Links to EIGHT reports: from Middle East Eye, National Public Radio, the Cradle, and Middle East Monitor, and to commentaries from Informed Comment (via ScheerPost) and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for UKRAINE and IRAN, and down for LEBANON 6-1-26.) — MCM
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Fresh round of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire talks begin in Washington. From Middle East Eye. Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that the fourth-round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel have begun, at the U.S. State Department headquarters in Washington. Meanwhile . . . READ MORE . . .
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Trump says he urged Israel, Hezbollah to hold fire as tensions in Lebanon rise. Reported by Aya Batrawy and A Martínez | NPR President Trump says he asked Israel to delay attacking Beirut and urged Hezbollah to hold fire. The effort comes as Iran halts talks with the U.S. amid Israel’s expanding invasion of Lebanon. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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‘Neck-deep in the Lebanese mud’: Israel in meltdown after Netanyahu cancels Beirut strikes. From the Cradle. Israeli media outlets and officials have erupted in anger over US President Donald Trump’s unilateral ceasefire announcement between Hezbollah and Israel – with settlers from the north complaining that they remain “ducks in a shooting range.” READ MORE . . .
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FROM JUNE 1 Iran warns Israeli settlers to evacuate north if bombs drop inside Beirut. From the Cradle. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters on 1 June warned residents of northern Israeli settlements to evacuate if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu carries out his threat to bomb Beirut. READ MORE . . .
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‘Everybody hates you,’ Trump yells at Netanyahu over Lebanon escalation: report. From Middle East Eye. U. S. President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is “fucking crazy” and that “everybody hates Israel,” after Iran suspended peace talks over Tel Aviv’s plans to renew an assault on the Lebanese capital, Beirut. READ MORE . . .
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Iran seeks ceasefire across Lebanon, Ghalibaf tells Berri. From Middle East Monitor. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri during a phone call that Tehran is determined to secure a ceasefire across all of Lebanon, including the south. READ MORE . . .
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U.S. pressures Oman to sever ties with Iran: report. From the Cradle. White House officials are pressuring Oman to distance itself from Tehran and sever diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, allegedly growing “increasingly frustrated” with Muscat’s neutral stance, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing U.S. and Arab officials. READ MORE . . .
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FROM JUNE 1 Despite Trump’s ceasefire talk, Netanyahu says Israeli forces will continue offensive in southern Lebanon: report. From Middle East Monitor. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday evening that army troops will continue ongoing offensive in southern Lebanon, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MAY 31 South Lebanon’s history of resistance, by Juan Cole | Informed Comment / ScheerPost The Israeli destruction of south Lebanon, with Bint Jbeil having been apparently wiped off the face of the earth, and some of Nabatieh in ruins as Israeli troops besiege it, is only the latest way in which the outside world has shaped this region, as Karim Eid-Sabbagh argued in a fine paper. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MAY 28 A Lebanese ‘Lahad Army’ to disarm Hezbollah? by Mohamad Shams Eddine | The Cradle The mere circulation of a plan to form a special unit inside the Lebanese Armed Forces, tasked with pursuing and disarming the resistance movement, has not been received in Beirut as a technical security idea. READ MORE . . .
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