English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 22/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed nor is anything secret, except to come to light
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 04/21-25: “The Lord Jesus says: ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’”.

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 21-22/2026
The Anniversary of the Aaichiye Massacre and the Assassination of Dany Chamoun and His Family… Criminal, Terrorist, Jihadist, and Barbaric Political Islam/Elias Bejjani/October 21/2026
The Necessity of Ending Lebanon’s “Battleground” Status and Recognizing Israel/Elias Bejjani/October 20/2026
The Danger of Hardness of Heart, Death of Conscience, and Absence of Shame: When the Light of God Goes Out in Man/Elias Bejjani/October 18/2026
Abu Arz: Selling Illusions
Will Lebanon-Israel talks in Florida contain tensions before Israel's elections?
Little expected from Lebanon-Israel military talks in Florida
Tampa on its third day: American review and possible bilateral meetings
Intensive contacts to prevent referral of explosives case to the Judicial Council.. and "the Party" on alert
Threatening with "the harshest strikes".. Katz: Qassem will destroy Shiite society just as Nasrallah previously destroyed it
Macron: We will discuss providing support to the Lebanese army
Netanyahu says toppling Iran's regime would lead to Hezbollah's elimination
Lebanese Army refutes Israel's claims on Kafra's Hezbollah site
Cabinet to discuss referring Hezbollah explosives case to Judicial Council
President Aoun calls for negotiations to end war, secure Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory
Aoun warns continued war leads to more 'destruction, casualties and bloodshed'
Berri says any bid to repeal Israel boycott law can't pass in parliament
Macron says France to hold conference for Lebanese Army after Israeli elections
Lebanese Officials May Try to Stall the Dahr al Baydar Explosives Case: Local Media
70 displaced Syrians return home in 22nd phase of Lebanon's voluntary return plan
PM Salam: Women's rights key to building a strong state and reviving the economy
Lebanon’s Call for Another Extension of UNIFIL’s Mandate Won’t End Hezbollah’s Threat
Is the US pushing Lebanon down a dangerous road?/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/October 21, 2026
The three key challenges facing Lebanon/Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/October 21, 2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 21-22/2026
Netanyahu: Israel's goal is to overthrow the Iranian leadership / Israeli Prime Minister says Trump shares his view
US officials: Large-scale Israeli military movement near the Iranian border / Dozens of Israeli fighters flew alongside Iran via Syrian and Iraqi airspace
Israeli fighters over Iran's borders.. show of force and deterrence of Tehran
"US Treasury" issues new sanctions linked to Iran / Sanctions on Greek-Panamian law firm for supporting Iranian shipments and others targeting Iranian shadow fleet vessels
Trump: We are closer than ever to ending the war in Ukraine / US President thanked Putin for releasing an American citizen who was imprisoned
Iran says parliament speaker met unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
Iran tells Pakistani mediator it rejects moving enriched uranium out of country
US cannot blockade and threaten Iran while expecting to have dialogue with it: Pezeshkian
US imposes sanctions on Greek, Panama law firm for helping Iran shipping
After Syria war, Druze in Golan Heights warm to Israel
Israel condemns Libya-Turkey deal on maritime boundaries
Netanyahu's main election rival rules out serving under him
Israel's elections: Four possible scenarios
Israel’s elections: Who’s competing for power, and why the Arab vote matters
War or elections? Israel's leadership divided over timing of Iran strike
Iran says Egypt entering Yemen war makes situation 'more difficult
Two killed, two injured in drone attack targeting Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field
Saudi Crown Prince, Macron discuss regional developments in Riyadh
Former UK defense minister blasts slow international response to help Saudi Arabia
Sisi says Egypt to 'defend Saudi territory' and will not attack Yemen
Ship attacked near Strait of Hormuz
Houthis strike the airports of Aden, al-Rayyan
Macron says secured gas from Qatar during Gulf trip
Trump envoy says Putin talks ‘constructive’ but ‘important work’ left to do
Kremlin says 'ready' to resume US-Russia-Ukraine talks in mid-November
US spy agency urges urgent worldwide website updates after cybersecurity flaws exposed
Spain slams 'interference' after Milei's comments on PM

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 21-22/2026
How Russia Is Eclipsing the U.S. in Africa/Michele Kernitsky/Insight/October 21/2026
A letter to the POTUS ...Why you should be the Leader of the Free World/Clifford D. May/ The Washington Times/October 21, 2026
No Way! China Wants to Visit U.S. Nuclear Weapons Labs/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/October 21, 2026
Iran says it has agreement with Iraq to expel Kurdish Iranian opposition groups/Seth J. Frantzman/FDD's Long War Journal/October 21, 2026
The Thaw in U.S.-Ethiopia Relations Has Gone Far Enough/Edmund Fitton-Brown and Grant Wishard/FDD-Policy Brief/October 21/2026
UN Provides Expansionist Russia With a Platform To Condemn ‘Colonialism’/David May and Ben Cohen/FDD- Policy Brief/October 21/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on October 21/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 21-22/2026 (Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
The Anniversary of the Aaichiye Massacre and the Assassination of Dany Chamoun and His Family… Criminal, Terrorist, Jihadist, and Barbaric Political Islam
Elias Bejjani/October 21/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/68292/
The systematic brutality targeting Lebanon’s free and sovereign patriots — including leaders, clergy, and intellectuals — has continued since the 1970s through various forms of repression and terrorism. Nothing has changed for the better since the Aaichiye Massacre and the assassination of martyr Dany Chamoun and his family. Lebanon remains occupied, and the vast majority of its rulers, politicians, and political parties have been, and continue to be, Trojan collaborators who carry out the occupier’s orders while disregarding the interests of the nation and its people.
First came the Palestinian occupation, followed by the Syrian occupation, and then the cancer of Hezbollah and its godless masters, the mullahs of Iran. Today, as we commemorate the Aaichiye Massacre and the assassination of martyr Dany Chamoun and his family, we must recognize, with national and spiritual awareness, that Hezbollah has destroyed Lebanon, displaced its people, dismantled its institutions, and dragged the country — against the will of the majority of the Lebanese people — into a devastating war with Israel in the service of Iranian interests.
Despite all the losses and destruction, Hezbollah refuses to acknowledge defeat, surrender its weapons to the state, and abide by the ceasefire agreement, international resolutions, and the Constitution. History teaches us that nations whose people fail to nourish their homeland with generous and selfless sacrifices will see their landmarks collapse, their populations scattered, their identity marginalized, their history uprooted, and their dignity violated.
Holy Lebanon, blessed by God with young men and women who neither fear death nor hesitate to embrace martyrdom for their homeland, such as Dany Chamoun and his family, will endure. The forces of evil will never prevail over it. Martyrdom is born of faith and love: faith in a homeland and a cause, and love rooted in generosity and self-sacrifice, rising to the noble act of offering one’s own life for those one loves.
The martyrs are the beacon that illuminates our path to freedom and inspires us to continue Lebanon’s sacred mission of dignity and spiritual greatness. Today, as we remember the Aaichiye Massacre and the assassination of Dany Chamoun and his family, we affirm that our faith in God, in Lebanon, and in our right to live freely and with dignity requires us to endure pain and hardship. For societies can be built only through love, hope, and sacrifice — even unto martyrdom.
Many years have passed since the Aaichiye Massacre and the assassination of martyr Dany Chamoun and his family, yet these heinous crimes remain deeply engraved in the memories and hearts of Lebanon’s free and sovereign patriots. These atrocious crimes were committed by the Syrian occupier and his local mercenaries — godless agents and devils who willingly accepted the role of tools and subordinates. Tragically, some among our own people submitted meekly to the roles of Trojans and Judases, betraying the blood of the martyrs. They have become the moral, ethical, and national cancer that is ravaging our homeland and its people. These very same figures continue to control Lebanon’s political decisions and destiny, dragging the country toward the abyss of ruin and destruction, driven by hatred, resentment, and deep-seated bitterness.
Political leaders and the owners of counterfeit political parties who support the Iranian occupier, represented by its local terrorist arm, Hezbollah, have trampled upon the martyrs’ blood and joined the ranks of the submissive in pursuit of power and influence. They traded sovereignty for political seats and deliberately turned a blind eye to international resolutions concerning Lebanon.
The Aaichiye Massacre and the assassination of Dany Chamoun and his family continue to leave a bitter ache in our hearts and tears of sorrow in our eyes for those noble heroes who gave their lives for the Cedar Nation and its people. We must never forget, regardless of the hardships and sacrifices involved, that Lebanon is a sacred land, that its boundaries are recorded in the Holy Scriptures, that its land belongs to God, and that its name appears more than seventy-seven times in the books of the Old Testament.
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” (Psalm 92:12)
“His beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:6)
In Islam, Lebanon is also accorded honor and reverence. A saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad states: “Three mountains are among the mountains of Paradise.” He was asked, “O Messenger of God, which mountains?” He replied: “Mount Uhud, which loves us and we love it; Mount Sinai, which is among the mountains of Paradise; and Mount Lebanon.”
Another saying states: “Had you asked us to name the seven mountains that bear the Throne on the Day of Judgment, Mount Lebanon would have been among them.”
Ka‘b al-Ahbar is also quoted as saying: “Mount Lebanon is one of the eight mountains that bear the Throne on the Day of Judgment,” without naming the other seven.
(As cited in The Name of Lebanon Through the Ages by historian Antoine Khoury Harb.)
In conclusion, freedom is a divine gift bestowed upon us by God so that we may be free in our words, actions, thoughts, and beliefs.
O Heavenly Father, grant us the gifts of steadfastness in our convictions and unwavering courage in bearing witness to the truth. Martyr Dany Chamoun, the martyrs of Aaichiye, and all the martyrs of our sacred Cedar Nation are the leaven of faith that continually transforms the dough of our homeland, planting within it the seeds of love, generosity, and hope.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

The Necessity of Ending Lebanon’s “Battleground” Status and Recognizing Israel
Elias Bejjani/October 20/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/01/151479/
As the saying goes, “Once the cause is known, wonder ceases.” The true tragedy of Lebanon is not merely its security, economic, or social collapse, but the suicidal persistence in remaining a perpetual “battleground” and a regional “mailbox.” The core cause of this national disintegration lies in the absence of faith among Lebanon’s ruling class: political leaders, party bosses turned corporate oligarchs, hypocritical Arabists, leftists, and self-proclaimed nationalists. They do not believe in the concept of the state, nor in Lebanon as a sovereign entity with a distinct role and mission. More dangerously, they lack the most basic standards of ethics and genuine patriotism.
The so-called “Resistance” in Lebanon was never a Lebanese project. It was a façade for cross-border agendas that transformed the country into a hostage. This tragic farce began in the late 1960s, when criminal and terrorist Palestinian organizations violated Lebanese sovereignty under the banner of “liberation.” They were assisted by the so-called “National Movement”—a coalition of leftists, Arabists, Baathists, and ideologues who harbored hostility toward Lebanon as a state, a message, and a beacon of freedom—thereby tearing apart the national fabric.
This was followed by the barbaric Syrian Baathist occupation, which imposed its tutelage under the same slogans and ushered in one of the darkest eras in Lebanon’s modern history. Since 2005, the Iranian-backed, sectarian, and reckless Hezbollah militia has tightened its grip on the Lebanese people, turning the South, the Suburbs, the Bekaa, and other regions into weapons depots, tunnel networks, and missile platforms serving the agenda of Tehran’s mullahs.
The insistence on keeping Lebanon in a permanent state of war with Israel—at a time when Arab states are negotiating, reconciling, and prioritizing their national interests—has produced devastating consequences:
The reduction of the state to mere “geography” used for settling the scores of others, led by Iran, Syria, and the local, regional, and international merchants of the “Resistance” illusion.
The impossibility of building a stable economy or attracting investment in a country held hostage by a trigger finger controlled by foreign powers, capable of igniting a war of total destruction at any moment.
Lebanon’s transformation into a “terrorist island” outside international legitimacy and the rule of law, depriving it of peace, sovereignty, independence, and development.
The entrenchment of a culture of death and war that drives Lebanon’s finest youth into exile, leaving the country to militias, mobs, and political opportunists.
Transitioning Lebanon into a “normal state” through mutual recognition between Lebanon and Israel is not an act of treason. On the contrary, it represents the highest form of patriotism and political realism. The benefits are clear and tangible:
Finalizing borders and dismantling the fabricated pretexts of the Shebaa Farms and Kfarchouba Hills, long exploited as an evil & fake tags “Shirt of Uthman” to justify the persistence of illegal weapons.
Securing safe investment in offshore gas and oil resources and opening the door to economic, commercial, and tourism cooperation in a region moving toward “zero problems.”
Ending the so-called “state of war,” thereby stripping all militias of any claimed legitimacy and restoring exclusive sovereign decision-making to the Lebanese Army.
Most importantly, halting Lebanon’s role as a “factory of death” and restoring its historic function as a cultural and civilizational bridge between East and West.
In conclusion, Lebanon’s recovery of its identity and sovereignty begins with full border control, strict adherence to international resolutions—including the latest ceasefire agreement—and the rejection of the false narrative that “Lebanon must always be the last to sign a peace accord with Israel.” Today, Lebanese citizens are called upon to break free from political herd mentality and the worship of “Iscariot” leaders who feast on national humiliation and Lebanese blood.
Liberating Lebanon from the grip of “Temple Traders” and the culture of appeasing the strong while shifting loyalties for personal gain requires the courage to speak a simple truth: we want a homeland, not a battleground; a state, not a private farm; and a just peace that ends nearly six decades of deception, false heroism, and revolutionary delusions. The solution lies in mutual recognition between Lebanon and the State of Israel,Under the auspices of the United Nations and the international community, Lebanon will return to being "a land of message, creativity, freedoms and stars," not "a land of graves."
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

The Danger of Hardness of Heart, Death of Conscience, and Absence of Shame: When the Light of God Goes Out in Man
Elias Bejjani/October 18/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/158366/
Man Between the Light of Truth and the Darkness of Evil
The life we live, with all its details, turns and crossroads, is nothing but a path whose features are determined by the choices we make, by the values we believe in, and by the measure of God’s presence in our conscience and our hearts. Man, whatever his status, however much money, power and influence he may possess, remains accountable before God for his words and deeds, for the good he has done, and the evil he has committed, for the truth he knew and then denied, and for the duty he recognized and then evaded. We are destined to choose between two ways: the way of righteousness, wisdom, and the fear of God, and the way of straying, pride, hardness of heart, and death of conscience. The difference between the two ways is not in outward appearances, nor in the religious slogans a man raises, nor in the number of prayers he recites before others, but in the reality of the heart, the sincerity of faith, the purity of intention, the uprightness of conduct, and the extent of his respect for human dignity and human rights. The man who truly fears God does not content himself with talking about virtue, but strives to practice it. He does not content himself with condemning evil in others, but begins by holding himself accountable. He does not make religion a means to justify his mistakes or cover his interests, but makes it a light to guide him to truth, a voice to deter him from injustice, and a scale by which he judges his own conscience before he judges others. And the Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Purity of heart is not weakness, nor naivety, nor compromise of truth, but it is a spiritual and moral strength that makes man able to speak the truth without lying, to practice justice without vengeance, to defend himself without injustice, and to confront evil without himself becoming an instrument of evil.
I. Conscience, Shame, and the Tongue: God’s Gifts and Man’s Responsibility
A living conscience, shame at committing wrong, and a tongue that speaks truth are not marginal matters in human life, but are among the most important manifestations of the moral responsibility that God has entrusted to man, distinguished him with, and called him through to discern between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, between love and hatred. Conscience is that inner voice that awakens a man when he errs, disturbs his rest when he oppresses, and calls him to confess his sin and repair what he has corrupted. As for shame, in its noble moral sense, it is man’s sense that his dignity is incompatible with lying, betrayal, treachery, and assault on others. And the tongue is the instrument by which man can console, encourage, reconcile, and bear witness to the truth, just as he can, if he misuses it, wound, insult, incite, mislead, and slander. But the great problem begins when man loses these three restraints: his conscience dies, his shame disappears, and his tongue turns into a weapon directed against others. Then wrong is no longer wrong to him, nor lying a disgrace, nor assault on people’s dignity a cause for remorse; rather, oppression may become for him a means to achieve interests, deception a sign of what he imagines to be intelligence, and insolence an expression of false strength. Here lies the real danger: not that man errs, for man is weak and prone to fall, but that he loses the ability to admit his error, that he justifies his evil, that he refuses repentance, and that he considers anyone who confronts him with the truth to be his enemy.
The Lord Jesus says: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).
The tongue often reveals what the heart stores. The words a man chooses in moments of anger or dispute or self-interest may reveal the truth of what governs his behavior. He who is accustomed to lying, slander, and insult, and no longer feels any remorse, should ask himself: What remains of the voice of conscience within me? And what value remains to my words if I use them to destroy others instead of speaking the truth?
The Bible also warns us of the danger of the tongue, as the Book of Proverbs says: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). How many a word has restored hope to a despairing man, and how many a word has crushed a soul, how many a slander has tarnished the reputation of an innocent, how many a lie has divided members of a family, how many a hateful speech has ignited enmity that could have been avoided! A word is not a passing sound that ends as soon as it is uttered; it may leave a wound that lasts for years, it may lead to injustice, and it may destroy trust that is difficult to rebuild. Therefore, the man who fears God watches his tongue, and knows that freedom of speech does not mean freedom to slander, and that frankness does not justify insult, and that disagreement does not grant anyone the right to strip others of their dignity.
II. Hardness of Heart: When Man Sees the Truth and Rejects It
Hardness of heart is among the most dangerous spiritual and moral states a man can reach. The hard-hearted man is not necessarily one who is ignorant of the truth, but may be among those who know it well, and are aware of the consequences of their actions, but refuse to submit to it because their interests or their pride or their grudges are more important to them than the truth. It may begin with justifying a small mistake, then the mistake is repeated until it becomes a habit, then the habit turns into a fixed behavior, until man loses his moral sensitivity towards what he commits. In the end, he may reach a stage where he no longer feels guilt when he oppresses, nor shame when he lies, nor regret when he destroys the lives of others. A hard heart is not formed in a single day, but may be shaped gradually through persistence in evil, rejection of advice, contempt for others, arrogance against truth, and evasion of responsibility. For this reason, the Bible warns us against hardness of heart, saying in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-8).
This divine call is not directed only to persons far from faith, but to every man who is able to hear the voice of truth and then chooses to ignore it. How many a man hears sincere advice, but rejects it because admitting a mistake wounds his pride? And how many a person realizes he has harmed another, but prefers to persist in stubbornness rather than say a word of apology? Confessing a mistake does not diminish a man’s value, but reveals his courage and maturity. As for persisting in falsehood, while knowing the truth, it is what turns a mistake into a dangerous path of obstinacy and denial.
And the Gospel of Mark presents to us a painful image of hardness of heart, when it mentions that Jesus looked at some of those present “with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts” (Mark 3:5). It is an image that combines anger at evil and sorrow for the man who refuses to see the truth. God does not call man to cruelty, nor does He rejoice in his fall, but wants him to repent and return to the way of life. But refusal of repentance makes man a prisoner of his sin, and deprives him of the inner peace that neither money nor positions nor outward victories can grant.
III. Death of Conscience and Absence of Shame: More Dangerous Than the Mistake Itself
A mistake followed by remorse may become the beginning of reform, while a mistake followed by denial and lying and justification may turn into a door to more evil. A living conscience does not prevent man from falling every time, but it does not allow him to rest in his sin as if nothing had happened. It reminds him of his responsibility, and calls him to retreat from falsehood, to apologize to those he has wronged, to restore rights to their owners, and to bear the consequences of his actions.
But when conscience dies, man becomes able to witness the suffering of others without concern, and to inflict harm upon them without remorse, and to repeat the offense without feeling shame. It may come to the point of turning facts upside down, so he portrays himself as the victim while he is the aggressor, and accuses the oppressed instead of confessing his oppression, and attacks all who expose his mistakes instead of correcting them.
Here the absence of shame becomes a double danger, because moral shame is not merely fear of people’s gaze, but an inner awareness that there are limits that man must not cross without losing respect for himself and for others. However, a distinction must be made between shame that leads to repentance, and disgrace that crushes man and makes him believe there is no hope for reform. The Christian faith does not call to despair, but to sincere repentance and return to God. What is required is not that man remain a prisoner of his mistake, but that he confess it and repair it as much as he can.
Saint Paul says in his Epistle to the Ephesians: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).
Silence about evil is not always wisdom, and overlooking injustice is not always love. True love does not mean collusion with the aggressor, nor covering up corruption, nor demanding that the oppressed be silent to preserve the comfort of the oppressor. Rather, it means standing beside truth, defending human dignity, and refusing to turn tolerance into a cover for repeating offense. He who errs and then repents opens a new door for himself, but he who errs and persists and continues to harm others doubles his moral responsibility for every new act he commits.
IV. He Who Sows Evil Cannot Guarantee a Harvest of Peace
It is among the profound moral laws in life that a man’s actions leave their traces, and that injustice leaves wounds, and that hatred breeds enmities, and that betrayal destroys trust, and that lying weakens its owner’s credibility. Results may not appear immediately, and the oppressor may succeed for some time in evading accountability, but that does not turn injustice into right, nor does temporary escape prove innocence.
The Book of Proverbs says: “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him” (Proverbs 26:27). And Saint Paul says: “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). These two wisdoms do not mean that everyone who suffers has committed evil, or that every calamity that befalls man is a direct punishment for an act he did. The Bible itself rejects this simplification, and teaches us that the innocent may suffer, and that the unjust may sometimes enjoy temporary prosperity. But they affirm that moral choices have consequences, and that man cannot build a sound life on deception and aggression and then expect his relationships and his community and his conscience to remain safe from ruin.
As the authentic Lebanese proverb says: “You will surely drink from the same cup you gave others to drink from.” This proverb sums up a deep human experience: he who sows hatred may reap isolation, he who becomes accustomed to betrayal may lose the trust of those closest to him, and he who destroys the dignity of others may one day find himself surrounded by people who neither trust nor respect him.
But justice does not mean that we await the misfortunes of others or gloat over their fall. The believer does not make revenge his goal, nor does he wish evil even on one who wronged him, but he seeks justice, and leaves final judgment to God, and strives to protect the innocent and prevent the repetition of harm.
And the Lord Jesus says: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). It is a call to reject the logic of violence and revenge, and to realize that evil is not cured by unleashing similar evil, but by truth and justice and self-control.
V. A Stumbling Block: When Hurting Others Becomes a Way of Life
Undoubtedly, we have all met in the paths of life persons who leave behind them pain and disputes and disappointments. Some of them hurt others out of ignorance or impulsiveness, and may reconsider when they realize the results of their actions. But some others persist in offense, delight in stirring up conflicts, and use hurtful words and rumors and manipulation of situations to weaken those around them, especially members of their family and those close to them. These do not content themselves with inflicting harm, but may try to convince their victims that they themselves are the wrongdoers, and that demanding one’s right is aggression, and that defending dignity is pride, and that exposing the truth is an offense against them. The most dangerous thing in these practices is that they make the harmful person act as if he were above accountability, and turn human relationships from spaces for love and cooperation into arenas of fear and blackmail and enmity. And the Lord Jesus warns of the danger of being a cause for the fall or misleading of others, saying: “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matthew 18:7).
A stumbling block is not only one who pushes others to commit wrong, but can also be one who exploits their weakness, or destroys their self-confidence, or uses his position and authority to humiliate them, or turns his life and the lives of those around him into a series of crises because of his stubbornness and malice. How far is the difference between a man who errs and apologizes, and a man who deliberately offends and then boasts about it! And how far is the difference between one who uses his strength to protect the weak, and one who uses it to subdue them! And how far is the difference between one who disagrees with others and respects their dignity, and one who considers disagreement a justification for insult and defamation and revenge! The believer is called to love man, but he is not called to accept injustice or justify evil. He can forgive, without giving up his right to protection and justice; and he can pray for those who have wronged him, without exposing himself or his family to continued harm.
VI. Pride, Malice, and Envy: Masks Hiding Fragility of Spirit
When pride exceeds the bounds of legitimate self-respect, it turns into a barrier that prevents man from seeing his faults. And malice makes him a prisoner of the past, and envy drives him to resent the success of others, and the desire for revenge deprives him of peace, while love of domination makes him believe that his dignity is not realized except by subjugating others. The arrogant man may appear strong, but he is unable to say the word “I was wrong.” He may talk about morals, but he excludes himself from their rules. He may raise slogans of faith, while his actions contradict the mercy and truth and justice to which faith calls. For this reason, a man’s goodness must not be measured by what he says about himself, but by what he does when truth conflicts with his interest, and by what he says when he is angry, and by how he deals with those who cannot return harm to him, and by his readiness to admit his mistake and correct what he has corrupted. And the Lord Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew: “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Man is known by his fruits: by his truthfulness or his lying, and by his mercy or his cruelty, and by his justice or his injustice, and by his loyalty or his betrayal, and by his humility or his arrogance. Not everyone who speaks in the name of God walks in His way, and not everyone who raises the slogan of virtue practices it in his daily life. True faith is not verbal adornment, but a daily commitment to be truthful and just and merciful, to refuse to exploit others, to face one’s mistakes with courage, and to always remember that human dignity is not his property to strip from others.
VII. Judgment: When Masks and Excuses Are of No Use
Among the most dangerous illusions of man is to believe that he can forever escape responsibility for his actions, or that money and influence and connections and the ability to deceive people can grant him immunity before the justice of God. Man may be able to hide the truth from some people, and may succeed in justifying his actions before his surroundings, and may find those who applaud him or defend him, but the truth of faith that must not be ignored is that man is accountable before God for his deeds and his words, and for the way in which he used his freedom and his talents and his position in life. And the Lord Jesus says: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). This verse places the tongue at the heart of spiritual responsibility. A word is not a trivial matter, and slander is not merely a passing dispute, and false witness is not a legitimate means to protect interests. Every man has responsibility for his speech, especially when he deliberately misleads others or defames the innocent or incites injustice. And the Bible also says: “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). This means that responsibility is personal, and that man cannot justify his sin simply because others have also committed it, nor can he turn following the group or loyalty to a person or party or interest into an exemption from moral accountability. But faith in judgment should not lead us to despair or to issuing final judgments on the fate of others. God alone knows the depths of hearts, and He alone is the just Judge. As for our duty, it is to hold ourselves accountable, to reject evil, to demand justice, and to open the door of repentance before all who want a sincere return to truth.
VIII. Repentance Is Possible as Long as Man Is Ready to Return to God
Despite the seriousness of hardness of heart and death of conscience, the Christian message does not close the door of hope. God does not want the destruction of man, but his repentance and return to the way of life. And the man who has erred is not condemned to remain a prisoner of his past, if he has the courage to confess his sin and seek forgiveness and work to repair what he has corrupted. The Lord Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). Self-denial here means, in its moral essence, that man frees himself from slavery to ego and pride, and stops making his desires and interests the sole criterion of truth. For repentance is not merely words spoken, nor temporary tears, nor an apology aimed at restoring interests, but it is a change in heart and behavior, a readiness to bear responsibility, to restore rights, and to refrain from repeating harm. And among the most beautiful things the Bible declares about God’s mercy is His saying in the Book of Ezekiel: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin” (Ezekiel 18:30). God calls man to return, not to persist; to confession, not to denial; to repairing what can be repaired, not to hiding behind excuses. And he who sincerely seeks forgiveness must also seek reconciliation with those he has wronged, and restore rights to their owners, and build a new conduct that proves the sincerity of his repentance. As for he who refuses to confess his mistake and insists on harming others, he cannot make the word “forgiveness” a means to silence his victims, nor demand that they forget the harm while he continues to commit it. True reconciliation needs honesty, forgiveness does not abolish justice, and pardon does not mean granting the aggressor a license to repeat his aggression.
Conclusion: Fear God, Keep Your Conscience Alive, and Guard Your Tongue
Man, whatever money or power or fame or influence he possesses, remains poor if he has lost his conscience, and a loser if the sense of right and wrong has died in his heart, and mistaken if he believes that insolence is strength, and cruelty is courage, and the ability to harm others is a sign of superiority. The man who fears God does not measure his success by the number of those he has subjugated, nor by the value of the money he has amassed, nor by his ability to silence those who oppose him, but by the extent of his uprightness, his truthfulness, his justice, his mercy, and his respect for the dignity of others. Remember, O man, that a living conscience is both a grace and a responsibility, and that shame at wrongdoing is not a defect, and that an apology does not diminish your dignity, and that a true word does not become false because people of interests hate to hear it. And remember that the tongue which God created to be an instrument of communication and good can become, if misused, a cause of injustice and division and enmity.
So do not dig a pit for your brother, nor plant thorns in his path, nor make the weakness of others an opportunity to exploit them, nor their love for you a means to control them. And do not imagine that silence imposed by fear is proof that you are right, or that the absence of human accountability means the absence of divine justice. And let us always remember the saying of the Lord Jesus: “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). So let us hold ourselves accountable before we hold others accountable, and let us guard our tongues before we demand that people respect our words, and let us ask God for a humble heart that does not become arrogant against truth, and a living conscience that does not compromise on justice, and a spirit capable of repentance and forgiveness, and a will that refuses to make evil a way of life. And let us raise our hearts in prayer and hope, asking God to bring dead consciences back to life, and hard hearts back to mercy, and lying tongues back to truth, and hateful souls back to love. And let us pray for every man who has lost his way, not to justify his evil, but so that he may return to truth, and stop harming others, and begin the journey of repentance and reform. So fear God, O man, and watch your heart and your tongue and your deeds, and do not allow pride and malice and self-interest to extinguish the light of conscience within you. For life is short, appearances are fleeting, and masks do not last, but man’s responsibility for his choices before God remains a reality worth pausing over every day. And let us conclude with the words of Saint Paul the Apostle: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Amen.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

Abu Arz: Selling Illusions
October 21, 2026
The ruling authority seeks to encourage friendly countries to invest in Lebanon, in an attempt to address the crisis of its empty treasury and its faltering economy.
Even the dumbest person knows that countries do not invest in a failed state, lacking sovereignty over its land, its people and its decision.
Nor in a helpless, hesitant state lacking credibility... but in a strong, sovereign, determined and resolute state.
In conclusion:
The opportunity is available today to build the strong and sovereign state that the Lebanese are waiting for.
So act or resign, and beware of selling illusions and squandering this historic opportunity!
Labbayk_Lebanon

Will Lebanon-Israel talks in Florida contain tensions before Israel's elections?
LBCI/October 21/2026
Keeping negotiations alive and preventing further escalation are the main objectives of Lebanon's participation in the latest round of Lebanese-Israeli military talks in Tampa, Florida, under U.S. mediation, amid very limited expectations of progress before Israel's elections.
According to information obtained by LBCI, the Lebanese delegation, headed by Brig. Gen. Georges Rizkallah, director of operations, is insisting on an end to Israeli attacks and the establishment of a verification mechanism that would allow progress in the designated pilot areas. This would help create the necessary conditions for the Lebanese army to deploy, removing what Israel cites as justification for claiming that the army is not fulfilling its responsibilities.The Lebanese army is not counting on a breakthrough in this round of talks, according to the sources, but is taking part to avoid disrupting the process and preserve a framework that could help contain risks and limit any further Israeli escalation. The U.S. mediator is seen as the key party capable of managing and safeguarding that process. The latest escalation came as Israel accused the Lebanese army of failing to address a Hezbollah weapons site in Kafra, from which the group subsequently removed weapons. Israel also alleged that some Lebanese army personnel were coordinating with Hezbollah to obstruct weapons-seizure operations. These allegations remain part of the Israeli account of events, but they are adding pressure on the Lebanese army at a sensitive moment and threaten to complicate negotiations by casting doubt on the institution responsible for implementing security arrangements. The meetings are therefore continuing without any clear shift in positions, with the U.S. role currently emerging as the main factor in preventing the framework from collapsing, pending the outcome of Israel’s elections and the next phase of negotiations.

Little expected from Lebanon-Israel military talks in Florida
Naharnet/October 21/2026
U.S.-sponsored military meetings between Lebanon and Israel began yesterday in Tampa, Florida, and will continue today under U.S. auspices. The aim is to discuss the necessary practical steps to implement security arrangements, at a time when disagreements persist over several issues -- most notably the mechanisms for monitoring commitments and the entity that will be tasked with verifying their implementation. The meetings are being held at the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), with the participation of military delegations, in a track separate from the political negotiations, which have been postponed to an as-yet-unspecified date. A U.S. official stated that "the talks facilitated by the United States will be limited to expert-level meetings, focusing exclusively on the security aspect of the tripartite framework."
These meetings come after a pause of nearly two and a half months since the last round hosted in Rome, amid U.S. efforts to achieve progress on the ground by defining security responsibilities, enhancing the deployment of the Lebanese Army, and establishing a clear mechanism to follow up on the execution of understandings. Pending the outcome of the military meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, determining the entity that will monitor the execution of security arrangements remains one of the most prominent issues before the participants. This is an ongoing point of contention between the two sides: Israel wants to establish a joint operations room or adopt a direct line of communication with the Lebanese Army to follow up on security measures and ensure that specific areas are free of weapons and military facilities belonging to Hezbollah. Lebanon, however, rejects this proposal and pushes to assign the verification task to a U.N. or international body, according to informed sources who spokes to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper about the preparations leading up to the meetings. The sources added: "Lebanon will raise almost all previous issues, because so far, none of the terms in the framework agreement have been implemented as intended."The sources point out that "there is an effort by Washington to reach a formula that allows monitoring implementation and defining responsibilities, alongside establishing a gradual timeline in which Lebanese steps are accompanied by corresponding Israeli measures, including withdrawal from agreed-upon areas."Hence, discussions will touch on expanding the scope of pilot zones where the Lebanese Army would assume security responsibility following an Israeli withdrawal, similar to what occurred in Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, provided that progress there serves as a basis for discussing additional arrangements. In return, the Lebanese delegation places at the top of its priorities an end to Israeli airstrikes, bombings, bulldozing, and demolition activities in the South, as well as adherence to the ceasefire agreement signed on June 26, 2026, alongside withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory and the return of captives, according to the sources. The sources also noted that "the Lebanese delegation will demand that farmers be allowed access to their land in border areas to harvest olives, amid persistent Israeli threats against them." While the current round is restricted to the "military and security aspect," political negotiations do not appear set to resume anytime soon, with reports indicating they have been postponed until after the upcoming elections in Israel and the United States.

Tampa on its third day: American review and possible bilateral meetings
Al-Markazia / October 21, 2026
MTV reported that the technical negotiations in Tampa will conclude today after two days of meetings, with the third day, tomorrow, to be dedicated to the American side reviewing the outcome of the discussions and evaluating their results, while keeping the door open to holding separate bilateral meetings with either the Lebanese or Israeli delegation, in case the review requires requesting additional clarifications regarding some points raised during the negotiations. The second day of the Lebanese-Israeli military talks in Tampa had started at around 4:00 PM Beirut time. According to Al-Jadeed information, the American team insisted during today's round of negotiations on establishing a bilateral committee between the Lebanese and Israeli armies, while the Lebanese team renewed its rejection of this proposal. And press information indicated that the dispute in the Tampa military talks revolves around the performance of the Lebanese army and the security verification mechanism. The information indicated that Israel demanded the establishment of a direct operations room with the Lebanese army, with the aim of verifying the situation in the two pilot areas. In contrast, the Lebanese delegation expressed its reservation about granting Israel a direct role in monitoring the movements of the Lebanese army and its field decisions, in light of the divergence of views regarding the security verification mechanism and the nature of the proposed Israeli role.

Intensive contacts to prevent referral of explosives case to the Judicial Council.. and "the Party" on alert
Al-Markazia / October 21, 2026
Al-Jadeed information reported intensive contacts and political efforts to not refer the explosives truck case to the Judicial Council, ahead of the Cabinet session scheduled for Thursday. The information indicated that the Council of Ministers will discuss the existence of a legal obstacle preventing the referral of the case to the Judicial Council, which necessitates its referral from the Appeals Public Prosecution to the Military Court. In contrast, ministerial sources told the channel that Minister of Justice Adel Nassar is leaning toward proposing the referral of the explosives truck case to the Judicial Council, with the support of the ministers of the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb. In the same context, Lebanese sources told Al-Hadath that it is likely that the explosives truck was accompanied or escorted by Hezbollah elements. And the sources revealed that Hezbollah has given instructions to go on alert after the expansion of investigations into the explosives shipment.

Threatening with "the harshest strikes".. Katz: Qassem will destroy Shiite society just as Nasrallah previously destroyed it
Al-Markazia / October 21, 2026
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that any joining of Hezbollah alongside Iran in attacking Israel will cost it the displacement of a million Shiites in Lebanon, and will cause it to receive "the harshest strikes." Katz said that areas in Nabatieh and Litani in southern Lebanon will become part of the security zone if the party joins Iran against Israel, adding that the southern suburb of Beirut will be evacuated and the party's infrastructure there will be targeted. Katz attacked Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, considering that he "will eliminate the Shiite community in Lebanon just as former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah previously destroyed it." He confirmed that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and that anyone who attacks Israel, whether before the elections or after, "will pay a heavy price." Regarding Iran, he said that "If Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn," indicating that Israel has monitored attempts by Iran and its proxies to promote attacks aimed at influencing the results of the elections. He considered that the weakness of the Iranian regime may push it to take "maximum measures" including against Israel.

Macron: We will discuss providing support to the Lebanese army
Al-Markazia / October 21, 2026
Al-Markazia - French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will hold a conference to support the Lebanese army after the legislative elections are held in Israel. Macron told reporters in the Qatari capital during a Gulf tour: "We will also coordinate to support the Lebanese army and France will hold a conference in the coming weeks... I think it is useless to do so before the Israeli elections," scheduled for October 27. Macron said, "As you know, Lebanon remains of utmost importance to us." He added: "I think everyone today sees the untenable situation in which Lebanon finds itself, with (...) pressure exerted" on it and "undermining its sovereignty, and this (...) is the worst possible way to deal with the issue of Hezbollah." Macron said: "Our goal is Lebanon's sovereignty and stability and the disarmament of Hezbollah. To achieve this goal, we must first ensure the withdrawal of the Israeli army and that it be accompanied by confidence-building mechanisms, and therefore reactivating a coordination mechanism to organize this withdrawal." He confirmed that "France is ready to contribute and Qatar also," noting that "The Lebanese army will primarily bear the responsibility of restoring this sovereignty."

Netanyahu says toppling Iran's regime would lead to Hezbollah's elimination
Naharnet/October 21/2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is “committed” to bringing down the Iranian regime, which will in turn topple Hezbollah in Lebanon. Speaking at the newly-built Tel Hai University in Kiryat Shmona, next to the Lebanese border, Netanyahu said while the Israeli army has made major progress in pushing back Hezbollah, he is “committed to finishing the job.”“Finishing the job means bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran. It is the head of this poisonous octopus. You cut it off, and it will fall. We will also have peace with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.
“We must complete the elimination of the Iranian regime -- that is the primary objective,” the Israeli prime minister added. “I have spoken about this with President Trump more than once, including the day before yesterday,” he said. Netanyahu said that as long as the Iranian regime remains in power, “even if it is battered, wounded and beaten, it is so fanatical that it will try again to do what it did a year ago, and which we stopped them from doing: producing nuclear bombs and rebuilding the ‘axis.’ Therefore, the only way to prevent this is to bring down this regime, and then the elimination of Hezbollah will follow.”

Lebanese Army refutes Israel's claims on Kafra's Hezbollah site
Naharnet/October 21/2026
The Lebanese Army has accused the Israeli army of voicing “false claims” regarding the Lebanese military's operations in the area south of the Litani River in an attempt to “cast doubt on its ability to carry out its assigned tasks.”Israeli Army Arabic-language spokesperson Lt. Col. Ella Waweya had released footage on Tuesday on the X platform allegedly showing Hezbollah operatives loading weapons onto a truck in order to move them from a site in the southern town of Kafra. She accused the Lebanese Army of failing to clear south Lebanon of Hezbollah's arms and of coordinating with Hezbollah to help them move their weapons out of the Kafra site. The Lebanese Army however clarified that military units had worked on clearing the Kafra site from December 2025 until March 16, 2026, when they halted work in the facility and evacuated the area at the request of the Mechanism committee due to Israeli threats to bomb it during the latest Israeli war on Hezbollah. The army noted that it had informed the committee that the mission had not yet been completed and that a quantity of military equipment and ammunition remained inside the facility, which was subsequently targeted by Israel. “Despite repeated demands by the army to secure the resumption of work to complete the evacuation of the facility, these efforts were met with Israeli rejection until military units resumed their mission on August 15, 2026, (after the war), in coordination with the Mechanism. They continued working until its final completion and the closure of the facility on October 16, 2026,” the Lebanese Army said. It added: “As for the video showing a targeted truck, it dates back to July 3, 2026, in the Siddiqine-Tyre area, approximately one week after the signing of the Framework Agreement.”The army stressed that “all these facts and measures are documented with the committee supervising the cessation of hostilities, refuting Israeli allegations and proving the reality of the efforts made by the military institution in the South.”It also emphasized that “the repeated disinformation campaigns and spreading of lies recently by the Israeli occupation fall within the context of attempts to undermine the army's credibility locally and internationally, coinciding with ongoing negotiations.”Moreover, the army reiterated its “full commitment to fulfilling its duties and pledges, and executing its assigned tasks,” noting that Israeli is continuing “its aggression and violations of existing understandings.”

Cabinet to discuss referring Hezbollah explosives case to Judicial Council
Naharnet/October 21/2026
Cabinet will hold a session at 3:00 PM Thursday at the Presidential Palace to discuss a number of vital issues covering financial, judicial and administrative matters.The agenda also includes a request from the Ministry of Justice to refer the case of explosives seized in Dahr al-Baidar, as well as those seized in the al-Qasr area, to the Judicial Council – the country’s highest criminal court that deals with national security issues. A Lebanese judge on Tuesday ordered two Hezbollah officials to appear for questioning over their alleged involvement in the delivery of the explosives seized in Dahr al-Baidar earlier this month, a judicial official told AFP. Lebanese authorities had been carrying out investigations after arresting two suspected Hezbollah members accused of transporting half a ton of explosives, which the Iran-backed group subsequently said were part of its "capabilities" to be used against Israel. Lebanese authorities last year committed to disarming Hezbollah after months of cross-border hostilities culminated in a 2024 war between the group and Israel. But Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war this year by attacking Israel, which responded with heavy strikes and a ground invasion. In June, Lebanese and Israeli authorities signed a framework agreement which involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from territories it occupies, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the area. Hezbollah, the only armed group that refused to disarm after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, has rejected surrendering its weapons and the direct negotiations with Israel.

President Aoun calls for negotiations to end war, secure Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory
LBCI/October 21/2026
President Joseph Aoun stressed that wars can only end through negotiations and dialogue, warning that prolonged conflicts lead to further destruction, casualties, and bloodshed. Aoun noted that the course of wars often differs from what both sides initially anticipate, emphasizing the need for diplomatic solutions. He outlined the main objectives of negotiations, including securing Israel's withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories, the release of prisoners, the return of displaced residents, reconstruction, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army across the country's entire territory. According to Aoun, there is broad agreement on these objectives, with differences arising only over the methods and approaches needed to achieve them. Addressing the situation in southern Lebanon, Aoun stressed that the suffering of the south affects the entire country, reaffirming the state's responsibility toward its citizens.
He acknowledged that successive wars have hindered efforts to restore state institutions in the south and achieve key national objectives. Nevertheless, he highlighted significant progress in several areas, particularly economic, financial, administrative, and judicial reforms. Aoun also emphasized the importance of rebuilding trust between citizens and the state, as well as strengthening ties between Lebanese communities at home and abroad. "Our unity is fundamental. We have one country, one flag, and one identity," he said. The president further warned against sectarian divisions, criticizing those who fuel religious and political tensions for personal interests or cooperate with foreign powers against fellow Lebanese. He called for greater national solidarity, stressing that Lebanese citizens must stand united in confronting external challenges.

Aoun warns continued war leads to more 'destruction, casualties and bloodshed'
Naharnet/October 21/2026
President Joseph Aoun warned Wednesday that “the trajectory of wars always differs from what both sides expect,” cautioning that “war can only end through negotiation and dialogue, whereas its continuation leads to further destruction, casualties and bloodshed.”"The primary objective of negotiations is to achieve the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, secure the release of captives, ensure the return of displaced persons, rebuild, and deploy the army across all Lebanese territory. There is no disagreement in Lebanon regarding these goals; rather, the difference lies in the approach and method of achieving them,” the president said during a meeting in Baabda with a delegation from the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch John X Yazigi. “When the South is wounded, the wound affects all of Lebanon, and the state is responsible for its citizens. However, the wars imposed on us have negatively impacted the return of state institutions to the South and hindered many achievements, despite significant qualitative progress made in various fields, particularly regarding economic, financial, administrative and judicial reforms,” Aoun added. Separately, Aoun lamented that “some stoke sectarian and denominational tensions for personal interests at the expense of their nation, while others collaborate with external parties against their fellow Lebanese internally.”“This is our problem in Lebanon, whereas we should be strengthening ourselves through one another domestically against any external entity," the president went on to say.

Berri says any bid to repeal Israel boycott law can't pass in parliament
Naharnet/October 21/2026
Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that "stability and protecting the country are everyone's responsibility," calling on "all parties" to stop everything that would increase tension and deepen internal divisions.Commenting on recent sectarian tensions, he told al-Akhbar newspaper: "Is it reasonable for matters to reach the point of preventing a Lebanese from buying property in a Lebanese region because of his sectarian background?"Separately, Berri stressed that the repeal of the 1955 Anti-Israel Boycott Law will not pass in parliament, a stance that comes amid U.S. pressure aimed at repealing the law, and moves led by some MPs in this direction. Asked about these pressures and parliamentary efforts, Berri emphasized that matters in Lebanon are not left unchecked, saying: "Whoever thinks that things are chaotic and that the country has descended into chaos is mistaken. The country hasn't gone out of control yet." He added, in a sarcastic tone: "I am waiting on pins and needles for someone to submit a draft law in this regard." Last week, the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, when asked about Berri's approval to repeal the law criminalizing communication with Israel, said: "You always mention Nabih Berri. Does Nabih Berri decide on his own? We need to end this matter."Issa had met with 11 MPs from various parliamentary blocs last week and raised with them the judicial complaint that was filed against Lebanon's ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, for her alleged phone call with the Israeli ambassador to Washington over the injury of his son in a Palestinian attack in the occupied West Bank. Issa considered that the time has come to repeal the Anti-Israel Boycott Law, especially in light of President Joseph Aoun’s decision to conduct direct negotiations with Israel.

Macron says France to hold conference for Lebanese Army after Israeli elections
Agence France Presse/October 21/2026
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that his country would organize a conference to support the Lebanese Army after Israeli elections this month, decrying what he called untenable pressure on Beirut. Israeli troops currently occupy a swathe of south Lebanon after invading in March, while Lebanese authorities are under pressure to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah. "We will coordinate to carry out this work in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces and a conference will be set up in the coming weeks by France," Macron told reporters during a visit to Qatar. "I think it is useless to do it before the Israeli elections, but we will organize such a conference because it is unavoidable," he said. Israel is set to go to the polls on Tuesday. An international conference in Paris in support of Lebanon's army was planned for March but was delayed after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel, which responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion. In June, Lebanese and Israeli authorities signed a framework agreement which involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the area.
But progress has largely stalled and the poorly equipped Lebanese Army has struggled to carry out its mission of disarming Hezbollah in the south. Last month, Macron hosted President Joseph Aoun and King Abdullah II of Jordan to drum up international support for the cash-strapped army.
"I believe that everyone can see today the untenable situation Lebanon finds itself in, with very high tension south of the Litani (river) which is occupied by the Israeli army," Macron said. Israel has stationed troops in a self-declared "security zone" running around 10 kilometers inside Lebanon along the border. "Demands have been made, pressure has been applied on Lebanon, and sovereignty has been challenged -- this I would say is the least best way to deal with the issue of Hezbollah," Macron said. "Our objective is the sovereignty, the stability of Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah. To reach this objective, there must be... a withdrawal of Israeli forces, accompanied by confidence-building mechanisms," he added. "France is ready to contribute to this, as well as Qatar."Lebanese authorities last year committed to disarming Hezbollah after previous cross-border hostilities culminated in a 2024 war between the group and Israel. Last week, Aoun told visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot that he would welcome any effort to prevent a security vacuum in the south as a decades-long mandate of a U.N. peacekeeping force expires at the end of this year.

Lebanese Officials May Try to Stall the Dahr al Baydar Explosives Case: Local Media
This is Beirut/21 October/2026 ·
Local media reports that officials in the Lebanese government may try and delay attempts at referring the Dahr al Baydar explosives case to the Judicial council during the Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday. The agenda of the Council of Ministers meeting, which is slated for 3:00 pm Thursday, covers a range of issues but, importantly, includes the referral of the explosives seizure case from the Dahr al Baydar checkpoint to the Judicial Council.
Local reports assert that officials from Hezbollah have thus far failed to reach a settlement aimed at securing the release of those detained along with the truck and its cargo.
In the face of escalating judicial pressure now targeting Hezbollah officials, local media has reported that officials may attempt to stall the case by using technical reasons to delay its referral to the Judicial Council. A phone interview given by Parliament Speaker and member of the Amal Movement, Nabih Berri, to Sawt Kul Lebnan on Wednesday denied this intention.
Berri expressed that he feels the referral of the explosives issue should be addressed within the proper legal framework.
He claimed that he intends to participate in the Council of Ministers session saying: "We will participate in the cabinet meeting tomorrow and we will not withdraw if the subject of the explosives is raised." Nevertheless, the pressure on Hezbollah regarding the case has now increased with two other Hezbollah officials connected to the explosives being called in for questioning as reported by AFP, citing a judicial official. The official added that security agencies are working to locate the men and bring them into custody. A report form al Sharq al Awsat, also citing a judicial official, asserts that these two individuals are the two men identified in initial accounts by the aliases "Sajid" and "Zulfiqar." "Sajid" allegedly handed off the explosives, in the Beqaa valley, to the two men who were caught transporting them for delivery to "Zulfiqar," in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Both of these individuals are reportedly Hezbollah officials. The same official stated that "judicial and security authorities are treating this file as a security case, entirely separate from political considerations."
This source also claimed that the focus of the investigation has become the phones of the two detained individuals as well as the phone of one of their wives, which they hope contain further leads for investigators.

70 displaced Syrians return home in 22nd phase of Lebanon's voluntary return plan
LBCI/October 21/2026
Lebanon’s General Security Directorate oversaw the 22nd phase of the Lebanese government’s voluntary return plan for displaced Syrians through the Masnaa border crossing with Syria.
The operation was carried out in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Lebanese Red Cross, and several humanitarian organizations. As part of this phase, 70 displaced Syrians returned to their country, as efforts continue to organize voluntary returns and facilitate the necessary procedures in coordination with the relevant authorities.

PM Salam: Women's rights key to building a strong state and reviving the economy
LBCI/October 21/2026
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed that an economy cannot recover while women's potential remains untapped, and that talent alone is not enough when women continue to face obstacles. Speaking at the opening of the 13th Women's Conference, Salam emphasized the need for an economy that protects women and translates opportunities for their participation into tangible employment. “The primary responsibility lies with us, as a society and a state, to support the country's recovery,” he said, noting that the challenges facing the state also affect women. “True stability means being able to plan for tomorrow without fear, with decisions on war and peace firmly in the hands of the state,” he added. Salam stressed that women's rights are a fundamental benchmark for state-building, noting that during displacement, women were often the first to shoulder responsibility for themselves and their families. “It is the state's duty to ensure that women do not have to perform daily acts of heroism just to get by,” he said. He concluded by asking: “Will we change the practices that place the burden on women first while leaving them last in line for opportunities?”

Lebanon’s Call for Another Extension of UNIFIL’s Mandate Won’t End Hezbollah’s Threat
Ben Cohen/Policy Brief/October 21/2026
Lebanon’s government is becoming increasingly nervous as the expiration date for the mandate of UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, draws closer.
Meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on October 17, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated his earlier call for one more extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, asserting that the force’s continued presence would ease the transition of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) into areas cleared of Hezbollah fighters. Aoun said that if this proved impossible, he would welcome “any arrangement that ensures an international presence in the south, prevents a vacuum, and avoids placing the Lebanese army in direct contact with the Israeli army.”
While southern Lebanon remains febrile, Aoun’s solution would result in further entrenchment of Hezbollah, given UNIFIL’s historic reluctance to directly confront Iran’s Lebanese proxy. This will further antagonize Israel.
Hezbollah Flourished Under UNIFIL’s Presence
UNIFIL has been in situ since 1978, covering a period of nearly half-a-century that witnessed the emergence of Hezbollah during the 1980s as a heavily armed and potentially lethal threat to Israel. As its name — the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon — suggests, UNIFIL was initially intended as a temporary presence.
Instead, UNIFIL underwent a dramatic transformation following the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006, when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1701. A fresh injection of peacekeepers arrived with an expanded mandate to assist in keeping the area south of the Litani River free from non-state armed groups, as well as securing Lebanon’s borders against illicit arms transfers.
The constant Hezbollah attacks on Israel that immediately followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities underlined UNIFIL’s failure to deliver on its mandate. In August 2025, the UN Security Council extended UNFIL’s presence for one final time — until December 31, 2026 — with the intention of removing the mission in its entirety within 12 months of that date.
However, the renewal of fighting in March resulted in a call from the Lebanese government for UNIFIL’s mandate to be extended beyond its projected departure date.
UN and France Back Lebanese Position
The UN’s head of peacekeeping, Undersecretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, endorsed Aoun’s position. Speaking during an October 14 visit to Beirut, Lacroix — whose tenure has been marked by a 27 percent reduction in peacekeeping missions globally and a decline of over 50 percent in the number of serving personnel — claimed that “the Lebanese authorities were unanimous in telling us they want to keep a UN presence.” He also stated that discussions would soon begin at the UN Security Council on a potential successor force, emphasizing that the “voice of the Lebanese authorities should be heard very clearly during that process of negotiation.”
France, which has served as the “penholder” for UNIFIL at the Security Council, is drafting the resolutions for the force’s extension and has been similarly sympathetic to the Lebanese government’s position. As he departed from his latest visit to Beirut, Barrot stressed “the need to create an international architecture to back Lebanon’s sovereignty.” While the European Union has announced the creation of a support mission to train Lebanese government forces, this is anticipated to be a modest contribution, with no plans for it to take over UNIFIL’s functions.
U.S. Must Hold Firm on Trilateral Framework
Both the United States and Israel remain highly skeptical of any UNIFIL extension. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar observed in April that “Hezbollah systematically deploys its terrorists and assets next to UNIFIL stations, taking advantage of UNIFIL’s presence for its hostile actions.”
A wiser option would be to bolster the trilateral framework for negotiations launched by the United States with Lebanon and Israel, which aims to replace international peacekeepers with Lebanon’s own army and security forces. The United States should not waver on its support for the framework as a means of moving forward. It should continue backing Israel’s right to carry out defensive operations in south Lebanon until Hezbollah is verifiably disarmed and the Lebanese state, assisted by the European Union, is in full control of its territory.
*Ben Cohen is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Ben on X @BenCohenOpinion. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Is the US pushing Lebanon down a dangerous road?
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/October 21, 2026
Marco Rubio pushed for and arranged this week’s trilateral military meeting between Israel, Lebanon and the US. The American secretary of state also called the Lebanese authorities and asked for clarification regarding the truck-load of explosives that was seized in the Bekaa area last week. Obviously, the US is pushing the Lebanese state toward greater rapprochement with Israel and a clash with Hezbollah — and this could be dangerous.
Following the seizure of the Hezbollah-linked explosives, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called for “stricter enforcement” of weapons outside the authority of the state. He added that there should be “no leniency” for those “compromising the country’s stability.” After the truck was stopped, Hezbollah immediately called the authorities and asked them to hand it over. The group clarified that the explosives were part of their preparations for attacks by the Israeli enemy. Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the truck incident was a ploy to criminalize the group and drag its members to court.
The group has endured friction with the authorities before, notably last September, when it projected an image of assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah on to Raouche Rock despite the opposition of the prime minister. However, such friction had been more or less contained and there have been calls recently for dialogue between Hezbollah and the government to clear the air. The Druze leader has said that such dialogue is necessary and possible. It is viewed as a way to reduce internal tensions amid relentless Israeli attacks.
The US has been displeased with the Lebanese government’s attempts to disarm Hezbollah. However, Washington has not empowered the Lebanese state. Disarmament is not a stand-alone activity. Disarming the group while it still has the loyalty of a large faction of the Lebanese people could lead to a clash, which is the last thing Lebanon needs.
The US has been displeased with the Lebanese government’s attempts to disarm Hezbollah
But a clash would be very convenient for the Israelis. It would bog Hezbollah down in an internal confrontation. The US has been pushing the Lebanese state to confront the group but Beirut has so far avoided doing so. However, according to my sources, the truck incident has pushed the US to increase the pressure on the Lebanese government.
On top of this, the US asked the Lebanese army to meet the Israeli military. The US will decrease its representation, leaving the Lebanese army to coordinate directly with the Israelis at some point. The more the US sees that the Lebanese state is unable to disarm Hezbollah, the more it pushes Lebanon down the path of normalization with Israel. Lebanon is trying to push back while humoring Washington.
It was reported this month that Hezbollah had received $200 million in funding from Iran — although some sources say the true figure was more like $600 million — to support those displaced by Israel’s war on the south of the country. This is a big blow to the US, as well as to the Lebanese government it supports. It shows that sanctions are not working. Despite all the restrictions the government has placed on the ports, the borders and the airport, the group is still able to bring in money. The funds arrived at a time when the Lebanese government was failing miserably in its management of the crisis of the displaced.
In reaction to the news of the group disbursing aid to the displaced, the US is pressuring the Lebanese government to abolish the law that criminalizes contact between Lebanese and Israelis. This follows a call made by the Lebanese ambassador to the US to the Israeli ambassador to check on the latter’s son, who was hurt in an attack in the West Bank last month. The Israeli ambassador, as well as his son, are settlers. This led lawyers in Hezbollah circles to file a legal complaint against the Lebanese ambassador, as she allegedly breached the law prohibiting communication with Israelis.
There is no easy way to disarm Hezbollah. But the first step is to strengthen the Lebanese state
However, anyone who knows anything about Lebanon’s structure knows that the US is pushing the state down a dangerous path. Unlike other armies in the region, the Lebanese armed forces are based on a delicate distribution of positions among the different sects. This is why, in May 2008, when Hezbollah attacked Beirut, the army stayed on the sidelines. There was a fear that if the army interfered internally to establish the authority of the state, it would splinter, as happened during the civil war. The US should understand that there is no easy way to disarm Hezbollah. But the first step is to strengthen the Lebanese state. America can do that not by issuing empty statements but by pressuring Israel and forcing it to give a guarantee that, when the group disarms, it will withdraw from Lebanon. Instead of pushing Lebanon down this destructive path, the US should help the state offer a viable alternative to Hezbollah to the Shiite community. It should help the Lebanese state prove to the Lebanese people that it can guarantee their security and provide the basic services they deserve.
The transactional way the US is conducting politics with the Lebanese, by only applying pressure while offering no support, will not bear fruit. The proof of that is the funds Hezbollah sourced for distribution among the displaced and ultimately to the group’s supporters. If pushed into a corner by the US, the Lebanese state might very well look for an alternative to Washington rather than creating a full-blown clash with Hezbollah.
**Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

The three key challenges facing Lebanon
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/October 21, 2026
It is not a secret: Lebanon is no longer the Switzerland or the Paris of the Middle East and its collapse could be irreversible if the current trends remain. Recovery depends on how we handle three major challenges. First, the country needs to restore its image and regain trust and confidence in itself; then there is the question of Hezbollah’s arms, which can only be resolved politically; and, most importantly, Lebanon needs to bring back its role in the region.
There are many places that have never recovered after losing their role. In the 19th century, Alexandria and Smyrna were the richest cosmopolitan ports in the Mediterranean, but 20th-century nationalism did away with that. They lost their role and their reputation and never fully recovered. The fortunes of cities like Ma’an in southern Jordan change according to their role too, such as whether the Hajj caravans from places such as Istanbul, Damascus, Cairo and Jerusalem would stop there on their way to Makkah and if it remains as an intersection of major trade routes. Other examples are when a drug cartel takes control of a Latin American country or Daesh takes over a city like Mosul.
What happened to Lebanon is a combination of all the above. Its role as a refuge for both capital and talent from the region created the economic prosperity that ended with the 1975 civil war. After 1990, Rafik Hariri’s plan was to recover that role, betting on turning Beirut into a main hub for the boom that would result from the Middle East peace process. That bet was lost and instead we saw increased control by Hezbollah and the Syrian regime. Hariri was assassinated in 2005 and it took another 15 years to fully dismantle his system through further assassinations, wars, paralysis and isolation. A new role remains an immense challenge and it is not clear how anyone can help.
The image problem is the most difficult one. There is an almost total lack of trust in the country’s system and its institutions. This started with the revolts of 2015 and 2019 and got worse after the financial collapse and the Beirut port explosion.
The revolts were preceded by a political crisis and an almost complete paralysis of the system, which lasted more than 29 months between 2013 and 2016. This meant no presidential elections, no parliamentary elections and a caretaker government with limited powers. The country gradually fell apart, with services stopping and power vacuums emerging as a result of the impossibility of making appointments in key sectors like the judiciary and the army. Added to that were the fallout from the Syrian war next door and the isolation and boycott from Lebanon’s main economic partners in the Gulf. It felt like a body in a coma, with its vital functions shutting down one after the other. Part of that disintegration was the odorous garbage piling up in the streets and this triggered what became the “You Stink” revolt against the political class. The economy kept on getting worse, even after a compromise ended the political deadlock and resulted in the election of Hezbollah’s candidate Michel Aoun as president.
The image problem is the most difficult one. There is an almost total lack of trust in the country’s system and its institutions
Economic stagnation, plus a failure to deal with forest fires and the proposed imposition of a tax on WhatsApp voice calls, triggered another revolt in October 2019, again against the political class. Protesters used the slogan “all means all” and it was in this atmosphere that a series of defaults came one after the other. The central bank defaulted on the banks, the banks defaulted on the depositors and the government defaulted on its foreign debt without any arrangements to deal with the consequences.
Despite all the warnings that preceded the Beirut port blast, it is still not clear how it happened, with the investigation that followed also paralyzed. The most powerful nonnuclear explosion ever recorded was enough to seal the fate of the political system and any hope of recovering confidence. It is also not clear how anyone could help with that even if the root causes can all be traced to Hezbollah’s actions.
This brings us to the final challenge, which is Hezbollah’s arms. Its control over the country has dragged it into one war after another without anyone else having a say in the matter. A chronology of everything Hezbollah has done to Lebanon, along with its intervention in Syria, its role in Iraq and its training of the Houthis in Yemen, gives an idea of the scale of the problem. It also helps explain the loss of Lebanon’s role and the problem of trust in a political class that failed to contain it.
Hezbollah’s control over the country has dragged it into one war after another without anyone else having a say in the matter
Hezbollah is, at the same time, a local problem and one with two regional dimensions. Locally, it gets its power through its hegemony over the Shiite community. Regionally, it is part of the phenomenon of Shiite revival and the export of the Iranian revolution. The second regional dimension is the legitimacy it derives from war with Israel.
In 1983, Israel had an agreement with the Lebanese government to withdraw from the region it occupied in south Lebanon. Known as the May 17 Agreement, it was voted for almost unanimously by parliament and would have led to an end of the state of war with Israel. What later became Hezbollah was, in collaboration with the Syrian regime, behind the abrogation of the agreement, extending the Israeli occupation for another 17 years. Since then, every time Hezbollah has been in trouble, it regains legitimacy either by provoking a war with Israel or by threatening one.
There is no military solution to the local dimension of the Hezbollah problem. Ultimately, it is a battle of narratives with a political and even a theological dimension, the outcome of which could also impact the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ role in Iraq and Yemen. The Lebanese system is partly to blame, as it provided the freedom for the movement to grow in the same way it allowed the Palestine Liberation Organization to take control in the late 1960s. The IRGC even has its roots in the interaction of Iranian political exiles and the PLO in Lebanon during the civil war.
I must end this piece on an optimistic note. The current war with Iran and the participation of its proxies in Iraq and, especially, the Houthis in Yemen highlight more than ever the regional dimension of Lebanon’s Hezbollah problem. It should bring about a regional collaboration to resolve it. The battle of narratives with Hezbollah is political and internal in Lebanon. It is also not clear how anyone on the outside can help. On its own, no amount of aid or reform can help. The battle of narratives is on three fronts — dealing with Hezbollah, regaining trust and recovering a role for the country — which are interrelated.
*Nadim Shehadi is an economist and political adviser. He has held positions in academia and think tanks in Europe and the US. He ran a program on the regional dimension of the Middle East Peace Process at Chatham House.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 21-22/2026 (Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
Netanyahu: Israel's goal is to overthrow the Iranian leadership / Israeli Prime Minister says Trump shares his view
Tel Aviv: Agencies / October 21, 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the only solution to eliminate the Iranian threat is to overthrow the government in Tehran. The Prime Minister said at an election rally in the city of Dimona in southern Israel: "Iran wanted to destroy us and we stopped it, and it wanted to make nuclear bombs and we stopped it.. Yet, it insists on continuing." He continued, "The Iranian regime has not learned the lesson yet," adding that the current Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei "has decided to follow in the footsteps of his father" Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war, noting that he "defused the hand grenade, and Iran is trying again to develop lethal bombs."
Netanyahu said, "There is therefore one solution to put an end to this matter, which is to bring down the regime, those are the directives I gave to the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad and our other security agencies," without giving further details.
The Israeli Prime Minister stressed that overthrowing the Iranian leadership is an explicit goal of the Israeli security forces, where he said: "There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all: overthrowing the regime in Iran." Netanyahu said that as long as Iran seeks to destroy Israel, there will remain an existential threat. He added that US President Donald Trump, whom Netanyahu described as his "close friend," shares this view. He confirmed that they will cut off "the head of the octopus" as well as its arms, in reference to the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also warned of a potential Iranian threat. Katz said in a speech delivered during an officers' graduation ceremony in southern Israel on Wednesday that "The Iranian regime is going through its weakest phase ever, and we realize that this weakness may push it to take the most extreme steps." He added, "If Iran attacks Israel】, Iran will burn."This comes as the American news website " Axios" reported, citing unidentified officials, that Israeli fighter jets flew near Iranian airspace on Monday, at a time when the Netanyahu government accuses Tehran of planning some kind of provocation coinciding with the Israeli elections. The " Financial Times" newspaper reported Wednesday that Netanyahu had issued directives to the Israeli army earlier this month to put in place plans to resume strikes against Iran, but Trump opposed the idea.

US officials: Large-scale Israeli military movement near the Iranian border / Dozens of Israeli fighters flew alongside Iran via Syrian and Iraqi airspace
Washington: Bandar Al-Doshi / Al Arabiya / October 21, 2026
Dozens of fighters belonging to the Israeli Air Force carried out, on Monday, a large-scale air sortie that came close to the Iranian border, in an operation described by American and Israeli officials as aimed at demonstrating power and deterring Tehran, amid fears that it could lead to a military miscalculation leading to an Iranian response and a renewal of war. According to a report published by the website " Axios," the operation took place at a distance of more than 800 miles from Israel, a week before the Israeli elections scheduled for October 27, and on the same day that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ovda Air Base in Israel, without the sortie being linked to the visit of the American minister.
Israeli and American officials said the operation was not exceptional, and that its goal was to deter Iran, but the move involved risks of escalation, as it could have led to an Iranian response that would reignite the military confrontation.
Air route simulating a potential attack
According to informed sources, dozens of fighter jets and aerial refueling tankers participated in the maneuver, and the aircraft took a route consistent with a potential attack route on Iran, passing through Syrian and Iraqi airspace. When the aircraft approached the Iranian border, they changed course and returned to Israel, according to sources. American officials said that Israel was aware that Iranian air defense systems would detect the air sortie. Tel Aviv also informed Washington of the operation in advance, and described it as a military exercise aimed at "a show of force" and deterring Iran from launching attacks on Israel before the elections, but some American sources said they got the impression that Israel may have hoped that Iran would fire on the Israeli aircraft, providing a justification for launching military strikes against it. The Fox News network had reported on Tuesday that the Israeli Air Force had carried out an air exercise towards Iran.
Netanyahu and Trump discussed a new military operation
The move comes at a time when there are increasing signs that Israel is exploring new military options against Iran. The Axios website had reported last week that Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had discussed, in early October, the possibility of launching a new large-scale military operation against Iran before the Israeli and American elections. During those discussions, Netanyahu informed Trump of his concern about Israeli intelligence information indicating that Iran is taking worrying steps to rebuild its nuclear program. According to the report, Trump initially seemed inclined to resume attacks on Iran, before his enthusiasm gradually waned and he ended up rejecting Netanyahu's proposal.
Israeli army avoids moves that threaten the elections
In a related development, an Israeli official said that Zamir will not allow any unjustified military activity that would undermine the elections scheduled for October 27. This position reflects, according to the report, the sensitivity of the political and security stage that Israel is going through, amid fears that any escalation with Iran could lead to internal repercussions that go beyond military calculations. In statements made on Wednesday during a military graduation ceremony, Netanyahu accused Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of following in his father's footsteps and allowing Iranian scientists to continue working on developing a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu said: "He lifted the restrictions, and Iran is again trying to develop its death bombs." He added: "Therefore there is only one way to eliminate this threat permanently, which is to bring down the regime in Iran. And this is the directive I issued to the Israeli army and the Mossad and the security agencies."
These statements come at a time when Israeli military calculations overlap with electoral entitlements, amid fears that show-of-force and deterrence operations could turn into a spark for a wider confrontation whose repercussions are difficult to contain.

Israeli fighters over Iran's borders.. show of force and deterrence of Tehran
Al-Markazia / October 21, 2026
American sources told Israel's Channel 12 that dozens of fighters and refueling aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force carried out, on the night of Monday-Tuesday, an air sortie during which they approached the Iranian border, within a scenario simulating an attack on Iran, before returning to Israel. According to sources, the aircraft flew over Syria and Iraq, and approached very close to the Iranian border, before turning around and returning to Israel. The sources explained that Israel informed Washington in advance of the air sortie, and presented it as an exercise aimed at demonstrating military power and deterring Tehran. However, they indicated that the impression formed was that Israel had hoped that the sortie would provoke an Iranian response, which could provide a justification for launching a military attack on Iran.

"US Treasury" issues new sanctions linked to Iran / Sanctions on Greek-Panamian law firm for supporting Iranian shipments and others targeting Iranian shadow fleet vessels
Riyadh - Al Arabiya / October 21, 2026
The US Department of the Treasury announced the addition of 5 individuals, 4 companies and 9 vessels to the sanctions list linked to Iran, as part of measures targeting shipping networks and legal and logistical services that Washington says support Iranian commercial activities subject to sanctions. The "US Treasury" imposed sanctions on Wednesday on the law firm "Karnakis and Karnakis," which is based in Panama and Greece, saying it had provided support to the Iranian shipping sector for years. The Department said in a statement that the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also issued an administrative subpoena as part of an investigation related to a Greek bank regarding possible links to Iran, without disclosing the name of the bank, according to Reuters news agency. The Network also sent requests for information to 6 other European banks regarding their relationships with Iranian financial institutions subject to US sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement: "Whether you are participating in illegal oil transfers at sea, or sitting in your offices inside law firms, know that if we find you supporting the Iranian regime, we will reach you and impose sanctions on you." The "US Treasury" announced new sanctions on 9 vessels within the shadow fleet, linked to the transport of Iranian oil and steel. The list of sanctioned vessels includes: "Animos, Destiny, Flamingo 1, Gloris, Harmony, Pride.Prince, Wails Diamond, Wails Pearl." According to data from the "US Treasury," the targeted vessels fly the flags of Panama or the Emirates, and are linked to companies subject to sanctions within the targeted network.

Trump: We are closer than ever to ending the war in Ukraine / US President thanked Putin for releasing an American citizen who was imprisoned
Washington: Agencies / October 21, 2026
US President Donald Trump expressed on Wednesday his belief that the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war is closer than ever, in the course of thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin for the release of an American citizen who had been imprisoned. Trump told reporters at the White House: "I have been talking in recent days with Vladimir Putin about settling his war with Ukraine, which is a matter I believe we are close to resolving, perhaps we are now closer than ever before." He added: "We are currently negotiating with Russia regarding Ukraine, and we may be about to reach an agreement for the first time in a long time," explaining that "When you are about to reach an agreement and you are engaged in extremely sensitive negotiations, you do not impose sanctions." And Trump confirmed that he has "the authority to impose them at any time."
The US President had previously made similar statements, but several rounds of talks, along with a summit he held with Putin in the state of Alaska last year, failed to end the war in Ukraine, with Moscow sticking to its demands. This comes as US envoy Steve Witkoff announced on Wednesday that the talks he held with Putin were "constructive," adding that "there is important work" that still needs to be done, at a time when the Kremlin downplayed new approaches issued by Kyiv and the Europeans to end the conflict in Ukraine. The US envoy said in a post on social media that "The discussions were constructive, and will continue with tripartite talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine at the technical level." He added: "Although there is important work that still needs to be done, President (Donald) Trump remains committed to ending this war."

Iran says parliament speaker met unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
Yaghoub Fazeli - Al Arabiya English/21 October/2026
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to discuss the conflict with the United States and Israel, state television reported Wednesday, without specifying when or where the purported meeting took place or releasing any photographs or videos of the encounter. Khamenei has yet to be seen in public since becoming Iran’s supreme leader on March 8, following the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes on February 28. His continued absence has raised questions about his whereabouts and physical condition, particularly after Iranian officials confirmed he was wounded in the strikes. According to state television, Ghalibaf met Khamenei to review the latest developments in the “military, economic and cognitive warfare” waged by the United States and Israel against Iran. The two also discussed cooperation between the executive branch, led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, and parliament to address Iran’s economic difficulties, improve living conditions and strengthen relations with the country’s strategic partners, state television reported. The announcement comes amid continued tensions between Tehran and Washington, particularly over maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.On Tuesday, Iranian officials reiterated their refusal to transfer enriched nuclear material abroad and insisted that Washington must meet Tehran’s conditions before negotiations can resume.
Ghalibaf was among the senior Iranian officials who met visiting Pakistani army chief Asim Munir on Tuesday as Islamabad pursued renewed efforts to mediate an agreement between Iran and the United States.

Iran tells Pakistani mediator it rejects moving enriched uranium out of country
Agence France Presse
Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei told the visiting Pakistani army chief Asim Munir that Tehran would not allow nuclear material to leave the country, according to state TV. "Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran; such materials constitute a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people, intended for use within the country," said Rezaei, Iran's secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. "There will be no negotiations until America takes steps to build trust -- a process that must begin with the fulfilment of Iran's conditions," he added. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also rejected the idea of negotiations under U.S. threats during his meeting with Munir, who is in Tehran as part of a renewed push to mediate a peace deal between the Islamic republic and the United States."The Americans must first remove the threats and sanctions; only then can we engage in dialogue," he said. "Today, our nation does not trust America. It believes that if we enter the negotiations, they (the Americans) will attack us again."Iran's chief negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf made similar remarks to Munir. "We have nothing new to say; America cannot gain Iran's trust unless it fulfils the seven conditions," said Ghalibaf, noting that "threats and military maneuvers cannot influence Iran's strategic decisions." Iran has demanded, among other things, a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of its assets abroad and the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector.
The Middle East war was sparked in late February by the United States and Israel when they launched a wave of surprise attacks on Iran, while Washington and Tehran were in the midst of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. The warring parties agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that was expected to create a framework for a permanent resolution to the conflict, but the deal did not last long. Negotiations have effectively been at an impasse since then, and recent indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly failed to produce a breakthrough. Tehran had previously maintained it would not hand over its nuclear materials -- enriched to 60 percent, close to the atomic bomb threshold of 90 percent -- to any country but had hinted at the possibility of diluting them within Iran's borders. Washington and its allies have imposed waves of sanctions on Iran, accusing it of seeking to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has long denied.

US cannot blockade and threaten Iran while expecting to have dialogue with it: Pezeshkian
Al Arabiya English/21 October/2026
The US cannot expect dialogue with Iran while blockading and threatening it, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday according to state media, a day after Pakistan’s army chief visited Tehran to discuss mediation efforts and regional developments.Separately, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an article published in the Financial Times on Wednesday that Iran was ready for diplomacy but will defend itself. “While Iran is firmly committed to seeking a dignified peaceful resolution to the conflict, we are also fully prepared to defend ourselves,” Araghchi wrote.
He said the White House had shown no willingness to reach an understanding and that there was little reason to expect progress now. The comments from the Iranian officials came a day after Pakistani army chief Asim Munir held talks in Tehran in a bid to end the deadlock in the Iranian conflict with the US. Pezeshkian had rejected the idea of negotiations under US threats during his meeting with Munir.“The Americans must first remove the threats and sanctions; only then can we engage in dialogue,” he said. “Today, our nation does not trust America. It believes that if we enter the negotiations, they (the Americans) will attack us again.”The warring parties agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that was expected to create a framework for a permanent resolution to the conflict, but the deal did not last long. Negotiations have effectively been at an impasse since then, and recent indirect talks between the US and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly failed to produce a breakthrough. With agencies

US imposes sanctions on Greek, Panama law firm for helping Iran shipping
Reuters/21 October/2026
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Panama and Greek-based law firm Karnakis and Karnakis, which it said has supported Iranian shipping for years. The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also issued an administrative subpoena to advance an investigation into a Greek bank over potential ties to Iran, according to a Treasury statement, which did not name the bank. FINCEN also issued requests for information to six other banks in Europe over relationships with Iranian financial institutions under US sanctions.

After Syria war, Druze in Golan Heights warm to Israel
AFP/October 21, 2026
MAJDAL SHAMS: For many Druze in the Golan Heights, participating in an Israeli election used to be done in secret, but when Israel holds national polls next week, Fadi Damaqsi will be casting his ballot proudly. “It’s crucial for all Israeli citizens to vote,” said Damaqsi, from the Golan Heights town of Ein Qiniye. “It’s a right, but it’s also an honor.” The Golan’s 26,000 Druze have historically rejected outward displays of allegiance to Israel, which captured the territory from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, with those who adopt the nationality ostracized. But a shift in attitudes has picked up after Israel carried out military strikes in Syria in 2025. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the attack by saying Israel was protecting Syria’s Druze.Outside the Golan Heights, the Druze, a group spanning across borders who practice a heterodox offshoot of Islam, are highly integrated in Israel and are the only Arabic-speaking people required to serve in the military. The situation has historically been different in the Golan. Nearly all Druze from the territory, whose annexation has only been recognized by the United States and, recently, Colombia, have family in Syria, leading initially to a “social and religious boycott” of Israel, political expert Salim Brik said. Today, some 45 percent of Druze in the Golan Heights hold Israeli nationality, compared with just two percent 40 years ago, according to the interior ministry, with the trend picking up sharply since the Syria intervention. In Majdal Shams, the Golan’s main Druze city with 12,000 people, requests for citizenship soared in 2025 with 3,750 applications, against 570 the previous year, interior ministry figures show.
Shift in loyalties -
A number of Golan Druze interviewed by AFP traced their turning point to Israel’s 2025 intervention in Syria’s predominantly Druze province of Sweida. The region had been torn by sectarian fighting, months after the fall of Syria’s Assad family which had ruled the country with an iron fist for more than half a century.More than 1,700 people died in clashes between the Druze and Bedouin tribes backed by Sunni militants who had formerly fought alongside Syria’s new president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa. Israel said it intervened to stop a massacre of the Druze but Sharaa had publicly called for communal peace and accused Israel of seeking to destabilize Syria. Some outside analysts also believe Israel was strategically seeking a pretext to strike military infrastructure and weaken its historic adversary. Whatever the geopolitical context, the intervention pleased many Druze in the Golan Heights.Israel acted “when the entire world was sitting around with their hands crossed,” said Ein Qiniye’s mayor, Wael Mugrabi.The Israeli strikes provoked “a major shift in loyalty and a feeling of belonging” by many Druze in the Golan, Mugrabi said. Mugrabi himself is an example. He will become the first candidate ever from the Golan Heights to run in Israel’s legislative elections. In early October, he inaugurated a new school in the town named after Major Jamal Abbas, a Druze soldier who died fighting for Israel in Gaza in 2024. Facing the verdant fir trees of Mount Hermon, the school bore the five-colored Druze flag alongside Israel’s — a scene that would have been unthinkable even a few years earlier.
Generational shift -
A year before the Syria intervention, another event had already triggered a change in Druze attitudes. In July 2024, a missile landed on a football pitch in Majdal Shams, killing 12 children. Israel blamed the strike on Hezbollah, which denied responsibility. Remembrances for the children are omnipresent in the city, with the field now a memorial site and a symbolic 12 golden arrows circling the main roundabout.Laith Abu Saleh, who lost his son Fajr, remains deeply affected by the weak response to the strike by Syria, which under Assad was allied with Hezbollah. “No one sent condolences,” he said. “Not even a short message.”For him, the Golan’s Druze “are seeking citizenship not to influence the elections” but “out of a desire to belong” in Israel. The sentiment is not universal. In a barbershop, a group of young men seemed embarrassed when asked about their loyalties. One of them laughed and said he was still boycotting Israel. Another confided that he was “afraid of being called up for military service” if he took Israeli nationality.But such views are becoming fewer. Polling stations have been set up in the heart of Golan towns, whereas once Druze who wanted to vote would go discreetly to nearby Jewish areas.
According to Brik, the shift is also generational, with 91 percent of people of the Golan Heights born after Israel captured it from Syria. “No one is any longer expecting Israel to give back the Golan,” he said.

Israel condemns Libya-Turkey deal on maritime boundaries
AFP/October 21/2026
Israel condemned on Wednesday a decision by divided Libya’s eastern-based parliament to ratify a memorandum of understanding with Turkey on maritime demarcations in the MT. Eastern Libya is ruled by military leader Khalifa Haftar, whose administration has grown closer to Ankara and has for years rivalled Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli. The memorandum sets out maritime boundaries in a potentially gas-rich part of the eastern Mediterranean that Greece says infringe on its own maritime claims. Athens renewed its objections, as did nearby Cyprus, with the EU saying it supported its two member states and calling the memorandum “null and void.”Israel is close to both Greece and Cyprus, and its foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns the decision of the Libyan House of Representatives to ratify the Maritime Jurisdiction Memorandum between Turkey and Libya.” “Regretfully, once again we see Turkey working to destabilize the east Mediterranean region,” it added in a post on X. Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel and the two countries once had robust trade, but their ties have become increasingly strained in recent years. Ankara has become a severe critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing genocide in Gaza.Netanyahu’s office, meanwhile, has described Erdogan as an “antisemitic dictator.” Turkey’s foreign ministry welcomed the demarcation deal’s approval on Tuesday, describing the agreement as one “based on the principles of international law and equity (which) protects the mutual rights and interests of both countries.”
Libya’s eastern authorities had previously opposed the deal.

Netanyahu's main election rival rules out serving under him
Agence France Presse/October 21/2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival in October 27 elections, ex-army chief Gadi Eisenkot, said on Wednesday that he would refuse to serve as a minister in a new government led by the current premier. With the poll just days away, and predictions that no side will win on its own, some commentators have raised the possibility of a unity government convening Netanyahu's right-wing bloc with centrist and center-right parties. But speaking to radio station 103 FM on Wednesday, Eisenkot said he was committed, "categorically, to not serving under Netanyahu's leadership, even within the framework of a rotation" deal in which the two shared power.Eisenkot has campaigned on attacking the fitness to serve of Netanyahu, especially over his failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. Polls show Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and the opposition camp rallying around Eisenkot are neck and neck, with each projected to win around 50 to 52 seats -- just shy of a majority in the 120-member Knesset. In his interview, Eisenkot did not rule out the possibility of a unity government altogether. Former prime minister Naftali Bennet, whose party is polling third, said a government that included the current prime minister would not be an issue for him. It would, however, run counter to Israeli law, which forbids anyone facing charges from serving as a minister -- although the bar does not apply for prime minister. Netanyahu is currently on trial and faces several charges of corruption, which he denies. An October 16 poll found that 55 percent of respondents would prefer a unity government over new elections should the upcoming vote fail to produce a clear winner. In 2020, Netanyahu and centrist Benny Gantz set aside their mutual antipathy to strike a power-sharing deal in which they would rotate the prime ministership between them. The agreement followed a period that saw three elections in less than a year, and the resulting government lasted only 13 months.

Israel's elections: Four possible scenarios
Agence France Presse/October 21/2026
Israel goes to the polls on October 27 with results forecast to be close, meaning that the next government will be determined by whoever can cobble together a coalition in a fragmented political landscape.Israel votes through proportional representation based on the nationwide vote and it is highly unlikely that any single party would come even close to the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset.
Here are four possible scenarios:
1. Coalition
Immediately after the election, the parties will begin negotiations to try to reach the 61-seat threshold. After the official announcement of the results, President Isaac Herzog will consult with party representatives and name a candidate who has the chance to form a government -- not necessarily the party with the most seats, but the one deemed best positioned to secure enough seats in parliament. The negotiations can be arduous and lengthy, with parties insisting on parochial interests, and can produce unstable governments. Following the previous election in November 2022, it took Benjamin Netanyahu 58 days to form his government. Polls show that Netanyahu's right-wing and far-right coalition and the opposition bloc, whose most prominent figure is former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, are neck and neck, with approximately 50 to 52 seats each. The two sides have been nearly even in polls for weeks, foreshadowing a mathematical puzzle that both sides will have to solve to find the 10 or so seats needed for a coalition. Israeli political history is full of twists and turns, with defections and other unexpected shifts in alliances.Israel also has two new right-wing parties that are seen as scratching the threshold of entering parliament, where they could throw their decisive support to one of the two blocs.
2. Minority government
If no bloc manages to secure 61 seats, a candidate could attempt to govern without a majority but rather through support on an ad hoc basis by other lawmakers. In this scenario, lawmakers from Israel's Arab minority -- who make up 20 percent of the population and generally identify as Palestinians -- could play a critical role. Polls show that two Arab-Israeli lists, the Joint List and Raam, could win 12 to 14 seats in total. Raam, led by Mansour Abbas, a kingmaker in the past, has stated its willingness to work with Eisenkot's bloc, and the Joint List has offered to provide a "safety net" for any coalition that ousts Netanyahu from power.But the leading figures in the opposition bloc are reluctant to publicly acknowledge such a possibility, due to the hostility of a large segment of the Jewish electorate towards any form of alliance with Israeli Arabs. This has not prevented Netanyahu from focusing his campaign on the possibility of Eisenkot working with Arab parties, campaigning on the slogan, "Either the right wing or Palestine."
3. National unity government
Considering Israel's extreme polarization, a national unity government would appear fanciful, but it could theoretically create a less extreme government. Israeli commentators have often mused on the possibility of a national unity government in which Netanyahu would jettison his provocative far-right allies as well as ultra-Orthodox parties and team up with Eisenkot, who shares Netanyahu's views on many security issues. The grand coalition would also exclude Arab parties. A poll published on October 16 found that 55 percent of Israelis would prefer a national unity government over new elections if the vote did not produce a clear majority. This scenario has a recent precedent. In 2020, Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, like Eisenkot a retired general appealing to the center, reached a power-sharing agreement after three elections in less than a year, which stipulated a rotation of the prime ministership.But the partnership fell apart after a year, triggering a new election. According to media reports, Herzog is working behind the scenes to bring Netanyahu and Eisenkot together to repeat the experiment should a deadlock occur after October 27. However, the scenario would face strong opposition from both sides, particularly from the opposition bloc, which is treating the election as a referendum against Netanyahu and has questioned his character.
4. Deadlock and new elections
If no candidate manages to form a government, Israel will have to return to the polls. The country held four elections between April 2019 and March 2021 due to the inability of politicians to forge a lasting coalition. The candidate designated by the president will, in principle, have 28 days to form a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension, although there are other procedural ways to prevent an immediate calling of new elections.

Israel’s elections: Who’s competing for power, and why the Arab vote matters
LBCI/October 21/2026
Thirty-eight party lists are competing in Israel’s elections on Oct. 27. The race features right-wing, left-wing and centrist parties, as well as Arab and religious parties. The right-wing parties include two lists: Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who has governed Israel since 2009, and Yisrael Beiteinu, led by right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman. Moving from the right to the center, there is Yashar, meaning “straight” in Arabic, led by former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, one of Netanyahu’s main challengers. Another is Beyachad, meaning “together,” which brings together right-wing politician Naftali Bennett and centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid. Moving from the center to the left, there is the Democrats party, led by Yair Golan. The party supports a two-state solution, and Golan has previously criticized the Israeli military’s operations in Gaza.
Amid these parties, the Arab parties stand out. Their role in the elections could prove decisive. They include:
1. The Joint List
The Joint List is led by Yousef Jabareen of the Democratic Front. It comprises three parties: the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, whose main component is the Communist Party; the Arab Movement for Renewal, led by Ahmad Tibi; and the National Democratic Assembly, led by Azmi Bishara from abroad.
2. The United Arab List
Led by Mansour Abbas, the United Arab List is an Islamist movement with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. In an unprecedented move, it has included former Israeli army and police officer Yoav Segalovitz on its list. Differences between the Arab parties remain significant, particularly over the United Arab List. However, the gravity of the current situation has pushed them to seek common ground, with their main objective being to increase Arab voter turnout, which opinion polls project could reach 70%. If turnout reaches that level on election day, the Arab parties could prevent smaller Zionist parties from winning seats, thereby increasing their overall strength in the Knesset. This, however, is where the problem lies.The Joint List maintains its longstanding position of refusing to participate in any Israeli government. Mansour Abbas’ United Arab List, by contrast, is open to joining such a government. Despite this position, its participation faces firm opposition not only from Netanyahu and his allies, but also from opposition parties. As things stand, the likely scenario appears to be the formation of a national unity government that excludes the Arab parties, following an agreement between Netanyahu and Eisenkot to each serve as prime minister for two years. This scenario is rejected by the Israeli left. Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement, Netanyahu will attempt to persuade smaller right-wing parties to withdraw from the race to strengthen the right-wing bloc. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party has created an opportunity for Eisenkot’s party or other parties within the change bloc to gain seats, increasing their chances of forming a government.

War or elections? Israel's leadership divided over timing of Iran strike
LBCI/October 21/2026
Israel's plan to strike Iran is ready, and political pressure to launch the operation is rising to unprecedented levels. However, the plan faces opposition from the Israeli military establishment, led by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, which opposes carrying out such an attack before Israel's October 27 elections.According to Israeli analysts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to launch the strike in a move that could disrupt the elections and provide him with a political lifeline. The military establishment, however, wants the elections to proceed as scheduled without interference. Meanwhile, voting has begun among Israeli soldiers deployed across multiple fronts, including Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, the West Bank and the borders with Jordan and Egypt, following insistence by the military leadership. As soldiers begin casting their ballots, new details continue to emerge about Israel's plans to attack Iran. The latest revelations concern a large-scale offensive reportedly scheduled for October 10 but halted by U.S. President Donald Trump. The operation was intended to target Iranian energy facilities, nuclear sites, civilian infrastructure and assets belonging to the Iranian government. Israel's plans regarding Iran coincide with its determination to escalate tensions on several fronts, including Lebanon.This has become evident during military talks in Tampa with the Lebanese Army, where Israel insisted on maintaining its occupation of parts of southern Lebanon amid deep disagreements over security arrangements and attempts to accuse the Lebanese Army of coordinating with Hezbollah. Ultimately, the Tampa talks appear to reflect Washington's determination to keep negotiations open, even without tangible results, as significant differences remain between the two sides.

Iran says Egypt entering Yemen war makes situation 'more difficult
Agence France Presse/October 21/2026
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that any interference in the Yemen war by Egypt or any other country would make the situation "more difficult"."Egypt has sufficient experience to avoid entangling itself in such a highly complex conflict," said Iran's top diplomat in an interview with Iraqi state broadcaster Al-Iraqiya aired on Tuesday. "We believe that any foreign presence or interference will only make resolving this issue more difficult," Araghchi noted. He added that Egypt has said it "will not enter Yemen or engage in a war against Yemen". The decade-plus war between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government reignited in July. The Houthis seized much of Yemen's Red Sea coastline in September and have since launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes on state oil giant Aramco and Riyadh's international airport, where 13 people were killed on October 10.Egypt's parliament on Monday delayed a debate on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to authorize military support for Saudi Arabia until next week. Sisi had asked lawmakers to approve military support for Saudi Arabia if requested by the kingdom, which has come under near-daily attacks from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis. Sisi said Egypt was not seeking to "confront or attack anyone", adding: "We are speaking only about defense."

Two killed, two injured in drone attack targeting Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field
Al Arabiya English/21 October/2026
Two foreign nationals were killed and two others injured after air defenses intercepted a drone attempting to target a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing an official source at the Ministry of Energy. The source said the drone was intercepted on Wednesday morning as it attempted to strike a processing facility at the oil field in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The incident sparked a fire in a vehicle belonging to a contractor working at the field, outside the facility’s perimeter, but did not affect operations, according to the ministry.The two people killed were Filipino and Nepali nationals, while the injured were Pakistani and Indian nationals, the source said. The ministry said relevant authorities had responded to the incident and taken the necessary measures. The source expressed condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a speedy recovery. The statement did not identify who was responsible for launching the drone. The incident comes amid a series of missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, including its civilian infrastructure and energy facilities, as regional tensions continue to escalate. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia has carried out repeated attacks on the Kingdom in recent weeks, prompting Saudi-led coalition forces to intensify military operations against Houthi positions in Yemen. The Shaybah oil field, operated by Saudi Aramco, is one of the Kingdom’s major oil-producing facilities, located in the Empty Quarter near the border with the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Crown Prince, Macron discuss regional developments in Riyadh
Al Arabiya English/21 October /2026
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed regional and international developments and efforts to strengthen security and stability during a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The two leaders met at the Royal Court in al-Yamamah Palace, where they reviewed the longstanding strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and France and explored ways to expand cooperation across various sectors to serve their mutual interests, according to SPA.
They also exchanged views on regional and international developments and discussed coordinating efforts to promote regional and global security and stability, the agency said. Macron arrived in Saudi Arabia following a Gulf tour that included Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, where he held talks with regional leaders focused on strengthening strategic partnerships and expanding defense, security, economic and investment cooperation. The visit comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, particularly following a series of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia on Saudi Arabia and growing concerns over regional energy security and maritime trade. Ahead of Macron’s arrival, French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told Al Arabiya that Houthi attacks in Yemen and against Saudi Arabia threatened Middle East stability, global supply chains and energy security. Confavreux said Paris strongly condemned recent Houthi attacks targeting Riyadh’s airport and other civilian sites, which had resulted in civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries, including a French woman. He reaffirmed France’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its commitment to supporting the Kingdom in defending its territory and critical infrastructure. The spokesman pointed to France’s September 24 announcement that it would deploy military assets to help protect the energy facility at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia’s main crude oil export terminal on the Red Sea. He stressed that France’s approach was strictly defensive and aimed at preventing another surge in global energy prices, adding that Paris was not seeking to become involved in the conflict but wanted to prevent further regional escalation.On maritime security, Confavreux said France continued to participate in the European Union’s defensive naval operation Aspides in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, deploying a frigate to protect civilian shipping.

Former UK defense minister blasts slow international response to help Saudi Arabia
Al Arabiya English/22 October/2026
The international response to Iran-backed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia has not been strong enough, the UK’s former defense minister said on Wednesday. The recent Houthi escalation in attacking civilian and energy targets across the Kingdom has spread and shown that the Houthis are now taking weapons they didn’t use years ago. “This is threatening the rest of the region - not just Saudi Arabia,” Sir Michael Fallon told Al Arabiya English. Asked about the response from the international community, Fallon said more needs to be done. “Clearly we will all now need to do more to make sure this conflict doesn’t spread further and is brought to a resolution,” he said. On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise visit to the Kingdom to demonstrate solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Fallon lamented the sluggish Western effort to help the Kingdom’s defenses, but said there is now more work being done on that front. “Saudi Arabia has asked for help for some weeks now,” he said. Asked about the UK’s decision to deploy RAF fighter jets to help support Saudi Arabia, Fallon pointed to the ability of these typhoon jets to intercept missiles, help control Saudi airspace and improve Saudi’s early air warning systems of missiles and drones coming over the border. “Clearly that’s something we ought to be helping and others ought to be helping to make sure Saudi infrastructure isn’t being attacked in the way we saw the terrible attacks on the airport in Riyadh,” he said. “Other European countries need to be helping,” he added, recalling the international coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He said a similar coalition was needed. “This can’t just be left to Saudi Arabia on its own nor indeed can it just be left to the Americans. The regional interest here is our interest,” he said.

Sisi says Egypt to 'defend Saudi territory' and will not attack Yemen
LBCI/October 21/2026
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that Cairo's proposed military support for Riyadh was to "defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen," state-linked media reported. Al-Qahera News, which is closely linked to state intelligence and is to broadcast a speech by Sisi, reported that he also said "the stability of our brothers in the Gulf concerns Egypt's national security." The speech itself has not yet been aired. AFP

Ship attacked near Strait of Hormuz
Agence France Presse/October 21/2026
A ship was struck on Wednesday by an "unknown projectile" off the coast of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire, a British maritime security agency said. The tanker, 11 nautical miles (around 20 kilometers) off the town of Bukha, is "now at anchor", the UKMTO reported. "All crew are reported as safe. There is no reported environmental impact at this time," it said. The agency later reported another incident, which occurred on Tuesday off the coast of Iraq. A projectile hit a tanker 30 nautical miles from the town of Al Faw, causing no casualties or damage, the UKMTO said. The Strait of Hormuz carried 20 percent of the world's oil and gas prior to the Middle East war, which erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Since then, Tehran has placed a chokehold on the shipping route and regularly targets ships that pass without its authorization. Washington has responded by maintaining a blockade on Iranian ports, and negotiations between the two countries are deadlocked. Attacks on vessels attempting to cross the waterway have increased in recent days, as Washington escorts more ships through the strait and Tehran seeks to maintain control over their passage.

Houthis strike the airports of Aden, al-Rayyan
Al Arabiya English/21 October/2026
The Iran-backed Houthi militia on Wednesday launched a ballistic missile targeting Aden airport, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported.Before that the correspondent reported that an explosion was heard near the airport. AFP said that smoke was seen rising near the airport as fighting intensifies between government forces and the Iran-backed Houthi militia.Local sources told Al Arabiya English that the Houthi ballistic missile targeting Aden Airport was launched from al-Sabrah, south of Ibb.The Houthis also attacked al-Rayyan airport in al-Mukalla in the governorate of Hadramawt.
According to Yemen’s transport ministry, the militia attacked the airport with three drones.

Macron says secured gas from Qatar during Gulf trip
Naharnet
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he had secured gas from Qatar during his Gulf tour, as he seeks to bring down the price of energy following violent protests sparked by rising living costs. "We secured during the winter period the equivalent of two terawatt-hours per month of LNG, which was important for us and which will allow us to move forward," he told reporters in the Qatari capital Doha.

Trump envoy says Putin talks ‘constructive’ but ‘important work’ left to do
Agencies/21 October/2026
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said his talks Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin were “constructive” but that “important work” remained, as the Kremlin downplayed new Ukrainian and European approaches to ending the conflict. “Discussions were constructive, and will continue with trilateral talks between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine at the technical level,” Witkoff said on social media. “While there is still important work left to do, President Trump remains committed to seeing this war end.”The latest talks came more than two years since US President Donald Trump promised in his successful election campaign to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours. Witkoff flew into Russia’s second city on Wednesday morning a day after conducting what a US official called “constructive” talks in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leaders of Finland and Norway and European and NATO representatives, as President Donald Trump said it was time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing.” US-Ukraine ties have deteriorated sharply since Trump announced a diesel export deal with Russia earlier this month to help lower prices in the United States. High fuel costs since he launched strikes on Iran have hurt his Republicans ahead of November legislative elections. Since the diesel deal, Ukraine has complained of disruption to some intelligence sharing and to its use of the Starshield military satellite system, though Zelenskyy said that Tuesday’s Oslo meeting had reached an agreement to resolve those issues.
Starlink speeds
Citing US officials and people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that billionaire Elon Musk had last week ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service that Ukraine relies on to track Russian ballistic missile strikes. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Musk has said any such decision is taken by the US military or the president. Trump has said he was not responsible. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday signaled the problem lay with the terms of service Kyiv needed to comply with. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Witkoff’s meeting with Zelenskyy was positive and that Witkoff would share the results with Russia. He also reiterated that Washington had not pulled back Kyiv’s ability to access Starlink. “He will now, armed with those ideas, be able to go to St Petersburg and share them with the Russian side, and let’s see if we can make some progress,” he said.

Kremlin says 'ready' to resume US-Russia-Ukraine talks in mid-November
Agence France Presse
Moscow is ready to resume trilateral U.S.-Ukraine-Russia talks next month, the Kremlin said Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin met with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Russia.
"Our president informed Steve Witkoff that we are, in principle, ready to resume the mentioned talks", Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, saying these could take place in mid-November "with the main topic of building security ... after the end of the conflict."

US spy agency urges urgent worldwide website updates after cybersecurity flaws exposed
LBCI/October 21/2026
The U.S. National Security Agency on Wednesday urged organizations to take websites offline if they cannot immediately fix two serious security flaws in PHP, a programming language behind a large share of the world's websites. The flaws "often provide a direct path to the server's file system or database," the agency said in a statement posted on X. AFP

Spain slams 'interference' after Milei's comments on PM
LBCI/October 21/2026
Spain on Wednesday condemned Javier Milei for "external interference, attacks and insults" after the visiting Argentine president called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a "dictator" and urged voters to oust him weeks before a general election. "It is shameful that a person who holds the highest office of a sister nation makes visits to our country with the only aim of trying to foster a climate of polarisation and violence," the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement. AFP

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 21-22/2026
How Russia Is Eclipsing the U.S. in Africa
Michele Kernitsky/Insight/October 21/2026
The Kremlin is preparing to showcase its steadily growing influence in Africa, which has often come at Washington’s expense. On October 28-29, Moscow will host more than 30 African delegations for the third Russia-Africa Summit. More than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is clear that U.S. sanctions and diplomacy have not isolated Russia in Africa. Instead, Moscow has expanded its political, economic, and military relationships across the continent, weakening the fight against terrorism, undermining U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and locking up critical minerals Washington needs.
This change for the worse was not inevitable. Washington’s lackluster and incomplete efforts are partly to blame. To reverse the trend, the United States needs to step up and compete with Russia in Africa by imposing sanctions on the infrastructure Russia has built on the continent to facilitate sanctions evasion; extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the cornerstone of U.S.-Africa trade, which expires on December 31; making plain to African governments that hosting Russian forces on the Red Sea or in the Indian Ocean — which would bring Russia closer to key shipping lanes and critical undersea cables — will cost them Western assistance and investment; and filling vacant ambassadorships. Together, these initiatives would give African states a credible alternative to Russia for the global partnerships they are seeking.
What Diplomatic Isolation?
Russia exploited Africa’s ambivalence about the war in Ukraine to expand its foothold on the continent. When the UN General Assembly marked the invasion’s first anniversary in 2023 by demanding Russia’s withdrawal, 15 African states abstained, six did not vote, and Eritrea and Mali voted no. Of the 54 UN member states in Africa, roughly 40 percent declined to condemn Russia’s invasion. Many African governments see the war in Ukraine as a European conflict between great powers, still embrace nonalignment, and remember Soviet support for their liberation movements. Their neutrality also serves practical interests: it protects grain, fertilizer, and fuel supplies, keeps Russian arms and regime-protection forces flowing, and lets them court Moscow, Beijing, and Washington at the same time.
Since then, Russia reopened its embassy in Burkina Faso in December 2023 after more than 30 years, then opened embassies in Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan in 2025. Russia now operates 45 embassies on the continent, has missions planned for Comoros, The Gambia, Liberia, and Togo, and has created a new foreign ministry department dedicated to Africa.
Closer Economic Links
Although a central aim of U.S. sanctions has been to shrink Russia’s economic reach, in Africa it is growing. According to Russian figures, Russia-Africa trade reached $27.7 billion in 2025, up about 13 percent from 2024. In the first half of 2026, Russian agricultural exports reached $2.9 billion, a 35 percent increase compared with a year earlier. During the same period, Russian wheat deliveries to Kenya rose about ninefold and to Sudan more than doubled.
A key element of Russia’s economic strategy in Africa is nuclear energy. State-owned Rosatom is building Egypt’s roughly $30 billion El Dabaa nuclear plant. Since 2022, Rosatom has signed cooperation agreements with Burkina Faso and Mali and a nuclear deal with Niger, and the corporation is in talks with Nigeria to build two nuclear plants worth a reported $20 billion.
An Expanding Military Footprint
Russia’s military presence has expanded fastest of all. In 2023, Russian forces operated in four African countries: the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, and Sudan. Today, Russian military personnel are present in at least nine, including Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, the Republic of the Congo, and Togo — although there are conflicting reports on Russia’s presence in Sudan. Notably, though, a larger Russian military presence does not necessarily correlate with Russian policy success. For example, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps has been unable to stop jihadists from gaining ground in Mali this year against the Russian-allied junta. Last December, Russia delivered weapons and kamikaze drones to Madagascar’s junta, and Russian instructors began training its 1st Airborne Battalion. The head of Russia’s Africa Corps arrived on the island with about 40 of its members, and a Russian delegation toured a disused naval base in April 2026. In August 2026, U.S. government imagery analysis identified Russian-linked construction at six Libyan air bases, including Maaten al-Sarra, near the borders with Chad and Sudan. Russia has also pressed Sudan’s army for a Red Sea naval logistics facility at Port Sudan; in October 2025, Khartoum reportedly offered a 25-year deal in exchange for air-defense systems after years of drawn-out negotiations.
Why Russia’s Gains Are America’s Losses
Russia’s advances in Africa are weakening the fight against terrorism. Russia’s arrival in the Sahel came with the expulsion of Western partners: Niger’s junta ordered U.S. troops out in 2024, forcing Washington to abandon a $110 million drone base in Agadez that surveilled Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliates. The Africa Corps has not filled the gap. The Sahel now accounts for nearly half of all terrorism deaths worldwide. In 2025, Niger rose from fifth to third on the Global Terrorism Index, which ranks countries by the severity of terrorists’ impact — four of the five most affected countries are in the Sahel. Moscow’s presence sometimes makes matters worse because Russian abuses of civilians feed recruitment for the very groups the United States seeks to contain.
Moscow’s links to African states are also helping Russia continue its war in Ukraine. Russia is building sanctions-evasion architecture on the continent. A7, a payments firm that helps Russia support Iran and is co-owned by sanctioned Promsvyazbank and fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, opened offices in Nigeria and Zimbabwe in September 2025 with a Russian deputy finance minister on hand. Moreover, African recruits are filling Russian ranks on the front line. In May 2026, Kenya’s foreign minister said 19 Kenyans had been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine, and recruiters have drawn young Africans to drone factories in Tatarstan. Nuclear power deals also bind African host governments to Rosatom for fuel, maintenance, and financing for decades. Russian access to Nigerien uranium, Malian and Sudanese gold, and Guinean bauxite comes as Washington works to secure its critical minerals supply chains.
Washington Should Compete, Not Concede
First, the Treasury Department should close loopholes that Russia exploits. It should designate A7’s African affiliates and local partners; target the gold and mining revenues that fund the Africa Corps by sanctioning the companies holding mining rights and the logistics networks that move the money; and warn banks in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere that processing sanctioned Russian transactions carries secondary-sanctions risk. Second, Washington must offer a better economic deal. AGOA expires on December 31 after only a one-year extension, despite its 25 years of success. Congress should pass a multiyear reauthorization, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank should back U.S. and allied nuclear, grid, and critical minerals projects in countries Rosatom is courting. Third, Washington should deny Moscow the bases it wants by making clear to Sudan’s army and Madagascar’s junta that hosting Russian forces on the Red Sea or in the Indian Ocean will cost them Western assistance and investment. Fourth, the United States must show up. Russia is opening embassies and hosting African leaders in Moscow. As of late September, only seven of Africa’s 54 countries have a confirmed U.S. ambassador: Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia, according to the American Foreign Service Association. Filling vacant U.S. ambassadorships and sending cabinet-level officials to the continent would signal that Washington intends to compete. Doing so would challenge Russia’s ability to use its links on the continent to offset the costs of its war on Ukraine and build leverage against the West, while strengthening U.S. efforts to fight terrorism and end the war in Ukraine.
*Michele Kernitsky is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) with 26 years of service in the CIA, the State Department, and the White House. For more analysis from Michele and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

A letter to the POTUS ...Why you should be the Leader of the Free World
Clifford D. May/ The Washington Times/October 21, 2026
Dear President Trump,
I’m writing about a title I think should be yours: Leader of the Free World.
The idea that there is such a thing as a Free World has become unfashionable, but I think it’s worth restoring, and perhaps you do, too. Nations free of dictators’ jackboots should be aligned and led by the American president.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to apply the phrase to the nations fighting the Axis.
During the Cold War, the term referred to those siding with America against the Soviet bloc. It meant allies followed Washington’s lead and adversaries hesitated.
Others have been eager to claim the title. In 2010, Joe Biden, overly enthusiastic about the European Union, said Brussels had a “legitimate claim” to be the “capital of the free world.”
And in 2015, Time magazine crowned Angela Merkel “Chancellor of the Free World.” As you know, that same year she opened Germany’s doors to more than 1.2 million mostly non-European immigrants and deepened her country’s dependence on cheap Russian gas.
My point is that right now, the title, Leader of the Free World, is yours to claim or forfeit. Vladimir Putin is hoping you forfeit it.
For nearly five years, he’s been waging a war against the Ukrainians, who have fought and bled to remain within the Free World they look to you to lead.
Ukrainians are not asking for American boots on the ground, only that you support their defense of their independence, families, and freedom.
And Mr. President, you were doing that – providing weapons paid for by NATO members and the intelligence needed to intercept Russian missiles.
Over recent weeks, however, that has changed.
On Oct. 9, you struck a diesel deal with Putin. I know you want lower prices for American farmers, ranchers and truckers. But Russia’s autumn harvest ends this month. After that Putin will have plenty of diesel to sell, with the proceeds funding his war machine.
So Putin gets a financial lifeline, and you get nothing he wouldn’t have given anyway.
On fuel prices, you have a stronger story to tell: Democrats have been closing American refineries, calling that “climate action,” and Joe Biden vowed in 2019 that “we’re going to end fossil fuels.”
Overnight on Oct. 13-14, Ukraine’s access to Starshield was throttled, hampering its ability to intercept Russia’s jet-powered Shahed drones, which are descended from Iranian designs. Reports later suggested the limits had been eased, but on Monday Volodymyr Zelensky said speeds had not been restored to normal.
On Oct. 16, you waived nearly every Russia provision of the law you signed last month, named for your friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who championed Ukrainian freedom until his untimely death.
You proposed an “energy ceasefire,” an excellent idea which the Ukrainians said they would honor if Russia did. But Putin continued to launch hundreds of missile and drones against his neighbor’s civilian energy infrastructure aiming to deprive Ukrainians of heat, light, and water as winter approaches.
Mr. President, I’ve been studying Russia for more than half a century, first as an exchange student, then as a journalist, and over recent years as a think tank denizen. It’s clear to me that Putin will not settle for just a slice of Ukraine.
His realm already spans 11 time zones, from Kaliningrad to the Bering Strait across from Alaska. His goal is to restore the Russian Empire, which is why the leaders of such formerly captive but now free nations as Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are fortifying their borders.
Also intolerable to Putin: a Slavic nation on his doorstep that is pro-American and democratic. That might give ideas to those he rules.
You’ve spoken out about the violence that has erupted in France and the danger of Europeans surrendering to an Islamist-leftist alliance. Ukrainians, by contrast, are defending their nation, culture, and civilization. Doesn’t that deserve your support?
Meanwhile, Putin is in an axis with the Islamists in Tehran and the communists in Beijing and Pyongyang. These regimes are cooperating militarily, economically, and diplomatically. All want to diminish American power and put the very idea of a Free World on the ash heap of history.
So here is what I’d ask of you:
Make sure all Starshield speed limits on Ukraine are lifted and say so publicly.
Rescind the waivers on the Graham sanctions law.
Keep the intelligence and NATO-funded weapons flowing.
Beyond restoring your earlier and commendable policies, here are three ways to go further, from my think tank colleague, retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery:
Pressure Greece to transfer its older, expiring Patriot interceptors to Ukraine to help prevent Russian missiles from hitting their intended victims.
Direct the Air Force to upgrade Ukrainian F-16s to fire ERAM missiles that can hit the launch sites and airfields behind the drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Direct the Pentagon to allow Ukraine access to Starlink satellites over Russian territory for the purpose of defensive operations.
These moves would show allies that standing with us pays – and adversaries, that testing us brings costs. That’s consistent with America First and necessary if you’re to make America great again.
Putin consistently ignores requests that come without teeth. Frustrating his imperialist ambitions will not make him love peace, but it might make him agree to a ceasefire – which I know you’d prefer over years of continuing carnage.
Should you decide to be the president who restores American leadership of the Free World, that will be central to your legacy, alongside your courageous efforts to permanently prevent the jihadis in Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
If you want more of my free advice, Mr. President, you know where to find me.
Your friend,
Cliff
Clifford D. M

No Way! China Wants to Visit U.S. Nuclear Weapons Labs
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/October 21, 2026
[The risks] are especially real because China has almost certainly detonated fissile material secretly—and then sought to deceive the international community.
Beijing says it stopped testing nuclear weapons in 1996, but it has almost certainly been conducting secret detonations.
"After consultations with Director [John] Ratcliffe and his team, they have confirmed to me that the CIA assesses that both Russia and China have conducted super-critical nuclear weapons tests in excess of the U.S. zero-yield standard." — US Senator Tom Cotton, Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, X, November 3, 2025.
Until China comes clean on its detonations of fissile material, there is no point in talking. Beijing is brazenly lying and therefore refusing to engage with America in good faith.
China's proposal to the Trump administration of reciprocal visits to nuclear sites looks suspect, and talks should not proceed until Beijing is ready to engage the United States meaningfully. Pictured: An entrance gate at Los Alamos National Lab Technical Area 18, photographed on June 14, 1999, in New Mexico. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
China's officials this year proposed to the Trump administration reciprocal visits to nuclear sites.
Specifically, the Chinese discussed visits to U.S. Department of Energy national labs. The U.S., a source told CNN, "would be open to discussing visits to nuclear testing sites."
Unfortunately, China's initiative looks suspect, and talks should not proceed until Beijing is ready to engage the United States meaningfully.
Washington has already begun "informal and preliminary" discussions with Beijing. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reportedly did not discuss the visits during their talks in Washington last month, but "further lower-level discussions" are expected before the two leaders meet again next month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China's Shenzhen.
China's proposal raised hopes in American policy circles for a broader agreement with Beijing about these weapons. As CNN reported, "The concept of allowing nuclear site visits could move the needle on the U.S. efforts to engage China on issues related to strategic stability and potentially serve as a building block for a trilateral agreement."
A "trilateral agreement" — a deal among the U.S., China, and Russia — was a goal of the first Trump administration and remains a goal to this day. Trump on October 19 publicly said a meeting among the three countries would be "a very positive thing for the world." He also hinted that such a meeting would occur next month in China. China, at least up to this year, has also refused to discuss transparency measures and has never publicly confirmed the number of its weapons. Beijing's secrecy has forced others to guess the size of its arsenal. The Pentagon in a November 2022 report forecast that China would quadruple nukes from about 400 then to 1,500 by 2035. The 2035 estimate looks far too low. Whatever the number, everyone agrees that the Chinese regime is rapidly building its arsenal. As Adm. Charles Richard, then commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said in 2021, "We are witnessing a strategic breakout by China.""I don't think I've seen anything more disturbing in my career than the Chinese ongoing expansion of their nuclear force," said then Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall in House testimony in March 2023.
"China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country," the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported this June. The Chinese regime appears no longer content with a "minimal deterrent" -- an arsenal only big enough to prevent an attack. With its rapid build-up, it is developing a "war-fighting" capability. With such a capability, threats to launch first strikes would be credible and Beijing would be able to intimidate adversaries. The ability to annihilate the United States could convince Washington not to defend, for instance, Taiwan. China has made these threats both in the last century and this one.
Is an agreement with China a good idea? "There is a near total lack of transparency in China's nuclear forces," noted Peter Huessy of the National Institute for Deterrence Studies and the Gold Institute for International Strategy in comments to Gatestone this month. "If the Trump administration can make progress here, that will help America's security."Almost everybody would also like to see progress with China limiting nukes. "This is a very dangerous time, and there are very few guardrails in place on the U.S.-China nuclear relationship," Paul Dean, a former acting assistant secretary of state overseeing arms control, told CNN. "We don't need to wait for a crisis to start reducing nuclear risks."
As Dean, now at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said, "the risks are very real right now."
They are especially real because China has almost certainly detonated fissile material secretly— and then sought to deceive the international community.
Beijing says it stopped testing nuclear weapons in 1996, but it has almost certainly been conducting secret detonations. "Commercial surveillance satellites between 2020 and 2024 observed China dramatically expanding its nuclear weapons testing site at Lop Nur, to include the apparent drilling of new tunnels for the testing of nuclear devices underground," Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told this author in late 2025. "In addition to preparing to resume underground nuclear testing, it is also very likely that China has proceeded with 'sub critical' nuclear testing and the testing of components of nuclear weapons that included fissile material that produced very low-yield explosions."Fisher is not the only analyst who thinks the Chinese have been surreptitiously setting off nuclear devices. Huessy also assesses that both Russia and China have been conducting tests with fissile material for decades.
The U.S. intelligence community concurs. "After consultations with Director Ratcliffe and his team, they have confirmed to me that the CIA assesses that both Russia and China have conducted super-critical nuclear weapons tests in excess of the U.S. zero-yield standard," Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated in comments posted on X in November 2025.
Christopher Yeaw, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, in a speech in June stated that there was "undeniable evidence" of Chinese yield-producing tests and that China has been "obfuscating nuclear explosions." He said that perhaps in the future China will be testing fissile material in the 100-kiloton range. The Trump administration reports that China detonated fissile material on June 22, 2020 at Lop Nor. The U.S. charges that China used the "decoupling" technique — detonating a device in an underground chamber instead of solid rock — to disguise and muffle an explosion of fissile material. The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration conducted a decoupling test to mimic the Chinese effort. There is concern that, in light of the Chinese deception, Beijing's proposed reciprocal visits are little more than a public relations ploy.
As CNN reported, "skeptics noted that the Chinese may have floated the idea in an effort to create a positive atmosphere or to appear serious on the topic of nuclear arsenals." The skeptics include U.S. officials.Until China comes clean on its detonations of fissile material, there is no point in talking. Beijing is brazenly lying and therefore refusing to engage with America in good faith.
**Gordon G. Chang is the author of Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
**Follow Gordon G. Chang 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. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Iran says it has agreement with Iraq to expel Kurdish Iranian opposition groups
Seth J. Frantzman/FDD's Long War Journal/October 21, 2026
On October 20, Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Mohammad Kazem Al Sadegh said that Iraq has agreed to “expel the elements of the Iranian separatist terrorist groups from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq or to hand them over to Iran.” The statement comes amid reports that Iran has increased its operations in northwestern Iran against Kurdish opposition groups, particularly targeting the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). The new development also comes as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has withdrawn from several areas in northern Iraq as a peace process with Turkey unfolds.
The PKK announced its dissolution in May 2025, a decision that has influenced developments not only in Turkey but also in neighboring Iraq and Iran. PKK members withdrew from several locations in the Metina region of northern Iraq in early October. PKK leader Murat Karayilan confirmed in an October 11 interview that the group had withdrawn forces from several areas. Turkey has been concerned about potential developments in Iran involving PJAK because of the group’s links to the PKK. “The activities of groups that fuel ethnic separatism, such as the terrorist organization PJAK, negatively affect ​not only Iran’s ​security but also the overall peace and stability of the region,” Turkey’s defense ministry said in March, according to Reuters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed in July that Turkey had helped prevent a Kurdish uprising in Iran. PJAK rejected these claims at the time. The group has also argued it should not be included in the PKK-Turkey peace process. “Those who want to sabotage the peace process in Northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) and Turkey are bringing PJAK into question,” PJAK spokesperson Gelawej Ewrin said on August 30. Iran’s pressure on Iraq to expel Kurdish Iranian opposition groups and Iran’s crackdown on PJAK appear to be linked. PJAK said as recently as August that it operates independently of the PKK. An officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was killed in the Qandil mountain range on October 17 may have been killed in clashes with PJAK. Iran did not specify how he was killed, only noting he was a “martyr.” Qandil, along the Iran-Iraq border, has long been a major stronghold for the PKK and the PJAK. In his October 20 statement, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq posted a photo from a February 2026 meeting in which five Kurdish Iranian opposition groups met to form a coalition. At the February meeting, representatives of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Khabat Organization of Iranian Kurdistan, and one branch of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan attended.
Iran has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq since the US and Israel began airstrikes on Iran on February 28, 2026. Many of these attacks have targeted Kurdish Iranian opposition groups. The most recent attack was on October 17, targeting Komala.
Iranian pressure on Iraq to expel Kurdish groups comes after the US withdrew forces from Iraq on September 30. Iran has demanded that Iraq rein in and relocate Kurdish opposition groups for years. Pro-regime media in Iran reported on the Iranian ambassador’s statement on October 20, with Mehr News and Press TV both mentioning the development. Iranian pressure has also come in the wake of Kurdish leaders in the Kurdistan Regional Government seeking to reduce tensions with Iran over these opposition groups. Rudaw Media Network noted that the Iranian envoy’s statement followed an October 19 meeting of a joint committee overseeing a security agreement between Iran and Iraq. The meeting was “chaired by Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Aboudi and attended by Iranian officials and a delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),” Rudaw reported. The office of Iraq’s National Security Advisor did not mention the expulsion of the Kurdish opposition groups in a statement about the meeting. The PDKI rejected Iranian demands in a statement on October 20. An Iraqi source also told Rudaw on October 20 that no agreement on expelling the groups from Iraq had been reached.
Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).

The Thaw in U.S.-Ethiopia Relations Has Gone Far Enough
Edmund Fitton-Brown and Grant Wishard/FDD-Policy Brief/October 21/2026
Ethiopia’s domestic war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has now become an international conflict involving Eritrea. These actors are old rivals — all three participated in the Tigray War from November 2020 to November 2022 — but this new fight involves higher stakes for the United States and its partners.At the beginning of October, the Ethiopian government and the TPLF formally returned to war. The latter, which seeks independence for the Tigray region, withdrew from the Pretoria Agreement that ended the previous Tigray War and announced the creation of an alliance with other rebel groups.
Simultaneously, Eritrea sent its military into Ethiopia. Ethiopia is now striking back and has used its drones and air force against Eritrea. Reportedly, Eritrean and Ethiopian troops are massing against one another, with an improbable, anti-Ethiopian alliance of convenience now looking possible between the Eritreans and Tigrayans.
The Last War, Its Fallout, and an Attempted Reset
U.S.-Ethiopia relations nosedived as the Tigray War worsened in 2021. Both the TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) committed mass atrocities against rival ethnic groups. The violence exceeded the usual tragedy of war; experts believe that 120,000 women were raped in Tigray province alone. In response, the United States distanced itself from Ethiopia, its longtime partner in the Horn of Africa. However, over the past two months, Washington has reversed or allowed to lapse the punitive measures it imposed on Ethiopia. The Trump administration ended the Temporary Protected Status that was granted to Ethiopians fleeing the war (relieving diplomatic embarrassment for Addis Ababa), lifted the arms embargo Washington imposed in 2021, and ended the national emergency and the associated sanctions created by President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14046. The U.S. military reconnected with Ethiopia’s federal forces, and Ethiopian Airlines announced the purchase of Boeing cargo aircraft.
Ethiopia Sets a New, Less Stabilizing Course
Instead of resuming its role as the U.S. regional anchor against terrorism, Ethiopia is signaling that it wants to reshape the region and expand within it. The country recently increased its participation in the Sudan war. Instead of assuaging Egypt and Sudan’s concerns regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD’s) effect on the Nile, Ethiopia announced that it will build three more dams. Most concerning to U.S. interests, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has repeatedly promised to secure a Red Sea port for his landlocked country. He has said he will accomplish this peacefully but turned down an offer from Djibouti to lease one of its new ports and attempted to deal with Somaliland, a self-declared republic within Somalia recognized only by Israel. If Ethiopia uses Eritrea’s current border incursion as an excuse to seize one of Eritrea’s Red Sea ports, the combat could easily create enough risk to delay the 7 percent of global oil output flowing through the neighboring Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving Iran a stronger hand in its war against the United States and Israel. Neighboring states find Ethiopia’s behavior threatening enough that they recently met to discuss security in the Horn, signaling the possibility of a new regional alliance. The United States has a strong interest in messaging its own disapproval.
Washington Should Penalize Eritrea To Support and Caution Ethiopia
The United States should steady its relationship with Ethiopia and continue to treat the TPLF as an illegitimate, anti-democratic force. It should address the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict by imposing visa restrictions on Eritrean military leadership for crossing Ethiopia’s border. By reemphasizing the inviolability of borders, the United States could respectfully and indirectly discourage Abiy from attempting to secure a Red Sea port by force. In the short term, the U.S. priority should be to maintain the status quo in the Red Sea to keep energy supplies moving to undercut Iran’s attempts to control global oil supplies; in the long term, U.S. planners should find a new, constructive way of partnering with Ethiopia. **Edmund Fitton-Brown is a senior fellow at FDD, focused on the Arabian Peninsula as well as terrorism and its enablers. Grant Wishard is an editor and the production manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Grant, Edmund, and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Edmund on X @EFittonBrown. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

UN Provides Expansionist Russia With a Platform To Condemn ‘Colonialism’
David May and Ben Cohen/FDD- Policy Brief/October 21/2026
The United Nations has turned moral inversion into an art form. The UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, which handles decolonization, passed a Russian-sponsored resolution on October 15 that seeks to shield expansionist countries from coercive measures in the name of opposing colonialism. U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations Tammy Bruce observed that the resolution “tries to redefine colonialism to cover lawful sanctions, export controls, and sovereign trade decisions.”The Russian resolution was by far the committee’s most contentious vote, with 85 in favor, 49 against, and 23 abstentions. The irony of expansionist Russia sponsoring such a resolution was not lost on the Western countries that voted against it and spoke out against this farce. The resolution illustrates the United Nations’ penchant for shielding human rights abusers and, despite its severe financial crisis, wasting money.
Resolution Protects Belligerent Countries
The Russian resolution, cosponsored exclusively by unfree countries and human rights violators, including China, Cuba, and Iran, presented itself as a means of combating “the continued existence of colonialism in all its forms.” The text listed the “threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State” and “interference in the internal affairs of States” as examples of contemporary forms of colonialism. Never mind Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year, or its documented history of political interference, assassinations, and similarly malicious acts in numerous countries.The resolution sought to shield human rights abusers from “unilateral economic, financial or trade measures” — i.e., sanctions. This would be in the interest of both Moscow and the resolution’s cosponsors, several of whom are already subject to Western sanctions for their human rights abuses and aggressive behavior.
The Fourth Committee’s Anti-Israel Bias
The Fourth Committee is arguably the most unwieldy of the UN General Assembly’s six committees. First created as the Trusteeship Committee, it merged with the Special Political Committee in 1993 and was handed a mandate to deal with the small number of non-self-governing territories that had not gained independence, along with a range of disparate issues from peacekeeping to space exploration. Much of the Fourth Committee’s effort is directed at shoring up the United Nations’ disproportionate focus on alleged Israeli malfeasance and supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is solely dedicated to the descendants of Palestinian refugees from Israel’s 1948-1949 War of Independence. UNRWA has exacerbated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by creating a uniquely expansive definition for Palestinian refugees and by employing Hamas terrorists, including several who participated in the mass atrocities in Israel on October 7, 2023. Both the Fourth Committee and the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a body dedicated to vilifying Israel, are chaired by the Senegalese diplomat Coly Seck.
Washington Should Tackle Fourth Committee Waste and Harm
In her comments before the Fourth Committee, Amb. Bruce declared that the committee “turns a serious subject into a tool for cynical political posturing, and it adds to the strain of an overstretched UN budget.” Bruce stated that the Special Committee on Decolonization, which reports to the Fourth Committee, “has outlived its original purpose, with more than 80 former colonies having since joined the UN,” going on to call for the termination of its mandate. While the Fourth Committee does not have a standalone budget, its 2026 allocation from the General Assembly for its decolonization work specifically stood at nearly $1 million. Additional costs for interpreters, editors, and secretarial and other support staff can reasonably be estimated at a further $2 million to $3 million annually.The Trump administration’s call for UN reform and efficiency as a prerequisite for receiving U.S. funding has prompted the world body to carry out a 15 percent budget cut. As the United States continues paying its arrears to the United Nations, it should stress that the Fourth Committee’s harmful work is an impediment to receiving U.S. funding.
*David May is a senior research analyst and research manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Ben Cohen is a research fellow at FDD. For more analysis from the authors and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Ben and David on X @BenCohenOpinion and @DavidSamuelMay. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on October 21/2026
Israel-Alma
366 buildings struck and destroyed in Beirut’s Dahieh - A new geospatial study by the Alma Research and Education Center reveals the extent of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure embedded within the civilian population. The study, based on an analysis of Airbus satellite imagery covering an area of 25 square kilometers in the Dahieh, southern Beirut, presents the following findings:
2024 - Operation Northern Arrows: At least 304 buildings were destroyed within the study area during 62 days of fighting, including 292 mid-rise and high-rise buildings.
2026 - Operation Roaring Lion: An additional 62 Hezbollah sites were struck and destroyed within the same study area over 47 days.
Human Shields: Hezbollah military infrastructure was identified at distances ranging from less than one meter to several dozen meters from schools, hospitals, religious institutions, and public facilities.
Military Reconstruction: The significant decrease in the number of sites destroyed during Operation Roaring Lion in 2026 compared to Operation Northern Arrows in 2024 indicates, among other things, in our assessment, two trends.
The first is Hezbollah’s difficulty in rebuilding its military presence in the Dahieh during the 15 months between the two campaigns.
The second is that Hezbollah has been and continues to be engaged in the redeployment of its assets. As part of this redeployment, Hezbollah is establishing a presence in other areas of the Beirut metropolitan area, outside the Dahieh, as well as in other parts of Lebanon that are not traditionally considered Hezbollah’s “natural” areas of operation. Key Finding: The study provides further geospatial evidence of Hezbollah’s systematic embedding of military infrastructure within civilian areas and its use of the civilian population as human shields.
The use of civilians as human shields is not a byproduct of Hezbollah’s activities, but an integral component of its military and information warfare strategy.
Read more in the attached research report.
#Hezbollah #Lebanon #Dahieh
https://israel-alma.org/the-dahieh-after-operation-northern-arrows-a-geospatial-analysis-of-hezbollahs-human-shield-tactics/