★ ISRAEL
Trump Demands Hamas Free 20 Israeli Hostages Immediately
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Hamas must return all 20 kidnapped Israelis at once, declaring “then things will change.” Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades warned that Israel’s expanded attacks on Gaza City would endanger both captured soldiers and civilian hostages. In a video posted in Arabic and Hebrew, the group showed hostages and vowed Israel would “pay the price” for escalation. The warning comes as Israel intensifies air and artillery strikes while pressing civilians to flee south. Israel believes 20 of 48 hostages remain alive.
Israel Launches Ofek 19 Spy Satellite To Expand Regional Surveillance
Israel launched the Ofek 19 satellite late Tuesday, adding advanced reconnaissance capability across the Middle East. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the satellite would monitor Israel’s enemies continuously. He cited 12,000 images gathered over Iran during the June war as evidence of the system’s capabilities” Katz warned, “We are keeping an eye on you at all times.” Maj. Gen. Amir Baram said the system enables persistent surveillance across the region, supporting Israel’s “seven-front war” with strikes in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Gaza. Israel Aerospace Industries built the satellite, expanding Israel’s high-resolution intelligence fleet.
Israel Intercepts Two Missiles Fired From Yemen By Houthis
The Israeli army announced intercepting two missiles launched from Yemen, the first to trigger sirens inside Israel since the August 28 strike on Sanaa. Houthis claimed responsibility, saying they used a Palestine-2 multi-warhead missile and a Zulfiqar missile against “sensitive Israeli targets in Jaffa.”
UAE Warns Smotrich Annexation Threatens Collapse Of Abraham Accords
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich proposed annexing 82% of the West Bank, leaving six Palestinian cities isolated and threatening to “destroy” the PA if it resists. The plan includes E1 settlement expansion, 22 new communities, and aims for “maximum land, minimum Arab population.” He framed annexation as preventing a Palestinian state and urged Netanyahu to seize the moment. In response, top Emirati envoy Lana Nusseibeh warned that Israel annexing the West Bank would cross a “red line,” collapse regional integration, and destroy the Abraham Accords. Speaking directly to Israelis, she urged rejecting extremists pushing annexation, citing Saudi normalization prospects if Israel halts expansion and commits to a Palestinian state. She appealed to Trump to protect his Abraham Accords legacy, stressing annexation would erase Arab outreach and foreclose future peace.
Starvation Crisis In Gaza Documented By Virtual Hospital Tours
Haaretz reported Wednesday that video tours of Gaza hospitals show severe acute malnutrition among children and adults. Doctors displayed patients with protruding ribs, yellowed hair, bloated stomachs, and visible bone structures. Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis documented cases including Bayan Saqer, 10, weighing 17 kilograms, and Sham Qadeeh, 2, weighing 4.4 kilograms. Volunteer physicians from the United States and Britain confirmed widespread starvation symptoms, including weight loss, skin lesions, and immune deficiencies. Haaretz said it reviewed medical data and photographs from UN and aid agencies, substantiating over 270 starvation deaths, 2,000 people killed while seeking food, and tens of thousands of children suffering from acute malnutrition.
Israel Expands Dimona Nuclear Site With New Construction
Satellite photos published Wednesday by the Associated Press show major new construction at Israel’s Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona. Nuclear experts said the facility could be a new heavy-water reactor or a weapons assembly site, though secrecy prevents confirmation. Images taken July 5 show underground levels, cranes, and reinforced walls, with building activity has intensified since excavations first reported in 2021.
Israeli Raids Escalate As Lebanon Weighs Hezbollah Disarmament Plan
Israeli jets struck multiple sites September 3 across southern Lebanon, including Adloun, Ansariya, and Al-Kharayeb. Five raids hit Ansariya, while another destroyed shops near Al-Kharayeb, wounding several. Additional strikes targeted Babliyeh, Kawthariyeh al-Raz, and the valley between Zarariyeh and Ansar. Earlier, Israel assassinated Abdel Moneim Sweidan in Yater. The escalation coincided with a Lebanese cabinet session on a proposed army plan to disarm Hezbollah and other factions by placing monitors on weapons depots in Beirut and seizing arms from Palestinian camps.
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★ EGYPT
Sisi Warns Of Plots Against Egypt, Vows Measured Response
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt is fully aware of what “is being plotted against it” and is taking calculated measures to confront threats. Speaking at the Prophet’s Birthday commemoration, he assured Egyptians of the state’s vigilance and stressed reliance on national resilience and capabilities to safeguard stability. Sisi pledged that Egypt will remain strong and secure “no matter how many faces of evil or methods of harm appear.”
Egypt And Saudi Arabia Discuss Joint Naval Force For Red Sea
Egyptian and Saudi officials held talks on forming a naval force under the Council of Red Sea Coastal States, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia. The discussions follow Egyptian support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to appoint Adel al-Jubeir as Secretary-General of the Council, in exchange for Riyadh backing Egypt’s candidate for the Arab League post in 2026. Egyptian sources said Cairo seeks to secure navigation and trade routes linked to the Suez Canal, rejecting the permanent presence of non-Red Sea states such as Ethiopia.
Egypt, Sudan Warn Ethiopian Dam Threatens Eastern Nile Basin Stability
Egypt and Sudan declared Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam violates international law and poses a persistent threat to Eastern Nile Basin stability. In Cairo’s 2+2 ministerial talks, both countries cited risks from Ethiopia’s unilateral filling and operation, structural safety concerns, and uncontrolled water releases. Ethiopia insists the $4 billion project will generate $1 billion annually, storing 74 billion cubic meters of water and producing 5,000 megawatts of electricity.
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★ SYRIA
ISIS Regroups In Syria: Escape Attempts, Raqqa Attacks, Security Clampdowns
SDF stopped 56 ISIS-linked families who were attempting to flee Al-Hawl camp in Hasakah using a large vehicle, arresting all involved. The escape attempt followed intensified ISIS attacks, including a suicide strike in Raqqa and 162 operations across northeast Syria since January, while the SDF recently arrested 51 ISIS members in a 3,000-fighter security sweep in Hasakah. The camp holds 27,000 people, including 6,300 foreigners, with Iraq the only country repatriating large numbers. Despite U.S. and Kurdish appeals, most countries refuse repatriation, while Iraq has taken back 17,000 citizens. Iraq’s chargé d’affaires in Damascus called the camp and ISIS detention centers a “time bomb.” US CENTCOM commander Admiral Charles Brad Cooper visited the camp after the incident, discussing security cooperation and unresolved repatriation issues.
Israel Steps Up Offensive Defense Strategy In Southern Syria
Israeli forces raided Quneitra overnight, arresting seven Syrians, with heavy air patrols over Daraa and Quneitra. A former Israeli intelligence commander described the policy as “offensive defense,” shifting after October 7 from waiting for threats to striking first. He said Syria’s collapse replaced decades of stable borders with unregulated militias, requiring preemptive raids to block rockets, tunnels, or attacks. The commander added Israel’s red line remains no hostile forces south of Damascus, while cautioning that U.S. envoy Tom Barrack risks misjudging Syria’s dynamics and could become a “tragic figure” in the unfolding scenario.
British Oil Firm Reports $3.8B Syrian Oil Theft
Gulfsands Petroleum CEO John Bell said over 55 million barrels of oil and gas worth $3.85 billion have been “illegally extracted” from Block 26 in northeast Syria since 2017, implicating the SDF, YPG, and the Autonomous Administration. He warned of health and environmental damage and urged state control under the March al-Sharaa–Abdi deal to reintegrate oil fields. Bell urged a central Syrian energy strategy under state control, citing the March agreement between President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi to integrate oil fields into government administration. Gulfsands is ready to resume operations when conditions permit.
Ankara Damascus Education Deal Coincides With SDF Curriculum Ban
Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin announced in Damascus a new cooperation framework with Syria covering curriculum reform, textbook design, teacher training, and student reintegration, with joint working groups formed to align systems and draft legislation for returning students. At the same time, the Autonomous Administration’s Education Directorate ordered all schools in northeastern Syria to end teaching the Syrian state curriculum, requiring teachers to obtain “no objection” certificates as part of the enforcement, consolidating education fully under SDF authority.
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★ IRAQ
ISIS Resurgence Exploits Security Vacuum in Kirkuk
ISIS militants have reappeared in rural Kirkuk, exploiting the security gap between Peshmerga and Iraqi army positions. Villagers in Shwan reported direct encounters with armed fighters demanding food, heightening fear and disrupting daily life. The Iraqi Parliament’s calls for joint deployments have gone unheeded, while Peshmerga’s offers to fill the vacuum remain rejected by Baghdad. ISIS has carried out five attacks on Iraqi forces in the last six months, underscoring the risk of U.S. troop withdrawal. Ongoing land disputes and stalled Article 140 implementation further destabilize the area, leaving Kurdish farmers exposed on the frontline.
Iraq Signs Oman Agreements Strengthening Iranian Strategic Depth
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani traveled to Muscat Wednesday, overseeing the signing of 24 memoranda of understanding and two agreements with Oman covering energy, oil refining, defense industry localization, ports, trade, taxation, and education. Among the agreements, Karbala Governor Nassif al-Khattabi signed an MoU to establish a “smart city” in Karbala, a site central to Iranian influence and religious networks.
Al-Sudani Implicated In Smuggling Iranian Oil Through Iraqi Tankers
Independent Iraqi politician Nizar Haidar, speaking from the U.S., revealed that U.S. Treasury reports link Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to Iranian oil smuggling operations. He said the report, recently used to justify new sanctions, includes al-Sudani’s name among officials facilitating the use of Iraqi tankers to move Iranian oil under a guise of legality.
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★ IRAN
IAEA Confirms Large Uranium Stockpile, Mousavi Claims Twenty-Four Bombs
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Wednesday that Iran’s uranium enriched to 60 percent “remains largely present” despite Israeli and U.S. strikes on Natanz and Fordo in June, with Director Rafael Grossi pressing Tehran to resume inspections suspended after June 13. A secret IAEA report seen by Reuters showed Iran’s stockpile had already risen by 32.3 kilograms since May, reaching 440.9 kg—enough for roughly 10 nuclear bombs if further enriched. According to MEMRI, former Iranian presidential and defense advisor Amir Mousavi said on August 15 that Iran possesses 460 kg of uranium enriched above 60%, enough for 18–24 bombs, and could “go nuclear within hours.” Mousavi dismissed U.S.-Israeli strikes as insufficient to cripple all facilities and stressed growing regime calls for immediate weaponization, with only Khamenei’s so-called “fatwa”—which MEMRI underscores does not exist—cited as a restraint. Al Hadath reported however, that Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said negotiations with the U.S. are “not closed” despite disagreements over missiles. In a call with UK Prime Minister Jonathan Powell’s national security advisor, he discussed reviving nuclear talks and resolving the snapback sanctions mechanism. He accused Washington of avoiding the table while pushing unachievable demands.
Pezeshkian Pushes Full China Deal As Xi Stages Parade
Tehran Times reported that Pezeshkian pushed for the full implementation Of 25-Year Deal With China. Pezeshkian told Xi that Tehran seeks to activate the 2020 agreement, expanding energy exports, transit corridors, military cooperation, and joint manufacturing to anchor Iran deeper in China’s Belt and Road strategy. Meanwhile, EU foreign chief Kallas branded China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea an “autocratic alliance” after Pezeshkian joined Xi, Putin, and Kim at Beijing’s military parade. Xi staged China’s largest-ever parade marking WWII’s end, joined by Putin and Kim. Hypersonic missiles, drones, and tanks were displayed as Xi warned of “peace or war.” Trump mocked the gathering but downplayed the threat. Putin advanced energy deals, Kim debuted with daughter Ju Ae. President Trump mocked the gathering, warning of conspiracy against the U.S., while Iran framed Pezeshkian’s attendance as alignment with sanctioned powers to counter Western pressure.
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★ Disclaimer: The Early Phoenix is a digest of various news sources compiled by and edited by Rania Kisar. The items are curated, concise summaries of news items hyperlinked within each story. The items and summaries presented do not necessarily represent the views of the American Center for Levant Studies.
