A link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for IRAN, UKRAINE and LEBANON, and down for GAZA 6-13-26.) — MCM

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FROM JUNE 13  U.S. military begins construction of ‘huge base’ outside Gaza to oversee Trump’s colonization plan. From the Cradle. The U.S. military has begun constructing a “huge base” on the Gaza envelope to implement US President Donald Trump’s plan to “take over” the strip, Israel Hayom reported on Saturday. READ MORE . . .

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Links to reports from the Associated Press and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for IRAN, UKRAINE and GAZA, and down for LEBANON 6-13-26.) — MCM

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Israeli military strikes Beirut suburbs ahead of anticipated U.S.-Iran deal, by Julia Frankel, Abby Sewell, Munir Ahmed and Samy Magdy | AP  JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said it launched strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut today, potentially complicating efforts to finalize a deal to end the U.S.-Iran war. Smoke rose over the Lebanese capital, and the Civil Defense said it retrieved three bodies and six wounded people from the rubble. Iran threatened a military response. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.

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FROM JUNE 12  Syrian president pours cold water on U.S. claims of willingness to ‘enter’ Lebanon. From the Cradle. Syria’s self-appointed President and former Al-Qaeda chief Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Friday that talk of Damascus’s forces entering Lebanon was “rumors,” days after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Beirut with a Syrian military incursion. READ MORE . . .

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ADVISORY  Watch: The World This Week — ‘The U.S.A. vs. Israel,’ at 8 tonight EDT. Joe Lauria of Consortium News will talk with Peter Kuznick, historian at American University in Washington and author with Oliver Stone of The Untold History of the United States, and with Ray McGovern, former CIA Soviet Union and Russia analyst and briefer of presidents. “With the war on Iran stuck in low-intensity conflict,” CN notes, “new focus is on the U.S.-Israel relationship. It’s perhaps more complex than it looks.” Click HERE around 8 p.m to livestream and for brief article, and after discussion for video of it.

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For now, links to SEVEN reports: from Middle East Monitor, the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, and the Cradle; and to commentary from Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll down for GAZA, LEBANON and UKRAINE, and for IRAN 6-12-26.) — MCM

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Iran’s foreign minister details proposed memorandum with U.S., says war would end across all fronts. From Middle East Monitor. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that a proposed memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US would formally end the conflict across all fronts, including Lebanon, while laying the groundwork for negotiations on sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program, and regional security arrangements, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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U.S. and Iran have agreed to wording of a deal to end their war, Pakistan’s prime minister says, by Munir Ahmed, Michelle L. Price and Russ Bynum | AP  ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s prime minister said today the United States. and Iran have reached a “final, agreed upon text” aimed at ending their war, that that mediators . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same report in Spanish.  Click HERE and HERE for report from Reuters and NPR.

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Trump agreed to release $24B in frozen assets without formal announcement: report. From Middle East Monitor. U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to unfreeze $24 billion in Iranian assets while avoiding explicitly confirming this, a senior Iranian official said Friday, according to the Fars News Agency. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 12  West Asian state ‘blocked’ Israel from using airspace to attack Iran despite past cooperation: report. From the Cradle. An unnamed regional country barred Israel from using its airspace for strikes on Iran during Tel Aviv’s latest round of attacks against the Islamic Republic – despite previously having done so, Hebrew media reported on Friday. READ MORE . . . 

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FROM JUNE 12  Iranian media reveals details of 7-point draft memorandum with U.S. From Middle East Monitor. Iran’s official news agency IRNA on Friday published the current outlines of a draft memorandum of understanding with the U.S., offering a more detailed picture of Tehran’s position and highlighting both similarities and differences with details of the proposed deal previously reported by Axios. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 8  War in Iran will change how the U.S. bases troops in the Gulf, by Sean Mathews | Middle East Eye  LONDON — Iran is demanding the closure of U.S. military bases in the region as part of any long-term ceasefire. While the U.S. is unlikely to meet that demand, . . . READ MORE . . .

For now, links to three reports and a commentary, all from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s IRAN, LEBANON and UKRAINE so far, and down for GAZA 6-12-26.) — MCM

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Israeli army kills Palestinian municipality worker in central Gaza. From Middle East Monitor. A Palestinian sanitation worker was killed today in an Israeli drone strike in the central Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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Canada announces $100M in new humanitarian aid for Palestinians. From Middle East Monitor. The funding, announced by Foreign Minister Anita Anand on Friday in Paris, will be delivered in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and nongovernmental organizations providing assistance on the ground. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 12  Israel expanding Gaza ‘yellow line’ to derail ceasefire talks, says Hamas. From Middle East Monitor. Palestinian group Hamas said Friday that Israel’s continued movement of the “yellow line” westward inside the Gaza Strip and expansion of control over Palestinian land aim to “blow up the negotiation track and thwart the efforts being made” to consolidate the ceasefire, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 12  When children become the primary casualties of wars and conflicts, by Ahmed Asmar | Middle East Monitor  There is no better place to begin this article than with the words of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

Links to reports from Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye, and to a commentary from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for IRAN, GAZA and UKRAINE, and down for LEBANON 6-11-26.) — MCM

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Iran’s foreign minister details proposed memorandum with U.S., says war would end across all fronts. From Middle East Monitor. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that a proposed memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US would formally end the conflict across all fronts, including Lebanon, while laying the groundwork for negotiations on sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program, and regional security arrangements, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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Israeli army says at least 70 attacks in Lebanon over past day, as death toll reaches 3,711. From Middle East Eye. The Israeli army announced that it struck over 70 “Hezbollah infrastructures” in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 12  Lebanon’s war is being negotiated elsewhere, by Mohamad Shams Eddine | The Cradle  Lebanon is once again paying the price for decisions made far beyond its borders. As destruction spreads across its southern towns and the threat of escalation hangs overhead, the country finds itself pulled into a conflict shaped less by local dynamics than by the calculations of external powers. READ MORE . . . 

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Links to reports from the Associated Press and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for IRAN, GAZA and LEBANON, and down for UKRAINE 6-12-26.) — MCM

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Ukrainian drone strike kills 1 in southern Russia and triggers fire at sea terminal. From AP. KYIV — A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and injured three in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local officials said today, as part of Kyiv’s campaign of strikes on military and energy targets deep inside Russia. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same report in Spanish.

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France, Germany propose ‘stripping’ top EU diplomat Kallas of her powers: report. From the Cradle. France and Germany are discussing proposals to overhaul the EU’s diplomatic service, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, in a move that could limit the influence of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and shift more decision-making to the European Commission and national capitals. READ MORE . . .

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Links to reports from Middle East Eye, the Cradle, and Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll down for GAZA, UKRAINE, MEDIA and IRAN, and for WEST BANK 6-11-26.) — MCM

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Israel expels Palestinians from their homes to use them as military posts, by Fayha Shalash and Muhammad Ateeq | Middle East Eye  RAMALLAH / JENIN, occupied Palestine  The Israeli military’s use of civilian homes as military positions has become increasingly common in the occupied West Bank. READ MORE . . .

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Israel killed more Palestinians in occupied West Bank since 2023 than in prior 17 years. From the Cradle. An Oxfam analysis of UN data published on Thursday reveals that more Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers over the last three years than in the preceding 17 years combined. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 11  Israeli occupier attacks on Palestinians in West Bank ‘higher than any year on record’: UN. From Middle East Monitor. The UN on Thursday warned that Israeli occupier attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are occurring at a pace “higher than any year on record,” averaging six incidents per day, causing casualties or property damage, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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Links to analyses from Foreign Policy in Focus and Middle East Eye, both via ScheerPost; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for WEST BANK, UKRAINE, MEDIA and IRAN, and down for GAZA 6-11-26.) — MCM

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Gaza Genocide, Inc.: The permanent-conflict industry, by Imran Khalid | Foreign Policy in Focus / ScheerPost  The international community’s approach to conflict resolution has undergone a profound and dangerous structural shift, moving away from the pursuit of political settlements toward the permanent administration of crisis. This transition is vividly apparent in Rafah, where . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 11  How Israel planned the Gaza genocide decades ago, by Jonathan Cook | jonathan-cook.net / Middle East Eye / ScheerPost  As the U.S. cosmologist Carl Sagan famously observed: “You have to know the past to understand the present.” Which is precisely why western politicians and media have been so careful to strip out the past, excising context and background. READ MORE . . .

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Links to TEN reports: from the Associated Press, Reuters, the Moscow Times, Tass, and National Public Radio; others or just headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for WEST BANK, GAZA, MEDIA and IRAN, and down for UKRAINE 6-11-26.) — MCM

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Ukraine hits fuel supplies to Crimea, sparking a fuel crisis on the Russian-held peninsula. From AP. In a new blow to the Kremlin’s narrative that Moscow is winning the 4-year-old war in Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces have targeted supplies to Crimea, triggering the worst fuel crisis on the Black Sea peninsula since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same report in Spanish.

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Ukraine and Russia trade overnight drone strikes. From Reuters.  Ukraine and Russia exchanged overnight drone strikes into early today, with Ukraine targeting a major oil processing and petrochemical region while Russia attacked railway stations and electrical substations. READ MORE . . .   Click HERE and HERE for reports from the Moscow Times. 

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Military operation in Ukraine. From Tass. Click HERE for links to four reports from Tass.

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FROM JUNE 11  Ukraine’s drone commander wants to cut Crimea off from Russia, by Olena Harmash and Sergiy Karazy | Reuters  CLOSE TO THE FRONTLINE, Ukraine — Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, says his drone forces have reduced the traffic using the Novorossiya highway — a critical Russian military supply route through occupied southern Ukraine to Crimea — by more than two thirds over the past month, and within another month . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 10  In Ukraine, a competition puts soldiers’ drone skills to the test. Reported by Hanna Palamarenko | NPR  As drones become the weapon of choice in the Russia-Ukraine war, a group of soldiers test their skills in an unusual competition. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Links to commentaries from Tom Engelhardt’s Substack via ScheerPost and from Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for WEST BANK, GAZA, UKRAINE and IRAN, and down for MEDIA 6-10-26.) — MCM

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FROM JUNE 11 Reading the Times, by Tom Engelhardt | Substack / ScheerPost  The other day, at the very bottom of page seven of the first section of the Times, I noticed an article by Rebecca Dzombak with this headline: “2025 Wildfires Were World’s Costliest Ever, Study Says, With Populated Areas Hit.” READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 10  Who is the aggressor? by Joe Lauria | Special to Consortium News  If you understand who the aggressor is, you are on your way to understanding the mad and perilous times we live in. Once you get that, what you’ve been taught all your life starts to lose its hold on you. READ MORE . . .

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