lies as much as the IDF

Trump says talks with Iran ‘going on continuously,’ adds, ‘where they lead, one never knows’

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US President Donald Trump gives a speech at the White House in Washington, DC on May 22, 2026. [Kyle Mazza – Anadolu Agency]

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that diplomatic exchanges with Tehran are proceeding without interruption, contradicting reports of halted communications, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The conversations between us have been going on continuously,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, noting that dialogue has occurred daily throughout the week.

He said reports of stopped communications are “false and erroneous.”

Regarding the outcome of the efforts, the US president remarked, “Where they lead, one never knows.”

Trump insisted that Tehran must reach a settlement after nearly five decades of friction, asserting that the situation “cannot be allowed to go on any longer.”

His comments follow reports from the semi-official Tasnim agency that Iran suspended talks via mediators to protest Israeli military actions.

Trump said Monday that he would welcome a period of silence if Iran suspends indirect peace talks with Washington. He also said that talks with Tehran are continuing “at a rapid pace.”

READ: Iran says its armed forces ready ‘more than in the past’ if war renews with US

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 calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Continue ReadingTrump says talks with Iran ‘going on continuously,’ adds, ‘where they lead, one never knows’

Israel Keeps Killing Lebanese Civilians Despite Trump’s De-Escalation Claim

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

An aerial view of buildings and a parking area opposite the Jabal Amel Hospital, the largest hospital in the city of Tyre, Lebanon, on June 2, 2026, shows damage from an Israeli strike. (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The more Netanyahu prevents the war with Iran from ending, the more obvious it becomes that he convinced Trump to start it.”

The death toll from Israel’s assault on Lebanon continued to rise on Tuesday despite President Donald Trump’s claims of de-escalation following Monday phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an intermediary for Hezbollah.

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday that “the cumulative toll of the aggression from March 2 to June 2 has reached 3,468 dead and 10,577 injured,” even amid a ceasefire agreed to in April. The deal stemmed from Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal war on Iran, and Israel initially claimed it did not include Lebanon.

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After Iran on Monday reportedly halted talks with the US over Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that due to his phone calls, Israeli troops “have already been turned back” from Beirut, and Hezbollah “agreed that all shooting will stop—That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”

However, Netanyahu said later Monday that “I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and civilians, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut. This position remains unchanged.”

According to Axios reporting contested by a senior Israeli official, one US source summarized Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu as follows: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

Another source said that Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at the prime minister, “What the fuck are you doing?”

While “the story has understandably been met with considerable skepticism,” wrote Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, there are “a few important counterexamples—particularly from Trump’s second term—that suggest the Axios story is not entirely implausible.”

“What is also plausible, however, is that Trump will once again fail to sustain the pressure and, by that, allow for Netanyahu’s potential retreat to prove temporary,” Parsi predicted.

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (Ky.), a libertarian who recently lost his reelection primary to a Trump-backed challenger, responded to the reporting on social media: “It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month, and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors—instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American taxpayers.”

Massie also said that “the more Netanyahu prevents the war with Iran from ending, the more obvious it becomes that he convinced Trump to start it.”

Progressive Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (Minn.) similarly said late Monday: “The lesson Israel has learned, time and again, is that it can commit genocide and other atrocities with near-total impunity. Now it’s exporting the Gaza playbook to Lebanon. Israel’s war in Lebanon is killing thousands and displacing over a million. NO MORE US AID TO ISRAEL.”

Citing Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) on Tuesday, Al Jazeera cataloged Israel’s killings since Trump’s de-escalation claims:

Two Syrians were killed in an Israeli attack on a plant nursery where they were working in the town of Jebchit in the Nabatieh governorate, NNA said on Tuesday.

Israeli drone strikes hit a motorcycle on Martyr Sabra Street in Toul and a car in the Dhi’at al-Arab neighborhood of Ansar, killing two people, NNA said.

The third strike hit a car near the village of Harouf, killing one person.

Separately, an Israeli drone strike hit a car on the road linking the southern town of Marjayoun with the city of Nabatieh, killing James Karam, a dentist from the nearby Christian municipality of Qlayaa, along with his daughter and son, NNA reported.

Those deaths followed Israel’s Monday airstrike in the southern village of Marwaniyeh, which killed six members of the Hassan Abdullah family, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense. Palestine Chronicle reported that “rescue teams worked throughout the night and into Tuesday morning to recover victims trapped beneath the rubble of the destroyed building. Three additional people were pulled from the debris during the operation.”

Also on Monday, Israel attacked the Jabal Amel Hospital in Tyre, killing at least four people and injuring dozens more.

Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Lebanon, said Tuesday that the hospital is one of the few operating in the country’s south, and the attack “caused significant damage… to the emergency department and intensive care unit.”

“Six hospitals have not yet resumed maternity delivery services and are currently providing only emergency room care,” he noted. “For pregnant women and newborns, delays in care can mean the difference between life and death.”

WHO has verified nearly 200 attacks on healthcare facilities and workers in Lebanon over the past three months. Calling for such attacks “to stop” and “active protection for healthcare,” Abubakar stressed that “these attacks kill and maim, they also deprive people of the health services they need.”

Israel hit Jabal Amel Hospital after a strike near Hiram Hospital the previous day, according to Doctors Without Borders, which supports both facilities. Omar Ebeid, the organization’s project coordinator in southern Lebanon, said Tuesday that “these repeated attacks reflect a grave failure to protect the medical mission and underscore the urgent need to safeguard civilians, medical staff, health facilities, and continuous access to lifesaving care.”

Faced with a rising death toll and Israeli forces’ destruction of civilian infrastructure, The Associated Press reported, “another round of talks between Israel and Lebanon began Tuesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators are set to seek a full ceasefire that will prevent future attacks.”

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

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
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/

Continue ReadingIsrael Keeps Killing Lebanese Civilians Despite Trump’s De-Escalation Claim

‘Desperately Bouncing From One Extreme to Another’: Trump Pauses ‘Project Freedom’ in Strait of Hormuz

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

US President Donald Trump speaks flanked by top administration officials at the White House in Washington, DC on March 26, 2026.(Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

An Iranian official said Trump’s operation “failed completely” and that Iran “will not participate in direct negotiations until the United States formally announces the end of the blockade.”

US President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that he is putting his administration’s scheme to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz on hold after just one full day, a decision that came hours after top American officials touted the president’s so-called “Project Freedom” at press briefings.

Trump said in a social media post that he paused the project—which allowed just two commercial ships to pass through the strait—“based on the request of Pakistan and other countries.” The US president, whose war of choice is historically unpopular with the American public, also asserted that “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran,” a claim that Iran rejected.

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As Pakistan’s prime minister welcomed Trump’s announcement, an unnamed Iranian official told Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill that the US president’s short-lived operation “failed completely” and that his statement announcing the pause of Project Freedom was “riddled with falsehoods.” The official added that “we will not participate in direct negotiations until the United States formally announces the end of the blockade.”

The US president said in his post that the illegal US naval blockade of Iran would “remain in full force and effect.”

“Trump is desperately bouncing from one extreme to another,” said political scientist Robert Pape in response to Trump’s announcement.

Trump’s decision to put Project Freedom on hold came shortly after Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the president’s initiative as a bold mission to rescue some 1,600 vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed in response to the unlawful US-Israeli war and subsequent naval blockade.

“Iran’s plan, a form of international extortion, is unacceptable. That ends with Project Freedom,” Hegseth declared during a press briefing on Tuesday morning.

Rubio similarly decried Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz—located in Omani and Iranian territorial waters—as violations of international law.

“There is no international law that allows you to say: I’m going to put mines in an international body of water, and I’m going to blow up ships that don’t listen to us and try to go through,” said Rubio.

Legal scholar Maryam Jamshidi rejected the top US diplomat’s assessment, calling it “all wrong.”

“Hormuz is not international waters,” Jamshidi wrote. “It’s an international strait composed of the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Iran can mine its territorial waters during wartime. The laws of naval warfare also allow Iran to target ships in certain cases. The US is the only criminal here.”

Article by Jake Johnson 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 calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.

Continue Reading‘Desperately Bouncing From One Extreme to Another’: Trump Pauses ‘Project Freedom’ in Strait of Hormuz

1 in 5 amputees in Gaza is a child, UN warns amid prosthetic care crisis

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12 years old Palestinian Mohammed al-Mubayyid, who lost a leg in an Israeli attack on Gaza’s Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, is seen on a wheelchair in Gaza Strip on December 03, 2025. [Saeed M. M. T. Jaras – Anadolu Agency]

The UN on Monday warned that one in five amputees in the Gaza Strip is a child, as a critical shortage of prosthetic specialists and restricted entry of materials leave thousands without adequate care, Anadolu reports.

“On health, concerns remain over skin diseases and other medical issues linked to the presence of pests and rodents,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at a news conference, adding that more than 6,600 people need prosthetic and rehabilitation care.

“That includes thousands of people who have received amputations since October 2023, yet only eight prosthetic technicians are available to respond,” he said.

Warning that “with severe shortages of specialists and restricted entry of prosthetic materials, it could take five years or more to meet today’s needs,” Dujarric stressed that “one in five amputees is a child.”

Dujarric stressed that “international prosthetic technicians are urgently needed, as well as the unimpeded entry of prosthetic materials, which remain restricted by the Israeli authorities.”

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving the territory’s 2.4 million people on the verge of starvation.

It launched a brutal two-year offensive on Gaza in October 2023, killing more than 72,000 people, injuring over 172,000, and causing massive destruction across the besieged territory.

READ: Gaza is the world’s most dangerous place for journalists, UN rights body says

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
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/
Keir Starmer says that he's banning words and phrases now as well as placards.
Keir Starmer says that he’s banning words and phrases now as well as placards.

Continue Reading1 in 5 amputees in Gaza is a child, UN warns amid prosthetic care crisis

Israel targets southern Lebanon with internationally banned phosphorus shells

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

Smoke rises from the town of Kafr Jouz in Nabatieh province as Israeli forces target the area, violating the ceasefire in southern Lebanon on May 2, 2026. Ramiz Dallah – Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli army shelled towns in southern Lebanon with phosphorus munitions Tuesday, according to the National News Agency NNA.

The agency reported that the towns of Kounine and Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district were targeted with artillery shells containing phosphorus, which are banned internationally.

Israeli warplanes separately carried out airstrikes on the towns of Kafra, Braachit and Safad al-Battikh in the Tyre district, said the report.

Additional strikes hit Beit al-Sayyad and Mansouri, where three raids targeted residential homes, according to the agency.

No casualties were reported.

Despite a ceasefire that was announced April 17 and extended until May 17, the Israeli army continues daily strikes in Lebanon and widespread demolition of homes in dozens of villages.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has reached 2,702, with 8,311 injured.

READ: Berri: No negotiations with Israel before end of fighting in southern Lebanon

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

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
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/
Keir Starmer says that he's banning words and phrases now as well as placards.
Keir Starmer says that he’s banning words and phrases now as well as placards.

Continue ReadingIsrael targets southern Lebanon with internationally banned phosphorus shells