House Passes Bipartisan Resolution To Throw Rashida Tlaib's Latest Anti-Israel Tantrum In The Congressional Trash

WASHINGTON—In a development so shocking it briefly caused Capitol Hill to malfunction like a government website on tax day, the House of Representatives actually accomplished something useful Tuesday. Democrats and Republicans united in rare harmony to take the anti-Semitic Rep. Rashida Tlaib's latest anti-Israel performance art piece, escort it gently but firmly to the nearest legislative Port-o-Potty, and set it on fire.

Tlaib's war powers resolution, aimed at handcuffing U.S. military involvement in Lebanon, went down in a solid bipartisan 235-189 vote. Twenty-two Democrats bravely jumped ship from the Michigan congresswoman, joining nearly every Republican in opposition. 

In Washington terms, that's the equivalent of the entire room agreeing the fire alarm isn't just another progressive policy proposal.

The measure would have banned U.S. forces from any "hostilities" in Lebanon, a pressing issue if America were, you know, actually fighting there. But facts remain stubbornly uncooperative with Tlaib's worldview, i.e., that the Jewish state needs to be eliminated.

One lonely Republican dissenter was the execrable Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, whose foreign policy instincts continue to spin wildly like a compass next to an industrial magnet. Time to vote him out.

Michigan's premier anti-Israel activist cosplaying as a member of Congress tried to limit military authority in a nation where America isn't conducting combat operations. It's roughly as urgent as demanding emergency legislation to stop astronauts from invading Saskatchewan.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and most Democrats voted to tie President Donald Trump's hands on using force in Lebanon without congressional permission. Of course, Jeffries had opposed an earlier version of Tlaib's scheme, proving once again that consistency in the Democratic Party is treated like an optional accessory, right next to "supporting the troops."

The whole thing was a concurrent resolution, carrying all the legal weight of a strongly worded Facebook post. Even if it passed, it would never have reached President Trump's desk for a signature, veto, or well-deserved eye-roll.

Tlaib, Congress's only Palestinian American member and Israel's most dedicated congressional tormentor, has spent years accusing the Jewish state of "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza and Lebanon. Republicans correctly note that her laser focus on condemning Israel while giving Hezbollah a rhetorical free pass amounts to providing comfort to an Iranian-backed terrorist outfit.

Strangely missing from Tlaib's resolution was any condemnation of Hezbollah, the terror group that has spent years rocketing Israeli civilians and turning southern Lebanon into its personal launchpad. Apparently the actual people firing rockets at school buses deserve less congressional attention than the country daring to defend itself.

Earlier this month, Tlaib pushed an even broader version that critics said could have forced U.S. personnel guarding the American Embassy to abandon their posts and crippled aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces fighting actual terrorists. Even by Washington standards, siding against the non-terrorist side is a special kind of genius.

After that flop, she rolled out a revised version with polite exemptions for diplomatic security and training Lebanese troops. Nothing says "principled stand" like frantically editing your legislation after everyone reads the first draft and recoils in horror.

Republicans rightly wondered why Congress was wasting time stopping a war America isn't fighting.

"There are not U.S. combat forces conducting operations or engaged in hostilities in Lebanon," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, (R-FL), said during debate. "They are training the Lebanese Armed Forces."

"Why are they training?" Mast continued. "Because there's probably at least 40,000, probably more, Hezbollah terrorists spread across the South of Lebanon that are actively engaged in targeting Israel and have been doing so for many years."

Brian Mast

Mast went further, correctly labeling supporters of the resolution as "proxies for Hezbollah," a remark unlikely to earn him a Christmas card from the Squad.

Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY), defended the pointless exercise by claiming it would prevent America from entering "another forever war that is not in our national interest."

A noble thought, if only the United States were actually in a war in Lebanon. Instead, Congress spent the afternoon solemnly debating how to stop a ghost from invading a house it never entered, while Hezbollah kept doing what it does best: trying to annihilate Israel and counting on enough useful idiots in Washington to stay distracted by imaginary American aggression. 

At least this time, sanity prevailed. Barely.

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Hezbollah Furious That Lebanon Might Stop Letting Hezbollah Run Lebanon

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem is having a rough weekend. The terror group's secretary general blasted the newly signed Israel-Lebanon framework agreement as "null," a "humiliation," and an outrageous assault on the sacred tradition of heavily armed militias operating their own private state inside another state.

Apparently, nothing says "national sovereignty" quite like taking orders from Tehran while stockpiling rockets in civilian neighborhoods.

Speaking on Saturday, Qassem declared that any effort to tie Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Hezbollah giving up its arsenal crossed "all red lines." Translation: Israel is expected to leave, but Hezbollah is expected to keep enough missiles to redecorate northern Israel whenever the mood strikes.

“We say to the Lebanese authorities, it is time for you to retract your sins that are destroying Lebanon,” Qassem asserted.

That is certainly one way to describe the situation. Another would be to ask whether the organization that has dragged Lebanon into repeated wars, frightened away investors, and treated the country's sovereignty like an optional suggestion is perhaps looking in the wrong mirror.

The framework agreement, signed Friday by the United States, Israel, and Lebanon after days of negotiations in Washington, lays out a step by step plan to dismantle Hezbollah's terrorist infrastructure, disarm the group, and allow the IDF to withdraw from southern Lebanon as the threat disappears.

In other words, somebody finally proposed the radical idea that a country's army should be the country's army.

The agreement also calls for the United States to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces so the nation's military, instead of an Iranian proxy, can provide security within Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the deal, calling it “a major achievement for the State of Israel” in a public address.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the agreement as “the first step on the path to restoring Lebanon's sovereignty” in a post on X.

Qassem, meanwhile, appears to believe Lebanese sovereignty is best preserved by ensuring Hezbollah remains more heavily armed than the Lebanese government itself. It is a fascinating constitutional theory, albeit one that seems to exist nowhere outside the offices of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

For years Hezbollah has insisted it is merely defending Lebanon. Now that someone has suggested Lebanon might defend itself, Hezbollah suddenly finds the proposal deeply offensive.

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IDF takes over Hezbollah tunnel with all kinds of prizes

The discovery of yet another vast Hezbollah tunnel complex in southern Lebanon serves as a reminder of a reality that many in the international community prefer to ignore. While diplomats speak endlessly of ceasefires, resolutions, and understandings, Hezbollah has spent years doing something rather more concrete: preparing for war. 

[Source: The Jerusalem Post.]

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that soldiers from the 91st Division's 551st Brigade had seized a massive Hezbollah tunnel in Majdal Zoun, roughly 10 kilometers inside southern Lebanon. The underground facility stretched some 200 meters in length and descended 25 meters below the surface. Most significantly, it contained four rocket-launching shafts that had been repeatedly used to target Israeli communities.

The tunnel's design highlights the sophistication of Hezbollah's military infrastructure. The launch shafts were reportedly difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate through airstrikes alone. By taking direct control of the site, Israeli forces were able to neutralize a threat that had been carefully concealed beneath the ground and beyond the reach of conventional aerial operations.

During the operation, the IDF said it killed 20 Hezbollah terrorists, including 10 members of the elite Radwan Force. Israeli troops also seized or destroyed approximately 50 pieces of terrorist infrastructure and weaponry, including drones, anti-tank missiles, munitions stockpiles, and observation posts.

Footage released by the military revealed a striking arsenal hidden beneath Lebanese soil, including large rockets capable of striking deep into Israeli territory. Additional video from the Yahalom special unit of the Combat Engineering Corps showed a labyrinthine complex consisting of 12 separate rooms and operational sections, underscoring the scale of Hezbollah's preparations.

It is difficult to reconcile such discoveries with the persistent fiction that Hezbollah is merely a political movement. No political party requires a subterranean military network complete with rocket-launching facilities, anti-tank weaponry, and specialized assault units. These are the tools of an organization preparing for conflict on a significant scale.

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir visited troops in southern Lebanon and offered a blunt assessment of the current situation.

“The ceasefire that was announced is shaky, and we need to be ready with the highest preparedness to renew our military actions, and to thwart the threats, including quickly transitioning to go on the attack if required.”

“All of the IDF’s resources are dedicated to this,” he added.

Zamir's remarks reflect a lesson Israel learned at immense cost on October 7. The belief that hostile forces can be deterred indefinitely while they continue to arm themselves, entrench themselves, and prepare for war has proven disastrously false.

According to Zamir, Israeli forces have succeeded in placing Hezbollah on the defensive not only around Majdal Zoun but also in strategically significant areas such as Ali Taher Ridge and Beaufort Castle, where additional tunnel networks and terrorist infrastructure have been targeted.

He also praised the soldiers of the 401st Armored Brigade, which has suffered the loss of several senior commanders in recent months, for maintaining operational readiness across multiple fronts.

The broader significance of the operation extends beyond the destruction of a single tunnel. Every such discovery exposes the enormous discrepancy between Hezbollah's public posture and its actual conduct. While international actors repeatedly urge restraint upon Israel, Hezbollah continues to invest extraordinary resources into military fortifications, offensive capabilities, and preparations for future conflict.

The question is not why Israel continues to dismantle such infrastructure. The more pressing question is why the existence of these elaborate networks continues to surprise anyone.

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Hezbollah Shatters Ceasefire Within Hours, Confirming the Nature of the Conflict

There are moments in the Middle East when reality cuts through diplomatic fantasy with remarkable speed. The latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be one of them.

Less than a day after a ceasefire agreement was announced, Hezbollah launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli Defense Forces personnel operating in southern Lebanon. According to the IDF, the attack constituted a "blatant ceasefire violation," exposing once again the gulf between international hopes for peace and the conduct of an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for such agreements.

Israel responded by targeting Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure throughout southern Lebanon, including rocket launch positions, weapons depots, and command centers. The IDF emphasized that it remains committed to the ceasefire while making clear that it will continue to "remove any threat posed to the State of Israel and IDF soldiers."

The episode raises an obvious question that far too many observers continue to avoid: what exactly is a ceasefire worth when one side regards it as a tactical inconvenience rather than a binding commitment?

Israel's Arabic-language military spokesperson, Col. Ella Waweya, stated that calm could be restored if Hezbollah ceased its hostile activities and stopped violating existing agreements. She noted that Israel's security presence in southern Lebanon is intended to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and eliminate threats to Israeli citizens, not to target civilians.

Yet Hezbollah's own statements leave little room for ambiguity. Earlier Saturday, the organization acknowledged targeting Israeli soldiers and declared that it would "not hesitate to confront any attempt by Israel to seize land in Lebanon" despite claiming a continued "commitment to the ceasefire."

The contradiction is revealing. One cannot simultaneously violate a ceasefire and profess fidelity to it. Yet this sort of doublethink has become commonplace among groups that understand that much of the international community is willing to overlook actions that would be condemned without hesitation if carried out by a democratic state.

A senior Hezbollah official told Reuters that the group would not allow Israel "freedom of movement" in what it described as "occupied Lebanese territory." Such rhetoric is familiar. It serves not as a path toward stability but as a justification for perpetual confrontation.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army accused Israel of carrying out "brutal attacks" designed to prevent stability from returning to Lebanon. The statement, posted on social media, claimed Israeli operations had caused casualties, property damage, and the death of a Lebanese soldier.

This narrative has become equally familiar. Hezbollah launches attacks. Israel responds. International attention then shifts rapidly from the original act of aggression to criticism of the Israeli response. The sequence repeats so often that many observers no longer seem to notice it.

Lebanon's state news agency reported that at least ten people were killed in Sidon following Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple sites in southern Lebanon. As always in such conflicts, the human cost is tragic, yet any serious discussion of that cost must begin with the organization that chose to violate a ceasefire almost immediately after it took effect.

The broader regional implications are equally concerning. Iranian officials reportedly linked their decision to close the Strait of Hormuz to developments in Lebanon, while Iran's General Staff threatened missile strikes against Israel if what it called Israeli "aggression against Lebanon continues."

Such threats underscore the reality that Hezbollah is not merely a local Lebanese actor. It remains a central component of Iran's regional strategy, operating as an extension of Tehran's influence and military ambitions.

The ceasefire itself had only just been announced. An Israeli source confirmed that an agreement had been reached between Israel and Hezbollah, while a senior American official told Reuters that the arrangement would take effect Friday afternoon. According to reports, American and Qatari negotiators helped broker the deal with assistance from Iran.

Whether that agreement survives Hezbollah's actions is now an open question.

What is not in question is the lesson once again provided by events on the ground. Peace agreements can be signed in conference rooms, celebrated in diplomatic circles, and praised by international mediators. But they remain meaningless if one side views them as optional.

As an IDF spokesperson observed Friday, "Recent events have made one thing clear: IDF soldiers must stand between Hezbollah and Israeli civilians."

The events of the past twenty-four hours have done little to challenge that assessment.

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Internal Security Minister says "All of Lebanon must burn" after 4 IDF soldiers killed

Ben-Gvir wears a hangman's noose pin to back the Death to Terrorists bill,
Monday, December 8, 2025 (Otzma Yehudit)

The death of four Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon on Friday has once again exposed a widening divide between those who must confront the realities of war and those who prefer to theorize about it from a safe distance . . . like most politicians and pundits do.

Among the dead was Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, commander of Battalion 52, along with three of his soldiers. Their deaths came after an attack by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization that has spent decades embedding itself within Lebanon while threatening Israel's northern border. 

Lt. Col. Ben Simhon

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the battalion commander's tank was struck shortly after midnight. Military investigators are still determining whether the attack involved an explosive device or a drone launched by Hezbollah operatives.

The losses prompted a furious response from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who correctly argued that Israel's enemies must be made to understand the consequences of attacking the Jewish state.

"With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn," Ben-Gvir said.

His remarks arrived at a particularly sensitive moment. Senior American officials have increasingly expressed frustration with Israel's continued military operations to defend itself. Israel is, of course, opposed to the MoU signed by President Trump on Wednesday that pretends to bring an end to the conflict with Iran, a country that hopes to bring back the 12th imam and totally annihilate Israel and Jews worldwide.

One provision of the MoU extends the ceasefire to Lebanon, a condition that many Israeli officials regard with deep skepticism, knowing the 12th imam thingy and that anti-Semitism situation.

Their concern is totally rational. 

Hezbollah remains heavily armed, deeply entrenched, and openly committed to Israel's destruction. To many Israelis, any arrangement that leaves that reality fundamentally unchanged appears less like a peace agreement than a temporary pause, as anyone with a functioning cortex would agree with.

Yet in an interview with The New York Times, Vice President JD Vance appeared dismissive of such concerns.

"There is this weird panic almost in the Israeli system that I've picked up on, where they assume that everything that is contemplated that is good for Iran will happen, but that will happen without the Iranians changing any behavior. And I just don't know why anybody would think that's true," Vance, who is not a Jew nor lives in Israel said.

It is a curious observation. After all, modern Israeli skepticism did not emerge in a vacuum. It was shaped by decades of experience with adversaries who routinely violated agreements, exploited ceasefires, and treated diplomatic concessions as opportunities for strategic regrouping. What some observers characterize as panic, others might call memory.

Vance acknowledged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not publicly criticized the memorandum but pointed to figures such as Ben-Gvir who had done so.

"It's clear that large segments of the Israeli political system and population are very sensitive about this deal," he said. "But I also think they're picking up on some misinformation about the deal and running with it and sort of panicking about it."

The vice president then offered a challenge to Israeli critics.

"I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You're a country of nine million people. You can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have."

The question is fair enough. Yet it is equally fair to ask what alternatives are available when a neighboring terrorist army repeatedly attacks your citizens while openly declaring its intention to destroy your country. Nations do not choose the threats they face. They must deal with the threats that actually exist.

President Trump also voiced dissatisfaction with Israel's conduct in Lebanon during the G7 conference. After all, the terrorists crossed their hearts and promised to never kill anyone anymore.

"We have a little dispute over Lebanon," Trump told reporters. "I say, 'You can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don't have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that's from Hezbollah.'"

Such comments reflect a familiar tension in Western policymaking. Leaders far from the battlefield understandably desire restraint and stability. Those living within range of Hezbollah rockets tend to place a higher premium on security, unlike politicians. The challenge, as always, is that while diplomatic agreements can be signed in conference rooms, the consequences of failure are paid for on the front lines.

For Israel, the deaths of Lt. Col. Ben Shimhon and his fellow soldiers serve as a stark reminder that Hezbollah remains a lethal threat. Any discussion of ceasefires, memorandums, or regional diplomacy must begin with that reality rather than attempt to wish it away.

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Congress Forced To Pause Entire Government After Rashida Tlaib Suffers Severe Emotional Damage From Mean Words

Tlaib famously able to touch her nose with her lips

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives was thrown into a veritable clusterfrack this week after Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), reportedly suffered a critical outbreak of democracy when Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), said things out loud that weren’t pre-approved by congressional sensitivity coordinators.

The dramatic scene unfolded during debate over a Lebanon war powers resolution, where Tlaib accused Israel of committing atrocities while demanding the United States stop supporting America’s closest ally in the Middle East.

"We must end U.S. participation in the Israeli apartheid regime’s invasion of Lebanon. The Israeli military continues to target journalists like Amal Khalil and use our tax dollars to commit war crimes," said Tlaib.

At that point, Miller apparently made the grave error of responding.

"Its members are butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent," charged Miller. "Yes, you advocate for terrorists on a daily basis. You advocate for a terrorist regime every single day."

Witnesses say the Capitol immediately entered DEFCON 1 after a Republican criticized a Democrat too directly.

Tlaib reportedly shouted across the chamber, though congressional stenographers were unable to translate the remarks because they were delivered at the frequency usually associated with malfunctioning smoke detectors.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are we getting a little emotional?" chided Miller.

Congressional sources confirmed this sentence caused more destruction to the institution than the national debt, insider trading, and 40 years of continuing resolutions combined.

Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) desperately attempted to restore order before the House descended into full therapy session.

"Colleagues, this is a serious topic. We will debate it respectfully and deliberately," admonished Obernolte.

Tlaib then invoked the sacred congressional ritual known as "words taken down," a process originally created so lawmakers could survive exposure to opposing opinions.

"Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am. That is a direct attack on my character. I please request to strike the words down," said Tlaib.

The House immediately suspended all legislative activity while officials launched an emergency investigation into whether anyone’s feelings had been insufficiently validated.

For nearly an hour, Congress halted debate, amendments, and votes to determine whether Miller’s remarks violated the chamber’s strict rules prohibiting members from saying what everyone just heard them say.

Eventually, Obernolte ruled against Miller.

"The words of the gentleman from Ohio contain an allegation that the gentlewoman from Michigan is a ‘butcher’ and affiliated with a terrorist organization," said Obernolte. "Such remarks impugn the patriotism and loyalty of the member of the House."

The ruling effectively sentenced Miller to congressional solitary confinement for the remainder of the day, though lawmakers noted that punishment still falls short of forcing him to watch MSNBC.

But Republicans were not backing down.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) delivered a message from Miller after House leadership confiscated his speaking privileges like a middle-school principal taking away a vape pen.

"‘Yes, I said it. I own it. And I stand by it,’" Mast declared.

Mast then attempted to enter articles regarding Tlaib’s alleged associations into the congressional record, but Tlaib objected faster than CNN fact-checkers during a Trump speech.

Meanwhile, lawmakers also discussed whether artificial intelligence could someday referee congressional disputes.

"AI is actually very good at this," said Obernolte. "You give it a rules manual and then you give it a specific instance and say ‘Is this in compliance with rules or is this a violation of the rules?’"

Experts agreed Congress would likely embrace AI immediately once they discovered it could automatically censor Republicans without requiring overtime from parliamentary staff.

At press time, House Democrats were reportedly drafting new rules prohibiting "microaggressions," "hostile eye contact," and "excessive disagreement."

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Israel and Iran announced Monday that they would stop attacking each other, bringing a temporary end to the Middle East’s newest round of “No, YOU calm down first.”

AI Generated

Israel has decided to stop its attacks on Iran following pressure from President Trump and ongoing ceasefire negotiations, according to Israeli and regional officials cited by the Times of Israel.

Sources say the arrangement was reached after both countries simultaneously realized they were running low on missiles and emotionally exhausted government spokesmen who claimed they were "too pooped to pop."

A regional official said the United States informed Iran there would be no further Israeli strikes if Tehran halted its missile attacks. Iran later announced it would stop attacks if Israel ended its offensive, marking the first time in modern diplomacy that two enemies settled a conflict with the international equivalent of “Fine, whatever.” 

Anyone with a functioning cortex knows this is only a temporary ceasefire and Iran will be the first to break it when they think Trump is looking elsewhere.

An Israeli official told Hebrew media that the decision to pause strikes came at Trump's request, reportedly after the president spent several hours on the phone saying, “Guys, seriously, knock it off. I’m trying to enjoy my Monday, and the Knicks are leading in the finals.”

At the same time, the official stressed that Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon will continue, because apparently the Middle East still believes in having side quests.

“The sense is that this round of fighting is behind us,” the official said. “We are awaiting a final decision from the political leadership.”

Citizens across the region celebrated the news by cautiously checking whether anyone meant it this time, deciding those chances are about equal to finding a beached whale in Times Square.

The development comes after Iran launched its first direct missile attack on Israel since the ceasefire took effect, prompting Israeli retaliatory strikes on military targets inside Iran and reminding the world that ceasefires in the region often come with optional terms and conditions.

According to reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump spoke by phone Monday before Tehran signaled it was prepared to halt attacks if Israel ceased operations tied to the latest escalation.

At publishing time, both nations had reportedly resumed yelling at each other online and fired off offensive emojis.

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US hits Iran radar sites after Iranian drones fired at Bahrain and Kuwait

 
The Middle East, once again, teeters on the edge of a wider conflagration, and once again the world is forced to confront the grim arithmetic of escalation. 

Overnight, U.S. Central Command intercepted six Iranian ballistic missiles fired toward Kuwait and Bahrain after American forces carried out retaliatory strikes on Iranian radar installations in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. According to CENTCOM, six of the seven missiles were intercepted, while the seventh failed to reach its target. 

Before that exchange, American forces had already downed four Iranian one-way attack drones headed toward the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow maritime chokepoint through which so much of the world’s energy supply precariously flows.

The significance of these events should not be understated. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the vital arteries of the global economy. Any attempt by Tehran to menace shipping lanes there is designed as a message to the world that Iran retains the ability to inject instability into international commerce whenever it chooses.

Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst reported from Dubai that Iran launched the missile barrage toward the Gulf allies after CENTCOM’s retaliatory operations against the radar sites. “Officials in Kuwait are describing those recent overnight strikes here in the Gulf as a serious escalation,” Paul said on “Fox Report.” And indeed they are. The phrase “serious escalation” has become so overused in modern diplomacy that it risks sounding almost procedural, but what we are witnessing is the steady collapse of deterrence into direct confrontation.

Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman offered perhaps the clearest reading of Tehran’s strategy. Iran, he said, appears intent on trying to “drive up the costs of the war” for the United States by threatening trade through Hormuz, escalating Hezbollah attacks against Israel, and targeting America’s Gulf allies. “Iran feels like that gives them added leverage,” Hoffman noted, particularly as domestic political pressure builds ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

That observation cuts to the heart of the matter. The Iranian regime has long understood that its conventional military power cannot rival that of the United States. Its strength instead lies in asymmetry, in creating sufficient instability, uncertainty, and attrition that Western governments begin asking whether the cost of resistance exceeds the cost of accommodation. It is a strategy built not on victory in the traditional sense, but on exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the regional situation continues to deteriorate on multiple fronts. Israel launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon that reportedly killed nine people, including members of the Lebanese army, only days after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon had raised hopes, however faint, that tensions might temporarily subside. In the modern Middle East, ceasefires increasingly resemble intermissions rather than conclusions.

President Donald Trump, speaking on the state of Iran’s military capabilities, claimed the regime now possesses only “21%-22%” of the missile arsenal it held prior to the U.S. strikes in February. Whether or not that estimate proves entirely accurate, it reveals the administration’s underlying calculation, namely that sustained military pressure can substantially degrade Tehran’s offensive capacity. Yet history offers repeated warnings about assuming that diminished capability necessarily translates into diminished resolve.

For decades the Iranian regime has demonstrated a remarkable willingness to absorb punishment while continuing to pursue strategic objectives through proxies, missile campaigns, and regional destabilization. The danger now is not simply of one retaliatory strike leading to another. The danger is that every actor involved increasingly believes escalation itself may serve its interests better than restraint.

And that is the truly sobering reality. The Middle East is no longer witnessing isolated incidents, but the gradual knitting together of multiple conflicts into a single expanding crisis, one in which the margin for miscalculation grows thinner by the day.

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Israel and Lebanon agree on a US-brokerred deal to ceasefire

The Department of State on Wednesday announced that the United States has brokered a major ceasefire breakthrough between Israel and Lebanon.

One should pause at such a declaration. For decades the border between Israel and Lebanon has served as a theater of managed violence, where the ambitions of a distant theocracy in Tehran have been permitted to play out through the proxy army known as Hezbollah. Now, after negotiations that began on May 29 and culminated in a trilateral meeting held June 2-3, something resembling progress is claimed, but let's breathe.

“As a result of the U.S. led negotiations, Israel and Lebanon agreed to the implementation of a ceasefire,” the department said in a joint statement.

“Israel and Lebanon reaffirmed that they have no hostile intent toward one another and committed to continuing direct negotiations to build confidence, resolve all outstanding issues, and work toward a comprehensive agreement between the two countries.”

The conditions attached to this deal reveal its fragility and its realism. 

The agreement is conditional upon Hezbollah, that Iran-backed, Lebanon-based terrorist group, ceasing all attacks, withdrawing its fighters from southern Lebanon’s South Litani Sector, and preventing the re-emergence of non-state armed groups. Pilot zones are to be established under the exclusive control of the Lebanese Armed Forces. These measures, modest as they are, acknowledge a truth too often evaded in diplomatic circles: that Lebanon has for years been less a sovereign state than a hostage held by an Iranian militia.

“Hezbollah is not just an enemy of Israel and an enemy of America, but that it is an enemy of Lebanon,” officials said.

Here at last is language that refuses the usual equivocations. Hezbollah has bled Lebanon dry, turning a once-prosperous country into a launchpad for rockets and a pawn in regional conquest. Its disarmament and removal from the border are not optional extras in any serious peace process. They are the precondition for Lebanon’s own survival as anything other than a forward operating base for the Islamic Republic.

Both sides are scheduled to meet again during the week of June 22 to continue negotiations toward a comprehensive peace treaty. Any permanent agreement to end hostilities must be reached directly between the two governments and brokered by the U.S., the department added.Whether this fragile framework holds will depend on something rarely discussed in the polite language of State Department statements: the willingness of the West to enforce consequences when Iran and its proxies test the limits, as they inevitably will. 

Ceasefires between Israel and its neighbors have too often served only as pauses for rearmament. This one, if it is to mean anything, must mark the beginning of Hezbollah’s strategic defeat and the slow reclamation of Lebanese sovereignty. The stakes could scarcely be higher, for Israel’s security, for Lebanon’s future, and for the credibility of American diplomacy in a region that has learned to measure resolve by deeds rather than declarations.

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Hundreds of Hezbollah scumcrumpets killed in 24 hours before Israel-Lebanon ceasefire kicked in

(photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

The IDF just dropped a bombshell update that shows exactly how hard they were hammering Hezbollah right up until the ceasefire kicked in.

In the final 24 hours before the truce took effect, the Israeli military killed hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists and struck around 300 infrastructure targets used by the terror group. That included launchers, command centers, and weapons storage facilities scattered across Lebanon.

"More than 150 Hezbollah terrorists were killed," the IDF statement revealed, along with those massive infrastructure hits. One of the key figures taken out was Ali Reza Abbas, the commander of Hezbollah's unit in Bint Jbeil. That southern Lebanese town has long been a major Hezbollah stronghold, and it is where the IDF's Division 98 has been locked in heavy fighting lately.

"Additional commanders in the terror organization were also eliminated," the IDF added.

Abbas was not just directing attacks against Israeli forces in the area. He had a long history of involvement in terror plots targeting military personnel, especially during Operation Roaring Lion. He also played a role in trying to bolster Hezbollah's presence in Bint Jbeil.

In a separate push, the IDF's 91st Division teamed up with the Israeli Air Force for an operation in the southern Lebanese town of Dibbin just before the ceasefire.

They struck over 70 targets and killed more than 20 terrorists in that strike alone.

Since Operation Roaring Lion launched in late February, the IDF says it has taken out more than 1,800 Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon. Not exactly the kind of scorecard that suggests the terror group is in any position to claim victory.

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IAF devastates Hezbollah: more destruction than 2024 pager attack

Hezbollah, that kooky, crazy, Iran-backed terrorist outfit, saw its command structure across Lebanon take one of the most devastating blows of the war on April 8.

Nearly simultaneously, explosions ripped through Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon as roughly 50 Israeli aircraft hammered more than 100 Hezbollah targets, blowing many top terrorists into kibbles and bits.

These were not rocket launchers or weapons depots, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Instead, the IDF went after the nerve centers: command rooms, intelligence headquarters and the offices where Hezbollah commanders sat around planning their next round of murder, until shock and awe sent them straight to their celestial goat farm.

The strike marked a new phase in the war between Israel and the Hezbollonians, which kicked off March 2 after the scumcrumpets jumped in to help Iran the day after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Since then, Hezbollah has been lobbing rockets, drones and anti-tank missiles into northern Israel, and sometimes just down the road, while Israel has answered with ever-widening airstrikes and a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

"Within only a minute, the IDF eliminated 250 Hezbollah terrorists in three areas simultaneously," the Israeli military said in a statement, adding that the assessment is still ongoing.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesman, told Fox News Digital the strike was the result of weeks of intelligence work.

Israeli intelligence agencies had tracked Hezbollah operatives as they shuffled between apartments, offices and safe houses across Lebanon, no longer loving death more than normal people love life.

"The timing had to do with the preparations," Shoshani said. "There was weeks of amazing intelligence."

Asked whether the operation showed Israel still has deep penetration inside Hezbollah despite months of war, Shoshani pointed to the sheer scale of the attack, and one might have noticed a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth.

"The fact that we were able to find 250 terrorists hiding in different locations in Lebanon, many of them in locations for recent weeks, eliminating them in real time, I think the capabilities speak for themselves," he said. The smile grew almost into a grin.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned Wednesday's strikes because he is no fan of Israel and some might say he's a Jew-hating weasel.

"The scale of the killing and destruction in Lebanon today is nothing short of horrific," said United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk. "Such carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief."

But let us be perfectly clear: There is no active ceasefire specifically between Israel and Hezbollah as of mid-April 2026. Diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon have begun or are scheduled, but Israel has rejected pausing operations until Hezbollah is sufficiently degraded. Iran and some others argue the U.S.-Iran truce should extend to Lebanon; Israel and the U.S. disagree. One ceasefire does not translate to a different ceasefire with different operators.

Of course Hezbollah and other terrorist groups would never fire rockets at Israel in the sheer hope of killing Jews during an actual ceasefire, would they?

"This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases," Hezbollah said in a statement. It must have been backwards Wednesday when he said that.

The strike drew comparisons to the "beeper" operation back in September 2024, when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria in an operation widely attributed to Israel. Many men received transgender transformations when their device went off.

The blasts killed more than 40 people and wounded roughly 4,000, according to Lebanese authorities, while Hezbollah later admitted that about 1,500 fighters were taken out of action. That operation shattered Hezbollah's communications network and set the gold standard in Israel for a strike that actually changed the battlefield.

"The beeper had more . . .  effective injuries. That was the purpose of it," Shoshani said. "But both targeted hundreds of terrorists and within 60 seconds."

Like the beeper operation, he said, the April 8 strike was meant not just to kill terrorists but to throw Hezbollah into complete disarray and create a state of confusion.

"It was important to the aspect of creating disarray, of breaking their chain of command, breaking their command and patrol capabilities and kind of tilting the organization out of balance," he said. A former Israeli intelligence official, speaking on background, said the strike may not have reached the level of the beeper operation, but it appeared to hit an unusually broad layer of Hezbollah's middle ranks.

Hezbollah remains in shock from the blow, according to the former official, even if that has not yet shown up in a drop in its haphazard rocket fire.

But he cautioned against judging the operation only by the body count. The real measure, he said, is whether the strike changes the course of the war and leaves Hezbollah less able to operate.

The IDF said many of those killed were members of Hezbollah's Radwan Force, the group's most capable and best-trained combat unit, along with its intelligence apparatus, missile units and aerial Unit 127.

The Israeli military noted that most of the targets were embedded inside civilian areas where the IDF is inclined not to return fire when engaged in combat, unless it's known the civilians have evacuated."Most of the infrastructure that was struck was located within the heart of the civilian population," the IDF said.

Shoshani said Israel warned civilians to evacuate before the strikes, but Hezbollah simply moved its operatives into new civilian locations. They like to use schools and hospitals if available.

"When we gave the warnings for areas, civilians moved out, then Hezbollah saw that they moved out and started hiding behind civilians in new locations," he said.

Despite the hit, Israeli officials say Hezbollah remains a major threat. Shoshani said the group, which before the war possessed between 150,000 and 200,000 rockets and missiles, still has the ability to fire into Israel.

"They still are a real threat for our civilians," he said.

The strike comes as Israel and Lebanon opened their first direct talks in more than three decades at the U.S. State Department in Washington.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has signaled willingness to discuss normalization and the eventual disarmament of Hezbollah, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no ceasefire until Hezbollah is dismantled and pushed back from the border.

Within hours of that diplomatic opening, Israeli warplanes struck Lebanon again and Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel.

Because that's how these people operate. Always.

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Hezbollah terrorists killed, 2 IDF troops slightly wounded in close quarter combat

Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded on Thursday during a close-quarters engagement in southern Lebanon during which the troops killed a Hezbollah terrorist, the IDF said.

The engagement came amid a “targeted ground operation” conducted by the 162nd Division to bolster the military’s forward position in the country, the IDF added.

Soldiers in the area also located "numerous weapons, including rifles, vests, grenades, and additional weapons," the IDF said.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that there was no end in sight to the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Katz to Hezbollah chief Qassem: You will 'not live to see' Israel’s full response

Amid the operations, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem that he would not live to see the extent of the “very heavy price” the group would pay for its earlier attacks on Israel during Passover, saying he would be “at the bottom of hell” alongside slain members of Iran and its proxy network.

Katz’s comments came following a Thursday situational assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top military officials at “the pit,” the IDF’s command center beneath the Kiyra military compound. IDF soldiers are seen operating in southern Lebanon, April 1, 2026.Earlier that morning, military sources said that the IDF had begun demolishing homes in southern Lebanese villages located along the border with Israel.

According to the sources, the houses targeted by the military were used by the Hezbollah terrorist group as bases to launch anti-tank fire and conduct reconnaissance of Israeli forces.The demolitions were being carried out in accordance with orders issued by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who last week instructed the IDF to begin destroying homes and bridges south of the Litani River.

"We have ordered an acceleration in the destruction of Lebanese homes in contact-line villages to neutralize threats to Israeli communities, in accordance with the model of Beit Hanun and Rafah in Gaza," Katz said at the time, adding that the military will continue to allow residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate northward.

IDF in Southern Lebanon April 1, 2026

IDF captures Hezbollah terrorists, sources observe 'low morale' among fightersEarlier, IDF divisions continued their ground incursion into southern Lebanon overnight on Wednesday, maneuvering deeper into Lebanese territory, security sources said.

Several Hezbollah fighters were detained as prisoners of war after surrendering to Israeli forces in the past 24 hours, sources added, saying they were transferred over for interrogation.IDF sources observed "low morale" among the terrorists who were captured, most from the capital, Beirut. Other fighters were said to have managed to flee north of the Litani River.Furthermore, the fighters were said to have employed heavy guerrilla warfare, using the demolished homes as hiding spots between rounds of fire aimed at Israeli troops.

Last week, defense sources told The Jerusalem Post that Israel plans to keep “effective control” of southern Lebanon even for an indefinite period after the current war ends, presuming that Hezbollah will not yet have disarmed.

IDF kills over 40 Hezbollah terrorists in last 24 hours

Later on Thursday, the IDF said that it had killed over 40 Hezbollah terrorists and struck dozens of terror infrastructure sites through air, naval, and ground operations in Lebanon.

"In the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of headquarters, weapons storage facilities, launch sites, and anti-tank missile positions. The Israeli Navy also conducted a precise strike targeting a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon," the military said.

Additionally, ground operations included an offensive from the 91st Division, which killed a Hezbollah terrorist cell in southern Lebanon, soldiers from the 36th Division engaging and killing three Hezbollah terrorists on motorcycles, the 146th Division dismantling over 180 terror infrastructure sites, and the 162nd Division locating numerous weapons.

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Iran strikes tanker off coast of Qatar, and Kuwait Airport and IDF kills 5 in Beirut attack

Iran hit a tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait International Airport early Wednesday as Tehran remained unrelenting in its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors, while acknowledging for the first time that Washington had been in direct contact about a possible ceasefire.

Israel sounded warnings of incoming fire from both Yemen and Iran, while launching its own attacks in Lebanon that killed at least five people.

An airstrike on Tehran appeared to have hit the former US Embassy compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since the 1979 hostage crisis. Witnesses said buildings outside the massive compound had their windows blown out and that it appears the strike happened inside the walled facility.
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.AP

With no sign of the war abating and more than 3,000 lives already lost, US President Donald Trump suggested it could be over within two weeks even as he moved to bring thousands more troops to the region.

No signs of Iran relinquishing grip on Strait of Hormuz shipping

Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as Iran’s grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on regional energy infrastructure have sent gas prices skyrocketing to their highest level since 2022 and caused broad stock market fluctuations.

Iran throttled ship traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, after it was attacked by the US and Israel on Feb. 28. In peacetime, a fifth of the world’s oil transits the strait and the spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, is up more than 40% since the start of the war, trading at more than $104 a barrel.

The US has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, which includes a demand for the strait to be reopened. Iran’s own five-point response includes it retaining sovereignty over the waterway, and Trump on Tuesday suggested that the war could be brought to an end even with Iran still controlling the strait.

The US “will not have anything to do with” what happens in the Strait of Hormuz, instead telling reporters that the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open would belong with countries that rely on it.
Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.AP

“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait,” Trump said.

It was not clear why Trump brought up France, since Europe receives very little oil shipped through the strait, with most going to Asian countries. The president plans a prime-time address on Wednesday.
Push for diplomatic solution showing little signs of progress

Trump, who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war, added that the US is “finishing the job” in Iran and predicted it will be “maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job.”

Trump has warned that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly,” and if the strait is not reopened, the US would broaden its offensive, including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.

Thousands of Marines and paratroopers have been ordered to the region in possible preparation for an assault in Kharg, though to reach the island by ship would mean transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, which Iran has threatened to mine.

In an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the US could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”

He warned against any attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”

“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi said.
Iran hits tanker off Qatar’s coast and attacks other Gulf states

Qatar was attacked with three cruise missiles early in the day, the Defense Ministry said. The country’s defenses intercepted two but the third slammed into an oil tanker off the coast, the Defense Ministry said. The 21-member crew of the tanker, contracted by state-owned QatarEnergy, were evacuated and no casualties were reported.

Israel’s rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.AP

A fully-loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.

In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when a drone was intercepted and debris hit him while he was working on a farm in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.

Bahrain sounded two alerts for incoming missiles, and said an Iranian attack had caused a fire at a business facility.

In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone had hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a “large fire” that crews were working to control.

Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia, which has come under repeated Iranian attack, and air raid sirens sounded in Israel though there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Israel hits Iranian fentanyl plant and kills 5 in strikes on Beirut

In Iran, Israel said it had hit a plant producing fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly be used in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used for medical purposes.

The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.

Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.

Two men ride scooters past charred debris at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.AP

Both Israel and the United States have alleged in recent years that Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions.

In Beirut, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another 21 people were wounded.

Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the wider war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
108

In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.

Since the Iran war began, 13 US service members have been killed and 348 wounded, six seriously, according to US Central Command.

More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank.

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