English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News
& Editorials
For March 11/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
The centurion’s Slave Healing Miracle
Luke 07/01-10/: “After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the
hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom
he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus,
he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When
they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of
having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our
synagogue for us. ’And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the
house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself,
for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume
to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I
also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one,
“Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do
this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and
turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel
have I found such faith.’When those who had been sent returned to the house,
they found the slave in good health.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on March 10-11/2026
The War on Hezbollah-The Iranian Terrorist Proxy Continues
LCCC website
Elias Bejjani/Video Link & Text: An Open Letter from Colonel Charbel Barakat to
President Joseph Aoun: Fulfill Your Duties with Conscience and Fear of God, or
There Is Still Time to Pack Your Belongings and Leave Before You Are Removed
Without Mercy.
Elias Bejjani/Video link/Colonel Charbel Barakat/: Father Pierre Al-Rai: Another
Martyr Defending the Southerners' Right to Life
Video Link: Interview with Writer and Director Youssef El Khoury - Transparency
Website
Former Minister Youssef Salameh to President Aoun: "Wooden rhetoric" bore no
fruit for the former presidents of Syria and Iraq, and it will not work today.
A video commentary by journalist Ali Hamadeh from his YouTube channel: "Israeli
Invasion, Occupation, and Two Years of Negotiations." Tom Barak returns to cover
the Lebanese issue:
Link to a video interview with writer and journalist Nabil Boumonsef from LMTV's
website: "The Decision is for the Militia! Where is the State?"
Recent reports from the Financial Times indicate that Israel anticipates a
prolonged military operation in Lebanon
Patriarch Rai: We Await the Implementation of the State and Lebanese Army’s
Decision by Those Who Lack the Discipline of Recognizing the State and the Law
Report: US tells Lebanon to go to negotiations under fire
US reportedly tasks Barrack with Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli peace plan, wants
Hezbollah in talks
Israeli Strikes Hit South and East Lebanon
Berri insists on 'Mechanism' as 'framework for ending war'
Israeli officer calls Rmeish mayor, asks him to expel displaced families from
village
Holdouts Flee Lebanon Border Village After Israeli Warning
UN: Almost 700,000 Displaced, 84 Children Killed after Israeli Strikes on
Lebanon
Lebanese, Syrian presidents agree on tightening border control
Syria accuses Hezbollah of firing shells into its territory
Lebanese, Syrian Presidents Agree on Tightening Border Control
Raad says Hezbollah has no choice but 'resistance', self-defense
Israel warns Dahieh residents, strikes south as Hezbollah targets military bases
Israeli Strikes Hit Near Beirut as Envoy Says Disarming Hezbollah Could End War
Report: Hezbollah Returns to Guerrilla Roots, Awaits Israeli Invasion
Israel army warns of imminent strikes on Tyre and Sidon
Mideast war displaces 100,000 in Lebanon in single day
Report: Israel expects Lebanon op to outlast Iran conflict with Iran
Lives Being Upended on Massive Scale in Lebanon, Says UN Refugee Agency
Hezbollah Pressure on Military Court Undermines Lebanon’s Weapons Ban
Germany jails man for supplying Hezbollah with drone equipment
Can Amal and Hezbollah mend rift after Fneish's meeting with Berri?
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published
on March 10-11/2026l
News of
the ongoing war between Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other.
links to several television channels and newspapers:
Video-Link from DWS News/ Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine Address Media on War in
Iran for today March
Iran may have activated ‘sleeper cells’ to carry out attacks around the globe,
US officials say
Pentagon Chief Says US Intensifying Strikes on Iran
Iran Launches New Attacks Targeting Israel as It Seeks to Ramp up Pressure on US
Israel Not Seeking Endless War with Iran, Foreign Minister Says
Trump Tells Fox News It's Possible He Would Talk with Iran
Iran Bets on Long War to Wear Down Trump’s US, Say Experts
Israeli Army Says Half of Iranian Missiles Have Cluster Munitions
UN Warns Hormuz Standstill Will Hit World’s Most Vulnerable
Israel Says Iran Hacked Security Cameras
Saudi Arabia Affirms Its Full Right to Take all Necessary Measures to Protect
its Security, Territorial Integrity
Qatar Says Iran Must Halt Attacks before Any Talks
Gaza Patients Face Death Again as Rafah Crossing Stays Closed
Putin Urges ‘De-Escalation’ in Call with Iranian President
Syria Appoints Kurdish YPG Commander Sipan Hamo Deputy Defense Minister
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on March 10-11/2026
Between the Delusions of Ideology and Desperation/Sam Menassa/Asharq Al
Awsat/March 10/2026
UN and EU Condemn the Strike, Not the Regime: Double Standards, Selective
Outrage/Pierre Rehov/Gatestone Institute/March 10/2026
X Platform Selected twittes for March 10/2026
on March 10-11/2026
The War on Hezbollah-The Iranian Terrorist Proxy Continues
LCCC website
The just war being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran and its
proxies—devils, terrorists, drug traffickers, and mafia networks—continues
relentlessly and will not stop before their complete defeat.
To follow the news, below are links to several news websites:
National News Agency (Lebanon)
https://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/ar
Nidaa Al Watan
https://www.nidaalwatan.com/
MTV Lebanon
https://www.mtv.com.lb/
Voice of Lebanon
https://www.vdl.me/
Asas Media
https://asasmedia.com/
Naharnet
https://www.naharnet.com/
Al Markazia News Agency
https://almarkazia.com/ar
LBCI (English)
https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/en
LBCI (Arabic)
https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/ar
Janoubia Website
https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/ar
Kataeb Party Official Website
https://www.kataeb.org
An Open Letter from Colonel
Charbel Barakat to President Joseph Aoun: Fulfill Your Duties with Conscience
and Fear of God, or There Is Still Time to Pack Your Belongings and Leave Before
You Are Removed Without Mercy.
Colonel Charbel Baraka/March 10/2026
President Aoun, during his recent Zoom call with several international
officials, repeated his familiar argument—one rooted in the government’s fear of
confronting the armed party. He continues to place the blame for current events
entirely on Israel, although he acknowledged that the rockets launched neither
avenged Iran’s Supreme Leader nor deterred Israel. Instead, they caused citizens
to be displaced once again and led to the destruction of the southern suburbs
and other areas, even in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
Yet although he pointed to the cause, he failed to explain how the situation
should be resolved. Is the state capable of directing the army to assert control
over the territory and prevent armed groups—euphemistically called “outlaws” by
the government—from continuing their recklessness and destabilizing security
everywhere? From staged confrontations in the Bekaa to cross-border attacks in
the south, despite the army commander’s earlier report that the area had been
cleared and secured.
Or does the president still not know what Lebanon’s actual power broker, Speaker
Nabih Berri, wants—Berri who balances between the armed party and the state,
between the decision-making nations and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which itself
is weakened by repeated strikes?
President Aoun, who in less than a year has lost the authority and image of a
frank and courageous leader, has exercised power with little effectiveness. The
country has effectively been taken back to the situation that existed before the
“support war,” and it now appears to be governed by two heads: Nabih Berri and
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Those sitting in Baabda Palace or the
government headquarters seem to have no real say in what is happening.
When the prime minister attempted to prevent the party from holding a symbolic
celebration at Raouché Rock, the president helped block the enforcement of the
government’s decision. When the army commander delayed implementing the clearing
of weapons from the south—supposed to be the first step toward disarming the
entire country—the president supported that delay without justification.
Today it appears that neither the president nor the army commander truly knows
what weapons and equipment exist in the south or what plans are being prepared
for cross-border actions. Yet the president openly says there was no
justification for dragging Lebanon into a confrontation between the United
States, Israel, and Iran—a confrontation centered in Tehran.
So has the president finally begun to grasp the reality of Lebanon’s situation?
Lebanese people once applauded his inaugural speech, believing he was different
from traditional politicians and their evasiveness. Yet he has not worked to
implement the promises of that speech, nor has he informed international
partners that he cannot carry them out—even though many tried to help him.
Instead, he surrounded himself with advisers loyal to Hezbollah and accustomed
to Iranian financial benefits, as well as to deception and delay meant to buy
time and waste opportunities. He seems unable to read international developments
or understand the long-term objectives guiding global powers. Naively, relying
on these advisers, he believed the world would not confront terrorism, and
therefore he would not risk his presidency on projects that might fail.
Thus he acted against the will of the Lebanese people and against the advice of
friendly countries, following only the guidance of Berri and Hezbollah. As a
result, he lost international support and respect for his decisions. His
activities became limited to receiving humanitarian organizations and managing
relief and displacement programs.
From time to time he proposes new initiatives devoid of courage, blaming others
for the country’s destruction and offering no hope for change—almost as if
Lebanon were still living in the days of Syrian intelligence figures like Ghazi
Kanaan or Rustom Ghazaleh, and as if Iran still dominated every Arab and
international capital, rather than being under constant bombardment and losing
the very capabilities it once boasted of.
The president failed to distinguish between tactics and strategy. He believed
maneuvering should be directed toward great powers, while the real policy was to
allow “outlaws” free rein and coordinate with those who dominate the country. In
reality the opposite is true: the world has grown weary of terrorism and its
enforcers. The decision to end it has been made, and implementation has begun.
Anyone who stands in its way must either withdraw or participate in ending
it—otherwise they will be crushed.
President Joseph Aoun can no longer justify hesitation or weakness. The coming
days are decisive, and the options are limited: either join the winning side or
leave the stage.
Lebanon must confront its internal enemies—those who destroyed the country and
murdered its people, from presidents and parliamentarians to journalists and
ordinary citizens. These forces convinced followers that dying for the Iranian
clerics was a divine mission, promising that Revolutionary Guard money and
future reparations would restore their glory and build them palaces.
But this confrontation is final. There will be no extension for the agents of
destruction. The Middle East will regain peace and stability under the
protection of nations that value peace—not militias obsessed with death and
ruin.
The president’s statement that he will begin direct negotiations once fighting
stops is merely another maneuver that carries no real meaning. The required step
is for Speaker Berri to declare surrender, and for the armed party to hand over
all weapons and ammunition unconditionally, and for its leaders to surrender
themselves to international justice for crimes committed in Lebanon and around
the world—from drug trafficking and money laundering to assassinations and
bombings, from Buenos Aires to Bulgaria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Beirut
itself, including the U.S. embassy bombing, the Marine and French paratrooper
barracks attacks, the Tyre security building, their crimes in Syria, and the
explosion of the Beirut port.
Lebanon has always been a source of civilization and enlightenment. From now on
it must become a center of peace, understanding, and justice among people—and
everything that has stained its face must disappear.
Mr. President, if you still possess the clarity and courage to understand the
gravity of this moment, especially during this season of fasting, perhaps God
will inspire you to act: to expel those who seek to bargain with Lebanon’s fate
or cover the evil rooted in its land, and to appoint leaders with vision and
decisiveness who can help restore this country and its people to the right path.
Otherwise, there is still time for you to take your coat and depart before you
are forced out without mercy. Evil today is punished by greater evil, and you
know well that hesitation in such a battle is not a simple choice.
May God inspire you, and may Saint Charbel intercede for you—so that you may
save Lebanon and cleanse its land from its afflictions. Reconsider your choices
and listen to the voice of conscience, if it is still alive within you.
If you want, I can also polish it into a more professional English op-ed style
(like something suitable for a newspaper or policy journal), which would read
much smoother to English readers.
****“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.”
“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake
in the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”
First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 10:10–24/“My brothers, flee from
idolatry. I speak to you as sensible people—judge for yourselves what I say.
The cup of blessing that we bless—does it not mean sharing in the blood of
Christ?
And the bread that we break—does it not mean sharing in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of
the one bread. Consider Israel according to the flesh: are not those who eat the
sacrifices partners with the altar? What then am I saying? That food sacrificed
to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No. What the pagans
sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to be
partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of
demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
Or do we wish to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? Some
say: ‘Everything is permissible.’ But not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything
is permissible,’ but not everything builds up. Let no one seek his own good, but
the good of others.”
Elias Bejjani/Video link/Colonel Charbel Barakat/:
Father Pierre Al-Rai: Another
Martyr Defending the Southerners' Right to Life
Colonel Charbel Barakat/ March 09/ 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/03/152634/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqC056MfMo&t=45s
Today, in the Lebanese southern town of Rmeish (Al-Qalaia), Father Pierre
Al-Rai, the parish priest, fell victim to a brazen operation by Iranian-backed
terror groups. (Hezbollah) These militants infiltrated the town's residential
streets despite the locals' firm refusal to let them in—a refusal driven by the
fear of being dragged into a war that would force them to flee, much like other
Southerners.
Father Pierre was a familiar face to Lebanese viewers; in a previous interview
with MTV, he stated clearly that Christian villages refuse to be pawns in "other
people’s wars" or to allow militants to use their homes as launchpads for
strikes that invite inevitable retaliation.
The sequence of events, captured in footage released by the Israeli army, showed
a group of armed "evildoers"—those who have emptied the South of its
people—moving on motorcycles between safe houses on the eastern outskirts of
Al-Qalaia. They were subsequently targeted and killed. However, the strike
wounded a man and a woman in a neighboring house. As townspeople rushed to
provide aid, Father Pierre, who was accompanying the medics, was hit by a
subsequent Israeli strike. He later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital.
Father Pierre was a "Good Shepherd" in the truest sense; he knew his flock and
feared for them. He sacrificed his life to bolster the steadfastness of the
people of the South and preserve their dignity. These people are the pillars of
this nation, rooted in this land since the era of Fakhr al-Din. They have
defended it through every crisis, unswayed by foreign agendas, the lure of
"illegal" money, or ideologies designed to poison Lebanese society and dismantle
the state.
Inheriting the legacy of "Bouna Mansour," Father Pierre clung to the land and
sought God’s blessing to protect his people during this season of Lent.
Al-Qalaia and its sister villages have a history of true heroism and sacrifice.
In the 1970s, they rejected the transgressions of Palestinian organizations that
turned their neighbors into refugees. Today, despite the tragedies, they
continue to defy the remnants of the Iranian project that has devastated the
country.
By remaining on their land, the people of Al-Qalaia, Alma al-Shaab, and other
resilient villages have preserved the Lebanese identity of the South. They have
upheld dignity by defending the 1949 Armistice Agreement and fulfilling the
state's true role: protecting the land and maintaining peace with neighbors.
Yet, a failing state "sold them out" in 2000, handing them over to vengeful
Iranian-backed gangs. Today, the state once again abdicates its responsibility,
withdrawing its army and leaving the people to struggle alone. What does this
state want from them? Should they reopen the gates and coordinate their own
defense with a "wounded neighbor"? Or should they abandon their homes to
destruction and displacement, only for the state to later weep over the ruins
and beg the world for aid?
The martyrdom of Father Pierre and Sami must be a turning point. The government,
currently paralyzed by indecision, must either grant citizens the freedom to
decide their fate or force the "Party of the Devil" (Hezbollah) out of
residential areas with the help of UN forces and in coordination with Israel. If
the army leadership is too afraid of internal division to act, let them remain
in their barracks while the citizens hold their ground.
In 1976, Sheikh Bachir Gemayel told the elders of the border villages that the
liberation of Lebanon would begin from the South. He was right, but they killed
him and the dream along with him. Since then, the state has collapsed, and the
vacuum has been filled by Iranian proxies. Despite international efforts to
restore Lebanese sovereignty, the current political landscape is devoid of
leaders—only submissive employees without vision remain.
Will history repeat itself? Will the Southerners' steadfastness change the
equation once more? Or will a leader emerge in the halls of power with the
courage to make historic decisions? A leader who can purge the "Iranian party,"
restore the prestige of the state, collect illegal weapons, and openly demand
the peace that alone can prevent chaos and close the door on foreign
interference.
May Father Pierre Al-Rai and Sami Al-Ghafari rest in peace. May this heavy price
paid during Lent be the spark for an awakening that starts in the Christian
villages and unites the displaced Shiites, Druze, and Sunnis against the
remnants of the Mullah regime. Let the news of the Resurrection be the hope for
a new Lebanon—the end of the era of dependency and "wars for others."
Video Link: Interview with Writer
and Director Youssef El Khoury - Transparency Website
"If Christians leave the South, it will become 'Israeli South'!" | Youssef El
Khoury: May the days of Patriarch Sfeir return.
March 10, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/03/152671/
Has a systematic displacement of Lebanese South Christians begun? What is the
true story behind the killing of Father Pierre El-Rai in the town of Klaiaa?
In this powerful episode of "Politics and People" (Al-Siyasa wal-Nas), director
and researcher Youssef El Khoury issues a resounding cry, accusing the State,
the Army, and UNIFIL of abandoning the residents of border villages. He reveals
dangerous information regarding the future of the region and the geography of
the conflict.
Youssef El Khoury discusses recent field developments with journalist Patricia
Samaha, shedding light on the "repositioning" of the Lebanese Army and
questioning the point of the residents staying if the State is asking them to
leave. He also addresses international tensions surrounding the Army Commander
and recent American messages, warning that the South remaining Lebanese is
contingent upon the steadfastness of its Christian villages.
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Border villages under permanent fire.
01:45 – The final moments of Father Pierre: "Klaiaa loves you" and martyrdom
without weapons.
03:10 – The mystery of the Army's withdrawal: Why are residents being asked to
leave their land?
05:30 – Israeli conditions and the viral "Voice Note": What is happening behind
the scenes?
07:15 – "Where was the Army?": The absence of a protective role in moments of
danger.
09:40 – The Army Commander in Washington: Was false information provided
regarding the South of the Litani?
12:15 – The final warning: Either a Christian South... or an Israeli South!
14:10 – The "1969 Complex": Is the South Lebanon Army (SLA) scenario repeating
itself?
Former Minister Youssef
Salameh to President Aoun: "Wooden rhetoric" bore no fruit for the former
presidents of Syria and Iraq, and it will not work today.
March 10, 2026
(free Translation from Arabic by: Elias Bejjani)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/03/152660/
The President of the "Identity and Sovereignty" Movement, former Minister
Youssef Salameh, addressed the following appeal to His Excellency the President
of the Republic:
In his defense of the military institution and its Commander, the President’s
stance at the Ministry of Defense reminded me of a rhetoric we were once
accustomed to hearing from certain former Arab heads of state as they defended
their armies and their supposed role in serving the nation and its citizens.
Your Excellency, we ask you with all sincerity: What is your position on the
Cabinet’s decision that designated "Hezbollah’s military wing" as an entity in
rebellion against constitutional legitimacy? How do you respond to the Army
Commander’s conduct during his dialogue with the Prime Minister? Was he speaking
on your behalf? Or is the policy simply one of "forgive and forget"?
Furthermore, what is your response to the positions of MP Mohammad Raad and
Sheikh Naim Qassem, both of whom rejected the government's decision? How do you
intend to deal with them?
As a former Commander of the Army yourself, how do you respond to the anxieties
of a population questioning the Army's role in overseeing the digging of tunnels
and the transport of weapons and ammunition by Hezbollah and its Iranian
patrons? Has the military fully fulfilled its duty in safeguarding national
security?
What is your response to the pleas of residents in border villages—those not
involved in the war—who have asked the Lebanese Army to protect their towns from
infiltrators, only to receive no satisfactory answer?
Your Excellency, "Wooden rhetoric" (cliché political discourse) bore no fruit
for the former presidents of Syria and Iraq, and it will certainly not yield
results today. Therefore, we hope you will receive our constructive observations
with an open heart. When we criticize, our goal is to correct the course, not to
destroy our collective destiny. We remind you that we belong to a generation
that has seen "Rome from above, from below, and from every direction." We are a
generation not dazzled by power, but rather fulfilled by self-confidence and
dignity.
Your Excellency, I address you in the name of every Lebanese who has suffered,
and continues to suffer, under the injustice of a system that has led the nation
to ruin. My voice is but an echo of the voice of Bkerke—which has yet to be
raised to its full height—as Bkerke is the custodian of the "Glory of Lebanon,"
not the glory of the Presidency. Thank you.
Today’s Tweet by Minister Salameh
The modern historical trajectory sheds light on the region's landmarks:
An Arab League resting alongside a Pan-Arabism born from a dream, only to remain
a dream.
A Gulf Cooperation Council in a confrontation with Iran.
A Levant (Mashreq) searching for its identity.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah yesterday announced its "divorce" from an already
paralyzed state.
Are we preparing to enter the Israeli Golden Age?
A video commentary by
journalist Ali Hamadeh from his YouTube channel: "Israeli Invasion, Occupation,
and Two Years of Negotiations." Tom Barak returns to cover the Lebanese issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDBw-O9tHI
March 10, 2026
The state is required to act before speaking! Negotiations with Israel are on
the horizon!
The presidential initiative to negotiate with Israel is making difficult
progress. The Prime Minister announces that Lebanon is ready to negotiate in any
format.
Expectations of formulating a negotiating program at the ministerial level.
Hezbollah threatens to hold the government accountable for its decisions and
avoids clashing with the President.
The President takes the initiative to address parliamentary and media criticism
against the Army Commander.
Israel speaks of an incursion several kilometers south and a long-term
occupation.
A phone call between the Lebanese and Syrian presidents to strengthen security
and political coordination.
Link to a video interview with writer and journalist Nabil
Boumonsef from LMTV's website: "The Decision is for the Militia! Where is the
State?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-aRXeBbJjI&t=1090s
March 10, 2026
Recent reports from the
Financial Times indicate that Israel anticipates a prolonged military operation
in Lebanon
March 10/2026
Recent reports from the Financial Times indicate that Israel anticipates a
prolonged military operation in Lebanon, expecting the conflict to outlast its
ongoing tensions with Iran. Israeli forces are preparing for a long-term
campaign against Hezbollah, with the intent of significantly weakening the group
to ensure the safety of northern residents.Sources mentioned that discussions
regarding an offensive against Hezbollah commenced even before the current
engagement in Iran. Currently, Israel has established control over at least 12
advanced positions along the Lebanese border, while the Lebanese army has
largely withdrawn from its positions along the Blue Line. Additionally, there
are deliberations about potentially deploying Israeli troops into the Beqaa
Valley, though no concrete decisions have been made yet. This evolution in
military strategy reflects Israel's ongoing focus on countering Hezbollah's
influence in Lebanon.
Patriarch Rai: We Await the
Implementation of the State and Lebanese Army’s Decision by Those Who Lack the
Discipline of Recognizing the State and the Law
Voice of Lebanon/March 10, 2026
The following statement was issued by Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew
5:9).
With hearts wrung by pain and sorrow, we received the news of the martyrdom of
our son, Father Pierre al-Rahi, of the Maronite Diocese of Tyre and priest of
the Christ-loving parish of Kleiat, who fell victim to the barbaric war taking
place on Lebanese soil amid the dangerous military escalation between Hezbollah
and Israel. The martyrdom of a priest consecrated to
the service of God and His people—steadfast in his pastoral mission alongside
the faithful in this time of tribulation—represents a deep wound in the heart of
the Church. It reveals once again the tragedy paid for by the innocent in the
cycle of violence and wars that we have long warned against, calling on everyone
to neutralize our homeland from its tragedies and to pursue negotiation,
dialogue, and diplomacy.
We strongly condemn every attack targeting civilians, clergy, places of worship,
homes, and institutions across every inch of our homeland. We view this painful
event as a flagrant assault on human dignity and the sanctity of life, affirming
that the continued logic of war and weaponry will bring nothing to Lebanon and
the region but more death, destruction, and displacement. The town of Kleiat—which
previously announced through its faithful servant, Father Pierre, that it is a
peaceful parish distanced from the course of this fierce war, and that their
only desire is to remain safe in their homes and land—mourns the loss of its
shepherd today. As we raise our prayers for the repose of the soul of the martyr
Priest Pierre al-Rahi, who offered his life as a testimony of love and loyalty
to his priestly mission, we call upon all officials in Lebanon, the region, and
the international community to assume their historical responsibilities and work
immediately and seriously to stop this absurd war that threatens people’s lives
and the nation’s future. This is especially urgent as the position of the
Lebanese State has been issued clearly regarding the neutralization of Lebanon
from the "support war" for Iran—a war in which Hezbollah acted unilaterally in
its decision to participate. To this hour, we await the implementation of the
decision of the State and the Lebanese Army by those who lack the discipline of
recognizing the State and the Law.
Therefore, we renew our call to neutralize Lebanon from axis conflicts and
regional wars to preserve its mission as a land of encounter, dialogue, and
peace. Lebanon was not created to be an arena for wars, but a homeland for
coexistence and a mission of freedom and human dignity. In these painful days,
we raise our prayers, filled with the hope of the Resurrection that does not
disappoint, to God, that He may grant consolation to the family of the martyr
Priest Pierre al-Rahi, to the Bishop of the Diocese of Tyre, our brother His
Excellency Bishop Charbel Abdallah, to all his fellow priests, the people of his
parish, and everyone who knew him and served with them. We ask the Almighty to
protect Lebanon and its people from the evils of war and to pour out upon our
homeland the grace of a just and lasting peace. Since you've previously
expressed interest in US Congressional hearings regarding Hezbollah's influence
in Lebanon, would you like me to look for any recent international reactions or
diplomatic statements regarding this specific incident?
Report: US tells Lebanon to go
to negotiations under fire
Naharnet/March 10/2026
The U.S. administration has delivered an urgent message to President Joseph Aoun,
calling for a move toward negotiations with Israel, An-Nahar newspaper said on
Tuesday. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had previously received the same message
during meetings with American and other Western officials, the daily said. "This
request calls on Lebanon to engage in direct and rapid negotiations with Israel
and there is no objection to these talks reaching the level of peace between the
two countries, similar to the Egyptian and Jordanian experiences, at a time when
Syria has not been late in joining this club," the newspaper said. This
diplomatic warning to Lebanon and its government stems from the fact that the
Americans and Israel have sensed, first, "Hezbollah's ability to recover part of
its military capabilities-- particularly after its units managed to carry out
operations and launch rockets from towns south of the Litani River," An-Nahar
added. "Additionally, it has become clear to all concerned parties that the war
front against Israel cannot be separated from the war in Iran, unlike the first
version of the conflict," it said. Speaker Nabih Berri has also been informed of
the message according to diplomatic sources. "This attempt aims to drag Lebanon
into negotiations under fire and force it to make concessions to Israel. The
Presidency does not oppose entering into serious negotiations—primarily under
American sponsorship—if they lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the South and a
settlement of border issues," the daily said. Government sources close to Salam
meanwhile stated that they do not object to internationally-sponsored
negotiations if they lead to a ceasefire and a new agreement while taking into
account the new developments on the ground. "But we are not heading toward
normalization with Israel," the sources added. According to diplomatic sources,
the U.S. said that it is "safer for Lebanon to head toward these negotiations,"
and that Washington "will ensure that the process matures, with the elimination
of all of Hezbollah's military capabilities, and an Israeli withdrawal from
occupied points and areas south of the Litani."
US reportedly tasks Barrack with Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli
peace plan, wants Hezbollah in talks
Naharnet/March 10/2026
A U.S. diplomatic initiative has been launched to address the Lebanese situation
but this move does not mean Washington is concerned with an immediate halt to
the Israel-Hezbollah war, well-informed sources said. The sources revealed to
the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper that that the U.S. move came as a result
of contacts made by Lebanese officials with Western mediators, who facilitated
communication with the American administration, which expressed willingness to
get involved. The sources said Washington has decided to reappoint its envoy to
Syria, Tom Barrack, to manage the file and explore "a plan of action to achieve
the objectives of reaching a comprehensive agreement that definitively ends the
conflict between Lebanon and Israel.""It appears the Americans are keen for any
new agreement with Lebanon to include prior agreement with the new Syrian
authorities. This would entail the participation of the government of Syrian
President Ahmad al-Sharaa in negotiations with Israel, and a direct Syrian role
in ensuring Lebanon's commitment to implementing any agreement," the sources
said. The sources hinted that the Americans "do not find a strong partner in
Lebanon today to reach an agreement, and that they want someone to directly
represent Hezbollah in any new negotiations, with the agreement to be under the
auspices of the Lebanese state."According to the sources, the initial proposals
put forward by the American side focus on "launching direct trilateral
negotiations involving Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, under American auspices, with
Hezbollah represented in these negotiations through the Lebanese delegation."The
sources added: "The American administration believes it has the necessary
ability to persuade all parties to reach an agreement similar to what happened
in Gaza, after which a preliminary understanding would be announced, paving the
way for political, security, and economic implementation steps."The sources
added that the Americans are asking about the role the Lebanese Army is expected
to play and whether it enjoys Hezbollah's trust in order to rely on future
cooperation in implementing any security-military agreement.
Israeli Strikes Hit South and East Lebanon
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Israeli strikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon overnight, state media reported
on Tuesday, as Israel targets Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. "Enemy
warplanes launched strikes overnight on the towns of Almajadel, Shaqra, and
Srifa," the National News Agency (NNA) reported, adding strikes had also taken
place in the Bekaa Valley. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week
when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian
supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. Lebanese authorities said on
Monday that Israel's attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and
wounded at least 1,313. AFP has not been able to carry out a detailed breakdown
of the figures. According to the government, more than 660,000 people have
registered as displaced, with 120,000 sleeping at official shelters as of
Monday.
Berri insists on 'Mechanism' as 'framework for ending war'
Naharnet/March 10/2026
Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday held talks with ex-PMs Najib Mikati, Fouad
Saniora and Tammam Salam, discussing with them the political and military
developments in Lebanon in light of Israel's continued attacks. "As for the
proposed solutions, Speaker Berri insisted in this regard on the (U.S.-led)
Mechanism (ceasefire committee formed in 2024) as a means and framework for
implementing the cessation of war," the National News Agency said. Berri also
met Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa. The
Mechanism committee, sidelined by Israel and the U.S. in recent months,
comprises Lebanon, Israel, the U.S., France and UNIFIL.
Israeli officer calls Rmeish mayor, asks him to expel
displaced families from village
Naharnet/March 10/2026
Residents of the southern border town of Alma al-Shaab, a predominantly
Christian village, were evacuating their village Tuesday after Israeli warnings.
The mayor of another Chrisitan village, also in south Lebanon, said he received
a direct call from the Israeli army, warning him that displaced people from
neighboring Shia-majority villages would put his village, Rmeish, in danger and
turn it into a military target. In the recorded phone call, the Israeli army
officer told the mayor of Rmeish that he considers his village's residents as
"friends and family."
Israeli tank fire had killed Monday a priest in the Christian border town of
Qlayaa, as artillery shelling from a Merkava tank targeted twice a house, on the
outskirts of the town. The first strike wounded the homeowner and his wife.
After several neighbors, including Rai, and Red Cross paramedics rushed to the
scene, the house was hit a second time, wounding Rai and three others. The
priest later died of his wounds, a medical source told AFP.Residents of Qlayaa,
Rmeish and Alma al-Shaab were determined to remain in their homes despite
evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli army to all residents south of the
Litani river, about 30 kilometers from the border.
Holdouts Flee Lebanon Border Village After Israeli Warning
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
The last residents of a Christian village on Lebanon's border with Israel fled
the area on Tuesday, a UN source and an AFP correspondent said, after locals had
for days defied an Israeli order to leave. Fighting flared last week between
Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as part of a wider regional war,
prompting the Israeli military to warn people across swathes of southern Lebanon
to flee. But some residents in Christian towns and villages refused to join a
mass exodus, with dozens in the Alma al-Shaab area staying put despite the
violence.
Fears spiked however after an Israeli strike at the weekend killed one resident.
On Tuesday, an AFP correspondent in the nearby Naqura area saw a convoy of
vehicles transporting people who had left Alma al-Shaab, including women,
children and the elderly. Their cars were packed with belongings, some strapped
to the roofs. Vehicles from Lebanon's United Nations peacekeeping force
accompanied the convoy to a Lebanese army checkpoint further north, the
correspondent said. A source from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) told
AFP that more than 80 people had left and the village was now empty, saying they
had been transported to areas outside the force's operations. UNIFIL had said on
Monday that "at the request of the municipality" of Alma al-Shaab, it was "ready
to facilitate the safe movement of civilians who wish to leave".Last week, local
mayor Shadi Sayah had told AFP that "it is our right to preserve and remain on
our land". "We are pacifists... a danger to no one," the mayor said. The Israeli
army announced last week its intention to establish a buffer zone in southern
Lebanon, saying the goal was to protect residents of northern Israel from
Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The Lebanese army, which had maintained a
post in Alma al-Shaab, withdrew last Tuesday as Israeli forces started
incursions into the country.Many towns and villages along Lebanon's border have
been damaged or destroyed since October 2023, when hostilities erupted between
Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza war, but some predominantly Christian
villages have gone relatively unscathed. Farther east in the village of Qlayaa,
a parish priest died on Monday of wounds sustained from Israeli tank fire,
sparking anger and fear. Qlayaa mayor Hanna Daher has urged Lebanese authorities
to prevent any armed presence in or around the town, referring to Hezbollah.
UN: Almost 700,000 Displaced, 84 Children Killed after
Israeli Strikes on Lebanon
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon has deepened amid the wider Middle East war,
with 84 children killed and more than 667,000 people displaced, two UN agencies
said on Tuesday, as lives are upended on a massive scale across the country.
A total of 486 people have been killed in the war so far and 1,313 injured, of
which 259 are children, according to the World Health Organization. "This is
only seven-days conflict, and we are already seeing that almost 100 children
that have lost their lives," said Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO representative in
Lebanon. "One reason why we have a high number of children is that most of the
attacks that we see actually is, it's urban centers, like in Beirut," he said,
adding that Israel's airstrikes, which it says target Hezbollah infrastructure,
are putting civilian lives at risk. The current rate of displacement in Lebanon
is outpacing levels seen during the 2023-24 war between Hezbollah and Israel,
the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday. During that conflict, 886,000 people were
internally displaced in Lebanon, while tens of thousands of Israelis were
evacuated from northern towns near the Lebanese border.
ISRAEL ORDERS EVACUATION
Lebanon's sharp rise in displacement this week stems from large-scale evacuation
orders issued by the Israeli army for southern Lebanon and Beirut's densely
populated southern suburbs, which the UN human rights chief said on Friday
raised serious concerns under international law. The WHO warned that Lebanon's
hospitals and frontline responders were under "extraordinary strain" trying to
manage the rising number of patients. Five hospitals are now out of service,
four partially damaged, and 43 primary healthcare centers are closed - mostly in
the south, which has been largely evacuated, Abubakar said.
"Many of the people fleeing were also fleeing back in 2024. We met many who then
had their homes completely destroyed, family members killed and so on. So this
means that people are not waiting to see what will happen next. They leave
immediately," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR representative in Lebanon.
Some 120,000 people are staying in government-designated shelters, while others
are still looking for somewhere to stay, the UNHCR said, citing government
figures. "Many others are staying with relatives or friends or still searching
for accommodation, and we see cars lined along the street with people sleeping
in them and also on the sidewalks," Billing said.
Lebanese, Syrian presidents agree on tightening border control
Agence France Presse/March 10/2026
The Lebanese and Syrian presidents agreed on the need to "control the border"
between the two countries, after the two countries had traded accusations over
cross-border gunfire. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received a phone call from
his Syrian counterpart, Ahmad al-Sharaa, during which they agreed that "the
current sensitive situation requires enhancing coordination and consultation...
especially with regard to the necessity of controlling the border", a Lebanese
presidency statement said.
Syria accuses Hezbollah of firing shells into its territory
Agence France Presse/March 10/2026
Syria said Iran-backed Hezbollah had fired artillery shells into its territory
from Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday, amid the ongoing
conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shia movement. Syrian army officials
said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west
of Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. The army accused
Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling the news agency it
observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border. "The Syrian
Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria," the army said in a
statement to SANA. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when
Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes. Hezbollah and Israeli forces
have clashed in eastern Lebanon in recent days, and Israel has carried out
strikes across Lebanon, including on the capital Beirut. Lebanese President
Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to "collapse" the state, while the head
of the group's parliamentary bloc said it had "no other option... than the
option of resistance." Hezbollah provided military support to former Syrian
president Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by an Islamist
coalition hostile to the pro-Iranian Shia movement. Since then, its supply
routes from Syria have been cut off, and Lebanese and Syrian authorities are
trying to combat smuggling across the porous border between the two countries.
Lebanese, Syrian Presidents Agree on Tightening Border Control
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March 2026
The Lebanese and Syrian presidents agreed Tuesday on the need to step up control
over their shared frontier following a pair of incidents involving cross-border
fire. Lebanon's Joseph Aoun and Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa agreed during a phone
call that "the current sensitive situation requires enhancing coordination and
consultation... especially with regard to the necessity of controlling the
border", a Lebanese presidency statement said. Sharaa also "expressed his
support for the Lebanese president's efforts to disarm Hezbollah and spare the
region the repercussions of the current conflict", according to a statement from
the Syrian presidency. The phone call between the leaders came hours after Syria
accused pro-Iran Hezbollah of firing artillery shells into its territory. Syrian
army officials said shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya,
west of Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. "The Syrian
Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria," the army said in a
statement to official media. Earlier, a Lebanese soldier was moderately wounded
on Friday by "gunfire from the Syrian side targeting a Lebanese army post in the
Qasr-Hermel area", Lebanon's army said. "An investigation is underway to
determine the circumstances of the incident in coordination with the relevant
Syrian authorities." Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when
Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader
Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes. Syria has so far remained on the
sidelines. In recent days, areas adjacent to Syria and controlled by Hezbollah
in eastern Lebanon have witnessed fierce clashes between the group and Israeli
commando forces. Syria responded to the outbreak of the regional war last week
by stationing additional troops on its borders with Lebanon and Iraq. Hezbollah
had been a key ally of Damascus during the rule of former president Bashar
al-Assad, and it intervened militarily in support of him in 2013, remaining in
Syria for years in a number of border towns and crossings.
Raad says Hezbollah has no choice but 'resistance',
self-defense
Agence France Presse/March 10/2026
The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc Mohammad Raad vowed to continue
fighting Israel "whatever the cost," on Monday, in remarks broadcast by
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV. Defending his party, and blasting the Lebanese
government, Raad said the group's goal is to "to drive the enemy out of our
occupied land... And quite plainly, we have no other option to preserve honor,
pride and dignity than the option of resistance."His address came hours after
President Joseph Aoun lashed out at the political party and militant group,
saying it "wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state."
Israel warns Dahieh residents, strikes south as Hezbollah targets military bases
Naharnet/March 10/2026
The Israeli army has issued a warning to the residents of Ghbayri, Hadath, Haret
Hreik, Laylaki, Burj al-Barajne, Shiyyah and Tahwitat al Ghadir. Earlier in the
day, Israel had warned residents of Tyre's Abbasiyyeh and the coastal town of
Sidon to evacuate areas near two threatened buildings.Overnight into Tuesday,
the Israeli army struck several towns and villages in south Lebanon including
Srifa, Deir Ntar, Taybeh, Deir as-Seryan, Beit Leef, Kafra, Adshit, Yater,
Baraashit, Braikee, Harouf, Kfarseer, al-Majadel, al-Rihan, and Shaqra. Also in
south Lebanon on the border with Israel, artillery shells hit Aita al-Shaab,
Ramia and Yaroun. A family of six, including two children, were killed in a
strike overnight on Nmayriyi, three rescuers were injured in Deir Ntar and four
other people were hurt in the strike on Harouf. In Srifa, the Israeli army
targeted a car, probably killing the driver.
In West Bekaa, Israel struck the Ain el-Tineh heights. Hezbollah for its part
said its fighters targeted army positions in al-Hamames, Aitaroun, Maroun al Ras,
Markaba, Tel Hashomer southeast of Tel Aviv, the Geva base east of Safad, the
Tziporit Base east of Haifa, the Yiftah Barracks, and al-Abbad. It said it
targeted troops who tried to enter the southern towns of al-Khiam, and Houla.
Israeli Strikes Hit Near Beirut as Envoy Says Disarming Hezbollah Could End War
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March 2026
Israel's military pounded the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs with air
strikes on Tuesday and its troops pushed deeper into the country's south, as an
Israeli envoy said the key to ending the war was disarming Lebanese group
Hezbollah. Lebanon was pulled deep into the war in the Middle East last week,
when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire on Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's
supreme leader. Israel has since launched air strikes across Lebanon's south,
east and Beirut's suburbs, killing nearly 500 people including more than 80
children, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Strikes on Beirut's southern
suburbs on Tuesday afternoon sent thick columns of smoke over the city. Two
hours before they began, an Israeli military spokesperson ordered residents to
leave immediately, specifying three new districts that should be evacuated. A
member of the municipal council for the area told Reuters families there were
fleeing, adding to the nearly 700,000 that Lebanese authorities say have already
been displaced by the war.Lebanon's Minister of Social Affairs Haneen Sayed said
on Tuesday that the state was bracing itself for higher displacement figures
than in 2024, when the last war between Israel and Hezbollah pushed more than a
million people out of their homes. "So we expect that the needs, the numbers of
displacement, will be higher than in 2024. Now on the other side in terms of
resources, there's far less resources this year given the global situation, the
regional war that's happening," she said.
DISARMING HEZBOLLAH COULD END WAR, ISRAELI ENVOY SAYS
Sayed spoke to Reuters at Beirut's airport, where the European Union was
delivering 45 tons of emergency supplies including medical kits and blankets.
"Our traditional partners and friends in the Gulf are of course under stress
themselves. So we're appealing to the international community to be with us at
this moment to help stabilize the situation in terms of humanitarian needs,"
Sayed said. Israeli troops made advances on Tuesday in additional towns in
southeastern Lebanon, including with armored columns, Lebanese security
sources told Reuters. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday had signaled his
openness to enter direct negotiations with Israel to end the war. But Israel's
ambassador to France Joshua Zarka said on Tuesday that words were not enough.
"At this stage, I’m not aware of any decision to enter negotiations to end this
war," Zarka said. "What would end it is the disarmament of Hezbollah — and that
is a choice for the Lebanese government," he said. Zarka said Lebanon's
government was "making very good statements, but to these comments they need to
add actions." Lebanon's government last year vowed to establish a state monopoly
on arms and confiscated part of Hezbollah's arsenal in the country's south,
without objections from the group. But Hezbollah has refused to disarm in full,
and Lebanese authorities were fearful that taking its arms by force could ignite
a civil conflict.
Report: Hezbollah Returns to Guerrilla Roots, Awaits Israeli Invasion
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March 2026
Lebanon's Hezbollah is applying lessons from its last war with Israel as it
braces for a possible full-scale Israeli invasion and protracted conflict,
returning to its roots in guerrilla warfare in south Lebanon, four Lebanese
sources told Reuters. Operating in small units, fighters from the Iran-backed
group are avoiding the use of communication devices that could be at risk of
Israeli tapping, and are rationing the use of key anti-tank rockets as they
engage Israeli troops, said the sources, who are familiar with Hezbollah
military activities.
Some 15 months since Israel pounded Hezbollah in their last war, the group
sparked a new Israeli offensive last week by opening fire to avenge the killing
of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Heavily criticized in Lebanon for dragging the country into a war that has
displaced 700,000 people, Hezbollah has described its actions as "existential
defense", framing it as a response to Israeli attacks that have continued since
a 2024 ceasefire.While Israel plans for the likely continuation of its
Lebanon offensive after the Iran war, the four sources said Hezbollah's
calculations are based on Iran's clerical leadership surviving the war, leading
to a regional ceasefire of which it would be part.
FIGHTING FOCUSED AT INTERSECTION OF SYRIAN, ISRAELI BORDERS
The sources who are familiar with Hezbollah thinking declined to be named due to
the sensitivity of the matter. The details of how Hezbollah is operating in the
field have not previously been reported. Hezbollah's media office didn't
immediately respond to a request for comment. Hezbollah, a Shiite group founded
by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, was the only Lebanese group to keep its
weapons at the end of the 1975-90 civil war to fight Israeli troops who
occupied the south until withdrawing in 2000. Hezbollah's role in driving them
out has underpinned its popularity among many Shiites, though its decision to
enter the Iran war has drawn criticism from within the Shiite community. This
war has come at a critical juncture for Hezbollah. Greatly weakened during the
2024 war, Hezbollah has faced pressure from the Lebanese state to disarm. The
Beirut government last week banned Hezbollah's military activities. Adding to
the pressures on Hezbollah since the 2024 war, its Syrian ally President Bashar
al-Assad was toppled in December of that year, severing the main supply route
from Iran. The sources said much of Hezbollah's fighting on the ground had been
focused so far near the town of Khiam, near the intersection of Lebanon's
border with Israel and Syria. This is one area where Hezbollah believes any
Israeli land invasion could begin. Reuters reported last week that Hezbollah's
elite Radwan fighters, who withdrew from the south following the 2024
ceasefire, had returned to the area.
ISRAELI SOURCE: HEZBOLLAH STABILIZING RANKS DESPITE BLOWS
An Israeli security source said there was no sign that Hezbollah was looking to
de-escalate - quite the opposite. While Israel had eliminated a few of
Hezbollah's very senior commanders, it seemed that the group was managing to
stabilize its ranks and make and execute decisions.
Two of the Lebanese sources said four deputies had been appointed for every
Hezbollah commander, to ensure continued operations. The Israeli military says
it has struck hundreds of Hezbollah targets since March 2, launching airstrikes
in the south, Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, and the eastern
Bekaa Valley. The Israeli military has also sent more soldiers into south
Lebanon, where some of its troops had remained since 2024, establishing what it
has called forward defensive positions to guard against the risk of Hezbollah
attacks on northern Israel. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has launched daily drone and rocket attacks at Israel. In 2024, not
only did Israel booby-trap hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah, but it also
penetrated the group's private phone network, according to Lebanese officials
familiar with Hezbollah's post-war investigation into breaches. The sources said
Hezbollah was avoiding any devices that could be susceptible to eavesdropping.
Israel army warns of imminent strikes on Tyre and Sidon
Agence France Presse/March 10/2026
Israel's military said Tuesday it would soon strike Hezbollah infrastructure in
the southern Lebanese cities of Tyre and Sidon, warning residents to move away
from targeted buildings. "Urgent warning to the residents of Tyre and Sidon. The
IDF will soon attack military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist
organisation Hezbollah," one of the military's Arabic-language spokesmen,
Avichay Adraee, posted on X. "We urge residents of the buildings marked in red
on the two attached maps and the nearby buildings: you are located near
buildings used by Hezbollah. For your safety, you must evacuate immediately and
move at least 300 meters away," he added. Soon after the warning, a strike hit
the threatened building in Abbassiyeh near Tyre. Israeli strikes had hit
southern and eastern Lebanon overnight. "Enemy warplanes launched strikes
overnight on the towns of al-Majadel, Shaqra, and Srifa," the National News
Agency (NNA) reported, adding strikes had also taken place in the Bekaa Valley.
Mideast war displaces 100,000 in Lebanon in single day
Agence France Presse/March 10/2026
The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 100,000 people had been newly
displaced within Lebanon in just 24 hours amid the war raging in the Middle
East. "As of today, more than 667,000 people in Lebanon have now registered on
the (Lebanese) government's online platform as displaced -- and this is an
increase of 100,000 in just one day," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the U.N.
refugee agency's representative in Lebanon. "That's a faster pace of
displacement compared to 2024," she told reporters in Geneva, speaking from
Beirut.
Report: Israel expects Lebanon op to outlast Iran conflict with Iran
Naharnet/March 10/2026
The Israeli army is preparing for a prolonged offensive against Hezbollah,
aiming to weaken the group to prevent the constant evacuation of northern
residents, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. Israel now
controls at least 12 forward positions along the Lebanese border, according to
FT. The sources said there are ongoing discussions within Israel about the
possibility of deploying Israeli forces to the Bekaa Valley, although no final
decision has yet been taken. According to the sources, Israel also expects that
its military campaign in Lebanon could last longer than the current conflict
with Iran.
Lives Being Upended on Massive Scale in Lebanon, Says UN Refugee Agency
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March 2026
Lives have been upended on a massive scale in Lebanon amid a wider conflict in
the Middle East, with more than 667,000 people now registered as displaced
within the country - an increase of 100,000 in just one day - the UN refugee
agency said on Tuesday.
Lebanon was dragged into the US-Israeli war on Iran this month when Iran-backed
Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel, which has responded with
heavy bombardment across the country. Some 120,000 people are staying in
government designated shelters, while others are still looking for somewhere to
stay, the UNHCR said, citing government figures. "Many others are staying
with relatives or friends or still searching for accommodation, and we see cars
lined along the street with people sleeping in them and also on the sidewalks,"
said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR representative in Lebanon.
Hezbollah Pressure on Military Court Undermines Lebanon’s
Weapons Ban
Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al Awsat/10 March 2026
Lebanon’s government decision to prohibit any military or security activity by
Hezbollah has yet to translate into meaningful enforcement. Hezbollah has
continued to escalate its military operations, launching rockets and drones
toward Israeli territory, while signs of deteriorating security have appeared
inside Lebanon, particularly among displaced residents who have fled southern
Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Security agencies have struggled to
identify those responsible for launching rockets toward Israel. However,
Lebanese forces recently recorded a notable development with the arrest of
around 30 individuals affiliated with or supportive of Hezbollah. The detainees
were apprehended while fleeing alongside civilians from southern areas and the
southern suburbs of Beirut after being found carrying individual weapons,
including assault rifles, pistols and grenades. The arrests appeared to signal a
tentative shift in how Lebanon’s security and judicial institutions handle the
issue of illegal weapons. Yet the move quickly ran up against what officials say
is Hezbollah’s continuing influence over judicial decisions. Last week, the
military court tried three Hezbollah members detained days earlier. The court
imposed a fine of 900,000 Lebanese pounds —about $10 — on each of them for
possessing unlicensed military weapons and waived any prison sentence. The
ruling diverges sharply from typical sentences in similar cases, where
possession or transport of unlicensed weapons usually carries at least a
one-month prison term. Judicial sources say the unusually lenient sentence
reflects pressure exerted by Hezbollah on the military court to secure the
release of its detained members. According to the sources, the group sought
their release last Thursday and pushed for their trial to be held the following
day. The military prosecutor’s office objected, resulting in the hearing being
postponed until Monday. The verdict also drew criticism from the government
commissioner to the military court, Judge Claude Ghanem, who promptly appealed
the ruling before the Military Court of Cassation, requesting tougher penalties.
A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the ruling was “extremely lenient
and failed to account for all the legal provisions under which the suspects were
charged.” The source added that the commissioner had received preliminary
investigation files concerning four additional detainees and was preparing to
file charges against them in the coming hours while seeking stricter sentences.
Only hours after the verdict was issued, Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar
ordered that the civilian adviser to the military tribunal, Judge Abbas Jaha, be
referred to the Judicial Inspection Authority for investigation. A Justice
Ministry source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the referral stemmed from “the
circumstances surrounding the trial and his failure to object to this suspicious
ruling.” The source noted that another member of the court panel, a military
officer, had opposed the decision while Jaha approved it without reservation.
Weapons and rising tensions in host communities
Legally, the arrest of armed Hezbollah members represents a direct application
of the government decision banning any military or security activity by the
group. In principle, the ruling applies to anyone carrying weapons outside state
authority and places them under threat of prosecution. The more pressing
challenge, however, lies in dealing with armed individuals among displaced
populations. Several neighborhoods in Beirut, including Hamra, Ras Beirut,
Sakiat al-Janzir and Ain al-Remmaneh, as well as the towns of Aramoun and
Kfarshima in Mount Lebanon, have witnessed repeated incidents involving gunfire,
displays of weapons and confrontations with local residents. Videos circulating
on social media show armed men threatening residents, including footage recorded
Sunday in Aramoun. These incidents have heightened anxiety among host
communities already grappling with mounting social and economic pressures.
Some residents say the security measures in place remain “below the required
level,” arguing that the absence of deterrent action risks encouraging further
incidents and creating the impression that the law is applied hesitantly when
those involved are linked to Hezbollah. A Lebanese security source, however,
insisted that authorities treat all security incidents seriously. Delays in
reaching certain locations, the source said, often result from limited personnel
and the difficulty of maintaining coverage across all displacement areas.
Security forces maintain a near-permanent presence at the entrances of schools
and facilities housing displaced people, the source added, while most incidents
occur in nearby streets and neighborhoods. Patrols respond immediately to
reports of gunfire or clashes, detaining suspects or pursuing them if they leave
the scene. Nevertheless, the official acknowledged that the continued incidents
could lead to broader friction between displaced populations and local residents
— particularly in densely populated areas — at a time when host communities are
already under severe economic strain and displacement is expected to continue
for months.
Aoun says will stand 'as bulwark' against attacks on the
army and its leadership
Naharnet /March 10/2026
President Joseph Aoun voiced Tuesday his full support for the Lebanese Army as
he met with Army Commander Rodolphe Haydal and Defense Minister Michel Menassah
in Yarzeh. Aoun said he will stand "as a bulwark" against any attacks on the
military institution or its leadership. "If the Army is shaken, the entire
nation will be at risk," he said. Many recent reports had claimed that the
Lebanese government was pressured to remove Haykal for his soft approach towards
Hezbollah's disarmament. Axios said Haykal has resisted the government's push to
disarm Hezbollah, refusing to deploy troops against the group during its war
with Israel. Haykal's stance has fueled tensions with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam
and drawn pressure from both Democrats and Republicans in Washington on
President Aoun to fire him, the American news outlet said, quoting U.S.
officials.
Firas Maksad, managing director for Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia
Group, said for his part that "the Lebanese military remains unwilling — some
say unable — to enforce the government's decision outlawing Hezbollah's military
and security activities."
Germany jails man for supplying Hezbollah with drone
equipment
Agence France Presse/March 10/2026
A German court on Tuesday jailed a 35-year-old man for supplying Hezbollah with
equipment for drones. The Lebanese man, previously named as Fadel Z., was
convicted of offenses including "membership of a foreign terrorist organization"
and being "an accomplice to attempted murder."The court in the city of Celle
sentenced him to six years and four months in prison. It found that Fadel Z. had
joined Hezbollah at some point after July 2016.It said that by 2022 he had
organized exports of "militarily useful goods" to the tune of 500,000 euros
($580,000) in order to help Hezbollah's drone program.
The components he delivered included material for more than 300 explosive
drones. The man was arrested in summer 2024. The court noted that he was "born
in a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon and was brought up with the ideology of the
terror organization."Prosecutors had demanded a jail sentence of nine years but
the court decided on a lower term partly because Fadel Z. had admitted some of
the offenses and thereby sped up the trial. Hezbollah's military wing is classed
as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and
Britain. Germany considers Hezbollah a "Shiite terrorist organization" and in
2020 banned Hezbollah from carrying out activities on its soil.
Can Amal and Hezbollah mend rift after Fneish's meeting
with Berri?
Naharnet/March 10/2026
Former minister Mohammad Fneish has in recent days visited Speaker Nabih Berri
in Ain el-Tineh, carrying a verbal message from Hezbollah Secretary-General
Sheikh Naim Qassem.
According to An-Nahar newspaper, the message focused on the following points:
- The motives that compelled Hezbollah to adopt its latest course of action.
- Providing an overview of the military situation according to the party
leadership's assessment and the available information.
- Iran's situation as it faces a fierce onslaught.
- The future of the relationship between the two sides in light of recent
developments. Consequently, information emerged from sources within the party
indicating that Qassem had informed Berri in his message that the mandate given
to him by slain Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to manage the political
situation remained unchanged and in effect from the party's perspective, An-Nahar
said. The report said that Hezbollah's primary concern is to "mend the rift
between itself, Berri, and the Amal Movement by any means necessary, without
entirely dismissing the notion that certain shifts are imposing themselves on
this relationship."Hezbollah's leadership believes that Fneish's mission, to
this extent, has been successful, and that "Speaker Berri's wisdom" has
prevailed, the report said. Based on this equation, some say that what happened
after the Ain el-Tineh meeting, which lasted for more than two hours, was
essentially an understanding to "cut through the sensitive phase, after which
the transformations and changes call for weaving the threads of another
understanding on different foundations because the "old understanding" has
automatically lost many of its solid foundations, the report added.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports
And News published
on March 10-11/2026
News of
the ongoing war between Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other. The
news is abundant, fragmented, and difficult to keep track of as it evolves
constantly. For those wishing to follow the course of the war, the following are
links to several television channels and newspapers:
Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper
https://aawsat.com/
National News Agency
https://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/ar
Al Arabiya/Arabic
https://www.alarabiya.net/
Sky News
https://www.youtube.com/@SkyNewsArabia
Nidaa Al Watan
https://www.nidaalwatan.com/
Al Markazia
https://www.nidaalwatan.com/
Al Hadath
https://www.youtube.com/@AlHadath
Independent Arabia
https://www.independentarabia.com/
Video-Link from DWS News/
Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine Address Media on War in Iran for today March
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/03/152647/
March 10/2026
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warns the war with Iran is entering its
“most intense day”, with the largest wave of fighters, bombers, and strikes
since the campaign began. Speaking alongside Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan
Caine, Hegseth said President Donald Trump controls how long the war lasts while
insisting the operation is limited and not another Iraq-style conflict.
Hegseth: “Most Intense Day” of War as U.S. Bombers, Fighters Hit Iran
Hegseth: “This Is Not 2003” as U.S. Intensifies Massive Air War on Iran
Pentagon Says Trump Will Decide How Long Iran War Continues
DWS News broadcasts live from the Pentagon as Secretary Pete Hegseth and General
Dan Caine provide updates on Operation Epic Fury, highlighting U.S. progress in
degrading Iran’s missile, naval, and proxy capabilities amid the ongoing
conflict. Coverage includes strategic assessments and responses to recent
developments. Subscribe and watch now for credible, real-time analysis of this
major military campaign.
Pete Hegseth briefing, Dan Caine Iran update, Operation Epic Fury March 2026,
Hegseth Caine Pentagon, US Iran war briefing, Iran naval warship sunk, US air
dominance Iran, ballistic missile destruction Iran, CENTCOM progress Epic Fury,
joint US Israel strikes, Iran conflict updates 2026, Defense Secretary Hegseth,
Joint Chiefs Caine, Middle East war briefing, live Pentagon news conference,
breaking defense Iran, torpedo sinking Iranian ship, regime infrastructure
targeted, U.S. military objectives Iran, regional escalation briefing
Iran may have activated
‘sleeper cells’ to carry out attacks around the globe, US officials say
Isabel Keane/The Independent/March 10, 2026
Karoline Leavitt responds to questions about military draft and boots on the
ground in IranScroll back up to restore default view. Iran has potentially sent
out “an operational trigger” to activate “sleeper assets” across the globe as
the war with the U.S. and Israel escalates, according to a report. The U.S. has
intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that
were sent out following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a
U.S.-Israeli attack on February 28, ABC News reported, citing a federal alert
sent to law enforcement agencies. The message could “be intended to activate or
provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the
originating country,” the alert warned. The alert noted that the transmission
was “likely of Iranian origin.”“While the exact contents of these transmissions
cannot currently be determined, the sudden appearance of a new station with
international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational
awareness,” the alert added. The alert cautioned that there is currently “no
operational threat tied to a specific location.”Law enforcement agencies have
been called by the U.S. to increase their monitoring of suspicious radio
frequencies following the U.S. interception of the encrypted message. Sleeper
assets, also referred to as sleeper cells, are spies or terrorists hiding out in
other countries who often live quiet and unassuming lives until they are called
to act on a mission.
The U.S. ramped up its monitoring for Iranian sleeper cells last June, after
President Donald Trump ordered strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites. New
warnings of sleeper assets were issued after the U.S. and Israel began carrying
out military airstrikes on Iran February 28. Dozens of Iranian officials,
including the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were killed in
initial strikes. Iranian officials announced Sunday that his son, Mojtaba
Khamenei, would be his successor. The conflict has widened across the Middle
East, with Iran retaliating against Israel and U.S. military bases and allies in
the region. At least 10 countries have been targeted through Iran’s retaliatory
strikes and drone attacks, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Iranian forces have also struck U.S. bases or
intercepted assets in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, according to the report. U.S.
and Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 1,230 people in the country,
according to the Associated Press. Seven U.S. service members have also been
killed in the conflict. Trump said Monday the U.S. and Israeli campaign in Iran
could conclude sooner than he previously expected. He told CBS News he thought
the war is “very complete, pretty much.” “They have no navy, no communications,
they’ve got no Air Force,” he said. Trump added that the U.S. is now “very far”
ahead of the four to five week timeline he previously gave for ending the
conflict.
Pentagon Chief Says US
Intensifying Strikes on Iran
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March 2026
US attacks on Iran will hit a new intensity Tuesday and the war will continue as
long as President Donald Trump decides, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said. "Today
will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran," Hegseth told a
news conference at the Pentagon more than 10 days into the US-Israeli war
against the Islamic republic.As for a timeline for the war, Trump "gets to
control the throttle. He's the one deciding," Hegseth said. "It's not for me to
posit whether it's the beginning, the middle or the end," the defense secretary
said. Among the goals of the conflict is the destruction of Iran's navy, which
has been targeted with "artillery, fighters, bombers and sea-launched missiles,"
General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, said alongside Hegseth. Iran has
vowed to block all oil exports via the Gulf while the war lasts, while Trump has
threatened "death, fire, and fury" if Tehran interferes with crude exports.
Caine said US forces continue "to hunt and strike mine-laying vessels and mine
storage facilities" -- weapons Iran could use to block maritime traffic. Hegseth
meanwhile accused Iran of "moving rocket launchers into civilian neighborhoods,
near schools, near hospitals to try to prevent our ability to strike -- that's
how they operate."He did not directly address a strike early in the conflict
that hit an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, which Iran said
killed more than 150 people. Trump has said the incident is being investigated,
while suggesting Monday that Iran may have fired a Tomahawk missile at the
school itself. Iran does not possess Tomahawks -- a US weapon used extensively
by US forces.
Iran Launches New Attacks Targeting Israel as It Seeks to
Ramp up Pressure on US
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Iran launched new attacks on Tuesday at Israel and Gulf Arab countries as it
kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war started by Israel and the United
States that has sent oil prices surging and stunned global economies. Sirens
warned of incoming missiles in the futuristic business hub of Dubai, and in
Bahrain, authorities said an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the
capital, killing a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight others. Saudi Arabia
said it destroyed two drones over the Eastern Region and Kuwait's National Guard
said it shot down six drones. Later in the morning, sirens also sounded in
Jerusalem, and sounds of explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel's
defense systems worked to intercept incoming fire, not long after the military
said it detected an Iranian missile launch. “We are definitely not looking for a
ceasefire,” Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, wrote on X. “We
believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a
lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again.”Another
top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, appeared to threaten US President
Donald Trump himself, writing on X that “Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats.
Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get
eliminated yourself.” Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump
in the past. Witnesses reported hearing several explosions in Tehran in the
afternoon as Israel commenced a new wave of airstrikes.
Attacks aimed at pressuring the US
Along with firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American bases in the
region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure and traffic through
the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for traded oil, sending oil prices
soaring. The attacks appear aimed at generating enough global economic pain to
pressure the US and Israel to end their strikes.Brent crude, the international
standard, spiked to nearly $120 on Monday before falling back but was still at
around $90 a barrel on Tuesday, nearly 24% higher than when the war started on
Feb. 28. Trump, who has previously said that the war could last for a month or
longer, sought to downplay growing fears that it could take even longer, saying
it was “going to be a short-term excursion.”Still, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the strikes on Iran would continue. “Our aim is to
bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny, (but) ultimately it
depends on them,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with Israel’s hospital and
health system leaders. “There is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we
are breaking their bones.”
Oil is rerouted
Iran has effectively stopped tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, which
connects the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman — the gateway to the Indian Ocean —
through which 20% of the world's oil is carried. Attacks on merchant ships near
the strait have killed at least seven sailors, according to the International
Maritime Organization. A bulk carrier likely came under attack in the Gulf on
Tuesday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, with the captain reporting a
splash and a loud bang nearby, according to a monitoring center run by the
British military. In a post on social media, Trump seemed not to acknowledge
that, saying that “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the
Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES
HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard
doubled down, saying in a statement that it “will not allow the export of even a
single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until
further notice.”Meanwhile, Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s
oil giant Aramco, said tankers were being rerouted to avoid the Strait of
Hormuz, and that its East-West pipeline would reach its full capacity of 7
million barrels a day being brought to the Red Sea port of the Yanbu this week.
“The situation at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking sizable volumes of oil from
the whole region,” he said, adding that tighter supplies would likely push the
price per barrel globally even higher, translating to higher costs for gasoline
and jet fuel. “If this takes a long time, that will have serious impact on the
global economy,” Nasser said. Airstrike on Iran-linked militia in Iraq kills 5.
As the conflict spread across the region, Israel launched multiple attacks on
the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, which responded by firing missiles into Israel.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have also launched attacks at US bases in the
country since the beginning of the conflict. Early Tuesday, one such militia —
the 40th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces in the city of Kirkuk — was
hit with an airstrike that killed at least five militiamen and wounded four,
according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to talk to reporters. It was not immediately clear who was behind the
strikes. Israel's military meanwhile reiterated a call for all residents of
southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes, saying it planned to “operate
forcefully” there against Hezbollah. Since the war began, at least 1,230 people
have been killed in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to
officials.
A total of seven US service members have been killed.
Israel Not Seeking Endless War with Iran, Foreign Minister
Says
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Israel is not seeking an endless war with Iran and will coordinate with the
United States on when to end the fighting, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on
Tuesday, declining to publicly state a timeline for when the conflict could end.
The US-Israeli war with Iran, now in its 11th day, has engulfed the Middle East,
with Iranian strikes hitting neighboring states, including the United Arab
Emirates, and Israel fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as striking Iran.
"We will continue until the minute that we and our partners think that is
appropriate to stop," Saar told journalists in Jerusalem alongside his German
counterpart. "We are not looking for an endless war," he said. German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz said earlier in Berlin that there was growing concern in Europe
over the war and there appeared to be no plan to bring it to an end. "We want
to remove, for the long-term, existential threats from Iran to Israel," Saar
said in response to a Reuters question on what victory would look like to the
government.He described Iran's newly appointed supreme leader Mojtaba Khamanei
- son of Ali Khamenei who was killed by the Israeli military on the first day of
the war - as an extremist. Israel has said it aims to eliminate Iran's clerical
rule by destroying its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and creating
conditions for Iranians to overthrow their rulers. Saar said there was an
opportunity to create conditions for Iranians to "regain their freedom," while
acknowledging that it may not happen during the war and could come afterward."We
must not miss this opportunity with partial results." German Foreign Minister
Johann Wadephul, the first senior foreign official to publicly visit Israel
since the war began, said he was confident Israel and Washington were open to a
diplomatic solution that could lead to an end to the war. But any such solution
would need to include agreements with Iran on its nuclear and missile programs,
as well as its support for regional militias, terms that Wadephul said Tehran
had made clear that it was not currently prepared to accept.
Trump Tells Fox News It's Possible He Would Talk with Iran
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March/2026
US President Donald Trump told Fox News that it's possible he would be willing
to talk with Iran but that it depends on the terms, the cable news network
said on Tuesday. Asked in an interview on Monday evening about the
possibility of negotiations with Tehran, Trump told Fox he heard Tehran wanted
to talk badly, according to the news network. The Republican president also
reiterated his unhappiness with Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei,
telling Fox: "I don’t believe he can live in peace."Trump also echoed his
comments at a press conference earlier on Monday, telling Fox the results of
the US military operation in Iran were "way beyond expectation." Trump added
that he was surprised that Iran was striking Gulf countries with missiles and
drones, according to the network.
Iran Bets on Long War to Wear Down Trump’s US, Say Experts
Asharq Al Awsat/10 March/2026
Outgunned by the United States, Iran's rulers have been lashing out on multiple
fronts -- but experts say what looks like a chaotic reaction is actually a
time-tested strategy to outlast a stronger enemy in a fight to survive. To some,
Iran's response since US and Israeli strikes killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei
on the war's first day look like those of a decapitated and directionless power.
Why is Iran targeting Gulf countries, Türkiye and Azerbaijan with air strikes?
Why not seek those countries' support, or at least keep them neutral? But
various analysts see a well-honed strategy of asymmetric warfare in Iran's
retaliatory offensive: resist the onslaught, and make the enemy pay a price so
heavy they have to give up. "Iran's strategy is to create pressure on
Washington, DC by angering the Gulf and by creating upward trends in the price
of oil, gas and other commodities," said Burcu Ozcelik, a Middle East security
expert at Britain's Royal United Services Institute. Although Iran's leadership
was badly shaken by the strikes that killed Khamenei -- now replaced by his son
Mojtaba as supreme leader -- and other top figures, the system is holding so
far. And Tehran is digging in for an all-or-nothing fight, against a United
States that has less at stake.
'Exit ramp' -
Tehran has little chance of defeating the US military. But it can hope to
outlast the current campaign, which is limited to air strikes. US President
Donald Trump will meanwhile have to think hard about the potential political
costs before sending in ground troops.
"Tehran is trying to raise the cost of escalation until Washington starts
looking for an exit ramp," said Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International
Crisis Group. It is a page straight out of the textbook on asymmetric warfare.
In a classic 1975 paper, "Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars", the late professor
Andrew Mack unpacked the reasons for outcomes such as the US defeat in Vietnam.
He underlined how weaker powers can exploit the gradual diminishing of a
stronger adversary's political capacity to wage war. Since the Iranians "don't
have unlimited supplies of missiles and drones, we see them trying to use their
firepower carefully, to make the conflict last long enough that Trump eventually
says, 'That's enough'", said Agnes Levallois, head of the Middle East-focused
think tank iReMMo. "The longer the conflict lasts, the more Tehran believes the
strategic balance -- psychologically and politically -- begins to shift" in its
favor, said Danny Citrinowicz, of Israel's Institute for National Security
Studies.
And the Iranian toolkit goes deeper.
"Tehran, cognizant of its inability to win a conventional war against the US,
relies on irregular tactics to drag out the war, primarily through economic
coercion and cost asymmetry," said a briefing by the US research center Soufan.
That includes sowing chaos in the Middle East, bombing neighboring countries and
sending global oil and gas prices skywards by effectively shutting the crucial
Strait of Hormuz.
War of attrition -
If Trump comes under enough pressure from Gulf allies and energy inflation, he
may have to fold. "Market impacts, Hormuz disruptions and oil prices are all
variables that will weigh heavily on Washington's thinking," said analyst Emily
Stromquist of US advisory firm Teneo. The strategy relies on the assumption that
Gulf countries will have more pull on Trump than key US ally Israel, which is
gunning for regime change in Iran. If the Islamic Republic survives, it may pay
a heavy price. "The regime in Iran will have to make some deep concessions" in
any end-game, said Ozcelik. The Gulf states "will want to have some influence"
in any ceasefire agreement, and Iran's relations with the rest of the region
will be badly damaged, she said. But none of that likely matters to Tehran, said
Citrinowicz. "From Iran's perspective, the goal of this war is to maximize its
gains and 'imprint' in the minds of its adversaries the costs of fighting Iran
in the future," he said.
Israeli Army Says Half of Iranian Missiles Have Cluster
Munitions
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Israel's army estimated on Tuesday that around half of the missiles being fired
at the country by Iran contained cluster munitions, posing an added danger to
people on the ground. "Approximately 50 percent of Iranian missiles fired toward
Israel carry cluster warheads that disperse into smaller bombs in the air,
creating additional falling debris hazards," a military official said, in
comments shared by the defense ministry. Cluster munitions explode in mid-air
and scatter bomblets. Some of these submunitions do not explode on impact and
can cause casualties over time, particularly among children. "The radius of the
impact is about ten kilometers. Although these contain less explosive material
than a standard missile, the impact can still be lethal," the official said. Two
construction workers died from shrapnel wounds after missiles were fired at
central Israel on Monday, with emergency workers at the site telling AFP the
damage appeared to have been caused by a cluster munition. Iran and Israel are
not among the more than 100 countries that are party to the 2008 Convention on
Cluster Munitions, which prohibits their use, transfer, production and storage.
Both have reportedly used the munitions in earlier conflicts. During the 12-day
war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, Amnesty International said Tehran used
cluster munitions at least three times, based on analysis of photos and videos,
as well as media reports. In 2007, a US government investigation found that
Israel had probably violated arms export agreements with Washington when it
dropped US-made cluster bombs in Lebanon during its war with Hezbollah the
previous year.
UN Warns Hormuz Standstill Will Hit World’s Most Vulnerable
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
The standstill in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the Middle East war could
hammer some of the world's most vulnerable people, the United Nations warned
Tuesday. The strait is the only sea passage from the Gulf towards the Indian
Ocean, through which nearly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil supplies pass,
as well as a significant amount of cargo. Iran has all but blocked the waterway
following the launch of the February 28 US-Israeli airstrikes on the country
that triggered the war. "The current shock comes at a time when many developing
economies struggle to service their debt, face a tightening of fiscal space and
limited capacity to absorb new price shocks," the UN trade and development
agency UNCTAD said. "Higher energy, fertilizer and transport costs -- including
freight rates, bunker fuel prices and insurance premiums -- may increase food
costs and intensify cost-of-living pressures, particularly for the most
vulnerable," it said. UNCTAD added that, in terms of seaborne trade volume, in
the week before the conflict 38 percent of crude oil, 29 percent of liquified
petroleum gas, 19 percent of liquified natural gas and 19 percent refined oil
products went through the strait. But while an average of 129 ships transited
daily through the passage between February 1 and 27, that number dropped to just
three on March 3. UNCTAD said the disruptions underscored the vulnerability of
critical maritime chokepoints and their potential for disruption to them to send
shocks across supply chains and commodity markets. "Rising energy, transport and
food costs could strain public finances and increase pressure on household
budgets, potentially heightening economic and social pressures... particularly
in economies heavily dependent on imported energy, fertilizers and staple
foods," it said.
Food aid hit -
UN rights chief Volker Turk echoed the alarm for the effect the plunge in
commercial shipping activity could have, "particularly for the world's most
vulnerable". "The impact of an oil price surge will have a knock-on effect for
macro-economic and social stability in many countries, particularly those
already experiencing debt distress," he said. The UN's World Food Program said
the costs and time lost to the Strait of Hormuz disruptions were already
impacting its humanitarian operations. "This is nothing less than another
seminal moment in global supply chain history," Jean-Martin Bauer, the director
of WFP's food and nutrition analysis service, told reporters in Geneva. Speaking
from the WFP's Rome headquarters, he said shipping lines were diverting services
and adding surcharges, leading to congestion "in places that are very far from
Hormuz". "We're seeing congestion in Asia. It's quite a severe disruption that's
taking place right now," Bauer said. "We're needing to go the long way around
the Cape of Good Hope to reach some of our key geographies."WFP's biggest
operation is in Sudan, but now it is facing approximately 25 days of additional
shipping time. "It's basically 50 percent more than we would usually have. So
that's really extending the supply chain and adding to cost," said Bauer.
Israel Says Iran Hacked Security Cameras
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Israel's cybersecurity directorate said it had identified "dozens of Iranian
breaches into security cameras for espionage purposes" since the start of the
war in the Middle East, urging the public to be vigilant. "The directorate is
working to alert hundreds of camera owners and calls on the public to change
their passwords and update their software to prevent any security risk, whether
national or personal," Cyber Israel wrote on X Monday. Cyberattacks between Iran
and Israel have been a frequent occurrence in recent years, as the two foes
conducted a shadow war that culminated in open conflict last June and again on
February 28. In December 2025, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett --
who is set to run against incumbent premier Benjamin Netanyahu in a general
election this year -- said he had been the victim of a cyberattack targeting his
Telegram account, after hackers claimed to have broken into his phone. Private
messages, videos and photographs said to be taken from Bennett's phone were
published on a hacker site named after "Handala", a character symbolizing the
Palestinian cause, and on an associated X account. Iran-linked hackers have
stepped up their operations in the region since strikes began on the country, an
expert told AFP. Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point said in a report that
since the launch of the US-Israeli offensive on February 28, it has seen hackers
accessing surveillance cameras, which are widely used but often poorly secured.
The images were likely used to assess damage caused by the attacks or "to gather
the necessary information" on "the habits (of targeted individuals) or locations
to hit", Gil Messing, head of cyberintelligence at Check Point, told AFP. The
hackers "are part of (Iran's) army" and "are largely supported by the state",
notably by the Revolutionary Guards and the ministry of intelligence and
security, he added. Last week, the Financial Times reported that Israel had
hacked nearly all of Tehran's traffic cameras for years in preparation for the
operation that killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the
offensive.
Saudi Arabia Affirms Its Full Right to Take all Necessary Measures to Protect
its Security, Territorial Integrity
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime
Minister, chaired a Cabinet session held on Tuesday via video conference.
The Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on the content of recent phone calls with
the leaders of several brotherly and friendly countries, within the framework of
ongoing consultations on the latest developments in the region and their
repercussions on regional and international security and stability. The Cabinet
strongly condemned the heinous Iranian attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and a number of Arab, Islamic, and
friendly countries, the insistence on threatening security and stability, and
the blatant violation of international conventions and international law by
attacking civilian targets, airports, and oil facilities. The Cabinet affirmed
the Kingdom's full right to take all necessary measures to protect its security,
sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and to deter aggression. It commended
the capabilities of the Saudi air defenses in intercepting and destroying
hostile missiles and drones that attempted to target sites and facilities within
the Kingdom. Minister of Media Salman Al-Dossary stated to the SPA, following
the session that the Cabinet reviewed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ongoing
role, stemming from its approach of supporting solidarity, cooperation, and
coordination with its Gulf and Arab neighbors in addressing current regional
challenges. The Cabinet expressed its appreciation for the statements issued by
the GCC-European Union ministerial meeting and the League of Arab States
ministerial meeting, which both condemned the blatant Iranian attacks.
The Cabinet then discussed several reports on domestic affairs, noting the
recommendations from the 33rd annual meeting of the governors of the regions,
which focused on supporting development opportunities, enhancing the
capabilities of various sectors, and continuing to improve development services.
The Cabinet also addressed the state's keen interest in strengthening the
charitable sector, consolidating the values of giving, and presenting a model to
be emulated in philanthropy and solidarity. It commended the success of the
sixth edition of the National Campaign for Charitable Work (Ehsan), building
upon the successes achieved in previous years. The Cabinet considered the
celebration of Flag Day, which falls on March 11, as a reaffirmation of pride in
its significance and symbolism in the history of the Saudi state, its founding,
unification, and development, and in its embodiment of the Kingdom's established
principles and national identity.
Qatar Says Iran Must Halt Attacks before Any Talks
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari stressed on Tuesday that Iran
needed to halt its attacks before any talks can be held. Speaking at a press
conference in Doha, he said Qatar is being attacked daily by Iran, “so we cannot
speak of any talks with it before it ceases its assaults.”Contacts are ongoing
with all parties to ensure an end to the conflict, he added, while accusing Iran
of attacking civilian infrastructure in Qatar. Moreover, he described as a
“dangerous precedent” Iran’s attacks on energy facilities, saying they will
cause economic losses in the region and have global consequences. “The best
solution lies in ending attacks on our energy facilities,” al-Ansari said in
response to whether escorting ships in the Hormuz Strait was a viable option. He
revealed that since the eruption of the war, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had held only one telephone
call with Iran’s foreign minister. However, channels of contact with Tehran have
not been completely severed, al-Ansari said. Doha is now focusing on
de-escalation and ending the attacks. Furthermore, he hoped that Iranian
President Masoud Pezeshkian’s apology to Gulf countries over the attacks would
have actually meant that they would end. Instead, the attacks continued,
rendering the apology meaningless, al-Ansari stressed. “Any attack on Qatar will
be handled in the appropriate manner,” he went on to say. “Confronting the
Iranian aggression has become a priority given its impact on Qatar’s and the
global economy.” Al-Ansari said the armed forces have succeeded in defending the
nation and repelling rocket and drone attacks that have targeted vital and
civilian installations. Qatar still believes in diplomacy and welcomes any role
that can end the war, he continued. “Attacks against Qatar and its people are
unacceptable. Leaders are working tirelessly to stop the assaults.”Earlier, the
Defense Ministry said the armed forces repelled a rocket attack. On Monday, Doha
confronted 17 ballistic missile and six drone attacks.
Gaza Patients Face Death Again as Rafah Crossing Stays Closed
Gaza: Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Patients and wounded in Gaza are facing increasingly harsh conditions after
Israeli authorities again closed the Rafah land crossing, which had been
partially reopened for a short period under a ceasefire agreement following a
prolonged shutdown that prevented tens of thousands from leaving for medical
treatment.
The crossing’s reopening at the beginning of February had raised hopes among
patients and the wounded that they would be able to travel abroad for treatment.
However, Israeli restrictions on the number of people permitted to leave further
complicated the situation. Those hopes faded when the crossing was closed again
following the start of the war with Iran on the 28th of last month.
Twelve-year-old Asmaa al-Shawish, who suffers from a rare disease known as
Sanfilippo syndrome, has for years faced the threat of death as her health has
recently deteriorated sharply, her mother told Asharq Al-Awsat. Her mother said
the girl had obtained a medical referral to receive treatment abroad in 2023,
shortly before the war began, but did not manage to travel in time. She remained
inside Gaza, and her condition has continued to worsen day by day. She said her
daughter is losing the ability to drink water and suffers from brain atrophy as
well as enlargement of the liver and spleen. The child also experiences constant
seizures and requires daily treatment in hospitals in an effort to keep her
alive as long as possible. Her condition, she added, is deteriorating rapidly.
“When the Rafah crossing opened, we felt a little hope that we might be able to
travel again,” she said. “But the large number of patients and wounded waiting
like us delayed our departure until the occupation closed it again, leaving us
to face our fate on our own.”
“Every time I see my daughter in this condition, I grieve over her harsh
circumstances,” she added. “I see her taking her last breaths, and she could die
at any moment.”
20,000 Patients
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 20,000 patients and wounded
people urgently need treatment abroad. Deaths are already being recorded among
those waiting for the crossing to reopen regularly, as it operated before the
war, so they can travel and save their lives. The ministry said hospitals in the
enclave lack the medical capabilities needed to save these patients amid the
difficult conditions imposed by the Israeli blockade. It added that some
medicines have completely run out, while others are close to being depleted.
According to the government media office, the total number of travelers and
returnees during the period when the Rafah land crossing was partially open
reached 1,148 out of the 3,400 expected to travel in both directions. This
represents about 33% compliance with the agreement that was supposed to be
implemented after the ceasefire.Government sources from Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat
that there are “no promises to reopen the Rafah land crossing, even
partially.”Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas, said the continued closure of
the Rafah crossing “under flimsy security pretexts and false claims” represents
a “blatant and dangerous violation” of the ceasefire agreement and a retreat
from commitments made to mediators, particularly Egypt. He said the move is part
of efforts to “tighten the blockade” imposed on the enclave, preventing tens of
thousands of wounded people from traveling to receive what he described as their
natural right to medical treatment.
Continued Killings
On the ground, Israel has continued its escalation, killing more Palestinians
and striking multiple targets across the enclave. The Israeli military said on
Tuesday it had killed six Palestinians, three of whom it said had crossed the
“yellow line” north of the enclave, and three armed Hamas members in tunnels in
Rafah. The number of Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire has risen to more
than 656, including at least 20 killed since the start of the war with Iran. The
cumulative toll since Oct. 7, 2023, has reached 72,134 deaths. This coincided
with Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling and gunfire in several areas on both
sides of the yellow line in the enclave. For the second consecutive day,
bulldozers were seen demolishing what remained of homes east of Khan Younis,
about 20 meters from Salah al-Din Road. A warplane also struck a house whose
residents had evacuated following an Israeli order in northern Khan Younis.
Another strike hit a mobile phone charging point and an internet service station
in an empty area next to tents housing displaced people southwest of Gaza City.
Putin Urges ‘De-Escalation’ in Call with Iranian President
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for de-escalation in the Iran conflict
during a phone call on Tuesday with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian,
the Kremlin said. "The President of Russia reaffirmed his principled position in
favor of a speedy de-escalation of the conflict and for it to be resolved
through political means," the Kremlin said in its readout of the call. "Pezeshkian
thanked Russia for its support, particularly for providing humanitarian aid to
Iran," the Kremlin added, confirming Moscow has sent assistance to its ally
Tehran.
Syria Appoints Kurdish YPG Commander Sipan Hamo Deputy Defense Minister
Asharq Al Awsat/March 10/2026
Syria's defense ministry said on Tuesday that Sipan Hamo, commander of the
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), had been appointed deputy defense
minister for the country's eastern territories. The move is seen as part of
implementing a US-brokered integration agreement signed on January 29 between
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed
al-Sharaa. "Sipan Hamo has been appointed Assistant Minister of Defence for the
eastern region," a defense ministry official said in a statement.
The Latest
LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on March 10-11/2026
Between the Delusions of Ideology and Desperation
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al Awsat/March
10/2026
Once again, Lebanon is being dragged into the heart of a violent regional storm.
After Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel, Israel retaliated with extensive
bombardment targeting villages in the South, the Beqaa, and Beirut’s southern
suburbs, along with a deeper ground incursion into the South. These developments
led the government to take the unprecedented step of condemning the attack as an
assault on the state and its decisions and banning Hezbollah’s military and
security activities. Notably, the Amal Movement, Hezbollah’s partner in the
Shiite duo, did not object to the decision, signaling a strong shift in the
domestic political balance of power. For its part, the American administration
informed Lebanon that the ceasefire agreement concluded after the “support and
distraction war” had become null and void and that Washington was no longer
prepared to provide military support to the Lebanese Army before armament is
monopolized by the state.These developments open the door to a question that can
no longer be postponed: if the ceasefire agreement was concluded between Israel
and a non-state actor, with the Lebanese playing the role of an intermediary
through Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, does the new reality not demand a
different framework- an agreement between Israel and the Lebanese state itself?
Such an arrangement would amount to an updated armistice agreement and rest on a
clear principle: withdrawing Lebanon from the military conflict with Israel and
bringing a definitive halt to cross-border hostilities. This proposal does not
imply that Lebanon change its position on the conflict; rather, it would mean
that the state is retrieving its sovereignty after decades of erosion.
This debate is grounded in realism and past experience. Repeated wars have shown
that Lebanon pays costs far beyond its capacity, while lacking the means to
influence the course of the conflict, thus becoming more a battlefield than a
decision-making party. For that reason, a reformulated armistice with
international guarantees is not presented as a leap toward a grand settlement or
final peace. It is a choice grounded in the management of national risks:
reducing existential costs and protecting domestic stability. Small states do
not choose between war and peace; they seek bulwarks against collapse, and
several Arab states have taken this approach after decades of confrontation.
This approach also has historical legitimacy, as the 1949 armistice agreement
did not amount to surrender. It was a sovereign choice aimed at protecting the
nascent state. Today, Lebanon may be facing a similar moment. It needs political
courage to adopt a rational option that protects society and the economy,
without departing from the broader Arab consensus or retreating from the
Palestinian cause, especially since wars have brought no real progress but
instead weakened its institutions and deepened its divisions. By contrast,
Lebanon’s stability could make it possible to support Palestinian rights through
more effective political and diplomatic means.
This same realism demands the pursuit of a diplomatic track outside the
conventional framework: direct talks under a comprehensive international
umbrella that restores Lebanon’s international legitimacy. This would allow
Lebanon to redefine its regional role, allowing it to go from a country that
faces sanctions and pressures to a partner in regional stability. Such a path
would have to be underpinned by steps to reaffirm the state’s authority over
decisions of war and peace, with stability in the South linked to a plan for
economic recovery capable of encouraging support and investment, and securing
sustainable Arab and international guarantees. It would also require shifting
Lebanese discourse away from the binary of resistance or surrender toward the
concept of effective sovereignty, whereby the state is responsible for
protecting society and preventing its territory from being turned into a
battlefield for others’ conflicts.
This proposal also corresponds with recent regional transformations that suggest
a profound shift in the structure of the conflict with Israel. Earlier
agreements led to the military, political, and popular decline of non-state
actors following the high costs of the Gaza and Lebanon wars. There is a growing
conviction that militancy is not effective, culminating in the Arab–Islamic
declaration in New York and Sharm el-Sheikh efforts to pave a path of peace.
This shift is further reinforced by developments in Syria. Since the fall of the
Assad regime, Damascus has been seeking stability, reconstruction, and economic
openness instead of ideological manipulation and conflict. The repercussions of
the war on Iran, including the assassination of the Supreme Leader which shook
the regime, have also had direct implications for Lebanon, creating a strategic
environment fundamentally different from that of the past few decades. Lebanon
must now genuinely engage with the United States and friendly Arab states to
convince Israel to meet Lebanon halfway. They must ask Israel a decisive
question: does it truly want a sustainable regional peace, or does it prefer to
manage the conflict without ending it?
Ultimately, the issue is more than a technical agreement. This is a test of
Lebanon’s determination to become a state seeking stability, development, and a
role in the new regional order, perhaps to become a center for dialogue between
rivals. Historical junctures do not come around often, and we have a rare
opportunity today.
UN and EU Condemn the Strike, Not
the Regime: Double Standards, Selective Outrage
Pierre Rehov/Gatestone
Institute/March 10/2026
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22324/un-eu-condemn-strike-not-regime
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement... with the
formulation that has become the UN's signature posture in moments of crisis:
"The use of force by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the
subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace
and security."
The UN Security Council convened an emergency session. Russia and China
denounced the operation as a violation of Iranian sovereignty. Several European
governments echoed concerns about precedent and pressed for an immediate
cessation of hostilities and a return to talk, talk, talk.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom... quickly moved to place distance
between themselves and the military operation... "We call for a resumption of
negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution."
These reactions -- never spontaneous improvisations -- reflect a dismissive
European posture that has been consistent for years: a preference for managed
"containment" over the inconvenience of actually having to address a problem
head-on, and for diplomatic processes over taking decisive outcomes.
The only goal, apparently, was "stability" -- no matter how morally flatulent --
but evidently preferable to actually having to do anything apart from lecturing
everyone.
The UN Human Rights Council has devoted more agenda items to maligning Israeli
policies than to the far worse abuses in authoritarian states. Usually, in
crises from Syria's civil war to Iran's crackdowns on dissidents, UN language is
diluted through negotiated compromise and voting-bloc discipline.
Abroad, terrorism has been used as a tool of coercion -- too often with the
affected nations permitting success.
Domestic political considerations — including the management of migration flows
and relations with Arab states — have further complicated open endorsement of
decisive military action.
These moral gymnastics are not unprecedented. During the Cold War, debates at
the UN reflected blocs more than principles. Authoritarian regimes benefited
from solidarities rooted in ideology, transactional alliances, or sheer voting
arithmetic.
Coalitions within the UN General Assembly, including states with limited or no
democratic credentials, shape the tone and content of resolutions. Within that
environment, Israel has long been a focal target of attack, a convenient proxy
through which regimes and blocs rehearse moral posturing while deflecting
attention from the abuses they inflict at home.
European diplomacy has often equated stability with the absence of open war,
even if that equilibrium rests on coercion, intimidation, and the slow
metastasis of threat.
For those invested in negotiated containment, the US-Israeli response appears
destabilizing. For others, it represents the removal of a huge source of
instability — the elimination of a regime whose worldview treats conflict not as
a failure of policy but as the essence of policy. The divergence reflects
differing premises about how order should be maintained and what price is
acceptable for maintaining it.
Whether Europe and the UN will reinterpret this moment as a correction of what
needs to be done to a destabilizing presence, or whether they persist in framing
malignancy primarily as a procedural violation, remains uncertain. What is
already visible is that the reflex of "caution" — so immediate, so uniform, so
instinctive — has exposed the enduring tension between legal niceties and the
urgent need to act.
The UN faces renewed scrutiny over the consistency of its posture toward
authoritarian regimes versus democratic states. The decapitation of Iran's
theocratic leadership is not merely a regional episode; it is a stress test for
multilateral institutions that have often confused procedural language with
strategic seriousness.
Over the course of 48 hours, the strategic architecture of the Middle East
shifted with a speed few could have anticipated. A coordinated Israeli-American
operation, prepared in secrecy and executed with surgical exactitude, began by
striking key command nodes of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including senior
leadership figures, nuclear enrichment infrastructure and long-range missile
facilities — and culminated in eliminating Iran's Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei.
The operation was framed as a decisive effort to end a system whose doctrine
rests on the permanent destabilization of its neighbors and nearly half a
century of arresting, torturing and murdering tens of thousands of its own
citizens. Tehran's response has followed in waves. Ballistic missiles and drones
have been launched not only at Israel, but at regional states hosting American
assets — including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — confirming that the
confrontation was never confined to a bilateral dispute.
Iranian officials and military commanders had warned that American bases across
the region would be treated as military targets, language that broadened the
theater from a localized clash to a confrontation with the Western security
presence as such.
Against this backdrop, the reactions from European capitals and from the United
Nations were swift — and revealing. Within hours, United Nations
Secretary-General António Guterres, issued a statement whose opening line set
the tone: "I condemn today's military escalation in the Middle East." He
continued with the formulation that has become the UN's signature posture in
moments of crisis:
"The use of force by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the
subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace
and security." The statement concluded with the point that allows the
organization to appear principled while remaining inert: "All Member States must
respect their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the
United Nations."
The language was calibrated, procedural, formulaic. What it avoided was any
sustained engagement with the ideological zealotry of the regime, or with the
decades of destabilizing conduct that had preceded the strikes. The UN Security
Council convened an emergency session. Russia and China denounced the operation
as a violation of Iranian sovereignty. Several European governments echoed
concerns about precedent and pressed for an immediate cessation of hostilities
and a return to talk, talk, talk.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom, while condemning Tehran's attacks on
neighboring states, quickly moved to place distance between themselves and the
military operation. Their joint statement used a phrase that expresses Europe's
enduring instinct: "We call for a resumption of negotiations and urge the
Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution."
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking publicly and on social media,
intoned:
"The current escalation is dangerous for everyone. It must stop... The Iranian
regime must understand that it now has no other option but to engage in
good-faith negotiations to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as
well as its actions to destabilize the region."
The British and German positions followed the same patronizing platitudes:
insistence that they were not participants in the strike, condemnation of Iran's
retaliatory salvos across the Gulf, and an immediate pivot back to negotiation
as the legitimizing grammar of European diplomacy. On X, the cadence was
consistent across ministers and ministries: defense of "international law," fear
of regional spillover, and repeated emphasis on safeguarding civilians and
maritime corridors.
These reactions -- never spontaneous improvisations -- reflect a dismissive
European posture that has been consistent for years: a preference for managed
"containment" over the inconvenience of actually having to address a problem
head-on, and for diplomatic processes over taking decisive outcomes. The
European Union's institutional voice crystallized in the official statement by
its foreign policy representative, Kaja Kallas, which should be read as an
explicit, doctrinal template:
"We call for maximum restraint, protection of civilians and full respect of
international law, including the principles of the United Nations Charter, and
international humanitarian law."
The statement then shifted to regional blame allocation -- in unusually direct
language for Brussels: "Iran's attacks and violation of sovereignty of a number
of countries in the region are inexcusable. Iran must refrain from
indiscriminate military strikes." The same document then reaffirmed the EU's
deepest instinct — to privilege "diplomacy" as the preferred policy:
"The European Union will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to
reduce tensions and to bring about a lasting solution to prevent Iran from
acquiring a nuclear weapon."
Even as Iranian missiles and drones targeted states hosting NATO forces,
European institutions stressed concerns about the disruption of energy markets
and the safety of maritime routes — and warned that "the disruption of critical
waterways, like the Strait of Hormuz, must be avoided." The only goal,
apparently, was "stability" -- no matter how morally flatulent -- but evidently
preferable to actually having to do anything apart from lecturing everyone.
The UN's institutional reflex seems to follow an established pattern. For
decades, UN General Assembly resolutions have disproportionately targeted
Israel, often in numbers that dwarf condemnations of far more venomous regimes.
The UN Human Rights Council has devoted more agenda items to maligning Israeli
policies than to the far worse abuses in authoritarian states. Usually, in
crises from Syria's civil war to Iran's crackdowns on dissidents, UN language is
diluted through negotiated compromise and voting-bloc discipline. The present
crisis unfolded within that same architecture: the immediate emphasis from UN
podiums was to advocate containing escalation and restoring "international peace
and security," even when the subject at hand was the need to dismantle a regime
that defined itself through perpetual confrontation with the West.
The Islamic Republic of Iran's record is neither ambiguous nor marginal. Since
the 1979 Islamic Revolution, its leadership has articulated a venomous
ideological hostility toward Western liberalism and democracy by portraying them
as decadent and spiritually corrosive — not merely as competitors, but as
enemies of the revolutionary project. Under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, this
worldview hardened into a state doctrine: "exporting the revolution,"
sacralizing "resistance," and normalizing proxy warfare.
Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, militias in Iraq, and
the Houthis in Yemen have not been peripheral instruments but pillars of a
regional strategy designed to encircle Israel, bleed American influence, and
fracture sovereign states through permanent low-intensity conflict.
At home, repressing women, persecuting minorities, and crushing dissent are not
episodic excesses; they are mechanisms of regime survival. Abroad, terrorism has
been used as a tool of coercion -- too often with the affected nations
permitting success. Iran's nuclear weapons program advanced under the cover of
perpetual negotiations, while its ballistic missile development and production
proceeded in parallel. The regime's hostility was embedded in doctrine.
Yet European statements rarely invoke Iran's record with any moral clarity.
Instead, they emphasize fears of precedent — the risk that regime change through
force might normalize unilateral intervention. The concern is not trivial, but
it becomes analytically incomplete when divorced from context. For decades, Iran
has eroded the very norms now cited in its defense: proxies have crossed borders
as policy; ballistic missiles have threatened multiple countries; nuclear
ambitions challenge the non-proliferation order; hostage diplomacy and
extraterritorial intimidation became routine. The insistence on procedural
etiquette in the moment of crisis reveals Europe's long investment in managing,
rather than resolving, the threat from Iran.
Economic interdependence is not incidental. Several European states have
maintained commercial ties with Iran even under sanctions regimes. Unworkable
strategies for energy diversification intensified Europe's anxiety about Gulf
stability.
Domestic political considerations — including the management of migration flows
and relations with Arab states — have further complicated open endorsement of
decisive military action. The result is a posture of distance from Washington's
and Jerusalem's operation, emphasizing autonomy while avoiding direct
confrontation — and returning, almost automatically, to the language of
negotiation as the moral alibi of strategic caution.
At the UN, the broader geopolitical alignment was equally telling. Russia
condemned the strikes in the most categorical terms, aligning rhetorically with
Iran. China issued familiar calls for sovereignty and restraint, seeking to
preserve a posture of order while benefiting from being off the West's radar for
a bit. Within this constellation, European representatives positioned themselves
as guardians of multilateralism. The cumulative effect is a chorus of caution
directed more forcefully at the actors who are dismantling Iran's regime --
Israel and the US -- rather than at the regime's long record of destabilization
— a pattern that has become so normalized that it is often mistaken for moral
sophistication.
These moral gymnastics are not unprecedented. During the Cold War, debates at
the UN reflected blocs more than principles. Authoritarian regimes benefited
from solidarities rooted in ideology, transactional alliances, or sheer voting
arithmetic. The contemporary landscape differs in form but not entirely in
substance. Coalitions within the UN General Assembly, including states with
limited or no democratic credentials, shape the tone and content of resolutions.
Within that environment, Israel has long been a focal target of attack, a
convenient proxy through which regimes and blocs rehearse moral posturing while
deflecting attention from the abuses they inflict at home.
The deeper analytical question concerns the concept of "stability." European
diplomacy has often equated stability with the absence of open war, even if that
equilibrium rests on coercion, intimidation, and the slow metastasis of threat.
The Israeli-American operation in Iran has shattered that equilibrium. For those
invested in negotiated containment, the US-Israeli response appears
destabilizing. For others, it represents the removal of a huge source of
instability — the elimination of a regime whose worldview treats conflict not as
a failure of policy but as the essence of policy. The divergence reflects
differing premises about how order should be maintained and what price is
acceptable for maintaining it.
European governments are probably now recalibrating policies shaped by decades
of appeasing Iran. The UN faces renewed scrutiny over the consistency of its
posture toward authoritarian regimes versus democratic states. The decapitation
of Iran's theocratic leadership is not merely a regional episode; it is a stress
test for multilateral institutions that have often confused procedural language
with strategic seriousness.
Whether Europe and the UN will reinterpret this moment as a correction of what
needs to be done to a destabilizing presence, or whether they persist in framing
malignancy primarily as a procedural violation, remains uncertain. What is
already visible is that the reflex of "caution" — so immediate, so uniform, so
instinctive — has exposed the enduring tension between legal niceties and the
urgent need to act.
**Pierre Rehov, who holds a law degree from Paris-Assas, is a French reporter,
novelist and documentary filmmaker. He is the author of six novels, including
"Beyond Red Lines", "The Third Testament" and "Red Eden", translated from
French. His latest essay on the aftermath of the October 7 massacre " 7 octobre
- La riposte " became a bestseller in France. As a filmmaker, he has produced
and directed 17 documentaries, many photographed at high risk in Middle Eastern
war zones, and focusing on terrorism, media bias, and the persecution of
Christians. His latest documentary, "Pogrom(s)" highlights the context of
ancient Jew hatred within Muslim civilization as the main force behind the
October 7 massacre.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
X Platform Selected twittes for
March 10/2026
Tom Harb
https://x.com/i/status/2031318571477795107
Senator Lindsey Graham: Replace General Rodolphe Haykal—NO TRUST in the Lebanese
Army leadership! @LebarmyOfficial @LBpresidency
AmericanLebanon
Hezbollah is killing Christians in #Lebanon!
Today they murdered a priest in southern Lebanon.
These Iranian killers hide in Christian villages. They use our people as shields
in their war. Then they blame Israel when innocent Christians die — including
priests.
This is not freedom fighting. This is evil.
This is trying to wipe out Christians from Lebanon forever.
Enough is enough! Hezbollah must be destroyed and thrown out of our country NOW.
No more silence. The blood of our priests and families is on their hands.
Lebanese Christians demand justice. Stop the Iranian terrorists from destroying
our home!
Death to the terrorist organization Hizbullhah!