English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News
& Editorials
For May 09/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed meto bring good news to the poor
Luke 04/14-21: “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit,
returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding
country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When
he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on
the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place
where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed meto bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it
back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed
on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled
in your hearing.’”
Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on
08-09 May/2026
May 07, 2008 Barbaric Invasion of Beirut & Mount Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/May
07/2026
May 6 Martyrs' Day: Assassinating Memory to Flatter the New Ottoman-Erdoganist
"Sublime Porte"/Elias Bejjani/May 06/ 2026
Rubio says U.S. won't negotiate with Hezbollah but with Lebanese state
What will new Lebanon-Israel talks discuss?
US says Lebanon-Israel talks to seek 'comprehensive peace and security
agreement'
Aoun: Lebanon insists on ceasefire to end volatile situation in south
EU official calls for Hezbollah 'to cease attacks and be disarmed'
Israeli strikes kill 5 in south Lebanon including women, paramedic
Civil defense rescuer killed in Israeli strike on Rashaya-Kfarshouba road
Sirens sound in northern Israel after shelling from Lebanon
EU reaffirms strong humanitarian commitment to Lebanon as official visits Beirut
UNRWA shelters and assists displaced as hostilities persist despite truce
Recent US-Iran violence threatens Lebanon's shaky ceasefire
More than half of Lebanon population depends on aid: EU official
Lebanese President Meets Delegation Chief ahead of Direct Israel Talks
Hezbollah Says Launched Missiles at Military Base in North Israel
US Aims to Consolidate Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Before Negotiations
Who Are the Radwan Commanders Israel Has Killed in Lebanon?
Beirut's Tents/Samir Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
Hezbollah' and the Monopoly on Narrative/Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
Lebanon and the Regional Settlement: Two Decisive Tests/Nabil Bou Monsef/An-Nahar/May
08/2026
The Final Lebanon War?/David Daoud & Jonathan Schanzer/The Dispatch/May 08/2026
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published
on
08-09 May/2026
Adviser to Iran Supreme Leader Compares
Control of Hormuz to ‘Atomic Bomb’
Rubio says US expecting Iran response Friday
Rubio urges Europeans to share the Iran burden
US and Iran trade fire, threatening fragile truce
Trump says ceasefire still holds after fighting between the US and Iran flares
Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire
US VP Vance meeting with Qatar PM to discuss Iran, source says
US military says it carries out retaliatory strikes against Iran
Suspected oil spill seen on satellite images near Iran’s Kharg Island export hub
UAE says responding to missiles, drone attacks from Iran
US fire on Iran tankers sparks reprisals as deal hangs in balance
Iraq denies US claims deputy oil minister helped Iran evade sanctions
US Fires on and Disables 2 More Iranian Tankers as Tensions Rise in Strait of
Hormuz
Rubio Urges Europeans to Share the Iran Burden
Saudi Source to Asharq Al-Awsat: Kingdom Did Not Allow Use of Its Airspace for
Offensive Military Operations
New Gaza Police Force Faces Uncertainty over Composition, Representation
Syria Says Arrested Assad-Era General Over Chemical Attack
Three-Member Committee Negotiates With Washington on Disarming Iraqi Factions
Titles For The Latest
English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on
08-09 May/2026
Europe's 'Global Alliance' Is
Not Peace, It Is Dispossession by Another Name/Avner Amichai/Gatestone
Institute/May 08/2026
Winning the Iran War — Whether Washington Knows It or Not/Mark Dubowitz/ The
Iran Breakdown/May 08/2026
Palestinian ‘pay to slay’ shows why Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza is
needed/Natalie Ecanow/Washington Examiner/May 08/2026
Syria’s Accommodation of Foreign Jihadists Backfires/Ahmad Sharawi/FDD-Policy
Brief/May 08/2026
Iran’s War in Iraq Reveals Militias’ Expanding Grip/Baghdad, London: Ali
Saray/Asharq Al-Awsat/8 May 2026
Iran War: Cup Moving Toward the Lip?/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
What to expect when you’re expecting peace/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya English/08
May ,2026
President Trump’s state visit to China: When elephants dance/Cornelia Meyer/Al
Arabiya English/08 May ,2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets for May 08/2026
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published
on
08-09 May/2026
May 07, 2008 Barbaric Invasion of Beirut &
Mount Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/May 07/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/05/118016/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WOToQkmfMU&t=81s
May 7, 2008, is forever etched in
Lebanon’s collective memory as a criminal day of shame—when murderers, invaders,
and mercenary militias serving the Iranian regime launched a barbaric coup
against the Lebanese state, its people, and its sovereignty.
Hezbollah, in collaboration with Amal Movement, the Syrian Social Nationalist
Party (SSNP), and other armed groups loyal to the Syrian-Iranian axis of evil,
invaded the capital Beirut and parts of Mount Lebanon. In this coordinated and
premeditated assault, these militias violated the sanctity of the capital,
terrorized its peaceful civilians, displaced families, looted properties,
tortured innocents, and murdered the defenseless—all under the pretext of
resisting “government decisions” that challenged Hezbollah’s illegal military
communications network.
This day, now known infamously as the "Black 7th of May," marked a turning point
in Lebanon’s modern history—a moment when the mask of so-called "resistance"
fell and exposed the true face of Hezbollah: a terrorist militia acting on
behalf of Tehran to subdue Lebanon through force and intimidation.
Michel Aoun, the political Iscariot of modern Lebanon, opportunistically
justified and later benefited from this criminal invasion. His alliance with
Hezbollah paved his path to the presidency in 2016. During his tenure, Aoun
dismantled the state from within, surrendered its institutions to Hezbollah’s
authority, and contributed to Lebanon’s total collapse—politically,
economically, and morally.
The May 7 invasion was not just a military operation. It was an Iranian-led coup
attempt against the legitimate Lebanese state. It desecrated Beirut’s freedom,
targeted Sunni neighborhoods, occupied media outlets, and left dozens dead. Its
goal: to prove that no Lebanese authority—civil or military—could ever stand
against Hezbollah without paying a deadly price.
To this day, the invasion’s consequences remain: Hezbollah continues to act as
an armed state within a state. Palestinian and Syrian armed elements still
operate freely in their camps. The sovereignty of Lebanon remains hostage to
Tehran's regional ambitions.
Justice Delayed Is Not Justice Denied
This criminal and barbaric invasion must not be forgotten. The
perpetrators—local and foreign—must one day be brought to justice. The Lebanese
people, especially those in the diaspora, must continue to demand
accountability, justice, and full implementation of international resolutions
that uphold Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty.
As the Prophet Isaiah (33:1) warned:
“Woe to you, O destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, O
traitor, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be
destroyed; when you cease betraying, you will be betrayed.”
What Must Be Done.
To ensure May 7 is never repeated, the following urgent measures must be taken:
Full disarmament of Hezbollah and all other Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian
militias operating illegally within Lebanon.
Reclaiming all territories currently run as militia-controlled “mini-states,”
including Hezbollah’s southern stronghold and armed Palestinian camps.
Immediate implementation of all relevant UN Security Council
resolutions—particularly:
Resolution 1559 (2004): Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese
and non-Lebanese militias.
Resolution 1701 (2006): Demands the cessation of hostilities and prohibits the
presence of any armed forces in South Lebanon other than the Lebanese Army and
UNIFIL.
Resolution 1680 (2006): Urges Lebanon and Syria to delineate their border and
establish full diplomatic relations.
The 1949 Armistice Agreement with Israel: Must be revived and fully enforced to
restore border stability and end militia cross-border provocations.
Declare Lebanon a failed state under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, enabling
international intervention to restore state authority and protect civilians.
Empower UNIFIL with an expanded mandate to enforce disarmament and
administrative restoration across all Lebanese territories—not only the South.
A Call to Action
All free and patriotic Lebanese—at home and abroad—must unite to rescue their
homeland from occupation, collapse, and sectarian tyranny. We must raise our
voices at the United Nations, in international forums, and in the global media
to demand an end to Hezbollah’s armed rule and the restoration of Lebanese
sovereignty.
May Almighty God protect Lebanon and its people, and may justice prevail.
May 6 Martyrs' Day: Assassinating Memory
to Flatter the New Ottoman-Erdoganist "Sublime Porte"
Elias Bejjani/May 06/ 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/05/154243/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKvtNSaJ2c0&t=2s
On the day the gallows were erected
in Beirut’s Martyrs' Square (Place des Canons) and Damascus’s Marjeh Square,
over 120 writers, intellectuals, and free freedom fighters were executed in two
waves. They were the defiant voices against 400 years of Ottoman occupation. By
order of the butcher, Jamal Pasha, these executions in Beirut and Damascus were
synchronized to silence the spirit of resistance. In Lebanon, this commemoration
was abolished during the government of Prime Minister Siniora. Today, in Syria,
under the transitional president, it has also been scrapped. Erasing Lebanon’s
memory is an integral part of obliterating its identity, history, civilization,
and the rights of its diverse peoples. The same applies to the diverse social
fabric of Syria.
May 6: When Memory is Assassinated for Political Sycophancy
As May 6, 2026, passes—burdened by the 110-year-old wounds of the gallows set by
Jamal Pasha—we face a surreal scene that transcends physical execution to the
moral genocide of historical memory. What we are witnessing in Lebanon and Syria
today is not a mere "calendar adjustment," but a systematic forgery of history.
It aims to wipe away the blood of free martyrs with the rag of "political
flattery" toward rising Turkish influence and its Muslim Brotherhood tools.
The Lebanese Forgery: From "Martyrs' Day" to "Press Day"
The conspiracy against memory in Lebanon began under the Siniora government,
where the sanctity of this day was bypassed. It was downgraded from a "Day for
Martyrs" who confronted four centuries of loathsome Ottoman occupation to a mere
"Press Martyrs' Day." This distortion was no accident; it was a stab in the back
of Lebanese identity and blatant sycophancy toward the Turkish-Brotherhood and
Arafatist-Arabist axis. Limiting the commemoration to the press is an attempt to
belittle the struggle of an entire nation and a deliberate oversight of the fact
that those hanged were poets, thinkers, and national leaders whose only crime
was demanding dignity in the face of the "Sick Man of Europe."
Syria: Falling into the Trap of "Erdoganist Flattery"
The scene in Syria is no different. With Ahmed al-Sharaa’s rise to power, we see
a repetition of the Lebanese scenario through the abolition of the holiday. This
move confirms that the political decision in Damascus has become a hostage to
Turkish influence. The Syrian people are being forced to forget the atrocities
of Jamal Pasha so as not to disturb the relations with Ankara's new "Sultan,"
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Pillars of the Historical Crime
The Erasure of Identity: Abolishing Martyrs' Day is part of a broader scheme to
erase the civilizational and pluralistic identity of Lebanon and Syria,
replacing it with a subservient identity revolving around a "Neo-Caliphate."
Falsification of Facts: In 1916, gallows were set for over 120 free activists.
Transforming this supreme sacrifice into a single professional category (the
press) is a forgery of history, which documents that their martyrdom was a
comprehensive cry for national independence.
Political Dependency: The abolition of this day in both countries proves that
successive governments prefer pleasing foreign powers over remaining loyal to
the blood of those who paved the way for independence.
A Cry for Historical Justice
Today, on the 110th anniversary (1916–2026), we demand:
Restoring May 6 as a comprehensive national holiday for all martyrs of freedom
executed by the Ottoman occupation, not a restricted "professional day."Designating a separate day for Press Martyrs to honor their role without
compromising the greater national memory.
Rejecting all forms of flattery toward Turkish influence or Brotherhood
ideologies that attempt to whitewash the history of Ottoman crimes in our lands.
In summary, A nation that forgets its martyrs is a nation without a future.
Those who erase the memory of Martyrs' Square and Marjeh Square are merely
paving the way for new gallows of dependency and subjugation."
May 6, 2026: Our squares will remain witnesses, and "Jamal Pasha" will remain a
criminal in the records of history, no matter how hard the sycophants try to
bleach his record.
The Stages of the Crime: Abolishing Martyrs’ Day to Maliciously Alter Collective
Memory and Erase the Legacy of Resistance Against Ottoman Occupation.
Martyrs' Day (May 6) has undergone several amendments in the official Lebanese
calendar, most notably during the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora:
Date of Abolition: Martyrs' Day was abolished as a public holiday and a unifying
national day in 2005, during the term of President Emile Lahoud and the first
government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
The Substitution: The official symbolism of this day was shifted from "Martyrs'
Day"—which commemorates the patriots executed by Jamal Pasha in 1916—to "Press
Martyrs' Day." Consequently, the observance became restricted to the Press and
Editors’ Syndicates, with work only halting in newspapers, rather than remaining
a comprehensive national holiday for the entire state.
Historical Background: May 6 had been an official holiday since its inception but was first abolished
in 1977 during the Lebanese Civil War. It was reinstated as an official national holiday in 1994.The Siniora government’s 2005 decision revoked its "public holiday" status once
again, confining it to a professional syndicate framework under the title of
"Press Martyrs."This calculated move aims to distort the collective memory associated with the
struggle against Ottoman occupation by narrowing its scope to a specific
professional group.
Rubio says U.S. won't negotiate with Hezbollah but with Lebanese
state
Naharnet/08 May ,2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed Hezbollah Friday for the situation in
Lebanon, accusing the group of being fully dependent on Iranian support. "The
reason why Lebanon faces bombings, the reason why Lebanon faces violence, is
because of Hezbollah. It is Hezbollah that’s imposing this on them," Rubio told
reporters during a visit to Rome. He said the goal was "a strong Lebanese
government that doesn’t have an armed Hezbollah operating within its national
territory imposing a threat to any of its neighbors," adding that Italy could
assist "in cutting off the illicit financing that supports Hezbollah and the
danger they pose." "Hezbollah wouldn’t exist without Iran’s support," Rubio
said, adding that he thinks the group has been weakened, but "is still capable
of inflicting damage and doing terroristic activities, as we’ve seen".
Rubio said the U.S. won't negotiate with Hezbollah nor with Iran over Hezbollah,
but with the Lebanese state.
What will new Lebanon-Israel talks discuss?
Naharnet/08 May ,2026
Lebanon and Israel will hold a third round of direct talks in Washington on
Thursday and Friday next week. "Thursday's discussions will focus solely on
consolidating the ceasefire, while Friday's discussions will move to other
issues related to Israeli withdrawal, the return of captives, the return of
displaced persons, and other details," MTV reported. "President Joseph Aoun is
making exceptional efforts and intensive contacts to solidify the ceasefire
before Thursday, in order to ensure a comfortable atmosphere for the negotiating
delegation and the Lebanese interior," MTV said. Ambassador Simon Karam, who
will lead the Lebanese delegation this time, will leave Lebanon Saturday for
Washington, MTV added. Aoun later met with Karam and gave him instructions prior
to his travel to the U.S., the Presidency said. Israel's public broadcaster
meanwhile reported that Washington is "pushing to prevent a renewal of fighting
amid a move to involve Lebanese and Israeli military personnel in negotiations
to extend the truce next week."
US says Lebanon-Israel talks to seek 'comprehensive peace
and security agreement'
Naharnet/08 May ,2026
The United States will facilitate two days of "intensive talks" between the
governments of Israel and Lebanon on May 14 and 15, the U.S. State Department
said on Friday
"Building on the April 23 round, which was led personally by (U.S.) President
(Donald) Trump, both delegations will engage in detailed discussions aimed at
advancing a comprehensive peace and security agreement that substantively
addresses the core concerns of both countries," the Dept. said in a statement.
It added that "these talks aim to break decisively from the failed approach of
the past two decades, which allowed terrorist groups to entrench and enrich
themselves, undermine the authority of the Lebanese state, and endanger Israel’s
northern border."
"Discussions will build a framework for lasting peace and security arrangements,
the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty throughout its territory, the
delineation of borders, and creating concrete pathways for humanitarian relief
and reconstruction in Lebanon," the statement said.
It added that both sides have committed to approaching these talks with "their
national interests in mind," and that the United States will "work to reconcile
those interests in a manner that delivers lasting security for Israel, and
sovereignty and reconstruction for Lebanon.""The United States welcomes the
commitment of both governments to this process and recognizes that comprehensive
peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the
complete disarmament of Hezbollah," the statement said. It added that "these
discussions represent another important step toward ending decades of conflict
and establishing a lasting peace between the two countries." "The United States
will continue to support both countries as they seek to reach a breakthrough,"
the State Department said.
Aoun: Lebanon insists on ceasefire to end volatile
situation in south
Naharnet/08 May ,2026
President Joseph Aoun on Friday told European Commissioner for Equality,
Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, that "the support provided by
the EU to Lebanon must be channeled into exerting pressure to compel Israel to
cease fire and refrain from demolishing and bulldozing homes in the villages it
occupies in the south, as well as from targeting paramedics, journalists and
civil defense personnel." "Lebanon insists on ceasing fire and all military
actions in order to launch negotiations that would end the current volatile
situation in the south, paving the way for the redeployment of the army to the
international border, the release of Lebanese prisoners, and the return of
displaced persons to their towns and villages," Aoun said. He noted that the
heavy human losses resulting from the Israeli attacks on Lebanon have increased
the need for aid to displaced persons daily. "Therefore, Lebanon appeals to its
sisterly and friendly nations to provide urgent humanitarian and development
assistance," the president urged. He also said that "the Lebanese are united in
the face of the current challenges, holding fast to their unity and standing
together against any attempt to sow discord among them."
EU official calls for Hezbollah 'to cease attacks and be
disarmed'
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
More than half of Lebanon's population depends on humanitarian aid, a European
Union official said on Friday, as Israel continues its attacks on the country
despite a ceasefire in the two-month-long war. "At present, more than three
million people, meaning more than half of the population here in Lebanon, depend
on humanitarian aid to survive," EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib told
reporters after meeting President Joseph Aoun in Beirut. Lahbib said that since
the start of the war on March 2 the 27-member bloc has provided 100 million
euros in aid and sent six planes carrying humanitarian aid, with a seventh
expected on Saturday. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700
people and displaced over one million since early March, according to
authorities. The U.N. launched an emergency appeal in March for $308 million in
humanitarian aid for Lebanon, but in two months it has raised just $126 million,
according to UN agencies. Lahbib, who said that the ceasefire has opened "a
narrow window of hope", called for Hezbollah "to cease its attacks and be
disarmed" and said that "Israel must put an end to its bombardments". "For a
ceasefire to lead to peace, courage is needed -- political courage to address
the root causes of this conflict." Lahbib told reporters that Israel and
Hezbollah are taking Lebanon "hostage." Israel and Lebanon are set to hold a
third round of talks in Washington next week to end the war, despite Hezbollah's
opposition to direct negotiations.
Israeli strikes kill 5 in south Lebanon including women,
paramedic
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
An Israeli strike on Friday killed four people including two women in the
southern Lebanon town of Toura, the health ministry said, as state media and AFP
correspondents reported Israel was conducting widespread strikes. The Health
Ministry in Lebanon said that an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of
Toura near the port city of Tyre killed four people and wounded eight.
Despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, fighting has not
stopped in south Lebanon, where an Israeli strike killed a civil defense rescuer
earlier in the day.
Israeli strikes targeted Deir Ntar, al-Mansouri, Yohmor Shqif, Jmayjmeh, Zawtar,
Sultanieh, Harees, Deir Qanoun, Shaitiyeh, Aitit, Deir Ames, Nmairieh, Bouyout
al-Siyyed, Siddiqine, Houmine, Arab al-Jal and other villages and towns in south
Lebanon. The strikes came hours after the Israeli army's Arabic-language
spokesperson issued an evacuation warning to the residents of six villages in
Tyre province, including Toura. Hezbollah for its part targeted Israeli troops
and equipment in al-Bayyada, al-Khiam, Deir Seryan with attack drones, guided
missiles, and artillery shells. In the early afternoon, Hezbollah fired a salvo
of rockets toward northern Israel. The Israeli military said it shot down one
rocket while the rest fell in open areas without inflicting casualties.
The latest exchange between Israel and Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire
that has been in place since April 17, came two days after the first Israeli
airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs since the ceasefire went into effect. The
Israeli military said Thursday it had killed Ahmed Balout, who it identified as
a commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, along with two other militants.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. Israel says it has killed more
than 85 Hezbollah militants and struck 180 sites used by the group in the past
week, without providing evidence. On Friday, President Joseph Aoun told a
visiting delegation from the European Union that European countries should
pressure Israel to commit to the ceasefire and abstain from "detonating and
bulldozing " homes in villages under Israeli occupation.
Aoun added in comments released by his office that Lebanon is committed
to the ceasefire in order to start negotiations that will end the current
conditions. Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, told reporters
after the meeting with Aoun that Israel and Hezbollah are taking Lebanon
"hostage.""Hezbollah should stop its attacks and disarm, and Israel should put
limits to its airstrikes that target and have targeted humanitarian centers,"
Lahbib said.Aoun later met with Simon Karam, the head of the Lebanese delegation
to talks with Israel in Washington. The meeting is expected to be held in
Washington on Thursday and Friday next week. The latest war between Israel and
Hezbollah began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel,
two days after the United States and Israel launched a war on its main backer,
Iran. Israel has since carried out hundreds of airstrikes and launched a ground
invasion of southern Lebanon, capturing dozens of towns and villages along the
border.
Later, Lebanon and Israel held their first direct talks in more than three
decades. The two countries have formally been in a state of war since the
founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
A 10-day ceasefire declared in Washington went into effect on April 17. The
ceasefire was later extended by three weeks.
Civil defense rescuer killed in Israeli strike on
Rashaya-Kfarshouba road
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed a member of the civil defense, the
rescue organization said Friday, a day after another strike killed a rescuer
from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee. In a statement, the
civil defense said their rescuer was killed "as a result of an Israeli strike
that targeted him" on the road between Rashaya and Kfarshouba, despite the truce
in effect. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on
Wednesday it had "verified 152 attacks on healthcare that resulted in 103 deaths
and 241 injuries" in Lebanon since the war began on March 2. The Israeli army
ordered Friday the residents of Nmayriyi, Tayrfelsay, Hallousieh, Hallousieh
al-Fawqa, Abbasieh, Toura and Maarakeh in south Lebanon to evacuate ahead of
imminent strikes. At least 12 people were killed Thursday, including two
children and the paramedic, in a series of Israeli airstrikes. In separate
statements, the ministry of health reported 11 people killed, two of them
children, in strikes on three different villages in the Nabatieh district.
Another strike in Marajayoun district killed the paramedic and wounded another.
On Friday, strikes targeted Deir Aames, Nmayriyi, Bouyout al-Siyyad and
Jmayjmeh, and Israeli artillery shelled al-Mansouri, Majdalzoun and Bouyout
al-Siyyad.
Sirens sound in northern Israel after shelling from Lebanon
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
Air raid sirens sounded in several cities in northern Israel on Friday after
shelling from Lebanon, the Israeli military said, amid a fragile truce with
Hezbollah. After the sirens were activated, "a number of launches were detected
toward Israeli territory," an Israeli military statement said.
"The Israeli Air Force intercepted one launch, and the additional launches fell
in open areas. No injuries were reported," the statement added, without
providing further details.
The rockets activated sirens in Nahariya, Acre and Haifa.
EU reaffirms strong humanitarian commitment to Lebanon as
official visits Beirut
Naharnet/08 May ,2026
Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, is
in Lebanon this Friday and Saturday to welcome the seventh humanitarian flight
landing in Beirut. This Humanitarian Air Bridge will deliver essential health
and shelter items – from the EU's own stock and its partners – to the most
vulnerable, reaffirming the European Union's solidarity with Lebanon and
steadfast humanitarian support to the country. The Commissioner is meeting with
President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Speaker of the Lebanese
Parliament Nabih Berri, as well as humanitarian partners on the ground: United
Nations agencies, local and international humanitarian actors, and women-led
associations. The Commissioner is also visiting EU-funded projects, including
shelters, a reception center for Syrian refugees, a children's hospital, a
Palestinian refugee camp, and heavily affected areas. Since the escalation of
hostilities in Lebanon in March 2026, the EU has mobilized substantial support.
It has provided €100 million in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon in 2026,
bringing total humanitarian assistance to the country to €1 billion since 2011.
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism – which Lebanon has activated, as any country
worldwide can do in times of crisis – has also facilitated the delivery of
critical items from Member States, including Belgium, Germany, France, and
Romania. Finally, the EU and its partners have delivered assistance via six EU
Humanitarian Air Bridge flights to date. The emergency humanitarian aid provided
so far has included food, medical kits, shelter materials, and clothing kits.
Three million people –over half of the Lebanese population– were already in need
of humanitarian assistance before the recent hostilities between Israel and
Hezbollah. Thousands have since been killed or injured, over one million have
been displaced, and nearly one in four are expected to face acute food
insecurity between April and August this year. The EU remains fully in
solidarity with the people in Lebanon and stands ready to deliver more
humanitarian supplies, with additional operations scheduled in the coming weeks.
UNRWA shelters and assists displaced as hostilities persist
despite truce
Naharnet/08 May ,2026
By 4 May, the Ministry of Social Affairs had documented the displacement of over
1.1 million individuals, including 124,231 people in 625 shelters. Active
hostilities continued in several areas in the south of Lebanon, despite the
ceasefire.
Following the three-week extension of the ceasefire announced on 23 April,
gradual returns to Palestine Refugee camps were recorded. However, after renewed
evacuation orders, some movements were halted and new displacements were
observed. Monitoring returns remains challenging due to the fluid nature of
population movements. A community kitchen at UNRWA’s
Siblin shelter has been open since 1 April, in partnership with INITIATE-the
Community Organization for Development and Empowerment, and co-funded by U.N.
Women. The Women’s Programs Association has been operating a kitchen at the
UNRWA Battir shelter since 3 April. In parallel, UNRWA said it is maintaining
operational coordination with other partners including IOM, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP,
NRC, ICRC, COOPI, ACF, Terre des Hommes Italy, Save the Children, DanChurchAid,
Basmeh & Zeitooneh, ANERA, Mousawat, Najdeh, Tadamon, Soufra (Makani), Taawon
(Welfare Association), Nashet, and the Community-Based Rehabilitation
Association (CBRA). Since the start of the emergency,
UNRWA has provided 113,591 medical consultations at UNRWA operational clinics,
including 11,561 for displaced persons and 102,030 for non-displaced persons.
Another 1,896 consultations have been provided at the two UNRWA emergency
shelters. No disease outbreaks in the shelters have
been reported. Hospitalization for conflict-related
injuries is covered by the Ministry of Public Health and the ICRC. The UNRWA
Education Program Emergency Preparedness and Continuity Plan has been in effect
since 10 March, aligned with the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher
Education (MEHE). By 5 May, all 60 UNRWA schools were operational, with 38
offering in-person learning and 22 operating remotely.
Security assessments are ongoing in schools affected by the conflict, which are
currently operating remotely, to check for unexploded ordnance before reopening
in person. Remote learning will continue until security risk management
assessments are finalized and operations can safely resume. Remote learning
focuses on core subjects (numeracy, literacy, sciences), while in-person schools
deliver the full curriculum. UNRWA distributed essential learning materials to
support both remote and in-person education. Guidance for remote teaching and
learning has been developed to support teachers in delivering effective remote
education.
During the reporting period, 14,291 students (7,431 girls and 6,860 boys)
received at least one psychosocial support activity delivered by 40 school
counsellors. Psychosocial support and recreational
activities in the two emergency shelters are provided by Al-Jana in Siblin and
Beit Atfal Assumoud in Battir. During the reporting period, Al-Jana reached 151
children with psychosocial support activities, while Beit Atfal Assumoud
provided psychosocial support activities to 122 children. By 5 May, a total of
483 children had registered in UNRWA’s shelters (219 boys and 264 girls). Since
the onset of the emergency, UNRWA Social Work teams have provided psychosocial
support and awareness raising activities to 1,276 internally displaced persons
(IDPs), including 973 females and 303 males. By 5 May,
529 displaced persons were reached through Explosive Ordnance Risk Education
awareness sessions at Siblin emergency shelter. During the reporting period,
UNRWA’s Social Work teams in Battir and Siblin shelters have provided
psychosocial support, psychosocial first aid, family and individual
interventions, and case management to 1,921 displaced persons (1,285 females and
636 males). These activities aim to reduce community tensions and strengthen
emotional well-being and coping capacities. UNRWA’s
Social Work teams provided awareness raising sessions for 331 displaced persons
on hygiene promotion, child protection, rights and duties within shelters, child
safety, and preventing drug use. Additionally, 114 displaced persons in the
shelters received psychological first aid to address acute psychosocial
distress. UNRWA distributed 205 ready-to-eat kits, 7,678 hot meals, 7,195 cold
meals and 1,850 bread packs through partners, including WFP, Anera, the SHEILD
Association, Basmeh & Zeitooneh, Siblin Municipality, the Women’s Programs
Association, and the local organization Nashet.
Recent US-Iran violence threatens Lebanon's shaky ceasefire
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
Any agreement between the United States and Iran can also help lower tensions in
Lebanon, where a separate truce was under renewed strain after an Israeli strike
on southern Beirut killed a commander from militant group Hezbollah on
Wednesday. But recent violence threatens to unravel the fragile truce in effect
since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. The
U.S. military said Thursday it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets
in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated
the exchange of fire.
Asked in Washington Thursday if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said:
"Yeah, it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I
call that a trifle." Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah
fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and for months of Israeli violations of a ceasefire
reached in November 2024. A U.S. State Department official confirmed Thursday
that new Israel-Lebanon talks would take place on May 14 and 15. It will be the
third meeting in recent months between the two countries, which have technically
been at war for decades and have no diplomatic relations. U.S. Secretary of
State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that a peace deal between the two sides was
"eminently achievable," insisting Hezbollah was the sticking point, rather than
any issue between the two governments. A ceasefire between the two countries,
and including Hezbollah, was extended after the last round of talks in
Washington, but Israel has kept up its strikes on the group, which has claimed
attacks of its own on Israeli forces occupying parts of Lebanon's south.
Lebanon's health ministry reported at least 12 people killed in a series
of Israeli airstrikes on Thursday.
More than half of Lebanon population depends on aid: EU official
AFP/08 May ,2026
More than half of Lebanon’s population depends on humanitarian aid, a European
Union official said on Friday, as Israel continues its attacks on the country
despite a ceasefire in the two-month-long war with militant group Hezbollah. “At
present, more than three million people, meaning more than half of the
population here in Lebanon, depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” EU crisis
management chief Hadja Lahbib told reporters after meeting Lebanese President
Joseph Aoun in Beirut. Lahbib said that since the start of the war on March 2
the 27-member bloc has provided 100 million euros in aid and sent six planes
carrying humanitarian aid, with a seventh expected on Saturday. Israeli strikes
in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people and displaced over one million
since early March, according to authorities. The UN launched an emergency appeal
in March for $308 million in humanitarian aid for Lebanon, but in two months it
has raised just $126 million, according to UN agencies. Lahbib, who said that
the ceasefire has opened “a narrow window of hope,” called for Hezbollah “to
cease its attacks and be disarmed” and said that “Israel must put an end to its
bombardments.” “For a ceasefire to lead to peace, courage is needed – political
courage to address the root causes of this conflict.”Israel and Lebanon are set
to hold a third round of talks in Washington next week to end the war, despite
Hezbollah’s opposition to direct negotiations.
Lebanese President Meets Delegation Chief ahead of Direct Israel
Talks
Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday met with veteran diplomat Simon Karam,
the head of the delegation headed to Washington for planned talks with Israel
next week. Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors had previously met twice in
Washington over the past weeks, in an attempt to end the war that started when
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2. Foreign
Minister Youssef Raggi said in a statement Friday that Lebanon's goals from the
negotiations were "consolidating the ceasefire, securing Israel's withdrawal
from occupied Lebanese territory, and restoring the state's full sovereignty
over its national territory".Despite a truce that has been in place since April
17, Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon, mostly the country's south, and
retained control over border areas. In a statement from the presidency, Aoun
said he and Karam discussed "preparations for the meeting scheduled for next
Thursday in Washington between the Lebanese, American and Israeli delegations".
Aoun provided Karam with "directives outlining Lebanon's firm positions
regarding the negotiations", the statement added. A Lebanese official who
requested anonymity told AFP that Karam "will head to Washington soon" to lead
the Lebanese delegation. The Lebanese ambassador to
the US, the deputy chief of mission and a military representative will also be
part of the delegation, the official added. The ambassador-level meeting on
April 14 was the first of its kind in decades, as the two countries have
officially been at war since 1948. Following the first
round of talks, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire, with a
three-week extension announced after the second round. Trump also said he
expected Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet jointly with
him at the White House "over the next couple of weeks". But Aoun said on Monday
that "we must first reach a security agreement and stop the Israeli attacks on
us before we raise the issue of a meeting between us".US Secretary of State
Marco Rubio, at a news conference on Tuesday, said "there's no problem between
the Lebanese government and the Israeli government" and that Hezbollah was the
issue.
"By and large, I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is eminently
achievable and should be," Rubio said. Hezbollah is strongly opposed to the
direct talks, calling them a "sin" and urging Beirut to withdraw from them.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,700 in Lebanon since March 2, including
dozens since the ceasefire was announced.
Hezbollah Says Launched Missiles at Military Base in North
Israel
Asharq Al Awsat/May 08/2026
Hezbollah launched missiles at a military base in Israel on Friday in response
to Israeli attacks that killed a top commander, while Lebanese authorities
reported five people including a rescuer killed in fresh Israeli strikes. In a
statement, the group said the missiles targeted a base south of the Israeli city
of Nahariya "in response to the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire, the
targeting of Beirut's southern suburbs and the attacks that affected villages
and civilians in southern Lebanon". Air raid sirens had sounded earlier in
several cities in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military. The
military said it "intercepted one launch, and the additional launches fell in
open areas", adding that no injuries were reported. The Lebanese health ministry
meanwhile said in a statement that "the Israeli enemy's raid on the town of
Toura" in the southern Tyre district killed four people, including two women,
and wounded eight others in a preliminary toll. Lebanon's civil defense said
earlier that one of its members was killed in an Israeli attack on the south.
Despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah in place since April 17,
fighting has not stopped in south Lebanon. The terms of the ceasefire announced
by the US state department on April 16 allow Israel to act against "planned,
imminent or ongoing attacks" by Hezbollah. The Israeli military had issued
evacuation warnings for seven southern Lebanese towns, including Toura.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported a series of strikes across the
south on Friday. Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for several attacks on
Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Upcoming talks -
Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday, the first attack on the
Hezbollah stronghold in a month. The Israeli military said it targeted the
commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force. Hezbollah
has not yet announced a commander's death, but a source close to the group
confirmed the killing to AFP the killing of Malek Ballout The latest attacks
came as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, were set to hold
direct negotiations in Washington next week. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met
with delegation chief Simon Karam on Friday ahead of his departure to the US,
giving him "directives outlining Lebanon's firm positions regarding the
negotiations". Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors had previously met twice in
Washington over the past weeks, in an attempt to end the war that started when
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2. Hezbollah is
strongly opposed to the direct talks, calling them a "sin" and urging Beirut to
withdraw from them. Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,750 people in
Lebanon since March 2, including dozens since the ceasefire was announced.
EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib told reporters in Beirut that since the
start of the war on March 2, the 27-member bloc has provided 100 million euros
in aid and sent six planes carrying humanitarian aid, with a seventh expected on
Saturday.
US Aims to Consolidate Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Before Negotiations
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/May 08/2026
A Lebanese official source told Asharq Al-Awsat there were “serious US efforts”
to secure the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel before the launch of direct
negotiations between the two countries under US sponsorship next Thursday. The
source said that if the efforts fail, Lebanon will take part in the meetings but
“will refuse to discuss any further details before the ceasefire is secured.”
The source said President Joseph Aoun was satisfied with the progress of the
negotiation efforts and with Lebanon’s preparations for the talks. The Lebanese
military would be represented in the negotiations by Oliver Hakme, the military
attaché at the Lebanese embassy in Washington, he added.
The source said the negotiations would be “a continuation of the two
rounds of talks held in Naqoura on the Lebanese border, headed by Ambassador
Simon Karam for the Lebanese delegation, with the positive addition of a higher
level of US representation in these negotiations.”The first meeting would focus
on “general discussions, with no specific agenda,” continued the source,
reiterating Lebanon’s position that “there will be no progress on any other
point before the ceasefire is secured.”Aoun was in “full and close” coordination
with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on the negotiations, he added. Aoun was also
satisfied with parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s recent positions on the strength
of his relationship with the president, who agrees with him that any agreement
needs guarantees because Israel is known for breaking its commitments.
Separately, an official statement said Aoun received former ambassador
Simon Karam, the head of the Lebanese delegation to the Lebanese-Israeli
negotiations, and gave him his instructions before he traveled to Washington.
Aoun also received a phone call from British National Security Adviser Jonathan
Powell, during which they discussed the situation in Lebanon and the region in
light of recent developments and continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Aoun
asked Powell to press Israel to abide by the ceasefire and stop demolition and
bulldozing work in the southern villages and towns it occupies. Aoun met with EU
Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib. He
told her that support provided by EU states to Lebanon should be directed toward
pressure to force Israel to abide by the ceasefire, refrain from blowing up and
bulldozing homes in villages in the south, and stop targeting paramedics,
journalists and civil defense workers. Aoun said Lebanon was committed to a
ceasefire and to ending all military action as a starting point for negotiations
that would end the unstable situation in the south, paving the way for the army
to redeploy up to the international border, for Lebanese prisoners to be
released, and for displaced people to return to their towns and villages.
Aoun briefed Lahbib on the large human losses caused by Israeli attacks on
Lebanon, the rise in the number of displaced people to about one million, and
the severe material damage to homes, property and crops. Meanwhile, PM Salam
received Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal. They discussed the situation in
the south, efforts to secure the ceasefire, and the security situation in
Beirut.
Who Are the Radwan Commanders Israel Has Killed in Lebanon?
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
Israel’s announcement that it had killed Ahmad Ghaleb Ballout in a strike
targeting the Haret Hreik area of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday renewed
focus on the series of assassinations targeting commanders of Hezbollah’s Radwan
Force since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
The strikes seem to be a concentrated campaign aimed at weakening the leadership
structure of the group’s elite unit. Since the early months of the
confrontation, the Radwan Force has become a primary target of Israeli strikes,
both in south Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, as Israel pursued field and
military commanders responsible for offensive operations and oversight of drone,
assault and combined operations units. Israeli army spokeswoman Ella Waweya said
the military “carried out a strike on Wednesday and eliminated Ahmad Ghaleb
Ballout, a commander in the Radwan Force, Hezbollah’s elite commando unit, in
Beirut’s southern suburbs.”According to the Israeli account, Ballout held
several positions within the Radwan Force over the years, most notably
operations commander, where he was responsible for the unit’s “combat readiness
and mobilization against the Israeli army.” Waweya said Ballout also played a
role in “efforts to restore the capabilities of the Radwan Force,” particularly
what Israel refers to as the “plan to occupy the Galilee,” long viewed by
Israel’s military establishment as one of the main threats posed by Hezbollah’s
elite unit. Over recent months, details have gradually emerged about commanders
who played central roles within the force before becoming direct targets in the
ongoing assassination campaign.
Wissam al-Tawil: The first major target
Wissam Hassan al-Tawil was the first prominent Radwan commander whose killing
was announced by Israel after the start of the confrontation linked to Hamas’
Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Born in 1970 in Tyre, he joined Hezbollah at a young
age and rose through the group’s military ranks. According to the Israeli
announcement, Tawil “was known as one of the overseers of the external
operations and military manufacturing portfolio” and was also a member of
Hezbollah’s central Shura Council, making him one of the influential military
figures within the organization.
On Jan. 8, 2024, an Israeli drone targeted the vehicle carrying him in the
southern town of Khirbet Selm, in what marked the beginning of a new phase in
the targeting of Radwan commanders.
Mohammad Nasser: Commander of the western sector
Mohammad Nasser emerged as one of the leading commanders of the Aziz Unit, part
of the Radwan Force and responsible for the western sector of the southern
front. Born in 1965 in the southern town of Haddatha,
he joined Hezbollah in 1986 and participated in operations against the Israeli
army during the occupation period. His military role later expanded to include
fighting alongside Syrian government forces between 2011 and 2016.
After the killing of commander Hassan Mohammad al-Hajj in Syria in 2015,
Nasser took command of the Aziz Unit and oversaw operations involving drones,
rockets and combined attacks during Hezbollah’s campaign of support for Hamas.
In July 2024, Israel announced it had killed him in a strike targeting
his vehicle in Tyre.
Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmad Wahbi: Targeting the most experienced circle
While the assassination of field commanders placed operational pressure on the
Radwan Force, targeting leaders involved in planning and training appeared even
more sensitive for Hezbollah, as reflected in the killings of Ibrahim Aqil and
Ahmad Wahbi.
Aqil, who served as commander of the Radwan Force and was among the founding
figures of Hezbollah’s military wing, joined the group in the 1980s before
becoming one of its leading military commanders. His name was linked to
sensitive security and military files. The United States accuses him of
involvement in the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut and the attack on
the US Marine barracks the same year. Within Hezbollah, he was a member of the
Jihad Council and played a major role in developing the Radwan Force’s military
capabilities. He also helped oversee operations in Syria after Hezbollah became
involved in the conflict there. On Sept. 20, 2024,
Israel killed him in an airstrike targeting a meeting of Radwan Force commanders
that he was chairing in the Jamous area of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Several
senior commanders in the unit were also killed in the strike. Ahmad Wahbi:
Architect of training and ambushes. Ahmad Wahbi was regarded as one of the key
architects behind the training of Radwan Force fighters. He joined Hezbollah
shortly after its founding and took part in operations against the Israeli
occupation before being captured by Israel in 1984.His name later emerged as one
of those involved in the 1997 Ansariya ambush targeting Israel’s Shayetet 13
naval commando unit, before he assumed responsibilities related to central
training within Hezbollah. According to the Israeli military, Wahbi had overseen
training for the Radwan Force since 2012 and played a pivotal role in developing
its manpower and military capabilities. He also assumed additional
responsibilities after the killing of Wissam al-Tawil.
In the same strike that killed Ibrahim Aqil in September 2024, Wahbi was killed
alongside several Radwan commanders, in what was described as one of the
heaviest blows suffered by the force since its establishment.
Beirut's Tents
Samir Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
For a long time, Lebanon was accused of being the pampered country in the midst
of an Arab world defined by struggle and sacrifice. At best, it was treated as a
nation of questionable belonging and suspect intentions.
It therefore had to be stripped of its Arab identity, its rights, and its
sovereignty, and placed at the disposal of a “pure” Arab proxy that neither
toyed with dignity nor betrayed the nation. Thus, for years, the Palestine
Liberation Organization managed Lebanon’s internal affairs. It was decided that
“the road to Palestine” would pass through Oyoun el-Siman and other ski resorts.
Then Syria came to rule Lebanon, accused the Palestinian leadership of
treachery, and decided to govern both it and Lebanon together. To that end, it
spread its army across the country. And as proof of pan-Arab “transparency,” the
Lebanese army was expected to salute its Syrian master while waiting for its own
nationalist consciousness to mature. The Iranian phase
brought with it the rule of the spiritual elite. Resistance MP Hajj Mohammad
Raad stood denouncing the state as nothing more than a land of cabarets,
debauchery, and the like. Under these successive orders, there also had to be
local “pure” elements. The ever-watchful eye therefore turned to squads and
battalions of volunteers who moved alongside the shifting tides and shifting
loyalties, distributing rewards to those deemed deserving.
Thus dawned yet another era and another glory. If the Palestinians were
agents, and the Syrians who followed them were agents as well, then what about
the men of the Revolutionary Guard?
No sooner had this transparent order begun imposing its agenda than Lebanon
filled with tent dwellers and people stripped of national belonging. The
Lebanese themselves became the inhabitants of scorched and barren land.
Southerners were left sleeping on sidewalks or, if fortunate, in parks,
passageways, or the “refugee playgrounds” that outside Lebanon would simply be
sports fields and youth gathering places. Israel’s
defense minister said that Lebanon under occupation would be governed like Gaza.
Thank you for this noble equality. There have been many precedents of this kind,
indeed of every kind: that the Lebanese person should enjoy a ceasefire, rise
each day to the sight of rubble, calmly rub his eyes, and groan: where is the
next road to Palestine? Or to Jerusalem? Or whoever gets there first.
Hezbollah' and the Monopoly on Narrative
Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
“Hezbollah” is struggling to impose a single narrative on the southern massacre,
or a single interpretation of it, and views any dissenting opinion as “treason”
or a “stabbing in the back of the sacrifices.” Its goal is to prevent its own
community, which carried it for years, from saying what it truly feels. But the
people of the South have another narrative. The life
of southern farmer Fadia al-Hanawi was harsh, like the hardship of growing
tobacco in her village of Aitaroun. The village was leveled to the ground, along
with her home, which she built stone by stone, season after season, through
planting the seedlings, harvesting them, and threading them together, as those
seedlings traced the contours of southern life in all its sweetness and
bitterness. Fadia is me, him, her, you, and us. Those
standing at the threshold of displacement, or fleeing from one displacement to
another. She is the southern woman whom they want silenced so as not to “weaken”
the resolve of the group. She is the accused, like so many brave men and women
who decided to break from the sacred script of the collective and instead
sanctify their own small things: their homes, their photographs, their memories,
and to speak openly of their grief. She is Zainab
Saad, surrounded by the tongues of ordinary people enlisted in a partisan
theology, threatened with isolation or expulsion as punishment for what she said
publicly.
And she is like the late Abu Ali Faqih, who died atop the rubble of his home
from grief and anguish, defying the group’s slogan that death must be a source
of happiness, and that anyone who dies without such happiness is accused of
deviation, abandonment, and sometimes treason.
For in the totalitarian mind, whether Stalinist or doctrinaire, the individual
is stripped of his particularity, his memory, and his future. His grief, joy,
life, death, home, and labor become the property of the collective, the
organization, or the regime. Grief ceases to be a right, and individual survival
ceases to be a natural right as well. What is demanded is that a person feel as
the group wants him to feel, remain silent when it decides he must remain
silent, and narrate his tragedy only in the language permitted by the authority,
the “party,” or the sect, because they alone monopolize the narrative.
The narrative that the “Party” seeks to monopolize is this: forcing people to
see death, war, and destruction as it sees them; besieging the truth and
preventing it from being told; killing it within the individual, the community,
and the environment; stripping human beings of their capacity to defend
themselves before the theology of politics and the “Party,” where the individual
is completely reduced and transformed into a wholly directed and controlled
being. This is the apex of systematic repression, overt ideology, domination of
consciousness, and the theft of identity and freedom.
In monopolizing “the final narrative,” “Hezbollah” seeks to silence voices that
criticize its deadly adventures. It diminishes the value of what people lose in
exchange for slogans of victory, pride, and dignity, and it does not hesitate to
punish those who diverge from its narrative. The punishment here is not merely a
reaction; it is a means of redefining those who oppose the “Party,” the group,
or the sect, portraying them as a burden that must be isolated because they have
fallen outside the “consensus,” and depicting them as a transient aberration.
It is a social, political, and security siege that pressures dissenters to the
point where expression itself becomes so costly that enforced silence takes
hold, and individuals come to realize that defending themselves changes nothing
within a system that has already predetermined their place. It is the moment of
“post-justice,” when oppression no longer even requires justification.
As for the other narrative, it is difficult to monopolize, because it is
impossible to confiscate death, grief, loss, and pain, or to impose a single
narrative upon them. Here Mahmoud Darwish captures the condition of publicly
proclaimed southern death when he writes:
“Death, give me time to arrange my funeral
Give me time in this fleeting new spring
I was born in spring to keep the orators from endlessly speaking
about this heartbreaking country, about the immortality
of fig and olive trees in the face of time and its armies.”
Lebanon and the Regional Settlement: Two Decisive Tests
Nabil Bou Monsef/An-Nahar/May 08/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/05/154304/
(Translated from Arabic by Web translation apps)
The “Shiite Duo” in Lebanon persists in demonstrating an “isolationist” reality
they have accepted for themselves amidst the fallout of the war Hezbollah
dragged Lebanon into. They do so through a blatant defiance of the will of a
described Lebanese majority, which has aligned with a decisive American decision
to decouple the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations from the American-Iranian
negotiations. This defiance of the Lebanese majority’s will is not limited to
pushing forward with shedding Iran’s lethal influence over the Shiite
community—and through it, the hijacking of the state’s decision-making by the
remnants of the Iranian regime. Rather, Speaker Nabih Berri himself, like his
partner and more, has manufactured a boycott crisis and engaged in a public
dispute with the President. He reminds the Lebanese public daily that his
alternative to the negotiating Lebanese state is Abbas Araghchi, with whom he
maintains a daily open line for strategic coordination.
Bkerke spoke frankly in a statement reminiscent of the path established by the
historic independence patriarch, Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. It spoke of tested
alternatives that established Israeli occupations of Lebanon instead of
liberating it, while offering strong support for the State’s choice to
negotiate. Nevertheless, the “Shiite Duo” is fueling a crisis that Tehran
clearly intends to explode in Lebanon, timed with the ongoing steps to launch
direct Lebanese negotiations with Israel. This comes at a dangerous juncture
coinciding with the creeping settlement project between Tehran and the U.S.
administration. Whether this settlement passes in the coming days or fails,
Lebanon will face two of the most burdensome and heavy tests among a set of
interconnected challenges on its negotiating path. These involve completely
severing the lethal link between its negotiating track and Iranian subservience,
and proving the Lebanese capacity to protect the independence of its negotiating
commitments.
In fact, these two tests—despite the vast minefield Lebanon faces regarding
security, borders, and “peace” files intended to lead to an agreement ending the
series of catastrophic wars with Israel—appear to be the most dangerous
detonator. They are linked to the “Caesarean section” process of separating the
independence of the Lebanese track from the friction of U.S.-Iranian
negotiations. Unless the Lebanese-American intersection is complete and final in
preventing Iran from exploiting the stance of its “Shiite Duo” in Lebanon, the
country will be exposed to what it experienced with the May 17, 1983 agreement.
One of the main factors that led to that agreement’s collapse at the hands of an
alliance of international, regional, and local forces was that the United States
itself did not provide decisive protection, leaving Lebanon to struggle with its
dark fate after the agreement fell.
While current circumstances do not allow for a direct comparison between the
emerging negotiating experience and that of the 1980s, one grave matter remains
unchanged: a Lebanese faction still installs itself as a bridge and a tool of
influence for regional interests that are completely contrary to Lebanon’s
supreme interests and the will of the majority. If they succeed in thwarting the
State’s option, the entire State will collapse. This collapse will recoil upon
America’s path with Iran, as it would constitute the failure of one of the most
important American conditions: ending support for Iran’s proxies and arms in the
region. Furthermore, Lebanon would lose its last bet on severing the lethal link
between its fate and the Iranian regime. There are many challenges facing the
official Lebanese side, supported by a Lebanese majority in its negotiating
choice, but the most important task is seizing a rare opportunity where the
interests of the smallest of states intersect with the largest and most
powerful.
The Final Lebanon War?
David Daoud & Jonathan Schanzer/The Dispatch/May 08/2026
https://thedispatch.com/article/israel-hezbollah-lebanon-security-zone/
A security zone in southern Lebanon could help Israel degrade Hezbollah faster
than it can recover.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that peace
between Israel and Lebanon is “imminently achievable”—if Beirut can finally
confront Hezbollah. But even as Washington presses the two governments toward
unprecedented security understandings, Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade
fire in southern Lebanon.
The ceasefire declared by President Donald Trump on April 16, and then extended
on April 23, now hangs in the balance.
For the governments of Israel and Lebanon, the uptick in violence comes at a
delicate time. The ambassadors from both nations have met twice now in
Washington in a bid to reach new security understandings—but Hezbollah remains
powerful enough to stymie these efforts.
The Israelis warned Hezbollah against joining the war amid combined U.S.-Israeli
operations in Iran on February 28. But in early March, the Iranian-backed group
fired five rockets into northern Israel. The Israelis reacted with predictable
ferocity, and the conflict between Israel and Iran’s most powerful proxy ignited
anew.
In what is now commonly referred to as the “October 8 mindset” in Israel
(referring to the oft-repeated vow that lingering threats will no longer be
tolerated), Israeli defense officials made it clear they were playing for keeps.
The Israelis launched their heaviest bombardments to date, especially in Beirut,
on April 8. This would not be yet another round of “mowing the lawn” with the
Lebanon-based terror group.
Iran saw this campaign for what it was: Israel preparing to deal Hezbollah
potentially irreversible blows, including through a deeper ground incursion into
south Lebanon. Seeking to save its most important proxy, Tehran tied the
continuation of its ceasefire with the United States to de-escalation in
Lebanon. The Iranian regime believed that the ceasefire was important enough to
Donald Trump that its proxy might get a reprieve.
The Lebanese government, realizing its sovereignty was at stake, countered,
refusing to allow the regime to speak for its national interests. Washington
readily obliged Beirut’s initiative, sponsoring rare trilateral talks between
the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington.
That was the good news. The bad news was that Lebanon came to the table seeking
to leverage American pressure on Israel to return to the same status quo ante of
inaction that has repeatedly ensured Hezbollah’s survival. Beirut requested a
ceasefire—just as the Iranian regime did. While this was designed to buy time
for negotiations, it would also buy time for Hezbollah.
After decades of wars that ended in containment, the Israeli desire to destroy
the terror group now appears genuine. On October 8, 2023, when the ground in
southern Israel was still soaked with the blood of 1,200 Hamas victims,
Hezbollah attacked Israel and sparked what would become a yearlong war of
attrition. With the shock of the Hamas attack still fresh, Israel displayed
uncharacteristic reticence. It was only in mid-September 2024, nearly a year
later, that the Israelis dropped the gloves: Its first blow, the explosive
beeper operation, killed or maimed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters. The Israelis
then eliminated Hezbollah’s senior-most political and military figures,
including Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah; took out a significant part of the
group’s arsenal; and launched a limited ground incursion. Throughout, however,
their goals remained limited to pushing Hezbollah back far enough from the
frontier for residents of northern Israel to return home.
A tenuous ceasefire followed. The Israelis kept Hezbollah on its back foot by
striking its military assets once or twice per day, but over the last 17 months,
the group was nevertheless able to reconstitute. Now Israel is seeking to
continuously degrade Hezbollah until either the organization collapses or
Lebanon is finally able, or willing, to disarm it.
When the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in November 2024, Israelis hoped
that Beirut would step up and begin dismantling the terror group. After all, the
very existence of a well-armed and well-trained militia within the country is a
challenge to Lebanese sovereignty. But Lebanon’s government remains weak, and
Lebanese society is notoriously fractured along sectarian lines. This has left
Beirut and the Lebanese Armed Forces fearful of a civil war, or worse, losing
one.
Neither fear is unfounded. Hezbollah retains enough of its arsenal (roughly 20
percent of its previous arsenal of 150,000 projectiles, plus loads of light
arms, per Israeli estimates) to make forcible disarmament militarily daunting.
Lebanese Shiites, who make up roughly one-third of the population, remained
broadly supportive of Hezbollah, allowing the group to continue threatening
Lebanon with internecine conflict. Beirut tried to convince the group to
voluntarily surrender its arsenal. Hezbollah, not surprisingly, refused. And the
Shiites of the country are not complaining.
It is too soon to determine whether the renewed war, and the concurrent
diplomacy, has changed these conditions enough to break Lebanon’s barrier of
fear. Ceasefire or not, diplomacy or not, the Israelis are still eyeing a major
military operation.
While fears of a massive military operation remain, the Israelis are signaling
more modest goals. The Israeli brass don’t seem interested in occupying Lebanese
territory. Southern Lebanon is the immediate threat to Israeli security because
of the short-range munitions that threaten Israeli villages on the border. Yet
the organization’s infrastructure extends well beyond it: Its political and
operational nerve center sits in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and it maintains
military assets and training sites in the northermost reaches of the Beqaa
Valley, which sits astride the Syrian border.
Israel simply lacks the manpower to conduct large-scale military operations
across the entirety of this terrain. And the soldiers it does have are already
weary from more than two and a half years of fighting in Gaza.
This reality helps explain why Israeli war planners appear to be gravitating
toward an intermediate option of seizing southern Lebanese territory up to the
Litani River, with plans to then launch large-scale air operations to degrade
the longer-distance weapons held by the group in territories farther north.
Israel has already shaped the battlefield for such an incursion. Evacuation
warnings have pushed hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians out of southern
Lebanon. Israel has slowly but steadily expanded its footprint in this area, and
is on the cusp of seizing Bint Jbeil—the so-called “capital of the resistance.”
Meanwhile, it has struck bridges and other connective infrastructure to
complicate Hezbollah’s efforts to move in reinforcements and materiel from
positions farther north.
Modest diplomatic progress notwithstanding, IDF ground troops remain tasked with
holding this area and protecting the border communities until Hezbollah’s
presence in the area is dismantled. After that, IDF planning suggests the
Israeli army will hold this area as a “kill zone” in southern Lebanon (similar
to the territory it holds alongside Hamas-controlled territory in Gaza) while
continuing to relentlessly target the dangerous weapons Hezbollah has hidden
farther north.
Critics have warned that this is a repeat of a failed strategy adopted by the
Israelis at the end of the 20th century. But this revived security zone need not
reproduce the failures of its 1985-2000 precursor, when Israel first engaged
Hezbollah.
The very idea of a southern Lebanese security zone emerged from the wreckage of
Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, initially aimed at clearing the Palestine
Liberation Organization from south Lebanon—but which reached Beirut and
ultimately proved unpopular with many Israelis. Hezbollah’s intervening rise
precluded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, while Israeli public
opinion prevented the pursuit of a decisive victory over the nascent group. The
IDF was left in military limbo. Israeli troops fought the group in a series of
operations and limited engagements that, individually and collectively, failed
to reach Israeli aims. The Israeli population lost patience. This ultimately led
to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2000, enabling Hezbollah to claim it had
forcibly ejected the IDF from southern Lebanon and, thus, victory.
Looking back, there were several clear lessons for Israel. The IDF’s doctrinal
advantages lie in mobility, initiative, and overwhelming combined-arms
maneuvers. Yet the constraining weight of public opinion pushed the army into
static defense in southern Lebanon. Israeli troops hunkered down in outposts
that Hezbollah could harass at will. Lebanese proxies, like the South Lebanon
Army, were of little help. If anything, they became a liability, as their forces
were both unprofessional and cruel.
The new southern security zone’s purpose, by contrast, should not be to act as a
mere buffer zone. Instead, it should enable the IDF to press its advantages and
to facilitate direct, sustained, and offensive pressure by the IDF deep into
Hezbollah’s strongholds.
These operations will doubtlessly be costly. The longer Israeli soldiers are
deployed in Lebanon, the higher the likelihood of mounting casualties. However,
in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and the multifront war now underway
against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies, Israelis today are likely
to view prolonged operations against the group, and even the loss of soldiers,
as necessary. Recent polling shows most Israelis opposed halting operations
against Hezbollah, with these sentiments particularly pronounced among the
country’s northerners.
There is, to be sure, an element of resignation to this strategy. Reviving a
security zone amounts to an admission that Lebanon will remain either unwilling
or unable to disarm Hezbollah on its own for the foreseeable future. It is also
an admission that there is no other way to gain a handle on the northern front
without exposing IDF forces to direct and sustained contact against a Hezbollah
that remains determined to rearm and continue fighting.
But if Israel uses a zone in Lebanon’s south not as an end in itself, but as
part of a strategy to degrade Hezbollah faster than it can recover, the
cumulative effect could be lethal for Hezbollah. To the extent that the Lebanese
government steps up, perhaps as a result of the ongoing negotiations in
Washington, the IDF can reduce its operations in tandem and consider
transferring control of pacified areas of the revived security zone to the
Lebanese Armed Forces. Peace would not emerge overnight, but a security zone
could yield durable quiet along the frontier and non-belligerency between Israel
and Lebanon. Over time, the absence of war and mutual bloodletting resulting
from quieter borders may facilitate ongoing Israeli-Lebanese talks and
eventually make normalization a possibility.
*David DaoudDavid Daoud is a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of
Democracies
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
08-09 May/2026
Adviser to Iran Supreme Leader Compares Control of Hormuz to
‘Atomic Bomb’
EPA/8 May 2026
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader compared control over the Strait of Hormuz
to having an "atomic bomb" on Friday, and vowed not to relinquish it.
Adviser Mohammad Mokhber said Iran had long "neglected" its privileged
position along the strait, a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments that Tehran
shut early in the Middle East war, throwing markets into turmoil and stranding
hundreds of vessels. "The Strait of Hormuz represents
an opportunity as precious as an atomic bomb," he said in a video published by
the Mehr news agency. "Indeed, having in one's hands a position that allows you
to influence the global economy with a single decision is a major
opportunity."Pledging not to "forfeit the gains of this war", he went on to say
Iran would "change the (legal) regime of this strait", through international law
if possible, and unilaterally if not. Mokhber did not
specifically mention charging vessels to use the waterway, but the shipping
journal Lloyd's List reported on Friday that Iran had created an authority to
approve transit through the strait and to collect tolls. Iranian officials have
previously mentioned implementing such a system, and a senior parliamentarian
said in April that Tehran had received its first toll revenue from the strait.
The United States, whose joint attacks with Israel on the country sparked the
war in the Middle East, has called tolling in the Hormuz unacceptable, as has
the UN's maritime agency. The strait has become a major bargaining chip in
negotiations to end the war, with Iran currently weighing a US proposal to
extend the current truce in the Gulf to allow talks on a final settlement of the
conflict.
Rubio says US expecting
Iran response Friday
Associated Press/08 May ,2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday slammed Iranian efforts to control
the Strait of Hormuz, following a report that Tehran has created an authority to
approve transit through the vital waterway. "Iran now claims that they own, that
they have a right to control, an international waterway... That's an
unacceptable thing that they're trying to normalise," Rubio told reporters
during a visit to Rome. Rubio fielded questions at the end of a two-day
fence-mending visit to Rome and the Vatican after sharp disagreements over the
U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo
XIV. He was asked about reports from a shipping data company that said Iran has
created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the
strait. “Is the world going to accept that Iran now controls an international
waterway?” Rubio asked. “What is the world prepared to do about it?”He also
warned Tehran against attacking American maritime assets in the region. The U.S.
said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz. “The red
line is clear. They threaten Americans, they are going to be blown up,” he said.
Rubio said the U.S. is anticipating a response from Iran on the ongoing
diplomatic discussions sometime later Friday. “We should know something today,”
Rubio, who doubles as the White House national security adviser, told reporters.
He added: “I hope it’s a serious offer. I really do.”He said President Donald
Trump has yet to decide how to respond to some allies denying the U.S. military
the use of their bases. "If one of the main reasons why the US is in NATO is the
ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could project to other
contingencies, and now that's no longer the case, at least when it comes to some
NATO members, that's a problem, and it has to be examined," he told reporters
during a visit to Rome, adding that Trump "hasn't made those decisions yet".
Rubio urges Europeans to share the Iran burden
AFP/08 May ,2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded a two-day visit to Rome on Friday,
where he sought to ease tensions with Pope Leo and urged Europeans to help
secure the Strait of Hormuz. The task was not easy,
given President Donald Trump’s recent sharp criticism of both the Catholic
leader and Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of the
US leader. “The world has to start asking itself, what
is it willing to do if Iran tries to normalize a control of an international
waterway? I think that’s unacceptable,” he told reporters after meeting Meloni.
The appeal was aimed at Italy as well as other European countries, which
Trump criticized for not helping the United States to protect the strait. Tehran
seized control of the narrow chokepoint to the Gulf, a major transport route for
oil, gas and fertilizer, after US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on February
28, triggering the Middle East war. After saying 5,000 troops will be withdrawal
from Germany, Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy and Spain due to
their refusal to get involved in the conflict and has questioned his country’s
membership in NATO. “If one of the main reasons why the US is in NATO is the
ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could project to other
contingencies, and now that’s no longer the case, at least when it comes to some
NATO members, that’s a problem, and it has to be examined,” Rubio said.He added,
however that the US president had not yet decided how to reprimand these
countries.
‘Frank’ talks
Meloni and Rubio met at her Palazzo Chigi office for almost 90 minutes, after
talks with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Earlier this week,
Meloni said pulling US troops out of Italy was “a decision that does not depend
on me, and one that I personally do not agree with.”
Her office said the talks with Rubio were “broad and constructive”, but also
“frank,” covering bilateral relations, the Middle East, Libya and Ukraine. “It
was a frank dialogue between allies defending their own national interests, but
both recognizing the value of Western unity,” the statement said. In an
interview with an Italian newspaper last month, Trump said he was “shocked” at
Meloni’s attitude, saying: “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong.”
‘Share points of view’
Rubio, a devout Catholic, said on Friday that his meeting the previous day with
Pope Leo XIV, the first US pope, was “very good.”Trump last month accused the
head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics of being “weak on crime and terrible
for foreign policy” after Leo made critical comments about the Middle East war.
Rubio said they discussed topics of common interest, including religious
freedom, the threat posed by Iran, and the role of the Catholic Church in
delivering American humanitarian aid to Cuba. “It’s important to share our
points of view and an explanation and an understanding of where we’re coming
from. And I thought it was very positive,” he said. Rubio, who also met with
Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, said: “I updated them on the
situation with Iran, expressed our point of view about why this is important,
and the danger that Iran poses to the world.”The discussions between the pope,
Parolin and Rubio addressed “the need to work tirelessly for peace,” according
to the Vatican. Asked whether Trump would call Leo, Rubio said: “Maybe. I don’t
know, I mean, it could happen.”At the Italian foreign ministry, Tajani and other
officials presented Rubio with documents tracing the US diplomat’s Italian
origins. “It’s a true honor and a very special moment to receive all of this
information,” Rubio said, adding that he was going to learn Italian. The Cuban
American, who speaks fluent Spanish, said: “The next time I’m back... I’ll give
a speech ‘in Italiano.’”
US and Iran trade fire, threatening fragile truce
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
The U.S. military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in
response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the
exchange of fire. The latest violence threatens to unravel a fragile truce in
effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of U.S.-Israeli attacks on the
Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and
by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments. The United Arab
Emirates said Friday that its air defenses were "engaging missile and drone
attacks originating from Iran". Asked in Washington
Thursday if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said: "Yeah, it is. They
trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a
trifle."U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that Iranian forces
launched "multiple missiles, drones and small boats" at the three U.S. warships,
but none were hit, and that it "eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian
military facilities responsible." "CENTCOM does not
seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces," it
said. For its part, Iran's central military command accused the United States of
violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship, saying
Tehran's forces "immediately and in retaliation attacked American military
vessels." Trump this week fueled hopes of a deal, saying an agreement could be
near even as he again threatened to return to bombing if Tehran refused to back
down. He doubled down on that stance after Thursday's clash, posting on his
Truth Social platform: "We'll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more
violently, in the future, if they don't get their Deal signed, FAST!" he said.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would communicate
its position to mediator Pakistan "after finalizing its views."Pakistani Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif had struck an optimistic tone prior to the exchanges of
fire on Thursday, saying in televised remarks: "I firmly believe that this
ceasefire will turn into a long-term ceasefire." But,
inside Iran, civilians were cynical. "Neither side in
these negotiations is really capable of reaching an agreement," 42-year-old
photographer Shervin told AFP reporters in Paris, messaging from Tehran.
"This is another one of Trump's games; otherwise, why are so many
warships and military forces being sent toward Iran?"Following the start of the
war with U.S.-Israeli attacks on February 28, Iran largely shuttered the Strait
of Hormuz. Around 1,500 ships and 20,000 international crew are now trapped in
the Gulf region because of the conflict, the secretary-general of the UN's
International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, told a Maritime
Convention of the Americas meeting in Panama. Trump had this week briefly
launched a naval operation to force open the strait to commercial vessels, only
to stand it down within hours, citing progress on negotiations with Iran. The
U.S. president -- who has lambasted Europe for not backing his war against Iran
-- said Thursday he had a "great call" with European Commission chief Ursula von
der Leyen, saying they were "completely united that Iran can never have a
nuclear weapon."
Trump says ceasefire still holds after fighting between the
US and Iran flares
Reuters/08 May ,2026
US and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf, and the UAE came under renewed
attack, endangering a month-old ceasefire and shaking hopes for a diplomatic
solution to the crisis. The flare-up in fighting came
as Washington awaited a response from Tehran to its proposal to end the
conflict, which began with joint US-Israeli airstrikes across Iran on February
28. President Donald Trump said on Thursday three US
Navy destroyers were attacked as they moved through the strait, a conduit for
around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows that Iran has
all but closed since the conflict started. “Three World Class American
Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under
fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to
the Iranian attackers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump later told reporters
the ceasefire was still in effect and sought to play down the exchange. “They
trifled with us today. We blew them away,” Trump said in Washington. Iran’s top
joint military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting an
Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and of carrying out air attacks on civilian
areas on Qeshm Island in the strait and nearby coastal areas. The military said
it responded by attacking US military vessels east of the strait and south of
the port of Chabahar. A spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam
al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the Iranian strikes inflicted “significant
damage,” but US Central Command said none of its assets were hit.
Iran’s Press TV later reported that, following several hours of fire,
“the situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the Strait of Hormuz is
back to normal now.”The two sides have occasionally exchanged gunfire since the
ceasefire took effect on April 7, with Iran hitting targets in Gulf countries
including the UAE. There were few details immediately
available about the latest attack on the Emirates. Since the war began, Iran has
often targeted the UAE and other Gulf countries, which host US bases.Oil prices
rose in early trade in Asia on Friday, with Brent crude jumping above $100 a
barrel after the latest clashes, while stock prices retreated after strong gains
this week on hopes for a swift resolution to the conflict. “Despite ongoing
hostilities and still-elevated oil prices, markets are pricing a limited
duration,” said Marija Veitmane, head of equity research at State Street
Markets.
Trump urges negotiated end to war
Trump suggested ongoing talks with Tehran remained on track despite Thursday’s
hostilities, telling reporters, “We’re negotiating with the Iranians.”Before the
latest strikes, the US had floated a proposal that would formally end the
conflict but did not address key US demands that Iran suspend its nuclear work
and reopen the strait. Tehran said it had not yet reached a decision on the
emerging plan. Even so, Trump said Tehran had
acknowledged his demand that Iran could never get a nuclear weapon, a
prohibition he said was spelled out in the US proposal.
“There’s zero chance. And they know that, and they’ve agreed to that.
Let’s see if they are willing to sign it,” Trump said. Asked when any deal might
be reached, Trump said, “It might not happen, but it could happen any day. I
believe they want to deal more than I do.”The war has tested Trump’s
relationship with his US base of supporters, after he had campaigned against
involving the United States in foreign wars and promised to bring down fuel
prices. Average US gasoline prices have climbed more
than 40 percent since late February, rising by about $1.20 a gallon to more than
$4, according to data from the American Automobile Association, as disruptions
to oil shipments through the strait pushed crude oil prices higher.
Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire between Ukraine and
Russia starting Saturday, saying he hoped it could lead to long term deal to end
Moscow's war.
Russia had previously announced a two-day unilateral ceasefire to mark its May 9
World War II Victory Day on Saturday. Ukraine previously stated that it too had
offered a truce but that this had been ignored by Moscow. The truce would also
include a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners each, said Trump, who has struggled to
end the four-year conflict he once pledged to solve within a day of taking
office last year. "I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY
CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,"
Trump said on his Truth Social network. "This request was made directly by me,
and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy," said the U.S. president. "Hopefully, it is the
beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War."
Fighting continues -
Russia and Ukraine traded attacks on Friday before Trump's announcement.
Ukraine had previously never said it would abide by Moscow's call to briefly
halt strikes, lambasting Putin for only wanting to pause fighting so he could
stage Saturday's annual military parade on Red Square. Kyiv said Moscow had
ignored a Ukrainian proposal to halt fighting earlier this week -- a
counter-offer for a short-term ceasefire. Zelensky had cast it as a test of
whether the Kremlin was serious about providing a brief respite in the four-year
war. Russia has threatened a massive strike on the heart of Kyiv if Ukraine
disrupted the Victory Day parade, repeatedly urging foreign diplomats to leave
the Ukrainian capital ahead of time. On the streets of Kyiv before Trump's
announcement, some brushed off the Russian threats."Nothing new will happen,"
Vasyl Kobzar, a 40-year-old bank employee, told AFP. "I'm worried, but it's
become routine, unfortunately."Ukrainian officials told AFP there had been no
orders for additional security measures to be taken so far. "We're just giving
(the Russians) the finger," said one lawmaker, speaking anonymously. Ukraine's
air force said Russia had fired 67 drones overnight -- the lowest number in
almost a month. "Despite the declared ceasefire, the enemy has not reduced the
intensity of assault operations," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine was
responding in kind. Russia said it had downed more
than 400 Ukrainian drones -- 100 of them targeting Moscow -- since midnight, and
that its troops were "responding symmetrically". A
Ukrainian drone killed a 41-year-old man and his 15-year-old daughter in the
Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, said the Moscow-backed
administration. Zelensky hailed a Ukrainian strike on
an oil depot in the Yaroslavl region, around 200 kilometers (about 125 miles)
northeast of Moscow. Some 13 airports in southern Russia were closed Friday
after a Ukrainian drone hit an air navigation center in the southern city of
Rostov-on-Don, Moscow's transport ministry said. It later said that flights had
been partially restored. Putin convened a security
council meeting over the strike, calling it an "act of a terrorist nature" that
could endanger civil aviation.
- No tanks -
Ukraine had dismissed Russia's temporary truce as a propaganda measure to
protect the victory parade on May 9 -- one of the most important patriotic
events for Putin. Hours before Russia's ceasefire
began, Zelensky warned Moscow's allies against attending the parade. Hundreds of
thousands of soldiers from both sides and tens of thousands of civilians, most
of them in Ukraine, have been killed since Putin ordered the invasion in
February 2022. Putin has made memory of the Soviet
victory over Nazi Germany a central narrative of his 25-year rule, staging
massive parades in central Moscow on May 9 and invoking it to justify his
invasion of Ukraine. But military hardware will be absent from the parade for
the first time in almost two decades and only a handful of foreign guests will
attend. Talks on ending what has spiralled into Europe's worst conflict since
World War II have shown little progress and have been sidelined by the Iran
conflict.
US VP Vance meeting with Qatar PM to discuss Iran, source says
Reuters/08 May ,2026
US Vice President JD Vance is meeting with the prime minister of Qatar in
Washington to discuss the negotiations with Iran among other topics, a source
familiar with the talks said on Friday. Vance’s talks
with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will cover US-Qatar relations and
the situation in Iran, with a focus on LNG markets and regional stability, the
source said.
US military says it carries out retaliatory strikes against Iran
Reuters/08 May ,2026
The US military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday,
targeting sites it said were responsible for attacking US forces in what it
called unprovoked hostilities by Tehran. Earlier,
Iran’s top joint military command said the US had violated a ceasefire by
targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz,
and by striking civilian areas.“US Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound
threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US
forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations;
and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes,” the military said in a
statement. It added Iran had launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats
as three US Navy destroyers, the Truxtun, Peralta and Mason, transited strait to
the Gulf of Oman. No US military assets were hit by
the Iranians, the US military said. “CENTCOM does not
seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,”
the statement added. It was not immediately clear what impact this would have on
a ceasefire reached last month, but US Central Command described the strikes as
being carried out in self-defense. This is not the first time the two sides have
exchanged fire since the ceasefire started. On Monday, the US military said it
destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and
drones as Tehran sought to thwart a US naval effort to open shipping through
strait. Washington was still awaiting Iran’s response to a US proposal that
would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues, such as Iran’s
nuclear program, unresolved for now. The proposal
would formally end the conflict in which full-scale warfare was paused by a
ceasefire announced on April 7. But it does not address key US demands that Iran
suspend its nuclear work and reopen the vital strait, which before the war
handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
Suspected oil spill seen on satellite images near Iran’s
Kharg Island export hub
Reuters/08 May ,2026
A suspected oil spill covering dozens of square kilometers of sea near Iran’s
main oil hub of Kharg Island has been seen on satellite imagery this week.
The likely spill – appearing on images as a grey and white slick –
covered waters to the west of the 8-kilometre (5-mile) long island, pictures
from Copernicus’s Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites showed on May
6-8. “The slick appears visually consistent with oil,” said Leon Moreland,
researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, who estimated that it
was covering an area of approximately 45 square km. Louis Goddard, co-founder of
consultancy Data Desk, which focuses on climate and commodities, agreed that the
images likely showed an oil slick, which he said was potentially the largest to
occur since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran 70 days ago. The US
military and Iran’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately
respond to requests for comment on the images. The cause of the possible spill
and the point of origin are currently unknown, Moreland added, noting that
images from May 8 showed no evidence of additional active spills. Kharg Island,
where US forces said they had destroyed military targets earlier in the war, is
the hub for 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, much of which is bound for
China.The US Navy has been blockading Iran’s ports in an attempt to stop
Tehran’s tankers from entering and exiting, while US and Iranian forces have
clashed in the Gulf. The war has also trapped hundreds
of ships in the Gulf and caused the world’s biggest disruption to crude oil
supply, as well as hitting global supplies of oil products and liquefied natural
gas.
UAE says responding to missiles, drone attacks from Iran
Associated Press/08 May ,2026
The United Arab Emirates said it responded to another Iranian missile barrage on
Friday, hours after the U.S. said it traded fire with Iranian forces in the
Strait of Hormuz, in the latest blows to a shaky month-old ceasefire. The UAE’s
Defense Ministry said three people were wounded after air defenses engaged two
ballistic missiles and three drones launched by Iran. It was not clear if all
were successfully intercepted. Authorities told people to stay away from any
fallen debris. The U.S. said it thwarted attacks on
three Navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait. Iran has
mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the U.S. and Israel
launched the war on Feb. 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling
world markets. U.S. President Donald Trump played down
the exchange of fire on Thursday, calling the U.S. strikes a “love tap” in a
phone call with ABC. But he reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if
Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear
program. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. strikes were a “clear violation”
of the ceasefire. The violence came as Washington
awaited a response from Tehran in their diplomatic discussions seeking to end
the war. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he expects to hear
from Iran later Friday. “I hope it’s a serious offer," Rubio told reporters. "I
really do.”
US fire on Iran tankers sparks reprisals as deal hangs in
balance
Agence France Presse/08 May ,2026
A U.S. fighter jet disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers to enforce a port
blockade on Friday, prompting retaliatory attacks and rattling a shaky truce as
Tehran weighed Washington's latest proposal to end the Middle East war. A
parallel ceasefire in Lebanon was also under strain on Friday, as Iran-backed
Hezbollah launched missiles at a military base in Israel in response to a Beirut
southern suburbs strike that killed a top commander and other attacks in the
south. The U.S. Central Command said an F/A-18 Super
Hornet used precision munitions Friday against two ships in the Gulf of Oman --
gateway to the vital Strait of Hormuz -- to prevent them from continuing to
Iran. An Iranian military official told local media the country's navy had
"responded to the violation of the ceasefire and to American terrorism with
strikes", adding that after the "exchanges of fire, the clashes have now
ceased". The latest incident came after another flare-up overnight in the
strait, control of which an adviser to Iran's supreme leader compared to having
"an atomic bomb". U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated on Friday that
it was "unacceptable" for Tehran to control the strait, adding that Washington
was expecting Iran's response to its latest proposal later in the day. "I hope
it's a serious offer, I really do," he told reporters during a trip to Rome.
Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the
truce in the Gulf to allow talks on a final settlement of the conflict launched
10 weeks ago with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Iran's foreign ministry
spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Friday that the proposal was still "under
review, and once a final decision is reached, it will certainly be announced",
according to the ISNA news agency.
'They trifled with us' -
The night before, U.S. Central Command said Iran had launched missiles, drones
and small boats at three U.S. warships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but that
none were hit and U.S. forces had retaliated against land bases in Iran. Iran's
central military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, countered that the clash had erupted
when U.S. vessels targeted an Iranian tanker heading towards the strait, and
accused its foe of hitting civilian areas. Asked in Washington on Thursday if
the truce was still in effect after the clash, U.S. President Donald Trump said:
"Yeah, it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away."Iran accused
regional U.S. allies of cooperating in the strikes, without naming them, though
the United Arab Emirates said it had been forced to intercept a volley of
Iranian drones and missiles that wounded three people. Following the start of
the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, throwing
global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices. The U.S. later imposed
its own blockade of Iranian ports in response. On
Sunday, Trump announced a U.S. naval operation designed to reopen the strait to
commercial shipping, only to abandon it on Tuesday in favor of a return to
negotiations. On Friday, Saudi sources told AFP that
the kingdom had refused permission for the U.S. military to use its bases and
airspace for the Hormuz operation, with one saying Riyadh "felt it would just
escalate the situation and would not work".Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to
Iran's supreme leader, said the Islamic republic had long "neglected" its
privileged position along the strait, calling it "an opportunity as precious as
an atomic bomb". "Indeed, having in one's hands a position that allows you to
influence the global economy with a single decision is a major opportunity," he
added, vowing not to relinquish it. This week Tehran created an authority to
approve transit through the strait and to collect tolls from vessels, according
to leading shipping industry journal Lloyd's List.
Iraq denies US claims deputy oil minister helped Iran evade
sanctions
Al Arabiya English/08 May ,2026
Iraq’s oil ministry has denied US accusations against its deputy minister, who
the United States hit with sanctions over alleged support to Iran as Washington
escalates pressure on Baghdad to break with Iranian-linked groups.The US State
Department on Thursday announced sanctions on Ali Maarij al-Bahadli, saying he
“abused his government position to divert Iraqi oil in support of the Iranian
regime and its terrorist proxies.”It accused him of fraudulently mixing Iraqi
and Iranian oil as part of a scheme to help Iran avoid sanctions. His ministry
said late Thursday that “it denies the accusations” against al-Bahadli and
stressed “the importance of transparency in addressing all... accusations on the
basis of evidence and facts,” according to the INA state news agency.
The ministry said it was prepared to investigate the matter, but added
that “crude oil export operations, marketing, loading onto tankers, and related
procedures” were not part of al-Bahadli’s job. After entities run by an Iraqi
businessman were sanctioned over the same accusations last year, Iraq’s state
oil marketing company SOMO denied that any oil mixing operations were taking
place in the country’s ports or territorial waters to help Iran.
The United States has unilateral sanctions against Iranian oil, seeking to
punish any country or company that buys it. Iran has had close relations with
many key players in Iraq since the 2003 US invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.
Washington, which holds major sway in Iraq has also been escalating pressure on
the Iraqi state to disarm Tehran-backed armed groups, which the US designates as
terrorist organizations.With AFP
US Fires on and Disables 2 More Iranian Tankers as Tensions
Rise in Strait of Hormuz
Asharq Al Awsat/May 08/2026
US forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers on Friday after
exchanging fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz overnight. The
United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, reported another Iranian missile and drone
attack. The attacks cast more doubt on a tenuous month-old ceasefire that the
United States has insisted is still in effect. Washington is awaiting an Iranian
response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the strait and
roll back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
said he hopes to receive “a serious offer” from Iran later Friday. The US
military said Friday that its forces had disabled two Iranian tankers that were
trying to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports. Hours earlier, the
military said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships and struck Iranian
military facilities in the strait. Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway
for global energy since the US and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, causing a
global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets. The US has imposed its
own blockade of Iran's ports. The UAE’s Defense Ministry meanwhile said three
people were wounded after air defenses engaged two ballistic missiles and three
drones launched by Iran. It was not clear if all were successfully intercepted.
US says it responded to an attack in the strait
The US military posted video of the two Iranian tankers as their smokestacks
were struck by an American fighter jet on Friday. Earlier in the week, an
American military jet shot out the rudder of a tanker the US military said was
attempting to breach its blockade. Late Thursday, the US military said it
thwarted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and struck
Iranian military facilities in response. It said no American ships were hit.
“They threaten Americans, they are going to be blown up,” Rubio told reporters
Friday. Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned what it called “hostile” US military
action, saying it violated the ceasefire. “Every time a diplomatic solution is
on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure,” Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X. A US strike overnight killed at least one
sailor and injured 10 others aboard a cargo vessel that caught fire, a news
agency affiliated with Iran's judiciary reported. It was not clear if the ship
was one of the two tankers the US acknowledged striking. US President Donald
Trump has insisted the ceasefire is holding. He also has reiterated threats to
resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the
strait and roll back its nuclear program. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif said his country has been in contact with the US and Iran “day and night”
in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal. Images show
apparent oil slick off Iranian terminal
Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press show what appears to be an oil
slick in the Gulf emanating from the western side of Kharg Island, Iran’s main
crude export terminal. The images taken Wednesday show the slick covering
roughly 95 square kilometers (36 square miles). Windward AI, a maritime
intelligence firm, said it first detected the spill in satellite images taken
Tuesday and the slick was spreading southwest at a rate of about 2 kilometers
(1.2 miles) an hour. “If the slick continues drifting southward, there could
also be risks to ecologically sensitive and protected marine areas in the Gulf,”
said Nina Noelle, an international crisis operations expert with Greenpeace
Germany. The Pentagon declined to comment on whether the US military was
tracking the spill or whether there had been recent strikes on the Iranian
island. Based on the imagery taken earlier this week, the spill occurred before
the most recent round of US strikes.
Rubio says 'unacceptable' for an Iranian agency to control strait
Rubio said Friday that it's “unacceptable” for Iran to have a government agency
that vets and taxes ships seeking passage through the strait. Lloyd’s List
Intelligence, a shipping data company, reported Thursday that Iran has created
such an agency. The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised
new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial vessels
bottled up in the Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. “Is the world going to
accept that Iran now controls an international waterway?” Rubio said. “What is
the world prepared to do about it?” Iran has effectively closed the strait, a
vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum
products, while the US is blockading Iranian ports. A Chinese-crewed oil tanker
was attacked near the strait. China has continued to import oil from Iran
despite the effective closure of the waterway. China's Foreign Ministry
expressed concern, saying the tanker was registered in the Marshall Islands with
Chinese crew on board. There were no casualties reported. An oil tanker that
passed through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April arrived off South Korea’s coast
on Friday with 1 million barrels of crude. South Korea, which last year imported
more than 60% of its crude through the strait, has capped prices of gasoline and
other petroleum products.
Rubio Urges Europeans to Share the Iran Burden
Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded a two-day visit to Rome on Friday,
where he sought to ease tensions with Pope Leo and urged Europeans to help
secure the Strait of Hormuz. The task was not easy, given President Donald
Trump's recent sharp criticism of both the Catholic leader and Italy's far-right
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of the US leader. "The world has to
start asking itself, what is it willing to do if Iran tries to normalize a
control of an international waterway? I think that's unacceptable," he told
reporters after meeting Meloni. The appeal was aimed at Italy as well as other
European countries, which Trump criticized for not helping the United States to
protect the Strait. Tehran seized control of the narrow chokepoint to the Gulf,
a major transport route for oil, gas and fertilizer, after US and Israeli forces
attacked Iran on February 28, triggering the Middle East war. After saying 5,000
troops will be withdrawn from Germany, Trump has threatened to pull US troops
from Italy and Spain due to their refusal to get involved in the conflict, and
has questioned his country's membership in NATO. "If one of the main reasons why
the US is in NATO is the ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could
project to other contingencies, and now that's no longer the case, at least when
it comes to some NATO members, that's a problem, and it has to be examined,"
Rubio said.
He added, however that the US president had not yet decided how to reprimand
these countries.
'Frank' talks -
Meloni and Rubio met at her Palazzo Chigi office for almost 90 minutes, after
talks with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Earlier this week,
Meloni said pulling US troops out of Italy was "a decision that does not depend
on me, and one that I personally do not agree with". Her office said the talks
with Rubio were "broad and constructive", but also "frank", covering bilateral
relations, the Middle East, Libya and Ukraine. "It was a frank dialogue between
allies defending their own national interests, but both recognizing the value of
Western unity," the statement said. In an interview with an Italian newspaper
last month, Trump said he was "shocked" at Meloni's attitude, saying: "I thought
she had courage, but I was wrong."
'Share points of view' -
Rubio, a devout Catholic, said on Friday that his meeting the previous day with
Pope Leo XIV, the first US pope, was "very good". Trump last month accused the
head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics of being "weak on crime and terrible
for foreign policy" after Leo made critical comments about the Middle East war.
Rubio said they discussed topics of common interest, including religious
freedom, the threat posed by Iran, and the role of the Catholic Church in
delivering American humanitarian aid to Cuba. "It's important to share our
points of view and an explanation and an understanding of where we're coming
from. And I thought it was very positive," he said. Rubio, who also met with
Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, said: "I updated them on the
situation with Iran, expressed our point of view about why this is important,
and the danger that Iran poses to the world." The discussions between the pope,
Parolin and Rubio addressed "the need to work tirelessly for peace", according
to the Vatican. Asked whether Trump would call Leo, Rubio said: "Maybe. I don't
know, I mean, it could happen." At the Italian foreign ministry, Tajani and
other officials presented Rubio with documents tracing the US diplomat's Italian
origins. "It's a true honor and a very special moment to receive all of this
information," Rubio said, adding that he was going to learn Italian. The
Cuban-American, who speaks fluent Spanish, said: "The next time I'm back... I'll
give a speech 'in Italiano'."
Saudi Source to Asharq Al-Awsat: Kingdom Did Not Allow Use
of Its Airspace for Offensive Military Operations
Riyadh: Abdulhadi Habtor/8 May 2026
A Saudi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Kingdom has not permitted its
airspace to be used in support of any offensive military operations, stressing
that Riyadh is seeking de-escalation and supports Pakistan’s efforts to reach an
agreement ending the war. The source said certain parties were attempting to
present a misleading picture of the Kingdom’s position for what he described as
“suspicious” motives. Meanwhile, Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Dr.
Rayed Krimly reaffirmed the Kingdom’s position calling for de-escalation,
avoiding further escalation, and supporting negotiations and efforts aimed at
ending the war between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the
other. Krimly underscored Riyadh’s consistent position in support of
de-escalation and avoiding further escalation, warning in a post on X against
"media reports attributed to unnamed sources - some of whom claim to be Saudi -
suggesting otherwise."For his part, Gulf Research Center Chairman Dr. Abdulaziz
bin Sager said the Saudi position had been clear from the outset and centered on
“avoiding escalation and resolving disputes through political dialogue.”Bin
Sager told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We recall Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince
Mohammed bin Salman’s phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian,
during which he affirmed that the Kingdom would not allow its territory or
airspace to be used in any military operations.”A senior Saudi Foreign Ministry
official had previously told Asharq Al-Awsat on March 24 that the Kingdom had
already denied allegations claiming the Saudi leadership preferred prolonging
the ongoing war between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the
other. The official added that Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan had
previously stated, during a press conference following a ministerial meeting of
Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh, that Iranian attacks must stop, that the
Kingdom’s patience has limits, and that Riyadh reserves the right to respond and
deter aggression through political and other measures.
According to bin Sager, Saudi Arabia’s key demands include “halting Iranian
attacks, securing guarantees to end the war, preventing Iranian interference in
the internal affairs of Gulf and other Arab states, as well as ensuring maritime
and energy security.”He added: “The Kingdom is seeking to lower tensions and
create space for negotiations, and believes that any escalation could obstruct
talks and affect the Strait of Hormuz.”Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative
to the United Nations, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, said Thursday that the Strait of
Hormuz is one of the world’s most vital maritime corridors for international
trade and global energy security. Al-Wasel made the remarks during a joint press
conference in New York between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United
States regarding a draft resolution on freedom of navigation in the Strait of
Hormuz. The Saudi diplomat said any threat to freedom of navigation in the
strait would directly affect the stability of global markets and international
supply chains. He also warned of the humanitarian and economic repercussions of
disruptions to the flow of essential goods, medical supplies, and humanitarian
aid. Al-Wasel stressed the importance of safeguarding
maritime security and ensuring the safe and uninterrupted flow of international
trade in accordance with international law. He called
for coordinated international action to de-escalate tensions and prevent the
crisis from worsening in a way that would preserve regional and international
security and stability.
The Saudi diplomat also emphasized the importance of strengthening international
cooperation to protect vital maritime corridors and maintain international peace
and security.
New Gaza Police Force Faces
Uncertainty over Composition, Representation
Gaza: Asharq Al Awsat/May 08/2026
The issue of allowing the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza into
the enclave to begin its work remains unresolved. Israel continues to refuse its
entry, while other complications persist over the conditions under which it
would operate, including the creation of a police force under its authority
instead of Hamas police and its government security agencies.
One of the 15 clauses in the “roadmap” presented to Hamas and other
Palestinian factions during Cairo negotiations, specifically on April 19,
clearly states that Hamas, the factions, clans, and individuals must hand over
their weapons to the committee that would run the enclave.
The committee would have a security force to enforce the law. The fate of
Hamas employees was one of the unresolved issues in the negotiations that
preceded and followed the latest roadmap. Their number is estimated in the tens
of thousands, and their future remains unclear.
Sources from Hamas and other factions told Asharq Al-Awsat that the issue had
largely been resolved, that fair solutions had been found for all sides, and
that only final agreement remained. The sources said
Hamas and the factions had agreed to allow a new police force to enter Gaza and
operate under the authority of the Gaza administration committee. The main
obstacle was Israel, which has so far refused to allow the committee itself to
enter the enclave and assume its duties, they stressed. Under the proposed plan,
prepared within the Board of Peace, particularly by its director-general
Nickolay Mladenov in consultation with the Gaza Administration Committee and
mediators, 12,000 police officers would initially work under the committee’s
supervision. Of those, 5,000 would be deployed in the first phase. According to
the plan, as Asharq Al-Awsat learned from sources within the factions and others
in contact with the committee, the first 5,000 officers were selected from
Palestinians who had been receiving training at police colleges in several Arab
countries after leaving Gaza, both before and during the war.The sources said
they would undergo Israeli security screening. Many Palestinians receive
training at police colleges in countries including Egypt, the United Arab
Emirates, Algeria, Qatar, Türkiye, and others. It remains unclear whether the
remaining 7,000 officers would also be drawn from that pool, whose numbers
appear to be far short of the required number. Israel is expected to reject
students trained in Doha and Ankara. It is also unclear whether the plan would
include training for Gaza students at Al-Istiqlal University, which specializes
in graduating police and military personnel. Officers from the Palestinian
Authority inside the enclave had sent their sons there for education and
training. Many retired officers from the Palestinian
Authority security services are now in Cairo. Some arrived from Gaza weeks ago
as part of preparations for a comprehensive security plan led by Sami Nasman,
the official in charge of security in the Gaza administration committee.
The same sources said there is a plan to use some Palestinian Authority
security employees known as the “2005 enlistments,” along with police personnel
from Hamas government employees who are under 45 and pass Israeli security
screening. They said this arrangement could be temporary until the recruitment
of a new police force is completed. Former employees would be treated fairly
through practical solutions that preserve their rights, while thousands of them
would remain in police duties without weapons. In
February, the Gaza administration committee posted a registration link on its
website for the new police force. More than 100,000 young Palestinians from
inside Gaza registered for jobs. At the time, discussions focused on selecting
only 2,000 of them as a first step, followed by another 3,000. The Times of
Israel on Friday quoted a US official and a Middle Eastern diplomat as saying
the UAE had transferred $100 million to the Board of Peace to train the new
police force. The website said the transfer was the
largest received by the Board of Peace to date, following pledges worth $17
billion announced at a donor conference hosted by US President Donald Trump in
February. The new Palestinian police force is viewed as a top priority for the
Board of Peace, which seeks to create new civilian and security bodies to govern
Gaza, with the aim of removing Hamas from power and pushing toward an Israeli
withdrawal, the website said.
Syria Says Arrested Assad-Era
General Over Chemical Attack
Reuters/8 May 2026
Syria's interior ministry on Friday announced the arrest of a general from
ousted president Bashar al-Assad's era, accusing him of involvement in a 2013
chemical attack on a suburb of the capital, Damascus. In August 2013, the army
under Assad's rule was accused of using chemical weapons to target areas then
under opposition control, killing more than 1,400 men, women and children,
according to US intelligence and rights groups. With Syria at the height of its
civil war, the Assad government denied responsibility, but agreed to hand over
its chemical arsenal in order to avert US strikes. Assad went on to remain in
power for more than a decade, only to be ousted in 2024 by opposition forces led
by now President Ahmed al-Sharaa. On Friday, the ministry said it arrested
"Khardal Ahmed Dayoub, a former brigadier general in the forces of the ousted
regime and former head of the Air Force Intelligence branch in Daraa, for his
direct involvement in systematic violations against civilians". The ministry
accused Dayoub of being "implicated in chemical attacks during his service in
the Damascus branch and his presence in the Harasta area" where "he oversaw
repressive operations and contributed to the logistical coordination for the
bombing of Eastern Ghouta with internationally prohibited chemical weapons".
Dayoub, the latest in a string of Assad-era officials detained in recent
months, is also accused of extrajudicial killings and coordination with Iran and
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, both of which were backing the ousted
government. Survivors of the attacks, including medics, at the time risked their
lives by posting dozens of videos online, and spoke to journalists including AFP
reporters about the horror they had witnessed. The footage showed dozens of
corpses, many of them children, outstretched on the ground. Other images showed
unconscious children, people foaming at the mouth and doctors trying to help
them breathe.
Global condemnation -
The scenes provoked revulsion and condemnation around the globe. A United
Nations report later said there was clear evidence sarin gas had been used.
Syria agreed that year to join the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) and disclose and hand over its toxic stockpile under Russian and
US pressure, averting the threat of strikes by Washington and its allies. But
that was not the last of the chemical attacks: the OPCW went on to blame Assad's
forces for others later in the civil war. Syria's civil war had begun in 2011,
with a brutal crackdown on peaceful anti-regime protesters that yielded an armed
uprising. More than half a million people ended up being killed, and millions
more forced into exile. Last month, Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced the
arrest of Adnan Abboud Hilweh, one of the Syrian generals internationally
sanctioned over involvement in the Ghouta attack.Syria's new authorities have
vowed to provide justice and accountability for Assad-era atrocities, while
activists and foreign governments have emphasized the importance of transitional
justice to ensure the country moves forward. Last month, a Syrian court
conducted the first hearing in an in absentia trial of Assad himself, alongside
several senior members of his government. Assad fled to Moscow as his country
fell to opposition hands in December 2024, bringing to a stunning end decades of
rule by his clan.
Three-Member Committee Negotiates
With Washington on Disarming Iraqi Factions
London: Ali Saray/Asharq Al-Awsat/8
May 2026
Asharq Al-Awsat has learned that an Iraqi committee comprising three senior
figures is close to finalizing an “executive plan” to disarm armed factions,
ahead of presenting it to US officials in the coming days. As the process
coincides with expected changes in the leadership of key security agencies under
the incoming government, political and government officials ruled out the
possibility that the plan would go beyond “buying time,” while representatives
of three factions insisted they “will not surrender their weapons.”Washington
has intensified pressure on the ruling Shiite parties to disarm armed factions
and prevent their representatives from participating in the new government.
These pressures are expected to translate into practical measures as the
formation of the next government in Baghdad approaches. The committee, whose
existence is being disclosed for the first time, includes Prime
Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed Shia
al-Sudani, and Badr Organization leader Hadi al-Amiri. According to sources, the
committee has held secret negotiations with militia leaders, presenting them
with “ideas on how to disarm and integrate fighters,” although some meetings
“did not proceed calmly.”
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Amiri’s presence, given his longstanding
ties to Iran, “was supposed to help build trust with the factions and persuade
them to engage with the state,” adding that the committee had been fully
authorized by the Coordination Framework.
A climate of mistrust and mutual accusations prevails between Shiite party
leaders and armed factions, the sources said, predicting that Zaidi’s government
could face serious obstacles preventing it from implementing fundamental reforms
related to weapons and financial resources that Washington says are deliberately
being funneled to Iran through various channels.
Zaidi has enjoyed unprecedented support from the US administration since being
formally tasked with forming a government. However, many believe the American
“honeymoon” could end if no meaningful progress is made in reducing Iranian
influence and severing militia ties to the Iraqi state.
A phone call last Wednesday between US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Prime
Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi reportedly signaled that Washington wants
militia elements removed not only from senior ministerial posts, but also from
positions at the level of director-general.
Sources said people close to Zaidi understood from the call with Hegseth that,
from Washington’s perspective, the legitimacy of the new Baghdad government
would depend on its ability to distance militias from the machinery of the
state.
A senior political official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the committee had
accelerated its work under mounting US pressure, noting that security advisers
had been working for months on various options for disarmament or integration,
but that the pace had intensified in recent weeks.
The official said the executive plan includes disarming factions of heavy and
medium weapons and restructuring the Popular Mobilization Forces, without
specifying how the process would be carried out. Uncertainty continues to
surround the future of the PMF in Iraq, particularly whether it will ultimately
submit to US pressure and become part of the disarmament project.
Iraqi politicians say General David Petraeus may visit Baghdad this week to
ensure that “the new government fully severs its ties with militias.” It has not
been possible to verify the official capacity Petraeus would hold during the
expected visit to Baghdad. Petraeus is considered one of the leading US
commanders associated with the Iraq war after 2003. He gained extensive field
and strategic experience, most notably as commander of the 101st Airborne
Division during the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
His later experience also positions him to play a role in the factions’ weapons
matter. In 2004, he was tasked with training local security forces amid
escalating sectarian violence and worked closely with political leaders, some of
whom headed militias at the time, including Hadi al-Amiri.
Iraqi sources suggested that the “executive plan” being prepared by the
committee “may offer promising ideas to convince the Americans of Zaidi’s
seriousness regarding disarmament, but there are doubts over whether it will
actually be implemented, and it may amount to little more than an attempt to buy
time, enough to secure passage of Zaidi’s government while waiting for the
Iran-US war to end.”A prominent Shiite adviser said: “Stalling on the issue of
factional weapons will end with the ruling alliance being classified as a
political group supporting terrorism. For Iraq, this would mean awaiting severe
economic sanctions as a rogue state.”
Zaidi’s government program consists of 14 points, headed by “restricting weapons
to the hands of the state and enforcing the rule of law.” However, it also
includes a clause on “developing the combat capabilities of the Popular
Mobilization Forces and defining its responsibilities and role within the
military structure.”An Iraqi official told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Washington does
not want to loosen its grip on Baghdad to prevent armed faction leaders and
members from infiltrating the new government.”
‘We Will Not Surrender Our Weapons’
In response to the tougher US position, some armed factions are adopting a more
hardline stance. A spokesperson for one faction said that Kataib Hezbollah,
Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, and Harakat al-Nujaba reject handing over their
weapons to any party whatsoever.
The spokesperson, who requested anonymity, said the three factions were
“prepared to pay any price resulting from their refusal to disarm.”Sources said
the armed factions do not believe they are compelled to relinquish their
weapons. Instead, they view potential US consequences as unlikely to be harsher
than what occurred during the previous war, including assassinations and the
destruction of infrastructure. “The war showed us how more power can be gained,”
the faction spokesperson said. Within the Coordination Framework, questions are
being raised about whether Washington seeks to isolate all militias from state
institutions, including those that have begun adopting rhetoric less centered on
weapons and already hold seats in the Iraqi parliament.
These groups, led by Asaib Ahl al-Haq, are exploring alternative formulas for
participating in the new government by reviving a model previously used during
Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s administration: backing figures described as independent
for ministerial positions while maintaining indirect influence over those posts.
US Treasury sanctions announced Thursday targeted figures involved in oil
smuggling, including Laith al-Khazali, brother of Asaib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais
al-Khazali, who has reportedly at times been considered for the Interior
Ministry and at others for a service ministry. The sanctions also included Ali
Muaredh al-Bahadli. Informed sources said “a political faction had nominated him
for the position of Iraqi oil minister.”Politicians from the Coordination
Framework said the sanctions may have been intended to “block undesirable
nominations and steer the process toward other candidates.”Although the
disarmament negotiations appear in essence to be discussions about repositioning
armed groups in a way that does not provoke American anger, according to one
Iraqi official, that does not mean changes will not occur. The official said the
new government would witness security appointments aimed at reducing factional
influence over sensitive institutions, including the intelligence service, which
is likely to be headed by a Sunni figure.
The Latest
LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on
08-09 May/2026
Europe's 'Global Alliance' Is Not Peace, It Is Dispossession by Another
Name
Avner Amichai/Gatestone
Institute/May 08/2026
The so-called "Global Alliance for the implementation of the Two-State Solution"
-- co-chaired by the EU, Saudi Arabia, and Norway, with active European partners
including the increasingly Israel-critical Netherlands, and openly
Israel-hostile states such as Belgium, Ireland, Spain, and France -- is not a
peace project. It is a coordinated campaign of diplomatic pressure, financial
subversion, and ideological warfare aimed at making Jewish life in Judea and
Samaria impossible and at eventually making those areas free of Jews, or "Judenrein".
Surveys by the Israeli organization Regavim, dedicated to the rule of law and
clean government in Israel's land-use policy, have documented more than 103,000
illegal Palestinian structures in Area C of Judea and Samaria (the so-called
'West Bank'). That zone, according to the Oslo Accords that Europe itself signed
as a witness, is under full Israeli control, including exclusive authority over
land-use planning, building permits, and related civil matters. The illegal
Palestinian "facts on the ground" include strategic outposts, homes, roads,
schools, and solar farms are deliberately placed to fragment and splinter the
Jewish homeland. The EU has poured hundreds of millions of euros into these
illegal projects, often with EU flags flying as a mockery.
That intrusion is not "aid". It is land theft by proxy.
Europe has effectively become the financier of the PA/PLO's unilateral strategy,
turning illegal construction into a weapon of territorial conquest.
The complicity runs even deeper. Europe is not merely funding illegal outposts,
it is actively training and equipping the Palestinian Authority's security
forces into a 65,000-strong shadow army.
European advisors run programs at the Jericho military academy, while EU funds
cover salaries, equipment, and "professionalization." These are forces our
organization has repeatedly exposed as "officers by day, terrorists by night" --
a war machine capable of launching October 7-type massacres, but potentially on
a much larger scale....
Post-October 7, pushing a Palestinian state onto the strategic highlands of
Judea and Samaria – again: the cradle of Jewish civilization, where our kings
ruled, prophets spoke, and our identity was forged -- is not a peace plan. It is
an invitation to slaughter. The hills overlooking Tel Aviv would become
launchpads for the PLO, Hamas, Iran, and other genocidal actors. Yet Europe
demands Israeli concessions while ignoring Palestinian rejectionism,
pay-for-slay policies, and its totally explicit goal of destroying the Jewish
state.
Regavim has a clear message for European governments and their Global Alliance:
Stop funding the theft of our homeland. Stop financing classrooms that teach
Jewish murder is heroic. Stop arming a terror army preparing the next October 7.
Stop pretending that more than 3,000 years of Jewish history can be erased by EU
euros and diplomatic declarations. And stop blocking the return of Jews to the
land that has always been theirs.
Europe has effectively become the financier of the Palestinian Authority/PLO's
unilateral strategy, turning illegal construction into a weapon of territorial
conquest. Pictured: Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff (R), then head of the EU mission to
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, visits the illegally-built Palestinian community
of Khan al-Ahmar near Jerusalem, on January 30, 2023. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP
via Getty Images)
Europe has a long history, from medieval expulsions to the Holocaust, of
dispossessing, murdering, and expelling Jews. Today, this same impulse continues
under the language of diplomacy and "international law," now targeting the
Jewish people's biblical heartland by, once again, trying to force a genocidally
hostile (here and here, article 7) so-called "two-state solution" on the Jewish
state.
The so-called "Global Alliance for the implementation of the Two-State Solution"
-- co-chaired by the EU, Saudi Arabia, and Norway, with active European partners
including the increasingly Israel-critical Netherlands[1], and openly
Israel-hostile states such as Belgium, Ireland, Spain, and France -- is not a
peace project. It is a coordinated campaign of diplomatic pressure, financial
subversion, and ideological warfare aimed at making Jewish life in Judea and
Samaria impossible and at eventually making those areas free of Jews, or "Judenrein".
While Alliance ministers issue lofty declarations about "peace," European
taxpayers' hard-earned money is busy building illegal facts on the ground that
destroy any real hope for peace. Surveys by the Israeli organization Regavim,
dedicated to the rule of law and clean government in Israel's land-use policy,
have documented more than 103,000 illegal Palestinian structures in Area C of
Judea and Samaria (the so-called 'West Bank'). That zone, according to the Oslo
Accords that Europe itself signed as a witness, is under full Israeli control,
including exclusive authority over land-use planning, building permits, and
related civil matters.[2]. The illegal Palestinian "facts on the ground" include
strategic outposts, homes, roads, schools, and solar farms are deliberately
placed to fragment and splinter the Jewish homeland. The EU has poured hundreds
of millions of euros into these illegal projects, often with EU flags flying as
a mockery. This has been going on for decades.
The Netherlands and other member states actively participate. That intrusion is
not aid. It is land theft by proxy. This systematic encroachment follows the
blueprint of the Fayyad Plan (2009), in which then PA Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad openly declared the goal of unilaterally creating a de facto Palestinian
state by building "facts on the ground" in Area C of Judea and Samaria,
bypassing negotiations with Israel. Europe has effectively become the financier
of Fayyad's unilateral strategy, turning illegal construction into a weapon of
territorial conquest.
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas boasted on April 20, 2026, that "Europe is
the biggest supporter of the Palestinian people", the largest donor and main
backer of the Palestinian Authority, funding police, justice, governance, and
border management. She is right. Europe bankrolls the entire apparatus at
industrial scale.
The complicity runs even deeper. Europe is not merely funding illegal outposts.
It is actively training and equipping the Palestinian Authority's security
forces into a 65,000-strong shadow army. European advisors run programs at the
Jericho military academy, while EU funds cover salaries, equipment, and
"professionalization." These are forces Regavim has repeatedly exposed as
"officers by day, terrorists by night" -- a war machine capable of launching
October 7-type massacres, but potentially on a much larger scale, from the hills
of Judea and Samaria directly into Israel's population centers on the coastal
plain.
What else does this European investment produce? A Palestinian Authority that
indoctrinates its children for the next war, a 'final-solution'-by-proxy that
the Europeans themselves failed to fully accomplish. Despite repeated promises
to European donors, the PA's textbooks remain filled with antisemitism and
jihad. The European Parliament has condemned them for the seventh consecutive
year, but, as reported by the award-winning journalist and Gatestone Senior
Fellow Khaled Abu Toameh, there is no enforcement by the European Commission and
its bureaucrats, or even conditions demanded with any seriousness. The current
curriculum still celebrates the 1978 coastal road massacre (38 Israelis
murdered, including 13 children) as heroism, uses maps that erase Israel,
teaches -- despite massive archaeological, biblical and documented evidence to
the contrary -- that Jews are foreign colonizers with no history here, and not
only glorifies but pays sizeable stipends-for-life to the terrorists who spill
Jewish blood, or to their families. These pay-for-slay payments amounted to at
least $325 million in 2025, with more than 6,000 new recipients found just in
the first months of 2026.
Post-October 7, pushing a Palestinian state onto the strategic highlands of
Judea and Samaria -- the cradle of Jewish civilization, where our kings ruled,
prophets spoke, and our identity was forged -- is not a peace plan. It is an
invitation to slaughter. The hills overlooking Tel Aviv would become launchpads
for the PLO, Hamas, Iran and other genocidal actors. Yet Europe demands Israeli
concessions while ignoring Palestinian rejectionism, pay-for-slay policies, and
its startlingly explicit goal of destroying the Jewish state.
It is hard to ignore the cruel irony that once again Europe's Jews, who have
lived there for generations, are once again fleeing in growing numbers, driven
out by surging antisemitism that European governments and the EU have chosen not
to seriously confront. People are being murdered, synagogues are attacked,
streets are not safe, and Jewish schools need guards. Even so, it is clear that
the worst is still to come.
The very same political actors who cannot or will not protect their Jews now
seem to be working aggressively to prevent them from finding security in their
ancestral homeland, in Judea and Samaria. Europe exports its "Jewish problem"
while demanding that Israel surrender the one place where those Jews could truly
return home. This is a haunting echo of former British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain's other great historic disaster, the notorious 1939 British White
Paper, which bypassed earlier international commitments to the Jews in
then-Palestine, as it was called for all its citizens before Israeli
independence in 1948, in favor of having an Arab-majority nation within 10 years
with supposed "protection" for the Jewish minority. One can imagine how that
would have worked out.
Regavim has a clear message for European governments and their Global Alliance:
Stop funding the theft of our homeland. Stop financing classrooms that teach
Jewish murder is heroic. Stop arming a terror army preparing the next October 7.
Stop pretending that more than 3,000 years of Jewish history can be erased by EU
euros and diplomatic declarations. And stop blocking the return of Jews to the
land that has always been theirs.
The Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel. Regavim and other
organizations will keep exposing every illegal outpost, every euro, and every
lie. We will not be robbed again.
Avner Amichai (aka Wim Kortenoeven), a former Member of Parliament in the
Netherlands, now serves as diplomatic liaison for Regavim.
[1] Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Netherlands --
long regarded as one of Israel's strongest supporters in the EU -- has adopted a
markedly more critical stance toward Israeli policy, both bilaterally and within
the European Union. It has actively pushed for stronger collective EU measures,
including reviewing or suspending parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The Dutch parliament now has an Israel-critical/hostile majority, and pro-Israel
forces such as Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) have been excluded from
government participation.
[2] Aside from the powers resulting from the Oslo II Agreement, Israel has
legitimate claims to Judea and Samaria under international law.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
Winning the Iran War — Whether Washington Knows It or Not
Mark Dubowitz/ The Iran Breakdown/May 08/2026
https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/the-iran-breakdown/2026/05/04/winning-the-iran-war-whether-washington-knows-it-or-not/
In this special solo episode of The Iran Breakdown, FDD CEO Mark Dubowitz pushes
back hard on the narrative that America is losing the war with the Islamic
Republic. Step by step, he makes the case that Tehran has just suffered the most
severe strategic defeat in its 47-year history — its leadership decapitated, its
nuclear program gutted, its air defenses shattered, its proxies in ruins, and
its economy in a death spiral with the clock running out. The only remaining
question: will the ceasefire be a pause that lets the regime breathe — or the
closing vice on a failing regime? Mark argues the discipline to answer that
question correctly is the last thing standing between America and a durable
victory.
Transcript
DUBOWITZ: If you told me a few years ago that this is where Iran would stand
today, I would’ve called it a fantasy. I’m Mark Dubowitz, and this is The Iran
Breakdown. And today I want to push back hard on a narrative I keep hearing — in
op-ed pages, on cable panels, and in the chat around Washington — that the
United States is somehow losing this war, that we are stuck, that Tehran has the
upper hand. We are not losing. We are not stuck. The Islamic Republic has just
suffered the most severe strategic defeat in its 47-year history. Whether we
recognize it, whether we have the discipline to consolidate it — that is a
different question, and we will get to it. But first, the picture, because the
picture has been distorted by the noise of a long war, by understandable
frustration with stalemates and ceasefires, and by a media ecosystem that
confuses tactical setbacks with strategic outcomes.
Let me walk you through where things actually stand. The mistake too many
analysts are making — and I include some very smart people in this — is
confusing the regime’s survival with its strength. A regime can persist and
still be strategically hollowed out. A regime can hold territory, hold a flag,
hold a capital, and have lost the actual contest. That is exactly what is
happening to Tehran. When you assess state power, you look at a handful of
things: its weapons, its leadership, its economy, its alliances, its proxies,
its deterrent credibility, and its hold over its own population. On every single
one of these, the Islamic Republic is in a worse position today than at any
point since 1979. So, let’s go through them. Start with the nuclear program —
the program that for two decades was the central organizing problem of American
and Middle East policy. That program has been set back by years.
Enrichment and reprocessing — gutted. Weaponization sites destroyed. Fordow, the
deeply buried facility we were told for years was untouchable — it’s inoperable.
Natanz is in ruins, and critically, a generation of senior nuclear weapons
scientists has been eliminated. You can rebuild the centrifuge cascade. It is
much harder to rebuild human capital. The ballistic missile enterprise is in
similar shape. Monthly missile output has collapsed from roughly a hundred per
month to almost nothing. Roughly half of the regime’s missile arsenal and launch
infrastructure is gone. The IRGC aerospace commander who built that machine over
20 years — he’s dead. Iran’s air defenses have been shattered. American and
Israeli fighter jets and drones now operate over Iranian territory with near
impunity. Stop and think about that sentence. Five years ago, that wouldn’t have
been considered impossible. Today, it’s routine. Now the leadership. The regime
has been decapitated. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — dead.
His top national security advisor, Ali Larijani — dead. Hundreds of senior IRGC
intelligence, military, and Basij commanders killed in the campaign. The IRGC
commander-in-chief, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, two successive IRGC
intelligence chiefs, and many others. The new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei,
is badly injured from Israeli strikes. He inherits a hollowed-out regime with no
real supreme authority, no charismatic religious legitimacy of his own, and a
deeply weakened command structure. He’s presiding over a system that is still
searching for its footing. This matters because the Islamic Republic is not just
a state. It’s a personalist theocratic system built around the office of the
Supreme Leader. Decapitating that office and the security apparatus that
protected it is not a tactical achievement. It is structural damage to the
regime’s foundations. Iran is alone in its own region. After firing missiles and
drones at Gulf countries, those countries are freezing Iranian funds and
shutting down the sanctions evasion networks Tehran spent years building.
No Arab capital is coming to the rescue. China and Russia, despite all the talk
of a new authoritarian axis, are doing just the bare minimum — selective
purchases of discounted oil, some diplomatic cover at the UN, and not a lot
more. They’re not going to bleed for the Islamic Republic, and the Islamic
Republic now knows it. Though they may help reconstitute the deadly capabilities
that the United States and Israel have destroyed — we’re watching that closely,
and so is President Trump. The terror network, the so-called axis of resistance,
the ring of fire that for years intimidated Israel and the Sunni Arab states —
has shattered. Hezbollah and Hamas are heavily degraded. Israel decapitated the
Houthi political leadership. What used to be a coordinated network of
forward-deployed Iranian power is now a set of weakened, isolated franchises.
The Syrian land bridge is severed. Bashar al-Assad, the man Iran propped up at
enormous cost in blood and treasure for over a decade, is hiding in Moscow
playing video games.
The new government in Damascus is arresting smugglers and publicly declaring
that Syria will no longer transit Iranian weapons to Hezbollah. The corridor
that took Tehran 20 years to build is closing in front of our eyes, and Lebanon
is pivoting West. Israel and Lebanon have opened direct peace talks for the
first time since 1983. Beirut now asserts that the Lebanese Armed Forces alone
are responsible for national defense. That is a direct repudiation of
Hezbollah’s entire reason for existing. The work is not done. The Lebanese
government has to follow through on disarming Hezbollah, but the political
ground has shifted in a way that would’ve seemed impossible only 18 months ago.
And here’s one of the most important points, and I want to dwell on it. Iranian
deterrence has been exposed as a bluff. For decades, the conventional wisdom was
that Israel could not strike the Islamic Republic directly because Tehran would
retaliate massively.
That Iran’s missile arsenal, its proxies, its drones, sleeper cells — all of it
added up to a deterrent the West could not afford to test. Well, the West tested
it four times: April 2024, October 2024, June 2025, March 2026. Four direct
Iranian attacks on Israel. None of them imposed strategic costs. None of them
changed Israeli behavior. All of them triggered devastating retaliation,
including from the United States. Iran couldn’t even reliably use Syria or Iraq
as launchpads. The threat that shaped a generation of Western policy turned out
to be, in significant part, a bluff. And once a bluff is called, you cannot
uncall it. Tehran’s deterrent capital is spent. Then there’s the Iranian
economy, and this is where the war has moved into a different phase. We’ve gone
beyond two decades of treasury sanctions to direct military pressure. Marine
interdiction. Oil exports reduced to a trickle. Storage capacity for crude is
nearing exhaustion.
Iran is literally running out of places to put the oil it can no longer sell.
Triple-digit inflation, a currency that’s almost worthless. Steel and
petrochemicals — the industrial and defense backbone — battered. Iranian losses
from this war: at least $140 billion. That’s close to 40 percent of pre-war GDP.
Some credible estimates put it at double that. Inside the country: power
shortages, water crises, factory shutdowns, pension unrest, fuel shortages.
Bazaar merchants, oil workers, truckers — the regime’s traditional support base
— were out on strike in December and January across all 31 provinces. The regime
had to slaughter its way out of the biggest challenge to its rule since the
revolution itself. And the Hormuz card — the card we were warned about for years
— well, Tehran played it, but they played it at the worst possible moment, when
the United States had options, instead of when it didn’t. Hormuz disruption that
was supposed to be Iran’s ace turned out to be a panic move from a regime that
had run out of better ones.
I want to zoom in on something my colleague Miad Malachi and I wrote about in
the New York Post just recently. The economic squeeze isn’t a static picture. It
has a clock on it, and the clock is ticking against Tehran. Look at Kharg
Island. Kharg handles roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports. With the
United States blockade in place and Operation Epic Fury and Operation Economic
Fury still grinding away, Kharg is days from hitting its onshore storage limit.
Tehran has already reactivated retired super tankers as floating storage. But
once that fills up, Iran has to start shutting in its own oil wells, and
shutting in productive wells isn’t like turning off a tap. You do it badly and
you damage the wellhead. You can lose those wells permanently. Before this war,
at least a third of Iran’s oil revenue went directly to military salaries and
operations — the IRGC, the Basij, the regular armed forces.
That lifeline is choking. The cost of this war to Tehran is running at roughly
$435 million every single day in foregone exports and blocked imports. That’s a
death spiral on a calendar. And here is the political dimension. The regime
spent decades telling its base that the nuclear program was sacred, a matter of
national dignity. Now it may actually have to surrender it. In 1988, the
then-Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, ended the war with Iraq by drinking what
he famously called the poison chalice. Today’s leadership in Tehran faces an
even more bitter cup, and someone in that fractured post-Khamenei coalition
still has to drink it. And here is what too much of the Washington commentariat
is getting wrong. They’re treating the midterms as President Trump’s deadline —
as if the clock that matters is the American political calendar, not the Iranian
economic calendar. That is exactly backwards.
The president has two and a half years left in office — two and a half years of
unified executive control, two and a half years of a Congress that, whatever it
squabbles about, is not going to legislate this campaign out of existence. Two
and a half years is enormous leverage, and more than enough time to consolidate
the gains, lock in permanent constraints, and run the regime out of road.
Tehran’s clock is measured in weeks of oil storage. Ours is measured in years of
presidential authority. Anyone telling you we’re running out of time has the
asymmetry exactly upside down. Which brings me to the ceasefire itself, and a
piece I recently co-wrote with Ben Cohen. President Trump has now indefinitely
extended the ceasefire with Iran. The core issues that triggered the war —
permanent constraints on enrichment, verifiable dismantlement of weaponization,
caps on missiles, an end to support for proxies, Hormuz reopened on terms that
aren’t set by the IRGC — well, none of that is locked in yet. And here’s the
question that determines whether the ceasefire is a problem or an opportunity:
is it a pause button or a vice grip?
If we treat it as a pause button — if Washington uses the quiet to relax
sanctions, ease the blockade, let the political pressure off Tehran in exchange
for talks — then yes, the ceasefire becomes the regime’s lifeline. Pauses don’t
freeze the regime in amber. Pauses are when the regime breathes. Tehran would
use every quiet day to dig in, divide us, and regenerate: relocate enriched
material, harden Pickaxe Mountain, peel Europe and the Gulf States off the
coalition, rebuild missile lines, replace lost commanders. That version is a
risky bet. But there is another version, and it is the one this administration
is actually pursuing — the ceasefire as a vice grip. The blockade stays on.
Operation Epic Fury and Operation Economic Fury keep grinding. Treasury keeps
designating. The military stays posted to resume strikes within hours, and we
tell Tehran very clearly: the bombs have stopped for now, but nothing else has.
The economic war continues. The diplomatic isolation continues. The internal
pressure continues. That is the ceasefire as a closing move. It lets the
economic war do the work the bombs already started. It denies the regime the one
thing a pause is supposed to give it: relief.
The Iranian counterproposal so far — lift sanctions first, end the blockade
first, guarantee no further attacks first — is not a negotiation; it’s a
stalling tactic. We’ve seen this movie. It was called the JCPOA, the Obama Deal
of 2015. The right response is not to give them what they want for free. It’s to
keep the vice tight. And here is the underlying logic: the ceasefire is only as
good as the willingness to end it. The leverage that brought Tehran to the table
was the credible threat that the bombs would resume tomorrow. As long as that
military threat stays credible, the vice grip works. The moment Tehran believes
we’ve permanently taken military force off the table, the vice loosens. The test
of this administration over the next two years is not whether it talks. It’s
whether it stays ready to impose devastating economic damage and to return to
military operations. I want to spend a minute on something that we don’t talk
about enough on the show, because the information blackout inside Iran makes it
hard to report with the granularity it deserves. But it is, in many ways, the
whole point.
Palestinian ‘pay to slay’
shows why Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza is needed
Natalie Ecanow/Washington Examiner/May 08/2026
President Donald Trump is known for forging his own foreign policy path, and
Gaza is no different. Whereas the previous administration hoped that a
“revitalized” Palestinian Authority would take over the Strip, the Trump
administration pumped the brakes. A U.S. State Department report published last
week vindicates that decision.
Under U.S. law, Washington withholds certain assistance from Ramallah if the
State Department is unable to certify that the PA has “terminated payments for
acts of terrorism.” Ramallah has long provided monthly salaries and other
benefits to Palestinians currently or previously imprisoned in Israel for
“participating in the struggle against the occupation.” Families of prisoners or
terrorists killed in the act are also eligible for welfare. This program is
colloquially known as “pay-to-slay.” PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared an end
to the program in February 2025, but evidently, it hasn’t stopped.
The State Department took the atypical step last week of publicizing its report
to Congress, which covers September 2025 to February 2026. The content is
disconcerting, if not predictable. According to the department, the PA “provided
$156 million in payments and benefits to Palestinian terrorists and their
families” in 2025. PA Finance Minister Estephan Salameh affirmed in February
2026 that Ramallah continues to provide a “[60%] rate of [PA public employee]
salaries” and has not “abandoned any Palestinian resident, whether they are
prisoners or families of Martyrs and wounded.”
Dozens of jailed terrorists released in exchange for Israeli hostages are slated
to receive monthly payments in excess of $1,000. Ramallah has set the minimum
monthly wage at roughly $500, which means that violence is often a lucrative
business.
Pay-for-slay is a major reason why the Israeli government has long said that it
does not want the PA to enter postwar Gaza. Compounding the challenge is the
fact that the PA has long been mired in corruption and mismanagement, epitomized
by the 90-year-old Abbas who is currently serving his 21st year of a four-year
presidential term.
Municipal elections held on April 25 in the West Bank and Deir el-Balah, Gaza —
the first elections of any kind in the Strip since 2006 — compound the picture.
Fatah, the PA’s dominant faction, ran uncontested in several races and a recent
decree requiring candidates to endorse the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s
“program,” which formally renounces violence and recognizes the State of Israel,
boxed Hamas and other terrorist groups out of the race.
In Gaza, where the PA has had no presence since 2007, Fatah-backed candidates
won six out of 15 seats on Deir el-Balah’s municipal council, although voter
turnout there was below 25%. Moreover, Hamas forces reportedly secured Gaza’s
polling stations, demonstrating that the terrorist group remains armed and in
charge.
Nevertheless, Fatah declared a “sweeping victory” when the returns came in.
The only motion these results should stir in Washington is doubling down on
Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which excludes the PA and instead calls for a
“technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” to oversee Gaza until “the
Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program.” Washington launched the
so-called National Committee for the Administration of Gaza in January as part
of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
The presence of armed Hamas guards at polling stations in Gaza also points to
the continued challenge of disarming Hamas. Without disarmament, all progress
toward the goals of the 20-point plan remains “in question,” Secretary of State
Marco Rubio explained on April 27. No committee can govern in a technocratic or
apolitical manner if it has no forces of its own and a terrorist organization
rules the streets.
Thus, Washington must hold firm on Hamas disarmament while resisting any
pressure to prematurely welcome the PA into Gaza. Moving to bring the PA back
into the fold would reward a faction that the State Department made abundantly
clear has yet to earn it. Instead, the Trump administration should continue to
empower the NCAG while pressing the PA to pursue meaningful reform.
The 20-point plan has made “substantial progress,” according to former U.K.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sits on the executive board of the Gaza Board of
Peace. Now is no time for the Trump administration to back down. On the
contrary, the administration should turn up the pressure on Hamas to disarm.
For, as Blair noted, only if Hamas surrenders its weapons will the policies that
have “made daily life for Gaza people so difficult” start to reverse.
**Natalie Ecanow is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a
Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign
policy and national security.
Look at what is happening inside the country right now. Decapitated leadership
at the top, an economy collapsing in the middle, and ordinary Iranians — bazaar
merchants, oil workers, truckers, pensioners — they’ve been out on the streets,
and they certainly will return to the streets again. There’ve been strikes in
all 31 provinces. There are fuel shortages, there are power cuts, there are
water shortages, a currency that won’t buy bread. That combination — military
decapitation, economic collapse, and popular unrest hitting at the same time —
is not an accident. That is exactly the combination the maximum pressure
strategy was designed to produce. And it is exactly the combination that the
maximum support strategy — supporting the Iranian people against the regime that
oppresses them — was designed to amplify. Maximum pressure was never just
sanctions for the sake of sanctions. The whole theory was that personalist
authoritarian regimes are most vulnerable when stress hits multiple load-bearing
pillars at once. Take out the security apparatus on top, you sever the regime’s
ability to project force. Crater the economy in the middle, you sever its
ability to buy loyalty. Wake up the street at the bottom, you remove the
regime’s claim to legitimacy.
Any one of those alone, the Islamic Republic has survived before. All three at
once is something it has never faced. That is what we mean when we say maximum
fracture. That would be the doctrine paying off. And here is where American
policy has to be smart. The easy mistake from here is to think the military and
economic campaign is the whole story and that the Iranian people are bystanders.
They are not. They are the decisive variable. 47 years of repression, four
decades of failed promises, a generation of young Iranians who have lost faith
in this system — that is the deeper source of the regime’s weakness, and the one
thing Khamenei’s successors cannot bomb their way out of. Restore Iranians’
access to the open internet. Sanction the Chinese and European firms selling
Tehran the surveillance apparatus it uses to crush dissent. Amplify Iranian
voices so that people inside the country know the world is watching, the regime
is exposed, and that they are not alone. That costs a fraction of a single B-2
sortie, and it targets exactly the legitimacy the regime cannot rebuild. Maximum
pressure plus maximum support — that is what produces maximum fracture. And
maximum fracture is what turns the strategic defeat into the end of the regime.
Step back for a second and compare all of this to where we were headed before
this war. Before all of this: nuclear-armed ICBMs on the horizon, 10,000
ballistic missiles, a Chinese- and Russian-built military, hundreds of thousands
of attack drones, a fully operational terror network running from Yemen to
Lebanon to Gaza to Iraq, hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief
flowing in, hardening the economy. That was the trajectory. That was where the
2015 nuclear deal was taking us — with sunset clauses on enrichment and
reprocessing and no missile restrictions that would have given Tehran a clear
runway to a nuclear weapon and ICBMs by the early 2030s. That trajectory is
gone. President Trump’s withdrawal from that flawed deal in his first term, and
the maximum pressure campaign that followed, set the conditions. The military
campaign of the last 14 months consolidated them. Without the first decision,
the second one would not have been possible.
Now, none of this means the job is done. I want to be very clear about that. The
challenges that remain are real. The battle of Hormuz is not over. The Houthis
continue to threaten Red Sea shipping. There is enriched material we cannot
fully account for. The deeply buried Fordow Mountain facility remains a serious
concern. The regime continues to repress its own people. There is a real risk of
nuclear and missile reconstitution if we take our eyes off the ball. There is a
real risk of a fatally flawed deal — a 2015 redux — if Western negotiators get
tired. And honestly, the biggest single risk in my mind is political, and not
the way those who oppose the war frame it. The risk is not that we keep going.
The risk is that we lose nerve. A future president in 2029 or beyond who simply
gives up, or this president, this year, talked into believing the ceasefire is
good enough and walking away with a deal that locks in less than the moment
makes possible. That would be the squander. The fundamentals don’t require it.
The fundamentals are with us, not against us. Two and a half years of
presidential authority, a regime running out of money, leaders, and time, a
population that the regime can no longer count on — that is not a position of
weakness. That is the strongest hand any American administration has ever had
against the Islamic Republic of Iran. But step back, look at the strategic
picture. It is extraordinary. For those of us who have spent decades countering
this regime — its terrorism, its proxies, its nuclear ambitions, its
hostage-taking, its repression of its own people — it is genuinely hard to fully
comprehend how much has been achieved. The Islamic Republic has suffered a
strategic defeat. Tehran’s escape routes are closing. Its leadership is
decapitated. Its economy is in collapse. Its people have been on the streets and
will come to the streets again. The clock is ticking on its oil, on its money,
on its political coalition. We have over two years of presidential authority, a
regime in maximum fracture, and a coalition that is holding.
The pieces are in place to turn this defeat into a durable victory — or to
squander it at the negotiating table, the way leverage against this regime has
been squandered so many times before. The question is whether we have the
discipline to use this ceasefire as a vice grip and not a pause button. The
patience to let the economic war do its work. The willingness to resort again to
major military operations to severely degrade what remains. And the moral
clarity to stand with the Iranian people while their regime falls apart around
them. That choice is in front of us now. I’m Mark Dubowitz. This has been The
Iran Breakdown. I’ll see you next week when we break it down all over again.
Syria’s Accommodation of
Foreign Jihadists Backfires
Ahmad Sharawi/FDD-Policy Brief/May 08/2026
The Syrian government’s effort to integrate foreign fighters into its armed
forces may be unraveling.
On May 5, Syrian authorities arrested 16 Uzbek fighters following a standoff
with armed members of the Uzbek community in the northwestern province of Idlib.
The confrontation erupted after Syrian security forces detained an Uzbek fighter
in the Syrian army for looting, prompting dozens of Uzbek militants to surround
the security headquarters in Idlib. Clashes also erupted between government
forces and Uzbek fighters in the Idlib village of Kafraya. Uzbek jihadists, most
notably members of Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Battalion of Monotheism and
Jihad), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, have preserved their extremist
affiliations and demonstrated questionable loyalty despite the accommodating
stance of the government in Damascus.
Most of the foreign fighters were part of the jihadist coalition under the
leadership of Ahmad al-Sharaa that ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime. Now
president, Sharaa previously led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a force that
emerged from al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. After taking power, Sharaa rapidly
integrated thousands of foreign fighters into the country’s new armed forces.
Syrian defense ministry sources told Reuters last year that Sharaa defended this
approach to Western skeptics on the grounds that excluding the foreign fighters
would drive them back to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.
Idlib Clashes Not a One-Off
The showdown in Idlib was only one of many clashes between the state and foreign
jihadists. In October 2025, Syrian government forces launched an operation in
the Harem camp near Idlib against foreign jihadists from Firqat al-Ghuraba
(Foreigners Brigade), led by Omar Omsen, a U.S.-designated terrorist wanted by
France for recruiting French nationals to fight in Syria. The clashes reportedly
erupted after members of the group kidnapped a French girl in the camp and
planned to extort her mother, which prompted Syrian forces to intervene. In
response, Omsen called on foreign fighters across Syria to mobilize against the
government.
Firqat al-Ghuraba has established a parallel policing system within its camp,
holding trials and issuing sentences outside the authority of the Syrian state.
U.S.-Designated Terrorist Groups Remain in Syrian Army
The Syrian government originally sought to institutionalize the foreign groups
by integrating segments of them into the military and security apparatus in an
attempt to impose greater discipline through state control.
However, the ideological extremism of some of these factions — and their alleged
involvement in massacres against religious minorities — has exposed the serious
risks of this policy.
For example, Damascus integrated the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), a Uyghur
jihadist group, into the Syrian army’s 84th Division, a unit reportedly composed
largely of foreign fighters. TIP maintained longstanding ties to al-Qaeda,
fighting alongside the group in Afghanistan before 2001, while its current emir,
Abdul Haq al-Turkistani, sits on al-Qaeda’s Shura Council. In 2015, TIP fighters
desecrated churches in Jisr al-Shughur in Idlib.
Another faction integrated into the 84th Division is Liwa al-Muhajireen
wal-Ansar (Brigade of Emigrants and Supporters), a U.S.-designated Salafi-jihadist
group comprising fighters from Arab countries as well as the North Caucasus.
Sharaa promoted to the rank of colonel its commander, Dhu al-Qarnayn Zanour
Abdul Hameed, who now serves as a commander within the 84th Division.
U.S. Should Use Leverage of Review Process To Press for Change
“Tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria,” the White House press secretary
posted last year following President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Sharaa.
Trump had praised Sharaa and committed to lifting sanctions on Syria to
facilitate its recovery. Trump demanded no formal concessions in return, but the
White House made clear its reservations about Syria integrating jihadists.
Despite these concerns, Washington has never made progress in U.S.-Syrian
relations conditional on Sharaa addressing the problem. The United States still
retains leverage through Syria’s designation since 1979 as a State Sponsor of
Terrorism (SST), a status Washington has been reviewing since December 2025. The
United States should use the leverage provided by the SST review process to
pressure Damascus to remove or demote foreign fighters within its security
forces, particularly members of U.S.-designated terrorist organizations serving
in the Syrian army. Additionally, Washington should press Damascus to refrain
from deploying these factions to sensitive areas where sectarian tensions remain
acute.
*Ahmad Sharawi is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe HERE.
Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Ahmad on X @AhmadA_Sharawi. FDD is a Washington,
DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and
foreign policy.
Iran’s War in Iraq Reveals
Militias’ Expanding Grip
Baghdad, London: Ali Saray/Asharq Al-Awsat/8 May 2026
“If you must fall, be a meteor.” The phrase was written on a mural inside
Baghdad’s Green Zone. Beside it was a drawing of faceless fighters in helmets,
carrying rifles. They looked ready to fight on several fronts. Senior officials
and officers in Baghdad likely pass the mural on their way to government
offices, including leaders of factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Nearly two months after the US-Iranian war, it is clear that many of them do not
want to become falling meteors. A day before the war, an Asharq Al-Awsat
correspondent was trying to conduct interviews in Baghdad. The Iraqi officials
they met were tied up in “emergency” meetings. One
said employees at Iraq’s Ministry of Migration had discussed a “possible alert,”
which he considered “a very worrying signal.”Baghdad awoke on the morning of
February 28, 2026, to the sound of strikes in Tehran. By evening, we were told
that a picture of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s body had reached the
phones of leaders in the Coordination Framework hours before US President Donald
Trump announced his death. Then began one of the
strangest nights the Iraqi capital had seen. In
Baghdad, two kinds of Tehran’s allies appeared to stand on opposite sides. They
seemed to be preparing to settle scores that had remained dormant for years, or
bracing for another rebirth, one that has repeated itself again and again since
2003.
“Do these people really follow Khamenei?”
The second day of the war. The Green Zone was on high alert. Streets were
closed, barriers and checkpoints were in place, and security forces inspected
those without permits to enter the government district. No curfew had been
declared, but in practice, people were moving through an undeclared one.
That evening, Asaib Ahl al Haq, led by Qais al Khazali, held a mourning
gathering for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Dozens gathered near Jumhuriya Bridge
in central Baghdad. They arrived with a convoy of Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles, a
model favored by many politicians, officials and leaders of armed groups. The
demonstrators carried banners mourning Khamenei beneath the historic Freedom
Monument, protected by a ring of security forces. There was no friction.
Traffic on the bridge remained normal. Cars moved smoothly toward the eastern
entrance of the Green Zone, except for a small cluster of reporters from
partisan channels funded by factions with influence in the government. They were
interviewing “mourners over Khamenei’s killing.” It was a quiet show of
solidarity. Before long, it dispersed. In 2019, the
same scene was bloody. Hundreds of young men were killed or wounded after taking
part in almost daily protests against corruption and Iranian influence in
Baghdad, under the slogan, “Iran out, out.” Seven years and 40 days of war
later, their voices are no longer heard. Some have fully joined parties in the
ruling coalition. Four kilometers from the silent
mourning gathering, the scene at the Suspension Bridge, leading to the western
entrance of the Green Zone, was violent and loud. Dozens pushed toward security
barriers without hesitation. They wanted to reach the US embassy. Asharq
Al-Awsat’s correspondent spotted young men crying bitterly, staring at passersby
and scrutinizing those who did not appear sad, as if asking: “How can you not
grieve?”
At first, the protest looked improvised. The faces were as frightened as they
were angry. Some hurled stones at security forces blocking the bridge entrance
with steel barriers and large vehicles fitted with water cannons. Others carried
Iranian flags and chanted against Trump, “the killer of the Leader.”
A large bulldozer forced its way through the crowd toward the barrier, followed
by a black cloud, a wave of dust and masked men carrying sticks. Live fire and
tear gas followed. The bulldozer stopped at a concrete barrier. Its engine
failed before it could breach the security fortification, and the chants grew
louder.The correspondent asked one protester what he would do if the road to the
US embassy were open. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Even if I throw myself
at a tank,” he said. He seemed surprised by the question and tried to make me
understand: “They killed our leader. He is our guardian. Do you know what that
means?” By night, authorities said dozens had been wounded on both sides,
protesters and security forces. The fact is, days
earlier, they had all been on the same side, government and factions alike. The
protesters at both bridges had also been in the same trench before Khamenei’s
killing.
In the days that followed, the “factions,” the “resistance,” and the Popular
Mobilization Forces opened the roads and skies to drones and US strikes.
Apart from these two kinds of Iran’s allies, who appeared to dominate
Baghdad’s public space, a segment of Iraqi Shiites saw the war as a chance to
criticize Iranian influence in the country. But “a campaign of intimidation
silenced them,” according to activists we spoke to.
During the war, people close to Iran incited action against its opponents in
Iraq. Images of complaints against them spread on social media. Some were
arrested by security forces, but the courts have not yet acted on the
complaints. Bloggers also posted pictures of influencers under the headline,
“Your day of reckoning will come.”
On the ground, armed groups operating under the umbrella of what is known as the
Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched dozens of attacks from the first hours after
Khamenei’s killing.
The use of the term “resistance” was one of the methods the Revolutionary Guard
and Iraqi factions used to conceal the original perpetrators. Many faction
leaders, meanwhile, found themselves walking a fine line during the war, after
long pledging to integrate into the state and keep weapons in its hands.
A leader in an armed faction said he was “not sure throughout the weeks of the
war on Iran whether his armed followers had taken part in attacks on the
Americans and on the Kurdistan Region.” It is not certain that he truly does not
know.
In interviews with Iraqi and Western security and political figures, Asharq
Al-Awsat sought to understand how the leaders of armed factions in Iraq, and,
behind them, the Revolutionary Guard, manage the smooth movement of these groups
between government institutions and militias, and how the war exposed dark zones
of Iranian influence in the country. There are
different assumptions about the success of this process. But the most likely one
is that Iran holds the “spinal cord” connecting everyone, those inside the
government and the armed groups outside its authority. Between them lies a
bitter, and possibly deadly, struggle over resources and influence.
Militias as “fiefdoms”
The car moves slowly along the bank of a small river in one of the vast fields
south of Baghdad. As far as the eye can see, piles of bricks and building
materials are scattered across the countryside.
For decades, residents here grew grains and vegetables and sold their crops to
the government or local markets. Some had benefited from agricultural reform
programs dating back to the 1960s, before those programs deteriorated during the
Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s and gradually disappeared after the US invasion in
2003. A 70-year-old notable from southern Baghdad
describes the fields today: “It is as if we are being violently dragged back to
the era of feudal estates. There is an advance by the new feudal lords. The
issue is not just a dispute over ownership, but an invisible authority
controlling resources.”
The man avoids giving details about how he lost his land about seven years ago,
a vast area on the road between Baghdad and Babil to the south. But sources
describe what happened as “a maze of multiple fraudulent operations protected by
a government bureaucracy that armed factions have skillfully penetrated.
“These lands are a jungle of investments, in whose shadows facilities belonging
to armed groups disappear,” the man said. “I know them. They will seem extremely
friendly to you, but with the latest war, they became very tense and
suspicious.”
The factions’ strategy of taking over these lands appears to go beyond being a
“goose that lays golden eggs,” as two officials, one former and one current, in
Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture put it. In the long run, it is “a continuous
swallowing of geography in favor of Iran’s political influence.”
A Shiite leader in one of the factions said, “Every inch Hezbollah loses in
southern Lebanon is compensated by Iran with kilometers in Iraq.”
But the factions collide as they advance into these lands. Friction often turns
into clashes. In July 2025, a policeman, a civilian, and a member of Kataib
Hezbollah were killed after a violent confrontation between a government force
and the faction, which had stormed Baghdad’s Agriculture Directorate in the Dora
area of southern Baghdad to prevent the appointment of a new director. In
reality, the Shiite leader said, the operation was a cover for “recycling
influence among armed groups.”
After the clashes, the government said the official in charge of regulating
agricultural land contracts was involved, before his dismissal, in “forging
contracts that led to the seizure of agricultural land from its rightful
owners.”
The government’s account appears coherent, but it does not tell the whole story.
Several government and factional sources say the Agriculture Directorate clashes
were only the latest episode in political operations that had begun months
earlier to change factional influence over these lands. One source said: “It is
simply the management of the conflict over resources among the militias.”This
was not the first such friction in recent years. Since 2020, the Popular
Mobilization Forces Security Directorate, the official umbrella for all armed
factions in Iraq, has arrested militia leaders who once played a role in
fighting ISIS and closed their offices in Baghdad. This happened with Saraya
Taliat al Khorasani, led by Ali al Yasiri and his deputy Hamid al Jazairi, as
well as the Mukhtar Army faction led by Wathiq al Battat.
Before them came the arrest of Hamza al-Shammari, who had been a central figure
in tourism activity between Baghdad and Beirut and was accused of money
smuggling and drug trafficking. Several sources spoke of his close ties to Iraqi
militias.
Incidents recorded as “the burning of poultry farms in Kut, a hospital in Babil,
restaurants in Baghdad, and small companies in Basra” were in fact side effects
of friction among armed groups, according to accounts from a security officer, a
local official, and a member of an armed faction.
A Shiite leader close to the factions said: “Some armed groups operate as
financial portfolios for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, but when they obtain
funds exceeding the share of the original sponsor, they are punished and removed
from the game.”
US analyst Nick Gazette said clashes or arrests that surface from time to time
among Iraqi militias are due to one of two things: a feverish struggle over
resources, or a punishment carried out by the Revolutionary Guard against
leaders or individuals who have broken away from its obedience.
Managing expansion
A number of these group leaders are seen as rebels against the Revolutionary
Guard. The closest example often used to refer to them is Aws al-Khafaji, who
leads the Abu Fadl al-Abbas faction. He took part in battles against ISIS in the
provinces of Salahuddin and Anbar, but “his tongue became harsh toward Tehran.”A
force from the Popular Mobilization Forces Security Directorate arrested Khafaji
in July 2019 and closed one of his headquarters in central Baghdad on the
grounds that it was “fake.”Four months later, he was released and said the
reason for his arrest was his criticism of the Iranian project in Iraq and his
opposition to the killing of young protesters in October 2019. Hisham Dawoud, a
researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, tends to see
the repeated friction among the factions not merely as incidental struggles over
influence or resources. At its core, he says, it reflects deep internal shifts
in the structure of these forces and their transition from a phase of
“formation” to one of “repositioning” inside the state and society. But he
stresses that “the first thing that must be established is that these factions,
especially those loyal to Iran, do not operate in a vacuum and do not have
absolute freedom to shape reality according to their will.”Sajjad Salem, a
former member of parliament, says the assumption that helps explain factional
friction lies in understanding the depth of the struggle over economic
resources. Influence is not only about the leaders of these groups, but also
about a broad network operating beneath them, including social and tribal
notables, traders, and an army of mid-level public sector employees. All of them
have shifting interests, “and whenever they intersect, a spark of violence
flashes. Usually, the Revolutionary Guard resolves the disputes.”
Just as it regulates the rhythm of competition, the Revolutionary Guard reaps
the rewards of militia expansion on Iraqi territory. The “financial portfolios”
grow as key resources for Iran, while military facilities needed for regional
expansion are built simultaneously.
These areas were essential for establishing “training camps that hosted fighters
of different nationalities from countries in the Axis of Resistance in recent
years, along with missile and drone warehouses, private prisons, interrogation
centers for opponents of Iran, and operational command centers,” according to
leaders in two armed groups.
One of the two men said: “Every military facility was surrounded by fields,
investment projects, and tourist resorts where the community of faction members
and multiple circles of beneficiaries around them were active.”
In the latest war, the field advantage of this geographic expansion was exposed.
Facilities were used to launch rocket or drone attacks from fields in southern
and western Iraq, in areas near the border strip with Gulf Arab states that were
hit by dozens of drone and missile attacks.
Around Baghdad, nearby sites were used to attack U.S. targets inside the
capital. In the north, attacks were launched from Nineveh and Kirkuk, near
targets in the Kurdistan Region.
The life of the factions, a history of integration
The second week of the war. Lawmakers, government officials and officers from
various security agencies were joining mourning gatherings and symbolic funerals
for Khamenei, who had still not been buried in his own country. Most likely, the
occasion provided the time and place for rivals to meet without friction, a
truce between two types of allies, one integrated into the state and another
waiting in the “resistance.” In the end, everyone seemed to be in the same boat.
The gray zone disappeared from Iraq’s public space. Many people were no longer
able to express middle-ground views. A well-known blogger on X told me he had
attended a session organized by the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and heard an
Iranian diplomat reprimand an Iraqi activist for not writing anything “in
defense of Iran.”
Not far from this climate was what happened to Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Badr
Organization, when members of a tribe in southern Iraq, rumored to have organic
ties to armed factions and to be part of the network of loyalty to the Iranian
supreme leader, attacked him.
The Shiite factions that had begun integrating into politics do not appear to
enjoy Iran’s approval. Iranian anger at them grew as reciprocal strikes
escalated during the war. On March 17, 2026, Mohammad Asad Qasir, director of
the Iranian supreme leader’s office in Lebanon, criticized “the hesitant
positions of Coordination Framework leaders regarding support for the Islamic
Republic of Iran.”In the November 2025 elections, representatives of armed
factions won more than 100 seats in parliament, according to estimates
circulating in local media. Since then, the fires of government formation have
been burning. Most factions have been fighting over their shares in ministries,
and their voices are decisive in determining the identity of the candidate to
head the government.
A Shiite leader said: “The representatives of the factions do not monopolize
political decision-making inside the Coordination Framework, but they can break
the will of any party that does not represent their interests.”The war coincided
with the broadest process of integrating armed factions into official state
institutions, both executive and legislative, that Iraq has seen since the fall
of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. The same thing has long happened at least
once every five years, but with less intensity. A Shiite official in the
National Alliance, the former umbrella that formed the two governments of Nouri
al-Maliki, says the state is the natural endpoint for resistance groups, “not
necessarily in implementation of the desire of the Americans, who are bothered
by uncontrolled weapons.” He adds: “It began with the Americans and ended with
us. We are partners in this unintentionally.”
The first process of integrating militias into the state dates back to June
2004, when Paul Bremer, the US “civilian” administrator of Iraq at the time,
issued Order 91, which allowed militias to merge into the state under the
heading of banning them. The order created what can be seen as the founding
moment of the “gray zone” in which Iranian influence flourished in later years.
The order treated militias as if they were security companies, according
to a retired Interior Ministry officer who now lives abroad. “The faction would
move into the ministries as if it had signed an investment contract, but in
essence it was a political penetration,” he says.
Secrets of the integration game
With every wave of integration, new arms emerge outside the official framework,
allowing the cycle of redistribution of influence between the institutional
inside and the armed outside to continue, accompanied by friction that reflects
a competitive growth process.
Dawoud explains that “some of these factions formed directly after 2003, while
another section emerged through successive splits within the Sadrist movement,
led by Muqtada al Sadr, which in its early days represented a broad incubator
for differing currents before breaking apart into independent and hostile
formations.”Between 2005 and 2010, the first institutional penetration occurred,
when groups such as the Badr Organization and the Mahdi Army, affiliated with
the Sadrist movement, entered the Interior Ministry and law enforcement
agencies, in parallel with the rise of their political influence. At that stage,
the scene was not limited to ideological factions. Local groups also emerged,
Dawoud says, “closer to war traders, born of social transformations in which
tribal solidarity overlapped with the informal economy, producing formations
with a mafia-like character.”
The features of a “state within the state” began to appear in the period before
ISIS occupied a third of Iraq. Nouri al-Maliki, then prime minister, had reached
an agreement with Washington for the withdrawal of its forces, and the factions
began a new phase of activity, including Asaib Ahl al Haq, while also forming
new armed wings.
Dawoud points to a third type of faction that “emerged after the US withdrawal,
not before it, and arose with direct support and funding from the state,
especially amid the rise in sectarian tensions between 2011 and 2014 and
alongside the Syrian crisis.”
He explains that “the specificity of these factions is that they were not formed
outside the state, but alongside it, and fed from the beginning on its
resources, making them more tied to the logic of rent and less independent in
terms of decision-making.”
The major legalization came in the period from 2014 to 2017, when the war
against ISIS allowed the victors, who had made thousands of sacrifices to retake
territory, to obtain legal integration and unprecedented political and social
recognition, despite violations that accompanied the operations of these
factions. Dawoud reinforces this picture by saying that this stage “represented
a transition to symbolic and material hegemony, based on the factions’ role in
saving the state, especially through the Popular Mobilization Forces, which
granted them double legitimacy.”
In recent years, armed factions have expanded into almost every aspect of the
state. Their influence has become decisive in ministries and border crossings.
From under their umbrella have come commercial contracts, investments and local
financing networks. The number of affiliates has swollen to unprecedented
levels, Dawoud notes, “turning them into a social and economic force, not merely
a military formation.”
Many supporters of the Coordination Framework say that talk of armed groups’
influence inside the state is “exaggeration produced by regional narratives.”
But the latest war between the United States and Iran erased the boundaries
separating militias from the state.
Former lawmaker Salem said: “The militias are the ones ruling Iraq. This is a
basic principle of Iranian influence, even if the prime minister is a figure
accepted internationally and regionally.”In the end, the factions will appear to
have rolled like a small snowball inside the state 20 years ago, growing larger
each time they integrated into it. From Salem’s perspective, what happened
proves the error of the American view “that granting power can tame the
factions’ behavior and limit Iranian influence.”This view reached an advanced
stage with the arrival of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as Iraq’s prime minister in
2022, when “Washington imagined that Baghdad would carry out a soft
domestication of uncontrolled weapons inside the state,” according to a former
government official. The integration of Iraqi factions into the state became the
Revolutionary Guard’s “success story” in Baghdad. Gazette believes “Iraq is the
ideal environment for the emergence of factions, and perhaps an ideal
opportunity for the Revolutionary Guard, especially with their integration into
Iraqi state institutions.”According to Gazette, the Revolutionary Guard is
effectively “preparing a cadre of state employees ideologically before
integrating them into public life inside Iraqi state institutions, ensuring near
absolute loyalty on ideological and material grounds as well.”Dawoud says: “In
this context, Sudani’s rise can be understood as an expression of the
factional-political balance. Networks of influence and financial capacity to
absorb the demands of factions with overlapping interests.”These interests
“sometimes send bags of money to those objecting to the balance deal, even if
they are in Tehran,” according to a Shiite leader.
Changing skins, more gains?
Throughout the weeks of war, the Green Zone came under hundreds of rocket and
drone attacks, most of them targeting the US embassy and government facilities.
While Washington had expected Sudani’s government to preserve the usual rules of
engagement during the 12-day war in July 2025, the relationship between them
broke against the hard rock of the factions. This war
helped remove Iraqi ambiguity over groups outside the state, because they are
positioned inside it. For months, Sudani had been struggling to secure a second
term in office, relying on a parliamentary bloc that won about 45 seats in the
latest legislative elections, more than half of them held by armed factions
loyal to Iran. Sudani leads the Reconstruction and
Development bloc, the biggest Shiite winner, an uneven alliance that includes
parties and armed groups. Among them are Faleh al-Fayyad, who heads the Popular
Mobilization Forces Authority, Ahmed al-Asadi, commander of Kataib Jund al-Imam,
and Haider al-Gharawi, commander of the Ansar Allah al Awfiya militia.
They have come to be seen as part of Iran’s striking force that carried
out attacks in Iraq during the war. How do these factions integrate into
government institutions while simultaneously carrying out attacks against their
will? There are different explanations, but the result is one.
In the testimony of a former Iraqi government official, a government
force arrested a small cell of armed men specialized in installing and launching
drones shortly after they carried out an attack on the US embassy. During the
investigation, the leader of one faction submitted a “strange request” to the
government: “I need information about one member of the cell. He is a member of
my faction, but I did not assign him this mission.”In Iraq, this was one of the
riddles invented by the country’s Shiite groups. There is a political and
economic structure for the armed faction that integrates into the state, while
the combat elite remains outside the state, “resisting the state itself.”The
initial understanding, according to overlapping sources, was that the
Revolutionary Guard forms a “striking force of elite fighters belonging to
multiple factions who work under its command and carry out attacks without
referring back to local leaders.” But the picture closer to reality is that
Iranian officers, especially those active in the regional Quds Force, manage
special groups inside each faction. Salem agrees with
this view. He says: “Iran deals with each Iraqi militia separately. Inside each
of them are groups that follow Iran, not their local commander.” He adds: “Iran
deals with Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen as one scene in a
centralized way. But in Iraq, influence is managed by fragmentation.”In April
2025, Shiite groups said the Revolutionary Guard had asked them to “do what is
necessary” to avoid conflict with the United States, including handing over
their heavy weapons. In March 2026, other groups said they had agreed to a truce
that included halting attacks on the US embassy. In fact, with special groups
inside these factions that hierarchically follow the Revolutionary Guard,
faction leaders can conclude agreements that include handing over weapons,
halting attacks and reaping their political gains, without that meaning anything
on the ground. One cannot overlook the US Treasury Department sanctions in
mid-April, when it accused Asaib Ahl al-Haq of using Iranian drones to attack US
forces in northern Iraq through a faction leader named Safaa Adnan.
Since his strong participation in Mohammed Shia al Sudani’s government,
Qais al Khazali has been trying to change his political language, suggesting he
can also change his essence. But “to what extent can the process be considered
more than a change of skin?” said a former US State Department official who had
been interested in following “the striking transformations in the career of the
man who split from Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement in 2006.”
The day after the war in Iraq
Since the announcement of a ceasefire and the faltering negotiations between
Washington and Tehran, the Americans have been exerting harsh pressure to change
the essence of rule in Baghdad. But Salem believes the war showed “who actually
rules Baghdad,” referring to the factions. Whatever the outcome of the talks in
Islamabad, he says, “Tehran has won Baghdad completely.”Still, Dawoud imagines
the “day after” the war, if the influence of factional forces is strengthened,
as one in which Iraq’s central state “will not head toward total collapse, nor
toward firm cohesion, but toward a transitional model of a central state that
monopolizes rent, while in practice it is distributed among multiple networks of
influence.” Pressuring American messages have forced
Shiite parties onto calculated paths in forming the new government and are
pushing toward winning the battle with the Iranians by neutralizing the Popular
Mobilization Forces from the ruling institution. But Tehran has so far shown
strong resistance. This is the real test for the
leaders of the Coordination Framework. They are reaching a crossroads between
protecting their growing influence within a new deal not far from regional
changes, or protecting weapons as the means to reap new gains.
Gazette suggests a classical model, when American militias that emerged
during the War of Independence in 1776 became the US National Guard. But he
finds it difficult to apply this comparison to Iraq because of “the ideological
narrative of Shiite groups.”
Because “ideology is not everything in Iraq,” as a senior political official in
the Coordination Framework says, the possible transformation of Popular
Mobilization Forces groups would be a hybrid of interest and loyalty. Dawoud
says: “The shape of the coming state will not be a post-militia state, but a
state redefining itself by managing the space of the factions, not by
eliminating them, inside the political system.”In Baghdad, the ruling coalition
is seen as an adversary that never stops fighting, refuses to disarm, and seeks
to strike political deals with its surroundings, reflecting the broader picture
in the region: neither war nor peace between the United States and Iran. The
soldiers in the Green Zone mural of the “inevitable fall of meteors” will seem
like an expressionist painting of the Coordination Framework leaders, carrying
rifles to protect their gains, but with no intention of firing.
Iran War: Cup Moving Toward
the Lip?
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/8 May 2026
Is the war between Iran and the US-Israel tandem over bar the shouting?
Even a week ago, the question might have sounded fanciful as President Donald
Trump was still threatening to wipe Iran off the map.
Now, however, he is talking of “progress” towards a deal confirming what he and
his aides including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete
Hegseth present as the end of military engagement.
Several new developments may have contributed to this new optimistic vision.
The first is that Israel, the initial architect of the war, has been excluded
from the process of shaping its end. That gives the US a free hand in seeking a
deal because Trump, unlike Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, was never seeking
regime change in Tehran let alone the disintegration of Iran as a nation-state.
Trump wanted to flex America’s military muscles and show everyone what its
gigantic war machine can do thousands of miles away from home.
More than 30 years ago, Michael Ledeen, then a prominent Republican political
guru, suggested that “every 10 years or so, the US needs to pick some crappy
little country and throw it against the wall to show the world we mean
business.”
Trump did better than Ledeen advised by picking Iran, which is anything but a
crappy little country and managed to inflict on it damage that could take
generations to repair.
To be sure, Trump-bashers still try to depict him as loser while in private they
know that defying the US isn’t like going on a picnic. The second thing that
contributed to what seems to be a change of mood is the realization that the
blockade imposed on Iran may be more effective than bombing it especially when
one runs out of serious targets.
The third thing that happened was the failure of the project to guide ships
pinned down by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman under
US military escort.
At the rate of two ships a day, clearing the pinned down vessels would take over
100 days and that would be too close to mid-term elections that appear dicey for
Trump.
The fourth thing that may have contributed to what Hegseth calls “a pause” is
the end of the 60-day limit after which the President needs Congressional
approval to continue military action. Theoretically, the sine die ceasefire
declared by Trump and accepted by Tehran could be sold as the end of initial
hostilities. According to sources in Washington, Tehran, Islamabad and Beijing,
a “roadmap” may take shape along an Iranian 15-point proposal and an American
10-point counter proposal. Both represent maximalist gambits that neither side
could accept as such.
As mentioned in an earlier column, China seems set to play mediator by offering
a compromise formula during President Trump’s summit with President Xi Jinping
in Beijing on May 14-15.
The formula was discussed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in talks
with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday.
Earlier Araghchi had discussed the move with Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. On Wednesday, the official agency
IRNA also reported that Araghchi had consulted his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin
Farhan Al-Saud.
As far as we know, the formula spelled out in a one-page memo suggests three
sequences of negotiations in view of an eventual deal. The first round would
focus on ending the US naval blockade against Iran and the full re-opening of
the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran also insists that all Israeli operations in Lebanon
be halted as part of the first round. Tehran would guarantee that its proxies in
Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen would take no action against US and allies’ assets and
bases. The second sequence would deal with the nuclear issue touted by Trump as
top priority.
The US wants a written guarantee by Tehran never to enrich or stockpile military
grade uranium. Tehran seems ready to offer a five-year pause in that would go
beyond Trump’s presidential term.
That would enable Trump to say he achieved what seven US presidents failed to
do.
Tehran would also be ready to transfer part of its high grade enriched uranium
to Russia based on an accord made in 2015. The remaining part could be
downgraded for use in the Amirabad reactor in Tehran and used for civilian
purposes.
The third sequence of talks could deal with guarantees that Tehran demands
against future attacks by US and allies. In exchange, Tehran may agree to limit
the range of its missiles though it regards the 2015 accord to set that limit at
2,000 kilometers as no longer valid.
If sources are right, Tehran will also drop its current demand for payment of
war reparations by the US in exchange for releasing Iranian frozen assets and
allowing Iran access to global capital markets. The final deal will be signed
presumably in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad at the end of all three
sequences of negotiations and the establishment of modalities of implementation.
The sine die ceasefire will remain in place until the end of the negotiating
process and agreement on a definite termination of hostilities.
Will such a gambit work?
No one knows.
But what is certain is that almost everyone - including the five veto-holders in
the UN Security Council, the regional powers, the BRICS nations and the European
Union - would welcome an end to this war.
Yet, supposing that such a scheme does take shape and is implemented, who could
guarantee that either Iran or a future US administration would abide by it?
The Chinese suggest a new resolution by the UN Security Council as guarantee.
That would be the eighth resolution dealing with the so-called “Iran problem.”
All seven previous ones were passed unanimously but their implementation wasn’t
mandatory. Iran didn’t abide by them and US and EU reciprocated by dodging
provisions favorable to Iran.
A new resolution could come under the so-called Chapter VII of the UN Charter
that under its articles 41 and 42 envisages sanctions and military action in
case of non-compliance.
If that happens, any cheating by the Islamic Republic could expose it to
isolation and even use of force by all UN members.
Despite the latest outburst of optimism, previous episodes of this tragic soap
opera laced with farcical undertones warrant a big dose of caution.
If, according to the Arab proverb, seeking knowledge would warrant travelling
even to China, the same journey in pursuit of peace may not provide the desired
result.
As always between the cup and the lip there is many a slip.
What to expect when you’re
expecting peace
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya English/08 May ,2026
There are moments in the life of a country when history does not knock politely
on the door, but kicks it open and asks a very simple question: are you ready to
act like a state or are you still pretending that survival is a strategy?
Lebanon may be approaching one of those moments if President Donald Trump’s
expected invitation to President Joseph Aoun to come to the White House for
talks on peace becomes a reality. Many in Beirut will try to drown the moment in
slogans and fears, but the truth is simpler. Joseph Aoun is the president of
Lebanon, and the Lebanese constitution gives him the authority to represent the
Lebanese state and negotiate on its behalf.
That alone should be the starting point, because for too long Lebanon has
behaved as if sovereignty is a sentimental poem rather than a legal and
political responsibility. Aoun does not need permission from Hezbollah to defend
Lebanon’s future, nor does he need Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s blessing to
discover that the region has changed beyond recognition. The presidency is not a
decoration in Baabda, and it is certainly not a waiting room for whichever
militia, foreign capital or parliamentary broker decides when Lebanon is allowed
to breathe.
But Aoun should not deceive himself. Hezbollah and, by extension, its most
important political ally Nabih Berri, will not play nice. Even if Aoun goes out
of his way to repeat parts of Hezbollah’s rhetoric, even if he speaks of
occupation, deterrence, dignity and resistance, it will not be enough. Hezbollah
does not fear the language of sovereignty; it fears its implementation. It can
live with speeches, committees, indirect formulas and endless “national
dialogue.” What it cannot live with is a Lebanese state that finally decides
that weapons, war and peace belong to the state alone.
This is why Aoun must understand that the old Lebanese habit of buying time will
not work in Washington, especially not with Trump. The American president is not
a patient man, and he has never pretended to be one. If Aoun goes to the White
House merely to stall or perform balance, he will be treated as another Middle
Eastern leader trying to escape a decision. Lebanon has mastered the art of
postponement, but postponement is not diplomacy. It is decay with better
lighting.
Aoun must also be clear-eyed about Iran. Tehran does not care about the Israeli
occupation of Lebanese territory in the way Lebanon cares, or should care. Iran
cares about leverage, pressure points and bargaining chips, and Lebanon has been
one of its most useful cards for years. If the Israeli presence in the south
serves Iran’s narrative, it will use it. If peace threatens the utility of
Hezbollah’s weapons, Iran will oppose peace while pretending to defend Lebanon.
Aoun should say what many Lebanese know but too many officials avoid saying:
Lebanon’s land cannot be liberated by turning Lebanon itself into an Iranian
platform. The president also needs to grasp that
whether Benjamin Netanyahu is physically present in the room is not the central
issue. Lebanon’s deeper problem is not that Israel has acted like Israel. The
deeper problem is that the Lebanese state has too often failed to act like a
state. It has outsourced war, tolerated armed autonomy, hidden behind excuses
and allowed non-state actors to decide the fate of millions. Peace, security or
even a serious ceasefire cannot be built on a fiction. The fiction is that
Lebanon can negotiate as a sovereign state while part of its territory,
decisions and military future remain controlled by an armed party loyal to a
foreign axis.
This is where Aoun must double down on Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. Salam’s
sovereign ideas have helped protect what remains of the Lebanese state, not
because they are poetic, but because they are basic. Lebanon cannot demand
respect abroad while accepting humiliation at home. Aoun and Salam do not have
the luxury of rivalry. They either stand together around the idea of the state,
or they will be picked apart separately by those who prefer Lebanon weak,
negotiable and permanently afraid.
And because Aoun is a former commander of the Lebanese army, he more than anyone
should know that slogans about sovereignty are worthless without an executable
plan. Disarmament cannot be a wish, a headline or a foreign demand repeated in
Arabic. It must be a serious Lebanese plan, led by the state, anchored in the
army and explained honestly to the public. The argument that disarmament will
automatically lead to civil war can no longer be used as a national veto. Of
course there are risks. Every serious decision carries risks. But there is also
a risk in doing nothing, and Lebanon has been living inside that risk for
decades. Aoun does not need to go to Washington as a
dreamer. He needs to go as a president who understands that peace is not an
emotion and sovereignty is not a slogan. He must remember that Lebanon’s problem
was never a shortage of clever formulas; it was a shortage of courage to
implement them. The region has changed, the rules have changed, and the patience
of the world has changed. The only question left is whether Lebanon’s leaders
have changed with it.
If Joseph Aoun is expecting peace, he should expect resistance from those who
profit from war, impatience from those who want results, and suspicion from a
Lebanese public that has been disappointed too many times. But he should also
expect something else: a rare chance to restore the meaning of the Lebanese
state. If he misses it, history will also blame the president who had the
authority to act, saw the moment clearly, and still chose the comfort of
hesitation over the burden of leadership.
President Trump’s state visit to China: When elephants
dance
Cornelia Meyer/Al Arabiya English/08 May ,2026
US President Trump will visit China on May 14-15 after his scheduled visit in
March was postponed because of the Iran war. It always matters to the world when
the leaders of the world’s two largest economies talk face to face. Presidents
Trump and Xi Jinping have so far met 6 times - on US and Chinese soil and on the
margins of G-20 and APEC summits. Trump had envisaged to visit Beijing
victorious after a decisive victory against Iran. Alas the war has dragged on
longer than the US had anticipated. Economic ties and several geopolitical
issues, ranging from the war on Iran to Taiwan, are expected to be on the agenda
of the two leaders’ meeting. There is also China’s dominance in processing
minerals, especially rare earths, that are critical for many technology and
defense industries. Last year, when the US threatened to impose high tariffs,
China responded with obstructing the export of rare earths to the US.
On the economic front, President Trump will arrive in toe with American CEOs
from the tech world, Exxon and Boeing. Technology is a big topic, because the
Pentagon had added several companies to a restricted list due to their assumed
relationship to the Chinese military. These included Alibaba, Baidu and BYD,
which were later removed. On the Chinese front, the decision to block Meta’s
acquisition of the AI startup Manus shows that the tech game is no longer just
one sided in favor of the United States.
The participation of Exxon’s CEO underscores the importance of energy in global
economic relationships. Meanwhile, Boeing wants to benefit from China, which has
the world’s fastest growing aerospace market. Other than that, the Iran war will
loom large as hostilities continue despite a ceasefire. For China this matters a
lot as it gets 44 percent of its crude oil imports from the other side of the
Strait of Hormuz – 11 percent of which come from Iran. It receives another 20
percent from Russia, a share that will increase the longer the Iran war
continues.
Before the double blockade, China, India and Pakistan managed to get ships
through the strait because they were considered “friendly nations.” However, no
Chinese cargoes passed through Hormuz ever since the US imposed its blockade in
the Gulf of Oman.
The relationship between China and Iran relationship is complex and should not
be overestimated. China makes up around a third of Iranian exports whereas
Chinese imports from Iran constitute merely 1percent. While Iran is part of the
BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Belt and Road initiative,
China understands how to balance those allegiances with relationships it has
with other Gulf states and with the US. There is nobody more sanguine and
pragmatic when it comes to economic and diplomatic relationships than China.
This brings us to what is at stake for both China and the US when Trump visits
Beijing.
The Strait of Hormuz is crucial for the energy security of Beijing and there is
even more at stake: The PRC has ratified United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea while Iran and the US have not. This goes well beyond the “problem with
Hormuz.” More than 70 percent of energy and trade to East Asia and China have to
pass through the Strait of Malacca to reach their destination. In that sense the
free thoroughfare matters to China and many of the East Asian nations more than
it matters to anyone else in the world.
Xi portrayed himself as the protagonist of the global world order, not just in
light of the Iran war, but also in terms of other multilateral agreements and to
trade disputes with the US. He vowed to the deputy leader of the UAE as well as
the Spanish prime minister that he would try to look for workable diplomatic
solutions to the Iran conflict. The same was portrayed by China’s Foreign
Minister Wang Yi when he met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi earlier this
week. Meanwhile, Araghchi notably held a telephone conversation with Saudi
Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan after his meetings in China while
still in Beijing.What we can make of the above is that dominant players are
looking for an off ramp of the conflict and China might become a player in
sponsoring an absence of war - if not peace.
This gives China a position as a mediator on the international stage for the
time being: The global economy desperately needs an end to this war. It is
depriving the world of oil, LNG, petrochemicals, aluminum and above all
fertilizer supplies. It will also foster inflation, while obstructing energy
flows and food security globally. Lastly, we come to
the issue of Taiwan: Even if the two leaders try to work on what they have in
common and iron out differences in trade and geopolitics, Taiwan remains a hot
topic. It constitutes a geopolitical chokepoint for the future. To the US and
the global economy, the country’s advanced technology in microchip processors
matters. To China, the island nation is what it considers an integral part of
its territory. The talks between the two leaders are thus manyfold and several
topics will not find a resolution during this state visit.
Selected Face
Book & X tweets for
May 08/2026
Mike Pompeo
https://x.com/i/status/2052796930099437575
President Trump has laid out several objectives that must be
reached before we can responsibly end our military operations against Iran,
including reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Those goals are all achievable - but
we need to be prepared to finish the job.
Giorgia Meloni
I was pleased today to receive the U.S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio at Palazzo Chigi. We had a broad and constructive discussion, during which
we addressed numerous issues, from bilateral relations between Italy and the
United States to the main international matters, including the crisis in the
Middle East, freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the stabilization of
Libya, and the peace process in Lebanon and Ukraine. A frank dialogue, between
allies who defend their own national interests but who both know how precious
Western unity is.
Bechara Gerges
Abbas Ibrahim was not a “mediator.” He was not a “statesman.” He
was a piece of infrastructure, built inside the Wilayat al-Faqih project,
installed at the head of Lebanon’s General Security from 2011 to 2023, not to
fortify a sovereign institution but to convert it into a service arm of
Hezbollah and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Al-Hurra’s
investigation, published last week, opened the file. Inside General Security
branches in zones under Hezbollah’s writ, a network was forging Lebanese
passports for IRGC officers and Hezbollah commanders, using the identities of
fighters killed in Syria whose deaths were never announced. At the same time,
roughly 300,000 passports of the 2003 model sat in the vaults of Banque du
Liban, undestroyed, in defiance of a 2016 directive, throughout his entire
tenure. The Lebanese passport, in his hands, stopped being a sovereign document.
It became a corridor, open, supervised, untraceable, for the Quds Force and
everything underneath it. The port file is the other half of the indictment. Two
hundred and eighteen dead. Ibrahim has not stood before Judge Tarek Bitar. He
has helped lead the campaign to dismantle him.
This is not the record of a public servant who made errors of judgment. This is
the title of an era in which the Lebanese state was abducted from inside its own
ministries. The man was elegant. The language was careful. The smile was
professional. The function was singular: he was the door through which Iran
walked into one of the few institutions Lebanon still had. He was not, in any
operational sense, the Director General of Lebanese Public Security. He was, on
Lebanese soil, the Director General of Iranian security.
This is not a detail in a man’s biography. This is the biography of an era,
written in tons of ammonium nitrate, in forged passports issued to dead men, and
in the blood of two hundred and eighteen Lebanese whose killers he did not pull
the trigger on, but whose path to the trigger he cleared from inside the state.
That makes him no less a criminal. It makes him the more dangerous kind.
Dr Walid Phares
Under international law and with the support of the @realDonaldTrump
administration, Lebanese and Israeli citizens will be encouraged to meet,
exchange ideas and values, and discuss the prospects for peace.The United States
would support and protect these people-to-people exchanges as a pathway toward
peaceful relations. The people of both countries cannot remain hostage to
stalled negotiations and the obstruction of Hezbollah.
Department of State
https://x.com/i/status/2052735480685346904
SECRETARY RUBIO: We share the same goal with Italy of a strong Lebanese
government that doesn’t have an armed Hizballah operating within its national
territory.
Italy can play an important role in not just helping equip the Lebanese
government, but cutting off the illicit financing that supports Hizballah.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
https://x.com/i/status/2052509840904208417
Told @skynewsarabia that war between Hezbollah and Israel is independent of the
war in Iran, started before the war on Iran, and went on even after the Iranians
announced that a ceasefire in Lebanon was part of their own ceasefire with U.S.
What happened was that Lebanon agreed with Israel to spare the rest of Lebanon,
and when Hezbollah commanders started taking refuge in the rest of Lebanon,
Israel struck them there.
The only connection is that if Iran agrees to sever ties with proxies
(unlikely), that’d make it easier for Israel and Lebanon to defeat Hezbollah.
Mark Carney
Canada stands in solidarity with the Lebanese people and Lebanese territorial
integrity. I spoke with President Aoun earlier and condemned Israel’s illegal
invasion and Hezbollah’s continued attacks on Israel. I expressed my strong
support for Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah and underscored the importance
of maintaining a meaningful ceasefire and creating conditions for displaced
civilians to return home safely.
Hiba Nasr
@statedeptspox: Next meeting btw Lebanon & Israel will build a framework for
lasting peace & security arrangements, full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty
throughout its territory, delineation of borders & creating concrete pathways
for humanitarian relief & reconstruction.