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The recent special International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iranian nuclear violations added many points, one being that Iran carried out multiple implosion tests, a key military skill necessary for developing the atomic bomb.Implosion tests do not have civilian nuclear uses.

Notably, though much of the report refers to Iranian military activities from 20 years ago, Tehran’s careful record-keeping means that any progress that the Islamic Republic made back then could be used to help with a more sudden, rapid push for a breakthrough to a nuclear weapon in 2025.

The fact that it carried out various explosive tests also suggests that Iran is further along in other skills needed for developing a nuclear bomb, besides just enriching uranium, than many observers may have thought.

The United States and Israel agreed that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon must cease its operations in southern Lebanon, The Jerusalem Post confirmed Sunday, following reports.

The American administration has decided not to renew UNIFIL’s mandate, and Israel reportedly “did not try to convince them otherwise.”

The vote on the mandate in the United Nations Security Council is expected to occur within a few months.

A Texas event for Christians supporting Israel had to move venues following ‘extremely concerning’ security threats. When the location of the new venue became public, prompting more threats, the group was forced to cancel the event.

A pro-Israel Christian event scheduled to take place in Dallas, Texas, was indefinitely postponed due to threats reportedly made by “radical jihadist” elements in the United States.

The HaYovel Israel Summit, which was initially planned for the Arlington Expo Center and later moved to Eagle Mountain International Church, was canceled on Thursday. According to Tim Miller, CEO of the LionHeart International Services Group, a private security company, security intelligence indicated that “there was active planning to target this event.”

(image: KABC)

The Trump administration is calling in the California National Guard in response to protests in Los Angeles over immigration operations that have resulted in some clashes between demonstrators and authorities.

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum "deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness" in California as demonstrations opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations continue in the state, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Saturday.

Hamas on Saturday warned the Israel Defense Forces not to attempt to rescue hostage Matan Zangauker, claiming that the military is “besieging” the location in the Gaza Strip where the Israeli is being held.

Shortly after the warning, the terrorist organization published a photo of Zangauker, 25, in captivity with an “explicit threat,” Hebrew-language outlet Ynet News reported.

“We make it absolutely clear that the enemy will not be able to get him out alive. If he is killed during an attempt to rescue him, the occupying army will bear responsibility for his death, after we safeguarded his life for 20 months,” Hamas said in a statement, according to Ynet.

With improved intelligence and advanced drones, the IDF is breaking into the main arteries of Hamas's tunnel network. An Israel Hayom correspondent joined the 7th Brigade forces in Khan Younis to hear how doctrine has changed and what has made underground warfare more effective.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and two other Trump administration officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for renewed trade talks, President Donald Trump said.

Bessent, who has been leading the administration’s efforts to craft a deal with Beijing, will be joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Trump said.

“The meeting should go very well,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Friday afternoon. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

(photo: AP)

Iran has ordered from China large quantities of materials for producing ballistic missiles, according to a Thursday report in the Wall Street Journal that said the Islamic Republic is seeking to reestablish itself and its proxy network militarily.

The report came amid ongoing Iran-US nuclear talks, which began in April. Israel has informed the White House that it will not strike Iranian nuclear sites unless the talks fail, according to a separate report by Axios.

The Journal report, which cited people familiar with the transaction, said Tehran had ordered enough ammonium perchlorate to potentially manufacture up to 800 missiles. The material is used to produce solid-fuel missiles.

The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of strikes on several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday evening that it said were used by Hezbollah to manufacture drones, and in a separate instance, also issued evacuation warnings for two areas in a southern Lebanon town.

The strikes in Beirut hit several underground drone manufacturing facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s aerial forces, also know as Unit 127, according to the military.

Ahead of the strikes, which began shortly after 10 p.m., the IDF said it had “identified that Hezbollah’s aerial unit is working to produce many thousands of UAVs, under the guidance and funding of Iranian terror officials.”

Israel assured the White House it won't launch an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities unless US President Donald Trump signals that negotiations with Iran have failed, two Israeli officials told Axios on Friday.

According to the officials, the message was delivered during a visit to Washington last week by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Mossad director David Barnea, and National Security Council Head Tzachi Hanegbi, Axios reported.

One official told Axios that Israel made it clear to the US that they wouldn't surprise the Trump administration with any attacks on Iran without informing the US first.

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the release of all the hostages and unhindered aid access across the enclave.

“The United States has been clear we would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote.

“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground, and embolden Hamas,” she said of the text that was put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council.

U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday, a day after terrorists in Syria fired two rockets at the Golan Heights.

“Israeli Prime Minister @Netanyahu and I met in Jerusalem today to discuss Syria and the broader region,” Barrack, who also serves as ambassador to Turkey, posted to X.

“@POTUS envisions a Syria that cannot be used as a Platform by any 3rd party nation state, or non nation state, to threaten Syria’s neighbors, including Israel,” he added.

(photo: Iran Government via AP)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the Trump administration's offer for a nuclear deal on Wednesday, saying it compromised the country's "national independence."

In an address marking the 36th anniversary of late leader Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei said that the "proposal contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of 'We Can.'"

Last weekend, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff submitted a proposal to Iran for a nuclear deal, with the Trump administration urging Tehran to accept it or face the consequences.

(photo: AFP / Getty)

Hezbollah head Naim Qassem met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beirut on Wednesday, according to the Iranian-backed terrorist group.

According to a Hezbollah statement cited by Lebanon’s LBC TV outlet, Qassem thanked the Islamic Republic for its regional influence and its support for Palestinian “resistance” groups. Qassem was also said to have emphasized his commitment to Lebanon’s “progress, stability, sovereignty, and the expulsion of occupation from its territory.”

During the Beirut meeting, which reportedly was focused on “regional developments,” Araghchi stressed “the importance of bilateral relations with Lebanon and reiterated the Islamic Republic of Iran’s commitment to supporting Lebanon economically, politically and socially, based on mutual respect and enhanced cooperation between the two countries.”

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who leads Israel’s negotiating team in hostage talks, spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on the phone over the weekend, a source familiar with the matter told Walla on Tuesday. 

Sources confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that this was the first direct contact between the two. Al-Thani is considered a key mediator between Israel and Hamas in the ongoing negotiations. Dermer’s office declined to comment on the matter.

The Post previously reported that US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, attempted to arrange a meeting between Dermer and Al-Thani after Dermer took office, but it never came to fruition.

(photo: Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stated unequivocally that the nuclear deal currently being discussed with Iran will not allow any uranium enrichment, contradicting earlier media reports.

“Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!” Trump posted on social media.

The statement came shortly after Israeli news outlet Walla, citing two sources familiar with the deal, reported on Monday that Washington was open to permitting Iran limited, low-level uranium enrichment for an unspecified duration.

(photo: AFP)

The United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.

French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.

Italy's Mount Etna produced a spectacularly explosive eruption Monday morning, sending a ripple of reddish clouds down from its summit. The soaring ash rose to form a mushroom cloud high above Etna, Europe's highest active volcano, triggering a red alert for aviation crews in the region.

The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology's Etna Observatory in Catania estimated the volcanic cloud's height at about 21,325 feet. The massive ash cloud was moving in a west-southwest direction, according to the agency, known as INGV.

Federal officials have charged Boulder, Colorado, terrorist attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman with a hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin.

Soliman, 45, was charged with first-degree murder, crimes against at-risk adults/elderly, assault, criminal attempt to commit class one and class two felonies and use of explosives or incendiary devices during a felony.

Soliman allegedly threw explosives into a crowd Sunday in Boulder as a pro-Israel group, "Run for Their Lives," participated in a gathering on Pearl Street advocating for Hamas to release Israeli hostages. 

Tehran is set to refuse a US proposal for a nuclear deal, according to a report in Reuters on Monday, and instead offer a counterproposal that is not "one-sided."

In addition, Iran demands US guarantees that sanctions will be lifted, according to a report in the Saudi Al Arabiya channel.

"We want to guarantee that the sanctions are effectively lifted" for a deal on Tehran's nuclear program, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said. "So far, the American side has not wanted to clarify this issue."

Iran has thrown water on optimism expressed by the US that a deal could be reached, all the while a report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accused Tehran of activity in several undeclared nuclear sites.

Hamas announced Sunday that it was prepared to immediately begin a new round of indirect negotiations on remaining “points of contention” amid pressure from mediators to soften its stance, after the terror group submitted a response to a US ceasefire and hostage deal proposal that Washington called “totally unacceptable.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denounced France’s push for Palestinian statehood on Saturday, telling Fox News that Paris should instead “carve out a piece of the French Riviera” for the Palestinians.

“Oct. 7 changed a lot of things,” Huckabee said of Hamas’s 2023 murder spree that killed 1,200 people, primarily civilians. “If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I have a suggestion for them—carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state,” he continued.

“They are welcome to do that, but they are not welcome to impose that kind of pressure on a sovereign nation. And I find it revolting that they think they have the right to do such a thing,” he said.

The FBI announced Sunday that it was investigating a “terror attack” in Boulder, Colorado, that the local Jewish community said targeted activists rallying for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

A joint statement from Boulder Jewish community groups said that an “incendiary device” had been thrown at participants in a hostage rally by a group called Run for Their Lives. Chapters of the group hold weekly events around the US to raise awareness about the hostages.

The Jewish groups said there were injuries but that details about the attack remained unclear.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates have condemned the Israeli government’s decision to block their politicized visit to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank. The Arab foreign ministers and their Turkish counterpart intended to visit the PA administrative capital Ramallah during the weekend. 

In a joint statement, the Arab states condemned what they claimed  “reflects the extent of the Israeli government’s arrogance, its disregard for international law, and its continued illegitimate measures and policies that besiege the brotherly Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership.” The Arab ministers added by claiming that the Israeli government seeks to perpetuate “the occupation and undermine the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace.”

Ukrainian forces destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes with a drone attack on air bases deep within Russian territory on Sunday.

Ukrainian forces destroyed 40 aircraft in the attack, which an official says took more than a year to orchestrate. Russia's defense ministry confirmed the attack on Sunday, saying it struck five airfields.

The operation saw drones transported in containers carried by trucks deep into Russian territory, he said. The drones reportedly hit 41 planes stationed at several airfields on Sunday afternoon, including A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M aircraft, the official said.