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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun gives a speech at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 30, 2026. [Doğukan Keskinkılıç – Anadolu Agency]
Lebanon on Thursday asked the US to urge Israel to halt attacks that target southern Lebanese towns despite a framework deal, Anadolu reports.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the latest situation in Lebanon and the region, according to a presidency statement.
Aoun asked Rubio to push Tel Aviv to abide by the provisions of the framework agreement, cease land-clearing operations, allow farmers to access their fields, and refrain from targeting them.
He informed Rubio that the Lebanese army and security forces were fully carrying out their duties in implementing decisions to prevent armed displays, seize weapons and ammunition, and combat smuggling.
The Lebanese president stressed that the judicial authorities were following up on all cases referred to them, and there would be “no leniency” toward those responsible for violations.
Israeli has continued attacks in southern Lebanon since early March, killed more than 4,300 people and displacing more than a million.
In June, Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a US-sponsored framework agreement providing for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah, among other provisions.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.
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Relatives of the Palestinians Ahmed al-Shaer and Basil Qishta, who died as a result of the Israeli attack targeting Khan Yunis, mourn as dead bodies brought to the Nasser Hospital for burial in Khan Yunis, Gaza, Palestine on October 15, 2026. [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency]
A senior UN official warned on Thursday that the situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank is dangerously fragile, saying a return to war must be avoided at all costs, Anadolu reports.
Briefing the UN Security Council on Palestine, Ramiz Alakbarov, UN acting special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 events, saying Palestinians and Israelis need a political horizon.
“Palestinians and Israelis deserve more than short-term fixes. They deserve a credible path to peace and finally an end to this conflict,” he said. “The international community must move beyond words and take concrete actions to ensure the future of security and dignity of the people. It is time to return to a genuine peace process.”
Turning to Gaza, Alakbarov noted that one year has passed since a ceasefire was completed. “While some progress has been made, the situation remains extremely fragile,” he said.
He said Israeli military operations have continued, “causing some 1,500 fatalities, including more than 320 children.”
Alakbarov described families in Gaza living in worn-out tents, overcrowded displacement sites and badly damaged buildings, with water and sanitation systems devastated. “Most of Gaza still lives in darkness,” he said.
“People in Gaza must not be forced to endure another winter without safe shelter and basic services,” he stressed.
Highlighting the needs of children, he said, “Emergency assistance alone is not enough. Sustainable recovery and political progress must advance together.”
On the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Alakbarov said the situation continues to deteriorate amid Israeli military operations, movement restrictions, displacement and Palestinian attacks. He said settler violence persists at “extremely high levels,” with daily attacks on Palestinians.
Describing his assessment as “realistic,” Alakbarov said he felt compelled to raise concerns before the council.
“Today, I feel obliged to sound the alarm. In Gaza, desperation is palpable,” he said.
He warned that frustration among Gaza’s population cannot continue to build indefinitely and described the risk of a return to war as extremely high. “This must be avoided at all costs,” he said.
“The West Bank is also at a boiling point,” he added.
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Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a Democracy Forum event held by the Obama Foundation at the Javits Center on November 17, 2022 in New York City, United States [Kyle Mazza – Anadolu Agency]
Former US President Barack Obama has criticized Israel’s handling of the Middle East conflict, warning that military strength cannot guarantee lasting security and that refusing concessions to Palestinians risks undermining its moral standing, Anadolu reports.
The former president made the remarks on Tuesday during a discussion with award-winning writer and journalist Susan McKay at Belfast, northern Ireland, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
Speaking about the Israeli war on Gaza, Obama said the violence should “pain everybody”, describing it as a destructive cycle driven by historical grievances, hardened attitudes and deep divisions.
He acknowledged the long history of persecution faced by Jewish people in Europe. However, he also stressed that Palestinians had suffered injustice through the loss of their land.
“That is undeniable. What is also undeniable is that they took land off people and they were excessive. And those people understandably said: ‘This is injustice and I want my land back,’” he said.
Obama argued that the stronger side carries a greater responsibility to help break the cycle of violence, rather than relying solely on its military and technological superiority.
“If the attitude of Israel is, now that we are the strongest, the most technologically advanced in the region, then our security will depend on us simply doing whatever we need and taking whatever we want, and not making any concessions to anyone,” he said.
“That may work short-term… but you have ceded moral ground if that is the position you take.”
He said the current Israeli government appeared to have adopted that approach and urged it to recognize that millions of Palestinians would remain in the region.
“I would say the current Israeli government appears to have taken that. It is incumbent on them to recognise that 7 million Palestinians are not going anywhere,” Obama said.
“It is not sustainable to press upon them a condition that no-one would accept for themselves.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Obama received an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to press members before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on October 5, 2026. [Mehmet Eser – Anadolu Agency]
President Trump has promised that the United States will not attack Iran before the 3rd November midterm elections. That statement sounds like restraint and at the same time also be read as a warning. By tying military restraint to election day, Trump has made the period after the vote more dangerous.
The Iran war is making the election harder for the Republican Party. As of now, prediction markets give Republicans roughly a one-in-ten chance of retaining both chambers of Congress.
An October AP-NORC poll found that 69 per cent of Americans believed the war was not worth fighting, while only 28 per cent approved of Trump’s handling of Iran. For many voters, the war is no longer a distant foreign-policy issue. They feel it through higher fuel prices, inflation, and the fear of another open-ended conflict.
A Republican defeat, however, would not remove Trump’s military power the next morning. He would remain Commander-in-Chief, and the outgoing Congress would remain in office until 3rd January 2027. This leaves a two-month gap between the election and the arrival of a new Congress. During that period, Trump would face less pressure to protect Republican candidates, but Democrats would not yet control the congressional machinery needed to challenge him.
That is the main danger. Americans may vote against the party that owns the war, but their votes would not immediately change who controls military decisions. The election could reject the war politically while leaving Trump free to expand it militarily.
Trump would not need a special executive order or advance approval from Congress to begin a limited operation. Like other presidents before him, he could rely on a broad interpretation of his Commander-in-Chief powers, claim that an attack was needed to protect American personnel or interests, and use forces and funds that Congress had already approved.
Congress would then be responding to a war that was already under way.
The War Powers Resolution offers some restraint, but not enough to prevent the opening attack. It requires the President to report the use of US forces in hostilities within 48 hours and sets a timetable for ending an operation that Congress has not authorised. In practice, this gives Congress a way to contest a campaign after it begins. It does not reliably stop the first missiles from being launched.
A further attack would also face serious questions under international law. Unless Washington could show Security Council authorisation or a genuine case of self-defence, the use of force against Iran would be difficult to justify under the UN Charter. Yet this is another example of the gap between law and action: a strike can take place before courts, international organisations or legislatures are able to respond.
This does not mean that a Democratic victory would be meaningless. Democratic control of both chambers would make a prolonged war harder to sustain.
Congress could investigate the administration, subpoena officials, expose the real military and financial costs, and attach conditions to future funding. It could also demand the withdrawal of US forces and force the White House to defend its war aims in public.
But congressional power has limits. Trump could veto legislation restricting the campaign, and Democrats would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override him. The administration could also continue using previously approved funds while Congress debated what to do. The important distinction is simple: a Democratic Congress could make the continuation of war more difficult, but it might not prevent Trump from starting the next phase.
The Pentagon’s preparations make this risk more credible. Recent US reporting indicates that Central Command has been asked to prepare options for renewed operations against Iran. Military planning is not proof that Trump has decided to attack. It does mean that the machinery is being put in place so that he can act quickly if negotiations fail. After election day, the immediate political cost of such action will be lower.
The consequences would be felt far beyond Washington. Iran can retaliate against US forces and partners across the region and can disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. A new round of attacks could raise energy and insurance costs, expose countries around the Persian Gulf to retaliation and place even more pressure on governments trying to stay outside the conflict. American military superiority may win individual battles, but it has not produced a stable political settlement or removed Iran’s ability to impose regional costs.
The timing also matters for Palestine. Every new escalation with Iran allows Israel to present the region mainly as a security threat and draws diplomatic and media attention away from its actions in Occupied Palestine. A wider US-Iran war would therefore not only deepen regional instability. It would also give Israel more space to avoid pressure over Gaza and the continuing dispossession of Palestinians.
Regional governments should not wait for the American election to solve this crisis. An election can change the political price of war, but it cannot produce peace by itself. Pakistan and Qatar, which are facilitating indirect communication, should use the period before 3 November to press for an immediate and lasting ceasefire. Other regional states should support an agreement that protects navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, prevents further attacks and restores a credible diplomatic path on the nuclear issue.
The real question is therefore not only whether Democrats will win Congress. It is whether diplomacy can produce an agreement before the last electoral restraint on Trump disappears. If it cannot, the period after 3rd November may become more dangerous, not less.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham during a meeting with Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn, 25, at No 10 Downing Street, London, October 14, 202
LEFT MPs have urged Andy Burnham to stick to his pledge to reverse neoliberalism as signs multiplied that the upcoming Budget will be tailored to business demands.
They spoke out after reports that Mr Burnham had told bosses at a Downing Street meeting that he wanted to run “the most pro-business government in the world.”
Hemsworth Labour MP Jon Trickett urged the Prime Minister to live up to his pledge to address the “40-year wrong turn” he has campaigned against.
“He promised an end to neoliberalism. I am not convinced meeting banks and big business indicates we are going to see the economic rupture with the policies of the last 40 years or so to get this country back on track,” he said.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
dizzy: Don’t U-turn on neoliberalism? I’ve reached the conclusion that it should be disregarded as totally disposable if it comes from Andy Burnham’s Neo-Liberal mouth …
Prime Minister Andy Burnham during a meeting with Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn, 25, at No 10 Downing Street, London, October 14, 202