Polanski's comments came after pro-Israel activists launched a backlash against him on social media after photographs emerged showing him wearing a "Free Marwan" T-shirt, a reference to Barghouti, one of the most prominent Palestinian political figures of the past three decades.

The image was quickly seized upon by pro-Israel commentators, who sought to portray Polanski's support for Barghouti as an endorsement of violence.

"What really unsettles critics isn't the shirt. It's the idea that Palestinians might have a leader capable of uniting their people and leading the fight for liberation from apartheid the same way Nelson Mandela did," Polanski told The New Arab.

The Green Party leader also challenged the legitimacy of Barghouti's conviction, citing international concerns over the fairness of the legal proceedings against him.

"An Inter-Parliamentary Union observer found that Barghouti's case was so compromised by breaches of international law that it was impossible to conclude he had received a fair trial," he said.

Good. Let's talk about Marwan Barghouti.

Imprisoned for 25 years.
An inter-Parliamentary Union report found he was not given a fair trial.

Nelson Mandela: “What is happening to Barghouti is exactly the same as what happened to me."

Free Marwan.https://t.co/EoTcJkttRd https://t.co/CNh7Z0mSz6

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 7, 2026

Among those attempting to smear Polanski was Heidi Bachram, a Brighton-based pro-Israel activist, who wrote on X: "What the hell is Zack Polanski doing wearing a shirt to free the Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti who murdered five civilians. This is TOO FAR."

Polanski doubled down on his support for the imprisoned Palestinian icon by sharing a link to the Free Marwan campaign and encouraging discussion about Barghouti's case.

"Good. Let's talk about Marwan Barghouti," he wrote on X.

"Imprisoned for 25 years. An Inter-Parliamentary Union report found he was not given a fair trial. Nelson Mandela: 'What is happening to Barghouti is exactly the same as what happened to me.' Free Marwan."

The Green Party leader has long been outspoken in support of Palestinian rights and has repeatedly criticised Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and the Gaza genocide.

Barghouti remains one of the most influential figures in Palestinian politics despite spending more than two decades in Israeli prisons.

A senior Fatah leader and a central figure during the Second Intifada, he has advocated both political negotiations with Israel and resistance to Israeli occupation.

Israeli forces arrested him in Ramallah in 2002 during the Second Intifada. He was later convicted by an Israeli court on five counts of murder and membership of what Israel designated a "terrorist organisation".

Throughout the proceedings, Barghouti refused to recognise the court's legitimacy, arguing that an occupying power had no legal authority to try a representative of an occupied people.

The Free Marwan campaign says Barghouti has been illegally imprisoned for more than 24 years and is being held under harsh conditions. It is calling on governments, international institutions and the United Nations to press for his release.

Despite being held behind bars and repeatedly taunted by far-right Israeli leaders, Barghouti has remained an active political figure with considerable influence among Palestinians.

His imprisonment has done little to diminish his political standing, with polls consistently placing him among the most popular Palestinian political figures and highlighting his appeal as a leader capable of uniting rival factions.

Barghouti has frequently been compared to Nelson Mandela and is often referred to as the "Palestinian Mandela" by supporters and international campaigners.

The New Arab highlights the stars to watch out for

Arda Guler (Turkey)

Real Madrid wonderkid Arda Guler is the name on many fans' lips due to his recent breakout performances with the Spanish giants this season.

Guler, who at 18 signed with the club in 2023 from Istanbul's Fenerbahce, did not play as much as he might have liked due to the star-filled Madrid squad.

But this season, under then-manager Xabi Alonso, Guler featured more frequently for Madrid, displaying quality performances which earned him the UEFA Champions League’s Young Player of the Season and the La Liga's Goal of the Season awards.

Guler also impressed in June 2024 with Turkey at the European Championships, delivering key performances which helped his national side reach the quarterfinals—their second-best performance since 2008.

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

Hakimi, who recently won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, is going into the World Cup as the most successful African footballer of all time, with 19 trophies to his name.

The captain, who plays at right-back, is often regarded as one of the best at his position in the world and finished sixth in the prestigious Ballon d'Or rankings last year.

Hakimi will be keen to guide his country to another successful World Cup and emulate the success of 2022, when Morocco became the first Arab and African team to reach the semifinals of the football tournament.

Mo Salah (Egypt)

The legendary Mo Salah is widely hailed as Egypt’s national hero and the country's most successful sports export.

The Egyptian King, who this summer has called an end to his time with Liverpool after nine seasons, has a number of records under his belt. He is the Premier League's top foreign scorer, the player with the most Golden Boot awards (tied with Thierry Henry), has more assists than anyone else for Liverpool, and more goal involvements for one club in Premier League history.

Salah will look to score and help Egypt win its first-ever game at a World Cup, after having failed to do so at previous appearances, and possibly break coach Hossam Hassan's record as Egypt's all-time goal scorer.

Mehdi Taremi (Iran)

A late bloomer, 33-year-old Taremi has played in several European leagues, rising first to prominence with Portuguese side Rio Ave in 2019, where he was the Primeira Liga's top scorer for that season. He then moved to Porto, winning domestic trophies and scoring a myriad of goals before a short spell at Inter Milan, with whom he reached the 2025 Champions League final. The seasoned player now plays for Greek giants Olympiacos.

The recently-appointed captain, and arguably the team's most high-profile star who has spoken against the Iranian government's crackdown on protesters late last year, is entering the tournament as his country's all-time scorer at the World Cup, his most recent being against England four years ago.

Omar Marmoush (Egypt)

Marmoush is among Egypt's high-profile players going into the tournament, alongside Salah. The Manchester City striker might not feature as regularly as Norwegian powerhouse Erling Haaland for his club, but the Egyptian proved clinical during Manchester City's FA Cup and Carabao Cup runs this season and has had a series of excellent performances at his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Egyptian could've featured for another red and white team, as he holds Canadian citizenship through his parents. Ultimately, Marmoush chose Egypt and hasn't looked back since.

Salem Al-Dawsari (Saudi Arabia)

The Saudi number 10 is heralded as his country's answer to Lionel Messi. The highly decorated player scored his country’s surprise goal against Argentina in Qatar 2022 and went viral for his iconic backflip celebration.

The Saudi continues to shine with Al-Hilal, despite some inconsistencies with the national team in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Al-Dawsari will seek to become Saudi Arabia's all-time top scorer at the World Cup for his country, with three goals under his belt, tied with Sami al-Jaber.

Ali Olwan (Jordan)

Ali Olwan is one of Jordan's biggest weapons on the pitch and has netted nine goals during the country's long and strenuous qualifying campaign.

In a qualification game against Oman, Olwan scored his second-ever international hat-trick, putting him among the Arab stars to watch at the World Cup.

Olwan also impressed during Jordan's run at the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup and will look to impress in North America this year.

Kenan Yildiz (Turkey)

The Turkish youngster will hope to live up to his name at the World Cup, after an impressive performance with Juventus this season.

The 21-year-old has been in form this season with the Italian club, scoring crucial goals and even captaining his side against Hellas Verona in September.

Yildiz, which means star in Turkish, has been compared to Juventus' iconic striker, Alessandro Del Piero, whose celebration he imitates after scoring a goal.

While Juventus might have had a disappointing season, Yildiz was named Serie A's Rising Star for 2025-2026 and could feature among the tournament's breakout players depending on how far Turkey can go.

Ali Al-Hamadi (Iraq)

Iraqi star Ali Al-Hamadi is the first from his country to play in the English Premier League. The Liverpool-raised striker worked his way up with several lower-league English teams before signing with Ipswich Town in 2024.

Featuring for the national team since 2021, Al-Hamadi scored a vital goal for Iraq in the intercontinental play-offs against Bolivia to send his country to their first World Cup in 40 years.

Brahim Diaz (Morocco)

Diaz was the breakout star of last winter's Africa Cup of Nations, becoming the first Moroccan to score in five consecutive games at an AFCON competition, finishing as top scorer and tournament winner (albeit controversially).

Diaz was also talked about for the wrong reasons, as he missed his panenka penalty in the final against Senegal, which provoked the players and coaches to leave the pitch after it was awarded.

The Real Madrid player's breakthrough came in 2024 after switching allegiance to Morocco from Spain, which gave him the opportunity to display his skills on the pitch, and he quickly became a fan favourite.

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)

Algerian talisman Mahrez will be determined to lead his country beyond the group stage in this year's World Cup, despite stiff competition from Argentina and Austria in Group J.

Regarded as one of the best players to grace the Premier League over the past decade, the 35-year-old will be keen to leave his mark on international football with Algeria at this year’s finals.

Mahrez, who now plays for Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli, has won the Premier League multiple times with Leicester City and Manchester City, as well as the FA Cup and a Champions League title.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Iran)

Jahanbakh is a familiar face to English football fans, as he played for Brighton & Hove Albion for three seasons between 2018 and 2021. During his stint, he was awarded Goal of the Month in January 2020 and became infamous for an on-field altercation with Manchester City defender Kyle Walker.

The Iranian has spent most of his playing career outside of Iran, mostly in the Dutch league with AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, NEC Nijmegen, and SC Heerenveen, and was known for his pace and long-range goals.

Jahanbakhsh now plays for Belgian outfit Dender and will surpass the 100 caps for Iran should he feature in at least two out of Iran's three group stage games.

Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)

Mejbri is Tunisian football's biggest name at the moment, playing for now-relegated Burnley, and having come through the ranks with Manchester United during his youth-playing career,

The French-born playmaker is a fan favourite and known for his outspoken nature and maturity, and drew comparisons with David Beckham and Roy Keane in his junior career due to his leadership skills.

Though only 23 years old, Mejbri is among Tunisia's most experienced players, having already earned 45 caps.

Musa Al-Tamari (Jordan)

Al-Tamari proved instrumental to Jordan's journey to the World Cup, scoring seven goals in the run-up and being an anchor for the team. The Jordanian has been on the European scene since 2018, playing mostly in the Belgian and French leagues, and is currently at Rennes.

His most high-profile international performance came in 2023, when he led Jordan to the AFC Asian Cup final, scoring vital goals in the semifinal.

Akram Afif (Qatar)

Afif is Qatar's biggest football star, a dazzling winger and instrumental in his country's rise over the years.

Twice named Asian Footballer of the Year, Afif is Qatar’s hope for a decent World Cup run after their disappointment four years ago.

The winger, who plays for Doha-based Al Sadd, has been vital in past competitions for his country, notably at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, where he provided 10 assists.

A public health squad based in Washington, DC, plans to monitor wastewater and internet chatter to detect and track infectious diseases should they emerge in any of the US or Canadian cities hosting World Cup players, their matches, and millions of spectators, organisers said.

The 39-day event kicks off in Mexico on Thursday. More than 6.5 million soccer fans are expected to travel from over 100 countries to witness 104 games in the US, Canada and Mexico.

The scale of the event and the globe-spanning travel involved pose a heightened risk of rapid disease transmission at a time when strained US public health resources are coping at home and abroad with outbreaks of measles, Ebola and hantavirus, health security experts say.

Budget and staffing cuts under the Trump administration, along with the US withdrawal from the World Health Organisation, have exacerbated those challenges, according to organisers of the new disease-tracking initiative.

Stepping in to provide real-time data about potential threats, the newly formed team of public health experts has converted a Georgetown University laboratory into an epidemiological command post. The facility brings together academic institutions, non-profit organisations, and private companies working in support of government agencies.

The team is already preparing a daily status report to flag emerging risks and any immediate need for action to hospital emergency managers and public health authorities at the local, state, federal, and international levels, as well as to FIFA, soccer's governing body and organiser of the World Cup.

The operations centre, launched in collaboration with the MedStar Health regional hospital chain, is also a trial run for future events, including the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. MedStar hosts one of the nation's 13 biocontainment units.

Advanced wastewater analysis, using DNA and RNA sequencing to find genetic strands from a range of microbes without requiring laboratory culture, is a key element in monitoring infectious disease threats, said Rebecca Katz, director of Georgetown's Centre for Global Health Science and Security and head of the new disease surveillance effort.

"It's incredibly powerful," Katz said. Her team is currently receiving such data from collection sites in the US and Canada, as well as from various other health-monitoring sources across all three World Cup host countries.

From Ebola to measles

Detecting disease-causing microorganisms in wastewater can signal an outbreak in the making, giving health officials time to warn clinicians to watch for symptoms of diseases that might otherwise be misdiagnosed and to urge the public to take precautions.

Considerable media attention has focused on the current Ebola crisis in Africa. But Katz said the often-fatal hemorrhagic fever poses a "very low risk to the general public" in North America.

The World Cup team and support staff from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak, have been undergoing a precautionary quarantine in Belgium before travelling to the United States.

However, most of the players were in Europe at the time of the outbreak.

Katz said her team would be paying special attention to the spread of measles, which is approaching a record number of US cases this year—around 2,000 so far—and has resurfaced in parts of Mexico and Canada.

Additional risks are posed by mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, also known as "breakbone fever," and a close cousin, chikungunya. Both originate in the tropics and can be carried by infected travellers and then be transmitted by mosquitoes.

Katz enlisted 20 colleagues, along with pro bono support and assistance from 30 other entities, for her operations centre. They include several wastewater surveillance companies that are collecting and screening sewage samples and sharing their data with Katz's team without charge.

Social listening

Other key tools include tracking anonymised data from electronic health records and scouring open-source social media platforms for information pointing to transmission clusters, Katz said.

She cited a past example of public health officials pinpointing an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness based on social media chatter about a sudden uptick in toilet paper sales.

The Georgetown team will augment the work of several US agencies, including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Katz said.

Financial support for the centre has come from a small family foundation and Georgetown, along with in-kind contributions from such partners as the University of Nebraska.

Christian Eriksen is in "good spirits", said the Danish team football doctor, despite being hospitalised after collapsing during Denmark's friendly against Ukraine, five years after suffering a cardiac arrest during the European Championship.

The 34-year-old former Manchester United midfielder, who had a type of pacemaker inserted after he collapsed in 2021, fell to the ground in the 64th minute of the match in Odense on Sunday.

Medical staff rushed onto the pitch while players from both teams gathered around him to shield the scene from television or smartphone cameras.

The referee called off the match, and Eriksen was subsequently taken to the hospital, shielded by both sets of players as he walked off the pitch.

Denmark's team doctor, Morten Boesen, said Eriksen had been "briefly unconscious" but "the pacemaker responded as it should".

Boesen was able to offer a positive update early on Monday morning.

"I spoke to Christian this morning, and he is doing well," he said in comments posted on Instagram. "He is with his family and in good spirits. The expectation is that he will be discharged soon and can return home."

Boesen said he and his medical team were in regular contact with the Danish national side's players, adding, "We are taking good care of the players and staff and are in regular contact with them."

Eriksen has worn a pacemaker since he collapsed during the group-stage game against Finland at Euro 2020 in 2021.

That led to him spending more than six months away from football.

Denmark captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg praised the swift help his team-mate received.

"There was a throw-in, and I walked calmly to the touchline. Then I turned around, and I saw Christian collapse," he told Danish television station TV2. "We know very well what that means, and the reaction was extremely rapid and respectful."

Denmark coach Brian Riemer, who worked with Eriksen at Premier League side Brentford, said it had been "an extremely shocking experience for everyone, the staff, the players and the opponents".

He said, "He's someone who counts a lot for me. You're closer to certain players than others, and he was one of the ones I got close to at Brentford."

'Really awful' 

Eriksen resumed his career at Brentford seven months after his collapse, having been forced to leave Inter Milan because of Italy's rules against playing with a pacemaker.

He went on to join Manchester United, where he won the FA Cup and League Cup, and now plays for Wolfsburg in Germany, where he has another year to run on his contract.

He also returned to international football, playing for Denmark at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024 in Germany.

Denmark has not qualified for the World Cup in North America, which starts next week.

Former Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner said the latest incident had been "really awful" but was relieved Eriksen was conscious.

"The main thing is that he was able to walk off by himself because that makes you think he's doing OK given the circumstances," Bendtner told TV2. "But these are terrible images that outweigh the rest of the evening. It's the second time it's happened, and as a friend of Christian's, it's really awful."

Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday after arriving in Istanbul on a surprise visit, officials said.

Rodriguez, who has led Venezuela since US forces captured former socialist president Nicolas Maduro in January, arrived in Istanbul late on Sunday after a five-day visit to India.

Her arrival was announced on X by Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, who said she had come at Erdogan's invitation.

Rodriguez and Erdogan were to meet at 5:30 pm (1430 GMT) at the Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus, the presidency said.

Turkey has strong ties with oil-rich Venezuela, and Erdogan had close ties with the governments of late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez and his successor Maduro.

In recent years, Turkey has signed several agreements with Venezuela in the fields of defence, energy, tourism and agriculture.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but years of corruption, underinvestment and mismanagement have seen a dramatic collapse in production.

The situation worsened with a US oil embargo in 2019. However, Washington eased the sanctions after Maduro's capture, and Rodriguez has since pushed through reforms opening up the oil industry to private capital.

In the first hit on an energy site inside Iran since the 8 April ceasefire, Israel said it struck targets at the Mahshahr petrochemical complex, while a provincial official told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency parts of the plant were damaged.

Hours earlier, Trump said new strikes by Israel and Iran would not affect his administration's peace talks with Tehran, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn’t call the shots." Trump has leaned on Israel to stop its attacks in Lebanon to allow room for a deal to end the wider war with Iran, including rebuking Netanyahu with obscenities in a phone call last week.

However, earlier on Sunday, Israel launched strikes in the Beirut area for the first time since the U.S. announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week. Iran fired salvos of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation, putting U.S.-Iran peace talks at risk. But Trump insisted that an agreement to end the wider war remained well within reach.

"It’s not going to have any impact on the deal," Trump told the Financial Times. "I call the shots. I call all the shots. He (Netanyahu) doesn’t call the shots."

A few hours later, Israel's defence forces said they had struck Iranian military targets. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in its attacks.

Iran had fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel, its ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said on X, adding, "Everyone has had enough of this maniacal Iranian regime."

Israel was targeting Iran's surface-to-surface missile launch sites and infrastructure facilities, he said, adding, "No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel."

The latest hostilities drove oil prices up more than 3% on Monday, with benchmark Brent futures back above $96 a barrel.

In a brief statement, Israel's defence forces said, "The Israeli Air Force struck several targets at the petrochemical complex in Mahshahr."

No further details of Monday's damage were immediately available.

Iran's state media have said enemy projectiles have hit five production lines at the plant since the US-Israeli war began on 28 February.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted Ramat David air base, near Nazareth. The Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran and its defence systems had intercepted them. 

The Israeli military said it had activated aerial defence systems to intercept a missile it identified as having been launched from Yemen, in an attack that would be Yemen's first on Israel since the ceasefire.

Trump urged Netanyahu to hold off strikes

Trump spoke with Netanyahu by telephone from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for a little less than half an hour on Sunday, an Israeli official said, without giving details.

The White House and the Israeli prime minister's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump told Netanyahu during the call to refrain from further strikes because "we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal," according to a US official quoted by Axios.

Since the start of the talks, Israel has kept up attacks in Lebanon in a conflict with Hezbollah that Israeli officials insist should be treated separately from any Iran ceasefire. Tehran has long said any peace deal with the U.S. would depend on a ceasefire also holding in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters who fired rockets and drones across the border in solidarity with Tehran.

Iran's chief peace negotiator, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, said US bases and Israeli assets were legitimate targets because of hostile acts, including the "violation of agreements over Lebanon."

Before Sunday, Iran had not attacked Israel since a ceasefire in the wider war started in April.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington and Tehran were close to an agreement on ending the war.

"We're very close to a deal, or I'm going to blow the hell out of them," Trump told NBC News' "Meet the Press" in a recorded interview that aired on Sunday to mark 100 days of the conflict.

No attacks on Lebanon

Israel has never halted its invasion of Lebanon, which has killed thousands of people and driven more than a million people from their homes.

Hezbollah, which kept out of truce talks, has also continued its attacks and says it will not give up its weapons unless Israel halts its attacks and withdraws from Lebanon.

Netanyahu said Israel's Sunday strikes on Beirut's southern outskirts were ordered in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israel.

The wider war has been stalled since the US and Israel paused attacks on Iran in early April, with Tehran blocking most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.

Though Washington and Tehran have said they are close to a preliminary deal to reopen the strait, they have repeatedly traded strikes, with escalations in recent days that included attacks on nearby Arab states hosting US bases.

Trump has said any agreement to end the war must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and he is under pressure to deliver terms tougher than those agreed in 2015 under then-President Barack Obama in a deal Trump later repudiated. Tehran's demands include the lifting of US and international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its sway over the strait.

"Of course, this strait will be open, but with new conditions to be determined by the Iranian and Omani authorities," Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an interview published on Monday. "We understand that Iran and Oman provide certain services related to this strait. And fees will be charged for those services," he said, without elaborating.

A source familiar with US plans told Reuters on Saturday that Washington could make Iranian assets available to Gulf neighbours to repair damage inflicted by Iran.

However, any such diversion of Iran's assets would be illegal, and Tehran would take measures in response, Kazem Gharibabadi, its deputy foreign minister, said on Sunday. 

For those just joining us, here are the key updates:

• A new round of violence erupted after Israel launched attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday, killing at least two people and wounding 20 others
   
• Iran launched a wave of missiles at northern Israel following the attacks on Beirut, accusing Israel of repeatedly violating ceasefire agreements.  Then, Israeli strikes occurred on Iranian cities and commercial sites. After that, another round of missiles came from Iran and Yemen, which resulted in a wave of strikes by Israel
   
• Houthis have also declared that no Israeli ships will be allowed through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab 
   
• Meanwhile, Israel continues to strike southern Lebanon and Gaza, killing and wounding several civilians, including children.
   

And so we begin our live coverage...

Morocco had been ahead from the seventh minute when Brahim Diaz thundered home a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Norway fought their way back and could have won the clash with the North Africans, who were semi-finalists at the last World Cup in Qatar four years ago.

Norway shrugged off the hot conditions and applied sustained pressure near the end of the game, with Kristian Thorstvedt inches from grabbing a winner with nine minutes left as he put his header from Julian Ryerson’s free kick narrowly wide.

Odegaard had levelled matters with a smart left-footed finish after Oscar Bobb had jinked his way into the penalty area and laid off a short pass.

Morocco started strongly, and Diaz was given time and space after a pass from out wide to thrash home a shot. It was his first goal for Morocco since the Africa Cup of Nations finals at the turn of the year, where he finished top scorer but also squandered a penalty in the final.

Team mate Abdessamad Ezzalzouli came close to doubling the lead on the half hour as he swivelled to hit a full volley on the end of Diaz’s cross but missed the target.

Morocco had one other good opportunity when Diaz’s 57th-minute shot was parried by Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, and the rebound headed over the top of the crossbar by Neil El Aynaoui.

But the Moroccans were pegged back towards the end of the game and had to defend stoutly to avoid defeat.

Morocco open their World Cup campaign in Group C against Brazil in New York on Saturday, while Norway’s first game in Group I is against Iraq in Boston on June 16.

After the tournament favorites and the trio of host countries, all eyes will be on the Iran team which is dealing with the political ramifications of war between the United States and Israel that started in February.

The team's traveling party arrived at Tijuana, Mexico, at 5 a.m. local time on Sunday after departing their camp in Turkey and flying through the night.

The team originally had been scheduled to have its base camp at Tucson, Ariz., before a change was made amid "security concerns."

Adding to the complications for the Iran national team is that it only received its visas to enter the United States for tournament games last week and that some staff were denied visas.

About 15 accompanying officials were denied visas, including Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj, who previously served in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated a terrorist group by Washington.

According the an Al Jazerra report, the team will face further complications by only being allowed in the United States on the days of its games. The squad must arrive in the U.S. and depart back to its base in Mexico on the same days it plays.

Since the first Israeli and American strikes against Iran in late February, the war has created repeated uncertainty over Team Melli's participation.

Never before had a nation competing in the tournament been at war with one of the host countries, and Tehran long left open the question of whether its team would be allowed to play.

Iran was drawn into Group G for the tournament and will open its World Cup schedule on June 15 against New Zealand in the Los Angeles area, which is approximately 140 miles from their base just across the United States/Mexico border.

Iran has another group stage game in the Los Angeles area against Belgium on June 21 and will take on Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

President Donald Trump is dismissing the idea that launching the war with Iran this year betrayed his refrain of “No new wars” that he made repeatedly as he campaigned again for the White House.

Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press,” said he “didn't guarantee” there would be no wars if he were back in office.

"First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?" Trump said.

Trump also defended plans for a now-scrapped $1.8 billion fund that would have compensated allies of the Republican president and he repeated his baseless claims of mass fraud in California’s drawn-out vote count from Tuesday’s primary. He ended the interview abruptly when he became frustrated with pushback from NBC's Kristen Welker.

Iran ‘is not an endless war’

In his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly cast his Democratic opponents as warmongers and said he was a president who started “no new wars" and would bring an era of peace.

But Trump said in the NBC interview, taped Friday in Wisconsin, that as a candidate, “I didn’t promise anything.”

“I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months,” he said of the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28.

Trump said he was “doing the world a service” and “doing our country a service” because he had to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But elsewhere in the interview, Trump repeated a contradictory message where he said US strikes last year “obliterated” Iranian nuclear sites.

He also defended his decision in his first term to withdraw from Democratic President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, an agreement he has heavily criticized, without negotiating the “better deal” he has promised to reach.

“It takes years to do these things,” Trump said.

Trump without evidence claims fraud in California vote

California's notoriously prolonged vote count has been a magnet for election conspiracy theories, and Trump since Tuesday's election has claimed without evidence that Democrats are rigging the election. The Trump-appointed top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles said Friday that his office had opened “multiple election fraud investigations.”

Late-tallied Democratic-leaning mail ballots have eaten into the vote totals for Trump's preferred candidates for governor and Los Angeles mayor. While Trump has often said that changes to vote totals as late ballots are counted are a sign of fraud, they are merely a reflection of a slow vote-counting process.

Trump in the interview kept claiming that it was a sign of “cheating” and “a rigged election," and grew increasingly frustrated as Welker pressed him for evidence to support that.

“All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look,” Trump said.

“But that’s not evidence,” Welker responded.

“And I listen. And I listen to people. And let’s see what happens,” Trump replied.

‘Anti-weaponization’ fund

Trump defended plans that his Department of Justice said it has now abandoned to create a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of a settlement to resolve Trump's lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday that the department was scrapping the plan. That announcement came after the plan was paused by a judge and after both Democrats and some Republicans said they were concerned about the fund's lack of oversight and the possibility of payouts being made to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Trump told NBC he thought the fund was “a great idea” and that he would be “disappointed” if it were not approved.

When asked if he thought people who attacked police officers on Jan. 6 should get a payout, Trump said, “I wouldn’t be inclined to say so, but I have to see it." He then began making unfounded and false claims about the riot and those who stormed the Capitol. Trump granted a sweeping pardon on his first day back in office in January 2025 to the more than 1,500 people prosecuted over Jan. 6.

Rain interruptions and an abrupt end

The NBC interview was conducted in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, before Trump was set to speak at a roundtable event with farmers. The interview was repeatedly interrupted as waves of heavy rain fell on the metal roof of the barn where the taping took place, making it difficult at times to hear.

At the end, Welker pressed Trump on the settlement fund and his claims about the California election. Trump raised his voice and began calling Welker and the media “crooked," attacking her credibility and complaining about what he called “the fake, dirty press.”

As Welker tried to switch subjects, Trump continued on and there was cross talk between the two. Trump ended the interview, saying said, “Let's call it quits." He took off his microphone, telling Welker, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time." He said he had given the interview enough time, stood up and walked away.

Welker said during the broadcast that she spoke to Trump on Saturday and he agreed the rain had caused complications and said he would do another interview in the future.

Theroux’s doc was intended to shock, and it did, but not necessarily for the reasons intended, from the dehumanisation of women to the ‘bargaining’ of men of colour for a seat alongside the so-called elite. It was hard not to see how the manosphere serves as a blueprint for modern global leadership.

Theroux spoke with several men of colour in his doc, although this aspect of race and internalised racism within the manosphere was largely overlooked.

One of Theroux’s main “macho men” was Myron Gaines, of Sudanese descent, born as Amrou Fudl. Myron is one of the most influential voices in the manosphere, spouting his far-right ideology from his podcast Fresh&Fit.

Like many of the men featured in the doc, Gaines could once be categorised as a lost man of society, coming from a poor immigrant family in a capitalist world, whose family had to work hard to make ends meet.

The whitewashed leader

Gaines, a former US agent for the Department of Homeland Security, made his argument on masculinity very clear to Louis, who stood beside him in the fully-kitted-out podcast studio.

Theroux pulled up a clip on his phone of Gaines shouting into his mic, talking about women, saying “B!tch we ain’t equal I am the dictator and you are the subordinate [...].”

The camera pans to Gaines, who laughs at the footage and takes a swig of his drink. He follows up by saying to Theroux, “I need guys to have this mindset where you are the leader, and you are assertive.”

The entire manosphere thrives off these hierarchies, the men above women patriarchy roadmap. What adds an extra dimension to Myron’s spiel is that he is a man of colour yet he’s fighting for male power within a white-dominated system.

This is the same theoretical bargain made by politicians who trade their community's interests for personal political advancement. A running theme in British and American politics, with Marco Rubio, Byron Reynolds, Suella Braverman, and Sahabana Mahmood, to name a few.

The illogical ‘Brown Pill’

The manosphere uses the term "Brown Pill" to make toxic masculinity palatable for Black and Brown communities. But before you breathe a sigh of relief, this Brown Pill logic is just as contradictory as the rest of the different manosphere pills. While it seemingly focuses on the experiences of men of colour, it clings to an anti-feminist agenda that scapegoats Black women for the alleged disempowerment of men.

This movement is deeply tied to multiracial whiteness: a phenomenon where people of colour uphold white supremacist structures in exchange for power. The figures are staggering: in the US, multiracial whiteness is believed to have grown by 276% between 2010 and 2020.

Similarly, a 2025 YouGov survey found that UK-born ethnic minority adults are significantly more likely (24%) than white adults (10%) to hold restrictive, "white-only" definitions of national identity.

A prime example is US politician Vivek Ramaswamy. Born to Indian immigrants, he has become a key vessel for anti-immigrant rhetoric. He explicitly rejects systemic racism, labelling it "Wokeism" and a "religion of the left." Instead, he promotes "heritage Americanism,” prioritising those with "blood and soil" roots. An immigrant’s son championing the very rhetoric designed to exclude him, all to secure his own status within the hierarchy.

Shadowy elite obsession

Inside the Manosphere, centred heavily on the metaphor of the Matrix, this reference is the movement's founding conspiracy theory.

Manosphere influencers or the Red Pill members claim that modern society is deceiving us and is biased against men. The glaring irony is that while the manosphere claims to hate shadowy elites, its followers effectively serve as foot soldiers for those who occupy the top seats while blaming the vulnerable in society for all that’s wrong with the world.

Both US and UK politics have weaponised this rhetoric. Trump has long used dehumanising language like “illegal aliens” for immigrants and “deranged" for Trans people. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Labour government has recorded the highest-ever immigration raids, up by 77% since 2024, rather than addressing the structural inequalities of the cost-of-living crisis.

These strategies direct public anger toward the vulnerable rather than the billionaires and corporate interests shaping the economy. By providing this distraction, the manosphere functions as a shield for the elite while simultaneously mirroring their most predatory habits. Its prototypes are known for leaning into the cushty benefits granted to those at the top, with impunity being the most sought-after perk.

Theroux highlighted numerous incidents where infamous influencer Harrison Sullivan, known as HSTikkyTokky, was inciting violence that turned into physical abuse, all caught on camera by his own crew, chopped up into clips to share with his millions of viewers. Not to mention the court case HSTikkyTokky is in the midst of for dangerous driving. Yet he gave off an untouchable, nonchalant vibe to Theroux, shrugging it off as no big deal.

Alarm bells rang for the millionth time during this 90-minute doc. A blaringly obvious parallel to the Epstein Files, where we see world leaders with dozens of allegations, yet they remain calm and collected, arrogantly knowing they are untouchable.

Reflecting on the doc reveals a harsh reality. If we continue to treat the manosphere merely as a subculture, we are failing to recognise the dangerous fact that it has long infiltrated society, the political landscape, and the way we view violence against women and girls.

Olivia Hooper is a British journalist based in Morocco specialising in humanitarian and gender-based topics, writing for Middle East Eye and Al-Monitor, among others.

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@newarab.com

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

The Israeli army reported the attack just hours after Tehran had threatened to retaliate for a new Israeli strike on Beirut.

Iranian state TV reported explosions in three cities on Monday, as the Israeli army said its air forces had struck targets in west and central Iran.

"Several explosions heard in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan," state TV posted on Telegram.

An April 8 ceasefire had halted major hostilities between Iran, Israel and the US, but efforts to turn the truce into a settlement have repeatedly stalled, and Sunday's launches were sure to further dampen hopes for a lasting peace, as the Middle East war reached its 100th day.

Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah, and had warned that any new attacks on Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of hostilities.

Iran's attack flurry reportedly prompted US President Donald Trump to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advise against retaliation, even as Israeli military leaders vowed to strike the Islamic republic as soon as they are given the go-ahead.

"I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate," Trump was quoted as saying by Axios journalist Barak Ravid in a phone interview, using the Israeli leader's nickname.

"Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one," Trump reportedly said.

Ravid later posted that a US official said Trump spoke with Netanyahu. The White House has yet to issue a readout of the call, and Trump has remained silent on social media Sunday.

'Grave mistake'

Meanwhile Israel accused Tehran of committing a "grave mistake" with its assault, which Israel's miliary said amounted to 11 missiles, all of which were intercepted, with no casualties.

And Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir vowed the military would "strike the enemy with force as soon as the green light is given".

Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah, and had warned that any new attacks on Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of hostilities.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the army had "struck a militant command centre in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah's fire towards Israeli territory".

The raid killed two people and wounded 20 more, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Israel had warned it would hit the area should Hezbollah attack northern Israel, and the group later confirmed having launched missiles and drones at a pair of Israeli army barracks on Sunday morning.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and its chief negotiator in talks with Washington, accused the United States of having given a "green light" for the Beirut attack, saying US and Israeli assets were now "legitimate targets".

Hours later, the Israeli military reported at least three waves of incoming missiles, saying its air defences were "currently identifying and intercepting threats".

The head of Iran's military central command said Israel had "crossed all red lines" with the Beirut strike, demanding it halt its campaign in Lebanon.

"The Israeli army must stop its attacks on southern Lebanon and the suburbs, and if it expands its attacks to that region or responds to Iran's action, it will face more devastating and regrettable blows," General Ali Abdollahi said.

'Gone numb'

The sharp escalation came as Iranians were already feeling the strain of weeks of uncertainty.

Fitness trainer Elaheh from Ahvaz told AFP news agency: "I really have gone numb."

"Daily life? It's a joke. Everything is horrible. We only try to survive," the 32-year-old added, pointing to rising prices.

Farhad, a 35-year-old chef, also said life was becoming "increasingly difficult", noting economic hardship had set in even before the war.

"Things that just a few months ago you might have considered buying have now become dreams and fairy tales," he told AFP.

There were some signs of ongoing diplomatic efforts over the weekend, with Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi visiting Tehran.

Naqvi said upon his arrival Saturday that he would deliver a "special letter" from Pakistan's army chief to Iran's supreme leader, as well as a message from the prime minister, according to Iranian state television.

Pakistani military leader Syed Asim Munir has played a key role in mediating between Iran and the US following an initial round of direct negotiations in Islamabad.

Also on Saturday, Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal travelled to Pakistan for his own talks with Munir, and a source with knowledge of his visit said it was "linked to the Pakistani mediation" between Tehran and Washington.

'Deadlock'

Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had told CNN negotiations with the US "are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock", calling for the release of some $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

But Trump said in the same interview that he would not unfreeze Iranian assets before reaching an initial agreement with Tehran. "If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking," he said.

In fact, Washington may seek to use those funds to pay for damage wrought by Iranian strikes on Gulf allies, according to a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's thinking.

Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said overnight that it destroyed two Iranian drones "that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz".

A previous drone interception and strikes on Iranian radar sites had prompted Tehran on Saturday to fire a salvo of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait.

"A short while ago, sirens were sounded in several areas across the country, following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," the military said, in a statement.

The Israeli military later warned of a second barrage of missiles fired from Iran, shortly after it reported the first such salvo since a fragile truce went into effect in April.

"An additional barrage of missiles was launched toward the State of Israel," it said. "The aerial defence array is currently identifying and intercepting threats."

The Israeli military said it had so far intercepted all missiles fired by Iran.

"The [Israeli army] intercepted all missiles from Iran thus far. The [Israeli military] has currently identified additional launches fired toward the State of Israel," the military said. "The Aerial Defense Array is currently identifying and intercepting threats."

Trump said Washington would work with Iran to eliminate its stockpile of enriched uranium if a peace agreement could be reached, in comments made in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, but suggested the US military could secure the material independently if negotiations failed.

"We will do it with them or without them," Trump said, referring to the destruction of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.

Trump said that under a future agreement, the uranium could be destroyed in Iran or transferred abroad and dismantled using American equipment.

He added that if military action became necessary, the US would first degrade Iran's military capabilities to ensure American forces could operate without coming under fire.

The US president also claimed that Washington possesses the capability to monitor Iranian nuclear facilities through space-based surveillance systems.

"We have cameras covering every inch. If someone is there, or if you walked there, I could read your first name written on your badge," Trump said.

He added that US forces would remain deployed in the region until what he described as the mission was completed.

Trump said he was seeking additional safeguards in any future agreement beyond Iranian commitments not to develop nuclear weapons.

"I said, what if they don't develop one [a nuclear bomb] but buy one or obtain one? I want to add language preventing them from buying or obtaining one, so they have no right to develop, buy or acquire one," he said.

According to Trump, Iranian officials initially objected to the proposal before backing away from their opposition.

The president also said he would be open to direct talks with Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whom he described as "part of the process of approving an agreement".

"I would do it if he wanted to, but I have not spoken with him directly," Trump said.

He described Khamenei as "younger, more rational and courageous" than his father, who was killed during the US-Israeli war against Iran after a meeting of Iranian officials was targeted in late February.

Trump declined to say whether he knew Khamenei's current whereabouts, saying only: "I don't want to say, but there's a possibility that I know."

The comments come as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain unresolved following months of tension over Iran's nuclear programme and the aftermath of the recent conflict between the two countries.

Trump acknowledged that securing an agreement remained difficult because it required Iran to make concessions it had previously rejected.

"Iran has not signed an agreement yet because it is extremely difficult for them. They have no choice except to accept things they never imagined they would one day have to accept," he said.

"They will find themselves compelled to accept them because they have no choice. We're talking about 47 years in which they became accustomed to doing whatever they wanted without accountability."

A New York Times investigation of footage published Saturday found that the chemical had been used in several areas of southern Lebanon, including around major cities Tyre and Nabatieh, in recent weeks.

White phosphorus is typically used create smokescreens and illuminate battlefields but can also be deployed as an incendiary weapon due to burning at extreme temperatures.

The munitions are not generally prohibited, but their use in populated areas is illegal due to their indiscriminate nature, likely placing Israel in violation of international law.

Broadcast footage recorded the use of munitions with a distinctive smoke trail in the town of Arnoun last week, as Israeli forces moved to seize the nearby Beaufort castle.

The Times also verified footage of its use near the Shia-majority towns of Khiam and Yohmor, and the Christian village of Qlayaa.

Munitions experts who analysed the imagery concluded that it showed shells releasing burning phosphorus after detonating in mid-air.

Rights monitor Human Rights Watch has also documented the use of white phosphorus during the current round of the fighting, reporting in March that Israel had unlawfully used the chemical in Yohmor.

The Israeli military denied using white phosphorus in its smoke-screen projectiles.

Israeli forces launched a large-scale invasion of southern Lebanon in March after Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border following the US-Israel attack on Iran.

It has conducted round-the-clock bombing of Shia-majority areas and depopulated swathes of the south. Most of the Shia towns close to the Israeli border have been levelled after being captured by Israeli forces, including Khiam and Yohmor.

What is white phosphorus?

White phosphorus is a solid chemical fired from artillery shells and bombs that burns when it comes into contact with oxygen.

The chemical burns at more than 800 degrees Celsius, emitting clouds of thick smoke that are used for tactical purposes by militaries.

The intense heat inflicts severe burns when it comes into contact with people and can trigger days-long fires on the ground, destroying buildings and damaging land. The smoke can cause permanent damage to the eyes and internal organs if inhaled.

While the chemical can be used on the ground, military forces often detonate the munitions in the air, spreading the toxic chemical over a wider area. This makes their use especially dangerous in populated areas.

Israel and white phosphorus

The Israeli military has been known to use white phosphorus since at least the 2008-09 war in Gaza where the chemical was dropped on densely-populated neighbourhoods in violation of international law.

Human Rights Watch documented the use of around 200 munitions during the three-week conflict, causing dozens of civilian casualties.

Though it pledged to stop its use in 2013, Israel has deployed the chemical in Lebanon since the war with Hezbollah erupted following 7 October attack in 2023.

A 2024 report by HRW documented its widespread use in Lebanon. The rights group verified its deployment in at least 17 municipalities between October 2023 and June 2024 and urged the Israeli military to immediately stop its use.

In December 2023, The Washington Post reported that some of the munitions being used in south Lebanon were supplied to Israel by the US.

The demand follows detailed testimony from the activist, who alleged she was subjected to abuse by Israeli prison staff while being held at Givon Prison in Ramla, central Israel. 

The complaint was submitted on behalf of the participant, identified only as A.L., and addressed to Israel's Attorney General, the legal adviser to the Prison Service, the unit responsible for investigating prison guards, and the commander of Givon Prison. It calls for the immediate opening of criminal proceedings. 

Adalah states the allegations stem from Israel's interception in October 2025 of dozens of vessels carrying more than 500 activists.  

The ships had departed from ports across Europe and Africa as part of an effort to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip before being stopped by Israeli forces in international waters. 

The complaint states that during her transfer from the port to Ketziot Prison, the journalist was subjected to physical and verbal abuse by Israeli security personnel and prison service staff.  

She alleged that she was restrained for extended periods using handcuffs, blindfolded, shouted at, and threatened, including with rape, in addition to being subjected to other forms of physical violence. 

The journalist said the abuse continued after she arrived at Givon Prison, where female guards allegedly ordered her to remove her clothing while male guards observed from behind a curtain. 

According to her testimony, when she refused to undress, prison staff forcibly removed her clothes and compelled her to kneel while naked. 

"When she refused, the guards forcibly removed her clothing. While she stood fully naked, a female guard inserted her fingers into the journalist's genitals and then her anus," the complaint states.

The journalist further testified that she could hear male guards laughing during the alleged assault. 

"The severity of the acts described and their unlawfulness are clear and leave no room for doubt. These constitute acts of rape, sexual violence, and serious assault, which require the immediate opening of a criminal investigation against all those involved and their prosecution," Adalah stated. 

The organisation said other women who participated in the flotilla had contacted the German journalist after she publicly shared her testimony and reported experiencing similar treatment, including incidents that they said amounted to sexual assault. 

"These events raise serious concern that serious sexual assaults against female detainees by Israeli forces are a systematic pattern that has not been investigated at all," the centre said. 

Adalah argued that the case forms part of a broader pattern of alleged abuse, noting that it has received additional testimonies in recent weeks from flotilla activists who departed from Turkey in May, before being intercepted by Israeli forces. 

According to the organisation, those testimonies include allegations of sexual violence, physical abuse, humiliation and mistreatment during detention. 

Adalah further stated that the lack of accountability has contributed to an environment in which such abuses can escalate. 

"The responsibility of the authorities today does not end with achieving justice for the victim in the current case but also requires examining the conditions and policies that allowed such grave acts to occur within an official detention facility," the legal centre said. 

The developments come as activists who were detained, allegedly tortured, and later deported by Israel following the latest flotilla mission have submitted an official communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing senior Israeli military officials and political leaders of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and conduct linked to genocide. 

The text of the US draft resolution seen by Reuters on Sunday and circulated ahead of this week's quarterly meeting of the 35-nation board risks further complicating current talks between the US and Iran because Iran bristles at resolutions against it at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

While previous IAEA board resolutions against Iran have passed by a clear margin, this text could meet stiffer resistance since it is the US that, along with Israel, bombed Iran's nuclear sites last June, since when the agency has been unable to return to those sites.

Iran must "provide the Agency with precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran" and "grant the Agency all access it requires to verify this information," the text seen by Reuters said, saying both must happen "without delay" and are "essential and urgent".

The text refrains, however, from reporting Iran to the UN Security Council, as some diplomats had said was being considered, which would have been a follow-up to a resolution the board passed on 12 June 2025, declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

Israel started bombing Iran's nuclear sites on 13 June in a 12-day war that ended with US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The US mission to the IAEA has declined to comment on its pursuit of a resolution this time.

A Tehran Revolutionary Court fully upheld the original December verdict of another court, although Panahi can still lodge a new appeal with a provincial court, lawyer Mostafa Nili told the website of Iranian daily Etemad.

The ruling means that the original judgement of one year in prison and a two-year travel ban on charges of "propaganda" against Iran's clerical system still stands, the lawyer added.

Iran's ISNA news agency had said in May that the director, who as well as winning the Cannes Palme d'Or was nominated for an Oscar for his film "It Was Just an Accident", had returned to Iran on 30 March, shortly after the annual ceremony in Los Angeles.

While abroad promoting the film, Panahi had expressed outrage over the Iranian authorities' crackdown in January on anti-government protests, which according to rights groups left thousands dead.

Panahi has not posted on his widely-followed Instagram account since February, nor himself confirmed that he has returned to Iran. The US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic was still ongoing when he reportedly went home.

It was not clear if Panahi had attended the latest trial hearings under judge Iman Afshari, who is notorious for his tough verdicts.

"It Was Just an Accident" is a politically charged film, showing five Iranians confronting a man they believe tortured them in prison, a story inspired by Panahi's own previous time in detention.

Nili said that according to the indictment from the judiciary, Panahi's sentence was based on "producing an underground and problematic film against the ruling establishment", in apparent reference to the critically-acclaimed movie.

He had also supported several individuals seen as political prisoners by rights groups, portrayed "the country's situation in a negative light" and protested against the use of capital punishment in Iran, it added.

During his globe-trotting tour to promote the film, Panahi had repeatedly vowed to return to Iran despite the potential legal repercussions and the risk of being summoned to serve his sentence.

"It is my home and I will return to my country," he told AFP in an interview ahead of the Oscars.

The Sijil Centre, which documents Israeli violations in Syria, said Israeli troops entered areas in the northern and southern countryside of Quneitra and detained five civilians.

Four of those detained were from the village of Jbata al-Khashab in northern Quneitra, while the fifth was from the village of Sayda al-Hanout in the province's south.

The reported detentions come amid ongoing Israeli military activity in Quneitra and neighbouring areas of Daraa province, where residents and local monitors say troops have repeatedly entered Syrian territory, established temporary checkpoints, carried out searches and detained civilians.

According to the monitoring centre, Israeli forces have also restricted access to farmland near the boundary with the occupied Golan Heights and imposed limitations affecting agriculture, grazing land and access to natural resources.

Syrian journalist Samer Al-Miqdad told The New Arab that the repeated incursions and detentions were intended to intimidate local residents and restrict their movement.

"The repeated incursions by Israeli forces, during which civilians are abducted, are intended to increase fear among residents, restrict their movement and prevent them from reaching agricultural land," Al-Miqdad said.

He added that some detentions were also carried out to gather information from local civilians.

The latest operation follows months of growing Israeli military activity inside southern Syria. According to a report by Amnesty International, Israeli forces entered the UN-designated demilitarised zone in Quneitra and carried out demolitions of civilian homes.

The rights group said that "families have been displaced and their homes demolished without being provided with alternative shelter, compensation, or any timetable for their return".

Amnesty International concluded that "the destruction of and damage to civilian facilities in southern Syria occurred without absolute military necessity, in violation of international humanitarian law, and amounts to grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention".

Israel significantly and illegally expanded its military presence in southern Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024.

According to a study by the Jusoor Centre, the Israeli military's subsequent operation, known as "Arrow of Bashan", involved around 250 air strikes and destroyed roughly 80 percent of Syria's strategic military infrastructure.

The operation also saw Israeli forces move beyond the 1974 disengagement line, taking control of a number of positions in Quneitra province and on Mount Hermon, including the mountain's summit observation post overlooking large areas of Syria, Lebanon and occupied Palestine.

Nakhnoukh is under investigation on suspicion of leading "an organised criminal group" accused of "imposing control, practising thuggery through force and threats and disrupting public order", the public prosecution said in a statement on Saturday.

Prosecutors said the group allegedly used a private security company as a front for its activities, relying on money and weapons to facilitate its operations.

Nakhnoukh has long been a controversial figure in Egypt, accused by critics and activists of running a network linked to powerful individuals during longtime leader Mubarak's rule and acting as a "baltagi" - meaning a thug or hired enforcer.

The latest investigation followed a complaint from the owner of a car dealership, who alleged that Nakhnoukh and several others stormed the premises during a financial dispute.

The complaint said an employee was assaulted and that the group seized the site's surveillance recording device.

Prosecutors said the recording device was recovered during searches of properties linked to the businessman, as well as weapons and ammunition, five unlicensed communication devices and 10 antiquities.

They added that mobile phone checks suggested the suspects may have been involved in other crimes, including kidnapping, sexual assault and violent detention.

During the 2011 uprising that ousted Mubarak, Nakhnoukh was widely accused of deploying groups of hired thugs to attack protesters and target public buildings, prisons and police stations.

Critics said the aim was to sow fear and chaos, showing citizens that security would only return if Mubarak stayed in power.

In 2012, under the government of late Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Nakhnoukh was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of possessing illegal weapons.

He later returned to the public sphere in 2018 after he was pardoned by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted Morsi in 2013 amid widespread protests.

After his release, Nakhnoukh became chairman of the Falcon Group, one of Egypt's largest private security companies.

During Sisi's tenure Falcon has expanded its footprint across universities, public institutions and strategic sites, securing a series of prominent contracts.

In its statement, Egypt's public prosecution said the investigation demonstrated that "no one is above the law", regardless of status or influence.

On Saturday, Syria's Interior Ministry said it had arrested Shuaib Mahmoud Ibrahim, described as one of the leaders of groups affiliated with the former regime and wanted on accusations of war crimes and participation in military operations targeting opposition-held areas.

The ministry said the arrest followed what it described as a precise intelligence operation that uncovered suspicious activities and hidden weapons in the Masyaf area of Hama province.

According to the ministry, preliminary investigations found that Ibrahim participated in military operations in the Homs and Hama countrysides in 2017.

It also alleged that he was involved in abuses that included the mutilation of victims' bodies during those operations.

The ministry added that Ibrahim admitted during questioning to possessing weapons and hiding them with another individual in the Masyaf area.

"The relevant authorities are continuing efforts to locate and confiscate the weapons," the ministry said, adding that security forces were also pursuing the second suspect in preparation for legal action against both men.

Absi Someisem, a Syrian journalist and political analyst, told The New Arab that most of the individuals now being arrested are figures who remained inside Syria after the fall of the Assad government.

"Most of the arrests we hear about from time to time involve figures who were unable to flee during the period following Assad's fall, or individuals who believed that reaching a settlement with the Interior Ministry would exempt them from prosecution for crimes committed in the past," he said

In a separate case announced on the same day, the Interior Ministry said it had arrested Mohammed Bassam Hassani, who is accused of committing war crimes and abuses during the rule of former dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The ministry said Hassani began his activities within the Al-Tarmah Regiment, a formation affiliated with Syria's Air Force Intelligence Directorate.

It said he participated in military operations in the Aleppo and Hama countrysides and in battles around Kuweires Airbase before later joining Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.

Hassani subsequently operated in the Palmyra region and the Syrian desert, the ministry added.

A third arrest was announced by the Internal Security Command in Idlib province, which said it had detained a former regime militia member accused of involvement in a series of abuses against civilians.

The suspect was not publicly identified.

The Internal Security Command said the arrest formed part of ongoing efforts to pursue individuals implicated in crimes and violations committed during previous years.

The arrests are the latest in a series of operations targeting former officers, militia members and security personnel linked to the Assad government, which was overthrown in December 2024 following a lightning offensive led by opposition factions.

Someisem said many of the most senior figures accused of crimes during the conflict had already left the country in the chaotic period that followed the collapse of the Assad government.

"However, the arrest of perpetrators who remain in Syria is an important step within the transitional justice process," he said.

"There are still thousands of criminals who have not yet been brought to justice, and thousands of victims who have not yet received redress."

He added that unresolved issues included missing persons, injured victims and reparations, while calling on the Syrian government to work internationally to secure the return and prosecution of former regime figures who fled abroad.

Since taking power, Syria's new authorities have pledged to pursue accountability for crimes committed during the country's 13-year conflict, while human rights organisations have repeatedly called for transparent investigations and fair judicial proceedings for suspects accused of war crimes and abuses.

The Tribeca Film Festival condemned the remarks made by Elon Gold and Lizzy Savetsky, who were attending the premiere of a new Israeli film.

"I was only raped by two Israeli dogs," Gold told Savetsky during an interview on the red carpet on Thursday.

"I thought they only rape Palestinians," she replied, to which Gold said "No I got also a dog".

Gold, an outspoken advocate for Israel, was referring to a recent article in the New York Times that featured Palestinian testimonies about the use of dogs to commit sexual abuse in Israeli prisons.

The article contained over a dozen testimonies from Palestinians, including children and well-known activist Issa Amro. 

The article prompted anger in Israel, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it "blood libel," and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar threatening legal action against the publication. 

Rights groups have documented the widespread use of sexual violence against Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Dozens of detainees have provided testimonies about a range of sexual abuses, including rape, torture, forced stripping, and other forms of degrading treatment.

The comments from the actor and influencer triggered outrage on social media.

"How vile. Red carpet r@pe jokes @Tribeca," journalist Samira Mohyeddin wrote on X.

Palestinian writer Sana Saeed wrote: "Jesus Christ, these people are so vile - absolutely vile nasty ghouls."

In a statement on Saturday, the festival said it "unequivocally condemns the offensive and unacceptable remarks".

"Sexual violence and human suffering should never be mocked or minimised. The comments do not reflect the Tribeca Festival's values, and we regret the hurt and offense they have caused," it said.

Savetsky is a prominent pro-Israel activist who has expressed support for the Israeli far-right.

In 2025, she posted a video praising Israeli extremist Meir Kahane, who advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians and non-Jews from Israel and the occupied territories.

In May, the UN added Israel to its blacklist of countries that commit sexual violence amid mounting evidence of the systematic abuse of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

A report by the UN secretary-general's office said the UN had over the past year confirmed at least 31 cases of sexual violence committed between 2023 and 2025.

One case includes the notorious incident at the Sde Teiman detention facility in July 2024, when leaked CCTV footage showed five Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee. The Israeli military later dropped all charges against the guards.

Evidence has recently emerged that Israeli forces are also using sexual violence to intimidate Palestinians in the West Bank. A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council in April documented multiple cases of Israeli settler and soldiers committing sexualised abuse as a method of driving Palestinians from their land.

Prosecutors in several European countries have opened investigations into alleged sexual abuse committed against Gaza flotilla activists in May.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said that Israeli forces had committed at least 15 cases of sexual assault against the activists, who were abducted in international waters last month.

Answering a call from environmental organisations, activists from across the country and local residents flocked at midday to the Vjosa-Narta lagoon, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of the capital Tirana.

It was the latest in a series of protests against a project whose cost is estimated at around four billion euros ($4.6 billion), linked to US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.

"The whole of this marine area is a protected zone. To destroy it would be fatal for this region's biodiversity," one protester, Emiljona Puja, a finance worker, told AFP.

Protesters gathered on a sandy beach facing azure waters, some waving red Albanian flags, others carrying inflatable flamingos - the movement's symbol - while chanting: "Cancel the project!"

Later in central Tirana, crowds staged the biggest demonstration yet against the project, marching to the government headquarters with placards reading: "Ivanka go home" and "Albania is not for sale," AFP reporters saw.

Unrest broke out in the reserve during an initial protest in late May against preparatory onsite work during installation of barbed wire to cordon off the area. The barbed wire has since been removed.

People rushed there after seeing videos on social media showing construction work and bulldozers on the beach. Those machines were not there on Saturday either.

AFP journalists observed concrete foundations for a fence on the ground that had also been removed.

Birds threatened

Thousands of protesters have been gathering every evening for nearly a week in Tirana to denounce what they view as the planned destruction of entire sections of the Vjosa-Narta Nature Reserve and its conversion into a luxury tourist destination.

According to the plan, developers also hope to transform the uninhabited island of Sazan - once a secret communist military base - into a glitzy tourist destination.

The lagoon on the southern Adriatic coast is home to many migratory birds, including flamingos.

"This is a problem not only regarding the transparency of this whole process, but also everything has happened with a complete disregard of the environmental importance of this area," said Denisa Kasa, of the Albanian Association for the Protection of the Environment (PPNEA).

"This area is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean," added Kasa.

Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday downplayed the protests, insisting there was "no reason to worry", and added the project had yet to be approved.

He insisted that "top" world experts were involved in the plan and that the aim was "to make something unique".

Dr Bilal Al-Shobaki, head of the Political Science Department at Hebron University, was detained during a pre-dawn raid on his home, while Israeli forces also arrested his parents from their residence earlier in the night.

His wife, Zein Asqalan, told The New Arab that a large force of Israeli soldiers stormed their residential building at around 2 am.

"They began shouting wildly from the entrance of the building to terrorise the residents and continued doing so until they reached the fifth floor where we live," she said.

According to Asqalan, soldiers searched the family home, damaged property, confiscated Al-Shobaki's mobile phone and took him to an unknown location. She said his parents, Samira and Mahmoud Al-Shobaki, were also arrested and that the family had received no information about their whereabouts.

Asqalan said Al-Shobaki had returned from Italy only hours earlier, where he had been participating in an academic exchange programme between Hebron University and an Italian university.

She said Israeli authorities had detained him for around three hours at the Karama Crossing before allowing him to continue his journey.

In a separate development, Israeli police and military forces launched a manhunt following a series of shooting attacks in the occupied West Bank and nearby Israeli towns.

Israel's emergency service, Magen David Adom, said one man was killed and four others wounded.

Police said at least one suspected attacker had been killed and that searches were continuing for additional assailants.

Meanwhile, 13 Palestinians were injured during a settler attack on the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, according to local officials.

Rana Abu Haniya, director of public relations at Huwara Municipality, told The New Arab that settlers surrounded the municipal building, attacked nearby homes and stole around 40 sheep from a livestock enclosure.

"A large group of settlers attacked the southern area of Huwara near the municipal building, surrounded the municipality and assaulted a Palestinian home adjacent to it," she said.

Abu Haniya said settlers also damaged vehicles, stole a car and assaulted residents. The injuries included beatings, bullet shrapnel wounds and tear-gas inhalation.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated eight people during the attack, including casualties from rubber-coated bullets and tear gas exposure.

Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, settlers reportedly attacked Palestinian farmers near Al-Dhahiriya south of Hebron, vandalised agricultural land northwest of Nablus, and blocked access roads in Turmusayya northeast of Ramallah.

Israeli forces also carried out raids and arrests in several towns, including Silwad, Al-Mazra'a Al-Sharqiya and Rafat.

The developments come days after seven-month-old Palestinian baby Sam Abu Haikal was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Hebron.

Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank have escalated sharply.

At least 1,173 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since 7 October 2023, including 244 children, while more than 12,200 have been wounded.

In 2026 alone, 68 Palestinians have been killed, including 17 allegedly killed by Israeli settlers.

Amir Daoud, Director of Publishing and Documentation at the Colonisation & Wall Resistance Commission, told The New Arab on Saturday that the move marks a dangerous escalation in policies of annexation and land confiscation in the occupied Palestinian territories, threatening both the Palestinian population and the area's agricultural presence.

"This project cannot be viewed as a purely environmental or service-oriented initiative. It is being advanced by the occupying authorities on Palestinian land without the consent of the Palestinian people and in a context dominated by settlement expansion and territorial control," Daoud said.

"We see it as another tool through which Israel seeks to impose facts on the ground and deepen its control over strategically located areas surrounding Jerusalem," he continued.

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, Israeli plans published on Thursday include the construction of a large-scale waste treatment facility on Palestinian land, alongside changes to the route of the separation wall, which would push it further into the village's territory.

Under the plans, a waste treatment and energy recovery facility would be established, with electricity generated from processed waste fed into Israel's power grid.

The site would receive substantial quantities of waste, including plastics, paper products and other combustible materials, as part of a broader expansion of Israel's waste management infrastructure that Palestinian officials say comes at the expense of occupied Palestinian land.

Confiscation of Palestinian land

The governorate stated that the project would result in the confiscation of approximately 278 dunams of Palestinian land, significantly exceeding the areas outlined in earlier proposals and highlighting what it described as the wider objectives of the scheme.

It also said the affected area includes around 40 inhabited homes, as well as dozens of dunams of fertile farmland cultivated with olive trees, grains and vegetables.

"In reality, most Israeli plans in the occupied Palestinian territory are implemented on lands that have already been confiscated through a variety of military, legal, and administrative measures over previous decades," Daoud said.

"This means that the land is not merely being taken from its Palestinian owners; it is being incorporated into a long-term system of Israeli control and development that serves the settlement enterprise and entrenches facts on the ground," he added.

Public health concerns

Daoud further emphasised that the project's implications extend beyond land confiscation and threats to housing, encompassing serious environmental and public health concerns due to the site's proximity to densely populated Palestinian residential communities in and around Qalandia.

"Palestinian communities already face severe planning restrictions, and projects of this nature contribute to creating a coercive environment that limits their ability to remain and develop on their land," he explained.

One of the biggest concerns is that the facility could increase emissions of pollutants, odours and particulate matter, potentially affecting air quality, soil, groundwater and public health.

The Jerusalem Governorate further said the presence of a waste treatment facility near residential areas can contribute to higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as well as certain forms of cancer, particularly among children and older people.

The project will likely also undermine agricultural production and local food security by reducing productive farmland.

"When examined in isolation, it may appear to be a technical infrastructure project," Daoud said.

"However, when viewed alongside settlement expansion, road construction, land confiscation, and the systematic integration of occupied territory into Israeli administrative and economic systems, a clear pattern emerges."

Palestinians have long argued that Israeli infrastructure is being used as a mechanism to consolidate control over land, while marginalising Palestinian communities and limiting their development.

Daoud said such policies have "had a profound impact on the daily lives of Palestinians, restricting economic opportunities, undermining social cohesion, and creating significant obstacles to sustainable development".

He explained that over the years, substantial investment has been channelled into expanding Israeli settlements and developing infrastructure networks aimed at linking and reinforcing them, while Palestinians have been neglected and sidelined. 

"These policies contribute to weakening the Palestinian presence around Jerusalem while consolidating Israeli control over strategically important areas surrounding the occupied city. They also create new realities on the ground that can have long-term implications for the territorial continuity of Palestinian communities and for the prospects of achieving a just and sustainable resolution to the conflict."

Coordinating with legal experts 

Daoud said the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission was monitoring the project, documenting all related measures, and coordinating with affected communities and legal experts.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the project dates back to June 2024, when the Israeli government tasked the Eden Company, also known as the Jerusalem Economic Development Company, with identifying a suitable location for the facility.

The latest developments come as Israel rapidly advances a series of large-scale projects to expand settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory, while also pursuing de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank.

This comes alongside its war on Gaza, which began in October 2023 and has so far killed at least 72,942 people, with thousands more reported missing and presumed dead beneath the rubble.

The war has cut oil flows via the Strait of Hormuz, creating the world's biggest ever supply crisis as key OPEC+ members including Saudi Arabia have been unable to supply customers in full since the end of February. The crisis for OPEC+ deepened when the United Arab Emirates left the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after almost 60 years.

Seven core members of OPEC+, which groups OPEC and allied producers including Russia, have increased their output quotas from April to June by almost 600,000 barrels per day.

In reality, the group's production has collapsed due to export cuts by Gulf members, averaging 33.19 million bpd in April versus 42.77 million in February, according to OPEC figures.

On Sunday, the seven members will likely increase targets by about 188,000 bpd from July, the sources said. This is the same as the June hike, which was adjusted down from monthly increases of 206,000 bpd in May and April to take into account the UAE exit.

All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity and said a final decision had not been made.

The seven of 21 OPEC+ members due to meet on Sunday are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Oman.

A full OPEC+ ministerial meeting is also scheduled for Sunday but is not expected to make any policy changes, the sources said.

• The US and Iran have continued trading fire in the Gulf, with the US shooting down four Iranian drones and striking coastal radar. Iran also launched seven ballistic missiles towards Bahrain and Kuwait.
• In Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah have continued striking each other, with Israel killing two people in a strike on Shahabiya.
• Hezbollah has responded with rocket fire into northern Israel, with two Israeli soldiers being killed and another four wounded.

Now onto our live updates.

Mona Khalil was reportedly rushed to hospital after a strike on her beachfront home in the southern village of Mansouri on Thursday. According to information obtained by Lebanese news site Annahar, the attack also left her assistant with burn injuries.

Both women were taken to Jabal Amel Hospital in the city of Tyre, where Khalil underwent surgery for severe wounds, including a serious abdominal injury. She was later transferred to a hospital in Beirut.

Local media reported that her condition had stabilised by Friday morning.

Since Khalil was wounded in the strikes, social media has been awash with messages of solidarity for her, and condemnation of Israel's actions in Lebanon.

"Mona is a legend. She spent her life protecting endangered sea turtles & their shoreline habitats...Israel knows who she is, where she is, & what she does. This bombing was a message," one person wrote on X.

"Beekeepers, animal rescuers, turtle protectors, children in their mother’s arms, men protecting their homes from armed invaders…Israeli violence is utterly indiscriminate," another commented.

Mansouri Beach, south of Tyre and around 8-10 km from the Israeli border, is a critical nesting ground for endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles. Conservation efforts there have been led by Khalil through the Orange House Project.

The project has protected the beach for decades, monitoring nests, tagging turtles, and releasing thousands of hatchlings into the Mediterranean each season.

The Orange House, where Khalil lived, became a well-known landmark in the area.

Relatives say Khalil refused to leave her home despite the dangers and despite its proximity to invading Israeli forces, which have established a security zone along the border deep inside southern Lebanon.

Mansouri, like around 70 towns and villages across the south, has been largely destroyed by the Israeli military.

Israel's has killed at least 3,516 people in Lebanon since the start of the war, while the UNN says more than one million people have registered themselves as displaced due to the forced evacuation orders. 

"Based on the medical report, head coach Graham Arnold has decided to call up Ahmed Makenzie and register him in the final squad for the 2026 World Cup finals in place of Ahmed Yahya," the national team said in a statement on X.

The decision came as the Iraqi delegation arrived in Chicago in the early hours of the morning to prepare for the tournament.

The tournament marks Iraq's first appearance at the World Cup since their sole participation 40 years ago. They are set to compete in Group I alongside France, Senegal and Norway.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also directed a team to assess costs for damage already inflicted on Gulf allies by Iran, the source said, adding that the U.S. will consider using Iranian assets for those repairs as well.

The disclosure came a day after Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told CNN that a peace deal hinged on the release of $24 billion in Iranian assets frozen by the United States.

The source on Saturday did not specify what kind of assets the Treasury was examining. The language used to describe the new measures did not appear limited to frozen assets.

Peace negotiations appear to have stalled, although a minister from mediator Pakistan travelled to Tehran on Saturday with a letter for Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

The threatened redirection of Iranian assets could create a new irritant to a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which was tested again this weekend with strikes by the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both in the Strait of Hormuz, early Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran that U.S. Central Command says posed a threat to maritime traffic.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it retaliated against U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait's army said on Saturday it engaged seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, resulting in material damage but no casualties.

In Bahrain, sirens sounded and residents were urged to seek shelter. The two Gulf states condemned the strikes.

Iran later said it had hit U.S. bases in both countries with ballistic missiles, but the U.S. military said six missiles were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.

Pakistani minister lands in Tehran

The U.S. and Iran have been engaged in largely indirect negotiations for an interim deal to halt the three-month-old war that would leave issues including Iran's nuclear programme to further negotiations.

But a deal has remained elusive while the two sides have periodically skirmished.

Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, the lifting of a U.S. blockade on its ports and leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has effectively blocked the waterway, where about a fifth of global oil traffic transited before the war.

Iranian state media reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Naqvi said he was carrying a "special letter" from his country's army chief and prime minister to Iran's Khamenei, ISNA reported.

Trump is facing mounting domestic political pressure due to rising gas prices to bring the unpopular war to an end. He told NBC that while most of Iran's drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, the Iranians still had access to about a fifth of their missiles.

"They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say percentage wise, maybe 21% to 22% of their missiles. It's a lot of missiles, but it's not what it was when we first attacked," Trump told NBC News' "Meet the Press" programme, according to excerpts released by the network on Friday.

After the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on 28 February, Tehran attacked Gulf states hosting U.S. forces and largely stopped shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has driven up oil prices and disrupted supply chains for other goods, including humanitarian aid.

The attack targeted the main market in Abu Zaeima, a paramilitary-controlled town in North Kordofan state, according to the Emergency Lawyers, a rights group that has documented abuses since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The group said the casualty figures could rise, but did not specify who carried out the attack. Neither side has commented.

Emergency Lawyers said similar drone attacks had struck nearby villages and civilian vehicles less than a day earlier.

Two witnesses told AFP that another drone hit a fuel station later on Saturday in El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, which has been partially encircled by RSF forces for months.

A medical source at a hospital there said the facility received four wounded civilians.

The attacks followed a deadly week in the broader Kordofan region.

Nearly 70 people were killed in two separate drone strikes in West and North Kordofan states, according to Emergency Lawyers and a local leader.

Drone warfare has become an increasingly prominent feature of Sudan's conflict. The UN says that between January and April, at least 880 civilians were killed in drone strikes nationwide.

Fighting has intensified in Kordofan and Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian border since the RSF captured El-Fasher last October, the military's last major stronghold in western Darfur.

Since then, more than 300,000 people have fled frontline areas, including El-Fasher and parts of Kordofan and Blue Nile, according to the UN.

Kordofan, rich in oil and arable land, is strategically significant, linking RSF strongholds in the neighbouring Darfur region to the country's army-controlled east. The region remains largely contested between the army and the RSF.

Having entered its fourth year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million from their homes, creating what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Mousavi, the last person to serve as Iran's premier before the post was abolished, had claimed to be the rightful victor of the disputed 2009 presidential elections.

Most recently, he urged Iran's clerical leadership to step down because of its deadly crackdown on protesters in January in which many thousands were killed.

Last week, "he suffered a health crisis and was transferred to a hospital," his advisor Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, who is based outside Iran, told BBC Persian.

"He is now hospitalised, although his condition has improved since today," he added.

Arjomand said Mousavi's condition had been affected by being moved to a new location when his previous residence in central Tehran was damaged in the US-Israeli strike on February 28 that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Mousavi, 84, and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, 80, also under house arrest since 2011, had been living on Pasteur Street close to Khamenei's offices.

"They remain in a state of uncertainty and displacement. They were previously under pressure, and now it has increased further," said Arjomand in the interview.

"It is unclear how many more times they must go through such crises before officials realise that they should be released," he added.

The Iranian news site Avash said on Thursday that Mousavi was suffering from a serious heart condition and his family were unhappy over the lack of attention from authorities. Unconfirmed reports on Friday said the health ministry had pledged to closely follow his condition.

Mousavi claimed to have won in 2009 against incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arguing that the hardliner's victory was rigged and sparking vast protest rallies in his support known as the Green Movement.

Earlier this year, he said the crackdown on January's protests was a "black page in the history of our nation", a "great betrayal and a crime".

Mousavi was prime minister from 1981 to 1989 under the presidency of Khamenei, who became supreme leader after the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Even in the 80s, Khamenei viewed Mousavi as a rival, with the then-premier regarded as a more moderate figure within the system.

Hussein was finally allowed in, but the team's photographer was barred from entering the United States, said the official who works for the Iraqi Olympic Committee, but has close contacts with the team.

There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi Football Association, or from Hussein, a talismanic figure who scored the goal that secured the team's qualification for the finals.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the reported questioning that was also covered by Iraqi media.

Fans came out in the early hours of the morning to greet the Iraq squad at the airport, holding flags and asking players to pose for pictures less than a week before the start of the tournament, videos on social media showed.

Hussein's phone was inspected after he arrived, the Iraqi official said.

"National team photographer Talal Salah was held for more than 10 hours, underwent similar phone checks, and was ultimately denied entry into the United States," the official added.

Iraq are returning to the World Cup for the first time since making their debut 40 years ago.

Hussein, 30, leads a potent frontline that also features Ipswich Town's Ali Al-Hamadi and talented youngsters Ali Jassim and Youssef Amyn.

Iraq face France, Senegal and Norway in Group I.

The tournament being co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico gets under way on Thursday.

The blunder was made by Rahmi Koc at the opening of a hospital in the western resort city of Izmir late Friday, but when the footage started circulating online it caused a backlash.

The joke, which revolved around a misunderstanding between a Kurdish woman and a doctor, also drew the ire of the pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party which said it had filed a complaint against him.

The probe was announced by Justice Minister Akin Gurlek on X who said it was over "expressions deemed to target women and citizens of a specific ethnic identity" although he did not publicly name Koc.

"Uttering such words under the guise of a 'joke' or humour does not mitigate this discourtesy displayed toward our women and a specific segment of our society," he wrote.

Also on X, DEM said it had filed a criminal complaint against Koc "for making sexist remarks about Kurdish women, on the grounds of 'public incitement to hatred and hostility', 'insult' and 'hate and discrimination'."

In response to the backlash, Koc issued a brief apology published by Koc Holding on X, saying his remarks "were not intended to target any particular group".

"I would like to sincerely express my regret," he wrote.

Koc stepped down as chairman of Koc Holding in 2003, handing the reins to his eldest son, Mustafa Koc who died suddenly of a heart attack in 2016. He was 55.

Koc Holding is a family-run conglomerate set up in the 1920s whose main sectors are energy, automotive, durable consumer goods and finance, although it is also involved in technology, food, retail, tourism, agriculture and shipbuilding.

Family-run conglomerates are the mainstays of Turkey's economy with interests in every sector, with Koc Holding accounting for approximately seven percent of Turkey's GDP and around eight percent of Turkish exports, it says on its website.

Forbes magazine this year estimated that Rahmi Koc has a fortune of $2.4 billion.

In a statement, the army said that Haykal "left Lebanon for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir".

A source with knowledge of the matter told AFP news agency Haykal's visit is "linked to the Pakistani mediation to resolve" issues between the United States and Iran who are negotiating an end to the Middle East regional war.

"Lebanon is critical part of the negotiations," the source added, requesting anonymity.

Munir is Islamabad's key negotiator between the United States and Iran to end the war launched by America and Israel, which quickly spread across the region.

Lebanon was drawn into the war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 to avenge the February 28 US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader.

Israel responded with an extensive campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion that have killed nearly 3,600 people, and exchanges of fire with Hezbollah have not stopped despite an ongoing truce.

Iran insists Lebanon be included in any agreement with the United States to end the regional war.

But Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said, in an interview with CNN aired on Friday, that Iran must stop interfering in Lebanon, which has engaged in its own direct talks with Israel.

"It's not your country, it's our country," he said. "It's not your job to interfere into our country."

"They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It's unacceptable," he added.

Lebanon's military said earlier on Saturday that three soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike on the country's south.

A new conditional truce was announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys this week in Washington.

It would require Hezbollah to stop firing, withdraw from near the Israeli border and would see Lebanon's army deploy to new "pilot zones" in the area, where it will exercise exclusive control.

But Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The Israeli military said soldiers "perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them", after which troops fired "single shots toward the vehicle," in comments made to Haaretz.

"An initial inquiry found that those injured were uninvolved civilians," the military said. "The IDF expresses deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals."

Sam's father, Fahd Abu Hekel, disputed that version of events.

"The soldier was about ten meters away from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and the children. The car windows were not dark, it was daylight and everything was clear. You can't say he didn't see that it was a family," he told Haaretz.

"I stopped as I was asked to, and then they simply shot at the car," he added.

According to Abu Hekel, there was no organised military checkpoint at the scene.

"There was no clear checkpoint, just soldiers who were on the street. I stopped when I was asked to, and then the shooting took place," he said.

The shooting occurred on Friday evening near the 17th Roundabout south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

According to relatives who spoke to The New Arab, the family had been travelling from Bethlehem to the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of Hebron when Israeli forces were carrying out an operation in the area.

Sam's grandmother, Ferial Abu Hekel, said the family's vehicle approached Israeli soldiers before one of them fired a single shot without warning.

The bullet pierced the vehicle's front windscreen and struck Sam while he was in his mother's arms, according to the family. It then struck his mother in the jaw, while his father was wounded by shrapnel.

The family rushed Sam and his mother to Hebron Government Hospital, but the infant later died of his injuries.

His grandmother said Sam's mother was not informed of her son's death until Saturday morning because relatives feared the impact the news would have on her condition as she recovered from her injuries.

The killing carried an additional personal tragedy for the family. Sam was born on 5 November last year and was killed on 5 June, the day he turned seven months old.

His grandmother said she had remarked on the coincidence to the child's mother earlier that day, telling her: "Today marks seven months since your son was born."

Speaking to The New Arab, she said she would seek accountability for the killing through international and local institutions and insisted that the family would remain on its land in Tel Rumeida despite repeated pressures and attacks.

On Saturday, Palestinians held funeral prayers for Sam at the Abu Aisha Mosque at Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron before he was buried in the city's Martyrs' Cemetery.

In Gaza City, a drone strike killed eight people and wounded 15 others in the Jawazat camp for displaced people, according to the civil defence.

The city's Al-Shifa Hospital also reported receiving eight bodies.

Further south, a 25-year-old man, Muhannad Othman Farwana, was killed in the morning in a strike on a tent, the civil defence said.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said the man's body had been brought in along with several wounded.

In a statement, the Israeli military claimed Farwana was a cell commander in the military wing of Hamas, adding he had been killed in a precision strike.

The strike hit his tent on the roof of his house, hours before his wedding, said his cousin Mohammed Farwana.

"The whole family was ready to celebrate his wedding. Now, we're attending his funeral instead," he told AFP.

Later in the evening, the civil defence said another person was killed in an Israeli strike in southeast Gaza City, identifying him as a 37-year-old man.

At least 951 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli violations since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, according to Gaza's health ministry. The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period..

Restrictions imposed on media outlets and limited access in Gaza prevent AFP from independently verifying tolls or freely covering the violence there.

Barak Ravid, a correspondent for Israel's Channel 12 and the US-based news outlet Axios, appeared in an interview on Lebanese broadcaster LBCI on Friday to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

During the interview with LBCI, Ravid discussed behind-the-scenes developments in the ceasefire talks and revealed that he had recently spoken with Ali Hamdan, an adviser to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - Hezbollah’s closest political ally.

The appearance prompted criticism from some Lebanese social media users, who argued that hosting an Israeli journalist amounted to a form of normalisation.

"I saw it as me doing my job and LBCI doing their job as journalists," Ravid told The New Arab, when asked what he thought of the backlash by some Lebanese, who considered his appearance to be provocative.

"At the same time, it was a small step towards more dialogue between Lebanese and Israelis. I hope many more such engagements take place," he added.

Lebanon’s 1955 boycott law criminalises contact with Israelis. US President Donald Trump has said he wished to see this law abolished.

No Israeli journalist or official is known to have previously appeared on a Lebanese television channel, making the interview significant, not only for its political content, but also for the questions it raised about the limits of journalistic practice under Lebanon's boycott law.

Ravid's remarks also carried additional significance in Lebanon, as he openly called for similar interviews between Israeli journalists and Lebanese media outlets to take place in the future, despite the continued enforcement of legislation prohibiting contact with Israelis.

Whether LBCI could face legal consequences for hosting Ravid remains unclear.

Lebanese journalists working for foreign broadcasters have previously faced threats of legal action for hosting Israeli officials.

In November 2023, Lebanese news anchor Layal Alekhtiar hosted an Arabic spokesman for the Israeli army via teleconference on the Saudi-owned pan-Arab TV channel Al Arabiya.

Normalisation with Israel remains largely unfavourable in Lebanon, especially among communities directly impacted by the war.

Since fighting resumed between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah on 2 March, Israeli forces have deepened their invasion of southern Lebanon, destroying around 70 towns and villages.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon in this period, adding to the overall death toll from the conflict that began in October 2023. 

Iran's Students News Agency (ISNA) described the visit as a bilateral trip and noted that Naqvi had already met Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni twice this week on the sidelines of a meeting of interior ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The visit comes after Iran-US negotiations, mediated by Pakistan, entered a period of deadlock in recent weeks following months of diplomatic activity that had brought both sides close to a memorandum of understanding.

Naqvi visited Iran last month and was later followed by Pakistan's army chief, General Asim Munir. Iranian media reported that those visits helped produce breakthroughs in the negotiations, bringing the two sides close to an agreement before progress was derailed by renewed clashes and escalating tensions in the region.

The Tehran visit has fuelled speculation that Pakistan may be attempting to restore momentum to the talks, although no official details have been released regarding the agenda of Naqvi's meetings.

Meanwhile, Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader on international affairs, signalled Tehran's continued confidence in its regional position.

In a post on X, Velayati said that "the new architecture of power will not be built on the basis of weakening the resistance".

He added that "the old nightmare and historic fear among Western theorists of Iran's rise as a power has become reality, and a new architecture has taken shape".

Velayati further argued that "Trump's need for a temporary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz reflects the failure of the doctrine of threatening Iran and the victory of the power of the resistance".

He also criticised those seeking regional accommodation with the West, saying that "the greatest strategic mistake is being made by those in the region who have become attached to the mirage of settlement".

"Diplomatic illusions carry a heavy cost," he said, adding that "lasting peace emerges from a balance of power, not from the mirage of commitments without guarantees".

Elsewhere, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei launched a sharp attack on Lebanese President Joseph Aoun following comments made by the Lebanese leader during an interview with CNN.

In a post on X, Baghaei accused Aoun of betraying his allies, saying that he "sells those who stood by him and buys from those who stand against him".

He added that Aoun was "abandoning those who supported him and siding with those who placed him in a difficult position".

Aoun's remarks were widely described in Lebanese and Iranian media as his strongest criticism yet of Iran and Hezbollah.

They came a day after Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem rejected the outcome of ongoing negotiations, describing them as "absurd, humiliating and disgraceful" and calling on officials to "stop this farce and humiliation".

Separately, Iranian authorities said they had thwarted an attempted armed infiltration along the country's south-eastern border.

According to Iran's Fars News Agency, Brigadier General Ali Akbar Javidan, commander of Iran's border guards, said an armed cell attempted to cross into Iran overnight near Zabol in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Javidan said heavy clashes erupted between border guards and the attackers, resulting in what he described as "heavy losses" among the militants.

He also said that security forces intercepted a large weapons shipment on Friday before it entered the country, seizing more than 50 military and hunting firearms, seven hand grenades and large quantities of ammunition.

Iran launched fresh aerial attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait early Saturday, after the United States said it had struck the Islamic Republic.

The small island kingdom of Bahrain, home to the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, denounced the attacks against its territory and neighbouring Kuwait.

Manama said the two Gulf countries intercepted seven missiles fired by Iran and described the attacks, the second against both nations since Wednesday, as "blatant aggression" and "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of both countries".

Kuwait also condemned the attacks, saying they were a "direct threat" to the "lives of citizens and residents" and represented a "dangerous escalation... at a time when the international community is making unremitting efforts to stop combat operations".

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israel kept up its attacks on the country's south, killing three Lebanese Army soldiers in an airstrike on Saturday. Attempts to implement a ceasefire have failed amid continued Israeli aggression.

The campaign calls on Mahmood to ensure criminal charges are brought against those involved in organising the Great Israeli Real Estate Event 2026 and to prevent it from going ahead. PSC argues that the exhibition is marketing property in settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.

Ryvka Barnard, PSC's Deputy Director of Campaigns, told The New Arab that the group's concerns stemmed from the event's own promotional material.

"The website advertising the event invites registrants to indicate areas of interest with a set of options including Gush Etzion, which is a large settlement bloc in the illegally occupied West Bank," she said.

The Great Israeli Real Estate Event is organised by My Home in Israel, a company that markets property, mortgages, financial services and relocation assistance to prospective buyers.

The event forms part of a wider international series aimed largely at Jewish communities overseas, connecting attendees with developers, estate agents and financial institutions operating in Israel.

Promotional material for the London event references Gush Etzion among the locations in which prospective buyers can express interest.

The settlement bloc lies south of Jerusalem and is home to tens of thousands of Israeli settlers living across a number of communities built on land captured by Israel during the 1967 war.

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law, including by the UN and the British government, which regards them as an obstacle to peace and a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. 

The issue has become increasingly contentious as settlement construction and expansion have accelerated in recent years. Human rights groups and Palestinian organisations argue that settlements contribute to the fragmentation of Palestinian territory and undermine the prospects of a future Palestinian state.

'Failure to uphold international law'

Barnard said the event highlighted what PSC sees as a contradiction between the British government's stated position on settlements and its response to activities linked to them.

"Events like this are organised with impunity because of the British government's complete failure to uphold international law, and in contradiction with its own position affirming that settlements are illegal," she said.

PSC argues that authorities should investigate the event in the same way they would investigate the sale of allegedly stolen property.

"Any other event in which stolen goods were being advertised for sale would not only be prohibited, it would be investigated by the police to establish the networks involved in the sale of stolen goods and to take further action as appropriate," Barnard said.

The campaign group has also linked its objections to the wider situation in the occupied West Bank, where rights organisations have documented a rise in settler attacks against Palestinian communities.

"At a time when settler violence is rampant and escalating, it's outrageous for an event like this to take place in London, as though disconnected from that violence," she said.

The event follows similar exhibitions held in North America and elsewhere, some of which have attracted protests from pro-Palestinian activists.

Earlier this year, a New York edition of the exhibition sparked demonstrations and criticism from campaigners who accused organisers of promoting property in Israeli settlements.

The controversy comes amid heightened international scrutiny of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.

Last year, the International Court of Justice reaffirmed that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are unlawful under international law and said states should avoid actions that could be interpreted as recognising or assisting the occupation.

Barnard said that beyond legal arguments, the issue had a direct impact on Palestinians living in Britain.

"There are Palestinians in London whose families have been displaced from lands that may be 'on sale' at such an event. This is a travesty of justice," she said.

"We will continue to campaign for an end to Israel's colonial policies of displacement, and for Palestinians to be able to exercise their inalienable right to return to their lands and properties stolen from them."

Lebanon launched the rehabilitation of its second airport on Saturday, in preparation for an opening within months, at a time when the country faces constant fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon currently has one international airport, located in Beirut's southern suburbs, an area that has been subjected to heavy Israeli bombardment during successive wars.

The new airport, in the town of Qlayaat in Lebanon's northernmost province of Akkar, near the border with Syria, has been used as a military base by the Lebanese army for decades.

Lebanese Minister of Transport and Public Works Fayez Rasamny inaugurated the airport on Saturday "after more than fifty years of promises, delays and waiting".

"Today we are moving from promise to execution," Rasamny said, adding that the goal is for the airport to be "operational in a few weeks" to serve travellers to Mersin, Istanbul and Dubai, adding there are plans to expand the destinations to Saudi Arabia, Cairo and Athens at a later stage.

Lebanon is also in contact with low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair and Pegasus, he said.

Rehabilitation is due to begin next week and will take at least three months, going through a pilot phase before the airport is put into full service in November 2026, according to local media.

The work is being carried out by the Lebanese company Sky Lounge, which on Saturday posted on its Instagram page a video of a test flight between Beirut airport and Qlayaat airport.

In a speech during the opening ceremony, the company's chairman, Ziad Munla, said, the passenger terminal will be completed "within 90 days after completing the required approvals and licenses".

The airport will be able to handle about 114,000 passengers in its first year, rising to more than 600,000 by its fourth year, he said.

The opening of the airport aims to create jobs in Akkar, one of Lebanon's poorest governorates with a high unemployment rate.

Rene Mouawad Airport, named after a former Lebanese president who was assassinated weeks after his election in 1989, was built by the French army as an airstrip in the 1930s.

It was used for civilian purposes in the 1960s and was bombed by Israel during an earlier war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport has continued to operate despite the Israel-Hezbollah war that resumed on 2 March, and an earlier war in 2024.

Lebanon has been forced to repeatedly pursue international guarantees that Israel will not target Beirut airport, which it has previously accused Hezbollah of using to transport money and weapons. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly denied the Israeli allegations.

Israel attacked the Beirut airport multiple times during the 2006 war with Hezbollah.

The report, citing US officials and regional sources involved in mediation efforts, said Washington and Tehran remain at odds over several details in a proposed memorandum of understanding, although sources described the negotiations as being in their final stages.

While it remains unclear whether a deal will ultimately be reached, officials indicated that preparations are under way for a possible next phase of talks.

A US official told Axios that the meeting in Oak Ridge should not be taken as confirmation that an agreement is imminent, but said it reflected the seriousness of the negotiations and the possibility of progress.

According to the report, a team of around 100 experts has been assembled in anticipation of participating in nuclear negotiations should a preliminary agreement be reached.

The experts consulted by Witkoff and Kushner include specialists who previously took part in the recovery of uranium from Venezuela, as well as individuals involved in US-Iran discussions held in Oman before the outbreak of the war.

A US official said the group includes "the top nuclear experts in the US" and that they are familiar with the technical requirements that would accompany any agreement with Iran.

If negotiations move into a second phase, the expert team would be expected to draw up plans for the disposal of Iranian nuclear materials, propose additional restrictions on uranium enrichment, and establish mechanisms to verify compliance with any future deal.

The remaining disagreements between Washington and Tehran are relatively limited, Axios reported. Among the issues still under discussion is the timeframe for reducing Iran's uranium enrichment activities.

According to two sources familiar with the talks, Trump wants any final agreement to include a 60-day deadline for completing the reduction of enriched uranium levels, while Iran is seeking a 90-day period.

The two sides also remain divided over the release of frozen Iranian funds. Washington has argued that assets should be released only after a final agreement is concluded and concrete implementation steps are taken, while Tehran is seeking the immediate release of part of the money.

The United States is currently awaiting Iran's response to the latest proposals, according to the report.

US officials told Axios that the White House has received positive indications from Iranian negotiators as efforts continue to bridge the remaining gaps.

Some held banners reading "Edi Rama resign", while others featured a drawing of Albania's socialist prime minister handing over keys to Ivanka Trump, the US president's daughter.

The demonstrators argue that the estimated $1.2 billion project, led by Kushner and his wife Ivanka, will harm the environment, with plans for luxury hotels in the protected area of Vjosa-Narta on the southern coast.

According to the plan unveiled two years ago, the developers also hope to transform the island of Sazan -- formerly a communist secret military base -- into a glitzy tourist destination.

The protests have intensified in recent days after security guards assaulted a man near the protected area and footage of preparatory construction work and bulldozers on the beach was released.

The demonstrators want the repeal of the Strategic Investor Act intended to speed up certain projects, as well as a reversal of the changes to the Protected Areas Act allowing hotel complexes to be built in conservation zones.

Albania has 22 percent of its territory designated as protected areas.

Human rights activist, Luciana Kokaj, 31, explained that she owned a property in northern Albania that a "major investor" tried to seize with forged property titles.

"But this is beyond my personal interest: it's about protecting Albania for our children," she told AFP at the protest.

Fellow demonstrator Etleva Merko said that the protesters were "not against development of Albania" -- a rebuttal to Prime Minister Rama's accusations in recent days.

"We are for development, we are for transparency, we are against construction in protected areas," she insisted.

On Tuesday, the special prosecutor's office to combat corruption and organised crime said it had opened an investigation into the project, without revealing details.

Iran has been subject to asset freezes and sweeping sanctions by the United States and other Western countries since its 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In an interview broadcast on Friday, Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said the talks were failing over the release of Iranian assets.

"If he (Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump," he told CNN, according to an English translation of his remarks provided by the channel.

"This is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened," he said, adding that "this is our own money, not America's money".

While there is no official figure for the total amount of frozen Iranian assets, media reports have estimated the sum at between $100 billion and $123 billion.

Iran has conditioned an agreement to end the war on several demands, including the release of the frozen funds.

Fighting broke out on February 28 when the United States, backed by Israel, attacked Iran, killing former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders.

The attacks prompted Iran to launch retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Israel and US allies in the Gulf.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8 but diplomatic efforts to permanently end the war have yet to produce a settlement.

Among its conditions, Iran has also called for an end to hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Tehran-backed Hezbollah fighters have been battling Israel.

Despite their ceasefire, tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington.

Rezaei warned that Iran would "drag the war" beyond the Gulf if the United States resumed hostilities, bringing "another dimension to the war".

But he added that "the possibility of war is low".

Iran lashed out at the United States on Saturday for refusing visas to some of its World Cup squad support staff as the players were to leave Turkey for Mexico.

The row erupted just days before the June 11 start of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Iranian players, who have been at a training camp in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya since May 18, received their visas late on Friday, Washington's envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X, hailing the work of the US embassy in Ankara in "processing visas for Iran's national football team".

But Iran's embassy to Turkey hit back Saturday with a furious response, saying a "large" number of key staff had been denied visas.

"Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?" the Iranian embassy in Turkey said in a post on X.

"You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level," the embassy added.

Iranian news outlets and the Verzesh3 sports media on Saturday said among those who were refused a visa was Iran's football federation chief Mehdi Taj as well as executive members and analysts.

Team heads to Mexico

The US military began bombing Iran alongside Israel on February 28, sparking war. Hostilities were halted by an April 8 ceasefire which appears to be rapidly unravelling after weeks of threats and a renewal of strikes by both the US and Iran.

Team Melli is due to leave Antalya for Mexico on a 15:20 (1220 GMT) flight that includes a stopover in Spain. They are scheduled to arrive in Mexico at 01:30 (0730 GMT) on Sunday, a spokesman said earlier this week.

The team will be based in the northwestern border city of Tijuana for the duration of the tournament, but all three of their group stage matches are due to be held in the United States.

They were originally due to be based in the US but switched their camp to Mexico due to the tensions over the war.

Iran, who are in Group G, will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by a game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Ahead of their departure on Saturday, Iran played a final friendly against Mali in Antalya on Thursday which they won 2-0. They played a first match on May 29, beating Gambia 3-1.

Later, the Israeli military said it targeted the vehicle after identifying what it described as a threat to its forces and receiving indications that Hezbollah was preparing to fire on Israeli troops from the area.

It said an initial inquiry showed that two Lebanese army officers and a soldier were inside the vehicle and that the incident was under review.

The airstrike on the road linking the city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjaayoun occurred in the morning. The army did not give further details or release the names or ranks of the troops killed.

The Lebanese army said Saturday that "the continuation of the deliberate and repeated brutal Israeli aggression... is aimed at thwarting all efforts to reach a solution that will allow for the restoration of stability".

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also denounced the latest attack, calling it a "flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty... despite Lebanon's efforts in the Washington negotiations to put an end to the continued Israeli aggression that goes unchecked".

Israel on Saturday renewed evacuation orders for five villages in Lebanon's south and east, telling residents to move north of the Zahrani River. Its military conducted several strikes across South Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media.

"In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the [Israeli army] is forced to act against it with force," the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on Telegram.

The Lebanese army has largely stayed out of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and has not taken part in the fighting during the current conflict. Despite this, dozens of soldiers have been killed and wounded by Israeli attacks.

The latest declared ceasefire came about through US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon’s government, which accuses Hezbollah of dragging the country into war and had made efforts to disarm it before the latest hostilities. The militant group has refused the truce.

The all-out war resumed on 2 March when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. began their attacks on Iran and killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has since launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and carried out wide attacks that have displaced more than 1 million people.

Israel's troops have seized around a fifth of Lebanon, pushing further into the country’s south than at any time since the end of its 1982-2000 occupation.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since 2 March.

The tiny island kingdom of Bahrain, home to the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, denounced the attacks against its territory and neighbouring Kuwait.

Manama said the two Gulf countries intercepted seven missiles fired by Iran and described the attacks, the second against both nations in three days, as "blatant aggression" and "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of both countries".

Kuwait also condemned the attacks, saying they were a "direct threat" to the "lives of citizens and residents" and represented a "dangerous escalation... at a time when the international community is making unremitting efforts to stop combat operations".

Earlier in the Bahrain capital, AFP news agency reported three explosions being heard and the interior ministry announced air raid sirens had sounded across the country.

In Kuwait, AFP reported repeated blasts near the country's international airport, which had been struck on Wednesday in an attack blamed on Iran that killed one person.

"We woke up to a huge explosion. The explosions were very loud," Reem, an Egyptian mother of two, told AFP, referring to the Saturday attacks.

"My children were terrified, and I couldn't calm them down," she added.

In the hours after the barrages, Kuwait's aviation authority announced the resumption of air traffic, saying 11 Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways flights had been diverted during an air space closure due to the Iranian attacks.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted "enemy bases" with missiles, after the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran and downed drones headed towards the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said six of the missiles fired towards Kuwait and Bahrain were downed, while the seventh "did not reach its intended target".

The oil-rich Gulf countries, seen previously as a safe haven in a volatile region, have been in the direct firing line of the war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran's top leadership.

Despite a ceasefire in place since April 8, the Gulf states have been targeted in sporadic attacks during weeks of talks that have failed to secure a deal to permanently end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The debate was triggered by reports based on satellite imagery and field monitoring that alleged Israel had established new military positions and fortifications in Rafah close to the Egyptian border, potentially violating restrictions contained in the treaty's military annexes.

While concerns over alleged treaty violations are not new, Egyptian commentators are increasingly framing the issue around a different question- whether Israel is changing the security reality along the border without the mutual consent that has underpinned the agreement for decades.

The issue is particularly sensitive because Egypt itself expanded its military presence in Sinai during the insurgency by the Islamic State group.

However, those deployments were carried out through coordination mechanisms established under the treaty and with Israeli approval.

Major General Samir Farag, former director of morale affairs for the Egyptian armed forces, told Al Jazeera that the area in question falls within what is known as "Zone D" under the treaty.

"The area referred to is called Zone D in the agreement signed between Egypt and Israel, and the agreement does not permit the presence of any heavy military equipment or the establishment of any military sites," Farag told the outlet.

Farag said Egypt has mechanisms in place to address alleged violations, explaining that Cairo can submit complaints to the US, which oversees implementation of the treaty and can convene joint investigations into disputes.

He also told Al Jazeera that Egypt had previously lodged a complaint after Israeli tanks were positioned on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing during Israel's military operations in the area.

The controversy comes amid continuing tensions surrounding Israel's control of the Philadelphi Corridor, known in Arabic as the Salah al-Din Axis, a narrow strip running along the Gaza-Egypt border that Israel has occupied during the war on Gaza, making it a key point of friction between Cairo and Tel Aviv during the Gaza war.

Egyptian analysts have argued that recent tensions should be viewed within the broader deterioration in Egyptian-Israeli relations since the Gaza war, relating not just to the situation around the Philadelphi Corridor, but also to Cairo's opposition to proposals to displace Palestinians from Gaza.

Despite the tensions, Egyptian officials insist there is no intention to abandon the treaty.

The dispute once again highlights broader questions about the future of the Camp David framework nearly five decades after it was signed.

While the agreement has repeatedly adapted to changing security realities, including Egypt's counterinsurgency campaign in Sinai, Egyptian analysts are increasingly questioning whether future changes will continue to be governed by mutual consent or by unilateral Israeli actions taken during the war on Gaza.

Like millions around the world, they were watching the civilian death toll climb and entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble.

Gillian left the conversation with a conviction she could not shake: she wanted to do something. The British-American Jew felt she couldn't just sit and watch the growing destruction of Gaza.

The United Nations described Israel's actions as the "collective punishment" of Gaza, which has seen more than 70,000 Palestinians (a somewhat conservative estimate) killed in the region, a number that keeps going up despite a ceasefire agreement.  

Soon, people across the globe were beginning to discover the decades of historical context that preceded the horrific attack, a subject Gillian had previously tackled in her 2022 feature documentary debut, The Tinderbox.  

A personal exploration of the hows, whys and whens of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Tinderbox sought to unpack the contradictions and claims tangled up in both Israeli and Palestinian narratives.

Gillian's friend said she should consider making a new documentary about the Israeli state of mind that was allowing this current devastation to happen.  

How collective, generational trauma and grief, stemming from oppression, othering, and the Holocaust, have contributed to Israel's defiant sense of victimhood.

A mentality that struggles to recognise its own history of perpetrating violence and brutality towards a colonised people since before the Nakba in 1948, which saw the forced displacement of more than 750,000 Palestinians and the killing of thousands more during the creation of its Jewish state. 

The result is Planet Israel, a passionately provocative documentary that intersperses interviews, facts, figures, news reports and archive footage with AI-generated "war game" animation, conceived with AI and Graphics Designer Khaled Bazzi, to understand just why 75% of Jewish Israelis support the way the war is being fought in Gaza. 

"We were making a film about Jewish trauma and how that leads to what we've been watching, but people [in Israel] were saying things to me on the street like, 'Why would the Palestinians be scared?'" Gillian tells The New Arab over a Zoom call.

"It started in one place, and it just kept moving in darker and darker directions." 

Confronting inherited beliefs

Gillian herself is descended from a long line of famous Jewish community leaders going back 1200 years. She was also raised in a Zionist Jewish household that taught her to believe that Jews had a God-given right to the stolen land on which the State of Israel sits.  

The filmmaker's late father "wasn't very happy with what was going on in Israel," she says.

"My American family, other than my favourite aunt and uncle, are all Trump-supporting Zionists." 

Gillian's personal awakening began when she was 12, but her breakaway from Zionism came fully in the 1980s after making friends with a Palestinian while studying philosophy at UC Berkeley.

It would be forty years before she could truly excavate her complex feelings about Israel in her own films. 

With Planet Israel, Gillian continues to draw upon the journalistic skills she has honed over 25 years of developing, producing and exec producing a range of documentaries for Arte, BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, History, ITV, NatGeo and PBS, to get to grips with Israel's current sentiment and philosophy, fuelled by increasing nationalism and militarism. 

"Having unleashed this horrific war machine on a rather large portion of humanity, lots of people are going to want to know what that's about," she explains.  

Gillian and two crew members shot the film over eight days, interviewing Israeli and Jewish figures such as Professor Avi Shlaim, author of Genocide in Gaza, trauma and wellness consultant Patty Abozaglo, October 7 survivor Rabbi Avi Dabush, and Dr Julia Chaitin, whose research looks at "the long-term psycho-social impact of extreme social trauma (such as the Holocaust, wars, immigration, refugee experiences) on victims and their descendants, and on Jewish Israelis." 

Together, they paint a comprehensive portrait of an Israeli Jewish mindset steeped in religious Zionism and emboldened by authoritarian rule.

This has led to what Professor Danny Bar-Tal defines as "a culture of conflict."  

This involves wielding collective memories of generational trauma, emotionally-charged orientation and early indoctrination to keep Jewish people in a state of victimhood.

"My family is privileged, but most of them still think they're victims," Gillian explains in the film.

"Once we morally disengage, it separates us from the consequences of our actions."  

The view from inside Israel

Of course, not every Israeli would agree with the film's assertions.

Gillian attempted to get more contrary viewpoints from right-wing interview subjects, but she says, "no one would talk to her".

Instead, she hit the streets of Israel for three days to capture the perspectives of the general public.  

The responses, she shares, were uncomfortable.  

Most had little empathy for the Palestinian people and were overwhelmingly supportive of the government's actions against the Gazan people, even if there were mixed views on Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. 

A recent poll found that 82% of Israeli Jews support the expulsion of residents of the Gaza Strip to other countries, while 56% support the forced expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel to other countries.  

"The whole idea was just to give people quite a long rope and let them reveal themselves," says Gillian, but there was one moment where she felt the need to push back. 

Interviewing an Israeli called Joseph, who argued Palestinians were "raping my sisters and killing my babies," Gillian mentioned that Palestinians were being raped in prisons.

The scene cuts to a verified news report of the story, a frequent occurrence in the film to resist false narratives and opinions perpetuated by the Israeli regime. Joseph gets angry, calls Gillian a liar and storms off. 

"We had been standing there for half an hour, and it just all got too much," she recalls.

"For the first time in my entire working life, I actually had to go back to the hotel and have a moment, because that day was a lot." 

It was later during post-production that her full understanding of mindsets, such as Joseph's, dropped into place.

While editing an interview with Dr Ayala Panievsky, a presidential fellow at City St George’s University of London, it hit home just how prevalent state censorship had become in Israel.  

"The Israeli media has done spectacular work at documenting and investigating the horrors of October 7 and the stories of the Israeli hostages in Gaza," says Dr Ayala in the film.

"But everything that happened since October 7 to this day to thousands of Palestinians has been entirely absent." 

It made Gillian realise that she didn't want to perpetuate the trend of omitting Palestinian testimony. "The whole idea was to zero in on the Israeli mindset, which is actually religious Zionism, but it just became too painful for me not to hear from Gazans," she says.

"I can't even get my head around the level of Palestinian trauma." 

Can cinema change minds?

While only a few Gazans are seen at the end of the film, the full interviews have been collated into a 45-minute short film called Voices from Gaza, which Gillian's production company is making available for free for anyone who might want to host a fundraising screening. 

For now, she wants as many people to see Planet Israel, and hopefully change some mindsets – especially for Israeli Jews and Jewish communities in the British and American diaspora.  

"It's meant to reflect reality as truly as it can, and to stick people in a corner with nowhere to go," Gillian says.

"I'm not holding out a huge amount of hope, but with Jews who are either completely brainwashed or willfully ignorant, that's the best that we can do." 

Growing antisemitism in the UK, intensified by the war in Gaza, has seen 75% of British Jews feel a greater emotional attachment to Israel, according to polling from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

Still, 40% of British Jews say Israel's conduct in Gaza had weakened their attachment to the country, while 51% say it clashes with their Jewish values. 

Maybe a film like Planet Israel can tip the scales and inspire more understanding and empathy, for both Israelis, Jews and Palestinians.

With so many narrative features and documentaries grappling with the issue over the last few years, one might hope cinema could truly change hearts and minds and stop wars.  

Gillian smiles. "Wouldn't that be great?" 

PLANET ISRAEL releases UK-wide on Friday, 5 June. 

Hanna Flint is a British-Tunisian critic, broadcaster and author of Strong Female Character: What Movies Teach Us. Her reviews, interviews and features have appeared in GQ, the Guardian, Elle, Town & Country, Mashable, Radio Times, MTV, Time Out, The New Arab, Empire, BBC Culture and elsewhere

Follow her on Instagram: @hannainesflint

In a statement posted to X, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it intercepted six of the missiles Iran launched and the seventh "did not reach its intended target."

"There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false," the statement said.

US forces subsequently struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island to defend against further maritime attacks, it said.

CENTCOM said that initial assessments indicate six of the missiles launched by Iran were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its intended target.

Bahrain's foreign ministry on Saturday decried attacks by Iran against its territory and neighbouring Kuwait.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the renewed attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Kingdom of Bahrain and the sisterly State of Kuwait," Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, said in a statement.

"This blatant aggression constitutes a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of both countries," it added.

Sama Safi was one of four students from Birzeit University detained during Israeli military raids in Ramallah on Tuesday, which saw the arrest of 35 Palestinians in total. The three other students in detention are Natalie Abu Diya, Jolan Abu Awwad, and Laila Nael Khalil.

According to spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, Amani Sarhanneh, they were transferred to the notorious Israeli Ofer Prison.

Safi holds US citizenship, and her family has said she is suffering from health problems. A State Department spokesperson told The New Arab that the department was aware of the detention of an American in the West Bank.

"The Trump Administration takes its commitment to assist Americans abroad seriously and we are monitoring the situation. When Americans are detained abroad, the Department advocates for their access to adequate medical care and seeks consular access as quickly as possible," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson declined to comment further on the case, citing privacy considerations.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen, who has spoken out about Safi's arrest, told TNA that he was pressing the US government to free her.

"I’m deeply concerned about Sama’s health and wellbeing. Her detention is unacceptable and falls in line with a disturbing pattern of mistreatment of American citizens by the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government," he said.

"I’ve been in contact with both the US and Israeli embassies and I’m pressing for [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio and the Trump Administration to live up to their statements that protecting Americans around the world is their top priority, and to do so by securing her immediate release."

Lives at risk

Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), a global coalition of healthcare professionals and human rights advocates, released a statement on Friday demanding the students' immediate release.

The group warned that the young women "face an immediate and severe risk of torture, psychological abuse, and sexual violence while held incommunicado without independent international oversight."

Citing the UN’s recent blacklisting of Israel over conflict-related sexual violence, DAG warned that the threat to the students is underscored by the systematic and documented patterns of abuse within the Israeli prison system.

"As a physician, I am gravely alarmed that four young women students are being held in a detention system where secrecy, isolation, and documented abuse place their bodies, mental health, dignity, and lives at immediate risk," said Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle, co-founder of DAG.

"The threat of torture, sexual violence, forced nudity, and psychological coercion must be treated as a medical emergency, not only after harm occurs, but now, while prevention is still possible," he added.

Urging for them to be granted protection and independent medical and legal access, Dr. Kuemmerle pressed for the four students' release without delay.

The coalition called on the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, global academic institutions, and human rights organisations to help secure the girls' release. It also called on the US State Department to intervene in Safi’s case.

Uptick in arrests

Sarhanneh of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society said Israel had intensified arrests targeting university students since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.

She said the key change is not the arrests themselves, but the level of abuse faced by Palestinian detainees.

Detaining students is intended to undermine their right to education and freedom of expression, Sarhanneh said, adding that Palestinians are demanding only the right of students to continue their education safely and uninterrupted.

The club said the number of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli jails rose to 89 with the recent students' arrest, including three minors, three pregnant women, 19 administrative detainees, and two prisoners with cancer.

It added that Israel has arrested more than 760 Palestinian women since the onslaught in Gaza, and that female prisoners face harsh detention conditions, including starvation, medical neglect, solitary confinement, and repeated assaults.

Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Israeli detentions in the occupied West Bank have spiked. Palestinian official figures say around 23,000 Palestinians have been detained during that period.

US Central Command said in a statement that its forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, then attacked Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

"The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic," while the strikes on radar installations "defend against further attacks," the statement said.

A ceasefire has been in place between the United States and Iran since 8 April, but subsequent talks to try to put a more permanent end to the conflict have so far been unsuccessful.

US President Donald Trump is under pressure to find a way out of the war, which has delivered a shock to markets and proven unpopular at home as midterm elections loom.

Trump acknowledged in an interview with NBC News late Friday that Iran still has war-fighting capacity.

"They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage wise, maybe 21, 22 percent of their missiles," Trump said.

Iran's military said Friday it had fired "warning missiles" at two US destroyers in the Gulf of Oman, a claim promptly denied by the US military.

Two days earlier, Kuwait said it had intercepted 30 ballistic missiles fired as part of "heinous Iranian aggression."

Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were found guilty of wounding with intent over the stabbing of Pouria Zeraati, a news presenter for Persian-language outlet Iran International.

The attack was "designed to silence a journalist through intimidation and violence", the British prosecution service's anti-terrorism chief Frank Ferguson said after the verdict at Woolwich Crown Court.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that the attack was a proxy operation linked to the Iranian state and the victim was targeted because of his work as a journalist.

The pair will be sentenced on 3 July, when the judge could comment on the possible role of Iran in the attack.

Zeraati needed emergency treatment after he was stabbed several times in the leg outside his home in Wimbledon, southwest London.

But he returned to work at the dissident broadcaster the following month, insisting that "the show must go on".

The defendants waited for Zeraati and "acted together to restrain and stab him before making an immediate and organised escape from the UK", said Ferguson.

The men were arrested in Romania in December 2024 and extradited to Britain, but a third man accused of taking part in the attack is still in Romania because he faces separate charges there, police said.

Iran International, a private broadcaster based in a heavily secured building in west London, was labelled a "terrorist" organisation by Tehran in 2022, along with the BBC's Persian-language channel.

Last month, a Greek man was charged with spying on a journalist at Iran International.

In April, three people appeared in a London court charged with an attempted arson attack on its offices.

Israeli forces arrested 430 people on board 50 ships in international waters in May, to halt a flotilla of "Global Sumud Flotilla" volunteers trying to bring aid supplies to the Gaza Strip.

The people held in Libya are part of a separate group of Flotilla activists who tried to reach the Palestinian enclave by land.

Authorities in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi were not immediately available for comment.

Italian Consul Filippo Colombo has appealed to those authorities for the release of the two Italian nationals and requested permission to visit them, the foreign ministry said.

Ten detainees are now in their fifth day of hunger strike in protest at their detention and mistreatment, Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement on Thursday, adding that their health was rapidly deteriorating.

"A dry hunger strike (refusing to drink as well as eat) is rapidly fatal; without immediate intervention, this humanitarian crisis will turn into a tragedy," the Flotilla said.

The organisation said the volunteers were being held in isolated, non-civilian prison complexes operated by the Libyan Interior Ministry, and were being given contradictory information and false promises of release.

Global Sumud Flotilla demanded immediate access for independent medical monitors and foreign consular staff and the immediate, unconditional release of all volunteers.

They have been held since 24 May, when the delegation approached Libyan authorities in the city of Sirte to negotiate the safe passage of a humanitarian convoy heading for Gaza.

Instead, the group of 10 were arrested for immigration violations.

Several Palestinian factions are set to discuss Gaza's future at a meeting in Egypt on Saturday, where the possibility of a role for Mohammed Dahlan, a rival of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, is likely to come up, sources told AFP.

Another meeting between representatives of mediators of the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas is planned for Sunday, according to a Palestinian political source, who said Nikolai Mladenov, high representative for Gaza in US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, was also expected to attend.

The source said Dahlan was trying to convince Hamas to transfer responsibilities in the Gaza Strip to him to facilitate the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement and the entry of a previously appointed technocratic committee tasked with administering the territory temporarily.

A diplomatic source confirmed the information.

Dahlan, a former head of Gaza's preventive security force for Abbas's Fatah party and originally from the south of the territory, has reportedly presented a plan for the Strip, according to the source.

Dahlan was banned from Fatah in 2011 and is based in the United Arab Emirates, maintaining influential networks in several Arab and Western countries.

The Cairo meetings, which are expected to include representatives from Hamas and other Palestinian groups, but not Fatah, were initially due to take place on Wednesday in the Egyptian resort of El Alamein, but were postponed.

The question of Gaza's post-war governance remains one of the main sticking points in negotiations on implementing the provisions of phase two of the truce.

'Find a new formula'

Israel rejects any return of Hamas to power, but also rejects a direct takeover by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority at this stage.

Hamas, meanwhile, demands the establishment of a Palestinian administration before considering handing over part of its arsenal, a key stipulation for the second phase, along with Israel's withdrawal.

Dahlan and Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya have maintained contacts for several years and have explored avenues of cooperation on Gaza's future, a diplomatic source told AFP.

"They're not meeting for a picture... (Dahlan) offered to try to find a way out for Gaza, where the international community is stuck," the source said.

Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist from the territory, said Egypt was acting with renewed urgency out of fear that Israel "will seek to sabotage" the US-backed ceasefire plan.

"Cairo believes there is an urgent need to put an end to the deterioration of daily life for Palestinians in Gaza," Abusada said.

Egypt and other mediating countries want to bring together Palestinian political movements to "find a new formula so that Hamas accepts disarmament and to avoid further Israeli destruction".

Dahlan's name regularly comes up in post-war talks on Gaza, particularly due to his proximity to Egyptian and Emirati authorities and his presumed ability to mobilise funding for reconstruction.

This scenario has so far been met with mistrust by many Palestinians, who see it as an attempt to impose an alternative leadership with the backing of foreign powers.

Andrey X has, over the past two years, placed himself inside that second reality.

A Russian-born activist and journalist who acquired Israeli citizenship after leaving his home country, Andrey now lives for long stretches in the occupied West Bank, documenting a steady escalation of Jewish settler violence — from daily incursions into Palestinian villages to attacks that increasingly happen in cooperation with the Israeli military.

His work — short, immediate video dispatches from places rarely reached by international media — has found a wide audience online, particularly among activists and advocacy networks abroad. It has also placed him in direct confrontation with settlers, Israeli authorities, and the limits of what documentation alone can achieve.

What emerges from our conversation is not just an account of individual incidents, but a broader argument: that the violence is not episodic, but structural; not a breakdown of order, but, in his view, an expression of it.

We spoke about how he came to this work, what he has witnessed on the ground since October 7, 2023, and why he believes accountability — as it is commonly understood — remains out of reach.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview with Andrey X

TNA: Could you talk a little bit about how you got into activism in the first place? What was your motivation behind wanting to document the violence in the West Bank?

I got to the West Bank without intending to – this wasn't my plan at any point.

I got a degree in anthropology, and I was doing some research, and I was doing some sort of activism, but nothing related to West Asia, nothing related to Palestine. I was focusing in my research on the post-Soviet space.

But then Russia invaded Ukraine, which prompted my flight from Russia, and I got the easiest passport that I could get at the time – and that was the Israeli passport.

Within three months I had citizenship. And then it took me from six months to a year of learning, talking to people, reading up on the history to come to some conclusions about what's going on there.

And I was a blank slate when I arrived – I didn't have an opinion one way or another. I was, I would say, Zionist by default, meaning that I just adopted the position that I was surrounded by. This is what my circle believed.

But seeing the reality on the ground changed all of that for me. I, at some point, came to the realization that I didn't just arrive at a place and started a new life there, but that I had become part of a settler colonial project as a part of it. And, at that point, I felt like I needed to either leave or start doing something.

And so, I started getting more and more involved with various activists’ initiatives, first in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and then increasingly more in the West Bank. This was for maybe a year until October 7 when obviously everything was turned upside down and there was a massive escalation. Of course, we as activists understood that everything was about to be set on fire.

The situation in the West Bank, which was already very bad ever since the election of the current government that is still in power, where a very prominent and powerful position is held by what I would describe as the neo-Nazi faction led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. We knew that everything was going to be set on fire. And I felt like, okay, I need to find something that I can do.

That was the West Bank to me, because I already knew the activists, I had the infrastructure to do something that would help people from this fire.

So, I started going to the West Bank more and more until, in May 2024, I moved to the village of Ras 'Ein al 'Auja in the South Jordan Valley, in the central West Bank, where I intended to spend just a month and then leave. But that month turned into two months, into three months, and as I was staying there, I was filming daily settler invasions and settler attacks against Palestinians.

At that time, there were maybe four to five settler invasions per day in the community, and I would film what was happening. But then I saw that that wasn't going anywhere – nobody was seeing what was happening.

Palestinian children were prevented from going to school by razor wire and Israeli soldiers — so they sat down and studied right in front of them https://t.co/pzbKiH1n2N pic.twitter.com/mJWwd69SwU

— Andrey X (@the_andrey_x) April 20, 2026

So, I started doing a blog where I would record myself at the end of every day, like, “Today is day three, and today this happened, this happened, this happened,” adding the footage that I would have filmed and that would be filmed by other activists who were staying there with me. And that started blowing up.

Then I started getting messages from Palestinians all over the West Bank asking me to come and cover what's going on there with soldier attacks and settler attacks. And then I started going around the West Bank and I essentially moved there.

And, for the past two years now I've been living in the West Bank, documenting what's going on and working with various human rights advocacy groups and activist collectives.

And given that you've spent so much time there over the last few years, can you give us a sense of  what the escalation in the West Bank since October 7 looks like? Can you give us an idea as to what you’ve witnessed?

First of all, it's important to note that the current wave of violence in the West Bank started not on October 7 but probably around late 2022 with the election of the current government. This was their plan to escalate in the West Bank and to take over more and more [land] because several settler leaders from West Bank settlements got very powerful positions in the government, and there were several large-scale pogroms.

There was the attack on Huwara, which was maybe 5 or 6 months before October 7, where an activist friend of mine had to carry the dead body of a Palestinian who was murdered by the army as they accompanied the settler pogrom against the village. And this was far from the only example of this escalation – the current one that has been going on for longer than since October 7.

But of course, the settler faction within the government really escalated things and saw the perfect excuse to escalate with October 7. And since then, it has been getting worse and worse and worse, because with each new escalation they're saying, “Oh, we can also do this now, and nobody will do anything to us, and there are no consequences.”

So, this expands the boundaries of what they're allowed to do all the time – whereas before it would have been difficult. Now there are very violent attacks, almost every day, once every two days, maybe.

And these low-level attacks where maybe someone will just come into your village – so a settler will march into a Palestinian community, maybe with a flock of sheep, and just stay there, maybe steal something, maybe just push people around – this happens maybe 10 to 15 times per day. Sometimes more across the West Bank and various communities.

And, as I said, it's getting worse and worse, where now we're seeing settlers just go into communities and shoot people and invade together with the army – where the settlers will launch the program and the army will accompany them and assist them and shoot at the Palestinians who try to defend themselves.

And the ultimate goal of that is, of course, the erasure of Palestinian life in the West Bank.

Currently, it is largely centred around Area C, which comprises about 60% of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control both militarily and in the civilian manner. And it's almost empty of Palestinian presence.

For instance, the community where I lived for several months has gone – it was ethnically cleansed in January of this year. And now all of the South Jordan Valley Area C is completely empty of Palestinian presence. There are no more Palestinians left there. And it is very likely that within the next few months, we will see the final expulsion of Palestinians from that area.

And the settlers and the army are already moving on to setting up outposts and launching attacks on areas B and A, which didn't used to be the case. This was much more rare before and setting up outposts in areas A and B was unheard of until the past few months. But now they are popping up more and more and, as you said, this is an entire system – it’s not just settlers, it's settler attacks with the support of the Israeli army who are always there.

How does your activism work fit into that? How does your activism work contribute to raising awareness and questioning the narrative that is so prevalent in Israel proper?

We have to understand that we're not really countering anything.

This used to be the case a couple of years ago, before October 7, when there would be a settler attack or an army raid where activists would show up and just start filming, and then the settlers and the army would just pack up and stop because they don't want to be caught on camera.

But by now, this is not really the case.

The activists and journalists who are in the field get attacked themselves all the time in full view of cameras, and it's still not complete impunity because, for instance, I think two months ago, myself and a few activists and locals were attacked in the North Jordan Valley in the community of Hamam al-Malehand the settlers smashed our car and cut our tires.

And we when we barricaded ourselves inside the Palestinian house, they broke through the door, and they beat us for a while. And they did steal my phone, which had the footage of them attacking us. So clearly there is still some impact of this kind of stuff being filmed, but it's definitely much, much less than it used to be.

@the_andrey_x

On the day of Zionist violence — Jerusalem Day — activists from Free Jerusalem staged a counter-demonstration, demanding an end to fascism and freedom for Palestine

♬ original sound - Andrey X

And this is in large proportion because the state is giving the settlers a lot more leeway. The settlers – you can view them like brownshirts in early 20th century Europe. They are a civilian avant garde who are doing a lot of the dirty work – a lot of the stuff that the government needs to be able to wash their hands from – and the government is allowing and facilitating it.

Sometimes they will reign it in, sometimes they will push back. If there is a lot of international attention and condemnation, they will demolish an outpost that the settlers set up. So, it's this fluid cat-and-mouse game where the avant garde of the settlers will push forward and the army will support them and then pull back their support in order to preserve their international image.

But the dynamic in the past few years has been very much in the direction of more violence, of more empowerment to the settlers, more financing of the settlers, and so on.

I wonder, who are you doing the videos for exactly? Is it for people in Israel proper? Is it for people in the outside world and the international community?

My target audience generally is the outside world, and it's the citizens of the countries that are supporting the Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank and the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Because Israel, of course, without the support, they wouldn't be able to do any of this. Israel is able to maintain its system of apartheid and maintain its genocide in Gaza because it has an unlimited credit line from the West via weapons and trade.

My goal from the beginning has been to try to bring information about the West Bank to the outside [world] in order to empower activists and advocates all over the world to do something within their own countries in order to resist what is happening in Palestine on the ground.

Because I think despite the fact that activists on the ground are there and are in proximity to what's going on, arguably more can be done from the outside because Israel is very much reliant on outside support.

It is evident that Israel knows this and cares about it given the government's constant platitudes to Europe and to the United States, which Ben-Gvir and Smotrich because for them it's a bit of a different game and they would actually be happy if Israel was more isolated. But the more mainstream government like Netanyahu and Katz they understand that they need the support in order to continue the ethnic cleansing.

And so, I feel like the job of myself and of my colleagues and friends on the ground is to work against that.

But I'm sure there are people in historic Palestine who have looked at your videos and who have seen your videos. How do you counter that narrative, not in terms of just the international media and the Israeli official government narrative? How do you convince someone inside Israel's 1948 boundaries whose only connection to Palestinians has been in the context of, maybe, as a soldier entering the West Bank or through Israeli media? For somebody looking at those videos, how do they react and how do you convince them to empathize with the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian question?

When we're talking about Israelis in general, the stuff that I'm doing is pointless for that. This is not how you do it. Because the language that I use, the type of information that I give and so on, is not the way to talk to Israelis who have gone through an entire lifetime of dehumanization of Palestinians from kindergarten and school and from their entire environment and the media and the army.

You go through all these stages and then you're seeing this white guy on TikTok who came [to Israel] four years ago – they’re not going to be convinced that way.

The way you do it is that you sit down and you are very empathetic, and you listen and you engage and you say, “Yes, I understand that. I understand that you believe that these children are going to grow up to be terrorist, so it's okay to kill them. But maybe, have you considered this other side?”

You need to do a lot of this kind of stuff, which I just don't have the energy and the patience for. But, I have, of course, a lot of respect for people who are who are doing this, who are sitting down.

And have you found that they've been receptive to that kind of messaging?

Largely, no, of course, because it's the effort of a couple of organizations against the effort of an entire massive propaganda machine. Of course, the propaganda machine is going to win until the propaganda machine is dismantled. Nothing is going to happen.

But on the local level, on the individual level, of course, it often works.

You have organisations like "Breaking the Silence, an organization which is made up of an exodus who have decided to speak out and talk about what they were doing and what they were told to do while they were serving and so forth.

And there are some dissidents, but very, very few.

As you mentioned, you've had a lot of interactions with Israeli authorities and Israeli police, and I understand you have a few standing court cases as well in Israel. What has your relationship with Israeli authorities been like, especially since becoming such a big name and taking up your activism work? How have they responded to your work?

It's important to understand that Israeli authorities’ attitude towards activist and journalistic work is going to heavily depend on your background and who you are, and what passport you hold, and what kind of blood flows through your veins.

It's not a standard fascist regime where if you go against it, you go to jail. I come from Russia. There, it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what the colour of your skin is, where you grew up, what languages you speak. If you speak against the government, you will be punished for it. You will be jailed, exiled, whatever.

But in the context of Israel, it's different. It depends on your blood. If you're a Palestinian, they can kill you, torture you, kidnap you, jail you with no charge. And they do. My colleague and friend, Ayman Ghraieb, has been in jail for more than six months now for making videos.

He was just going around the Jordan Valley and showing what was happening, and he was kidnaped and taken into administrative detention, which allows [the Israeli authorities] to just renew it for as long as they want.

However, with me, who is doing the same thing that Ayman was doing, they cannot do that because we live in two different worlds to two different legal systems. I hold an Israeli citizenship, and so they need to put me through the proper channels.

Of course they don't want to. They would like to revoke my citizenship and take me into administrative detention. And there has been an effort there. There were a few members of the Knesset who wrote a petition demanding that my citizenship be revoked. But there are checks and balances when it comes to Israeli citizens – when they're Jewish.

Of course, at the same time, you have Palestinians with Israeli citizenship who are supposed to have the same rights on paper, but it doesn't work like that and they also get kidnaped and jailed, just for posts on Facebook and the like.

You have that entire world where you can be jailed, oppressed and so on, and then you have the world that I live in just by virtue of the blood that flows through my veins and by virtue of the documents that I have, which makes it very difficult for the Israeli establishment to do anything against me.

They're trying to reverse it, but we’re not there yet. If you are an Israeli citizen and if you have Jewish blood, you can still say and do a lot of things.

Staying on the citizenship – you’ve mentioned yourself in the beginning that it took you just three months to get a passport under the Law of Return, which is the 1950 bill that was passed by Israel that allows Jews and their families from around the world, to make Aliyah – to immigrate to Israel. And you've compared it yourself, just now, to the Palestinian situation, where some are unable to visit their relatives, let alone get a passport.

So, my question is how do you feel about using this Jewish privilege in this context? Because I imagine you must have mixed feelings about living on occupied land.

Look, there is the emotional side of things where when I meet my friends in the West Bank, or in ’48, who have families and are not allowed to even visit them, and they have to fly out. They were literally people who were expelled in 1948. And when I meet Palestinian friends outside of Palestine who are also unable to even visit their hometowns – of course, on the emotional level that infuriates me, and it is difficult.

And then there is the pragmatic and practical. This piece of paper with an Israeli coat of arms allows me to do the work that I do.

I know that if I knew everything that I know now, four years ago, I wouldn't have gotten the Israeli citizenship. I would really want to do that. But I'm glad now. I'm glad that I did that post factum, because this is the thing that allows me to do what I'm doing.

If I were Palestinian and I was doing this, I would have been dead. If I were an international and I was doing this, I would have been deported a long time ago. But it happened. So I have this piece of paper which allows me to do what I'm doing and get away with it.

@the_andrey_x

YOU can affect Israeli policy! Here is proof

♬ original sound - Andrey X

I wanted to speak a little bit about Umm Al Kheir, if I may, because I know it's a village that is very close to you. And the killing last July of Awdah Hathaleen – I know you were there during the very painful process after the incident.

Awdah was of course killed by an Israeli settler, shot dead by an Israeli, who I think three days after the incident was just roaming around in his settlement with total impunity, whereas members of Awdah’s family were imprisoned very quickly after the incident and his body was not returned until days later.

I wondered if you could speak a little bit about that incident – maybe tell the audience, if you can, what that was like and how you think that unfortunately exemplifies the reality of Palestinians every day in the West Bank.

Yeah. Here is a very telling case study of the occupation in the West Bank, the residents of Umm Al Kheir have lived there since around 1948. They used to live next to Arad in the Naqab desert, from where they were expelled in 1948.

They eventually purchased land where they are now in the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank. They have all the necessary papers. They lived there until 1967 under Jordanian occupation. And then the West Bank was taken over by Israel in 1967 and the processes that Israel was employing in order to kick the Palestinians out of their land in ‘48, they started employing in the West Bank as well.

In 1980, about half of the land of was taken for an army base. This is one of the few ways in which you can take over land on the areas that you're occupying. You can say that it’s needed for security purposes. And so they cut off half of the village, and they set up a military base.

Two years later, they decided that they no longer needed the military base for security purposes and they turned it into a civilian settlement called Carmel, which this is one of the closest settlements to Palestinian communities that you can see in the West Bank, because it's literally sometimes close to three or four metres between a settler home and a Palestinian home. And the settlers, of course, are surrounded by a barbed wire fence and they build roads right through the community.

Since the early 1980s, the settler movement and the army have been trying to take over more and more land and to kick the family out of their land despite the fact that they have all the necessary papers through demolition orders and through attacks and through invasions.

This has been a fight for decades, and hence there is a lot of activist presence there since the early 2000 because the residents of the village and the local Palestinian activists have been trying to make connections with activists all over the world and to bring them on the ground.

The situation here, as in all of the West Bank, got much worse after October 7. [The settlers] are taking over the land which the Palestinians have papers to and started constructing caravans and at the same time damaging and destroying the Palestinian infrastructure that was there – the olive trees, the water pipes, and so on and so forth.

Almost exactly a year ago, this culminated in an excavator belonging to this demolition company, which is headed by, Yinon Levi – the famous settler who is personally responsible for the ethnic cleansing of several communities to the west of Umm Al Kheir – Zanouta and Imneizil famously, where hundreds of Palestinians used to live there. Right now, they're ruins.

He owns a demolishing company which has been contracted by the Israeli state to demolish houses in Gaza, and that demolition company is based, from what I understand, in Meitarim settlement in the south Hebron Hills.

One excavator was contracted to this new outpost that the settlers set and, on the day of the murder, the excavator went to the outpost through Palestinian land where there is actual infrastructure. Of course, this was done intentionally with the goal of damaging the water pipe, which is supplying the community centre and the freshly planted olive trees, which were also there. The excavator drove into the outpost and then drove out, at which point the community members confronted the excavator and tried blocking it.

The excavator driver hit one of the members of the community, Ahmed, with the arm of the excavator. Yinon Levi arrived in his car and confronted the community members and pulled out a pistol and fired twice into the crowd. One of the bullets hit Awdeh, the informal leader of the community, in the chest. He, bled out, essentially, there on the ground.

He was standing in the back with his son, who was just three years old at the time. He was just filming what was going on. Some paramedic activists who were there tried to help him.

And the army arrived a few minutes later, and Yinon Levi, the murderer, pointed out the people that he wanted arrested – several activists, including the paramedics, were trying to revive Awdeh and several Palestinians who were there. The army followed the directions, the orders of the murderer.

A friend of mine, an activist who was there on the ground, Matan, came up to the soldiers and said, “What are you doing? He just killed somebody!” And he told me that three separate soldiers told him, “I wish it was me. I wish I was the one who shot him.” And at that point, they simply drove away.

The army arrested several members of the community and over the course of the next several days, they would kidnap, I think, 23 members of the family – essentially all the older men – and they were placed into the Ofer concentration camp, which is notorious for its horrible conditions. They were deprived of food and sleep and they were beaten, and deprived of medication, and they were held for several days and then they were released.

Yinon Levi was also arrested, and then he was released, I think two days after that after the judge said that there was not enough evidence [to show] that he was the one who shot Awdeh, which is especially ridiculous given that the incident was filmed from many different directions. There is very clear footage of him doing it, of course.

But the judge said that there was no evidence that it was him. And he was free. And he was back, as you said, I think three days after the murder – he was back at the outpost, right in the middle of the community.

While the body Awdeh was withheld for 10 or 11 days. The Israeli state was trying to negotiate with the family, demanding that he's not buried in his land where he was born and where he lived – that he would be buried somewhere else with no friends or family coming and with no outsiders coming.

In the end, the women of the community went on a hunger strike and several days later, the Israeli state relented and gave back the body. But on the day of the funeral, they designated the area a closed military zone in order to prevent people from coming. And, to this day, of course, Levi is free – just like all the settlers who keep doing this kind of thing, who come in and attack and kill and destroy and injure and launch pogroms.

And of course, they are not facing justice because they're not really committing a crime by Israeli government standards, because a crime is breaking the order of things that is set up by the powers that want this to happen. The powers that want Palestinians to be expelled. This is what the goal of the Israeli government in the West Bank is.

That situation just acts as a representative of the state just fulfilling the program. And of course, he is not going to face consequences for it.

So, in that case, what does actual accountability look like? Or does it look like there is no hope at all given that the system is entrenched and in fact incites or allows for settler violence like this within Israeli law?

For the murder – just like all the other murders perpetrated by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank under the system of Zionist apartheid – then no, of course not.

Because, you know, Levi is not a an individual. What matters is not his internal evil – I don't know him, I met him in the field a couple of times, but I've never spoken to him, I don't know what's in his head.

But it's not really relevant. He wasn't doing this out of some internal evil or anything. He was just functioning within the system that existed. And we’re seeing this on Levi and many other leaders who are perpetrating horrible crimes.

They're just functioning within the system that doesn’t just allow them to do it, but that encourages them to do it. Any sort of accountability, any semblance of justice, will require the complete dismantlement of that system.

This next question is a very broad question, but I'm curious what your opinion is in terms of justice and accountability and return of Palestinian refugees. What would you like to see happen on the ground? Is it a one state solution or a two-state solution like the European Union and the United Nations and everyone keeps talking about and reinforcing, despite continuing annexation and the reality on the ground making it very improbable to have a two-state solution?

If you ask me what I want, what is my dream solution – it’s no states at all. No war, no violent government, no vertical systems of suppression and enforcement from the top down. And no bloody competition between different states that are fighting over resources.

I would like, you know, general horizontal solidarity between people and mutual aid and all of that. And as farfetched as that sounds, any kind of two-state and one-state solution also is as farfetched.

Right now, we are living under a one-state apartheid reality, and that's all we're getting. A two-state solution is not any more realistic than a one-state solution. Right now, they're both fantasy, choosing between the two. Of course, I choose one-state, because I think that splitting up the land is ridiculous.

There aren't too many silver linings, except perhaps the fact that we have this unprecedented movement of solidarity across the world, which hasn't happened for probably any cause in the history of humanity. And hopefully down the line, this will mean that Zionist politicians across the world will just become unelectable and it will become unsustainable to support the apartheid and ethnic supremacy.

And maybe that will at some point cut off this infinite line of credit that Israel has and lead to some real changes on the ground. But of course, this is a very long-term thing, and we're playing the long game. But then again, Palestinians have been playing the long game for the 100 years of ethnic cleansing.

Well, I think that's somewhat of a hopeful note to end on. Thank you for coming into the studio and talking to us.

The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal and said he was killed at the scene, while his parents were wounded in the shooting and were in moderate condition.

The baby's grandmother said the family was driving near Checkpoint 17 when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance and stopped the car. She said shots were then fired toward them, which they initially believed were warning shots.

"One bullet struck my grandson, traversed his face and crossed his head, striking his mother's cheek where it lodged," she said, adding that the bullet had also grazed the father's finger, and that the mother was in hospital.

The Israeli military claimed that during activity in the Hebron area on Friday, soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them, and one soldier fired single shots at the vehicle. It said three Palestinians were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment.

An initial Israeli military inquiry found that those injured were "uninvolved civilians", the military said, adding that the incident was under review and that the findings would be submitted to the relevant authorities.

Tel Rumeida, an area of Hebron where Israeli settlers live under heavy military protection among Palestinian residents, has long been a flashpoint for violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces also shot dead an 18-year-old Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said Friday. The military claimed it had killed someone who threw firebombs at vehicles.

In the early hours of Friday, the health ministry said it had been informed of "the martyrdom of the young man Haitham Ezzedine Omar Hmeida, 18, by occupation gunfire in the village of Beitin," north east of Ramallah.

It added that the man's body was being withheld.

In a statement, the Israeli military claimed its forces had "identified several terrorists throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles travelling on a major roadway" near the village of Beitin.

"The soldiers opened fire at the terrorists and eliminated one of them," the military said, adding that its forces were "currently pursuing the remaining suspects."

Over 700,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank among more than 3 million Palestinians, according to a European Union report ​in 2024.

France has opened an investigation into an alleged "war crime" and "torture" over Israel's treatment of French activists who took part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a prosecutor's office said Friday.

The probe was opened at the government's request, the national counterterrorism prosecutor's office (PNAT) said, after activists accused Israeli authorities of mistreatment during their detention last month.

Israel detained more than 430 activists from countries around the world after intercepting them in international waters on 18 May as they made the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, sparked widespread condemnation after he posted a video mocking the flotilla activists while they were bound.

France banned Ben Gvir from entry over the incident.

Several French activists described what they said was a violent and humiliating ordeal when eight of them returned to France on 22 May.

Two of the more than 30 French people who were on board the flotilla were still in hospital in Turkey, they told reporters.

One returnee described a soldier groping and slapping her in a dark container, and being terrified that she would be raped.

Another recounted detained activists being put in what she called a "stress position", on their knees with their foreheads on the ground for several hours, while the Israeli national anthem played on repeat.

Asked by AFP to respond to the claims of physical and psychological violence, sexual harassment, assault and rape, the Israeli prison service said the accusations were "entirely without factual basis".

Francesca Albanese, an outspoken UN expert on the Palestinian territories, has said the treatment of the flotilla activists "is a luxury compared to what is inflicted on Palestinians in Israeli prisons".

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan "has instructed immigration officers to refuse entry to Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister for National Security of Israel, and Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance of Israel, should they seek to enter the state," a justice ministry statement sent to AFP said.

After the far-right minister Ben Gvir mocked activists seized by Israeli soldiers on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month, Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheal Martin said Ireland would act to bar the entry of Israeli officials seen as fomenting conflict in Gaza.

Firebrand Ben Gvir became a minister in 2022, after an alliance with the far-right Religious Zionist party of Bezalel Smotrich came third in legislative elections.

Together, Ben Gvir and Smotrich are cornerstones of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government.

The two ministers' behaviour "not just in the context of the flotilla, but their consistent statements... essentially amount to a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine", Martin told reporters during a summit in Montenegro on Friday.

"In my view, their behaviour justifies sanctions at the EU level as well," he said.

Last month, France also banned Ben Gvir from entry over his conduct. Britain barred the two from entry in June 2025, and other countries have followed, including Spain and Slovenia.

Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel's bombardment of Gaza in the wake of the deadly October 2023 Hamas militant attack on Israel, and recognised the Palestinian state in 2024.

Soon after, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of its Dublin embassy, blaming Ireland's "extreme anti-Israel policies".

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed in a message on X on Friday.

"Proud of our outstanding team at the US Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas for Iran's national football team on their road to the @FIFAWorldCup in the United States," he said, commenting on a news report that Iran's World Cup players have been granted the visas to enter the United States.

"Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world," the ambassador said.

This comes after Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said late on Thursday that the squad had not yet received their US visas, but a White House official said they were granted overnight.

Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team's base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, due to visa issues and a growing feeling in Iran that the squad's presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum.

They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early Sunday morning.

Iran is due to play their first Group G match on 15 June against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.

The Iran war has turned the World Cup, the biggest global sporting event, into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.

It is the first World Cup since its inception in 1930 in which a host nation is set to receive a country with which it is at war.

The US has never formally said it did not want the Iranian team to stay on its territory, Ambassador Pasandideh said.

However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its World Cup delegation individuals linked to the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.

That could apply to several players in the Iran squad who have completed mandatory military service.

In a CNN interview, Aoun said "the people of Lebanon are paying the price ...for the sake" of Iran's interests, and were "fed up" with war on Lebanon - comments reflecting deep divisions along Lebanon's confessional and political faultlines.

"They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States," Aoun said of Iran, according to excerpts of the interview published on the CNN website. "It's unacceptable."

Aoun, who led the Lebanese military before becoming head of state, is a Maronite Christian, as required by Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing arrangements.

He has pressed for the peaceful disarmament of Hezbollah since being elected head of state by parliament last year. Early in the war, he called for face-to-face talks with Israel, further setting him at odds with the group.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also urged Iran on Friday to stop treating his country as a "bargaining chip" in its negotiations with Washington over the Middle East war.

"If I may address a word to Iran, it is this: have mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip to improve the terms of your negotiations," Salam told a press conference for a UN aid appeal for Lebanon.

Iran has made a Lebanon ceasefire a condition for any peace deal with Washington in the wider regional conflict that began with the US-Israeli attack on Tehran on 28 February.

On Thursday, Hezbollah rejected a ceasefire plan agreed by Lebanese and Israeli government officials in US-mediated talks in Washington. The deal would be contingent on Hezbollah ceasing fire and its fighters withdrawing from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a written statement on Thursday that direct Lebanon-Israel talks in Washington were rejected by "broad segments of the Lebanese people".

Addressing Qassem, Aoun said: "The Lebanese people are not your people".

Israeli attacks have killed thousands of people in Lebanon since March and displaced some 1.2 million people, Lebanese authorities say. Israeli troops have occupied a swathe of southern Lebanon.

The US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) is a nearly 50‑year‑old programme that channels public money into joint agricultural research projects between American and Israeli institutions.

The fund is jointly backed by Washington and the Israeli government and has financed dozens of collaborative projects in areas such as irrigation, plant science and climate‑resilient agriculture, with AIPAC thanking Virginia Congressman Eugene Vindman and Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack "for leading this important effort".

But critics argue that the decision underlines how US agricultural spending is increasingly embedded in an Israeli system that privileges settlement institutions while Palestinians are stripped of access to the very same land and water.

Ariel University, built inside the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank, openly lists BARD among the binational US-Israel foundations available to its researchers.

The university is situated in the middle of Palestinian villages and farmland in occupied territory, and has long been condemned by Palestinian academic bodies and international scholars who argue that its very location entrenches Israel’s settlement enterprise.

The inclusion of BARD in Ariel’s funding portfolio follows a broader policy shift.

In 2020, the Trump administration and the Israeli government removed previous geographic restrictions that had barred US–Israel scientific cooperation with institutions based in West Bank settlements. That change was widely welcomed by Ariel officials at the time, who saw it as a green light to deepen ties with US partners and tap into joint research budgets.

While there is no comprehensive public list showing which BARD‑funded projects are currently implemented in or around West Bank settlements, the fund operates within this new framework, in which settlement‑based institutions are no longer formally excluded from US‑backed scientific programmes.

On the ground, Palestinian communities around Ariel and across Area C of the West Bank face a very different agricultural reality. Israel’s settlement expansion and support for settler farming areas and grazing outposts have steadily reduced the areas where Palestinians can cultivate crops, access water or graze livestock.

Bedouin and herding communities report being forced out of land for pasturing and denied access to wells and springs as settlers, sometimes backed by Israeli forces, consolidate control over hillsides and valleys.

Land‑rights specialists and Palestinian officials argue that agricultural development has become a tool of dispossession, not just a sectoral policy.

New land‑registration systems in Area C, combined with the Israeli "legalisation" of previously “unauthorised” farming outposts, are seen by critics as mechanisms for formalising the theft of Palestinian land while presenting it as orderly land administration and rural development.

Words like war, deterrence, self-help, national security, and existential threat belong to an earlier era of interstate conflict. Once a Bush legacy, the concept of preemptive war is now among the most popular to legitimise acts of interventionism and expansionism. Today’s conflicts, particularly those involving Israel as the belligerent, operate through such strategic ambiguity warfare, permanent preemption, and narrative deterrence. And mainstream media continues to rely on outdated terminology, creating a semantic battlefield in which language itself becomes a tool of deception.

An old-fashioned playbook

The IR playbook was designed for a Westphalian world of clearly defined borders and state-on-state friction, where "deterrence" meant preventing an attack through the threat of certain retaliation. In the current 2026 landscape, this framework has been hollowed out. The UN Charter concept of "self-help," once a neutral description of states seeking security in an anarchic system, has been weaponized into a mandate for "permanent pre-emption."

In this new paradigm, security is no longer about maintaining a balance of power but about achieving total narrative dominance. By using Cold War-era logic to analyse asymmetric, multi-domain warfare, analysts fail to account for how strategic ambiguity allows a state to act as a perpetual aggressor while maintaining the legal and moral status of a defender.

Mainstream media outlets like the BBC, Reuters, and CNN act as the primary architects of this semantic battlefield. One of the most pervasive techniques is the use of the passive voice to describe Israeli-led violence, effectively removing the "agent" from the action. In this way, war reporting, when it comes to Israeli-led war crimes, turns into a bunch of catchy titles written in passive voice grammar.

When reporting on the March 2026 strikes in Tehran or the tragic bombing of a girls' school in Minab, initial headlines often read along the lines of ‘Explosions were heard’ or ‘At least 153 dead after reported strike on school’, framing the events as unfortunate natural disasters or putting the blame on Tehran due to limited internet freedom.

Conversely, when Iran retaliates, the language shifts immediately to the active voice. The same goes for this form of reporting, as Israeli soldiers “were killed” but the Lebanese are “dead” in times of conflict. This linguistic asymmetry ensures that the initial strike is seen as a clinical, almost invisible necessity, while the response is branded as a distinct and unprovoked act of aggression. Such partisan framing serves as the most fundamental mechanism for legitimising pre-emptive war within social psychology.

In a depoliticized IR vocabulary, conventional terms like “war” or “conflict” lose their contextual weight, and what actually unfolds is a pre-emptive campaign: some are killed by deliberate action, while others simply die, as if spontaneously, to illustrate the execution of a strategically justified initiative.

Furthermore, the media’s reliance on Orwellian euphemisms also sanitises the reality of modern expansionism. Terms like "decapitation strikes" and "degrading capabilities" have replaced the legal and moral weight of "assassination" and "infrastructure destruction." By using this clinical vocabulary, outlets like CNN and The New York Times frame the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials as a surgical administrative task rather than a violation of national sovereignty.

This deterrence allows the media to present a full-scale war as a series of targeted "security operations," shielding the public from the human cost—such as the hundreds of civilian deaths in residential blocks near Resalat Square—while reinforcing the image of Israel as a high-tech victim forced into "surgical" self-defence.

The need for new voices

Today’s crisis is hardly new. It reflects a continuation of discursive patterns that emerged in the aftermath of 9/11 and intensified in the lead-up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. During that period, a group of so-called “rogue states” were singled out as legitimate targets for coercive transformation, framed within a broader narrative that cast intervention as a quasi-liberal crusade for global order, where the distinction between regime and civilian population was often blurred.

Similar justificatory logic now appears in the rhetoric surrounding Israel’s military campaign following the Israeli war crimes against Palestinian after October 7, with repeated bombardments of schools and civilian areas illustrating how the language of security can obscure the human realities of warfare.

The discursive parallels extend further. Just as the alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction once served as the central pretext for the Iraq war, contemporary debates surrounding uranium enrichment have increasingly taken on a similar evidentiary elasticity. The contrast in rhetorical performance is striking. Whereas the proactive logic of the Bush Doctrine once relied on the carefully staged spectacle of Colin Powell presenting supposed proof before the United Nations, today’s justifications appear far less elaborate.

Remarks by White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, invoking the president’s “strong insights” and intuition to defend military action against Iran, illustrate how the rhetorical threshold for legitimising intervention has drifted even further from the earlier pretence of evidentiary rigour.

This chronic problem within the IR vocabulary has, in turn, become a convenient instrument for the selective framing practices of conventional media. Drawing from an increasingly shallow theoretical reservoir, news language often channels complex geopolitical developments into simplified narratives that guide public perception toward predetermined conclusions.

Such a process of distortion can only be countered through the diversification of media, which American scholar Robert Dahl identified as "alternative sources of information" and a fundamental prerequisite for any functioning democracy.

This transparency is currently being forged by the courage of countless journalists on the ground who pay for the truth with their lives. Figures like Wael al-Dahdouh from Al Jazeera, who continued to report while losing his entire family, or the late Shireen Abu Akleh and others documenting the erasure of civil life in Gaza and beyond, are the ones making the narrative more transparent. Their work challenges the sanitised "decapitation" rhetoric of the West, forcing a confrontation with the visceral reality of the semantic battlefield.

Yet the responsibility does not rest solely with journalism. The field of IR itself must also confront the limitations of an analytical vocabulary that remains largely confined within the conceptual boundaries inherited from the Cold War.

Understanding contemporary conflicts increasingly requires theoretical frameworks capable of grappling with actors like Israel whose regional expansionism is often sustained by mythologised security narratives and deeply irrational obsessions. Developing such paradigms is an urgent task for social scientists. Without them, both academic analysis and public debate risk remaining trapped within a conceptual lexicon that is increasingly ill-equipped to interpret the realities of modern conflict.

Burak Elmali is a Researcher at TRT World Research Centre in Istanbul. He holds an MA degree in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University. His research areas include the geopolitics of interconnectivity, the concept of great power competition between the U.S. and China and its manifestation in the Gulf. His works were published in various media outlets, and he appears on TV as a guest interviewee.

Follow Burak on Twitter: @Burak_elmalii

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@alaraby.co.uk.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Rajwani, known as the "Filton 4", were found guilty of criminal damage on 5 May over their direct action protest at an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024.

They will be sentenced on 12 June. A further two activists, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, were acquitted.

"It's clear that the judge in this case has lost objectivity. Only a judge with a political bias in favour of Israel's genocide could treat a motivation to stop the genocide as a potentially aggravating factor," a spokesperson for campaign group Defend Our Juries told The New Arab.

The activists cite Judge Jeremy Johnson's alleged bias and discrimination in handing the two trials of the Filton six by treating the defendants' motivation to stop Israel committing war crimes as a potentially aggravating factor and incarcerating three female defendants.

The spokesperson noted that the judge had tried to bring the activists' barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, prosecuted for "contempt of court".

"Only a judge determined to secure convictions at all costs would attempt to prosecute the lead defence barrister for his closing speech," they said. Menon later won an appeal against the proceedings.

Judge Johnson's attempt to remove Menon was one of the driving forces behind the application.

"Only a judge with a personal vendetta would deny three young people time with their families before sentencing, when not even the prosecution was asking for that," the spokesperson said.

"Let's hope the judge has the self-awareness to realise he's lost impartiality, and that he does the right thing on Monday by recusing himself."

The application will be heard on 8 June.

Judge Johnson is also subject to a formal complaint filed today with the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office by Defend Our Juries, alleging bias and discriminatory conduct. 

The move comes after it was revealed that the Judge is expected to add a "terrorist connection" to their charges under section 69 of the Sentencing Act to the Filton 4, despite the jury only convicting them under criminal law on 5 May.

While it is not certain whether they would be sentenced as terrorists, the Judge ruled in a preliminary hearing in March 2025 that there appeared to be a "terrorist connection" as the activists were trying to influence the Israeli government by restricting its access to weapons. 

The change could mean longer sentences and lifelong restrictions.

The £9 million contract will see the controversial company set up a system for managing firearms licenses on behalf of all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

The award came two days before MPs urged the government to roll back Palantir's involvement in Britain's public services and several weeks after London's mayor blocked a major deal with the Metropolitan Police.

Palantir – whose co-founder Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp are staunch Trump supporters - has become notorious for its collaboration with Israel and US immigration authorities.

The $340 billion company is thought to have assisted the Israeli military creating AI-generated 'kill lists' during its genocidal assault in Gaza. It was among dozens of Western firms accused by UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese of "profiting from genocide".

Meanwhile, US authorities have used its data mining and AI technologies to conduct mass surveillance on migrants and pro-Palestine protesters.

"Palantir is here to disrupt … and when necessary scare enemies and on occasion kill them," Karp told shareholders in a 2024 investor call.

The company's involvement in domestic surveillance and military operations has fuelled a growing campaign in the UK to block its involvement in public services.

Its £330 million contract to manage medical data on behalf of the NHS has generated particularly strong opposition amid privacy fears and concerns over Thiel's ambitions to privatise the service.

The libertarian billionaire has previously suggested the government "rip [the NHS] from the ground and start over".

Palantir has also won a £240 million contract with the UK's defence ministry while its AI systems are now used by police forces and the country's financial regulator.

In its report on Wednesday, the parliamentary Science, Innovation and Technology Committee called the company's growing footprint in the UK an "unacceptable point of weakness".

"Of the small number of technology providers that the UK public sector relies upon, Palantir concerns us most," the report said.

The company is a "clear mismatch with UK values" due to its involvement in "highly controversial policies and activities," it said.

Committee chair Dame Chi Onwurah MP said the growing reliance on US tech giants leaves the UK "seriously exposed" and called on the government to diversify its suppliers.

In May, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan blocked a £50 million deal that would have seen the company automate intelligence analysis for the Metropolitan Police.

Khan said there had been a "clear and serious breach" of procurement rules after it emerged the police had not considered other companies for the contract.

The latest contract with the police will see Palantir operate the firearms registry for up to 10 years. The database will also record information relating to licenses for explosives, explosive precursors and poisons.

These stories form part of Tomorrow Will Be A Palestinian Day, a showcase of nine short works by playwrights from Palestine and in exile, performed by an all-Palestinian cast, being put on at Theatre503 in London in early June.

The show's cornerstone is the English-language world premiere of part of a play by the late Palestinian intellectual Walid Daqqa, who was one of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention at the time of his death in April 2024.

The New Arab hears from participating playwrights in Palestine and from some of the crew and cast in London about the production.

Carte blanche

The works featured in Tomorrow… have been co-curated and co-produced by the White Kite Collective, PalArt, and Bet'n Lev Theatre.

"The commissioning process has been quite special in the sense of the diversity of subject and voice… Every time a new script came in, it was an exciting new piece of the puzzle of this collection of nine plays," Joel Samuels, co-producer and member of both White Kite and Bet'n Lev, tells The New Arab.

"My only stipulation has always been: let's not ask playwrights from Palestine to speak about what we want them to speak about. Let's give them carte blanche to approach this however they choose," Samuel says.

The plays are being co-directed by PalArt's Ahmed Masoud and Micaela Miranda.

"What ties the pieces together is that they unite Palestinians from all parts of Palestine, even from within Israeli jails," Masoud tells The New Arab.

"They all tell human stories, mixing hope with fear and a cry for the outside world to hear the Palestinian voice more. I am honoured to direct them and bring forth my understanding of that sense of loss and optimism at the same time."

Gaza's playwrights

All but two of the living playwrights featured in Tomorrow… are from Gaza; four of them are still living in Gaza, while two live in exile.

Among the writers from Gaza is Jehad Abu Dayya, a 22-year-old medical student.

Abu Dayya has been writing since middle school, but during the first several months of the genocide, he stopped the practice altogether.

"I was unable to adapt and was completely overwhelmed by the endless lines for water, the search for food, and the constant struggle to find a safe place for displacement," Abu Dayya tells The New Arab.

Seven months later, he returned to writing, a discipline he says helped him "pull out hope". Since then, he has produced his first poetry collection, Slaughtered on the Margin of Time, and an English-language zine, To The World: A Comic From Gaza, illustrated by fellow young Gazan Esraa al-Banna.

"I dedicated my nights to writing these works on my phone, while during the day I helped my family survive," Abu Dayya says of writing during genocide.

"During our displacement in southern Gaza, I used to walk nearly two kilometres just to find an internet connection and communicate with friends who helped me publish my work."

His contribution to the showcase, Ruins, is his first foray into playwriting. He says it "tells one of the many stories of living beneath the rubble."

"I hoped that it could convey even a small part of our pain to the world. If it reaches even a few people and gives them genuine emotion and understanding, I would be the happiest person."

Working in Gaza's hospitals during the genocide and an Israeli siege that cuts healthcare facilities off from the medical supplies they urgently need has greatly informed his writing, including Ruins.

"Volunteering in hospitals allowed me to witness countless human stories filled with grief and the absurdity of existence," he says.

"What disturbed me most in the hospital were the constant choices between life and death: whom we choose to save, and whom we leave behind according to international medical protocols, especially amid the severe shortage of medical staff and resources," he adds. 

"I often asked myself: if I were in the place of the person struggling for life, how would I view existence? And would I willingly give my chance at survival to someone else who stood closer to rescue than I did?"

Also from Gaza is writer and educator Nahil Mohana, who has had a novel, poetry, short stories, and plays published. Her work is no stranger to London stages, with her play Lipstick performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2015. She has also been keeping a diary since the start of the genocide, with entries from it published by Granta, LitHub, and other outlets.

"Writing has become a form of survival and healing for me, especially after the war. I write constantly," Mohana tells The New Arab.

"During the genocide, adrenaline carried me through endless hours of writing without sleep. I felt compelled to document my days moment by moment — to protect my memory from disappearance, and to preserve the Palestinian narrative from fragmentation and erasure."

In her play Santa Claus on Holiday, centred on children, but meant for all, an empty-handed Santa is met by Gaza's children with wisdom and kindness.

"I was searching for a symbol that would already be familiar to Western audiences while still carrying some degree of recognition in our own culture," she tells The New Arab of her choice of the Santa Claus character.

"From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to write about children and move closer to children's theatre, because children have been the group most devastated by the war."

Mohana teaches creative writing to children and young people in Gaza, something she says she has continued to do during the genocide. The young writers under her wing have been a major source of inspiration to her, for this play and beyond.

"Every artistic work or play I have written has been inspired by the children I teach – children I encourage first to express themselves, then to write their fears, pain, and dreams," she says.

"I truly believe that those who survive pain are often the ones most capable of creating hope. When I look at these children, I see a promising future and a strength they may not yet recognise within themselves."

"More than anything, I hope the audience in London gains even a small understanding of what Palestinian children have endured… I also want them to see how intelligent and aware Palestinian children are. Despite everything, they remain capable of generosity. In the play, it is our children who give gifts to Santa Claus for children around the world – not the other way around."

Mohana teaches children and young people through the Tamer Institute for Community Education, which published Walid Daqqa's young adult novel, The Secret of the Oil, in 2018. It is a connection to the late Daqqa that Mohana describes as "ironic" and "beautiful".

"Had life been a little easier, I would have loved to be there in London simply to witness the performances inspired by his legacy," she says. "I deeply admire his writing, which has inspired an entire generation."

The Martyrs of Ramallah

Tomorrow… sees the first English-language iteration of a 15-minute extract from the late Walid Daqqa's The Martyrs of Ramallah.

Written in 2021 – 35 years into Daqqa's time in Israeli imprisonment – and set in Israel's infamous Gilboa Prison, the play centres on a conversation among three real-life prisoners whose bodies are being held in an Israeli prison morgue, withheld from their families and deprived of a dignified burial. 

The play bears tragic prescience; Daqqa himself was moved to Gilboa while in ailing health in 2023, and more than two years since his death from cancer, his body is still held in Israeli captivity, with the Israeli Supreme Court ruling in October 2024 that his body could be kept indefinitely by authorities to use as a chip to bargain with for the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza. 

Daqqa's writings on the prison experience and its parallels with the broader Palestinian condition under Israeli occupation and blockade are an inspiration to many contemporary writers, Palestinian or otherwise.

Among those whom Daqqa inspired is Motasem Abu Hasan, an actor, theatre director, and playwright from Nablus in the occupied West Bank, whose life has been deeply affected by imprisonment.

"The text I wrote comes from a deeply rooted Palestinian reality that exists in almost every Palestinian home – the recurring experience of losing a family member through imprisonment," Abu Hasan tells The New Arab of his play, titled Five Minutes.

"Throughout my life, my family temporarily lost both my father and my brother because of imprisonment. My brother is currently still in prison," he shares with The New Arab. 

"What deeply inspired this text was the only letter we received from him after six months of detention, during a period where we knew absolutely nothing about him except those few words. The work asks: What does this kind of loss do to a family? How does a family continue living while part of it is missing?"

Abu Hasan was meant to join the production in London, but was denied a visa, without the possibility to appeal the decision.

"As a Palestinian, honestly, I was not surprised by the visa refusal. In a strange way, it even makes me laugh sometimes… maybe because it has become such a familiar reality for us," he says.

"But beyond that feeling, there is also a real sense of injustice. I am prevented from accessing opportunities due to political circumstances beyond my control, simply because I am Palestinian.

"This opportunity was important for me artistically and professionally, especially because it would have allowed me to expand my experience, engage with different theatrical forms and practices, and connect with the development of theatre internationally."

As borders, blockades, and bombardment prevent a congregation of these Palestinian playwrights, it is up to the cast and crew to drive these stories home.

Among the cast members is actress Sofia Asir, a stage and screen actress whose credits include the critically acclaimed Palestine 36.

"A large cast from all across Palestine is coming together, as if pulled into the same space from different directions, collectively sharing these stories, and it feels like a shared responsibility we carry as artists," Asir tells The New Arab.

"I hope audiences encounter something intimate and raw – something that cannot be fully known from news or from the outside, but becomes present through embodied performance… I hope it creates closeness to people and stories that are often reduced to headlines, but here are held as immediate, living moments."

Tomorrow Will Be A Palestinian Day runs at Theatre503 in London from 1-6 June

Shahla Omar is a freelance journalist based in London

Follow her on Instagram: @shahlatan

Tzvi Succot, a member of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's extreme-right Religious Zionism party, was seen using a circular saw on the perimeter fence of a school in the northern town of Tuba Zangaria after local authorities blocked him from entering the premises.

His spokesperson later confirmed the attempt and said students were present at the time.

The incident occurred after local council head Mouaid Haib cancelled a planned visit by Succot, describing it as a "personal, political, racist visit" that served the lawmaker's interests rather than any educational purpose.

Speaking to The New Arab, Balad leader and former MK Sami Abu Shehadeh said the episode reflected broader trends within Israeli politics and argued that figures like Succot had become increasingly influential within the political mainstream.

"The problem is not Tzvi Succot. The problem is that Tzvi Succot is considered a legitimate political player within the Israeli political system," Abu Shehadeh said.

Succot attempted to justify his actions by saying he wanted to examine what was being taught at the school and claiming he had found evidence of "education for violence, crime, and bullying".

He added that authorities would seek to halt funding for schools that "educate for crime".

Abu Shehadeh rejected the allegation, saying he believed Succot was attempting to associate Palestinian education with high levels of organised crime in Palestinian communities inside Israel.

"Because he is racist, he is claiming that we are teaching violence and crime within our education system," Abu Shehadeh said.

The former Member of the Knesset argued that the incident was driven by political considerations rather than educational concerns.

"He knows that the Israeli society has deteriorated to be a very extreme right-wing fascist society, and any attack on Arabs and Palestinians raises the popularity of a politician in such a society," he said.

Abu Shehadeh suggested that politicians from the Israeli far right were competing to demonstrate increasingly hardline positions toward Palestinians ahead of future elections.

"In order to do better in the polls, unfortunately, we are going to see such violent and racist acts for the next few months in Israel for a politician to gain more power and more popularity," he said.

"He needs to convince the audience that he is more extreme and more fascist and more violent."

According to Haib, Succot had previously threatened to visit schools in Tuba Zangaria and had been informed in advance that the visit was cancelled. Haib said he locked the school gates with the support of parents and residents to prevent the lawmaker from entering.

"I will not let Tzvi Succot lead and exploit our schools for his extremist, racist ideology," Haib said, according to remarks reported by Haaretz.

Abu Shehadeh said the significance of the incident extended beyond Succot's conduct, pointing to his role as chair of the parliamentary committee responsible for education.

"You should know that in his background, he was considered one of the extreme young terrorist settlers of the Hilltop Youth," Abu Shehadeh said.

"And now he is the head of the education, culture and sports committee in the Knesset. This says everything, not just about Succot. This says everything about the Knesset and the situation that we are in."

Succot has previously drawn controversy over a number of actions, including his participation in protests in support of soldiers accused of raping Palestinians at the Sde Teiman military base in 2024 and his repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and sites in the occupied West Bank

"We are not talking about a marginal extremist who could exist in any society in the world," Abu Shehadeh said.

"We are talking about a very important political figure who is considered part of the Israeli government, part of the Israeli governing coalition."

For those joining us, here are the key updates:

- Israeli strikes continue across Lebanon despite the announcement of a new "ceasefire" by Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington, DC. Israeli strike in the south on Friday killed five people including a woman and an emergency worker, condemning "the targeting of paramedics carrying out rescue operations".

- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Iran not to interfere in his country in a video interview published on Friday by CNN, also telling Iran's ally Hezbollah that diplomacy was the only solution to the conflict with Israel.

"It's not your country, it's our country... It's not your job to interfere into our country," Aoun told Iran in the interview, adding that "they are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It's unacceptable".

The small vessels, which were used by families and swimmers before Israel's genocidal war, have become a lifeline for the enclave's fishing industry which has been struggling to keep up its fleet.

Israeli restrictions on new fibreglass and other materials entering Gaza have made it increasingly difficult and expensive to repair the larger, purpose-built boats, fishermen said.

"A kilo of fibreglass in the era before the war was 50 or 60 shekels (approximately $17 or $21)," fisherman Mohammad al-Hissi told Reuters. The cost today was around 800 shekels, he added.

Little catch

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls total access to Gaza, told Reuters the bans cover items that could have a military as well as a civilian use. It did not directly comment on restrictions on fibreglass.

Even before Israel's genocidal war that began in October 2023, Gaza's fishermen faced strict Israeli restrictions on how far they could go out to sea with many being shot and killed by the Israeli navy.

Now, they say they keep even closer to shore to avoid shooting that they report has continued since last year's alleged "ceasefire".

More than 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the so-called truce began.

The Gaza fishing industry's total catch has shrunk to less than 15 tons a month—the amount they used to take every day before the war, Gaza Fishermen Syndicate member Zakaria Baker said.

Fishing was an important source of food before Israel's genocide.

The manmade hunger crisis in Gaza has eased since famine was declared in parts of the tiny, crowded territory before the ceasefire last year. But aid agencies say most children still don't get a diverse enough diet and the UN reported that 3,500 children were admitted for malnutrition treatment in April.

"We repair and maintain boats, and serve fishermen in any way we can," worker Musab Baker said at the repair shop. "But we are unable to do anything apart from the small boats."

Hezbollah struck down a US-brokered proposal agreed upon after talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Wednesday, which stipulated that Hezbollah fighters evacuate southern Lebanon and that the Lebanese Army extend its authority across the area. The proposal was intended to implement a ceasefire framework already reached in April.

The militant group's leader, Naim Qassem, slammed the Lebanese government for the arrangement and said Hezbollah would continue fighting Israeli forces occupying southern Lebanon. He also reiterated calls for Beirut to end direct negotiations with Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu told the security cabinet that no agreement had yet been reached because Hezbollah had rejected the proposal. The cabinet had been expected to vote on the ceasefire arrangement reached in Washington the previous day.

"There is currently no agreement [with Lebanon]. Hezbollah is refusing, which is why I have not presented the decision to you. If it agrees, I will bring it to you for approval," he said.

According to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu's remarks suggest Israel is waiting for Hezbollah's consent before proceeding with the deal.

There was opposition in Israel's far-right cabinet. Extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticised the arrangement and argued against any ceasefire deal, calling for the army to bombard Beirut.

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir attended only the opening portion of the meeting and reportedly spoke little. Economy Minister Eli Cohen urged Israel to "crush" Hezbollah, while Settlements Minister Orit Strook called for "changing the borders," saying Israel should pursue that goal.

During the session, ministers were informed of the death of an armoured corps officer in southern Lebanon, a development that reportedly strengthened opposition among some cabinet members to a ceasefire and prompted calls for further escalation.

Captain Eitan Shmuel Lemberg of the Israeli military's 7th Armoured Brigade's 75th Battalion was reportedly killed when Hezbollah operatives fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli tank operating in southern Lebanon.

Separately, Haaretz reported that Netanyahu told leaders of Israeli northern border communities that Israel has no plans to withdraw from southern Lebanon in the foreseeable future, saying such a move would only be considered once Hezbollah had been dismantled. Thousands of residents from these communities have refused to return home amid retaliatory rocket attacks by Hezbollah.

Since fighting resumed on 2 March, the Israeli military has captured and destroyed swathes of southern Lebanon, establishing a security zone along much of the border and crossing the Litani River. Clashes have raged around Beaufort Castle, which Israeli troops captured last week.

No Israeli-Iranian willingness

Commenting on the Israel-Lebanon talks and the arrangement agreed in Washington, Lebanese political analyst Karim Bitar said there were many reasons to remain sceptical.

He told The New Arab that entering direct talks with Israel was a double-edged sword.

"On the one hand it is symbolically significant to see Lebanon sitting around the negotiating table and not being on the menu as has been the case so often in its history, but on the other hand, the cold hard truth is that Iranians remain key decision makers," he said.

Iran is considered to wield significant influence over Hezbollah, which it has long backed with arms and funding. Commanders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps are reported to have played a greater role in directing Hezbollah since much of the group's senior leadership has been killed since 2024.

On Thursday, the IRGC rejected the agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon and vowed continued support for Hezbollah. The commander of the Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, said backing Hezbollah remained a responsibility.

"For the ceasefire to be implemented, and for Hezbollah to be disarmed, this requires Israeli and Iranian buy-in, and at this stage I do not see any Israeli willingness to respect a genuine, complete ceasefire, and even less commitment to withdraw from all Lebanese territories," Bitar told TNA.

"I do not see either an Iranian willingness to rein in Hezbollah or accept to force its regional allies to play the game and enter into state-building and renounce armed struggle."

Bitar said Lebanon's government was doing what it could to preserve stability under intense US pressure.

"The US is not an honest broker—everybody acknowledges it in the region—therefore it will be important for Lebanon to progressively bring other actors into this diplomatic dialogue," he said.

He proposed that Lebanese allies such as Saudi Arabia, France, the Vatican and Egypt become more involved in the diplomatic process.

This, he argued, would help ensure Lebanon is not dependent exclusively "on Donald Trump's whims or Netanyahu's electoral strategy."

Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the all-out war resumed in March have killed more than 3,500 people. Thousands more have been killed since the conflict began between Hezbollah and Israel in October 2023.

The high-resolution imagery, released by Soar Atlas on Wednesday, showed the destruction of an aircraft shelter at the Ali Al Salem airbase west of Kuwait City.

Soar, an open-access platform that distributes satellite imagery, said the shelter "appears destroyed, with multiple impact craters visible nearby at the strike site".

Iran has launched several attacks against military and civilian infrastructure in Kuwait in recent days amid rising tensions with the US.

Ali Al Salem Air Base is one of the primary tactical airlift and logistics hubs for U.S. and coalition operations in the Middle East.

This newly released imagery provides the clearest view yet of the damage following recent Iranian attacks.#IranWar‌ #MiddleEast #Kuwait pic.twitter.com/YsvhvOISuH

— Soar (@SoarAtlas) June 4, 2026

US Central Command has claimed that air defences intercepted all incoming drones and missiles and that no damage was caused to American military sites.

Wednesday's attack "failed to impact intended targets", CENTCOM said in a statement.

"Air defences successfully downed multiple drones and ensured no American personnel or assets were harmed," it said.

News reports following an attack on 30 May said that debris from a downed Iranian missile injured five American soldiers at the base.

Ali Al Salem is a major American airbase and key logistics hub for US military operations in the region.

Iran said the attacks were in retaliation to US strikes on an Iranian oil tanker and military site on Qeshm Island, which it said were conducted from Kuwait and Bahrain.

A separate attack on Kuwait's international airport on Wednesday killed one person and injured 60 others in what the defence ministry called "criminal Iranian aggression".

CCTV footage what appeared to be a Shahed drone impacting the roof of the terminal 1 building, triggering a large explosion.

The foreign ministry said diplomatic missions had also been damaged in similar Iranian attacks.

It has since ordered two Iranian diplomats to leave the country and summoned Iran's charge d'affaires.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard denied responsibility for the airport strike.

According to news agency Reuters, which cited three sources familiar with the matter, an explosion struck near the facility's single-buoy mooring (SBM) berths on Friday. 

The incident happened amid continuing conflict in the region with stalled  US-Iran peace talks dragging on, and shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz severely restricted.

According to Reuters, the blast occurred between the SBM 1 and SBM 2 berths and was However, it remains unclear when the alleged attack took place. 

Several supertankers were seen anchored off Mina al Fahal on Friday, according to shipping data from LSEG cited by Reuters. The port, located on Oman's north-eastern coast near the capital Muscat, is the country's main crude oil export terminal. 

Bloomberg, citing traders familiar with the matter, reported that oil loadings were delayed following the explosion, with some scheduled shipments preliminarily pushed back by several days. 

Following reports of the incident, oil prices edged lower.  

Brent crude futures fell 24 cents, or 0.25 percent, to $94.79 a barrel by 0704 GMT, after declining 2.84 percent in the previous session. 

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $92.48 a barrel, down 56 cents, or 0.6 percent, after losing 3.1 percent on Thursday. 

Despite the declines, both benchmarks were on course for their first weekly gain in three weeks, with WTI rising by more than 6 percent over the week. 

However, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the country's leading oil and gas producer, said operations at Mina al Fahal were "continuing normally", according to the Oman News Agency. The company denied reports that crude loading had been suspended at the port. 

Omani authorities have not confirmed that an attack took place nor have they identified any possible perpetrator. 

The New Arab has approached PDO for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

There is also no indication that the alleged incident is linked to reports carried by Iranian state media on Wednesday claiming that Tehran had targeted a US military vessel serving as a "control and command centre" while it was approaching Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman. 

The latest developments come at a time when Oman’s long-standing role as an intermediary has come under increasing attack.

Amid the ongoing conflict, the sultanate has positioned itself as a neutral actor, maintaining open channels with all sides and often serving as a back-channel mediator in the war that has divided other Gulf states.

However, Muscat has faced growing criticism from Washington, which has increasingly viewed Oman's engagement with Tehran with suspicion. According to US media reports, American officials have even urged Oman to take a firmer stance and downgrade its diplomatic ties with Iran.

US President Donald Trump also publicly drew attention to Oman last week when, in unscripted remarks, he threatened to bomb the country.

In addition, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemingly underscored Washington's concerns about Oman's position.

He said: "There isn’t a country on Earth other than Iran – and maybe Oman that flirted with it – who’s in favour of what Iran is doing in the straits."

Meanwhile, weeks of stalled negotiations and periodic flare-ups of violence that have failed to produce an agreement to end the conflict or fully restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iran has maintained firm conditions for any breakthrough, as Washington and Tehran have continued to send conflicting signals. 

The survey found that 60 percent of Americans view Israel unfavourably, compared with 37 percent who hold favourable views. Pew said Israel's unfavourability rating in the US had risen by seven percentage points over the past year.

The findings point to a widening generational divide. Among Americans aged 18 to 34, 74 percent reported unfavourable views of Israel. That figure fell to 65 percent among those aged 35 to 49 and 49 percent among respondents aged 50 and older.

The survey also found growing opposition towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Fifty-nine percent of Americans said they had little or no confidence in him, compared with 27 percent who expressed confidence.

Pew's findings were not confined to the United States. Across the countries surveyed, the median view of Israel was 67 percent unfavourable and 25 percent favourable.

Turkey recorded one of the highest levels of opposition, with 97 percent of respondents expressing unfavourable views of Israel. Pakistan followed at 95 percent.

Among respondents in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, 85 percent reported unfavourable views, compared with four percent who viewed Israel favourably. Pew said it was unable to conduct surveys in Gaza.

European countries also reported largely negative attitudes, with around half or more of respondents in countries including Italy, Spain and the Netherlands saying they held very unfavourable views of Israel.

Democrats increasingly critical

The survey revealed particularly sharp political divisions in the United States.

Among respondents on the political left, 83 percent expressed unfavourable views of Israel, compared with 37 percent on the right, making the US one of the most politically divided countries surveyed on the issue.

The same divide was evident in attitudes towards Netanyahu. Eighty-two percent of respondents on the left said they had little or no confidence in the Israeli leader, compared with 64 percent in the political centre and 40 percent on the right.

The findings come as divisions over Israel continue to emerge within the Democratic Party, where progressive lawmakers have become increasingly vocal in criticising US support for Israel and the humanitarian consequences of the war in Gaza.

Those tensions were on display last week during debate over Section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a provision that would deepen military cooperation between the United States and Israel to an unprecedented level.

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna unsuccessfully sought to remove the measure, arguing that it would further entrench US-Israel military ties despite growing public opposition.

"Everyone in America, whether you're a Republican, an independent or a Democrat , says that we need to tell Netanyahu that America calls the shots, not the prime minister of any other country," Khanna told the House Armed Services Committee.

"They want less cooperation and blank checks to Israel, not more."

However, the amendment failed, with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers opposing its removal.

Competing trends in Congress

While Section 224 advanced, support has also grown for legislation seeking to restrict military assistance to Israel.

The Block the Bombs Act, introduced by Democratic Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, has expanded from 21 Congressional co-sponsors in 2025 to 73 today. The legislation would prohibit transfers of certain heavy bombs and artillery ammunition used by Israel in Gaza.

"While some thought that the bill was extreme, it has, in fact, become pretty mainstream," Ramirez said last week.

Josh Ruebner, Policy Director at the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), said the growing support for measures restricting military assistance to Israel reflected broader shifts in public opinion.

"It's not surprising that Members of Congress are only belatedly catching up to changes in public opinion on ending weapons to Israel," Ruebner told The New Arab.

"It's often the case that Congress responds to, rather than leads, public opinion."

Ruebner said recent developments in Congress would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago.

"It was once considered the third-rail of US domestic politics to question weapons to Israel. Now 74 Members of Congress are supporting a bill to block the bombs to Israel," he said.

Ruebner also pointed to a series of recent congressional votes that he said reflected growing willingness among Democrats to challenge traditional US support for Israel.

"Ninety-two Members of Congress voted yesterday to end US support for Israel's attacks on Lebanon. And in April, 85 percent of Democratic Senators voted to block deliveries of bombs and bulldozers to Israel," he said.

Ruebner added that more than 200 Democratic candidates standing in next year's midterm elections had pledged to block weapons transfers to Israel if elected.

"It's clear that this effort is only going to gather strength in Congress," he said.

The announcement by the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq" movement, led by Qais al-Khazali, and the "Imam Ali Brigades", led by Shibl al-Zaidi, that they had formed a committee to begin implementing a decision to sever ties with the PMF and place their members under the authority of the prime minister came days after an initiative by Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who announced the separation of "Saraya al-Salam" from the PMF.

The move has given the issue of restricting arms a level of political momentum unprecedented in Iraq.

The Iraqi prime minister praised those steps, describing them as reinforcing Iraq's sovereignty.

They have also received direct US attention after US President Donald Trump's envoy to Iraq and Syria, Tom Barrack, congratulated the Iraqi prime minister on Tuesday evening on the beginning of efforts to place arms solely under state control, describing the recent steps as representing "significant progress toward consolidating stability and restoring sovereignty".

Barrack said in a statement on X that "this step constitutes the first building block of a renewed Iraqi governance based on self-administration, and it rests on restoring national sovereignty and consolidating lasting stability, paving the way for a new national renaissance", praising "the groups that decided to return all weapons to the Iraqi state".

Barrack described the factions' decision as "an essential step toward strengthening order and stability and building state institutions", stressing that "the Iraqi prime minister's confidence in the future of these measures is well placed, and what has been achieved today is only the beginning".

Officials believe the timing of these positions indicates that Iraq has effectively entered a phase of reorganising its security landscape in preparation for the post-international coalition era. This stage requires a more centralised security authority capable of monopolising military decision-making.

However, the path toward achieving this goal does not appear easy. The issue of armed factions is not limited to weapons alone but also includes thousands of fighters, hundreds of headquarters, facilities, and organisational and administrative structures built up over many years.

A government source familiar with the matter told The New Arab that "a government committee will follow the file and supervise the implementation of the stages of severing ties with the PMF and organising the transition of armed formations into official frameworks".

The source added that "the committee will work on preparing a comprehensive plan that includes mechanisms for restricting arms, managing the issue of faction members, and reintegrating them into the state's military and security institutions or civilian institutions as needed".

The source pointed out that "the process requires complex legal and administrative procedures due to the large number of personnel, the spread of headquarters, and the presence of military equipment and assets that require inventory, organisation, and restructuring".

Meanwhile, politicians stress that achieving the goal of restricting arms to the hands of the state requires developing military and security capabilities and reorganising roles within official institutions in a manner that ensures the unification of security decision-making and the consolidation of the rule of law, alongside protecting rights and freedoms and enhancing stability in the country.

MP Kazem Atiyah al-Shammari told the state-run Al-Sabah newspaper on Wednesday, 3 June, that "the integration of armed formations into state institutions represents a step toward strengthening the rule of law and consolidating the principle of restricting arms".

He called for "supporting any path that contributes to organising the relationship between the state and armed groups within legal and official frameworks".

"Any organised transition that preserves the rights of fighters and supports the capacities of the state represents a positive step toward enhancing stability," he added.

Al-Shammari stressed that "restricting arms to the hands of the state can only be achieved through practical measures and clear legal pathways that ensure the integration of capabilities able to serve the country within official institutions".

He noted that "supporting this direction is a shared national responsibility".

For many years, the issue of weapons outside state control has remained one of the most complex issues in Iraq. Successive governments have proposed projects to restrict arms, but these efforts have collided with political and security complications that have prevented any tangible progress.

However, recent developments appear different, particularly in light of US pressure regarding the issue.

This time, the initial initiative is not coming from the government alone but is accompanied by official positions from prominent factions regarding severing ties and reorganising their legal status, in addition to political support for this path from forces within the "Coordination Framework" and other political groups.

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.