English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 06/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Parable Of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and their kind of prayers: All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18/09-14/:”Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.”But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 05-06/2026
Who is Saint Charbel of Edessa, Whose Feast the Church Celebrates Annually on September 5, and Who is His Martyr Sister, Barabia?/Elias Bejjani/September 05/2025
Elias Bejjani/Video Link to My Interview on Al-Hawiya Youtube Platform
Tarek Mitri, an Enemy of Lebanon and the Lebanese, Still Living the Lie and Charade of Nasserist and Arafatist “Resistance”/Elias Bejjani/September 02/2026
Is There a Disgraceful Intelligence Operation to Fabricate a Judicial Case Against Director and Writer Youssef El Khoury?/Elias Bejjani/September 01/2026
An Extraordinary Ambassador/Abu Arz/Facebook/September 5, 2026
Israeli Army Prepares for New Deployment and Establishment of “Gray Line” in Lebanon
Israel Justifies Nighttime Raids as “Removing an Immediate Threat” and Announces Commitment to Ceasefire Agreement
Israeli Army to Destroy Ali Taher Tunnel Network Completely; Explosions and Raids in the South
Israeli Broadcasting Corporation: Army Prepares to Reduce Troops in Southern Lebanon; Forces to be Deployed 2 to 4 Kilometers from the Lebanese Border
Lebanon raises toll to four dead in overnight Israeli strikes
Hezbollah Seeks New Victory Narrative in Defending Beirut
Hezbollah Escalates Against the Government: Your Options Haven't Protected Lebanon... and Rome Is on the Doorstep
Negotiations to Be Set Early Next Week... Ali Taher: A Test Zone?!
4 Martyrs and 32 Wounded in the South... and Bassil Supports Negotiations
Qatari Prime Minister Reaffirms Doha's Support for Lebanon's Stability and Unity to Nawaf Salam
Behind the Scenes of US-Iranian Understandings that Controlled Escalation in the Battle of Ali al-Taher
Grand Ayatollah Khatib: We sensed Iranian and Iraqi readiness to help Lebanon
Hezbollah: Framework Agreement Has Brought Nothing But Shame to Lebanon
From Iran to Ali al-Taher… An Election Battle for Washington and Tel Aviv
Israel Draws the Security Map for a New South... What Comes After Ali Taher Is More Cruel!
Geographic Auxiliaries for Controlling the Strait of Hormuz: As an Introduction to Solutions/Colonel Charbel Barakat/September 05/2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 05-06/2026
Trump Calls Iran Conflict ‘Small Potatoes’ and Defends Vance’s Position That It’s Not a ‘War’
US Strikes Three Iranian Oil Tankers After IRGC Attack on American Naval Ships, Central Command Says
CENTCOM says it struck three Iranian oil tankers after IRGC targeted two US warships
Iran plans to prolong war, unsettle Trump ahead of midterms: Intelligence reports
US ambassador calls for ‘severe consequences’ to stop West Bank violence
US military personnel face polygraph tests following media leaks: Report
NATO will not tolerate hybrid actions against members, US envoy says
Five European Nations Seek Deals to Send Migrants Out of the EU
Iraqis Queue for Fuel as Regional War Disrupts Imports
Russian strike shuts Ukraine’s steel plant, kills five
Russia hits Ukraine’s airports ahead of US envoys’ visit, Zelenskyy says
Merz says Russia-linked drone attack shows Germany facing ‘profound rupture’
Greek air force jet crashes at annual aerial show
Masked men block traffic to UK’s port of Dover in apparent anti-immigrant protest
Putin meets US envoys for Ukraine war talks

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 05-06/2026
Do Not Be Fooled: Iran's Islamist Regime Is Building a Post-Trump Nightmare/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 05/2026
‘The Pendragon Cycle’ Is Fantasy Grounded in Truth/Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/September 05/2026
Question: Who wrote the Book of Hebrews? Who was the author of Hebrews?/GotQuestions.org/September 05/2026
The UN Charter: Has the Time Come to Amend It?/Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
The Quiet that Makes the Storm/Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
Building a new security architecture in the Middle East/Chang Hua/Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on September 05/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 05-06/2026
Who is Saint Charbel of Edessa, Whose Feast the Church Celebrates Annually on September 5, and Who is His Martyr Sister, Barabia?
Elias Bejjani/September 05/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157241/
Note: The information contained in this study is drawn from numerous documented ecclesiastical, theological, research, and media references.
Introduction
On the Fith Of September the Church celebrates the annual feast of Saint Charbel of Edessa—after whom Lebanon’s Saint Charbel Makhlouf was named—and honors his martyr sister, Barabia.
It is worth mentioning that the name “Charbel” is closely associated with Lebanon’s great saint, Charbel Makhlouf. However, Charbel of Edessa had the historical precedence and priority in receiving the crown of Christian martyrdom and defending the faith to death, becoming a milestone in the history of the martyrs of the East.
Birthplace and Year of Birth
Birthplace: The city of Edessa (modern-day Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey), which was an ancient Syriac Christian and cultural center.
Year of Birth: He was born in the second half of the 1st century AD and lived and was martyred at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, specifically around the year 105 AD.
Stages of His Life While a Pagan
Religious Position: Before his conversion, Charbel was the high priest of the pagan temples and the chief of the priests in the city of Edessa.
Appearance and Role: He enjoyed a high social standing and broad authority. During major feasts and celebrations, he would wear the finest robes and place a golden crown on his head, directing the rituals of offering incense and sacrifices to the pagan gods amidst the noise and official celebrations ordered by the Roman Emperor Trajan.
The Turning Point: Conversion and Repentance
The credit for Charbel’s conversion goes to Saint Barsimaeus (whose name means “Son of the Blind” in Syriac), who was the Bishop of Edessa at that time.
The Confrontation: In the midst of a massive pagan celebration presided over by Charbel, Bishop Barsimaeus stepped forward courageously and confronted him, saying: “May Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, hold you accountable for all those whom you mislead, deceive, and turn away from the true God.” He then began to preach to him about the true faith in the one Creator and the futility of bowing down to “worthless, created idols incapable of doing anything.”
Conversion: The words of Bishop Barsimaeus acted like magic on Charbel’s heart. His inner sight was enlightened, and he abandoned his paganism, announcing his repentance and faith in Christ. He was followed in this by his sister Barabia and some of his close associates.
Monastic Services and Spiritual Struggle
After embracing Christianity, Charbel embarked on a path of repentance and deep spiritual service:
Renouncing Vain Glory: He abandoned his high position, rejected pagan offerings, and embraced a life of asceticism, prayers, and deep immersion in the teachings of the Gospel.
Martyrdom and Evangelism: Charbel did not content himself with personal faith; he professed it openly. He was accompanied in his new journey by his sister Barabia, who dedicated her life to the Lord and shared with them the path of suffering and martyrdom. Together, they became an example of Christian steadfastness in the face of the harsh Roman persecutions ordered by Emperor Trajan against anyone who refused to bow down to the idols.
Martyrdom
Due to his absolute refusal to return to idol worship and offer sacrifices to the Roman gods in compliance with Emperor Trajan’s decrees, Charbel and his sister Barabia were arrested.
Torments: They were subjected to various forms of cruelty and severe tortures to break their faith, but they showed unmatched steadfastness.
End of the Struggle: Charbel and his sister Barabia received the crown of martyrdom at the beginning of the 2nd century AD (specifically around 105 AD), ending their lives by decapitation for the sake of Christ’s name, thus being harvested into the registry of the early Church’s martyrs.
The Connection to Lebanon’s Saint Charbel of Edessa
Naming: Lebanon’s great saint (Charbel Makhlouf) was named after Saint Charbel of Edessa as a blessing from his fragrant life, struggle, and heroism in the faith.
Annual Feast: The Church celebrates the commemoration of the martyrdom of Saint Charbel of Edessa and his sister Barabia on September 5 of every year.
A Prayer for Lebanon Through the Intercession of Saint Charbel of Edessa
O Lord God, You who granted Saint Charbel of Edessa the grace of steadfastness unto blood and martyrdom for Your holy name, we place before Your heavenly throne today our occupied, tortured, and oppressed homeland, Lebanon. Through his intercession and the intercession of his pure and martyr sister, Barabia, we ask You to guide its people, protect them, strengthen their faith and patience, and restore the blessings of peace, stability, faith, and love to its holy land. We ask You to wipe away its wounds, deliver it from the abomination of occupation, terrorists, jihadists, and all crises, and plant true peace in the hearts of its people. Through the intercession of Your martyr, restore the light of hope to Lebanon, and anchor its citizens in faith and love, that it may remain a land of martyrdom and faith. Amen.

Elias Bejjani/Video Link to My Interview on Al-Hawiya Youtube Platform
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157173/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGWz35mW1Tw&t=101s
Elias Bejjani/Video Link to My Interview on Al-Hawiya Youtube Platform: An In-Depth Critical Analysis and Exposure of the Positions of President Aoun, Patriarch Al-Rahi, the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, Prime Minister Salam and His Government, and the Rest of Lebanon’s Ruling Class Amid a Conspiracy Against Sovereigntists and an Intelligence-Driven Narrative Criminalizing and Prosecuting Anyone Who Says Hezbollah Is Iranian, an Enemy of the Shiites, and Not a Resistance Movement—Aimed at Circumventing the Recent U.S. Law Declaring Hezbollah an Iranian Organization, Beginning with the Judicial Pursuit of Director Youssef El Khoury
Interview conducted by journalist Abdul Rahman Darnika for Al-Hawiya Website – September 2, 2026

Tarek Mitri, an Enemy of Lebanon and the Lebanese, Still Living the Lie and Charade of Nasserist and Arafatist “Resistance”
Elias Bejjani/September 02/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157154/
Tarek Mitri is an enemy of Lebanon. His loyalties, inclinations, positions, and outdated culture are Palestinian, Iranian, and Nasserist in nature. He stood with Arafat and the Palestinian militias, then shifted his stance toward the Assad regime, and now clings to the Iranian camp and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He remains stuck in the past and oblivious to the changes of the times.
He is still living the theatrical lie of “resistance” and “liberation,” and the fantasy of throwing Israel into the sea. He is still the same man of Fouad Siniora, and as a Lebanese, he has no real connection to Lebanon. Whoever appointed him a minister should be held accountable. Indeed, this is an age of misery, thugs, and mercenaries. What a cursed era.
Among the latest outrageous statements made by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, he said with complete audacity and shamelessness (video link below):
“Hezbollah is Lebanese. If Iran supports it, that does not mean it ceases to be Lebanese.”
https://x.com/waqa2e3/status/2094760046034874603/video/1

Is There a Disgraceful Intelligence Operation to Fabricate a Judicial Case Against Director and Writer Youssef El Khoury?
Elias Bejjani/September 01/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157134/
It appears that major institutions may now need to enlist the world’s leading research centers to decipher the mysteries of the security and judicial mentality prevailing in Lebanon under the “Resistance Axis”!
While the country is suffering from crises that strike it from every grain of soil to every collapsing lira, it seems that the primary concern of the country’s “sovereign” institutions—judicial, security, intelligence, and media alike—is to focus on the grand strategic mission of fabricating a judicial case against writer, director, and political activist Youssef El Khoury!
Yes, dear Lebanese citizen, whether in the occupied homeland or throughout the diaspora, you who have swallowed the myth of the so-called resistance, you are expected not to care about the collapse of the banking sector, not to scrutinize the explosion that devastated the capital, not to ask about the war in the South, the Iranian weapons, or those who control the country’s destiny through them, and all the rest. These are merely trivial details compared to the “great crime” allegedly committed by Youssef El Khoury.
A few days ago, the “Higher Islamic Shiite Council,” which is wholly aligned with the Iranian mullah regime, appeared through media leaks as though it had suddenly awakened from a deep slumber to assume the role of a universal prosecutor, announcing that it had “filed charges” against El Khoury.
And what exactly is the accusation? Smuggling the remaining uranium? Stealing Jupiter’s galaxy? Not at all. The charge is that he allegedly offended the historic event of Karbala, which Sheikh Naim Qassem and the other mouthpieces of Hezbollah exploit and trade upon politically. It is as if the tragic martyrdom of Imam Hussein nearly 1,400 years ago has become an exclusive organizational sacred domain, immune from criticism or political scrutiny regarding its exploitation. Otherwise, the judicial “demons” spring into action, issuing summonses against anyone who dares expose the deception falsely marketed as “resistance and liberation.”
As is customary for the hypocritical “resistance-axis” establishment whenever it becomes politically and morally bankrupt, it has resorted to its paid propagandists who flooded social media yesterday and today. Cheap smear campaigns and blatant lies have been launched to tarnish El Khoury’s reputation, waving accusations of treason and bribery without presenting a single piece of evidence, as though they distribute certificates of patriotism in the cafés of Beirut’s southern suburb.
But to no avail. Youssef El Khoury, a steadfast sovereignty advocate, has never taken a bribe and has never been among those who chase after occupiers. He lived through the era of Palestinian militias, endured the bitterness of the brutal Syrian Baathist occupation, and today stands firmly against the Iranian occupation and its local mercenaries. He is a man who never sold his pen and never compromised his convictions. The accusations hurled by the mouthpieces of the “Resistance Axis” are nothing more than badges of honor on the chest of a man whose words frighten them.
A question to those in power: Are the state’s judicial and security institutions still this blatantly subject to the dictates of the Resistance Axis? And do the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic accept the continuation of these farcical spectacles aimed at intimidating the free citizens of Lebanon?
In conclusion, let this system and its hypocritical jihadist and mullah-controlled arms know that the era of intimidation and fearmongering is gone for good. The truth about the Iranian project and its terrorism has been exposed for all to see, and the myths of the so-called resistance no longer deceive even an infant. The regime of the mullahs, together with its proxies and propagandists, is heading toward inevitable decline. Meanwhile, the legacy of free men—such as Youssef El Khoury—will remain shining, exposing their hypocrisy, while the merchants of historical tragedies are consigned to the dustbin of history, never to return.

An Extraordinary Ambassador
Abu Arz/Facebook/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
The American ambassador to Lebanon is a landmark figure in the Lebanese political landscape. He strives diligently and with great sincerity to rescue Lebanon from the abyss into which it has fallen due to the ineptitude of its rulers and the ferocity of its enemies.
We wish that Lebanese politicians would emulate this ambassador's integrity and, just once, prioritize the country's interests over their own petty interests, which have exhausted the nation, impoverished the people, and emptied the treasury.
Michel Issa, Lebanon is proud of you and those like you.
At Your Service, Lebanon

Israeli Army Prepares for New Deployment and Establishment of “Gray Line” in Lebanon
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, citing security sources, reported that the Israeli army is preparing to redeploy and establish positions closer to the Israeli border, between 3 and 4 kilometers inside Lebanese territory. According to the sources, the plan includes reducing the number of Israeli troops and establishing a new security line in Lebanon, closer to the border, as part of a reorganization of the Israeli army's deployment in the region. The Broadcasting Corporation indicated that the redeployment plan is called the “Gray Line” and is slated to include the establishment of military positions that will be used to launch operations inside Lebanese territory when needed.

Israel Justifies Nighttime Raids as “Removing an Immediate Threat” and Announces Commitment to Ceasefire Agreement
South Lebanon/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
Israeli army spokesperson for Arabic media, Ella Wawiya, announced via her “X” account that the raids carried out Friday night on areas in southern Lebanon were in response to the launching of a drone towards Israeli forces operating in what she described as the “security zone.” Wawiya stated that the Israeli army targeted Hezbollah elements and infrastructure in southern Lebanon during the raids, noting that warplanes struck weapons depots that she claimed Hezbollah members intended to use to plan and execute operations targeting Israeli forces in the security zone and Israeli civilians. She added that the raids were carried out, according to the Israeli army's narrative, to remove what she described as an “immediate threat.” She explained that the attacks came in response to Hezbollah's attempt yesterday to carry out an operation against Israeli forces operating in the security zone by launching a drone towards them, noting that there were no casualties among Israeli forces. Wawiya emphasized that the Israeli army “will not allow Hezbollah to harm Israeli citizens or its forces,” and that it will continue working to eliminate what it considers threats, while reaffirming its commitment to the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli Army to Destroy Ali Taher Tunnel Network Completely; Explosions and Raids in the South
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Israeli army will completely destroy the Ali Taher tunnel network in the coming days. Following the Israeli escalation on Friday night, Israeli forces carried out several explosions on the outskirts of the town of Mansouri, south of Tyre, using a barrel containing powerful explosives, the sound of which was heard in the surrounding villages. Warplanes also launched two drone strikes on the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Artillery shelling was reported in the direction of Mefdoun. The Israeli army conducted machine gun fire operations towards the town of Tayri in the Bint Jbeil district and in Bani Hayyan. Simultaneously, artillery shelling was reported in Doha Kfar Rumman, and Wadi al-Salouqi and Wadi al-Hujair were subjected to Israeli artillery fire after midnight. Israeli drones are flying at low altitude over Beirut and its suburbs. The Israeli army carried out bombings in the towns of Arnoun and Yahmar in southern Lebanon, amid continued Israeli military escalation in several southern areas. In the evening, the Israeli army launched three consecutive airstrikes targeting the town of Mansouri in southern Lebanon, coinciding with a new and large-scale bombing operation in the Mansouri area. Simultaneously, the Israeli army carried out a bombing operation in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya, amidst ongoing military escalation in several southern regions. Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of the Zawtar River and Doha Kfar Rumman, while the towns of Yater and Beit Leef in southern Lebanon were also shelled. The Israeli army stated: "We attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to the launching of a drone towards our forces." Israeli army spokesperson Ella Wawiya wrote: "In response to the launching of the drone towards our forces in the security zone: The Israeli army attacked terrorists and infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah organization in southern Lebanon." In a post on her X-rated account, she wrote: "Last night (Friday), the IDF attacked Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure in southern Lebanon. As part of the raids, IDF aircraft struck weapons depots that the organization's operatives intended to use to plan and direct terrorist attacks targeting IDF forces in the security zone and Israeli citizens. These strikes were carried out to eliminate an immediate threat." She added: "The strikes were carried out in response to Hezbollah's attempt yesterday to carry out an attack against IDF forces operating in the security zone, in which a drone was launched towards the troops. There were no casualties among our forces." She concluded: "The IDF will not allow Hezbollah to harm Israeli citizens or its forces and will continue to act to eliminate threats, while adhering to the ceasefire agreement," according to Wawiya. Several areas in southern Lebanon and the Western Bekaa Valley witnessed an escalation of violence on Friday evening, including a series of raids and explosions, coinciding with reports of the IDF preparing to launch new attacks in Lebanon in the coming hours. The Ministry of Public Health's Emergency Operations Center issued a statement announcing the initial toll from the Israeli airstrikes on Friday evening as follows: - Al-Ramadiyah, Tyre District: One fatality and 15 injuries, including six paramedics from the "Al-Risala Scouts," in addition to three women and two children.
- Kfarman, Nabatieh District: Two fatalities.
- Nabatieh al-Fawqa: Three injuries, including one woman.
- Mayfadoun, Nabatieh District: Four injuries, including two women.
- Ain al-Tineh, West Bekaa: One injured Syrian national.

Israeli Broadcasting Corporation: Army Prepares to Reduce Troops in Southern Lebanon; Forces to be Deployed 2 to 4 Kilometers from the Lebanese Border
Riyadh: Al-Arabiya.net and Agencies / September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday that the Israeli army is preparing to reduce its forces in southern Lebanon. The corporation stated that the security establishment discussed establishing a new security zone in Lebanon closer to the Israeli border. It indicated that Israeli forces would be deployed 2 to 4 kilometers from the Lebanese border. The agency clarified that the Israeli plan regarding Lebanon has not yet received political approval. This came after four people were killed and 32 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon on Friday, according to a new toll released by the Lebanese Ministry of Health on Saturday. For its part, the Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had launched airstrikes the previous night against Hezbollah elements and infrastructure in response to the launch of a drone towards its forces in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah condemned these strikes. Israel launched airstrikes on seven villages in southern and eastern Lebanon on Friday, particularly in the Nabatieh region, resulting, according to the Ministry of Health, in "4 martyrs and 32 wounded," including an 18-year-old woman in the town of Mefdoun. The ministry had previously reported three deaths and 23 injuries. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had launched airstrikes on "weapons depots that were intended to be used" by Hezbollah against its forces. Hezbollah, for its part, condemned the airstrikes the following day as an Israeli "escalation," amid "the complete absence of the Lebanese authorities from assuming their responsibilities." These airstrikes came after Israel announced on Thursday evening that it had seized the Ali al-Taher hill, a strategic Hezbollah position overlooking Nabatieh and other areas. Hezbollah has not issued any confirmation regarding the Ali al-Taher hill. The strikes also came hours after Lebanon received four people released by Israel the day after the release of another civilian. Israel announced on Thursday the release of the five civilians it had detained in southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials continue to condemn Israeli airstrikes on the south, despite the two countries signing a framework agreement under US auspices on June 26 and engaging in direct negotiations, which Hezbollah rejects, along with its refusal to disarm. Israel continues to occupy large areas of southern Lebanon, where it has declared a "security zone" up to ten kilometers deep along its border, and continues to carry out large-scale strikes, demolitions, and destruction operations. The war in the Middle East spilled over into Lebanon on March 2nd, after Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, launched missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28th. Israel has been engaged in a bloody confrontation with Hezbollah since 2023, after the group opened a "support front" for Gaza and its ally Hamas following the outbreak of war in the Palestinian territory. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, Israeli strikes since October 8, 2023, have resulted in more than 8,920 deaths.

Lebanon raises toll to four dead in overnight Israeli strikes
AFP/05 September ,2026
Lebanon on Saturday raised the toll in Israeli strikes on the country’s south and east overnight to four killed, with Israel saying it was responding to an attempted Hezbollah attack. Lebanon’s health ministry reported four people killed including an 18-year-old woman, and 32 others wounded, including several women and children, in Israeli strikes on several locations on Friday, particularly in the Nabatieh region. An Israeli army statement said its forces struck Hezbollah “terrorists and infrastructure” including “weapon storage facilities.”“The strikes were carried out in response to Hezbollah’s attempted attack” on Friday against Israeli troops in south Lebanon “during which a drone was launched toward the soldiers,” it said, without reporting troop injuries. The raids came after Israel said on Thursday that it had taken control of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge near south Lebanon’s Nabatieh.Hezbollah, which has not claimed any attacks on Israeli targets for weeks, on Saturday condemned the strikes, in its first statement since Israel announced it had captured the Ali al-Taher ridge. The statement did not mention Ali al-Taher or confirm Israel had taken the site. In the town of Mayfadoun, an AFP photographer saw a few residents inspecting the latest destruction. Ali Suliman, a relative of slain 18-year-old Maryam Salameh, said her family had been displaced for six months by Israeli bombardment “and returned only yesterday.”“What targets were here? They are all civilians,” he said, adding that Salameh had recently received a certificate of excellence at school, but now “she will receive a death certificate.”The strikes also came after the International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday facilitated the transfer to Lebanon of four people detained by Israel, a day after another person was freed. Hezbollah called Israel’s release of the five detainees this week “significant,” but said the move “cannot serve as a pretext for overlooking the continuation of aggression, occupation and killing.”“Nor can it justify pursuing a course that has proven incapable of protecting Lebanon and its people,” Hezbollah added, referring to Lebanon’s direct negotiations with Israel. Lebanon began the talks after Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people. Israeli forces are operating inside a self-declared “security zone” around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanon along the border.Violence has lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that month.

Hezbollah Seeks New Victory Narrative in Defending Beirut
Beirut: Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
As Israel continues to occupy large swathes of southern Lebanon and destroy entire villages, recent statements by Hezbollah officials have raised questions about a shift in the group’s priorities. The “resistance,” which has long portrayed itself as a force dedicated to liberating occupied territory and confronting Israel, is now speaking more frequently of a “defensive confrontation” and of preventing Israeli forces from reaching Beirut. That shift has come after Hezbollah’s “red lines” fell one after another. Places including Bint Jbeil, Khiam and Beaufort Castle had become central symbols of the battle.
The latest was the Ali al-Taher ridge, which Hezbollah refused to hand over to the Lebanese army before it, too, fell. The Israeli military said on Thursday evening that it had achieved “operational control” of the highland area, both above and below ground. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has said several times that the group “prevented Israel from reaching Beirut and disarming us.”His remarks came after Israel seized large areas of the south and destroyed others, while Hezbollah refrained from responding to Israeli attacks since the “framework agreement.”Israeli officials have said their forces will remain in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed — an equation the group rejects.
Seeking victory after defeat
Amid Hezbollah’s deepening predicament, ministerial sources say its officials are now searching for “a victory somewhere” to present to their support base, which is suffering the consequences of the “support wars.” “The discourse Hezbollah is presenting at this stage — sometimes by talking about Beirut and at other times by declaring Ali al-Taher a red line — is directed at its supporters and social base in an attempt to convince them that what happened was not a defeat, despite the scale of the losses and destruction they suffered,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. Dr. Riad Kahwaji, a researcher and writer specializing in security and defense affairs, offered a similar assessment, saying Hezbollah changes its narrative according to the circumstances it faces and is now seeking to justify its defeat. Everything the group said before the war about deterrence, its ability to destroy Tel Aviv and the equation of “Haifa in exchange for Beirut’s southern suburbs” proved unsuccessful, he said. Kahwaji told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qassem had also spoken of close combat with Israeli forces and threatened that they would not dare launch a ground battle or enter the battlefield. The results on the ground, however, included the loss of more than 50 villages and the advance of Israeli forces north of the Litani River, to the outskirts of Nabatieh and the Ali al-Taher hill.
On the defensive despite the occupation
Kahwaji said Hezbollah now needs a new narrative “to sell to its popular base.” That narrative is built around the claim that the group prevented Israel from reaching Beirut and has shifted into a defensive position after losing its ability to liberate occupied territory. Talk of defense and preventing further Israeli advances has therefore replaced talk of liberation. Kahwaji said Hezbollah no longer invokes most of the narratives it promoted before the war. It now hopes its support base will accept the existing reality and be persuaded by the “achievement” the group is seeking to present.
A shift reflecting the depth of the predicament
Dr. Imad Salamey, a professor of political science at Lebanese American University, offered another interpretation of the shift in Hezbollah’s rhetoric. He said the group’s officials are attempting to recast its role and weapons as a means of defending all of Lebanon, rather than only the south or the Shiite community. “The claim that Israel would have reached Beirut is intended to address Lebanon’s various sectarian communities and persuade them that Hezbollah’s weapons provide a national protective umbrella,” Salamey told Asharq Al-Awsat. “According to this narrative, demands for the group’s disarmament threaten the security of all Lebanese.”At the same time, Salamey said the rhetoric also reflects the scale of the pressure Hezbollah is facing. “The group is trying to pressure the government into backing away from its demand that weapons be placed exclusively under state control and to reject any arrangement that would require its military withdrawal from the south or from areas such as Ali al-Taher,” he said. “The paradox is that Hezbollah’s continued armed presence outside state authority provides Israel with the pretext it uses to justify its continuing operations and military presence, while Lebanon’s priority should be to remove those pretexts and push Israel to withdraw.”Salamey said Hezbollah’s preemptive rejection of any arrangement requiring its withdrawal or disarmament could not be separated from the ongoing negotiations. “In practice, Hezbollah is seeking to derail any negotiations based on the state restoring full security control over the south,” he said. “This weakens the government’s position and restricts its ability to demand an Israeli withdrawal.”

Hezbollah Escalates Against the Government: Your Options Haven't Protected Lebanon... and Rome Is on the Doorstep
Negotiations to Be Set Early Next Week... Ali Taher: A Test Zone?!
4 Martyrs and 32 Wounded in the South... and Bassil Supports Negotiations
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
Amidst the ongoing Israeli escalation in the South and preparations for the anticipated Rome negotiations in the second half of September, the Lebanese political scene has entered a new phase of confrontation. Hezbollah has raised the stakes in its rhetoric against the government, accusing it of failing to protect Lebanon through its negotiating options, which it claims perpetuate the occupation and provide Israel with cover to continue its aggression. Meanwhile, internal positions are divided between those pushing for negotiations to end the war and occupation, and those clinging to resistance and rejecting the current negotiating track. While Bkerke warned against turning Lebanon into an arena for others' conflicts and called for neutrality and unity, the South continues to be under fire, with four martyrs and dozens wounded. Hezbollah Escalates: Today, Hezbollah escalated its stance towards the government, issuing a statement that read: "The Israeli enemy continues to escalate its aggression and crimes against Lebanon, through killing, bombing, destruction, and the systematic demolition of homes and villages, obliterating their landmarks and destroying all aspects of life within them, without any deterrent and under flimsy pretexts. Yesterday's terrorist aggression resulted in the martyrdom of four people and the wounding of dozens, amidst complete international silence and blatant American complicity, and in the midst of the Lebanese government's total failure to assume its responsibilities. This government shamefully insists on continuing its misguided choices, its concessionary and submissive approach, and its framework, which the enemy tramples upon daily, bringing nothing but shame and disgrace to Lebanon. It has only served to entrench the occupation and allow the enemy to continue its aggression and crimes against the Lebanese people. This condemned and ongoing aggression, carried out with full American partnership, cover, and planning, has no justification other than to pressure and blackmail the Lebanese government into implementing agendas whose objectives are now well-known, even if the price is plunging Lebanon into chaos." A quagmire of internal strife. The government's continued pursuit of this futile, illegitimate, and unconstitutional course provides the enemy with cover to perpetuate its aggression and grants it more time to achieve its objectives and impose its conditions and dictates on Lebanon.
The statement added: The government's claims that its fruitless direct negotiations and the ill-fated framework agreement with the enemy are achieving gains are refuted and dispelled by the continued occupation, aggression, bloodshed of Lebanese citizens, destruction, and bombings. The release of some Lebanese prisoners, however important, cannot serve as a cover for overlooking the ongoing aggression, occupation, and killing, nor can it justify continuing on a path that has proven its failure and inability to protect Lebanon and its people. The government has repeatedly affirmed that it will not engage in any negotiations before the enemy ceases its aggression. The government is called upon to reconsider its position, abandon its obstinacy, and set aside its stubbornness and petty squabbles for the sake of Lebanon and its people, and to return to the unifying national principles that safeguard Lebanon's sovereignty. We call upon all Lebanese to stand united behind a single national stance. It preserves Lebanon's strength, resilience, and sovereignty in the face of Israeli aggression."
Patriarch Rai and Greater Lebanon: On the anniversary of the proclamation of Greater Lebanon, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai, in a speech delivered by Bishop Youssef Soueif, affirmed that Greater Lebanon is not a historical accident nor a favor granted by anyone, but rather is founded on love, freedom, citizenship, good governance, and decentralization. He emphasized his support for President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, calling on Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri to fulfill his parliamentary duties, and stressing that neutrality does not mean abandoning solidarity with the surrounding region, but rather protecting Lebanon from remaining an arena for the conflicts of others.
Ali Taher Delays the Meeting: Politically, MP Marwan Hamadeh revealed that the date for the Rome negotiations will be set early next week, with the talks to be held in the second half of September. He indicated that the case of Ali Taher was the reason for the delay in setting the date. He said that Lebanon might request that the hill be designated a pilot zone, which would enhance security from Nabatieh to Zahrani, in parallel with an attempt to secure recognition of the 1923 armistice lines, potentially paving the way for a genuine ceasefire and cessation of airstrikes.
We are proud of our alliance with Iran: In contrast, MP Hussein Hajj Hassan affirmed that Hezbollah is proud of its alliance with Iran and its reliance on Iranian power, asserting that the resistance had thwarted the objective of eliminating Iran. He declared that the party would continue its course within a regional equation led by Iran, while simultaneously attacking the Lebanese government and urging it to return to the people, embrace national unity, and escape what he described as its current predicament.
Bassil supports negotiations: For his part, MP Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, affirmed the movement's support for any negotiations that would halt the war and end the occupation, but he rejected any negotiations that would entrench or legitimize the occupation. He emphasized that restricting weapons to the state and the Lebanese army does not mean opposing any sect, asserting that the movement has not rebelled against the judiciary, and challenging its critics regarding the forensic audit. The South Under Fire: On the ground, southern Lebanon witnessed an Israeli escalation following the events of Friday night, with explosions on the outskirts of Mansouri, two drone strikes on Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and artillery shelling targeting Mefdoun, Doha Kfar Remman, Wadi al-Salouqi, and Wadi al-Hujair, in addition to machine gun fire directed towards al-Tayri and Bani Hayyan. The Israeli army announced that it targeted Hezbollah positions and infrastructure in response to the launch of a drone towards its forces. 4 Martyrs and 32 Wounded: The Ministry of Health announced that the latest Israeli airstrikes resulted in 4 martyrs and 32 wounded, distributed among Nabatieh, Kfar Remman, Mefdoun, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, al-Kafour, al-Ramadiyah, and Ain al-Tineh in the Western Bekaa. Among the victims were children and women.Public Administration to Escalate: On the ground, the Public Administration Employees Association announced a forced strike every Friday due to rising transportation costs, in addition to an extra day of work per week. They warned that if the cost of living continues to rise and their demands are ignored, they could reduce work to one day a week, ultimately leading to a complete shutdown.
The Judiciary Resumes After 8 Years:
Judicial Institute Entrance Exam: On the judicial front, Justice Minister Adel Nassar considered the resumption of the entrance exam for the Judicial Institute at the Lebanese University, after an eight-year hiatus, a crucial step in revitalizing and activating the judiciary. He noted the participation of approximately 1,200 students competing for 45 positions, emphasizing the ongoing efforts to update the curriculum and renovate the institute's building. He also announced that the investigation into the Beirut port explosion is in an advanced stage and is expected to be completed by October.

Qatari Prime Minister Reaffirms Doha's Support for Lebanon's Stability and Unity to Nawaf Salam
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated in a post on its “X” platform that a telephone call took place between the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, during which they reviewed “cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to support and strengthen them, as well as the latest regional developments, particularly the diplomatic efforts exerted and joint coordination to reduce escalation and enhance security and stability in the region.” During the call, the Qatari Prime Minister affirmed “Qatar’s support for all diplomatic efforts and endeavors aimed at a solution that guarantees freedom of maritime navigation and paves the way for a comprehensive agreement that achieves sustainable peace in the region,” according to the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also reiterated Qatar’s firm and unwavering support for Lebanon’s stability and territorial integrity, and its continued solidarity with the brotherly Lebanese people.

Behind the Scenes of US-Iranian Understandings that Controlled Escalation in the Battle of Ali al-Taher
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
The Israeli army's announcement of achieving "operational control" over the Ali al-Taher Heights was not merely a field development on one of the most sensitive fronts in southern Lebanon. Rather, it came after weeks of fighting, siege, and attempts to advance, amidst intensive political and diplomatic contacts aimed at preventing the battle from escalating into a wider confrontation. According to information obtained by Arabi Post from Lebanese military and Western diplomatic sources, the battle for the Ali al-Taher Heights coincided with indirect contacts between Iran and the United States, along with regional and international mediation efforts, which explored ways to contain the escalation and prevent it from spreading from the southern Lebanese front into a direct regional confrontation. Washington was aware that a large-scale Israeli operation to seize the heights could provoke an Iranian response or push Hezbollah to expand the scope of the confrontation. Therefore, it acted through multiple channels in an attempt to limit the escalation, without this implying a US-Iranian agreement on the fate of the heights or preventing Israel from carrying out the operation. On the ground, Israeli forces have managed in recent days to consolidate their presence in key parts of the Ali al-Taher Heights and reach a number of underground facilities, after weeks of operations focused on besieging the area, cutting off access routes, and targeting its perimeter with artillery fire and airstrikes.
According to a Lebanese military source familiar with the developments, the most significant shift was not merely the Israeli forces' arrival at the heights, but rather the diminished ability of Hezbollah to hold them as a cohesive military position, following the targeting of supply and communication lines and access points to the positions within them. Describing what happened as a "complete fall" of Ali al-Taher requires some precision, according to the Lebanese military source, as the heights are not a single military position that can be captured all at once, but rather a mountainous area encompassing positions, facilities, and underground routes.However, the fundamental military outcome has become clear: Hezbollah has lost the ability to use the area in the same way as before, or to maintain it as a cohesive military stronghold. The Israeli army announced that the 36th Division had achieved "operational control" of the high ground above and below ground, and that it had entered two underground tunnels, discovering operations rooms, weapons depots, living quarters, and equipment capable of sustaining long-term stays. According to the Israeli army, work is ongoing to disable these facilities before redeploying forces based on an assessment of the situation on the ground. Lebanese military sources indicate that prior to direct incursions, Israel pursued a policy of gradual attrition, targeting entrances and supply routes, monitoring movement around the high ground, and employing intensive aerial reconnaissance and artillery fire before launching ground operations. For Hezbollah, the loss of the ability to freely use the Ali Taher heights represents a significant blow to its military infrastructure in this sector, but it does not signify the end of its capabilities in the area north of the Litani River, nor does it necessarily mean that Israel is now able to control all sites it considers part of the party's military infrastructure in the same way. Behind these military developments, the high ground had become one of the most prominent points of contention in recent weeks.
Sensitivity prevailed in US communications with Iran and regional mediators, according to Western diplomatic sources who spoke to Arabi Post. The sources say that Iran conveyed a warning to the United States, via Oman and Qatar, against a full-scale Israeli attack on Ali al-Taher, informing the US that such an operation could prompt Iranian intervention and retaliation. This message, according to the sources, opened a new phase of communications, during which Washington's objective was not so much to prevent any Israeli operation in the region, but rather to prevent it from exceeding a certain threshold that would lead to Iran's direct involvement in the confrontation. According to the Western diplomatic sources, subsequent communications produced "indirect understandings" between Washington and Tehran regarding managing the escalation, but these did not reach the level of a declared political agreement or a written understanding concerning the future of Ali al-Taher. The sources emphasize that the discussion is not about a US-Iranian agreement to "hand over" the Golan Heights to Israel, but rather a broader understanding concerning the rules for managing the confrontation and preventing escalation. In this form, it became possible to carry out the Israeli operation without it becoming the spark that Tehran had warned against, while the mediators worked to separate the military control of the site from the expansion of the operation to other areas. At the same time, the door remained open for subsequent arrangements concerning the form of Israeli deployment and the future of the heights within any broader settlement in southern Lebanon.
Why are the Ali al-Taher Heights so important? The significance of the battle for the Ali al-Taher Heights lies not only in its elevated position but also in its geographical location and the nature of the military infrastructure that Hezbollah has built in the area over the years. Lebanese military sources say that the Ali al-Taher Heights constitute a crucial geographical and military hub due to its elevation and its commanding view of a wide area surrounding Nabatieh and the Iqlim al-Tuffah region. The area also includes a network of installations that were not only for defense but were part of a broader command, control, storage, and movement infrastructure, allowing for operations beyond the reach of aerial surveillance. This explains the extent of Israeli focus on the area in recent times. Therefore, Israel did not launch a direct ground offensive but rather preceded it with a war of attrition aimed at weakening the site's ability to withstand attacks by targeting its entrances and supply routes and monitoring surrounding movements. As Israeli forces moved deeper into the area, the battle became linked to a question larger than simply controlling the heights: Would the operation remain time-bound, or would Ali al-Taher become a permanent part of the security zone that Israel seeks to establish in southern Lebanon? Where did Hezbollah's fighters go? Lebanese military sources say that the information available to the military and security establishment indicates that the majority of Hezbollah elements present in the area did not remain until the final stages of the operation. According to the sources, there was a gradual withdrawal from several positions as the siege and military pressure intensified, meaning that the confrontation in its final stages did not turn into a battle to the last fighter inside the tunnels. The sources do not provide precise figures for the number of fighters who were present in the heights or who were killed during the fighting, but they believe that the gradual withdrawal contributed to accelerating the transfer of large parts of the site to Israeli control. This partially coincides with the Israeli narrative, which spoke of the deaths of a number of Hezbollah fighters and the flight of others from the area. However, the Lebanese military sources emphasize that the figures and detailed facts announced by the Israeli army cannot yet be independently verified. An understanding on managing the escalation: Politically, the sensitivity of the Ali Taher Heights led Washington to treat it as a test of its ability to manage the war in Lebanon in parallel with its contacts with Tehran.
Western diplomatic sources say that the American priority was to prevent three main scenarios: Iran's direct entry into the confrontation, Hezbollah's escalation of its response, and the collapse of the Lebanese-Israeli political track that Washington is trying to revive.
Therefore, a formula was devised that would allow Israel to continue its military operations without turning the Ali Taher Heights into an "Iranian red line" whose crossing would lead to a wider war. Sources describe the outcome as "an understanding to manage the escalation rather than a deal on the ground." If Washington succeeds in maintaining communication channels with Tehran, this pattern could become a model for dealing with other highly sensitive military points in southern Lebanon: Israeli military pressure, Iranian messages, American mediation, and then an attempt to prevent the confrontation from escalating to a regional level. However, the real test of this understanding begins after the operation ends, specifically regarding the nature of the Israeli presence within Ali Taher. The question is not only whether Israel has seized the heights, but also whether it will retain them within what it calls the security zone, or use the current control as a bargaining chip in broader arrangements. Lebanese military sources say there is a fundamental difference between declaring "operational control" and establishing a long-term military presence. Therefore, the shape of the Israeli deployment in the coming phase will be the most important indicator of the true objective of the operation. The Israeli army spoke of a defensive redeployment after disabling the underground installations, while Israeli political discourse increasingly views the capture of the heights as part of reinforcing the security zone Israel seeks to impose within southern Lebanon.
According to sources, establishing fixed outposts and fortified positions, and linking the Ali Taher heights to the network of other Israeli sites, would effectively mean incorporating the area into the Israeli occupation map of the south. However, if the attacking units withdraw after destroying the installations, limiting themselves to fire control and observation, the operation will be characterized differently. Therefore, the coming days will be crucial in determining whether the battle for Ali Taher has ended militarily only, or whether it has established a new geographical and security reality. This development in the Ali al-Taher Heights coincides with American efforts to revive negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, amid ongoing discussions about holding a new round of talks. Western diplomatic sources say that Washington wants to gradually shift from managing the war to managing the post-war arrangements. The issues under discussion include the Israeli withdrawal, the deployment of the Lebanese army, the future of the Israeli-controlled areas, a border monitoring mechanism, and a plan for addressing Hezbollah's weapons.
In this context, Ali al-Taher is likely to become a key bargaining chip, especially if Israel decides to maintain a military presence there. For Beirut, it will be difficult to view the continued Israeli presence in the Heights as merely a temporary military operation if it transforms into permanent positions linked to the security zone. Sources also indicate that Israel's recent move to release Lebanese detainees is part of the same strategy: an attempt to keep the negotiating channel open and demonstrate the possibility of reciprocal steps, even as military operations continue on the ground. Ultimately, the battle for the Ali al-Taher Heights is not separate from the broader trajectory being charted for southern Lebanon. Militarily, Hezbollah's loss of its ability to utilize the heights as before has significantly altered the balance of power in the region. Politically, the battle demonstrated that Washington and Tehran, through intermediaries, remain capable of defining certain limits to the confrontation, even on the most sensitive issues. However, this does not mean that the understandings for managing escalation have transformed into an agreement on the future of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah's weapons, or the limits of the Israeli withdrawal. The real test will come in the next phase. If control of Ali Taher becomes an Israeli launching point for further advances, the rules for de-escalation could quickly collapse, and Washington might find itself facing a new and difficult-to-contain equation. Conversely, if the lines of confrontation are stabilized and the positions captured by Israel are included in negotiations, Ali Taher could be the first application of a new approach based on combining military pressure with indirect understandings. Herein lies the importance of the battle: not only in determining who controls the heights today, but also in determining whether the way it concluded will become a model for addressing the remaining military issues in the south. A controlled Israeli advance, Iranian messages conveyed through intermediaries, American mediation to limit the escalation, and then a gradual shift of the conflict from the battlefield to the negotiating table. Between these stages, the biggest question remains open: Will the story of the Ali Taher Heights end with an Israeli withdrawal after achieving a military objective, or will the heights become the first stone in redrawing the security map of southern Lebanon?

Grand Ayatollah Khatib: We sensed Iranian and Iraqi readiness to help Lebanon
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
The Vice President of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Ali Khatib, returned to Beirut this evening after an eleven-day visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq. During his visit, he participated in the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference held in Tehran and Mashhad, and held a series of meetings in both countries with a number of official, political, and religious figures, including Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. This afternoon, Khatib concluded his meetings with a meeting with the head of the "Abshir Ya Iraq" parliamentary bloc, Sheikh Dr. Humam Baqir Hammoudi, and briefed him on the developments in Lebanon, particularly in southern Lebanon, in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression. At Beirut Airport, Khatib stated: "We had a successful visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq, where we participated in the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference at the invitation of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought. We delivered a speech at the opening session addressing the thought of the martyred Imam Ali Khamenei. We also participated in the conference's organizational meetings, and we were honored to be members of its Supreme Council and Scientific Committee. On the sidelines of the conference, we held a series of meetings with a number of Iranian political and religious figures in Tehran, Qom, and Mashhad. We also had similar meetings in Iraq, in Baghdad, Najaf, and Karbala, most notably with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. We briefed these figures on the situation in Lebanon, particularly in the south, where the Israeli aggression continues, and the suffering endured by our people. We requested intervention in all areas to stop this aggression, secure the Israeli withdrawal, and ensure the return of our people to their cities and towns." He added: "We sensed among these officials a complete readiness to assist in all political, economic, and social fields, just as we sensed their commitment to the unity of Lebanon in all its diversity. We hope that in the coming period, this readiness will be translated into reality to alleviate this suffering." "On behalf of our people." He concluded: "We must renew our call to the Lebanese authorities to restore relations with the Islamic Republic to their former state, especially at the diplomatic level, and to resume direct air traffic between Beirut and Tehran, given the hardship that Lebanese and Iranians suffer from traveling between Lebanon and Iran."

Hezbollah: Framework Agreement Has Brought Nothing But Shame to Lebanon
Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
Hezbollah issued a statement saying: “The Israeli enemy continues to escalate its aggression and crimes against Lebanon, through killing, shelling, destruction, and the systematic bombing of homes and villages, obliterating their landmarks and destroying all aspects of life there, without any deterrent and under flimsy pretexts. Yesterday’s terrorist aggression resulted in the martyrdom of four people and the wounding of dozens, amidst complete international silence and blatant American complicity, and in the midst of the Lebanese authorities’ total failure to assume their responsibilities and their shameful insistence on continuing their erroneous choices and their concessionary and capitulationist approach.” Its framework, which the enemy tramples upon daily, has brought nothing but shame and disgrace to Lebanon, and has only served to entrench the occupation and perpetuate the enemy's aggression and crimes against the Lebanese people. This condemned and ongoing aggression, carried out with full American partnership, cover, and planning, has no justification other than to pressure and blackmail the Lebanese authorities into implementing agendas whose objectives are now well-known, even if the price is plunging Lebanon into the quagmire of internal strife. The authorities' continued pursuit of this absurd, illegitimate, and unconstitutional path provides the enemy with cover to continue its aggression and grants it more time to achieve its goals and impose its conditions and dictates on Lebanon. The authorities' claims that their fruitless direct negotiations and the ill-fated framework agreement with the enemy are achieving gains are refuted and dispelled by the continued occupation, aggression, bloodshed, destruction, and bombings. The release of some Lebanese prisoners, however important, cannot be a cover for overlooking the continued aggression, occupation, and killing, nor can it justify continuing on a path that has proven its failure and inability to protect Lebanon and its people, as has been the case previously. The authorities have repeatedly affirmed that they will not engage in any negotiations before the enemy ceases its aggression. The authorities are called upon to reconsider their position, abandon their obstinacy, and set aside their stubbornness and petty squabbles, for the sake of Lebanon and its people, and to return to the unifying national principles that safeguard Lebanon's sovereignty. We call upon all Lebanese to stand united behind a unified national stance that preserves Lebanon's strength, resilience, and sovereignty in the face of Israeli aggression.

From Iran to Ali al-Taher… An Election Battle for Washington and Tel Aviv
Youssef Fares/Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026  (Google translation from Arabic)
Al-Markazia – Despite Israel's announcement of seizing the Ali al-Taher facilities, local and international political and military circles remain concerned about Hezbollah's potential actions. They believe that an outbreak of fighting would return Lebanon to the pre-ceasefire status quo and shatter the so-called exceptions and neutrality measures that encompassed certain areas, such as Beirut and the southern suburbs of Beirut. It is not unlikely that the daily Israeli airstrikes on this hill are part of a plan devised by the Israeli army to secure control of it from a distance before entering its tunnels, as the confrontation would not have remained confined to the hill and its immediate surroundings. According to leaks, the Israelis themselves could not guarantee the outcome of the battle, had it occurred. This was reflected in the Hebrew media, quoting Israeli political and security officials. For its part, Hezbollah, maintaining its ambiguity, has been projecting an atmosphere indicating a clear intention to escalate the conflict, at least on the entire southern front. But Tehran's promise to intervene and its subsequent reneging on that promise has led to his current silence, as he awaits developments on the Iranian front. It is worth noting that, due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's electoral need to oust Ali Taher before October, all proposals and solutions circulated regarding Hezbollah's handover of the hill, including placing it under the control of the Lebanese army, have failed. Retired Brigadier General Naji Malaeb, a researcher in military and strategic affairs, told Al-Markazia in this context that the military situations on both the Iranian and Lebanese fronts are interconnected and currently governed by the existing status quo. These are calculated skirmishes with precise objectives and dimensions. Consequently, events unfold on a daily basis, contingent on the Iranian response. The recent American strikes on Iran were limited. The war could escalate, both in Iran and in southern Lebanon, depending on electoral considerations. Israel might also intervene in Iran under the pretext of preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons. It has 200 fighter jets ready to bomb enrichment facilities and ballistic missile factories. Tel Aviv fears an Iranian intervention should it occur. Hezbollah, for its part, has carefully calculated its options this time. He knew that if a battle were to erupt over Ali Taher, Israel would dismantle all the military exceptions and neutralities, from the southern suburbs of Beirut to the capital, Beirut, and beyond. Therefore, he accepted the fall of Ali Taher without igniting a major battle, despite the fierce resistance of his fighters in defending the hill and inflicting casualties and equipment losses on the Israeli forces. He concludes: The battle, stretching from Iran to Lebanon, is calculated politically; it may subside or escalate and expand according to American and Israeli calculations. Israel's announcement of the fall of Ali Taher is merely a cold charade played out among the concerned powers.

Israel Draws the Security Map for a New South... What Comes After Ali Taher Is More Cruel!
Joanna Farhat/Al-Markazia/September 5, 2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
Al-Markazia – The announcement that Israeli forces had completed the “cleansing” of Ali Taher Hill and achieved operational control above and below ground was not merely military news. The following day, photos circulated showing the Israeli flag raised on the hill, surrounded by Israeli soldiers. Simultaneously, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz declared that control of Ali Taher had strengthened the “security zone” that Israel seeks to establish in southern Lebanon. This raises the more difficult question: What comes after Ali Taher? After Ali Taher, the South has entered a phase where it is no longer enough to simply analyze the positions that have fallen or remain. What is needed is to analyze the “next position,” as this will reveal whether the operation ended at the borders of Ali Taher or whether the war has begun to redraw the map of the South. Strategically, it was clear from the outset that the battles around Ali Taher were about more than just controlling a hill. The site, rising approximately 600 meters, grants whoever controls it a commanding view of vast areas of southern Lebanon. It is linked to a series of strategic hills and locations, extending to the vicinity of Nabatieh, Khiam, and Beaufort Castle.
What comes after Ali Taher?
Writer and political analyst Khaled Zeineddine asserts that the south will not witness stability and the war will continue as long as Hezbollah possesses illegal weapons. Therefore, Israeli forces are continuing their advance and control of strategic hills, reaching the Bekaa Valley and perhaps even Beirut. He indicates that military operations will later extend to the Palestinian camps, which remain under the control of armed groups that do not submit to the authority of the Palestinian Authority or the Lebanese state. Zeineddine states that the fall of Ali Taher Hill to Israel will not compel Hezbollah to surrender its weapons and the positions it still occupies to the Lebanese army. He emphasizes that the decision to disarm the party remains in the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Iran will not agree to this before receiving concessions in terms of ideology, security, and politics, specifically the position of Speaker of Parliament. If it fails to achieve its objectives, the price will remain Lebanon, the arena it uses to settle scores with Israel. Militarily, there are three likely scenarios that will be the hotspots in the coming battles, especially since Israel is no longer content with merely protecting the security of its northern settlements; it wants to ensure the complete security of its borders and territory in the long term. Based on this, it is likely that Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and al-Gharbiyah will be among the first areas that Israel might encircle with a fire belt, given their strategic location, to prevent their use as firing points or redeployment corridors. This military reality also applies to Nabatieh, through an Israeli ground offensive towards Kfar Tebnit or by reinforcing its forces on the axis leading to Nabatieh. The third axis extends from Ali al-Taher to Beaufort Castle and reaches the Iqlim al-Tuffah region. If the goal is to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure south of the Litani River and to secure Israel's northern border, then controlling the high ground, monitoring the roads, and targeting military installations may be less costly than a large-scale ground operation towards a major city. Israel may seek to establish a continuous line of high ground, starting from positions it has captured in the south and extending through Beaufort Castle and Ali al-Taher towards other areas. Zain al-Din concludes, "What comes after Ali al-Taher will be even harsher for the Lebanese. The situation on the ground is beginning to paint a dangerous military picture with the announcement of sleeper cells belonging to the Assad regime and the arrest of elements affiliated with Assad's remnants, coinciding with the announcement of the fall of Ali al-Taher hill. There are more than 300 cells belonging to the Syrian regime in the Bekaa Valley that will become active and pose a threat to Lebanese national security in order to divert attention from the upcoming battle."

Geographic Auxiliaries for Controlling the Strait of Hormuz: As an Introduction to Solutions
Colonel Charbel Barakat/September 05/2026   (Google translation from Arabic)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157238/
The Strait of Hormuz is situated between the Gulf of Oman and what the Persians call the Persian Gulf, while the Arabs call it the Arabian Gulf. Bounding these two gulfs to the east is Iran, with a coastline exceeding 2,000 kilometers. Facing it to the west, along roughly the same length, are the coastlines of seven Arab nations: beginning with Iraq and Kuwait, followed by Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and ending with the coastlines of Oman, which directly overlook the strait itself.
Iran controls the northern portion of the strait through the large island of Qeshm, which stretches parallel to its coastline for over 100 kilometers, alongside several smaller surrounding islands such as Hormuz, Larak, and Hengam. Meanwhile, Oman controls the immediate southern portion at the Kumzar Peninsula, Khail Island, Um al-Ghanam, and Musandam—an exclave separated from the rest of Omani territory by UAE land, forming the eastern and western facades of the strait's southern sector.
The three Emirati islands—Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa—serve as essential outposts safeguarding the entrance to the main shipping channels in the strait. They sit around the deep-water passage required for supertankers, where water depth must be at least 30 meters (reaching approximately 60 meters in these areas). The channel's width, which must exceed 10 kilometers at its narrowest point to accommodate two-way tanker traffic, is a navigable 20 kilometers between Greater Tunb and Abu Musa. Despite the presence of smaller Iranian islands like Sirri and Farur further northwest, the Emirati islands remain the primary gateway to the strait from the Arabian Gulf side, organizing incoming and outgoing maritime traffic into structured lanes.
Since the era of the Shah, the Iranians sought to seize these three Emirati islands to ensure undisputed dominance over navigation through the strait. Iran, heavily reliant on oil exports and maintaining a key market share globally, would not tolerate any disruption to its export or import channels. Hence, attempts were made to regulate the strait's transit lanes under UN auspices, even though the occupation of the Emirati islands violated international law—despite Iranian attempts to win over the local population by offering citizenship and broader access to sell their fish in Iranian markets.
Historically, the Emirate of Sharjah held sovereign rights over Abu Musa, while Ras Al Khaimah held rights over Greater and Lesser Tunb, with local populations affiliated with these respective emirates. Iran exploited the withdrawal of British protective forces just two days prior to the declaration of the United Arab Emirates' federation on December 2, 1971.
The UAE did not initiate a war against Iran to reclaim the three islands, yet it refused to relinquish its territorial rights, leaving their status unresolved despite continuous UAE calls for international arbitration. Iran, however, imposed a fait accompli through force. Consequently, when discussions arise regarding traffic management through the strait, no party solicits the UAE's input or involvement in supervising international navigation. Instead, arrangements are
negotiated between Iran and Oman under international oversight, as is currently the case. Nevertheless, the UAE retains the sovereign right to claim these islands, where Iran has constructed airstrips, roads, and ports, while reinforcing its presence with land and naval forces alongside defensive hardware. This military footprint allows Iran to enforce control and assert an exclusive right to manage passage through the strait in partnership with the Sultanate of Oman, which shares control over navigation in the Gulf of Oman.
Today, following conflicts in which Iran targeted the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, the Iranian regime faces international isolation. As the United States exerts pressure—even contemplating amphibious landings along its shores—will the issue of the Emirati islands re-emerge? Could American forces occupy the islands and hand them over to the UAE, transforming the Emirates into a key player in co-managing maritime traffic through the strait, sharing oversight with Oman and Iran's future rulers to prevent unilateral decisions harmful to international interests?
Or will the UAE remain content with its current economic role? Through the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai—a major commercial hub facilitating trade between East Asia, China, India, and the Gulf nations, including Iran—the UAE generates substantial revenue anchored in pragmatic relations with all parties, operating without the need to entangle itself in the strait's geopolitical disputes so long as cargo ships arrive on schedule without prohibitive fees.
The Shah feared that revolutionary Arab regimes—from Nasser to Saddam and Yemeni factions—might control the Gulf states and threaten oil exports and commercial imports, prompting his insistence on dominating the strait. However, with the rise of Khomeinism and its expansionist ambitions, the primary threat shifted from Arab revolutions to a fear of Khomeiniist expansion and the hegemony of a new Persian empire across the Middle East. This prompted U.S. intervention to curb the clerical regime's actions, ensuring the smooth flow of international trade and maintaining regional order to protect shared global interests.
Will the clerical regime show restraint, curb its arrogance and project to export the revolution, scale back its proxies, refrain from meddling in its neighbors' affairs, convert its nuclear program into a civilian one, redirect its missile development toward space exploration, and consent to shared regional wealth management to develop its economy? Iran certainly possesses the potential to compete with leading nations.
Or must the world, particularly the United States, dismantle this reactionary system to allow for the return of a constitutional monarchy or democratic framework capable of governing nearly one hundred million citizens? This diverse population spans vast territories reaching from Central Asia near China and Russia down to India and Pakistan in the south, bordering the oil- and gas-rich Gulf states to the west, with modern, secular Turkey serving as its gateway to Europe in the north.
Developments in this geographical hub directly impact global stability and international relations. Decisions addressing these challenges require careful study and deliberate execution—as seen in the approach of President Trump, who continues to seek changes in the Tehran
regime's conduct to foster gradual transition, regional stability, lasting peace in the Greater Middle East, and constructive cooperation among its peoples.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 05-06/2026
Trump Calls Iran Conflict ‘Small Potatoes’ and Defends Vance’s Position That It’s Not a ‘War’
Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
President Donald Trump on Friday said the conflict in Iran is “small potatoes” as he defended Vice President JD Vance for asserting that months of on-and-off attacks in the Middle East are not a “war.”Asked during an Oval Office exchange about Vance’s comments made a day earlier, Trump said US strikes on Iran are now “intermittent” and “a lot of people don’t call it a war." The conflict has cost US taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and left 18 US service members dead. “I can understand what he’s saying,” said Trump. He added: “I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing."
Vance, during a White House press briefing Thursday, rejected the use of the word “war” to describe the US fighting with Iran and steered clear of predicting that the six-month-old conflict would be over by November’s midterm elections, in which Republicans are trying to hang on to their narrow majorities in Congress.“I wouldn’t call it a war,” Vance said after being asked about whether the fighting could end before voters cast their ballots in the Nov. 3 elections. “Right now, there is no active shooting.”Vance’s assertion came even as Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for rounds of US strikes on Iran earlier in the week.Trump in Friday's exchange with reporters added that the US death toll in the Iran conflict is relatively lower than some other recent US wars. The US and Israel have only carried out air strikes in the Iran war, which began Feb. 28, and have not deployed troops into the country.
“We did Venezuela and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody,” said Trump, referring to the January US military operation to seize former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to New York City to face federal drug trafficking charges. “And this, we lost 18 people. And, in Vietnam we lost 100,000 people. And in other conflicts, we lost tens of thousands of people.”A total of 58,220 members of the US armed forces died during the Vietnam War, according to records from the US National Archives. Pressed by a reporter on describing the conflict as “small potatoes" when 18 US service members have been killed, Trump responded by reiterating his argument that the conflict — one that he said at the outset of the war would last a matter of weeks — has led to the defanging of Iran's nuclear program.
“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did you probably wouldn’t be standing here,” Trump said.

US Strikes Three Iranian Oil Tankers After IRGC Attack on American Naval Ships, Central Command Says
Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, US Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran's key oil export hub. The strikes were carried out after Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships, Central Command said.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose ‌an even higher ‌economic cost — taking out three of yours," said Admiral ‌Brad ⁠Cooper, head of US ⁠Central Command. Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news agency, reported earlier that four US missiles hit a tanker in the area of Kharg's anchorage. Tasnim quoted local sources as saying there were no casualties and the tanker's crew was being evacuated. No American personnel were harmed, Central Command said. There was no immediate official announcement by Iranian authorities. The exchange of attacks follows an escalation in the past week that threatens ⁠to deepen a conflict that has dragged on since the ‌US launched strikes on Iran in ‌February, disrupting global energy supplies and drawing opposition from a majority of Americans before congressional elections ‌in November.
TRUMP'S THREATS OVER KHARG ISLAND
US President Donald Trump said on ‌August 31 in a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video that Kharg Island was being "blown to smithereens". Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if Kharg is attacked. Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ‌and exported 90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war, but flows have been disrupted since a US ⁠blockade of ⁠Iranian oil exports began in mid-April. Trump said on June 11 that he wanted to take over Kharg Island, but then said a threatened US military operation there was off the table for now, days before Tehran and Washington signed an interim agreement aimed at ending the war on June 17. A US attack on Kharg would further pressure Iran's oil industry and its wider economy, which is already reeling from the US naval blockade. The US imposed its blockade on Iranian ports after Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway that carried one-fifth of the world's oil supply before the war. Brent crude futures closed at their highest level since July 24 on Friday, at $96.28 a barrel, as tensions in the Middle East drive global supply concerns.

CENTCOM says it struck three Iranian oil tankers after IRGC targeted two US warships
Yaghoub Fazeli/Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
CENTCOM said a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple Iranian attacks and that no American personnel were harmed. In response, US forces “permanently disabled” the crude oil carriers M/T Downy off Iran’s Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask, according to the statement. CENTCOM said US forces also destroyed the unladen M/T Kylo, also known as the Noxen, in the Gulf of Oman after its crew was instructed to abandon the vessel. The tanker was struck in multiple locations to render it inoperable, it added. Video posted alongside CENTCOM’s statement showed projectiles striking vessels, followed by large fireballs and billowing flames. The US military described the three vessels as part of a multibillion-dollar network used to generate revenue for the IRGC and its regional proxies. “If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost – taking out three of yours,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet,” he added. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later warned that Washington would continue targeting Iranian oil tankers if Tehran attacks US Navy vessels. “It’s simple: if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot at @USNavy,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Iran’s oil tanker fleet is defenseless – Iran has no navy or air force. Our planes, ships & subs can strike them all,” he added. Iran’s state-linked Tasnim news agency later confirmed that three Iranian tankers had been attacked by US forces in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Tasnim said one tanker was struck near Kharg Island on Saturday morning but reported no casualties. It said footage showed the vessel’s cooling system had extinguished the resulting fire within the first hour of the attack. The agency also cited an Iranian state television correspondent as reporting that two tankers had been attacked near Jask in Hormozgan province. One was empty and the other was carrying oil, according to the report, which said their crews reached shore aboard lifeboats.The incident marks the latest escalation between Washington and Tehran amid continuing hostilities in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

Iran plans to prolong war, unsettle Trump ahead of midterms: Intelligence reports
Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
Iran has grown more confident in its ability to attack targets across the Middle East and appears determined to continue the conflict for months to frustrate the US, the New York times reported on Friday, citing recent US intelligence reports. The report said that despite the latest hostilities being limited, the intelligence reports suggested Iran’s leadership could be planning a significant escalation, according to sources familiar with them. It added that since the beginning of the war, Iran had gained a better understanding of its own military capabilities and has more faith in them. Moreover, the New York Times said the reports suggested that an agreement to end the conflict would be hard to reach, adding that Iran was content to exacerbate Trump’s political problems in view of the upcoming midterm elections. As for US sanctions, they are likely to continue to provoke escalation, the reports said, warning that Iran could take actions similar to those in July when it attacked US bases in the region, struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz and launched strikes on infrastructure in neighboring countries. Beyond regional military escalation, the report also said that Iranian hackers had regrouped since the beginning of the war and pose a direct threat, aiming to undermine public support for the war in the US through cyberattacks, citing current and former US officials. At a news briefing on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance seemed to acknowledge such attacks but downplayed the danger it could pose for US citizens.
“If you look at the Iranian ability to disrupt the normal lives of Americans, I think it is quite limited,” Vance said. “It’s not zero, but it’s quite limited. I’d be much more worried about cyberattacks from other actors.” The report further said that the US military could be pushed to launch large new strikes in the face of munition stockpiles dwindling, citing sources briefed on the reports. Moreover, it said Iran seems to be intent to drag out the conflict at least until the midterms, understanding that closing the Strait and causing higher gas prices is damaging to Trump and the Republican party, citing current and former officials. In addition, the New York Times said that Iran could seek to spread information to harm President Trump electorally through accounts on social media. It referred to a report by Meta showing network of accounts on Facebook and Instagram originating in Iran that focused on US politics and spreading “anti-Republican views” partially created with AI.

US ambassador calls for ‘severe consequences’ to stop West Bank violence
Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
The US ambassador to Israel on Saturday called for “severe consequences” for those responsible for violence in the occupied West Bank, saying the Israeli government had a responsibility to ensure the safety of Palestinians.Mike Huckabee made the remarks during a visit to the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, where he met Palestinian-Americans who have reported attacks by Israeli settlers. “Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror. When people do it they should have an expectation that they will have severe consequences,” Huckabee told reporters. The ambassador said residents of Palestinian communities had the right to live in safety and that Israel bore responsibility for ensuring their security. “One of the messages that we have been sending and we will continue to send is that people in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety, and that the government has a responsibility to make sure that that happens,” he said. Huckabee, however, stopped short of directly criticizing Israel over the rise in settler violence. Separately, the ambassador rejected suggestions that Israel planned to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, after Israeli ministers had floated ideas for moving the territory’s population elsewhere. “I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will,” Huckabee said.

US military personnel face polygraph tests following media leaks: Report
Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
US government investigators have subjected around 50 members of the US military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests over leaks to journalists, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing officials briefed on the move.It added that the tests included questions about leaks that revealed how the Iran war created a shortage of crucial munitions. The report said that the tests were conducted in August following news reports about diminished stocks of crucial munitions, such as long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors. The move was reportedly aimed at both discovering those who had leaked information and deter people from doing so in the future. The move comes as multiple news organizations have revealed details about how the war with Iran has drained munition stockpiles and reported on concerns inside the administration about the strategic direction of the conflict. President Trump has pressured administration officials to aggressively hunt for those leaking information. He categorically rejected all reports about munition shortages.

NATO will not tolerate hybrid actions against members, US envoy says
Reuters/05 September ,2026
NATO members should not tolerate deliberate actions of hybrid war, and the United States will stand by countries as they deal with these incidents, Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said on Saturday. Whitaker said last month’s attempted drone attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport, which Berlin has blamed on Russia, was more worrying than other recent incidents NATO members have faced due to Russian drones targeting Ukraine that strayed off course. “Then you have what I would call the more concerning hybrid actions like we saw in Leipzig, like we have seen in Poland,” Whitaker said speaking on the sidelines of a business conference in Italy. NATO members must be prepared, vigilant and also deliver a strong message when they are challenged by these events, he said. “If we can identify who’s doing it — which Germany did — we make sure we express strongly that is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it,” Whitaker said. Critical infrastructure, including energy assets, could be targeted and should be monitored by national authorities, he added. The response to these challenges is primarily national, but the United States supports countries when they are dealing with these acts, he said.

Five European Nations Seek Deals to Send Migrants Out of the EU
Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
Five European nations aim to sign deals this year to send migrants without legal residency to countries outside the European Union, they said at a meeting hosted by Denmark on Friday. Germany, Austria, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands said they had agreed on concrete steps towards a deal with a non-European Union country on return facilities, the latest effort by European nations ‌to reduce ‌immigration. The countries, known as the Group of Five, did ‌not ⁠name the nations they ⁠expect to host return centers. "We want to reach an agreement with third countries this year that will enable the establishment of return hubs," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters at a press conference in Copenhagen. The group, which has held a series of meetings this year, plans to reconvene in Munich, Germany, at the end of September. The European Parliament in June approved an ⁠overhaul of migration policy aimed at speeding up deportations and ‌allowing member states to set up centers abroad, ‌in what critics say could weaken safeguards for asylum seekers.
HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS
The Council ‌of Europe, a non-EU body that promotes human rights, democracy and the ‌rule of law across the continent, in July said return hubs posed "considerable human rights risks", and several other groups have also criticized the plan. Danish Refugee Council Secretary General Charlotte Slente said it would be better to implement the EU Pact on Migration and ‌Asylum, which focuses on stricter border screening, faster asylum and return procedures, and expanded digital systems for managing asylum ⁠claims. "Return hubs focus ⁠on a small number of returns, they will not stop people from taking even more dangerous routes, and they could violate basic human rights," Slente said. Denmark expects to be ready to send migrants to the return hub by the end of 2027, Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bodskov said. "It's a new chance to have a life in a partner country," he said, adding that the five nations would be in dialogue with the UN body, the International Organization for Migration, and the UN Refugee Agency for their next steps. A UNHCR spokesperson said the agency had not been approached with details of a proposal and could not comment on the arrangements being discussed.

Iraqis Queue for Fuel as Regional War Disrupts Imports
Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
Drivers formed long lines outside fuel stations in Baghdad on Saturday as gasoline supplies dropped in oil-rich Iraq due to import disruptions caused by the Middle East war. Despite being OPEC's second largest oil producer, Iraq imports oil derivatives because its refineries do not produce enough gasoline to meet domestic demand. In recent weeks, as regional hostilities drag on, long queues have been reappearing every few days, mostly outside government-run fuel stations in Baghdad and other provinces. Baghdad resident Ibrahim Hashem waited for two hours outside a fuel station on Friday without any luck, only to return early the next day hoping to fill his car. "It is unreasonable that we produce so many barrels of oil a day, yet still do not have enough gasoline to meet our daily needs," Hashem told AFP outside a fuel station in central Baghdad. "We already suffer from traffic congestion because of the roads and lack of services. Now, it has become worse due to the gasoline shortage," he added. Iraq's average daily consumption of gasoline is 33 million liters, but demand rises to 38 million when people panic over shortages, according to authorities. The oil ministry said Friday that "regional events and the ongoing conflict are causing logistical challenges to tanker traffic, delaying their arrival at Iraqi ports."It urged citizens to buy only the quantities they need and avoid crowding fuel stations for small amounts of gasoline. Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said on Friday that his ministry was addressing the "temporary shortage of gasoline" and that new shipments will arrive soon to help stabilize supplies. Like other oil producers, Iraq has been greatly affected by the US-Iran conflict, which has choked off the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iraq is hugely dependent on oil exports, which make up about 90 percent of its budget revenues. Before the war erupted in February, Iraq produced around four million barrels per day, and exported an average of 3.4 million bpd, mostly via Hormuz. After a significant drop, Iraqi oil exports recovered to more than 2.2 million bpd in August, according to the oil ministry. Last month, Iran's state news agency IRNA said that over the past six months, Tehran has granted permission to "a number of Iraqi oil tankers" to pass through Hormuz.

Russian strike shuts Ukraine’s steel plant, kills five
Reuters/05 September ,2026
A Russian ballistic missile strike on Ukraine’s steel plant in the eastern Dnipro region killed five people, damaged production facilities and infrastructure, forcing a halt to all operations, steel producer Metinvest said on Saturday. “This is yet another attack on a civilian Metinvest steelmaking asset and further evidence of Russia’s systematic strikes against Ukraine’s industrial base,” the company said in a statement. It said the Kamet Steel plant produced pig iron and steel exclusively for civilian purposes.

Russia hits Ukraine’s airports ahead of US envoys’ visit, Zelenskyy says
Reuters/05 September ,2026
Russia hit Ukraine’s airports in the capital Kyiv and the nearby town of Boryspil ahead of US envoys’ visit, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday. Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. But Zelenskiy said that officials discussed the possibility of US peace negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner using a plane for their expected visit to Kyiv on Sunday. “Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app. “Russian-Iranian Shaheds (drones) in response to American diplomacy.”

Merz says Russia-linked drone attack shows Germany facing ‘profound rupture’
Reuters/05 September ,2026
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Saturday that an attempted drone attack on a German airport last month shows that Germany is facing a “profound rupture,” with far-reaching consequences that will only become clear in retrospect.
Merz, speaking at a party event near Hanover, said the German government’s attribution of the attack to Russia was “clear and legally sound,” and sent a clear warning to Russia not to continue this type of hybrid warfare.

Greek air force jet crashes at annual aerial show
The Associated Press/05 September ,2026
A Greek air force jet crashed at an aerial show north of Athens, starting a fire that sent large plumes of black smoke into the air in front of several thousand spectators on Saturday. There were no injuries among the attendees following the crash of the twin-seat Phantom F4 jet that occurred during a low-altitude maneuver. Air force officials in Greece made no immediate comment on the status of the two airmen, noting that rescue crews were hampered by the fire on the grounds of Tanagra air force base, 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) north of Athens. Eleven water-dropping planes and helicopters assisted 85 firefighters in an effort to contain the blaze, which remained at some distance from the viewing area at Athens Flying Week, an annual air show.

Masked men block traffic to UK’s port of Dover in apparent anti-immigrant protest
Reuters/05 September ,2026
Protests by groups of masked men on roads around the English port of Dover, the main hub for ferries crossing to France, disrupted traffic on Saturday, police and port authorities said. The demonstrators, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, chanted "Stop the boats," the BBC said, in a reference to asylum seekers arriving on the south coast of England from France. Major roads to the port were blocked on Saturday morning, but access to the port had been restored and those involved in the "spontaneous protest" had been dispersed by midday, Kent Police said in a statement on X.
No arrests were made, police said. Successive British governments have struggled to curb the flow of asylum seekers, often coming in overcrowded, inflatable boats. However, the number of arrivals this year until September 1 was 16,513, around 43 percent lower than the same period in 2025, according to government data cited by the BBC.

Putin meets US envoys for Ukraine war talks
AFP/05 September ,2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on ending more than four years of war in Ukraine in the Kremlin Saturday, ahead of their first visit to Kyiv expected on Sunday. Both Russia and Ukraine vowed not to strike each other’s capitals for three days during the negotiations, as Washington tries to revive US-led talks to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War Two.US President Donald Trump earlier said his son-in-law Kushner and business ally Witkoff were bringing “a proposal to end the war.”“Dear colleagues, I warmly welcome you to Moscow. The situation is, of course, not simple,” Putin told the envoys in a grand Kremlin hall in footage aired by Russian TV. “But before we begin to address it, I would like to ask everyone to convey their best wishes and words of gratitude to US President Mr. Trump,” Putin said.The talks come as the grinding war saw increasing civilian deaths and attacks this summer. Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.The war, launched by Russia in 2022, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Russian strikes on Ukraine Saturday killed at least seven people, including in the Kyiv suburbs, Ukrainian officials said. The Kremlin said it would not strike Kyiv from midnight Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would halt strikes on Moscow “from now” until Monday. “The Russian president, the commander-in-chief, has given the order from midnight tonight not to strike Kyiv for three days,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Zelenskyy – who had offered a truce during the US visits – later said he had spoken to the US envoys and also promised Kyiv would not strike Moscow. “From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow,” Zelenskyy said on social media. The Ukrainian leader said he had spoken to the US officials and that he expected them in Kyiv Sunday. Russia had earlier struck Kyiv suburbs, with Zelenskyy accusing Moscow of trying to disrupt their visit with overnight attacks on Kyiv’s two airports – as well as on civilian targets in the Dnipro region that killed five people. “Two people were killed in the Bucha district” outside Kyiv, the head of the Kyiv region Tymur Tkachenko said.
First Kyiv visit
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on X. It will be the first time that Witkoff and Kushner visit Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to resolve the conflict. Travelling to Kyiv by plane would be a highly unusual move, with Ukrainian airspace closed since 2022 because of the war. Visiting leaders and officials have generally travelled by train. The envoys are expected in Kyiv on Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP. Trump told reporters the envoys would seek to gauge whether progress towards peace was possible. Peace efforts have stalled, in part because of Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the start of fighting in February 2022.
“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” Trump said. The US president would not say whether the plan the envoys were bringing involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: “We have an idea for peace.”Witkoff and Kushner, who have been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and Iran, have travelled repeatedly to Moscow in previous attempts at diplomacy.
Grinding war
The renewed push for diplomacy comes as Russia and Ukraine pummel each other with long-range missile and drone attacks.Just hours before Trump’s announcement on Friday, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv. The strike, which Zelenskyy said was aimed at the office of the agency’s acting chief, was the first on its headquarters since the start of Russia’s offensive.Overnight, a Russian strike killed five people and wounded five others in the southeastern city of Kamianske, said Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration. Witkoff and Kushner’s visit comes after a rare trip to Moscow last month by CIA director John Ratcliffe.

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 05-06/2026
Do Not Be Fooled: Iran's Islamist Regime Is Building a Post-Trump Nightmare
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 05/2026
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22833/iran-building-post-trump-nightmare
Iran's Islamist regime has not been in power by accident for nearly 50 years. The regime is already laying the groundwork for conditions that will make the world far more perilous after President Donald Trump's term of office ends.
What Iran is doing now is preparing for the post-Trump era — as in the series of arrangements and agreements with Oman for the Strait of Hormuz — control over roughly one-fifth of the world's oil transit outside U.S. or Western control.
Without another leader as willing as Trump to confront Tehran directly, the regime will extract concessions, dictate terms, and attain hegemonic power in the region.
The regime only has to wait out two small remaining years of this administration before it can resume doing anything it wants.
Above all, Iran's current leadership cannot stay. If this regime is allowed to remain in power, the world after Trump will not be the same. The United States would do itself a great service to resume working closely with Israel.
There is no realistic path for Iran to become a constructive, peaceful country while its current leadership remains.... If it stays, there will be no lasting peace, security, or good life for democracies or the West
The regime is a dictatorship, oriented long-term. What Iran is doing now is preparing for the post-Trump era — as in the series of arrangements and agreements with Oman for the Strait of Hormuz — control over roughly one-fifth of the world's oil transit outside U.S. or Western control. Recent joint meetings of the Hormuz Committee and frameworks for temporary corridors, mine-clearing, and permanent management reveal that — no surprise — Iran is seeking lasting influence over the waterway, "service fees" of a few million dollars per tanker, day after day, as well as geopolitical leverage over oil-dependent countries, even in the West.
Some of the revenue Iran earns would also flow to its proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other militias. Without another leader as willing as Trump to confront Tehran directly, the regime will extract concessions, dictate terms, and attain hegemonic power in the region.
The Oman negotiations are planning for the period after Trump. Pressure might ease, and Iran could resume holding energy markets hostage — extracting further concessions while expanding its terror network
Iran's regime appears to believe it can survive the economic sanctions. It already has. It weathered multiple rounds of United Nations Security Council sanctions, not merely unilateral U.S. measures, and endured an eight-year war with Iraq. The regime only has to wait out two small remaining years of this administration before it can resume doing anything it wants.
Iran, with the help of its allies, Russia and China (here, here and here), has been using pauses in the action to rebuild its military capabilities. Russia has been helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles, as well as having shipped explosives, ammunition, and drone components to restock arsenals depleted in recent fighting. Ballistic-missile reconstitution has already surprised observers with its speed. Iran, Russia and China are clearly planning to hold the world hostage in a broader challenge to the existing order.
Economic sanctions, including stringent secondary sanctions, as outlined by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, need to be tightly enforced, especially against Russia and China, countries that are enabling Iran. Pressure also needs to be applied to Gulf states and other neighboring countries, including Iraq, to halt talks and arrangements that strengthen Tehran's hand.
Above all, Iran's current leadership cannot stay. If this regime is allowed to remain in power, the world after Trump will not be the same. The United States would do itself a great service to resume working closely with Israel. Israel understands how to target and transform adversaries' leadership structures. The present Iranian leadership is anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-Iranian — reportedly slaughtering 100,000 of its own people this year alone.
There is no realistic path for Iran to become a constructive, peaceful country while its current leadership remains. Totally removing this leadership is essential. If it stays, there will be no lasting peace, security, or good life for democracies or the West
Bring the regime down, or it will keep pulling the world under its Islamist rule.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
*Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter)
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

‘The Pendragon Cycle’ Is Fantasy Grounded in Truth
Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/September 05/2026
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/fernandez-pendragon-cycle
COMMENTARY: The new Arthurian series succeeds by drawing on ancient stories, taking Christianity seriously and remembering that great fantasy needs something real at its core.
There is seemingly no end to the production of cheesy, tiresome television and film fantasy. The genre is an ancient and honorable one, if one looks back to cinematic precursors like the 1914 Italian silent epic Cabiria (the first film ever shown at the White House) or Fritz Lang’s marvelous 1924 Die Nibelungen.
Through the years, we’ve had both good and bad, but mostly bad. The film fantasies created by Ray Harryhausen still hold a lasting charm. John Boorman’s Excalibur is a fine work as is Peter Jackson’s initial Lord of the Rings trilogy.
John Milius made a good Conan movie that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star. But Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy is long and expensive schlock seemingly motivated by “the search for more money,” as Mel Brooks once said. This year, television has featured the third season of House of the Dragon and will feature later this year the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, both of them terrible in my opinion.
It is with some trepidation that I approached the premiere of the seven episodes of The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin on Amazon Prime in the United States (it had earlier been a surprise hit on Amazon Prime in Europe and the United Kingdom) this September. The production wasn’t even on my radar as so much of this modern fantasy stuff just seems to blend together, especially on streaming services, into just blander “content.”
The fact that Pendragon was made by a right-wing media company with Christians in key roles no doubt increased the skepticism of many. That category of skeptic would include me as I am a Christian who doesn’t usually watch self-consciously “Christian” movies and a right-winger who eschews most self-identified “right-wing” media.
I was only very vaguely familiar with both the Daily Wire and Jeremy Boreing, who created, co-wrote and co-directed this work as a passion project. I knew, of course, by its very name that the subject matter would be Merlin and Arthur — “the Matter of Britain” as it is known — and that it was based on a series of novels by Stephen R. Lawhead. Both Lawhead and Boreing are Evangelical Christians. I have never read any of these novels, although I quite liked an excellent later book by Lawhead, Byzantium, from 1997.
So I was very pleasantly surprised to have my low expectations far exceeded. The Pendragon Cycle is very well made. It is very well acted, produced and filmed. The locations (in Hungary and Italy) are stunning and the effects are well done, without being overdone. There are no anachronistic African Vikings here. But all of that can be said for many a professional production. There are two additional elements that made it a success.
First of all, Lawhead and the screenwriters who adapted his work drew on a rich vein of materials produced over centuries — myth, song, legend, history and literature — which still have weight in our consciousness and which by the patina of their antiquity communicate both sincerity and seriousness. It is like that recent Odyssey movie: The scenes with power are Homer’s; those without are director Christopher Nolan’s.
Pendragon’s creators are honest and humble enough to know that they stand on the shoulders of giants, drawing from the medieval chronicler and Catholic cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Welsh epic The Mabinogion and others, and from a rich tapestry of intertwined Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Roman and Norse taproots. Secondly, it is Christianity that grounds and holds together the series in a way that gives it meaning and depth. It is not a spoiler to say that Merlin is both a man of power and a man of Christian faith. The series does a fine job of capturing the flux and flow of contending faiths and ethnicities of late Roman/post-Roman Britain, with its various pagans and its monks preaching a strange Eastern faith. “Trust in Jesu [Jesus], he is the only hope for men like us, if hope we have,” counsels a wise old king.
Christianity, which obviously was a very real, growing presence during the time frame the series portrays, is shown with a naturalness and a deft, delicate touch all too rare in entertainment media. It is seen as both natural and supernatural, accepted and rejected, without falling into the trap of saccharine or heavy-handed preachiness. Achieving that balance is a real accomplishment for a filmmaker at any time, especially in the Year of Our Lord 2026.
After I saw the series, I came upon this quote from Jeremy Boreing: The Pendragon Cycle “is the culmination of a 10-year vision to create culture, not just to criticize it. Lawhead’s novels present a visceral, masculine Christianity in a world of conflict and mystery. It isn’t saccharine or clean. In short, it is very much like our world.”Those are bold words, and anyone willing to fight for and create Christian culture in our fallen age is to be commended. We need more such media warriors who have not just sincere belief but real artistic talent, who have something to say and know how they want to say it.
It is no small thing to have a vision, for that vision to be a good one — as this is — and to be able to pull it off with enough artistry and conviction for it to work as entertainment. The Pendragon Cycle pulls this off. There are seven books in Lawhead’s series and this rich and rewarding production only covers the first two. It is to be hoped, in an age where so much that is inferior is funded in Hollywood, that the filmmakers will have the ability to see their entire vision brought to fruition.
**Alberto M. Fernandez
Alberto M. Fernandez Alberto M. Fernandez is a former U.S. diplomat and a contributor at EWTN News.

Question: Who wrote the Book of Hebrews? Who was the author of Hebrews?
GotQuestions.org/September 05/2026
Answer: Theologically speaking, scholars generally regard the book of Hebrews to be second in importance only to Paul’s letter to the Romans in the New Testament. No other book so eloquently defines Christ as high priest of Christianity, superior to the Aaronic priesthood, and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. This book presents Christ as the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). However, both the authorship and audience are in question.
The title “To the Hebrews,” which appears in the earliest known copy of the epistle, is not a part of the original manuscript. There is no salutation; the letter simply begins with the assertion that Jesus, the Son of God, has appeared, atoned for our sins, and is now seated at the right hand of God in heaven (Hebrews 1:1-4).The letter closes with the words “Grace be with you all” (Hebrews 13:25), which is the same closing found in each of Paul’s known letters (see Romans 16:20; 1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 6:18; Ephesians 6:24; Philippians 4:23; Colossians 4:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:18; 1 Timothy 6:21; 2 Timothy 4:22; Titus 3:15; and Philemon 25). However, it should be noted that Peter (1 Peter 5:14; 2 Peter 3:18) used similar—though not identical—closings. It is possible that it was simply customary to close letters like this with the words “Grace be with you all” during this time period.
Church tradition teaches that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, and until the 1800s that issue was closed. However, though some Christian scholars still believe Paul wrote the book, there are some tempting reasons to think otherwise.
First and foremost is the lack of a salutation. Some sort of personal salutation from Paul appears in all of his letters. So it would seem that writing anonymously is not his usual method; therefore, the reasoning goes, Hebrews cannot be one of his letters. Second, the overall composition and style is of a person who is a very sophisticated writer. Even though he was certainly a sophisticated communicator, Paul stated that he purposely did not speak with a commanding vocabulary (1 Corinthians 1:17; 2:1; 2 Corinthians 11:6).
The book of Hebrews quotes extensively from the Old Testament. Paul, as a Pharisee, would have been familiar with the Scripture in its original Hebrew language. In other letters, Paul either quotes the Masoretic Text (the original Hebrew) or paraphrases it. However, all of the quotes in this epistle are taken out of the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), which is inconsistent with Paul’s usage. Finally, Paul was an apostle who claimed to receive his revelations directly from the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23; Galatians 1:12). The writer of Hebrews specifically says that he was taught by an apostle (Hebrews 2:3).
If Paul didn’t write the letter, who did? The most plausible suggestion is that this was actually a sermon Paul gave and it was transcribed later by Luke, a person who would have had the command of the Greek language that the writer shows. Barnabas is another likely prospect, since he was a Levite and would have been speaking on a subject that he knew much about. Martin Luther suggested Apollos, since he would have had the education the writer of this letter must have had. Priscilla and Clement of Rome have been suggested by other scholars.
However, there is still much evidence that Paul wrote the letter. The most compelling comes from Scripture itself. Remember that Peter wrote to the Hebrews (that is, the Jews; see Galatians 2:7, 9 and 1 Peter 1:1). Peter wrote, “Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him” (2 Peter 3:15). In that last verse, Peter is confirming that Paul had also written a letter to the Hebrews!
The theology presented in Hebrews is consistent with Paul’s. Paul was a proponent of salvation by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8, 9), and that message is strongly communicated in this epistle (Hebrews 4:2, 6:12, 10:19-22, 10:37-39, and 11:1-40), indicating that either Paul wrote the epistle or the writer was trained by Paul. Although it is a small detail, this epistle makes mention of Timothy (Hebrews 13:23), and Paul is the only apostle known to have ever done that in any letter.
So, who actually wrote Hebrews? The letter fills a needed space in Scripture and both outlines our faith and defines faith itself in the same way that Romans defines the tenets of Christian living. It closes the chapters of faith alone and serves as a prelude to the chapters on good works built on a foundation of faith in God. In short, this book belongs in the Bible. Therefore, its human author is unimportant. What is important is to treat the book as inspired Scripture as defined in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Holy Spirit was the divine author of Hebrews and of all Scripture, even though we don’t know who put the physical pen to the physical paper and traced the words.

The UN Charter: Has the Time Come to Amend It?
Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
Three days separate us from the opening of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 8, and questions are being urgently raised: is the UN Charter still effective? Is it still able to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, as the opening pledge made at San Francisco on June 26, 1945, declared?Looking at the state of international peace last year, 2025, we find it saw the highest number of armed conflicts since the Second World War, while reports suggest NATO may find itself in a confrontation with Russia that could lead to a third world war. And while millions endure hardship, total global spending on armaments reached some $2.9 trillion. As for the Security Council, charged under the Charter with maintaining international peace and security, its harvest amounts to little when set against a promise made and not kept.
Was there a flaw at the founding, at the moment the Charter took shape? What is certain is that the idea of the veto has appeared, from eight decades ago to this hour, as the blemish marring the United Nations' path, granting five states a privilege of which the rest of the world's states were deprived. It is worth recalling, however, that the Charter was passed at the time only after agreement on a text that appeared as Article 109, opening the door to amendment through a review conference within ten years.
That article provides: "A General Conference of the Members of the United Nations for the purpose of reviewing the present Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members of the Security Council. Each Member of the United Nations shall have one vote in the conference."
The 1945 Charter was the innovation of its age. Its predecessor, the League of Nations, had collapsed under the weight of conflict in Europe in less than 20 years. But the matter was not free of the distinctions drawn by the victors, who write history and charters as they see fit and as they aspire, in whatever accords with their interests, without regard for what becomes of the defeated. Yet, instead of ten years, 81 have passed without the political will materializing to convene the conference; and what was accepted then as a temporary option later became a permanent hierarchy.
For more than eight decades, the five members enjoying the veto have gone on watching wars, or managing them as they please, without the least anxiety or unease at condemnation by the Security Council, since the veto guarantees escape from the slightest attempt to approach them or their allies, while others face severe penalties running from the economic to the military. Today it seems the time has come to carry out an obligation deferred for eight decades.
Bolstered by the reform commitments of the 2024 Summit of the Future and by the Article 109 Coalition, a growing group of states is preparing to work toward reclaiming the unabridged spirit of San Francisco.
Over this past May and June, Romania called for activating the Charter's amendment article through the coming General Assembly, and India raised the question of Charter review at the Security Council. Germany, for its part, noted that there was an interesting initiative on Article 109 worth considering, while the president of Kyrgyzstan asked his diplomats to begin studying possible amendments and proposals and to prepare to table them in September. At the same time, Brazil, India, and South Africa have jointly urged the convening of a review conference under Article 109.
But can the five permanent members, armed with the veto, accept an amendment of this kind - one that pulls from beneath their feet a carpet of power and immunity that can be neither blocked nor turned back?
Whatever the case with the great powers and their concern to protect their interests around the world, amending the Charter is not an imposed legal duty. It is a pressing and recurring need, demanded by many countries, that would address the imbalances in the organization's structure - foremost among them the expansion of the Security Council, given the growing role of the middle powers, which play a very important part in resetting the courses of the new world order - as well as amending or abolishing the veto held by the five, so as to reflect the new international balances.
The Charter has been amended only a few times - enlarging the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council - and not once has Article 109 been used to convene the general review conference it promises. Today the world appears eager for a reform that would confer an effective collective international legitimacy, without quota-sharing or imperial condescension. Will we see the amendment that is sought? Let us watch.

The Quiet that Makes the Storm
Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 05/2026
The publishers of Al-Qafilah, a long-established cultural magazine issued by Aramco, have been sending me its quarterly issues for years. At a time when some Arab cultural magazines have lost their distinguished standing, having lost the capacity to keep pace with developments, Al-Qafilah has gone on renewing itself. In the latest issue my attention was caught by a short notice about a book by the American author Gal Beckerman, “The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas”. What the magazine ran was no more than a brief review, but it was enough to send me looking for the book and reading a long and enjoyable summary of it. It sometimes happens, as it did with me, that two lines lead you to an idea that stays with you for days. The idea the book turns on looks simple on the surface, but it runs against what I had been convinced of. The author holds that great events do not begin when everyone turns to look at them, but long before, when they are still no more than a discussion among a small number of people.
Political transformation is usually only the final chapter; the preceding chapters are written quietly, away from the spotlights, and perhaps in places no one notices. I used to think the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille, or that the Arab revolutions were a consequence of the Egyptian one. The book advances the opposite idea, and this is where its importance lies, and its bearing on our own age.
The outcome is the ending, not the beginning. I stopped at this idea because we have become prisoners of what we follow today, of the events unfolding around us: the news item, the comment, the analysis, the final verdict. There is no longer time enough for reflection on the course of events. It is as though the age were telling us that the speed of an opinion is proof of its quality, while history teaches us something different, as the book does. The ideas that live longest are not those born quickly, but those that have passed through stages of give and take, of criticism and revision.
Beckerman takes the reader back to the cafes of Europe, the literary salons, and the long letters exchanged among thinkers, where ideas took shape slowly. Those who held them were not looking for a wide audience or for quick applause; they were looking for a more coherent idea. When those ideas matured, they found their historical moment, turned into a force with influence over society and politics, and changed the course of history.
As I read, I remembered a time when cultural magazines performed a function beyond publishing articles. They were a place where people who differed met; the reader followed them, and they shaped his convictions. The aim was not to win a single day's battle, but to add a small brick to a cultural edifice that accumulates over time. My own experience at Al-Arabi magazine over two decades bore that out.
I do not think the book calls for withdrawing from the digital age, or for hostility toward social media. These have become part of our lives, and their impact cannot be ignored. But to my mind they are better suited to disseminating ideas than to making them. There is a difference between carrying an idea to people and helping it to be born and to mature. The first can be done at the press of a button; the second needs time, an environment that permits disagreement, and a measure of patience we sorely lack these days.
Even so, I came away from the reading with an observation I would add to what the author proposes. The crisis we are in is not permanent, and the ideas being born today among the few will produce a current that is itself a condition for the birth of ideas and for changing the reality we complain of. Human experience tells us that some great ideas emerged from writings of limited circulation, but even then, they did not appear fully formed. They needed time to mature and minds to pass them around. Perhaps the decisive factor is not accepting reality, but the time that allows a new and contrary idea to test itself before it hardens into certainty. This bears on us as Arabs. In our Arab world we do not lack for talk, but new ideas are fewer than we imagine. The reason, in my view, is that the rapid pace has made many prefer dealing with the event, and that daily presence in the media scene has at times become more important than taking the time to build an idea that offers the other option and deserves to survive. The troubled reality of our region says there are two projects. The first is the dominance of the sacred and its use in politics, as Iran and its armed proxies do. The second is being born: the project of the independent national state, and this is happening in Syria, in Iraq, and even in Lebanon. The new project may need time to appear, but it is coming.
Hence the public discussion calling for the new project, which has in fact begun. What seemed a given - the dominance of a political thought that rejects the civil state - has started to change; some now describe those ideas as outside history and are debating ideas opposed to them. Such emerging ideas play a role whose effect shows only after years. Sound policies are not born in emergency meetings; they are usually preceded by a long effort of thinking and of testing alternatives. Societies that think this way are better able to face surprises and to change course, because they do not begin thinking when the crisis strikes, but long before it. This applies to the Gulf states, which live in a dangerous regional environment. Preparing for the future does not rest on military strength or economic capacity alone. It also requires permanent investment in knowledge, the opening of discussion of alternatives, the production of new ideas, and the encouragement of responsible dialogue. This kind of investment may be less clamorous than others, but over the long run it endures better and runs deeper.
After I finished reading, the book's central idea stayed with me. Many people react to the storm when it blows, but few ask what was happening before it. The answer to that question may matter more than following the storm itself, because understanding beginnings is the best road to understanding endings. There is a beginning taking shape in our Arab world that we all need to support.

Building a new security architecture in the Middle East
Chang Hua/Al Arabiya English/05 September ,2026
Between August 30 and September 3, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and paid state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Egypt. Against the backdrop of accelerating profound changes unseen in a century, and amid intertwined shifts and turbulence in the international landscape, President Xi Jinping’s tour of Central Asia and the Middle East responded to the international community’s aspirations for peace, stability and development. It also presented to the world the image of a major country that courageously shoulders its historical responsibilities and takes the initiative in helping steer the course of history.
President Xi Jinping’s visit to Egypt, his first in 10 years, marked an important diplomatic initiative by China toward the Middle East following the China-Arab States Summit held in Riyadh in 2022. The visit coincided with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt, as well as the 70th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between China and Arab countries. This injected strong new momentum into carrying forward the traditional friendship between China and the Arab world, strengthening exchanges and cooperation across various fields, and advancing the building of a higher-level China-Arab community with a shared future. At present, the Middle East is experiencing a new round of turmoil, while the repercussions of conflicts spilling beyond their original boundaries continue. How can the Middle East’s security dilemma be resolved? And how can lasting peace and stability be achieved in the region? President Xi Jinping put forward a four-point initiative in this regard, stressing China’s support for regional countries in developing relations based on good-neighborliness and friendship, upholding a concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and establishing a new security framework in the Middle East. Following his four-point proposal for promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and his four principles on the Palestinian issue, President Xi has once again offered, through this initiative, a Chinese solution to help the Middle East and Gulf region emerge from the shadow of conflict and chart a new direction toward lasting peace and stability.
First, activating the internal momentum for common security in the region. In April this year, President Xi Jinping stressed during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that China supports regional countries in building a shared home based on good-neighborliness, development, security and cooperation, and in determining their own future and destiny.
The Middle East belongs to the peoples of the Middle East, and the affairs of the region should be decided independently by its countries. China believes that the path to resolving regional flashpoints is based on mutual respect, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries concerned, and adherence to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs. Middle Eastern countries can find a path to security that is compatible with regional realities and takes into account the legitimate concerns of all countries only through dialogue and consultation among themselves, by independently exploring solutions to regional flashpoints that suit local conditions, and by adopting objective and fair positions.
Second, advancing integrated governance of common security in the region. The Middle East has multiple flashpoints that are closely interconnected, and any continued deterioration in one of them could trigger a chain reaction with consequences extending beyond its borders. Achieving peace and stability in the region cannot be based on addressing each problem in isolation, much less on applying double standards. Instead, efforts must begin from the perspective of the region’s overall security and stability, addressing both symptoms and root causes and adopting comprehensive measures. The Palestinian issue remains the central issue in the Middle East and must never be ignored or marginalized.
In August this year, President Xi Jinping put forward four principles on the Palestinian issue, stressing the need to uphold a political settlement, follow the principle of “Palestinians governing Palestine,” uphold humanitarian principles, and adhere to fairness and justice. He also called for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue at an early date on the basis of international law, with the aim of addressing both the symptoms and the root causes of the issue through practical action. Without a just solution to the Palestinian issue, the Middle East will not enjoy lasting peace and stability.
Third, consolidating the development foundations of common security in the region. Achieving lasting peace and stability in the Middle East fundamentally depends on development. Security is a prerequisite for development, while development is a guarantee of security. It is therefore necessary to promote peace through development and reinforce security through cooperation.
The countries of the Middle East and Gulf are neighbors that cannot be separated from one another and are mutually dependent. The more tense the situation becomes, the more important it is for regional countries to uphold and safeguard peace.
All parties should work to create an environment conducive to the development of countries in the Middle East and Gulf region. China is ready to work with regional countries to safeguard the security of international maritime routes, strengthen development cooperation and deepen the integration of interests among regional states, thereby gradually enhancing mutual trust. China is also ready to share with Middle Eastern and Gulf countries the development and economic opportunities created by Chinese modernization, helping strengthen the foundations of regional development and security.
Fourth, strengthening international coordination for common security in the region. Issues in the Middle East affect the entire world, and the international community has a responsibility to play a constructive role in advancing political solutions to crises. The United Nations Charter and international law are the fundamental references for handling Middle Eastern affairs, and the international community, particularly major powers outside the region, should reject double standards.
China has consistently formulated its positions and policies based on the merits of each issue, distinguishing right from wrong and adhering to the settlement of differences and disputes through political and diplomatic means. No matter how complex disagreements become or how intense conflicts grow, China always stands firmly on the side of peace, on the side of dialogue and on the right side of history. It will work alongside countries that share this vision and make tireless efforts to advance lasting peace and stability in the Middle East, contributing China’s efforts to peace, stability, prosperity and development in the region and demonstrating the responsibility of a major country.
At present, the international community is paying increasing attention to China’s voice and Chinese solutions, and expects China to assume greater responsibility amid turbulence, uphold fairness and justice, and play a larger role. This expectation stems from the fact that China does not pursue selfish geopolitical interests or engage in bloc confrontation. Instead, it places the fundamental interests of the region’s peoples first, takes both security and development into consideration, and accounts for the legitimate security concerns of different countries. More importantly, China continues to inject momentum for stability and de-escalation in the Middle East through concrete actions.
China and the Arab countries are important members of the Global South and a significant force for safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. Against the backdrop of accelerating profound changes unseen in a century and amid intertwined shifts and turbulence in the Middle East, China and the Arab world need more than ever to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and work hand in hand to confront common challenges. September 1 this year marked the first anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s proposal of the Global Governance Initiative. China will continue to firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, support the flourishing development of various regional and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, and work with all parties to implement the Global Governance Initiative. China is ready to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to continuously enrich the foundations of a China-Arab community with a shared future, promote the building of a more just and equitable system of global governance, and move forward together toward a community with a shared future for humanity.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on September 05/2026
Jon Fraser
"The F-35 acquisition is under review. It will remain under review until it’s no longer under review,” And that folks shows why Canada can't get anything done when it comes to military procurement - unless its something built in Quebec and there is an election.

U.S. Central Command
https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2096247889366290840/video/1
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours. We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” — Adm. Brad Cooper,

Alberto Miguel Fernandez
Turkey has been money laundering and evading sanctions in service to the Iranian regime for years. Good to see this small step. At last.
Quote
Treasury Department
Today, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury severed the Iranian regime’s critical financial lifelines in Türkiye. The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Türkiye-based Golden Global Bank and its subsidiaries, which have facilitated tens of millions of dollars’

i24NEWS English
https://x.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/2095928224714826036/video/1
'Not a day goes by without someone in Lebanon calling for peace with Israel... The Lebanese want to see economic opportunities like the Gulf enjoys, not more war'
@HagarChemali joins @Mike_Wagenheim on #AmericanView
Catch the full show https://youtube.com/watch?v=H6AChF41Fqo

U.S. Embassy Jerusalem - Palestinian Audiences
Today, Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited Turmusayya in the West Bank to meet with Palestinian American residents and hear directly about their experiences, concerns, and priorities. "When you build a home…you have every expectation that that home is going to be not just a place where you live, but a sanctuary for you and your family…Anything that threatens that is an act of terror."Ambassador Huckabee said he will “express to the [Israeli] government…that there are needs that need to be addressed, there are issues that cannot go unnoticed, and specific crimes and acts of terror that cannot continue without that country doing the investigation and adjudication that every person has a right to expect."

Islam Invasion
https://x.com/IslamInvasion/status/2095964364230775253/video/1
Toronto. They blocked a public roadway for prayer.
“I’m a resident here. You’re not allowed here.”
They tried to intimidate her. She didn’t budge. Police did nothing. Government did nothing.
Learn from her. Push back.

Ελί @3X3isNine
Lebanon  provokes Turkey The visit of President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun to Athens  carried messages that are likely to stir Turkish sensitivity, after Lebanon and Greece agreed to elevate their relations to a strategic partnership and to establish a Higher Council for Cooperation covering defense, energy, and maritime transport.The source of Turkish concern, according to information from “Al-Marfaa,” does not lie in Greek assistance to the Lebanese army alone, but in the possibility that Lebanon may gradually enter the network of cooperation linking Greece, Cyprus, and “Israel” in the Eastern Mediterranean. The sensitivity increases with discussion of energy bridges and shared infrastructure with Europe, at a time when Ankara is engaged in a dispute with Athens and Nicosia over maritime borders and gas resources.
This comes in addition to the proposed cooperation to develop the Lebanese navy and maritime surveillance, and the possible Greek contribution to a European mission after the end of UNIFIL’s role, which would give Athens an additional security presence in the region.
Although no official Turkish objection has been issued so far, the coincidence of the visit with a large defense deal between Greece and “Israel” leads Ankara to view with caution the possibility of Lebanon drawing closer to an axis it considers aimed at containing its Mediterranean influence.

Nadine Barakat
Alfred Riachi is impersonating an official institution !!
He uses this fake account, among others, to promote himself. We asked GROK about the fake account, after finding out that the profile picture belongs to a producer named Sarah Olivia Mirzahi: “The X account matching the claim is @SarahMelki7 (display name Sarah Melki). Its bio reads “Chief P.R. Officer at U.N.S.C.” It has a few hundred followers and posts infrequently, mostly #quoting or #praising Alfred Riachi, a Lebanese commentator on U.S. elections and Lebanese politics. @RiachiAlfred There is no verified official UN affiliation. @UN@UN_News_Centre That title does not exist as a real position.
The UN Security Council has no dedicated “Chief PR Officer.”
Council communications are handled through:
•The UN Department of Global Communications (led by Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming)
•The Spokesperson for the Secretary-General (Stéphane Dujarric)
•Individual member-state missions’ own press officers
•The monthly rotating Council presidency, which issues statements on behalf of the Council
No Sarah Melki appears in official UN leadership lists, protocol documents, or Security Council staffing records.
The account is therefore presenting a fabricated official role.
This is #impersonation of a #public_institution, even if the specific person being copied is not a well-known individual.
Official UN accounts are verified, use http://un.org or mission handles, and do not use informal titles like “Chief P.R. Officer at U.N.S.C.”
You can report the account on X for impersonation of an organization or for misleading identity. X’s impersonation policy covers accounts that pretend to represent governments or international bodies.”He uses the same name on Facebook to attack people who expose him and the account is used for defamation.
(@RiachiAlfred Sarah seems like far left btw …) @FederalLebanon_ should explain who is behind him and stop him from whatever shady activities he is into. @X
@Support