Gaza authorities warn of imminent mass death of 100,000 children as starvation deepens, Georges Abdallah returns to Beirut after over 40 years in French prison, AFP demands safe evacuation for Gaza staff facing starvation, Abu Shabab’s militia keeps on working ‘undercover' to assist Israeli operations in Gaza, Clashes outside Egyptian embassy in Beirut during protests for Gaza, EU announces new €12.5 million project to support the Lebanese Army, Ziad Rahbani dies at 69, Knesset vote approves non-binding proposal to annex West Bank, Turkish FM says Ankara 'ready to intervene' against any attempt to partition Syria, Sectarian violence in Suwayda strengthens Kurdish position in talks with Damascus, Israeli war minister hints at renewed attacks on Iran, Iran signals readiness, Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to host major Iranian opposition convention in Munich, At least six killed in courthouse attack in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan, US withdraws from UNESCO over ‘anti-Israel bias’, Anti-genocide protesters block hundreds of Israeli tourists from disembarking in Greek port, RSF paramilitary-led coalition forms parallel government in war-torn Sudan, March and mass scheduled on yearly August 4 Port Blast commemoration
Ana moush kafer, he used to sing: “I am not a heathen.” But hunger is. Poverty, disease, humiliation are heathen. All these things combined at once: they are heathen. Not the powerless victims of them all.
Ziad Rahbani has gone. Died at the age of 69, he is survived by his mother, an icon of all mothers, of the whole country, of all the countries of the Arab world that have grown up for four generations listening to her, acclaiming her as an unquestionable muse. Fairuz, with a lace veil over her hair, the eyes covered by dark glasses, in the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Mhaydseh, Bikfaya, where the funeral was held, today was, quite simply, Imm Ziad.
Of course it is too late to attribute thoughts to a dead man. But to anyone who has read even a single one of his texts, listened to a single one of his interviews, watched a single one of his plays, it is clear that what he would not have wanted is for the news of his death – a death as a star, loved and acclaimed even by those he did not address, the ruling classes he criticised, the powerful he despised – to overshadow a tragedy of far greater magnitude. A people starved to death. In front of the complicit eyes of the West and of the Arab world itself, which repeats its songs out of inertia: but is no longer a recipient of them. No longer an audience.
“Take another look at the holy books. Take another look at the word of God. I’m not a heathen, but the country is heathen. I’m stuck in my home and unable to get out. You’re eating my food right out my mouth while your food is right in front of you man, and if I’m ungrateful you say I’m heathen.” He sang: “I’m announcing to all the Western countries and notifying all police stations: I’m not a heathen, you’re the heathen.” Amen.
Strike the hungry
Two million people at risk of starvation: of the 133 who died in the last eight days, 87 were children. The world’s response: bombard them with parcels of humanitarian aid. The last two-years’ Gaza has taught the world that even food can kill: just like hunger, and waiting in line under gunfire for a parcel of flour, and the silent world watching.
When on Sunday, July 27, Israel announced a halt in military operations for ten hours a day in parts of Gaza as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates are expected to airdrop supplies into the enclave – after images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the international community, before it got used to them too – many must have thought of the tragedy of March 2024, when a so-called ‘humanitarian aid’ airdrop turned into a rocket and smashed onto a house north of the camp of Al-Shati. But no one could do anything. A package’s parachute failed to open, five were killed: not by hunger, not by the overdose of a refeeding syndrome, but by the Israeli reckless blockade over the Strip, its grotesque pleasure of starving an entire people to death and then humiliating the survivors by forcing them to run after flying boxes. No one could do anything.
The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said earlier on Saturday that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians” if they go awry. Lazzarini said the UN agency had the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt, waiting for the green light to enter Gaza – and that nothing but political will is required to lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need. His comments came prior to Israel’s announcement that it would establish what it called “designated humanitarian corridors to enable the safe movement of UN convoys delivering food and medicine.” It did not outline where those would be or how they would operate. Nor did it explain when the UN stopped being a Hamas-linked threat, as it used to claim, to which, for more than two months, the carnage of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had been preferable. Killing 1,054 while seeking food, starving the others who couldn’t dare walking, crawling towards death.
And just like those ridiculous butcher distributions, just like the 12-day war on Iran, the missiles’ show over the skies of the entire Middle East, such food strikes will be nothing more than yet another disquieting distraction on the responsibility for this hunger, which the future will take into account: no famine, but a definite political will. The same will that long before October 7 would allow food to enter the besieged enclave on a daily calorie count imposed by the occupation. No right to self-defense, but the end of international humanitarianism, the abandonment of Palestine by all the countries of the Arab world – surprising only to the most ingenuous ones. Another right – that to ingenuity – that has been snatched away from Palestinians for generations, even from children. And to which some Western countries respond now, with decades of delay, with the formal recognition of the state of Palestine. Without sanctioning Israel, without cutting their ties with Tel Aviv. Never has anachronism been more unforgivable.
We believed that the daily chronicle of massacres could open the eyes of the powerful. For more than 21 months, the victims made themselves the speakers of their suffering, photographing rotting bodies, mountains of corpses piled up in mass graves, wounded people fed to raging dogs. Exposed to the risk of drone strikes while climbing a roof to hopefully find some connection. Recounting the horrors of hospitals, amputations without anesthesia, new acronyms to be tattooed over children’s arms: WCNSF. Wounded child, no surviving family. And on those arms, watching their names written – if at least one arm, missing the body, had been found; to be wrapped in a white sheet and buried, if possible, to recite a sura al-Fatiha, before another displacement, and the double burial of what remains of those corpses: down into the depths of the earth. Now, international news agencies beg to evacuate the last remaining journalists. And those who, represented by nothing other than being Palestinian, will have no external pressure to escape this death, will stop reporting, as they have already done: desperate yet aware of how futile it is to try to show, to a blind man, the range of existing colours.
“I will not be able to talk about the reality in Gaza. We spent two years recording our flesh on the ground, trying to record our blood, and we didn’t find an effective, interactive reaction from the world. So why, why do you ask me to talk about the reality that is happening in Gaza? No single person has had breakfast in Gaza, till now. Every day, every single day we try to convey our blood, but we don’t feel we share the same world with you.” The words of Haider al-Ghazali, 21 years old, force us to a new, bitter realisation: not only is the international media coverage of the ongoing genocide in Gaza useless. But also unwanted. And when the interviewing journalist insists on asking his experience with food distribution, al-Ghazali replies, firm: “This is not the time to talk about what is happening in Gaza. This is the time to do something to stop this genocide.”
Nothing more to describe. Almost two weeks of nothing but water and salt. Until even hunger is a sight we will get used to. And this is not only because of the powerlessness of a starving person, missing the calories to sustain himself. A person who eats anything to survive: fodder, grass, leaves, insects, rodents, even soil – tearing off small, spoiled pieces, and rationing them in a vain attempt to keep the excruciating hunger pangs at bay. Who suffers from constant diarrhoea. Who has difficulty breathing due to respiratory infections. Whose hunger reduces the iron needed to produce haemoglobin, until anaemia ensues – and the body, in essence, ends up feeding on itself. It is not only because tissues and muscles wear out, the kidneys shut down, the immune system collapses, and vital organs atrophy. Because blood circulation slows down, blood volume decreases, infectious diseases spread, the heart muscle is weakened, wounds do not heal, and vision is impaired by cataracts – until it becomes impossible to concentrate.
This is all of it – and the very aware will of a Palestinian that lost the crumbles of his hope in the world, but strives to keep untouched his dignity.
In Lebanon
Goodbye Ziad Rahbani: Lebanese musician and composer Ziad Rahbani, son of the iconic singer Fairuz and a pioneer of fusion jazz, has died at the age of 69 of a heart attack. “On Saturday at 9:00 am, the heart of the great artist and creator Ziad Rahbani stopped beating,” said a statement from the hospital where he was being treated in Beirut.
Rahbani was a composer of staggering range. He infused traditional Arabic melodies with jazz, funk and classical influences, creating a hybrid sound that became instantly recognisable. But he was also an incredible playwright. His breakout play, Nazl el-Sourour, premiered in 1974 when he was only 17, portrayed a society disfigured by class inequality and repression. The play follows a group of workers who take over a restaurant to demand their rights, only to be dismissed by the political elite. In another play, Bennesbeh Labokra Chou?, he plays a jaded bar pianist in post-civil war Beirut. The work features some of Rahbani’s most poignant music and biting commentary, including the famous line, “They say tomorrow will be better, but what about today?”
Lebanon’s leaders paid a heartfelt tribute to the Lebanese composer, who was also a playwright, pianist and political provocateur. President Joseph Aoun called Rahbani “a living conscience, a voice that rebelled against injustice, and a sincere mirror of the oppressed and marginalised”. “Lebanon has lost an exceptional and creative artist, a free voice that remained faithful to the values of justice and dignity” and who said “what many did not dare to say”, said Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
40 years later: Lebanese activist and resistance fighter Georges Abdallah has been released from French prison after over 40 years of incarceration, arriving in Beirut to a hero’s welcome on July 25 and renewing his call for armed resistance across the region. “The resistance is rooted in this land and cannot be uprooted,” Abdallah expressed upon his arrival at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport. Speaking from the VIP lounge, he said, “the prisoners’ steadfastness in their prisons depends on the steadfastness of their comrades outside.”
Abdallah, a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 on charges of involvement in the killings of US military attache Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yakov Barsimentov in Paris in 1982. The Lebanese resistance icon was also accused of involvement in the attempted assassination of US consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg. The killings of Ray and Barsimentov were claimed by LARF and framed as a response to Washington and Tel Aviv’s involvement in the Lebanese civil war.
Held at Lannemezan Prison in southern France, Abdallah became eligible for parole in 1999, but 10 successive requests for release were rejected. A 2013 ruling approving his release on condition of expulsion from France was never implemented.
On 15 November 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal again approved his release, conditional on his permanent expulsion, with the decision confirmed on 17 July 2025 by the French Ministry of Justice. His lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, described the outcome as “a judicial victory and a political scandal,” confirming that repeated US and Israeli pressure had obstructed prior legal decisions.
Abdallah was the longest-held prisoner in western Europe. Now 74 years of age, Abdallah returned to Beirut on Friday, where he emphasized the need for greater support for resistance, saying, “Our resistance is not weak, but strong.” He added, “As long as there is resistance, there is a return to the homeland,” and saluted fallen fighters as “the foundation of any idea of liberation.” He also called for the escalation of resistance in Palestine and condemned Arab governments for their inaction over Gaza. “They must work to stop the genocide and famine in the besieged strip because they are capable of doing so,” he said, calling on the Egyptian people directly.
Lebanon protests: A group of activists protesting the Israeli blockade on Gaza gathered Wednesday around midday outside Egypt’s embassy in Bir Hassan, in Beirut’s southern suburbs and tensions arose between them and the Lebanese Army. Videos circulating on social media show dozens of protesters — many wearing kuffiyah and carrying the Palestinian flag — trying to forcibly enter the embassy and confront the army, which was heavily deployed in the area. The embassy has been surrounded for years by large concrete blocks and barbed wire, making it almost inaccessible from the adjacent avenue.
The protesters’ attempts to force their way into the embassy entrance were pushed back by the army, according to footage filmed by protesters at the scene. In the videos, protesters try to push back the barricade formed by soldiers and are beaten by military personnel. In one clip, the filming protester calls the army “Zionist” and says she’s pleased “to have been able to protest even though they tried to prevent us.”
The choice of Egypt’s embassy is significant, as the country controls Gaza’s southern border and is regularly accused of keeping the crossing closed despite the plight of the people in the enclave.
Protesters are calling for Egyptian authorities to “break the blockade” and allow food aid to enter. Millions of Gazans have endured hunger for months, and, according to the UN, more than a thousand people have been shot dead while trying to reach the few aid deliveries by US-backed NGO Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Another demonstration, called for by civil society activists the day before, was held from 11 am to noon in front of the ESCWA (United Nations) building in downtown Beirut, without any incidents. Civil society lawyer Hassan Bazzi noted on his Facebook account that 63 activists attended and delivered a letter to the UN secretary-general about the war and famine in Gaza.
Moreover, a sit-in against the Israeli blockade on Gaza was also held Wednesday by Palestinians at the Beddawi camp, northern Lebanon. Demonstrators held up signs against the “killing of children in Gaza,” calling for the “immediate opening of the borders so that aid can be delivered to the enclave.” At this gathering, the hunger strike by a Palestinian activist in the camp, Atef Khalil, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), was announced. In remarks at the site, Khalil said he was on his second day of striking, saying this action “is a message to the world, which remains silent in the face of Gaza’s blockade and the slow death of its children, women and elderly.”
Ongoing strikes: An Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle on the Touairi–Srifa road in the Tyre district killed one person, Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced on Saturday. Also on Friday, a Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil, the IDF announced. According to the IDF, Mohammad Hassan Qoutan served as chief of personnel for Hezbollah in the Bint Jbeil area and was involved in efforts to restore Hezbollah’s capabilities and recruit operatives to the group.
Earlier on Thursday, then, Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced that Israel carried out several air strikes across southern Lebanon, targeting “weapons depots and a rocket projectile platform belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah.” One person, described as a Hezbollah “operative,” was targeted and killed in the Ayta al-Shaab neighbourhood, Adraee said on X. “The presence of such combat means in that area and Hezbollah’s activities there constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” he added. It is unclear whether any of the sites posed an imminent threat to Israel, per the terms of the shaky November ceasefire brokered by the Biden administration.
Under the terms of the truce, Hezbollah had to retreat to the north of the Litani River, which is about 30km from the Israeli border, while Israel had to fully withdraw its troops, leaving only the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers in the area. However, Israel still occupies five strategic locations in southern Lebanon. Moreover, in the early hours of Sunday, July 27, an Al-Manar’s correspondent reported that an Israeli force was “infiltrating the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila and carrying out a bombing in one of its eastern neighborhoods.”
Speaking in early July, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed a desire for peaceful relations with his neighbour. But he stressed that Beirut was not currently interested in normalising ties with Israel, something mentioned as a possibility by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar last week. “Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment. As for the issue of normalisation, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy,” said Aoun, who urged Israel to withdraw completely from Lebanon.
The European support: The European Union announced “a new €12.5 million project to support the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in leading recovery efforts, enhancing security and helping communities in southern Lebanon rebuild. The project will be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),” in a statement Wednesday. The ceremony, held at the Lebanese Army’s headquarters in Yarzeh, was attended by army Commander General Rodolph Haykal, EU Ambassador to Lebanon Sandra De Waele, UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon Blerta Aliko, and representatives from UNSCOL.
“This EU-funded project responds to the ongoing impact of the 13-month war, which continues to claim lives and damage infrastructure and public services across the country,” the statement said. The World Bank estimates, in a final report in March, the total cost of damage at $6.8 billion in the regions affected by Israeli bombings, with economic losses amounting to $7.2 billion. These estimates cover the period from October 8, 2023, the date the hostilities began between the two belligerents, to December 20, 2024.
“It will help the Lebanese Armed Forces support communities in southern Lebanon to recover and rebuild. This includes clearing rubble and unexploded ordnance, repairing critical infrastructure – such as water networks and public health centres – and strengthening cooperation with local communities,” according to the statement.
In his remarks, Haykal stated that “this project represents a critical milestone for the military institution, which bears immense responsibilities at the national level. The army continues to exert tremendous efforts to uphold the authority of the state across all Lebanese territory, implement international resolutions – particularly Resolution 1701 – and safeguard the country’s security and monitor its borders.” “The project strengthens the army’s capacity and sustainability, contributing directly to Lebanon’s security and stability and to the safety of its people,” General Haykal added.
“Together with EU Member States, we are providing over $600 million in support to conflict-affected areas in Lebanon, underscoring this commitment. These efforts complement our diplomatic work to push for the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and for all parties to abide by the November 2024 ceasefire agreement,” EU Ambassador Sandra De Waele said.
The 50 Lebanese victims: Following reports claiming that dozens of Lebanese were killed in the Syrian city of Sweida, a Druze sheikh from the Chouf region confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour on Wednesday that around 50 Lebanese Druze, who were living in Sweida, were killed in clashes between armed Druze groups and Sunni Bedouin tribes from July 13 until the July 19 cease-fire agreement.
The fighting, which killed more than 1,300 people, initially pitted Druze militiamen against Bedouins before forces from the Syrian government intervened to support the Bedouins. The Israeli army subsequently intervened against the government forces, striking targets in Sweida as well as important targets in Damascus, including the Defense Ministry. Following the cease-fire, the fighting had largely subsided by Sunday, bringing a fragile calm to the region.
Nidaa al-Watan reported on Wednesday that “funeral announcements revealed that dozens of Lebanese were killed in the recent events in Sweida” without mentioning their sect or affiliation. Commenting on this report, Sheikh Salem Ahmad told the Lebanese daily that 50 Lebanese Druze from the Chouf region, who were living in Syria, were killed in the clashes. He added that absentee funeral prayers have been held for them in the Chouf region, adding that once the situation calms down, each family will assess whether to bring the bodies of the deceased to Lebanon.
Apart from the Druze killed, a Lebanese man from an Arab tribe in Wadi Khaled was also killed in the clashes. The president of the municipal council of Rama, Khaled Ahmad al-Baddaoui, in the Wadi Khaled region, said that the man killed was in his 30s and had been working in Syria “for a long time, even before the fall of the Assad regime.”
Every August 4: Relatives of the August 4, 2020, Beirut Port blast victims announced plans for a commemorative march and mass marking a fifth year since the tragedy that killed at least 235 people, injured more than 7,000 others and devastated swathes of the capital. Blast victims’ relatives have scheduled commemorations yearly, calling for accountability as the probe faced repeated delays due to attempts to dismiss its lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar.
Bitar resumed his investigation earlier this year with a host of summons naming top officials, including former ministers, at first bypassing restrictions on security forces’ enforcement of his orders, ex-top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat. Oueidat, who has refused to appear for questioning, had accused Bitar of usurpations of power for attempting to resume the investigation while facing unresolved dismissal requests — which legally halt his work until their adjudication — filed by suspects in the case.
The dismissal requests against Bitar, which were held up due to subsequent complaints against the magistrates set to rule on them, remain unresolved and cannot be addressed before a series of judicial appointments restores quorum to the Court of Cassation’s plenary chamber.
In The Region
Hunger kills information: Agence France-Presse (AFP) urged Israel on Tuesday to immediately allow the evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from Gaza, citing the increasingly dire conditions and rising threats to their safety. In its statement, the French news outlet described the situation for its freelancers in Gaza as “appalling.” “For months, we have been witnessing, powerless, the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions,” AFP said, noting that the situation had become unbearable despite the “exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience” shown by its local team.
“Since AFP was founded in 1944,” the agency’s Society of Journalists said on X, “we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner. But none of us can ever remember seeing colleagues die of hunger.”
The union described the situation of locally based AFP freelancers working in Gaza. Israel has not permitted independent access for international journalists to enter the enclave since October 7, 2023. The union quoted a Facebook post by a photographer: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.”
The lack of access to food for the estimated 2 million Palestinians in Gaza has alarmed global leaders. Severe food shortages and widespread hunger continue, and Gaza health authorities say at least 133 people, including 87 children, have died from “famine and malnutrition” in the past week. The Government Media Office in Gaza has warned that over 100,000 children under the age of two – including 40,000 infants – face mass death within days due to the total depletion of baby milk under Israel’s ongoing blockade.
Moreover, Israeli officers admitted on Friday to spoiling food, water, and medical supplies packed in over 1,000 aid trucks stranded at the Kerem Shalom crossing after distribution into the Gaza Strip was blocked. According to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN), the trucks contained tens of thousands of humanitarian parcels that were left for weeks under the sun until the contents rotted and became unusable. An Israeli officer told KAN, “We buried everything in the ground, and some of the supplies we burned.” “Even now, thousands of parcels are sitting in the sun. If they’re not allowed into Gaza, we’ll have to destroy them too,” he added.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “malnourishment is soaring. Starvation is knocking on every door,” telling the Security Council that Gaza was a “horror show with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times.”
Reporting in Gaza has been deadly throughout the more than 21 months of conflict, with at least 186 journalists killed in the embattled enclave, and most often because of Israeli airstrikes, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. This not only threatens the lives of the media workers in Gaza – it also leaves a widening impact on the information the world can obtain from the territory.
“As these journalists face starvation, displacement, and constant threat of attack, the international community risks losing its last independent source of reporting from inside Gaza,” CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said in an email to NPR. “That’s not just a loss of information—it’s a collapse in transparency, a blow to advocacy for civilians, and a dangerous opening for impunity. Silencing journalists under these conditions is not simply a media freedom issue—it’s a crisis of global accountability.”
The push from AFP received support from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Tuesday, who said he hoped the journalists could be evacuated “in the coming weeks.” Barrot also called on the Israeli government to allow the international press back into Gaza. Yet, Israel’s government did not respond to a request for comment about the AFP’s request to allow its journalists to leave Gaza.
Who is Abu Shabab: The Wall Street Journal published a commentary by a Palestinian collaborator with Israel to promote himself as the next leader of Gaza, make false claims about Hamas and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), and promote Israel’s plan to imprison hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in a concentration camp in the ruins of Rafah. Yasser Abu Shabab, who commands 100–200 mercenaries who fight alongside Israeli forces in Rafah, called on the US and Arab countries to formally support an “independent Palestinian administration” under his leadership.
Abu Shabab also sought to blame Hamas for the starvation spreading through Gaza, claiming the group was “stealing aid,” a common Israeli allegation. While Israeli politicians and media personalities often call for blocking aid to Gaza to starve Palestinian civilians, a recently leaked internal report from USAID concluded that there is no evidence Hamas has been stealing aid entering Gaza.
Abu Shabab also took aim at UNRWA, which has been the primary provider of aid to the besieged and blockaded Gaza Strip long before the start of the war in 2023. “Hamas still controls aid access and dominates institutions like the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA,” he wrote. Israel has also sought to claim that UNRWA is infiltrated by Hamas, using it as a pretext to dismantle the UN agency and end its advocacy for the Palestinians’ right to return to their homes and lands stolen by Israel during the Nakba in 1948.
Abu Shabab’s so-called “Popular Forces” have themselves looted aid trucks near Kerem Shalom crossing under Israeli military protection. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has in fact condemned his group for being responsible for “the real theft of aid under the watch of Israeli forces,” as Palestinians throughout the devastated enclave lived in danger of famine.
In his commentary on The Wall Street Journal, Abu Shabab also promoted Israel’s plan to imprison at least 600,000 Palestinians in a concentration camp to be constructed on the ruins of Rafah, the southern city on the Egyptian border that was systematically demolished with bombs, bulldozers, and controlled detonations. “We have already received requests from many families to relocate to eastern Rafah. With proper support, we are ready to take responsibility for the rest of Rafah. Within months, more than 600,000 people – nearly a third of Gaza’s population – could be living outside the cycle of war,” Abu Shabab wrote.
Abu Shabab was arrested by Hamas in 2015 and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of drug trafficking and theft. He escaped in October 2023 after Israeli airstrikes hit the prison where he was being held. Publicly disowned by leaders of his clan, the Tarabin, who called for his killing for collaborating with Israel, Hamas says that Abu Shabab’s men function as “undercover forces” to assist Israeli military operations. Armed with Israeli-provided weapons and uniforms, his men work to clear homes and tunnels, booby-trapping houses, and surveying areas to ensure the safety of occupying Israeli soldiers.
Even Israeli sources have reported that before the Gaza war, Abu Shabab’s group was known for smuggling weapons to ISIS and other militant groups during the Sinai insurgency in Egypt.
From the river to the sea: On July 23, Israel’s Knesset approved a motion calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the latest move in an ongoing campaign to strengthen Israel’s hold on the occupied Palestinian territory. The proposal is non-binding and serves largely as a symbolic gesture that does not affect the legal status of the West Bank but will help build momentum towards a possible move on the territory, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
“This move would make it clear to the world that Israel will not accept solutions that involve dangerous territorial concessions, and that it is committed to its future as a secure Jewish state,” the proposal says.
Besides receiving broad support across the Likud coalition, the conservative Yisrael Beiteinu party also voted in favour of the motion, along with independent MK Idan Roll and far-right Noam party leader Avi Maoz. The motion was initiated by Likud member Dan Illouz and three other MKs, including Minister for Settlements Orit Strook.
Despite claims the “sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” is only declarative, Israeli media reported that diplomatic officials pressed the Knesset to clarify its non-binding nature to avoid the appearance of official annexation. The vote comes after the Knesset overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state and followed escalated efforts by the Israeli government to entrench control over the West Bank through settlement expansion and legislative maneuvers.
Last year a similar motion rejecting Palestinian statehood received emphatic cross-party support, passing 68-9. “The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” declared Knesset speaker Amir Ohana following the vote.
Another Knesset conference was hosted on Tuesday by the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bazael Smotrich, titled “The Gaza Riviera – From Vision to Reality”. “We will occupy Gaza and make it an inseparable part of Israel,” Smotrich said at the conference. Israeli officials have made no secret of their hope of expelling Palestinians from Gaza and establishing Israeli rule over the territory.
Addressing the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces are “destroying more and more homes” and that the “only inevitable outcome will be the wish of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip,” Maariv reported.
Ready to intervene: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on July 22 that Turkiye will “intervene” if any group attempts to divide Syria, warning that Israel’s destabilizing actions in Suwayda and Damascus pose a “direct threat” to Ankara’s national security. “We could never stay silent against such a move,” Fidan told reporters in Ankara during a joint press conference with his Salvadorian counterpart, Alexandra Hill. “Israel is unwilling to see a stable country around itself and aims to divide Syria with the violent unrest in southern Suwayda province.”
Fidan described the recent clashes between Druze groups and government-aligned Bedouin Arab tribes as a direct result of Israeli interference. “Israel is seeking to drag the region to chaos to preserve its status,” he said, adding that the only viable solution was military intervention by Syria’s central government to halt the violence.
On July 13, violent clashes erupted between armed Druze factions and Bedouin tribes in Suwayda. Three days later, Israeli strikes targeted the Syrian presidential palace, Defense Ministry, and General Staff headquarters.
Fidan confirmed that Turkiye played a key role in establishing the ceasefire following the Israeli air raids on Suwayda, Deraa, and Damascus, accusing Israel of sabotaging all regional efforts to stabilize Syria. “The whole international community and regional actors strive for Syria not to become a state hosting terrorism or the source of migration, while Israel sabotages all initiatives for stability and security,” Fidan said.
Turkiye, he continued, is “one of the countries most negatively affected by regional problems and terrorism in terms of security,” but remains committed to pursuing stability through diplomacy. “All our relations with Iraq, Syria, and Iran are developing in this way.” He warned all actors in Syria to avoid stoking tensions. “No group should attempt to divide. We have much to discuss through diplomacy.”
The warning follows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement on July 20 that Ankara will not abandon self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and will oppose any attempts to fragment the country. “Israel does not want stability in the region,” Erdogan said. “It believes that a unified Syria would not be in its interest and continues with such provocations.”
The Kurdish leverage: At the same time, The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said on July 25 that a deal with Damascus to integrate Kurdish forces into the Syrian army has been “complicated” by the recent violence in southern Syria and coastal massacres earlier this year, carried out by government forces. The AANES is the Kurdish-led governing body that is in charge of parts of northern and eastern Syria. It is closely affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia, which agreed with Damascus earlier this year to integrate its forces into Syria’s new military.
“The lack of a transparent military structure in Syria, especially following violence in Alawite regions on the coast and in the southern Druze-majority province of Suwayda, complicates the possibility of integrating the SDF into its military structure,” AANES Foreign Relations Co-Chair Elham Ahmad said on Friday. However, it seems that Sharaa’s failure to stop the Suwayda bloodshed has weakened him more than the March massacres in the coastal region. These comments come as the SDF has been outright rejecting any form of disarmament or dissolution.
“Disarmament is a red line. We are not bargaining over our principles,” said the SDF Media Center Director Farhad Shami in an interview, adding that “the SDF seeks to engage Damascus as an equal partner, not as a subordinate.” The group also seeks to remain under Kurdish command. “We can join the Syrian army via a legal framework that recognizes our distinct identity, with our forces operating as a unified military bloc in their current areas of control,” an SDF military spokesman, Abgar Dawood, said separately.
In fact, the July 19 meeting in Amman between US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi went significantly better than their first encounter 10 days earlier, especially due to the worsening sectarian violence in Suwayda, which temporarily bolstered Kurdish leverage, according to sources cited by Al-Monitor. A follow-up meeting may be held in Paris, possibly with French President Macron, to announce progress in integrating the SDF and Kurdish institutions into the central government – part of a US-backed effort to consolidate self-appointed interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s rule.
However, AANES representative in Paris, Karim Qamar, said the meeting, originally sponsored by the US and France, was pushed back with no new date or reasons for the delay. “The meeting scheduled between representatives of north and east Syria and officials from the Syrian interim government has been postponed,” he said, adding that the Kurdish delegation had not yet arrived in the French capital.
Barrack hinted at a breakthrough in an AP interview, saying Suwayda’s crisis had not “derailed” the talks. One source quoted US pressure on Abdi: “You have been a great partner, but your world has changed. You have to accept reality.” While Middle East Eye reported that the US and Turkiye issued a 30-day ultimatum to the SDF, Al-Monitor’s sources denied this. US officials confirmed that SDF integration talks are “ongoing and active.”
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdish leader Nechirvan Barzani is lobbying both Ankara and Washington for a middle-ground solution “neither federalism, nor centralization.”
The future of Iran: During a situation assessment with senior military officials, Israeli War Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday evening that Israel may consider resuming its campaign against Iran, according to Israeli media. He called for an effective enforcement plan to prevent Iran from restoring its nuclear and missile programs. Israel’s leadership views its 12-day war with Iran last month as a success – several Iranian military leaders were killed, Iran’s defensive military capabilities were weakened, and the United States was convinced to take part in a raid on the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow. But while Israeli leaders were quick to claim victory, they emphasised that they were ready to attack again if necessary, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he had “no intention of easing off the gas pedal”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera that Iran’s forces are prepared to carry out hard blows targeting Israel’s depth: “We do not want war and do not rely on the certainty of a ceasefire, but we will defend ourselves with power.”
Moreover, members of an Islamist militant group carried out a terror attack in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province on Saturday, July 26, Iranian state media IRNA reported. At least six people were killed in the attack, as well as three attackers. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Zahedan said that 22 others were injured in the attack – the majority civilians. In a statement posted on social media, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), a Baloch militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack, and urged “all civilians to immediately evacuate the area of clashes for their safety.” Sistan-Baluchestan, located on the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to Iran’s Sunni Muslim Baloch minority, who have long said they are economically marginalised and politically excluded. Some armed groups said they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy. The Iranian government accuses some of them of having ties to foreign governments – including Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – and being involved in attacks and cross-border smuggling.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, July 26, Iranian ‘Crown Prince’ Reza Pahlavi hosted a gathering in Munich, Germany, that brought together a wide spectrum of Iranian opposition groups and figures with the aim of forming a unified coalition against the current Iranian government.
US withdraws from UNESCO: Washington announced on 22 July that it will withdraw the United States from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), citing its inclusion of Palestine as a member state. “Continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement, describing the organization as having a “continuing anti-Israel bias.” Nauert said the decision “was not taken lightly,” adding that the United States would seek to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer “to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise.”
The move came years after UNESCO’s 2011 vote to admit Palestine as a full member state, a decision opposed by former US president Barack Obama. US funding to the agency was frozen immediately after the vote, in accordance with US laws – specifically the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1990 and Section 414 of the 1994 Appropriations Act – which prohibit aid to any UN body that recognizes Palestinian statehood.
In subsequent years, Washington cited a series of UNESCO resolutions it claimed were biased against Israel, including one that criticized Israeli activity in occupied East Jerusalem and another that inscribed the Old City of Hebron, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, as a Palestinian World Heritage site.
Trump formally notified UNESCO of the withdrawal in 2017, which took effect at the end of 2018, before the US rejoined the agency under Biden in 2023. The withdrawal was part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to defund UN agencies seen as hostile to Israeli interests. Previously, the US had frozen all funding to UNESCO following the 2011 vote on Palestine. Official records describe the move as driven by “political disputes related to Israel and Palestine.” Similar justifications were used to cut funds from other agencies, including UNRWA and the UN Human Rights Council, reinforcing a pattern of using funding as leverage against perceived anti-Israel bias in multilateral institutions.
Out of Greece: Israeli passengers on a cruise ship arriving in Greece on July 22 were unable to disembark the vessel due to a large crowd of pro-Palestine protesters demonstrating against the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The MS Crown Iris, owned by Israeli cruise line Mano Maritime, arrived on Tuesday at the Greek island of Syros in the Aegean Sea. The passengers were supposed to disembark for six hours. However, they were forced to remain on board due to the protests in support of Palestine.
Between 120 and 300 protesters waved Palestinian flags and held banners reading “stop the genocide” as the ship arrived. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar spoke with his Greek counterpart, Giorgos Gerapetritis, to request intervention to resolve the issue. Yet the cruise ship ended up being redirected to Limassol, Cyprus. Around 1,600 Israelis were traveling on the MS Crown Iris, according to Israel’s Channel 12.
A group of the Greek island’s residents organized the protest and posted on social media that they “raise their fists in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza,” adding that “it is unacceptable that tourists from Israel continue to be welcomed here while the Palestinians are suffering in the Strip.”
A war-torn country: A Sudanese coalition led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has announced it is establishing an alternative government in a challenge to the military-led authorities in the capital Khartoum, with the northeastern African country’s brutal civil war in its third year.
The group, which calls itself the Leadership Council of the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS), said RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo will chair the 15-member presidential council of the government, which includes regional governors. Sudanese politician Mohammed Hassan Osman al-Ta’ishi will serve as prime minister, TASIS said.
“On the occasion of this historic achievement, the leadership council extends its greetings and congratulations to the Sudanese people who have endured the flames of devastating wars for decades,” the coalition said in a statement. “It also renews TASIS’s commitment to building an inclusive homeland, and a new secular, democratic, decentralized, and voluntarily unified Sudan, founded on the principles of freedom, justice and equality.”
In May, the Sudanese army said it had completely driven the RSF out of the capital, Khartoum. Led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Sudanese Armed Forces have condemned the RSF’s move and pledged to continue fighting until it controls all of Sudan. The new self-proclaimed government could deepen divisions and lead to competing institutions as the war rages on between the two factions.
The fighting since April 2023 has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 13 million people, according to United Nations estimates, resulting in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
What We’re Reading
The efforts of reconciliation: In an effort to bring the Lebanese people into a common understanding of a bright future, Mahmoud Ramadan decided to tackle the issue of reconciliation in Lebanon. At first, he considered asking all political parties to sign a joint statement acknowledging their responsibilities or offering an apology, as while a broad amnesty law was enacted in Lebanon in 1991 to pardon all political crimes committed prior to its enactment, that legal closure did not amount to a moral or historical reckoning.
The next disaster: In Lebanon water resources are so scarce that water for farms, industry and households is strictly rationed. People are having to navigate ways to reduce water losses, improve service efficiency, lower costs and enhance the water system’s resilience, reported Rodayna Raydan.
Lebanese lessons from Suwayda: The recent bloodshed in Suwayda – marked by clashes between the Druze of Jabal al-Arab, neighboring Bedouin tribes, and forces loyal to President Ahmad al-Sharaa – has exposed the hollow nature of statehood, not only in Syria but across the Arab Levant. These events serve as a stark reminder of the dangers of dismissing the foundational principles of modern statehood – chief among them, the citizen’s right to life, freedom, and dignity. The comment of Makram Rabah.
