Trump MUST Uncouple Lebanon from Iran

Iran is using Lebanon's Hezbollah as one of its major cards in the ongoing conflict. One simple reason is that Hezbollah in Lebanon entertains a "border-front" with Israel, such that Israel's northern settlements are within easy reach of Hezbollah's weapons. Iran does not have a border-front with Israel, which makes Hezbollah valuable to the Iranian regime.

US diplomacy has so far failed to uncouple Lebanon from Iran, and the latter insists on including the former in its negotiations with the US.

For the US to succeed or at least to score some gain from this war, it must separate the Lebanese path from the Iranian one. Unfortunately, the US in the Lebanese file is not negotiating with Hezbollah. It is negotiating with the Lebanese government that has no influence whatsoever on Hezbollah. The Lebanese government is in effect a mediator between US-Israel and Hezbollah-Iran. And any agreement reached by the Americans or the Israelis with the Lebanese government does not bind Hezbollah, and that has been the thorn plaguing all UN resolutions and international efforts over the past 40 years or so to address Hezbollah's destabilizing of Lebanon: With every eruption of hostilities, everyone negotiates with everyone except not with Hezbollah.

The US right now is bragging that it is shepherding negotiations between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government. But the reality is that the Lebanese government obeys Hezbollah's directive to negotiate only "indirectly" with Israel - for "direct" negotiations imply mutual recognition and the "normalization" taboo. President Aoun of Lebanon claims to want to negotiate directly with Israel but hides behind the lack of buy-in by Hezbollah to argue that such a negotiation is useless if Israel does not show goodwill and makes some concession that Aoun can bring back to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been, in theory, severely diminished by Israel's constant military offensive for the past 3 years. Much of Hezbollah's Shiite community along the southern border has been pushed north of the Litani and Zahrani rivers. Israel continues to claim that it has destroyed much of Hezbollah's capabilities. Yet, Hezbollah's official communications and reporting on the ground say that it is still lobbing missiles and rockets into Israel, and is actually engaged in fighting with, and inflicting damage to, the Israeli soldiers slowly advancing north. Because of Syria's metamorphosis from a pro-Iranian Assad regime to an anti-Iran Al-Sharaa regime, one assumes that all military supply lines to Hezbollah have dried up. Therefore, a war of attrition seems like the only available route to take in the hope that, at some point, Hezbollah would run out of weapons and surrender.

Hezbollah seems to also recognize this fact and is preparing for the "afterwards". From a propaganda of utter contempt for Lebanon as a state and a country, acting without any consultation with them, and praising its affiliation with Iran with such a blatancy that many Lebanese believe that Lebanon's Shiites have lost their Lebanese identity altogether, Hezbollah is making a U-turn now that it knows the end is near. Up to now, in all its public manifestations, one would typically see a hundred Hezbollah flags for one puny Lebanese flag, and Hezbollah's strategic target was eliminating Israel from existence and framing its 4-decades long terrorism and fighting as paving the way for the road to Jerusalem.

Now, suddenly, Hezbollah's propaganda is about "defending Lebanon and its people", with rarely a mention of the liberation of Palestine, and you'll see a hundred Lebanese flags for one Hezbollah flag in its public manifestations. In other words, Hezbollah has suddenly discovered the utility of the Lebanese state and is preparing, one hopes, to depose its weapons and reintegrate the country as a political party.

But it is too late in the opinion of this writer. The more likely scenario is - and that depends again on the degree of coupling between Lebanon and Iran and the outcome of the US-Israel-Iran conflict - that faced with certain death by attrition, Hezbollah might seize power in Lebanon, overturn the current government, and split the Lebanese army by calling on all regular Shiite soldiers in the army to desert and join it. There is a precedent for this in 1976 when the Sunni Muslim soldiers of the Lebanese army deserted to form the Arab Army of Lebanon that was allied with Yasser Arafat's PLO. It is this very issue of a possible breakdown of the Lebanese army that both the US and Israel have used over the years to deny supplying the Lebanese army with sufficient firepower to defeat Hezbollah, for in the case of a breakdown, any weapons in the hands of the Shiite soldiers would end up with Hezbollah.

In so doing, and again assuming it retains some military deterrence vis-a-vis Israel, Hezbollah would move the front line from the official borderline between Lebanon and Israel to a new front line wherever the advancing Israeli forces might stop. This new front line could be somewhere in the area between the Litani and the Zahrani rivers, or further north if Israel decides to do a repeat of its 1982 invasion and reach all the way to Beirut.

Again, American diplomacy must uncouple Lebanon from Iran if it wants to claim some gains from this conflict. It is unlikely that Iran will be 100% defeated (short of an on-the-ground invasion and occupation and/or a tactical nuclear strike). However, the US stands to salvage some achievement if it cuts off Hezbollah in Beirut from Iran in Tehran. Therefore the US must insist that no deal will be reached, indeed no negotiations, with Iran over all the pending issues (the nuclear file, the Strait of Hormuz, etc.) as long as Iran continues to exploit Hezbollah as one of its negotiating cards.

The Lebanese fear, as has been the standard fare over the past six decades, that a regional agreement would come at their expense. Lebanon is a useless partner in the region and has nothing to offer the bigger protagonists other than headaches. Nixon's Kissinger surrendered Lebanon to the Syrian regime in 1974 in exchange for keeping the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights free of any anti-Israeli "resistance". The Syrians then used their total control of Lebanon to sponsor "resistance" activities by the PLO first, then by Hezbollah, against Israel exclusively from the Lebanese south, drawing retaliations, invasions, bombing campaigns, etc. In the mid-1980s, George H W Bush further surrendered Lebanon to Syria in order to retrieve the Hezbollah-held western captives in Beirut and to drag Assad into the anti-Saddam Hussein coalition in 1991 on the eve of the First Gulf War. 

If Hezbollah manages to survive and assuming it is moving forward with usurping the Lebanese State (like the PLO tried to do in the early 1970s), it is very easy to imagine a deal between Trump and Syria's Al-Sharaa in which the latter would be asked by the now-friendly Americans to "stabilize" Lebanon with another brotherly invasion and occupation like the one in 1976.

For more, see: https://theconversation.com/israeli-action-in-lebanon-risks-repeating-historys-mistakes-and-torpedoing-a-historic-moment-for-dialogue-278607
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Analysis-Iran fights to keep Lebanon as leverage in high-stakes US deal
By Samia Nakhoul, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry and Laila Bassam
Thu, June 11, 2026 


Smoke rises in southern Lebanon following an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

BEIRUT, June 11 (Reuters) - Iran is waging a calculated campaign to preserve Lebanon as its last bastion of influence on the Mediterranean, tying the country's fate to a grand bargain with Washington as it seeks to end Hezbollah's war with Israel on its own terms, not Beirut's.

That effort is colliding with a historic U.S.-sponsored negotiating track between Lebanon ‌and Israel aimed at ending decades of conflict along their frontier and redefining the balance of power in a country long caught between regional foes.

Yet Beirut is not backing down. President Joseph Aoun told Reuters on ‌Wednesday that "Lebanon's future is in the hands of the Lebanese, not Iran -- nor Israel," casting the negotiations as a struggle for Lebanon's sovereignty.

"Cooperation with Iran is one thing, but we do not accept that the Iranians dictate to us," Aoun said. "We are a sovereign state. Iran cannot speak in our ​name. We do not accept that Lebanon becomes a field for other people's wars."

"I am determined to proceed with the diplomatic track," he added. "There is no military solution. We have no choice but to negotiate to end this conflict, and neither do the Israelis."

Still, Lebanon finds itself at an impasse.

Hezbollah has publicly rejected direct talks with Israel, calling them shameless, but Aoun said the group had not presented the government with its own roadmap to end the crisis.

He warned that if Hezbollah chose to remain on a war footing, the Shi'ite group would harm the very community it claims to defend, prolonging a conflict that erupted on March 2 in parallel to the Iran war and has strained Lebanon's sectarian and political fault lines.

Tehran, meanwhile, has made a ceasefire in Lebanon ‌a condition for any broader deal with Washington, giving it leverage over a process ⁠from which it is formally excluded.

LEBANON 'GROUND ZERO' FOR IRAN

Lebanon has become all the more important for Iran since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a main pillar of Tehran's "Axis of Resistance", in late 2024.

"Lebanon is the ground zero of Iran's resistance narrative," said Andreas Krieg at the School of Security Studies at King's College London, describing it as Tehran's primary frontline against ⁠Israel and a base for operations across the Levant.

This week's Iranian strike on Israel, in retaliation for an attack on Beirut's southern suburbs, underlined that posture, signalling Tehran's willingness to enforce red lines, particularly in Lebanon, Krieg said. It marked the first time Tehran has intervened directly in a Hezbollah-Israel war.

An Iranian official said those red lines include any effort to weaken Hezbollah, normalise strikes on Lebanon or target Shi'ite areas. The message has been conveyed to Washington and Tel Aviv, the official said, along with a warning that continued hostilities ​could ​derail ceasefire efforts and risk wider regional fallout, including threats to maritime chokepoints.

A Lebanese source familiar with the U.S. talks said Tehran was ​angered by Beirut's decision to negotiate independently with Israel, which it saw as stripping Iran ‌of a key bargaining chip in its standoff with Washington.

TORTUOUS TALKS IN WASHINGTON

Meanwhile, the talks in Washington have produced little visible progress.

At their core lies a stark divide. Lebanon is demanding a durable ceasefire as the basis for negotiations leading to a full Israeli withdrawal and the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians under Lebanese army supervision.

Israel wants Hezbollah dismantled as a military force -- at least in southern Lebanon -- and proof of its removal before relinquishing occupied territory.

Two Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the talks with Israel as tortuous. Five hours into a meeting last week, Lebanese negotiators concluded Israel was not prepared to make concessions. Chief negotiator Simon Karam informed U.S. mediators that talks should be paused and left the room. The meeting resumed only after the direct intervention of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.

That produced what the Lebanese officials described as a "last-minute, take-it-or-leave-it proposal", short on detail.

It proposed a ceasefire contingent on Hezbollah's ‌cessation of hostilities and withdrawal from southern Lebanon as a first step. Like an earlier ceasefire announcement in April, it did not explicitly ​refer to Israeli troop withdrawal.

Rubio accused Iran this month of trying to stymie the talks.

For upcoming talks this month, Beirut is proposing parallel tracks: ​an Israeli withdrawal and the gradual extension of Lebanese state authority. Lebanese officials say both tracks must proceed ​simultaneously.

A ceasefire would trigger a 24-hour deadline for Hezbollah to begin withdrawing to allow for "pilot zones" to be established, beginning around Beaufort Castle, they said. Zone by zone, Israeli troops would withdraw, ‌Lebanese troops would deploy and displaced civilians would begin returning, backed by international reconstruction efforts.

Hezbollah ​swiftly rejected the plan, publicly describing it as surrender to Israeli ​terms.

HEZBOLLAH UNLIKELY TO PLAY BALL AS WAR RAGES, SOURCE SAYS

A Lebanese source familiar with Hezbollah's position said the Washington track would lead nowhere, pitting an Israel unwilling to halt its offensive against a Lebanese delegation with no authority over the group.

The real negotiations, he said, would only begin once a ceasefire emerges from a U.S.-Iran deal, when Lebanon would push for Israeli withdrawal and Israel for security arrangements that address Hezbollah's weapons -- an issue ​the group's leadership is not ready to confront while war continues.

Beirut's position, the two ‌officials say, is fortified by growing Western and Arab backing and rare domestic consensus outside the Shi'ite community supporting an independent national track free from Iranian tutelage.

The government must now try to navigate a path between ​Israel's insistence on dismantling Hezbollah and Iran's determination to preserve it as a regional lever.

Continued deadlock risks entrenching a new reality in south Lebanon, potentially preventing the return of large segments of the Shi'ite ​population.

(Additional reporting by Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry, Laila Bassam and Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

US History First: Lame Duck Prez is Aging Moron-Senile-Demented-Convicted Felon Combo

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Analysis-Trump setbacks fuel lame-duck talk as he turns 80
By Matt Spetalnick and Nandita Bose
Wed, June 10, 2026


FILE PHOTO: U..S. President Donald Trump gestures at the site of ongoing construction of the planned White House ballroom in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo

By Matt Spetalnick and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to project political strength as he turns 80, but setbacks at home and abroad are exposing the limits of his power and pushing him toward the kind of lame-duck status he has told aides he is determined to avoid.

Nearly 17 months into his second term, the courts are pushing back, ‌his effort to wind down the Iran war has stalled, and his approval ratings have weakened. Some fellow Republicans in Congress are also defying him - though his hold on core supporters remains firm.

Still, Trump has ‌shown he retains significant clout: he has helped oust Republican incumbents in primary races and has pressed ahead with aggressive trade policies. He has also pursued high-profile construction projects in Washington in one of the most ambitious building drives by a U.S. president in years.

This dynamic is unfolding ​just months ahead of November's midterm elections as Trump's Republican Party scrambles to maintain control of Congress. The loss of one or both chambers to opposition Democrats could hasten his slide into a lame-duck phase, historically when a president - if barred from running again - sees influence waning and domestic priorities stymied.

The White House is trying to prevent that narrative from taking hold prematurely and has been forceful about letting Republican lawmakers know Trump can still make or break them, according to a presidential adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters.

But with some Republicans already showing greater willingness to stand up to Trump, the adviser acknowledged it was inevitable that his authority would begin to diminish.

"He'll naturally start to lose leverage, especially ‌after the midterms," the adviser said.

Trump has privately told staffers that one of ⁠the reasons he has mused about a third term, which is forbidden by the Constitution, is to ward off any public perception that he might become a lame duck and slip into "irrelevance," according to a former senior aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said, "President Trump is the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party who is committed to ⁠maintaining Republicans' majority in Congress."

HEALTH UNDER SCRUTINY

The questions about Trump's political standing come as scrutiny of his personal stamina is intensifying.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in February found 61 percent of Americans thought Trump had become more erratic with age, and another survey in April showed a majority concerned about his temperament and mental sharpness.

Trump, who is the oldest president sworn into office, will celebrate his 80th birthday on Sunday by hosting a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn.

After a flurry of near-weekly travel early in the year, ​Trump ​has largely stayed at the White House or his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since he launched the Iran war on February 28. ​He has made only a handful of domestic trips since then.

His public daily schedule consists ‌largely of "executive time" and policy meetings held behind closed doors. He is often more visible on his Truth Social platform, where he posts throughout the day and late into the night.

Trump declared himself in excellent condition following a routine checkup last month after he was seen at public events with swollen ankles, which his doctors have described as only a "slight" issue, and with bruising on his hands.

A senior White House official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump was keen to avoid comparisons to Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor who faced questions about his fitness for the job before leaving office at 82.

Even so, Trump has occasionally been caught on camera appearing to doze off at events, including at an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden on Monday. As clips of him with his eyes shut have gone viral, Trump aides have fired back on social media, claiming he was blinking or listening intently.

White House spokesman ‌Davis Ingle described Trump as "the sharpest and most accessible president in American history."

A WEAKENING HAND

Analysts agree that even if Trump's political influence ​wanes, he can still rely on executive orders to shape policy and act more freely on the world stage, where presidents have greater leeway ​to take action unilaterally.

Still, there have been signs of Trump's weakening hand.

While he is not likely to ​see a full-scale Republican revolt, some defeated incumbents, who remain in office until January, have already begun opposing parts of his agenda and have also signalled pushback against his cabinet nominations.

In ‌the past two weeks, small Republican factions in the Senate and House of Representatives have ​joined with Democrats to rebuke him over the Iran war, ​reject $1 billion in funding tied to his ballroom and force a retreat on his $1.8 billion fund to pay political allies claiming they were victims of "weaponized" prosecution.

As Trump has struggled to achieve policy objectives, he has become more preoccupied with his construction projects. He is increasingly touting not only the ornate ballroom under construction but also refurbishment of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall and a proposed triumphal arch.

One way Trump is ​likely to continue exercising power is in the selection of Republicans' 2028 presidential nominee, ‌seen as a contest between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

And for the rest of Trump's term, the world should expect the unexpected from a president who prides himself ​on unpredictability, said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University.

"His helter-skelter style of leadership, that's not going anywhere, whether the Democrats take Congress or not," he said.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Nandita ​Bose; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

After APARTHEID and GENOCIDE, Israel is now Officially an ETHNIC CLEANSER of Palestine

Israeli author describes his "country's birth" as The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine


From: https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/5/15/ethnic-cleansing-by-zionists-in-palestine

The world is running out of terminology to describe the 100-year old and continuing rape of Palestine by Western colonial Zionist settlers who say their god, Yahweh, gave their ancestors the land some 3,000 years ago, when said "Hebrew" ancestors carried out the first recorded genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Canaan. Read about it: It's in a goat-skin garbage parchment known as the torah-old testament. Yahweh told the invading Hebrew Bedouins that he prefers them over all other peoples on earth and that, therefore, he is giving them another people's land and ordered them to kill every man, woman, child and animal of that land, Palestine.

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Per AI search:

Multiple reports and experts have concluded that Israel's treatment of Palestinians constitutes the crime of apartheid. In March 2022, Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, stated that Israel's 55-year occupation satisfies the legal definition of apartheid, describing it as an "institutionalized regime of systematic racial oppression and discrimination."

Recent Escalation and Findings: A comprehensive report released by the UN Human Rights Office on January 7, 2026, warns that systemic discrimination against Palestinians has "drastically deteriorated" since late 2022 and intensified following October 7, 2023. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk declared there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that separation and segregation measures are intended to be permanent to maintain domination, marking the first time a UN rights chief has explicitly applied the term "apartheid" to the situation in the [Palestinian] West Bank.

Key Conclusions from UN Bodies:

Dual Legal Systems: Reports highlight a discriminatory dual system privileging Israeli settlers over Palestinians in the same geographic areas regarding movement, resources, and legal rights.

International Law Violations: The findings assert that these practices violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Rome Statute, which prohibits apartheid as a crime against humanity.

Historical Context: These recent conclusions echo a 2017 ESCWA report and align with findings from major human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Israeli Response: Israel has consistently rejected these accusations, denying the term "occupation" for the West Bank and asserting that its Arab citizens enjoy full civil rights.

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Amnesty accuses Israel's government of 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians from the West Bank
JULIA FRANKEL
Updated Wed, June 10, 2026 


FILE -A Bedouin carries a bicycle past houses that, according to local residents, were heavily damaged yesterday during an attack by Israeli settlers in Al-Dyouk Al-Tahta area, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jericho, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)(AP Photo/Leo Correa)


JERUSALEM (AP) — Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of carrying out a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank with the intention to annex the Palestinian territory.

The accusation came in a new, 149-page report alleging that the forced displacement of West Bank Palestinians resulted from a concerted state policy, and not just the actions of violent settlers.

U.N. data says that over 100 West Bank villages have been fully or partially emptied out between January 2023 and April 2026. At the same time, the United Nations has tracked more than 7,280 instances of individual Palestinian displacement because of demolition of homes and structures by Israeli forces, a figure that includes people who were displaced more than once.

Israel, which has in the past denounced such accusations — including allegations of ethnic cleansing — as longtime unfair bias, did not immediately respond to the report.

"These abuses are not the result of a few 'bad apples.' Settler violence is a core component of a state-sanctioned campaign of ethnic cleansing," said Agnès Callamard, the head of Amnesty. "What we are witnessing is deliberate, state-led annexation, in complete violation of international law unfolding before the eyes of the entire world."

Israeli leaders have condemned particularly grave violence by Jewish settlers but tend to denounce them as exceptions. Key Cabinet ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government are pushing for a formal annexation of the territory, and officials have voiced support for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

Amnesty says it has identified dozens of bills in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, to extend Israeli civil law and jurisdiction over settlement blocs, as well as over courts that try Palestinians. Recently, the parliament approved a measure making death penalty the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings.

Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the militant Hamas group that aimed to stop the war in Gaza also acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for statehood.

Amnesty says the large-scale displacement of Palestinian Bedouin communities in the territory is caused by settler violence, advancement of new settlements and the Israeli takeover of large swaths of unregistered land. Rights groups have raised the alarm about this form of displacement before 2023, but it dramatically intensified after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

Rights groups say that Bedouin herding communities in remote areas of the West Bank are those most vulnerable to displacement. Unlike Palestinians in cities and towns across the West Bank, the villagers are less able to withstand the pressure from often-armed settlers as they establish new outposts around Palestinian villages.

The anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now says that 212 of at least 363 existing outposts in the West Bank were created since 2023. The outposts are built without permission from Israeli authorities, who sometimes dismantle them but other times turn a blind eye or even legalize them retroactively.

The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements illegal. Israel, meanwhile, views the West Bank as disputed territory and says its final status is subject to negotiations.

Amnesty said its report looked into 27 hamlets and villages in the West Bank where Palestinians were displaced between 2023 and 2025. Researchers interviewed dozens of Palestinians and lawyers, spoke with witnesses of settler violence, watched over 420 videos and analyzed government statements and other reports.

The group also said the international community has failed to act to stop the displacement.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for their independent state, along with the Gaza Strip.

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NBC NEWS

Several U.S. allies issue joint sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied [Palestinian] West Bank.
The sanctions by Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Norway, and New Zealand come amid growing over Israel’s policies in the occupied [Palestinian] West Bank.

A Palestinian child stands outside a destroyed car and burnt out home following a reported attack by Israeli settlers in the village of Deir al-Hatab, east of the city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank in March. Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP via Getty Images

NBC News 
June 10, 2026, 12:40 PM

PARIS — A coalition of six countries on Tuesday issued new joint sanctions on Israeli settlers and settlements in the West Bank, including a hard-line Israeli cabinet minister already sanctioned by Western countries, escalating pressure on Israel over a wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

The top diplomats of Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Norway, and New Zealand announced the moves in a joint statement.

“Extremist violent settlers, with the backing of their supporters, continue to attack Palestinians and abuse their human rights,” they said. “For too long, violent settlers have been able to act with near impunity, and settlement expansion and creation of outposts continue with the support and facilitation of the government of Israel.”

Israel’s hard-line government, dominated by settler leaders and supporters, has overseen a surge in settlement construction over the past four years. At the same time, the West Bank has experienced a wave of settler violence against Palestinians, with assailants rarely punished. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

The sanctions come amid growing criticism across Europe over Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza and policies in the occupied West Bank. However, they are not like the sweeping ones imposed on countries such as Iran or Russia, leaving broader trade, including of weapons, untouched.

In Tuesday’s announcement, each country announced its own set of measures to be taken.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, center surrounded by Israeli settlers at the end of the resettlement ceremony of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank on Apr. 19.Marco Longari / AFP via Getty Images

France has barred Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country as part of new sanctions targeting “those responsible for the intensification of settlement activity and violence in the West Bank,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a social media post.

Smotrich, who heads a far-right religious party and has led an aggressive expansion of Israeli settlements, recently ordered the eviction of a Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that has long been targeted by Israeli authorities. He said the measure was a response to reports that he may be a target of international war crimes prosecutors from the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

The court generally does not publicly reveal arrest warrants or requests for them.

Barrot said Smotrich, who oversees Israeli settlement policy, is “actively promoting” the annexation of the West Bank, the expansion of Israeli settlements there, the re-establishment of settlements in Gaza, and policies aimed at the economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority. He said this has had harmful consequences for Palestinians.

“These are policies that the overwhelming majority of the international community cannot accept,” Barrot said, adding that France also has barred four leaders of settler organizations and 21 settlers accused of violence from entering French territory.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the U.K. was imposing sanctions on six entities and on individuals involved in financing settlements or violent acts.

Palestinian men attempt to extinguish a fire in a field in the Palestinian town of Huwara in occupied Palestine on June 6, after a reported arson attack by Israeli settlers according to local officials. Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP via Getty Images

“We have targeted some of the most notorious individuals, the most significant settler entities, and the extremist figures in the Israeli cabinet who are inciting these acts,” she said to the House of Commons.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the sanctions were “disgraceful measures” that “only serve to fuel that antisemitism.”

Israel’s Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka told The Associated Press Monday, ahead of the sanctions, that they might be counterproductive in the end.

“Sanctioning government entities or government-connected entities is not helping in any way. On the contrary, it is actually helping those extremists,” he said.

The coordinated plan follows new sanctions from the 27-nation European Union on both Hamas leaders and Israeli settler organizations and leaders.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state.

The Phoenician-Lebanese City of Tyre in the Zionists' Crosshairs

The ancient Phoenician fortified island city of Tyre (in today's Southern Lebanon)

The ancient Phoenician Lebanese city of Tyre has been around for thousands of years. It is one of the few continuously inhabited cities around the world with an uninterrupted history for several millennia. Here are some of what has made Tyre famous through history:

- Ancient Tyre was an island off the Lebanese coast. It was akin to the world capital of its time, a military and trading powerhouse whose sailors roamed the oceans and traded in Africa and Europe, including all the way to the British Isles where they found and extracted tin in Cornwall. Some have suggested the the name "Britain" is derived from Semitic "Barr" for land and "tin" for the metal. The name of the Tyrrhenian Sea between Sicily, Sardinia and the Italian Coast is likely to have originated in the Tyrian colonization of that part of the Mediterranean, as Phoenician sites litter the region, although Westerners continue to refuse to admit an Eastern origin to their civilization (Read Martin Bernal's "Black Athena" to understand the virulent antisemitism - opposing Phoenician, Hebrew and Egyptian origins - of western academia; or Carolina Lopez-Ruiz's Phoenicians and the Making of the Mediterranean).

- It was from the sandy beaches of Tyre that Princess Europa, daughter of King Agenor and Queen Telephassa of Tyre, was kidnapped by Zeus, disguised as a magnificent white bull, and carried across the sea to the island of Crete. The Greeks attribute the birth of the European continent to that story. The word "EUROPE" is derived from Orob, Eurb, or Ghorb, which means "west" or "sunset" in the Phoenician semitic language. On Crete, Zeus gave Europa three sons: Minos (who became King of Crete and founded the Minoan civilization), Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. Europa's brothers, including Cadmus (who founded Thebes), Cilix (gave his name to Cilicia, geographical region of southern Anatolia in today's Turkiye), and Phoenix (who gave his name to Phoenicia along the Lebanese coast) were sent to look for her by their father Agenor who told them to return only if they find her. They never did find her, and while she gave her name to the continent, her brothers scattered across the Mediterranean and founded other civilizations.

- Under King Hiram of Tyre (circa 900 BC), the newly arrived tent-dwelling Hebrew desert nomads who slaughtered the Palestinian Canaanites (supposedly on command by the Hebrew god Yahweh) did not know how to build houses. The Hebrew Kings Dawoud (westernized as "David") and Suleiman (westernized as "Solomon") appealed to King Hiram for help. He sent them masons and Lebanese cedar wood, and they built them palaces and the first temple in Jerusalem which was modeled by the Phoenician engineers on the temple of Tyre's Phoenician god Melqart (etymology: Melek Qart or the King of the City). For the Greeks, Melqart was the equivalent of their god Herakles.

- Around 850 BC, Princess Dido (also known as Elissa) fled Tyre with loyal followers and a hoard of gold, after her brother, King Pygmalion, murdered her husband Sychaeus. Sailing straight west, she landed on the Tunisian coast where she founded a new colony she named "Qart Hadasht" (or New City) i.e. Carthage, which became yet another military and trading powerhouse. Carthage's legendary leader Hanibaal (from Han meaning "grace" or "favor", and Baal the supreme Phoenician god, and misspelled in the west as Hannibal) nearly defeated the still nascent Roman empire.

- In 332 BC, Tyre was the only city that put on a stiff resistance to Alexander the Great's rapid advance in the East along the Phoenician coast. For seven months (January to July 332 BC) he besieged it, aided by the other Phoenician cities (Sidon, Beirut, Byblos, Arwad...) that had surrendered to him. He ultimately conquered the island by building a gigantic mole that connected the continent to the island. Over the next millennia, Alexander's mole became silted up and filled with sand, such that when you drive today south along the Lebanese coast, you can see that the highway takes a rightward direction to lead you into the old former-island, now a peninsula, city.


The siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great, January-July 332 BC

In the ongoing conflict between the Iranian militia of Hezbollah and the Zionist Israeli militia, the latter are deliberately targeting Tyre's archaeological sites. During their 1982 invasion and occupation, Israeli archeologists and antiquities thieves stole many of Tyre's treasures. 

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Israel orders Tyre residents to evacuate ancient Lebanese city
A city once besieged by Alexander the Great and the Crusaders is now under attack by Israeli forces trying to destroy the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

June 9, 2026
By Zoya Awky and Corky Siemaszko

ZOUK MOSBEH, Lebanon — Residents of this ancient and embattled city were being forced Tuesday to choose between two bitter options: stay and risk getting killed by Israeli airstrikes, or leave and become refugees in their own country.

And for the first time since Israel launched its latest invasion of southern Lebanon to root out Hezbollah, the Israeli evacuation order also includes Al Hara, the historic Christian quarter of this more than 4,700-year-old city.

“I never imagined leaving Al Hara,” Janette Barbour, a married mother of three grown children, told NBC News. “It is a safe area. We are not armed.”

When Israel first began bombarding the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah’s positions in southern Lebanon earlier this year, most Al Hara residents stayed put even as the war inched closer to Tyre, Barbour said.

“If some of the family members left, because they had medical cases, there were always family members that stayed,” Barbour said. “I told you, it is a safe area.”

Vehicles wait in traffic as people flee Tyre, Lebanon, after Israel's evacuation warning Tuesday.Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP via Getty Images

The Israelis, however, contend that Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim militant group allied with Iran, is using Al Hara as cover to launch rocket and drone attacks on Israel.

So after the Israelis began firing on Tyre, Barbour said she joined the exodus heading north to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

“I left this morning with my daughter,” Barbour said, adding that she intends to stay with her brother. “My husband and my son stayed in Al Hara. My son has a café in Tyre, and my husband has a restaurant in Tyre port, which is also part of Al Hara. They cannot leave their businesses.”

Many of the older Tyre residents are also staying put, she said.

“They didn’t want to leave their houses,” Barbour said. “Of course I am afraid, especially because part of my family is still there, but you know Al Hara is a neutral area, no political parties, no arms, so we’re hoping that it doesn’t get attacked.”

Founded by the ancient Phoenicians, Tyre has been besieged numerous times, from Alexander the Great to the Crusaders. It has been bombarded repeatedly by the Israelis since 1978.

When it’s not being attacked by military forces, Al Hara has been overrun by waves of tourists coming to admire a section of the city that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and sample some of the best sandy beaches on the Mediterranean Sea.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Tyre on Tuesday. Kwant Haju / AFP via Getty Images

A worker at an Al Hara hotel, who asked that neither he nor his workplace be identified for fear of winding up in the crosshairs of an Israeli missile, said most of their guests have fled.

“I have around 10 people in the hotel,” the worker said. “Most of them don’t want to leave Tyre, and the others don’t know where to go.”

The worker said he’s staying put too, but most of his neighbors are gone.

“Mind you, for the first time, many families left Al Hara,” he said. “We are afraid, it’s only human, but we decided to stay.”

Lily Hawila, a 29-year-old English teacher, lives a few miles away from Al Hara in a section of Tyre called Al Houch. She too has fled her city.

“This area was attacked during the 2024 war,” Hawila said. “Our apartment was damaged: shattered glass and broken doors. We fixed it when the ceasefire took place in November 2024. Today I don’t know what happened to our apartment. What I am sure about is that all the buildings of the street and other streets are on the ground.”

When the fighting first started, Hawila said she rented an apartment in the Chouf Mountains northeast of Tyre for her mother and her brother, who now lives in Poland and had come home for a visit.

“My father did not leave Tyre,” Hawila said. “He’s staying with his old mother at Al Bass, which is also an area in Tyre that is not very safe, by the way.”

Sana Abou Zeid, a 50-year-old mother of three grown children, lives in a densely populated section of Tyre called Al-Masaken.

“Every time we get an evacuation order from the Israelis, I go and reside with my children” outside the city, Zeid said. “And when it is safe, we go back home.”

Zeid said her eldest son is serving in the Lebanese army and her youngest son is in high school. They can’t imagine living anywhere else besides Tyre, she said.

“I cannot leave Tyre because my children don’t want to,” Zeid said.

But as Zeid was speaking to a reporter, she received word that her street had been bombed and that eight people were killed.

“We are anxious,” Zeid said. “Let’s hope that we can stay where we are now and not have to be displaced to another area. And let’s hope that we can return home soon.”

Zoya Awky reported from Zouk Mosheh and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.

Trump Family Corruption Czar Jared Kushner Burrows into Albania

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama looks on during an interview with Reuters as Albanians protest against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast, in Tirana, Albania, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Florion Goga

Albania's Rama vows to push on with Kushner-linked luxury resort despite protests

June 8, 2026. 
By Edward McAllister
Tue, June 9, 2026 \

TIRANA, June 8 (Reuters) - Albania will plough on with a luxury resort planned by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on a remote stretch of Balkan coast despite persistent protests over its environmental impact, Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters on Monday.

Thousands of ‌people have taken to the streets of the capital Tirana and on the southern coast where the resort has been proposed, calling for ‌the project to be scrapped because of the impact on a protected wetland home to flamingoes, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.

The flamingo has emerged as the movement's symbol: protesters hoist inflatable ​pink birds and signs saying "Flamingo Revolution".

Rama is unmoved, telling Reuters that the developers will "stun" onlookers with their plans in the coming months and that parts of the resort could be open to the public before the end of the decade.

"I'm telling you, it's going to be a beautiful project and we're going to do it and we're going to be proud to contribute to Europe," Rama said during an interview in his office, a few metres from where nightly demonstrations against the project have ‌taken place.

"I was voted in to make these things ⁠happen. I'm not voted to be led by people that have a different idea of how to develop the country."

Thousands took to Tirana's streets on Monday evening, calling for a halt to the project but also venting a litany of grievances ⁠against Rama's 13-year tenure that they say has failed to uproot corruption or improve basic services.

"We are getting bigger and we are here until he resigns. Not only for biodiversity but for every injustice we face," said student Albano Lushi.

BIG DREAMS FACE CONTROVERSY

Rama, 61, a former basketball player and artist who took office in 2013 and aims to ​bring ​Albania into the EU, takes pride in presiding over the modernisation of a country that ​had languished for decades under a particularly stifling communist dictatorship ‌until the 1990s.

He cultivates an informal style, in a baggy black suit with black T-shirt and white sneakers. His office looks like an urban co-working space, with wallpaper overlaid with his own colourful paintings. Plates filled with crayons and coloured markers are scattered about and his desk is a mess of doodles.

The resort development he champions is the brainchild of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who described falling in love with Albania a few years ago while visiting on a boat. Rama met them on that trip and found them to be "very nice, humble...humanly good people."

Now, Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners is involved in the €1.4 ‌billion ($1.6 billion) project near the Vjosa-Narta protected area, and another one on nearby Sazan Island.

Together ​the projects are worth up to €5 billion, Rama said.

"It's a big dream and big dreams have ​always faced controversy."

Affinity Partners and Kushner have not responded to requests ​for comment. Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, which is developing the plans, has told Reuters that it will do so responsibly.

RAMA ‌PROMISES TO PROTECT WILDLIFE

Protests kicked off at the end of ​May when the site near Vjosa-Narta was ​closed off with barbed wire fencing amid work on an access road and other pre-construction developments. Some protesters were injured in clashes with private security. Anger then spread to Tirana.

The fence has since been removed. Rama conceded that it was a "disgraceful idea" to put it up.

Still, Rama played down ​the environmental concerns. He said that an environmental impact ‌assessment was not yet done and would be completed in parallel with the developments.

"We are very proud of what we have done for ​the wildlife in Albania. The European Commission has no reason to doubt our firm will to protect whatever has to be protected ​when it comes to wildlife and nature."

(Reporting by Edward McAllisterEditing by Peter Graff)

Timid Sanctions on Zionist Settlers Should be Extended to Colluding Israeli Govt

Palestinians watch as foreign Zionist settlers demolish their home near the Palestinian city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

Imagine some foreign barbarians with strange names and accents who come to your country from Europe or the US, cite biblical garbage from 3,000 years ago as their "rights" to your land where your ancestors have lived for millennia, tear your house down, uproot your olive trees, steal your animals, and build themselves a new house on the same spot.

What would you do?

Some countries from which these barbarians have come didn't do a thing for 70 years. Now faced with the intolerable violence their own citizens are inflicting on the indigenous Palestinians, these countries have begun taking very timid measures against a handful of the Zionist barbarians, but continue to choose to ignore that behind the Zionist settler criminals is an entire state, its government and its terrorist militia that protects and incites the settlers to more violence.

The sanctions against the few barbarian settlers should be extended and expanded to the entire government of Israel and its militia. Diplomatic relations with the Zionist colony in Palestine should be severed and trade banned.

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UN inquiry finds Israeli forces shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians

By Olivia Le Poidevin
Tue, June 9, 2026 

GENEVA, June 9 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli security forces provide protection to settlers, a U.N. inquiry said on Tuesday.

The report by the Commission of Inquiry on ‌the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israeli authorities had enabled settler attacks through financial and military support, in a climate of impunity fostered by judicial and ‌law-enforcement bodies. It also found that the Palestinian militant group Hamas had committed war crimes against both Palestinians and Israelis.

The Israeli prime minister's office and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor ​did Hamas.

The report said Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land had surged since 2023, rising by 130%, including incidents involving groups of masked assailants. Israeli security forces routinely accompanied settlers and acted as a shield for the violence, it said.

Israel rejects charges that its troops shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, saying such actions are rogue incidents that violate military protocol and are investigated. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say such investigations rarely lead to punishment.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers live among millions of ‌Palestinians on land Israel captured in a 1967 war. Most ⁠countries consider such settlements a violation of international law, a position upheld in a 2024 ruling by the U.N.'s top court. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 832 injured last year, with violence continuing into ⁠2026 in the form of near-daily attacks, according to the United Nations.

"The increasing participation of Israeli security forces in settler attacks amounts to a de facto collapse of the distinction between settlers and soldiers," the report found.

It said such violence has been used to advance state policy, including the unlawful occupation, displacement of Palestinians and the annexation of Palestinian territory.

The commission documented cases of ​assaults, ​abductions and abuse of Palestinian children by settlers. In one incident on April 19, 2025, a ​12-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother were abducted at knifepoint, dragged ‌to an olive grove and tied to a tree with plastic restraints until their family intervened.

The Commission also said settlers committed or threatened sexual violence to instil fear and harassed Palestinian women.

"The relentless, daily assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians are intolerable — and must end," said the commission's head, S. Muralidhar, an Indian former senior judge. He urged the international community to press Israel to dismantle settlements and outposts and curb the violence.

Despite periodic condemnations and the dismantling of some unauthorized outposts, Israeli authorities have not taken sustained measures to stop the attacks, the report said.

Wassel Abu Yousef, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the body the U.N. recognises as representing Palestinians, ‌told Reuters the report "reflects the extent of the violence perpetrated by settlers against our people". He called ​for measures such as sanctions in response.

HAMAS VIOLATIONS

The report said it was also gravely alarmed by serious ​abuses it documented in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The commission found that Hamas-affiliated forces ​were involved in at least 60 of 249 documented cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024 to 2025, including beatings with ‌metal pipes and bone-breaking as punishment for alleged collaboration with Israel ​or looting aid.

In two instances, 11 men were ​publicly executed. The Commission said these acts amount to war crimes and violations of international law.

The Commission found that October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups, which killed 1,200 people and involved hostage-taking and destruction of property, amounted to war crimes. The attacks precipitated an Israeli assault ​on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and ‌destroyed much of the territory.

A previous report by the Commission found that Israel had committed genocide during its military offensive in Gaza, and that ​senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited these acts. Israel rejected those allegations as "scandalous".

(Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinAdditional reporting by Rami ​Ayyub in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Ali Sawafta in RamallahEditing by Peter Graff)

Bamboozled by Netanyahu into Iran War, Trump Wants Out Fearing Midterms Debacle

The man who failed to ensure Israel's security on October 7 has now dragged the US into a Quixotic war in which neither the US nor Israel has achieved any of their stated objectives and are now at pains to bring to an end. The criminal smartass Netanyahu misled the criminal idiot Trump into the war promising a collapse of the Iranian regime within a few days. 

Not only did this not happen, but the war has rattled world markets, caused major setbacks to the Arab Gulf allies of the US, created a previously non-existent trade and oil shipping bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz and exacerbated an inflation-riddled US economy with no end on sight. Netanyahu wants to continue his warmongering, while Trump wants an immediate end to the war in the hope that the US electorate would have forgotten about the war by November.

One can presume that Trump wants out of the Iran war, but only temporarily for the duration of the elections campaign. As he has always done, he lies his lungs out with wild promises during a campaign, only to renege on all those promises once in power and resume his corruption and hateful warmongering afterwards. At stake for him in November is whether he can maintain his control of Congress. 

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Netanyahu and Trump are at odds over the war they started together


FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump Netanyahu Divisions
JULIA FRANKEL and AAMER MADHANI
Updated Mon, June 8, 2026 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon and Iran have made clear that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who started the war in lockstep, want different things.

Trump had publicly warned Israel not to strike Beirut in its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. When it did, on Sunday, Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire. Israel then struck Iran, with which Trump has been engaged in weeks of high-stakes negotiations.

The fighting has since died down, but the differences between the two leaders are likely to persist.

That's because Trump, whose party faces elections later this year, wants to wind down an unpopular war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ease gas prices. Iran says a full ceasefire in Lebanon is key to any deal.

Netanyahu, who also faces elections this year, is under pressure to stop Hezbollah's attacks and prove that he is winning the war with Iran and its allies. He also needs to manage relations with Israel's most important ally without appearing to kowtow to it.

Political considerations push in opposite directions

When the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the allies appeared shoulder to shoulder.

Netanyahu said the goal was to degrade the Islamic Republic's military, eradicate its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and topple its government. Trump announced the death of Iran's supreme leader in the opening barrage and urged Iranians to "take back" their country.

But it soon became clear that while Trump was seeking a quick win — like the one he secured in Venezuela — Netanyahu wanted to vanquish Iran and its allies, even if it required an extended conflict.

As Iran withstood weeks of heavy strikes and kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, Americans and Israelis grew increasingly frustrated — but for different reasons.

In the U.S., the price of gas and other goods soared as even some erstwhile supporters accused Trump of breaking a campaign promise and plunging the U.S. into another Mideast quagmire. He has pushed back against those critics as rising anger threatens Republicans in November's congressional elections.

In Israel, anger grew over Netanyahu's failure to secure a lasting victory in the wars sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which happened on his watch. More than two years on, Hamas still rules part of Gaza, Hezbollah still fires rockets and Iran's government and nuclear program remain intact, despite heavy losses.

Israel's bombardment of Lebanon strains relations

The collision course runs through Lebanon, where fighting still rages between Israel and Hezbollah despite ceasefire announcements.

Iran wants Lebanon included in any wider regional truce, a demand Trump seems to have accepted in order to get a deal. Iran has threatened to attack Israel again if it keeps striking Lebanon.

Israel is determined to keep the theaters separate and continue its campaign in Lebanon, where it has occupied large swaths of the south, until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.

The tensions spilled into the open last week, when Trump acknowledged holding a tense call with Netanyahu about Lebanon. He admitted to using expletives and calling the Israeli leader "crazy," saying he'd grown frustrated that Israel's war on Hezbollah threatened the Iran talks.

In a series of interviews, Trump made clear that he was not happy about Israel's Sunday strike in Beirut, which came without warning and hit a residential building, killing two people and wounding 20, according to Lebanese authorities.

He then urged restraint from Israel after Iran launched its first barrage of missiles later that day. "I call all the shots," not Netanyahu, Trump told the Financial Times.

Hours later, Israel bombed Iran.

Officials downplay differences

Trump had initially urged restraint in order to calm markets and keep negotiations from falling apart, according to a person familiar with the U.S.-Israel deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive conversations.

Israeli officials made the counterargument that the U.S. would not tolerate attacks without a swift response. The person added that it was also understood by both sides that not responding to the Iranian strikes would put Netanyahu in a difficult position politically.

Netanyahu has downplayed any perceived differences.

After the latest strikes, he told reporters in Hebrew that "Israel has a full right to self-defense, and we are exercising it to the extent necessary."

"I say this to you, just as I say this, with appreciation and respect, in my good conversations with my friend, President Trump," he added.

It's unclear if there will be lasting damage

It's not the first time that Trump has been publicly at odds with Netanyahu about a military operation.

In March, less than three weeks into the conflict, Trump was riled by Netanyahu's decision to attack a critical Iranian gas field, which prompted Iran to retaliate against energy infrastructure in the Gulf.

"I told him, 'Don't do that,'" Trump said at the time. "We get along great. It's coordinated, but on occasion he'll do something."

While Trump publicly disagreed with the decision, two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly said the U.S. was made aware of Israel's plans ahead of the attack.

It's unclear whether the latest dispute will cause lasting damage.

"It's not so uncommon for the U.S.-Israel relationship to have these kinds of tensions. What's so different right now is how publicly it's playing out," said Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

He noted that Trump has had similar public spats with other heads of state, including close allies.

Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Israel's Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities, said he doubted the rift seriously threatened the alliance. He said Netanyahu had been careful not to push things too far.

"If there was a big threat, like if Israel were to continue the war in Iran and drag the U.S. into it, that would have been a different situation," he said. "But that is not happening."

He noted, though, that there are still "basic disagreements between Netanyahu and Trump on Iran, Lebanon and Gaza" that remain unanswered.
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Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed.

Trump Admin Begins Racist Harassment of World Cup Officials from Shithole Countries

As expected, the white supremacist MAGA Administration of Donald Dumb is already showing off its xenophobia and racism as it hosts the World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.

World Cup officials, referees, and athletes from countries Donald Dumb has qualified as "shithole" countries are already experiencing harassment and denial of entry visas under the pretext of safety and security concerns. "Shithole countries" is white supremacist code for countries from Africa, Asia and South America, and more broadly from the developing world, whose citizens generally have brown or black skin.

A world-renown Somali soccer referee who was slated to officiate the FIFA World Cup has been barred by US federal immigration authorities from entering the U.S. over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Monday, citing "vetting concerns". FIFA has confirmed that Omar Abdulkadir Artan "will be unable to train and officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States", adding "in line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country."

CBP, which oversees customs agents at international airports and which has, under directives from Donald Dumb, been very aggressive in its harassment and deportation of US residents and foreign visitors, said the referee was "determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry." He had arrived at Miami International Airport on Saturday on a flight from Istanbul, and underwent additional inspection, CBP said.

It is unclear why Artan was denied entry, but Somalia is one of 39 "shithole" countries listed on President Trump's "travel ban" executive order signed last year, which bars or restricts the entry of foreign nationals on national security grounds. Somalia is among the countries facing a near-total restriction on entry into the U.S., and while that order has exemptions for World Cup athletes and staff, immigration officials retain broad discretion to decide whether to grant or deny someone entry.

Ciise Aden Abshir, a senior adviser to Somalia's Ministry of Youth and Sports and a former national team captain, condemned the decision not to admit Artan. He told Agence France-Presse that Artan is "among Africa's most respected referees and deserves the support of the entire football community," and argued the decision "undermines football's commitment to fairness, merit, and the spirit of fair play."

Artan has officiated international soccer matches for years, including at the Africa Cup of Nations, and he was named male referee of the year by the Confederation for African Football last year.

Referee Omar Artan during the Total Energies CAF Champions League 2025/26 Final 2nd Leg match between AS FAR (Morroco) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) at Prince Moulay Abdallah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, on May 24, 2026. / Credit: Photo by Andrew Surma / SIPA USA via AP Images

All three countries - the US, Mexico and Canada - are hosting the 2026 World Cup. The tournament is set to start Thursday with a match in Mexico City and will include teams from 48 countries and scores of foreign tourists, at a time when the Trump administration has aggressively tightened entry into the United States from countries it deems "undesirable" because of race, skin color, religion and other criteria that are "incompatibile" with the US as a Christian and a White country.

Iranian soccer officials, for example, still do not have U.S. visas, according to Iranian officials. The team is also facing strict restrictions on when it can enter the U.S. before a match and how long it can stay after the conclusion before returning to its training grounds in Mexico.

Scores of foreign nationals and football team fans, who normally would attend the World Cup events, have decided to either not attend or have canceled their travel plans (flights and hotels) against the background of the Trump administration admittedly racist and xenophobic policies. Over the past year, CBP and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) have become the Trump administration arms in implementing policies hostile to migrants, immigrants, and visitors to the US. Many foreign nationals and US citizens have been caught in the chaotic and often violent methods used by these two Trump administration agencies. US citizens have been shot and killed by CBP and ICE goons. Many have been deported upon arrival at a US port of entry while others have been arrested and arbitrarily held in poor conditions for weeks and months without due process, before being suddenly being deported or released without any explanation. The thrust of these arbitrary policies seems to be to deter visits, and by extension to ultimately reduce immigration from these non-White, non-Christian countries.

The most flagrant example of these policies is the denial of adjustment of status for Afghan nationals who assisted the US military during the American invasion and occupation of that country, after they were promised safe haven in the US. In contrast, the Trump administration has literally begged and invited white supremacist neo-Nazi Afrikaner settlers from the former Apartheid South Africa to immigrate into the US with extremely favorable terms and conditions.

The Great Moron will be 80 Next Week: More Dozing and Dazing at the Wheel

Brace yourselves, my fellow 'Mericans. The joy ride with the Greatest Ever American Moron is about to get even more dangerous as he sinks further into dementia, senility and the like. Since he was born an idiot, this transition is so smooth that no one seems to notice that the US is led by an imbecile who is turning senile. 

As a younger man, Trump was very "penile", lashing out his reproductive organs at young and old women alike and often getting caught with his pants down: He is an equal opportunity sex scavenger. Now as an older, but unfortunately not wiser, idiot he spends most of his time sleeping and dozing off. DOZY DON is visibly worse than his predecessor "Sleepy Joe". Then when he appears a bit awake, the dozing off becomes even more like dazing: a state of confusion, mumbling on words, ranting into space over strange subjects that almost always are inappropriate for the circumstance.

'Tis sad that the country celebrates its 250th with a dangerous moron at the helm.
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Trump to join Biden in 80-year-old presidents' club: Is his health an issue?

Zac Anderson, USA TODAY
Sun, June 7, 2026 

President Donald Trump wanted everyone to know he didn't fall asleep on the job.

Following a lengthy Cabinet meeting in December during which the president closed his eyes for stretches, giving the appearance he was dozing, Trump offered Cabinet officials an explanation at their next gathering. He told them he had shut his eyes at the previous meeting because it was "boring."

"I didn't sleep, I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell out of here," Trump said, adding: "I don't sleep much."

After mocking his predecessor with the nickname "Sleepy Joe," Trump has increasingly faced questions about his own fitness as his second term wears on, sparking strong pushback from the president and his allies.

The spotlight on Trump's health is likely to intensify, though, as he prepares to join an exclusive club of octogenarian White House occupants, one started by the president he often ridicules.

The oldest person ever elected president, Trump, on June 14, will become just the second 80-year-old to hold the job after Joe Biden, who was pressured by leaders of his own party not to seek reelection and dropped out of the 2024 race amid concerns about his age and mental acuity.

Biden prompted a national debate about aging and leadership that was fueled by Trump's relentless questioning of his opponent's mental competence. Now, as Trump approaches a major birthday milestone, he, too, is facing scrutiny about his health. That includes questions about his swollen legs, bruised hands, and perceived drowsiness – not to mention, as polling indicates, behavior most Americans view as erratic.

At an age when many people are slowing down, Trump is trying to negotiate an end to the war in Iran and making other weighty decisions. He has sought to assure the public he's up to the task, regularly boasting that he "aced" his cognitive exams and saying last month, after a physical, that "everything checked out perfectly." He has continued to tout his vigor, which has been central to his political pitch.

"Most people don't welcome frailty, but I think he's really reactive to it, wants to distance himself in every way from any possible hint of it," said Trump biographer Gwenda Blair.

Whether or not he wants the attention, surveys show most Americans have concerns about the president's fitness.

President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Dec. 2, 2025. Brian Snyder, REUTERS. [Rise and shine, Dozy Don, it is time, don't you know, to get the hell out of our lives]

'80 isn't what it used to be'

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos survey from April found that 55% of U.S. adults don't believe Trump is in "good enough physical health to serve effectively as president," up from 28% in 2023. Nearly 6 in 10 also don't believe the president "has the mental sharpness" required for the job.

Amid the growing public concern, the president's doctor says Trump is "fully fit" for office and White House spokesman Davis Ingle described his energy as "unmatched."

"President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health," Ingle said.

It's not surprising for someone of Trump's age to face health questions. The president has exceeded – by three and a half years – the average lifespan for an American man.

Yet about half of men now live into their 80s, and those who are wealthier and better-educated tend to live the longest said Steven Austad, a professor at The University of Alabama at Birmingham who is an expert on aging. Trump is a billionaire with an Ivy League degree, and his father lived to 93.

"80 isn't what it used to be," Austad said, adding: "The question is: What kind of 80-year-old are you?"

Trump has long sought to project strength, what Blair described as the "ultimate virility," and the president's allies say he still has plenty of energy. They point to his busy schedule of public events, travel, late-night posts on his Truth Social site and regular interactions with the media.

"I think most people would kill to be as active as he is at a fraction of his age," said Sean Spicer, who served as White House press secretary during Trump's first term. "I mean, I'm in my 50s, and I kind of get a kick out of the fact that I'm in bed hours before he stops truthing."

While reaching the ninth decade of life is a major moment, Trump isn't prone to reflecting on it, according to a White House official, who said the president doesn't talk about his birthday. That's always been the case, said former GOP House speaker Kevin McCarthy.

"All the time I've known him, when it comes to his birthday, he really doesn't like to celebrate," McCarthy said, adding: "It's just his style."

This year, Trump is staging an Ultimate Fighting Championship contest at the White House on his birthday, but the White House official said that is just how the timing worked out for the event, and it wasn't conceived as a birthday celebration.

Blair, the biographer, sees significance in the show of brute force on a day when Trump's advanced age will be in the spotlight, saying it will project "total strength."

Trump has long criticized what he saw as Biden's weakness. Concerns about how age impacted Biden as he occupied the Oval Office into his 80s could add to the scrutiny Trump faces. However, McCarthy said there's no comparison between the two.

"There's a fundamental difference, and it's in a lot of different ways," said McCarthy, adding: "I think Trump, you can put him against any president in our history, and I bet you he still outworks 'em.' Age doesn't determine that with him."

Joe Biden listens as Donald Trump speaks during their debate in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. Biden dropped out of the presidential race after the disastrous debate performance. Brian Snyder, REUTERS
Swollen legs, bruised hands, closed eyes

Yet health questions have been accumulating in Trump's second term.

Last year, the president was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a benign condition that causes swelling in his lower legs and one that the White House doctor noted is common in people over 70.

Trump also has experienced bruising on his hands, which his physician attributed to his use of aspirin – an anti-inflammatory drug commonly taken as a blood thinner – combined with regular handshaking.

Additionally, the president's stamina has been under scrutiny because he sometimes closes his eyes for stretches while others are speaking at public events.

"Donald Trump's inability to stay awake on the job shows that there's something very wrong with his health and cognitive abilities," Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, said June 3 during a congressional hearing at which he questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the December Cabinet meeting.

"I've never seen him fall asleep," Rubio said. "On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep."

Trump is close to being clinically obese, based on the body measurements from his most recent physical. The president has expressed disdain for exercise other than golf, calling it "boring," and joking that he works out "about one minute a day, max. If I'm lucky." Meanwhile, he eats "really bad food," according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who pointed to the president's consumption of McDonald's, candy and Diet Coke.

"He has the constitution of a deity. I don't know how he's alive, but he is," Kennedy said in a podcast interview.

Trump's doctor recommended exercise and weight loss. Overall, though, the president's "cognitive and physical performance are excellent," and "he is fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State," Capt. Sean Barbabella, the White House physician, wrote in summarizing the results of last month's physical.

Trump has undergone four medical checkups in 13 months, prompting questions about the frequency of his visits, the types of tests being performed and what doctors are looking for.

"There's a reason he keeps going to the hospital and they keep giving him cognitive tests," Lieu said at the June 3 hearing.

Mehmet Oz, a doctor who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs, told reporters on June 2 that Trump keeps getting checkups because "he likes the results."

"I do actually believe that he's curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction," Oz said. "He's a very meticulous person."

Holding up a copy of the doctor's report summarizing Trump's recent medical exam, Oz called the results "spectacular."

"That amount of energy, that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum," Oz added. "You have to have a vessel to carry it, and the president has the unique ability to just keep going at all hours of the day with remarkable strength."

Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz displays a document as he speaks about President Donald Trump's health during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on June 2, 2026. Jonathan Ernst, REUTERS
Is Trump more erratic?

One of the biggest concerns as people age is the potential for their decision-making ability to decline, said Austad, the aging expert.

"The conventional wisdom ... is that aging brings wisdom, but after a certain point that's no longer true," he said. "That's why con men go after older people."

A Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 61% of Americans believe the president has "become erratic with age," and only 45% believe he is "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges."

Some of Trump's recent statements have caused bipartisan alarm, most notably when he threatened to destroy Iran's entire "civilization" while pressuring the regime in Tehran to submit to his demands.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," the president posted on social media in April, shortly before announcing a ceasefire.

Democrats subsequently introduced legislation to create a commission that would assess Trump's fitness for office and recommend whether to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. Some MAGA media figures have also suggested utilizing the 25th Amendment, which establishes a process for removing a president from office.

"We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress . . . to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said in a statement on the bill.

In addition to Trump's Iran comments, Raskin cited the president's feud with the pope and the fact that he posted a Christ-like image of himself online. Trump's late-night social media posting sprees have attracted attention for including AI-generated images ranging from the bizarre to the highly controversial.

The Christ-like image and a video Trump posted depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes were both deleted after backlash. The posts have raised questions about Trump's judgment, but his round-the-clock social media use also is cited as a sign of tirelessness.

A post on President Donald Trump's Truth Social account depicts an AI-generated image of himself apparently as Jesus posted on April 12, 2026.
Partisan views on health

Republican pollster Whit Ayers said polling results on Trump's health and mental fitness are colored by people's partisan views of the president.

While the Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 89% of Democrats believe Trump has become erratic with age, only 30% of Republicans say the same.

"The answer to that question is much more a reflection of what people think about Donald Trump than what they think about age," Ayers said.

Reports from Trump's doctors about his health may not sway many people. Austad, the aging expert, suspects that "nobody believes" them, saying presidential administrations have long shielded negative health information from the public.

People can draw their own conclusions, though.

"We get to see him a lot, we get to hear him a lot and my thought is people can sort of judge for themselves," Austad said.

Whatever people think about Trump's health and fitness, Austad said that having a president in his 80s brings risks. While 80-year-olds can be high-functioning, they are more likely to go downhill quickly, potentially leading to impaired judgment, he said.

After having two successive presidents in their 80s, the country might be ripe for a "national conversation" on presidential age limits when Trump leaves office, Austad said.

"I'm very much against ageism, but there's also realism," he said. "Whatever you think about Trump's performance in office to date, it could be vastly different a month from now."

The bruised right hand of President Donald Trump is visible during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25, 2025. Brian Snyder, REUTERS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump is poised to become the second president to hit 80