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  • UAE building pipeline to double oil exports that can bypass Hormuz

    UAE building pipeline to double oil exports that can bypass Hormuz

    Against the backdrop of escalating regional tensions following the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, the United Arab Emirates has unveiled plans to speed up expansion of its oil pipeline network, a strategic move that will double the volume of crude the nation can export without passing through the contested Strait of Hormuz. The project is on track to be fully operational by 2027, state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) confirmed in an official statement released Friday.

    Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the acceleration of the construction during a recent high-level committee meeting, with Adnoc noting that preliminary work on the new pipeline segment had already broken ground. The pipeline will connect the UAE’s inland oil infrastructure to the port of Fujairah, which sits on the UAE’s eastern coast along the Gulf of Oman, eliminating the need for tankers to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for global oil trade.

    Currently, the UAE’s existing Habshan-Fujairah pipeline boasts a daily throughput capacity of 1.8 million barrels. With the expansion, the country’s total bypass capacity will double, allowing it to restore nearly all of its pre-conflict export volume without relying on Hormuz. Before the outbreak of the current war, the UAE was moving roughly 3.4 million barrels of crude per day to global markets. After Iran took control of the strait and implemented a new regional passage authorization system, UAE exports dropped by approximately 60 percent, according to regional energy data.

    Once the expanded network is complete, the UAE will be able to ship almost all of its pre-war output via the alternative pipeline route. Longer-term, the Gulf nation has set an even more ambitious target: reaching a total export capacity of nearly 5 million barrels per day by 2027, aligning with massive infrastructure investments it has made to ramp up domestic production capacity over recent years.

    The strategic pivot away from Hormuz comes amid a series of disruptive regional developments tied to the ongoing conflict. In the opening weeks of the war, Iran blocked oil exports from other Gulf states while continuing its own shipments, before a U.S. naval blockade imposed last month effectively halted all Iranian crude exports. The move also follows a landmark decision by the UAE just this month to withdraw from the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC cartel, a split rooted in years of disagreements over production policy. For years, Riyadh pushed for aggressive production cuts to prop up global oil prices, while the UAE pushed for looser output limits to capitalize on its expanded production capacity. The UAE’s exit from OPEC gives it full policy flexibility to pursue its 2027 capacity goals, Abu Dhabi officials have said.

    Despite the strategic gains of the project, security risks remain a persistent challenge. The UAE’s close geographic proximity to Iran leaves its critical energy infrastructure vulnerable to attack. Earlier in the conflict, an Iranian drone strike targeted a major gas processing facility located near Habshan, the starting point of the Fujairah pipeline. The port of Fujairah itself has also been hit in previous attacks, forcing a temporary suspension of all cargo operations at the facility.

    The UAE is not alone in moving to diversify its oil export routes away from the Strait of Hormuz. Regional rival and neighbor Saudi Arabia already operates the East-West Pipeline, which enables the kingdom to export up to 5 million barrels of crude per day through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing Hormuz entirely.

    This independent coverage of Middle East energy and security developments is provided by Middle East Eye, a publication specializing in on-the-ground reporting and analysis of the Middle East and North Africa region.

  • UAE made failed attempt to get Saudi Arabia, Qatar to jointly attack Iran: Report

    UAE made failed attempt to get Saudi Arabia, Qatar to jointly attack Iran: Report

    Regional divisions across the Persian Gulf have been laid bare by a newly revealed failed diplomatic push, after Bloomberg reported Friday that the United Arab Emirates was unable to convince Saudi Arabia and Qatar to launch a coordinated joint military response to Iranian retaliatory attacks earlier this year.

    The failed outreach came in the immediate aftermath of a joint strike against Iranian targets by the United States and Israel on February 28. In response to that attack, Tehran launched a massive barrage of thousands of missiles and drones against Gulf states that had aligned with the U.S. and Israel. The UAE, which normalized diplomatic relations with Israel in 2021 under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, bore the overwhelming weight of Tehran’s retaliation, with close to 3,000 projectiles hitting targets across the country.

    Shortly after the attack, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a series of urgent phone consultations with top Gulf leaders, including Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. To the UAE’s disappointment, both the Saudi crown prince and other regional leaders rejected the call for a unified military offensive against Iran. Instead of uniting competing Gulf powers against a shared adversary, the unfolding conflict has amplified long-simmering tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, the report found.

    To date, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have launched retaliatory strikes against Iran, but have acted entirely independently. Analysts have characterized Saudi Arabia’s military response as deliberately restrained; shortly after its strikes, the kingdom shifted its focus to supporting regional mediation efforts led by its close ally Pakistan.

    The UAE has taken a far more escalatory approach, however, targeting critical Iranian energy infrastructure. The Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE carried out an airstrike on Iran’s Lavan Island, a major Gulf oil and gas processing hub, in early April. The attack came at the exact moment the U.S. was publicly announcing a ceasefire in the conflict, and is reported to have sparked a massive blaze that knocked most of the facility’s operational capacity offline for months, representing a major escalation of hostilities.

    Geographic and economic realities have driven the UAE’s harder line. Unlike Saudi Arabia, which can route oil exports through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea to avoid Gulf closures, the UAE’s energy trade and economic standing are far more vulnerable to Iranian actions. The ongoing conflict has also severely damaged the country’s core identity as a safe global tourism and financial hub.

    Abu Dhabi has aggressively lobbied both publicly and privately to convince the U.S. to continue its military campaign against Iran, and even put forward a failed United Nations resolution that would have authorized the use of military force to respond to Iran’s new control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Its frustration with regional allies has grown increasingly public: senior UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash openly criticized the Gulf Cooperation Council for what he called a “weak” collective response to Iran’s attacks. That discontent reached a breaking point in May, when the UAE announced its withdrawal from the OPEC oil cartel.

    Amid its growing estrangement from traditional Gulf partners, the UAE has doubled down on its deepening security and diplomatic alignment with Israel. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee confirmed earlier this month during a public event in Tel Aviv that Israel has deployed Iron Dome air defense batteries, along with specialized military personnel to operate the systems, to the UAE to help defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks. “Israel just sent them — [the UAE] — Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help them operate them. How come? Because there’s an extraordinary relationship between the UAE and Israel based on the Abraham Accords,” Huckabee said.

    Even with this deepening security cooperation, the UAE has remained cautious about publicly acknowledging the full extent of its ties with Israel. This tension was on full display this week, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced he had made an unpublicized visit to the UAE during the ongoing conflict, only for Abu Dhabi to issue an immediate denial that any such visit ever occurred.

    It should be noted that Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza has been formally labeled a genocide by the United Nations, leading genocide scholars, leading international human rights experts, and multiple heads of state across the globe — including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

  • Energy crisis set to worsen as Trump weighs renewed Iran assault

    Energy crisis set to worsen as Trump weighs renewed Iran assault

    The ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran, initiated under former president Donald Trump, is pushing the global energy system toward a potentially catastrophic worsening of an already severe crisis, according to new reporting from *The Wall Street Journal*, which warns the world is rapidly exhausting its emergency oil reserve buffer.

    When hostilities first erupted and Iran moved to block the Strait of Hormuz — a critical chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of global daily oil trade — crude prices spiked sharply. This initial market shock was softened temporarily by existing crude surpluses held by major consuming nations, which allowed additional volumes to be released onto global markets to offset the blocked shipments.

    But that temporary relief is now running out. *The Journal* reports that global emergency and commercial oil inventories are being drawn down at a pace never seen before, with total stocks dropping by almost 250 million barrels in just the first two months of the conflict.

    This unprecedented drawdown has prompted senior oil industry leaders and energy analysts to warn that the current period of relative calm in global energy markets is about to be upended by a sharp correction. If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to commercial shipping, acute fuel shortages and dramatic price spikes could hit global markets within a matter of weeks, the outlet noted.

    Citing analysis from global risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, the report projects that if current depletion rates hold, U.S. diesel reserves will fall below the 100 million barrel threshold by the end of this month — a level not seen in more than two decades.

    Ellen Wald, a senior fellow focused on global energy policy at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, told *The Journal* that while higher oil prices will naturally trigger some reduction in consumer and industrial demand, that demand response will not be nearly large enough to offset the massive supply shortfall created by the blocked strait. As a result, prices will continue to climb rapidly.

    “You can only decrease consumption so much, and when inventories run out, they are going to run out,” Wald explained. “At some point the market is going to collide and prices are going to shoot up.”

    The risk of a worse outcome is growing by the day, as new reporting indicates the Trump administration is preparing to escalate military hostilities against Iran. If new attacks are launched, Iran could respond with targeted strikes on regional oil production and export infrastructure, which would only deepen the global supply crunch.

    Independent outlet Zeteo reported Thursday that preparations for a new, imminent phase of military operations in the Iran conflict have accelerated in recent days, as the U.S. president has become increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in ongoing peace negotiations. Citing anonymous sources familiar with administration planning, Zeteo reported that the U.S. military campaign will ramp up shortly after Trump concludes his upcoming visit to China, with options on the table including a large-scale new bombing campaign targeting Iranian assets.

    U.S. forces carried out widespread bombing of Iranian military targets and civilian infrastructure in the opening weeks of the conflict, but Iran has refused to reverse its decision to close the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic. With peace talks stalled and the threat of renewed fighting hanging over markets, Brent crude futures climbed sharply on Friday, pushing prices above $108 per barrel.

    Domestically, average retail gasoline prices across the United States remained above $4.50 per gallon on Friday. Petroleum industry analyst Patrick De Haan projected Thursday that if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened in the near term, average U.S. gas prices could soon surge past the $5 per gallon mark, piling additional financial pressure on American households.

  • Trump expected to drop IRS suit in exchange for MAGA slush fund

    Trump expected to drop IRS suit in exchange for MAGA slush fund

    In a sharp rebuke of emerging settlement terms for a $10 billion lawsuit President Donald Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service, top congressional Democrats have accused the sitting president of orchestrating a massive scheme to divert $1.7 billion in public funds to his political allies, framing the deal as an unprecedented power grab that weaponizes federal institutions for partisan gain.

    Citing multiple unnamed sources familiar with ongoing negotiations, ABC News first reported late Thursday that a deal is expected to be finalized in the coming days. Under the reported terms, Trump would drop his pending lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for two key concessions: the creation of a $1.7 billion compensation pool funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Judgment Fund, a taxpayer-backed account reserved for official court judgments and government settlements, and a public formal apology from the agency for the 2020s leak of Trump’s personal tax returns during his first presidential term.

    The lawsuit itself stems from the unauthorized disclosure of Trump’s tax records by former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty to leaking the documents to The New York Times and ProPublica in 2024. Those leaks exposed that Trump had utilized aggressive, widely criticized tax avoidance schemes and paid no federal income taxes for multiple years leading up to his 2017 inauguration, breaking a decades-long bipartisan tradition of presidential tax transparency by refusing to release his returns voluntarily. Trump and his legal team initially sought a minimum $10 billion payout from the agency over the leak.

    The proposed settlement has already sparked fierce condemnation from congressional Democrats, who warn that the deal’s structure exposes deep conflicts of interest and unprecedented corruption. As sitting president, Trump already exercises full executive control over the IRS, which is currently led by his handpicked appointee Frank J. Bisignano, who reports directly to Trump-aligned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The Department of Justice, which is defending the IRS in the case, is also under Trump’s executive authority, leading legal observers to question the legitimacy of the suit, since both nominal opposing parties are ultimately controlled by the plaintiff.

    Last month, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams, who is overseeing the case in the Southern District of Florida, publicly questioned the lawsuit’s constitutionality, noting that as sitting president, Trump holds authority over the federal entities he is suing. She has ordered both parties to submit legal briefs by May 20 proving a genuine adversarial conflict exists between the plaintiff and defendants, but legal analysts have noted the White House and DOJ can finalize a settlement before that deadline, leaving the judge with little power to block the deal. Beyond the $1.7 billion fund, multiple outlets have confirmed administration officials have also discussed dropping all outstanding IRS audits of Trump, his family, and his business entities—a move that could save Trump more than $100 million in back taxes, per a 2024 New York Times analysis.

    “ This is another installment in Trump’s ongoing effort to turn the federal government into a personal cash machine for his unpopular extremist movement,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a formal statement Thursday. Raskin called the proposed deal “a massive and unprecedented presidential plunder of the American people,” warning that the plan marks “a declaration that the prior payouts were just a down payment, and that he now intends to earmark billions more in taxpayer dollars for his political allies, sycophants, and private militia of unemployed insurrectionists.” Raskin emphasized that Trump holds no statutory authority to divert Judgment Fund resources for this purpose, arguing that “Congress must act immediately to reassert the power of the purse and stop this brazen looting of taxpayer funds before this ‘pilot program’ for corruption becomes the permanent operating system of our government.”

    Other House Democrats echoed Raskin’s criticism. “Real story: Judge was about to throw out the case because Trump controls both parties,” Rep. Dan Goldman of New York wrote on social media Thursday. “Before it’s dismissed, Trump tells both parties to reach a ‘settlement.’ Settlement shields Trump from any future audit and creates a secret slush fund that can dole out money to anyone with no transparency.” Goldman called the arrangement “mind-boggling corruption.”

    ABC News’ reporting notes the proposed settlement includes multiple unusual provisions that raise transparency concerns. Under the draft terms, Trump would be barred from receiving direct personal payments from the three core legal claims at the center of the suit, but no restrictions prohibit Trump-aligned entities from filing future additional claims. More critically, the president would hold the authority to remove members of the commission overseeing the $1.7 billion fund without cause, and the commission would face no mandatory requirements to disclose its award procedures or decision-making, creating what experts describe as an unaccountable, oversight-free pool of taxpayer cash.

    Top Democratic lawmakers have gone even further in their assessments, describing the plan as the largest single instance of public corruption in U.S. history. “Trump is considering stealing billions of dollars from the American people,” said Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee. “He’s already the most corrupt president ever by a wide margin, but this would be fraud and theft on a scale even he has never attempted. The largest single act of grand larceny in American history.”

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, added that a pre-ruling settlement would amount to “a massive, unprecedented scandal.” Warren has already introduced legislation that would bar sitting presidents, vice presidents, and their immediate families from collecting settlement payments from the federal government, and would require independent court-appointed counsel to defend agencies in claims brought by top executive branch officials. But the bill has failed to advance in the current Republican-controlled Congress.

    The proposed settlement would represent a dramatic expansion of the pattern of self-dealing that has defined Trump’s second presidential term, according to tracking from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank that maintains a live public tracker of profits Trump and his family have earned through their hold on public office. To date, the tracker estimates Trump and his family have taken in more than $2.6 billion in cash and gifts through their positions, including roughly $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency ventures promoted from the White House, a $400 million luxury jet gifted by the government of Qatar, and more than $90 million in legal settlements from media and technology companies. Beyond the IRS suit, Trump has also demanded the Department of Justice pay him $230 million in damages over prior criminal investigations into his business and political activities.

    Even a partial payout on Trump’s original $10 billion claim would dwarf the self-dealing of Trump’s first 18 months back in office, analysts have noted, potentially doubling Trump’s reported net worth through public funds diverted through the settlement.

    Bharat Ramamurti, former deputy director of the White House National Economic Council under President Joe Biden, called the lawsuit and proposed settlement “a massive scam” that is “much worse” than Trump’s earlier proposal to divert $1 billion in taxpayer funds to renovate his White House ballroom.

  • India and UAE sign defence and energy deals during Modi’s state visit

    India and UAE sign defence and energy deals during Modi’s state visit

    During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the United Arab Emirates on Friday, New Delhi and Abu Dhabi signed a suite of new bilateral agreements focused on defence cooperation and petroleum security, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed via a post on the social platform X. The new agreements are framed as an expansion of the two nations’ longstanding Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, according to official comments shared by MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

    The visit yielded seven key bilateral outcomes, covering energy, defence and economic development. These include a new collaborative partnership between India’s state-run Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the formal establishment of a bilateral Strategic Defence Partnership, and a $5 billion development investment pledge from the UAE to India.

    Indian media reports document that in direct talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Modi issued a forceful condemnation of recent cross-border strikes targeting the UAE, which were carried out by Iran in retaliation for ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Iran. “India stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the UAE in every situation, and it will continue to do so,” Modi stated during the meeting.

    The high-stakes diplomatic meeting unfolds against a backdrop of severe energy instability for India, which is currently grappling with supply disruptions sparked by the escalated US-Israeli conflict with Iran. The South Asian nation relies on foreign imports to meet roughly 90% of its total crude oil demand, and recent disruptions to shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—a critical global energy chokepoint that handles a large share of India’s oil imports—have cut the country’s commercial oil inventories by 15%, according to analysis from the Times of India.

    Last week, Modi publicly called for nationwide austerity measures to curb energy consumption, urging Indian citizens to adopt work-from-home arrangements, cut back on unnecessary international travel, and postpone gold purchases to reduce foreign energy outlay. But the prime minister’s appeal has drawn sharp pushback from Indian opposition parties and independent critics, who accuse Modi of prioritizing energy-intensive campaign events—including large-scale election rallies and roadshows for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—while ignoring the country’s deepening economic and energy crisis.

    Since March 2025, widespread public protests have erupted across India over soaring liquified petroleum gas (LPG) prices and persistent supply shortages. Demonstrators highlight that the energy crunch has already triggered widespread job losses, small business closures, and sharp spikes in the price of essential daily goods, putting severe strain on low- and middle-income households.

    Modi’s UAE visit came just one day after New Delhi hosted a BRICS diplomatic gathering that included Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other senior global envoys. Iranian state media reports that during the BRICS meeting, Araghchi publicly accused the UAE of direct involvement in US-Israeli military strikes against Iran, noting that Abu Dhabi failed to issue even a formal condemnation of the attacks when they first began. Araghchi’s comments followed emerging independent reports of undisclosed Emirati military strikes on Iranian targets, which have fueled claims of growing military coordination between the UAE, the United States and Israel.

    Friday’s bilateral agreements between India and the UAE reinforce a web of existing security and economic ties that also connect New Delhi to Tel Aviv. Since 2023, India has been a core member of the I2U2 Group, a quadrilateral strategic partnership that also includes Israel, the UAE and the United States. Throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has been widely labeled as genocidal by international observers, India has steadily deepened its military and economic cooperation with Israel.

    This report was originally produced by Middle East Eye, an independent media outlet specializing in original, in-depth coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and surrounding regions.

  • Israeli-born Dutch politician calls for violence worse than Gaza against Palestinians

    Israeli-born Dutch politician calls for violence worse than Gaza against Palestinians

    A controversial Israeli-born right-wing Dutch politician has ignited a national firestorm after calling for European borders to be shut to Palestinian refugees through the use of lethal, excessive force, drawing formal accusations of incitement to violence and widespread condemnation across the Dutch political spectrum.

    Gidi Markuszower, who split from Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) earlier this year to launch his own nationalist party, The Dutch Alliance, made the inflammatory remarks during a recorded video interview with independent Dutch media platform Left Laser.

    During the discussion about the entry of Palestinian asylum seekers to the Netherlands, Markuszower repeatedly insisted that force must be used to block their arrival. “We need to stop them with force, even more force than they are fleeing from,” he said. “The Netherlands and all of Europe must turn them away at the border with force.” When pressed by the interviewer to clarify whether this meant using greater violence than the Israeli military currently employs in Gaza, Markuszower affirmed, “If necessary, with force.”

    When asked directly if that would mean border security forces shooting unarmed Palestinians attempting to cross into the country, Markuszower did not back down. “With force, yes,” he replied. Pressed further on whether Royal Netherlands Marechaussee border guards should use service rifles to shoot people seeking entry, the lawmaker doubled down: “They do not have a valid visa, so they have no right to enter. If they persist in trying to cross, you have to defend yourself. Use maximum force.”

    Markuszower went even further in his anti-Palestinian rhetoric, claiming that roughly 90% of Palestinians vote for Hamas and are inherently committed to a “culture of destruction.” He added that Palestinians should remain in “Arabia” or “wither away” in the Gaza Strip, echoing far-right tropes that have drawn widespread rebuke from human rights groups.

    The Rights Forum, a leading Dutch human rights organization, has announced it will file a formal criminal complaint against Markuszower for incitement to violence against asylum seekers. The group labeled the lawmaker’s comments “morally reprehensible,” arguing that in a democratic constitutional state, such dangerous rhetoric demands review by the Public Prosecution Service and adjudication by the courts.

    The controversy comes amid ongoing debate over asylum policy in the Netherlands. Data shows that just under 6,000 people applied for asylum in the country during the first quarter of 2026, with roughly 1,100 applicants listed as holding “unknown nationality” – a classification that includes Palestinian refugees, as the Netherlands does not formally recognize Palestinian statehood.

    This is not the first time Markuszower has been mired in controversy over extremist rhetoric and security concerns. Born in Tel Aviv, he previously served as a spokesperson for the Dutch branch of Israel’s ruling Likud Party. In 2024, Wilders’ far-right incoming government planned to appoint Markuszower as deputy prime minister and migration minister, but withdrew the nomination following undisclosed security concerns flagged by Dutch intelligence services. This marks a decades-long pattern: in 2010, Markuszower dropped out of a parliamentary race after intelligence linked him to an unnamed foreign security service, widely reported by local media to be Israel’s Mossad. Despite that scrutiny, he won election to the Dutch Senate in 2015 and to the House of Representatives two years later. He has also been detained by police on weapons possession charges, though he was never ultimately prosecuted. In 2023, he drew outrage for claiming “the African jungle” was coming to the Netherlands “en masse.”

    This latest set of remarks has drawn sharp condemnation from across mainstream Dutch political parties this week. Jesse Klaver, leader of the center-left GroenLinks-PvdA alliance, called the comments “deeply abhorrent language, an absolute low point” for Dutch politics. Jan Paternotte, a senior lawmaker with the social liberal Democrats 66 party, echoed the criticism, saying: “What complete idiocy. Stop this dangerous contest of outbidding the radical right.”

    The report was originally published by Middle East Eye, an independent media outlet covering the Middle East and North Africa region.

  • Drake calls out DJ Khaled’s silence on Palestine in new track

    Drake calls out DJ Khaled’s silence on Palestine in new track

    In a surprising drop of three new studio albums released last Friday, global hip-hop superstar Drake has reignited public debate over celebrity silence on the crisis in Gaza, with a pointed lyrical diss targeting Palestinian-American hitmaker DJ Khaled for his failure to speak up in support of the Palestinian people.

    The scathing verse appears on *Make Them Pay*, a track pulled from Drake’s surprise-released album *Iceman*, one of three full-length projects the Canadian rapper dropped unannounced to shock fans worldwide. The lines in question directly name DJ Khaled – whose full legal name is Khaled Mohammed Khaled – and call out his public silence amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Drake raps: “And, Khaled, you know what I mean / The beef was fully live, you went halal and got on your deen / And your people are still waitin’ for a free Palestine / But apparently everything isn’t black and white and red and green.”

    This is not the first time DJ Khaled has faced public backlash for his refusal to address the Gaza crisis. Since 2023, the renowned producer and artist, who regularly highlights his Palestinian heritage in public interviews and musical content, has been widely criticized by fans, activist groups and high-profile public figures for staying silent on Israel’s military operations in the besieged enclave. Last year, American comedian Dave Chappelle famously called out DJ Khaled’s inaction during a stand-up set, saying, “DJ Khaled, let me tell you something. For a Palestinian, this man is awfully quiet right now, and as a Palestinian, how could you be that quiet right now?” To date, DJ Khaled has not issued any public response to the repeated criticism, nor has he made any public statement addressing the crisis in Gaza. Middle East Eye attempted to reach DJ Khaled’s team for comment ahead of this report, but received no response by the time of publication.

    Supporters of Drake’s stance have quickly pointed to the Canadian rapper’s long-standing early support for Palestinian calls for peace. Political commentator Hasanabi noted on social media platform X that even amid broader criticism of Drake, he was among the first high-profile major recording artists to sign the *Artists4Ceasefire* open letter calling for an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza, just 23 days after the October 7 attacks in 2023.

    Drake’s latest batch of surprise releases is scattered with repeated references to Middle Eastern culture and Islamic practice, beyond the diss verse targeting DJ Khaled. On the track *Whisper My Name*, he raps “My YGs are fastin’ and prayin’ / You lucky it’s Ramadan”, while *Make Them Cry* includes a shoutout to “the Bulgari in Turkey”. One of the three albums dropped Friday is even titled *Habibti*, an Arabic term that translates to “my love”.

    Online discourse around the verse has remained divided: while many have praised Drake for holding a prominent Palestinian celebrity accountable for public inaction, others have pushed back, arguing that Drake himself has not maintained consistent, outspoken advocacy for Palestine despite his criticism of DJ Khaled.

  • Spain’s Sanchez slams Israeli minister for attack on Yamal over Palestinian flag

    Spain’s Sanchez slams Israeli minister for attack on Yamal over Palestinian flag

    A diplomatic and public controversy has erupted over a symbolic gesture by Spanish football star Lamine Yamal, drawing in top political leaders from Spain and Israel and sparking fierce global debate online over the meaning of the Palestinian flag. The 18-year-old Barcelona forward, one of the most talented young players in global football, waved the Palestinian flag from an open-top parade bus last Monday as the club celebrated its second straight La Liga title, with roughly 750,000 supporters lining the streets of Barcelona to mark the achievement. Thousands of fans immediately praised Yamal for the public expression of solidarity, but the gesture drew sharp condemnation from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz four days later.

    Katz took to the social platform X (formerly Twitter) to launch his rebuke, accusing Yamal of direct incitement against Israel and the Jewish people. In his public post, Katz called on the storied Barcelona club to publicly reject the player’s actions, writing: “I expect a great and respected club like @FCBarcelona to distance itself from these statements and make it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement or for support of terrorism.”

    Within hours, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez issued a blistering public response in defense of Yamal, pushing back against Katz’s accusations. Sanchez, whose left-wing government has been openly critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and formally recognized Palestinian statehood in 2024, argued that critics of Yamal’s gesture have abandoned fair judgment. “Those who consider waving the flag of a state to be ‘inciting hatred’ have either lost their judgment or been blinded by their own ignominy,” Sanchez wrote. The prime minister added that Yamal’s simple act reflected widespread public feeling across Spain, noting it was “a reflection of solidarity with Palestine felt by millions of Spaniards” and “another reason to be proud of him.”

    Officials at Barcelona have so far declined to issue an official public statement on the controversy. In comments to reporters earlier this week, Barca manager Hansi Flick acknowledged that he does not typically approve of players mixing political expression into title celebrations, but said he ultimately left the decision to Yamal, noting the player is an adult and fully capable of making his own choices. “I spoke with him. I said if he wants this, it is his decision. He is old enough. He’s 18 years old,” Flick said, adding that his top priority during the parade was celebrating the back-to-back titles with the club’s fanbase.

    The clash of words between the two top political officials quickly went viral across social media, drawing widespread reaction from users around the world. A large share of commenters praised Sanchez for his unflinching public support of Yamal, with many echoing the prime minister’s rejection of the claim that waving a Palestinian flag equals incitement or support for terrorism. “In this era, you are truly rare men of honor. Gaza holds profound gratitude for all that Spain has done on her behalf. We love you with all our hearts,” one user wrote. Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha echoed that praise, writing: “All respect to you, to Spain, and to Lamine Yamal! And to Barcelona, who I have been a fan of since the age of 13. Barcelona: more than a club. Lamine Yamal: more than a player. Spain: more than a country.”

    Many other users condemned Katz for equating the display of the Palestinian national flag with support for terrorism, arguing that the accusation itself exposes deep prejudice against the Palestinian people. “It is a shame and a disgrace that an Israeli Minister accuses Lamine Yamal of supporting terrorism and attacking his country just for holding a Palestinian flag,” one user commented. “It only evidences the hatred and lies of this genocidal government of Israel.” Another added: “Lamine Yamal didn’t say anything, he just raised a Palestinian flag, but for Israel’s Defence Minister, he ‘incited hatred.’ This only makes sense if you consider the existence of the Palestinian people intolerable.”

    Yamal, who is widely regarded as one of the best active players in global football, is scheduled to represent the Spanish men’s national team in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to kick off in June across North America.

  • Israel and Lebanon agree to extend ceasefire, US state department says

    Israel and Lebanon agree to extend ceasefire, US state department says

    After two days of intensive diplomatic negotiations hosted in Washington D.C., Israel and Lebanon have formally agreed to extend their fragile existing ceasefire for an additional 45 days, the U.S. State Department has confirmed. The announcement marks a tentative step toward de-escalation, even as sporadic deadly exchanges of fire have persisted across the shared Israel-Lebanon border since an initial truce was first announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump in mid-April.

    State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott outlined U.S. hopes that the extended ceasefire window will create space for meaningful dialogue that paves the way for a durable long-term peace agreement between the two nations. “We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border,” Pigott stated in an official press release.

    To move the diplomatic process forward, the State Department confirmed that formal political-level negotiations will reconvene in June, with a parallel security-focused negotiating track set to launch at the Pentagon on May 29. Military delegations from both Israel and Lebanon will take part in the security-focused talks, which are expected to center on border stability and de-escalation frameworks, according to Pigott.

    Despite the initial ceasefire that took effect in April, cross-border exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have remained an almost daily occurrence. In recent days, Israel has ramped up air and artillery strikes across southern Lebanon, with Israeli officials stating that all operations target Hezbollah fighters and militant infrastructure. The Lebanese Ministry of Health has pushed back against these claims, accusing Israeli forces of deliberately targeting civilian populations and medical first responders — an allegation Israeli authorities have repeatedly denied.

    The Israeli military has articulated a strategic goal of establishing a formal buffer zone across southern Lebanon, designed to prevent future cross-border attacks by Hezbollah. This military tactic mirrors the approach Israeli forces have deployed in the Gaza Strip, where entire residential villages in southern Lebanon have been left completely destroyed. International human rights organizations have raised alarm that some of the tactics used by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon may qualify as war crimes, another allegation that Israeli officials reject outright.

    For its part, Hezbollah has continued to carry out retaliatory attacks against Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon and northern Israeli territory, using a combination of rocket fire and drone strikes. The broader conflict between the two sides erupted on March 2, just two days after the U.S. and Israel launched a joint military strike targeting Iranian assets. Hezbollah launched an intensive rocket barrage into Israeli territory in response, triggering widespread Israeli air strikes and a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon that has continued in various forms ever since.

    Official casualty figures underscore the devastating human cost of the two-month conflict. Lebanon’s health ministry reports that at least 2,896 people have been killed in Lebanese territory since hostilities began. In the most recent deadly incident this week, Lebanese health officials confirmed that Israeli air strikes across southern Lebanon killed 22 people on Wednesday, including eight children. On the Israeli side, government authorities report that 18 soldiers and four civilians have been killed since the conflict began in March.

  • Israeli activists protest at New York Times building after article exposes rape of Palestinians

    Israeli activists protest at New York Times building after article exposes rape of Palestinians

    A fresh wave of controversy erupted this week over a high-profile investigative report published by the *New York Times*, which detailed horrific accounts of sexual violence and rape committed against Palestinian detainees by Israeli personnel in state-run prisons. On Thursday, dozens of pro-Israel activists gathered outside the *New York Times* headquarters in midtown Manhattan to stage a public demonstration against the outlet’s coverage, amplifying long-simmering anger over the piece.

    Video footage of the protest, circulated widely on the social platform X, showed demonstrators carrying banners that demanded an end to antisemitic sentiment and framed anti-Zionist ideology as a direct threat to Jewish lives. Central to the protestors’ demands was the immediate firing of Nicholas Kristof, the veteran *New York Times* journalist who authored the controversial report.

    Kristof’s published investigation featured harrowing, firsthand testimonies from survivors that detailed brutal abuse: Palestinian prisoners described being sexually assaulted with dogs, penetrated with carrots, and sustaining severe rectal tearing from beatings with batons. In response to the report, high-profile Israeli influencers and sitting political figures quickly pushed back, dismissing the testimonies as a modern iteration of the blood libel — a centuries-old antisemitic falsehood that was repeatedly used to justify mass violence against Jewish communities across medieval and early modern Europe.

    After the *New York Times* reaffirmed its commitment to the reporting and stood by Kristof’s work, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that it would pursue legal action against the American newspaper.

    Claims of systemic sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees are not new: multiple independent human rights organizations have documented such abuses for years, and allegations featured in Kristof’s report have already been verified by independent regional outlet Middle East Eye. Past incidents of abuse have exposed deep rifts within Israeli society: multiple Israeli media personalities have publicly trivialized the use of dogs in sexual assaults against Palestinian detainees, and when Israeli prosecutors attempted to bring charges against soldiers accused of rape, widespread public backlash from hardline groups ultimately forced the release of the accused. In a high-profile example of public support for the accused soldiers, thousands of Israelis joined so-called “right to rape” demonstrations in the aftermath of the abuse allegations.

    One of the most striking developments in related investigations came in November, when Israeli authorities arrested a military prosecutor charged with leaking footage that documented the rape of a Palestinian detainee. Separately, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Israeli military’s chief military advocate, staged a fake suicide attempt while reportedly attempting to dispose of a mobile phone that held incriminating evidence connected to the case. The Israeli military subsequently launched a formal criminal investigation into the evidence leak.

    Most recently, in March of this year, the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released its own findings, confirming it had uncovered evidence of widespread, systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli officers against Palestinian people, dating back to the start of military operations in Gaza. The commission’s final report documented dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault against male Palestinian detainees, including accounts of abuse involving electrical probes used to burn anal tissue, and the insertion of objects including fingers, sticks, broom handles and vegetables into detainees’ anuses and rectums.