English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 27/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2026/english.october27.26.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006 

Click On The Below Link To Join Elias Bejjaninews whatsapp group
https://chat.whatsapp.com/FPF0N7lE5S484LNaSm0MjW
اضغط على الرابط في أعلى للإنضمام لكروب Eliasbejjaninews whatsapp group

Elias Bejjani/Click on the below link to subscribe to my youtube channel
الياس بجاني/اضغط على الرابط في أسفل للإشتراك في موقعي ع اليوتيوب
https://www.youtube.com/@eliasbejjani8036

Bible Quotations For today
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons
First Letter to the Corinthians 10/14-24/:”Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others.

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 26-27/2026
Re-electing Benjamin Netanyahu Is a Lebanese, Regional, and International Strategic Interest: He Is Fighting Political Islam in Both Its Forms on Behalf of a Complacent West and Its Threatened Civilization/Elias Bejjani/October 26/2026
Statement of Condemnation and Denunciation Regarding the terrorist attack on Hammoud Church in Karak – Jordan And the terrorist attack in Hebron – West Bank/Elias Bejjani/October 23/2026
Lebanon... The Word of History/Abu Arz /26 October 2026
Our Christian community's problem is that it lives on improvisation and reactions, instead of living vision, planning and strategy!/Father Toni Bou Assaf /26 October 2026
Information Branch pursues 3 young men from "Hezbollah" who escorted the explosives car!
New American sanctions on Lebanese politicians obstructing disarmament of "Hezbollah"
Funded by Iran.. Hezbollah prepares for a new regional war
Lebanon holds its breath: high American pressure.. and C4 investigations advance
Hezbollah and Iran: pledges of non-interference under test
Holding breath on eve of Israeli elections... Katz: We will not attack but!
Hezbollah: Resistance decision is Lebanese, no one dictates it and Iran supports Lebanon
Lebanese Forces ask government about Galerie Semaan incident and Tehran meeting launches
Berri and Hezbollah: deepening political differentiation and Shiite fears of a rift/Najwa Abi Haidar / Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
"Lebanese Forces" besiege government with 27 questions about "the Party's mechanism"
Israel votes and Hezbollah arms itself... Lebanon awaits the storm
The Party's Chorus Outbids It: Accusations of Treason and Zionism Caused by State Laxity/Lara Yazbek / Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
Forget the Judicial Council/Jean al-Feghali / Nidaa al-Watan / 27 October 2027
Lebanon Between Two Conferences: "Lebanon First and Last" Exposes Forgery of the "National Gathering"/Ahmad al-Ayoubi / Nidaa al-Watan / 27 October 2027
Le parcours d’une implosion?/Dr. Charles Chartouni/ICI Beyrout/October 26/2026
The Course of an Implosion?/Dr. Charles Chartouni/ICI Beyrouth/October 26/2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 26-27/2026
Jordan Arrests Three Suspects in Deadly Church Attack
Syria closes the Nasib border crossing with Jordan following airstrikes; Damascus reports the deaths of eight Syrians and denies any prior coordination regarding the Jordanian strikes.
Jordan: We struck terrorist organizations in southern Syria linked to the Karak attack... several people killed or wounded.
Israel’s Eisenkot Vows Unity as Netanyahu Paints Him as Soft on Iran
Israel Defense Minister Denies Report of PM-Army Rift on Eve of Election
Israeli President Says He Won’t Bow to US Pressure on the Next Govt
Iran Says Outcome of Israeli Elections ‘Makes No Difference’
Washington Affirms Strait of Hormuz Free of Iranian Sea Mines
Palestinian Authority Says 2,670 Displaced in Israel’s Hebron Operation
Israeli Forces Search Homes, Make Incursions on Fringes of Jabal al-Sheikh
Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills Three Including Child
Thousands of Trucks Stuck as Partial Iran-Pakistan Trade Resumes
Syrian Official: 25% of Displaced People Have Left Northern Camps
Iraq’s Closure of Al-Sheeb Border Crossing Fuels Tensions with Iran
Canada-EU Summit Seeks Deepened Alliance as US Ties Fray
Brazil’s Lula Wins Historic Fourth Term, Flavio Bolsonaro Refuses to Concede
Coalition Destroys Houthi Missile Tunnels and Launch Platforms

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 26-27/2026
Israel Is Just the Pretext, The Real Target is the West/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 26, 2026
Lebanon… The Truck of Explosives and Lessons Ignored/Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
Terrorism In Karak… Treacherous and Cowardly/Abdulah bin Bijad Al Otaibi/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
Will Eisenkot Restore the Rule of the Generals in Israel?/Nabil Amr/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
When Netanyahu Speaks in the Mirror/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
From the Archive/Get Out, Christians, from Our Lands/Ahmad Al-Sarraf/Al-Qabas Kuwaiti Newspaper/June 24, 2014
Iran pushes hard on its nuclear rebuild — daring Trump to strike again/Andrea Stricker/ New York Post/October 26/2026
Turkey Has Outsourced Its Censorship to American Companies/Natalie Ecanow and Helin Unal/The Cipher Brief/October 26/2026
The role of defense R&D in strengthening Israel’s capabilities, technological superiority/Jacob Nagel/The Jerusalem Post/October 26/2026
Turkey and Pakistan Loop Qatar and Indonesia Into Burgeoning Defense Axis/Natalie Ecanow and Helin Unal/FDD-Policy Brief/October 26/2026
FBI arrests alleged Islamic State supporter accused of plotting to assassinate Texas congressman/Will Selber/FDD's Long War Journal/October 26/2026
Things Fall Apart: The Catholic Church and Europe’s Vanishing Center/Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/October 26/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on October 26-27/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 26-27/2026 (Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
Re-electing Benjamin Netanyahu Is a Lebanese, Regional, and International Strategic Interest: He Is Fighting Political Islam in Both Its Forms on Behalf of a Complacent West and Its Threatened Civilization
Elias Bejjani/October 26/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/158590/
I see that the continuation of resolute leadership of the stature of Benjamin Netanyahu, the international leader who fights terrorist political Islam in both its Shiite and Sunni forms, and who fights on behalf of a complacent West infiltrated by extremism, is the option most compatible with the goal of the Lebanese to build a free state with full sovereignty, and a strategic interest for Lebanon, the region, and the free world.
As a Lebanese citizen who believes in state sovereignty, independence of national decision-making, and the distinct Lebanese identity, I state it clearly and without equivocation: I support the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, because I see in him an exceptional international leader, and direct support for the cause of a free, independent Lebanon, liberated from the occupation of Iran and its terrorist arm, Hezbollah.
The re-election of Netanyahu and enabling him to form the next Israeli government directly intersects with Lebanon’s supreme interests at this critical and existential juncture.
Netanyahu is not just an ordinary candidate. He is the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of Israel, the statesman who led Israel through multiple wars, managed complex international relations, and enjoys clear and explicit support from U.S. President Donald Trump, who described him as a strong, courageous leader and partner in confronting the Islamic Republic. This support reflects a convergence of vision on the priority of containing the Iranian threat and preventing the regime from acquiring nuclear capabilities that threaten world peace.
Netanyahu has proven over the past years that he is the most determined Israeli leader to confront the Iranian project in the region. This project, embodied in supporting, arming, and transforming southern Lebanon into an advanced military platform for Hezbollah, has for decades been the main obstacle to Lebanon regaining its full sovereignty. Treating Hezbollah as an illegitimate occupation force linked to Tehran, and seeking to dismantle its military infrastructure, is consistent with international resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 1701, and with the aspirations of Lebanese who want one state that monopolizes weapons and decision-making.
But my support for Netanyahu goes beyond the narrow Lebanese dimension. I support him because I see in him an international leader who fights political Islam in both its criminal forms, Shiite and Sunni, without selective discrimination and without hypocrisy.
He does not fight the Iranian Shiite axis alone, but adopts a comprehensive local, regional, and international vision that sees political extremism, represented by destructive terrorist and jihadi political Islam, whether Sunni or Shiite, as a common source threatening stability in all countries of the world, especially in the Middle East. The military campaign against Hamas and Islamic Jihad after the events of October 7th, and the insistence on disarming these organizations and preventing their rebuilding, clearly reflects this approach. His pursuit of weakening the Iranian regime itself stems from a firm conviction that the survival of the Mullahs’ regime means continued feeding of armed networks in Lebanon, Gaza, and Yemen.
And here lies a fundamental point: Netanyahu is fighting on behalf of a complacent West. While Islamic extremism has spread within Western societies themselves, and their capitals suffer from a culture of violence, militias, and ideological extremism, Netanyahu stands almost alone waging the civilizational battle against this danger. He understands that the danger is one, whether it comes with a Shiite turban from Tehran or a Sunni jihadi flag from Gaza.
In this context, the existential threats of Iranian nuclear capabilities emerge as a central danger that cannot be ignored. The Iranian regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons does not threaten Israel alone, but poses an existential threat to Lebanon in particular. If Tehran acquires a nuclear weapon, it will gain a deterrent umbrella enabling it to escalate its support for its militias in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq without fear of real deterrent responses, and will transform Hezbollah into an even bolder tool for imposing a foreign agenda on the Lebanese. Preventing the Mullahs from acquiring nuclear capabilities is not just an Israeli interest, but a common Lebanese, regional, and international interest.
On the diplomatic level, Netanyahu played a pivotal role in achieving the Abraham Accords, which opened new horizons for cooperation between Israel and several Arab countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. These agreements were not merely formal normalization, but represented the beginning of a practical alliance between states that share a rejection of Iranian expansion and Sunni and Shiite jihadi Islamic ideological extremism. The existence of an Israeli leadership committed to this path enhances the chances of expanding regional stability, which is in Lebanon’s interest in the medium and long term.
Politically, despite the media noise and close polls showing a race of between 48 and 55 seats for his camp, Netanyahu’s chances remain the highest in reality. His electoral base in Likud and the religious and right-wing parties remains the most cohesive and disciplined, and has repeatedly proven to surprise the polls with high turnout on election day. Israeli history shows that right-wing voters are often undercounted in polls. Moreover, his unique experience in building coalitions and coalition negotiations gives him a clear advantage over a divided opposition camp suffering from internal divisions over reliance on Arab parties.
In conclusion, this is not about blind support for any external party, but about a realistic assessment of the balance of power and interests. Lebanon needs a regional environment in which the ability of foreign-backed militias to impose their agendas is reduced. Any retreat in Israeli resolve toward Hezbollah and the Iranian regime would give both parties an opportunity to regroup and restore their capabilities, and for Lebanon this means prolonging the current situation: a weak state, illegitimate weapons, borders open to tension, and a collapsed economy.
Therefore, I see the continuation of resolute leadership of the stature of Benjamin Netanyahu – the international leader who fights terrorist political Islam in both its Shiite and Sunni forms, and who fights on behalf of a complacent West infiltrated by extremism – as the option most compatible with the goal of the Lebanese to build a free state with full sovereignty, and a strategic interest for Lebanon, the region, and the free world.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

Statement of Condemnation and Denunciation Regarding the terrorist attack on Hammoud Church in Karak – Jordan And the terrorist attack in Hebron – West Bank
Elias Bejjani/October 23/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/158518/
Today October 23, 2026, two cowardly terrorist crimes were committed that warrant the strongest terms of condemnation, denunciation and revulsion:
First: The massacre at Hammoud Church of the Greek Orthodox in Karak Governorate – Southern Jordan
The fact that an armed group of terrorists stormed a house of God in a vehicle, and opened fire indiscriminately and continuously for five minutes inside Hammoud Church and at its entrance, during a funeral ceremony attended by between 150 and 200 people, resulting in at least 7 martyrs and 34 wounded, most of them elderly between 50 and 70 years of age, is a barbaric, savage, jihadi, takfiri, criminal, satanic act that has nothing to do with humanity, religion, or morality.
Turning a burial ceremony into a bloody massacre inside a sacred place dedicated to prayer, peace and mercy reveals the true ugly face of jihadi terrorism, and confirms that political, terrorist, jihadi Islam in both its Sunni and Shiite wings constitutes an existential danger not only to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and its Christian-Muslim national fabric, but also to international peace and security and to human civilization in every country of the world.
This vile and cowardly act targets Jordanian national unity, targets the authentic Christian presence in the Mashreq, and targets all values of coexistence and peace.
Second: The terrorist operation at a checkpoint near Hebron
In the same terrorist context, severe condemnation is recorded for the treacherous terrorist operation that took place on Friday morning at a temporary checkpoint at the exit of the city of Hebron, where two armed Palestinian gunmen, armed with an assault rifle, a pistol and a large quantity of ammunition, opened fire on the checkpoint, leading to the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the wounding of three others with varying injuries.
Targeting soldiers while performing their security duty, while preliminary investigations by the Israel Defense Forces indicate that the terrorists were planning to carry out a larger attack against civilians on Route 35, is a cowardly terrorist act condemned by all standards, especially after the terrorist Hamas movement described the operation as “heroic”.
The Principled Position
Although different in location, both crimes stem from one swamp, the swamp of global jihadi terrorism, and this calls for the following positions:
Political, terrorist, jihadi Islam, in its Sunni wing represented by Hamas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram, and its Shiite wing represented by the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the rest of the militias, is the number one enemy of human civilization. There is no peace or stability in the Middle East and the world without uprooting this dark, takfiri ideology from its roots.
The downfall of the criminal terrorist regime in Tehran, as the mastermind, financier and central supporter of global terrorism, has become an urgent international necessity to protect world peace.
The complete and final elimination of the terrorist organizations Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram, ISIS and all of Iran’s arms, militarily, financially and ideologically, is a human and civilizational demand that tolerates no settlement, appeasement or containment.
Holding accountable, exposing and pursuing the states and regimes that finance, arm and harbor jihadi terrorism, led by Iran, Qatar and Turkey, and every regime that seeks to strike civilization and its values by exporting extremism, is the responsibility of the free international community.
The pure blood that was shed in Hammoud Church in Karak, and the blood that was shed at the Hebron checkpoint, cries out to the world: Enough silence, enough complicity, enough justification of terrorism.
Mercy to the innocent martyrs, a speedy recovery to the wounded, and shame and disgrace to the murderous jihadi terrorists and their supporters and financiers forever.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

Lebanon... The Word of History
Abu Arz /26 October 2026
In response to those who deny the Lebanese entity, and consider it a creation of the French Mandate, or the Sykes-Picot Agreement, we say:
In a lecture delivered by the famous British historian Arnold Toynbee at the "Lebanese Symposium" on 18 May 1957, the following was stated verbatim:
"Lebanon is the word of history, i.e. the word that history has spoken, and in its surroundings, Lebanon is an exceptional country, almost miraculous... It is the outcome of what its sons have built throughout the ages, so that human Lebanon formed a social and cultural unity since the roots of civilization"...
Conclusion: Let the doubters, the spiteful, and the troublemakers who question the reality of this ancient entity be silent.
Labbayk Lebanon

Our Christian community's problem is that it lives on improvisation and reactions, instead of living vision, planning and strategy!
Father Toni Bou Assaf /26 October 2026
Our Christian community's problem is that it lives on improvisation and reactions, instead of living vision, planning and strategy!
We wake up with every crisis, we scream at every danger, and we move after it is too late... then we return to our slumber until the next shock.
Communities are not protected by emotions, nor built by slogans, nor saved by seasonal stances.
What we need today is not more talk, but a clear project, a long-term vision, and an integrated strategy that links land to people, youth to identity, the church to society, and presence to the future.Enough of being prisoners of the event; it is time to make the event.
For he who does not plan for his future will one day find himself hostage to the plans of others.
Father Toni Bou Assaf
Theology_of_Existence

Information Branch pursues 3 young men from "Hezbollah" who escorted the explosives car!
Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
Information from the MTV website reported that the Information Branch has identified three young men from Hezbollah who were escorting the explosives-laden car in a Kia vehicle. According to the information, the three young men fled towards Beirut after the explosives car was stopped in Dahr al-Baidar, while the Information Branch continues to pursue them in preparation for arresting them and bringing them before the competent judiciary.

New American sanctions on Lebanese politicians obstructing disarmament of "Hezbollah"
Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
Information from "Al-Jadeed" reported a move to impose new American sanctions including Lebanese politicians under the pretext of obstructing the disarmament of Hezbollah. It indicated that the new American sanctions, if imposed, "may affect judges and security or military officials."

Funded by Iran.. Hezbollah prepares for a new regional war
Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
Reuters news agency quoted Lebanese security officials familiar with Hezbollah's activities as saying that the group spent three months preparing for the possibility of resuming hostilities with Israel after receiving cash funding from Iran. Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1982, suffered severe blows in two wars with Israel since 2024, which killed thousands of fighters and many of its leaders and destroyed a large part of its arsenal. Israeli forces currently occupy Hezbollah strongholds in villages in southern Lebanon, and political pressure in Beirut to disarm it has increased. Nevertheless, Hezbollah is still planning to fight Israel. Two Lebanese security sources told Reuters that it took advantage of the lull in fighting since June to rearm, focusing on buying explosives and producing drones that can be directed towards Israeli sites. One source, and another source close to Hezbollah, said that Hezbollah received tens of millions of dollars from Iran to help boost its military capabilities. This is in addition to about 200 million dollars Hezbollah received from Tehran to help displaced families in its strongholds. One of these two sources and three other security officials familiar with Hezbollah operations said it is working to rebuild command and control structures that collapsed during crucial battles. For its part, Hezbollah's media office said in response to questions from Reuters that Israel's occupation of Lebanese territory "makes any resistance to it a legitimate right." The office refused to indicate that the party's command and control systems had collapsed.
For his part, a US State Department spokesman said Washington will continue to choke Hezbollah's financial resources through sanctions and other measures. A US Treasury Department spokesman said Iran's money is running out as well as its means of transferring money.
Sources told Reuters that the party has not yet been able to fully equip its stockpiles or combat forces. Hezbollah is still re-equipping, admitting this month that explosives seized by Lebanese authorities belong to it and are intended for use against Israel. A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source told Reuters that the explosives were specifically intended for its explosive drones. One Lebanese source and three security officials said the party will also need to rebuild its command and control capabilities after its losses on major fronts, including the tense town of Bint Jbeil and the strategic hill of Ali al-Taher.
They pointed out that Hezbollah's method of operating in small units and rationing the use of anti-tank missiles left some units isolated on those fronts, finding it difficult to confront Israeli remote-operated systems, including armed drones and remotely piloted vehicles. For its part, the Israeli army told Reuters that it uses remote-operated systems to monitor southern Lebanon and reduce exposure of forces to threat. Hezbollah did not explicitly say whether it would participate if a new round of hostilities erupted, but its media office reported that it fears giving Israeli leaders any justification for escalation in Lebanon, especially with the group's concern about displacing its supporters again.

Lebanon holds its breath: high American pressure.. and C4 investigations advance
Headline - Al-Modon / 27 October 2026
All eyes are turning today to Israel, where the general elections could constitute a pivotal station in determining political paths and the nature of confrontations across the Middle East. Lebanon is in a state of holding its breath awaiting the election results and their repercussions on the situation in southern Lebanon. Some believe that Benjamin Netanyahu sees in raising the ceiling of confrontation with Iran and its allies a political opportunity to re-mobilize the Israeli street behind security options and tends to export his internal crises through the military option before reaching the election station. But what prevented that is that Washington under Donald Trump showed strict reservations about entering into an open and direct war with Tehran before the American midterm elections. Washington's strategy is focused on adopting a method of economic strangulation and supporting tactical operations carried out by Israel, without reaching major explosive ceilings, to avoid a rise in oil prices and market disruption that could harm Trump's popularity and his party's electoral chances. This delicate balance puts Lebanon and its future in the face of dangers, as Hezbollah's position vacillates between the desire to avoid a comprehensive confrontation that destroys infrastructure and destabilizes the already deteriorating Lebanese reality, and the inevitable commitment to support Tehran if it is subjected to a strike that may be existential. The party's involvement in any wide regional war will immediately activate threats by Israeli officials such as Yisrael Katz to impose a new security reality based on a scorched-earth policy, through carrying out extensive destruction and massive displacement of areas south of the Litani River and returning to targeting the southern suburbs (Dahiyeh) severely. Today, Reuters reported information that the party is preparing to engage in the war, with funding from Iran.
According to the information, the fundamental problem lies in ensuring that the existing military coordination does not turn into a mechanism for the Lebanese army to implement the demands of the Israeli side, especially since the next stage will witness great pressure on official Lebanon to take decisive measures in the security file, even if it leads to tension on the internal scene. The issue is no longer limited to the future of the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah, but has become connected to the nature of the role required of the Lebanese state, and the limits of its ability to reconcile the requirements of extending its authority over its territory, and external pressures that seek to impose security arrangements not accompanied by corresponding Israeli guarantees. Accordingly, Lebanon remains hostage to the degree of American restraint of Netanyahu's ambitions and the hawks of his government, and the possibilities of an Iranian response from Lebanon. In any case, the region, including Lebanon, appears to be facing two scenarios: bad and worse. Either being content with swift strikes within specific frameworks, or sliding into a comprehensive destructive war, which will be very costly in Lebanon.
Pressure on Lebanon: The army between the state's mission and Israeli demands
Fears of the phase following the Israeli elections are advancing over the results of the vote itself, in light of indicators of the transfer of American and Israeli pressures on Lebanon from the level of political demands to the level of security measures required to be implemented on the ground. This shift puts the Lebanese authority before a dilemma that goes beyond the file of Hezbollah's weapons, to affect the relationship between state institutions, especially the army, and external parties concerned with ceasefire arrangements. Recent Tampa meetings, which brought together the Lebanese and Israeli military delegations under American sponsorship, did not lead to a breakthrough in fundamental issues, foremost among them stopping Israeli attacks and withdrawing from occupied Lebanese territories. In contrast, pressure continues on Lebanon to take additional steps in the weapons file, amid Israeli efforts to link any progress in security arrangements to the extent of the Lebanese army's response to the demands put forward.Here the real political problem emerges, as the military coordination that is supposed to serve the implementation of understandings and ensure stability may turn, in the absence of mutual commitments, into a framework through which the priorities of the Israeli side are imposed on Lebanese institutions. This is a possibility that raises questions about who determines the nature and extent of security measures, and whether the state will be able to retain the independence of its decision in the face of increasing pressures. More dangerously, the next stage may push official Lebanon to take decisive measures internally, even if it carries possibilities of political and security tension. The demand to restrict weapons to the state, as a sovereign responsibility, is different from imposing a timetable and field measures under the weight of the Israeli threat. Between the two, the ability of the Lebanese authority to protect the army's position and prevent its transformation into a party in an open internal confrontation is determined. In the internal security file, investigations by the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces revealed new data regarding the explosives car seized two weeks ago at the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint. According to a security source to "Al-Modon", analysis of surveillance camera recordings showed that the Dodge car carrying explosives of types C4 and TNT was preceded by another car that reconnoitered the road and monitored checkpoints and security deployments. When the shipment was stopped, the passengers of the escorting car fled towards Beirut, while the Information Branch was able to identify their identities, their car's specifications and its plates. Security sources suggested that the judiciary will take measures to pursue and arrest them, at a time when investigations are expanding to uncover the parties involved in transporting the explosives and facilitating their passage.

Hezbollah and Iran: pledges of non-interference under test
Al-Modon/26 October 2026
In parallel with pressures on the state, the debate returns about Hezbollah's decision in the event of a new confrontation between the United States and Israel on one hand, and Iran on the other. It is a debate that goes beyond the question of the party's intention to participate, to searching for its actual ability to commit to neutralizing Lebanon if the confrontation takes an existential character for Tehran. According to information conveyed by media from sources close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah renewed its pledge not to engage in any new war in defense of Iran. The content of this pledge was conveyed to President Joseph Aoun, as part of contacts aimed at sparing Lebanon a confrontation whose repercussions it cannot bear. This information intersects with what informed sources conveyed about the visit of Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Saeed Khatibzadeh to Beirut on 14 October, when he told a group of Hezbollah and Amal Movement MPs that Tehran does not want the party to engage in a new war, in light of the costs Lebanon has incurred and the losses inflicted on the party's military capabilities. However, these reassurances are not enough, in themselves, to dispel fears. The party had previously presented similar pledges before engaging in confrontation on 2 March last, which raises again the question of who holds the final decision, and the ability of Lebanese calculations to take precedence over the requirements of regional confrontation. Also, the party's position cannot be separated from Israeli possibilities. Even if it decides not to intervene, the question remains whether Israel will accept its neutralization, or will exploit any confrontation with Iran to direct a new blow to its military capabilities. Thus, avoiding war is no longer linked to the party's decision alone, but to the totality of calculations that control the course of regional confrontation.
Rebuilding capabilities: preparation for war or strengthening deterrence?
These questions gain more importance with information published by Reuters about Hezbollah rebuilding its military capabilities, with Iranian financial support. According to the agency's sources, the party received tens of millions of dollars from Tehran, and worked during recent months to restore its leadership and military structure and enhance its capabilities, after the losses it suffered in previous confrontations. This data indicates that the party has not abandoned the option of rebuilding its military strength, despite the political and military pressures it faces. But it does not necessarily mean that the decision to participate in a new war has been taken, as this process can also be read as an attempt to restore the ability to deter, in the face of continued Israeli attacks. However, the difference between preparing for war and taking the decision to wage it may quickly disappear if the regional confrontation expands. In this case, the party's rebuilt capabilities will become part of Israeli calculations, whether it uses them or not, especially in light of repeated threats to prevent the re-formation of its military structure. This reality puts the Lebanese state before a double dilemma, as it is asked to work to restrict weapons to its institutions, while the party continues to rebuild its capabilities, and Israel continues its military operations without the existing understandings leading to an actual cessation of attacks.
Israeli elections: change of governments does not guarantee change of policies
In Israel, the legislative elections scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday 27 October, entered the electoral silence phase, amid a political division whose implications go beyond the question of determining the identity of the next prime minister. The competition between Benjamin Netanyahu's camp and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is taking place against the backdrop of wars Israel has waged, and what they left behind in terms of questions related to security and military failures, and the limits of force in reshaping the regional environment.Recent opinion polls indicate a convergence between the two camps, without guaranteeing either the majority needed to form a government, which is 61 seats out of 120. This puts Israel before the possibility of continued governmental deadlock, even after the results are announced, making the formation of the next coalition a political battle that may be no less complex than the elections themselves. In this context, Israeli threats to Iran gained an additional electoral dimension, especially after reports talking about disagreements between Netanyahu and the military leadership about the possibility of carrying out an operation against Tehran before the vote. Although Security Minister Yisrael Katz denied the existence of an intention to launch an attack before the elections, the controversy revealed the extent of overlap between security considerations and internal political calculations. Netanyahu, who presents himself as the guarantor of Israel's security, faces the challenge of convincing voters that the successive wars have produced actual security, not just temporary military superiority. In contrast, objection to his management of the war does not mean there is a radical difference between the main Israeli forces regarding the use of force, as much as it reflects a disagreement about its management and results. But what is more important for Lebanon is not necessarily the identity of the winner, but the limits of change that the results may impose on Israeli policy towards the northern front. The competition between Netanyahu and his opponents does not reflect a radical difference in dealing with threats related to Hezbollah and Iran, as much as it revolves around managing the confrontation and its results. The last hours before the vote reflected this overlap between security and politics, with continued brandishing of the military option against Iran, coinciding with the revelation of a laser-based defense system at the border with Lebanon.
Lebanon after the elections: what decision for war and what role for the state?
Accordingly, the next phase seems to be a candidate for more complexity, whether the Israeli elections result in a new government, or reproduce the existing political deadlock. Israeli security demands will not necessarily stop at the limits of the ballot results, just as the possibility of confrontation with Iran will remain a pressing factor on Lebanon. The paradox is that official Lebanon is being asked to take decisive decisions in the security file, while it alone does not possess the keys to calm or escalation. It is concerned with restricting weapons and extending its authority, but at the same time faces continued Israeli occupation, military threats, and an armed party whose essential part of its calculations is linked to the regional conflict. Hence, the issue becomes beyond waiting for Netanyahu's decision or Tehran's response. The real challenge lies in preventing the transformation of external pressures into an internal confrontation, and in ensuring that the Lebanese army does not turn from an institution supposed to consecrate the sovereignty of the state, into a tool for implementing Israeli conditions not met by guarantees of withdrawal and cessation of attacks.
And between external pressures and internal calculations, Lebanon stands before a phase that may be more dangerous than a mere change in Israeli authority. For the fundamental question is no longer limited to whether war will break out, but has also become related to what the Lebanese state can be asked to do to prevent it, and whether the price of avoiding external confrontation will be opening the doors to internal tension.

Holding breath on eve of Israeli elections... Katz: We will not attack but!
Hezbollah: Resistance decision is Lebanese, no one dictates it and Iran supports Lebanon
Lebanese Forces ask government about Galerie Semaan incident and Tehran meeting launches
Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
The region is on the edge of possibilities, and Israel is brandishing fire while military pressures intersect with Tehran negotiations and Israeli election calculations. While the resistance denies that Iran has asked it to support it, the Lebanese question remains hanging on the decision of confrontation and its limits, amid fears that Lebanon will again pay the price of a war it cannot afford to bear. Internally, questions are no less heated: Who decides war and peace? And where do de facto arrangements end and state sovereignty begin? Questions that come to the fore with the escalating debate about Hezbollah's weapons, and the powers of security and judicial institutions, while regional capitals move to contain the explosion before it is too late.
On the eve of the Israeli elections scheduled for tomorrow, the region holds its breath in anticipation of any possible military development that Tel Aviv and Washington are brandishing at the same time, if Iran does not facilitate the negotiation path and reaching an agreement with the United States, and Lebanese fears grow of Hezbollah's intervention in any confrontation, knowing that the latter declares that Tehran does not need it.
Resistance decision is Lebanese: Today, MP Hassan Fadlallah, member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, affirmed that the resistance in Lebanon is a defensive case for its country, and its cause today is to work on liberating land and the return of residents and the release of prisoners and reconstruction, and the resistance's decision is a Lebanese decision taken by its leadership, and no one abroad or inside dictates it to it, and this is what it was in the past under His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as well as today under His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem, and will continue in the future, noting that some in Lebanon always promote the saying that the resistance takes decisions related to confrontation with the enemy based on external requests, this is an underestimation of people's minds, and فيه distortion and misleading, and regardless of leaks that deal with our position and what is correct or incorrect, this position stems from our will and our assessment and our diagnosis of the national interest, and the resistance leadership announces it in its time, but all under the ceiling of the cause for which we fight, which is the cause of the south and liberating the land and returning to it, and the Islamic Republic of Iran did not ask us in the past nor today to support it in facing the American-Israeli aggression, on the contrary, when we meet with Iranian officials, they ask what we want and what is our interest and Lebanon's interest in order to support us, and this means that we are the ones who rely on Iran and its strength, and on the equation it wants to consecrate in order to help us liberate our country from Israeli occupation.
Katz: In contrast, while Israeli drone overflights over Lebanese territory continue strongly from the south to Dahiyeh amid explosions and combing in the south, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed "categorically that we had no intention to launch an attack on Iran before the Israeli elections." However he added "We made it clear that we will respond with great force if Israel is attacked by Iran." Is Berri reassured?: As for internally, many doubts surround the party's "reassurances". In this context, member of the Strong Republic bloc MP Ghada Ayoub said in a radio interview "I don't know if Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is reassured that the party will not enter a new support war despite having been hit previously."
Lebanese Forces ask: Amid these atmospheres, while the issue of referring the Dahr al-Baidar explosives case to the Judicial Council seems postponed by a Lebanese presidential decision, until further notice, the Lebanese Forces continue to escalate against this governmental performance and against Hezbollah's behaviors. Today, members of the Strong Republic bloc, former Deputy Prime Minister MP Ghassan Hasbani and MP Razi al-Hajj, submitted today a written parliamentary question to the Lebanese government, via the Parliament Speaker, addressed to the Ministers of Interior and Municipalities and National Defense, against the background of what happened in Galerie Semaan area, where information reported that armed men surrounded a Judicial Police patrol while implementing a judicial rogatory commission issued by the Cassation Public Prosecutor to raid a medicine warehouse ten days ago. Hasbani affirmed that more dangerous than the incident itself is what was stated in the official statement issued by "Hezbollah," which explicitly announced the existence of an "agreed-upon mechanism" with security agencies and considered that the raid took place in an "area of security sensitivity" without adopting that mechanism. He also asked "Who gave Hezbollah the authority to agree with security agencies on conditions for implementing their tasks? And who decided that there are areas in Lebanon subject to special security arrangements? And has the implementation of judicial rogatories now need prior coordination with a party?" He added "These are not detailed questions, but questions related to the essence of the state and its sovereignty, and the extent of its institutions' ability to exercise their legal powers over all Lebanese territory. Therefore, we directed to the government a question of 27 specific paragraphs, through which we demand confirmation or denial of the existence of this security mechanism, and disclosure of its content and the parties that approved it and the instructions that regulate it, and determination of legal and political responsibilities arising from it." Hasbani concluded "We affirm that the sovereignty of the state is indivisible, and that implementation of judicial decisions is not subject to negotiation or coordination with any party. There are no areas outside the authority of the state, nor security by consent, nor judiciary that needs permission from anyone."
Electricity in the Palace: Meanwhile, President General Joseph Aoun discussed with MP Nehme Efrem internal situations and regional developments, in addition to the electricity file and measures being worked on to improve electricity production. Efrem praised the positions of the President aimed at "preserving Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, unity of its territories and extending the state's authority"... For his part, head of the National Liberal Party MP Camille Chamoun after meeting the President said the discussion dealt with current situations in the country. Chamoun stressed "the importance of national unity in light of the current crisis, and the necessity of supporting the President and the Prime Minister in these circumstances," calling to "think about Lebanon's future and work to build the desired homeland."
Between the alliance and Iran: Regionally, attention turned to the Iranian capital Tehran, where this afternoon the exceptional security meeting that brings together high-level officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran started, in a remarkable diplomatic and security move aimed at launching a new path for regional coordination, in light of escalating tensions in the region. Iranian Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Bagheri Kani, announced that the meeting includes Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkish Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalin, alongside Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Mohsen Rezaei. The Saudi Foreign Ministry confirmed that the visit "comes within the framework of efforts aimed at de-escalation in the region and encouraging dialogue and diplomatic solutions." It clarified in a statement that "the visit aims to continue the efforts of the Mecca Agreement countries to de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis, and support mediation efforts being undertaken by the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan." Saudi Arabia expressed "its aspiration for the parties to the crisis to engage positively and pragmatically with the results of the visit and ongoing efforts being exerted by Qatar and Pakistan, in a way that contributes to resolving the crisis through dialogue and diplomacy." It stressed "the importance of opening negotiation channels to prevent renewed military escalation in the region, in preparation for reaching an agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and peace in the region and the world." It reiterated "emphasizing the pivotal role of the Mecca Agreement countries in enhancing the region's security and stability, and working with various countries to ensure achieving regional and international peace."Egyptian mandate: Not far away, the Egyptian House of Representatives approved today, Monday, authorizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take what is necessary in coordination with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to defend its territories.

Berri and Hezbollah: deepening political differentiation and Shiite fears of a rift
Najwa Abi Haidar / Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
Al-Markazia - Do the positions of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reflect a distribution of roles aimed at protecting the resistance and the Shiite environment and its continued control of military and political power in Lebanon, or a sensing of approaching risks? A question that is repeated inside and outside the Shiite environment, in light of accumulating indicators of widening differences between Amal Movement and Hezbollah, which emerged since the support war and deepened in the recent stage, up to Berri's declaration that his relationship with the former Secretary-General of the party Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was closer, affirming that "there is no big brother and no small brother," in a reference many interpreted as an expression of differentiation that goes beyond the limits of difference in political approach. On 2 March, Hezbollah's launch of six missiles towards Israel, in support of Iran after the assassination of the Iranian Supreme Leader and a number of senior military and political leaders, constituted a pivotal station in the relationship between the two parties. According to circulated data, Berri had conveyed to President Joseph Aoun and the American and Saudi sides the party's position, amid Israeli warnings of repercussions of any intervention, including targeting infrastructure and expanding military operations up to the Litani and the southern suburbs. And the party had informed Berri, according to the same information, that it will not support Iran this time, taking into account pressures of its incubating environment and the difficult conditions lived by the south and Shiites. In this context, a well-informed Shiite leader conveys to "Al-Markazia" what took place in the meeting of Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh with MPs from Amal and Hezbollah, and says: The Iranian official told those gathered that Tehran will not ask the party to support it militarily if it is subjected to American-Israeli attack, affirming its ability to confront, and stressing the need to preserve unity within the Shiite duo and not squander the party's deterrent power. He also called to avoid being dragged into unbalanced confrontations, warning of steps that may reflect negatively on the Shiite environment, and stressing the need to adopt "political coexistence" under the ceiling of differentiation, in a way that prevents friction between supporters of the two sides. And Berri, according to information, conveyed the Iranian position to President Aoun.
But the dispute between Amal and Hezbollah soon escalated against the background of the party's positions and behaviors, especially what relates to transferring weapons in this very delicate stage. Berri's recent statements are now read in the context of this divergence, while independent circles within the Shiite sect talk to "Al-Markazia" about a dispute that goes beyond political files to administrative appointments and distribution of positions within the state. And they point to leaks and mutual accusations, some accusing Berri of accommodating the authority and the United States and Saudi Arabia, while circles close to the party promote that he informed Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of his refusal to topple the government or amend it, and his opposition to using the street in a way that threatens stability and civil peace. The circles consider that these disputes may be a reflection of differences within Iran itself, between the diplomatic track and the military institution, especially the Revolutionary Guard, and that its repercussions may have extended to Hezbollah's political and military decision. So will Berri and the party be able to contain differences under the ceiling of unity of ranks, or will the next stage reveal a deeper rift within the duo, at a time when the Shiite environment faces increasing political, security and economic challenges?

"Lebanese Forces" besiege government with 27 questions about "the Party's mechanism"
Israel votes and Hezbollah arms itself... Lebanon awaits the storm
Nidaa al-Watan / 27 October 2026
Far from the results that ballot boxes in Israel will produce, the equation related to the security of northern settlements remains fixed and unchanging. Disarming Hezbollah will remain a priority that takes precedence over changing faces in Tel Aviv, even if it costs Israel continued confrontation. The Israeli consensus on ending the threat represented by the party goes beyond the name of the next prime minister, and puts Lebanon before the fact that withdrawal will not be separate from the battle of weapons and Israeli security conditions. For changing names will not dispel the Israeli consensus on ending the party's ability to threaten borders and impose war and peace decisions outside the authority of the Lebanese state. While Israel heads to the ballot boxes, an official source told Nidaa al-Watan that the atmosphere in Lebanon is dominated by caution, follow-up and anticipation awaiting the emergence of Israeli election results. He clarified that the result means Lebanon directly, although the general Israeli policy will not change. Netanyahu promised his voters to complete the war on Iran and its arms, implicitly Hezbollah, while the victory of Gadi Eisenkot may put him in a bidding party to prove that he is capable of waging wars and achieving goals, and therefore Lebanon is before a new phase that may be more dangerous, especially with Hezbollah's adherence to the same policy. And awaiting the new phase in which war seems an inevitable fate, data reported by Reuters revealed a parallel path no less dangerous: Hezbollah is rebuilding command and control structures that collapsed during battles, and preparing for the possibility of renewed war, benefiting from tens of millions of dollars from Iran to enhance its military capabilities, and focusing on buying explosives and producing offensive drones. The agency also quoted Lebanese security officials that the explosives seized in the truck were intended for use in explosive drones. Here lies the dangerous paradox: While Lebanon is supposed to turn to consolidating cessation of hostilities and extracting a clear path for Israeli withdrawal, Hezbollah is busy restoring its military capabilities and preparing for a possible new round. Whatever the identity of the government that will emerge from the Israeli elections, the party's continuation in developing its offensive tools and rebuilding its military structure puts Lebanon at risk that these preparations will turn into a pretext for renewed war, and that Lebanese will find themselves facing repercussions of a decision not taken by their state. And most importantly, will the Lebanese government, in front of all this dangerous data that may implicate Lebanon in a new war, impose its decisions and prevent reproduction of causes of war, or will it remain captive to the status quo while in Tel Aviv the features of the next stage are determined?
Fadlallah's nonsense
In parallel, the nonsense of Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah about the "Lebaneseness" of the resistance decision, which no longer fools anyone, drew attention. When Hezbollah's MP talks about Iran as the party that supports Lebanon, he tries to turn facts upside down and mislead Lebanese, while the question that should be directed to Fadlallah: Who are you lying to, and who are you betting on in marketing this narrative? Isn't Hezbollah the one that declares its link to an axis led by Tehran, while its political and military practices reveal the extent of its subordination to Iranian decision? And what independence does the militia's decision have if the party is rebuilding its military capabilities under continuation of this link?While the party continues to confirm reproduction of its military capabilities, and the government waters down the file of referring Dahr al-Baidar explosives to the Judicial Council and postpones it, information from MTV website reported that the Information Branch identified identities of three Hezbollah youth who were accompanying the explosives shipment aboard a Kia car. According to information, the three young men fled towards Beirut after the explosives car was stopped in Dahr al-Baidar, while the Information Branch continues to pursue them in preparation for arresting them and bringing them before competent judiciary.
Lebanese Forces ask about security mechanism
In contrast, the Lebanese Forces continue to urge the government to move forward in implementing its decisions and curb the impudence of the party and its blatant excess and bullying, as members of the Strong Republic bloc, MPs Ghassan Hasbani and Razi al-Hajj, submitted a written parliamentary question to the Lebanese government, via the Parliament Speaker, addressed to Ministers of Interior and Municipalities and National Defense, against the background of what happened in Galerie Semaan. Hasbani affirmed that more dangerous than the incident itself is what was stated in the official statement issued by Hezbollah, which explicitly announced existence of an "agreed mechanism" with security agencies, and considered that the raid took place in an "area of security sensitivity" without adopting that mechanism. He also asked: "Who gave Hezbollah authority to agree with security agencies on conditions for implementing their tasks"? He added: "We directed to the government a question of 27 specific paragraphs, through which we demand confirmation or denial of existence of this security mechanism, and disclosure of its content and parties that approved it and instructions that regulate it, and determination of legal and political responsibilities arising from it."
Committee to study amnesty law problematics
On the line of general amnesty law, the Supreme Judicial Council decided, in its weekly meeting, to form a committee to study origins and problematics of applying the general amnesty law, to present its report before end of current week.
Budget 2027
Financially, head of Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan confirmed, after first session dedicated to discussing draft budget for year 2027, that arrival of draft within constitutional deadline is credited to government, stressing in contrast rejection of imposing new fees and taxes in light of economic contraction and detention of deposits. He also demanded completion of financial accounts, restructuring public sector, and reaching final formula for financial gap law preserving depositors' rights.
Quadripartite meeting in TehranRegionally, in a step carrying political and security connotations beyond limits of traditional meetings, attention turned to quadripartite meeting in Tehran that included officials from Mecca Agreement countries for joint defense, and Iranian officials within efforts to reduce escalation in region. According to final statement of meeting, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran agreed to continue consultations to enhance cooperation among them, to support peace and security in region. (Details p:10)
Damascus responds to Jordanian raids
After raids launched by Jordanian Air Force on sites of "terrorist organizations" in southern Syria, within operation "Jordanian Deterrence - Hammoud," in response to armed attack that targeted funeral in church in Karak governorate, Syrian Foreign Ministry responded condemning operation, affirming it was carried out without prior coordination with Damascus, announcing opening investigation into its circumstances and communication with Jordanian side about it.

The Party's Chorus Outbids It: Accusations of Treason and Zionism Caused by State Laxity
Lara Yazbek / Al-Markazia / 26 October 2026
Al-Markazia - Despite Hezbollah's praise, through the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, for the Cabinet's step to postpone discussion of referring the Dahr al-Baidar explosives truck file to the Judicial Council, some of those who orbit in its sphere, from media and clerics, insist on outbidding it, perhaps to further polish their image in the eyes of Dahiyeh, considering it is the one who decides their appointment to their positions. In this category, say sovereign political sources to "Al-Markazia", fall the recent positions of the Excellent Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan. He considered in a statement addressed to the Lebanese people and to everyone concerned with Lebanon, that "what the South is exposed to through the actual motives of the Lebanese executive authority, is worse than what it is exposed to from the Israeli terrorist arsenal, because the issue here relates to the political sorting project that is being cooked in Washington and Tel Aviv to get rid of Lebanon's national doctrine, and that is in the context of the game of external maps that wants to Zionize Lebanon, so the fear is not from the Zionist arsenal but from the internal political arsenal that plants its dagger in our backs, and we are not among those who retreat on national and sovereign issues, and the moment is for sacrifice and steadfastness and capability and thickening the conditions of the guaranteeing national strength." He continued "To some I say: Lebanon remains only through sacrifices not negotiations, and what is happening behind the scenes of negotiations is annihilation of national sovereignty and a complete outsourcing of security of southern Lebanon for the benefit of the Zionist army, and this is not only from mistakes of the executive authority but it is its definite intention, and the honorable national keen cannot allow passing this national catastrophe, as he does not accept destroying national steadfastness capabilities, and when the authority drowns in the behind-the-scenes of negotiations that threaten Lebanon's sovereignty and its security, protecting the country becomes the biggest national duty at all, and when the authority colludes with the enemy, internal laws become a tool of occupation and reinforcement of its role"...We are used to Qabalan accusing the Lebanese state of treason, but he outdoes himself in expressions and low discourse. The cleric does not hesitate to accuse the state of Zionization and planting its daggers in the backs of a segment of Lebanese, in inflammatory speech that would incite Hezbollah's environment against legitimacy and make the blood of those in power permissible. Why? Because they implement the law, prevent the transfer of kilograms of explosives on roads among civilians, want to apply decisions taken by the majority of the government and which have the approval of a majority of parliament, i.e. the majority of Lebanese. Regardless of the opinion of the party and Qabalan about them, and whether they are good or bad, these decisions are wanted by most Lebanese, therefore the minority, i.e. Hezbollah and its allies, must accept them and implement them. But Qabalan and the party and all its chorus, have previously bullied the state and accused it of treason many times over the past months, and were never held accountable, and here is the result today: stronger incitement and more dangerous accusations and shedding of blood and transfer of explosives with demands to recover them otherwise! Unfortunately we today reap the fruits of the state's negligence and leniency, throughout the previous period...

Forget the Judicial Council
Jean al-Feghali / Nidaa al-Watan / 27 October 2027
The Dahr al-Baidar truck case will not be referred, at the farthest estimate, to the Judicial Council, this means, in conclusion, that there is a green light for "Hezbollah" to continue transferring weapons? The Dahr al-Baidar truck case is not just a security file awaiting completion of investigations, but an actual test of the Lebanese state's ability to apply the law when the judiciary intersects with political calculations. Keeping the referral request to the Judicial Council pending, instead of deciding it, raises a question that goes beyond the truck and its load: Can the state impose its authority on everyone, or do some files become hostage to balances? The Cabinet did not decide to refer the case to the Judicial Council, amid divergence in political and judicial positions regarding the step and its timing. The file has turned into a clash point around the concept of sovereignty and exclusivity of weapons in the hands of the state.
Forget the Judicial Council, if politics is to precede law, then when a case of this magnitude is raised, it is not enough to invoke deliberation or waiting for the appropriate timing to justify keeping it pending. What is required is that Lebanese know what was transported, for what purpose, and who bears responsibility, and that investigations be completed without pressures or exceptions. Non-referral, if it turns into a final decision without a clear and effective judicial path, may be read as a negative message meaning that sensitive files can be contained politically instead of resorting to judicial mechanisms commensurate with their seriousness. And here specifically lies the danger of repercussions: it may constitute a green light for Hezbollah to continue transferring weapons, because absence of deterrent accountability weakens the state's ability to prevent recurrence of the same facts. But this result is not inevitable, for non-referral to the Judicial Council does not legally mean closing the investigation or dropping responsibilities. The real criterion is whether competent agencies will continue their work, and whether judiciary will reach announced results, and whether law will be applied to everyone whose responsibility is proven, regardless of affiliation. The problem, then, is not in the name of the court alone, but in the message that the country will come out with from this file. If investigations remain serious and independent, the state can prove that justice does not stop at the limits of referral. But if deliberation ends in folding the case or obstructing accountability, doubts will deepen about the ability of institutions to impose their authority. In the end, Lebanese do not need new slogans about sovereignty, but steps that prove it. The Dahr al-Baidar case is a test of the credibility of institutions, and any failure to reveal truth and hold officials accountable will leave an open question: who actually decides where weapons are transferred, and who has the right to hold their transporters accountable?

Lebanon Between Two Conferences: "Lebanon First and Last" Exposes Forgery of the "National Gathering"
Ahmad al-Ayoubi / Nidaa al-Watan / 27 October 2027
Lebanon recently witnessed two conferences reflecting the depth of the conflict raging in the country, between sovereign elites and groups enlisted under the banner of the Iran axis, and showed how this conflict is managed between the two sides. The first conference was held under title "National Forum for Sovereignty – Lebanon First and Last" at Le Royal Hotel – Dbayeh, organized by the "Beit Lubnan al-Alam" foundation chaired by Betty Hindi, in cooperation with MTV, on 21/10/2026 and with presence and participation of political figures and social, cultural, religious and diaspora figures, who discussed reality of Lebanon and challenges facing it, and ways for the state to restore its sovereignty and national decision, and put the country on path of reform and advancement. Participating in the forum were a gathering of political and religious forces and MPs and elites who successively presented their visions for political, security and economic situation, based on national sovereignty rules, where they presented sober working papers carrying ideas and proposals examining how to deal with complex and compound Lebanese reality, in light of a political authority that brought the country to half the well and cut the rope with people, so they find themselves stuck between discourse of first and third presidencies, which is abuzz with sovereign titles, and utter failure of governance in applying oath speech and ministerial statement and government decisions. The most important constant in the forum's works was that sovereignty remained the controlling compass, and that the broad national alliance, Islamic-Christian, for establishment of state is still cohesive and capable of continuing struggle in new rounds, those of this orientation did not tire, but discussion went about how to restore popular and political momentum and not be content with struggle from inside official state institutions, whether Cabinet or Parliament. As for second conference, it was held by the secretariat of "National Gathering" in Lebanon its conference on 19 and 20/10/2026 at Le Gray Hotel in downtown Beirut, under title "Taif: Sovereignty, Liberation, Reform". And "National Gathering" is a new front for Hezbollah working under titles of dialogue and conflict resolution, while it is composed basically of a group some of which carries a cultural title, but is committed to literature of the Party and its orientations, and other part is a thug charlatan who has nothing to do with culture, such as Ali Hijazi responsible for dissolved Syrian Baath Party who heads "Al-Raya" party whose founding conference was attended by Hijazi himself and correspondents of Al-Manar and Al-Mayadeen and Al-Ahed.
The "National Gathering" conference distinguished by title "Taif: Sovereignty, Liberation, Reform", as a new attempt to forge National Accord Document and attempt to legitimize sectarian militia work represented by Shiite duo, especially Hezbollah under title of resistance, which fell a fall with no rise after, since its coup against interior on 7 May, then involvement in aggression against Syrian people, and spread in Arab countries killing and terrorism and sabotage.
The "National Gathering" ignores truth of constitution, and ignores that sovereignty cries in corner with tyranny of Iran and its occupation of Lebanon via Revolutionary Guard and Party forces that take orders from Guard. Also gathering ignores that liberation is not by expelling an occupation and bringing alternative occupation, as happened between Israel and Iran. As for reform, it is innocent of conference and of Party and its allies, they are masters of alliance between illegitimate weapon and corruption, which produced era of Michel Aoun, and what do you know what era of hell is. Hezbollah wants to continue stealing national titles and emptying them and transforming them into tamed titles opposite to their purposes and goals for which they were established, most important of which is Taif Agreement and constitution, and claiming that it legislated for Party to monopolize decision of peace and war and expose country and its people to endless series of security and economic, even existential disasters.Two conferences in Beirut: First embodied true sovereign alliance, and confirmed that "Lebanon first and last" and a conference tried to hijack Taif and forge it and use it in service of miserable dependency to Iran, under title "National Gathering", and this calls upon sovereign forces to restore its momentum and launch a movement plan in regions that enhances national immunity in face of impudence of Iran's party and its "cultural militias".

Le parcours d’une implosion?
Dr. Charles Chartouni/ICI Beyrout/October 26/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/158595/
Rien ne fonctionne au Liban et rien ne présage un retournement qui mettrait fin à une entropie évolutive. Les institutions sont des faux-semblants derrière lesquels s’abritent les réalités d’une société qui se décompose et celui d’un État qui sert de véhicule à une politique de domination qui avance sans vergogne. Le pacte et la narrativité hypothétiquement nationale qui lui sert de doublure et autour de laquelle se structure le convivium libanais sont caducs et ne disposent d’aucun pouvoir d’entraînement. À l’heure où les politiques poursuivent des carrières d’entremetteurs et d’agents au service des stratégies de puissance.
Comment faire converger des parcours aussi divergents que destructeurs alors que le pays évolue de vide en vide et que l’état de dissipation poursuit sa marche? Pour notre infortune, il n’y a pas d’indicateurs qui puissent pointer dans une autre direction. Ce pays navigue dans des eaux troubles sans fin et les politiques s’en accommodent comme s’il s’agissait d’une fatalité. Ces derniers temps, une nouvelle rhétorique s’empare de la scène et prône la capitulation au profit de la politique de domination chiite, alors que les chiites sont broyés par une dynamique guerrière qu’ils ont créée de toutes pièces. Cette situation laisse place à un spectacle désolant d’une communauté chiite destituée, accompagnée de projections de guerre civile et d'un contexte de verrouillages politiques croisés.
La soi-disant vie politique n’est que jeu de cirque où la fausseté et le mensonge servent de grammaire. On se pose la question légitime de la véracité et de la trame d’une vie politique qui se déroule en surface. En effet, les véritables enjeux et acteurs évoluent dans d’autres sphères et obéissent à des diktats qui ont vidé la vie politique libanaise de toutes velléités souveraines et de toutes notions d’État de droit. Il n'y a que les rapports de force pour gérer les réalités politiques d’une entité nationale dont les dépouilles sont partagées entre des politiques de puissance alternées et leurs modulations sur la scène libanaise.
Il n’est pas fortuit que la défaisance de la trame nationale libanaise s’inscrive dans un continuum où il est difficile de séparer les politiques impériales de leurs relais domestiques. D’où la difficulté d’opérer des ruptures et de casser des nœuds gordiens qui se nouent et se dénouent au détour d’une vie politique dont la consistance dépend uniquement des politiques impériales pilotées par les islamismes militants. Que faire pour effectuer des césures entre la politique impériale iranienne et celle de la politique de domination chiite au Liban? Que faire de ses contreparties sunnites qui se profilent à l'horizon? Que faire pour réhabiliter une forme d’autonomie nationale au Liban? Comment permettre au Liban de s’engager sur la voie diplomatique de la résolution des conflits? Comment peut-il s'inscrire dans un partenariat stratégique avec l’État d’Israël qui viendrait à bout des cycles de violence qui ont scandé la vie des deux pays depuis 76 ans?
Autant de questions aporétiques qui ne recevront jamais de réponses tant que la démarche diplomatique est inhibée par des considérations idéologiques et stratégiques qui n’ont rien à voir avec le Liban et avec la trame politique d’un État national et de ses consensus internes impossibles à retrouver. Les stipulations entravées de la trêve et de l’accord trilatéral ne sont pas des effets du hasard. Elles résultent au contraire d’actes de sabotage avérés, d’une logique agonistique différée, d’une intention belliqueuse soutenue par des étayages scripturaires, et d’un actif de conflits vieux de sept décennies. Les accords de trêve et tripartite, bien qu’avalisés et signés par les autorités compétentes, ont été déclassés au profit de calculs politiques. Ces derniers ne parviennent pourtant pas à empêcher la guerre en sursis ni à prévenir la guerre civile projetée par la politique de domination chiite.
C’est dans cette perspective que s’inscrit la controverse autour des acquisitions foncières financées par le pouvoir iranien, la diaspora chiite et pilotée par les agences immobilières du « jihad al-bina' ». C’est cette agence qui s’est chargée de la mise en œuvre de la politique de colonisation de l’ensemble du territoire libanais via un réseau composé des registres fonciers, du ministère des Finances, des municipalités, d'une justice vénale, des banques associées et des courtiers de base. Cette politique a usé d’une panoplie de stratagèmes qui ont instrumentalisé les rapports de force institués par le régime de Taëf.
Le but de cette politique est de confisquer les propriétés communales. Pour ce faire, elle s'appuie sur les complicités municipales et administratives, ainsi que sur des politiques de coercition et de harcèlement variées, la vénalité diffuse des administrations publiques, la mainmise illégale, et la terreur de masse. Cette dernière est exemplifiée par l’explosion proto-nucléaire du port de Beyrouth. Elle s'accompagne de la complicité avérée des hautes sphères de la fonction publique, des oligarques et de leurs commanditaires syriens, iraniens, saoudiens et émiratis selon les étapes.
Cette affaire succède à une série d’enjeux qui mettent en lumière le coup d’État avançant de manière insidieuse au milieu des décombres d’un État de droit laminé de toutes parts et d'une souveraineté battue en brèche. Ceci nous rappelle l’urgence de remettre en ordre nos priorités. C'est à un stade où l’État libanais se décompose à une vitesse météorique pour laisser place à des querelles sauvages d’intérêts et des politiques impériales en quête de points d’appui pour s’implanter. À défaut d’une politique de désintrication des enjeux, du redressement des rapports de force, de rétablissement de la souveraineté et de la civilité, le Liban mourra d’épuisement.
https://icibeyrouth.com/articles/1343910/le-parcours-dune-implosion

The Course of an Implosion?
Dr. Charles Chartouni/ICI Beyrouth/October 26/2026
(Translated from French by AI)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/158595/
Nothing works in Lebanon, and nothing heralds a reversal that would bring an end to an escalating process of disintegration. The institutions are mere façades behind which lie the realities of a society falling apart and a state serving as a vehicle for a policy of domination that advances shamelessly. The pact, along with the supposedly national narrative that serves as its cover and around which Lebanese communal life is structured, has become obsolete and no longer possesses any mobilizing power. This is happening at a time when politicians are pursuing careers as brokers, intermediaries, and agents serving power strategies.
How can paths that are so divergent and destructive be brought together when the country moves from one vacuum to another and its state of disintegration continues unabated? Unfortunately, there are no indicators pointing toward a different direction. This country is navigating endlessly through troubled waters, while politicians accommodate themselves to this reality as though it were an unavoidable fate. Recently, a new rhetoric has taken hold of the political scene, advocating capitulation in favor of the policy of Shiite domination, even as the Shiites themselves are being crushed by a war-driven dynamic that they created entirely on their own. This situation gives rise to the distressing spectacle of a Shiite community stripped of its standing, accompanied by scenarios of civil war and a climate of mutually reinforcing political deadlocks.
What is supposedly political life is nothing more than a circus in which falsehood and lies serve as its grammar. One may legitimately question the authenticity and underlying fabric of a political life unfolding merely on the surface. Indeed, the real stakes and actors operate in other spheres and obey dictates that have emptied Lebanese political life of every sovereign aspiration and every notion of the rule of law. Nothing remains but power relations to manage the political realities of a national entity whose remains are being divided among successive power politics and their shifting manifestations on the Lebanese stage.
It is no coincidence that the unraveling of Lebanon’s national fabric forms part of a continuous process in which it is difficult to separate imperial policies from their domestic proxies. Hence the difficulty of effecting decisive breaks and untangling Gordian knots that are tied and untied in the course of a political life whose substance depends exclusively on imperial policies directed by militant Islamist movements. What can be done to establish a clear break between Iranian imperial policy and the policy of Shiite domination in Lebanon? What should be done about their Sunni counterparts now emerging on the horizon? How can a measure of national autonomy be restored in Lebanon? How can Lebanon be enabled to pursue the diplomatic path toward conflict resolution? How can it enter into a strategic partnership with the State of Israel that would put an end to the cycles of violence that have marked the lives of both countries for 76 years?
These are questions that admit of no easy solution and will never receive answers as long as diplomatic initiatives remain paralyzed by ideological and strategic considerations that have nothing to do with Lebanon, its political fabric as a national state, or its internal consensuses, which have become impossible to recover. The obstruction of the provisions of the truce and the trilateral agreement is no accident. On the contrary, it results from proven acts of sabotage, a deferred logic of confrontation, belligerent intent sustained by scriptural justifications, and a legacy of conflicts stretching back seven decades. The truce agreements and the tripartite agreement, despite having been approved and signed by the competent authorities, have been sidelined in favor of political calculations. Yet these calculations have failed to prevent the war that remains on hold or to avert the civil war envisioned by the policy of Shiite domination.
It is within this context that the controversy surrounding real estate acquisitions financed by the Iranian authorities and the Shiite diaspora, and managed by the real estate agencies of “Jihad al-Bina’,” must be understood. This agency has been responsible for implementing a policy of colonization across the entire Lebanese territory through a network comprising land registries, the Ministry of Finance, municipalities, a venal judiciary, associated banks, and local brokers. This policy has employed a wide array of stratagems that have exploited the power relations established under the Taif regime.
The objective of this policy is to confiscate communal properties. To achieve this, it relies on municipal and administrative complicity, various forms of coercion and harassment, widespread corruption within public administrations, illegal takeovers, and mass terror. The latter is exemplified by the quasi-nuclear explosion that devastated the Port of Beirut. This is accompanied by the established complicity of senior public officials, oligarchs, and their Syrian, Iranian, Saudi, and Emirati sponsors, depending on the particular stage.
This affair follows a series of issues that shed light on a coup d’état advancing insidiously amid the ruins of a rule-of-law state battered from every direction and a sovereignty continually undermined. This reminds us of the urgent need to reorder our priorities. We have reached a stage at which the Lebanese state is disintegrating at a meteoric pace, making way for savage conflicts of interest and imperial policies seeking footholds from which to establish themselves.
In the absence of a policy to disentangle these interwoven issues, restore the balance of power, and reestablish sovereignty and civic order, Lebanon will die of exhaustion.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 26-27/2026 (Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
Jordan Arrests Three Suspects in Deadly Church Attack
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Jordanian security forces have arrested three suspects in connection with an attack on a church that killed nine people, state television reported on Monday. The attack, in which gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church on Friday in the village of Hamoud in Karak governorate, about 120 km (75 miles) southwest of the capital Amman, also wounded 40 others. The shooting lasted several minutes, witnesses ‌said. Jordan's Public Security ‌Directorate said security forces located the three ‌suspects ⁠early on Monday ⁠hiding in an abandoned house in Karak. The suspects refused to surrender and opened fire on security forces, who returned fire and arrested all three after they were wounded, the directorate said in a statement carried on state media. No security personnel were injured, and a number of firearms ⁠and ammunition were found in the suspects' ‌possession after their arrest, reported Reuters. "Terrorism has ‌no place among us," the directorate said, adding that the suspects ‌had met their "just fate".The Public Security Directorate did not ‌identify the suspects' affiliation or say whether they belonged to any militant group. Jordanian authorities have said the attack was carried out by "extremist terrorists", but it was too early to determine whether they had ‌links to known groups inside or outside Jordan. There has been no claim of ⁠responsibility. Interior Minister ⁠Mazen al-Faraya said on Monday authorities were reviewing the circumstances that led young people towards extremism and would hold accountable anyone found to have participated in the attack. King Abdullah has ordered security forces to respond with an "iron fist" to the rare attack on Jordan's Christian minority. Such violence is highly unusual in Jordan, a relatively stable state in the Middle East, though authorities say they have foiled several extremist militant plots over the years.

Syria closes the Nasib border crossing with Jordan following airstrikes; Damascus reports the deaths of eight Syrians and denies any prior coordination regarding the Jordanian strikes.
AlArabiya.net and agencies / October 26, 2026
The Syrian General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs announced, between Monday night and Tuesday, the complete suspension of both passenger and commercial traffic at the Nasib border crossing with Jordan. The Authority stated: "In light of the current situation and developments on the ground in Daraa Governorate, the General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs announces the closure of the Nasib border crossing with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Tuesday." The decision includes "the complete suspension of passenger and commercial movement in both directions, to ensure the safety of travelers and staff at the crossing." Prior to this, Syrian authorities reported that eight civilians were killed on Monday in Jordanian airstrikes in the south of the country. The Jordanian military stated that the strikes targeted "terrorist organizations" in response to a deadly attack on a church last week. The official Syrian news agency (SANA) quoted a health official in Daraa Governorate as saying that "eight civilian victims, including women and children," were killed as a result of Jordanian airstrikes on several locations in the governorate. In a statement regarding the incident, the Syrian government noted that relevant authorities are "following the developments on the ground in southern Syria with great concern, following the airstrikes carried out by the Jordanian Air Force—which resulted in deaths and injuries, including among civilians and children—and emphasizes that there was no prior coordination with the Syrian side regarding this military operation." While affirming its support for the affected Syrian families, the government stated that the relevant authorities have initiated "thorough investigations to uncover the full circumstances surrounding this attack." Simultaneously, communication channels have been opened with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to discuss the situation. The government emphasized the importance of joint field and security coordination regarding any actions in border areas, in a manner that preserves the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and safeguards the security and stability of both brotherly nations.

Jordan: We struck terrorist organizations in southern Syria linked to the Karak attack... several people killed or wounded.
Riyadh: AlArabiya.net and agencies / October 26, 2026
The Royal Jordanian Air Force announced on Monday, in an official statement, the execution of an operation dubbed "Jordanian Deterrence – Hamoud," targeting the hideouts of terrorist organizations in southern Syria. The statement noted that this military operation was carried out "in retaliation for our martyrs who perished at the funeral in the church of Hamoud, in Karak." It further clarified that "the terrorists who committed this criminal act in Hamoud are linked to these terrorist organizations." The statement added that Royal Jordanian Air Force fighter jets destroyed several terrorist sites, resulting in the death and injury of numerous members of these organizations, as well as the destruction of several of their vehicles. The Jordanian Armed Forces affirmed that they "remain on high alert against anyone who might attempt to threaten the security of citizens," stressing their firm resolve to "uproot the foundations of extremism and terrorism," and reiterating their commitment to their "sacred duty to protect the nation and its citizens, and to safeguard its sanctities." Jordan’s King Abdullah II previously wrote in a post on the platform X: "Our brave men have pursued them right into their dens. We stated that terrorists would not escape punishment, nor would anyone who promotes an ideology that sows division among Jordanians. May God have mercy on the martyrs, grant a speedy recovery to the wounded, and protect our nation and our people from all evil and harm." Following their arrest, the Director of Public Security, Major General Obeidallah Al-Maaytah, confirmed on Monday that the perpetrators of the deadly attack in Karak belong to the same family—with one being a brother-in-law—and that all of them hold *takfiri* (extremist/exclusionary) ideologies. During a joint press conference, he added that the crime in Karak was not premeditated. He explained that the three individuals happened to be behind a funeral procession when they decided to commit the act—a decision that arose from their shared, distorted intellectual framework, their deviation from the right path, and their adoption of extremist and terrorist ideology. He noted that the three men had fled the scene in a single vehicle, which was subsequently seized, along with evidence linking the individuals to the vehicle. Al-Maaytah stated that a number of weapons and a large quantity of ammunition were recovered from the three terrorists following an engagement. He further explained that, over the past three days, security teams had been continuously combing designated areas. Late Sunday night, a village was divided into sectors, and several abandoned houses were identified for inspection and thorough searching by specialized units.

Israel’s Eisenkot Vows Unity as Netanyahu Paints Him as Soft on Iran
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Israeli election contender Gadi Eisenkot on Sunday vowed to unite the country as he held his final major rally before the vote, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received fresh backing from US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, but Eisenkot has cast him as unfit to lead and pledged a state commission of inquiry into the failings that led to Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack under the incumbent's watch. Polls had shown Netanyahu and Eisenkot running neck and neck before a ban on new polling took effect in the three days before Tuesday's vote. On Sunday, Trump urged Israelis to vote for Netanyahu, citing the US-Israel war against Iran as an example of "winning together"."When you go to the Polls please remember that Bibi has been an outstanding Warrior Prime Minister," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, using Netanyahu's nickname. At his event, Eisenkot pledged to heal divisions inside Israeli society after Netanyahu's divisive tenure, and voiced "a commitment to security and the economy"."Our goal is not for one side to defeat the other. That is not our way," he said on Sunday to an audience of hundreds. "We will work to bring all Israelis together again -- those who voted for us and those who did not." A relative newcomer to politics -- in contrast with Netanyahu and his 30 years on the scene -- Eisenkot's pledge to unite Israelis has resonated with some voters, and for many the ex-army chief's plain-spokenness is part of his appeal.
In his speech, Eisenkot said he would "always look you in the eye and tell the truth", and pledged to "take responsibility for both successes and failures". He also appealed directly to wavering supporters of Netanyahu's Likud party, urging them to change course. "Deep down, you too know that Israel cannot go on like this," he said. "Israel needs change."Netanyahu's critics accuse him of putting his political survival above the greater good, and he is currently facing trial on corruption charges, which he denies. Rally attendee Chen Sharon, an army reservist, said she wanted "people that I can count on" in office."We need someone that we can actually believe his values and what he represents to us," she said.
'A catastrophe for Israel' -
Over the course of the campaign Netanyahu has played to Israeli voters' opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, and posters have been splashed across the country with the slogan "Either the Right or Palestine". Netanyahu also touted the still-unresolved war that he launched against Iran alongside Trump, seeking to tar his main rival as being soft on Tehran. Appearing after Eisenkot's rally on Channel 14, Netanyahu again suggested the ex-general and his allies "want to create a Palestinian state, a catastrophe for Israel". "They will not destroy Iran's nuclear program," he told a boisterous studio audience. "We've done 90 percent of the work, 10 percent remains. Who is going to do it? Eisenkot and the Muslim Brotherhood? No. Only I can do it."Eisenkot has said he is opposed to a Palestinian state, but has vowed to crack down on extremist West Bank settlers who have attacked Palestinians with impunity. Netanyahu on Sunday posted an AI-generated image of a mushroom cloud engulfing Tel Aviv, alongside text attributed to a right-wing political commentator calling Iran an existential threat and arguing that all the other issues discussed this election season were trivial in comparison. In a post on X addressing Netanyahu on Saturday, Eisenkot accused the premier of playing up the Iran threat when it suited him politically. "You have once again failed spectacularly and blatantly to achieve the war objectives you yourself set," he added. Longtime opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has promised to join a coalition with Eisenkot, said Netanyahu had "lost his grip". "Yesterday, Netanyahu announced that US security aid was over and that sanctions would crush our economy. This morning, he posted a video in which an atomic bomb lands on Tel Aviv," he said on X. "This man has lost his grip. We absolutely must send him home."

Israel Defense Minister Denies Report of PM-Army Rift on Eve of Election
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Israel's defense minister denied on Monday reports of a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the army over Iran, as the premier's rivals seized on the story as a line of attack a day before close elections. Over the course of a neck-and-neck race, Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, insisting only he can "finish the job" in the US-Israeli war on Iran. But his main rival, ex-army chief Gadi Eisenkot, has accused him of playing up the Iran threat when it suits him politically, and of failing to accomplish his war goals. Israel's Channel 12 reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources, that there had been a confrontation between Netanyahu and army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir over an unspecified new directive on Iran. The premier dismissed the report as "rubbish" during a TV appearance, and Katz characterized it as an effort to cast doubt on the Netanyahu bloc's judgement on the eve of the polls. "The reports about gaps between the political echelon and the army on the Iran issue are entirely baseless and false," Katz said on X, insisting there was "complete" coordination between the two. In its report, Channel 12 said Zamir had demanded a detailed discussion, as well as legal guarantees and the signatures of the political leadership before carrying out the directive he had received. The outlet did not offer details of the directive, but cited sources saying there were concerns within the army that the war might be exploited for political gain. Katz in his statement Monday said "unequivocally that there was no intention on Israel's part to initiate an attack on Iran before the elections".
'Restore responsibility' -
Opposition leader Yair Lapid referenced the report in a post on X, accusing Netanyahu of seeking to put off the vote. "Tonight it was published that he wants to set off an escalation and a confrontation with Iran, just to postpone the elections," he said. "This man has lost his grip. We absolutely must send him home."Eisenkot, meanwhile, said Zamir had his complete trust, adding he would not stand for the military being "turned into a tool in Netanyahu's survival campaign". "I warn Netanyahu: Do not dare place your political interests above the state's security," Eisenkot wrote on X Sunday night. "In two days, the citizens of Israel will put an end to this reckless government and restore responsibility, decency and Israel's security."On the campaign trail, Netanyahu has sought to portray Eisenkot as soft on Iran and beholden to Palestinian interests, playing to voters' opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu had warned on Sunday "that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections", adding: "Don't test us."But Iran's foreign ministry said it did not matter who prevailed in the vote. "It makes no difference to us who, in these elections, takes the helm of a regime that has brought nothing but violence and massacres to our region," said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

Israeli President Says He Won’t Bow to US Pressure on the Next Govt
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said on Monday he won’t bend to pressure from US President Donald Trump on which party he will select first to form a government after Tuesday's national elections.Herzog’s role is largely ceremonial. No single party is expected to outright win control of the country’s parliament, or Knesset. The president is expected to tap the leader of the party with the most support to try to build a governing coalition, a process that could drag out for days or weeks, or fail entirely and force Israelis to return to the polls to vote again.
Herzog's remarks came after Trump reiterated his endorsement for Netanyahu, who is in a tight race to remain in power. Herzog told the MS NOW cable news network that neither Trump nor anyone else “can intervene" and that it was up to him to see “what the facts are.”

Iran Says Outcome of Israeli Elections ‘Makes No Difference’
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Iran's foreign ministry said Monday that the outcome of the Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a tight race will make "no difference"."It makes no difference to us who, in these elections, takes the helm of a regime that has brought nothing but violence and massacres to our region," said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing. Tuesday's legislative elections will take place amid mounting threats by Israel and the United States to renew attacks on Iran after they launched their war in late February. Netanyahu has in recent days repeatedly said the only way to remove the threat posed by Iran is to topple its government. On Sunday, he told Israel's Channel 14 that he had "instructed the Mossad and the Israeli army to overthrow the Iranian regime". Baqaei dismissed Netanyahu's remarks as "empty threats" and a "sign of desperation".

Washington Affirms Strait of Hormuz Free of Iranian Sea Mines
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
The military standoff between the United States and Iran continues to escalate as the Central Command confirmed the Strait of Hormuz remains free and clear of Iranian sea mines, while the Iranian army announced it shot down an American drone over the strategic southern port city of Bandar Abbas. Amid the military developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his warnings over Iran’s nuclear program, while Iranian leaders called for a campaign to cut gas consumption by at least 10 percent, with officials anticipating shortages as winter approaches.
Cooper Flies Over Strait of Hormuz
On Sunday, Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads US Central Command, flew over the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring Washington’s strong commitment to continued freedom of navigation through this strategic waterway. Cooper observed CENTCOM’s deployment in the strait from a US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter, according to a statement from the American military.He also met with American soldiers who took part in the mine-clearing operations. “Today, primary transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain free and clear of Iranian sea mines thanks to incredible efforts by our people,” Cooper says in remarks published by CENTCOM, adding that his forces “remain intensely focused on keeping commercial traffic flowing as we work with our teammates in the US interagency, Gulf Cooperation Council, and shipping industry.”CENTCOM says that over 3,000 commercial vessels have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz with its support over the last six months, exporting more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil, amid an ongoing US blockade against Iran. Iran has attempted to obstruct the strait since the beginning of the war nearly eight months ago. According to CENTCOM, over 95% of ships navigating the strait “have sailed through safely despite the IRGC’s unwarranted aggression, clearly demonstrating that the United States and regional partners control the international waterway.”
Tehran: We Shot Down a US Drone
In return, Iran’s air defense systems shot ‌down ‌a US ‌LUCAS ⁠drone over the ⁠southern port ⁠city ‌of ‌Bandar Abbas, the ‌Iranian army ‌said on ‌Sunday, according to ⁠the semi-official Tasnim ⁠news agency. “A US LUCAS drone was hit by air defense systems over Bandar Abbas and destroyed,” the military’s public relations department said. The report provided no further details on the circumstances surrounding the drone’s downing or the nature of its mission. It also missed US comments confirming the Iranian account. On the Israeli front, Netanyahu warned that Iran was reviving its nuclear program and intends to destroy Israel, describing the final days before Tuesday's election as “a fateful week” in a new campaign video. Netanyahu declared that “the very existence of the State of Israel and the prevention of its destruction are at stake,” Bloomberg reported on Sunday. His remarks reflect Israel’s continued concerns over the Iranian nuclear activities at a time when the standoff between Tehran and its regional and international adversaries cast a shadow over regional security, amid fears of renewed military operations.

Palestinian Authority Says 2,670 Displaced in Israel’s Hebron Operation
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
The Palestinian Authority said Sunday that nearly 2,700 people had been displaced by an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron launched after two soldiers were killed in an attack nearby. Following Friday's attack, Israeli forces entered the Hebron neighborhood of Ein Deir Baha, where the assailants lived, and ordered residents to pack up and leave after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a major operation in the occupied territory. "More than 2,670 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Hebron by Israeli occupation forces, the majority of them women, children, and elderly people, according to data from Hebron Municipality," the Palestinian prime minister's office said on X. A convoy of Israeli military and police vehicles accompanied by soldiers was seen in Hebron on Sunday, making its way down a street blocked to civilian traffic by parked cars and motorbikes, AFP images showed. Local shopkeeper Higazi al-Tamimi, who also plays a leadership role in the evacuated neighborhood, accused Israeli soldiers of beating him as he attempted to go to his home. "I remember one or two people starting to strike my legs, chest and shoulders. One of them even hit me on the head," he said from a hospital bed, with his leg thickly bandaged. "They then pushed me backwards, and I kept moving until I reached a safe area."

Israeli Forces Search Homes, Make Incursions on Fringes of Jabal al-Sheikh
Beirut: Soubhi Amhaz/Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Repeated Israeli incursions into the Arqoub region of southeastern Lebanon, along the border with Israel and Syria, have raised fears that Israel was planning on expanding its control and further restricting the lives of residents. These developments have prompted locals to issue warnings, the latest of which came in a statement by an Arqoub committee that highlighted "incursions, alterations of terrain, and the clearing of roads" in the towns of Kfar Shouba, Shebaa, Habbariyeh, and Halta, all of which are located on the western slope of Jabal al-Sheikh. The warning followed repeated Israeli incursions into the area, including the searching of homes in Kfar Shouba last week. The committee warned against “a recurrence of past events that led to the occupation of the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Shouba Hills,” pointing to “a historical lack of action or disregard by successive authorities and governments.”It stressed “the need for swift and urgent intervention through the Arab League, United Nations, and UN Security Council to halt this aggression, these incursions, and the renewed attempts to encroach upon Lebanese territory.” These operations are taking place within the context of ongoing Israeli movements over several months across southern border villages, specifically within unoccupied areas adjacent to what Israel calls the "Yellow Line." According to retired General Khalil Gemayel, these actions carry "military, tactical, and security dimensions that extend far beyond searching for Hezbollah weapons or facilities." "The Israeli incursion into Kfar Shouba and its surrounding villages, alongside the house searches, cannot be viewed simply as a transient military maneuver or a limited security operation," he told Asharq Al-Awsat. These movements involve "three interconnected dimensions," he said. The first is "expanding the scope of maneuver and field reconnaissance; entering the village outskirts, advancing between houses, and conducting searches allows Israeli forces to gather direct intelligence on the terrain, corridors, roads, and residents." He added that these operations also aim to "erase as much of the villages' urban landscape and vegetation cover as possible, under the pretext of preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its military capabilities in areas close to where Israeli units are stationed."Gemayel noted that the second dimension involves "imposing a new security reality on the ground," explaining that "Israel is no longer satisfied with stationing itself in elevated positions and fixed military outposts on commanding hills that stretch from the sea to Jabal al-Sheikh to shield northern settlements.”“Instead, it is seeking to expand its capacity to execute recurring ground operations within a geographical buffer that grants it greater freedom of movement and intervention,” he explained. He said that "this does not necessarily mean it has decided to advance to occupy additional villages," but rather indicates "its desire to control and monitor the forward border area in accordance with its security interests, by creating a buffer zone held under fire where Israel applies the theory of flexible defense outside its occupied and fixed defensive lines."The third dimension, it involves "pressuring the population and preventing a return to normalcy by searching homes, blocking farmers from accessing their fields, and restricting movement, thereby maintaining security, economic, and social pressures on dozens of unoccupied villages and complicating the resumption of regular activity." Gemayel cited "the restrictions that farmers and shepherds in Kfar Shouba and Halta face regarding access to their lands and pastures."Retired Brigadier General George Nader viewed the "repeated Israeli incursions into southern villages, not as limited military operations or random movements, but rather as a prelude to cementing Israeli military control and widening its operational reach inside Lebanese territory.""Israel is seeking to encroach upon more land and impose new realities on the ground, either to improve its negotiating leverage following the Israeli elections, or to pave the way for expanding its military operations into areas beyond the Litani River,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills Three Including Child
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Three Palestinians, including a young girl, were killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike on a camp for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, medical sources and first responders said. Civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said a total of 11 people had been killed and 50 wounded by Israeli fire and airstrikes in Gaza over the past 24 hours. "We transported three martyrs, including a child, following an Israeli airstrike targeting a camp for displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis," Bassal told AFP. Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis confirmed the three deaths. "Their bodies were torn apart by direct hits from shrapnel from the Israeli missile," the hospital said, adding that several wounded people, including a child and a woman, had also come in for treatment. The hospital identified the deceased as Hossam al-Zamli, Tamer Abu Sneima, and Jouri al-Soufi, a young girl. The Gaza education ministry gave her age as seven. Israel's military told AFP it was looking into reports of the strike. A security source in Gaza told AFP that "several tanks and military vehicles, accompanied by a military bulldozer, advanced on Monday morning into the area west of the Yellow Line in the eastern part of Deir al-Balah", in central Gaza. After a US-brokered ceasefire took hold in Gaza in October 2025, the so-called Yellow Line was established to divide the areas under Israeli control -- more than 60 percent of the territory -- from those under Hamas control. The military advance Monday coincided with "heavy gunfire by the occupation forces towards the eastern and northern areas" of Deir al-Balah, home to hundreds of displaced families, the source added. Since the ceasefire began last year, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry. The war began on October 7, 2023, following an unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel that killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel responded with a massive military campaign that has destroyed much of Gaza and killed more than 74,500 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which operates under Hamas and whose figures are considered accurate by the United Nations.

Thousands of Trucks Stuck as Partial Iran-Pakistan Trade Resumes
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Thousands of trucks remain stranded on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border despite the resumption of limited overland trade between the two countries, southwest Pakistan business representatives told AFP on Monday. Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the chamber of commerce for Gwadar city on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast, said the frontier with Iran was "only partially open" to trade, with a vast backlog of vehicles at the border. There were "three to four thousand trucks on the Iranian side and two to three thousand trucks on the Pakistani side," Kalmati said. Only certain vehicles were being allowed across the border to clear the backlog after a week-long closure, he said. Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said on X on Sunday there were no restrictions on the Iranian side, including for the export of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). He blamed the closures on "changes in the implementation of Pakistan's E-Form procedure for imports from Iran", which he said "have created a situation in which traders are effectively and literally unable to dispatch cargo from Iran to Pakistan". Kalmati said companies on both sides of the border were urging authorities to allow the complete resumption of trade. He said his members and drivers were "frustrated, they want to go back home, they want to continue their business". Fida Ahmad Dashti a businessman in Kech district in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, said he had been told that only vehicles with paperwork prepared before October 16 were being allowed to cross the border. Two other businessmen based in Balochistan confirmed their drivers had said only vehicles with documents prepared before October 16 were being allowed across the frontier. The Gwadar Chamber of Commerce said in a statement on Saturday the suspension of the import of LPG and the "abrupt closure of the border" had led to "disrupting the national LPG supply chain, and causing prices to skyrocket".Pakistan has attempted to mediate a peace deal in the Middle East war with Iran and its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, was due to travel to Tehran on Monday, his second visit to the country in less than a week.

Syrian Official: 25% of Displaced People Have Left Northern Camps
Damascus: Souad Jarous/Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Around 25% of displaced Syrians living in camps in northern Syria have returned to their home areas since the launch of the “Syria Without Camps” initiative in May, Deputy Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Ahmed Ekzayez told Asharq Al-Awsat. Ekzayez explained that the initiative goes beyond closing displacement camps, focusing instead on restoring conditions in areas of origin to enable safe, voluntary, and dignified returns. This includes rehabilitating hospitals, clinics, schools, water and sanitation networks, communications and roads, alongside creating employment opportunities for returnees.
Hundreds of Families Return Home
The Syrian Civil Defense reported that approximately 233 families left displacement camps in northern Idlib on Sunday for their home areas in Rural Damascus, Latakia, Homs, Deir Ezzor, Hama and the southern and eastern Idlib countryside. The returns were organized under the auspices of Idlib governorate, in cooperation with social affairs and emergency management authorities, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the Muzn Organization and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. A UN delegation attended the aid distribution. Most returning families originated from southern Idlib and northern Hama, according to the official SANA news agency. Meanwhile, the Al-Rasm al-Jadid and Al-Rasm al-Qadim camps in Manbij, eastern Aleppo province, were officially closed after approximately 108 displaced families returned to their home areas in Aleppo and Idlib. Aleppo’s Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor confirmed the closures following the departure of the final convoy on Sunday. The Civil Defense Directorate reported that additional voluntary return convoys departed camps in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside under the supervision of the national committee overseeing the “Syria Without Camps” initiative. Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry teams helped secure the convoys and provide healthcare services. The operations form part of efforts to implement Decree No. 59, which provides for rehabilitating damaged areas and creating suitable conditions for displaced residents to return.
Plan to Close Camps by 2027
The Syrian government launched its “Syria Without Camps” initiative on May 9, 2026, aiming to resolve internal displacement and dismantle camps by September 2027. More than 200 camps were closed over the past year, but approximately 140,000 families, representing more than 700,000 people, remained in camps as of September 2026. Speaking Friday at a UN side event on reconstruction and sustainable solutions to internal displacement following widespread destruction caused by conflict and disasters, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, appealed for international assistance. He emphasized the need to rebuild affected communities, restore essential services and create livelihoods to support sustainable returns. Olabi maintained that the government had addressed the root causes of internal displacement but warned that ensuring lasting returns would require substantial resources.
He also cautioned that the actions of Israeli forces in southern Syria were generating a new wave of displacement.
Sharp Decline in Northern Camps
Before the fall of the Assad government, northern Syria had more than 1,500 displacement camps and shelters, including 1,146 camps in Idlib alone. Over nearly two years, the number of camps in the north fell to approximately 1,025, comprising 634 in Idlib and 391 in Aleppo.
The number of displaced families living in northern camps also declined from 261,000 to around 140,000, including approximately 82,000 in Idlib and 55,000 in Aleppo. Across Syria, however, some 1,247 camps and shelters remain, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing authorities as they seek to end prolonged displacement.

Iraq’s Closure of Al-Sheeb Border Crossing Fuels Tensions with Iran
Baghdad: Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Iraq’s closure of the Al-Sheeb border crossing with Iran has triggered protests in the southern Maysan province and heightened tensions with Tehran, as Iran-aligned armed factions accuse Washington of interfering in Baghdad’s internal affairs. Dozens of protesters blocked the main road leading to oil companies in Maysan on Sunday, demanding that the crossing reopen. According to Shafaq News, demonstrators shut down the vital Bazargan road amid a heavy security deployment.Maysan Provincial Council Chairman Mustafa Duaier al-Mohammadawi gave Baghdad until Thursday to reverse the decision, threatening civil disobedience, further roadblocks and even Maysan’s separation from Iraq. The closure has disrupted trade with Iran, driving up fruit and vegetable prices in local markets, Shafaq News reported.The Iraqi government ordered the crossing closed indefinitely on October 20, citing incomplete technical and development requirements. Government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi told the Iraqi News Agency that the suspension would allow improvements to technical and logistical readiness, while other crossings continued facilitating trade with Iran.Tehran objected, with its Interior Ministry maintaining that Baghdad had provided no advance notice. The Iranian Embassy also condemned remarks by Abdul Amir Taiban, adviser to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on tribal and marshland affairs, who linked the Al-Sheeb and Shalamsheh crossings to drug and counterfeit currency smuggling from Iran. Rejecting what it called “false allegations,” the embassy urged Iraqi authorities to respond to statements damaging bilateral relations. Baghdad has neither publicly responded to the embassy nor reversed the closure.
Influencing the govt
Iran-aligned Iraqi armed factions accused the United States of influencing government decisions concerning airports and border crossings with Iran. They claimed to have documented 171 violations of Iraqi airspace by US fighter and reconnaissance aircraft between September 30 and October 23. Describing the flights as violations of sovereignty and bilateral agreements, the groups demanded clarification from Baghdad about its understandings with Washington. They also questioned the independence of Iraqi decision-making, linking the alleged incursions to border and airport restrictions. The statement provided no locations or aircraft details, and no independent evidence was presented to substantiate allegations of US interference.
Fresh test
The dispute comes amid fears of a wider confrontation between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other. Baghdad previously announced understandings brokered by mediators from the Shiite Coordination Framework with armed factions refusing to surrender their weapons. An initial truce, lasting until the end of 2026, commits the groups to refraining from attacks on US interests in Iraq and neighboring countries. A second arrangement, running until June 2027, concerns disarmament and participation in the political process. However, the factions’ latest accusations and the Al-Nujaba Movement’s rejection of political participation in exchange for surrendering its weapons have raised doubts about the agreements’ durability. The government has not clarified whether the truce remains intact. The Al-Sheeb dispute now extends beyond the technical reasons cited by Baghdad, combining local economic grievances, Iranian objections and pressure from armed factions.

Canada-EU Summit Seeks Deepened Alliance as US Ties Fray
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Canadian and European Union leaders meet in Montreal this week for a summit aimed at deepening their alliance as both sides navigate tumultuous relations with the United States. Prime Minister Mark Carney said "Europe and Canada are stronger together," in an address to the EU Parliament last month, after EU chief Ursula von der Leyen suggested Canada could become the 27-nation bloc's first "associate member." Leaders at the two-day Montreal meeting will try to hammer out specifics for closer ties in areas including defense, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.Beyond specifics, the push for new levels of Canada-EU closeness has highlighted the shifting geopolitical realities triggered by US President Donald Trump. Punished by US tariffs, Canada is seeking new economic opportunities overseas to reduce its dependence on the United States. Carney says the EU is a logical partner, quipping that his country is "the most European of non-European countries."For Timothy Snyder, the chair in modern European history at Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, Carney's outreach to Europe in response to US hostility is tactically sound. "If you can be arbitrarily, at any moment, cut off from the American market, then it makes sense to have as much in your back pocket as you can," he told AFP. "You look for something else, and that something else is Europe," Snyder said, adding that if the US trade war ultimately subsides, Canada will be in a stronger, more diversified position. The EU, repeatedly ridiculed by Trump and his top domestic allies, is also looking for reliable partnerships in a world dominated by China and the United States. The bloc has let Canada into its defense procurement alliance and invited Carney and Canadian officials to attend key EU meetings. The goal must now be to "move from writing each other love letters to real commitments," said Tobias Cremer, a German member of the European Parliament who has backed deeper EU-Canada cooperation.
Associate member? -
The contours of the "associate member" status are not fully clear. EU treaties do not outline such a possibility. A draft joint declaration that could emerge from the summit, seen by AFP, indicates Canada could join the Erasmus student mobility program, the Galileo satellite navigation program or sit on a proposed European security council, a conceptual idea backed by the EU chief.Trump threatened to cut off EU trade after the bloc proposed associate member status to Canada, calling the idea both "laughable" and "a hostile act."And Trump isn't the only one to view the notion with scorn. Angeline Furet, a member of the European Parliament from France's far-right National Rally party, argued the current free trade with Canada is "ruining our agriculture sector."The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, signed in 2016, eliminates import duties on 98 percent of products but has not been fully implemented. It's hugely unpopular among French livestock farmers and has not been implemented by several members of the bloc, including France. The idea of closer EU ties has also riled conservatives in Canada, stirring accusations that ordinary Canadians will become subject to onerous European bureaucracy. "We will never be the 51st state of the US, but we will also never be the 28th state of the European Union," Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said, connecting EU ties with Trump's annexation threats.

Brazil’s Lula Wins Historic Fourth Term, Flavio Bolsonaro Refuses to Concede
Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2026
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a historic fourth term on Sunday, the country's electoral court said, in a shock result that defied polls, precedent and global anti-incumbent sentiment to put the brakes on a wave of right-wing election victories across Latin America.
However, his opponent Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, refused to accept defeat and said he would ask for the result to be annulled due to a Sunday ruling from a Supreme Court justice that extended voting for two hours. Bolsonaro led the election's first round but lost in the runoff by over 4 million votes, rattling Brazilian financial markets which had bet on his victory. His refusal to concede defeat has echoes of his father's reaction after losing to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro never accepted his loss and was later sentenced by the Supreme Court to 27-years in prison for plotting a coup to remain in power. The scale of Flavio Bolsonaro's loss to Lula — by more than twice his father's losing margin — and the fact his campaign also asked for an extension due to rains in the conservative-leaning south make any annulment unlikely, analysts said. Mario Braga, a Latin America analyst at the risk consultancy RANE, said there could be ‌right-wing protests in coming ‌days, but "it's very improbable that it will lead to the reversal of the result."
COMEBACK KING
Investors expect recent bets on ‌a change ⁠of government to unwind ⁠in a volatile week ahead on financial markets. A Tokyo-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Brazil's Bovespa index dived nearly 15% in Asia trade on news of Lula's victory, while the Brazilian real was set to fall sharply against the US dollar. The victory marks another comeback in a career full of them for Lula, an icon of the global left and the most dominant force in Brazilian politics this century. The 80-year-old was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned, paving the way for him to beat Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election. "He is a statesman, a giant," leftist federal lawmaker Erika Hilton, who was with Lula in Sao Paulo during the vote count, told Reuters. At times, Lula's reelection looked like a long shot, as voters soured on him and his Workers' Party after years of corruption scandals and rising prices, while sweeping social changes left the former metalworker and union leader ⁠looking out of touch with an increasingly app-based economy and its growing ranks of informal workers. Pollsters said better-than-expected turnout had powered ‌Lula to victory. Leonardo Barreto, the co-founder of consultancy Think Policy, said voters had chosen Lula's familiar embrace over Bolsonaro's ‌novelty. "People today are choosing between change, with some apprehension, and a known path, which guarantees certain rights," he said. During the campaign, Lula pointed to a track record of falling poverty and ‌inequality, while unemployment, illiteracy and deforestation hit record lows during his third term. He warned Bolsonaro would cut welfare spending, backslide on social advances and hand over Brazil's ‌sovereignty to US President Donald Trump, whose State Department led a campaign to get the Bolsonaros back to power. Lula's win deprives Trump of a major addition to what has been a growing bloc of friendly right-wing Latin American governments that have embraced Washington's agenda on security and migration. There was no immediate comment from Trump or the US State Department, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Latin American leaders were quick to offer their congratulations. Celso Amorim, a former Lula foreign minister, told Reuters the leftist "would be very important for establishing a point of balance in Latin America. Lula ‌is that balance."
LATE-CAMPAIGN BOOST
Lula becomes the first candidate since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s to be elected after finishing second in the first round. His campaign this year mixed the kind of pragmatism and populism that has shaped ⁠his career in national politics for half a ⁠century, rolling out a slew of reforms aimed at improving the lives of workers and poor Brazilians. These gained steam with late-campaign pledges that ranged from free nationwide weekend public transport, which has to be formally submitted to Congress, to a 15% increase in his trademark welfare program that is already being implemented. Lula also championed a constitutional amendment that became Brazil's biggest labor reform in decades, which passed with wide support in Congress.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
Still, Lula's fourth term could be his most difficult yet, after Brazil elected its most conservative Congress since returning to democracy in the 1980s. Combined, Bolsonaro's Liberal Party and allied parties could control over 280 seats in the lower house and up to 50 seats in the Senate, enough for comfortable opposition majorities in both chambers. That may deepen recent trends of presidents ceding power to Congress on the budget, major legislation and key nominations.
Lula faces an economy that his government forecasts will grow just 2.3% next year, adding to fiscal concerns tied to high interest rates and public debt that has risen past 82% of GDP, the highest since the pandemic. Goldman Sachs said it expects Lula to make modest progress at most to contain spending in a fourth term, as he stays committed to a state-led growth model.
Surging household debt also concerns economists. Trying to address the issue, Lula rolled out a provisional ban on online betting and unveiled a new debt relief program during the campaign.
The incoming right-wing Congress will try to pass structural reforms that favor businesses, experts say, prompting spending cuts that could trigger popular backlash.

Coalition Destroys Houthi Missile Tunnels and Launch Platforms
The spokesman for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said the coalition’s joint forces had carried out a targeted military operation against the Houthis to neutralize threats, adding that the operation complied with international humanitarian law and customary rules. In a statement, al-Malki said the operation had destroyed and neutralized legitimate military targets in areas under Houthi control. The targets included five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles; four ballistic missile launch platforms and a missile depot. The operation also focused on disrupting supply lines between areas controlled by the Houthis, as well as targeting their fortifications, personnel concentrations and military equipment along front lines inside Yemen, he said. Earlier on Monday, al-Malki said air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh in the early hours of the morning. In a series of subsequent posts on X, al-Malki said the coalition had destroyed two missile launch platforms in Sanaa, one of which had been used to launch a missile towards Riyadh.
“We will continue the operation to dismantle the Houthi militia’s ballistic missile network,” he said.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 26-27/2026
Israel Is Just the Pretext, The Real Target is the West
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 26, 2026
Why should anyone expect peace between the Palestinians and Israel while Palestinian leaders glorify terrorism and armed groups continue to attack Israelis?
Above all, how can there ever be peace in the Middle East if the Iranian regime is standing on its feet and supporting the jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel?
[A] central obstacle to peace: the continuing willingness of Palestinians to celebrate violence against Israelis while presenting terrorism as supposedly legitimate national resistance.
This central obstacle is not all that different from what we are seeing this month in France, as well as Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Albania and even South Korea, where there virtually are no Palestinians or Jews.
Israel is just the pretext. If you think that a Palestinian state, or an election defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or even the disappearance of Israel itself — would solve anything, you would be wrong. What the West is up against is the desire of Muslim extremists, with a leg-up from Marxists, to overthrow the "corrupt" West and replace it with Islamic Sharia law and eventually global caliphate. Only after this transformation will the world have the "peace" part of the "Religion of Peace." Until then, as the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, vowed, "there will be struggle" (lit. jihad). These statements, coming from terrorist groups backed by the Iranian regime, reveal a political culture in which murdering Jews is not merely celebrated as an achievement and the terrorists are elevated as national heroes — the same wish holds true for all "infidels" wherever they are.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre demonstrated the devastating consequences of an extremist Islamist ideology that treats people of other religions, in this instance Jews, as a legitimate target. In Nigeria, Islamists treat Christians as legitimate targets. In India, they treat Hindus as a legitimate target. In France and the West, they treat democratic governance as a legitimate target. It is the same war. A few clearly terrified leaders in the West — in France, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain — might think that if there were a Palestinian state, it might keep the mob quiet for a while. Yes, until breakfast. That is also why US President Donald Trump should not make a "deal" with the rulers of Iran.
Hamas and other likeminded jihadists have no problem murdering civilians — whether in the US on 9/11, the London transit system, the Barcelona and Madrid attacks, Paris's Bataclan Theater, Nice on Bastille Day, German Christmas Markets, the Manchester concert or anywhere else. They are convinced they will be rewarded for it, not just by European politicians in this life, but by Allah in the next — so that no matter how many babies or elderly people they kill torture or mutilate, it is all good.
Iran's regime has recently slaughtered more than 36,500 of its own citizens, and continues to kill — so why should they care if they inflict the same horrors on anyone else?
Palestinian factions such as Hamas and PIJ, like the protesters throughout the West, continue to regard violence as a source of pride and a means of advancing their primary objective — in Israel, the elimination of the "Zionist entity" (Israel), and in the rest of the world, overthrowing man-made (as opposed to Allah-made) infidel democracies. The silence of the Palestinian Authority — and other Arab and Muslim leaders — is also significant. No public statements condemning the Hebron attack have been issued by Palestinian leaders or representatives or any other Muslim world leader. They object only when it is their territory that is being bombed — which it often is by other Muslims.
Israel's countermeasures have indeed caused hardship for local residents. Where, though, is any denunciation of the attacks that caused Israel's security response?
The Palestinian people have been put — by their own leaders — in a horrible position of bearing the consequences of terrorist attacks while the Palestinian organizations that praise the attackers present themselves as champions of the people. They are not. Like the ruling butchers of Iran, they are holding the Palestinians and other Muslims hostage. If these captives hope to live, they cannot even protest. The Palestinian Authority is frequently described by Western leaders and governments as a potential partner for peace.
The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem; it is not the solution — and wishing it were will not make it so. Its long-standing policy of paying monthly stipends to Palestinian terrorists who murder or wound Jews ("Pay-for-Slay") makes it as rotten as Iran's Palestinian terrorist proxies – Hamas and PIJ, or all the other terrorist groups whether Al-Qaeda, ISIS or Antifa. The international community might begin to understand that peace requires more than diplomatic declarations and initiatives, ceasefires, and promises of Palestinian statehood, especially for self-declared terrorists. Peace requires a total rejection of terrorism, of the people organizing it, of those who carry it out, and it requires a political leadership willing to put the lives and future of ordinary Palestinians — and innocent civilians whoever they are — ahead of the interests of terrorists and of their own incompetent political careers.
Why should anyone expect peace between the Palestinians and Israel while Palestinian leaders glorify terrorism and armed groups continue to attack Israelis?
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other Palestinian factions praised the October 23 attack near the West Bank city of Hebron that killed two Israeli soldiers, describing it as heroic, legitimate and necessary. Their reactions raise important questions: Why should anyone expect peace between the Palestinians and Israel while Palestinian leaders glorify terrorism and armed groups continue to attack Israelis? How can anyone even talk about establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel while Palestinian leaders and armed groups "welcome" the killing of Jews?
Above all, how can there ever be peace in the Middle East if the Iranian regime is standing on its feet and supporting the jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel?
Two Palestinian terrorists attacked an Israeli military position near the Yehuda Junction outside Hebron, killing Israeli soldiers — Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20 — and wounding three others. The two terrorists were subsequently killed by Israeli troops.
What followed was not new, but as revealing as the attack itself. Several Palestinian factions rushed to praise the perpetrators, portray them as heroes, and call for more attacks.
Their statements exposed a central obstacle to peace: the continuing willingness of Palestinians to celebrate violence against Israelis while presenting terrorism as supposedly legitimate national resistance. This central obstacle is not all that different from what we are seeing this month in France, as well as Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Albania and even South Korea, where there virtually are no Palestinians or Jews. Israel is just the pretext. If you think that a Palestinian state, or an election defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or even the disappearance of Israel itself — would solve anything, you would be wrong. What the West is up against is the desire of Muslim extremists, with a leg-up from Marxists, to overthrow the "corrupt" West and replace it with Islamic Sharia law and eventually global caliphate. Only after this transformation will the world have the "peace" part of the "Religion of Peace." Until then, as the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, vowed, "there will be struggle" (lit. jihad).
Hamas was among the first to respond to the soldiers' murder. Abu Obaida, the spokesman for its Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, declared: "We bless the heroic Hebron operation carried out by the brave men of our people." He went on to call on Palestinians to "rise up against the usurping [Israeli] occupier."This was not an appeal for restraint. It was an explicit call to expand the violence and murder more Jews. PIJ also praised the attack and mourned the attackers, who were killed in a subsequent exchange of fire. In its statement, the terrorist organization described the operation as "a message sealed with pure blood." It announced that similar killings would continue and urged Palestinians throughout the West Bank to escalate their attacks.
Fatah al-Intifada, a faction distinct from the Fatah party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, similarly praised the attack. It described it as a "natural and legitimate response" to Israeli government policies and declared that "resistance" operations would continue.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian Resistance Committees praised the attack as well and described it as a "legitimate and necessary response" and a "new blow and a strong slap" to Israel's security, military and intelligence establishment.
These statements, coming from terrorist groups backed by the Iranian regime, reveal a political culture in which murdering Jews is not merely celebrated as an achievement and the terrorists are elevated as national heroes — the same wish holds true for all "infidels" wherever they are.
The language of "resistance," "martyrdom," and "legitimate response" is repeatedly used to justify violence, regardless of whether it advances Palestinian interests or even brings further suffering to ordinary Palestinians. It advances the cause of overthrowing the West.
The issue is not whether Palestinians may criticize Israeli policies. It is the refusal of Palestinian leaders and armed groups to draw any line between political opposition and the glorification of terrorism and jihad.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre demonstrated the devastating consequences of an extremist Islamist ideology that treats people of other religions, in this instance Jews, as a legitimate target. In Nigeria, Islamists treat Christians as legitimate targets. In India, they treat Hindus as a legitimate target. In France and the West, they treat democratic governance as a legitimate target. It is the same war. A few clearly terrified leaders in the West — in France, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain — might think that if there were a Palestinian state, it might keep the mob quiet for a while. Yes, until breakfast. That is also why US President Donald Trump should not make a "deal" with the rulers of Iran.
Hamas and other likeminded jihadists have no problem murdering civilians — whether in the US on 9/11, the London transit system, the Barcelona and Madrid attacks, Paris's Bataclan Theater, Nice on Bastille Day, German Christmas Markets, the Manchester concert or anywhere else. They are convinced they will be rewarded for it, not just by European politicians in this life, but by Allah in the next — so that no matter how many babies or elderly people they kill torture or mutilate, it is all good.
Islam's extremist leaders evidently do not care how great is the devastation and suffering they cause their own people — whether in the Gaza Strip or Iran. Iran's regime has recently slaughtered more than 36,500 of its own citizens, and continues to kill — so why should they care if they inflict the same horrors on anyone else? One might have hoped that the murders of the two Israeli soldiers this week would prompt a serious reassessment of the Palestinian strategy of terrorism. Instead, the statements after the Hebron attack suggest that major Palestinian factions such as Hamas and PIJ, like the protesters throughout the West, continue to regard violence as a source of pride and a means of advancing their primary objective — in Israel, the elimination of the "Zionist entity" (Israel), and in the rest of the world, overthrowing man-made (as opposed to Allah-made) infidel democracies.
These public glorifications of terrorism should concern anyone genuinely interested in a peaceful future not just for Palestinians and Israelis, but for the entire West.
The silence of the Palestinian Authority — and other Arab and Muslim leaders — is also significant. No public statements condemning the Hebron attack have been issued by Palestinian leaders or representatives or any other Muslim world leader. They object only when it is their territory that is being bombed — which it often is by other Muslims.
The Palestinian Authority's official news agency, WAFA, only highlighted Israel's counterterrorism measures in Hebron, including road closures and arrests, after the murder of the two IDF soldiers. In their view, as usual, "it all started when he hit me back."
Israel's countermeasures have indeed caused hardship for local residents. Where, though, is any denunciation of the attacks that caused Israel's security response? The Palestinian people have been put — by their own leaders — in a horrible position of bearing the consequences of terrorist attacks while the Palestinian organizations that praise the attackers present themselves as champions of the people. They are not. Like the ruling butchers of Iran, they are holding the Palestinians and other Muslims hostage. If these captives hope to live, they cannot even protest. The Palestinian Authority is frequently described by Western leaders and governments as a potential partner for peace. If the Palestinian Authority leaders wish to be regarded as a credible alternative to Hamas, they need to demonstrate that difference in practice. Condemning Israeli actions while refusing to condemn the cause — the deliberate killing of Israelis — is no foundation for peace and stability. The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem; it is not the solution — and wishing it were will not make it so. Its long-standing policy of paying monthly stipends to Palestinian terrorists who murder or wound Jews ("Pay-for-Slay") makes it as rotten as Iran's Palestinian terrorist proxies – Hamas and PIJ, or all the other terrorist groups whether Al-Qaeda, ISIS or Antifa. There is also a telling contrast to the response of Israeli leaders to violence committed by Jewish extremists. After recent alleged attacks by a few settlers against Palestinians, Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine and European diplomats, Israeli President Isaac Herzog publicly condemned the violence. At least the Israelis condemned the violence, regardless of the perpetrators' identity. Palestinian leaders and factions need to be held to the same standard.
Israel has every right to protect its citizens and pursue whoever is responsible for terrorist attacks. Israel's specific security measures should be assessed based on facts and in accordance with the law. There is, however, a mystifying contradiction in praising an attack against Israelis and then denouncing Israel for launching an operation against the perpetrators and the networks suspected of supporting them. The international community might begin to understand that peace requires more than diplomatic declarations and initiatives, ceasefires, and promises of Palestinian statehood, especially for self-declared terrorists. Peace requires a total rejection of terrorism, of the people organizing it, of those who carry it out, and it requires a political leadership willing to put the lives and future of ordinary Palestinians — and innocent civilians whoever they are — ahead of the interests of terrorists and of their own incompetent political careers. Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple who wish to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22941/israel-is-pretext-target-is-west
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Lebanon… The Truck of Explosives and Lessons Ignored
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
The affair of the explosives transported from the Bekaa to Beirut has dispelled hopes that the second anniversary of the assassination of the former secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, would be an occasion for reviewing the party's military and political choices in light of its heavy losses and of what Lebanon, and the party's base in particular, has suffered in killing, displacement, and destruction. The discourse of the party and its secretary-general, Naim Qassem, affirmed the continuation of its course and defended it, rather than holding the leadership, its policies, and their results to account.
With this insistence on its approach, the party presents its survival and its capacity to carry on as proof that its choices were right. But is survival alone enough? Or do the scale of the losses and the change in the balance of power require a review that goes beyond clinging to weapons and invoking the late leader's legacy without questioning his choices?
The party invokes Nasrallah as a source of legitimacy on which the current leadership leans to keep its public cohesive. But loyalty to the late leader does not exempt it from assessing his choices, nor does it make the continuation of his approach a duty above every other consideration.
Having placed the requirements of its regional role above the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese, the party has not been moved to change its choices even by the losses it inflicted on itself and its base. This insistence becomes harder still to justify now that the conditions that built the party's influence have changed, its capacity to exert influence has declined, and the cost of using its weapons has risen. The leadership is responsible for reviewing its choices in light of these facts, rather than turning the leader's legacy into an immunity that shields it from accountability.
Qassem stressed that Israel has not succeeded in breaking the resistance. But the organization's survival and its continued fighting do not mean it has succeeded in deterrence or in protecting the population and the land. When the party's survival is presented as sufficient proof that its choices were right, preserving the organization becomes the measure of success and the security of citizens falls to second rank.
The review should therefore begin with an assessment of the decision to enter the war and to continue it. Were the party's estimates of the balance of power realistic? Did it account for the limits of Iran's support, the scale of the Israeli response, and society's capacity to bear the cost? And how does it explain the gap between the promises of protection and the actual results of the war? The review also covers the party's relationship with its popular base, which bore the brunt of the war's cost. Continued loyalty to the party does not rule out restlessness within that base, nor does it drown out Shiite voices that have become bolder in opposing its weapons and its choices. These voices do not mean the collapse of its popular base, but they show that the base's cohesion does not mean consensus on the war's usefulness or acceptance of the cost of the attachment to Iran. The review requires respecting the right of those who have been harmed to hold the leadership to account, rather than treating their loyalty as an open mandate to continue the same choices.
It also covers the party's relationship with the state. The speeches of its secretary-general and a number of its officials have turned to attacking the Lebanese authorities' choices, calling for a freeze on direct negotiations with Israel, and refusing to discuss exclusive state control of weapons on the pretext of the continuing Israeli occupation of the South. In this way the party keeps the state's sovereignty suspended on a condition whose criteria of fulfilment it sets itself, according to the agenda of its patron Iran, while demanding that the state provide protection, stop the attacks, and rebuild. Here lies the contradiction: it loads the state with the responsibilities of sovereignty, while withholding from it the instruments for exercising them, by retaining - as a militia tied to Tehran - an independent military decision.
Reviewing the party's relationship with the state cannot be separated from reviewing its attachment to Iran's strategy. Tehran acts according to its own interests and may use its proxies to pressure its adversaries and improve its negotiating position, even at the expense of their interests and their countries'. With the American-Iranian negotiations stalled, Lebanon remains exposed to the consequences of calculations it does not control. The dilemma the party faces is how far it is ready to put its base and all Lebanese people's need to end the war and recover sovereignty ahead of the requirements of the role it plays within Iran's strategy.
Whatever the outcome of the "Dawn of Yemen" operation, launched by Yemeni government forces with air support from the coalition to restore the state and end Houthi control of Sanaa, the Yemeni developments reinforce the need for the party to review its regional role.
The Houthis' capacity to threaten navigation in Bab al-Mandeb and international interests increases their importance in Tehran's calculations, and may give them priority in funding and arms at the expense of Hezbollah, whose regional effectiveness has declined because of its losses, the imbalance of power with Israel, and growing Lebanese rejection of its weapons. Iranian support is governed by an ally's usefulness to Tehran, not the size of its sacrifices, while Lebanon and the party's base remain weighed down by the cost of its role within Iran's strategy.
Two years after Nasrallah's assassination, the party's leadership needs a review. The difficulty is that it requires ending the party's military role within Iran's strategy, accepting that weapons and foreign policy decisions belong exclusively to the state, and exercising its role in domestic politics within the state's institutions and laws. The state also bears responsibility for empowering the army and intensifying diplomatic pressure to stop the attacks, secure Israel's withdrawal, and ensure the return of the displaced and reconstruction.
Clinging to an approach that keeps Lebanon an arena for battles beyond its interests reproduces the causes of the crisis, and the party's survival is not enough to justify continuing the choices that have brought killing, displacement, and destruction on Lebanon, and on its own base in particular.

Terrorism In Karak… Treacherous and Cowardly
Abdulah bin Bijad Al Otaibi/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
For a good number of years now it has been clear that the Sunni groups of political Islam and the Sunni organizations of religious violence are almost entirely subordinate to Iran, from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Sururis, to al-Qaeda and ISIS. The cowardly terrorist attack that targeted a church in the Jordanian city of Karak cannot be removed from this context. Three strongly built men, heavily armed, consciously chose to target a peaceful church and Christian citizens among whom were old men, old women, and children, all of them unsuspecting civilians unprepared to face an assault of such violence and bloodshed. Here the traits of treachery and cowardice show themselves with complete clarity. The true believer does not betray, and the brave man does not target weak civilians; he seeks out his peers among brave armed men. But these are treacherous cowards.
Whoever recalls the past decades and the terrorist operations that spread through them, at different times and in scattered places and countries, each in its own fashion, will find clearly that what unites many of the operations of modern terrorism is that they combine two traits condemned in every religion, culture, and philosophy, two traits abhorrent to everyone of sound nature, honor, and decency: treachery and cowardice. In all their shameful terrorist operations and crimes, you find that these terrorists, for the most part, do not set out to confront the world's great powers. Instead, they hijack civilian aircraft and their civilian passengers, as on September 11 and elsewhere, and they flee from confronting American forces, as they did in Afghanistan and elsewhere. More than that, they confront the states and security forces in their own countries; indeed they always look for the weakest in societies, the old men, the old women, and the children. Their cowardice and feebleness have reached the point of firing on coffins and making war on the dead in their shrouds, and the news reported bullets striking a coffin in the Karak church.
Worse than this treacherous and cowardly act is its attribution to Islam or to jihad in any form. The truth is that targeting the weak and avoiding the strong was the way of the unbelievers of Quraysh at the time of the Prophet's mission. Unable to confront Hamza bin Abd al-Muttalib or Omar bin al-Khattab, they set about torturing Bilal bin Rabah, Ammar bin Yasir, and their like. This, by God, is a disgrace and an everlasting shame, if only they understood. Who has stirred the scene afresh, and now urges his followers in every Arab country to ugly terrorist escalation, whether in Iraq, Yemen, or Jordan? One who does not hesitate to target Jordan with his missiles and drones is not incapable of moving his followers on the ground, they and their muftis and their handlers everywhere.
Islamist movements began veering in this direction with the Muslim Brotherhood and its "secret apparatus," or "special organization," whose task was bombings and assassinations among peaceful and weak citizens. It later passed to the Shiite version of political Islam through Ayatollah Kashani and Sayyid Qutb, and through Khomeini and his disciples at a later stage. When a state is unable to confront America militarily, it chooses to target its neighbors, whom it supposes weaker than America. And when a group or organization is unable to confront the security forces, it targets the peaceful and weak in houses of worship, such as churches and mosques, because it gives no weight to the sanctities of God or to the prohibitions of Islam.
For years, Islamist parties repeatedly mobilized all their followers, organized demonstrations, composed sermons and lectures, and convened conferences and seminars whenever some European prankster drew a cartoon insulting the noble Prophet. That act is condemnable by every measure, since it targets and mocks the greatest sanctities of Islam and the noble Prophet, and the protest is right in principle. What is striking today, and invites comparison, is that the Houthi militia's aggression against the Two Holy Mosques with ballistic or cruise missiles and with drones has become as plain as the sun at midday. This is an attack on the holiest sanctities of Muslims, who number more than a billion and a half around the world. Yet not a single demonstration came out, not a single statement was issued denouncing this shameful targeting, and these groups and organizations and their muftis fell as silent as the grave about this flagrant aggression on the Two Holy Mosques. On another note, some Islamic sects historically denounced the bombardment of the Kaaba with catapults in the time of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr. Why do they not denounce the targeting of the Kaaba and the Prophet's Mosque with missiles and drones? This question must be asked, to understand the logic of history through comparison and inquiry. Finally, talk of endings, when it concerns ideologies, always seems hasty, and takes no account of the logic of history, the evolution of societies, and the changes in human beings.

Will Eisenkot Restore the Rule of the Generals in Israel?
Nabil Amr/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
Should Gadi Eisenkot win and form Israel's next government, will it mark the return of the generals to power? Three generals have reached the premiership before him: Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, and Ariel Sharon. Two of them left their mark on Israel's political and military history: Rabin and Sharon. The third, Barak, failed resoundingly, even though he won office in a direct popular vote and had collected, in his years of service, more decorations, and higher ones, than any soldier before him. Rabin's mark was his wager on a settlement with the Palestinians. He was the first prime minister to make it, and he paid for it with his life, becoming the first, and still the only, Israeli prime minister to be assassinated. With his fall, the promise of peace he carried fell too. Barak's name is attached to an achievement of a different kind, recorded on the debit side of the ledger. He sank President Bill Clinton's last attempt to rescue the peace process at Camp David, the turning point that ended the path of a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians. In its place came a course opened by Sharon, which looked like the foundation of a settlement imposed unilaterally: the separation barrier with the West Bank, the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, and the evacuation of military and settlement positions in the northern West Bank. Sharon's course halted almost as soon as it began, when illness left him unable to govern. When he died, the idea of a unilateral settlement died with him.
All three generals outranked Eisenkot during his military career. Until he rose to command the army on the strength of his professional record, no one imagined him suited to lead Israel from its highest political office.
Eisenkot, who lost his son in the Gaza war, entered politics in alliance with Benny Gantz, then broke with him to go his own way, this time toward the premiership. He has built wide popularity in a short time. Unlike the three generals before him, he has never been tested in high civilian office. Part of his appeal is that he would be Israel's first prime minister of Mizrahi, Moroccan origin. Part, too, comes from a public weary of Netanyahu's long rule. The old saying fits his case: not out of love for him, but out of hatred for Netanyahu.
In Israel, mood and impression weigh heavily in the bets placed on politicians. Every alternative to Netanyahu had been tried except him, and so the wager fell to him. The easy, surprising popularity he has reaped will give way, once his victory is declared, to an exhausting steeplechase. The first hurdle is 61 seats. Clearing it with a purely Zionist coalition is, by every poll, impossible. The alternative is to clear it with the direct support of the Arab members, who, because neither Zionist camp can reach 61 on its own, have become the kingmakers in any coalition. Their influence will grow further if their number exceeds fourteen. Suppose Eisenkot finds a formula and forms a government, one of leaders rather than followers. He will then face the test of whether he can deliver the change he promised. Some of it lies within reach of his Knesset majority, in domestic affairs: conscripting the Haredim, establishing a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, consolidating the authority of the judiciary, and other measures under the heading of reform. But what the world wants from him is what he cannot do, or can do only with great difficulty. What will he do about Gaza? How far will he move away from Netanyahu on the war against Iran and its proxies? To what extent can he change Israel’s approach to engaging with the Palestinian Authority, or reopen the political horizon Netanyahu sealed shut?
Rabin tried, failed, and was assassinated.Sharon tried, fell ill, and died, and his idea died with him. Can the fourth general to take the premiership leave a distinctive mark on war and politics in Israel? Or will the Barak episode repeat itself?
No one can say.

When Netanyahu Speaks in the Mirror
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October 26/2026
They go to the ballot boxes tomorrow. A harsh ambush at a dangerous turn. It is the opportunity for the disappointed and the resentful. They have sharpened their knives. The lust for revenge gleams in their eyes. Daggers peek out from beneath their leaders' smiles. The scent of vengeance, both old and new. They want me defeated. They want me imprisoned. They want me a corpse. I will not preempt the results. The party of the loyal stands ready, striving to shield both their leader and the nation from defeat. I will not accuse the electorate of ingratitude; it suffices to say that memories are short. Some polls have promised them a festival of hatred, though I remain hopeful that this celebration will be deferred. Yet, one cannot afford to over-gamble on the prudence of voters. History speaks volumes. The French public turned their backs on Charles de Gaulle in his own referendum, prompting him to pack his papers and retreat to his village, preferring the bitter solitude of a writer to the aura of the presidency. I am no writer, and penning memoirs holds no allure for me. I am a boxer whose destiny is to stay in the ring, trading punches. British voters similarly betrayed Winston Churchill after he led them to victory in the World War, subjecting him to six grueling years before he managed to reclaim 10 Downing Street. Israeli political life is a jungle. Hatred from enemies and backstabbing from allies. A merciless duel, steeped in cunning, deception, and malice. The strongman is neither loved nor wanted. They prefer ordinary figures who can be brushed aside at the first crossroads. They prefer those who leave no footprint on history. The political atmosphere is toxic, and the voter is sometimes overcome by naivety. They forget what you achieved in the existential war, only to reproach you over the price of a canister of gasoline or the price of tomatoes.
In this slaughterhouse, journalists must not be forgotten. By nature, they are malicious creatures. They hate the strongman and see no path to advancement except over his corpse. They infiltrate a man's career, scouting it for a slip-up, and if they unearth a scandal, his blood gleams on their fangs as they begin to dance. Journalists are dangerous creatures. They inject poison into the veins of public opinion, training it to turn against the decision-maker and plot against him. Some believe that a powerful ruler provokes ordinary people simply because he demands their engagement in grand battles.
It is hard for me to believe that tomorrow's voters will choose Gadi Eisenkot. This man is no Yitzhak Rabin, who entered East Jerusalem on June 7, 1967, nor is he Ariel Sharon, the mastermind of the Deversoir operation who led the Israeli army into that incubator of dangers known as Beirut. He is not even Ehud Barak, whose chest can barely accommodate his array of medals.
There is no glory in a legendary boxer defeating an opponent with no history, yet how bitter a defeat against him would be. His electoral capital is drawn far more from those who despise Netanyahu than from those who admire Eisenkot. As a former chief of staff with no resounding triumphs on his record, his style is dry and his public presence lacks charisma. I do not deny that his son fell fighting in Gaza, or that close relatives met the same fate, but that alone is not enough to hand him the seals of power.
My story is different. I was born in a state that has shared its bed with danger since its inception. I learned my first lesson from my historian father. I learned my second when my brother, Yonatan, an officer, returned as a corpse from Entebbe after helping liberate the passengers of a civilian airliner hijacked on the orders of Wadie Haddad. Haddad is fortunate that I was not the decision-maker at the time; had I been, the causes of his death would not have been shrouded in mystery. I studied at America's most prestigious universities and grasped the secret behind that country's superiority. I worked at our embassy in Washington, sensing the constant need for a great America, and served as my country's ambassador to the United Nations, where I realized the fragility of its statements and the emptiness of its written resolutions.
If only voters would refresh their memories. On October 7, 2023, Yahya Sinwar unleashed the "Flood." While the security failure was undeniable, I refused to clear the way for an investigative committee that would bind the hands of the government and the military. Instead, I ordered that the "Flood" be turned back upon those who launched it. I ask the voter: where are Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed now? Where are Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa? Ismail Haniyeh mistakenly believed that taking refuge in the Revolutionary Guard's stronghold in Tehran would protect him, but it did not.
I vowed to eliminate everyone connected to the "Flood," and I kept my word. I targeted the top leadership, their children, and their grandchildren. I reduced Gaza to a sea of rubble and tents. No one has killed as many Palestinians as I have. This is a narrow land, too small to accommodate two states or two peoples. If only voters would refresh their memories. On October 8, Lebanese Hezbollah launched a support war for Gaza. I ask the voter: where are Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine, Fuad Shukr, Ibrahim Aqil, and Ali Karaki now? I transferred the Gaza experience to the "security zone" in southern Lebanon, where our forces are currently stationed, and they will not depart until Hezbollah is disarmed. Israel's security takes precedence over all else. We were not lenient with Assad, and we will not be lenient with Sharaa.
Will the voter forget that the Mossad stole the Iranian nuclear archive, leading Trump to withdraw from Obama's agreement days later? The master of the White House recognized the scale of the Iranian threat and ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the sponsor of the "proxies" that dreamed of delivering the "grand strike" against Israel. Will the voter forget that I ordered the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei along with his top generals and nuclear scientists, and that Israeli aircraft occupied the skies of Tehran?
Could a man of Eisenkot’s caliber have convinced Trump to go to war against Iran? Could he have waged war on multiple fronts and replicated the experience of "security zones" on the territories of others? Does the voter have the right to remove me from my office while the hurricane of a new war approaches? I demand that they give me a chance to complete my mission in Iran, as well as my existential war in the West Bank. The daggers of my enemies gleam. They want to see me imprisoned, forgetting that I am not Ehud Olmert. They use a handful of gifts and violations as a pretext. Tomorrow they go to the ballot boxes. Another chapter begins. The verdict of the ballot boxes leaves no footprint on the deliberations of the court of history.

From the Archive/Get Out, Christians, from Our Lands
Ahmad Al-Sarraf/Al-Qabas Kuwaiti Newspaper/June 24, 2014
(Free translation by Elias Bejjani)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/138765/
Leave, Christians of Damascus, Yabroud, and Maaloula from our lands. Leave, Christians of Mosul, Nineveh, and Baghdad from our countries. Leave, Christians of Lebanon from our mountains and valleys. Leave, Christians of Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula from our shores and soil. Leave, all of you, from beneath our skins. Leave, all of you, for we despise you and do not want you among us. Leave, for we are weary of progress, civilization, openness, tolerance, love, brotherhood, coexistence, and forgiveness! Leave so we can focus on killing one another. Leave, for you are not from us, nor are we from you. Leave, for we are tired of you being the origin of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine. Leave, so we don’t feel ashamed when our eyes meet yours, questioning what has happened? Leave and abandon us with our disasters, for you have those who will welcome you elsewhere.
We will remain here, far from you, your claims, talents, competencies, knowledge, and experiences. Leave and abandon us to our fanaticism, hatred, and hostility. Leave, for we have grown exhausted from enduring your so-called civilization. With your departure, we will focus on ending it, erasing its traces, and destroying the idols, statues, and relics left by your ancestors—whether stone, poetry, or literature. Leave, for neither Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Kuwait, Palestine, Jordan, nor the fragrant North Africa need you or those who lived among us before you—whether gypsies, Jews, or stones.
Go, leave, and take mercy with you, for after the likes of Al-Nusra, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Brotherhood’s latest offspring, we no longer need mercy or compassion. Blood will flow, violence will spread, hearts will break, livers will be devoured, tongues will be torn out, necks will be severed, knees will collapse. We will return to ancient medicine, herbal remedies, old books, and divination on the beach sands seeking fortune.
Depart, our Christians, and take with you all the relics and remains of Gibran Khalil Gibran, Sargon Boulus, Badawi Al-Jabal, Anastas Al-Karmali, Youssef Al-Sayegh, Saadi Al-Malih, the sons of Takla, Al-Yaziji, Al-Bustani, and Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir. Take with you your universities and hospitals, close your missions. We do not even need Mikhail Naimy, nor should you forget May Ziadeh, the sons of Maalouf, Sarouf, Ghali, Zaidan, Khazen, Bustros, Thabet, and Sakakini. All these are not of us, and we are not of them.
Yes, depart from us, for we wish to return to our deserts. We miss our swords, sands, and beasts. We do not need you, your civilization, or your linguistic and poetic contributions. We have enough from our factions of murderers and blood spillers.
Begone, Christians, with your culture, for we have replaced it with the culture of digging graves!

Iran pushes hard on its nuclear rebuild — daring Trump to strike again
Andrea Stricker/ New York Post/October 26/2026
“It’s a necessity more important than bread.”
That’s how Iran’s rulers regard their drive to acquire nuclear weapons, an activist hard-liner recently declared. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s surprise visit to Israel this week, leaks about US and Israeli military preparations, and remarks by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggest Washington and Jerusalem are seriously weighing fresh strikes on Iran — largely to disrupt a nuclear rebuild that Tehran is now openly admitting. The regime’s unbending pursuit of nuclear weapons and its refusal to make peace remind us why it’s so dangerous — and why a new, limited round of military strikes may be necessary.One option reportedly under discussion: dropping the largest conventional bomb in the US arsenal, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb — the “mother of all bombs” — to destroy access to Iran’s deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain complex.
Trump said last week he may have to strike the site, because any Iranian push for nuclear weapons is intolerable. “They would use it,” he warned. US and Israeli strikes in 2025 and 2026 set Iran’s nuclear program back by more than two years. Now the Islamic Republic is attempting to make up for lost time by rebuilding its nuclear-weapons option underground. In addition to Pickaxe, Tehran is openly reconstituting its program at several sites that should top the US target lists.At Minzadehei, a facility where a key nuclear component was manufactured, the Institute for Science and International Security spotted rapid rebuilding activity in satellite images from September and October. Israeli forces struck and all but destroyed the site back in March. A parallel reconstruction effort is underway at Taleghan 2, an above-ground bunker long linked by the International Atomic Energy Agency with high-explosive work and warhead experiments.Israel hit Taleghan 2 in October 2024 and again in March 2026, after an earlier rebuild restored a high-explosive containment vessel. Repair work resumed in June: Iran has capped penetration holes where bombs hit, added concrete blast protection, reinforced the structure, and has hidden further activity under tarps while construction equipment operates.
Further rebuilding is occurring at Shahid Boroujerdi, another tunnel complex linked to past work on uranium metal for nuclear-weapon cores. This week the Foreign Policy Research Institute identified new construction activity there, as well as the presence of shipping containers.
As of September, Iran was also repairing buildings at Malek Ashtar University, which Israel struck this year to halt the regime’s nuclear-weaponization work there. Whether Iran is pursuing salvage or reconstitution efforts, the pace of work at these sites should raise alarm.
At Pickaxe Mountain, the 300-foot-deep tunnel complex south of Natanz, the Iranians appear to have halted additional construction in favor of hardening the site to withstand future bombing — but could resume work at any time.
The US and Israel have flagged Pickaxe as a potential future enrichment and weaponization site, and reports suggest it’s a hiding place for uranium-enrichment centrifuges that survived the 2025 strikes. While the complex may be beyond the reach of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busters used at the Fordow and Natanz enrichment sites, either a MOAB or Tomahawk missiles could block Iranian access to Pickaxe and allow for better monitoring of the regime’s work there.
To prevent Tehran from further recovery efforts, strikes on all these sites must remain on the table. US and Israeli strikes have already denied Iran a ready nuclear-weapons fuel source — the hardest and slowest part of building an arsenal. Some 9,000 kilograms of enriched uranium, enough to eventually produce roughly 22 weapons, remains entombed or inaccessible.
But the current pause isn’t sustainable if Iran can rebuild what previous campaigns degraded. A coherent policy must go beyond disrupting reconstruction. It requires a sustained US naval blockade and economic pressure to starve Tehran’s military budgets, plus covert operations that target scientific networks and nuclear procurement chains.Washington must also field next-generation bunker-busters capable of reaching sites like Pickaxe Mountain, and work with Israel on methods such as subterranean drills that can collapse tunnel complexes from above. And the Pentagon must continue preparing to defend Saudi oil facilities from Iranian counter-strikes — which Tehran has already threatened in response to any US or Israeli action against Pickaxe.
Ultimately, the Islamic Republic won’t stop seeking the bomb until the regime itself ends.
To truly terminate this dire threat, the United States and Israel should stand ready to support the Iranian people in the overthrow of their oppressors. Andrea Stricker is deputy director of the nonproliferation program and a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Turkey Has Outsourced Its Censorship to American Companies
Natalie Ecanow and Helin Unal/The Cipher Brief/October 26/2026
Earlier this month, Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford got a notice from X: her account was being blocked in Turkey. She asked the Turkish presidency why and has yet to get an answer. She isn’t the only one.
Crawford is one of at least 1,270 accounts Turkish courts ordered X to block in September. X made roughly 90% of them unavailable in Turkey, according to the Freedom of Expression Association. Weeks before X began blocking these accounts in Turkey, Elon Musk declared that “any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.”While American social media platforms show clear outrage when they are banned in other countries, they rarely show the same outrage when Turkey silences its citizens online. These bans and blocks disproportionately hit marginalized communities, particularly those who rely on these platforms to organize, share information, and make their experiences visible. These restrictions reduce the visibility of minority perspectives and encourage self-censorship among LGBTQ+ people, activists, and independent journalists. A democracy depends on people being able to access information, express their views, and participate in public debate. When certain communities are systematically pushed out of these spaces, their experiences and perspectives become less visible in the broader political conversation.
The Crackdown Behind the Blocks
Since the failed 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, the government has steadily expanded its control over the information environment, including by targeting journalists, media organizations, and political opponents who criticize the government. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), roughly 90% of Turkey’s traditional media is currently under government control. As a result, many journalists have turned to YouTube and social media to reach audiences independently of traditional outlets. These platforms, however, have also become subject to government pressure, including licensing requirements, arrest threats, and content restrictions. The scale of these restrictions was particularly visible following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Between March 19 and April 12, 2025, X blocked access in Turkey to at least 471 accounts with a combined 17.2 million followers. The affected accounts ranged from journalists with more than 1.2 million followers to grassroots organizations with fewer than ten. At least 22 of the blocked accounts belonged to women’s rights organizations, including the We Will Stop Femicides Platform, which had approximately 181,000 followers. The breadth of the restrictions suggests that online censorship in Turkey has affected not only prominent journalists but also smaller civil-society and activist organizations. Similar restrictions were reported in September 2026 during the government’s “My Family Is Safe” operation targeting LGBTQ+ organizations. On September 13, access to 32 X accounts—many belonging to university LGBTQ+ groups—was blocked in Turkey. Three days later, an Istanbul court ordered access restrictions on another 419 accounts over allegations that they had shared “obscene content.” The accounts reportedly included journalists, activists, media organizations, and women’s rights groups. The restrictions also affected the accounts of Evrensel newspaper, Amnesty International Turkey, and the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA). Moreover, the website and social media accounts of the news organization T24 were blocked over content authorities characterized as “LGBT propaganda.”
When American Platforms Do Ankara’s Work
The role of social media companies is particularly significant because many of these restrictions depend on platforms complying with requests from Turkish authorities. Transparency reports show high compliance with government requests: TikTok (91.8%), X (85.66%), Instagram (79.15%), Google (77.5%), and Facebook (42%). These rates illustrate that restrictions on online speech do not result solely from direct government censorship. When platforms carry out blocking orders without challenge, government censorship reaches the spaces where journalists and activists work independently. The result is a chilling effect: people who have not been blocked censor themselves, and citizens lose access to information they need to take part in public life. X says it challenges the orders in court and that refusing risks throttling the entire platform in Turkey. But when a court ordered İmamoglu’s campaign account blocked in August, X implemented the block while contesting it. The damage also reaches Americans: the accounts blocked include U.S.-based @Gayety and @Pride. The hypocrisy is hard to miss. X has long portrayed itself as a defender of free speech, and American officials and tech executives have spent years warning about foreign censorship. Yet when a NATO ally demands that dissidents be erased, American companies behave like compliance departments.
The Silence After the Block
The impact of censorship extends beyond the accounts that are formally blocked. It can also affect people who remain free to post but choose not to do so. Journalists, activists, academics, and ordinary users may engage in self-censorship because they fear arrest, legal consequences, harassment, or repercussions for people associated with them. Self-censorship occurs when individuals possess information or opinions they would otherwise share but deliberately withhold them because they perceive a risk in speaking publicly. In this sense, censorship can operate indirectly: the possibility of punishment may be enough to silence speech even when no account has been formally restricted. However, this self-censorship has consequences. Activists in Turkey use online platforms to raise awareness about violence, sexual assault, and killings targeting marginalized groups. For communities whose perspectives receive limited attention in traditional media, social media can provide an important space to document abuse, organize campaigns, and reach audiences both inside and outside the country. Yet while people continue to rely on these platforms for information, they must also navigate the risks associated with speaking publicly online.
This creates a broader chilling effect on public discussion. When websites are blocked or activists are arrested, others may become less willing to publish, share, or amplify information about marginalized communities. The result is not simply the removal of individual accounts or pieces of content; it can also reduce the amount of information available to the public about abuses affecting vulnerable groups. For communities that depend on outside attention and advocacy, these restrictions may also make it more difficult to reach international audiences and build cross-border support. Online censorship in Turkey is expanding, and it falls especially hard on marginalized groups. Turkey still holds elections, but democracy depends on more than voting: when journalists, activists and opposition figures are blocked from the platforms where public debate happens, the choice voters make is less informed and less free. Those platforms are American, and so is a share of the responsibility.
**Dr. Helin Unal is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focusing on Turkey. Her own research focuses on national and religious identity, intergroup relations, peace, and conflict. Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.

The role of defense R&D in strengthening Israel’s capabilities, technological superiority
Jacob Nagel/The Jerusalem Post/October 26/2026
Israel's national security depends on more than military strength. Investment in AI, robotics, space, and advanced defense technologies is essential to staying ahead of our enemies.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented in a press conference a “lean,” concise document setting out his view of Israel’s national security doctrine. It was drafted under his direct guidance by his National Security Advisor Shmuel Ben-Ezra. As expected, in the run-up to an election, the document drew torrents of criticism and scorn from his opponents, regardless of its contents and its role. The last time the prime minister published a national security doctrine was in 2018. I had the honor of helping launch that effort in 2017 when I was the NSA. The final drafting and refinement were led by the Military Secretary, Maj. Gen. (res.), at the time, Brig. Gen. Eliezer Toledano and his team, with assistance from the National Security Council people.
The 2018 document included about ten unclassified pages, plus roughly eight classified pages. It contained several significant and new principles, among them: punishing those who send the attackers against Israel, not only those who attack us directly, a clear reference to Iran, and adding “civilian” infrastructure targets in the country from which Israel is being attacked to the list of legitimate targets, an obvious reference to Lebanon.
Some of the doctrine’s principles did not hold up on October 7. In the “Nagel Committee on the Defense Budget”, which I have already discussed in several articles, we recommended several substantial changes to what we called Israel’s “operational concept”, at the request of then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He insisted the committee will not develop a new “National Security Strategy”, before the Ministry of Defense had formulated its position. In practice, some of our recommendations clearly fall within the scope of NSS. They all feature prominently in the short document published this week. For example, the shift from a policy of “containment and defense” to one of “prevention and offense”, and the principle that maintaining calm is very important, but not at any price.
Another principle we emphasized in our committee report is that an NSS cannot and should not be approved by the cabinet or the full government, as it is in many other places in the world, like the US, for example. The reason is very simple. The ministers understand that adding budgets to the MOD, as a result of the new NSS, will come on their ministry’s behalf, so they will not vote for it, even when they accept it completely. This didn’t stop the comptroller and some anti-PM reporters from brutally attacking the fact that the old and new papers were not approved by someone other than the PM, as it should be.
The current document is much shorter than the one published in 2018, which was itself relatively brief compared with a traditional NSS paper. Despite its considerable importance, I don’t think the name “NSS document” is the right definition for such a paper. A full NSS doctrine should be broader and partly classified. I would instead describe it as a set of lighthouse guidelines and principles for Israel’s NSS. This description would not diminish the document’s value and might have defused some of the unjustified criticism.
In this article, I want to address one point in the new document and explain why it is critically important, as we claimed in the Nagel Committee: Technology and independence in force development.
The paper calls for:
Reducing dependence on external sources.
Strengthening Israel’s ability to develop its own forces through research, development, and domestic production.
Building world-leading capabilities in critical technologies such as quantum technology, artificial intelligence, and space.
Achieving all of these ambitions, and some more that are not mentioned probably because of classification, will require a substantial increase in the defense budget.
These principles rely first and foremost on sustained investment in defense and civilian R&D. The rest of this article will focus mainly on defense R&D.
As the committee’s recommendations stated, the IDF’s technological and operational strength, as successfully demonstrated in the Iron Swords War, despite some faults and gaps that emerged, is the result of sustained, long-term investment in defense R&D. This work has been led mainly by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (MAFAT) and carried out by universities, research institutes, large and small defense companies, and startups.
R&D is conducted primarily through the central R&D budget, which funds basic research, technology incubation, feasibility studies, and demonstrations, as well as through government-to-government cooperation. The R&D budget must match the capacity to advance technologies and developments at the global frontier, keeping them relevant and attractive worldwide while preserving Israel’s technological superiority and independence where needed, and the qualitative edge (QME) of the IDF and the defense establishment.
In addition to advancing military technologies, the R&D budget also acts as a force multiplier for the defense industry, a phenomenon known as the “R&D multiplier”. Several independent studies have found that every shekel invested in research and development generates a return of at least seven times that amount, and sometimes considerably more, in future sales. Most of those sales come from defense export deals by the relevant defense companies. Recently, the trend has become reciprocal: defense R&D is also benefiting from spillovers from the civilian sector.
In recent years, especially in light of wars and the threats perceived by countries around the world, global demand for Israeli military technologies has risen dramatically. At the same time, competition is increasing, including from some countries that were not previously in the field. The rapid pace of change, input costs, technological developments, and other macroeconomic shifts led the committee to recommend increasing the budget allocated to the central R&D at MAFAT and to some specific huge projects, like space. This is in addition to the funding MAFAT directs toward R&D in the industry through government-to-government deals that it leads.
Recently, the boundaries between civilian and military technologies have become increasingly blurred. This creates intense competition for the technological workforce between the military sector and the civilian technology companies, even though some civilian technologies later find their way into military use. One example is autonomous robotic systems, including all types of drones, which have become a decisive factor in the Russia-Ukraine war and in our region. Similar competition exists in other technological fields, including AI, quantum technology, energy, advanced computing, advanced optics, and space. It is expected to intensify in the coming years.
Key elements in achieving technological superiority through R&D investment
The committee recommended focusing a significant part of R&D and force-development efforts on several key areas, with the goal of creating a complete system: a concept, an organizational framework, and the required weapons and equipment.
Israel must continue strengthening important areas that have received funding in recent years, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, space technologies, directed energy, with an emphasis on HPEM, and deep technologies. These fields will be essential to establishing Israel’s technological superiority over the coming decade.
At the same time, the defense establishment must continue identifying “disruptive technologies”, particularly low-end capabilities. Some of these are based on “good enough” solutions that would allow the acquisition of large numbers of inexpensive systems. For example, a drone capable of flying 2,000 kilometers, carrying 50 kilograms of explosives, for less than $100,000 per unit.
The following is a partial list of key areas, without further detail. More information can be found in the unclassified version of the committee’s report:
Long-range missiles and munitions launched from the ground.
AI-based analysis and decision-making systems, leaving the final decision in human hands.
Robotics and autonomy for the battlefield.
Advanced space technologies.
Deep technologies.
Directed energy, with an emphasis on HPEM.
Hypersonic capabilities and high-speed flight.
New approaches to unmanned systems in the air, land, sea, underground, and underwater.
Scientific and technological workforce
The main resource needed to advance research and development in the IDF and the defense industries is technological talent. In recent years, the shortage of technological personnel in the IDF has become more severe. I will address this problem in a separate article, including the immediate recommendations the committee underlined that should be implemented. Some of them were already ordered for immediate implementation by the prime minister in 2025. We must act before we reach the point of no return.
Academia and high-tech as engines of defense innovation
Academia provides an essential foundation for many areas of science and technology that serve Israel’s security. Israeli academic institutions, including the Technion, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the country’s other universities, are major sources of knowledge in fields such as artificial intelligence, cyber, nanotechnology, quantum, and nuclear physics. Israeli researchers develop groundbreaking solutions for the defense establishment, from missile-defense systems such as Iron Dome to advanced cyber technologies used by the intelligence services.
In Israel’s challenging security environment, where threats are constantly evolving, technological superiority is not a luxury; it is essential to survival. Countries and terrorist organizations are investing more in advanced technologies, and this threat requires Israel to maintain a significant technological edge.
Investing in academic research and development, dual-use civilian infrastructure, and startups, and accelerating and strengthening these efforts alongside the traditional defense industry, will enable Israel to stay one step ahead of its enemies. Technologies such as autonomous drone swarms, AI systems for intelligence analysis, and machine-learning-based information security solutions are all products of academic research that have been integrated into the defense industry, alongside significant advances in the private sector. It is essential to make full use of these assets as part of a comprehensive national vision and to invest in programs that can generate substantial progress in science and the economy.
**Brig. Gen. (Res.) Prof. Jacob Nagel is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington. He served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser and as acting head of Israel’s National Security Council.

Turkey and Pakistan Loop Qatar and Indonesia Into Burgeoning Defense Axis
Natalie Ecanow and Helin Unal/FDD-Policy Brief/October 26/2026
The Mecca Pact gained a cousin on Wednesday when two of its signatories — Turkey and Pakistan — announced a new defense agreement with Qatar and Indonesia. The Badr Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in Doha on October 21, aims to “facilitate cooperation and integration” between its four signatories in manufacturing, research and development, and technical training. The head of Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) said that the MOU, named after the full moon, “will contribute to transforming the complementary capabilities of Qatar, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Turkey into concrete projects.”
Unlike the Mecca Pact, which Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia signed in August 2026, the Badr MOU is not a mutual defense agreement. Instead, it builds on existing bilateral partnerships, expanding and providing a defense-industrial component to the emerging Mecca orbit. However, without any associated projects, investment commitments, or new production-sharing arrangements, it is unclear whether the Badr memorandum will become a substantive partnership or remain largely declaratory.
Badr Builds on Existing Defense-Industrial Partnerships
Qatar already operates Turkish drones, armored vehicles, and fast attack craft, and in 2018 established a joint venture (“BARQ”) with Turkish defense companies ASELSAN and SSTek. BARQ expanded in January 2026 “to cover high-technology areas and selected local production capabilities,” according to an ASELSAN press release. Turkey has also cooperated with Pakistan on four Babur-class corvettes for the Pakistani navy through a 2018 technology transfer agreement and in 2019 signed a contract with Indonesia for the coproduction of 18 KAPLAN MT tanks. The first tranche of tanks was delivered to Indonesia in 2022. Three years later, Ankara selected Indonesia as the first customer for its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet. The export agreement provides for technology transfer and the development of production and maintenance infrastructure inside Indonesia.
American Partners Are Building Parallel Networks
The Badr MOU is the latest example of American partners hedging their relationships with the United States by developing their own regional defense and economic frameworks. Pakistan and Qatar are Major Non-NATO Allies of the United States, granting them enhanced “military and economic privileges.” Qatar also received a U.S. security guarantee via executive order in September 2025. Indonesia, though not a treaty ally, is a longstanding U.S. security partner, and Turkey remains a NATO member. Still, the perception of waning U.S. security commitments and the parties’ longstanding outreach to American adversaries are encouraging them to diversify. Alongside Turkey’s regional ambitions, these dynamics are inspiring a web of new networks.
In June 2026, for example, Turkey and Saudi Arabia signed two memoranda of understanding to establish a rail line connecting the Gulf to Europe via Syria and Jordan. The design, reminiscent of the Ottoman-era Hejaz Railway, circumvents Israel and the United Arab Emirates, defying and potentially competing with the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that Washington is championing. Even if these initiatives are slow to materialize, they show that American partners are increasingly willing to route around Washington, which could erode U.S. influence in the region.
Washington Should Monitor Badr and Clarify CAATSA Reach
Washington should monitor the Badr MOU for concrete outcomes, such as named coproduction programs, the establishment of a joint company, or the potential addition of new members, and ensure that associated efforts align with American interests in the region. Additionally, SSB, as Turkey’s leading defense procurement authority, will ostensibly be involved in Badr-related projects despite the fact that it remains under sanctions that bar U.S. export licenses and authorizations to the agency. The State and Commerce Departments should clarify how these sanctions apply to future Badr-related cooperation and review U.S.-origin components in jointly produced systems, including those marketed to third countries.
**Natalie Ecanow is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Helin Unal is a research fellow at FDD. For more analysis from the authors and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

FBI arrests alleged Islamic State supporter accused of plotting to assassinate Texas congressman
Will Selber/FDD's Long War Journal/October 26/2026
On October 5, the FBI arrested a 17-year-old from McKinney, Texas, who is accused of plotting to assassinate Republican US Representative Keith Self of Texas and carry out a terrorist attack in North Texas on behalf of the Islamic State. Self represents Texas’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes McKinney. “The FBI stopped this radical Islamic terrorist before he could strike,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott. “Radical Islamic terrorism has no place in Texas. We will combat radical Islam in all forms and eliminate every threat it poses.”
Self’s campaign told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that investigators believed the teenager was planning a terrorist attack in North Texas on behalf of the Islamic State. He also allegedly intended to target Self at an October 17 chili cook-off fundraiser for veterans involving former Dallas Cowboys players and other prominent guests. Federal law enforcement sources also told the local news affiliate that the suspect was arrested after acquiring a firearm. The sources said the teenager had recently become radicalized and was under federal surveillance. His name has not been publicly released, and he remains in federal custody. Self’s campaign manager said that US Capitol Police notified his team on October 6, the day after the arrest. Self said he increased security but attended the October 17 fundraiser as scheduled, where he judged chili and beans. “I am grateful to the FBI and law enforcement for stopping this threat,” Self said in a post on X. “My family and I are safe, and I remain focused on serving the people of Texas’ 3rd district.”
Self has been an outspoken critic of Sharia law. In August, the representative, who is running for reelection and serves as co-chair of the 68-member, all-Republican Sharia-Free America Caucus, signed a petition to recall four of McKinney’s seven City Council members after they unanimously approved a site plan for the McKinney Islamic Association. On September 3, Self introduced a nonbinding concurrent resolution denouncing Sharia law and opposing its implementation in the United States. “This only strengthens my resolve. I will not back down,” Self said on his Facebook account in response to the arrest. Evan Hunt, Self’s Democratic opponent in this year’s midterm election, responded on X by saying, “There is no place for violence in our politics. No political disagreement ever justifies threatening someone’s life. Every elected official, their family, and their staff deserve to be safe, regardless of party.”The arrest of the unidentified alleged assassin marks the eighth Islamic State-linked case or incident in the United States this year, and the fourth Islamic State-linked arrest in the past two months. Will Selber is a retired US CENTCOM foreign area officer with over 4 years in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the owner of Grumpy Combat Veteran on Substack.

Things Fall Apart: The Catholic Church and Europe’s Vanishing Center
Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/October 26/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/10/158597/
COMMENTARY: As Europe’s political center loses ground to the left and right, the Catholic Church faces difficult questions about its role in a changing political landscape.
The ancient Norman city of Rouen, like the rest of France, has seen several protests in recent weeks. Students marched, protesting the condition of their schools. Many marched to protest the high cost of living. There was also the looting of many shops. France is polarized, but both left and right hate centrist French President Emmanuel Macron, who has an approval rating of 15%.
One incident on Oct. 17 saw hundreds of antifa and other leftists clashing with 50 “far-right” protesters — monarchists and identitarians — carrying historic Norman flags bearing two golden lions on a red field or a Nordic cross. There were no moderates or centrists on either side.
This on-the-ground reality seems pertinent to recent comments by German Cardinal Reinhold Marx, who said that “the great challenge we face over the next 20 years is the threat to democracy posed by the growth of ethnic nationalism and populist far-right parties. Two powers stand for democracy, human rights, multilateral ideas, our common home and humanity: the European Union and the Holy See. Where are the others?”
Cardinal Marx was not speaking for himself only, as both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV have made negative remarks about populism, usually the right-wing kind.
Cardinal Marx’s vision could be more wishful thinking than anything else. The political center in Europe, which still dominates the EU leadership, is hollowing itself out. In both Germany and France, the political center is imploding while both “extremes” rise. In Italy, the old “far-right,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, is the new center-right. Rising far-left parties in France, Germany and the United Kingdom rely on immigrant, especially Muslim, votes.
The legacy of the centrists and EU seems to be disastrous fiscal and industrial policies, inflation, welfare state insolvency and an open-ended Ukraine war that is draining resources an aging continent can ill afford. European industry can’t compete with China, can’t provide for its own energy and lags in the American-led AI revolution. The entrenched but declining European center often lacks the compelling message that both the facile far-left and far-right offer today.
Strangely enough, the Church faced a similar dilemma in Western Europe exactly a century ago. In 1925, a Belgian Catholic poll asked young Europeans which writer they most admired over the past 25 years. The top three vote-getters were what we would call today “far-right” figures; two belonged to the same political movement, Action française, headed by the intellectual Charles Maurras (Maurras received the most votes).
The now-notorious Maurras is not much remembered today, at least in the Anglosphere, but both he and his monarchist, nationalist movement were very popular among Catholics at the time. Maurras influenced such figures as Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain and the future dictator António Salazar in Portugal. He was also an antisemite, although that was not at the heart of the coming crisis with the Church. Maurras was an agnostic, a (right-wing) freethinker who believed that “Catholicism was good for his country as well as for the whole of civilization.”
That he held various heterodox views — and that he and his movement were very popular among Catholics, including many bishops and priests — had been considered a problem for over a decade.
Pope Pius X, grateful for Maurras’ public defense of Catholicism, had tabled a potential condemnation in 1914. In late 1926, first the Church in France and then Pope Pius XI himself denounced Action française and Maurras; seven of his books were placed on the Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and Catholics remaining with the group were not excommunicated but “were to be treated with the utmost severity as public sinners, deprived of the sacraments and religious funerals.”
The ban would be lifted by Pius XII in 1939. Ironically, before his death in 1952, Maurras was fully reconciled to the Church and died a Catholic.
One who did break with Maurras and Action française directly because of the 1926 ban was Maritain, one of the most significant Catholic thinkers of the century. He moved decidedly away from “the Master’s” integralism and toward Catholic liberalism.
Scholars of both French and Vatican politics have argued to this day about why exactly the Action française affair of 1926 happened. Some believe that the Vatican used theological arguments for political ends and that liberal Catholics in the French government had quietly driven the campaign. Maurras was also, in addition to his antisemitism, bitterly anti-German and opposed to Vatican-endorsed European peace efforts at the time. A further irony is that the ban on Maurras’ organization led to a proliferation of other French right-wing or European far-right populist organizations in the 1920s and 1930s that were never banned.
The lesson here is not so much about Action française but about the dangers of tunnel vision. The 13-year Vatican ban moved Maritain; for most others, it was irrelevant. Cardinal Marx’s focus on the European Union as some sort of political savior is not surprising. The EU was the offspring of great Catholic statesmen — Jean Monnet, the Ven. Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, Alcide De Gasperi — almost 70 years ago.
But the idea that the EU today can somehow “save European democracy” by cheating, by frustrating political outcomes at the ballot box in favor of discredited centrists, seems shaky. No one expects the Holy See to become far-right or, one hopes, far-left. Many would prefer that it focus on souls rather than political parties.
Polling seems to show that French Catholics favor the “far-right populist” Rassemblement National of Marine Le Pen over other parties. But no political outcome, including populist victory, is foreordained. Both the EU and the Holy See are going to have to figure out new ways of speaking to rising leaders and constituencies on both political peripheries that, in the past, they could have ignored or banned.
**Alberto M. FernandezAlberto M. Fernandez is a former U.S. diplomat and a contributor at EWTN News.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on October 26-27/2026
Magdi Khalil مجدى خليل
Christianity is facing one of the most dangerous periods of persecution, hostility, and systematic targeting in centuries, both in the East and the West. It is under growing assault from Islamist terrorism, far-left extremism, ideological subversion, and orchestrated chaos, compounded by an unholy alliance of destructive forces united in their hostility toward Christianity and its values.

Hiba Nasr
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, in an interview with Hadley Gamble:
• “The Americans are withdrawing from the region, and the Israelis are filling the vacuum.”
• “We made a mistake by choosing Marco Rubio’s track instead of the Islamabad track. Rubio’s approach will lead us nowhere.”
• “I do not believe Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, in their current format, will produce results as long as Israel continues to occupy southern Lebanon.”
• “The government tried, but believing that the Americans can pressure Israel to withdraw is a complete illusion.”
• “Israel is seeking to erase the memories of southern Lebanon, as though preparing to establish settlements in parts of it.”
• Calls for internal dialogue based on the principle that only the Lebanese state has the right to possess weapons.
• Says the only way to disarm Hezbollah is through dialogue and possibly a compromise, with the support of Iran and Israel.
• Suggests that the British-Irish experience could serve as a model for Hezbollah’s disarmament, noting that even Margaret Thatcher accepted a compromise with the IRA.
• “I cannot accept a hardline approach toward Hezbollah if it leads to civil war.”
• “We cannot eliminate the Shia community or tell them to leave. They are part of Lebanon.”
• Rejects the establishment of cantons, stressing that Christians and Muslims must continue living together.
• Says Israel’s policy is aimed at erasing Palestinian national identity, from Gaza to the West Bank, while pursuing territorial expansion in Syria and Lebanon.
• “Regardless of who wins the Israeli elections, nothing will change.”
• Says Israeli policy is rooted in the Old Testament and biblical narratives.
• Calls on the United States to send better diplomats and adopt better policies toward the region.
• “Syria’s Druze are taking the wrong path by choosing to become a tool in Israel’s hands.”
• “If we, as Druze, do not embrace broader movements of national solidarity and Arab nationalism, we are heading toward collective suicide.”
• Says the Druze in Israel do not determine their own fate, arguing that the Israeli government makes decisions affecting Druze communities in both Israel and Syria.
• Calls for engagement with Iran, arguing that Hezbollah’s actual policies have been determined in Tehran since Nasrallah’s assassination and that dialogue could help reduce escalation.
• “The region’s crises will not end as long as Netanyahu, the Israeli government, or Israeli society believe they can do whatever they want through force.”

Hiba Nasr
Quite significant (~surprising):
A sharp US rebuke of Jumblatt’s remarks.
A State Department spokesman said :
•In keeping with his long record, Walid Jumblatt will do and say whatever is best for Walid Jumblatt, with little regard for principle, his own constituency, or the future of his country.
•Hizballah and their friends thought the so-called Islamabad Track could serve as license for Hizballah to retain its arsenal while Israel withdraws again. That was never a realistic option.
•The Trilateral Framework is an agreement between two sovereign states, with a clear, reciprocal, sequenced process. Israel has already agreed to withdraw, contingent on Hizballah disarmament and the LAF moving into pilot zones.
•Relying on Iran to disarm Hizballah is a mechanism for preserving Tehran's veto over Lebanese sovereignty.
•Hizballah has dragged Lebanon into two suicidal wars on behalf of Iran. In the end, until they are disarmed, Hizballah will do whatever their puppet-masters in Tehran tell them to do and the people of Lebanon will be forced to pay the price.
•As Ambassador Issa has said, the United States is prepared to engage Hizballah only through the Lebanese state, and only on the topic of disarmament.

Hiba Nasr
After the Jordanian military announced that its air force had carried out strikes targeting extremist groups in southern Syria in retaliation for the Karak church attack, the Syrian government issued a statement denying that the strikes had been coordinated with Damascus.
According to the Syrian statement:
• The Jordanian airstrikes were carried out without any prior coordination with Syrian authorities.
• The strikes resulted in deaths and injuries, including among civilians and children.
• Investigations have been launched to establish the circumstances of the strikes.
• Communication with Jordan is ongoing to discuss the situation and emphasize the importance of security and operational coordination.
• The Syrian government expressed solidarity with the affected families and pledged to provide them with necessary support.

Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed
I was pleased to welcome prominent Kurdish politician Ilham Ahmed for a constructive exchange on the situation in Syria and Rojava, the challenges facing the Kurdish people amid complex regional dynamics, and ongoing efforts to secure their legitimate rights. We discussed the importance of democratic governance, regional stability and ensuring that women have a meaningful role in political life and state institutions. We also underscored the need to preserve Kurdish language and culture, and to translate commitments into action. Protecting the rights of the Kurdish people and ensuring their participation in shaping their future are essential to building a peaceful, stable and inclusive region.

Israel-Alma
The “Shiite Duo,” representing the respective support bases of Hezbollah and Amal, rests on a shared sectarian identity and common political interests. But interests can change, particularly when the interests of one party, Hezbollah, begin to harm those of the other, Amal. Is the realization beginning to take hold among Nabih Berri and the Amal Movement that Hezbollah has become a liability rather than an asset?
Several recent statements have been attributed to Nabih Berri:
“The army is a red line.” The Amal Movement will stand alongside the Lebanese army even if it is required to carry out sensitive missions in southern Lebanon.
Relations between the Amal Movement and Hezbollah were closer during Hassan Nasrallah’s leadership.
Messages reportedly conveyed on Berri’s behalf also stated that the previous framework of coordination between the Amal Movement and Hezbollah has effectively come to an end. Amal is no longer willing to accept a situation in which Hezbollah makes decisions independently and then expects Amal to stand behind it and share the consequences.
At this stage, we do not identify significant indications that the “Shiite Duo” is breaking apart or that a political rupture is developing between Amal and Hezbollah. Berri continues to act as a mediator, seeking to prevent a direct confrontation between Hezbollah and state institutions. Nevertheless, under Lebanon’s current circumstances, the Amal Movement and Nabih Berri face a significant dilemma: whether to preserve the alliance with Hezbollah even at the cost of another war, or to widen their political distance from Hezbollah in order to protect the interests of Amal’s Shiite support base and forge a meaningful alternative alliance. On October 25, it was reported that the positions of Berri and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt had moved closer on issues concerning the state’s monopoly on arms and the need to prevent Hezbollah from dragging Lebanon into another military confrontation. Could this be a new “duo”?