First, a link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for today’s LEBANON, SYRIA, WEST BANK, IRAN and UKRAINE so far, and for GAZA 8- -26.) — MCM

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Palestinians widely reject Hamas disarmament before full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza: report. From the Cradle. A new poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published on Wednesday found that 72 percent of Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas before Israel completes its withdrawal from the besieged Gaza Strip. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

A link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, SYRIA, WEST BANK, IRAN and UKRAINE, and down for LEBANON 8-11-26 .) — MCM

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FROM AUG. 13  Israeli troops conducting ‘deliberate’ arson campaign in south Lebanon. From the Cradle. Large fires continued to burn and spread in south Lebanon on Thursday due to continuous strikes, artillery shelling, and deliberate arson operations carried out by Israeli occupation forces illegally positioned inside the country. READ MORE . . .

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A link to a report from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, LEBANON, WEST BANK, IRAN and UKRAINE, and down for SYRIA 8-8-26.) — MCM

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Israeli minister says war with Syria is ‘absolute certainty.’ From Middle East Monitor. “Syria is Gaza on steroids, and that is the next war, with absolute certainty,” said Amichai Chikli Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister. “There is no avoiding it.” READ MORE . . .

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Links to reports from National Public Radio and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, LEBANON, SYRIA, IRAN and UKRAINE, and down for WEST BANK 8-13-26.) — MCM

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Mike Huckabee says Israeli settlers atacking West Bank homes are ‘terrorists.’ Reported by Frank Langfitt and Leila Fadel | NPR  Israeli settlers have besieged three homes in the occupied West Bank, including one owned by a Palestinian American. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to the settlers as “terrorists.” Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Israel to shift civilian enforcement in West Bank from army to police. From Middle East Eye. Israel is preparing to replace the army in the West Bank with civilian police forces, in a move seen as further advancing the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory. READ MORE . . .

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Links to three reports and an interview: from Middle East Eye, Reuters, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, LEBANON, SYRIA, WEST BANK and UKRAINE, and down for IRAN 8-13-26.) — MCM

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Iran formalizes Strait of Hormuz control as U.S. struggles to sustain war it launched with Israel, by Elis Gjevori | Middle East Eye  Iran has taken another step towards formalising its control of the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S. threatens unprecedented sanctions while struggling to sustain the war it launched alongside Israel. READ MORE . . .

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Hormuz traffic slows further after U.S. threatens more economic pressure on Iran. From Reuters. LONDON / PANAMA CITY — Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill today as two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade indefinitely. READ MORE . . .

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Two UAE tankers attacked while transiting Strait of Hormuz, and other news from the Middle East. From AP. The United Arab Emirates blamed Iran for firing drones at two tankers operated by a state-owned oil company as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, saying Friday that the attacks  on Thursday were acts of piracy. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

Links to three reports: from the Associated Press, the Moscow Times, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for today’s GAZA, LEBANON, SYRIA, WEST BANK and IRAN, and down for UKRAINE 8-13-26.) — MCM

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A link to a commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for today’s WEST BANK and COVID ETC., and for GAZA 8-10-26.) — MCM

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FROM AUG. 12  Why the world must force accountability on Gaza now, by Ramzy Baroud | Middle East Monitor  It is now official: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flatly rejected the core conditions of the Board of Peace framework, explicitly stating that Israel will neither adhere to a ceasefire nor withdraw its forces from Gaza. READ MORE . . .

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For now, links to six reports: from the Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, Reuters, and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA and COVID ETC so far, and down for WEST BANK 8-11-26.) — MCM

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Settler siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank a ‘horrific act of terror,’ U.S. ambassador says, by Sam Metz and Aref Tufaha | AP  QUSRA, West Bank — Israeli settlers have besieged three homes in the the occupied West Bank for several days, including one owned by a Palestinian American, in what U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee today called a “horrific act of terror.”  Click HERE for report including photos. Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. Click HERE for report from Middle East Monitor.

For now, links to a Congressional hearing via ScheerPost and to reports from National Review and the Associated Press; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for today’s GAZA and WEST BANK so far, and down for COVID ETC 8-4-26, or click HERE.) — MCM

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AUG. 12 and MAY 13  CIA whistleblower alleges officials manipulated Covid-19 origins assessment. Via ScheerPost. Subpoenaed former senior CIA official James Erdman III tells the Senate Homeland Security Committee that agency managers suppressed the judgments of experienced scientists and pressured analysts to abandon conclusions supporting a possible laboratory origin of Covid-19. Click HERE for print intro and video of hearing. Click HERE for report from National Review.

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FROM APRIL 19  How the search for the origins of Covid-19 turned politically poisonous, by Dake Kang and Maria Cheng | AP  BEIJING — The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months. Click HERE for report including photos.

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TO BE CONTINUED

For now, links to three reports: from the Cradle and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for today’s UKRAINE, IRAN and MEDIA so far, and for YEMEN 8-9-26.) — MCM

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Yemen targets Saudi assets with ballistic missiles, inflicts ‘dozens of casualties.’ From the Cradle. The Yemeni Armed Forces announced a series of new missile and drone strikes targeting Saudi troops and assets in southwestern Yemen, detailing the operations in a statement released on its official page late on Tuesday. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye, and HERE for Aug. 11 report from the Cradle.

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TO BE CONTINUED