ceremony at a military academy.
"We oppose the withdrawal of IDF (Israeli army) forces from the security zone in
Lebanon, despite all the pressures that exist and those still to come." Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the same function that troops would remain
in south Lebanon "as long as necessary.""I have made it clear to the IDF (army):
you have full freedom of action."Earlier on Thursday, government spokesman David
Mencer told journalists that "we will not withdraw our forces from southern
Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains a threat, are not disarmed and are not
demilitarized."Under U.S. pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks in
April with Israel in Washington. The latest three-day round of talks is due to
wrap up on Thursday. Commenting on the negotiations,
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Lebanon and Israel were close to making
a "commitment of intent". Asked about the talks, Mencer said: "We are making
extremely clear that our responsibility is to our northern citizens and to the
whole of Israel, and we will not allow any terrorist force anywhere near our
border -- which means that any redeployment of IDF (army) forces comes after,
not before, but after the demilitarization of southern Lebanon and the disarming
of Hezbollah." "We've already been in this situation in 2024," he added.
"Hezbollah were supposed to be disarmed. They weren't."
UK Foreign Affairs Committee visits Lebanon to see
first-hand impact of conflict
Naharnet/June 26/2026
Members of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) headed by Chair
Rt Hon Dame Emily Thornberry MP, visited Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday to
assess the humanitarian, political and security challenges facing the country
and the wider region. The delegation included MPs Alan Gemmell, Abtisam Mohamed
and Edward Morello. The visit focused on the
devastating impact of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on civilians in
Lebanon, the situation facing Syrian refugees and host communities, and efforts
to support the Lebanese Armed Forces and Lebanon’s long-term stability and
security. During the visit, the FAC met with President Joseph Aoun, Speaker
Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, the
Lebanese British Friendship Parliamentarian Committee, international partners,
and communities affected by conflict. The program included discussions on the
protection of civilians, international humanitarian law, humanitarian access,
support for refugees and vulnerable host communities, and the importance of
sustainable political and security solutions for Lebanon.
The delegation visited a recently completed UKISF-funded Border Operating
Base, one of 86 such positions provided to the Lebanese Armed Forces on the
Lebanese-Syrian border since 2013 and saw first-hand how UK funding is
supporting border security, extending state authority, and protecting border
communities. In Saadnayel, the FAC met with Syrian displaced families receiving
UK aid through the World Food Program and visited a UNICEF Makani multi-service
community center, which is supporting the most marginalized children with
non-formal education and child protection services. At the Lebanese Red Cross
center in Zahle, the FAC heard about the impact of the conflict on first
responders and were briefed on how UK support, in collaboration with the British
Red Cross and Lebanese Red Cross, is supporting crisis preparedness. "The visit
examined how the UK government is helping deliver vital assistance to people
affected by the crisis in Lebanon and supporting efforts to strengthen Lebanese
security and sovereignty," the British Embassy in Beirut said Thursday in a
statement.
France, Italy want to set up multinational coalition to
succeed UNIFIL
Agence France Presse/June 26/2026
France and Italy want to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the U.N.
peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, French President Emmanuel Macron said on
Thursday. "We want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL
arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United
Nations, to strengthen Lebanon's sovereignty and that of its armed forces,"
Macron said after talks with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the town
of Antibes on the French Riviera. The new force would help prevent Lebanon's
territory from becoming "a foothold for regional escalation," Macron said.
"Italy and France can absolutely make a difference," the Italian prime minister
said. "From our point of view, it is necessary to ensure an international
presence that avoids an extremely dangerous security vacuum." France is one of
the biggest contributors to the U.N. peacekeeping force. UNIFIL currently counts
some 7,500 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries. They are deployed in south
Lebanon near the Blue Line. The force has been a buffer between Lebanon and
Israel since 1978, although its presence has not prevented repeated outbreaks of
conflict. Last August, the U.N. Security Council, under U.S. pressure, decided
to end the mandate of UNIFIL on December 31, 2026. U.N. chief Antonio Guterres
has said that peacekeepers will be needed in Lebanon after the mandate of the
current mission expires, an option likely to face opposition from the United
States and Israel.
IMF: Working with Lebanese Authorities on Economic
Crisis Management Measures to Mitigate the Effects of War
National/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced today that Lebanon's GDP is
projected to contract in 2026 as a result of renewed conflict in the country.
IMF spokesperson Julie Kozak stated at a press conference: "Lebanon is facing an
extremely difficult economic, social, and humanitarian situation. The IMF is
working closely with the Lebanese authorities on measures to manage the economic
crisis and mitigate the effects of the war." She added that "the Fund continues
to work with the Lebanese authorities on broader reforms that could ultimately
be supported by an IMF program."
Qassem: Patience Shapes the Future and Breaks the Equations
Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem stated that "the Islamic
Resistance has astonished the world," adding, "Our patience shapes the future,
overturns the equations, and breaks the tyranny of the oppressor." During the
central Ashura council, Qassem said, "Patience is the path we have chosen; it is
stronger than fighting and a fundamental step towards victory." Addressing "the
people of the resistance," he said, "We learn patience from you."
President Aoun, recalling Imam al-Sadr's words on the
anniversary of Ashura at the start of the Cabinet meeting: We reaffirm our
commitment to justice and to the unity of Lebanon and the solidarity of its
people; this is our strongest weapon.
National News Agency/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
National News Agency - At the beginning of the Cabinet meeting, the President of
the Republic addressed the Lebanese people in general, and the Shia community in
particular, on the occasion of the commemoration of Ashura, which falls
tomorrow, saying: "On this anniversary, we cannot help but recall the words of
the disappeared Imam Musa al-Sadr, that Ashura is a perpetual school whose
meanings are renewed in sacrifice, redemption, and the rejection of injustice.
It is not merely a passing memory, but a station for drawing lessons in patience
and steadfastness to principles." President Aoun added: "Therefore, on the eve
of this anniversary, we reaffirm today our commitment to justice and to the
unity of Lebanon and the solidarity of its people. This is our strongest weapon,
and its foundation is the unity of the Lebanese ranks." The President continued:
"It is our duty to monitor the situation of displaced persons, especially in
shelters, and to begin assessing the damage caused by the recent aggression to
housing units, infrastructure, agricultural lands, and the electricity and
telecommunications sectors... in preparation for any reconstruction support
conferences that may be held, so that all relevant ministries are ready to meet
the international desire that may arise to contribute to reconstruction."The
President stressed the need to finalize the procedures for promoting employees
from the third to the second category, and to launch a preparatory course as
soon as possible for third-category employees, in order to enable them to be
promoted to the second category in accordance with applicable laws and
regulations. This aims to develop the administration and motivate employees,
especially the competent ones, so that the administration can meet the demands
of modernization and the needs of the country. President Aoun pointed out that
security stability, if achieved as a result of a firm ceasefire, will allow
Lebanese expatriates to spend the summer in Lebanon, and will also allow
tourists to come to Lebanon. This requires the relevant ministries and
departments, especially at air, land and sea crossings, to be fully prepared to
keep pace with this movement.
Ihab Hamadeh: The Lebanese authorities must change their course and approach,
and Netanyahu is currently facing a genuine existential and strategic dilemma.
National News Agency/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
MP Ihab Hamadeh, a member of the "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc, called on the
Lebanese authorities to change their course and approach. Whether it's the path
of direct negotiations with the Israeli enemy, or the path you've taken of
offering the enemy what it's betting on internally. The Lebanese, such as the
decisions of August 5, 7, and March 2, which must be retracted. Every word he
said on the anniversary of the fortieth century AD of Zayn al-Abidin H, Then,
above him, and then It was held during the Ashura gathering organized by
Hezbollah in the courtyard of the Abi al-Fadl al-Abbas Husseiniya in the
northern al-Dawra neighborhood in "The only card the Lebanese authority holds is
the unity of the Lebanese people under this resistance, and not..." Hamada
added: "The only card the Lebanese authority possesses is the unity of the
Lebanese people under this resistance, and not..." "You have no choice but to
move towards adopting a security or defense strategy that guarantees the
Lebanese that there is a force defending the land." Hamadeh considered that "the
main objectives The ministers of the enemy, Netanyahu, have vanished, from
crushing Hezbollah to the displacement from the south, and a region that is not
only isolated and burned, but a region The South, and perhaps Lebanon, will
become part of the entity." He added: "Netanyahu is living today in a real
existential and strategic predicament, as he does not possess He has a card to
play to get out of it, and he is betting on a final card of power in his hand,
which is Lebanese power." Hamadeh emphasized that "our relationship with the
Islamic Republic of Iran is a relationship of a master with The Sayyid, and this
is not like the relationship of some in Lebanon, who are now crying out because
they have lost everything and all the illusions they built during the previous
phase have crumbled.” This was said during a ceremony commemorating three days
since the martyrdom of the martyr. Yahya Hassan Saqr, residing in the Imam al-Sadiq
Husseiniya in Hermel, MP Hamada affirmed that "we achieved a great victory
during which the region was transformed from a place to a place to The project
has reached a level of vision, achieved a balance of power, and transformed. We
are on the verge of reaping major results, and there is a complete reflection of
the goals set for the project. The Zionist-American alliance and the results
that did not come as they wanted. Hamada considered that "the battle that the
resistance fighters waged against the enemy was similar to Karbala, in terms of
objectives." And the great sacrifices, akin to victory, for the blood of Imam
Hussein preserved the true Muhammadan Islam, just as the blood of our sons did,
and we triumphed with all that we had. The word has a meaning.
Loyalty to the Resistance: The Iranian stance forced the
Zionists and Americans to agree to a ceasefire and established a new equation in
the region and the world.
National/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
In a statement issued after its regular meeting, read by MP Hassan Ezzeddine,
the "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc affirmed that "Ashura is the day of the cry
of truth against falsehood and the victory of the blood of the oppressed over
the tyranny of the oppressor. It is the day of that resolute call, 'Never shall
we submit to humiliation,' which the grandson of the Prophet, Imam Hussein,
proclaimed in the face of the tyrants. It is the day brimming with all the
meanings of sacrifice, redemption, and heroism, even when supporters and helpers
are few. It is the eternal cry of Zainab throughout history: 'Plot your plots
and strive your utmost, for you will never extinguish our cause nor erase our
memory.'"
The bloc emphasized that "this day will remain a school from which the free and
the oppressed will draw lessons in every era and with every generation, learning
the meaning of rejecting injustice, resisting the arrogant, enduring hardship,
and demonstrating loyalty and dedication to the cause of truth. This is what
This is embodied today by our proud people, the families of our martyrs, our
wounded, our prisoners, and the mujahideen stationed on the front lines of our
beloved country and the borders of our sacred cause.” She pointed out that “the
tenth of Muharram arrives this year while Lebanon and Palestine are suffering
under a brutal, criminal, and aggressive Zionist occupation that practices
genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, targeting both people
and property with killing and destruction, all with American and Western
support, under the eyes of an international community that is either complicit
or irresponsible, and Arab governments and societies that are absent or
oblivious to their impending fate on the Zionist target list.” In contrast, a
small minority, possessing the will and determination to confront all this
darkness, complicity, retreat, and cowardice, presents a radiant image brimming
with faith, hope, and reliance on God—an image drawn from the tragedy of Karbala
and the Ashura of al-Taff, embodying all the meanings of sacrifice, altruism,
loyalty, courage, bravery, selflessness, and generosity. The statement
continued, "Iran's leadership, presidency, government, diplomacy, parliament,
people, and armed forces—both the Revolutionary Guard and the army—stood firm in
the face of general international silence. A resounding voice, emanating from
the Islamic Republic of Iran, rang out in the rising East, offering genuine
support and backing for our nation, our rights, and our sovereignty. This
stance, a rare and unparalleled one in history, continues in support of Lebanon,
Palestine, and their people, as has always been Iran's way of aiding and serving
the oppressed everywhere in the world." The bloc emphasized that "the honorable
and historic position taken by Iran in supporting and assisting Lebanon and its
people deserves gratitude, respect, and appreciation from everyone in Lebanon,
for there is no one more deserving of thanks than those who stake their security
on it." Its prosperity and supreme strategic interests serve a cause or support
a people, as Iran did in supporting Lebanon and repelling aggression against it,
its people, and its state. Therefore, we express our highest thanks,
appreciation, and gratitude to the Islamic Republic, its leadership and people,
its presidency, government, diplomacy, and armed forces, including the army and
the Revolutionary Guard.” The statement noted that “Iran’s courageous and loyal
stance has forced the Zionist aggressor and its American ally to cease fire
against Lebanon, and has established a new equation in the region and the world,
in which Iran commands respect from the forces of arrogance and recognition of
its position and effectiveness in the region. This will restore balance to the
entire regional landscape from now on.” The bloc paused to reflect on “the
immense sacrifices of the heroes of the resistance, their families, and their
communities, who have offered, and continue to offer, the most precious of young
men and women—martyrs, wounded, and missing—who have set a magnificent example
of courage, sacrifice, valor, loyalty, patience, and steadfastness in resisting
the Zionist aggression and in their displacement and exile, inspired by
Karbala.” Its lessons and wisdom, embodying its lofty and noble humanitarian
principles in word and deed for many long months,” considering that “all these
men, women, and children deserve for us today to renew our pledge of loyalty to
them, to defend their freedom and dignity, to uphold their sovereignty in their
country, to repel the enemies from their land, to reclaim their rights, and to
protect their interests.” It called on “the Lebanese authorities to seize the
opportunity presented by Iranian support, which forced the Zionist enemy to
cease fire and obliged its American backer to pledge its withdrawal from our
land very soon,” reiterating its call “to abandon its stubbornness in continuing
its misguided approach, which has only led to gratuitous concessions to the
enemy and widened the internal division among the Lebanese.” The bloc reaffirmed
its rejection of “direct negotiations with the enemy and anything resulting from
them,” warning of “the dangers of any commitment that grants the occupying
entity gains at the expense of our country’s sovereignty, whether this is the
so-called experimental zones north of the Litani or linking withdrawal from our
land to any conditions,” stressing that “the authorities must insist on the
complete and immediate withdrawal of the enemy from our land, the return of the
displaced, and the release of prisoners.” The prisoners and the cessation of all
forms of aggression against our country. Everything else is a Lebanese matter in
which the enemy has no business and in which there will be no favoritism."
Beirut Transfers 128 Syrian Convicts Home
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/25 June 2026
Lebanon has transferred 128 Syrian convicts to their home country, a Lebanese
security source told AFP on Wednesday, the second batch of handovers under an
agreement the two sides signed earlier this year. Overcrowded Lebanese prisons
host around 2,000 Syrian nationals held on various charges. Many are still
awaiting trial, while hundreds have been brought before military courts on
charges of "terrorism" or related offences, including attacks on Lebanese
forces. Others are in custody for alleged membership in militant or armed groups
that were opposed to now-ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who was
supported by Lebanon's Hezbollah during the Syrian civil war. The security
source, who requested anonymity, said that Beirut "handed over the second batch
of Syrian convicts in Lebanon to Damascus, numbering 128 convicts" on Wednesday.
The transfer follows the handover of more than 130 Syrian detainees in March,
under an agreement signed between the two countries the previous month, which
will cover almost 300 convicts who have served 10 years or more in Lebanese
prisons.Under the agreement, they will be required to complete the remainder of
their sentences in Syria. At least 260 convicts have now been sent to Syria's
Adra prison out of 356 in Lebanon's Roumieh, the source added. The issue of the
detainees had been a sticking point in Beirut-Damascus relations following
Assad's overthrow in December 2024. It was discussed by Lebanese Prime Minister
Nawaf Salam during his visit to Damascus in May, where he met Syrian President
Ahmed al-Sharaa. Over the past year, both sides have repeatedly expressed their
determination to open a new chapter in their relations.
Settlement of Destiny: Lebanon from a Negotiating
Partner to a Card in the Hands of Washington and Tehran
Dr. Zeina Mansour/June 25, 2025 (Translated from Arabic)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/06/155535/
Available indicators point to the contours of an international settlement
between Washington and Tehran, based on the equation: "Contain Iran, secure
Israel, and Lebanon's interests come last." This path reveals shifts in the
management of the regional conflict, whereby considerations of Lebanese national
interest have receded in favor of broader understandings between international
powers.
Based on a reading of the current landscape, three transformations can be
identified as having shaped the new reality:
First: Linking Iran's Security to Israel's Security through Southern Lebanon
Tehran has linked its strategic security to Israel's security, turning the issue
of southern Lebanon into a bargaining chip in negotiations with Washington.
Accordingly, the stability of Israel's northern front has become tied to
negotiations over the nuclear file, ballistic missiles, proxy forces, and
sanctions relief. The equation here is clear: an Iranian commitment to restrain
Hezbollah in exchange for an American commitment to restrain Israel and ease
pressure on Tehran.
Second: Lebanon from a "Negotiating Partner" in Washington to a "Negotiating
Arena" after the "U.S.-Iranian Deal"
Lebanon has officially moved from the position of a negotiating partner
contributing to the formulation of international understandings to merely a
"negotiating arena" where its interests are discussed and fate-defining
decisions are made in its absence. Lebanon has become a card guaranteed by Iran,
while Israel has become a power guaranteed by the United States. Consequently,
strategic guarantees are no longer "self-derived" but have become overwhelmingly
"external": Iran guarantees the conduct of Hezbollah, while the United States
guarantees the conduct of Israel.
In this context, Washington continues to demonstrate its long-term vision for
the region. It appears unwilling to relinquish its grip on the Lebanese file or
cease managing it as a priority, and it is not prepared to surrender the
leverage it possesses there until the desired objective is achieved: the
establishment of a historic and comprehensive peace with Israel that would
permanently stabilize the region, whether during the first half of Trump's term
or during the second half after the completion of the midterm elections in
November and the Israeli elections in October.
Third: The Absence of Lebanese National Interest and the Cost of Paying the
Price
Lebanon continues to bear the costs of international settlements at the expense
of its own interests, which have become marginalized unless the internal balance
of power changes. The Lebanese state's official gray, centrist stance summarizes
the depth of the political crisis. The state appears incapable: if it supports
Iran, divisions emerge; if it opposes Israel, divisions emerge. It has therefore
chosen the following middle-ground position:
It is neither with Israel nor against it.
It is neither with Iran nor against it.
It is neither with the United States nor against it.
Thus, the picture becomes clearer: Lebanon and Israel are being negotiated
"about," not negotiated "with." Lebanon—and the Hezbollah created within it—has
become a card guaranteed by Iran, while Israel is a power guaranteed by
Washington, along with its right to preserve its national security. Lebanon's
fate is being shaped in the corridors of Tehran and Washington rather than in
Baabda Palace, transforming the role of the Lebanese state from a partner in
decision-making into merely a corridor for settlement arrangements and a
recipient tasked with implementing them.
The Balancing Regional Role: The Saudi and Qatari Wings
In light of this internal deadlock, a regional role has emerged through two
diplomatic wings:
1. The Qatari Wing:
Acts as a link between Tehran and Washington, relying on flexible diplomacy to
convey messages and bring the two sides closer together.
2. The Saudi Wing:
Operates from a strategy aimed at containing Iranian influence in the Gulf
through a "comprehensive settlement rather than war," and seeks to facilitate
political solutions in Lebanon, accompanied by sustainable political and
financial support.
Thus, the outcome of the settlement takes shape within a regional balance
summarized as follows: Lebanon for Iran—the "Shiite axis"—and Syria for Turkey,
backed by the Gulf—the "Sunni axis."
The Three Conditions of the Tripartite Table
Israel imposes three conditions, both at the U.S.-Iranian negotiating table and
at the Beirut-Tel Aviv-Washington table, as prerequisites for any stability
between the two countries:
The withdrawal of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Radwan Forces
from border towns.
The deployment of the Lebanese Army south of the Litani River.
The prevention of any Hezbollah military infrastructure or armed presence in
that area.
Lebanon's file features prominently in the U.S.-Iranian deal, but the Lebanese
state is not the one holding the pen and writing the terms. Rather, others are
writing on its behalf with ink whose formulation is shared by both Washington
and Tehran.
A Shift in Tactics, Not Objectives: US Reassurances to
Lebanon and Messages to Iran and Israel
Lara Yazbek/Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026
(Google translation from Arabic)
Al-Markazia – Lebanon remains at the top of the United States' priorities. The
US is keen to demonstrate its deep interest in the Lebanese situation and to
make it clear to those who need to understand, both domestically and regionally,
according to sovereign political sources speaking to Al-Markazia, that there is
no change in Washington's demands regarding Lebanon, nor in its approach to
Lebanon, its position, and its role. There will be no bargaining over Beirut's
fate with anyone. Hence, US contacts with Lebanese officials are intensifying,
and each time these contacts include assurances that Lebanon will not be
surrendered to anyone, that its state and people will determine its own destiny,
and that extending the state's sovereignty over all its territory is a
non-negotiable demand.
On Tuesday, US Vice President Jeh DeVence and Secretary of State Marco Rubio
contacted Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, affirming "the United States' support
for the positions of the Lebanese President and government in their efforts to
extend the legitimate authority of the state and strengthen its national
sovereignty over all its territory through its army and security forces alone,
and to enable it to fulfill its commitments in this regard." On the same day,
Rubio, speaking from Abu Dhabi, emphasized that "the Lebanese issue is separate
from the Iranian issue, and we are dealing directly with the Lebanese
government. Hostilities in the region cannot end while Iran's proxies are
launching missiles."
Just hours before these statements, the US Vice President announced that
Washington views the Lebanese President and government as the sole legitimate
authority in the country and intends to work with the state to enable it to
protect its sovereignty and consolidate its authority. In a message to Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea, he clarified that US contacts with Iran regarding
Lebanon are not aimed at granting Tehran any role in determining its future or
influencing its decisions, but rather at urging it to pressure Hezbollah to
abide by its commitments. The US administration also affirmed its continued
monitoring of the Lebanese situation, its interest in developments, and its
support for Lebanon's sovereignty and legitimate institutions. According to
sources, the increased US engagement with the Lebanese state and this renewed
support stemmed from Washington's perception that including the Lebanese issue
in the US-Iranian negotiations in Lucerne had been misinterpreted. Those opposed
to the US and Tehran interpreted it as abandoning Lebanon and handing it back to
Iran. Therefore, Washington sought to set the record straight and reassure
Beirut that no one would be its guardian anymore. This move also served as a
message to Tehran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, warning them against
overstepping their bounds or attempting to complicate Washington's efforts to
end the war and disarm Hezbollah, as such actions would negatively impact their
negotiations in Switzerland. It is also a message to Tel Aviv that the United
States’ agenda in Lebanon has not changed, but the method of achieving the goals
may have changed. Instead of disarming Hezbollah and going to peace with Lebanon
through war, Washington wants to give diplomacy and negotiation a chance,
nothing more and nothing less, the sources conclude.
Assi Rahbani
Aql Awit/Al-Nahar/June 25, 2026 (Google translation
from Arabic)
Forty years of your absence, forty years of absence, like tomorrow that will
come and pass, and like yesterday that passed, and does not want to, and does
not know how to pass. And you are a state, and you are the state, and your
awareness is the secret of secrets, and the secret of the river is your
awareness, and it is the river of all, and the river of rivers, and your
awareness is the cosmos, and the vastness, and a connection there, and a union,
and it is God there, and God, and it is here, God and there. And music, I do not
know music, and by it a sky is guided. And by it it becomes music and paradise
and sky. And your poetry is, and it is enough, and it is your poetry, poetry,
and not only it, and more, and high, and lived, and dreamed of, and rises, and
lofty is poetry, and deep, and its depth has no depth, and its ceiling has no
sky. A spring at the mouth, a spring at the beginning. A sun ablaze of its own
accord, ablaze of the self, and your splendor is your splendor, and all of you
is the blazing of a sun and splendor. Your illusion is vision, and gnosis, and a
sign, and wonder, and your illusion is spirit and truth, and it is the true
illusion, and it is spirit and state. And all of you is longing, and all of it
is longing, how gentle is longing, and transparent, and kindness in its
fullness, and how difficult, and how painful, to be kindness, and to be longing
in the furnace of longing. And on a hill you keep vigil, and where, and when,
and on a mountain, and in a valley, and a shadow with you, and a moon hungry,
and thirsty, and laughing, and thirsting and hungry, and a moon drunk from one
night to the next, and the night to the next. Forest after forest, and your
clouds are girls and children playing, and angels are the stars and the clouds,
praising God spontaneously, a yearning, a leaning, and a harmony in the manner
of sovereignty within sovereignty and harmony. And the further you go, the more
you accumulate. The further you go, the closer you become. And your genius is
not in the heights. Nor in the depths and the abyss. Nor in the visible. Nor in
the tangible. And were it not for the voice, were it not for the voice of
Fairouz, you would have been content, you would have been content with the
trembling of the breeze, whenever it stirred your poetry, your music, and when
it almost, nay, is seen, and gasps with the spirit, almost, as a monk gasps with
divinity, and as a woman, as a woman gasps with ecstasy, and with imagination.
And your genius is a deficiency that is full. And your genius is fullness, and
it increases. I don't know how one can guard a deficiency that is itself a
fullness, how to endure it, how to die, and yet demand to die in this way in
order to live. And in your absence, in the tomorrow that will pass and remain, I
cannot bear to write of your memory to appease the memory itself, or to flatter
my desolate life. Here, there, and all in all, you are but a cloud and an angel
in my heart, yet I write only so that I may continue to experience a space, like
the one you and Fairouz's voice create for me, so that I may live.
An Existential Battle Between Legitimacy and Tehran
Marwan Al-Amin/Nidaa Al-Watan/June 25, 2025 (Google translation from Arabic)
Despite the significant losses suffered by the Iranian regime and its Lebanese
arm, Hezbollah, Tehran continues to strive by all means to maintain its
influence in Lebanon and solidify the equation that Lebanese decisions are made
in Tehran, not in Baabda Palace or the Grand Serail. The joint statement issued
after the negotiations of June 2nd and 3rd marked a significant political
milestone, announcing a ceasefire agreement and the activation of the "pilot
zone" mechanism. This development was considered a major achievement for the
Lebanese government, as it restored its prominence on the political scene and
gave it Arab and international momentum at the expense of Iran and Hezbollah's
presence in addressing the Lebanese issue. However, the Iranian response was
swift. The Revolutionary Guard rushed to announce its rejection of the statement
even before Hezbollah did, in a clear indication of Tehran's displeasure with
the political gains achieved by the Lebanese government. Following this, Iran
and Hezbollah launched a counter-political campaign aimed at undermining the
legitimacy of the Lebanese government's approach and its effectiveness. In this
context, Iran insisted on including a clause in its agreement with Washington
concerning a ceasefire in Lebanon, one that would be more serious and effective
than the previous arrangements outlined in the April agreement. This endeavor
aimed to wrest the initiative back from the Lebanese government, which had
successfully achieved a significant political breakthrough at the expense of
Iranian influence in Lebanon. It should be noted that what Hezbollah promotes as
an Iranian achievement for Lebanon—namely, the inclusion of the ceasefire in the
Iranian-American agreement—falls short of what the Lebanese government achieved.
The Lebanese government also secured an Israeli withdrawal within the framework
of the "experimental zone" mechanism. This mechanism began to be implemented
practically with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the town of Dbayn and the
entry of the Lebanese army, before it stalled due to the rejection of the
agreement by Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. However, the
agreement reached between Tehran and Washington, and the subsequent pressure
exerted by President Trump on the Israeli Prime Minister to adhere to the
ceasefire, gave Iran an opportunity to regain its leading position in the
Lebanese political landscape, after the Lebanese government had successfully
advanced its influence. Despite contacts made by American officials with
President Joseph Aoun, these were insufficient to compensate for the political
setback suffered by the Lebanese government as a result of Washington granting
Tehran a concession that could be marketed as a political and diplomatic
achievement. In conclusion, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah remains
primarily a security matter. The battle that Hezbollah, and by extension Iran,
considers existential is the one related to Lebanese legitimacy, its role, and
its future. Every step taken by the Lebanese state towards restoring its full
sovereignty effectively means a reduction in Iranian influence. Therefore, Iran
and Hezbollah view any progress made by the Lebanese government as a direct loss
to the influence project that Tehran has built over decades. Confronting
Tehran’s insistence on enshrining Lebanon within its sphere of influence
requires the legitimate government to move from crisis management to creating a
political reality that will usher Lebanon into a new historical phase, through:
practical and decisive steps towards confining weapons to the legitimate
institutions, and taking serious steps towards a peace agreement with Israel.
Dhimmi Per excellence
Imad Moussa/Nidaa Al Watan/June 25, 2025 (Google translation from Arabic)
Exactly three years ago, Monsignor Camille Mubarak appeared with our colleague
Walid Abboud on the program "We Want the Truth," delivering one of his most
powerful television performances. This prompted the Maronite Archdiocese of
Beirut to issue a decree banning Mubarak from appearing in the media again.
This, in turn, spurred the Orange Electronic Army to launch the #NoToSilencingFatherMubarak
campaign. This was in loyalty to the man who said of the former president, "If
Aoun hadn't been president, we would have crawled on the ground. But Aoun didn't
crawl, nor did he break in the face of conspiracies, pressures, and defeats.
Rather, he endured the difficulties, and it's natural for someone who supports a
mountain to get tired."
In the interview that broke the camel's back, Mubarak said of Berri, "He lives
with an age-old hunger and hasn't had his fill of the state's table, which he
sat at many years ago." “Berri and Jumblatt are cut from the same cloth, and
they have always laughed at former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whom they
described as ‘innocent and gullible.’” Regarding France, Mubarak said at the
time, “Whenever I take a step towards Lebanon, the Americans pull the reins.”
The Beirut Archdiocese, in the distant past, reined in Mubarak’s excesses, or
rather his madness, while the General Presidency of the Antonine Order reined in
the rising star, Father Dr. Michel Rouhana, after an interview on the
“Transparency” platform that garnered high viewership and ignited a war between
the Antonine monk’s supporters and his defenders, most of whom belong to the
Free Patriotic Movement. Returning to the interview, the monk, smiling slyly,
told his interviewer, Samantha Martin, “Hezbollah is not the state. It is an
authority within the state.” He continued pedantically, asking, “What is
authority? Who is obeyed? Who acts when they speak? Who is obeyed when they
command?” (He laughs sarcastically.) “Tell me, who is obeyed when they command?”
He addressed his colleague Martine, saying, "As long as there's no state, how
can you hand over (the weapons) to the state?" And the state, in the eyes of the
monk-doctor, is 500 people who collect money and enjoy themselves. It's that
simple. As for "the party," it's because of it that Lebanon is talked about and
has been placed on the world map, as the monk Rouhana put it, and this is
absolutely true. Similarly, it's because of drug traffickers that Colombia is
talked about all over the world. The gist of Rouhana's statement, the crux of it
all, is: "I prefer to hand over the state (laughs) to those who have the power
to make decisions, rather than handing the power to people who have no power."
And I, as a citizen and a journalist, prefer that the General Presidency of the
Antonine Order maintain its decision to silence Rouhana and put an end to his
pronouncements that contradict the Christian consensus. Therefore, I refuse to
call Rouhana a dhimmi. He is a dhimmi, plain and simple.
Why target the town of Qaa?/ The massacre of June 28, 1978/The terrorist
bombings of June 27, 2016.
Bashir Matar/June 25, 2026 (Google translation from Arabic)
On Sunday, June 28, 2026, we gather for a solemn Mass to remember all the
martyrs of the town of Qaa who fell defending their land, their people, freedom,
and Lebanon.
We remember the seven martyrs who fell in the attack on Qaa on July 1, 1975, the
fifteen martyrs who perished in the massacre of June 28, 1978, and the five
martyrs who fell in the terrorist attack on Qaa on June 27, 2016. We also
remember with utmost reverence and respect the dozens of martyrs from Qaa who
sacrificed their lives defending Lebanon in its various regions, towns, and
cities, from Nahr al-Bared to Sidon, from the Port of Beirut to Sannine, from
the Beirut Souks to the Chouf, Aley, and other areas, bringing the total number
of Qaa martyrs to approximately one hundred and fifty. The most recent martyrs
include the army soldiers: Saadeh Makhlouf, Jad Makhlouf, and Samer Rizk, and
the Beirut Fire Brigade martyr, Sahar Fares.
We remember these martyrs because honoring them is a duty, and because nations
that forget their martyrs lose a part of their identity and memory. We also
affirm that those who had the opportunity to defend their land and families
during the war years, and who participated in various military battles, were
included in the national reconciliation established by the Taif Agreement. We
view them within the context of that era, which has been closed at the national
level.
As for the massacre of June 28, 1978, which we believe was perpetrated by the
former Syrian regime with the participation of local Lebanese parties under the
pretext of revenge, its wounds remain open because the full truth has not yet
been revealed, and because justice has not been served, particularly regarding
the role of the Syrian regime, in a way that dispels doubts and reassures the
families of the martyrs.
The same applies to the terrorist bombings that targeted Qaa on June 27, 2016,
carried out by eight suicide bombers. Given the controversy surrounding the
transfer of convicts to Syria and the general amnesty granted to detainees, and
the continuing questions about who planned, financed, and ordered the attacks,
we believe that uncovering the truth remains a right of the families of the
martyrs and a duty of the state and the accused party. Therefore, we hope that
the new Syrian state, if it is truly committed to uncovering the truth, will
open the archives of the previous period, conduct serious and transparent
investigations, and provide the Lebanese state with all the information it
possesses regarding the massacre of June 28, 1978.
As for the terrorist bombings that targeted Qaa in 2016, and given that the new
Syrian state's allies who were present in our mountains are accused of carrying
them out—while some deny these accusations and attribute them to other
parties—to dispel all doubt, the Syrian state is required to disclose all the
information and data it possesses, any possible connection between groups or
officials who were present in the mountains during that period and these events,
and, most importantly, the objective and background of this crime. Is it
conceivable that the former Assad regime would conspire with its opponents and
those rebelling against it against the town of Qaa at the same time?
The theme of our commemoration on Sunday is: "Knowing the truth is a
prerequisite for forgiveness and pardon." Forgiveness is not weakness, and
pardon is not surrender; rather, they are acts of moral strength that are only
complete when the truth is known, responsibilities are acknowledged, and the
dignity of the martyrs is preserved.
Most importantly, we demand an answer to this crucial question:
Why was the town of Qaa targeted?
Was it because of its geographical location?
Was it because of its religious, Lebanese, and political affiliations?
And why haven't the files of these two crimes been referred to the Judicial
Council, as has been done with many previous crimes, even if only nominally?
Answering these questions will dispel many dark clouds and allow us to avoid
repeating this ordeal every twenty years.
To everyone, both within and beyond our borders, we say: The people of this
land, who have offered so many martyrs, have never known fear in the past, and
they will never know it in the future. They have paid a heavy price in defense
of their land, their dignity, and Lebanon, and they will remain loyal to their
martyrs, steadfast in their faith, their sovereignty over their land, their free
existence, and their right to a dignified and free life.
The Lebanese government’s failed gamble
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/June 25, 2026
Iran is meeting with the US in Switzerland. Lebanon is one aspect of the talks.
The US and Iran this week announced they are creating a “deconfliction cell” to
ensure their deal goes through, but the Lebanese government has had very little
agency in the entire process. The Nawaf Salam-Joseph Aoun government did not
read events properly and bet on the wrong horse. They bet on the Americans. They
thought the US’ support would allow them to contain Hezbollah and repel the
Israelis. They were wrong. Politics requires a more nuanced approach. Monday’s
official statement revealed that the US and Iran had “agreed on the creation of
a deconfliction cell, between the parties, the Lebanese Republic and facilitated
by the mediators, to ensure the adherence to the termination of military
operations in Lebanon.” However, no Lebanese official is present in Switzerland.
Hezbollah is well represented by Iran and Israel’s interests are represented by
the US. The Lebanese state seems missing from the equation. It is merely on the
receiving end. The Lebanese government has chosen to appease the Israelis,
hoping that, at some point, the Americans will pressure them to withdraw from
Lebanon. This seems more like wishful thinking than a realistic expectation.
Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, has already made it clear that Tel Aviv
has no intention of leaving any of the territory it has seized in Gaza, Lebanon,
Syria or the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also reiterated
that Israel will not leave Lebanon. It was definitely a mistake for Lebanon to
negotiate with the Israelis on its own. As much as this could be seen as
sovereign behavior and that the state was taking the fate of the country into
its own hands, in reality, Lebanon is not eligible to enter such negotiations.
To start with, the state has no leverage — Israel has all the leverage. Lebanon
cannot impose anything or offer anything to Israel. Can Lebanon offer
Hezbollah’s disarmament? No. The army commander has already declared that
Hezbollah cannot be disarmed by force as this would create an internal clash.
And the government cannot pressure Hezbollah to disarm willingly.
It was definitely a mistake for Lebanon to negotiate with the Israelis on its
own. To start with, the state has no leverage
The government has also chosen to isolate itself. According to former security
officer Jamil Al-Sayyed, Salam delayed asking for a ceasefire in Lebanon to be
included on the agenda during the negotiations in Islamabad. He believed that
would constitute undue interference in Lebanese affairs. The following day,
April 9, after Israel had conducted a huge bombing raid in Beirut that injured
more than 1,000 people and killed about 360, Salam called Pakistani Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif and asked for a ceasefire to become part of the
negotiations. Salam should have sent a delegation to Islamabad, as other
countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye did. Regional negotiations
regarding the war were also held during April’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Foreign
ministers and high-level officials from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi
Arabia and Qatar were present. But Beirut did not send its foreign minister to
take part in the discussions.Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri has said
that the Cabinet refused to file a complaint against Israel, even though he
urged them to do so. According to Walid Jumblatt, the seasoned Lebanese Druze
leader, some Lebanese in Washington are “more Israeli than the Israelis”
themselves. His media office rushed to clarify that he was referring to some
researchers who work for American pro-Israel think tanks and not the negotiating
team. However, anyone who follows Jumblatt can see that, like many others, he is
very critical of a government that has not been vocal enough about the Israeli
aggression. So far, we have not seen the Lebanese representative at the UN make
any statement or confront the Israeli envoy.
This attitude has created divisions within Lebanese society. While some factions
blame Hezbollah for pushing Lebanon into this war, others think that the
Lebanese state is being compliant with Israel. Israel does not help either. It
keeps bombing the country after ceasefires have been agreed. It also keeps
making statements and spreading news with the aim of discrediting the Lebanese
government.The government has also taken a confrontational approach toward Iran.
This shows a lack of pragmatism, as Iran controls Hezbollah
Israel Hayom on Sunday published an article that stated that the negotiations
with Lebanon in Washington are intended to remove Israel’s total withdrawal as a
precondition for the US’ negotiations with Iran. It said the two tracks “could
be headed for a collision course.” From the looks of it, Israel is using the
negotiations with the Lebanese state to legitimize its actions. In addition to
being divisive, the current government has also failed on other fronts. It has
failed to properly handle the issue of those displaced by the war. The displaced
are everywhere on the streets of Beirut. It has been found that 85 percent of
the refugees have not been offered proper shelter.The government has also taken
a confrontational approach toward Iran. It submitted a letter to the UN Security
Council criticizing Tehran for interfering in its internal affairs. This shows a
lack of pragmatism, as Iran is the one that controls Hezbollah. It expelled the
Iranian ambassador and declared him persona non grata, but Iran stayed defiant
and kept the ambassador in Beirut. Anyone who knows anything about politics
knows that one does not take decisions one cannot implement, as it only shows
weakness. And Lebanon has failed to garner regional support. It entered into
direct negotiations with Israel without the backing of Middle Eastern states.
The Lebanese government is now realizing that it has backed the wrong horse.
Aoun, after his previous confrontational tone toward Iran, last week said that
Lebanon welcomes any country’s effort to bring an end to the war, including
Iran. The government is coming to realize that its bilateral talks with Israel
will not result in anything substantial. Lebanon can only get anything
half-decent as part of a regional deal. However, it is already committed to the
bilateral track. And Israel will likely use those talks to legitimize its
actions in Lebanon.
*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.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on 25-26 June/2026
Iran’s Ghalibaf rejects US claim that unfrozen assets will be spent on US
goods
Reuters/June 25, 2026
DUBAI: Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said on Thursday that the
United States’ claims that Iran will spend its unfrozen assets to buy US
agricultural products were false.
“The US only exports GMO soybeans, broken promises and trash talks,” Ghalibaf
said in a post on X. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed President
Donald Trump on Wednesday and insisted that a large percentage of Iran’s
unfrozen assets would be used to buy US foods and medicine even as Iran says
it would determine its spending.
Gulf foreign ministers: Iran proxies, missiles must be
addressed for lasting peace
Arab News/June 25, 2026
MANAMA: Gulf foreign ministers said on Thursday that Iran’s proxy forces,
missiles and drones must be dealt with for the region to have lasting peace. The
ministers also said any trade and investment with Tehran would be reversible and
contingent on it respecting its deal with the US.
“The Ministers further emphasized that lasting regional peace and security
requires addressing the full spectrum of Iran’s threats, including its ballistic
missiles, drones, and support of proxies in the region,” they said in a joint
statement following a meeting co-chaired by US Secretary of State Marco
Rubio.“Any trade and investment with Iran is conditional and reversible,
contingent on Iran’s compliance with the MOU and the final agreement, cessation
of its destabilizing behavior, and creation of the conditions necessary for
economic engagement,” they added. The meeting in Bahrain took place as Iran and
the US are engaged in further negotiations after agreeing last week to an
initial deal to end the conflict. Rubio has been in the region for three days,
meeting leaders and officials for talks about the negotiations. A key issue is
ensuring that Iran allows the Strait of Hormuz to be fully open to shipping
after Tehran shut the waterway during the conflict. During the meeting, the Gulf
foreign ministers emphasized the importance of reopening the Strait and said,
"free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation, including the right of
transit passage as guaranteed under international law, remains essential to
regional and global security."They also rejected any tolls, fees, or attempts to
assert control over the Strait, amid concerns that Iran wants to charge vessels
for passing through the waterway. GCC states suffered waves of attacks from
Iranian drones and missiles during the conflict as Tehran lashed out at its
neighbors in response to US and Israeli bombing. The
foreign ministers said they welcomed the memorandum of understanding between the
US and Iran but urged that the two sides maintain momentum in the talks in the
hope of reaching a permanent end to hostilities.The ministers said they shared
the objective "of preventing Iran from ever developing or otherwise acquiring a
nuclear weapon."*With AFP
Strait of Hormuz ship evacuation halted after vessel attack
AP/June 25, 2026
DUBAI: A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait
of Hormuz on Thursday after the British military said a vessel was hit by a
projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that
used a route backed by the UN The head of the International Maritime
Organization said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Arabian Gulf
through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety
guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region. It was
unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The
report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the
route through the strait without Tehran’s permission. The vessel that was
attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the UN
agency’s secretary-general.
Following reports of the attack, Iran’s Arabian Gulf Strait Authority — a new
government agency Iran established to control shipping in the strait — wrote on
X that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the
guarantee of safe passage.”The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center
said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental
effects from the attack off the coast of Oman. The opening of an alternative
passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy
and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United
States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure
American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route and ensuring
that ships are able to transit the strait. “If that stops, then we’re going to
have a problem,” Rubio said earlier Thursday. Traffic through the strait
increased in recent days but was still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday
briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign
that the market believes the situation is improving. The US and Iran are still
debating terms of an interim peace deal, including issues such as getting ships
through the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf and addressing the future of Iran’s
stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the
memorandum of understanding signed last week, the US and Iran have 60 days to
iron out the details. Oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along
the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early Thursday, passing by Oman’s
Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and
the International Maritime Organization. North of the route is a corridor in the
center of the strait where ships moved freely before the war, transporting about
a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas. Iran said it mined that passage
after the US and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. At least one mine has been
sighted there. Though some ships had been getting out
of the strait, with US military support, the UN agency’s effort was the latest
to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship,
the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday. Last
week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to
marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. According to S&P
Global, Wednesday saw 78 transits, the most since the war began, but still below
the daily prewar average of 130 or more. Iran says the new shipping route is
‘unacceptable’ The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning
Thursday against using the new route. In a statement carried by Iran’s state-run
IRNA news agency, naval officials said the route was established without notice
or coordination with Iran, calling it “unacceptable and completely
dangerous.”“The only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz
is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said.
“Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”
“Violators will be dealt with,” it added, without elaborating.
On Wednesday, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, with a
soldier warning, “You are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you,”
according to the private security firm Ambrey.
Rubio warns Hormuz tolls would ‘spread like contagion’ to
other waterways
AFP/June 25, 2026
MANAMA: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday warned that Iranian tolls
on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways, risking
“total chaos.”“International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This
is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be
in total chaos,” he told a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain. “If in
fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway
because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread
throughout the world like a contagion.”Rubio, on his first regional tour since
the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the Middle East war,
said the US wants a peace deal but not “at any price.”“While we want a deal, we
don’t want a deal at any price,” he said. “We want a deal that’s good, we want a
deal that’s real, we want a deal that’s verifiable, and we want a deal that’s
adhered to.”The top US diplomat, who has visited the heavily attacked UAE,
Kuwait and Bahrain on his tour, also gave assurances that the interests of Gulf
countries would be taken into account. “We want to
ensure... that there is no part of this deal that’s undertaken that in any way
undermines the security, the stability, or the prosperity of any of our partners
in the Gulf region,” he said.
Prince Faisal, Rubio discuss US-Iran agreement, Hormuz navigation
Al Arabiya English/25 June ,2026
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with US Secretary of State
Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the GCC-US ministerial meeting in Manama on
Thursday. The two officials reviewed regional and
international developments, with a particular focus on the US-Iran agreement and
progress in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, according to the Saudi
foreign ministry. They also discussed the importance of ensuring unrestricted
freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the latest
developments in Gaza and Lebanon, the ministry said. On the sidelines of the
meeting, Prince Faisal also held separate talks with his Omani and Qatari
counterparts. Earlier on Thursday, Rubio told participants at the GCC-US
ministerial meeting that Washington wanted to reach a deal with Tehran, but “not
at any price,” while assuring Gulf allies that their interests would be taken
into account.
Oman confirms Strait of Hormuz will remain toll-free
Arab News/June 25, 2026
DUBAI: Oman confirmed on Thursday that no transit fees would be imposed on ships
using the Strait of Hormuz as part of any future managing of the waterway.
Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi’s comments came after his country and Iran said
this week that they were discussing “costs” for maritime services in the Strait.
“Future arrangements regarding the Strait do not entail the imposition of any
transit fees,” Al-Busaidi told a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in Bahrain.
The minister highlighted the importance of restoring freedom of navigation
through the Strait and ensuring its safe and uninterrupted flow. He added that
Oman, as a state bordering the Strait, "has a special responsibility to support
international efforts to secure maritime navigation." The the Gulf Cooperation
Council meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who during
his visit to the region repeatedly stated Washington’s opposition to any tolls
being applied to shipping using the waterway. Oman and Iran border either side
of the Strait through which one-fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied
natural gas supplies were being transported before Israel and the US launched a
war against Iran at the end of February. Tehran responded by closing the
waterway to shipping, a move that brought severe economic disruption to the
global economy. Iran and the US signed an initial
agreement to end the conflict last week. The memorandum of understanding said
that commercial ships may transit the strait free of charge for a 60 day period
while negotiations continue toward a final peace deal.Rubio said after the GCC
meeting that there was "zero support" for tolls in the Strait among Gulf
countries. “Ultimately there's not going to be any fees or tolls,” he said.
“They (Oman) were there in the meeting today and they said that they are not in
favor of the tolling system.” A day before the
meeting, Oman announced new, toll-free temporary routes through the Strait to
the north and south of the Traffic Separation Scheme corridor used before the
conflict. The new routes were coordinated with the
International Maritime Organisation, the UN agency responsible for marine
safety. A number of oil tankers sailed along the southerly route on Thursday,
which passes by Oman's Musandam Peninsula, AP reported. Iran's Revolutionary
Guards on Thursday warned that any crossings of the Strait of Hormuz without
authorization from them, "will be dealt with.”*With AP, AFP and Reuters
Iran slams NATO chief’s comments on US support in war
AFP/25 June ,2026
Tehran accused NATO on Thursday of “complicity” in the US-Israeli war against
Iran, after the bloc’s chief noted its support for the United States in the
conflict. Responding to US President Donald Trump’s criticism of allies for not
supporting the war, NATO boss Mark Rutte told Fox News that hundreds of American
planes launched from bases in Italy.Trump’s second term has been marked by
tensions with NATO allies, who have voiced skepticism over the need for the
conflict in the Middle East. “Country after country, ally after ally after ally,
have made their bases available for Epic Fury,” Rutte told US TV channel Fox
News, referring to the US military operation in Iran.“Five hundred US planes
took off from US bases in Italy to support Epic Fury,” he said, referring the US
name for the operation against Iran. Trump had told Rutte on Wednesday he was
“let down” by members of the alliance who did not back his war against Iran.
Rutte also told Fox News that Romania “cut down on commercial air flights and
airplanes because they had to use the airports for the tanker facilities” during
the Iran war. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned the
NATO chief’s admission of “active complicity” in the “unlawful war.”“This is a
clear and damning admission of NATO’s active complicity in an unlawful war of
aggression against a sovereign UN Member State,” Baqaei wrote on X. He accused
NATO of “a flagrant violation of peremptory norms of international law and the
core principles of the UN Charter.”
Italy was quick to distance itself from Rutte’s words, which the defense
ministry said gave “a completely misleading message by confusing the type of
flights that were authorized.”It said Italy had allowed only “technical and
logistical” US flights during Epic Fury under existing agreements with the
United States.
US Senate sides with Trump in fresh vote on Iran war powers
AFP/June 25, 2026
WASHINGTON: The US Senate rejected a resolution on Wednesday to rein in
President Donald Trump’s handling of the Iran war — an apparent U-turn following
pressure from the Republican leader. The move came just one day after the Senate
voted 50-48 to pass a resolution calling for an end to the Iran war, delivering
a rebuke to the White House as it seeks to negotiate a lasting deal with Tehran.
The legislation is seen as largely symbolic and has little chance of curbing
executive authority because Trump has the presidential power of veto. Trump
slammed the Tuesday vote as “poorly timed and meaningless,” saying that it made
his job more difficult. The president lashed out on Wednesday at Republican
lawmakers during a closed-door lunch on Capitol Hill, US media reported. Hours
later, Republican Senators Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy — who had called for a
check on the president’s war on Iran — changed their stance in the late
Wednesday vote to align with Trump, CNN reported. The Wednesday resolution,
which was defeated 50-47, did not nullify or change the outcome of Tuesday’s
vote. Trump took a more positive view of Wednesday’s result, writing on Truth
Social that “This vote puts Iran on notice!“ During his lunch with Republicans
on Wednesday, Trump “was mad as a murder hornet,” Senator John Kennedy told the
New York Times. Other attendees told the newspaper that Trump aired a long list
of grievances and complaints.
US-Iran deal may leave Netanyahu as biggest casualty
Reuters/June 25, 2026
BEIRUT: The biggest casualty of the US-Iran deal may not be Israel’s Iran
strategy, but the political brand Benjamin Netanyahu spent decades building as
the Israeli leader who could uniquely bend Washington to his will on Iran,
analysts, former US officials and diplomats say.
Netanyahu shaped his political identity on an audacious assertion: that he
alone could keep the US and Israel in strategic lockstep on Iran. Cultivating
Republican support, he cast himself as the only Israeli leader capable of
influencing successive US presidents and insisted that only sustained military
pressure could contain Tehran.At the height of his power, he was described by
diplomats as the “American whisperer” — the Israeli leader who could pick up the
phone and ensure Washington’s strategic calculus aligned with that of Israel. No
other Israeli prime minister, they note, addressed Congress as often or built
such enduring political capital across the American political system. But
analysts say Washington and Tehran’s interim pact to end the war that the US and
Israel launched in February shows how that narrative has been reversed. Rather
than shaping Washington’s Iran policy, Netanyahu is now forced to accept it, as
US President Donald Trump pursues a settlement that increasingly treats Israeli
objections as constraints. At home, the reckoning is equally stark, said former
US official Dennis Ross. Netanyahu is increasingly boxed in between a US
president intent on ending the conflict and a domestic base resistant to
concessions, particularly in Lebanon, he said. Withdrawal risks political
backlash while escalation risks confrontation with Washington. The war
Netanyahu hoped would cement his legacy as the leader who confronted Iran may
instead be remembered as the conflict that dismantled a central source of his
power. Isolated abroad, constrained by his closest ally and vulnerable ahead
of an autumn election, he now finds the political asset on which he built his
career has become his greatest liability. At the outset of the war with Iran,
Netanyahu promised ultimate victory. He delivered neither the collapse of Iran’s
ruling system, nor the defeat of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, nor safe return for
residents of northern Israel. “The US-Iran deal is a decisive blow to
Netanyahu,” said Aviv Bushinsky, a former Netanyahu adviser. “Not only did he
lose the war with Iran, he has also lost Trump as a friend. He is now isolated
not only internationally, but locked in a major dispute with Trump,” he said.
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment. In a press
conference this month, the Israeli premier described his relationship with Trump
as one between partners who “agree many times and sometimes disagree.” There had
been a systematic campaign to diminish Israel’s “huge achievements” against Iran
and its proxies, he said. A White House official said Trump and Netanyahu had a
strong relationship and that Israel’s military forces had been “incredible
partners” in a war that had “decimated the Iranian regime’s military
capabilities.” A State Department official said the United States maintains an
“iron-clad” commitment to Israel’s security, stressing that “this is not
changing.” The official added that Israel retains the right to defend itself,
particularly against Hezbollah, “a terrorist organization that threatens its
citizens and undermines the Lebanese government,” and cannot be expected to
withdraw from Lebanon until that threat is addressed. Normalization and
regional integration remain a top priority for the Trump administration, added
the official.
PUBLIC REBUKES
The disagreement between the US and Israeli leaders, analysts say, extends
beyond personal ties to a growing divergence in goals: Trump seeks to disengage
from another Middle East war, while Netanyahu views continued pressure on Iran
and its ally Hezbollah as essential to Israel’s security.
Washington has negotiated directly with Tehran, folded Lebanon’s conflict
between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah into a broader framework, and created
mechanisms to manage ceasefire disputes — moves that, according to three
regional diplomatic sources, have increasingly sidelined Israel from key
decisions. The country that once viewed Netanyahu as an indispensable
interlocutor is now, the regional sources say, treating him as an obstacle to an
agreement it is determined to protect. Trump has publicly rebuked Israel’s
military conduct in Lebanon, while Vice President JD Vance has underscored the
conditional nature of the relationship, warning Israeli critics of the deal
against “attacking the only powerful ally they have left in the world.”Two
Israeli officials familiar with Netanyahu’s thinking said he was not concerned
that public remarks by Trump and Vance would translate into meaningful shifts in
US policy toward Israel, such as delays in arms deliveries, even if Israel
continues military operations in Lebanon. Trump has signalled that he is
prepared to override Israeli priorities in pursuit of US interests. In a TV
interview this month, he said that if he tells Netanyahu “to do something, he
does it.”
LOSS OF REPUBLICAN SAFETY NET
Iran will seek to widen the emerging gap between the US and Israel by portraying
any Israeli military action in Lebanon as an attempt to sabotage Trump’s
diplomacy, forcing the White House to choose between backing its ally or
preserving the deal, said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.
What makes Netanyahu’s position so precarious, US analysts say, is the loss of
his safety net. For years, he cultivated Republican backing, using it as a
counterweight to offset tensions with Democratic administrations, and openly
denouncing former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal from a
congressional podium. But Republicans will not break with Trump for Netanyahu,
they said. Against this backdrop, the implications of the US-Iran deal also
extend to Netanyahu’s core strategic bets. He staked his political future on two
objectives: weakening, if not toppling, Iran’s theocratic leadership and
securing normalized relations with Saudi Arabia by expanding the Abraham
Accords.
Neither has materialized. Iranian leaders have emerged
from the conflict entrenched, while the Saudi handshake remains out of reach.
Across the region, a recalibration is already visible. Countries Netanyahu once
hoped to draw closer — with Saudi Arabia as the crown jewel — are now hedging,
slowing normalization with Israel while cautiously reopening channels with
Tehran. According to Gulf sources, the logic that underpinned the Abraham
Accords has been eroded by the Gaza war, the unresolved question of West Bank
annexation, and a growing perception that Netanyahu’s Israel may be more of a
liability than an asset in any emerging regional order. An Iranian official
said Netanyahu’s push to expand the Abraham Accords has been blunted, with
several countries now seeking a place in an emerging Iran-aligned framework.
“This is not just a victory for Iran. It’s a failure for Netanyahu,” the
official said. The Islamic Republic has not just survived — it has emerged as a
more influential regional player.
Venezuela reeling after deadly twin earthquakes
AP/June 25, 2026
CARACAS: Powerful back-to-back earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday
evening killed at least 164 people and injured at least 971, the nation’s acting
president said, as communities across the South American country sustained
damage. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez warned the toll was expected to rise as
rescuers search collapsed buildings and emergency crews reach devastated areas
after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck shortly after 6 p.m.
Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late
Wednesday and said the quakes caused damage in several states. The casualty
figures released early Thursday excluded the state of La Guaira, which Rodríguez
described as a “disaster zone” and the area hardest hit. “Dozens of buildings
have collapsed there, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Caracas, and we
are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” she said.
The earthquakes, among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century,
roiled the region, with buildings evacuated in cities and areas impacted as far
as Brazil’s Amazon about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela’s capital
Caracas.
Venezuela’s state-run VTV showed footage early Thursday of three children,
covered in dust but alive, being pulled from the rubble in hard-hit La Guaira.
The broadcaster also said a hospital in the city of Tucacas, about 200
kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Caracas, suffered damage and showed images
of dozens of people in what seemed like medical garb in front of the building.
The earthquakes damaged and closed Simón Bolívar International Airport near
Caracas, the country’s main airport, Rodríguez said, adding that subway and
natural gas services in Caracas were canceled. She urged Venezuelans to report
any damages through a government app. Rodríguez said school classes would be
canceled for several days. The Ministry of Education said some school buildings
would be used as shelters and donation centers. “We urge our population to
remain calm,” said Rodríguez, who asked health care professionals to report to
hospitals to assist the injured. “We urge unity.”
Country hit twice by large quakes
The US Geological Survey initially said the first earthquake had a magnitude of
7.1, later revising that to 7.2. Its epicenter was west of Morón on the
country’s Caribbean coast about 168 kilometers (104 miles) west of Caracas. The
quake had a depth of 22 kilometers (13.6 miles).
The USGS reported an even larger 7.5-magnitude earthquake just a minute later.
The second quake had a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) with an epicenter 16
kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Morón. In the coastal state of Falcon, Gov.
Víctor Clark said 32 people had been hospitalized and there were 15 people
trapped in the hours after the earthquake.
International assistance offered
Offers of help were made by various governments including the United States,
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and
Uruguay.
US Secretary of State Rubio said in a post on X early Thursday that the United
States is “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and
humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”Rodríguez said later in an X post that she
spoke with Rubio by phone but did not share details of the discussion. She also
expressed thanks to the leaders of various nations who have sent messages of
support. Jeremy P. Lewin, the US undersecretary of state for foreign assistance,
said the State Department had mobilized a disaster assistance team and task
force to coordinate aid in coordination with Venezuela’s interim
government.Rodríguez said Thursday that Qatar had already sent rescuers who were
expected in Venezuela the next day, along with rescue personnel from Mexico and
El Salvador. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, once diametrically opposed to
Venezuela’s government, said in a post on X Wednesday night that he had offered
aid.
“We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela,” Bukele
wrote.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said he had ordered the immediate delivery of
humanitarian aid to help respond to the emergency. “Ecuador will respond with
the speed and commitment this moment demands because, despite our enormous
differences, humanity must always guide the actions of a leader,” Noboa wrote.
Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, who less than a week ago declared a state of
emergency in his country following weeks of anti-government protests, said his
country stood ready to provide any needed assistance. The administration of
Brazil President Luiz Inácio da Silva expressed solidarity and said no
Brazilians reported being injured. China also said it was ready to send “what
help it can” to Venezuela. “China is willing to provide what help it can in an
appropriate manner according to the needs of the Venezuelan side,” foreign
ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news briefing.
“As of now, there have been no reports of casualties among Chinese citizens,” he
added. Spain’s defense ministry said 54 army rescuers were ready to respond to
the twin earthquakes. The contingent from the army’s emergencies unit “combines
the use of specially trained search dogs and specific devices like rescue
cameras or geophones,” the ministry wrote on X.
‘We all had to leave our houses’
Television broadcasts Thursday showed images of rescue workers using power tools
on collapsed structures. During the quakes, people evacuated swaying buildings
in Caracas, many visibly shocked as they saw collapsed walls that left furniture
visible from the street. Dust columns could be seen in two capital neighborhoods
with typically busy restaurants and other businesses. People remained on the
streets for hours, some sitting on the ground hugging pets as dust gathered
around them. Collapsed buildings, toppled electric poles and debris blocked
streets. Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone signal. “It started off
gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses,
go outside and gather together,” Caracas resident Hector Ricci said. Roberto
Gamas, another Caracas resident, said the building he was in “really shook from
side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong.”The lack of cellphone
signal in parts of Venezuela deepened the distress of many families,
particularly those among the more than 7.7 million people who have left the
country during its protracted crisis. Venezuela opposition leader María Corina
Machado, in exile after leaving Venezuela in December, took to X to send prayers
and wish strength to Venezuelans.“May strength, serenity, and solidarity prevail
among us in the face of this difficult time,” she said on X.
Impact felt throughout Venezuela
Venezuela Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the quake could be felt in
several states and asked motorists to give way to ambulances and other emergency
vehicles. “We understand that some people may be desperate, but we are acting
according to protocols to activate aid and rescue efforts to help those who need
it most,” Cabello said, urging people to remain outside as aftershocks could
further damage structures. “Be very careful with children and the elderly. Call
each other and check that no one has been harmed.”
Earthquakes impact the region
Buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapá in Brazil’s Amazon were evacuated,
according to reports on TV Globo. The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s
Caribbean and northeast regions, but there were no reports of damages or
injuries. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued several tsumani alerts in
the wake of the earthquakes that were quickly lifted. Strong earthquakes are
unusual in Venezuela. While the country sits near multiple fault lines, its
position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates make earthquakes
much less common than in other parts of Latin America. Earthquakes are frequent
along the Pacific coast, including in Mexico and Chile, which both sit along the
seismically active tectonic belt known as the Ring of Fire, an area that the
USGS said is responsible for 90 percent of earthquakes.
Pakistan, Iran agree to strengthen road, rail links after ceasefire diplomacy
Arab News Pakistan/June 25, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran agreed on Thursday to strengthen rail and road
connectivity and revive a bilateral transport mechanism to facilitate trade, as
the two neighbors seek to build on recent diplomatic engagement following the
Iran-US ceasefire by expanding economic cooperation.
The understanding was reached during talks in Islamabad between Pakistan’s
Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan and Iran’s Minister for Roads and Urban
Development Farzaneh Sadegh, days after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paid
a visit to Pakistan and thanked Islamabad for its role in helping end the recent
conflict between Iran and the United States.Pakistan and Iran share a nearly
900-kilometer and have sought for years to expand economic ties through border
markets, barter trade and improved transport links. However, bilateral trade has
remained well below potential, constrained largely by international sanctions on
Tehran, limited banking channels and weak cross-border infrastructure. With Iran
now engaged in negotiations with the United States on a broader peace framework,
officials in Islamabad see an opportunity to deepen connectivity, facilitate
trade and advance long-delayed cooperation in areas including transport and
energy. “During the discussions, Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan ...
emphasized that future road and rail links between Pakistan and Iran will be
further strengthened, noting that robust land connectivity is vital to unlocking
immense trade opportunities for both nations,” said an official statement
circulated by his ministry after the meeting.
“Both delegations thoroughly reviewed various proposals and agreed to fully
activate the Pakistan-Iran Joint Transport Committee to streamline bilateral
logistics,” it added. The Pakistani minister also assured the Iranian delegation
that transport-related bottlenecks would be addressed on a priority basis.
Iranian Minister Farzaneh Sadegh thanked Pakistan for what she described as its
constructive role in helping restore peace in the region. “We highly value the
unwavering support and cooperation of our Pakistani brothers,” she said,
according to the statement. The Iranian delegation also raised issues related to
the clearance of trucks and containers at the border, with officials from both
countries agreeing to implement joint measures to resolve outstanding logistical
bottlenecks and facilitate cross-border movement.
Cyprus fears Turkiye will exclude it from UN climate meet
AFP/June 25, 2026
BRUSSELS: Cyprus expressed concern on Thursday that it might not be invited to
the UN climate conference in November because of a long-standing dispute with
host nation Turkiye. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish invasion
followed a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece’s then-military junta. The Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognized only by Ankara. The
internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union,
controls the island’s majority Greek Cypriot south but is not recognized by
Turkiye — which will host November’s COP31 conference in the southern city of
Antalya. “We are concerned by information indicating that Turkiye intends to
invite only 26 EU member states to COP31,” Cyprus Environment Minister Maria
Panayiotou said after meeting her counterparts in Luxembourg. “Since the start
of the preparatory meetings hosted by Turkiye, Cyprus has not been invited to
participate in any of them,” she said. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU
presidency. The EU in May criticized Turkiye for excluding Cyprus from a COP31
briefing. Panayiotou said she expected the EU and member states to support
Cyprus.
EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on Thursday said the bloc’s countries had
offered their full solidarity to Cyprus on Thursday in Luxembourg.
Explosions heard in Kyiv amid air alert
AFP/June 25, 2026
Klitschko said on Telegram that air defense was working and urged residents to
take shelter
“In the Darnytskyi district, missile debris fell in an open area” KYIV: Multiple
explosions were heard as an air alert wailed in Kyiv, AFP journalists reported
Thursday, minutes after authorities warned about Russian ballistic missiles
heading toward the Ukrainian capital. The journalists also saw smoke traces in
the skies above Kyiv. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that air
defense was working and urged residents to take shelter.“In the Darnytskyi
district, missile debris fell in an open area. Emergency services are heading to
the scene,” he said in a separate statement.Darnytskyi is a densely populated
residential neighborhood on the left bank of the river Dnieper, which bisects
the capital. Russia has launched drone and missile barrages on Ukraine almost
nightly since its 2022 invasion. Over the past year, Kyiv has been a frequent
target of Russian attacks, which have killed civilians and damaged the capital’s
historic landmarks.
The Latest LCCC analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 25-26 June/2026
Iran Is Not the Same on the Inside!
Huda al-Husseini/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/2026
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has estimated losses in Iran
(between June 13, 2025, and mid-June 2026) to be between $400 billion and $600
billion, warning that the losses could be far greater if a comprehensive field
survey were permitted (the Iranian regime forbids even discussing.
Khurshid Alam, an expert at the program, says the scale of the losses is
catastrophic in every sense of the word. He notes that Iran’s economy was
already deeply in crisis before the war. Inflation, he points out, has reached
around 90 percent, while unemployment is estimated at about 66 percent; 55
percent of Iranians live below the poverty line, with another 23 percent
standing on its edge.Some among the Iranian leadership are aware of the scale of
the catastrophe. They are therefore seeking to end the war and begin a push
effort that will take years and require a radical change in approach. Only then
can Iran return to the international community and obtain the expertise and
investment needed to rebuild what the war has destroyed.This path, however,
faces opposition from hard-liners in the IRGC who believe that the United States
and the West are in a moment of weakness and are desperate for an agreement with
Iran that ends the crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This
faction believes that this opportunity may not come again, and that continuing
the confrontation would grant Tehran a stronger position on the international
stage. It is therefore pushing for further escalation despite the economic and
living costs, hoping to force the West to accept Iran’s terms.In the coming
weeks, Iran may find itself facing two paths: either a deeper economic collapse
if the talks in Switzerland fail, or a major shift in its policies that opens
the door to a return to the international community and to the start of efforts
to address one of the worst disasters the country has seen in decades.US
President Donald Trump has exerted mounting pressure on the Iranian regime in an
attempt to deepen divisions within the institutions of power, seeking to create
impression that internal rifts already exist, even if they are not visible to
those unfamiliar with the nature of the regime and how it operates.After Trump
reposted a tweet by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, there were strong
reactions in Iran. In the city of Mashhad, a number of hard-liners loyal to the
late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gathered outside the Foreign Ministry and
chanted slogans accusing Araghchi of treason and infiltration, going so far as
to demand his execution.
At the same time, groups affiliated with the hard-line camp organized protests
across the country, while police chief Ahmad Reza Radan warned that any move
against what he called “national unity,” or against the agreement, would be met
with repression.
In his final years, the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was deeply suspicious
even of the Revolutionary Guard, which had been created to protect the regime.
For this reason, he was careful to distribute centers of power within the regime
so that no single person or faction could monopolize influence or money. He kept
the various wings in a state of constant rivalry to prevent any one of them from
seizing complete control.
At the same time, the elder Khamenei relied on a group intensely loyal to him
personally, made up of people recruited from the poorest and most marginalized
classes, and used them to manage the balance of power within the regime and
monitor the other centers of influence.
With the elder Khamenei gone, these forces entered an open struggle for power,
as the political vacuum left the door open to competition among the various
wings. Reports indicate that an influential group within the regime had closed
ranks around the elder Khamenei and curtailed the roles of its most prominent
rivals, among them former President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian. The two men died in a helicopter crash in 2024, clearing the
way for new arrangements within the power structure.
Hard-line circles believe Araghchi has come to embody this course of action,
which is why they brand him a traitor and an infiltrator. In their view, the
regime is being dismantled from within.
After the ceasefire, the centers of power had a chance to close ranks. Continued
American pressure, however, is pushing them to resolve the internal struggle
more quickly, at a time when the confrontation over power, oil revenues,
smuggling networks, and sanctions-evasion channels is coming to a head.
Proponents of this view believe that continued infighting among the regime’s
wings will exhaust and weaken it from within, without exposing American or
Israeli soldiers to danger, and without Iranian protesters having to pay a fresh
price in the streets.
This thinking also bets that allowing the Americans into Iran to transfer the
uranium stockpile, if done under non-wartime conditions, will confront the
regime with a major challenge. The presence of American monitors would make it
harder to suppress protests and would also make it easier to support the
opposition inside the country. It was noted that on the first day of the
negotiations in Switzerland, Trump posted two threats in response to Hezbollah’s
attacks on the Israeli army and to Iranian threats to close the strait. The
Iranian negotiators flew into a rage, issued hostile statements, refused to
shake hands or pose for photographs, and so on.They panicked because they had
received no instructions from Vahidi, the younger Khamenei, or the Supreme
Council of Trustees. However, their panic showed that President Trump’s posts
had hit their target (the Iranian leadership) and that Trump frightens them and
shapes their behavior. In their panicked reaction to those tweets, they laid
bare of Iran’s weakness and disarray.
In a scene rich with symbolism, women from the hard-line camp appeared wearing,
over their chadors, the white shroud used in Islamic burial rites, signaling
that they are willing to die in defense of the regime.
Sudan: The Economic Crisis and the Multi-Front War
Osman Mirghani/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/2026
Since the war broke out in Sudan, we have not heard complaints about economic
hardship and living conditions as intense as those we hear today. The Sudanese
people, known for their patience, appear to have reached the limits of endurance
under mounting financial pressures, soaring inflation, and the relentless rise
in the prices of basic goods.It takes only the customary question, "How are
things?" for the conversation to turn immediately to prices, the dollar, and the
cost of living. For many, conditions now seem even more difficult than they were
in the early days of the war, as the Sudanese pound continues to lose value.
There is no doubt that external factors have added to the economic pressures.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, disruptions to international trade, and
rising energy and commodity prices have all had far-reaching repercussions for
the global economy. Yet these developments have weighed even more heavily on
Sudan because of the fragility of its economy as the war enters its fourth
year.Official figures illustrate the scale of the trade imbalance. Gold exports,
for example, totaled about $370 million during the first quarter of this year,
while fuel imports alone exceeded $697 million over the same period. The gap
continues to widen as the cost of imported goods rises and domestic demand
grows, while large segments of the productive economy remain paralyzed and many
facilities have been out of operation since the war began.
This reality has increased demand for foreign currencies, particularly the US
dollar, the principal currency of international trade, pushing the exchange rate
above 5,000 Sudanese pounds to the dollar within a short period. As the national
currency has continued to depreciate at an accelerating pace, living costs have
become the dominant concern in people's daily lives, and public frustration has
reached a level the government can no longer ignore.
In response, the Central Bank of Sudan intervened in the foreign exchange market
by injecting hard currency in an effort to curb the dollar's rise and slow the
depreciation of the Sudanese pound. Such measures may produce a limited
short-term effect, but they do not address the underlying causes of the crisis,
which has become, alongside the military conflict, one of the gravest challenges
facing the state.
The reality is that, from the first day of the war, Sudan has faced not only a
military confrontation but also a broad economic war targeting infrastructure,
public services, and productive sectors. Entire industrial zones have been
reduced to scenes of destruction and looting. The damage has gone far beyond the
shutdown of factories to include the dismantling of machinery and its smuggling
out of the country. Hospitals have likewise been vandalized and stripped of
their equipment, while the agricultural sector has suffered widespread looting
and destruction affecting farms, machinery, research centers, and grain storage
facilities across several regions. At the same time, the country has witnessed
the emigration of skilled professionals and qualified workers, while millions of
Sudanese have lost their livelihoods, driving unemployment and poverty to
unprecedented levels.
Sudan's current economic crisis is undoubtedly multifaceted. Part of it stems
from structural imbalances that predated the war by many years, while another
part is a direct consequence of the conflict itself. The war has depleted public
resources, reduced government revenues, and imposed additional burdens on the
state as it seeks to rehabilitate vital facilities that have remained repeated
targets of attack and sabotage. At the same time, the wartime economy has
expanded, informal economic activity has grown, and gold smuggling and resource
depletion have continued across conflict zones, depriving the public treasury of
revenues it urgently needs.The economic battle is likely to outlast the military
one. There is therefore an urgent need for measures to halt the rapid decline of
the national currency and ease the burden of rising living costs, while
simultaneously developing a comprehensive economic strategy for recovery and
reconstruction. Addressing the crisis, however, cannot be limited to monetary
intervention aimed at slowing the dollar's rise. Priority must instead be given
to strengthening the economy's real sources of income by tightening oversight of
gold exports and preventing smuggling, ensuring export proceeds are channeled
through official mechanisms, and adopting more effective measures to encourage
remittances from Sudanese abroad through the banking system. Equally urgent is
the restoration of productive activity in secure agricultural and industrial
areas, since no lasting stability for the national currency can be achieved
without expanding production and exports.At the same time, the state needs to
adopt an emergency economic program that balances the demands of war with
citizens' basic living needs. The economic battle is not simply one of budgets
and statistics; it is a battle to restore the confidence of citizens and
investors in the state's ability to manage this critical period and put the
country back on the path to recovery and stability. It may also be necessary to
convene a national economic conference to develop a realistic roadmap for
overcoming the crisis and to formulate a long-term program for rebuilding the
economy on more sustainable and efficient foundations. Sudan will not achieve
genuine stability simply because the war ends. It will do so only when it
succeeds in overcoming its economic crisis and restoring its capacity to produce
and grow.
A New Conception of Economic Development
Tawfiq Alsaif/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/2026
In 1990, the United Nations Development Programme adopted an ambitious
initiative aimed at improving the standard of living of people around the world.
Member states agreed to align their economic policies with the initiative's
objectives. This framework of goals became known as the Human Development Index.
The index was developed by two internationally renowned experts: Mahbub ul Haq
of Pakistan and Richard Jolly of Scotland. Its indicators were formulated on the
basis of the theory developed by the Indian philosopher Amartya Sen. The launch
of this initiative is widely regarded as a fundamental shift in the concept of
development and progress because it transformed the way development projects are
conceived. Instead of focusing on economic indicators to measure outcomes, the
emphasis shifted toward enabling individuals to become fully self-reliant,
expanding the range of choices available to them, and enhancing their ability to
use those choices to realize their own aspirations. For some people, perhaps
many, this may sound like little more than abstract theory. They may say to
themselves: ultimately, what we want is a good income that provides decent
housing, quality health care, and a comfortable retirement. If that is the case,
why dwell on choices, standards, and independence? Some may even say
categorically: if I had to choose between money on the one hand and personal
independence and broader choices as a citizen on the other, I would certainly
choose the former.
These are, in any case, different ways of looking at life. Some people judge the
value and quality of life by the amount they own. Others measure them by the
opportunities and choices available to them, in other words, by the degree of
freedom they enjoy. If you find the first view more appealing, there is no need
to wear yourself out trying to persuade others. And if they are convinced by the
second, you are under no obligation to justify your disagreement.
Classical development theory assumed that greater economic dynamism would
satisfy people's essential needs and thereby bring them the happiness they
sought. Amartya Sen, however, argued that money alone does not produce
happiness, unless one adopts the outlook of misers, who derive their greatest
satisfaction simply from looking at the wealth accumulated in their vaults.
Fortunately, misers are a minority. A closer look at people's lives shows that
wealth alone does not create happiness, although it certainly helps. It is often
noted, for example, that servants in the palaces of the Russian tsars were among
the wealthiest people in the empire and even owned entire villages. Yet they
were deprived of the most basic freedoms: taking their children on a short
outing, selling part of their property, or arranging the marriages of their sons
and daughters all required the tsar's permission. In that sense, they were
slaves, or something close to slaves, despite their wealth. The same point is
illustrated by the story of three people. The first is starving because he has
neither food nor the money to buy it. The second fasts throughout the day for
religious reasons despite having ample food and money. The third possesses many
times the wealth of the second but is forbidden to eat because of his health.
Clearly, the first and the third have no freedom of choice, unlike the second.
Which of the three, then, is the happiest: the wealthy but ill man, the
destitute poor man, or the one who fasts of his own free will?
How, then, do we achieve the difficult balance between a reasonable standard of
living and a broad range of choices? According to Amartya Sen, development
projects should pursue two objectives. The first is to ensure a reasonable
standard of livelihood that enables people generally to attain the average
standard of living in their own country. This includes providing employment, or
opportunities for enterprise, together with health care, education, and
communications. The second is to develop the country's legal and institutional
environment so that it protects and facilitates individual initiative. The
clearest expressions of this are equality before the law and the ability to seek
redress before an independent judiciary.
Turkey: Hamas's Safe Haven and the West's Dangerous
Blind Spot
Khaled Abu Toameh/ Gatestone Institute/June 25, 2026
As the Trump Administration seeks to stabilize the Gaza Strip through its "Board
of Peace" initiative, one participant stands out as particularly ill-suited for
the role of mediator: Turkey.According to Israeli authorities, Hamas's so-called
"West Bank Headquarters" operates from Turkey, where it recruits terrorists,
transfers weapons and money, and directs attacks against Israel. These are not
the actions of a neutral mediator. They are the actions of a patron. More
troubling are reports that Hamas has exploited Turkey's financial system to
facilitate massive transfers of money. According to Israeli military and
intelligence officials, Hamas operatives in Turkey managed a secret
money-exchange network that transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from
Iran to Hamas leaders. At a time when the United States and its allies are
attempting to curb Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, Turkey has
become a critical conduit for Iran's support of Hamas.
Meanwhile, Turkey's rhetoric toward Israel has grown increasingly extreme.
Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci recently declared that Jerusalem would
one day again come under Turkish rule. "Just as in the past, those places will
again be ours," he said. "They will again, God willing, come under our rule and
authority."Turkey's outspoken intentions... are what make the notion that Turkey
can help disarm Hamas is so cringeworthy. Expecting Erdogan's government to
pressure Hamas into surrendering its weapons is like expecting Iran to dismantle
Hezbollah. Turkey's leaders have spent years defending Hamas, legitimizing
Hamas, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing Hamas with diplomatic and
political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they will now help
dismantle the very organization they have nurtured?
The United States can longer afford to ignore Turkey's unreliability.Washington
needs to seriously reassess its policy toward Turkey and stop viewing Erdogan's
government as a neutral actor capable of advancing peace. A regime that openly
embraces Hamas, hosts its operatives, tolerates its financial networks, and
echoes its rhetoric is not being an honest broker. Turkey seems increasingly to
be not part of the solution, but part of the problem.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have served as some of
Hamas's most loyal supporters and protectors, and spent years defending Hamas,
legitimizing it, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing it with
diplomatic and political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they
will now help dismantle the very organization they have nurtured?
As the Trump Administration seeks to stabilize the Gaza Strip through its "Board
of Peace" initiative, one participant stands out as particularly ill-suited for
the role of mediator: Turkey.The inclusion of Turkey in any effort to disarm
Hamas or promote peace in the Middle East would be laughable if the stakes were
not so high. For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his
government have served as some of Hamas's most loyal supporters and protectors.
While Western officials continue to speak of Turkey as a valuable NATO ally and
potential regional peacemaker, Hamas has transformed Turkish territory into one
of its most important overseas operational bases.
The evidence is overwhelming.
Israeli security authorities recently revealed that they had foiled dozens of
terrorist attacks directed by Hamas operatives based in Turkey. According to
Israeli authorities, Hamas's so-called "West Bank Headquarters" operates from
Turkey, where it recruits terrorists, transfers weapons and money, and directs
attacks against Israel. "Over the years, and with increased intensity over the
past year, operatives in the West Bank Headquarters have been directing and
advancing extensive military activity in Judea and Samaria and Israel from
Turkish soil," Israel's Shin Bet security agency reported. The agency identified
Istanbul-based senior Hamas official Zaher Jabarin as the head of Hamas's West
Bank operations and named several Hamas operatives living freely in Turkey while
directing terrorist activities against Israel.
Among them are Ayman Sharawna, who allegedly recruits terrorists; Mohammed
Mallah, who reportedly transfers funds for terrorist operations; Majed Jaaba,
who assisted in obtaining the weapons used in a deadly shooting attack near
Jerusalem; Walid Abu Nassar, who financed Hamas cells in Bethlehem; and Salam
Yaish, who recruited operatives to carry out attacks. The Shin Bet noted that
these Hamas members "carry out their activities unhindered from Turkish
territory" and exploit "infrastructure in the country to transfer instructions
and funds" to terrorists in the West Bank. Earlier this year, the Shin Bet
announced that an investigation uncovered another Hamas-linked terror network in
the West Bank that was directed by a Turkey-based operative, Mahmoud Radwan, and
aimed to advance attacks against Israel. Radwan, a Hamas member released in a
prisoner-hostage exchange and deported to Turkey in January 2025, had been
imprisoned in Israel for his role in the murder of an Israeli citizen, Yossi
Alfasi, in 2001.
Turkey has never designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Instead, Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly portrays Hamas as a legitimate
political movement and "resistance" organization. The distinction is not merely
semantic. Turkey has allowed Hamas to establish a sophisticated operational base
in its midst.
According to documents captured by the Israel Defense Forces during the Gaza
war, Hamas uses Turkey not only as a political refuge but also as a base for
planning terrorist attacks, recruiting operatives, transferring funds, and
laundering money. At least one document outlined Hamas's plan to establish a
branch in Turkey dedicated to coordinating attacks against Israel abroad,
including assassinations and attacks on Israeli vessels. Hamas's presence in
Turkey expanded significantly after the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange,
when hundreds of Palestinian convicted terrorists deported from Israel settled
in Turkey. Over the years, Hamas built an extensive network of financial
institutions, businesses, currency exchange offices, and logistical
infrastructure that helped sustain its terrorist operations. The relationship
between Erdogan's government and Hamas is neither hidden not incidental: Turkish
leaders openly meet with Hamas officials. In January, Erdogan received a Hamas
delegation in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin later met with
senior Hamas leaders in Ankara to discuss the Gaza Strip, ceasefire
arrangements, and regional developments. Hamas representatives used the occasion
to thank Erdogan personally for Turkey's efforts. Turkish intelligence and
political officials regularly host Hamas delegations and maintain direct
channels of communication with the group's leadership. These are not the actions
of a neutral mediator. They are the actions of a patron. More troubling are
reports that Hamas has exploited Turkey's financial system to facilitate massive
transfers of money. According to Israeli military and intelligence officials,
Hamas operatives in Turkey managed a secret money-exchange network that
transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran to Hamas leaders. The
network used Turkish financial infrastructure to receive, store, move, and
distribute Iranian funds intended for Hamas activities.
The significance of these allegations cannot be overstated.
At a time when the United States and its allies are attempting to curb Iranian
influence throughout the Middle East, Turkey has become a critical conduit for
Iran's support of Hamas.Meanwhile, Turkey's rhetoric toward Israel has grown
increasingly extreme. Far from acting as a peacemaker, the Turkish president has
repeatedly adopted language and narratives of Hamas itself. In 2024, Erdogan
declared: "Hamas is the same as Kuva – i Milliye [National Forces] in Turkey
during the war of liberation."By comparing Hamas to Turkey's national liberation
movement, Erdogan effectively legitimizes a terrorist organization responsible
for the October 7, 2023 massacre – the deadliest attack on Jews since the
Holocaust. Erdogan has also warned that Israel would eventually target Turkey
itself. "Unless its stopped," he said, Israel would "set its sights on Anatolia
sooner or later." Such statements are not merely inflammatory. They reinforce
Hamas propaganda, demonize Israel, and encourage Islamist extremists throughout
the region. Even more alarming are direct threats emanating from Ankara. Erdogan
has suggested that Turkey could do to Israel what it did in Libya and
Nagorno-Karabakh, remarks widely interpreted as threats of military
intervention. Turkey supplied advanced armed drones, military advisors, and
tactical support to its allied governments, which successfully shifted the
balance of power on the battlefield. Turkey's intervention in Libya in 2020
prevented the fall of the Libyan capital into the hands of General Khalifa
Haftar's Libyan National Army and saved Libya's UN-recognized Government of
National Accord. In the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Turkey acted as
a staunch backer of Azerbaijan. Turkey provided it with intense military
training, operational planning, and armed drones. The drones proved highly
effective in destroying Armenian air defenses and heavily armed positions, and
greatly contributed to Azerbaijan's decisive military victory.Turkish Interior
Minister Mustafa Ciftci recently declared that Jerusalem would one day again
come under Turkish rule. "Just as in the past, those places will again be ours,"
he said. "They will again, God willing, come under our rule and authority." Such
statements would provoke outrage if they came from any other government. Yet
much of the international community has responded with silence.
The consequences are dangerous.
Every time Erdogan praises Hamas, receives Hamas delegations, accuses Israel of
"genocide," or threatens Israel, he sends a message to Hamas that it enjoys
powerful international backing.
Such rhetoric emboldens Hamas and other jihadist organizations. It encourages
them to believe they can survive, regroup, and continue their war against
Israel. At least Erdogan's statements clarify the intentions of his government,
rather than keeping them quietly hidden where no one can see them.
Turkey's outspoken intentions, however, are what make the notion that Turkey can
help disarm Hamas is so cringeworthy. Expecting Erdogan's government to pressure
Hamas into surrendering its weapons is like expecting Iran to dismantle
Hezbollah. Turkey's leaders have spent years defending Hamas, legitimizing
Hamas, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing Hamas with diplomatic and
political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they will now help
dismantle the very organization they have nurtured? The reality appears to be
that Erdogan has perfected a double game. To Western audiences, Turkey presents
itself as a responsible regional power and indispensable NATO ally. To Hamas and
other Islamist movements, Turkey offers political support, diplomatic
protection, financial opportunities, and ideological solidarity. The United
States can no longer afford to ignore Turkey's unreliability. Washington needs
to seriously reassess its policy toward Turkey and stop viewing Erdogan's
government as a neutral actor capable of advancing peace. A regime that openly
embraces Hamas, hosts its operatives, tolerates its financial networks, and
echoes its rhetoric is not being an honest broker.
Turkey seems increasingly to be not part of the solution, but part of the
problem.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22650/turkey-hamas-safe-haven
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
To Police Any New Nuclear Deal, IAEA Access Is Needed —
Urgently
Behnam Ben Taleblu/FDD-Policy Brief/June 25/2026
Will the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog,
journey to Iran following the inking of a memorandum of understanding (MOU)
between Tehran and Washington? According to Vice
President JD Vance, and later President Donald Trump, the answer is an
unequivocal yes. But Iran’s foreign ministry poured cold water on the notion,
saying that this was not agreed to in last weekend’s negotiations in
Switzerland. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, chalked up this
back-and-forth to being mere “political statements” and has since insisted that
the IAEA will return to Iran for inspections. With
Iranian nuclear facilities and enrichment sites subjected to U.S. and Israeli
military strikes in June last year and from February to April this year, a new
and independent assessment of Iran’s nuclear capacity is needed more urgently
than ever. The only entity that can provide such a monitoring and verification
baseline is the IAEA, which has not been sufficiently incorporated into
negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
IAEA Unable To Verify Status of Nuclear Program
Although there is no public evidence that Iran has resumed uranium enrichment at
previously declared enrichment facilities since Operation Midnight Hammer, the
IAEA has been prohibited from visiting the three facilities struck during that
operation where fissile material was present: Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. To
date, the latest IAEA report from June 2026 indicates that “the Agency … cannot
verify the status, for safeguards purposes, of these facilities and associated
nuclear material.” Worse, Iran began to significantly curtail IAEA access to the
country’s sprawling atomic enterprise years earlier. Starting in 2021, the same
year that Tehran began to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity, Iran began to
backpedal on implementation of the Additional Protocol (AP), a supplementary
arrangement to Iran’s safeguards agreement with the IAEA allowing for snap
inspections. This led to a monitoring and verification crisis that year,
producing “monitoring gaps” and the loss of “continuity of knowledge” in
sensitive areas like the manufacturing and assembly of centrifuges, which are
used to enrich uranium.
IAEA Visits Have Been Limited
To reiterate, the IAEA has visited select Iranian nuclear sites since war broke
out last year. But these visits have been restricted to two complexes unaffected
by the two recent wars targeting the regime’s nuclear industry.
These sites include the light-water reactor at Bushehr and two associated
new units under construction, as well as four facilities in Tehran linked to the
sanctioned Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), including the Tehran
Research Reactor. While important, inspections at these sites do not absolve
Iran of its safeguards infractions, nor do they contribute to a better
understanding of the broader state of Iran’s atomic enterprise due to the lack
of access to enrichment, conversion, and storage sites.
Additionally, the latest IAEA report did not contain any detail on sites
struck in 2025 and 2026 that were believed to have previously engaged in
weaponization-related activities. These sites should also be investigated and
visited if Washington seeks to ensure that Tehran is not working to develop a
nuclear weapon.
Deal or No Deal, Washington Must Press for Iranian Nuclear Transparency
As the Trump administration presses ahead in its diplomacy with the Islamic
Republic and waives sanctions to adhere to the new MOU, it must demand a full
declaration by the Islamic Republic of its past and present nuclear activities —
something Tehran has yet to provide the IAEA. The Trump administration should
then support and empower the agency to investigate these claims through
inspections and interviews. Similarly, it must work to
restore full IAEA access in Iran to include implementing the AP as well as
Modified Code 3.1 to avoid Iran building new nuclear facilities in secret.
Presently, the IAEA cannot even verify the size of Iran’s uranium stockpile, nor
its state after bombardment. If the Trump administration seeks to diplomatically
resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute with Iran, there is no circumventing
the role the IAEA can and should play in this effort.
**Behnam Ben Taleblu is Iran program senior director and a senior fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Behnam and
FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Behnam on X @therealBehnamBT.
FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on
national security and foreign policy.
The Deal With Tehran Comes at the Expense of Iranians
Janatan Sayeh/FDD-Policy Brief/June 25/2026
As Washington negotiates, Tehran executes.
Iran’s judiciary announced on June 22 that authorities had arrested more than
3,000 people since the start of the conflict on charges of collaborating with
Israel. Other estimates have put the figure as high as 6,000. Nearly 800 of
those arrests were carried out after the April ceasefire under a newly enacted
law that broadens collaboration with “hostile states” to include providing
internet access and posting content online, while authorizing harsher wartime
sentences. With the naval blockade lifted and the U.S.
administration’s maximum pressure campaign easing, the regime is turning its
attention to the last threat it faces: the millions of Iranians who want it gone
and who viewed the war as a step toward that outcome. An Islamic Republic that
survives two military campaigns in the space of a year and receives the
resources needed to weather domestic unrest has little reason to offer
concessions.
Executions and Crackdowns Surge
The regime executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, with some estimates reaching
2,159, including nearly 60 on political grounds. In 2026 alone, the Islamic
Republic has executed more than 45 political prisoners on security charges,
including public hangings held during the Persian New Year in March. That tally
excludes the nearly 40,000 unarmed protesters killed during the January
uprising.Following the ceasefire and under a total internet blackout,
authorities deployed terror proxies from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Lebanon across Iranian cities to help regime forces man over 1,000 checkpoints.
These operatives killed ordinary Iranians in at least two cities. As the
prospect of a deal grew in late May, residents across Iran reported that
morality police and plainclothes agent patrols had intensified arrests over
mandatory head-covering laws, closed businesses over such violations, and
increased phone inspections.
Tehran Invokes War To Justify Repression
During the Iran-Iraq War, neighborhood-based revolutionary committees
established checkpoints, raided homes, and detained suspected dissidents, while
thousands were imprisoned and executed on charges ranging from espionage to
ideological deviation.
Authorities arrested some 21,000 people across Iran during and following the war
with Israel and the U.S. last June, carried out under a near-total internet
blackout that cut off communication nationwide. In the weeks that followed, the
judiciary called for expedited handling of security cases tied to charges like
moharebeh (“waging war against God”), a crime punishable by death.
Israeli Strikes Degraded Iran’s Repression Apparatus
Going beyond the regime’s military sites, Israeli attacks eliminated senior
figures responsible for internal security, including leaders of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, its affiliated Basij paramilitary organization, and
law enforcement. The strikes struck their bases across Iran, in addition to
hyperlocal strikes on mobile checkpoints in major cities. These were accompanied
by a messaging campaign to the people of Iran that their freedom was within
reach, and in return ordinary Iranians publicized intelligence on the
whereabouts of local repression units.
Don’t Alienate the Last Leverage
The sanctions waiver issued by Washington as part of the recent Memorandum of
Understanding enables the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to sell oil and
receive payment directly, financing the very institution that oversees
repression. The agreement contains no mention of the Iranian people.
Incentivizing the regime to comply with a deal from which it already benefits
should not come at the cost of alienating the Iranian people, the only
existential threat to the Islamic Republic. A parallel diplomatic campaign can
still speak directly to Iranians, as it did during the early stages of the war,
ensuring that Washington does not sideline its strongest leverage against the
regime. Doing so means preventing Iranians from once
again being isolated when the regime shuts down the internet during the next
inevitable period of war or internal unrest. Washington should establish a
federal interagency working group to develop shutdown-resilient connectivity,
including satellite internet, direct-to-cell technologies, and capabilities to
counter the regime’s jamming efforts.
*Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), where he focuses on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic
Republic’s regional malign influence. For more analysis from the author and FDD,
please subscribe HERE. Follow Janatan on X @JanatanSayeh. Follow FDD on X @FDD
and @FDD_Iran. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute
focusing on national security and foreign policy.
Everyone interprets the "memorandum" in their own way:
populism and elections... Where is the truth?
Laura Yamin/Al-Markazia/June 25, 2026
(Google translation from Arabic)
Al-Markazia - US Vice President J.D. Vance revealed a proposed mechanism for
releasing frozen Iranian assets, allowing Washington to oversee how these funds
are used and direct them toward purchasing American agricultural products.
Speaking at a press conference in Switzerland, Vance said the plan, drafted by
Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, aims to "ensure that
Iranian funds are used for the benefit of the Iranian people and not to finance
terrorism." He explained that the plan calls for directing the funds toward
purchasing "American soybeans, American corn, and American wheat for the benefit
of the Iranian people." Vance noted that the agreement faced criticism from some
hardliners in Washington who oppose providing any financial relief to Iran,
despite the US administration's assurances that the released funds would not be
used to support groups designated as "terrorist" by the United States.
Furthermore, US President Donald Trump repeatedly emphasized in recent days that
the released frozen Iranian funds would be used exclusively to purchase food
from American farmers. In contrast, the governor of the Iranian Central Bank
declared that Tehran is not obligated to purchase agricultural products from the
US under existing agreements. He indicated that the signed documents regarding
their frozen assets do not require them to buy agricultural products from
America. He stated, "If the prices and quality of American agricultural products
are better, there is nothing preventing us from purchasing them." He added, "We
can purchase any goods not subject to sanctions with the funds from the second
tranche of frozen assets." It is clear that both the Iranians and Americans want
to capitalize on the memorandum of understanding signed between them, both for
public and electoral gain, according to diplomatic sources speaking to Al-Markazia.
As the US president approaches the midterm elections, he wants to portray his
achievement as a victory for the American people, and specifically for farmers,
since the agreement will bring them benefits and financial gains. He also wants
to present it as an accomplishment because it undermines Iran and its proxies
and prevents Tehran from refinancing terrorism, in an attempt to reassure
Americans (and the world) as criticism of him and his leniency towards the
Islamic Republic grows. Tehran, which has long called for boycotting the
products of the "Great Satan" and urged a shift eastward, says it is not
obligated to import from America, yet simultaneously declares that it might do
so if American products are of higher quality—a ludicrous contradiction. Here,
too, popular considerations are at play. How will it justify to its people
economic cooperation and trade partnerships with the "Great Satan" that
devastated Iran just weeks ago? The fundamental question remains: Where does the
truth lie? And what does the memorandum stipulate? The American and the Iranian
are each singing their own tune and reading from their own book, and this
divergence is not limited to the disbursement of funds that will be unfrozen,
but extends to the nuclear file, the inspection of nuclear facilities, and the
enriched uranium and its fate. Therefore, the answer will remain vague until a
final agreement is reached, signed, published and distributed in all languages.
This agreement, it seems, will require a difficult and long labor, the sources
conclude.
Selected Face Book & X tweets on 25 June/2026
Maya Khadra (PdV)
https://x.com/MariamSeif/status/2069689706598781279/video/1
Mariam Seifeddine, @MariamSeif, courageous journalist and political refugee in
France with her family, reveals the close ties between Hezbollah and certain
gendarmes of the FSI (Internal Security Forces). Former resident of Dahieh and
keen observer of the Hezbollah ecosystem, she
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
I just can't see how Lebanon can weakenHezbollah's grip without a major purge of
the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), its Intelligence Directorate, the Internal
Security Force, in addition to clashing with the militia.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
In today’s round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel at the U.S. State
Department, the Lebanese delegation is in the picture while the Lebanese
military officers refused to be in the pic with Israelis. The Lebanese Armed
Forces thinks it is its own state. What a banana
Hagar Hajjar Chemali
It's time for Gen. Rudolf Haykal to be fired. Actually, it's long overdue.
His job was disarmament and he clearly failed at his mission, so why is he still
there? In any other country, he would have been given the boot by now.
Ideology vs Peace & Prosperity:
Nadine Barakat
The LAF officers who disgracefully refused to stand for a simple photo with
their #Israeli team in Washington must be immediately dismissed.
This was not a personal whim — the LAF answers only to the Lebanese government.
They traveled for peace talks under official orders.
Such a blatant act of defiance could only have happened with explicit or
implicit approval from Beirut. That makes this insult to the entire process a
direct reflection of state policy.
This is not #diplomacy. This is raw, ugly #hatred dressed up as principle. It
screams that ideology matters more to the Lebanese regime than peace, security,
or the future of its own people.
While the region inches toward normalization and reconstruction, Lebanon’s
government chooses performative pettiness and #public_humiliation over #dignity
and progress.
The message sent to the world is crystal clear:
Lebanon’s leadership prefers eternal conflict and victimhood to any genuine
resolution.
This shameful behavior does not represent the Lebanese people — it exposes the #moral_bankruptcy
and #hypocrisy of a government that talks about sovereignty, while kneeling to
the worst impulses of its own ideology.
Lebanon deserves better than leaders who prioritize #hatred over #hope.
Fire those responsible and demand a government that actually serves its
citizens, not its obsessions.
Hicham Bou Nassif
Washington, D.C. November 4, 1982.
U.S. Vice President George Bush discussed Lebanon with Israeli Ambassador to
Washington Moshe Arens and the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy,
Benjamin Netanyahu. (Bush would later become President of the United States,
Arens Foreign Minister of Israel, and Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel.) At
the time, the United States was working to secure the withdrawal of Israeli,
Syrian, and Palestinian forces from Lebanon. Bush asked Arens a direct question:
"...what, exactly, Israel needed before they removed all their troops from
Lebanon." Arens replied: "1) the PLO must go out first; 2) a synchronized
withdrawal of Syrian and Israeli troops would follow; and 3) once Israel and
Lebanon have signed a security agreement, all Israeli troops would be
removed."Notice that in Arens' reply there was no mention of border adjustments,
claims to Lebanese territory, the Litani River, or any form of irredentism. What
Israel wanted then is what Israel says it wants now: security along its northern
border. In exchange, Israel was ready to leave. The claim that Israel seeks
Lebanese land because it is intent on building a "Greater Israel" is not
supported by the historical record. If diplomatic archives mean anything—and
they should—there is little evidence since the creation of the State of Israel
in 1948 that successive Israeli governments worked to annex parts of Lebanon. I
can post hundreds of declassified documents that support this point. I challenge
those who argue otherwise to do the same.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1512745937293543
On ILTV: The Pilot Zones roadmap signed on by Lebanon and Israel is the only
available option to simultaneously disarm Hezbollah and return territory to
Lebanon.
It is weird that IAEA say they are ready to go to Iran. But inspect what? We
haven't agreed on the rules, whether Iran can enrich uranium at all, or cannot.
Until then, there is no point in inspection.
No pressing Iranian threat to Israel, other than Hezbollah, unless Iran brings
its tractors and starts trying to recover enriched uranium currently buried
under rubble.
Israel-Alma
https://x.com/Israel_Alma_org/status/2070108315200245958/video/1
Shia population centers provide foundation for Hezbollah's entrenchment.
The assumption that Hezbollah will disarm or abandon its doctrine of
"resistance" ignores the organization's ideology, its organizational structure,
and its long-standing operational patterns.
If the Shia population is allowed to return to southern Lebanon, particularly to
the "Yellow line" area adjacent to the border, it will mark the opening phase of
rebuilding the logistical, civilian, and operational infrastructure that
previously underpinned Hezbollah's plan for an invasion into the Galilee. It's
not just us saying it—Wafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah official, says it too...
FOX & Friends
https://x.com/foxandfriends/status/2070109465249017926/video/1
REPORTER: "You used to call them religious theocratic lunatics. Do you still
believe that language applies to the leadership today?" SEC. RUBIO: "Well, it's
not that I believe it. It's the fact of the matter. I mean, the Iranian system
is led by clerics, radical clerics. That's
Nadim Koteich
I believe that @SecRubio is probably the only US admin official who makes sense
these days..