“America and England deposited their little brother, Israel, on foreign soil, Palestine, which is Arab land. They deprived the Arabs of their own land and sent them into exile. This injustice against the Arabs is now costing America the power and authority that she once exercised in the East. She is on her way out of the Near East. This means bloodshed and plenty of it.”

— The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad “The Fall of America,” 1973 from the chapter, “The Destruction and Fall”

In a recent Israeli cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on a message to the Trump administration: “I have heard people saying: ‘You didn’t say it.’ So here I am saying it again: Israel does not accept the 15-point document.”

He spoke in response to a framework agreement reached months ago by President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace in Washington, a document that lays out steps Hamas and Israel would take to end conflict: One being Israel’s gradual withdrawal from Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu—whose country receives several billion dollars in U.S. military aid—added that Israel’s military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.”

Hamas is the resistance group that functioned as the governing body of occupied Gaza. While some U.S. ideas in negotiations “are acceptable to us and some are not,” the prime minister added, according to an official transcript, “When I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.”

Points in the plan include implementing a ceasefire, Hamas to disarm, and exclusion of Hamas from future governing roles. Mr. Netanyahu is facing an election in late October and his trial for corruption will continue after he leaves office.

Critics highlight his desperation to win election and pressure from the right wing of his government to end the Gaza peace proposal. The forceful push back by Mr. Netanyahu and President Trump’s subdued response have observers pondering the U.S.-Israel collaboration.

“It’s still within the interest of the Trump administration to pretend that they are trying to work for peace in Gaza and it’s in the interest of Netanyahu to say we’re going to conquer all of Gaza,” said Muhammad Sankari, an activist with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

“They’re playing to their base. It allows Netanyahu to say, ‘I do what’s best for us’ and it allows the United States to use Israel as a convenient scapegoat when they want to.”

He said the real issue is “what’s happening behind the scenes.” Israel is already clearing the rubble to build “essentially militarized ghettoes” for Palestinians, he explained.

“That’s big business, billions of dollars of contracts to military contractors, and not just American companies. It’s Israeli companies, but also other corrupt monarchy regimes … that have joined this, quote unquote, Board of Peace.”

Mohyeddin Abdulaziz, a Palestinian Arab American and co-founder of the Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance, agreed that Mr. Trump’s response was not surprising.

“The Zionist Alliance is not only Israel and the Israel lobby, mainly AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), but also it is made up of the White nationalists, the Christian Zionists, the, Jewish establishment, including organizations like the ADL (Anti-Defamation League),

All of whom collaborate with the Republican Party, the Trump administration, but also with leadership of the Democratic Party establishment,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s’ the state of our country.”

Coordinated, illegal measures

Critics have blamed Israel for drawing the U.S. into the Iran war and for the collapse of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a 14-point plan signed by the U.S. and Iran as a framework for peace. Point 1 called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, which Mr. Netanyahu has vowed not to do.

As Mr. Trump struggles to reach an agreement with Iran to reopen vital shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz (see related story on page 3), Israel and other issues rise for his attention.

Civilians are still being slaughtered in Gaza, settler violence with government collusion in the West Bank is escalating, fighting in Lebanon continues, a new military pact among regional Muslim countries has been formed, other nations are entering the fighting—all of which do not bode well for peace.

The Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reports that in one week—July 28 through Aug. 3—Israelis killed 45 Palestinians and wounded 21 in the Gaza Strip and wounded 21 in the West Bank. The total number of Palestinians killed between October 7, 2023, and August 3, 2026, reached 74,526, with 179,198 injured, the OIC reported.

The UN recently issued condemnation of Israel over its support of settler violence in the West Bank.

“What we are witnessing is a clear pattern of coordinated, illegal measures designed to entrench the occupation and alter the demographic and territorial realities on the ground and undermine the prospects of a Palestinian state,” said Pakistan’s permanent UN representative Asim Iftikhar Ahmad during an Aug. 11 UN Security Council meeting.

“The expansion of settlements in the Crimson Thread project and the settlement activities in the heart of the West Bank are all part of a broader effort to fragment the Palestinian territory. This is accompanied by unprecedented settler violence,” he said.

The Crimson Thread is a separation wall inside the occupied West Bank designed to permanently sever the fertile Jordan Valley from the rest of Palestinian territory.

Settler violence in the West Bank has resulted in the destruction and/or occupation of Palestinian homes, theft of livestock, burning of trees and farm products, and physical violence against men, women and children. The violence often is accompanied by Israeli Defense Forces who often stand by or participate.

In an op-ed written by Fadi Zatari, published July 30, on the website of the Turkish publication Anadolu Agency, titled, “The West Bank: A quiet genocide,” he writes on the ongoing atrocities being perpetrated by illegal settlers and the IDF.

“The reality in the West Bank indicates a pattern of integration and complementarity between individual Israeli settler terror and Israeli army and state policy. Israeli settlers attack Palestinians ruthlessly, destroy their herds, and even burn their trees.

It is often the case that after the settlers’ assaults and terrorism against Palestinians, the Israeli army continues with extensive punitive measures against Palestinian communities, such as shootings, killings, arrests, sieges, and closures of cities and villages,” he writes.

Israeli Christians attacked

Father Bashar Fawadleh from the West Bank village of Taybeh told the Vatican News that Israeli settlers are creating a “climate of fear” for Palestine’s last entirely Christian village. The Catholic priest said Taybeh stands on the front lines of “preserving Christianity here in the Holy Land,” describing the village as a place Jesus chose to seek refuge before “his passion, death and resurrection.”

“It is a deliberate strategy of harassment designed to create a climate of fear and [to] pressure Palestinian families into leaving their land. The Israeli settlers come to cause harm and occupy the land,” he added.

The idea of Israeli expansion—or establishing a “Greater Israel” that annexes parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and other regional countries—is a goal expressed by Mr. Netanyahu.

A group of settlers who want to establish settlements inside Syria have been crossing into the neighboring nation only to be chased out by Israeli military that has occupied Southern Syria for more than a year.

Amos Azaria of the Pioneers of Bashan settler group told the Associated Press, “The entire Daraa district … must be cleared of the enemies seeking our destruction and instead be filled with Jewish settlement.” Bashan is a biblical region that includes parts of Syria and Jordan.

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan recently announced a Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a pact similar to NATO’s where an attack on one member is viewed as an attack on all. The countries stressed the pact is not targeted at any country and doesn’t replace any existing arrangements.

Some have speculated that the arrangement is a result of Gulf nations realizing the inability of U.S. military to defend them and to discourage any aggression by Iran as the emerging power in the region.

In response, Iran officials mostly focused on the decline of America’s role in the Gulf region and the need for Muslim cooperation. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said when Muslims stand together, “we can face every challenge by malicious outsiders head-on.”

“Time to rely only on ourselves and embrace true brotherhood,” he wrote on X.

An Israeli official said the defense arrangement was against them. “This alliance is aimed against Israel. Who do you think they are doing this against? Allow me to be skeptical when they say it is really aimed at Iran,” the official told Yeshiva World News.

The post Israel: The roadblock to Middle East Peace appeared first on Final Call News.

Mr. Trump announced a tentative agreement July 30 for Hamas to disarm, an announcement not signed by Mr. Netanyahu or the Israeli government. The resistance group has stated it will not disarm until Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza. But Mr. Netanyahu has declared no withdrawal until full disarmament.

Calling the agreement “a major milestone,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that the plan “will be carried out in carefully structured phases. As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s government had passed legislation for such a Force, including 200 soldiers from “friendly countries,” to work with new Palestinian law enforcement.

To the disappointment of observers, Mr. Netanyahu’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate chief Tzipura Hotovely said there was no pressure from the president in the meeting for Israel to move forward with the reconstruction of Gaza, nor was there pressure to withdraw IDF forces from Syria or Lebanon—appearing somewhat in contradiction to the announcement of progress with Hamas.

More countries entered the Iran conflict as the U.S. and Saudis launched a joint attack July 29 on groups in Iraq the U.S. alleges are affiliated with Iran, killing more than a dozen fighters. The attack was in response to missiles fired into Saudi Arabia, allegedly by Iraqi militias.

Saudi Arabia initially entered the conflict when Saudi missiles hit an airstrip on July 13 in Yemen as a plane carrying Ansar Allah dignitaries and Iranian security forces approached for landing. Ansar Allah (also called Houthis) struck back, hitting a Saudi oil facility and announcing a blockade of Saudi ships exiting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, vital for oil exports.

The Saudi government has announced the formation of an international alliance to guard the Red Sea from attacks by Ansar Allah. At least three Red Sea countries have agreed to participate—Egypt, Djibouti and Sudan. The U.S., Pakistan, Germany, France, Türkiye, and others have also been invited, according to media reports.

Mr. Zelenskyy arrived in the U.S. with an agenda to acquire U.S. Patriot missiles, which he said are vital to defend his country’s airspace from daily Russian attacks. His country had been drawn into the conflict on July 25 after a Ukrainian drone hit an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea, killing one sailor. Iran vowed the attack “will not go unanswered.”

Analysts purport that reasons for Ukraine’s aggression are an Israeli effort to draw Europe and U.S. forces closer in the wars on Iran and Russia and a NATO effort to test the battlefield. Both scenarios would open new fronts of battle for Iran.

“It’s evident that the U.S. is pulling in vassal states,” said Ajamu Baraka, director of the anti-war Black Alliance for Peace North-South People(s) Centered Human Rights. He said Gulf states are realizing the U.S. can’t provide the security they imagined and may be considering different paradigms for peace in the region.

Mr. Baraka noted the “enormous amounts” of resources Gulf states have in Western financial institutions and questioned where they would go except to China, something Mr. Trump would take note of. He added that Mr. Zelenskyy “wanted to demonstrate his loyalty” to President Trump through his attack on the Iranian vessel.

“U.S. warmongering has consequences for us,” he said. “Trump feels it’s more important to fight wars with public resources than to address the public’s needs” to lower costs of gas and food.

U.S. poll: ‘Stop the War!’

With upcoming midterm elections to determine control of Congress approaching, American citizens are expressing disapproval of Mr. Trump’s “war of choice.” Roughly 75% of Americans think the war should be stopped immediately, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

A quarter of those polled think military action should continue. Roughly 3 in 10 want to pause military action while seeking a renewed ceasefire, the poll, conducted July 23-27, reported.

During a message to the International Training Conference, a martial arts gathering in a Chicago suburb July 25, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, expressed dire concern for the lives of armed forces in the combat zone and the possibility of igniting a global conflict.

In an appeal for peace streamed on the internet, Minister Farrakhan repeated words of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam:

“My teacher told me that this war was going to start with conventional weapons and it will end with nuclear weapons,” he said. “I say this as warning before the war gets hot. Stop and think. Precious lives are on those ships. But God can maneuver the water in such a way … and sink your ships. Nothing can stand against the forces of nature when it is unleashed,” Minister Farrakhan warned.

He cautioned President Trump: “An aggressor is a loser because God is never with those who are aggressors, oppressors, tyrants, bullies who love to make people afraid. Don’t be a bully. Find a better way to solve a problem.”

In chapter 27 of the book “The Fall of America,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad also warned: “America goes abroad and makes war against other people. Then she charges them with making war against her when she is the one who is guilty of the war-making. The Bible says Allah (God) will destroy those who delight themselves in making war.”

International leaders have also called for a halt to the unprovoked U.S.-Israel attack on Iran that began in February. An open letter signed by hundreds of politicians, lawyers, academics and other influential leaders in Jordan called for the U.S. to withdraw military forces from the country, a letter described as a rare public challenge to ruling figures.

“We maintain that their presence exposes Jordan to security, political and economic risks that serve no national interest and increases the likelihood of our country being dragged into a regional conflict to which it is not a party,” the letter states.

Iran’s Press TV reported a response to the people of Jordan from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp: “Noble and discerning people of Jordan, your sincere solidarity and cooperation, especially the forthright positions taken by groups of Jordanian intellectuals, have narrowed the enemy’s room for maneuver and left them frustrated and desperate.”

Jordan hosts around 4,000 U.S. troops and has served as a key hub for the American military, which Iran says gives their country justification for attacking U.S. bases. Jordan has also helped to intercept Iranian missiles and drones targeting the Israeli-occupied territories.

Reports circulated July 29 that Iran had signed a contract with China to purchase 400 Chinese shoulder-fired air defense missile launchers. The purchase is valued at $60-70 million, Reuters reported.

China’s Foreign Ministry called the report “completely groundless,” and President Trump expressed amazement, saying China’s President Xi Jinping had vowed not to sell arms to the Islamic Republic.

Imad Hadad, director of the American Human Rights Coalition, told The Final Call, that Mr. Netanyahu and Israel’s pursuit of regional superiority would be the only winners in the conflict. He cited that Mr. Netanyahu was allowed to visit the U.S. as a “war criminal” wanted by the International Court of Justice.

The invitation to Netanyahu causes “anti-American sentiment to increase and it invites hostility against Americans, as an American nation, and against our interests in the region,” he said.

Trust in the U.S. and the administration’s word has already been damaged by breaking previous agreements toward ceasefires, he said, adding Israel continues to sabotage efforts to stop the war.

“Everybody knows that President Trump and the administration are the only party that can compel Israel to back down. However, I don’t think President Trump has full authority and control.

“Israel continues to exercise tremendous political pressure. While we’re talking about the U.S.-Iran war, Israel continues its occupation and its killing machine in Lebanon, destroying more villages, more towns in the West Bank, the same in Syria,” he concluded.

The post The Troubled America Can U.S. find way out of ‘war of choice’ before other nations join? appeared first on Final Call News.

The protocols Iran implemented regarding authorized passage through the Straight of Hormus were being violated. Iran took deterrant measures to respond to these violations. America used that as justification to restart the attacks on Iran.

Ansar Allah, the Yemeni resistance group also known as Houthis, entered the fray July 13 when they launched missiles into Saudi Arabia in response to the Saudi bombing of a Sanaa International airport runway, forcing a plane carrying Houthi and Iranian officials returning from the funeral of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to divert to another airport.

Houthi forces called for an embargo on Saudi ships, effectively blocking them from using the Bab al- Mandeb Strait to put their oil on the high seas. The Saudis had diverted their ship traffic to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait from the Strait of Hormuz that had been closed by Iranian forces.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates between 12-15% of global maritime trade passes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the India Times reported. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz sees about 20% of global oil consumption pass through the strait.

Both waterways are vital to the global economy.

The Strait of Hormuz has been shuttered to most ship traffic by Iran as a result of the breakdown of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed to by the U.S. and Iran to start a process for peace talks.

At Final Call press time, Saudi Arabia had launched more strikes on Hodeidah, a city held by Ansar Allah resistance fighters, according to media reports.

President Trump, in an ever-increasing effort to find a way out of the war, has warned Iran to return to the negotiating table or face a hail of missiles.

Activist Muhammad Sankari of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network sees the only peaceful way out of the war with Iran is America withdrawing forces from the Gulf. Mr. Trump has instead decided to escalate attacks because he can’t admit to defeat, he said. The Memorandum of Understanding was an admission of defeat, he said.

“The only options in front of him are escalation or capitulation. For Trump, I think capitulation is political suicide,” Mr. Sankara told The Final Call. “He can’t say this was a useless war of choice,” so escalation is his only option, and escalation brings an escalated response, he said.

The MoU, which President Trump violated several times prior to the latest escalation, was viewed positively by the American public. On July 20, the president posted a Big Data poll on his Truth Social site to demonstrate the popularity of his actions and to promote a “Trust In Trump” narrative.

The poll was published on June 29, prior to the latest unpopular escalation of hostilities. The American public has consistently opposed the U.S.-Israel unprovoked war on Iran and the president’s disapproval rating has consistently hovered around 60%.

Media reports increasingly reveal costly destruction to U.S. military bases in the Gulf region as a result of Iranian attacks. The war also cost 17 service members’ lives and hundreds of injuries.

The New York Times and the Intercept have reported that hundreds of casualties have not been reported by the administration has drawn outrage from Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

“American servicemen and women are dying, and gas and fertilizer prices are soaring. It’s time to end this war,” Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican opponent of the war, wrote on X on July 23, following the passing of a non-binding War Powers Resolution vote to end the war.

Ohio Republican Warren Davidson, a former U.S. Army Ranger, has posted that the Constitution “gives Congress the solemn responsibility to authorize military action.”

“When American service members are put in harm’s way, Congress should debate the mission, define the objective, and ensure our servicemembers know that their elected representatives have their back.” President Trump consistently has sidestepped Congress in pursuit of the war.

The damage to military bases has sparked conversations about moving U.S. facilities in the region to Israel. A broader and more controversial discussion has started about a joint U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation bill in Congress.

The relocation conversation started after extensive damage by Iran to at least 20 U.S. sites in the Middle East, the Jerusalem Post reported, with an estimated $400 million required to rebuild the Naval Support Activity (NSA) base in Bahrain.

The U.S. is also considering moving command centers underground, according to the Times of Israel.

Opposition to joint operations

The controversial U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative is more concerning on Capitol Hill. The proposal, Section 219 of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), calls for expanding the two nations’ defense cooperation in research and development, weapons production, supply chain integration and long-term planning.

Some opponents of Section 219, initially introduced as Section 224, suggest that it was Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that persuaded Mr. Trump to launch the joint attack on Iran. They also argue it would damage U.S. sovereignty and make it harder to measure than direct military aid, arms sales or appropriations that Congress votes on separately.

“Codifying the integration of our military technology and supply chains with those of any other country is dangerous,” said Rep. Massie on theintercept.com. “Enshrining this broad agreement and the permanent position it creates in legislation removes the flexibility of future presidents to withdraw from such an arrangement.”

Morgan State political science professor Wilmer Leon questioned if “saner minds” in the administration would “want to be beholden to the wishes of Mossad,” the Israeli intelligence agency.

“If the United States were to tie itself to the Israeli military and Israeli intelligence to that degree, we move from being allies to being operatives, and I don’t think they’re willing to do that.”

In early June, military.com reported that the Pentagon had raised the “Israeli spy threat” to “critical,” its highest level.

The threat level was raised because “U.S. officials reportedly believe Israeli intelligence services have intensified efforts to collect information regarding internal American deliberations involving Iran and conflicts in the Middle East,” military.com reported.

The White House and Israel have denied the allegations described in those reports.

A letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Rep. Marlin Strutzman (R-IN) expressing appreciation for endorsing “my plan” to shift defense cooperation “from aid to partnership” suggests Israeli policy objectives, military.com reported.

Prof. Leon said many of President Trump’s foreign policy mistakes can also be attributed to his emasculation of the diplomatic corp.

“Donald Trump doesn’t have any diplomats. He’s decimated the State Department,” he said. “Steve Witkoff isn’t a diplomat. He’s a mediocre businessman. Jared Kushner isn’t a diplomat. He’s a mediocre businessman.

The Secretary of State (Marco Rubio) isn’t a diplomat. They are … ideologues that only know militarism,” he said, referring to Mr. Trump’s special envoy, son-in-law and secretary of state, respectively.

Mr. Sankari said the “fundamental strategic misunderstanding” by the Trump administration was that Iranians would “just roll over and accept subservience.”

“The Iranians view this as the survival of their revolution and sovereignty. No nation wants to be subservient to a colonizer. That was Trump’s fundamental misunderstanding of the Iranian people. So now, the United States and the West are stuck,” he said.

The post An American Quagmire? What will U.S.-Israel war on Iran cost in dollars and lives? appeared first on Final Call News.

Now in its fourth month, the fighting once again shut down ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which had recently reopened due to an agreement that both parties hoped would lead to long-term peace.

NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a collective security and defense agreement among North American and European countries. Unlike most U.S. presidents, Mr. Trump has more harshly criticized and sent mixed relationship signals to his European allies that continued at the summit, held July 7-8.

He declared “there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity” as he emerged from a closed-door meeting with NATO leaders. The day before that meeting, he publicly berated European leaders for not joining his attacks on Iran that shut down the vital global shipping waterway for months.

President Trump also singled out Spain, calling it a “terrible partner” and announcing a cessation of trade with the country for refusing to allow U.S. aircraft to use its military bases, even after other member states eventually conceded to his demand.

“I was very disappointed with NATO,” the president said upon his arrival to the summit.  “Frankly, if it (the summit) weren’t held in Türkiye where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended,” he said, referring to President Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye.

President Trump continued his criticism of NATO members for not paying their fair share in defense spending and reiterated his desire to take control of Greenland.

Adding to the tension, Mr. Trump announced that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worked out with Iran as a process toward peace was “over.”   His remark came after Iranian drones struck several ships attempting to pass through the Strait. 

Iran has stated that a decision on how the Strait will be controlled will be determined by coastal states Iran and Oman as described in the 14-point MoU. According to reporting by Al Jazeera, Iranian officials have argued that the memo allows Tehran to assert influence over how ships transit the Strait of Hormuz, therefore justifying attacks on vessels that do not comply.

The U.S. responded to the attacks with missiles striking numerous sites in Iran. PressTV.ir reported on July 10 that, “Iran’s top security official says any attack on the country’s infrastructure will be met with reciprocal action.”

Iran’s retaliatory attacks targeted U.S. bases in several countries in the region.  Iran also warned that any attacks on its infrastructure would not be tolerated and that it does not view the U.S. as trustworthy negotiators.

“Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says Tehran harbors no trust in the United States, emphasizing that only those who are prepared for war can engage in negotiation with Washington,” PressTV.ir reported. Mr. Qalibaf, is one of the top negotiator in talks with the U.S.

Addressing the tenuous Gulf situation prior to departing for Türkiye on July 6, Mr. Trump said, “We’re either going to make a deal or we’re ​going to finish the job. And it won’t  be tough to finish the job.  I’d rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 ​million people.”

In the opinion of analysts, to “finish the job” could mean U.S. boots on the ground, a situation political science professor Gerald Horne, Ph.D., says the only winner will be the military-industrial complex.

He pointed to President Trump’s leaning toward selling F-35 jets to Türkiye and his demand that NATO countries spend more on military equipment to defend themselves, as he signals a reduction in the U.S. troop presence in Europe.

“The U.S. military industrial complex is salivating at the idea of selling F-35 planes to Türkiye, just as the U.S. military industrial complex is the major beneficiary of Mr. Trump’s demand that member states spend more on their military,” Professor Horne of the University of Houston told The Final Call, adding that “most of the military material that they buy will be from the United States of America.”

He said Mr. Trump’s renewed interest in helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian attacks is “a profit-making venture once again” for the military industrial complex. The president signaled agreement to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missiles to defend its airspace.

Dr. Horne described NATO as a weakened or a potentially dismantled entity, citing NATO’s “internal contradictions,” including America’s oversized financial contributions and contrary remarks about the Alliance. The U.S. has caused member states to move closer to each other against Mr. Trump’s remarks about taking Greenland and making Canada America’s 51st state.

“They don’t see [Trump] as being contradictory or inconsistent. They see him as representing something much deeper in the U.S. body politic and culture. Even if Mr. Trump decides to leave office, ‘Trumpism,’ as they see it, will be with us for some time to come. And I think that their perception is accurate.”

Asked to define “Trumpism,” Dr. Horne said, “neo-fascism, billionaires and trillionaires ruling with a substantial settler descendant working class and middle-class base, police terror, anti-Blackness.”

U.S. ally Israel has expressed alarm at President Trump’s suggestion to allow F-35 jets to be sold to Türkiye, arguing that it would “upset the power balance” in the region and that Mr. Erdogan has called for the “annihilation of Israel.”

President Trump banned Türkiye from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program during his first term in 2019 because the country had acquired a Russian S-400 air defense system.

Israel has vehemently opposed any ceasefire agreements between the U.S. and Iran and continues to violate the MoU, which calls for withdrawal from Lebanon, where the settler colonial state has attacked Hezbollah resistance fighters.

Withdrawal from Lebanon has been a red line for Iran in the peace process. A separate ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas resistance fighters in Gaza also has continuously been violated by Israel.

Hamas has agreed to dismantle its government apparatus as called for in the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, according to recent reports. Hamas has refused to disarm, however.

“Hamas has been a governing body that operated within the context of a military occupation,” said attorney Terek Khalil, a spokesperson for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). “It’s not a governing body that is independent, that is sovereign, that is exercising the sovereign rights of a state or a people that is not being suffocated by another state. That has not been the case in Gaza.”

Hamas ceded power in line with the agreement because “the people have suffered enough. This is a measure to alleviate the suffering so that Israel does not create a pretext for mass onslaught in Gaza again.”

Hamas was founded in 1987 after many decades of occupation, displacement, land theft, denial of basic rights guaranteed under international law, and denial of self-determination. All of that together, he said, fomented and created the impetus for the creation of Hamas.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, has consistently warned Muslim leaders about America’s desire to cause division among Islamic nations as a divide-and-conquer strategy. 

“We are Muslims and as Muslims we are commanded by Allah that when Muslims quarrel, make peace between the brethren. We have to make peace in this region, otherwise great war will spread in this region,” he reiterated in a message from Iran on Feb. 10, 2016.

“The beautiful cities that I have been blessed to see in the Middle East due to oil revenue, the enemy is envious at what Allah has blessed the Muslims to do with their cities and their countries. The enemy would love nothing more than to bomb them.”

The post The Trump paradox persists during NATO summit Iran war, Gaza genocide and tensions continue amid U.S., Israel warmongering appeared first on Final Call News.

In the mind of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the state of Israel extends well beyond its current borders. Referred to as “Greater Israel,” the concept calls for Israel to annex more of Palestine and parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.

The colonial settler state attempted to occupy parts of some of those territories in the past, withdrawing from them after intense fighting from resistance forces and international condemnation.

The state’s current occupation of Lebanon and Mr. Netanyahu’s ultimate dream of the “Greater” annexation have observers wondering if Iran will be another “forever war.”

“You have two proxies of the U.S.-Israel and Lebanon,” Dr. Wilmer Leon, radio host and political science professor at Morgan State University, told The Final Call. “The concept of ‘Greater Israel’ and its stated objective of the elimination of Lebanon, Iran and Palestinians, as well, you can’t negotiate with that.”

By many accounts, President Trump, who campaigned on no more “forever” wars, was encouraged by Mr. Netanyahu to join Israel in an unprovoked attack on Iran on February 28. Iran and its support of Hezbollah in Lebanon are the primary obstacles preventing Israel from exerting full dominance in the region.

America’s war on Islam came to light when retired Army General Wesley Clark revealed in 2001 that the U.S. planned to take out seven Muslim countries. The last of those countries still in the way is Iran.

Late last year, Mr. Netanyahu raised concerns about his expansionist ideas in an interview when he stated he “very much” identifies with the vision of a “Greater Israel,” framing it as a “historical and spiritual” mission, according to the middleeasteye.net and other news outlets.

In February, U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee caused an uproar when commentator Tucker Carlson, in an interview, asked the ambassador if he supported Israel controlling historical lands described in the Bible as belonging to Jewish people, which today includes parts of other nations.

“It would be fine if they took it all,” Mr. Huckabee said. The Trump administration later said the comment was taken out of context.

But it is one held by many in the conservative wing of the Israeli government. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that he would support “anything that will allow the Jews a large, broad, strong land and a safe haven for us.”

“Zionism is based on the Bible. Our mandate over the land of Israel is biblical, [and] the biblical borders of the land of Israel are clear. … Therefore, the borders are the borders of the Bible,” Mr. Lapid reportedly said.

“The whole cause of the strife is due to the ideology of Zionism that eventually developed into the state of Israel,” countered Rabbi Yisroel D. Weiss of the Neturei Karta orthodox Jewish community to The Final Call. “They use the Jewish religion as a facade, a cover for nationalist endeavors.”

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) framework to discuss peace between the U.S. and Iran calls for a total ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.

Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to neither leave Lebanon nor stop fighting Hezbollah. A recent “agreement” between Lebanon and Israel, however, signals possible compromise.

Lebanon agreement raises concerns

According to the framework, Israel will withdraw from two “pilot zone” areas in southern Lebanon, transferring the sites to the Lebanese military, under the proposal signed in Washington on June 26.

Much of the agreement focuses on establishing “sovereignty” of the Lebanese government and disarming Hezbollah resistance fighters. The governments “commit to establishing a military coordination group, with U.S. support and participation, to ensure overall implementation” of the agreement.

Also, the Lebanese government “welcomes the readiness of the United States to support” militarily such efforts in disarming “all non-state armed groups.”

The signing prompted protests in the streets of Beirut, Lebanon, with many displaying flags in support of Hezbollah.

Critics of the proposal point out:

• the role of the U.S. as a potential dishonest broker;
• the inability of the Lebanese military to effectively defend the country against future Israeli aggression;
• the agreement may pit the army against Hezbollah if they do not disarm.

Critics also note that Israel will pull out of Lebanon pending the “verified disarmament” of non-state armed groups.

“The United States is unlikely to act as a neutral mediator and will almost certainly align with Israeli positions whenever disputes arise over the interpretation or implementation of the agreement,”

Said Karim Emile Bitar, a professor of international relations at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, in an article posted on Aljazeera.com. “This creates a fundamentally asymmetric negotiating environment in which Lebanon has little leverage and few effective guarantees.”

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers will remain in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, Al Jazeera reported.

Imad Hamad, director of the American Human Rights Coalition, told The Final Call the Hezbollah resistance “was not formed in a vacuum.” At one point Israel occupied Lebanon for more than 20 years and has a history of invading Lebanon, he said, adding, “that’s why the resistance was formed.”

Muhammad Sankara of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) suggests Israel and the U.S. are playing a game of divide and conquer. He said language in the agreement could pit the Lebanese Army against Hezbollah if carried out as written. He also said Israel doesn’t currently occupy the two “pilot zones” they agreed to withdraw from.

“It’s clear the U.S. and Israel are hoping to launch Lebanon into a civil war with Hezbollah,” Mr. Sankara told The Final Call. Their plan follows the “Gaza model” used against Palestinians: destabilize, disarm and make Lebanon a colony of Israel.

He described the Lebanese military as an “underdeveloped, under resourced, glorified police force armed by the U.S. with pre-1980s military equipment.”

Not face-to-face yet

While still debating control of the vital Strait of Hormuz and whether there will be fees charged to pass through, mediators for Iran and the U.S. reportedly reached agreement in Doha to release $6 billion of Iran’s frozen assets.

The indirect talks were mediated by Qatar and Pakistan even though the U.S. had sent envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to the region. Iranian authorities have said its negotiators will not sit down for peace talks with the Trump administration until all the points in the MoU have been upheld.

Terms of the MoU expire 60 days from its signing, which occurred on June 17. Mr. Trump said he went to war to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Professor Leon said those goals already existed before the U.S.-Israel attack.

“Everything Donald Trump claims he was trying to accomplish already existed in the JCPOA,” Professor Leon said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated in 2018 by President Barack Obama. “Whether it’s a non-nuclear Iran, an open Strait of Hormuz, all of that was already agreed to.

“Resistance forces are winning,” he concluded. “If they weren’t winning, the United States and Israel would not be talking about negotiations. They don’t negotiate when they have the upper hand.”

Will Netanyahu’s expansionist goals commit U.S. to continued conflict?

The post Another ‘forever war?’ appeared first on Final Call News.

Conflicting messages continue to be fired across the bow as the war enters its fourth month. Previous declared “ceasefires” never stopped missiles from being fired. The 14 points, or “understandings,” outlined in the MoU are interpreted differently depending on who’s doing the talking.

Shortly after signing the MoU, President Donald Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz open to ship traffic and that there would be no tolls charged for passage now or in the future.

Iranian authorities announced ships seeking to pass must get their approval and a permanent decision about the Strait, as stated in the MoU, would be decided by Iran and Oman, the two countries that border the waterway.

On June 25, Iran reportedly fired on a ship trying to navigate the Strait. A day later, the U.S. military fired on positions in Iran in response.

The MoU calls for a ceasefire “on all fronts,” including Lebanon, where Israel has continued to fire on Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group of resistance fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he has no intention to stop firing on Hezbollah or withdraw from Lebanon, which is a potential peace dealbreaker for Iran.

The MoU stipulates that Iran’s frozen assets would be made available to the Islamic Republic for use “upon implementation” of the MoU. Mr. Trump had declared that any funds would be spent to purchase agricultural and medical products from U.S. farmers and manufacturers. Iran declared it would spend its money as it pleases.

The Trump administration said it attacked Iran to destroy its capacity to develop a nuclear weapon. Shortly after the first negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on June 22, Vice President JD Vance announced that Iran had agreed to allow international inspectors back into the country.

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said there were no such plans, according to the BBC. President Trump posted on social media, “If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations.”

Many argue that Iran won the deal … and the war to this point. Tensions have arisen between Mr. Trump and representatives of the Republican Party, over whom he has exerted considerable control.

Several Republicans joined Democrats recently to pass a War Powers Resolution, a mostly symbolic effort that calls on the president to get approval from Congress to continue the fighting. Shortly thereafter, another vote sided with the president when a few legislators voted differently or abstained from the vote.

The president’s approval ratings have fallen to the mid- to upper-30% range since the unpopular war started, according to polls. The drop is mostly attributed to disapproval of the war, rising gas prices, and the cost of food and other necessities. Even Gulf allies are souring on Mr. Trump, according to a recent Washington Post article.

The article reveals that government officials from the UAE tried to dissuade Mr. Trump against the war and they publicly lavish praise on him. Privately, however, one official expressed they got “played.”

One businessman told the Post of excitement around Trump’s announcement of a $2 trillion investment deal in the region, and a campaign promise to be a “no war president.” That changed, however, when war threatened tourism, the economy, regional security and danger to infrastructure. “We got played,” the businessman told The Post.

Phyllis Bennis, program director with the Institute for Policy Studies, told The Final Call Mr. Trump’s MoU is a ceasefire agreement, while the JCPOA agreement negotiated by the Obama administration was a nuclear inspections agreement, one that Mr. Trump tore up during his first term.

The MoU calls for opening the Strait of Hormuz, which was not closed before the war, she pointed out.  “The urgency to end the war was crucial,” she said. “The MoU was designed to be done quickly, so they left out clarity. Instead of the impossibility of going for a nuclear agreement, Trump went for a ceasefire.”

Ms. Bennis said the biggest threat to the MoU is Israel’s determination to stay in Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, an opinion activist Ajamu Baraka, agrees with.

The attacks on Iran and Lebanon are efforts to undermine the only state in the region that can challenge Israel, Mr. Baraka told The Final Call. He postured that U.S. strategy is to exert hegemony in the Americas through its invasion of Venezuela, thus hurting China’s economy by disrupting its access to Venezuelan crude, as well as consolidating power with Israel in the Middle East.

“Trump had called for unconditional surrender from Iran,” said Mr. Baraka, director of the Black Alliance for Peace Centered Human Rights, adding he feels “the MoU was Mr. Trump’s way of pausing the conflict.”

On a recent 1A broadcast on National Public Radio, Al Monitor news Editor in Chief Joyce Karam speculated that Iran is paying attention to the negative polls and the waffling of some of Mr. Trump’s Republican legislators.

“We’re at half-time,” she said of the fighting. “Iran got themselves a sweet deal and the (Trump) administration is in a tough spot. They want to end the war but don’t have enough cards to pressure Iran. [Iran] knows the American public wants an end to the war.”

She added that President Trump is “playing a divide-and-conquer” strategy by sending Vice President Vance to talk to the Saudis while sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio to talk to Gulf state allies.

The post Iran war: A game of agree to disagree appeared first on Final Call News.

 A June 23 United Nations report says Israel continues to “deliberately target and kill” Palestinian children. The world body says Israel’s actions amount to “genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza and war crimes in the occupied West Bank.

A June 22 report by the Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights accused the Israeli government and state institutions of using the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israeli concert goers to suppress freedom of expression among its Arab population. The Zulat is an Israeli policy think tank.

Both reports focus on Israeli atrocities even as the settler colonial state intentionally seeks to upend peace negotiations between Iran and the U.S.—who have published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for peace talks—by continuing to bomb Lebanon. Iran has made a total ceasefire in Lebanon a requirement in the MoU.

The UN report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory documents Israel’s intentional targeting of neonatal and maternity care centers during its war on Gaza that began immediately after the Oct. 7 attack that resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and about 250 people held hostage.

Israel’s assault on Gaza amounted to deliberate attacks on populated areas that “wiped out entire families across two or three or even four generations, with the Israeli security forces fully aware that children would be present and that children, with their small, fragile bodies, have a higher chance of death and serious injury in such attacks,” the report said.

Thirty percent of people killed in Gaza since the war started have been children, the report said, adding Israel’s daily bombings “endangered Palestinians’ reproductive future and the survival of newborns—driving a rise in miscarriages, birth defects and lasting vulnerabilities among newborns, resulting in the destruction of Palestinian newborn life and the population’s continuity.”

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), at least 21,289 Palestinian children have been reported killed in the Gaza Strip between the start of the conflict in October 2023 and early February 2026. Additionally, over 50,000 children have been injured, with tens of thousands more missing or trapped under the rubble.

An average of one child a day has been killed in the eight months since the October 2025 Gaza “ceasefire,” the UN noted.

“Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the Commission, in a UN release concerning the report. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured.”

A doctor visiting a Gaza medical center noted in the report: “Children brought into the emergency department were seeing around them the chaos of mass casualty, with people screaming, limbs blown off, blood … these children were sitting in a corner, staring blankly, not talking and observing all that, without any adults helping them to process or offer any sense of security. Mental health of children has been completely jeopardized.”

Forms of severe mistreatment of children by Israeli soldiers include extrajudicial arrests, torture, and sexual violence. In addition, information has been regularly withheld from parents about their child’s whereabouts.

Last year, the Commission concluded Israeli authorities and its military have committed and continue to commit genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, defined as killing members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

“Everything in Gaza was a target,” Imad Hadad, director of the American Human Rights Coalition, told The Final Call.  “The Israeli Army killed children as they walked to school or to get water. They have created an unstable and disabled Palestinian community. Many children are without arms or legs.”  Mr. Hadad described Gaza as “a new version of the Holocaust” and convicted the U.S. as a direct participant in the genocide. 

The bombings of schools and orphanages in Gaza and East Jerusalem have obstructed cognitive, social and emotional care and development and “disrupted the foundations of Palestinian society,” the report notes.

“The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible,” Mr. Muralidhar declared.

Silencing Palestinian citizens of Israel

The Zulat report on suppression of free speech indicates that since October 7 and throughout the Gaza war, “a widespread perception has taken hold that the exercise of freedom of expression and demonstration among the Arab public constitutes a security threat that must be thwarted in advance, or at the very least significantly restricted.”

Titled “If You Speak, a Policeman Will Come—The Silencing of the Arab Public During the War,” the report said the entire Arab public was viewed as “an enemy” regarding the exercise of  freedom of expression and the right to protest. The report describes the systematic silencing of the Arab public, including political persecution, from the beginning of  the Gaza war in 2023 until the signing of a ceasefire agreement in October of 2025.

The report said the “silencing policy” had the support of the Israeli police, the Knesset (Legislative branch), the government (Executive branch), the State’s Attorney’s office and the Supreme Court. Arab Israeli citizens were labeled as supporting terrorism or treason and experienced social ostracism, job loss, suspension or expulsion from universities and subject to unwarranted criminal investigations.

The message: “It is forbidden to oppose the war, voice grief over the killing and starvation in Gaza, question the version of events of the government and security forces, or express solidarity with Palestinian victim,” the report noted, adding, “This policy effectively silenced the Arab public.”

Showing support for Palestinian victims or showing solidarity with their cause was viewed by the Israeli government as supporting terrorism or being traitorous. Severe restrictions were placed on Arab demonstrations and protests, as well as social media comments, the report said.

The contention over Arab Israeli rights has further called into question the label of Israel as a democratic state. The report highlights the government’s efforts to undermine the legitimacy of Arab participation in elections, criminalizing the display of the Palestinian flag, threatening and detaining Arab journalists and falsely accusing Arab politicians of being terrorist operatives or supporting terrorism.

 “It is a cliché that Israel is ‘the only democracy’ in the Middle East,” said Mr. Hamad, a Palestinian whose parents and grandparents were exiled to Lebanon, where he was raised, during the first Nakba (catastrophe). Arab citizens of Israel “have citizenship but they are not treated equally.” “Israel is a racist country, and racism is the core of Zionism,” he said.

The post Israel: Child killer and human rights violator, reports say appeared first on Final Call News.

The MoU was signed by President Donald J. Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Palace of Versailles in France at a dinner hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the end of the highly anticipated G7 meeting of powerful nations.

By most accounts, Iran gets the better of the deal—if it holds—as the Muslim nation gets outcomes similar to or slightly better than those of a previous agreement signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015, which Mr. Trump tore up during his first term as president.

For example, the MoU does not stipulate inspections of Iran’s nuclear activities. There are, however, many “red lines” for both sides in the MoU and anger from both sides of Congress is palpable.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Trump supporter, said the president “got very poor advice when it comes to this deal.” Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost his recent re-election bid to a Trump-backed challenger, in a post on X said the deal is “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

“This is not the art of the deal, this is the art of surrender,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in an interview on MS Now. The senator was taking a jab at Mr. Trump’s co-written 1987 book “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” He went on to describe the MoU as “one of the worst foreign policy disasters” in U.S. history.

At various moments during the G7 gathering, President Trump showed the stress of the pressure on him because of what Iran wins.

President Trump commented that it is acceptable for Iran to maintain a ballistic missile arsenal, stating it is “fair” in relative proportion to other nations. “I’m saying that if other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some,” the president told reporters on June 18.

While at the G7, he also explained the decision to unfreeze some of Iran’s assets. “The unfreezing … we have taken a lot of their money. And we have their money. We have taken their money, its not our money, it’s their money and we froze it.

At a certain point in time, I guess we’re going to have to give it back. You know, if we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again,” he said, reported several media outlets.

Among other things, the 14-point MoU stipulates:

• An immediate and permanent end of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon
• Removal of the U.S. naval blockade on Iran
• Termination of U.S. sanctions against Iran in an agreed upon schedule
• U.S. will make available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of Iran.

For its part, Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for oil, fertilizer and other materials and reaffirm its commitment not to develop or obtain nuclear weapons, something it had affirmed in the previous 2015 agreement. (See full MoU on page 23.)

At Final Call press time, the planned June 19 public signing ceremony with U.S. Vice President JD Vance was canceled due to Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon. Such attacks cross Iran’s red line established in the MoU. The document had been signed on June 17 by presidents Trump and Pezeshkian.

It had been argued that warring parties were playing a waiting game: Trump betting that Iran’s economy would collapse and create internal rebellion; Iran betting that the decline of the world economy would pressure the U.S. to back off so ships can flow through the Strait.

“Iran is moving from survival to ambition … using the MoU to gain power,” University of Chicago professor Robert Pape surmised on the Danny Haipong YouTube channel, pointing out that any oil that moves through the Strait now would not make it to market before the end of the year. By that time, oil reserves of most nations will be near empty.

If the U.S. or Israel violates the agreement, Iran shuts down the Strait again. “This is the escalation trap,” said Professor Pape, author of “The Escalation Trap” Substack site.

Charles Barron, an activist and former New York assemblyman and council member, said the MoU was President Trump’s way of “trying to find a graceful way out, and there was none.”

Mr. Barron, a radio host and host of the Speaking Truth to Power podcast, explained that many Republicans were against starting a war with Iran, especially as a midterm election approaches. He said the expertise of Iran’s negotiators now makes Iran a stronger regional power and an emerging world power.

The president was emboldened by his taking of Venezuela and arresting President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. “But Iran is no Venezuela or Cuba,” Mr. Barron explained. “This is further evidence of the declining American empire and we’re witnessing the birth pains of a new world order.”

Observers suggest that any final agreement will not differ significantly from Mr. Obama’s 2015 plan, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). A major contention by opponents of the MoU is a $300 billion reconstruction plan—demanded by Iran prior to the agreement—and who will pay for it?

Under the MoU, $300 billion is separate from the U.S. commitment to issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and allowing access to frozen funds immediately after the agreement is signed. In contrast, the JCPOA provided for a more gradual lifting of sanctions, with many non-nuclear sanctions remaining in place.

Observers also quickly point out that Mr. Trump’s claim that Mr. Obama gave a planeload of cash to Iran is misleading. It was Iran’s money.

A Yahoo.com “fact check” article points out the money “represented a settlement of a decades-old legal dispute over $400 million Iran had paid the U.S., before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, for military equipment it never received, plus about $1.3 billion in interest.”

Israel: America’s friend or foe?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been vocal about his MoU opposition and his commitment to attack Lebanon, which has caused death and destruction with its actions being compared to the regime’s genocide in Gaza. Public disputes between Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu have grabbed headlines in recent weeks. Whether Israel will relinquish before the MoU totally collapses is the question.

According to reporting by NBCnews.com, on June 16 at the G7, President Trump said, “Without me, there would be no Israel,” and reportedly also called Prime Minister Netanyahu “crazy” and used an expletive to describe his poor judgment. He also criticized Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon.

“There are many within the Israeli cabinet that would want to continue bombing Lebanon and thwart this eventual peace deal,” said Terek Khalil, attorney, activist and Education Chair with the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). This vision of creating a greater Israel needs Lebanese territory, not to mention Syrian territory, Jordanian territory and the rest of historic Palestine.

“On that basis, there will be a lot of political motivation to continue their expansionist campaign in Lebanon,” he said.

Mr. Khalil and others point out that the Strait of Hormuz was open prior to the unprovoked U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, and the Muslim nation never threatened to impose a tariff on ships for passage, as they now are suggesting they might do. Nor were U.S. military bases in neighboring Gulf nations being attacked. Now they are.

“The Strait will be open for 60 days, but after 60 days it’ll be subject to a decision between Iran and Oman,” Mr. Khalil noted. “They will ultimately decide what the future holds for the Strait of Hormuz. That could have an economic impact on the United States. So, the situation post Memorandum of Understanding could be worse for the United States than pre-war.”

Mr. Khalil noted that the war has taken focus off the genocide occurring in Gaza. With the assault on Iran, America is complicit in the “crime of crimes”—genocide with Israel in Gaza and the unprovoked military attack and blockade of another nation.

“This is a shameful stain on the United States of America and we’re doing it at the behest of a foreign entity, a foreign government, Israel. That is something that Americans should abhor. We must end this so-called special relationship because it is a damaging one for U.S. interests.”

Reuters reports 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since an October 2025 ceasefire agreement, with many injured victims dying due to the closing of crossings manned by Israeli soldiers and the inability to be extracted to a medical facility.

All of Gaza is occupied, Mr. Khalil explained, but the physical presence of the Israeli army has a stronghold over 70% of the Gaza Strip.

“It looks like the vision is to occupy, physically, 70% of the 365 square kilometer territory known as the Gaza Strip and further consolidate their gains and suffocate the Palestinian people. That’s something that you will not see in mainstream news anymore.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, has consistently warned the American Government that Israel will drag it into a war that will end its power. He has also warned Islamic nations against being divided by the enemy that threatens them all.

“America: Even though you plan well, there is another Planner over and above your plans—that is The Best of Planners. And your plans, under His Plan, is causing you to fulfill the scripture that says ‘you will lay a trap and get caught in it, and you will dig a ditch for others.

But you will fall in it yourself,’” the Minister warned the American Government in Part 34 of his 2013 yearlong series “The Time and What Must Be done” titled “America’s Errant Foreign Policy.”

In that same message, Minister Farrakhan said to the Islamic nations: “My dear brothers and sisters, leaders of the Islamic world: What you are doing under the guidance of America and Europe will cause the whole Middle East to be destroyed, and possibly lead to the bombing of our Holy City of Mecca.

Whether you know it or not, the rightful place for The Righteous will be bathed in blood as a ‘purifying agent’ for The Mahdi and The Messiah to bring The Real People of God back to their proper and rightful place in Mecca, in Medina, and the whole Muslim world!”

The post Iran finds road map to rising power Stumbling blocks and Israel trip up Trump’s peace efforts appeared first on Final Call News.

Hours after his announcement to the press at the White House, Iran’s news agency IRNA published points in the agreement causing Mr. Trump to lash out.

According to firstpost.com, points included: Permanent and immediate cessation of war on all fronts, including Lebanon; complete lifting of the naval blockade within 30 days; and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under arrangements determined by Iran, among others.

The information amounts to “Fake News” that has “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” the president wrote on his Truth Social site.

The leaked information amounts to “Fake News” that has “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” the president wrote on his Truth Social site.

He wrote that Iranian authorities are “Very dishonorable people to deal with. … They better get their act together, and FAST!”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X that, in fact, an MOU “has never been closer.” He called on media outlets to “refrain from entering speculation about its content.”

The MOU agreement stipulates there would be a cessation of fighting for 60 days while the finer points of contention are hammered out, according to press reports.

Parties in agreement with the MOU in its current form include Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others, President Trump acknowledged in a Truth Social post, adding the U.S. Naval blockade of Iran would remain until the agreement is signed.

At Final Call presstime, President Trump announced yet again that a peace deal had been reached. The Iranian outlet PressTV.ir, reported on June 14 that.

“The secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has confirmed that Tehran and Washington have finalized the text of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war, bringing an immediate and permanent halt to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and terminating the US naval blockade against Iran.”

In an April ceasefire agreement, Iran stipulated lifting of U.S. sanctions and unfreezing of Iranian assets, continued Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, reparations for damage done in the war, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from bases in the region, among other demands, many of which still stand.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance recently addressed some of these points: “If the Islamic Republic of Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region,” he posted on X.

On the other hand, the U.S. Treasury Department has announced it will use Iranian assets to help America’s Gulf allies to recover from war damages caused by Iran, according to cbsnews.com.

Days before the MOU announcement, President Trump increased attacks on Iran partly because of the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz but also because Iranians were “taking too long” to reach an agreement.

He announced through Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that the U.S. would “negotiate with bombs.” The president also announced a desire to capture Kharg Island, an important Iranian port to store oil.

“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela …” Mr. Trump said on social media.

The U.S. already has enforced a Naval blockade on Iranian shipments. Capturing the island would almost certainly involve U.S. boots-on-the ground, a situation the president said the American public probably would not support.

“Iran is not Venezuela,” commented historian and University of Houston professor Dr. Gerald Horne, adding that President Trump’s persistent promises of ceasefires and peace deals “is an attempt to manipulate the price of oil and stock markets.”

Critics have consistently voiced frustration with the president’s regular contradictory announcements regarding ceasefires and pending peace agreements. Bombs have fallen throughout the April 8 “ceasefire” announcement, partly due to violations from Israel through their attacks against Hezbollah resistance fighters in Lebanon.

At one point, the disagreement grew into a public spat with President Trump scolding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for potentially derailing a peace deal.

Who’s in charge?

When Iran launched a June 7 attack on Israel in retaliation for an Israeli assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon, President Trump appealed to Prime Minister Netanyahu to stand down and not retaliate.

“I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots,” the U.S. president was quoted saying in response to a question from reporters. The next day, Israel launched attacks into Iran, apparently ignoring Mr. Trumps appeal.

The public disagreements have observers wondering who’s in charge.

Dr. Wilmer Leon, professor of Political Science at Morgan State University, doesn’t consider either leader “in charge” of the direction of the war.

“When you look at how much money AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) has poured into this, when you look at the interests of Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas, and General Electric, the military industrial complex is in charge of this,” he declared.

“When you look at Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, they’re in charge of this. Donald Trump is merely a figurehead.”

Dr. Leon said the U.S. and other western nations want to maintain the “settler colonial project known as Israel” in the region and western Christian Zionists have a religious interest in maintaining the status quo.

“I think it was (former president) Joe Biden who said, ‘if Israel didn’t exist, we would create one,’” he noted. “Then you have the Christian Zionists and their interest as it relates to Armageddon and the whole belief of the rapture.”

Appearing at a recent Congressional hearing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX.) whether Israel has nuclear weapons. Rep. Castro prefaced his question stating that he and 29 other representatives wrote Rubio a letter expressing the need to understand the “full risk, including the nuclear risk” involved in the Iran war. With American soldiers in the region, Congress needs to know if Israel would use nuclear force, he implied.

Rep. Castro said the response from Rubio’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs department was Congress should “ask Israel,” a response he described as “very bizarre.”

“Will you tell us … whether Israel, in fact, possesses nuclear weapons?” he asked.

The secretary did not answer the question directly, saying only that “most of the world assesses that they do.” The question was more appropriate for a “classified and sensitive” setting, Sec. Rubio said.

“The reason he can’t answer that question,” said Dr. Leon, “is because as soon as he admits that Israel has a nuclear weapon, that changes the legal dynamics that the United States now finds itself engaged in.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has warned America about her efforts to destabilize foreign nations and warned Muslim leaders to stand united.

“Iranians have the right to resolve their own problems without outside interference, just as the U.S. has claimed its right to conduct elections free of Russian influence,” Minister Farrakhan said in a statement regarding his 2018 trip to Iran and message to Iran and America. Self-determination is a right of every nation, Minister Farrakhan said.

“The Muslim World needs unity and must find the path to reconciliation despite efforts to pit Muslims against one another. Satan seeks to divide Muslims and wants them to kill each other, while Allah God tells us in the Qur’an to be united.”

A view of the damages at Hypercar, an auto service center, which according to the company’s officials were caused by strikes on March 1, in Tehran, Iran, March 28. Photo: AP/Vahid Salemi

The post Is agreement to stop Iran war near? appeared first on Final Call News.

With distrust rising among warring parties and fractures appearing in President Donald Trump’s grip on Republican legislators, the war could explode into all-out battle again, particularly due to Israel’s attacks and expansion into Lebanon. 

Iran has said continued attacks into Lebanon is a red line to peace talks.

Such attacks moved President Trump to launch an expletive-laced scolding of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a June 1 conversation.

“You’re f***ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me,” axios.com reported based on conversations with its sources familiar with the tense conversation. “I’m saving your a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

The goal of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon “is to destroy even the slightest possibility for the ongoing diplomatic processes to lead to improvements in the situation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement,” adding, “We can’t consider the U.S. and the Zionist regime as two separate agents.”

Critics are further concerned that legislation before the U.S. Congress could deepen U.S.-Israel cooperation on weapons technology, research and production.

The United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative appears in Section 224 of the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual U.S. defense policy bill, Al Jazeera news reported.

Passage would join America and Israel even more than they already are in technology, critics warn, noting Israel’s “iron dome” technology.

Paying $3.8 billion a year in taxpayer dollars for Israel’s defense has become very unpopular, said Phyllis Bennis, director of the Institute for Policy Studies. The funding is based on a memorandum of understanding (MO) and the prospect of negotiating another MO that lasts 10-20 years “was not looking very hopeful,” she said.

So, some members of Congress decided to include it in the NDAA, she said.

“They won’t get direct military aide. Instead, they would get a partnership of production of weapons that would make the U.S. even more complicit in Israeli war crimes,” Ms. Bennis said.

President Trump, by many accounts, was persuaded to attack Iran by Prime Minister Natanyahu, who advised that Iran would surrender within days of a U.S.-Israel joint attack. Ms. Bennis disagrees.

Trump was a war-making president already, she said, adding, now, there are significant differences between the two leaders.

“Netanyahu’s goal from the beginning is to maintain a war against Iran until he can claim that the Iranian regime has been completely defeated. … Without that, he is nothing. Now that puts him in direct contradiction with Trump, who just wants to get out from under this war. He’s bored with it, as he says himself,” Ms.  Bennis explained.

The ultimate pressure point to bring Prime Minister Netanyahu in line may be to threaten to stop arming Israel, she concluded.

Pressure from criminal charges Mr. Netanyahu faces once he’s no longer prime minister and criticism from Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir may give the prime minister fuel to persist in war.

“You said that a strong prime minister tells the President of the United States ‘yes’ when possible, and ‘no’ when necessary. Now is the time to say to our friend, President Trump, ‘no,’” Mr. Gvir wrote on his Telegram channel, according to newarab.com, a London-based English language news site.

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, spoke of America’s current predicament in chapter 69 of His phenomenal book “Fall of America.”

“With nations rejecting peace offers and nations laughing and making mock of you forever seeking peace and friendship—as it is written, ‘Peace is desired more than fine gold!’ …

“We did not know that we would see such a Goliath—such a giant—falling. Goliath! who has defied the nations of the earth to come out and fight with them, as Goliath did before Israel. Now, nations make mock of the great giant of the earth, America.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, during Saviours’ Day 2024, warned President Trump of being pulled into a war due to Mr. Netanyahu’s blood thirst.

Speaking of the genocide on Palestinians, Minister Farrakhan explained that in the night hours, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad had shown him in a vision the wicked King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

“And that man, Nebuchadnezzar: Allah turned him from a human to a beast,” Minister Farrakhan said. “And when I looked at what was happening to our Palestinian brothers and sisters, I saw why Allah showed me Nebuchadnezzar; because Netanyahu was becoming a beast in human form, with no feeling at all for the Palestinian people and for what they were causing the Palestinian people to suffer.”

The long game

Analysts speculate that the U.S. and Iran are playing a long game of who can hold out, as President Trump is banking on Iran’s economy to totally collapse and Tehran gambles that global economies will put pressure on Mr. Trump.

Politico recently reported that executives have warned the White House that U.S. oil reserves are “hitting rock bottom” due to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic nation’s strongest strategy and position in the war. Trump officials denied any conversation.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program (WFP) announced millions of people are being pushed further into hunger, even as President Trump did a June 5 midterm election campaign visit to Wisconsin to tout his agenda for farmers.

“The situation is being compounded by a lack of funding for humanitarian operations. … If the crisis continues for another six months, an additional 9 million people could lose access to aid,” WFP announced.

Oil and fertilizer are impacted by closure of the Strait.

With deaths rising above 3,500, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry since early March, Jordan Esparza-Kelley, a communications spokesperson for CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), told The Final Call that Israel’s goal is to achieve their “greater Israel project,” which includes taking  Palestine and land from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

“For over 30 years Netanyahu has aimed for this to happen and finally there was a U.S. President gullible enough to do it. The concern is always when attention drifts from Gaza that the genocide committed by Israel intensifies,” he said regarding lack of media attention to the continued bombing, killing and land grabs in Gaza and the West Bank.

He said CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, is focusing on domestic issues like the NDAA weapons legislation.

“Parallel to these global issues is the use of inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric by local, state, and federal elected officials, which stoke the flames for terror attacks” on Muslims, he said.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is used as a vehicle to bolster defense budgets and create a state of paranoia in the U.S. by manufacturing an enemy abroad and at home, he concluded.

Four Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives joined Democrats June 3 to pass a War Powers resolution that calls on President Trump to either pull out of the war or get approval from Congress to continue. The resolution is mostly symbolic as it can be vetoed by the president, which then Congress would have to override.

The post Trump and Netanyahu play dangerous game in Iran war appeared first on Final Call News.