Israel strikes Iranian military and nuclear sites, Hezbollah backs away from conflict with Israel after Lebanese government warning, Israel opens fire on Palestinians seeking aid, Egyptian authorities detain and deport dozens of pro-Palestinian activists in Global March for Gaza, US rejects Palestinian statehood, Israel guilty of extermination in attacks on Gaza schools and cultural sites, Netanyahu ready for Syria talks after Sharaa-Trump meeting, Israel attacks Yemen attempting to assassinate senior Houthi figure, US prepares to evacuate embassy in Iraq, authorizes family members to leave Middle East, Israeli army kills civilian and detains seven in southern Syria, Syria’s interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has escaped two assassination attempts in recent months, Lebanon risks losing US support over delays on Hezbollah, Senior Trump envoy expected to travel to Beirut this week, Investigative Judge Tarek Bitar sets new hearing for Ghazi Zeaiter for June 27, Sudanese army accuses Libya’s Haftar of joint border attack with RSF, Severe levels of hunger, destitution and desperation found in the town of Jabal Awliya, south of Khartoum
Two countries. One with nuclear capabilities, the other attempting to develop some. The first, ostentatiously maintaining a policy of ambiguity, never officially denying nor admitting to having nuclear weapons – yet believed to possess, starting since 1967, a stockpile range between 90 and 400 nuclear warheads. The second, hit in the midst of extremely delicate talks about uranium enrichment and the hypothesis of lifting sanctions with its ancient American rival, which yesterday, Sunday, June 15, would have reached their sixth round: and were obviously suspended.
One – after repeating over the years that it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East – it is indeed the first entity to do so in the region, and the sixth in the whole world. Not signatory, despite international pressure, of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), it argues that nuclear controls cannot be implemented in isolation of other ‘security issues’: the same old pretext to justify its settler colonial – and now genocidal – behaviors. And if when, in November 2023, at the very beginning of the Gaza war, the junior Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu publicly considered dropping a nuclear bomb over Gaza, which some took to be a tacit admission that Israel possesses such a capability, the world was in shock – even if just for a few hours -, today such an admission would not anymore be surprising: to neutralize with the atomic bomb the resistance of missiles and urban guerrilla. Something that only the mad, blind Israeli violence would be able to conceive of.
And while Iran – signatory of the Treaty, yet for the first time in twenty years declared in breach of its non-proliferation obligations by the UN nuclear watchdog – has been constantly denying that its uranium enrichment programme is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing weapons of mass destruction – Netanyahu has pledged to continue the attacks for as many days as it takes to stop Iran from developing a nuclear threat. The result – apart from the terror that erupted among civilians, and the fragile but emblematic suspension of internal tensions within the Islamic Republic in the face of the great, hated external enemy – is that, with Friday’s unprovoked attacks, Israel may have just pushed Iran across the nuclear line: while formally meant to prevent Iran from going nuclear, the strikes may instead have pushed it to build the bomb – and draw the region into wider conflict.
For those who hesitated to define what has been simmering for years in the Middle East as, indeed, a world conflict – the clashes between Israel and Iran in recent hours must dispel any doubts. Beyond simplistic versions of the struggle between the axis of good and the axis of evil, of abstract ‘clash of civilizations’ theorized by the likes of Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, it is indeed a confrontation of interests, power balances, and, for once, between military capabilities that are, if not equal, at least comparable.
Already provoked with the assassination, on his own soil, of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh – killed at the end of last July by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying; with the mysterious one of then-President Ebrahim Raisi – who died with seven other people, in May 2024, when the helicopter they were travelling in came down near the border with Azerbaijan; and with the Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1st of the same year – where sixteen people were killed, including eight officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and two Syrian civilians -, the Islamic Republic had responded, beyond the arming of its proxies in the region, with open threats of a severe but patient retaliation, to be expected at the right time, or with some purely performative missile rain. At least until this time.
The prologue
By long tradition, theatre needs a prologue: and war ones make no exception. The prologue is more than just a beginning; it fills that marginal space between the conventionalities of everyday living – what we got used to: the genocide in Gaza, the ongoing targeted strikes in south Lebanon, the silent and expanding land annexation in the occupied West Bank, the massive bombardments in Yemen, the complicit silence of the Arab and Western world – and the conventionalities of living in another era: that marked by Israel’s attacks against Iran, on June 13: the unimaginable threat of nuclear consequences. The prologue mediates one and the other, educates the audience to its own role, blinkers the public into its different way of seeing, prepares it for reflexivity and criticism, and liberates its interpretative skills.
By tradition, too, the deliverer of the prologue enters by a ‘stage door’ that is not part of the scenery but marks a special entry place of someone who for the moment is neither actor nor audience, but in between, distant by being a mediator, dangerous by being an ironist, disturbing by being a relativist. When, on Wednesday, June 11, the US government ordered the departure of staff from its embassy in Iraq while the Pentagon authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from all the Middle East, the audience – us – started being on alert.
Sources familiar with US assessments and intelligence said that there was some evidence that Iran-backed militias in Iraq and other parts of the region were preparing to attack US interests in the region, while negotiations on a new nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran had taken a hit with both sides hardening their respective stances. Iran’s defense minister said that his country would attack US bases if the nuclear talks failed, leading to war. At the same time, Israel had also previously expressed an interest and willingness to attack Iran’s nuclear sites despite opposition from US President Donald Trump, who said he preferred a diplomatic solution: at least formally, as the American mask later admitted it backed its ally by being aware of the attack being prepared, and not impeding it – despite having vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s supreme leader.
On the other side, Axios, citing Israeli officials, reported that the operation against Iran was carried out after eight months of intensive and secret preparations with the green light of the United States. What is clear is that Wednesday’s directives from the State Department and Pentagon started sending alarm bells ringing across Washington and the Middle East with speculation increasing over the potential for escalation or an Israeli attack.
A rapid escalation
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran, targeting nuclear and military sites as well as senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Among those killed were General Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC, and Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters – who both had played pivotal roles in Iran’s intervention in Syria, overseeing Iranian forces and institutions in the country until the fall of the Assad regime; Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff; Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council; and six senior nuclear scientists: Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, Fereydoun Abbasi, Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, Amir Hossein Faghihi, and Motallebzadeh.
The attacks, which involved over 200 Israeli aircraft, were carried out without direct US military support, although the US had prior knowledge. In response, Israel declared a state of emergency, closed schools and public institutions, and began preparing for potential Iranian missile retaliation.
Later on Friday, the Israeli army indicated that the ‘first phase’ of the military operation against Iran was completed. However, it would last “as many days as necessary,” warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, specifying that the uranium enrichment site at Natanz center had been targeted. Iranian state television had previously reported loud explosions at different points in the capital, without providing details on the sites hit, among the many civilian infrastructures.
Israeli strikes continued over the weekend and into Monday, as the Israeli army targeted air defenses around Tehran and claimed they had gained control of the skies over the capital. Israel’s military said it had hit more than 80 targets in Tehran since Saturday, including the Defense Ministry headquarters and missile launchers used to strike Israel and defend Iran, as Iran’s IRNA news agency reported on Sunday that five targeted assassinations were reportedly carried out in Tehran using car bombs. The Iranian Oil Ministry also said Israel had targeted two fuel depots in the Tehran area, accusing Israel of hitting civilian areas in Tehran, with the Health Ministry reporting that Israeli strikes had killed 224 people since Friday.
Restoring deterrence
The Islamic Republic’s response did not wait to arrive. Iran has launched several waves of missiles at Israel since Friday, with Israeli authorities saying on Sunday that 14 people had been killed since Friday and 390 injured. Rescuers and medics said a strike late on Saturday destroyed a three-storey building in the town of Tamra, killing four women, and six people were killed and at least 180 injured at the site of a missile strike in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv: while the trails strewn across the sky from the hundreds of missiles launched were visible from all over the Near East.
Meanwhile, Iran warned the US, UK and France that their military bases and ships would be targeted if they helped block the Iranian missile and drone retaliation for Israel’s attack. US officials told some media that American air defense systems and a Navy destroyer helped Israel shoot down some incoming ballistic missiles on Friday. The UK was also moving jets and other military assets to the Middle East, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to rule out defending Israel.
Analysts said that with its awaited retaliation, Iran was not only trying to respond to Israel’s military bombardment of the country, but also to establish deterrence. Other attacks will likely happen in different stages and could continue for some time, as the country is also trying to strengthen its air defense system to be able to fend off Israeli attacks.
Eventually, while a world war scenario unfolds – taking on the dark hues of a conflict, if not openly nuclear, at least with unimaginable consequences for the region – Israel’s attack on Iran proved to be the best way not only to sabotage the Franco-Saudi conference on the recognition of the State of Palestine, but also – and especially – to silence the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has been isolated for more than 24 hours after the cut to the internet cables, before water is also at risk to be cut. The total communications blackout last Thursday cut off contact between the Gaza Palestinian Crescent’s rescue teams and the operations center in Ramallah, which dispatches ambulances to the distress calls. Israel destroyed the infrastructure that guaranteed internet and landlines, isolating the Strip during the bombardment: and making the already ‘news-anesthetized’ world receive less and less updates. International organizations and the United Nations denounced the serious humanitarian consequences of the attack and the Palestinian Telecommunications Authority called for international intervention to ensure safe access for technical teams to sites hit by Israel. But the army did not respond to requests to coordinate repair efforts and instead used mobile lines to contact hundreds of Palestinians, ordering them to evacuate immediately.
In Lebanon
Spared, for now: The war that began on Friday between Iran and Israel threatens at any moment to sweep the rest of the region, especially Lebanon, into a new cycle of violence. The Lebanese state mobilized to avoid such a scenario, 200 days after the cease-fire agreement that ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah, from which the country has yet to recover, with ongoing violations of the agreement from the Israeli side in form of targeted strikes, evacuation orders in densely-populated neighborhoods, constant drones’ buzzling, and a protracted land occupation.
However, the deputy prime minister, Tarek Mitri, sought to reassure people, saying that Hezbollah did not wish to involve Lebanon in the ongoing war. Lebanon has unequivocally condemned the Israeli aggression against Iran, which is a violation of the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty, as well as its diplomacy.
In parallel, Hezbollah has said that it will go back to the Lebanese state before making a decision on war or peace with Israel, effectively ruling out any armed response to Israel’s strikes on its key ally and benefactor. In a statement, the ‘Party of God’ condemned the Israeli strikes on Iran, saying they were a “dangerous violation of all red lines.” It also expressed its “full solidarity with the leadership and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Following the Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic, the Lebanese army increased its deployment south of Litani beginning a widespread combing operation. It also deployed in force near Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, particularly in the south of the country.
Disarming the Palestinian camps: The Lebanese government had set today, June 16, as the launch date for the plan in camps near Beirut, in accordance with the joint plan agreed upon by President Joseph Aoun and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas. However, serious doubts loom over the modus operandi of this highly sensitive operation and whether the concerned parties, namely the Lebanese Army on one side and the multitude of Palestinian factions on the other, are actually ready for the test.
While the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah, affiliated with the Palestinian president, expressed their readiness to help on the ground throughout the process, the other factions, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, were still hesitant and stated contradictory things.
A forward escape that seems to align with that of their Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, which also refuses to hand over its weapons north of the Litani River, hoping to buy time until the regional geopolitical landscape becomes clearer. The stalemate in negotiations between Iran and the United States on the nuclear dossier has encouraged this trend, even temporarily redistributing the cards.
According to sources close to the matter and reported by local media outlets, the start date of June 16 is not sacred: the process might in fact be delayed by a few days. Especially since the preliminary preparations do not seem in place and information on this subject is distributed sparingly.
According to Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour, a delegation of Palestinian security representatives is expected in the coming days in Beirut to finalize the implementation mechanism. Earlier in June, a similar delegation came to consult with the Lebanese authorities to coordinate their actions. Led by Azzam al-Ahmad, secretary-general of the PLO, also in charge of relations with Lebanon, the delegation, consisting of three senior Palestinian security officials, committed to return with a plan at hand to launch the first phase.
The operation was supposed to begin with the less complicated camps – namely those in Beirut and its suburbs, where the presence of weapons is limited or entirely absent outside of a few light arms in the hands of joint security committees. The idea was to tackle the simplest first, to send a clear message to the more difficult ones. This first test would be followed by operations in camps in the north and finally, the most delicate stage, the camps in the south, including Ain al-Hilweh near Saida, which houses a multitude of rival armed factions. But in the end, even the first stage appeared difficult, as Lebanese and Palestinians continued to go back and forth.
At risk of losing support: The Trump administration remains hopeful that Lebanon’s government will fulfill its commitments to the international community – chiefly disarming Hezbollah and implementing key economic and financial reforms. But without tangible progress, Beirut risks losing US support, American officials and sources familiar with internal deliberations said.
Several US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, pushed back on speculation that Washington is shifting its Lebanon policy. However, they stressed that patience within the administration is wearing thin.
Among the rumors circulating is that the US and Israel have agreed not to renew the mandate for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which comes up for a vote in August. A State Department official rejected the claim, calling it inaccurate, although US officials are considering changes to the mandate’s language, citing the need for more effective enforcement.
A delegation from the State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs was set to visit Beirut last week as part of ongoing policy discussions in the lead-up to the UN vote. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Defense Minister has called for an unconditional renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate.
In a separate development, Tom Barrack – US ambassador to Turkey and recently appointed special envoy for Syria – will travel to Lebanon this week, according to officials familiar with his plans. Barrack, a close ally of President Donald Trump who previously held Lebanese citizenship, is expected to assess progress on disarmament and reform. He will also explore the possibility of initiating border demarcation talks between Lebanon and Syria following his meetings with Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Focus on Hezbollah’s weapons: Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Morgan Ortagus recently underscored the Lebanese government’s responsibility to disarm Hezbollah. Despite unconfirmed reports that she had been removed from her post, Ortagus remains in her role, according to the State Department website.
While the LAF has deployed to areas it previously was unwilling or incapable of deploying to, “there’s a lot more to go,” Ortagus said. She said Lebanese authorities had done “more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years.”
Under a ceasefire agreement reached last November, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River while Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon. Yet Hezbollah says it will not discuss its remaining weapons until the Israeli occupation of five border points ends.
Washington maintains that Hezbollah must fully disarm and dismantle its military infrastructure throughout Lebanon, not just the south. Officials welcomed Beirut’s recent decision to enter and demilitarize Palestinian refugee camps – long governed by the 1969 Cairo Agreement – but remain wary that this move could be a diversion from the more pressing Hezbollah file. “We need to see more than declarations,” a US official said. “The issue of Hezbollah’s arms must be addressed swiftly.”
Investigation reopened: Investigative Judge Tarek Bitar, in charge of the Beirut Port explosion investigation, set a new hearing for former Public Works Minister and MP Ghazi Zeaiter for June 27. Zeaiter was represented by his lawyer Samer al-Hajj, who submitted to Bitar a document showing that his client filed a state liability lawsuit against the acts and decisions of Bitar on Thursday. The lawyer also presented a brief arguing that Zeaiter is an MP and that Parliament is in extraordinary session, which implies that the MP is protected by parliamentary immunity.
On October 29, 2021, the former Public Works Minister filed procedural exceptions stating that his prosecution is the responsibility of the High Court tasked with prosecuting presidents and ministers. Bitar has not yet responded to these procedural exceptions, as the requests were sent to the prosecutor’s office, which has not yet given its opinion. However, this body must do so before the June 27 hearing, so that the magistrate can address these procedural exceptions.
When, on August 4, 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history devastated a significant part of the Lebanese capital – killing more than 220 people and injuring over 6,500 – an investigation was opened in Lebanon, but Judge Bitar had to suspend his investigations in January 2023, facing hostility from a large part of the political class, notably Hezbollah, as well as a series of legal actions against him. He resumed his investigations in early 2025 and has already questioned several former officials, including former Prime Minister Hassan Diab and former Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk.
In The Region
Shooting on famine: Israel’s most recent attacks have killed at least 15 Palestinians and wounded many others waiting to receive aid in central Gaza in the latest assault on aid seekers in recent weeks. According to local sources, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians on Saturday, June 14, as they gathered around relief distribution points operated and organized by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a controversial US-backed group launched at the end of May after Israel imposed a total blockade on all supplies to Gaza for nearly three months, which the United Nations says pushed the enclave’s 2.3 million people to the verge of famine.
Since its operations began, more than 274 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food at distribution sites, which are guarded by US private military contractors and overseen by Israeli forces. The new aid system, which limits food distribution to a small number of hubs guarded by American security contractors, seeks to wrest distribution away from aid groups led by the United Nations.
The UN and aid organizations have accused the US and Israel-backed GHF, which employs private American security and logistics workers, of militarizing humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) described the US-Israeli distribution model as a “recipe for chaos,” noting that it is “also a distraction from the ongoing atrocities and a waste of resources.” “It is weaponizing aid and resulting in fear, discrimination, and growing desperation,” it added in a post on X. The UN agency urged for the blockade on the Gaza Strip to be lifted and for the UN to resume operations, stressing that “aid must be delivered safely and at scale.” In another post, the agency warned that restrictions and hostilities continue to obstruct humanitarian aid deliveries in the Strip.
Since the early hours of Saturday, Israeli shelling has killed more than 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, with the Wafa news agency reporting the heaviest bombardment in the central region. In Gaza City, several were killed and wounded after a strike hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians near al-Khaldi Mosque. Meanwhile, artillery shelling was reported in al-Tuffah neighborhood, in Gaza’s Old City. Reports from the south of the enclave noted that at least three Palestinians were killed in a drone strike near the Islamic University in Khan Younis. In the same governorate, Israeli troops launched attacks targeting the Hamad City residential towers and the Asdaa area, with tanks opening fire on displaced Palestinians.
Guilty of extermination: Israeli attacks on Gaza’s education and cultural infrastructure amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination, a UN investigation body has said. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, published its findings in a new report on Tuesday. It found that Israeli air strikes, shelling, burning and controlled demolitions had damaged or destroyed more than 90 percent of schools and university buildings across the Gaza Strip. That destruction has made it impossible for 658,000 children in Gaza to have an education over the past two years.
The report – which will be officially presented to the UN Human Rights Council on 17 June – said Israeli forces had committed war crimes, “including directing attacks against civilians and wilful killing, in their attacks on educational facilities that caused civilian casualties”. It also documented cases in which Israeli forces used educational buildings as military bases. One example cited was the conversion of al-Azhar University’s al-Mughraqa campus into a synagogue for Israeli troops.
The report found that over half of Gaza’s religious and cultural sites had been damaged or destroyed, including places where civilians had sought refuge: Israeli forces either knew or should have known the cultural significance of such sites, but failed to prevent harm, the commission found. The report included Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where authorities appropriated, developed and profited from cultural heritage sites representing Palestinian, Jewish and other cultures, while displacing Palestinian residents.
The commission called on Israel to immediately cease attacks on educational and cultural institutions, end occupation and settlement activities, and comply with international law. Israel withdrew from the council earlier this year, accusing it of being biased against Israel: when, in March, the commission accused Israel of committing “genocidal acts” by destroying reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded at the time by labelling the council “an anti-Semitic, corrupt, terror-supporting, and irrelevant body.”
Towards Rafah, arrested: Egyptian authorities have detained and deported dozens of pro-Palestinian activists planning to take part in a march intended to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza, airport officials and protest organizers have said. Thousands of activists from around the world have been planning to trek to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian territory on Friday as part of the Global March to Gaza, demanding the entry of humanitarian aid into the blockaded territory.
But Egyptian officials have been cracking down on international visitors planning to participate in the march, detaining them at Cairo airport and hotels in the Egyptian capital for questioning, and arresting and deporting dozens on Thursday.
An Egyptian official told The Associated Press that authorities had deported more than three dozen activists, most of whom held European passports, on arrival at Cairo International Airport in the past few days. The official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to brief the media, said that the deported activists had intended to travel to Northern Sinai “without obtaining required authorizations”.
The Reuters news agency reported that at least 73 foreign nationals had been deported on a flight to Istanbul on Thursday, with 100 more at the airport awaiting deportation – while Saif Abukeshek, spokesperson for the Global March to Gaza, told the AFP news agency that more than 200 activists had been detained at Cairo airport or questioned at hotels in the city. Among those detained were nationals from the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Algeria and Morocco. He told AFP that plainclothes officers had gone to Cairo hotels on Wednesday with lists of names, questioning activists, searching their belongings and confiscating their phones in some cases.
The march’s organizers said in a statement that they had followed guidelines laid out by the Egyptian government, and indicated they would proceed with the march as planned. “We look forward to providing any additional information the Egyptian authorities require to ensure the march continues peacefully as planned to the Rafah border,” said the statement.
From its side, Egypt has denounced the restrictions on aid entering Gaza, and said that its side of the Rafah border crossing remains open, but that the Palestinian side has been blocked by Israel since the war broke out. Cairo has warned that only those with authorization will be allowed to travel the planned march route. “Egypt holds the right to take all necessary measures to preserve its national security, including the regulation of the entry and movement of individuals within its territory, especially in sensitive border areas,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israel, whose diplomatic ties with Cairo are a sensitive issue in Egypt, has called on Egyptian authorities to prevent the march from reaching the border. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz referred to the activists as “jihadist protesters” on Wednesday, saying their presence at the border “would endanger the safety of Israeli soldiers and will not be allowed”.
Adding moral pressure: The marchers planned to travel by bus to the city of El Arish in the Sinai Peninsula before walking about 50 kilometers to the border with Gaza. They intend to join a convoy of activists that left Tunisia on Monday, travelling overland to support the action. The organizers say they aim to “create international moral and media pressure” to open the border crossing at Rafah and lift the aid blockade on Gaza, which the United Nations has described as “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Israel imposed a total blockade in March as part of its war on Gaza, in which it has now killed more than 55,000 Palestinians. It allowed for a limited amount of aid to flow last month, but distribution has been plagued with problems, including deadly Israeli violence against aid seekers, and experts say the volumes are far below what is required.
The Global March for Gaza is the second attempt by international activists to break the siege on Gaza this month, after the Madleen ship attempted to travel to the Palestinian territory by sea with aid on board. The ship, which had, among others, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, French European Parliament member Rima Hassan, and Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter Omar Faiad on board, was seized by Israeli forces on Monday as it travelled through international waters.
The British-flagged yacht Madleen, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was aiming to deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there. However, the boat was intercepted early last week before it could reach Gaza, the FFC said on its Telegram account. Israel had vowed to prevent the vessel from reaching the besieged Strip, with defense minister Israel Katz saying on Sunday that Israel’s military would use “any means necessary” to stop it from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza. Contact with the activists was soon cut off, and the crew were ordered to turn off their phones.
Adalah, the legal centre representing those forcibly detained on the aid flotilla Madleen, said it demanded the “immediate release” of the remaining volunteers and for their departure via Jordan. The three still detained Freedom Flotilla volunteers – Marco van Rennes, Pascal Maurieras, and journalist Yanis Mhamdi – remain in Israeli custody in the Givon Prison. “Adalah has just issued an urgent letter to Israeli authorities requesting that the volunteers be permitted to exit the country via Jordan, to return to their home countries,” a statement by Adalah said on Saturday. “This request follows reports that flights have resumed from Amman earlier today. Their continued detention is unlawful and a part of Israel’s ongoing violations of international law.”
Restrictions in the West Bank: Israeli forces have enforced a strict lockdown for consecutive days across the occupied West Bank, sealing off towns and villages with military checkpoints and iron gates as military raids intensified in several areas. According to Palestinian media, checkpoints and roadblocks remain in place, severely restricting Palestinian movement since their implementation on Friday, following Israel’s attacks on Iran.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Israeli forces have intensified their presence in West Bank cities such as Ramallah and Al-Bireh, setting up military checkpoints at all major entry and exit points.
Wafa reported that key junctions – including Rawabi, Ein Siniya, and Atara – saw the re-establishment of checkpoints, while access routes near Jerusalem, such as Jaba’ and Karamelo, and Taybeh, were sealed off, effectively isolating the governorate. In Jericho, Wafa also reported that Israeli troops continued to restrict access to and from the city through all primary and secondary checkpoints surrounding it.
Meanwhile in Nablus, the Israeli army reportedly established additional checkpoints around the city, with near-complete closures imposed at Deir Sharaf and the eastern gate of Beit Furik. The city’s southern checkpoints at Yatma, Aqraba, and Zaatara were also reported to be subjected to heavy restrictions. Other key checkpoints and roadblocks were imposed across various West Bank towns and cities, such the Jordan Valley’s Tubas Governorate, Salfit and Qalqilya. Local Palestinian reports also indicated that Israeli troops fired live ammunition at anyone attempting to approach the checkpoints on foot.
The newest crackdown comes amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the occupied Palestinian territory, which intensified on Saturday amid its broader offensive on Gaza. According to Al Jazeera Arabic, widespread raids and arrests were carried out, with at least two Palestinians injured by live fire.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported treating a young man with a hand injury during a raid in Qabatiya, south of Jenin. In Tulkarm refugee camp, the Qatar-based media also reported that a 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg as Israeli forces continued their presence in the city for the 139th consecutive day.
Palestinian media also said Israeli troops were deployed to Qabatiya following the infiltration of special forces, who arrested several youths. In Qalqilya, Israeli troops reportedly detained a resident named as Akef Nazzal after raiding and ransacking his home and also arrested the father of Palestinian prisoner Samah Hijjawi.
According to Palestinian authorities, at least 938 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since October 2023.
Not in their lifetime: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday, June 10, that Washington is not committed to a Palestinian state as a policy goal, calling on “Muslim-controlled countries” to “carve out” land for Palestinians. “I don’t think so,” Huckabee told Bloomberg when asked if Palestinian statehood is still an eventual goal. “Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it,” he said, adding that this would not happen “in our lifetime.” “Where is it gonna be? Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?” he went on to say, using the biblical name for the occupied West Bank often used by Israel.
Israel’s acceleration of illegal annexation plans and expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank are clearly designed to eliminate the possibility of any Palestinian state. As mass displacement and land theft continue in the occupied West Bank, Israel is carrying out a new operation in the Gaza Strip aimed at displacing the entirety of the population and bringing the enclave under Israeli control. Tel Aviv is pushing a US plan to expel Gaza’s population to other countries.
This month, France and Saudi Arabia will co-chair a UN conference aimed at resurrecting the idea of the two-state solution. Paris had reportedly been lobbying EU states to recognize Palestinian statehood at the upcoming conference – but has now backtracked, according to diplomats cited by The Guardian. The conference will instead focus on outlining steps toward recognition, contingent on several measures, including a ceasefire in Gaza and reform of the Palestinian Authority (PA). France has faced significant US pressure over the recognition plans, and Israel has vowed to escalate settlement expansion if such a decision is taken.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on June 6 that Tel Aviv has prepared an “escalation plan” in the occupied West Bank if European countries move forward with a push to recognize a Palestinian state. “We have an escalation plan in the West Bank if France and other European countries continue to push for recognition of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich said. He added that the Israeli plan “includes imposing sovereignty over Area C in the West Bank, displacing the residents of Khan al-Ahmar, and disrupting the banking system,” he added.
One day earlier, Smotrich participated in a tour of new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Finance Minister said during the tour that he has issued direct instructions to Israel’s Settlement Directorate to expedite the legalization of new settlements and develop a plan to impose “Israeli sovereignty” on all remaining land in the occupied West Bank, according to Hebrew outlet Channel 7. “We don’t raise slogans, we implement them. Every inch of this land must become an integral part of Israel,” Smotrich added.
In July last year, Israel’s Knesset passed a vote overwhelmingly and categorically rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. Several weeks before that, Spain, Ireland, and Norway announced their official recognition of Palestine as a state.
Washington had previously maintained that statehood for Palestine could only be achieved through direct agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, and that it would only support the idea as part of a negotiated settlement.
In Yemen: The Israeli media said on Saturday that the Israeli military recently attacked Yemen, attempting to assassinate senior Houthi figure. The Iran-backed Ansar Allah, better known as Houthis, who control parts of Yemen, have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships plying the Red Sea since November 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
At the same time, the movement announced on Sunday that it had carried out missile attacks on Israel in coordination with Iran, marking the first public declaration of such cooperation between Tehran and an allied militia during an active strike. Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Houthis, stated that the group had targeted the city of Yafa, with multiple ballistic missiles between Saturday and Sunday.
In a televised speech, Saree said that “in support of the oppressed peoples of Palestine and Iran, and in response to the crime of starvation and thirst imposed by the Zionist enemy on our brothers in Gaza, the missile forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation targeting sensitive Israeli positions in the occupied area of Jaffa using several hypersonic ballistic missiles.” And he added that “this operation was coordinated with the ongoing military actions by the Iranian army and the Revolutionary Guard against the criminal Zionist enemy.”
Earlier, the Israeli army reported air raid sirens activated in several areas due to missile launches from Iran and Yemen. On Friday, June 13, Israeli authorities reported that a missile fired from Yemen struck the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. However, the Houthis did not claim responsibility for that incident.
The group has continued attacking Israel with missiles and drones, most of which have been intercepted, framing their actions as solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where war has raged between Israel and Hamas since October 7, 2023. In response, Israel has conducted a series of airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen. Earlier this year, the United States launched heavy strikes on the group, though President Donald Trump later halted the campaign after the group agreed to cease attacks on American vessels.
Leaving Iraq: The US government ordered the departure of staff from its embassy in Iraq on Wednesday while the Pentagon authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from the Middle East. “The safety and security of our service members and their families remains our highest priority, and US Central Command (CENTCOM) is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East,” a US defense official told Al Arabiya English.
CENTCOM and the State Department were coordinating with each other and with Middle Eastern partners to “maintain a constant state of readiness to support any number of missions around the world at any time,” the official added. A State Department official said that Washington had decided to reduce its footprint at the embassy in Iraq “based on our latest analysis.”
Sources familiar with US assessments and intelligence said that there was some evidence that Iran-backed militias in Iraq and other parts of the region were preparing to attack US interests in the region. In addition, negotiations on a new nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran have recently taken a hit with both sides hardening their respective stances. Iran’s defense minister said that his country would attack US bases if the nuclear talks failed, leading to war.
Israel had also previously expressed an interest and willingness to attack Iran’s nuclear sites despite opposition from US President Donald Trump, who has said he prefers a diplomatic solution. But Wednesday’s directives from the State Department and Pentagon sent alarm bells ringing across Washington and the Middle East with speculation increasing over the potential for escalation or an Israeli attack.
Israel-Syria talks: Israeli officials told Axios that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled readiness to begin negotiations with the new Syrian government under US mediation, marking the first such talks between Israel and Syria since 2011, which would be particularly remarkable given recent history. The talks aim to update the 1974 disengagement agreement and pursue a peace deal. According to the report, US envoy Thomas Barrack visited both Damascus and Tel Aviv and assured both sides that new agreements were possible.
Also, peace between Syria and Israel is “very possible” according to evangelical pastor Rev. Johnnie Moore, who was appointed head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) last week, following a meeting in Damascus with Syria’s interim President. Moore was accompanied by Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a US Jewish human rights organization, who have long worked to promote Israeli normalization in Western Asia. The pair met with Sharaa late Monday at the presidential palace. While the trip was not specifically intended to address Syria-Israel relations, the subject did arise during their discussion.
The disclosure of these and other communications signals recent progress in negotiations between the Syrian government and Israel: indirect contacts have advanced to a direct meeting between officials from both sides in the Golan area, a clear shift in engagement that may lay the groundwork for future political steps.
However, when former Islamist militant Ahmad al-Sharaa swept the Assad regime from power, Israel responded with waves of airstrikes that systematically destroyed what was left of the Syrian air force, navy, air defense and missile systems. Israel also took control of the buffer zone between the countries and occupied territory inside Syria. The Netanyahu government was highly concerned about the new Turkey-backed Syrian government, and lobbied the Trump administration to move cautiously in engaging with it. The Israelis were shocked when Trump met with al-Sharaa last month in Saudi Arabia and announced the lifting of all US sanctions imposed on Syria.
Despite their concerns about al-Sharaa, though, Israel officials also see the changing circumstances – particularly with the departure of Iran and Hezbollah from Syria – as a chance for a breakthrough. The Netanyahu government in fact started engaging with the al-Sharaa, first indirectly by exchanging messages through third parties and then directly in secret meetings in third countries, two Israeli officials said. A senior Israeli official told Axios last week that al-Sharaa is more favorable than Israel thought and doesn’t take his marching orders from Ankara. “It is better for us that the Syrian government is close to the US and Saudi Arabia,” the official said.
Behind the scenes: Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and longtime Trump confidant, visited Israel last week and met Netanyahu and other senior officials. The Israelis took Barrack to the border area with Syria in the Golan Heights and to the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, a strategic outpost the Israel Defense Forces took over after the collapse of the Assad regime.
A week prior, Barrack was in Damascus. He met al-Sharaa and reopened the US ambassador’s residence in the Syrian capital. While in Damascus, Barrack called the conflict between Syria and Israel “a solvable problem” and stressed the two countries should “start with just a non-aggression agreement.”
When Barrack met Netanyahu last week, the Israeli Prime Minister told him he wanted to use the momentum from the Trump-al-Sharaa meeting to start US-mediated negotiations with Syria, an Israeli official said. A senior Israel official said Netanyahu’s goal is to try and reach a set of agreements, starting with an updated security deal based on the 1974 disengagement of forces agreement, with modifications, and ending with a peace deal between the countries.
After his visit to Israel, Barrack traveled to Washington and briefed President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “I can assure you the President’s vision with the Secretary’s execution is not only hopeful but achievable,” he wrote on X.
Red lines: A US official said the Israelis presented to Barrack their “red lines” on Syria: no Turkish military bases in the country, no renewed Iranian and Hezbollah presence and the demilitarization of southern Syria. The Israelis told Barrack they will keep their forces in Syria until a new agreement is signed that includes the demilitarization of southern Syria, an Israeli official said.
The official added that in a new future border deal with Syria, Israel wants to add US forces to the UN force that was previously stationed on the border.
One last big question mark in any future Israeli-Syrian peace talks will be the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 war. In every round of talks with Israel over the last three decades the Assad regime demanded a full or almost full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights in return for peace. During his first term, Trump recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, and the Biden administration didn’t reverse that decision.
On their side, Israeli officials think the new Syrian government will raise the Golan Heights issue in any future peace talks, but might be more flexible about it than the Assad regime.
Flagrant violation: Israeli forces carried out an operation early Thursday in the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria. One civilian was killed, and seven individuals were arrested on suspicion of affiliation with Hamas and planning attacks against Israel. The Israeli army reported seizing weapons and stated that the detainees were transferred to Israel for interrogation.
Syria’s Ministry of Interior condemned the incursion as a “flagrant violation of sovereignty” and called on the international community to respond. The operation involved reconnaissance aircraft and tanks, prompting domestic criticism amid repeated escalations along Syria’s southern border.
The Syrian transitional authority has consistently warned that such actions undermine stabilization and reconstruction efforts.
These Israeli operations, conducted alongside political rhetoric that outwardly supports negotiations, indicate a strategic shift. They suggest that Netanyahu is seeking to evade US pressure by enforcing a new reality on the ground – most notably, the establishment of a security zone in southern Syria.
Assassination attempts: Diplomatic sources exclusively told L’Orient-Le Jour that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has survived two assassination attempts since December. The attacks were attributed to jihadist groups such as ISIS, reportedly in protest of his abandonment of a “jihadist approach.” The most recent attempt occurred two weeks ago, amid signs that the group is trying to recruit defectors from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
Available evidence suggests that the failure of these attempts does not eliminate the risk of further escalation, particularly in light of recent shifts in his domestic policy.
The United States is reportedly particularly concerned about the threats against Syria’s new interim president, who took on the position following the toppling of Assad by his coalition of largely Islamist opposition forces. Washington believes that several parties want to eliminate Sharaa, not only jihadist groups but also Assad’s former allies, Iran, and Russia.
However, in mid May, an American senator revealed that she’d been informed that foreign policy circles within the US administration had floated the idea of assassinating Sharaa themselves. Speaking during a hearing for nominees to the position of assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who she met with during his visit to Washington in early May, became aware of the discussion to kill Sharaa and warned it would risk triggering “an all-out civil war in Syria.”
Libya enters Sudan war: The Sudanese army has accused the forces of eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of attacking Sudanese border posts, the first time it has accused its northwestern neighbor of direct involvement in the country’s civil war, now in its third year. The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whom the military also accused of joint involvement in the recent attack, has drawn in multiple countries, while international attempts at bringing about peace have so far failed.
Early in the war, Sudan had accused Haftar of supporting the RSF via weapons deliveries. It has long accused Haftar’s ally the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF as well, including via direct drone strikes last month. The UAE denies those allegations. Egypt, which has also backed Haftar, has long supported the Sudanese army.
In a statement, Sudanese army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said the attack took place in the Libya-Egypt-Sudan border triangle, an area to the north of one of the war’s main front lines, el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. He said the attack constitutes “a blatant aggression against Sudan”. “We will defend our country and our national sovereignty, and will prevail, regardless of the extent of the conspiracy and aggression supported by the United Arab Emirates and its militias in the region,” Abdallah added.
Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the UAE of backing the assault, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and a “flagrant violation of international law”. “Sudan’s border with Libya has long served as a major corridor for weapons and mercenaries supporting the terrorist militia, funded by the UAE and coordinated by Haftar’s forces and affiliated terrorist groups,” it said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from Haftar’s forces. The RSF has also not issued an official statement, but a source within the group said that its fighters had taken control on Monday of the entrance to Jebel Uweinat, a remote mountain area that sits where the three countries meet, according to the AFP news agency.
Famine in Khartoum: At the same time, the risk of famine in Sudan has extended close to the capital Khartoum, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has warned as the country’s brutal civil war grinds on into its third year. The agency has discovered “severe” levels of hunger in the town of Jabal Awliya, some 40 km south of Khartoum, the WFP’s Sudan representative Laurent Bukera said on Tuesday.
“Several areas in the south of the city are at high risk of famine,” he added. “The international community must act now – by stepping up funding to stop famine in the hardest-hit areas and to invest in Sudan’s recovery.”
Speaking upon his return from a visit to Khartoum state, Bukera described “widespread destruction” in the town and other areas around Khartoum, and called for urgent international action to prevent famine. “The needs are immense,” Bukera said from Port Sudan, describing “limited access to water, healthcare and electricity”, as well as a cholera outbreak.
The WFP, which says it is assisting four million people across the country, has had to reduce food rations in areas at risk of famine to 70 percent due to a major funding shortfall.
What We’re Reading
YouTube ads Vs. reforms: The continued paralysis over reforms reflects entrenched political resistance and fears of upsetting Hezbollah’s influence splurging thousands of dollars on YouTube advertisements will drive international foreign direct investments in. Yes, while the country drowns in economic chaos and cries out for real reforms, our leaders have heroically decided that flashy online ads are the answer. Who needs actual progress when you can just buy views and likes, wondered economist Maaz Barazy.
Yet another Israeli threat: Lebanon is trying to regain some of its lost charm through tourism, reported for NOW Rodayna Raydan. After years of political turmoil and a devastating financial crisis worsened by regional conflicts, the government is now focusing on bringing back Gulf and international tourists in hopes of reviving a sector that was once a cornerstone of the Lebanese economy. But rising tensions with Israel are casting a shadow over those efforts
The enemies of sovereignty: In recent days, Lebanon has witnessed a dangerous acceleration of the trends that have long kept us trapped between war and paralysis. Israeli airstrikes have once again targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of the south. At the same time, UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are being harassed and attacked by local actors aligned with Hezbollah. And in the background, the Lebanese Army is signaling that its role in managing the ceasefire is being undermined. “What connects these events is one thing: the erosion of the Lebanese state,” wrote for NOW political psychologist Ramzi Abou Ismail.
Lawless memos: Last week, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a set of memoranda to the country’s security and military agencies, instructing them to immediately abolish the use of “contact memos” and “submission lists.” The opinion of NOW Lebanon’s editor in chief, Makram Rabah.
The future of UNIFIL: Despite widespread rumors, UNIFIL continues its operations in south Lebanon, with its future hinged on the UN Security Council’s decision in August, while experts argue that its presence remains vital for maintaining fragile stability, Dana Hourany reported.
Lebanon +
After Israel launched strikes in Tehran and other Iranian cities, Iran responded with its own firepower. What is behind this dramatic escalation, and what will it mean for the region and beyond? In the latest episode of Al-Jazeera’s podcast ‘The Take’, correspondent Dorsa Jabbari tries to answer these questions.
