English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  May 27/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 07/37-39:”On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 26-27 May/2026
”Video & Text: The “South Liberation Day” Is a Heresy and a Falsification of History; It Must Be Abolished and Erased from the Memory of Lebanon and the Lebanese/Elias Youssef Bejjani/May 25, 2026
Report : Netanyahu: Israeli Army Operating with Large Forces on the Ground in Lebanon
Report : Washington: Lebanon-Israel Negotiations Continue Despite Escalation
Report : Israel Expands Its Ground Operations in Lebanon, Transgressing the Yellow Line
Report : Israeli Army Recalls Reserves to Reinforce Its Operations in Lebanon
Report: Rise in the Number of Displaced Persons and Affected Families, and Increase in the Number of Martyrs and Wounded
Report : America Supports Israel in Defending Itself Against Hezbollah
Report : America Warned It Against Targeting Beirut, and Netanyahu: We Are Deepening Our Operations in Lebanon to Protect Northern Communities
Israel Hints at Expanding the War in Lebanon... Preparations for Broader Targets Reaching Beirut
Israel begins ground op beyond 'Yellow Line' to confront Hezbollah drone threat
Hezbollah clashes with Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon
Israeli strike on Mashghara killed at least 11, two of them children
Paramedic killed in Srifa as Israel intensifies attacks on south and east
Dahieh residents fear strikes as Lebanon pins hopes on talks
Israel army issues evacuation order for Nabatiyeh, Mashaghara and Sohmor
Israel calls up more troops to Lebanon, tells people not to gather in north
What will military delegation discuss in Washington?
Hezbollah on constitution's centenary: Plans for partition, federalism and naturalization must be rejected
Daryan says Hezbollah's approach against Israel has proven 'unsuccessful' and 'disastrous'
Aoun in al-Adha message: 'Do not sacrifice our children or waste their blood'
Israel’s Elbit developing hardware to combat Hezbollah drones, CEO says
From the Archive/We refuse festivities of freezing/By: General Michel Aoun/May 27/2000
From the Archive/Aoun: Hezbollah is a terrorist group-Interview: Lebanon 's Former Prime Minister Seeks Freedom from Syria/September 12, 2002
Beyond the Petty Squabbles Over Negotiations with Israel/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
Lebanon and the Challenge of Liberating Itself from Israel and Iran/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 26-27 May/2026
US President Trump to meet cabinet at Camp David on Iran
Iran supreme leader says region will 'no longer serve as shields' for US bases
Iran Guards say 'downed' US drone entering airspace
Iran judiciary suspends presidential body behind internet restoration order
Iran condemns US strikes as a show of 'bad faith' and warns of consequences
Trump links normalizing ties with Israel to Iran peace deal
Top US diplomat in Riyadh thanks Saudi Arabia for recent support/“Our commitment to the security of Saudi Arabia remains unwavering,” Dilworth said.
Pentagon spars with SpaceX over Starlink price hike during Iran war
US plans to cut strategic bombers and warships available to NATO in a crisis: Report
Explosion damages tanker off Oman: Marine monitor
Israel says targeted new chief of Hamas armed wing in Gaza strike
Remnants of al-Assad’s chemical weapons program recovered, Syrian official says
US and Armenia sign strategic partnership agreement ahead of Armenian elections
Trump ally says Saudi Crown Prince MBS told him he could recognize Israel ‘today’/According to the Prince, his father, King Salman, remained the primary obstacle.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 26-27 May/2026
An Uneasy End to an Elusive War with Iran Draws Near/Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/May 26, 2026
The Gaza Roadmap: A Diplomatic Fantasy That Keeps Hamas in Power/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute./May 26, 2026
Will Trump end up with an Obama-style Iran deal?/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
Iraq’s Historic Opportunity/Dr. Hassan Abou Taleb/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on 25-26 May/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 26-27 May/2026
Video & Text: The “South Liberation Day” Is a Heresy and a Falsification of History; It Must Be Abolished and Erased from the Memory of Lebanon and the Lebanese
Elias Youssef Bejjani/May 25, 2026
“Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.” (Isaiah 33:01)
May 25, 2000, was a pivotal moment in the history of South Lebanon—or so it seemed. The Israeli army withdrew, fulfilling a campaign promise made by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. However, what followed was not a true liberation. Instead, it was a betrayal resulting from a secret deal between Israel, Iran, and Syria. This arrangement left the Lebanese residents of the southern border zone and their military, the South Lebanon Army (SLA), at the mercy of the Syrian Ba'athist occupation and the Iranian-backed jihadist proxy blasphemously named “Hezbollah.”
While Ehud Barak's electoral promise appeared noble on the surface, it was overshadowed by shady negotiations prior to the withdrawal. Conducted through intermediaries from Germany, Sweden, and Jordan, this secret deal with the dictatorial regimes in Syria and Iran effectively handed South Lebanon and its population over to Hezbollah. The agreement involved dismantling the SLA and locking the border gates with Israel, leaving the local population completely defenseless against Hezbollah's aggression.
Contrary to Hezbollah’s claims, the withdrawal was not a liberation. It was a calculated geopolitical move orchestrated through political hypocrisy and opportunism, rather than genuine emancipation. The official annual celebration of May 25 as “Liberation Day” by the Lebanese state and Hezbollah since the year 2000 is nothing but a charade built on lies, deception, and manipulation.
It is crucial not to overlook a vital historical fact: just days before the Israeli withdrawal, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah openly threatened the residents of South Lebanon through all media outlets. He instilled terror by warning of horrific acts—slaughtering people, slitting throats, ripping open bellies, and gouging out eyes in their own beds. This is exactly what he stated verbatim in the video attached below:
“By Allah, we will enter your homes and slaughter you in your beds. These criminals and traitors face three options: they either leave with the enemy, surrender to the Lebanese judiciary, or be killed after the enemy leaves. After the enemy departs, if you do not leave with them, we are coming to you—not with peace, but with rifles.”
These terrorist threats forced the majority of the border zone residents to flee and seek refuge in Israel. To this day, they remain unjustly branded as traitors and agents, denied their fundamental right to return to their homeland and homes. Furthermore, the role of the Syrian occupation during that era must be acknowledged. The so-called “Liberation Day” was not the result of heroic efforts by Hezbollah, but rather the product of foreign geopolitical deals. The Syrian occupation imposed this false liberation narrative without any concrete basis on the ground. As we reflect on May 25, 2000, we must strip away this facade and recognize the truth behind Hezbollah’s deceptive narrative.
The people of South Lebanon deserve justice, not manipulation and coercion. It is time to expose the dark realities obscured by political agendas and honor the resilience of those who were unjustly abandoned to terrorism. We firmly believe that this so-called “Liberation Day” must be officially abolished and completely erased from the memory of the Lebanese people.
In conclusion, Hezbollah is a criminal, terrorist, and jihadist military division completely subordinate to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—a treasonous Trojan Horse reality that Nasrallah and his mercenary gang frequently boasted about. Operating on Iranian orders, Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8, 2023, completely bypassing the will and decision-making of the Lebanese state and its people. Consequently, Hezbollah bears full responsibility for the subsequent killing, destruction, and assassinations carried out by Israel.
Despite its resounding military defeat and the assassination of most of its top leadership, Hezbollah continues to hijack Lebanese state decisions. The group is neither truly Lebanese nor a liberator; it does not represent a legitimate Lebanese faction, nor does it legitimately represent the Shiite community in Parliament. Instead, it holds Lebanon and the Shiite community hostage, sacrifices their youth, destroys the South, displaces its residents, and has caused the devastation of dozens of southern towns and villages.
In reality, this Iranian-controlled proxy is a humanitarian, cultural, and national catastrophe that specializes in crime, smuggling, and global mafia operations. There is no salvation for Lebanon without completely dismantling Hezbollah's political, military, cultural, media, and occupational presence.
Therefore, General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese government, political parties, and leaders across all factions are called upon to speak the truth. They must explicitly label Hezbollah by its criminal, Iranian, and jihadist reality, strip away its false “resistance” status, and actively support the enforcement of all international resolutions and ceasefire agreements. This is the only way to end its military occupation, free the Shiite community from being held hostage, and halt the destruction of their regions. Most importantly, Lebanon must end the state of war with Israel, recognize it, and normalize relations, just as Lebanon does with the rest of the world. Furthermore, it is critical to bar any Hezbollah elements from integrating into the Lebanese Army or security forces, prosecute its remaining leaders, and ban them from political activity. The heresy of endless “dialogue” must stop. The group must be disarmed and its intelligence apparatus dismantled by all means necessary, including force if required. Ultimately, a draft resolution must be submitted to Parliament to officially abolish the lie of “Liberation Day.”

Report : Netanyahu: Israeli Army Operating with Large Forces on the Ground in Lebanon
Riyadh - Al Arabiya.net/May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
With the launch of a ground operation in southern Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that Israel is expanding and deepening its military operations in Lebanon. Speaking in a video address during the opening of the Political-Security Cabinet session, Netanyahu stated that the Israeli army is executing extensive operations with large forces on the ground. He pointed out that it controls "strategic areas" inside Lebanese territory as part of what he described as reinforcing the security belt to protect towns in northern Israel. He also added that the Israeli government is exerting a "massive effort" to develop "creative and innovative" solutions to counter drones threatening the northern front.
Commencement of a Ground Operation
This came as Israeli sources reported the start of a broader ground operation in the south, advancing past what has been termed the "Yellow Line," according to Israel's Channel 12. The channel also indicated that Israeli forces have expanded their ground operations in the Nabatieh region, pushing north of the Yellow Line. Furthermore, the same sources reported that the United States had been briefed on the nature and objectives of the military operation in Lebanon, noting that Washington warned Tel Aviv against attacking Beirut in any way shape or form.
Tehran Agreement Includes "Lebanon"
In addition, Israeli sources stated that the agreement with Iran will not lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the yellow zone in Lebanon, according to Channel 14. Meanwhile, estimates in Israel indicate that the agreement with Tehran will almost certainly include Lebanon.
The Negotiating Track Continues.In parallel, an American source confirmed to Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that the negotiating track between Lebanon and Israel remains standing and has not been canceled or postponed, whether at the level of military meetings inside the Pentagon or via political and diplomatic channels linked to the US Department of State. According to information, the Lebanese priority in the upcoming negotiations over the next few days is focused first on stabilizing the ceasefire before moving on to discuss any broader political or security files. Work is also underway to review the implementation mechanisms of International Resolution 1701, alongside discussing ways to activate its security provisions in a stricter and more effective manner on the ground, given the ongoing tension on the southern border. Special sources told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that Washington does not view the recent Israeli military escalation negatively. Instead, it considers that Hezbollah bears a large part of the responsibility for the collapse of the truce, both due to the continued launching of drones toward Israel and as a result of the speech by the party's Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, which some US circles described as "escalatory." According to the sources, the United States believes Israel is currently operating under a primary goal: returning the residents of northern Israel to their homes by removing what it considers a "direct military threat" posed by Hezbollah on the border.

Report : Washington: Lebanon-Israel Negotiations Continue Despite Escalation
Riyadh - Al Arabiya.net / May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
Despite the recent military escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli front, an American source confirmed to Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that the negotiating track between Lebanon and Israel remains standing and has not been canceled or postponed, whether at the level of military meetings inside the Pentagon or via political and diplomatic channels linked to the US Department of State. According to information, the Lebanese priority in the upcoming negotiations over the next few days is focused first on stabilizing the ceasefire before moving on to discuss any broader political or security files. Work is also underway to review the implementation mechanisms of International Resolution 1701, alongside discussing ways to activate its security provisions in a stricter and more effective manner on the ground, given the ongoing tension on the southern border. Special sources told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that Washington does not view the recent Israeli military escalation negatively. Instead, it considers that Hezbollah bears a large part of the responsibility for the collapse of the truce, both due to the continued launching of drones toward Israel and as a result of the speech by the party's Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, which some US circles described as "escalatory." According to the sources, the United States believes Israel is currently operating under a primary goal: returning the residents of northern Israel to their homes by removing what it considers a "direct military threat" posed by Hezbollah on the border. For this reason, Israel continues, with clear American support, to target the party's military infrastructure and work to reduce its missile and field capabilities, preventing it from having the capacity to launch extensive attacks deep into Israeli territory in the future. According to data, Israel does not rule out expanding its military operations beyond the "Yellow Line," and possibly into deeper areas inside southern Lebanon, if it deems it a military necessity.
Information also indicates that some discussions inside Israel touch upon the possibility of operations reaching areas such as Zoutar al-Sharqiya, if they are deemed linked to the party's military infrastructure. However, the sources stressed on the other hand that the current Israeli goal is not to open a comprehensive confrontation over Hezbollah's weapons inside Lebanon or its internal political role, but is primarily focused on preventing the party from possessing military capabilities that threaten Israeli security or hinder the restoration of stability to northern Israel.

Report : Israel Expands Its Ground Operations in Lebanon, Transgressing the Yellow Line
Riyadh - Al Arabiya.net / May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
Amid the intensification of Israeli airstrikes on dozens of towns in southern Lebanon, as well as the Western Beqaa, alongside evacuation warnings, Israeli sources reported the start of a ground operation in southern Lebanon. The sources explained today, Tuesday, that the Israeli army has begun a broader ground operation in the south that crosses what has been called the "Yellow Line," according to Israel's Channel 12. They also indicated that Israeli forces expanded their ground operations in the Nabatieh region, pushing north of the Yellow Line.
Meanwhile, another Israeli source clarified that the objective of this expansion is to push back Hezbollah operatives launching kamikaze drones, according to Haaretz newspaper. This information emerged after military sources reported that the Israeli army "has called up reservists to reinforce military activity beyond the ceasefire line in Lebanon." They confirmed that the army requested soldiers who completed their service in recent days to report for reserve duty immediately. These developments followed criticism voiced by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir during a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Monday, in addition to complaints from senior officers that "the army's hands are tied" in southern Lebanon. Over the past two days, ministers in the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called for bombing and demolishing 10 buildings in Beirut for every drone Hezbollah launches at northern Israel or toward Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. It is worth noting that the Yellow Line is not an "official line," unlike the Blue Line drawn by the United Nations in southern Lebanon. Instead, it consists of a line of Lebanese border towns into which Israeli forces advanced during the war that erupted on March 2nd, following Hezbollah's launching of rockets toward northern Israel in response to the assassination of the former Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. The Israeli army has placed markings, warning signs, and barbed wire inside Lebanese territory near the Blue Line.

Report : Israeli Army Recalls Reserves to Reinforce Its Operations in Lebanon
Riyadh - Al Arabiya.net / May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
The Israeli army has begun calling up reserve soldiers with the aim of reinforcing military activity beyond the ceasefire line in Lebanon. Well-informed Israeli sources reported on Tuesday that the army requested soldiers who completed their service in recent days to join reserve duty immediately, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority. The decision came following criticism voiced by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir during yesterday's Cabinet session, alongside complaints from senior officers that "the army's hands are tied." Army officers claimed that forces do not have freedom of action outside the "Yellow Line" in southern Lebanon due to American pressure aimed at conducting negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese sides. Yesterday, Zamir called for "attacking buildings in Beirut in response to the threat of Hezbollah's suicide drones." Meanwhile, an informed Israeli source revealed that the Israeli army has begun pushing toward resuming strikes on the Lebanese capital and targeting prominent Hezbollah leaders inside it. Concurrently, Israeli forces continued their airstrikes and shelling of dozens of towns in southern and eastern Lebanon. Today, Israeli strikes targeted the southern towns of Srifa, Kafra, Majdel Selm, and Kouthariyeh al-Siyad (Kouthariyet El Rez). Since the outbreak of confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon on March 2nd, following the party's launching of rockets toward northern Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei, the Lebanese Ministry of Health tallied, up to yesterday Monday, 3,185 deaths and 9,633 injuries in Lebanon resulting from Israeli strikes. In contrast, the Israeli army confirmed yesterday the death of one of its soldiers in southern Lebanon, raising the death toll among its forces since the start of the war on March 2 to 23 soldiers and one civilian.

Report: Rise in the Number of Displaced Persons and Affected Families, and Increase in the Number of Martyrs and Wounded
Al-Markazia / May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
The "Disaster Risk Management Unit" at the Grand Serail announced in its daily report that the total number of displaced persons in shelter centers reached 127,714, and the total number of displaced families in shelter centers reached 33,731, while the death toll rose to 3,185 martyrs and the wounded to 9,633.

Report : America Supports Israel in Defending Itself Against Hezbollah
Al-Markazia / May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
A senior US official confirmed to Shams TV that the United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah's ongoing terrorist attacks emanating from southern Lebanon, including continuous rocket fire, drone activity, and cross-border operations targeting Israeli population centers and military infrastructure. Regarding developments with Iran, the US official explained that US forces executed precise, limited defensive strikes against Iranian missile facilities along Iran's southern coast, after reliable intelligence indicated a direct threat to US personnel, regional allied forces, and vital shipping lanes in the Gulf. These measures were carefully designed to degrade offensive capabilities and deter further aggression, not to expand the scope of the conflict or undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts regarding Iran's nuclear program. The US official said that President Trump remains committed to pursuing a serious and verifiable nuclear agreement, but Iran cannot expect negotiations to continue in good faith while it escalates military threats through its forces and network of regional proxies. He added, "We continue to coordinate closely with our allies and partners throughout the region, and we urge all parties to exercise restraint while emphasizing that the United States will take every necessary step to protect its people, interests, and regional stability."

Report : America Warned It Against Targeting Beirut, and Netanyahu: We Are Deepening Our Operations in Lebanon to Protect Northern Communities
Al-Markazia/May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
Israel's Channel 12 reported that "Israel has briefed America on the nature and objectives of the military operation in Lebanon." It announced that "America warned Israel against attacking Beirut in any way." For its part, Israel's Channel 14 pointed to "estimates in Israel that the agreement with Iran will almost certainly include Lebanon," adding that this agreement "will not lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the Yellow Zone." In this context, Benjamin Netanyahu said during the opening of the Political-Security Cabinet session that the Israeli army continues to expand its military operations in southern Lebanon, confirming that these movements are being carried out under direct directives from him and the Israeli Minister of Defense. Netanyahu noted that Israeli forces are executing their operations "with large forces on the ground" inside southern Lebanon, adding that they control what he described as "strategic areas," amid the ongoing military escalation on the Lebanese-Palestinian border. He explained that Israel is working to reinforce what he called the "security belt" inside Lebanese territory, considering that the goal behind this is to secure and protect northern towns, in reference to expanding the scope of Israeli military movements in a number of southern areas. In the course of his speech, Netanyahu touched upon the growing threat posed by kamikaze drones, stressing that Israel is exerting "massive efforts" to develop means he described as "creative and innovative" to confront this type of attack, the use of which has escalated during recent confrontations against Israeli forces and northern settlements.

Israel Hints at Expanding the War in Lebanon... Preparations for Broader Targets Reaching Beirut
Janoubia/May 26, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
An Israeli source revealed to CNN that the Israeli army is preparing in the near future to expand its military operations in Lebanon, noting that these steps are being coordinated with the United States. According to the source, Israeli plans are not limited to the southern front, but also include expanding the scope of operations inside Beirut, with a specific focus on targeting Hezbollah leaders within the capital. The source explained that this new military direction comes within the framework of countering the escalating threat of Hezbollah drones, particularly those equipped with fiber-optic technology, which Israel views as an increasingly complex security and military challenge. This development comes at a time when field confrontations continue despite the ceasefire agreement announced last month between Lebanon and Israel, as the southern front witnesses clashes and near-daily escalation. Over the past few weeks, Israeli strikes have been concentrated south of the Litani River, with Israeli forces remaining deployed in border areas, while Hezbollah continues its attacks with drones and rockets toward Israeli border positions and towns. This escalation adds to growing Israeli indicators that have emerged in recent hours, which include talk of a military mobilization, recalling reserve forces, and preparing field plans to expand the scope of operations inside Lebanon.

Israel begins ground op beyond 'Yellow Line' to confront Hezbollah drone threat
Agence France Presse/May 26, 2026
Israeli forces have begun operating beyond their so-called "Yellow Line" in south Lebanon, which runs around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanese territory, a military official confirmed to AFP on Tuesday. "The IDF (army) is operating in a targeted manner beyond the Forward Defense Line in order to remove direct threats to the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF troops, in accordance with the directives of the political echelon," the military official said when asked about reports that the military had begun ground operations beyond its demarcation line. "Specific details regarding soldiers' locations cannot be provided," the official added. Israeli troops have until now been operating inside the self-declared "Yellow Line", where they have carried out large-scale demolitions despite a ceasefire in effect since April 17.
Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper and news site Ynet reported that troops had begun ground operations north of the Yellow Line in order to reduce the threat posed by Hezbollah's explosive drones. Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire on a near-daily basis despite the ceasefire. Several strikes hit the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Tuesday after an unprecedented Israeli evacuation warning, an AFP correspondent said, a day after at least 11 were killed in a strike in the country's east. Hezbollah meanwhile said it confronted Israeli troops trying to advance into a town that overlooks the city. It is unclear how deep the Israeli army intends to penetrate, but multiple Israeli army officials had recently cited specific locations beyond the Yellow Line, near their existing positions, from which they believed they could reduce the drone threat if they occupied those positions. On the other hand, if Hezbollah simply moves its drones and launching teams back further, it could potentially continue to launch drones on Israeli forces. "Whether the latest penetration is designed to gradually increase Israeli control of Lebanese territory as a pressure point to get Hezbollah to reduce drone attacks or even agree to partial disarmament, or whether it is more symbolic to show the Israeli public that the Israeli army and government are responding harshly to the drone attacks, also remains unclear," Israel's Jerusalem Post newspaper said on Tuesday.

Hezbollah clashes with Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon
Associated Press/May 26, 2026
Israel's military clashed with Hezbollah Tuesday along a strategic river in Lebanon as Israeli troops tried to push farther north, just three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet for direct talks in Washington. A previously reached ceasefire appeared more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war, as Tehran wants an end to the fighting to include Lebanon. The Litani River has been a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control despite the Washington-brokered ceasefire in place for over a month. Israel intensified strikes in the Nabatieh district, just north of the river. On Tuesday it warned residents of the city of Nabatieh to leave. Hezbollah meanwhile said it launched several rocket, artillery and exploding drone attacks on Israeli troops and vehicles mobilizing along the river toward the Nabatieh villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar al-Sharqieh. Hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive in an effort to "crush" Hezbollah, the group said its fighters targeted Israeli troops and equipment in Zawtar al-Sharqiya, Khiam, Odaisseh, Ras al-Naqoura, Jal al-Allam, Hadb al-Bustan, avivim, Ramim, Misgav Am, and Shomera in south Lebanon and north Israel. The group later said its fighters were engaged in direct clashes with an Israeli force trying to advance into Zawtar al-Sharqiya, amid heavy Israeli strikes and shelling. Hezbollah said it targeted the force with shells, rockets, and attack drones, and that clashes were ongoing.

Israeli strike on Mashghara killed at least 11, two of them children
Agence France Presse/May 26, 2026
The health ministry said Tuesday that an Israeli strike a day earlier killed at least 11 people, two of them children, as the Israeli military said it had launched strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure.
In a statement, the ministry said that "yesterday's Israeli enemy airstrike on the town of Mashghara in West Bekaa resulted in a preliminary toll of 11 martyrs, including two girls and a woman, and 15 wounded, including a child", adding that rescuers were still clearing the rubble in the eastern town.

Paramedic killed in Srifa as Israel intensifies attacks on south and east
Associated Press/May 26, 2026
An airstrike on the Amal-affiliated Risala Scout Association center in Srifa killed two people on Tuesday, including a paramedic. The Israeli army also struck Tuesday several towns and villages in south Lebanon, including Kafra, Barish, Srifa, Shohour, Dweir, Majdal Selem, Kawthariyet al-Rez, Arnoun, Yohmor-Shqif, al-Rihan, Zawtar al-Sharqiya, Tyre's Ras el-Ein, Tayrfelsay, Harees, Kherbet Selem, Habboush, Zebdine, Kfartebnit, al-Kharayeb, al-Sahrqiyeh, al-Sultanieh, Deir Ntar, Mayfadoun and Arzoun. Israeli artillery meanwhile shelled al-Mansouri. An Israeli airstrike late Monday on Mashghara in eastern Lebanon killed 12 people, the country's state-run National News Agency said Tuesday. The strike late Monday in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley area came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had authorized more intensive strikes targeting the Hezbollah militant group across Lebanon. Rescue workers said a dozen bodies were pulled out of the rubble following an intense wave of overnight strikes targeting swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon. The intensified attacks come three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet in Washington for direct talks. Israel's military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley area overnight, saying it targeted storage facilities, command centers and observation points used to attack Israeli troops and residents in northern Israel. Hezbollah meanwhile attacked Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, and has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from the country. The Lebanese government hopes that the direct talks with Israel, opposed by Hezbollah, will lead to a ceasefire. Over one million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the war, which was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran.

Dahieh residents fear strikes as Lebanon pins hopes on talks
Associated Press/May 26, 2026
Since a ceasefire was reached in April, the Lebanese capital of Beirut has been spared from strikes, except for one strike on its suburbs. But Israel's latest moves have caused fear, urging residents of Dahieh to evacuate once again, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had authorized more intensive strikes targeting Hezbollah across Lebanon. "By just saying a few words on TV, (Netanyahu) causes everyone to panic and flee their homes," said Tony Aboud in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district. "I don’t know what’s going to happen and how long we can live like this." The Lebanese government, which came to power on a platform of reform and disarming Hezbollah and other armed groups, hopes that the direct talks with Israel, opposed by Hezbollah, will lead to a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops. Israel says it will not withdraw until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to residents of its northern towns. Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from Lebanon. Over a million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the war, sparked when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on March 2, two days after the Iran war began. At least 3,185 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Over 9,600 others have been wounded. Elsewhere, according to Netanyahu’s office, 23 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, the vast majority by drones.

Israel army issues evacuation order for Nabatiyeh, Mashaghara and Sohmor
Agence France Presse/May 26, 2026
The Israeli military warned residents of the southern city of Nabatiyeh to immediately evacuate on Tuesday ahead of expected strikes, despite a ceasefire. "For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, facilities or military equipment is putting their life at risk!" the military's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, posted on X. Adraee later ordered the residents of Mashghara and Sohmor in West Bekaa to evacuate. An Israeli strike on the town of Mashghara a day earlier had killed at least 11 people, two of them children, and wounded 15, including a child.

Israel calls up more troops to Lebanon, tells people not to gather in north
Associated Press/May 26, 2026
Israel's military has called up more troops to Lebanon, an Israeli security official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Tuesday the military had called up an additional battalion to Lebanon, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorized more intensive strikes across Lebanon.
In recent weeks, Hezbollah has boasted that it is using new fiber-optic drones that Israeli troops have struggled to intercept, hitting Israeli troops in south Lebanon and north Israel. Israel has updated its defensive guidelines in line with the recent developments in its northern areas, telling people not to gather in large numbers. "What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh," Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media Monday ahead of the strikes.

What will military delegation discuss in Washington?
Naharnet/May 26, 2026
A Lebanese military delegation, scheduled to travel to the United States to meet with an Israeli military delegation on May 29, will focus on consolidating the ceasefire in Lebanon so that the army can fulfill its duties. A media report, published Tuesday in the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, said the delegation will call for Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon and request the necessary equipment and technology to support the army's deployment in the south once the truce is secured. The military delegation will detail the army's achievements in demilitarizing the area south of the Litani River, despite major operational difficulties. It will also outline the army's needs for support from Washington and other donor nations, as well as the challenges stemming from the Israeli occupation of a "buffer zone" in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah on constitution's centenary: Plans for partition, federalism and naturalization must be rejected
Naharnet/May 26, 2026
On the centenary of the Lebanese constitution, Hezbollah stated that "the Lebanese people stand at a crucial juncture in a highly sensitive domestic and regional moment" that "necessitates, more than ever, adherence to the Lebanese constitution, as amended by the Taif Agreement, as the binding framework for regulating disputes among the Lebanese, managing their state's affairs, and preserving their unity and sovereignty." "It also requires leaving behind the era of mandates, high commissioners, and foreign tutelage, because that era has ended and will never return to Lebanon in any form or guise," Hezbollah stressed. It asserted that "Lebanon, as its constitution stipulates today, is the final homeland for all its citizens.""This finality does not merely mean the establishment of a geographical entity, but rather, before and after that, the existence of a genuine national partnership among all its citizens -- a just and balanced partnership that preserves dignity, safeguards rights, and acknowledges the existential concerns of Lebanese communities," the Iran-backed party said. It added: "These concerns should not be treated as sectarian issues or fleeting political demands, but rather as a supreme constitutional matter connected to the very nature of the state, the meaning of partnership, and the guarantees of coexistence." The group also asserted that "Lebanon cannot be a true homeland for all its citizens through mere slogans, but rather through the protection of its land and people, a clear national consensus rejecting occupation and aggression, and a firm commitment to the Lebanese people's right to defend their country, sovereignty, and dignity, especially against the occupation and Zionist ambitions that are so clearly evident today.""Therefore, all projects of fragmentation, division, federalism, or resettlement, regardless of their titles or approaches, are undeniably incompatible with the essence of the Lebanese constitution and the concept of a unified Lebanon for all its citizens. There is no place within it for opposing entities, sectarian cantons, security zones, or disguised secessionist projects that would transform Lebanese diversity into a pretext for disintegration, internal conflict, or reliance on foreign powers, and would threaten the unity of the land, the people, and the institutions," Hezbollah stressed. It pointed out that "the Lebanese experience has proven that the sectarian system is no longer capable of producing a just, effective, and stable state." It added that "therefore, true adherence to the constitution is not achieved by freezing its provisions or selectively applying them, but rather by fully implementing the constitutional reforms stipulated in the Taif Agreement, without any reduction, omission, or political manipulation.""Foremost among these reforms is the clear national objective enshrined in the constitution: the abolition of political sectarianism, as a fundamental prerequisite for developing the political and social contract and guaranteeing fair and equitable participation for all Lebanese in managing their nation and its institutions," Hezbollah said. It added that "the call to abolish political sectarianism is not a call to eliminate particularities or disregard guarantees, but rather a call to build a just state of citizenship that reassures everyone, preserves everyone's rights, and prevents the state from being monopolized, hijacked, or transformed into a tool for one party to dominate another.""There can be no genuine reform without genuine partnership, no genuine partnership without justice, and no justice without a serious development of the political system, in accordance with the constitution, the spirit of the Taif Agreement, and the requirements of coexistence," Hezbollah emphasized. It also affirmed that "resisting occupation and aggression is not a transgression against the state, nor a violation of the constitution, but rather a legitimate national right, protected by the principles of the Lebanese constitution and Lebanon's Arab and international obligations.""No political or governmental decision can deprive our people of their natural right to defend their land, nor can it delegitimize resistance against occupation," it added, apparently referring to the current government's unprecedented decisions against Hezbollah's military and security activities. Hezbollah further stated that "the Taif Agreement, with its emphasis on the necessity of taking the necessary measures to liberate Lebanese territory and its reaffirmation of adherence to the 1949 Armistice Agreement, leaves no room for ambiguity in defining the relationship with the Zionist entity as one of enmity, occupation, and constant threat—not one of normalization, surrender, or acceptance of the status quo." "Therefore, the insistence of some on dismantling Lebanon's elements of strength while aggression, occupation, and threats persist constitute a violation of the Taif Agreement and the constitution as amended according to its provisions," the group warned.

Daryan says Hezbollah's approach against Israel has proven 'unsuccessful' and 'disastrous'
Naharnet/May 26, 2026
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, Lebanon's most senior Sunni cleric, has thrown his support behind the Lebanese state and strongly criticized Hezbollah over the 2024 and 2026 wars with Israel. "None of us is convinced anymore by the methods used in confronting the enemy... seeing as in every confrontation we lose more land, more lives, and more of the requirements for stability, tranquility, and the preservation of honor and dignity, not to mention security and sovereignty," Daryan said in a statement marking Eid al-Adha. "This has been repeated in several wars, initiated by one or more parties considered to be on our side. They end with a ceasefire after widespread destruction and horrific killing. It is a recurring method that has become futile, causing the destruction of human life and infrastructure, in addition to the occupation of our land," Daryan lamented. He accordingly argued that "since this approach has proven unsuccessful and its results consistently disastrous, it must be changed."The mufti added: "Therefore, the state's resort to negotiations for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the occupier is a politically and religiously commendable act, as it alleviates losses and suffering and promises the return of the people of the south to their villages and towns." "If it is said that this constitutes a concession and recognition of the enemy, we are mistaken, for we are the ones with a vested interest in stopping the killing and fighting. If this cannot be achieved through war, then let it be achieved through negotiation," Daryan went on to say. He affirmed that Dar al-Fatwa stands with the government and its president in implementing what was stated in the presidential oath and the ministerial statement to extricate Lebanon from its current crises. "Weapons outside the control of the state lead to an imbalance and weaken state institutions. The Lebanese Army's responsibility is to protect the nation and its citizens," Daryan stressed. He warned that the danger of unrest and war will persist until weapons are solely in the hands of the state. "This current devastation is one of the consequences of the state not having the power to decide on war and peace, a situation that has persisted for decades, marked by numerous wars that have led to our present predicament," Daryan explained.

Aoun in al-Adha message: 'Do not sacrifice our children or waste their blood'
Naharnet/May 26, 2026
President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday greeted the Lebanese people in general, and Muslims in particular, on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, wishing that this holiday would bring "peace, hope, and better days for Lebanon and its people." "Among the meanings embodied by Eid al-Adha is that it is a concept shared by all our Abrahamic religions. Its highest meaning remains that God intended through this experience for us to learn how not to sacrifice our children or waste their blood, but rather to redeem them and create life for them," Aoun said, in an apparent jab at Hezbollah. He added: The lessons of the holiday -- love, solidarity, and unity -- remain what we need most today in light of the difficult circumstances and challenges facing Lebanon, especially as a result of the continued Israeli attacks and the resulting casualties, injuries, and displaced persons who are deprived of the joy of the holiday.""We ask God to make this occasion a milestone for strengthening our national unity, adhering to the values ​​of solidarity, responsibility, and love, and believing in our ability together to overcome adversity and build a future worthy of Lebanon and the Lebanese people," the president said.

Israel’s Elbit developing hardware to combat Hezbollah drones, CEO says
Reuters/26 May ,2026
Israel’s largest defense contractor is developing hardware to combat explosive Hezbollah drones that have killed Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, including through the potential use of laser-based defense systems, its CEO told Reuters on Tuesday.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has used the cheap, easy-to-assemble kamikaze drones to attack Israeli troops which have remained in southern Lebanon since an April 16 truce. Difficult for air defenses to thwart, the drones are also being used to deadly effect in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Under pressure to address the threat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday to escalate attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. But he did not spell out a plan to address the drones, which can evade Israel’s high-tech jamming technologies.
Elbit developing hardware to address drones, CEO says
In an interview, Bezhalel Machlis, chief executive of Elbit Systems, said the defense giant was actively working with the Israeli defense ministry to develop a quick solution to the drone challenge.He said that could involve an “energy weapon solution,” adding that the company is “very active in energy weapons such as lasers.” “There are other means, which are also relevant to this threat. We are heavily involved in the development of a solution (to) this challenge” of explosive drones, Machlis said after Elbit reported big gains in first-quarter revenue and profit. Its Nasdaq-listed shares rose 8 percent in morning trade. Israel has been using low-tech solutions like nets to stop the First-Person-View drones, controlled with fiber-optic cables, from hitting troops. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict has been the deadliest spillover of the broader US-Israel war on Iran, where hopes faded on Tuesday for an imminent end to the conflict after the US conducted strikes in the country’s south. Iran insists that any deal to end the war should include an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Netanyahu has demanded the right to continue to strike anywhere in the region to address perceived threats. On Tuesday, Hezbollah said its fighters used explosive drones and rocket fire against Israeli forces advancing toward the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya, describing it as a response to Israeli strikes on Lebanese villages. The drones and the Israeli defense industry’s involvement in developing technology to address them comes amid a rise in Israeli defense exports, with demand for Israeli military tech such as munitions, laser and electronic warfare systems and night-vision systems up sharply since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. Machlis said Elbit was seeing rising demand in Europe, the US, and the Asia-Pacific, as well as from the United Arab Emirates. “We are active in this region,” Machlis said of Elbit’s Middle East business. “It is fast growing.

From the Archive/We refuse festivities of freezing
By: General Michel Aoun/May 27/2000
(Translated by: Elias Bejjani)
http://www.10452lccc.com/aoun.elias/aounenglishmay28.htm
Initially we were very happy when Israel confirmed its withdrawal date from South Lebanon. Our happiness stemmed from the fact that one of the two occupiers (Israel Syria) has decided to leave our country. Accordingly we called on the Lebanese people to share with us the joy of this imminent Israeli withdrawal event. The so- called Beirut government was extremely worried and considered the Israeli confirmed withdrawal plan a trap. Its officials even tagged all those Lebanese that welcomed the withdrawal plan as Israeli agents.
This puppet government has crossed the Israeli withdrawal event boundaries and turned it into a liberation festivity for south Lebanon. It has also superseded all the actual standards and concepts of liberation and forged each and every one of them. Its acts are treacherous, contradictory and inconsistent in nature. Its officials have adopted this mocking style as a governing pattern, and have been justifying contradicting stances simultaneously. They went too far with this circus-like behaviour revolving around advocating for their subservience and treason. We wonder if South Lebanon has actually returned back to Lebanon, and if so under what sovereignty it is now to justify the joyful drum beating and jubilation celebrations?
What is there for the Lebanese regime and its deceitful society to be proud of, when the Israeli withdrawal had forced thousands of innocent Lebanese citizens to flee out side the country’s borders? Why were the Southern women scared and the mothers escaped with their children to the Israeli camps? Is it not because of the threatening speeches’ uttered towards the Southern residents promising and voicing revenge and cold blood murder? This blood shedding savage policy has been hailed and adopted by the regime because an apparent inability to assume its security and judiciary responsibilities.
Under what jurisdiction the head of the state has uttered rhetoric empty assurances to his scared fleeing people and how could he ask them to return to their land and homes? Who would trust his reassurances when he personally has no say in any of the state’s affaires, and when his official role has been characterized by an on going shameful phenomenon of abandoning responsibilities and breaking oaths?
Where is the judiciary?
Where are the Security Forces?
Where is the nation’s army?
If all these three institutions were not prepared for such critical circumstances, then why they have been in existence?
Have these institutions made vehicles for imposing the state’s sovereignty and its Uni-thinking style on universities, to oppress freedoms and muffle free thinking?
What delight is in the triumph liberation festivities when the people of the liberated land have been forced by the liberators to flee the country fearing for their lives? The Southern people have been fighting courageously for the last 25 years, refusing to abandon the land they worship and the identity they honor. The successive Lebanese governments have abandoned them for quarter a century and left them isolated encountering unbearable circumstances. They are now paying the price of the occupier’s withdrawal in which they had no say as they have paid previously the price of the occupation that was forced on them.
This carton-like Lebanese state is required morally and legally to make public any initiative its successive governments has taken during the last twenty five years to rescue the Southern residents and these residents declined to accept. Then, and only then it can start prosecuting them and not before that. The Beirut regime is making the residents of the liberated territories, who are actually the victims, legally accountable for the occupation. The heroic Southern residents who resisted the occupation and refused to leave their land are now the target of reprisal and savage official campaign spearheaded by officials and politicians who were originally responsible for the occupation of the Southern region and for the pain, destruction, poverty, displacement, loses and sufferings of all the Lebanese people since 1975. The free world countries and UN should not allow this judicial mockery to be inflict on our innocent patriotic southern people.
To be joyful because Israeli has left our land, or forced to do so, is the norm, but to celebrate liberation at this time, is a premature act. Why? Because territories freed from the Israeli occupier have joined a country whose sovereignty is fully confiscated by another occupier, the Syrian. Meanwhile, festivities for liberation should take place only when all foreign occupying forces leave, and when the country reclaims its independence, sovereignty, freedom and its free decision making process. Then, and only then, under the umbrella of a free and independent judiciary the citizens who broke the nation’s law will face fair trials in accordance to law and principles of justice. In the meantime what we are now witnessing in occupied Lebanon is a biased, selective, unfair, revenges, double standard and politicized judiciary.
Till the day of actual liberation becomes a reality, we refuse to participate in festivities of freezing and leave its ecstasy for the drug addicts.
Long Live Free Lebanon
France May 27/2000

From the Archive/Aoun: Hezbollah is a terrorist group
Interview: Lebanon 's Former Prime Minister Seeks Freedom from Syria
September 12, 2002
Hizbollah are terrorists and are under 100% Syrian Control.
We should first disband the terrorist groups, and then democratise the region
CBN.com – Syria is a nation which is known to support terrorism, but for years its agenda of subversion in Lebanon, Israel, and elsewhere has gone unchecked. Now Congress may vote on the Syria Accountability Act. To learn more about the persecution of Christians, and the threats posed by Syria, Pat Robertson spoke with General Michel Aoun, the elected Prime Minister of Lebanon who was forced from power when Syrian forces seized control of Lebanon.
PAT ROBERTSON: Just think, Lebanon was a model country, a beautiful country, and the Christians elected the president. The Christians have roughly half of the population of Lebanon, it's a little less than 50 percent now. But they are second class citizens, they're being trampled underfoot by the Syrians, and nobody seems to be doing anything about it.
With me is General Michel Aoun who is the former prime minister of Lebanon and the former commander-in-chief of the armed forces. General Aoun, delighted to have you with us on The 700 Club, welcome . Tell me about Hezbollah. We hear about the terrorist group Hezbollah. What relation do they have to Syria?
GENERAL AOUN: Hezbollah is not a separate entity from Syria. It is under the Syrian operational control.
ROBERTSON: The so-called terrorist group is under the operational control of Syria?
AOUN: Yes, 100 percent, no question about that.
ROBERTSON: I understand that Damascus is the headquarters of a number of other terrorist organizations that have received aid and assistance from the Syrians. Can you tell us what they are, those other terrorist organizations?
AOUN: There are about 11 organizations of terrorism in Damascus. Among them, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front and the General Command Front of the Palestinians [Liberation Army], all of them are listed in the United States as classified as terrorist organizations.
ROBERTSON: I understand that there were estimated as many as 10,000 Katyusha rockets that were moved from Syria into Lebanon to reinforce Hezbollah against Israel. Is something like that the case?
AOUN: Yes, since Lebanon was occupied by Syria, they extended the base of their terror operations to Lebanon, and they are stationed in Syria, but they act from the Lebanese territory.
ROBERTSON: Bashir Assad [leader of Syria] made a shocking statement that you called into account. He said that all Israelis are combatants and therefore there's no such thing as an innocent civilian in Israel. Could you comment on that?
AOUN: Yes, during the Arab Summit in Beirut last March, I think, he made this declaration that there is no civilian in Israel, all of them are military.
ROBERTSON: So you can shoot any one of them you want to as a combatant?
AOUN: He did not say it like that directly, but it means that.
ROBERTSON: All right. What happened and how did Syria get control of Lebanon? Lebanon was essentially a Christian country. How did they gain this dominance in the country?
AOUN: They first destabilized the country by opening the Syrian borders to the Palestinians and they came from Syria with the refugees who were stationed in Lebanon. Together they destabilized Lebanon and called it a civil war, but it was not a civil war.
ROBERTSON: Then they came in to stop the so-called civil war that they engendered?
AOUN: They created it. That's what we call in military terminology "indirect strategy." You make a problem and then you come to solve it.
ROBERTSON: What is the danger to world peace? We are engaged in a war on terror and yet the Syrians are in the United Nations Security Council how can that be?
AOUN: It's a big contradiction that we have to solve in the world. Because people, the terrorist regimes, they are still, you know, having good stature in the world. And there are terrorist regimes like Syria that are generating terrorist organizations. Therefore, I propose a plan that first, to disarm the organizations; second, to democratize the regimes; and then to help them to develop their country.
ROBERTSON: What do you think of President Bush's initiative to go against Saddam Hussein to help democratize Iraq? Is that a wise course or not?
AOUN: I would like personally to see that all of the United Nations resolutions be implemented. And if Iraq complies with these resolutions, maybe it would be a happy end for everybody.
ROBERTSON: Okay. What is happening to the Christians? When I was there in 1972, Beirut was the Paris of the Middle East, a beautiful city, and then little by little it's been torn asunder. What is the role of a lot of the Christians now? What is being done to them in Lebanon?
AOUN: They are rejected as second class citizens and they don't enjoy liberty and freedom. And they are threatened.

Beyond the Petty Squabbles Over Negotiations with Israel
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
The difficulty of reaching an agreement on an amnesty law has been a prominent news story in Lebanon. The reason for this difficulty lies in the distribution of those prisoners among three sectarian blocs and the insistence of each major sect’s representatives that their sect’s prisoners are the most deserving of amnesty, coupled with a tendency to deny amnesty to the members of the other two.
At around the same time, the International Information Center, a credible institution to people of divergent opinions, published a survey on Lebanese citizens’ position on Israel and relations with it. According to the survey, 92 percent of Shiites reject peace with the Jewish state, while 84 percent of Druze support it, along with 77 percent of Maronites, and 72 percent of Orthodox Christians.
This piece, however, does not seek to identify who is right or wrong about the amnesty law or Israel. Rather, it attempts to probe the question of whether there can even be a “right” or “wrong” on a national scale amid divisions as deep as ours. Debate and distinguishing right from wrong cannot happen in the shadow of a rupture sustained by robust subcultures that stem from particular readings of history, interests, and relationships.
Moreover, the margin for shifts in opinion that could turn a “right-winger” into a “left-winger” or vice versa, where the debates in ideas play a central role, is extremely limited. We are not dealing, here, with a small group of misguided people- not to say sick people or traitors- but “masses” who want “peace” and reject “resistance,” confronted by “masses” who want “resistance” and reject “peace.”
This reality leads us to the conclusion that thinking about strategic policies, be it foreign or judicial policy, automatically entails questions around Lebanon’s plurality and unity, with any choice rendered a victory for certain “masses” and a defeat for others.
The fear, then, is that in Lebanon (but also throughout the Levant), we may have reached a point in which domestic unity and policy decisions cannot be understood as separate matters, especially foreign policy. Disagreements over domestic affairs are easier to manage through the distribution of resources and political offices, whereas foreign policy raises existential questions around how fundamental issues are defined. Among them is the national interest, and consequently, who are the friends and enemies, as well as the extent of our willingness to sacrifice and wage wars.
In light of this saturation of complete and conflicting definitions, debates over “right” and “wrong” become gratuitous petty squabbles, or reflections of alignment behind a foreign narrative, “progressive” or “reformist,” that is to be imposed on a particular domestic reality.
One may rightly reply that this Lebanese conflict is not new. Since the creation of “Greater Lebanon,” some Lebanese constituencies identified with this project, while others aligned themselves with King Faisal I’s state in Damascus. Later on, these divisions continually renewed themselves, with some identifying with Gamal Abdel Nasser and others opposing him, then with the Palestinian resistance and against it. Today, however, the split is far more violent and more intense because, on the one hand, it is the culmination of this conflict-ridden history- in both its repressed and surface-level dimensions- and, on the other hand, coincides with the crystallization of smaller identities, which have become fully consolidated into antithetical impulses that feed on the state of Iran when it was powerful and wealthy.
It should not surprise us that in periods of cold peace that fill the space between two wars, no robust political culture or credible unifying founding myth has ever been successfully formulated. As a result, vapidity and folklore came to prevail, as seen with the traditional narrative of “one” Lebanon. The moment the state is hit with even the slightest setback, the sectarian subcultures and communities immediately reemerge. In reality, Lebanon has always been a state pregnant with smaller statelets; the latest indication was the sanctions Washington imposed on members of the military and security apparatus. Nor is it of no significance that all the settlements to end conflicts in Lebanon’s modern history ultimately relied on and were shaped by foreign actors.
While this state of affairs applies to all the countries of the Levant today, Lebanon has experienced it earlier and for a longer period than the others. Those other countries had had nationalist military regimes that imposed a single outlook and interpretation on their societies by force, blaming shortcomings and flaws on a “conspiracy against the nation.” The moment those regimes collapsed, however, we all became alike regarding explicit social fragmentation and living in its shadow.
In such a jungle, everyone speaks the language of coexistence while secretly harboring the impulse toward elimination. Only a few days ago, a leader in Hezbollah was quoted as saying that 10 percent of his party’s forces had been fighting Israel, while 90 percent stood ready to fight the Lebanese. Without taking this claim seriously, the intentions behind it, and behind other similar rhetoric uttered from all sides, remain extremely serious.
Purely for the sake of measurement, it might be useful to recall a concept developed by the Scottish philosopher David Hume as early as the eighteenth century. He believed that sentiment and sympathies, not pure rational calculation, are the most fundamental building blocks of society, and that without this indispensable element, society disintegrates into isolated individuals pursuing nothing but narrow self-interest or, in the Lebanese iteration, sects with hate for one another in their bones.

Lebanon and the Challenge of Liberating Itself from Israel and Iran
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
At the moment Hamas launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, Qassam Brigades Commander Mohammed Deif called on “the Palestinian youth in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and inside Israel to rise up... Whoever has a rifle should bring it out; its time has come.” Deif also urged the Arab and Islamic nations to act, and called upon “the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria... to join forces with the resistance in Palestine.”With Hamas and its allies breaching the border and fighting beginning inside the settlements on the morning of Saturday, October 7, 2023, it seemed that the Iranian regime had inaugurated a new phase of its plan to dominate the region, relying on the military proxies it had fostered across our countries. On the one hand, the mission was to protect the “Islamic Revolution,” and on the other, to expand its influence and its vision of a “Greater Iran.” Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Esmail Qaani arrived in Hezbollah’s stronghold on the night of October 7-8, 2023. Hours later, three Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms were targeted, initiating the “harassment operations,” that is, Lebanon’s entanglement in the crime of the war to “support” Gaza.
But Hassan Nasrallah did not make an appearance until November 3, 2023, following a week of propaganda building up to it. He declared that the battle was “Palestinian:” “Hamas planned and executed it without prior knowledge from the party (...).” The speech seemed to echo what Nasrallah himself had declared at the height of the July 2006 war: “Had I known...” All of this can only lead to one conclusion: the proxy forces Iran created, and to which it funneled billions to transform them into parallel entities, especially in Lebanon, are inseparable from Iran’s military and decision-making apparatus in Tehran.
This was reaffirmed when rockets were launched from Lebanon on March 2, 2026, marking the beginning of the catastrophe of the second “support war,” this time in support of Iran itself. Because it is an Iranian war, local incapacity to extricate Lebanon from this was inevitable.
There is no dispute that the Israeli enemy has ambitions in Lebanon: its land and water. With the shift in Israeli strategy following the trauma of “the Flood,” it has sought “forward defense” of its borders, settlement proposals have once again advanced under the scheme of a buffer zone behind the ever-expanding “yellow line.” Iran dragged Lebanon into a war that was not its own, entrusting command of the “Lebanese corps” within the Quds Force directly to the Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Israeli enemy had eliminated the “Jihad Council,” killed field commanders, and neutralized elite forces in the “pager attack.” Homes and territory that “no one had clung to” were exposed to destruction, resulting in horrifying losses, especially in Jabal Amel: annihilation, mass displacement, and the destruction of architecture, memory, past, and present alike, leaving Lebanon prey to the Israeli enemy.
Necessity imposed itself in the effort to protect lives and what remained of the built environment, leading to direct negotiations, arduous talks fraught with danger. This trajectory would not be altered by the inclusion of Lebanon in the ceasefire announced in the American-Iranian “framework of understanding,” important though it may be. Beirut’s priorities include, in addition to a ceasefire, establishing a timetable for withdrawal and the recovery of all occupied land, as well as the unconditional right of return.
Here lie the challenges posed by an Israeli negotiator like Yechiel Leiter, an ideological Zionist who supports settlement expansion. Before him stands the catastrophe of “the Flood” and its implications, leading him to link the prevention of future attacks with direct Israeli field control and the mechanisms of surveillance and buffer zones this would require. The Israeli enemy will certainly insist on retaining the right to intervene- that is, to violate Lebanese sovereignty at will. This right had already been embedded in the “framework of understanding” under the pretext of preventing Hezbollah from rearming.
Accordingly, Lebanon appears to be facing a challenge that requires liberation from both Israel and Iran simultaneously, without ignoring the costs this will impose on Lebanon- a looted, wounded country living under the weight of a major defeat and is called upon to bear its consequences. Israel is devouring land and expanding its occupation, and Lebanon cannot regain stability so long as Israeli arms remain in Hezbollah’s hands. Iran, meanwhile, has established a powerful parallel statelet and sought to entrench the concept of permanent “resistance,” or more accurately, permanent “contracting.” In doing so, it prevented the emergence of a capable and just state, mortgaged both land and people, and turned southerners into sandbags defending its interests and criminal objectives.
On March 2, the Lebanese government issued a decision banning Hezbollah’s military and security activity. This major decision was based on the authorities’ recognition that Hezbollah, as a military organization, is part of the “Islamic Republic,” making its very existence an assault on the Lebanese state. Here, even broader and more profound challenges emerge, because what must be confronted and dismantled is not merely the weapons themselves, but also a state deeply penetrated by serious obstacles undermining its machinery- obstacles that have hindered the implementation of government decisions and demonstrated Hezbollah’s continued influence within state institutions. At the present moment, one must take a moment and pause before the implications of the American sanctions that targeted, among others, two active senior officers. This is unprecedented in Lebanon. Its significance lies in the security and political signals it carries, all converging on the need to remove obstacles preventing the acceptable implementation of cabinet decisions. These sanctions, and the individuals they targeted, must be front of mind, because Lebanon cannot afford the luxury of waiting in the face of an American alarm bell calling for the liberation of the mechanisms through which cabinet decisions are executed, which could grant the Lebanese negotiator greater room for maneuver and credibility.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 26-27 May/2026
US President Trump to meet cabinet at Camp David on Iran
AFP/26 May ,2026
US President Donald Trump is set to hold a rare cabinet meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat on Wednesday as Iran talks near a critical point, a White House official told AFP. The choice of the secluded retreat in the Maryland mountains -- which Trump hardly ever visits, in a break with previous presidents -- reflects the sensitive nature of discussions. The New York Post reported that Iran was set to dominate the meeting, which was expected to be attended by all cabinet members. The economy was also on the agenda, it said. Trump said Saturday that a deal with Tehran to end the Middle East war was close but negotiations are still tense, with the US leader warning that strikes on Iran could resume. Camp David has been the scene of major US-led diplomatic developments in the past, including the 1978 accords between Israel and Egypt under President Jimmy Carter and a failed 2000 Israeli-Palestinian summit under Bill Clinton. Trump has however been an infrequent visitor. It will be only the second time that Trump has gone to Camp David in his second term. The first was just days before the United States launched strikes on Iran's nuclear program in June 2025. During his first term Trump said he had canceled a planned summit with Taliban leaders at the retreat following an attack on US forces.

Iran supreme leader says region will 'no longer serve as shields' for US bases
Agence France Presse/26 May ,2026
Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for U.S. bases, in a written statement carried by state television. "What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases," said Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he took office in March, in a message marking the Eid al-Adha holiday. He said the United States was losing influence in the region, "moving further and further away from its former status with each passing day".

Iran Guards say 'downed' US drone entering airspace
Agence France Presse/May 26, 2026
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that they had downed a U.S. drone and shot at other aircraft entering the country's airspace. U.S. military aircraft "entered Iranian airspace in the Persian Gulf region, and air defense units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps... identified and shot down an MQ-9 drone," the Guards said in a statement on their Sepah News website. The Guards forces "also fired upon an RQ-4 drone and an intruding F-35 fighter jet," the statement said, without specifying when the incidents took place.

Iran judiciary suspends presidential body behind internet restoration order
Agencies/26 May ,2026
Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday suspended a presidential body that had ordered the restoration of internet access after months of near-total blackout since the war with the United States and Israel. The judiciary’s Mizan Online website said the ruling suspending the presidential body followed the “filing of complaints,” though it was not immediately clear who had submitted them. The decision targeted the Special Headquarters for Organizing and Governing the Country’s Cyberspace, a body formed on May 12 by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The body had on Monday reached a decision to “restore the internet” in Iran, according to government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, after local media reported that Pezeshkian had decreed the measure. Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, holds the ultimate authority to restore the internet in the country. Later on Tuesday, the internet monitoring group Netblocks said in a post on X that live data showed partial restoration of internet connectivity in Iran. Iranian authorities first imposed sweeping internet restrictions during large-scale anti-government protests that peaked in early January, before shutting access down again on February 28 at the start of the war. During the blackout, Iranians were largely limited to domestic platforms and websites hosted on the country’s intranet. In recent weeks, Iran introduced a tiered internet system known as “Pro Internet,” which, according to Iranian media, granted broader access to selected groups of professionals for higher fees. By April 5, NetBlocks said the shutdown imposed after the outbreak of war was “the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record in any country.”

Iran condemns US strikes as a show of 'bad faith' and warns of consequences
Associated Press/May 26, 2026
Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. strikes a day earlier as a sign of "bad faith and unreliability" as negotiations continue toward a possible deal to end the war. The U.S. military has characterized Monday's strikes in southern Iran as defensive, saying targets included missile launch sites and boats placing mines, and said the U.S. acted with "restraint" in light of the weekslong ceasefire.Iran's foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that Washington would bear responsibility for "all consequences," without details. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered," it added in a statement. Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran's official Mizan news agency, which did not specify when the incident occurred. It wasn't immediately clear what the developments would mean for negotiations. The strikes came after Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks, which U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday were "proceeding nicely." The strikes were the latest flare-up in the fragile ceasefire that began April 7 and has largely held. Negotiations center in part on the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway off southern Iran through which a fifth of the world's crude oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S.-Israeli strikes in February. Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the strait, stranding hundreds of ships and shocking the global economy. The strait has become a powerful lever for Tehran in talks, joining the long-running issue of Iran's nuclear program and highly enriched uranium. Iran in turn wants the U.S. to lift its military blockade of Iranian ports that began on April 17. The strait also is cause for growing concern as supplies of fertilizer are also badly affected for vulnerable global farmers. "What we are witnessing today is not only a geopolitical crisis, it is a systemic shock to the global agrifood system," the director-general of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, Qu Dongyu, said Tuesday. Trump has introduced a new angle in negotiations for a deal on the war, saying any agreement to end the war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, a series of U.S.-brokered diplomatic, economic and security agreements aimed at normalizing relations with Israel. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020; Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have followed. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949. Israel's conduct against Palestinians, including in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world, but Trump has been keen to build on the Abraham Accords, forged during his first term. He even has suggested that Iran eventually could sign on.

Trump links normalizing ties with Israel to Iran peace deal
Agence France Presse/26 May ,2026
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority nations must normalize ties with Israel as part of efforts to reach a deal with Iran, adding fresh uncertainty into protracted peace negotiations. Progress on a deal to end the conflict that broke out in late February has slowed as both sides talked down the prospect of an imminent agreement, with Tehran saying they were not close to signing and Trump warning he was in no hurry. In another hurdle for any deal, the U.S. leader said it should be mandatory for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan to sign up to the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements brokered in 2020 with nations historically hostile to Israel. "After all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords," he wrote in a lengthy social media post. "Those Countries discussed are Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates (already a Member!), Qatar, Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain (already a Member!)." Trump said he had spoken to the leaders of those countries on Saturday about efforts to end the war with Iran. Bahrain and the UAE have already signed the accords, along with Morocco and Sudan. U.S. and Iranian forces have observed a ceasefire since April 8 while diplomats push for a negotiated settlement, although Iran has maintained controls on Gulf shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. Navy has sought to blockade Iran's ports. A high-level Iranian delegation that includes the country's top negotiator and foreign minister was in Doha on Monday to discuss an agreement with the U.S. and the release of frozen funds, a source briefed on the matter told AFP. Trump said earlier on Monday that a deal with Iran would either be "great and meaningful" or there would be "no deal."But while the accords were welcomed by some as a foreign policy success, they remain deeply unpopular among the public in many parts of the Middle East, not least because they do not tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The issue is fraught as countries like Gulf heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Qatar have said they will never normalize ties with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is created. Saudi Arabia's position on the Palestinian issue remains unchanged, a Saudi source told Riyadh-based broadcaster Al Arabiya on Monday, adding that "there needs to be an irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state."
'Going crazy'
Anna Jacobs of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said Trump's latest demand added to the disaster that has been the war on all fronts for Gulf nations. "The national security of the Gulf states has been threatened more than ever before because of President Trump's reckless decisions, and he expects Arab states to thank him and to normalize relations with Israel, which they will not do at this stage," she said. "These expectations and assumptions from this US administration shows how little they understand the Middle East." Trump's maximalist demand came after top US diplomat Marco Rubio suggested a deal could be reached within the day, causing world oil prices to tumble based on renewed optimism about an agreement. "We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today," Secretary of State Rubio told reporters during a visit to New Delhi, referring to hopes for a deal. "We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open." But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei poured cold water on hopes for a quick final settlement. "It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion," he told a weekly news briefing."But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent -- no one can make such a claim." In Iran's capital Tehran, residents who spoke to Paris-based journalists said they were losing patience at the lack of diplomatic progress. "We're going crazy. Imagine getting hopeful 10 times a day, and disappointed 100 times a day," said Amir, 40.
"We're all frustrated."
'Critical moment' -
On the Lebanon front of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he had ordered the military to intensify its offensive in Lebanon in an effort to "crush" Hezbollah, accusing the group of targeting Israeli forces with drone attacks.
"I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations," Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel. The Israeli leader said on Sunday that he and Trump had agreed that "any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat entirely" before peace was reached. Iranian officials have stressed that, despite the long-standing U.S. demand for an end to its uranium enrichment, talks on the issue of the Islamic republic's nuclear program have been deferred until after an initial agreement. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif -- whose government is spearheading efforts to mediate a negotiated agreement between the United States and Iran -- met China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Speaking to Chinese leaders, Sharif said "the world is passing through a critical moment," Pakistan's state-run PTV channel showed.

Top US diplomat in Riyadh thanks Saudi Arabia for recent support/“Our commitment to the security of Saudi Arabia remains unwavering,” Dilworth said.
Al Arabiya English/26 May ,2026
The top US diplomat in Riyadh said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia’s recent support had shown the “true meaning of friendship and solidarity,” adding that Washington’s commitment to the security of the Kingdom “remains unwavering.” Alison Dilworth, the head of the US Mission to Saudi Arabia, extended her well wishes to King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and to all Saudi people on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. “As millions complete the Hajj pilgrimage, we honor the spirit of unity and devotion that defines this sacred time,” Dilworth said in a video posted on X. She said Eid means even more this year because of what the US and Saudi Arabia endured together. Without naming the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, Dilworth said the US-Saudi partnership was tested in recent months, but it showed the strength of the partnership. “I want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to our Saudi partners for their steadfast support throughout this difficult period. Thank you for standing with us. You have shown the true meaning of friendship and solidarity, and we are sincerely grateful,” she said. “Our commitment to the security of Saudi Arabia remains unwavering,” Dilworth said.

Pentagon spars with SpaceX over Starlink price hike during Iran war
Reuters/26 May ,2026
When the US launched its bombing campaign, Starshield terminals were being used across more than a dozen drone systems, according to a source familiar with the matter. As US kamikaze drones guided by Elon Musk’s Starlink network began to make visible gains in the war against Iran, senior SpaceX officials reached a conclusion: The Pentagon should be paying more for access to their satellite Wi-Fi network. Within weeks of the United States launching its bombing campaign, SpaceX executives met Pentagon officials and argued the military had been paying about $5,000 for connection per terminal while effectively using a higher tier of service worth closer to $25,000, according to two sources familiar with the matter and Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters. The disagreement over Starlink’s use on LUCAS suicide drones - a cheap US model comparable to Iran’s Shahed that can circle over a target area before diving to detonate on impact - is part of increasing tensions between SpaceX and the Pentagon over Starlink pricing in recent months, according to interviews with five people familiar with the matter and the documents. The Pentagon, which is seeking to help Iranian citizens bypass government-imposed communications blackouts, has also been at odds with SpaceX over pricing for a plan to provide the populace direct-to-cell connections with Starlink akin to 5G service, two of the sources said. The ongoing disputes, which have not previously been reported, underscore how the Pentagon’s growing reliance on SpaceX is handing Musk greater leverage over a critical layer of US national security – at a time when SpaceX is seeking to boost revenue ahead of an IPO next month that could be among the biggest in history. Unlike consumer Starlink terminals available at stores including Walmart, SpaceX sells a military-specific version called Starshield to the Pentagon under a 2023 agreement. Starshield terminals can connect to both commercial Starlink satellites and a separate, more secure constellation, also called Starshield, according to a person familiar with the matter. SpaceX argued the LUCAS drones were operating under conditions that aligned more closely with its aviation tier subscription rather than a lower priced land or mobility service. Pentagon officials argued that the $25,000 price tag - a monthly fee - was designed for aircraft, not kamikaze drones that used Starlink connection for a matter of minutes or hours, according to one of the sources. The Pentagon, which was ramping up strikes on Iran, ultimately agreed to pay SpaceX’s proposed price increase, almost doubling the cost of each LUCAS drone. The Pentagon was initially paying about $30,000 per unit. SpaceX didn’t respond to a comment request. The Pentagon declined to comment on Reuters reporting that SpaceX increased its pricing, its decision to pay, or the plan to provide Iranian citizens with Starlink cell service. In a statement, a Pentagon official said the office responsible for acquiring the terminals, the Commercial Satellite Communications Office, is working to find other competitors. “The Department of War is committed to fostering a competitive environment for commercial satellite communications,” an official said. But no other company provides a comparable alternative to Starlink, which has become an increasingly critical tool in modern warfare since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The satellite network provides global coverage, enabling battlefield communications and precision targeting even in remote areas. SpaceX’s constellation of roughly 10,000 satellites accounts for more than 60 percent of those in orbit - dwarfing the constellations being built by other companies, including OneWeb and Amazon Leo. The risks of reliance on Starlink were first thrown into sharp focus during the Ukraine war, when Musk ordered Starlink service switched off in parts of the country in 2022 as Ukrainian forces advanced on Russian positions, disrupting a key counteroffensive, Reuters previously reported. More recently, US Navy tests were disrupted last summer when a global Starlink outage cut off connection to unmanned military boats, leaving them bobbing in the ocean.
SpaceX has US government ‘over a barrel’
Unlike traditional defense contractors, SpaceX holds greater leverage over the Pentagon because it also has a large commercial market for Starlink, alongside its rocket launch and artificial intelligence businesses, said Clayton Swope, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national security-focused think tank. SpaceX generates about 20 percent of its total revenue from the US government, according to an SEC filing. SpaceX “certainly has the US government over the barrel,” Swope said. At the outset of the Iran war, Starlink was already a core part of US military operations. In testing and early deployments, it supported a range of systems, from aerial attack drones such as the LUCAS to unmanned surface vessels used for maritime surveillance and strike missions. When the US launched its bombing campaign, Starshield terminals were being used across more than a dozen drone systems, according to a source familiar with the matter. But tensions between the Pentagon and SpaceX emerged quickly after the US launched its February 28 assault on Iran. On March 1, SpaceX chief Elon Musk responded on X to a user’s post featuring an image of the LUCAS drone that said it “appears to have an integrated Starlink” terminal. “It is a violation of commercial Starlink terms of service to use the terminal for weapon systems. This applies to all users and is shut down when discovered,” Musk posted. “There is a separate network called Starshield, which is operated by the US government.”The Pentagon official, in a statement to Reuters, denied any violation of its agreement with SpaceX. In the days that followed, SpaceX executives met Pentagon officials and argued the military was underpaying for the service, two sources familiar with the matter said. Although the Pentagon initially agreed to the higher fee for satellite Wi-Fi connections used by attack drones, senior officials including Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg remained uneasy about the arrangement, one of the sources said. Pentagon officials, during an April ceasefire, met to revisit the pricing with Terrence O’Shaughnessy, a retired four-star Air Force general who now leads SpaceX’s defense business. Still, the Pentagon is currently considering an additional purchase of more than 3,500 Starshield terminal subscriptions, including 100 with the higher-priced aviation tier, according to Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters. The deal could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue for SpaceX, though Reuters could not determine whether an agreement has been finalized, or what price is being discussed.
SpaceX prices irk Pentagon
Starlink has also proved crucial to other operations. After Iran cracked down on protests in January, killing thousands of people, the Trump administration smuggled in more than 6,000 Starlink terminals to provide internet access to citizens, the Wall Street Journal previously reported. As the war intensified, however, Iranian authorities confiscated the terminals and deployed jamming devices across major cities to disrupt connections, according to a source familiar with the matter. Within a week of the conflict beginning, Pentagon officials began discussions with SpaceX about deploying direct-to-cell service that could bypass those disruptions, two people familiar with the matter said. The capability, similar to a 5G connection, would allow users to connect without terminals on the ground. SpaceX, which generated $11.4 billion in revenue from Starlink in 2025, proposed charging as much as $500 million to launch the capability, along with a $100 million monthly fee to operate it, according to one of the people and Pentagon documents - prompting alarm from defense officials over the price.
Reuters could not determine whether an agreement has been reached.

US plans to cut strategic bombers and warships available to NATO in a crisis: Report
Reuters/26 May ,2026
The US intends to significantly reduce military contributions available to assist European allies in a crisis, including fighter jets, warships and mid-air refueling aircraft, German news outlet Spiegel reported on Tuesday. The NATO alliance is under unprecedented strain, with some European countries concerned that Washington may withdraw outright. US President Donald Trump has slammed European allies for not spending enough on their militaries and pledged to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany. His ambition to take control of Greenland, a Danish overseas territory, has further inflamed transatlantic tensions.
Trump also fiercely criticized European allies for a lack of support in reopening the Strait of Hormuz for shipping amid the war on Iran, saying he was considering withdrawing from the NATO alliance and questioning whether Washington was bound to honor its mutual defense pact. According to the Spiegel report, an envoy of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed senior officials from member states on the plan at NATO headquarters in Brussels late last week. Three sources familiar with the matter had told Reuters the Trump administration was planning to tell NATO allies last week it would shrink the pool of military capabilities available to the alliance during a crisis. The US aims to provide only half the previous number of strategic bombers, the reports said. Specifically, the number of US fighter jets is set to fall by a third, Spiegel cited US envoy Alexander Velez-Green as saying during the closed-door meeting.
The US Navy is also set to make fewer destroyers available to NATO, and the US no longer intends to provide any submarines to the alliance. Under the changes, Europe would be forced to provide its own reconnaissance drones, while the US plans to significantly scale back the provision of armed models. The US will provide further details at a force generation conference in early June, the Spiegel report said. The German defense ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. A spokeswoman for NATO told Spiegel that there had been an “over-reliance” on the US in NATO force planning and that, with Europe and Canada investing more in defense, military responsibilities within the alliance could be reorganized.

Explosion damages tanker off Oman: Marine monitor
AFP/26 May ,2026
An explosion damaged a tanker close to its waterline as it sailed off Oman, a marine monitor said Tuesday, as tensions remained high around the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
“The crew and vessel are safe, although the master reports some bunker fuel has discharged into the sea,” UK Maritime Trade Operations said. The incident, in the Gulf of Oman about 60 nautical miles east of Muscat, was an “external explosion,” UKMTO added, without detailing the cause of the blast. Iran has been laying mines in waters nearby as part of its campaign to block the strait, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil production. Hours earlier, US forces launched overnight strikes on missile sites in Iran and on boats that they said were trying to lay mines in Gulf waters.

Israel says targeted new chief of Hamas armed wing in Gaza strike
AFP/26 May ,2026
Israel said it targeted the new chief of Hamas’ armed wing in a strike in Gaza on Tuesday, just days after his predecessor was killed in a similar attack in the Palestinian territory. “Under the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the IDF has just carried out a strike in Gaza targeting Mohammed Odeh - the new commander of the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre,” a joint statement issued by Netanyahu and Katz said. Odeh was appointed as chief of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades after his predecessor Ezzedine Al-Haddad was killed in a strike in Gaza earlier in May. Gaza’s civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, said that a woman had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rimal neighborhood in western Gaza City.“Odeh served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 massacre and was appointed approximately one week ago as successor to Ezzedine Al-Haddad,” the statement from Netanyahu and Katz said. “Odeh was responsible for the murder, abduction, and injury of numerous Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” it said. In the aftermath of the October 7 assault, Netanyahu pledged to target and eliminate the masterminds behind the attacks, which, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people. Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 72,803 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable. Since Hamas’s cross-border assault, the Israeli military and intelligence services have waged a campaign targeting the group’s senior political leaders and militant commanders in Gaza and across the region. During the war triggered by the Hamas attacks, Israel has claimed responsibility for assassinating several Hamas leaders, including the group’s former political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Israeli soldiers also killed Yahya Sinwar, who was widely regarded as a key mastermind behind the October 7 attack. Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas’s armed wing and considered an architect of the attack, was also killed during the war. Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in Lebanon, as well as senior Iran-backed Hezbollah commanders allied with the group, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Remnants of al-Assad’s chemical weapons program recovered, Syrian official says
Al Arabiya English/26 May ,2026
Syrian authorities have located remnants of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s clandestine chemical weapons program, including raw materials and munitions similar to those used to carry out deadly gas attacks during the country’s long-running civil war, a Syrian official told Reuters on Tuesday. Syrian authorities have also taken into custody 18 suspects for alleged involvement in al-Assad’s chemical weapons program, including high-level military, political and technical officials, Mohamad Katoub, Syria’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, said in an interview. The names of the suspects were not made public because the investigation was ongoing, he said, adding that several had served as major generals under the al-Assad regime. At least four were on European, UK or US sanctions lists, he said. Syria, emerging from its 14-year civil war as an ally of the West, has vowed to work with the international community to rid itself of legacy weapons of mass destruction that pose a proliferation risk.
Chemical munitions found
The OPCW said in a report on Tuesday that its team in Syria had visited several high-priority undeclared locations in the northern coastal and central areas with Syrian authorities. The mission was ongoing, it said, but “dozens of undeclared chemical munitions such as aerial bombs and rockets, as well as separately found chemicals and related equipment” had been discovered. Syrian teams, working for months with OPCW inspectors, located more than 70 rockets and aerial bombs, as well as raw ingredients for the production of sarin, a nerve agent used by al-Assad’s forces in attacks that killed more than 1,300 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August 2013 and al-Lataminah in March 2017, Katoub said. Chemical weapon mixing and storage equipment and hexamine, a stabilization agent known to have been used by al-Assad’s forces in sarin production, were also found during searches at three locations. “Despite the secrecy, the danger, and the immense security challenges ... today we delivered for the Syrian people and for the world,” Katoub said. “It is the first time such munitions could be recovered before they were used in crimes against the Syrian people.”
He said securing and storing the found materials contributes to national and global security. Joint investigations by the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague had previously found that sarin, as well as chlorine and sulfur mustard gas, were used repeatedly by the al-Assad regime. The OPCW, which oversees the international ban on toxic munitions, has said as many as 100 sites across Syria need to be inspected. Syria signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 and declared a 1,300-ton stockpile, but prohibited use continued. The size of the remaining program and stockpile has remained unclear. In March, Syria launched a plan supported by Washington to rid the Middle Eastern country of its legacy chemical weapons. With Reuters

US and Armenia sign strategic partnership agreement ahead of Armenian elections
Reuters/26 May ,2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a strategic partnership agreement in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Tuesday, less than two weeks before parliamentary elections in the South Caucasus country.
They also signed a framework agreement on critical minerals and another on cooperation on a proposed 43-km (27-mile) transit corridor that would run across southern Armenia and give Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchevan and in turn to Turkey, Baku’s closest ally. The meeting, held at Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport during a brief stopover by Rubio, comes days before a June 7 election pitting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, which is pursuing closer ties with the West, against an array of opposition parties, many of which are pro-Russian. Ahead of Rubio’s brief visit, the Kremlin said on Monday Armenia could lose the “very attractive” price it pays for Russian gas if it turned away from integration with Russia.

Trump ally says Saudi Crown Prince MBS told him he could recognize Israel ‘today’/According to the Prince, his father, King Salman, remained the primary obstacle.
JERUSALEM POST STAFF/May 26/2026
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-897270
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman privately told evangelical leader and Trump ally Mike Evans that he was ready to recognize Israel “today,” but that his father, King Salman, remained the obstacle, Evans told The Jerusalem Post on Monday during a visit to Israel.
“When I talked to the crown prince, he told me that he would acknowledge Israel today,” Evans said. “But he said his problem was his father.”Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion and a longtime evangelical supporter of Israel, said he met with the Saudi crown prince for two hours, with MBS’s brother and the Saudi foreign minister also present. According to Evans, the crown prince’s brother expressed a similar view. The account could not be independently verified by the Post. The comments came as US President Donald Trump moved to link a possible Iran deal to a broader push for Arab and Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords Trump said Monday that countries including Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey should join the accords as part of an effort to reach a deal with Iran, Reuters reported. Trump also said he had spoken Saturday with leaders from those countries, as well as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Claim that MBS rejected the idea of dividing Jerusalem into two capitals
Axios reported Sunday that Trump asked leaders from several Arab and Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, to normalize relations with Israel after a possible agreement to end the Iran war. Evans said he believed Trump’s demand was serious. “I think it’s genuine,” Evans said. “Donald Trump has got enormous negotiating leverage with Saudi Arabia right now. Enormous leverage. And I don’t think there’s any question of the doubt that the president plans on delivering these countries because he’s trying to move towards a genuine peace.”Evans said the Saudi crown prince had also been sharply critical of the Palestinians during their private conversation. “The crown prince said, speaking to the Palestinians, they wasted our money,” Evans said. “He said they shouldn’t be attacking Israel. They should be copying Israel.” Evans said he believed Trump’s demand was serious. “I think it’s genuine,” Evans said. “Donald Trump has got enormous negotiating leverage with Saudi Arabia right now. Enormous leverage. And I don’t think there’s any question of the doubt that the president plans on delivering these countries because he’s trying to move towards a genuine peace.”Evans said the Saudi crown prince had also been sharply critical of the Palestinians during their private conversation. “The crown prince said, speaking to the Palestinians, they wasted our money,” Evans said. “He said they shouldn’t be attacking Israel. They should be copying Israel.” Evans said he was unconvinced that Palestinian statehood was the real obstacle to Saudi recognition. “I’m not so sure that was holding it up,” he said. “I think honestly things have changed. I think there’s no problem with him. I think he’ll do it. I think Donald Trump means it.”Trump’s latest proposal also included countries seen as more complicated prospects for normalization with Israel, including Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan. Qatar has hosted Hamas leaders and played a central mediation role in hostage negotiations, Turkey’s government has sharply criticized Israel during the Gaza war, and Pakistan has never recognized Israel. Evans argued that Trump’s personal relationships and diplomatic leverage could still produce results. “Donald Trump has got enormous negotiating leverage,” he said. “He’s built a lot of friendships, and he can deliver on them.”Evans framed the possible expansion of the Abraham Accords as part of a larger regional battle against Islamist movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Most of the ammunition that has created the problems for the State of Israel and for the Jews worldwide is the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said. “By creating this alliance with these Sunni countries, Abraham Accords, you are checkmating the Muslim Brotherhood.” Evans also defended Trump’s handling of Iran amid Israeli concern over reports of a possible agreement. “No president in history has done more for the State of Israel than this president,” Evans said. “You’ve got to look at the positive rather than the negative.”
He warned that Iran would make a major mistake if it tried to mislead Trump. “I don’t believe Iran is going to keep their promises,” Evans said. “If they try to play him for the fool, he’ll come back and hit them. They would make a terrible mistake to underestimate this president.”
Tucker Carlson and MAGA’s Israel debate
Evans also addressed the internal Republican debate over Israel, including the influence of Tucker Carlson and other voices critical of US support for Israel. He said Friends of Zion had mobilized 1,000 pastors who traveled to Israel and then used social media to counter what he described as anti-Israel narratives inside parts of the conservative movement. “When you and I talked last time, Tucker Carlson was in the White House,” Evans said, referring to Carlson’s proximity to Trump-world figures. “And very close to the vice president.”
Evans said Friends of Zion then launched a social media campaign against Carlson. “We mobilized our 1,000 pastors who came to Israel,” he said. “We started going after a social network campaign. We got 138 million views and started attacking, exposing Tucker Carlson.”
“Tucker Carlson right now has been thrown under the bus by Donald Trump,” Evans added. “He’s out.” Evans said the broader phenomenon should still concern pro-Israel conservatives, especially because Carlson maintains a large following among younger right-wing audiences.
He also claimed, without providing evidence in the interview, that Gulf money had helped fuel anti-Israel narratives online. “There’s a huge amount of Gulf oil money, documents of AI that are being used to fuel and feed all of this,” Evans said.

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 26-27 May/2026
An Uneasy End to an Elusive War with Iran Draws Near
Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/May 26, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/05/154820/
ANALYSIS: Even as both sides trade threats and boasts, the United States and Iran appear closer to a negotiated end to their 39-day conflict.
It was a textbook case in media manipulation. On Saturday, May 23, information began to filter on Middle East media platforms that the United States and Iran had basically concluded an agreement to end their 39-day war, a conflict that has, more or less, been in abeyance since a shaky ceasefire was declared on April 8.
The initial news was of an agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, highly favorable to Iran that would continue with a 60-day ceasefire to negotiate remaining disagreements, including on Iran’s nuclear program. Pro-Iranian sources and critics of the Trump administration worldwide gloated that Iran would not only receive billions of dollars in frozen funds but also much-sought sanctions relief.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman posted a picture on Twitter of a third-century rock relief carving at Naqsh-e-Rostam showing a victorious Iranian king, Shapur I, humiliating the Roman Empire, with the Emperor Valerian, the only Roman ruler ever taken as a prisoner of war, in A.D. 260, kneeling in submission. The clear implication was that President Trump, “the emperor,” had come to terms. “In the Roman mind, Rome was the undisputed center of the world. Yet the Iranians shattered that illusion.”
After taking a beating on social media, the White House began to push back, speaking on background that the MOU commits Iran to not having nuclear weapons and to surrendering its enriched uranium. “Unlike past agreements where America paid Iran upfront and hoped they'd comply, this MOU is structured so Iran gets nothing until they deliver. That's the difference between a dealmaker and a hostage payer.” President Trump himself on May 24 added that “the deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one or there will be no deal.” A later Trump message on Truth Social raised the possibility of a return to war.
What are we to make of this mutual, continuous bluster? It seems clear that, despite the rhetoric, there is some sort of agreement on 90-95% of the issues. Those that remain are some of the most contentious.
President Trump is, almost simultaneously, signaling a warm peace with Iran (something that would seem to go against a basic premise of the regime, enmity towards America), or a draconian one where Iran takes several significant actions and then is rewarded, or a return to war. The Iranian regime’s messaging is even more triumphant and blustering than that of Trump.
This is not so surprising given that the regime was struggling to survive even before the war. The U.S. president and his party can lose an election; the Iranian regime faces a restive population, a new (and probably more radical) leadership, and regional enemies that will try to make sure that Iran’s seemingly temporary advantage in closing the Strait of Hormuz is not repeated. But the rhetoric on both sides seems to make an agreement more elusive. Pope Leo XIV might have been referring to our current situation when, in Magnifica Humanitas, he warns that “communication networks, fragmented information environments and algorithms that reward conflict can magnify polarization and resentment, increase propaganda and make shared discernment more difficult.” There is a lot of noise on a possible peace accord right now, and most of it is unhelpful and deceptive.
The Americans have signaled that it may take several days to iron out some of the last kinks in the MOU given the slow Iranian decision-making process. Hajj season, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, ends this week and pilgrims have to leave Saudi Arabia no later than May 30. If there is more conflict, that could be when it happens, after the Hajj.
A return to outright war by the Americans seems unlikely. Our Arab regional partners want the war to end. There are tremendous global inflationary and energy supply pressures still building which threaten to wreck the international economy. Americans are divided on the war and unhappy with inflation. Some advanced ammunition is supposedly in short supply. At best, there could be a short, destructive spike of new air strikes and a continued naval blockade. Many experts don’t expect such an action to substantially change the situation, at least not quickly.
What is clear is that the Iranian regime survives this conflict more or less intact. Whether in the long run it is weakened internally or not will only be apparent months later. The Iranian regime’s own internal pressures and contradiction have certainly not been solved or ameliorated by this war. It will still have to decide whether it can afford to continue along the expensive path of constant aggression against its neighbors at the expense of the well-being of its own unhappy people. How much, or even if, this conflict has weakened the U.S.’s military or political standing in the world is also not clear. It seems that it has, but how much and to what end will only be clearer over time. Past American supposed debacles have turned out to be far less severe and dramatic than believed at the time. But this Iran War could quite possibly be the very last of the large direct American military interventions in the Middle East, which stretched across several administrations from 1991 to 2026. That is something that many Americans, and even many supporters of the current administration, would actually like to see.
**Alberto M. Fernandez is a former U.S. diplomat and a contributor at EWTN News.

The Gaza Roadmap: A Diplomatic Fantasy That Keeps Hamas in Power
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute./May 26, 2026
Hamas remains armed, organized, and committed to its declared goal of destroying Israel through jihad (holy war). Yet instead of confronting this reality, international diplomats continue to indulge in dangerous fantasies about negotiating Hamas out of existence.
[Nickolay] Mladenov [former United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process] added that the biggest obstacle to full implementation of the ceasefire remains "Hamas's refusal to accept a verified decommissioning, relinquishing coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza."
That Mladenov is appealing to the UN Security Council to pressure Hamas reveals the core flaw of the entire approach: the "Board of Peace" and its international sponsors continue to view Hamas as a rational political actor rather than what it actually is: a jihadist terror group.
Mladenov's roadmap repeatedly speaks about "reciprocity," "verification," "implementation mechanisms," and "phased decommissioning."
Hamas's charter states that "Israel will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it," and mandates jihad as a religious and individual duty for all Muslims to "liberate Palestine."
Hamas [in the "roadmap"] is even being allowed to remain armed and influential during the early stages of the transition process....
This is unacceptable and contradicts the very spirit of the UN Security Council Resolution 2803, on which the roadmap claims to be based. The resolution authorizes a temporary International Stabilization Force and requires the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, including the full disarmament of Hamas and the destruction of all its military infrastructure.
The message being sent to Hamas is unambiguous: continue holding your weapons, continue ruling the Gaza Strip through intimidation and terror, and the international community will keep negotiating with you.
The latest roadmap explicitly states that the proposal "does not call for immediate surrender or unilateral disarmament." Instead, it outlines a "phased, Palestinian-led internationally verified process."
Hamas... has already made clear that it rejects the proposal altogether.
Hamas is again telling the world openly that it has no intention of disarming. It wants to remain in power so it can continue pursuing, with the help of the Iranian regime, its jihad against Israel.
Hamas also seems to understand something that many Western diplomats and officials refuse to acknowledge: armed Islamist groups are not removed through conferences, committees, or UN resolutions. They are removed through force. The only countries capable of removing Hamas militarily are Israel and the US.
While diplomats hold meetings in Cairo, New York, Doha, and Ankara, Hamas uses time to entrench itself, rearm, regroup, recruit, and tighten its control over the Gaza Strip's population.
Despite recognizing this reality, the proposed solution is still more diplomacy, more negotiations, and more phased implementation mechanisms.
The new roadmap offers no serious answers because it is based on the false premise that Hamas will agree to disarm and give up power through negotiations and diplomacy.
There is another, equally serious reality that many prefer to ignore. Some of the region's main mediators are themselves deeply sympathetic to Hamas. Qatar and Turkey are not neutral actors genuinely committed to dismantling Hamas's military machine.
Expecting Qatar or Turkey to help remove Hamas from power is like expecting Iran to dismantle its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah.
The hard truth is that Hamas will not voluntarily disarm. It will not transform itself into a peaceful political movement. It will not abandon its jihadist ideology because of UN resolutions or international conferences.
When the Mladenov roadmap inevitably collapses under Hamas's rejectionism, the world may finally be forced to admit what should have been obvious long ago: Negotiations do not defeat Islamist terrorist groups. As with Afghanistan and Iran, deciding not to defeat them only re-empowers them.
The world may finally be forced to admit what should have been obvious long ago: Negotiations do not defeat Islamist terrorist groups. As with Afghanistan and Iran, deciding not to defeat them only re-empowers them. Pictured: Hamas terrorists in Jabalia refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip, on December 1, 2025. (Photo by Omar Al-Qataa/AFP via Getty Images)
Nearly two-and-a-half years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel, the Islamist terror group is still firmly entrenched in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas remains armed, organized, and committed to its declared goal of destroying Israel through jihad (holy war). Yet instead of confronting this reality, international diplomats continue to indulge in dangerous fantasies about negotiating Hamas out of existence.
The latest example comes from former United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, who has presented to the UN Security Council a 15-point "Roadmap to Complete the Implementation of President Trump's Gaza Comprehensive Plan."
Mladenov chairs the so-called "Board of Peace," an international organization established by Trump with the stated purpose of overseeing the processes of his Gaza peace plan.
Mladenov urged the Security Council to use "every means at its disposal" to press Hamas to disarm and called on Israel to honor its ceasefire commitments. "There is no third option," he said. "There never was, and the people of Gaza should not be made to wait while some pretend that there is." Mladenov added that the biggest obstacle to full implementation of the ceasefire remains "Hamas's refusal to accept a verified decommissioning, relinquishing coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza."
At the center of Mladenov's proposal is an astonishing assumption: that Hamas can somehow be persuaded, pressured, or diplomatically maneuvered into surrendering its weapons and relinquishing power.
Since when has Hamas complied with UN Security resolutions? Hamas is not Belgium or Canada. It is an Islamist terrorist organization designated as such by the US, Canada, the European Union, and other countries.
That Mladenov is appealing to the UN Security Council to pressure Hamas reveals the core flaw of the entire approach: the "Board of Peace" and its international sponsors continue to view Hamas as a rational political actor rather than what it actually is: a jihadist terror group.
Mladenov's roadmap repeatedly speaks about "reciprocity," "verification," "implementation mechanisms," and "phased decommissioning."
This language might work in negotiations between states or legitimate political parties. It does not work with an armed Islamist group whose 1988 charter openly calls for Israel's elimination.
The Hamas charter asserts that "the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [holy possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day." Hamas's charter states that "Israel will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it," and mandates jihad as a religious and individual duty for all Muslims to "liberate Palestine."
The roadmap's sequencing is especially revealing. Disarmament, once supposedly central to the process, has now been pushed down to Point 6 under the slogan "One Authority, One law, One Weapon."
In effect, Hamas is even being allowed to remain armed and influential during the early stages of the transition process:
"Point 6: One Authority, One Law, One Weapon. What this means: This point establishes the governing principle of the transition: that only authorized Palestinian institutions would exercise security authority inside Gaza; only authorized personnel carry weapons, armed groups cease military activity, and governance and security structures become unified under one civilian authority. No society can sustainably recover while multiple armed structures operate alongside civilian institutions."
This is unacceptable and contradicts the very spirit of the UN Security Council Resolution 2803, on which the roadmap claims to be based. The resolution authorizes a temporary International Stabilization Force and requires the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, including the full disarmament of Hamas and the destruction of all its military infrastructure.
The message being sent to Hamas is unambiguous: continue holding your weapons, continue ruling the Gaza Strip through intimidation and terror, and the international community will keep negotiating with you.
The latest roadmap explicitly states that the proposal "does not call for immediate surrender or unilateral disarmament." Instead, it outlines a "phased, Palestinian-led internationally verified process."
Hamas, however, has already made clear that it rejects the proposal altogether.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem accused Mladenov of adopting the "Israeli narrative" and providing justification for Israel's military actions.
Hamas-affiliated political analyst Yasser Za'atreh went even further, denouncing Mladenov as "Netanyahu's envoy" and declaring that Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups would never surrender their weapons.
"Hamas and the resistance forces will not accept this despicable game, nor will they surrender their weapons," Za'atreh said.
There could hardly be a clearer answer.
Hamas is again telling the world openly that it has no intention of disarming. It wants to remain in power so it can continue pursuing, with the help of the Iranian regime, its jihad against Israel.
Hamas also seems to understand something that many Western diplomats and officials refuse to acknowledge: armed Islamist groups are not removed through conferences, committees, or UN resolutions. They are removed through force. The only countries capable of removing Hamas militarily are Israel and the US.
The "Board of Peace" appears increasingly detached from reality. Nearly every failed diplomatic effort in the Gaza Strip over the past two decades has rested on the same flawed assumption that Hamas can eventually be persuaded to lay down its weapons and relinquish power.
Instead, every ceasefire with Israel and every diplomatic initiative has produced the same result: Hamas becomes stronger.
While diplomats hold meetings in Cairo, New York, Doha, and Ankara, Hamas uses time to entrench itself, rearm, regroup, recruit, and tighten its control over the Gaza Strip's population.
Even Mladenov himself acknowledged before the UN Security Council that Hamas remains in "military and administrative control" over more than two million Palestinians. Despite recognizing this reality, the proposed solution is still more diplomacy, more negotiations, and more phased implementation mechanisms.
What happens when Hamas inevitably refuses to disarm? What happens when Hamas attacks members of the proposed new governing authority? What happens when Hamas continues terrorizing Palestinian civilians who oppose its rule? What happens when Hamas uses the transition period to rebuild its military infrastructure?
The new roadmap offers no serious answers because it is based on the false premise that Hamas will agree to disarm and give up power through negotiations and diplomacy.
There is another, equally serious reality that many prefer to ignore. Some of the region's main mediators are themselves deeply sympathetic to Hamas. Qatar and Turkey are not neutral actors genuinely committed to dismantling Hamas's military machine. Both countries have long supported Hamas politically, financially, and diplomatically.
Expecting Qatar or Turkey to help remove Hamas from power is like expecting Iran to dismantle its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah.
The tone of the diplomacy surrounding the Gaza Strip has clearly shifted. There is growing pressure on Israel to accommodate Hamas indirectly through international frameworks, while Hamas itself continues rejecting the most basic condition for peace: surrendering its weapons. This approach, bluntly, rewards terrorism.
Trump's "Board of Peace" now risks becoming a mechanism for prolonging Hamas rule. Every day spent pursuing diplomatic fantasies is another day that Hamas uses to solidify its grip on the Gaza Strip and prepare for more terror attacks.
The hard truth is that Hamas will not voluntarily disarm. It will not transform itself into a peaceful political movement. It will not abandon its jihadist ideology because of UN resolutions or international conferences.
At some point, reality will catch up with diplomacy. When the Mladenov roadmap inevitably collapses under Hamas's rejectionism, the world may finally be forced to admit what should have been obvious long ago: Negotiations do not defeat Islamist terrorist groups. As with Afghanistan and Iran, deciding not to defeat them only re-empowers them.
**Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
**Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Will Trump end up with an Obama-style Iran deal?
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
If we ignore the noise and the claims surrounding the negotiations, the fact that they are continuing is a good sign that both sides are determined to reach an agreement. The cost of leaving the crisis unresolved is high, and if the war resumes, it will be destructive. The Trump administration cannot launch a major war without the necessary support, while the Iranians are bleeding daily because they are being prevented from selling their oil, despite their propaganda claiming otherwise. If the blockade continues, Tehran will be forced into one of two options: war or further concessions.What if it turns out that Trump’s deal resembles Obama’s 2015 agreement, which was limited only to the nuclear file and lifted sanctions in return?
In my view, the most likely outcome is a similar agreement. But today’s circumstances are different from the past. Let us go back and look at what happened during the Obama administration, and what pushed Tehran to negotiate at the time. Bashar al-Assad’s regime was besieged and faltering because of the uprising against it. The Obama administration had announced its intention to punish Assad by imposing a no-fly zone to deter him, after repeated chemical massacres shocked global public opinion. Closing the airspace over rebel-held areas, which Assad’s aircraft had been bombarding with barrel bombs, would have led to the fall of Tehran’s ally.
To save the situation, Iran waved the red flag, like a bullfighter: its nuclear program. It put it on the negotiating table. Obama judged the nuclear issue to be more important than toppling Assad, and entered negotiations on one issue only: the nuclear file. He ended his presidency with what became known as the comprehensive agreement.
Historians and politicians have differed in their assessment of that experience. On one hand, the agreement succeeded in reducing enrichment to a low level for 10 years, and enriched material was transferred to Russia. As a result, Tehran was at the time stripped of the opportunity to build a nuclear weapon. On the other hand, Iran’s gains were not small. Assad survived, nearly all sanctions on Iran were lifted, billions in debts were returned to Tehran, its regional arms in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen were overlooked, and it continued building its ballistic missile arsenal. Obama succeeded in delaying the military nuclear project for a short period: one decade. His team at the time defended the agreement in response to criticism from Gulf states, Israel, and the US Republican Party, saying the deal would build trust with Iran’s regime, strengthen reformist trends toward transformation and peaceful regional and international engagement, and that the regime’s aggressive policies were the result of being besieged and fearing for its survival. The truth is that every country in the region knows its neighbor very well, and Obama’s ideas about changing Tehran’s behavior had nothing to do with reality.
For years, Trump has criticized Obama’s agreement and still mocks it today, pledging not to sign anything like it. But because a decisive outcome was not achieved through a knockout military strike, his options remain limited.
And in the absence of victory, both sides are forced to negotiate. The Trump administration and the Tehran regime are both cornered, and both need some kind of agreement. The US president has repeatedly denied that he is forced to accept a one-issue deal limited to the nuclear file. But in the end, he may accept it. Trump differs from Obama at least in that he tried using military force, imposed a suffocating blockade, and achieved some results. Obama was in a different position. He had full backing from his Democratic Party, support from the Europeans, and said he had chosen to confront Iran on the chessboard. Trump refuses to sign a version similar to Obama’s deal because he fears it would weaken him politically and electorally, and damage his image and historical legacy.
For this reason, we must examine his options and identify the minimum that the Trump base could accept. The first required concession from Iran on the nuclear front would be to stop or limit enrichment, and to transfer externally the enriched material buried underground. This is essential for any agreement.
Second: Iran stepping back from controlling the Strait in any form is necessary for Washington’s Gulf allies. Third: Exempting Israel from any commitment that would prevent it from using force against Iran’s regional arms would be necessary for Tel Aviv. These three expectations represent the minimum for any agreement to be considered acceptable, and this outcome is close to Obama’s 2015 deal. At that time, the Strait was open, and Israel’s hands were free. If the agreement does not include these concessions from Iran, Obama’s deal would be considered the better version. Because each side is eager not to appear as the loser, a new reality may be created based only on a “disengagement” understanding at this stage. Recent leaks say Washington is prepared to gradually lift the blockade on Iran’s ports, in exchange for Iran lifting its hand, and its mines, from the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has confirmed the same account, although it has conditioned this on recovering $24 billion held in foreign banks, money it says is owed from previous oil sales. Disengagement would ease tensions, but it could prolong the negotiations and remove the pressure of the blockade from Iran. The Trump administration cannot end the state of war without a nuclear agreement, which is the minimum requirement.

Iraq’s Historic Opportunity
Dr. Hassan Abou Taleb/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 26/2026
With the partial formation of Ali Faleh al-Zaidi’s government, the greatest dilemma facing both the man himself and Iraq as a whole is beginning to crystallize. His background as one of Iraq’s leading businessmen, combined with the support of the Coordination Framework, the coalition of Shiite parties, theoretically provides him with a strong opportunity to launch a phase of political restructuring in Iraq and transform the country into a normal state that enjoys full sovereignty and independent decision-making. Such a state would be one in which civilian authority and the rule of law prevail over the conditions that lie at the heart of what is commonly described as a failed state. The objective is legitimate domestically, desirable internationally, and enjoys support among younger generations who have grown weary of the unchecked power of armed groups, regardless of their name.
The opportunities exist in theory, but they are not without constraints and obstacles. This is only natural in a political system shaped over a quarter of a century by foreign occupation, whose consequences and legacies remain deeply embedded in the functioning of institutions, relations among political parties, and generational dynamics even after its formal legal end. Iraq has also experienced extensive Iranian influence, most visibly through the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which were formed following the 2014 fatwa of “collective jihad.” The PMF played a role in containing the threat posed by ISIS, but they also established security structures parallel to constitutional institutions and official state agencies. Even after being granted legal status under Law No. 40 of 2016, they remain parallel organizations that do not regard themselves as fully subordinate to state authority. Added to this is their ideological character, which links them organically to Iranian influence.
The paradox is that the Coordination Framework parties that nominated Ali Faleh al-Zaidi for prime minister, after both Nouri al-Maliki and Mohammed Shia al-Sudani refused to withdraw their own candidacies, are themselves the key stakeholders in supporting Zaidi’s plan to restructure the Iraqi economy. Such restructuring is viewed as an unavoidable step toward closing avenues of corruption, preparing Iraq to attract investment and, most importantly, ensuring that the state holds a monopoly on the use of force.
Here the central dilemma comes fully into view. Restricting arms to the state requires integrating all forces operating outside government authority into a framework governed by law and the constitution. This would mean revisiting the law governing the PMF and launching a difficult two-track process. The first would involve transferring the weapons held by these organizations to legitimate state security institutions. The second would involve reintegrating members of these ideological organizations into conventional security structures such as the army, police and intelligence services. Some of these proposals have been linked to ideas attributed to David Petraeus, the former US military commander who led American forces in Iraq in 2007 and who now serves as a senior informal adviser at a political consulting institution. Petraeus is also said to have proposed removing the PMF’s ideological leaders and replacing them with professional military commanders known for competence and professionalism.
In practice, both tracks face enormous obstacles. Foremost among them is the belief among PMF leaders that their weapons are weapons of “resistance,” not unlawful arms that spread instability in the country. Surrendering them is not among their priorities. On the contrary, they believe that keeping these weapons outside government control is essential to safeguarding Iraq’s security and supporting their principal ally during this critical period.
This outlook directly conflicts with Zaidi’s broader vision of placing all weapons under state control. It is reinforced by the considerable benefits and influence these groups enjoy throughout Iraq’s state institutions, as well as their political representation in parliament. They possess the capacity to bring down a government or undermine its performance. PMF-aligned factions hold 59 of the 169 parliamentary seats controlled by the Coordination Framework, in addition to commanding nearly 200,000 armed personnel who receive reasonable salaries instead of facing poverty and deprivation. Combined with ideological considerations, these factors make any security confrontation appear tantamount to political suicide and a recipe for a Shiite-on-Shiite civil war, a responsibility that no one can afford to bear.
How should Zaidi proceed? What foundations could give him a chance of succeeding in restructuring Iraq economically, politically and in terms of security?
Restructuring the PMF is the indispensable core of restructuring Iraq’s political system as a whole and transforming it into a normal civilian order governed by the principles of law, transparency, constitutionalism, equality and citizenship. Many Shiite Iraqi politicians recognize that the time has come for the Iraqi state to reclaim its standing, free itself from manifestations of foreign influence and place Iraqi national interests above all other considerations. This recognition constitutes an important asset for Zaidi’s vision.
For that vision to succeed, however, two additional elements are essential. First, US policy must abandon the language of threats and the use of force to dismantle the PMF. If Washington pursues such an approach, the threat itself would become a source of political, moral and popular legitimacy for the PMF rather than weakening its support among Iraqis. The alternative would be a US policy based on incentives and on facilitating the work of Iraqi institutions, particularly by lifting restrictions on Iraq’s banking system and helping implement transparency and financial governance measures. Such policies would in turn help close avenues used to circumvent state laws and relevant international agreements.
The second element concerns the creation of a regional support framework for Zaidi’s government. This would involve moving beyond a model based on grants and aid toward the gradual introduction of major investments in sectors such as oil, electricity, water and agriculture. Such investments could provide opportunities that attract young Iraqis, enabling them to secure their livelihoods and the future of their families without becoming involved in armed organizations. In turn, this would support Zaidi’s vision of restructuring Iraq’s economy and building a normal society.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on 25-26 May/2026
Joseph Haboush
US official on Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah:
• Hezbollah has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum
• Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians. This is not the Biden administration
• Since April 17, Hezbollah has fired over 1,000 drones and over 700 rockets to try and derail ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel
• The status quo is untenable
• Hezbollah is entirely responsible for the current situation. It broke the ceasefire on March 2 and is now intent on denying the Lebanese people a path to peace and reconstruction
• The idea that the Lebanese government is negotiating directly with Israel and stands to get significant support from the US, all while Hezbollah is having their narrative of resistance challenged, is an existential threat to Hezbollah
• A successful ceasefire led by the Government of Lebanon would strip Hezbollah of their power and their narrative

Robert Satloff
This is an important and much welcomed statement, @SecRubio, but it is even more important to ensure that any movement to end hostilities across the #Lebanon-#Israel border be achieved between the governments of Lebanon and Israel, not through US-#Iran diplomacy. The latter would be a huge win for #Hezbollah and terrible blow to the peace talks hosted under your auspices in Washington.

Secretary Marco Rubio
The U.S. stands firmly with the legitimate Government of Lebanon as it works to restore its authority and build a better future for all its people. Hizballah's threats of violence and overthrow will not be allowed to succeed. The era in which a terrorist group held an entire

יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog
In my call with Prime Minister @MarkJCarney of Canada, I expressed my deep alarm over the rise in antisemitic violence in Canada. I called on Prime Minister Carney and his government to address the fear and sense of abandonment felt by our sisters and brothers in the Canadian Jewish community before it’s too late. In our discussion, we agreed that Israel has the right to self-defense. I reiterated that we are acting to protect our people against the threat of terror from Iran and its terror proxies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon. I also underlined the importance of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in Gaza, including the vital condition that Hamas is disarmed and a new government is established in Gaza.

Mark Carney
Today, I spoke with the President Herzog of Israel. I reiterated that the appalling treatment of civilians aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla was unacceptable, and that respect for human dignity must be upheld everywhere, at all times.

Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 stipulates that Hezbollah terrorists must not be present south of the Litani River - and it is the Lebanese government that is failing to implement this resolution. Israel has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. Israel has been systematically attacked from Lebanese territory since its withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 by Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran. Israel’s activities in southern Lebanon are solely intended to protect its citizens from Hezbollah attacks and to dismantle the terror kingdom it built there.
This is the result of the Lebanese government’s total failure to uphold its commitments.

Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער
Spoke with Canadian FM @AnitaAnandMP I described the sole aim of the extremist, anti-Israel flotilla activists: provocation at the service of Hamas. Just look at the what they did afterwards in Spain, Greece and Austria. Israel will continue to act in full accordance with international law and will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.
I also highlighted the horrific antisemitic wave in Canada - an average of 19 incidents a day. The Canadian government must take steps against antisemitic incitement and attacks.

American Task Force on Lebanon
@ATFLebanon
ATFL shares Secretary Rubio’s warning that Hezbollah’s actions continue to endanger Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty at a moment when the country faces a rare opportunity to restore state authority and pursue diplomacy. Hezbollah’s continued military activity and refusal to operate under state authority risk dragging Lebanon back into conflict, deepening the country’s isolation, and undermining prospects for recovery and reconstruction. Strengthening the Lebanese state and ensuring that the Lebanese Armed Forces remain the sole legitimate security authority across all Lebanese territory is essential to Lebanon’s future.

David Albright
Please, Iran was very close to building nuclear weapons very rapidly before the June 2025 war. Military threats no longer worked. Deterrence had already failed. Today, Iran isn’t able to be close to building nuclear weapons.

ALPAC
Lebanon will never have a better friend than the United States. @POTUS
and Senior US State Department officials told us directly that they want to fix the situation in Lebanon. Those in Lebanon who want peace and stability, especially Christians inside and outside the government must step up and publicly ask for a defense pact with the US. It is the best hope to save Lebanon. @TbaakliniToufic @Fouad_Arbid

Tom Harb
Why is the American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) opposing Lebanon’s path to full sovereignty and peace? They fought against the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act in 2003 , which aimed to end Syrian occupation and restore Lebanon’s independence. Now they’re pushing back on normalization with Israel. True sovereignty for Lebanon means ending foreign militias’ control (Hezbollah) and enabling peaceful relations with neighbors. Why stand against that? Lebanese people deserve a free, stable, and prosperous country.

Israel-Alma
The latest U.S. sanctions (May 21) against senior Hezbollah and Amal officials, as well as officers in Lebanon’s security apparatuses, clarify a well-known reality: over the years, Hezbollah has built for itself a network of political, security, and economic influence within the institutions of the Lebanese state, effectively creating a state within a state. The penetration of the pro-Iranian axis into Lebanon’s security institutions, military, and political system is a central target in the struggle against Hezbollah. From Hezbollah’s perspective, any harm to its “state institutions” constitutes a red line, as reflected in Naim Qassem’s remarks on May 24, 2026.
At the same time, the Lebanese government continues to avoid direct confrontation with Hezbollah and prefers that other countries do the work on its behalf.

Israel-Alma
The human shield tactic in one picture
In an image taken from a video that was mistakenly posted on TikTok by a Hezbollah supporter on May 23 and later deleted, members of the Al-Risala Association — the aid and rescue apparatus affiliated with the Amal Movement — are seen extinguishing a fire in a building that was allegedly presented as a “civilian” target recently attacked by Israel at an unknown location.
The image shows a multi-barrel rocket launcher. Based on its visual characteristics, we assess that it may correspond to one of two types of heavy rockets:
Khaibar-1 — a 302 mm rocket with a range of approximately 100–200 km, depending on the weight of the warhead, which ranges between 125–175 kg.
Fadi-2 — a 302 mm rocket based on the Khaibar-1, with a range of approximately 100 km and a warhead weighing about 170 kg. Either way, this is a heavy weapon system capable of threatening deep into northern Israel.
The placement of such a launcher inside a “civilian” building turns the site into a clear military infrastructure — not a civilian target.
This is Hezbollah’s modus operandi: concealing military capabilities inside civilian spaces, and then using rescue and medical apparatuses to create a narrative of civilian harm.
The members of the Al-Risala Association do not appear here merely as a neutral body, but as part of the civilian-operational envelope that enables the Shiite duo — Hezbollah and Amal — to blur the line between civilian and military. When a “civilian” building is used to conceal a rocket launcher, it becomes a legitimate military target. Responsibility for endangering civilians lies with those who placed the launcher there.

Loay Alshareef لؤي الشريف
When the UAE decided to join the Abraham Accords, it did so from a position of principle and clarity: recognizing Israel, building genuine people-to-people peace, and continuing to support the Palestinian people (not Hamas, not terrorists).The UAE is a model of rational statecraft that many countries should learn from and follow.

Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער
The antisemitic display by the pro-Hamas group Mtl4Palestine in Montreal is horrific - hanging dolls representing Jews wearing kippahs, President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Ben Gvir. Antisemitic incitement on the streets of Canada is out of control.
It has led to an outrageous situation in which the Jewish population, just 1% of Canada, is the victim of 70% of the hate crimes. In 2025 alone there were 6,800 (!) antisemitic incidents, an average of 19 a day. The situation has continued to deteriorate. The government of Canada must wake up now.

Combat Antisemitism Movement
https://x.com/i/status/2059186316676354074
 Montreal, Canada, May 2026: The pro-Hamas group “Mtl4Pal” has been displaying effigies of Jews wearing kippas, Israeli politicians, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Donald Trump hanging from nooses at protests.