Israel

Iran seeks ceasefire across Lebanon, Ghalibaf tells Berri

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Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Tehran, Iran on April 16, 2026. [Iranian Parliament Speaker Office – Anadolu Agency]

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri during a phone call that Tehran is determined to secure a ceasefire across all of Lebanon, including the south.

During the call, Ghalibaf said: “If the crimes continue, we will stop the negotiations.”

He added: “The bond between Iran and Lebanon is inseparable, and our lives and your lives are one.”

Ghalibaf said that if an agreement is reached to end the war between Iran and the United States, it would include a halt to attacks on all fronts, particularly Lebanon.

He stressed that “if the crimes continue, we will not only stop the negotiations, but we will also stand against the Zionist entity.”

For his part, Berri said: “Lebanon will never forget Iran’s positive positions during this critical period.”

Earlier, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the Iranian negotiating team had suspended the exchange of messages with the United States through mediators following Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Citing sources, the agency said: “Given the continued crimes of the Zionist entity in Lebanon, and because Lebanon was one of the preconditions for a ceasefire, and since that ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon, the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogues and the exchange of messages through mediators.”

The developments come amid rising tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel, as Tehran seeks to ensure that any ceasefire covers all regional fronts, including Lebanon, while clashes between Israel and Hezbollah continue to escalate.

Trump rebukes Netanyahu over Lebanon escalation, says it threatens Iran talks: report

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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingIran seeks ceasefire across Lebanon, Ghalibaf tells Berri

Israel seeks Trump administration approval for wider air strikes in Beirut

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Movement of Israeli military vehicles and tanks is observed around the village of al-Aadaissah near the Lebanon-Israel border in May 13, 2026. [Tsafrir Abayov – Anadolu Agency]

Israel has asked the United States to allow it to expand its military operations in Lebanon to include large-scale air strikes on Beirut, rather than limiting its actions to targeted assassinations, according to Israeli Channel 12.

The broadcaster reported on Sunday evening that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a second security meeting on the same day to discuss the possibility of shifting from occupying and seizing territory in Lebanon to launching an air campaign in Beirut.

According to the report, any decision on the matter depends on discussions with the US administration, adding that the issue has gained momentum in recent days.

Two days earlier, Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sought to persuade senior US administration officials, as well as President Donald Trump, that “Israel cannot grant Hezbollah immunity in Beirut, even if targeted assassinations can be carried out there”.

Israeli sources cited by the report said that “the decision on the nature of the operation in Beirut is being made in coordination with Washington”.

An Israeli source described by the report as familiar with the matter said that the Americans “are showing greater openness, but there is no final approval, at least for now”.

READ: Israeli airstrike wounds 13 healthcare workers in southern Lebanon

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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ... unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Genocide denying former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide and the UK government and military's active participation in genocide.
Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.

Continue ReadingIsrael seeks Trump administration approval for wider air strikes in Beirut

Israeli airstrike wounds 13 healthcare workers in southern Lebanon

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A general view of the heavy destruction following an Israeli airstrike on a health center belonging to the Islamic Health Authority (Hayaa) in the Al-Mashouk area near the southern city of Tyre, Lebanon, on May 20, 2026. [Houssam Shbaro – Anadolu Agency]

Thirteen healthcare workers were injured on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike targeting the vicinity of Hiram Hospital in Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, Anadolu reports.

The bombardment also caused “severe damage after the hospital sustained damage in earlier Israeli attacks,” the ministry said in a statement.

It called on the international community to “put an end to the escalating Israeli attacks, which are expanding without regard for international humanitarian law, UN resolutions, and international norms.”

The attacks came as the Israeli army escalated its assaults across Lebanon amid daily violations of a fragile ceasefire agreement in place since mid-April.

Since March 2, the Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,371 people, injured 10,129 others, and displaced over 1.6 million others, according to the Lebanese officials.

READ: Israeli army announces ‘large-scale’ offensive in southern Lebanon

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ... unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Genocide denying former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide and the UK government and military's active participation in genocide.
Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.

Continue ReadingIsraeli airstrike wounds 13 healthcare workers in southern Lebanon

‘Ceasefire Is a Joke’: Israeli Soldiers Recount Ongoing Indiscriminate Killings in Gaza

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Relatives mourn as the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli attack is brought to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine, on May 28, 2026. (Photo by Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“It was a jungle,” one soldier said. “After the ceasefire, the order was: If someone crosses the line, you shoot them.”

Israel Defense Forces soldiers interviewed for an article published Friday by The Associated Press described ongoing indiscriminate killing of Palestinians—including civilians—despite a purported ceasefire.

One IDF combat soldier told the AP that he saw his teammates “yelling in celebration” and “congratulating one another” after blowing up a vehicle driving near the ever-expanding so-called “yellow line” dividing the Gaza Strip into Israeli and Palestinian-controlled zones. The strike killed everyone inside the vehicle.

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“It was a jungle,” the soldier said. “After the ceasefire, the order was: If someone crosses the line, you shoot them.”

The problem is, the yellow line is often unclear, invisible, and often shifts. It cuts through farmland, roads, neighborhoods, and areas where Palestinians live and work.

Nadav Weiman, an IDF veteran who is now the executive director of the veterans’ whistleblower group Breaking the Silence, told the AP that the military’s permissive shoot-to-kill policy has “created a reality where countless civilians have and are being killed for crossing invisible lines.”

One IDF soldier interviewed by the AP said “there was a general feeling that human lives are not valuable.” The soldier said his commanding officer told him it would be “too much work” to clearly mark the yellow line, and that Palestinians were supposed to somehow know where it was.

According to the AP, one soldier said that “sometimes snipers fired warning shots at people close to the line… but commanders told troops to do more to protect themselves. The soldier understood that to mean firing more lethal shots.”

“Soldiers shooting or ordering drone strikes don’t always know who’s crossing the line,” the AP reported, citing interviewed troops. “Although soldiers must provide coordinates and get approval from superiors before striking, it’s hard to give exact information as people are moving,” and soldiers reported colleagues “calling in coordinates based on a hunch or the last place they saw someone.”

IDF troops interviewed by the AP also described “a sense of confusion” and “a lack of clarity on rules of engagement around the yellow line.” Some commanders “paid lip service” to the ceasefire agreement that’s been in effect since last October, but in practice ignored it.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israel has violated the ceasefire more than 3,005 times, resulting in more than 900 Palestinians killed and nearly 2,800 others injured, despite the truce.

“To call it a ceasefire is a joke,” one IDF soldier told the AP.

Israel claims that the entire length of the yellow line is now clearly marked. However, as Common Dreams reported this week, the IDF has incrementally shifted the boundary deeper into Gaza, where Israel now controls more than 60% of the coastal strip. This has left Palestinians sometimes waking up to learn they’re in “open-fire zones” where they are subjected to being shot on sight.

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 250,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including thousands of people who are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble. Israeli troops have previously described indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians, including children and aid-seekers.

While such killings have become less frequent since the ceasefire, some IDF soldiers dismiss the word as practically meaningless.

“We need to stop using this term,” one soldier told the AP, referring to the word ceasefire. “It’s not serving people that want to stop the war.”

Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ... unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.

Continue Reading‘Ceasefire Is a Joke’: Israeli Soldiers Recount Ongoing Indiscriminate Killings in Gaza

3 Months of Trump’s Disastrous Iran War Has Cost US Consumers $60 Billion in Extra Energy Costs​

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Article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Shelton Seworth pumps gas at a QuikTrip gas station on May 11, 2026, in Irving, Texas. (Photo by Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

The average US household, according to Moody’s, has shouldered nearly $450 in extra fuel costs due to the Republican president’s unprovoked Middle East war.

Americans have made clear since President Donald Trump joined Israel in beginning an unprovoked war on Iran that they view the conflict-of-choice as damaging to their financial well-being—and that they blame the president for the higher cost of fuel since the war started in February.

On Friday, Moody’s Analytics put an exact number on the heightened financial anxiety families across the country have been feeling over the past three months as Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent fuel prices soaring: $447.19.

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That’s how much the average US household has had to additionally spend on fuel-related expenses since Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanu launched their attack on February 28, Moody’s told CNBC.

Altogether, Americans have spent a total of nearly $60 billion on gas, airline fares, and other related costs as the strait, a key shipping route for oil, has remained effectively closed.

According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gas stands at $4.39—up close to 50% since early March. Diesel now costs $5.52 per gallon, forcing consumers to pay $20 billion more in additional expenses on groceries and other goods.

“The economy isn’t just soft, it’s struggling,” Mark Zandi, Moody’s chief economist, said Thursday. “The Iran war needs to end, and the Strait of Hormuz needs to be reopened soon, or recession will become more likely than not.”

“Unless the war ends soon, financially pressed consumers will have no option but to turn more cautious in their spending.”

As CNBC reported Friday, “higher energy costs can force consumers to raid their savings and lean more on debt to cover expenses.”

Trump flatly said earlier this month that he doesn’t consider Americans’ financial situation “even a little bit” when it comes to the war on Iran, while National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett posited earlier this week that Americans are “spending more money” not because higher prices are forcing them to but because they’re “very, very optimistic about the state of the economy.” He also bragged recently that “credit card spending is through the roof”—a sign several observers took not as a positive omen for the economy but as a sign that families are being forced to take on debt to pay for gas and other essentials.

Zandi provided a reality check Friday.

“Unless the war ends soon, financially pressed consumers will have no option but to turn more cautious in their spending, threatening the already soft economy,” he told CNBC, warning that families could end up spending nearly $2,000 extra on fuel-related costs if the war continues reaches the one-year mark.

Republicans emphasized last year that Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would give bigger tax returns to families across the country. Any benefit, said Zandi, has now been canceled out by the president’s war.

On Thursday, US Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said the White House is in denial about the fact that Americans are struggling with the impact of Trump’s foreign policy decisions as the Pentagon vastly underestimates how much the conflict has cost in public statements.

The acting comptroller of the Pentagon told Congress in April that the war had cost $25 billion, increasing the estimate to $29 billion two weeks later.

The senators told the Congressional Budget Office Friday that independent analyses had put the real cost of the war at $40 billion-$50 billion.

“It is essential,” said the lawmakers, “that Congress and the American public receive accurate, comprehensive estimates of the costs of the war in Iran.”

Article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ... unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Continue Reading3 Months of Trump’s Disastrous Iran War Has Cost US Consumers $60 Billion in Extra Energy Costs​