English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 16/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said to the Jews: “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. herefore I said to you that you will die in your sins
John08/21-27/Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. herefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 15-16/2026
Farewell to Dory Camille Chamoun: A Champion of Lebanese Sovereignty, Freedom, and Faith/Elias Bejjani/September 14, 2026
The day the treacherous and hateful hand reached out to assassinate Bachir the man, yet it failed to kill the dream and the cause he embodied/Elias Bejjani/September 14/2026
Video link to the funeral service of Abbot Boulos Naaman, held at the Monastery of Saint Anthony, Ghazir/September 15, 2026/Lebanese Maronite Order website
Israeli Official: Lebanese Army Coordinates with "The Party" at the Highest Levels
Tel Aviv’s Assessment: The Israeli Army is the Only Force Capable of Disarming "The Party"
Massad Boulos (Video): We Trust Aoun and Salam
Judge Saab to Hand Over Substantive Opinion on Port Explosion Case
Israel Reveals Strategy to Target "Yellow Line Pockets"—Will It Become a Pretext for Expanding Operations?
Shelling Targets Ali Al-Tahir; Violent Explosions Reported
Support on Paper... Abandonment on the Ground: What Remains of Iran’s Promises to Hezbollah?
Shelling Targets Ali Al-Tahir; Violent Explosions Reported
Netanyahu threatens 'heavier blows' if Hezbollah attacks
Israel's Lebanon plan under review as Rome talks are postponed
PM Salam: Negotiations are not a concession of Lebanon’s rights, but a means to restore them through diplomacy
US ambassador visits Lebanon army-held ‘pilot zone’ near Israel
Israeli army says found ready-to-use rockets in Lebanon security zone
Lebanon prosecutor requests charges for ex-president Michel Aoun over port blast: Official
Bassil calls for 'course correction' as Parliament debates govt. policy
South Lebanon: Latest developments
LBCI sources: No military aid announcements expected at Paris conference

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 15-16/2026
US military says Iran war has led to munitions shortfall
Iran war cost hits $38 billion, forecast to rise $3 bln a month, CBO says
Bessent to discuss Iran sanctions with Chinese counterpart this weekend
US military confirms Iranian attempt to capture American surface drone
CENTCOM says it foiled the attempt after “forcefully” responding
Egypt backs Saudi security as leaders call for free navigation through key straits
Saudi crown prince lands in Egypt to meet Sisi
Saudi Arabia vows to respond 'firmly' to Houthi attacks
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill five people, medics say
Zelensky says Ukraine will pause strikes on Russia if Kremlin spares critical infrastructure
Ukraine launches offensive against Russia near key town: Army
Iraq eyes Europe as it seeks to diversify oil exports: PM

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 15-16/2026
Iraq first so that the nation does not turn into an arena of conflict/Mustafa Al-Kadhimi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 15, 2026
Djibouti: A haven for its neighbors in times of adversity/Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama/Arab News/September 15, 2026
Why Iraq’s militias will keep their weapons/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/September 15, 2026
Is Europe finally getting tough on Israel?/Dr. Ramzy Baroud/Arab News/September 15, 2026
The Issue Is Greater than Iran/Sawsan al-Shaer/Asharq Al Awsat/September 15/2026
Dory Chamoun/Colonel Charbel Barakat/September 15, 2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on September 15/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 15-16/2026
Farewell to Dory Camille Chamoun: A Champion of Lebanese Sovereignty, Freedom, and Faith
Elias Bejjani/September 14, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157507/
"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live." (John 11:25)
With hearts filled with faith in God's will and hope in the Resurrection, we bid farewell today to a distinguished national and sovereign figure. We mourn the passing of Dory Camille Chamoun, Honorary President of the National Liberal Party, former Member of Parliament, former Minister, and former Mayor of Deir el-Qamar, who has departed to the House of the Heavenly Father after a long life of national struggle and unwavering commitment to the Lebanese cause.
Born in Deir el-Qamar in 1931, Dory Chamoun was raised in a household deeply rooted in patriotism and public service. He was the son of Lebanon's late President Camille Nimr Chamoun, one of the foremost leaders of Lebanese independence and statehood, and of Mrs. Zelpha Chamoun. From an early age, he embraced his family's national legacy and remained faithful to it throughout his life.
Dory Chamoun was one of the pillars of the Chamoun political school and among the principal figures who helped shape the journey of the National Liberal Party, alongside his father, President Camille Chamoun, and his brother, the late Dany Chamoun. Following his brother's assassination, he assumed the party's leadership during exceptionally difficult times, preserving its historic principles of freedom, sovereignty, independence, and democracy.
The late leader was known for his clear and steadfast national positions, never compromising or wavering. He opposed the Palestinian armed presence and occupation of Lebanon when many remained silent, courageously confronted Syrian tutelage and domination, and later became one of the earliest and most consistent voices opposing the Iranian project and its armed proxies in Lebanon. He firmly believed that a single state and a single legitimate military authority are indispensable foundations for a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon.
He played an active role in the Cedar Revolution and the March 14 Alliance, remaining until his final years a sovereign voice defending Lebanon's unique mission of pluralism, coexistence, freedom, and independence. He neither changed his convictions nor yielded to political expediency. Instead, he remained loyal to the principles upon which he was raised, convinced that truth is measured not by the number of its supporters but by the justice of its cause.
From 1998 to 2008, he served as Mayor of Deir el-Qamar, working diligently to preserve the town's rich historical heritage and to advance its development. He later served as a Member of Parliament representing the Chouf District, carrying the concerns of his constituents and his nation to the Lebanese Parliament while consistently defending sovereignty, independence, and constitutional legitimacy.
Dory Chamoun was also a devoted husband and father. He leaves behind a respected family that continues his national legacy, foremost among them his son Camille Dory Chamoun, who today serves as President of the National Liberal Party and represents its political tradition in Lebanon, carrying forward the torch passed down through generations of this distinguished patriotic family.
Providence willed that Dory Chamoun depart this world on the anniversary of the martyrdom of President-elect Bashir Gemayel, as though history wished once more to unite men of sovereignty who shared the dream of a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon—a dream for which they paid a heavy price through sacrifice, perseverance, and steadfastness.
With Dory Chamoun's passing, Lebanon closes a chapter in the history of a generation of leaders who stood firm in the face of adversity and remained faithful to their convictions. Yet the legacy he leaves behind will continue to live on in the memory of free men and women and in the conscience of every Lebanese who believes in Lebanon as the final homeland, free, sovereign, and independent.
As Holy Scripture says:
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)
Indeed, Dory Chamoun fought the good fight, completed his national mission with faith and steadfastness, and preserved the trust he inherited from his father and from the generation of Lebanon's independence leaders.
May Almighty God receive him into the dwellings of the righteous and the just, and may He grant comfort and hope to his family, loved ones, the National Liberal Party, and all those who walked beside him in the struggle for a free Lebanon.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the righteous, rest in the peace of God's heavenly kingdom. Amen.

The day the treacherous and hateful hand reached out to assassinate Bachir the man, yet it failed to kill the dream and the cause he embodied
Elias Bejjani/September 14/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/09/147262/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHJIZ6NMN8s
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 1982, Lebanon witnessed a tragic day that will never fade from its memory nor from the conscience of the Lebanese who believe in their unique identity. That day became a defining milestone in the history of the Lebanese Resistance — a torch still held high with unwavering faith and the steadfast determination of saints by Bashir’s faithful followers.
On that day, the treacherous hand of hatred struck and killed Bashir’s body, yet it utterly failed to kill Bashir’s cause, his ambition, his thought, his patriotism, and his spirit of resistance. On that day, the Cross of Lebanon was lifted to heaven bearing upon it the Martyr of Lebanon, President Sheikh Bashir Gemayel, surrounded by his twenty-three righteous companions who had walked with him on his earthly journey — a journey he dedicated wholly to Lebanon and its sacred cause — and who were granted to accompany him as well on his return to the Paradise of the righteous and the saints.
Bashir was raised upon the Cross of Lebanon after he and his companions had watered the blessed soil of the Land of the Cedars with their pure and sacred blood. He was lifted up surrounded by his martyred comrades to stand with them before his Lord, with a clear conscience, abundant faith, and sacred purity. He rose to heaven after fulfilling his earthly mission, after having drawn the clear contours of the Lebanese Cause, planted within the hearts of the Lebanese the spirit of resistance and sacrifice, and instilled in their souls the unshakable belief in the inevitable victory of the Land of the Message — the land where the Lord Jesus performed His first miracle and which the Virgin Mary blessed, making it a sanctuary for the faithful.
God Almighty willed to distinguish Bashir in his death just as He had distinguished him in his life, lifting him up to His Paradise on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross — the same Cross on which the Only Begotten Son was nailed for the salvation of all humanity. And as the Apostle Paul said: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”(1 Corinthians 1:18)
Bashir embraced the Cross and made it a beacon, a path, and a way of life in spreading his Lebanese message — a message of coexistence, love, brotherhood, loyalty, civilization, culture, dignity, and honor. He ascended to heaven leaving behind his values, his teachings, his spirit, and his love for the homeland in the hearts and consciences of his people whom he loved, having offered himself as a sacrifice for their salvation and freedom. And as Jesus Christ said: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”(John 15:13).
Whoever is protected by the Cross cannot be overcome by demons, nor can the holiness of his cause be defiled by the heresies of the Pharisees, the scribes, and their ilk. And just as Jesus Christ conquered death, shattered its sting, and rose from the tomb on the third day, Bashir’s national and spiritual message shall remain alive until the Day of Judgment. It is this very message that will one day raise Lebanon from the grave of subjugation, dependency, servitude, selfishness, and occupation.
Bashir’s Lebanon will never die, for it lives on in the struggle, resistance, and pride of every Lebanese who truly believes in Bashir’s dream — the dream of the Cause — and who wishes to live with head held high, in dignity and pride, in a free, sovereign, independent, and democratic homeland. A homeland overshadowed by justice, equality, and decent living; a homeland liberated from foreign armies, mercenaries, Trojan traitors, and subversive agents; a homeland governed by its own people, where human rights are respected and human dignity is preserved.
Bashir struggled to restore unity to the Lebanese land, sovereignty to the Land of the Cedars, freedom and dignity to the Lebanese person, authority to the state, and effectiveness to its institutions. He was the one who declared loudly: “We want to live with our heads held high, and what must be changed is the mentality — to renew the person in order to renew Lebanon.”
And as the prophet Malachi said in the Holy Bible: “The law of truth was in his mouth.”(Malachi 2:6)
Bashir, as he offered himself as a living sacrifice upon the altar of the homeland, was following in the footsteps of Christ, who offered Himself out of love for the world. He freely chose the path of Golgotha, believing that there can be no resurrection without the Cross, and no freedom without laying down one’s life. His blood and the blood of his companions were not shed in vain, for they mingled with the soil of Lebanon to sanctify it and give it life — just as the blood of Christ mingled with the wood of the Cross to grant the world salvation and eternal life.
Thus, Bashir’s martyrdom remains a sign of hope and faith: hope in Lebanon’s resurrection from the death of bondage, and faith that whoever lays down his life for his beloved will surely rise with Christ in glory — and with him, Lebanon shall also rise.

Video link to the funeral service of Abbot Boulos Naaman, held at the Monastery of Saint Anthony, Ghazir
September 15, 2026/Lebanese Maronite Order website
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157531/
The funeral service for Abbot Boulos Naaman was held today at the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Ghazir, presided over by Patriarch Al-Rahi and attended by a distinguished gathering of ecclesiastical, official, and public figures.
Elias Bejjani – May his soul rest in peace. He was a monk and a prominent figure of our Maronite Church who dedicated his life to serving the Church, Lebanon, and the Maronite people. We pray that he may dwell in the heavenly abodes alongside the righteous, the devout, and the saints.
Al-Rahi Bids Farewell to Abbot Boulos Naaman: A Living Memory of the Lebanese War
During the funeral service for the former Superior General of the Lebanese Maronite Order, Abbot Boulos Naaman, held at the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Ghazir, Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi noted that Abbot Naaman’s life "spanned both work and education." He pointed out that Abbot Naaman "lived through one of Lebanon’s most critical periods and left his testimony regarding it for future generations," explaining that the Abbot possessed deep faith and spiritual steadfastness, and was a man open to the people, the nation, and the realm of politics. Al-Rahi added that, for Abbot Naaman, understanding the roots of the Maronites and the Maronite Church was integral to understanding Lebanon itself; consequently, he devoted himself to studying the origins of the Maronite tradition, eventually becoming one of the foremost researchers of its history. He said: "Abbot Naaman was convinced that national action is incomplete without social action," and "he understood the value of dialogue, participated in meetings seeking solutions to the Lebanese crisis, and, over the years, became a living memory of the Lebanese war era."

Israeli Official: Lebanese Army Coordinates with "The Party" at the Highest Levels
Al-Markaziya / September 15, 2026
Citing an Israeli official, Israel’s Channel 12 indicated that Israeli assessments suggest the Lebanese Army is coordinating with Hezbollah at the highest levels. The official added that the "pilot zones" program failed to disarm Hezbollah due to the Lebanese Army's failure to act.

Tel Aviv’s Assessment: The Israeli Army is the Only Force Capable of Disarming "The Party"
Al-Markaziya / September 15, 2026
Israel’s Channel 14 claimed this evening that an Israeli political source deemed the plan to disarm Hezbollah via the Lebanese Army a failure, alleging coordination between the army command and the party. The channel quoted the unnamed source as saying that the Lebanese Army is "not carrying out the tasks assigned to it within the framework of the pilot program." The source claimed that Israeli assessments indicate coordination extending from the level of the Lebanese Army Commander, General Rudolph Haykal, down to the troops deployed on the ground.
Negotiations Postponed to October
In a related development, Channel 14 reported that negotiations with Lebanon—originally scheduled to resume this September—have been postponed to October. The channel claimed the postponement decision was made at the request of the Lebanese side, though it did not cite an official Lebanese statement confirming this account or explaining the reasons for the delay. Negotiations were expected to continue addressing security and field-related issues concerning the South, amidst ongoing Israeli attacks and escalating border tensions.
**Hints of Continued Israeli Operations**
The report added that the prevailing view in Israel is that the Lebanese state is incapable, on its own, of handling the "Hezbollah" file or ending the group's military presence in the South. The Israeli source went so far as to claim that the Israeli army is the only entity capable of carrying out this mission. These claims coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalating his threats against Lebanon and declaring that Israel would continue to destroy what he described as "terrorist infrastructure within the security zone in Lebanon."

Massad Boulos (Video): We Trust Aoun and Salam
Al-Markaziya | September 15, 2026
Massad Boulos, Advisor to the US President on African Affairs, emphasized that "the Lebanese Army must be supported, and the Lebanese state must fulfill its duties," expressing his confidence in President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Watch the details of his remarks in the attached video: https://www.mtv.com.lb/News/Local/1737148/Massad-Boulos-Video--We-Trust-Aoun-and-Salam

Judge Saab to Hand Over Substantive Opinion on Port Explosion Case
Al-Markaziya / September 15, 2026
Judge Mohammad Saab, Advocate General at the Court of Cassation, met with Judge Tarek Bitar—the Judicial Investigator in the Beirut Port explosion case—to hand over the substantive legal opinion he had prepared.
The document spans 270 "foolscap" pages and outlines the positions of the Public Prosecution at the Court of Cassation regarding the investigations conducted into the port case.

Israel Reveals Strategy to Target "Yellow Line Pockets"—Will It Become a Pretext for Expanding Operations?
Janoubia | September 15, 2026
Following the battle for the Ali al-Tahir Heights, Israel has begun outlining the next phase of its operations in southern Lebanon. This involves addressing "pockets" within the area it designates as the "Yellow Line"—locations where it claims Hezbollah is attempting to return and re-establish a presence. The *Jerusalem Post* quoted sources within the Israeli army's Northern Command stating that these pockets lie within the security zone Israel claims to control but include points Israeli forces have not physically entered. This is either because they are surrounded by Israeli positions or because—according to Israeli military assessments—they did not pose an immediate threat.
Airstrikes and Artillery, No Ground Incursion
According to the Israeli narrative, Hezbollah is trying to exploit these gaps to rebuild a foothold within the area. Sources claim the Israeli army has been monitoring these movements for about five weeks and countering them via airstrikes, artillery shelling, and combat engineering units, without deploying ground forces to every targeted location. The report cited the Al-Mansouri area—within the municipality of Majdal Zoun—as an example of such pockets, noting the potential existence of dozens of similar sites across the zone Israel intends to keep free of any Hezbollah military presence.
An Israeli Narrative Lacking Independent Verification
However, the published information remains within the confines of the Israeli military narrative, lacking independent confirmation regarding the nature of these movements or the precise boundaries of what Israel calls the "Yellow Line." Furthermore, according to available information, neither the Lebanese Army nor UNIFIL has provided a map confirming the boundaries of this zone, while Israel has not published sufficient public evidence to substantiate the nature of the movements it attributes to Hezbollah.
"Pockets": A Defining Feature of a New Phase?
This narrative carries significance beyond the military dimension; talk of "pockets" within a security zone could lay the groundwork for expanding the scope of raids and demolition operations—and potentially bringing new villages and neighborhoods into the area Israel regards as a security zone under its control. This terminology also alters the framing of the situation: rather than focusing on the presence of Israeli forces within Lebanese territory, any Lebanese movement in these areas is portrayed—under the Israeli narrative—as an attempt to infiltrate an established "security zone." This raises a fundamental question: where does this zone begin and end? Is it based on an agreement or map accepted by Lebanon, or on a line imposed by Israel through force and treated as a *fait accompli*?
A Battle Over Defining the Zone
The true significance of the coming phase lies in establishing a precise map of the villages, agricultural lands, and properties situated within this line, and cross-referencing it with maps showing the deployment of the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL, as well as the positions of Israeli forces.
If the term "pockets" becomes the defining label for operations, the South could enter a new phase where defining the boundaries of the zone itself becomes part of the conflict, with Israel continuing to treat any presence within it as justification for military action.

Shelling Targets Ali Al-Tahir; Violent Explosions Reported
Al-Markaziya / September 15, 2026
Violent Israeli explosions rocked Majdal Zoun today, with shockwaves felt as far as Tire and neighboring villages. Israeli forces carried out massive detonations in the town of Kunin, within the Bint Jbeil district. Israeli forces also set fire to the remaining houses in the town of Al-Bayyadah, south of Tire, with plumes of smoke seen rising from the area. Israeli artillery shelled the "Hayy Ghazala" neighborhood in the town of Al-Mansouri (Tyre district) with several heavy 155mm shells. Drones were also spotted over the town carrying explosive-laden barrels, placing them on rooftops to be detonated later. Additionally, Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Ali Al-Tahir hills in Nabatieh. Two artillery shells struck the outskirts of the town of Kfar Shuba in the Hasbaya district, coinciding with ongoing shelling in the area. Overnight, Israeli forces carried out a massive explosion on the outskirts of the towns of Baraachit and Kounine in the Bint Jbeil district.

Support on Paper... Abandonment on the Ground: What Remains of Iran’s Promises to Hezbollah?
Najwa Abi Haidar | Al-Markaziya | September 15, 2026
Al-Markaziya – A phone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has reignited questions in Lebanon that go beyond diplomatic posturing, touching directly upon the reality in the South, the future of Hezbollah’s arsenal, and Iran’s role in the coming phase. During the call, held yesterday evening, Araghchi emphasized his country’s commitment to preserving Lebanon’s autonomy and territorial integrity in the face of Israeli aggression, reiterating the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for the “Lebanese Resistance” against Israeli attacks. For his part, Berri expressed appreciation for Iran’s support for Lebanon and outlined current developments in the South, according to the official statement. However, pro-sovereignty circles are scrutinizing the nature of this support, questioning—via Al-Markaziya—its actual utility in light of recent developments on the ground, particularly the fall of Ali al-Tahir Hill in the South. They argue that the situation raises questions regarding Hezbollah’s ability to halt the Israeli advance. Military experts cited by these circles note that the tunnel strategy adopted by Hezbollah in the South has suffered a major blow after Israel destroyed large sections of the network, observing that field developments have revealed a clear imbalance in the balance of power. A fundamental question is being raised in various circles: given the destruction of over 60 cities and the heavy toll in human lives and material losses, why did Iran not support the option of handing over strategic positions—such as the Ali al-Tahir hill—to the Lebanese Army? Why did it not endorse transferring the party’s weaponry to the Army, a move that would have reinforced the latter’s capabilities and strengthened the Lebanese state’s negotiating position? The view is that the continuation of the confrontation—following years of a “war of support” that exacted a staggering human and material price, all while Israel expanded its footprint in the South—confirms that Iran seeks only to maintain Lebanon and its territory as a bargaining chip. It exploits Lebanon just as it uses the Yemen card—via the Houthis—to threaten Saudi Arabia and exert pressure on Washington to ease the sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump. Amid the disparity between Iran’s declared stance and the reality on the ground, questions are mounting in Lebanon regarding the nature of the “illusory” support Tehran provides to Hezbollah and whether this dynamic will persist as the party faces escalating military and political pressures and military collapse. Meanwhile, the future of the South, its weaponry, and Lebanon as a whole remains at the heart of the struggle over Lebanese autonomy, awaiting the moment when the party and its base rediscover their Lebanese identity and realize the extent to which they are being exploited by the Islamic Republic and its Revolutionary Guard regime. Ultimately, the choice is stark: either submit to the state and save Lebanon—or what remains of it—or persist to the bitter end as a Persian instrument generating cycles of violence for Tehran’s benefit.

Shelling Targets Ali Al-Tahir; Violent Explosions Reported
Al-Markaziya / September 15, 2026
Violent Israeli explosions rocked Majdal Zoun today, with shockwaves felt as far as Tyre and neighboring villages. Israeli forces carried out massive detonations in the town of Kunin, within the Bint Jbeil district. Israeli forces also set fire to the remaining houses in the town of Al-Bayyadah, south of Tyre, with plumes of smoke seen rising from the area. Israeli artillery shelled the "Hayy Ghazala" neighborhood in the town of Al-Mansouri (Tyre district) with several heavy 155mm shells. Drones were also spotted over the town carrying explosive-laden barrels, placing them on rooftops to be detonated later. Additionally, Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Ali Al-Tahir hills in Nabatieh. Two artillery shells struck the outskirts of the town of Kfar Shuba in the Hasbaya district, coinciding with ongoing shelling in the area. Overnight, Israeli forces carried out a massive explosion on the outskirts of the towns of Baraachit and Kounine in the Bint Jbeil district.

Netanyahu threatens 'heavier blows' if Hezbollah attacks
Agence France Presse/September 15/2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday of heavy reprisals on Israel's enemies if they attacked, as he lauded the recent demolition of a Hezbollah tunnel network in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel's destruction of Hezbollah positions at the Beaufort and Ali al-Taher ridges was a "massive victory" and vowed to "continue to destroy terrorist infrastructure". "I say to our enemies: If you haven't learned the lesson by now, and you choose to attack us again, you will suffer even heavier blows. There is still work to complete," Netanyahu added, according to a video published by his office.
On Thursday, Israel blew up what it described as a vast network of tunnels under the Ali al-Taher ridge where Hezbollah kept a command center, living quarters and stocks of weapons with which to strike northern Israel and invading Israeli troops. A huge fireball was seen in the area, with the U.S. Geological Survey recording a tremor equivalent to a 4.1 magnitude earthquake. The blast came a week after Israeli troops said they had seized the strategic highlands as they solidified control of a "security zone" in southern Lebanon.Israel said the tunnel network was built over two decades with the help of Hezbollah's patron Iran, whose clerical government has also backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel and the United States attacked Iran in late February, sparking the Middle East war. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the wider conflict when it fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran. Israel has struck south Lebanon during the war and its forces continue to occupy what it calls a "security zone" there. The Ali al-Taher ridge lies on the edge of Israel's security zone just a few kilometers from the UNESCO-listed Beaufort castle, another strategic site that Israel captured in recent months. Israel and Lebanon signed a U.S.-sponsored framework agreement in late June that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones".

Israel's Lebanon plan under review as Rome talks are postponed
LBCI/September 15/2026
Israel has acknowledged that the next round of direct negotiations with Lebanon in Rome has been postponed, saying the delay reflects the failure of the framework agreement, including provisions related to the establishment of pilot zones. In practical terms, the Israeli army has begun reorganizing its forces along the Yellow Line in the occupied areas of South Lebanon and instructed various units to prepare for the possibility of remaining there for an extended period. Israel has also dropped from consideration proposals to add new towns to the pilot-zone plan. During an assessment of whether continued negotiations with Lebanon remain viable, Israeli security officials reportedly concluded that the plan intended to lead to Hezbollah’s disarmament through the Lebanese army is not achieving its objectives. That assessment has also become part of a broader concern raised by a security official, who alleged that coordination is taking place between the Lebanese army and Hezbollah. On the ground, the Israeli army has intensified its activities in southern Lebanon, carrying out ambushes targeting Hezbollah members, positions and tunnels. The army claimed it had found 32 rockets prepared for launch toward Israel. Meanwhile, soldiers from the 55th Brigade and the 91st Division continued extensive search and clearance operations across the occupied area.

PM Salam: Negotiations are not a concession of Lebanon’s rights, but a means to restore them through diplomacy
LBCI/September 15/2026
Speaking during a general parliamentary debate, Salam said the 2023-2024 war cost around $14 billion, including $7.2 billion in physical damage and $6.8 billion in economic losses. He estimated the latest war’s direct cost at $3 billion to $4 billion, with another $4 billion to $5 billion in economic losses. Salam said the combined cost could exceed $27 billion, while the two wars have left around 9,000 people dead and more than 30,000 injured. More than 250,000 Lebanese remain displaced, and residents of over 75 villages and towns are still unable to return due to Israeli occupation. Lebanon’s economy is expected to contract 6.4% this year, after growing 4.2% last year, amid higher inflation and oil prices, falling remittances and a halt in tourism activity. Salam said the government is shifting from managing displacement to recovery and reconstruction, including clearing rubble, reopening roads and restoring basic services. He stressed that Lebanon needs significant international and Arab financing, saying reconstruction requires confidence in a capable state. He called for completing financial and banking reforms, including Parliament’s examination of the financial gap law, and reiterated the importance of reaching an agreement with the IMF. Salam also highlighted reforms in the electricity sector and projects involving the Arab Gas Pipeline, Beirut and Tripoli ports, Qlayaat airport, the railway and the special economic zone. On security, Salam stressed that lasting stability requires state authority across Lebanon, restricting weapons to the state and placing decisions of war and peace exclusively in state hands. He said Lebanon’s goals remain ending the war, securing a full Israeli withdrawal, releasing prisoners and allowing residents to return home. He added that President Joseph Aoun is leading negotiations with Israel under U.S. auspices, stressing that only the Lebanese state can negotiate on Lebanon’s behalf. Salam said the trilateral framework provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal and Lebanese army deployment, adding that negotiations are a diplomatic means of restoring Lebanon’s rights.

US ambassador visits Lebanon army-held ‘pilot zone’ near Israel
AFP/15 September ,2026
The US ambassador to Lebanon on Tuesday visited a southern village that recently came under the control of the Lebanese army as part of a framework agreement with Israel. The US-backed June agreement states that the Israeli military will withdraw from areas of south Lebanon it occupied in parallel with the deployment of the Lebanese army, starting with “pilot zones,” under the condition that militant group Hezbollah disarms. An AFP correspondent saw a convoy carrying the US envoy, Michel Issa, entering the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, where he visited a church, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA). The news agency said an Israeli drone surveyed the area during the visit, reporting Israeli military vehicle movements in the neighboring town. Israeli troops remain deployed in what it calls a “security zone,” a stretch of Lebanese territory about 10 kilometers (six miles) deep along the border.It recently blew up a strategic Hezbollah location at the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatieh region, creating a blast so powerful that a 4.1 tremor was registered. Fresh talks between Israel and Lebanon over the implementation of the framework agreement were due to be held this month, but were postponed to October. A source from the Lebanese presidency told AFP that during the last round of talks in August, Israel refused to discuss new “pilot zones” without ensuring that the Lebanese army had full control of the first ones.The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington are due to meet this week to discuss the implementation of the agreement. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also visited Zawtar al-Gharbiya on Saturday, where his office said he inspected army units and observed nearby Israeli military positions. Violence declined following the June framework agreement and a wider US-Iran deal, but Israel has pressed its attacks on Lebanon. Hezbollah, which pulled Lebanon into the war in March with strikes on Israel, rejects the negotiations with Israel and refuses to disarm, but has not claimed any recent attacks. Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people since the hostilities began in March, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israeli army says found ready-to-use rockets in Lebanon security zone
Naharnet/September 15/2026
The Israeli army on Tuesday said it found ready-to-use rocket launchpads in the security zone in south Lebanon, noting that they were “left behind prior to the ceasefire taking effect.”“During sweep operations in the area, the forces discovered a staging site containing a tunnel shaft belonging to Hezbollah” and “ready-to-use launch platforms,” the Israeli army said. “These platforms held 32 rockets aimed at Israeli territory -- left in the area before the ceasefire agreement came into effect. The forces destroyed the site and the platforms,” it added. The so-called security zone is the area that Israel occupies in south Lebanon.

Lebanon prosecutor requests charges for ex-president Michel Aoun over port blast: Official
AFP, Beirut/15 September ,2026
A Lebanese prosecutor on Tuesday requested that former president Michel Aoun be indicted over the 2020 Beirut port blast that killed more than 200 people, a judicial official told AFP. The prosecutor at Lebanon’s Court of Cassation asked the judge overseeing the case, Tarek Bitar, to “press charges against (former) president Aoun,” said the official, requesting anonymity.The official added that charges were being sought against Aoun because he “had prior knowledge of the presence of ammonium nitrate at the port and its danger, without taking the necessary measures” or referring it to the country’s Higher Defense Council. The massive explosion on August 4, 2020 killed more than 220 people, injured more than 6,500 and laid waste to swathes of the capital. Lebanese authorities have said the explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials. Nobody has been punished for the blast despite public anger and families of the blast victims demanding justice in a country long plagued by official impunity.In March, a judicial official told AFP that judge Bitar had completed his probe. He referred the case to the public prosecutor who was to study it, and prosecutor Mohammad Saab submitted his review on Tuesday, the official said. The review specified the responsibility of more than 70 defendants, including current and former politicians, security and military officials, and civil servants, some of whom were previously charged by Bitar. The charges remain up to Bitar, who could issue them in the coming weeks. The case had been bogged down by political and legal wrangling since 2023, after Iran-backed Hezbollah led a campaign demanding Bitar’s removal and dozens of lawsuits also sought to remove him from the case.However, Bitar resumed his investigations last year as Lebanon’s balance of power shifted. President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam took office following a 2023-2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which weakened the Lebanese armed group. Since then, several legal impediments to Bitar’s work have also been removed, including the lifting of a travel ban against him.

Bassil calls for 'course correction' as Parliament debates govt. policy
Naharnet/September 15/2026
Parliament convened Tuesday to debate the government's general policy amid Israeli attacks on the country's south. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the session was held to debate the government performance and not to question the cabinet or hold a vote of confidence.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam opened the debate by emphasizing that war and peace decisions must be taken solely by the Lebanese state, asserting that the country will not serve as a "bargaining chip" in foreign negotiations. Salam said that Lebanon was thrust into a war "we did not choose, nor were we consulted on entering." He warned that the destruction far exceeds the state’s current resources, making Arab and international backing indispensable for recovery. "Sustainable reconstruction requires funding, funding requires trust, and trust cannot exist without a capable state, which naturally demands reform," he said. Salam said negotiations with Israel are far from simple, adding that the success of these negotiations can only be judged by their final outcomes. Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar vowed that Hezbollah will not disarm "as long as a single inch of Lebanese land remains occupied." He said he wished Salam had not adopted a policy of "turning a blind eye" to the history of Israeli aggression against Lebanon. Free Patriotic Movement leader and MP Gebran Bassil harshly criticized Salam's cabinet, dubbing it a government of "axes and submission." He said the government has opened the door to discord, failed to establish a state monopoly on weapons, and lacks a plan for reform. "We support negotiations with Israel to stop the war, as Hezbollah's weapons can no longer protect Lebanon," he said. "We fully support a complete state monopoly on arms, but disarmament cannot be implemented by relying on foreign backing — we call for a course correction."

South Lebanon: Latest developments
Naharnet/September 15/2026
Israeli forces carried out overnight into Tuesday detonations in the border villages of Kounine and Kfartebnit, and struck Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, al-Mansouri, Hanine, and al-Qantara. In nearby al-Bayada in the Tyre District, forces set homes ablaze.
The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa was meanwhile visiting a church in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, a village that recently came under the control of the Lebanese army as part of a framework agreement with Israel.

LBCI sources: No military aid announcements expected at Paris conference
LBCI/September 15/2026
LBCI sources indicate that no country is expected to announce military aid for the Lebanese army during the Paris conference. According to LBCI, UNIFIL in its current form has effectively come to an end, with its withdrawal expected to proceed rapidly. The shape and composition of any force that could fill the gap left by UNIFIL have yet to be determined. Decisions by countries on whether to participate in any replacement force will depend on the nature of its mandate and responsibilities, according to the same information. Some countries are not prepared to put their troops’ lives at risk without clarity over the force’s mission. Meanwhile, European concerns are growing over the slow pace of negotiations. European countries are welcoming any Israeli withdrawals, provided the Lebanese army subsequently deploys in those areas and assumes responsibility for preventing Hezbollah from returning to them with weapons.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 15-16/2026
US military says Iran war has led to munitions shortfall
AFP/15 September ,2026
The United States is facing a shortfall in ammunition as a result of its war against Iran, the Defense Department’s inspector general confirmed Monday, contrasting with President Donald Trump’s assertions of full stocks. In a first-of-its-kind mandatory report to Congress, the inspector said that between February 28 and June 30, Operation Epic Fury (OEF) had an estimated cost of $33.4 billion, including $22.3 billion spent on expended munitions. “The munitions expenditure on OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply,” the report said. OEF is the US name for its joint campaign with Israel to “destroy Iran’s ability to project military power,” according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).To deal with shortfalls and delays, the Pentagon is “working to streamline procurement processes and production lead times, and to stockpile critical materials, components, and selected munitions,” the report said. Though it noted that expanding production capacities requires “significant lead time.”The shortfall is likely to cause concern among governments like Ukraine and Taiwan, who rely on weapons purchases from the United States to fight or deter much larger, hostile neighbors. Ukraine urgently needs more interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot air defense systems in its war against Russia, while Taiwan depends on arms agreements with Washington to ward off China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own.
‘Virtually unlimited’
Trump has repeatedly brushed off concerns of depleted weapons stores during the six months of war in the Middle East, saying recently that the US has “virtually unlimited” ammunition. On Monday he posted on his Truth Social platform that the US is producing “more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History.”CNN previously reported shortages of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors had affected Trump’s strategy in the conflict with Iran, with the US military having “nearly exhausted 80 percent” of its stock of THAAD interceptors.
During the first 24 hours of war against Iran, the United States struck more than 1,000 targets, CENTCOM has said, and has not returned to such large scale attacks in recent months.The report identified losses to the American fleet, including four F-15s fighters destroyed, one F-35 fighter damaged, seven KC-135 tanker aircraft damaged and up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones destroyed. It also confirmed that the US Navy’s main logistics hub in the region, located in Bahrain, had been targeted by Iran with drone and ballistic missile strikes. Hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan have been damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes during the conflict. The report does not include those costs in its estimates, saying it is not yet clear if all the bases will be rebuilt, or who will foot the bill.
As of June 30, seven US service members had been killed in action and seven killed in non-hostile events during OEF combat operations, the report said. An additional 417 service members were wounded in action, it added. The US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28. For decades, Western powers have accused the Islamic republic of seeking nuclear weapons, a claim that Tehran categorically denies.

Iran war cost hits $38 billion, forecast to rise $3 bln a month, CBO says
Reuters/16 September ,2026
The six-month-old US war against Iran has cost $38 billion so far and that amount is projected to rise by $3 billion a month, Congress’ nonpartisan bookkeeper reported on Tuesday, as the Trump administration searches for ways to end the conflict and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.The war is expected to increase inflation by 0.5 percent in the first three months of 2027, according to the Congressional Budget Office accounting, which totaled expenses through August 1. The mounting costs have strained US munitions stockpiles and driven up energy prices, raising concerns about the country’s ability to respond to other potential conflicts and adding pressure on an already stretched federal budget.The cost was close to the $37.5 billion that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reported at a Senate hearing on July 21. The budget office said the majority of the costs stem from the rapid drawdown of munitions, estimating that it could take five years to replenish US stockpiles. Reuters reported in August that the US had used “virtually all” of its long-range precision missiles during the war. The Department of Defense did not cooperate with congressional financial auditors, CBO reported. Representatives from the White House and Department of Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The inquiry was conducted at the request of the top Democrat on the US House of Representatives Budget Committee, Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. “Donald Trump’s disastrous war in Iran has already taken the lives of brave American servicemembers and left others wounded,” Boyle said in a statement. “Beyond that human toll, this nonpartisan CBO report makes clear that the war has also cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and counting, while continuing to drive up costs.”Eighteen US military service members have died in the Iran war. The report did not include costs of recent strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on US military installations in the region. It also did not factor in the borrowing expenses associated with financing the war, which could add tens of billions of dollars to the total cost. The CBO accounting found the war could have sprawling consequences for the US defense posture and the domestic economy. The deficit in critical munitions, including missile interceptors, risks hampering the Pentagon’s response in the event of another major conflict, such as potential hostilities involving China and Taiwan, CBO said. At the July hearing in the Senate, Hegseth pleaded for nearly $90 billion emergency funding legislation to restock munitions supplies. “Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls,” Hegseth said. Energy shocks caused by attacks in the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil traveled before the war — and on energy facilities in neighboring Gulf countries have sharply increased prices for consumers and global producers. The rising cost of the war also threatens to weigh on deteriorating US fiscal health. The nation’s total public debt surpassed $40 trillion in August. Trump regularly contrasts the Iran war with the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan that followed the September 11, 2001, attacks. The eight-year US war in Iraq, which involved more than 100,000 ground troops at its peak, cost $2 trillion, Reuters reported. The two-decade-long US conflict in Afghanistan, which also involved more than 100,000 troops at its most intense, cost $2.3 trillion, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project.

Bessent to discuss Iran sanctions with Chinese counterpart this weekend
AFP/15 September ,2026
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that he would meet his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng this weekend for talks including on Iran sanctions, days before both countries’ top leaders are due to convene. Asked about efforts to prevent Tehran’s workarounds of US sanctions amid war with Iran in the Middle East, Bessent told lawmakers that Washington’s warnings have been heard. “We have sanctioned three banks. With China, we have had some very good private discussions, and I look forward to those continuing this weekend when I meet my Chinese counterpart Vice (Premier) He Lifeng,” Bessent told the House Financial Services Committee.“I’m sure it will continue during President Xi’s state visit,” he added. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington on September 24 and meet with US President Donald Trump. Observers have expected that Bessent and He would meet in mid-September to set the stage for Trump and Xi’s gathering.A source familiar with discussions earlier told AFP that talks on artificial intelligence were also likely to take place, although Bessent did not elaborate Tuesday on the agenda for his weekend meeting. The US Treasury Department did not immediately respond to queries on the matter. Bessent earlier vowed “economic D-Day” on Iran, pledging to choke off Tehran economically. China is a top economic partner of Iran that buys much of its oil output and is also a key diplomatic backer.

US military confirms Iranian attempt to capture American surface drone
CENTCOM says it foiled the attempt after “forcefully” responding
Al Arabiya English/15 September ,2026
The US military “forcefully responded” and foiled an Iranian attempt to capture an American surface drone, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) told Al Arabiya English on Tuesday. “I can confirm that Iranian small boats recently attempted to take possession of a US unmanned surface vessel, but they were unsuccessful after CENTCOM forcefully responded,” Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement. “The surface drone remains under US operational control,” he added. On Monday, Iranian state media claimed that US forces attacked a pair of fishing boats. This comes after Iran captured an American underwater drone, which Anduril and the Pentagon confirmed. The Anduril founder said the Dive-LD captured by Iran had been in Middle East waters for months, was designed to operate where capture is expected, and provided “significant value” Hawkins previously said the drone was “defective” and an older model that “neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.” Read more: Iran likely to reverse-engineer captured US underwater drone.

Egypt backs Saudi security as leaders call for free navigation through key straits
Al Arabiya English/Published: 15 September ,2026
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reaffirmed Cairo’s support for Saudi Arabia’s security on Tuesday as he held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Cairo, with the two leaders calling for freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb. Al-Sisi said the security of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states was an integral part of Egypt’s national security and expressed Cairo’s “complete rejection and condemnation” of any attacks or threats against the Kingdom’s sovereignty, stability or territorial integrity, according to Egyptian presidency spokesperson Mohamed al-Shennawy.
The president also expressed support for measures taken by Saudi Arabia to protect its security and stability and for efforts to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution to the crisis in Yemen. The two leaders agreed that current regional circumstances required greater solidarity and coordination between Cairo and Riyadh, stressing that the two countries shared common interests and objectives. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the Crown Prince and al-Sisi discussed issues related to the security and stability of the region, as well as the security and freedom of navigation and the coordination of efforts in that regard. The talks also focused on maritime security, with al-Sisi and the Crown Prince stressing the importance of ensuring the freedom and safety of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea. Disruptions to shipping through Bab al-Mandeb are particularly significant for Egypt because the waterway serves as the southern gateway to the Suez Canal, a major source of revenue for the country. Suez Canal revenues in the 2025-2026 financial year stood at about $4.67 billion, roughly half their level before the Iran-backed Houthi militia began attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea in 2023. On the Palestinian issue, Egypt and Saudi Arabia reaffirmed their shared position in favor of a just and comprehensive settlement based on the two-state solution and international resolutions. They also called for the implementation of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, while stressing the need for sufficient humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and for an end to Israeli violations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Sudan was also discussed, with the two sides reaffirming their support for the country’s security, stability and territorial integrity. They rejected equating the Sudanese Armed Forces with militias or other “illegitimate parallel entities,” according to the presidency, and warned that threats to Sudan’s unity and territorial integrity posed a danger to the collective security of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the wider region. On bilateral ties, al-Sisi and the Crown Prince agreed to intensify efforts to expand trade and investment and remove obstacles to greater economic cooperation. The two sides said relations should reflect the countries’ longstanding ties and strategic importance to one another. The Saudi Crown Prince welcomed the continued development of Saudi-Egyptian relations and the two countries’ commitment to coordination and cooperation, while the leaders agreed to maintain direct consultations on bilateral and regional issues.

Saudi crown prince lands in Egypt to meet Sisi
Agence France Presse/September 15/2026
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Cairo on Tuesday ahead of meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egyptian state-linked media said, as the kingdom reels from strikes by Yemen's Houthis. The Saudi de facto ruler "arrived in Egypt on an official visit", reported Al-Qahera News, which is close to Egyptian intelligence services. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said Sisi received the crown prince for his "work visit".

Saudi Arabia vows to respond 'firmly' to Houthi attacks
Agence France Presse/September 15/2026
Saudi Arabia vowed on Tuesday to respond "firmly" to attacks by Yemen's Houthis, after the Iran-backed fighters wounded 13 people in the kingdom in an assault using ballistic missiles and drones. The Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed government forces since Yemen's civil war reignited in July, when the group declared a maritime blockade on Riyadh and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.They seized control of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait last week, which has become vital as the wider U.S.-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia issued attack alerts Tuesday for Mecca -- the holy city's first of the Middle East war -- and Jeddah and Taif governorates, before quickly cancelling them.
The Saudi civil defence had earlier issued short-lived air-raid alerts in six regions.
The Houthis have also targeted the oil infrastructure of Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, pushing global oil prices above the $100 threshold. A Houthi strike in western Yemen on Monday killed eight government soldiers, according to two military sources.The group also claimed a new large-scale attack using "dozens of ballistic missiles and drones" against King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait, in southern Saudi Arabia. A Khamis Mushait resident told AFP he heard "intense blasts" which left fires burning for a "long time".
"Honestly, we couldn't sleep at all." The Riyadh-led coalition confirmed Tuesday there had been missile and drone attacks the previous day on Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif, reporting 13 civilians wounded and damage to seven houses and two vehicles. Saudi Arabia responded with more than 50 strikes, as it had the day before, according to the Houthis. As attacks continue, the United Nations Security Council was due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the Houthis' offensive, diplomatic sources said.
'Hostile and extremist' -
The coalition said it would deal with the attacks "firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom" and would take "all necessary operational measures to deter this... hostile and extremist approach". While Saudi Arabia has conducted dozens of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas, it has failed so far to deter the fighters' lightning offensive. Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to hold talks with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Tuesday. U.S. media reported last week that President Donald Trump had rejected a personal request from the Saudi crown prince to intervene in the war. On Saturday, Trump said the Houthis had called Washington and asked the US not to get involved. Hazem al-Assad from the Houthis' politburo said the "Yemeni response will continue and escalate as long as they (Saudi Arabia) persist in their aggression against our people".The renewed fighting in Yemen comes as the wider regional war remains at a stalemate. But Trump on Monday said he was open to holding talks with Iran. "The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage -- The concept of which we are open to," Trump said on his Truth Social network. Iran's top security chief Mohsen Rezaei responded by saying on X that "there will be no negotiations until Iran's conditions are met. That is all there is to it."Tehran has repeatedly listed demands including war reparations and the lifting of sanctions as preconditions for ending the war and its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
'Catastrophic for the world' -
A proposed meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the future of Hormuz was postponed on Monday, with Tehran accusing Riyadh of using Yemen as a pretext to delay the talks. On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab al-Mandab was closed.
Foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al Hashmi said shutting the strait would be "catastrophic for the entire world". Tehran has long supported the Houthis, a member of its anti-Israel "axis of resistance", including with weapons and technology, but has denied any role in the current war. The Houthis seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 at the outset of the civil war, driving the government to Aden in the south.The following year, Saudi Arabia led a coalition to intervene on the side of the government, launching wave after wave of airstrikes as the conflict escalated into one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
The U.N.'s migration agency said Monday that the renewed fighting in the Arab world's poorest country had forced 93,864 people to flee their homes.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill five people, medics say
Reuters/15 September ,2026
Israeli airstrikes killed at least five Palestinians, including two children and a Hamas armed commander, in northern and southern Gaza on Tuesday, health officials and Hamas sources said.Israeli airstrikes on a vehicle killed at least two Palestinians, one a child, and wounded seven others in what appeared to be a double tap strike in the northern Gaza Strip neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan, according to medics. The Israeli military said it had struck a militant in the area, without elaborating. Witnesses said some of the casualties resulted from a second strike near a group of people who had rushed to aid the initial victims. A video, which Reuters did not immediately verify, showed a missile exploding near at least five men. In a separate incident, British health charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said on Tuesday that a patient was killed at a health center it supports in northern Gaza’s Jabalia. The organization said the patient was shot by an Israeli military quadcopter drone. There was no immediate Israeli comment. A separate Israeli airstrike at a tent encampment in the Mawasi area in Khan Younis killed two people, a man and an 8-year-old girl, and wounded 14 people, according to medical staff. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas commander in the Rafah Brigade on Tuesday, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. Hamas sources said a senior commander of the group, Nael Abu Obeid, was killed in the strike. Palestinians earlier held funerals in Gaza for two people who were killed by Israeli strikes a day ago, Ahmed Al-Batsh and Rafat Zummar. Batsh was a local Hamas commander, according to Hamas sources and the Israeli military. Medics said Batsh died in an attack on his vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said in separate statements that it had killed both men, and it described Zummar also as a Hamas commander. Hamas didn’t immediately comment on Zummar’s affiliation. Relatives and friends honored Batsh’s body draped in a white shroud and a Hamas green flag at Gaza City’s Al Shifa Hospital. An M16 assault rifle was placed on top of the body. “Israel thinks... it will eliminate the resistance and the spirit of jihad (devotion) within us,” said Khalil Al-Batsh, a relative of the dead Hamas militant. “I tell them that this cowardly operation only strengthens our people’s determination to continue on this path,” he told Reuters at the funeral. An October 2025, US-backed, ceasefire halted large-scale fighting in Gaza, but it has not ended Israeli strikes and there has been little progress on steps towards permanent peace. Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement US President Donald Trump’s broader plan to end the Gaza conflict, which includes the Israeli withdrawal from the strip and the disarmament of Hamas. Israel says Hamas has been violating the deal. More than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory’s health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed. Hamas does not usually disclose information about fatalities among its fighters.

Zelensky says Ukraine will pause strikes on Russia if Kremlin spares critical infrastructure
Associated Press/September 15/2026
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Ukraine is ready to halt its strikes on Russian territory if allies can secure a genuine Russian commitment not to hit Ukraine's critical infrastructure. His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that Russia and Ukraine had agreed "not to hit" each other's energy infrastructure, though Trump did not offer further details on the purported agreement. Russia did not immediately comment on Trump's claim. Previous efforts to broker even a partial ceasefire have repeatedly fallen apart within hours, with both sides accusing each other of violations. Trump did not offer further details about the agreement but it comes a day after the U.S. president called on Zelensky to stop targeting Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, claiming the attacks are causing a global shortage. Diesel prices have surged in the U.S., and high fuel costs associated with the Iran war have become a major issue for Trump's party in upcoming congressional elections.
Ukraine still awaits concrete ceasefire plan from allies
He also claimed that the rise in the price of global diesel fuel "is mostly caused by the Russian/Ukraine war" and not Iran. But restricted shipments caused by the slowdown of oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz and damaged refining systems in Russia are causing strains in the energy market.
In his post, Zelensky said Ukraine has proposed that partners help secure an agreement with Russia for a ceasefire. It's not the first time Kyiv has floated the idea. "Every day, Ukrainian energy facilities, port infrastructure, logistics, even food and pharmaceutical warehouses become targets," he said. "The war must be ended. And a de-escalation step regarding critical infrastructure could be a first step toward peace." Zelensky said he "expects concrete proposals from our partners."
Trump on Sunday called on Zelensky to stop the strikes. Afterward, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any call on Kyiv to stop strikes on civilian economic infrastructure "can only be welcomed."NATO chief Rutte vows more support for Ukraine after Russian drone strikes near Polish border
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border — one of which hit a train shortly after senior visiting officials had passed through the same station — would drive the military alliance to increase its support for Kyiv, calling Sunday's attacks a sign of Moscow's growing desperation.
The strikes "close to NATO territory" show Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror," Rutte said at NATO's political headquarters in Brussels. "Russia is growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine."Rutte pledged to increase support for Ukraine and bolster the 32-nation alliance's own defenses along its long eastern border with Russia. "He thinks that he can stop us from supporting Ukraine and that he can undermine our unity. He is wrong," the NATO chief said of Putin.
Sunday's strikes near the Polish border are the latest in a string of incidents that officials say point to a deliberate pattern of escalation by Putin, as Moscow tests NATO's response while pressing its offensive in Ukraine.
Poland and Ukraine increase security cooperation along border
Rutte's comments came as Poland pledged increased security along its border with Ukraine after a wave of Russian drone strikes near the frontier, including two that landed within kilometers of Polish territory. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Sunday that Moscow appears poised to intensify its campaign against Ukraine's borders with European countries. Ukraine is under mounting pressure from Russia's intensifying air campaign that uses ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce defenses. "These coming weeks and months will be a time of very intensified actions on the Russian side, and unfortunately we cannot rule out that this escalation will also affect our territory," Tusk said Sunday after a governmental security briefing in Warsaw. He issued a similar warning on Thursday. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Monday in a post on X that the Polish army recovered what was believed to be a Russian military drone from the Baltic Sea near the coastal village of Jaroslawiec. Polish officials said intelligence reports, including a CIA briefing last week, suggested Russia was likely to attack border points and intensify sabotage actions inside European countries as part of its efforts to discourage partners from supporting Ukraine.
Kremlin says Russia will continue strikes throughout Ukraine
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked Monday about the strike on the train near the Polish border, said Russian forces were operating "across the entire territory of Ukraine and continue to do so — and will continue to do so."Peskov noted the potential role of Global South nations in a settlement, saying "any country can use its influence on the Kyiv regime to encourage it to show greater flexibility."Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi each expressed willingness to help broker a settlement during recent meetings with Putin, who briefed them on the situation in Ukraine, Peskov said.
Peskov also addressed U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian diesel fuel facilities, saying "any call on the Kyiv regime to stop strikes on civilian economic infrastructure can only be welcomed."Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. He spoke after diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record on Friday, soaring past an average of $6 per gallon.

Ukraine launches offensive against Russia near key town: Army
AFP/15 September ,2026:
A Ukrainian army unit has launched a counter-offensive against Russian forces near Lyman, an embattled town in Ukraine’s east that Moscow has been edging towards for months, the unit’s commander said Tuesday. Russia has seized around three-quarters of the Donetsk region since invading in February 2022, with Lyman one of the few urban areas in the region still under Ukraine’s control. Its capture could pave the way for Moscow to sweep further south and threaten the Ukrainian-held strongholds of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to military analysts.The area has been the site of intense battles throughout the four-and-a-half-year war.“The 3rd Army Corps has launched an offensive operation called Vivaldi in this sector,” the Commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps, Andriy Biletsky, said in a video on Telegram. Ukrainian units have cleared Russian infiltrators from an area “about 75 square kilometers,” he added. DeepState, a battlefield map linked to the Ukrainian army, showed Ukrainian troops had made a small pocket of gains north of the town.There was no immediate public comment from Russia to Ukraine’s claims. Widespread drone use at the front has made large-scale troop movements almost impossible, preventing either side from gaining a clear advantage in the grinding conflict.Russia’s advance in east Ukraine gained pace in August, but remained far slower than in previous years of its invasion, an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed earlier in September.

Iraq eyes Europe as it seeks to diversify oil exports: PM
AFP/15 September ,2026
Before the war began in February, Iraq produced around four million barrels per day, and exported an average of 3.4 million bpd, mostly via Hormuz. Iraq.Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Tuesday that he discussed selling oil to Europe during visits to France and Germany, as Baghdad seeks to diversify its export routes and reduce its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. During a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Zaidi said “we want to expand and diversify our export routes.”He added that “Iraq cannot remain hostage to a single corridor” as recent events have demonstrated, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iran during the Middle East war. Zaidi said that he had discussed oil exports to Europe with Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he met in Paris on Monday. Crude oil sales account for nearly 90 percent of Iraq’s revenue but its exports have been hurt by the outbreak of the Middle East war between Iran and the United States. Before the war began in February, Iraq produced around four million barrels per day, and exported an average of 3.4 million bpd, mostly via Hormuz. Most of its oil exports go to East Asia, with China and India its largest buyers.Due to the disruption, Iraq began exporting crude using tanker trucks through Syria, as well as through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, although these routes can handle only a fraction of its usual sea-bound trade. Zaidi said that Baghdad could “double its oil exports through the Mediterranean” to supply markets in Europe and the United States. Zaidi, who hopes to increase Iraq’s oil production to 10 million barrels per day, said that “a large share, or nearly half, can go to European countries and the West.”He said that Iraq and Germany were expected to reach “an understanding on the export of crude oil” while Baghdad would purchase German technology and equipment. Merz said that the main focus for Iraqi-German cooperation is the economy. “Many German companies are now active in Iraq. They are developing new solutions, for example for energy supply,” he said, adding that “the best example is an agreement on Iraq’s electricity supply, which we will sign today.”Merz also expressed his concerns after Yemen’s Houthis cemented their control over the Bab al-Mandab waterway at the entrance to the Red Sea, a vital route for Saudi oil exports.“This further exacerbates the situation on the energy markets, and also affects Germany,” he said.

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 15-16/2026
Iraq first so that the nation does not turn into an arena of conflict
Mustafa Al-Kadhimi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 15, 2026
At a highly sensitive juncture, and amid increasing talk regarding the possibility of a third round of regional escalation, Iraqis are confronted with a fateful question: Is there someone seeking to make Iraq a part of this conflict - not merely a venue from which messages are dispatched or through which pressure is managed, but rather one of its open arenas?
There can be no avoiding the question, as the answer is linked to Iraqi blood, state sovereignty, the future of the economy, and Iraq's standing among its brethren, neighbors, and the world. The matter is no longer a limited security issue; rather, it is a question of statehood, destiny, and direction, as well as a question of Iraq's ability to protect itself from being dragged into what it does not want.
Repeated attempts to use Iraqi territory to target fraternal and neighboring Arab countries - the latest of which was the announced targeting of Saudi Arabia, preceded by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan - reveal that we are facing a systematic trajectory rather than an isolated incident. If not decisively resolved, this trajectory could transform into a de facto policy.
Should the state succumb to the blackmail of forces acting outside its authority, it loses not only its security decision-making power but the very meaning of statehood itself. Iraq must not remain a conduit for messages, a proxy mailbox for others, a negotiating card in their conflicts, or an arena pushed forward during every regional escalation.
The problem is no longer about issuing a statement after each incident or settling for a reassuring narrative that does not prevent the recurrence of danger. The deeper problem is the existence of a repeating pattern that consumes Iraq's political and moral capital, leaving the government to face the consequences of actions that do not reflect its own decisions. The longer a decisive resolution is delayed, the more a dangerous perception takes root abroad that the Iraqi state alone does not control its security decisions. This is an unfair image of Iraq and harmful to its interests, but it cannot be corrected by words alone.
Sovereignty is not safeguarded through slogans; rather, it is maintained by the state's capacity to serve as the sole authority for force and decision-making. Consequently, restricting weapons to state control is neither a stance against any faction nor a detraction from anyone's sacrifices. Instead, it is a prerequisite for the survival of the state and the protection of everyone. A state that does not hold exclusive authority over the decisions of war and peace can neither demand that others respect its borders, reassure its citizens, nor build stable relations with its neighborhood. It is in the interest of all forces, above all others, for the state to be strong, because a weak state protects no one; instead, it leaves everyone exposed.
Today, under highly sensitive circumstances, the Iraqi government is working to reconnect Iraq with its Arab, regional, and international surroundings, and to sincerely leverage available support and openness to serve the interests of Iraqis. These efforts deserve support - not because they are the efforts of a specific government, but because they represent the trajectory of a state. However, there are those, both internally and externally, who do not want Iraq to move past the logic of conflict and axes, and who seek to undermine any attempt to solidify its position as a balanced, secure partner state that is capable of speaking for itself, rather than for others.
The truth is that the Arabs, despite all the complexities that have affected the relationship, have not turned their backs on Iraq; rather, they have continued to view it as a pivotal country indispensable to regional stability. Throughout the difficult years, there remained an Arab readiness to embrace Iraq and restore it to its natural position, out of belief in its role, presence, and civilized and political depth. The problem has never been an Arab desire to break ties with Iraq; rather, it lay in Iraq's ability to present itself as a state with a single decision-making authority - not a country where decisions are contested between the government and factions, the constitution and weapons, and national interest and wills that do not emanate from Iraqi state institutions. It is unfortunate that opportunities for openness and trust are squandered due to practices that reflect neither the will of Iraqis nor the interest of their state.
The risk of slipping today is greater than some believe. Every uncalculated action could drag Iraq into a confrontation it does not want, and every use of its territory outside state decisions could push it an additional step toward isolation. Isolation is neither heroism, an interest, nor a viable option in a world where countries thrive on economy, partnerships, investment, and trust. Every armed message launched outside the state is met with a message of concern from the investor, the partner, and the fraternal state, and every new disruption reflects on the market, labor, energy, banks, and Iraq's image in the world. Iraq needs projects, energy, job opportunities, education, infrastructure, and openness - not more anxiety, armed messages, and alignments that deplete it.
We must be candid with our people: statements are no longer enough. Neither the domestic public is convinced by statements, nor is the outside world reassured by them. What preserves Iraq's standing is action: a professional investigation, fair accountability, real control, and a clear decision that no entity, regardless of its title, can place the country in war, isolation, or economic loss. Backing the government along this path is a national duty, because it is a support for the state, its right to protect sovereignty, preserve relations, and build the future.
Iraq is subordinate to no one, an enemy to no one, and an arena for no one. It is a great homeland, and the decision of war and peace within it belongs to the Iraqis and their state alone. This is the hour of the state, the hour of reason, and the hour to say clearly: Iraq first.
**Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is a former prime minister of Iraq.

Djibouti: A haven for its neighbors in times of adversity
Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama/Arab News/September 15, 2026
The latest influx of Yemenis into Djibouti, amid the rapidly unfolding events along Yemen’s western coast, is neither the first of its kind nor merely a passing humanitarian emergency brought about by the current conflict. Rather, it is part of a long history of movement, migration and human interaction between the two shores of the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
Djibouti may be small in geographical size and limited in economic resources, but it has always shown great generosity in embracing the people of neighboring countries and considerable wisdom in responding to regional crises and global upheavals. Despite the immense security, economic and social burdens imposed by successive waves of displacement, Djibouti has never abandoned its humanitarian responsibilities, nor has it closed its doors to those seeking safety and refuge.
When discussing the displacement of our Yemeni brothers and kin to Djibouti during times of conflict, modern history records several successive waves. Among the most notable was the influx of 2015, following the outbreak of the Yemeni crisis and the escalation of armed conflict. Before that came the 1994 war, commonly known as the War of Secession, as well as the events of Jan. 13, 1986, in southern Yemen.
The peoples of the region have long provided one another with shelter and support in times of adversity. Movement between the two shores, however, has never been driven by war alone. Throughout history, the region has witnessed continuous Yemeni migration from across the country. People would cross the sea in simple wooden boats, covering the short distance between the two shores within a matter of hours and arriving in Djibouti, Africa’s gateway opposite the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
Nor has migration flowed in only one direction. Movement between the shores of the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab has always been reciprocal. When Somalia’s state institutions collapsed in the early 1990s, forcing hundreds of thousands of Somalis to flee their homes, they sought refuge in neighboring countries, while many also crossed the sea to Yemen, where they found safety and a welcoming humanitarian haven on the opposite shore.
The peoples of the region have thus long provided one another with shelter and support in times of adversity, receiving their neighbors whenever all other paths were closed and crises became unbearable. As movement between the two shores continued, customs and cultures blended, social ties became deeply intertwined and bonds of kinship and marriage developed. Intermarriage and human integration consequently became an enduring and natural reality, renewed by the continuity of life across this region.
The sea ceased to be a barrier separating peoples and instead became a bridge for communication, mutual understanding and the exchange of benefits, shaping a shared human memory between its two shores.
On every occasion, Djibouti has shared whatever it possesses, despite its limited resources and capabilities. Any discussion of migration in this region must also recall one of the greatest chapters in Islamic history: the first and second migrations of the companions of Prophet Muhammad to the land of Abyssinia. Fleeing religious persecution, they were received, sheltered and honored by the Negus, who refused to surrender them to those who intended them harm.
Those migrations established timeless humanitarian principles: protecting those who seek refuge, supporting the oppressed and honoring the newcomer. These values have remained alive among the peoples of the Red Sea’s two shores, passed down from one generation to the next and renewed whenever adversity befalls one of the region’s communities.Returning to Djibouti’s humanitarian role, a former Djiboutian minister of the interior once told me that, during the influx of our Yemeni brothers and sisters in 2015, the number of arrivals exceeded 30,000. As external assistance was slow to arrive, the country’s limited resources came under mounting and severe pressure. Faced with these difficult circumstances, the minister considered temporarily suspending the reception of those arriving by sea. President Ismail Omar Guelleh responded with profound compassion: “Your brother is standing at your doorstep in need of your help. Do not close your door to him; God will grant us the means to assist them.”
Those words were not merely an administrative directive for dealing with a temporary emergency. They were a sincere expression of a nation’s conscience and the embodiment of the values in which Djibouti — its leadership and its people — firmly believes: that a neighbor must never be abandoned in times of hardship and that humanitarian duty rises above limited means and the calculations of circumstance.
The entire Djiboutian people then mobilized to provide assistance, relief and shelter to their Yemeni brothers and sisters. At the forefront of these efforts was First Lady Kadra Mahamoud Haid, providing a powerful demonstration of the deep historical and fraternal bonds between the two peoples. History also records the positive role played during that period by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its aid agency KSrelief. Among the agency’s earliest initiatives was the establishment of a shelter for displaced persons in the Djiboutian city of Obock, the country’s gateway overlooking the Bab Al-Mandab Strait. This initiative helped strengthen Djibouti’s capacity to receive displaced people and provide them with care and protection.
Displacement to Djibouti has not been limited to Yemenis. Whenever conflict or humanitarian disaster has struck the region, the country has received displaced people and refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and other neighboring states.
On every occasion, Djibouti has shared whatever it possesses, despite its limited resources and capabilities. It understands that neighborliness is not merely a matter of borders drawn on maps but an ethical and humanitarian responsibility — a shared destiny imposed by geography and affirmed by history.
Nations are not measured solely by the size of their territory, the extent of their wealth or the number of their inhabitants. They are also measured by the positions they take in times of hardship and by their willingness to stand up for human dignity when all other avenues have been exhausted. From this perspective, Djibouti has repeatedly demonstrated that it is a nation great in its actions, enriched by the values of its people and steadfast in its commitment to its regional environment.
By virtue of the highly strategic location with which God has endowed it, Djibouti’s destiny has been to serve as a gateway between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and to stand at the heart of one of the world’s most vital maritime corridors. Yet Djibouti has chosen to make this location — beyond its political and economic importance — a bridge of fraternity and solidarity, an oasis of security and stability, and a haven for those whose own homelands can no longer offer them safety.
God willing, Djibouti will remain small in geography but great in its positions: welcoming those who seek refuge, assisting those afflicted by adversity and safeguarding every person’s right to security and dignity. In doing so, it will continue to stand, in every sense, as the conscience of the Horn of Africa and the southern Red Sea basin.
*Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama is Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Why Iraq’s militias will keep their weapons
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/September 15, 2026
On Sept. 30, the US is due to complete its final withdrawal from Iraq, more than two decades after its ill-fated invasion. With this will come a moment Baghdad has branded “sovereignty day.” It is the date on which the Iraqi state is supposed to hold a monopoly on all weapons within its borders. But if recent history is any indication, that landmark achievement will not happen. Not because the process is complicated but because Iran has decided it will not happen. One of the most ironic outcomes of the US takeover of Iraq is that Iran has more say over Iraq’s armed factions than the government in Baghdad does.
Tehran has made its position clear. Senior Iranian officials, including the Quds Force commander and the parliament speaker, have reportedly told their Iraqi counterparts that disarming the “resistance” factions is a red line. For Tehran, it would revive a dangerous precedent: when its allied militias in Lebanon and Syria were attacked, cornered and, in some cases, dismantled. Hard-line Iranian leaders are not willing to let the same thing happen to what has become an indispensable asset in Iraq.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces and the factions aligned with them have become an essential part of Iran’s ad hoc strategy as it confronts the US-Israeli attempt to topple or subjugate the regime. The Iraqi proxies offer Iran a military option inside a strategic Arab country where Tehran has created incredible political influence.Instead of disarmament — a US condition — Iran is pushing a different concept: regulation. In its view, regulation means merging militia weapons into the PMF’s infrastructure, which is loosely tied to the regular army. But in practice this means leaving the weapons, and the militias, essentially untouched and outside state control. Iran’s goal is to make disarmament seem possible while avoiding any commitment to a set timeline. Under Iran’s concept, the militias will store their weapons while retaining access. In the end, Baghdad can claim it launched a disarmament process without anything actually changing on the ground. Meanwhile, the pro-Iran militias have issued their own demands as a precondition for disarmament. They include a complete American and Turkish military withdrawal from Iraq, an end to any use of Iraqi airspace for cross-border strikes and significant upgrades to the Iraqi military’s air defense capabilities.Each condition presents a challenge for a country that remains deeply polarized, with a weak central government and a dysfunctional federal system. Most of the conditions are beyond Baghdad’s ability to secure or would take years of no foreign meddling and a strong government to achieve. While most conditions sound reasonable, Iran’s goal is to make disarmament seem possible while avoiding any commitment to a set timeline.
Hard-line groups — such as Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah Al-Nujaba and Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada — reject negotiations over disarmament as a matter of principle and have challenged the Iraqi government to try to enforce it. They remain strongly bound to Tehran through ideology, funding and their command structure. Their open allegiance to Tehran and defiance of the central government poses the most immediate threat to Iraq’s stability. The more politically integrated Shiite parties, those with parliamentary seats and stakes in the current government, have taken a softer public line by voicing support for “state control of weapons,” while stopping short of committing to any actual handover of arms.
Ironically, Iran has ignored Iraq’s legitimate complaints for years. The current crisis in the Gulf has cost Iraq tens of billions of dollars in lost oil exports. Pro-Iran militias have used Iraqi territory to launch drone attacks against Saudi oil facilities. It is inconceivable that Iran was unaware of such attacks. If anything, these gross attacks underline Iran’s despicable violations of Iraq’s sovereignty.
Disarmament is unlikely while Iran’s confrontation with the US remains unresolved and American economic pressure on Tehran continues to intensify. Reports describe senior Iranian officials privately urging Baghdad to delay or cancel the Sept. 30 process altogether.
Every Iraqi government since 2003 has ultimately accommodated Iranian influence rather than confronted it
Iran’s meddling in Iraqi affairs has meant that the militias have become more than a domestic problem for Iraq. They are being used as leverage in a larger regional confrontation, just as with the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But with the US withdrawal from Iraq taking place, Iran’s excuse of supporting and funding its proxies in Iraq becomes impossible to defend. This leaves the Iraqi government in an impossible position with no realistic options. Iraqi officials, including the country’s national security adviser, have suggested a plan in which the US leaves as scheduled on the premise that a “comprehensive mechanism” for handling weapons will be negotiated later. That means the Sept. 30 deadline will pass with the disarmament question unresolved.
All this is unfolding against the backdrop of endemic corruption, which has drained Iraqi coffers for more than two decades and underscores the state’s inability to confront nonstate actors. Since 2003, one anticorruption commission after another has come and gone, resulting in the arrest of a handful of mid-level officials while the country’s oil wealth continues to disappear into the pockets of a corrupt political class.
Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi, who took office in May, has promised to break that class and take on official corruption. He has ordered dawn raids on Baghdad’s Green Zone, created a new Supreme Sovereign Council for Integrity, Oversight and Recovery of Public Funds, and overseen arrests that have recovered more than a billion dollars and implicated senior officials. He has described his anticorruption campaign as the “first phase” in a longer fight. Iraqis have heard promises like this before. The success, or failure, of his campaign could determine Iraq’s future more than the Sept. 30 withdrawal deadline. Simply put, a state that cannot safeguard its treasury and protect its resources has little chance of controlling armed factions that answer to a foreign patron.
Linked to the corruption and the militia challenges is a deeper structural problem that no Iraqi government has been able to confront. The ethno-sectarian power-sharing system, installed by the US after 2003, was imposed to prevent any one group from dominating the others. But it has deepened divisions and stoked sectarian violence, while giving Iran a foothold that has become impossible to dislodge.
Today, Tehran’s influence runs through most Shiite parties, senior security portfolios and a handful of militia networks. Disengaging from Iran would require dismantling the same system that keeps the ruling class in power. That alone could trigger civil wars and spread chaos for years. The dysfunctional system has become a sort of Gordian knot for Iraq. It is to be noted that every Iraqi government since 2003 has ultimately accommodated Iranian influence rather than confronted it.
What we can expect, then, is a deadline the US is most likely to honor, for its own strategic reasons, but that misses the goal of disarming the militias. Washington will note Baghdad’s stated commitment to a “comprehensive mechanism” for disarmament but the government will struggle to implement it.
In the end, the factions will keep their illegal weapons and boast about their allegiance to Iran, while rejecting the government’s authority. And when another regional crisis erupts involving Iran, the same armed groups will still be standing exactly where they are now: outside the state’s control, inside Iraq’s borders and answering mainly to Tehran.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and a political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010

Is Europe finally getting tough on Israel?
Dr. Ramzy Baroud/Arab News/September 15, 2026
This time, Europe seems serious about holding Israel accountable — or at least that is what 11 European countries, together with Canada, want us to believe.
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK last week announced their intention to introduce national restrictions, support European restrictions or actively consider measures against trade in goods with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Undeniably, the announcement represents a significant political and legal precedent. Dismissing it outright would be impulsive, particularly considering the participation of governments such as those of Canada and the UK, which have historically provided Israel with extensive political and diplomatic support.
Yet celebrating the announcement as an earth-shattering event without examining its context, timing and potential effectiveness would be equally rash. Worse, it could contribute to weakening the public pressure that finally compelled Western governments to take even these limited steps. The political meaning of the initiative notwithstanding, several important qualifications must be considered. Most of the 12 governments have announced intentions, rather than binding and immediately enforceable restrictions. First, most of the 12 governments have announced intentions, rather than binding and immediately enforceable restrictions. The decision is therefore still vulnerable to political negotiations, legislative delays, pressure from pro-Israel groups and changing electoral calculations. Without firm deadlines and enforceable mechanisms, today’s declared intentions could become irrelevant by the time they are implemented.
Second, France and Canada have yet to publish detailed implementation schedules. The UK, on the other hand, has announced a comparatively extensive package, covering settlement goods and services related to finance, construction, infrastructure, real estate and advertising. However, its restrictions could take six to nine months to enter into force.Even if these measures eventually exert meaningful pressure, Israel has been granted additional time to advance its annexation plans and create further irreversible facts on the ground. Third, the joint commitment focuses largely on goods, while Israel’s settlement enterprise depends on a far broader network of financing, investment, construction, technology and services. These connections often operate through complicated corporate structures that conceal whether a company or transaction is directly linked to a settlement.
Fourth, the initiative is primarily concerned with settlements, particularly the E1 project. E1 is the strategically located area between East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement bloc. Israeli construction there would further divide the West Bank, sever Palestinian territorial continuity and isolate East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian communities.Western governments did not arrive at these measures independently. They were pushed by civil society. Europe fears that completing E1 would destroy the remaining geographical basis for a future Palestinian state. That concern is defensible insofar as the two-state solution remains Europe’s declared foreign policy strategy.Yet the joint declaration does not refer to the genocide in Gaza. Nor does it confront the wider system of Israeli military occupation that enables settlement expansion, forced displacement and land confiscation. It addresses one particularly alarming manifestation of the occupation while leaving the larger structure largely untouched. Fifth, there is still no coordinated suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and no collective European arms embargo against Israel. This omission is especially consequential when measured against the broader economic relationship. European Commission figures show that total EU-Israel trade in goods increased in both 2024 and 2025, the first two full calendar years following the beginning of the genocide.
Therefore, any losses suffered by the settlements — which represent only a small part of Israel’s overall trade — could therefore be absorbed through Israel’s much larger economic relationship with Europe.
The military contradiction is even more glaring. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany provided 31 percent of Israel’s major arms imports between 2021 and 2025, making it Israel’s second-largest supplier after the US. Israel continued receiving weapons throughout this period despite the genocide in Gaza and the escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
European states are also major purchasers of Israeli military technology. Europe received 41 percent of Israeli arms exports during the same period, helping to sustain an industry deeply integrated into Israel’s military establishment.
Europe is therefore attempting to restrict the settlements while continuing to maintain economic and military relationships with the state that finances, protects and expands them.
A counterargument with some legitimacy is that the announced measures constitute a first step and that greater accountability may follow. But this argument carries weight only if we understand why these governments acted in the first place.
If the restrictions are primarily intended to weaken Benjamin Netanyahu before Israel’s October elections, they may prove to be temporary political instruments whose future depends on the electoral outcome.
Some hope, however, can be found in the growing public solidarity with Palestine across Europe. An opinion poll published by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that 46 percent of British respondents supported banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements, while only 18 percent opposed it. That is worth celebrating — not as proof of European governmental courage but as evidence of the power of sustained public mobilization.
Western governments did not arrive at these measures independently. They were pushed by protests, boycott campaigns, trade unions, civil society organizations, legal challenges and voters who refused to allow Palestine to disappear from political life.
Many European governments continue to provide Israel with the weapons, commercial relationships and economic stability it needs to sustain its wars against Palestine and other Arab countries. Their limited settlement measures do not erase that complicity.
If congratulations are due, they belong to the European and North American societies that continue to raise the political cost of supporting Israel and insist on accountability and respect for international law.
The latest measures should be welcomed — but only as proof that public pressure works and as a reason to intensify it.
*Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the editor of The Palestine Chronicle. His latest book, “Before the Flood,” was published by Seven Stories Press. His website is ramzybaroud.net. X: @RamzyBaroud

The Issue Is Greater than Iran
Sawsan al-Shaer/Asharq Al Awsat/September 15/2026
Before becoming preoccupied with calc/ulating how many Iranian vessels were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, or how many commercial ships came under Iranian attack, we must step back slightly from this specific image and attempt to view what is happening through a comprehensive and broader lens of the entire scene. The comprehensive main headline of the scene or event is that a new international system is currently being built and prepared. In this system, the era of globalization - along with all the chaotic ideas it brought regarding the so-called abolition and crossing of political borders, such as transnational groups and organizations that led to the weakening of the centralized state - has ended. What is happening in our region represents the conclusion of all of this, and a return to reinforcing, strengthening, and valuing the nation-state.
The return to the nation-state; this is the primary headline that addresses current details, which have become minor in the face of this new reality that the Trump administration is attempting to shape. This approach is being echoed and welcomed among countries that have previously suffered from American interference in internal affairs, such as the Gulf Arab states.
In his most recent political speeches, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio summarized his vision for the nation-state through key pillars that reflect the ideology of the conservative "New Right" in America:
The return to the centrality of the "nation-state" and borders, against the illusion of globalization. Rubio believes that the end of the Cold War created an "illusion" that the world would fully transform into free-market democracies, and that the idea that "it does not matter where things are made" was a strategic error.
Borders and absolute sovereignty: Rubio publicly stressed that "the nation-state still matters, nationalism is still real, and national borders still stand," and that countries will always act based on their supreme national interests.
If we move past the American national interest in this new vision and translate it into the details of what is taking place in our region, then what is happening to Iran does not relate to its nuclear program, missiles, drones, or even the Strait of Hormuz. The issue is restoring Iran to its political borders, meaning the borders of the nation-state, and ending of the era of expansion, expansionism, proxies, and transnational groups supported by the Western left, such as the religious groups of the Muslim Brotherhood and Velayat-e Faqih, and the global chaos they created.
Iran has succeeded in exploiting all the opportunities provided by globalization, strengthening the power of transnational groups, particularly Islamic ones, and circumventing sanctions by providing rival of the US with their needs after lowering the cost of their industries under the guise of evading sanctions. It ultimately engaged in actions that threaten international navigation and free trade, turning into a "non-state" whose behavior cannot be contained and which opposes everything that enhances the concept of the nation-state.
Even the Western left, which was the godfather of globalization, has begun to capitulate against the far-right sweep, abandoning the chaos that allowed this Iranian encroachment. Consequently, it has tightened its sanctions and designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization four decades after its establishment and after it had wreaked havoc in the region.
As for Iran's remaining allies, they are willing to help it, but they only want to capitalize on its internal opportunities. It is no longer possible to allow the chaos it created to continue, alongside the unlawful benefits derived from it. Therefore, Iran must return to being a normal state that respects its political borders, which will allow it to coexist with the new international system. This is the essence of the conflict, which appears to be American-Iranian or Israeli-Iranian, but is in fact centered around the return to protecting the nation-state. Iran is resisting this new reality and insisting on maintaining its project and its rejected tools of expansion.

Dory Chamoun
Colonel Charbel Barakat/September 15, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157546/
Dory Chamoun has passed away—scion of a distinguished family that embodied the finest image of Lebanon, opened its doors to prosperity and well-being, confronted the most formidable regimes when the moment demanded it, and succeeded in restoring stability.
Unlike his late father, President Camille Chamoun, Dory did not play a prominent political role; instead, he turned to the business world, where he achieved success. It was his brother Dany who carried the banner during the turbulent years, distinguishing himself through numerous stances taken to keep Lebanon free. Dany visited us in the border region several times—including a hunting trip to Al-Salhani—and we, in turn, visited him at his headquarters in Ashrafieh. We met both Dory and Dany together during a visit to President Chamoun’s home in Ashrafieh; the President wanted us to meet Dory, knowing of our relationship with Dany. Then came the tragedy: Dany and his family were assassinated in an act mirroring the brutality of the oppressive occupation—an occupation that showed no mercy to its own people, let alone to those who defied it and rejected its dominion. Dory was compelled to take up the mantle; he struggled for years under the occupation, never yielding to the pressures exerted upon him and his fellow free patriots. Ultimately, they succeeded in ousting the occupation and reclaiming sovereignty, however imperfect. Yet, as he felt the years advancing, he handed over leadership to Camille. Today, he joins the procession to offer the fruits of his labor—the profitable return on the talents entrusted to him—upon the Lord’s altar. We accompany him with our prayers, trusting that his welcome will be commensurate with his sacrifices, that he will enter into the joy of the Master, and reunite with the loved ones who preceded him to their eternal rest. We extend our condolences to the National Liberal Party, its leader MP Camille Chamoun, and all Lebanese—comrades who continue to carry the banner and have never wearied of the struggle—as well as to the family, friends, and all Lebanese at home and in the diaspora. We pray that the Almighty bestows His mercy upon Lebanon, lifts its heavy burden, and opens the doors to peace, security, and stability for its people. May the nation emerge from the vortex of oppression into an oasis of tranquility, once again contributing to progress and prosperity in this East—a region that has endured successive calamities due to a lack of the visionary leadership and steadfast will that characterized the great leaders of the past.
May God have mercy on his soul.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on September 15/2026
Noor Dahri - نور ڈاہری ‎
Israel has to provide intelligence-sharing and security support to Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, because doing so would serve not only Saudi Arabia’s security interests but also Israel’s broader regional interests.
If the Houthis were to establish effective control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, their ability to threaten regional shipping and international trade would increase significantly. Israel could also become a subsequent target for Houthi attacks, particularly through missile, drone and maritime operations, with potentially serious economic consequences.
Saudi Arabia needs to contain and ultimately defeat the Houthi threat, not only for its own economic and national security, but also for the stability and security of the wider Gulf region. Israel possesses significant intelligence, technological and military capabilities that could potentially help change the strategic balance against the Houthis. Greater Saudi-Israeli security cooperation could therefore become an important component of a broader regional strategy to protect the Red Sea, Gulf security and global trade.