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Role Reversal: Mahmoud Abbas Condemns Israel for ‘Acts of Terror’ Against Hezbollah
People rush to a soccer field hit by a Hezbollah rocket in the majority-Druze northern Israeli town Majdal Shams Photo: Via 924, from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
While ignoring the thousands of rockets and drones fired at northern Israel by the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah since the start of the current Gaza war, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling party, Fatah, continue to express support for Hezbollah against Israel by painting Hezbollah as a victim.
Following Israel’s recent pager and device attacks against Hezbollah, both the PA and Fatah hurried to express their support for “sister Lebanon.”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ office “condemned” the attacks as “acts of terror,” claiming they “harmed innocent civilians”:
The Palestinian [PA] presidential office again strongly condemned the acts of terror against sister Lebanon…
The presidential office emphasized that the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people stand alongside the government and people in sister Lebanon, at a time when it is being subjected to terror that harmed innocent civilians …
The presidential office warned against the results of this severe escalation, which violates Lebanese sovereignty and threatens international peace and security.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 18, 2024]
Also ignoring Hezbollah’s numerous attacks on Israeli civilian areas — and the murder of more than 40 Israelis, including 12 children who were playing soccer — Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash accused Israel of “escalating” the situation and seeking to “undermine the region’s stability” with its “aggressive operations”:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The Israeli government is continuing its attempts to escalate the situation and the tension more and more. These aggressive operations that the occupation state [i.e., Israel] and the occupation army are carrying out, whether in Lebanon, in Palestine, or anywhere else, strive to create additional tension and escalation on the military and security level in order to undermine the region’s stability.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Sept. 18, 2024]
Abbas’ Fatah movement also condemned Israel’s “aggressive and criminal operation,” stressing its continued support for Lebanon and its “great appreciation for the support” that Lebanon [ i.e., the terror organization Hezbollah] “has given the [Palestinian] cause”:
The Fatah Movement … condemned the aggressive and criminal operation, due to which hundreds died as Martyrs …
Fatah said that it is standing alongside sister Lebanon and the Lebanese people that is dear to our hearts, and expressed its great appreciation for the support that it has given the [Palestinian] cause and the Palestinian people, despite the burden it bears and despite the sacrifices it is making …
[Fatah] also promised and swore once again to continue on the path of struggle to realize freedom, return, and independence on the Palestinian land and the end of the occupation [i.e., Israel]. [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 17, 2024]
In addition to promising to “continue on the path of struggle” by committing more terror attacks, Fatah has also directly called on Hezbollah to continue attacking Israel.
Recently, top PA/Fatah official Jibril Rajoub encouraged Hezbollah and Iran to “punish the Israeli enemy”:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The one who endangers regional security and world peace is this unilateral Israeli aggression against Palestine, against Syria, against Lebanon, against Iraq, against Yemen, against Iran, and against the entire world. ..
This [Israeli] enemy only understands the language of force, and it needs to be punished … Punishing Netanyahu and a response – whether by our brothers in Hezbollah, Iran, and any other side – are a message for which [those countries] are responsible… But the military conduct must come simultaneously with a political will on everything concerning fighting the occupation and aggression … We must not let [Israel] continue to behave like the neighborhood bully, and must not let it integrate in the Middle East region and normalize any relations before the fully sovereign [Palestinian] state is established.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Aug. 7, 2024]
And let’s not forget the leader that started it all with the massacre and murder on Oct. 7, 2023: Hamas, headed by Yahya Al-Sinwar.
Sinwar is of course thrilled with Hezbollah’s unwavering support for the “resistance to the Zionist project” and the “Nazi Zionist occupation.”
Following the assassination in Iran of Sinwar’s predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, Sinwar sent a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, thanking him for joining “one of the most honorable battles of the Palestinian people” — Hamas’ “Al-Aqsa Flood”:
Al-Sinwar: “We thank you for your solidarity that is mixed with sincere and noble feelings, which were expressed by your blessed actions in the fronts of the axis of resistance as support and participation in this battle.” [emphasis added]
[Al-Manar website (Hezbollah affiliated), Sept. 14, 2024]
Al-Sinwar emphasized his disregard for human life, stressing his appreciation of all the people who have died for his cause — “Jihad and resistance” against Israel:
“The blood of our people … this pure blood and the blessed convoys of Martyrs will become more decisive and stronger against the Nazi Zionist occupation.
We also emphasize that… the lofty principles that leader Martyr [Ismail Haniyeh] espoused will remain firm and present … foremost among them the unity of the Palestinian people around Jihad and resistance, and also the unity of the nation, and at its core the axis of resistance to the Zionist project.” [emphasis added]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
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Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump this week said he is open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.
Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran” following indirect US-Iranian talks last week in which the side agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.
The Republican US president, speaking separately to reporters at the White House on Friday, reiterated his positive prognosis, saying: “Iran, I think, is going very well. We’ll see what happens.”
A US official said the discussions yielded “very good progress.”
Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner who has the last say on all major state policies, or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: “Sure.”
Expert-level talks are set to resume on Saturday in Oman, which has acted as intermediary between the longtime adversaries, with a third round of high-level nuclear discussions planned for the same day.
Israel, a close US ally and Iran’s major Middle East foe, has described the Islamic Republic’s escalating uranium enrichment program – a potential pathway to nuclear bombs – as an “existential threat.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying partial measures will not suffice to ensure Israel’s security.
Asked in the interview if he was concerned Netanyahu might drag the United States into a war with Iran, Trump said: “No.”
‘I’LL BE LEADING THE PACK’
However, when asked if the US would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he responded: “I may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”
In March, Iran responded to a letter from Trump in which he urged it to negotiate a new deal by stating it would not engage in direct talks under maximum pressure and military threats but was open to indirect negotiations, as in the past.
Although the current talks have been indirect and mediated by Oman, US and Iranian officials did speak face-to-face briefly following the first round on April 12.
The last known face-to-face negotiations between the two countries took place under former US President Barack Obama during diplomacy that led to the 2015 nuclear accord.
Western powers accuse Iran of harboring a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly peaceful. The 2015 deal temporarily curbed its uranium enrichment activity in exchange for relief from international sanctions, but Iran resumed and accelerated enrichment after the Trump walkout in 2018.
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Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

US President Donald speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on March 3, 2025. Photo: Leah Millis via Reuters Connect
The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during US President Donald Trump‘s visit to the kingdom in May.
The offered package comes after the administration of former President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.
The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced US weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country. Reuters could not establish if the Trump administration’s proposal includes similar requirements.
The White House and Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A US Defense official said: “Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump‘s leadership. Maintaining our security cooperation remains an important component of this partnership and we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to address their defense needs.”
In his first term, Trump celebrated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia as good for US jobs.
Lockheed Martin Corp could supply a range of advanced weapons systems including C-130 transport aircraft, two of the sources said. One source said Lockheed would also supply missiles and radars.
RTX Corp, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is also expected to play a significant role in the package, which will include supplies from other major US defense contractors such as Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Atomics, said four of the sources.
All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
RTX, Northrop and General Atomics declined to comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions. Questions about sales to foreign governments are best addressed by the US government.
Reuters could not immediately establish how many of the deals on offer were new. Many have been in the works for some time, two of the sources said. For example, the kingdom first requested information about General Atomics’ drones in 2018, they said. Over the past 12 months, a deal for $20 billion of General Atomics’ MQ-9B SeaGuardian-style drones and other aircraft came into focus, according to one of the sources.
Several executives from defense companies are considering traveling to the region as a part of the delegation, three of the sources said.
The US has long supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons. In 2017, Trump proposed approximately $110 billion of sales to the kingdom.
As of 2018, only $14.5 billion of sales had been initiated and Congress began to question the deals in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2021, under Biden, Congress imposed a ban on sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing and to pressure the kingdom to wind down its Yemen war, which had inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Under US law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of Congress before they are finalized.
The Biden administration began to soften its stance on Saudi Arabia in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted global oil supplies. The ban on offensive weapons sales was lifted in 2024, as Washington worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.
A potential deal for Lockheed’s F-35 jets, which the kingdom has been reportedly interested in for years, is expected to be discussed, three of the sources said, while downplaying the chances for an F-35 deal being signed during the trip.
The United States guarantees that its close ally Israel receives more advanced American weapons than Arab states, giving it what is labeled a “Qualitative Military Edge” (QME) over its neighbors.
Israel has now owned F-35s for nine years, building multiple squadrons.
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Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran on Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported, a day after the Netherlands called in Iran‘s envoy over suspicions that Iran was behind two assassination attempts.
An Iranian foreign ministry official described the Dutch accusation as “laughable” and based on “suspicions or assumptions,” according to IRNA.
“It is regrettable that the Dutch diplomatic apparatus acts so easily on speculations injected by its security bodies and the Zionist regime [Israel], and even summons the Iranian ambassador over such an absurd fabrication,” the official, Alireza Yousefi, was quoted as saying.
The Netherlands summoned Iran‘s ambassador after the Dutch intelligence agency, known as the AIVD, said in its annual report published on Thursday that it was likely Iran was behind two assassination attempts in the Netherlands and Spain.
Two men were arrested in June 2024 in the Dutch town of Haarlem after an assassination attempt on an Iranian residing in the country, the report said.
One of the suspects was also believed to have been behind the failed assassination attempt on Spanish politician and Iran critic Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid in November 2023, it said.
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