LONDON (AP) — A teenager pleaded guilty on Tuesday to arson in north-west London but said he was unaware that the targeted building was a synagogue and said he bore no ill will towards Jewish people.

The attack was among several separate assaults against Britain’s Jewish community in recent weeks.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, pleaded guilty to arson not endangering life when he appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Surveillance footage showed the boy climb over a wall at Kenton United Synagogue, in Harrow, on Saturday night, and set light to a bottle of liquid before throwing it through a broken window. The fire caused some smoke damage and no one was injured.

The boy said he did not know the building was a synagogue and he didn’t intend to harm anyone.

“I have no hate toward the Jewish people,” he said in a written statement. “I am very sorry for my actions.”

The boy was released on bail and ordered to appear at Willesden Youth Court on June 4.

Police arrested and released a 19-year-old man in the investigation and are seeking two other suspects.

There has been a series of arson attacks against synagogues and other Jewish targets in the U.K. since March 23, when four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity that serves people of all faiths in Golders Green, north London, were torched. No one has been injured in any of the incidents.

Police have said they are looking into whether Iran is behind six recent attacks, including one on a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government, as part of a hybrid war fought by proxies amid the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.

Counterterror police said 23 people have been arrested so far. Seven of those were held on suspicion of conspiring to set fire to an unspecified Jewish venue, London’s Metropolitan Police said.

A group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia — or Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right — has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Britain. It has also admitted being behind incidents in recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe, all of which appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests, police said.

Israel has said the recently founded group has suspected links to “an Iranian proxy.”

Lebanese Families Return South as Ceasefire Opens a Narrow Window 

Tens of thousands of displaced residents are heading home even as destruction, Israeli restrictions, and diplomatic uncertainty cloud the truce 

By Taylor Thomas / The Media Line 

From northern to southern Lebanon, victorious fingers emerge from car windows, along with flags and national anthems. Young and old alike lean out of their vehicles to join the scene. They are stuck in traffic, but it doesn’t matter: the destination makes it all worthwhile. After 46 days of displacement, tens of thousands of Lebanese began the return journey to their homes, or what remains of them, after the 10-day ceasefire took effect on April 17. By April 21, though, the first wave of return had given way to a more complicated reality, with many families finding homes destroyed or uninhabitable and Israel warning residents to stay out of a belt of territory in southern Lebanon that it appears determined to hold for now. Israeli officials say their campaign was aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its military presence near the border and threatening northern Israeli communities. 

As she continued to creep forward in her car, a couple of meters every few minutes, Lama recalled a Lebanese saying: “Whoever leaves their home loses their worth.” Without stopping, she told The Media Line, “We were displaced in an area that took us in, but our home will always be better.” 

“We are proud to be from southern Lebanon, and we are very happy to be returning,” she said, while her aunt and cousins, with her in the car, nodded in agreement. “We can return to our homes thanks to the blood of our martyrs, and we will carry these honorable men with us wherever we go,” said Lama, as she traveled to a town 10 kilometers from the Israeli border. 

On the roads, the atmosphere was one of celebration. Flags of the Shiite parties, Hezbollah and Amal, waved from cars, bridges, and the roadside. The country’s main highways once again overflowed, this time in the opposite direction of the exodus. Yet by April 21, the mood was more mixed than in the first hours after the truce, as families returned to devastated towns and villages and Israeli warnings made clear that the ceasefire had not restored anything like normal life in the south. 

But the joy may have an expiration date. The truce agreed upon between Israel and Lebanon will last only 10 days. “We won’t deny that we are afraid,” Lama acknowledged. “But we’re making the most of these 10 days because we really missed our land, our homes, we missed the air in the south, the air of home, the air of the garden …,” she listed hurriedly. She wanted to continue on her way. 

Like Lama, 1.2 million people were displaced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders. A small number stayed in public shelters, such as schools or government-run pavilions, although hundreds had to sleep outdoors or in tents. Many people understood that when they reached their destination, they might find only a pile of rubble. That is why some brought their tents with them, intending to erect them on the ruins of their homes. 

“We’ve come back because this is our land, and we must stay here, because in this land we have our livelihoods and we can’t do without it,” Ali told The Media Line. Along with his children, he left his refuge in the north at dawn and began the journey home. After confirming that his house was still standing and taking the opportunity to shower and sleep a little, he returned to the roadside to watch his fellow citizens returning to their homes. 

“This land is precious to us; we cannot abandon it, no matter what,” he said, acknowledging that he was “happy” and “joyful” on this historic day. That “no matter what” may be tested not only by the decisions of Beirut and Washington, but also by Israel’s warning that civilians should stay out of parts of southern Lebanon near the border and the Litani River. 

As part of the ceasefire arrangement, a diplomatic track is also taking shape. A second round of ambassador-level Israel-Lebanon talks is scheduled in Washington, following the first direct talks between the two countries in decades on April 14. That gives the truce a political dimension beyond the immediate halt in fighting, even as the two countries remain formally at war and have no diplomatic relations. 

“For me, there is no peace with them,” said Warda, who is heading with her mother to their home 18 km from the border with Israel. “They [Israel] are our enemy, because they killed many people—children, women, girls, civilians—they tortured us, and they destroyed things that are unacceptable; they were unacceptably oppressive,” she told The Media Line. “This conflict has not been military,” concluded her mother, Mariam. 

The Lebanese Health Ministry says at least 2,294 people were killed and 7,544 wounded during the 46-day Israeli offensive in Lebanon, including 177 children, 274 women, and 100 paramedics and health workers. In Israel, 15 people were killed in the fighting—13 soldiers and two civilians. Israel has said it targeted Hezbollah fighters, weapons routes, and infrastructure in Lebanon. 

Until the ceasefire took effect at midnight local time at the start of Friday, April 17, 2026, Israeli warplanes continued bombing. In Tyre, the main coastal city in southern Lebanon, at least 15 people were killed and another 35 wounded in an attack on a residential complex. Rescue workers reported that at least 10 people were missing in the immediate aftermath, though an updated figure could not be verified as of April 21. 

Hours before the truce was set to begin, Israeli bombs destroyed the Qasmiyeh Bridge, the last bridge connecting the south and north of the country over the Litani River. In the early hours of the morning, the Lebanese army repaired it to help returning civilians cross back into the south. 

On Thursday afternoon, an Israeli attack on a motorcycle and a car on a road in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon left one dead and three wounded. “Israel will not bomb Lebanon again. The United States has PROHIBITED them from doing so. Enough is enough!” wrote President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform. Since then, though, the ceasefire has proved fragile rather than absolute, with Israel maintaining its position in southern Lebanon even as the truce has largely held. 

Meanwhile, Hezbollah, which Israel and many Western governments consider a terrorist organization, reminded Israel in a statement that its fighters “keep their hands on the trigger, vigilant against the enemy’s treachery,” and announced a total of 2,184 military operations, an average of 49 per day. Despite the human and physical losses, Hezbollah has emerged strengthened among many of its followers. The mere fact of being able to return to their lands makes them feel victorious. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called for “national responsibility” in the next phase. “The eyes of the world are on Lebanon,” he said, according to a statement from the Lebanese Presidency. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted that the IDF “will maintain, and continue to maintain, all the places it has captured,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his goal is to dismantle Hezbollah, although “this will not be achieved overnight.” By April 20, Israel was effectively reinforcing that position by warning residents not to return to a border belt and by signaling it intended to keep a forward hold in the south for now. 

Much of the displaced population is still returning to their homes, brimming with pride but also confronting devastation, uncertainty, and the possibility that the ceasefire may not hold. “When we go abroad or wherever we are, and someone asks us where we’re from, we proudly say we’re from southern Lebanon, not just Lebanon,” Lama asserted, before finally speeding off. 

Israel and Lebanon Face New Risks Even if US-Iran Talks Advance 

Hezbollah’s position in southern Lebanon and Israel’s demand for long-term security arrangements could keep the northern front unstable 

By Keren Setton / The Media Line 

Tensions in the Middle East are mounting as a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran threatens to unravel, possibly plunging the region into a broader escalation that could once again draw in Israel, Lebanon, and other major players. 

The implications of renewed escalation are vast. The risks range from a multi-front war and another sharp jump in global oil and shipping prices to international backlash against the US and Israel and political fallout ahead of the upcoming US midterm elections. 

On Monday, the US attacked and seized an Iranian cargo ship that it said had tried to break the American naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran condemned the move as a ceasefire violation, demanded the vessel’s release, and warned it would retaliate if the pressure campaign continued. 

The talks are expected to take place in Pakistan, and by Tuesday, the diplomatic picture appeared somewhat firmer than it had been a day earlier. Washington said it remained positive that negotiations would go ahead, while a senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering participation. Reports also said Vice President JD Vance was set to travel to Pakistan, though important uncertainties remained. 

A Pakistani source involved in the negotiations said the truce was due to expire at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, giving the diplomacy a more clearly defined deadline than was publicly available the day before. 

“It looks like both sides want to leave an opening for negotiations,” Dr. Yossi Mansharof, a lecturer in the “Politics of the Middle East” MA program at the School of Political Science at the University of Haifa and a senior researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, told The Media Line. “Neither side is interested in resuming the fighting. Iran is an expert at delaying negotiations.” 

President Donald Trump has continued to pair public threats with claims that a deal may still be within reach as the ceasefire deadline approaches. 

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” President Trump posted on his social network accounts late Sunday, as efforts to reach a deal appeared to be unraveling. 

“We are in a very problematic situation,” Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told The Media Line. “The US wants to cause a major blackout in Iran and blow up all its bridges—will Trump really do this remains a question. The US is planning a major blow to Iran to make it clear that they are better off coming to the negotiating table and agreeing to American terms, but this doesn’t mean that the Iranians will raise a white flag.” 

The 40-day US-Israeli campaign against Iran was an intensive air and naval operation focused on systematically degrading Iran’s military infrastructure without putting boots on the ground. In the opening attack of the campaign, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, was killed in an airstrike on his residence. 

Thousands of strikes targeted missile launchers, drone facilities, air defense systems, naval assets, and command-and-control posts across Iran. Assessments vary as to how much of Iran’s ballistic missile infrastructure was destroyed or rendered inoperable, but the Islamic Republic is still believed to retain substantial capabilities. Hundreds of drone storage and production sites were hit, along with the killing of several senior military leaders. Early in the war, Israel and the US struck dozens of air defense systems, helping establish air superiority over parts of Iran. Yet Iran continued to launch missiles and drones throughout the conflict, targeting Israel, the Gulf states, and American bases in the region, a sign both of the depth of its infrastructure and of the limits of the campaign’s ability to deliver a decisive blow. 

“Any other country that got such a slap in the face would have thought the time is right for negotiations, but the Iranians have no problem continuing the war for years,” Neriah said, citing the decade-long Iran-Iraq war as an example of Iranian perseverance and patience. 

“The regime in Iran is built in such a way that it prepared itself for sustained pressure, and in order to destabilize it, there is need for major treatment and massive pressure, with continuation of targeted killings and hurting Iran’s missile program,” said Mansharof. “I doubt Trump has the patience for this—Trump likes quick wins.” 

At the heart of the current negotiations are several well-known but deeply contentious issues that have long defined the conflict among Iran, the US, and Israel. First is Iran’s nuclear program, with Washington demanding zero uranium enrichment and more intrusive international inspections, while Tehran insists on its right to enrich uranium. It also refuses to hand over the roughly 440 kilograms of enriched uranium it already possesses. 

“The Iranians will not back down from this, leaving little room for flexibility,” said Mansharof. “On the other issues, there appears to be a greater chance for an agreement.” 

Still, it is difficult to see how the two sides will reach a middle ground on this issue. 

Both sides are also divided over Iran’s regional influence, including its support for terrorist groups across the Middle East, which the US views as destabilizing. 

Maritime security in the Gulf remains another major sticking point, with the Strait of Hormuz still badly disrupted. Hundreds of ships and about 20,000 seafarers remained stranded in the Gulf on Tuesday, while a maritime security firm warned that fraudulent messages were circulating offering vessels supposed Iranian “clearance” for cryptocurrency payments. 

Ultimately, the core conflict lies in a mutual lack of trust. The US is seeking verifiable guarantees that Iran will abandon both its nuclear ambitions and its regional agenda, while Iran is looking for assurances that any future agreement will not be abandoned by Washington, as previous deals were. 

“Iran wants assurances both in the agreement and with UN Security Council guarantees that the US and Israel will no longer attack it,” Mansharof said. 

Beyond Iran, another volatile front is Lebanon and Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hezbollah. After a ceasefire between the sides was reached at the end of 2024, Hezbollah resumed rocket fire on Israel, prompting an immediate Israeli counterattack. 

On Sunday, the Israeli military published a map showing its deployment line inside southern Lebanon, bringing dozens of mostly abandoned villages under Israeli control. Reuters reported that the line ran roughly 5 to 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory, reinforcing Israel’s message that it intends to maintain a forward position there for now. 

For Israel, Hezbollah’s intervention is part of Iran’s broader regional strategy, with the group serving as a key Iranian proxy. 

“Hezbollah is a strategic asset for Iran,” said Mansharof. “Hezbollah joined the current war to serve the Iranian interest of survival, as it recognized the threat to the survival of the Iranian regime. Therefore, Iran will not abandon Hezbollah.” 

Yet a permanent ceasefire between Iran and the US would not necessarily bring calm to the Israeli-Lebanese front. 

“For Israel, the presence of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is unbearable,” Mansharof added. “Israel may be able to accept limitations to its military operations in the depth of Lebanon, but it will not accept a ceasefire in southern Lebanon and in the areas in which Iran smuggles weapons to Hezbollah, which will enable Hezbollah to rebuild itself.” 

Meanwhile, as long as Israel remains on Lebanese territory, Hezbollah retains a justification for continuing the fight, Neriah said. 

Efforts to open a higher-level diplomatic channel between Israel and Lebanon remain in the background, including discussion of what could become a historic meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. For now, the more immediate track is lower-level but still unusual: a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon is scheduled for Thursday in Washington, following the first direct talks between the two countries in decades on April 14 under US auspices. 

The proposed agenda centers on a ceasefire, border security arrangements, and—most controversially—Israel’s demand that Hezbollah be disarmed as part of any long-term agreement. Aoun, though, faces serious internal constraints. Hezbollah’s influence over large segments of Lebanese politics and society, combined with its continued armed presence and its framing of negotiations as capitulation, leaves Beirut in a precarious position, caught between international pressure to engage diplomatically and domestic pressure not to legitimize Israel or undermine Hezbollah’s self-declared role as Lebanon’s protector. 

Even if talks between Washington and Tehran do resume, deep mistrust and irreconcilable demands—especially over Iran’s nuclear program, regional influence, and maritime access—make a breakthrough look far from certain. At the same time, the Lebanon front and the continuing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz show how quickly parallel crises could intensify, even if a broader US-Iran deal remains alive. 

‘He Was Always Smiling’: Sister of Fallen Soldier Shachar Fridman on Israel’s Memorial Day 

“Be a good friend. Be a good son. Be a good citizen. Love everyone,” Sahar Fridman Sierra described brother’s message: “See the people that nobody sees. Help them.” 

By The Media Line Staff 

Sister of fallen Israeli soldier Shachar Fridman told The Media Line about her brother, describing his values, life story, and final message, while recalling the character that defined him both in battle and in everyday life. 

Fridman was a soldier in the 101st Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade, who returned to service after the October 7 outbreak of war despite having already been released from the army. Sahar Fridman Sierra explained that he answered his commander’s call without hesitation and went to fight in southern Israel before entering Gaza. 

Shachar was killed on November 18, 2023, during a hand-to-hand combat with Hamas fighters in the northern Gaza Strip while trying to protect fellow soldiers. He was 21. 

Fridman Sierra described her brother as “a beacon of light, joy, and love for others,” saying he lived with an open heart and constant concern for those around him. Born on September 13, 2002, in Jerusalem, he was the fourth child of Liat and Doron and grew up alongside his sisters Inbar, Sahar, and Noya. He was educated in the city and studied at a religious high school with a focus on art, where she said his creativity and warmth were already evident. 

She said his sense of responsibility toward others guided him from a young age. He was active in the Bnei Akiva youth movement, working with children with special needs and helping integrate them into group activities. He also made a point of helping people in everyday situations, from elderly individuals to children who felt isolated. 

Fridman Sierra said those values carried into his military service. After enlisting in 2021, he served in the Paratroopers Brigade and later returned to his unit in a leadership role. She said he was known among his peers as someone who supported others and maintained close relationships with those he served alongside. 

Recalling his words, she said, “We need to be good people. We need to smile. We need to see the people that nobody else sees.” She added, “And to listen to other people in their sorrow.” 

She described him as someone who brought energy and light to those around him. “He was always smiling,” she said. “He was always trying to make everyone laugh.” She added that even those who recovered his body noted that he appeared to still be smiling, something she said reflected his nature. 

Shachar loved hiking, the sea, and music, and was deeply connected to his family. During high school, he met his partner Noga, and the two had planned a future together. 

In the days before entering Gaza, he wrote messages to his loved ones outlining what he believed mattered most. “Be a good friend. Be a good son. Be a good citizen. Love everyone,” his sister recalled, adding his guiding principle: “See the people that nobody sees. Help them.” 

Fridman Sierra described her brother as both a close friend and a source of support. “He was like one of my best friends,” she said. “I miss him. I miss him a lot.” 

She summarized his central to his belief. “We want peace. Shachar wanted peace. The soldiers that died want peace.” 

How Songs Become Memory: The Role of Music on Israel’s Memorial Day   

“People need someone to resonate with what they feel. Songs help them not feel alone,” says Dr. Ayelet Dassa, a music therapist and researcher at Bar-Ilan University.  

By Gabriel Colodro/The Media Line   

When singer-songwriter Yoshi first saw the video from Sgt. Gadi Cotal’s funeral, he did not immediately understand what he was looking at. What reached him first was not the image, but the voice.   

“At first, I didn’t understand what I was seeing,” he said. “I only heard an angel-like voice singing my song.” Then he looked closer. He saw the grave, the flowers, and the setting. “I understood the sad truth,” he said. It was, at once, “very, very sad,” but also “an honor” to realize that one of his songs had become part of the emotional landscape of a young soldier’s story.    

 Social media link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROW9NCpFvTI 

YouTube link 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOelAX6DJ4X/ 

Alma Center Head Asks, Is Lebanon ‘Brave Enough’ To Disarm Hezbollah? 

Israel cannot settle for another ceasefire, Sarit Zehavi says, while Hezbollah remains “the mistress in the room” 

By Gabriel Colodro/The Media Line 

Israeli officials are still debating what comes next in southern Lebanon, including whether to pursue a more permanent ceasefire. For Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, the real question is not the pause itself but whether it produces a lasting change in the security reality along Israel’s northern border. 

Zehavi said the current debate cannot be understood without revisiting what she sees as the central failure of the past two decades. “Between May 2000 and until actually the end of the previous war in 2023, there was no Israeli presence in Lebanon and there was no buffer zone in Lebanon,” she told The Media Line. The area south of the Litani River, she noted, was supposed to be free of “any illegitimate weapon,” but “it never happened and nobody enforced that.” 

In her account, the problem did not begin with the current campaign. After Israel’s maneuver in 2024, the army remained on only five hills overlooking Israeli communities, a posture she said quickly proved inadequate. Hezbollah’s Radwan forces were still able to maneuver near the border, she said, while rockets could be launched from both north and south of the Litani. 

That, she said, is why the prime minister ordered the IDF to push as far as the river itself. The Litani zone was meant to be disarmed, she argued, but in practice never was. “We are going to do that. We are going to control there and we are going to make sure that Hezbollah is not there and it’s not capable of coming back there, because that’s the key issue.” 

Zehavi rejected the language of occupation, saying it distorts Israel’s objective. “I don’t accept the word occupation, because we have no interest in keeping lands of Lebanon,” she said. “We want to make peace with Lebanon.” But, she stressed, peace and a ceasefire are not the same thing. “We are not interested in just another ceasefire,” she said. “It will not only fail to solve the problem but … will enable Hezbollah to rebuild and to threaten us again.” 

In her view, restoring security for northern Israel cannot be achieved by Israeli military action alone because Hezbollah has become deeply embedded in Lebanese society and state institutions. “Providing security to the citizens of northern Israel is not just an Israeli effort, unfortunately, because Hezbollah became entrenched into the Lebanese society and into the Lebanese administration and government,” she said, adding that any serious effort would require Israel, the Lebanese government, and the international community to act in tandem. 

She tied that challenge directly to Iran, which she described as Hezbollah’s patron and strategic center of gravity. Hezbollah’s dependence on Tehran, she argued, extends beyond funding and weapons to training, ideology, and loyalty to Iran’s leadership. “You need to understand the boss of Hezbollah is Iran,” she said. “Hezbollah gets from Iran the money, the weapons, the training and the ideology.” She added that “the core mission of Hezbollah is not to fight Israel,” but rather “to distribute the Islamic revolution values across the Middle East, starting from Lebanon,” including in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. 

That broader role, she said, helps explain why developments in Iran and Lebanon are inseparable. Hezbollah embodies, in her telling, both “loyalty to the supreme leader of Iran” and “the extinction of the State of Israel.” If the Islamic Republic were to fall, she argued, Hezbollah would struggle to preserve both its political standing and its military power in Lebanon. “Hezbollah will have high difficulties in preserving its power in Lebanon, especially in preserving its military power in Lebanon, if the Islamic Republic in Iran will fall,” she said. “That’s why what will happen in Iran has a great impact on what will happen in Lebanon.” 

She said the reverse is also true: a genuine Lebanese effort to curb Hezbollah would weaken one of Tehran’s most valuable regional assets. As evidence, she pointed to recent diplomacy. “When Israel demanded to be capable of continuing the attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Iranians in their negotiations with the Americans insisted that the ceasefire will include what is happening in Lebanon,” she said, “you can understand what kind of an asset Hezbollah is for the Islamic Republic of Iran.” 

Inside Lebanon, Zehavi described a country split over Hezbollah’s role. She said the organization is rooted in the Shiite Muslim community and operates alongside the state as what she called a “state within a state.” Supporters and opponents of Hezbollah hold “complete opposite positions,” she said, while Lebanon’s current leadership wants to disarm the group, open negotiations with Israel, and fundamentally alter the country’s trajectory. “The leaders of Lebanon today, meaning the prime minister and the president, are against Hezbollah,” she said. “They want to disarm Hezbollah. They want to have negotiations with Israel. They want to create a thorough change in Lebanon. But the question is, are they brave enough to take the risks around it?” 

The danger, she said, is that any move against Hezbollah could trigger internal conflict. “Hezbollah is threatening that any action against it will end up in a civil war.” Lebanon’s sectarian structure makes the issue even more combustible, she argued. “There is a constant campaign between the different religious sects in Lebanon,” she said, describing identity there as something “much deeper” than belief or ritual alone. “Being a Christian in Lebanon is very different from being a Muslim Shiite in Lebanon and very different from being a Muslim Sunni in Lebanon.” 

Hezbollah’s power, in her telling, rests not only on arms but also on the parallel system of services it provides in southern Lebanon. She said that infrastructure includes schools, ambulances, banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations, and even control over hospitals. Pointing to Bint Jbeil, she cited the IDF’s claim that Hezbollah weapons were found in the town’s hospital. “Why weapons in the hospital?” she said. “Because Hezbollah controls the hospital, not the Lebanese government.” 

“There are schools of Hezbollah in South Lebanon. There are ambulances of Hezbollah in South Lebanon. Banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations, everything is provided by Hezbollah,” she said. That network, she argued, helps the group preserve its arsenal and conceal weapons “inside the houses of the Muslim Shiites.” 

Zehavi also acknowledged the constraints imposed by Israel’s alliance with Washington. “The American-Israeli alliance puts restraints on the Israeli decision-making,” she said. “I think this is natural.” At the same time, she said the relationship has brought major military advantages, helping Israel act forcefully against Iran and sustain operations against Hezbollah over time. 

Still, she warned that US pressure for a ceasefire could prove counterproductive if it comes before meaningful guarantees on the ground. “It looks like the Americans now want to get a ceasefire in Iran, and the way to get there goes through Lebanon, unfortunately,” she said. “I’m saying unfortunately, not because I don’t want peace, because I want peace, but as I’ve said, peace and ceasefire are not the same thing.” 

Zehavi then shifted from strategy to personal experience, describing life in northern Israel after October 7 and after Hezbollah joined the fighting. “On October 8, I evacuated my kids,” she said. “For many weeks, I slept with my shoes next to my bed, prepared to escape if there are terrorists in my town.” She described a routine measured in seconds, with sirens, rushed decisions about the nearest shelter, and roads chosen based on whether protection was available. “I heard the blast above me before I got to the bomb shelter because it’s not enough [time],” she said. “All of them were very close to my house. All of them threatened my little girl.” 

That experience, she said, is why residents of the north do not want a return to what she sees as a failed formula. “We don’t want just another ceasefire that will not solve the problem. We want peace. We want a peace agreement with the state of Lebanon, while Hezbollah is not the mistress in the room that is actually disturbing us to make peace.” 

Asked what would actually need to change, Zehavi returned to both the military and political fronts. Israel, she said, should hold ground up to the Litani River and continue striking Hezbollah targets, including in Dahieh and along the Lebanon-Syria border. The Lebanese government, she added, would also have to move against Hezbollah’s financing, domestic activity, and Iranian ties—steps she said have not yet been taken. 

Her criticism extended beyond Beirut. “The international community should be part of the American-Israeli campaign against the Islamic Republic because this is an enemy of the international community,” she said. She sharply rejected what she sees as a Western preference for de-escalation over resolution. “De-escalation is not solving the problem,” she said. “De-escalation is creating a bigger problem. This is the lesson we learned from October 7.” 

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — Two female opposition lawmakers in Mauritania have been charged with insulting the president after accusing him of adopting a discriminatory attitude towards Black people and descendants of slaves in the West African nation.

The lawmakers also were charged Monday with inciting violence, attacking the symbols of the state and calling for gatherings with a view to undermining public security via social networks, according to the prosecutor.

Slavery remains a sensitive topic in Mauritania years after it was formally abolished.

Marieme Cheikh Dieng and Ghamou Achour had posted messages on social media critical of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. They were detained over 10 days ago.

Biram Dah Abeid, leader of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement coalition group, accused the government of a witch hunt against elected officials who descended from former slaves.

The lawmakers are with the coalition, which is not a registered political party but allied with the registered Sawab party to help them get elected.

The prosecutor has asserted that the two lawmakers have forfeited their parliamentary immunity because the charges are so serious. The lawmakers’ lawyers reject the argument, calling it a means to settle scores.

LONDON (AP) — A former top British official on Tuesday revealed behind-the-scenes details about how scandal-tainted politician Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, came to be approved as Britain’s ambassador to Washington despite failing security checks.

Olly Robbins, the former head of the Foreign Office, was fired by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week over his decision to approve Mandelson for the top diplomatic job despite being briefed about security concerns.

In his defense, Robbins told lawmakers Tuesday that his department followed the correct procedure. But his comments did little to dispel months of questions surrounding Starmer’s judgment in appointing Mandelson, and led to renewed calls for Starmer to step down.

The fallout for Starmer has rumbled on even though he fired Mandelson last year after documents showed the ambassador had maintained much closer ties to Epstein than previously thought.

Here are some key takeaways from Robbins’ testimony to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee:

One of the most damaging revelations for Starmer was Robbins’ description of the political pressure to push through Mandelson’s security vetting.

Robbins told lawmakers there was a “very, very strong expectation” from Downing Street that Mandelson “needed to be in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible.”

Robbins said security vetting was underway but not yet complete when he took up his job, about two weeks after Mandelson’s appointment was announced in December 2024. The U.S. government had accepted the nomination and Mandelson was granted access to classified briefings.

Downing Street took a “dismissive attitude” to Mandelson’s security vetting, Robbins said.

There was “never any interest, as far as I can recall, in whether, but only an interest in when,” he said.

Starmer said he was “furious” he wasn’t told Mandelson had failed security clearance and that he fired Robbins for withholding that information. The government said Starmer only found out last week that United Kingdom Security Vetting, the team carrying out highly sensitive security checks on officials, had advised against granting Mandelson clearance.

Robbins said Foreign Office confidentiality rules barred him from telling the prime minister he had approved Mandelson for the posting despite the team’s advice to the contrary, and that the vetting process is so secretive that even he was not shown the panel’s report on Mandelson.

The government has said vetting officials give their recommendations on a document with three boxes — green, yellow and red — to indicate if clearance should be approved or denied. It’s not known what risks were flagged by the vetting officials, nor whether Robbins knew what they were.

Robbins said he never saw the document but that he was briefed that the vetting officials considered Mandelson a “borderline case” and were “leaning towards recommending that clearance be denied.”

Nonetheless, Foreign Office officials decided those risks could be managed or mitigated.

The furor over the appointment arose earlier this year when new files released in Washington suggested Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to Epstein following the 2008 financial crisis when he was the U.K. government’s business secretary.

But Robbins said explicitly that concerns raised in Mandelson’s security screening had nothing to do with his ties to the convicted sex abuser.

Alarms, however, were sounded in a “due diligence report” when Mandelson was first named as the future ambassador. The report released to Parliament last month showed civil servants raised concerns about the “reputational risk” the elder statesman posed for the government if appointed to the high-profile diplomatic post.

In addition to citing the Epstein relationship, the report outlined Mandelson’s troubling business ties to Russia and China and noted his resignations from two previous Labour governments because of scandals over money and ethics.

Starmer apologized and blamed Mandelson for lying about the extent of his ties to the convicted sex offender.

Robbins’ testimony that Mandelson was appointed despite significant security concerns has heaped new pressure on a beleaguered Starmer to defend himself from rivals calling for his resignation.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “inconceivable” that nobody in Starmer’s office knew Mandelson had flunked the security clearance, and she accused him of misleading Parliament.

“The evidence from Olly Robbins is devastating to Keir Starmer,” Badenoch said. “It is clear that No. 10 not only made the appointment before vetting was completed, but that Mandelson was already acting as the ambassador before the vetting, even seeing highly-classified documents. … It is now absolutely clear that ‘full due process’ was not followed.”

Polling has consistently shown support for Starmer is falling. Keiran Pedley, director of politics at the polling firm Ipsos, said the latest revelations could entrench the public’s negative views about his leadership.

“Recently it had been suggested that Starmer’s response to the Iran war had put questions about his future on the back burner,” Pedley added. “That may no longer be the case.”

Upcoming local elections in England, Scotland and Wales could deliver a more resounding referendum on his leadership if they are, as expected, particularly bad for the Labour Party.

PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday France will help Lebanese authorities prepare negotiations with Israel even if Paris was not directly part of the discussions.

Speaking at a news conference alongside Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Macron said it was “secondary” for France to be sitting at the table of negotiations as it was in Lebanon’s interest that everyone helps it in the negotiations.

France, which has deep historical ties with Lebanon, has sought to play a role in the talks, but has met resistance from both Israel and the United States.

(Reporting by John Irish, Dominique Vidalon)

PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his government was not seeking confrontation with Iran-backed Hezbollah, but it would not allow itself to be intimidated as it continues direct talks with Israel to end the conflict.

Speaking at a news conference alongside France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Salam said he would need all Lebanon’s partners to help as direct talks at ambassador level continue later this week in Washington.

“We are continuing along this path, convinced that diplomacy is not a sign of weakness, but a responsible act to leave no avenue unexplored in restoring my country’s sovereignty and protecting its people,” Salam said.

(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Maya Gebeily)