Drone attack in the heart of Haret Hreik reignites fear of a new Israeli escalation against Lebanon, 13 people killed in air strike on Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, Sidon, Israel actively violates ceasefire with Lebanon and refuses to withdraw from occupied sites, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urges US to bring Israel into border talks, Washington cancels Lebanese army chief's visit for condemning Israeli attacks, Lebanese army arrests US-sanctioned drug baron Nouh Zaiter, 151,985 Lebanese expatriates registered to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections, Lebanese American novelist Rabih Alameddine wins the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction, Israel redraws southern Syria to secure water, gas, and strategic depth, Netanyahu: “There will not be a Palestinian state” even if it blocks Saudi normalization, Ben Gvir and Smotrich join ministerial team to ‘oversee’ phase two of Gaza truce, EU pushes Palestinian Authority reforms amid Gaza reconstruction talks, Israeli forces torture Palestinian boys near Jenin, HRW designates Israel’s West Bank expulsions as war crimes, Violence erupts in north Syria as SDF accuses Damascus of facilitating ISIS drone attacks, Iran moves to terminate Cairo agreement with IAEA, Saudi crown prince pledges 1 trillion $ in US investments during Washington visit, Russia to re-establish military presence in south Syria, Sudanese army advances in Kordofan amid ongoing clashes with RSF
Independence under bombs, the national anthem muffled by the constant buzzing of drones. And if there were fireworks for the 82nd anniversary of Lebanon’s independence, most people mistook them for airstrikes. Instead, there were processions and funerals, ambulances rushing by, civil defense workers busy making their way through the rubble, the dead bodies, and the wounded.
Haret Hreik, November 23. Five dead and 28 wounded in the attack on the capital that everyone expected to be the watershed of a new escalation. The only surprise is that it came before the Pope’s visit, scheduled for next Sunday: a reason for hope, even for non-religious people, that the situation could remain more or less stable for another week: the stability of one or two deaths a day, between the south and the Beqaa Valley; of ground incursions and demolitions of houses and civilian infrastructure in border villages; and a massacre in a Palestinian refugee camp, which the majority of Lebanese media did not report. After all, it was predictable: the ceasefire a year ago was nothing more than a pretext, a strategy – the beginning, rather than the end, of a war already fought with unequal weapons: but this time, fought by only one side to prevent the re-armament of the other. Which for Hezbollah is a matter of existence.
We knew it. We just said to ourselves: after the Pope arrives. Well, the Israelis don’t care. And why should they? It would be enough to look at Gaza, where the so-called ‘truce’ offered Palestinians a rare reprieve from the slaughter, a chance to recover bodies, reconnect families, and push back against the machinery of genocide. But the moment Hamas fulfilled its commitments by delivering captives, returning remains, and upholding every clause, the mask slipped: Tel Aviv’s intent was never to advance to a second phase, but to extract what it could, then stall, shift the goalposts, and reassert control through other means.
Not too differently, in Lebanon, as the army is willing to secure the country – and the state is “ready to negotiate,” as stated by President Joseph Aoun in a message marking the 82nd anniversary of Lebanon’s independence, from the South Litani Sector Command at Benoit Barakat Barracks in Tyre – the option of negotiations, despite strongly rejected by Hezbollah, was nothing but a mechanism of the United States to relegitimize their dominance. But when Lebanon is ready to submit to the terms of the great powers, understanding the risk that it would entail losing even the last support of the American-Saudi axis, Israel changes the rules of the game. It does not answer calls. It is no longer interested.
Even though Washington – through the voice of its Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack – has early publicly confirmed its intention to use the Lebanese Army against Hezbollah, supporting it “to fight their own people,” President Aoun still affirmed that the Lebanese state alone is responsible for liberating the south, declaring that it “has no partner in its sovereignty and no guardian.” “The Lebanese…all they do is talk. There’s never been one act. We told them, you want our help? We gave them a playbook, but they can’t get there,” Barrack went on saying, openly backing Israel’s threats to launch a new war against Lebanon if the Iran-backed party refuses to surrender its weapons.
In response, Hezbollah rejects disarmament, paving the way for an inevitable new, widespread war. And the Lebanese ruling class performs the difficult task of balancing between two fires: deciding to open negotiations with the external enemy, yet without directly attacking its internal enemy. With a delay that the Israelis cannot forgive – and late enough to let Hezbollah, according to Israeli media, reorganize its resources.
While Aoun announced the state’s readiness to provide the five-member committee with a clear and specific timetable for the Lebanese army to assume control of the occupied areas in the south – pledging that it is “solely responsible for border security” and prepared to negotiate a cessation of attacks –, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that Israel has refused to enter negotiations to end its occupation of Lebanese territory, despite President Aoun offered to begin talks over Israel’s continued presence at five border outposts. And when the chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Rudolphe Haikal, slammed Israel’s occupation and constant attacks in south Lebanon, Washington suddenly cancelled his scheduled visit to the US. The trigger: blaming current tensions on Israel while failing to criticize Hezbollah. US Senator Lindsey Graham in fact berated Haikal on social media after his statement, calling his efforts to disarm Hezbollah “weak” and “almost non-existent.”
According to recent reports, Haikal had proposed suspending the disarmament plan until Israel abided by the ceasefire, stopped its daily attacks, and withdrew from southern Lebanon. In late August, Lebanese media reports claimed he could potentially resign in the event that he is ordered to place the LAF in confrontation with Hezbollah – risking a civil war. And more recently, according to a Reuters report citing Lebanese sources, Israel has been pressing for the Lebanese army to launch raids into civilian homes in south Lebanon in search of weapons belonging to Hezbollah. The demand “has been rejected” by the LAF, the sources added, as army leadership fears such a move could trigger civil strife and derail its overall disarmament plan, which the Lebanese military views as “cautious but effective.” “They’re demanding that we do house-to-house searches, and we won’t do that…we aren’t going to do things their way,” one of the officials told the news agency. “Residents of the south will see house raids as subservience to Israel.”
In a speech delivered on November 21, one day ahead of Lebanon’s Independence Day – in what might seem like words of circumstance, almost predictable, but which, in the current occupation of both lands and discourses, sound extremely courageous – Haikal said: “Our homeland today is witnessing a fateful stage that is one of the most difficult in its history, amidst the Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands, and the continuation of attacks and violations that lead to martyrs and wounded, prevent the completion of the army’s deployment, and cause destruction of property and facilities.” “The army has made great sacrifices and tremendous efforts,” he added, “while deploying to the south as part of the ceasefire agreement. Many of its members have fallen as martyrs and wounded on the altar of the homeland. It has stood firm in its positions despite the dangerous circumstances, to preserve Lebanon’s right to sovereignty over every inch of its land.”
In Lebanon
Airstrike in Haret Hreik: Israel has killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which came only two days after Lebanon’s President announced the country had succumbed to an Israeli pressure campaign and agreed to hold negotiations. Hezbollah confirmed that its chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, was among five people killed and 28 others wounded in the Israeli strike on Beirut’s Haret Hreik neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon.
In an official statement, Hezbollah mourned the Commander, stating that “with pride and honor, Hezbollah announces to the people of the resistance and to our Lebanese people the martyrdom of the great jihadi commander Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai, who rose to martyrdom in sacrifice for Lebanon and its people following a treacherous Israeli attack on Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburb.” Hezbollah also mourned its fighters, Mustafa Asaad Berro, Qassem Hussein Berjawi, and Rifaat Ahmad Hussein, who were assassinated alongside Tabtabai in Israel’s strike on the highly populated neighbourhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In an official statement announcing the success of the targeted assassination, the Israeli military described Tabtabai as Hezbollah’s Chief of General Staff and one of the group’s most senior and experienced commanders. According to the statement, Tabtabai had held key roles since the 1980s, including leading the elite Radwan Force, overseeing operations in Syria, directing Hezbollah’s war effort during Israel’s 2024 war on Lebanon, and later spearheading the group’s rebuilding and rearmament. The statement says he was central to developing Hezbollah’s military capabilities and vowed to continue targeting the Lebanese group’s efforts to rebuild.
Lebanese medical sources later reported that 10 children and eight women were among the injuries resulting from the attack.
Massacre in Ein el-Hilweh: An Israeli strike hit on Tuesday, November 18, the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported, killing 13 people – most of whom were between the ages of 14-18 years old. At least four other people were wounded in the attack, the Health Ministry commented in the aftermath of the strike, adding that “ambulances are still transporting more wounded to nearby hospitals.”
Israel said it struck members of the Palestinian armed group Hamas who were operating in a training compound in the refugee camp. “When we say we will not tolerate any threat on our northern border, this means all terrorist groups operating in the region,” the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement. “We will continue to act forcefully against Hamas’s attempts to establish a foothold in Lebanon and eliminate its elements that threaten our security.”
Hamas denied Israel’s claim, calling it a “fabrication” and stressing the group doesn’t have training facilities in Lebanon’s refugee camps. “The Zionist bombardment was a barbaric aggression against our innocent Palestinian people as well as Lebanon’s sovereignty,” it said in a statement. The group’s official Ali Baraka openly condemned the Ain al-Helweh massacre as a crime against humanity fully carried out by Netanyahu’s government, saying it adds to the occupation’s long record of targeting civilians and refugees at home and abroad, warning that the attack on Lebanon’s largest Palestinian camp is part of a wider Zionist effort to undermine the refugee cause and dismantle the camps’ national and social fabric. Baraka said the ongoing bloodshed inside and outside Palestine exposes international failure to hold Israel accountable, and called on all Palestinian factions to unite to protect the camps, defend the right of return, and confront attempts to sow chaos. He affirmed that Hamas will continue working with Lebanese and Palestinian forces to safeguard the camps and strengthen their stability.
On the other hand, Hezbollah published a statement on the massacre, reading: “The bloody crime and sinful act of aggression in Ain al‑Hilweh is an attack on Lebanon and its sovereignty, and a blatant violation of the ceasefire and Resolution 1701, which the enemy continues to breach daily with the clear complicity and partnership of the US administration. Lebanon’s state officials must realize that showing any leniency, weakness, or submission to this enemy only makes it more brutal, savage, and emboldened. Limiting themselves to reactions that do not match the scale of the aggression will only lead to further attacks and massacres.”
“National duty requires taking a firm and unified stance in confronting the enemy’s crimes and deterring its aggression by all possible means, and holding fast to all the elements of strength Lebanon possesses, as they are the only guarantee for thwarting the enemy’s schemes and protecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and security,” the statement concluded.
Israel has killed several officials from Palestinian factions, including Hamas, in Lebanon since it launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. During last fall’s escalation on Lebanon, it only targeted Palestinian camps twice: the northern one of Beddawi, Tripoli, killing a Hamas official and his family; and the southern one of Bourj el-Shemali, Tyre, striking a UNRWA school and killing five.
A frightening escalation: On the eve of Lebanon’s 82nd Independence, Israel has been seriously escalating its violent attacks against the country’s south and Beqaa Valley – with Israeli military aircraft being seen over Beirut, Baalbeck, and the south. Only last Tuesday, November 18, two separate drone strikes killed two people in south Lebanon, one in Bint Jbeil and one in Blida.
Later on Wednesday, November 19, the Israeli army released a video showing what it says are targets in the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif, claiming that Hezbollah is “working to rebuild its capabilities” in the village, and vowing to monitor and “act against these violations.” The residents responded with a statement: “We issue an urgent plea to the Lebanese Army Command and the three presidents to take immediate action and fulfill their national duty by deploying inside the town and providing protection for the unarmed civilian residents, following the false accusations made by the treacherous Zionist enemy.”
“We,” the statement continues, “the residents of Beit Lif—women, men, children, and elderly—have returned to our land and our lives, to our schools and our work, racing the sun as we pursue our livelihood. We will not accept that our land be taken from us under any false pretext. Here we were raised, here we will remain, and here we will die. Let every official do their duty toward our beloved town.” Local reports said that the Lebanese army had entered the village and was conducting patrols.
On the same day, new airstrikes targeted residential buildings and infrastructures in the southern villages of Ainata and Tayr Felsay, after issuing warnings to residents, and the towns of Deir Kifa and Shehour. The strikes targeted houses that the Lebanese army refused to search at the orders of Israel. Earlier in the morning, a drone strike targeted a car in the town of Al-Tayri, Bint Jbeil, killing the treasurer of the municipality, Bilal Shaito, and injuring 11 others – mainly children, as a school bus was near the car that was hit.
After a day of relative calm, on Friday, November 21, an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle on the Froun main road in southern Lebanon, killing Ahmad Ramadan, Hezbollah’s public representative in the town. Earlier the same day, Al Manar’s photo documentation showed Israeli occupation tanks on alert at the newly established position on Mount Balat, facing a group of Lebanese civilians in the adjacent southern Lebanese town of Marwahin.
On Saturday, Israeli warplanes targeted the Naqra Valley on the outskirts of the town of Kafr Hamam, south Lebanon; the slopes of Al-Loaiza; the outskirts of Nabatieh and Sajd, Jezzine; the Al-Jabour Heights; the Jarmaq-Mahmoudiya area; the town of Shmestar in Baalbeck. A vehicle on eastern Zawtar road in southern Lebanon was also targeted in the early morning, killing a young man, Kamel Rida Qronbosh in front of his parents; and another one at night in Wadi Nahleh, near Shaqra, killing Houla’s municipal council member Hussein Yassin Hussein. And on Sunday, before the strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a drone killed Mohammad Saleh as he was repairing his house in Aita al-Shaab.
Salam between Israel and Hezbollah: The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that Israel has assassinated more than 330 people in Lebanon since the ‘ceasefire’ was declared in November 2024. In light of this, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that Israel has refused to enter negotiations to end its occupation of Lebanese territory, despite last November’s ceasefire and public commitments. Salam told Bloomberg that President Joseph Aoun offered to begin talks over Israel’s continued presence at five border outposts, but Tel Aviv has not responded.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister has in fact repeatedly said Beirut is ready for direct negotiations with Israel and will press Washington to explain why Lebanese offers have gone unanswered. He pointed to the 2022 US-brokered maritime deal as proof that diplomacy can work, even amid continuous Israeli attacks and violations. Salam said the Lebanese army has been instructed to widen its deployment in the south as part of a phased security plan, but argued that Israel’s continued hold on five hilltops inside Lebanese territory shows it is using the border to pressure Beirut rather than address security concerns. He added that Lebanon is coordinating with France and Saudi Arabia to bolster the army and stabilize its collapsing finances, while pushing ahead with long-delayed reforms needed to unlock international support.
Salam’s remarks come as his government approved a US proposal to disarm Hezbollah – a decision that the group condemned as a “grave sin” and vowed to ignore it, warning that it would weaken Lebanon against ongoing aggression. As Deputy Head of Hezbollah’s Political Council Mahmoud Qamati stated: “The occupation is trying to impose its will and dominance over the region, but we will not submit no matter what. We are a Lebanese Islamic national resistance, and our primary and ultimate concern is defending and protecting the homeland. We will not disarm or deviate from our methodology, no matter how much the occupation pressures in this direction.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese Armed Forces commander General Rodolphe Haykal said Israel’s occupation and repeated attacks are preventing full army deployment and causing widespread destruction – while the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported over 7,500 Israeli airspace breaches and nearly 2,500 ground violations north of the Blue Line. More than 360 weapons abandoned by Israeli troops were handed to the Lebanese army, and all violations have been formally conveyed to the UN Security Council.
Washington cancels Haikal visit: The scheduled visit by Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander Rudolphe Haikal to Washington was canceled over a recent army statement condemning Israel for its violations and attacks, Lebanese media outlets reported on November 18. Both Al Jadeed and MTV said the US abruptly canceled all of Haikal’s meetings in Washington, adding that the Lebanese embassy also canceled the official reception.
According to the reports, the immediate trigger was Washington’s objection to the Lebanese army’s recent statement, which the US condemned for blaming current tensions on Israel while failing to criticize Hezbollah. This “angered” key members of Congress and sparked internal discussions about the future of US military assistance to Lebanon. MTV cited sources as saying that the issue has now been transferred directly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is leading the “reassessment” of US policy toward Lebanon.
Going forward, US support for the Lebanese army will depend on its alignment with Washington’s positions – particularly on border issues, Hezbollah’s weapons, and any statements perceived as contradicting Washington’s policy toward Israel, the sources added.
The reports coincided with new Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon – and with US senators taking to social media to berate the Lebanese army. “It is clear that the Lebanese Chief Head of Defense – because of a reference to Israel as the enemy and his weak, almost non-existent effort to disarm Hezbollah – is a giant setback for efforts to move Lebanon forward. This combination makes the Lebanese Armed Forces not a very good investment for America,” US Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on X.
US Senator Joni Ernst also said she was “disappointed” by the recent LAF statement and said, “Israel has given Lebanon a real opportunity to free itself from Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.”“Instead of seizing that opportunity and working together to disarm Hezbollah, the army chief is shamefully directing blame at Israel,” she added.
The senators were referring to an LAF statement released on November 16, saying that “the Israeli enemy persists in its violations of Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability in Lebanon and hindering the completion of the Army’s deployment in the south. The latest of these condemned attacks was its targeting of a patrol belonging to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on 16/11/202.” “The Army Command affirms that it is working, in coordination with friendly nations, to put an end to the ongoing violations and breaches committed by the Israeli enemy, which require immediate action as they represent a dangerous escalation,” the statement added.
Since the start of the year, the Lebanese army has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and confiscating arms south of the Litani River in line with the ceasefire deal reached in November 2024. Hezbollah has rejected a Lebanese cabinet decision – adopted in August under heavy US pressure – which called for the group’s full disarmament by the end of the year. The Iran-backed group says it would eventually be willing to discuss incorporating its arms into the Lebanese military as part of a defensive strategy that would keep the weapons available for use if Lebanon is attacked. However, it rejects any discussion of the matter while Israel continues to attack Lebanon and occupy several areas along the southern border.
According to recent reports, Haikal had proposed suspending the disarmament plan until Israel abided by the ceasefire, stopped its daily attacks and withdrew from southern Lebanon. In late August, Lebanese media reports claimed Haikal could potentially resign in the event that he is ordered to place the LAF in confrontation with Hezbollah – risking a civil war.
Nouh Zaiter arrested: On Thursday, November 20, the Lebanese army arrested Nouh Zaiter, a Lebanese national wanted for alleged drug trafficking, two years after he was sanctioned by the US over suspected links to ‘narcotics rings’ in Syria. Although he repeatedly denied receiving political protection, Lebanese authorities failed for years to arrest him despite raids and armed clashes with his followers.
Zaiter had become one of Lebanon’s most notorious fugitives, facing hundreds of in-absentia arrest warrants. Interpol later listed him as a high-risk international fugitive. He openly expressed support for Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, citing his sectarian affiliation and his presence in areas under their influence in the Beqaa, as he also appeared at Hezbollah military sites during the Syrian war and publicly backed both the party and the former Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
Three Lebanese security sources told Reuters that troops detained Zaiter earlier on Thursday, following years of outstanding arrest warrants they said he had previously managed to avoid. In a statement, the Lebanese army said it had taken into custody a man identified by the initials N. Z. in the eastern Beqaa region, near Zaiter’s hometown.
The arrest comes one day after two Lebanese soldiers were killed in clashes in the Beqaa during operations targeting fugitives linked to drug trafficking, the army said on X.
The diaspora voting: The final count of expatriates registered to vote in the parliamentary elections reached 151,985, a drop of 92,457 compared to the 244,442 who registered in 2022.
The decline comes amid a dispute over amending the election law to let expatriates vote from their country of residence for 128 parliamentary seats. On Thursday, 41 MPs signed a second petition urging Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a legislative session to discuss the amendment. Meanwhile, Berri continues to insist that expatriate voting be limited to six seats, one for each continent.
Rabih Alameddine wins the National Book Award: Lebanese American novelist Rabih Alameddine won the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction for his novel The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother). Often regarded as the Oscars of literature, the National Book Awards are among the most prestigious literary prizes in the United States. They recognize outstanding writing across several genres.
His award-winning novel centers on Raja, a 63-year-old philosophy teacher in Beirut, who lives with his octogenarian mother, Zalfa. The story spans six decades, blending dark humor and emotional depth. It explores their complex bond, family memory, and the turbulence of modern Lebanon.
This isn’t the first award that Alameddine received for his extraordinary writing. In fact, his literary career is studded with other significant prizes. In 2022, his novel The Wrong End of the Telescope (2021) won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He also earned the Lannan Literary Award (2021), the John Dos Passos Prize (2019), and, most recently, the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement (2025).
Among his earlier works, An Unnecessary Woman was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2014. The novel is a reflective portrait of a reclusive woman in Beirut who lives through the Lebanese Civil War and finds solace in books. Another novel, The Angel of History, earned the Arab American Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award in 2017.
Alameddine has long cemented his status as a major voice of contemporary diasporic Arab literature, known as a writer who weaves personal, political, and cultural histories into stories that speak far beyond Lebanon.
In The Region
Redrawing southern Syria: In a noticeable escalation, Israeli forces have carried out nearly 60 incursions into southern Syria in November so far, involving heavy shelling, arrests of civilians and combatants, the establishment of military checkpoints, and the bulldozing of roads and farmlands, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.
SOHR noted “the absence of any deterrent” on the part of the Syrian government to “stop this escalation, reflecting the growing security challenges along the country’s southern border,” and reiterated its “firm call on the international community and all concerned parties to take immediate action to put an end to these ongoing assaults.”
On Friday, Israeli forces infiltrated multiple villages in Syria’s central Quneitra countryside, including Umm Batna, Rasm al-Khawaled, Mushayrifah, and Al-Ajraf, state media SANA reported. Citing local sources, Iraq’s Shafaq News reported that another Israeli patrol was seen in the villages of Al-Asbah and Al-Asha, also located in the southern countryside of Quneitra.
The new raids come on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s illegal visit to the occupied Syrian territory on the strategic Mount Hermon on Wednesday.
In the last year, Israel’s presence in southern Syria has shifted from sporadic raids to a broad strategic project aimed at reshaping the region to match its security and economic interests. Press TV reported that from Quneitra to Jabal al-Sheikh, Israeli forces have entrenched themselves across highlands, water basins, and emerging energy corridors, turning the balance of power in the Levant into a contest defined by water and gas.
Jabal al-Sheikh, the highest peak in the region, has become the centerpiece of this expansion, offering surveillance reach from Damascus to the Mediterranean and far into Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. Israeli positions around Quneitra now sit within striking distance of central Damascus, while new footholds in Raqqa overlook vital routes linking the Syrian capital to Beirut and Baalbek.
Analysts highlight that behind the language of protection and stability lies a deeper struggle over the region’s water systems and energy networks. The revival of the Qatar-Turkiye gas pipeline threatens Israel’s own EastMed ambitions, igniting a competition between two rival energy corridors. Meanwhile, control of the Yarmouk River Basin, the Al-Wehda Dam, and the Golan’s water resources has given Israel powerful leverage over Syria and Jordan.
No Palestinian state: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “there will not be a Palestinian state,” saying he will block it even if this stalls normalization with Saudi Arabia. “As simple as that, there will be none. But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of reaching an understanding. Not everything that is said inside is heard outside.” Speaking to the Abu Ali Express Telegram channel, he described Palestinian statehood as an existential threat and said the war in Gaza had slowed talks with Riyadh, although conditions “could develop.”
Netanyahu reiterated his call for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing and ‘allow’ – or rather force – Gaza residents to leave the Strip. “It’s about bloody time,” he said, “go ahead, will you open up?” he asked, “every Gazan should be able to leave, but they’re denied that right.” He added that Israel will reopen the Rafah crossing once it receives the bodies of the remaining hostages.
On Syria, he said a security arrangement with Damascus is “preferable,” but insisted Israel will maintain its border posture and protect allied groups “with or without an agreement.” “First, we’re determined that the terrible invasion of October 7 will not happen again, and we’re talking about all our borders. I think it’s in Syria’s interest, no less than Israel’s, even more than Israel’s, to make a defense treaty with us,” he said to the interviewer.
Netanyahu also raised the possibility of tensions with Turkiye, saying Ankara’s posture during the Gaza war had changed relations. He said Israel prevented Turkish entry into areas of southern and central Syria and indicated the Israeli military will plan according to Turkiye’s future capabilities.
The Israeli Prime Minister added that he intends to expand Israel’s arms production to sharply reduce dependence on the US, saying he wants Israel to be “as self-reliant as possible” over the coming decade.
Overseeing phase two: Israel’s security cabinet has voted for the formation of a ministerial team to oversee phase two of the Gaza ceasefire deal, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported on November 21. The team will be made up of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The formation of the ministerial team was created late on Thursday, the report said. KAN did not include specifics on the actual ceasefire agreement.
Both Ben Gvir and Smotrich were opposed to the ceasefire agreement, which was reached last month. The two ministers repeatedly stood in the way of truce negotiations since the start of the genocide, and consistently called for the starvation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Only three days before, the UN passed a US-drafted resolution to approve the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan – which aims to see an International Stabilization Force (ISF), overseen by a Trump-led ‘Board of Peace’, deployed to Gaza to disarm Hamas. Until then, Israel will be allowed to maintain a “perimeter” presence inside Gaza.
The resolution grants broad privileges and immunities to foreign personnel, including civilian and military actors operating under the Board of Peace and ISF – which will receive legal protections and operational freedom inside Gaza. It also says that if the Palestinian Authority (PA) reforms itself “faithfully” and Gaza’s reconstruction advances, the “conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” – although in contrast with Netanyahu’s latest statements.
Hamas and the other Palestinian factions have slammed the resolution, calling it a “new form” of occupation and an attempt to establish a “guardianship” over Gaza. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) sources who spoke with The Cradle this week said Israel has no intention of moving forward with phase two.
“Advancing to the next phase would amount to acknowledging the failure of its war. Within Israel, the consensus is clear: the military campaign has not been delivered. Formalizing a second phase would confirm that failure, so the political and military leadership prefers to keep the process in limbo – buying time in hopes of regaining lost leverage,” the sources said. “Washington plays both sides. While publicly pressuring Tel Aviv to comply, it simultaneously allows the Israeli military to redefine the terms. This duplicity creates a gray zone that Tel Aviv exploits to its advantage,” they added.
Since the agreement was reached in October, over 300 Palestinians have been killed and at least 750 injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry – with 35 people slaughtered only on the night of Thursday, November 20, 11 of whom were children, and one a newborn baby. The attack, which targeted Gaza City’s Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, began on the eve of World Children’s Day.
“On World Children’s Day, Palestine’s children are victims of organized Zionist terrorism,” Hamas said in a statement after the strikes. “The targeting of children is part of the occupation’s policies aimed at breaking our people’s will, and that the children of Palestine in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the occupied interior will remain symbols of steadfastness and resilience until the end of the criminal occupation,” it added.
EU pushes for PA reforms: The EU on Thursday pushed to advance reforms within the Palestinian Authority (PA) as it hosted 60 delegations in Brussels to discuss Gaza’s reconstruction and governance following the US-brokered ‘peace’ plan. “Our aim is to strengthen governance, build a more resilient economy, stabilize finances, improve services for the population, and create conditions for future effective governance across all territories,” EU Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Suica said.
As part of these initiatives, several EU countries pledged contributions exceeding 80 million €, part of broader support totaling roughly 1.6 billion € over three years that had previously been announced. “Our financial support is linked to the Palestinian Authority reform agenda, which, of course, they committed to implement,” Suica added.
Israel tortures children: Defense for Children International–Palestine (DCIP) has documented the detention and torture of two 17-year-old Palestinian boys, who were seized by Israeli forces in Jenin on October 20. Displaced months earlier by large-scale Israeli military operations in the Jenin refugee camp, the boys were meeting friends in Burqin when soldiers ambushed them, forced them to strip to their underwear, and beat them with fists, rifle stocks, and brass knuckles.
The children were then bound, blindfolded, and taken to multiple locations where soldiers subjected them to hours of cold, forced squatting, verbal abuse, and chemical exposure. They describe being drenched with liquids, blasted with fans in the cold, sprayed in the mouth with an unidentified substance, and denied food and water. According to DCIP, such practices are widespread in Israel’s military detention system, where Palestinian children are routinely arrested at night, held in degrading conditions, and systematically ill-treated in the first hours of custody.
After roughly 24 hours, soldiers abandoned the boys, who were still partially undressed and injured, in a random Jenin neighborhood. A local resident brought them to a hospital, where doctors recorded extensive bruising, swelling, and eye infections. The two continue to experience severe physical pain and psychological trauma. DCIP notes that Israel arrests and prosecutes hundreds of Palestinian children each year in military courts that lack basic due-process protections, despite international law prohibiting the detention and torture of children.
War crimes in the West Bank: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday, November 20, that Israel’s expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nour Shams refugee camps in early 2025 amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, stressing that none of the displaced families have been allowed to return months after the operation dubbed ‘Iron Wall’.
The organization’s 105-page report, named ‘All My Dreams Have Been Erased,’ documents the forced removal of about 32,000 residents during ‘Operation Iron Wall’ in January and February and the demolition of hundreds of homes. HRW researcher Melina Ansari told Reuters that “10 months after their displacement, none of the family residents have been able to go back to their homes,” while the Israeli military claims it demolished civilian infrastructure so militants could not exploit it and did not say when residents could return.
The investigation draws on interviews with 31 displaced Palestinians, satellite imagery, demolition orders, and verified videos. HRW found more than 850 structures destroyed or heavily damaged, while a UN assessment put the figure at 1,460 buildings. Residents described soldiers storming homes, ransacking property, ordering families out via loudspeakers mounted on drones, and bulldozers razing buildings as they fled. Families were left to crowd into relatives’ homes or seek shelter in mosques, schools, and charities. One expelled resident from Jenin Camp told the agency that his family had “no food, no drink, no medicine, no expenses.”
HRW argues that the operation breaches the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the displacement of civilians from occupied territory except temporarily for imperative military reasons or their security, and states that senior officials responsible should be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The expulsions fall a wider escalation in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023, citing nearly 1,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, expanded detention without trial, home demolitions, accelerated settlement building, and a surge in settler violence and torture of detainees. The organization notes UN figures recording at least 264 settler attacks in October, the highest monthly total ever recorded since monitoring began in 2006 – calling on governments to impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials, suspend arms sales and trade benefits, ban settlement goods, and enforce International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza.
An earlier report by Haaretz says senior Israeli security officials believe the occupied West Bank is “on the brink of explosion,” claiming that Israeli commanders are afraid to confront armed settlers backed by ministers and Knesset members. Sources describe the territory as Israel’s “most combustible arena,” noting that neither the government nor the defense establishment has held a strategic discussion on West Bank developments for months.
Russian delegation in Quneitra: Last week, a delegation of Russian military officials was allowed to travel to southern Syria for the first time since the fall of the Assad regime. The delegation conducted reconnaissance operations in Quneitra province on Monday alongside the Syrian Interior Ministry, a day after high-level military talks took place in Damascus, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The convoy visited several locations in the province, including a site near the town of Beit Jinn which used to host a Russian military post. Among the most prominent of the sites toured by the delegation on Monday was the Tulul al-Hamr, one of the most sensitive military positions in the region due to its proximity to the 1973 ceasefire line and its importance for monitoring and surveillance operations towards Israeli forces occupying the Golan Heights.
Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov was among the officials to hold talks with Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra in the Syrian capital on the previous Sunday. Government sources told Al-Jazeera that 190 Russian officials from various ministries and agencies were involved in the talks, which focused on repairing relations following the downfall of the Assad regime.
This is the second time in a month that Syria has hosted a Russian military delegation. A visit last month saw Russian officials discuss ways to rehabilitate the Syrian army, much of whose equipment was destroyed by Israel following Assad’s ouster. The visit also comes a month after Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa made his first trip to Moscow in a sign of thawing ties between Russia and the new authorities in Damascus – as Russia has been keen to mend ties with the country following Assad’s overthrow in a bid to keep control of its Khmeimim airbase and naval base in Tartous. According to information obtained by The Cradle, the Russian command has decided to redeploy its forces to nine military positions in southern Syria, mainly in the Quneitra and Deraa countryside.
These are the positions from which it withdrew during the transitional phase following the ousting of Assad. This move is part of a new Russian strategy to reposition its military influence along the southern border and ensure that no vacuum is created that could be exploited by regional or local powers.
Violence in north Syria: Tensions have reignited between Syrian government troops and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as both sides trade blame over deadly skirmishes that broke out last week. In a statement published on November 20, the Syrian Defense Ministry accused the SDF of “attacking Syrian Arab Army outposts in the Maadan subdistrict, Raqqa” after midnight during the early morning hours, “seizing several positions after heavy targeting with various types of weapons.”
The ministry added that Damascus’s forces “responded to the sources of fire and carried out a direct counterattack, regaining control of the seized positions and expelling the attackers,” holding the SDF “responsible for the repercussions of the attack” and calling it a “treacherous and almost daily renewed aggression.” Hours earlier, the SDF said its forces hit sites in Raqqa that were used by ISIS to launch drone attacks against the Kurdish militias’ positions, and it accused the Syrian army and state-sponsored militias of facilitating the ISIS drone attacks.
“Our forces within the Syrian Democratic Forces are engaging a number of sites that ISIS terrorists directly used to launch unmanned aerial vehicles toward our positions in the Ghanem al-Ali desert east of Raqqa,” the Kurdish group said. The area has been under repeated attacks “by factions affiliated with the Damascus government, coinciding with ISIS activity,” it went on to say, adding that there is “direct coordination between several Damascus-Government factions and ISIS terrorists in targeting our military positions and endangering the security of the region.”
The SDF reported shooting down two ISIS-operated drones late on Wednesday. The group said it analyzed data from the drone and determined that it had been operated by “a group of foreign militants affiliated with the ISIS terrorist organization, stationed at positions held by Damascus government-affiliated factions.” “These findings conclusively confirm the involvement of several factions of the Damascus government in cooperating with foreign ISIS-affiliated elements,” the SDF added.
The new tensions follow positive statements from SDF chief Mazloum Abdi on a deal signed in March between Damascus and the Kurdish group. The deal called for an integration of the SDF into the Syrian army. However, the two sides were in disagreement about the deal’s implementation, particularly the SDF’s wish to remain under Kurdish command and enter the army as a bloc rather than dissolve and conscript. As a result, clashes have intermittently broken out between the two sides over the past several months.
US-Saudi investments: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to raise Saudi investment in the US to 1 trillion $ during a visit to Washington, Reuters reported. The announcement came at a business summit attended by US President Donald Trump, who pressed the crown prince to consider increasing the commitment to 1.5 trillion $.
Saudi and US business leaders also signed 270 billion $ in new agreements at the Kennedy Center, including HUMAIN’s plan to buy 600,000 Nvidia AI chips and a joint venture with Elon Musk’s xAI to build data centers. The investment push reflects Riyadh’s effort to widen economic diversification while deepening its strategic partnership with Washington, particularly in technology, energy, and defense sectors.
Iran to terminate Cairo agreement: Iran notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday that it is terminating the cooperation agreement signed in Cairo in retaliation for the UN nuclear watchdog adopting a new resolution demanding expanded access and information on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Iran’s envoy to the agency, Reza Najafi, said the resolution “will not add anything to the current situation” and described it as “counterproductive” shortly after the Board of Governors approved the text. He warned that it would have “a negative impact on the cooperation that has already started between Iran and the agency.”
According to diplomats who attended the closed session, the 35-member board passed the resolution with 19 votes in favor, three against, and 12 abstentions. The text requires Iran to report “without delay” on the status of its enriched uranium stock and on its nuclear sites that were bombed by Israel and the US during the 12-day war on Iran in June. It also urges Iran to “comply fully and without delay” with its obligations under UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and to provide all information and access requested by the agency.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the IAEA resolution was “unlawful and politically motivated,” initiated by the US and the European troika, and pushed through despite the 15 members voting against or abstaining. He said the move ignored Iran’s goodwill, undermined the agency’s credibility and independence, and would disrupt cooperation. Western members of the board, though, stated that “Iran must resolve its safeguards issues without delay” and called for “practical cooperation through access, answers, restoration of monitoring.”
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful and had earlier cautioned that the resolution would “adversely affect” ongoing cooperation. Najafi noted that Iran had already granted access to “all undamaged facilities,” while inspectors have not been to sites such as Fordow and Natanz since they were hit in the June war. On the other side, the agency says verification of Iran’s uranium stock is “long overdue,” and that it cannot inspect the bombed facilities until Tehran submits updated reports.
The Foreign Minister had previously said that the Cairo agreement with the IAEA was defunct after Europe triggered snapback sanctions, but added that a negotiated solution remains possible if the opposing side acts in good faith. Araghchi confirmed that he informed IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in a formal letter that the agreement is now considered terminated.
Iran prepared for next war: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told The Economist that Tehran is “more prepared” to confront Israel than in the 12-day war in June. “Our missiles are in a better position, quantity-wise and quality-wise. We have learned many lessons during the 12-day war. We understood our weak points and our points of strength, and the Israelis’ weak points,” the Minister said.
“We have worked on all of them, and we are fully prepared, even better than the previous time. It doesn’t mean that we want war. As you know, the best way to prevent a war is to be prepared for that. And we are fully prepared, and I don’t think they would dare to repeat the same mistake and the same failed experience,” he added. Araghchi also highlighted expanded cooperation with Russia following Moscow’s support during the war, describing their ties as an evolving “strategic partnership.”
War continues in Sudan: The Sudanese army has been continuing its advances in North and West Kordofan, south of the country, on Saturday, following clashes with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to military sources. Heavy clashes erupted between the army forces and the RSF in the strategic Um Samima area, which is 50 kilometers west of the provincial capital, El-Obeid, and links North Kordofan and West Kordofan states.
Military sources told Anadolu news agency that the army forces are advancing in North Kordofan, as they carried out attacks with heavy and light weapons against the rebel forces in Um Samima. The sources added that the army and allied forces are advancing along the axis west of Al-Khuwayyi in the West Kordofan state, around 100 kilometers away from El-Obeid.
On Tuesday, the Sudanese army announced significant progress in fighting fronts in the Kordofan states, which is considered by analysts as a step towards the RSF-controlled Darfur region. Meanwhile, the RSF also reported victories in North Kordofan’s Jabal Abu Sunun, Jabal Issa, and Al-Ayyara areas.
On October 26, the RSF militia seized control of El-Fasher and committed massacres of civilians, according to local and international organizations. The RSF currently controls all five states of the Darfur region in western Sudan, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.
The humanitarian suffering in Sudan has deepened due to the ongoing war since April 2023, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of about 13 million people. The director of the Emergency Department at the Humanitarian Aid Commission in White Nile state, Muawiya Mohamed, stated that the region has received more than 16,000 newly displaced persons arriving from North Kordofan and the Darfur region to the west. He noted that White Nile state has become increasingly receiving those fleeing from conflict areas, with the total number of displaced persons exceeding two million.
On his part, Sheldon Yett, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Sudan, stated that the available resources are insufficient to meet the needs of children fleeing the conflict. He added that many children have witnessed crimes against their families and relatives in Al-Fasher.
What We’re Reading
Two faces of monolithic power: In Lebanon, monolithic control does not always arrive as a raised fist, wrote NOW’s columnist Ramzi Abou Ismail. Within this matter lies one of the most important and least-discussed truths about communal power in Lebanon: our communities are governed not only by political monopolies, but by identity monopolies. And each is dangerous in its own way.
A new ambassador: The newly appointed US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, arrived in Beirut on Friday, stepping into the role previously held by Ambassador Lisa Johnson, Rodayna Raydan reported.
Lebanon after the toxins: For years, a segment of Lebanon’s political class has grown accustomed to treating any positive gesture from Saudi Arabia as a “gift,” a “favor,” or a rare moment of grace. The recent praise from a senior Saudi official for Lebanon’s efforts to curb Captagon trafficking was no exception; in Beirut, it was framed as a diplomatic victory and a sort of collective absolution. The opinion of Makram Rabah.
Nouh Zaiter arrested: The Lebanese Army Intelligence arrested fugitive Nouh Zaiter in a major security operation Tuesday, marking one of the most significant detentions in the Bekaa in years, NOW Lebanon reported.
The Lebanese diaspora awaits a new momentum: In 2022, the Lebanese diaspora demonstrated that it could shape political outcomes – but only when an internal movement at home sets the pace. Today, with the absence of any cohesive political and national project or even energy, the fundamental question resurfaces. Where does change truly begin, and who will ignite the next momentum, wondered Houssam El Hed.
Lebanon’s gamble on Saudi economic reconciliation: Saudi Arabia considers easing its four-year import ban on Lebanon, but at one condition: “to preclude the use of Lebanon as a platform for threats to Arab states’ security,” Valeria Rando reported.
The illusion of strategic patience: The killing of Haytam al-Tabtabai, one of Hezbollah’s most seasoned military commanders and chief of staff, again exposes Lebanon to the consequences of a confrontation it neither initiated nor controls, Makram Rabah commented for NOW Lebanon. While Hezbollah has already framed the strike as part of its long confrontation with Israel, the event underscores a deeper structural reality: the organization’s regional entanglements, its entrenched presence in civilian areas, and the Lebanese state’s inability to shield its population from the repercussions of both.
