May 25, 2026

Israel War

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Following President Donald Trump’s decisive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, federal agencies and local officials in key U.S. cities and states are leaving nothing to chance, stepping up security efforts and heightening surveillance to guard against potential threats.

After President Trump took decisive action to launch a surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear program, taking out Iran’s three major nuclear facilities, Tehran warned the United States that it would counterattack with retaliatory strikes, saying that it would “cause deep regret.”

“Today’s act of aggression by the terrorist American regime has granted the Islamic Republic of Iran the legitimate right to act in self-defense, including through options that go beyond the delusional calculations of the aggressor coalition,” an IRGC statement published on Iran’s state-affiliated news agency Tasnim said. “The invaders should expect responses that will cause deep regret.”

In response, federal authorities and top leaders across the U.S. have ramped up security measures to monitor for potential threats.

Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem promised to “work unceasingly to protect the American homeland.”

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Author and communications strategist Joel Rosenberg is praying for the “liberation of Iran,” encouraging Christians to join him in asking God to change the tides inside the Islamic Republic.

“I don’t want to just destroy or neutralize the Iranian threat,” he said. “I want to see this wicked, demonic regime fall.”

Rosenberg, a bestselling author and the founder of The Joshua Fund, a group that provides humanitarian aid, said the current conflict between Israel and Iran is unlike anything he’s seen in the region during his more than 11 years living in the Jewish state.

“I have never seen a war as intense,” he said. “This is the most consequential war that Israel has ever fought since the War of Independence, in which seven Arab countries were attacking.”

Rosenberg said Iran’s purported nuclear ambitions posed a dire threat to Israel and created a situation that necessitated Israel’s military response — a preemptive reaction many never thought would happen.

“Nobody outside the country thought that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had the courage to do it, the will to do it … to attack Iran’s nuclear program when no one else would, and the ballistic missile program, and try to take out all of Iran’s top military leadership,” he said. “Even if Bibi Netanyahu was crazy enough to do it, everybody — all of our enemies and many of our allies — thought that every American president would stop Netanyahu from doing it the way President Obama stopped Netanyahu from doing it, President Biden stopped Netanyahu from doing it, and, in the last few months, it looked like President Trump did not wanna see a military attack, but here we are.”

 

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Pope Leo XIV called the increasing tensions in the Middle East “alarming” and pushed for diplomacy as a path forward.

In a message that did not directly reference U.S. military action in Iran but came just hours after it, Leo said, “Today more than ever, humanity cries out and calls for peace.”

“This is a cry that requires responsibility and reason, and it must not be drowned out by the din of weapons or the rhetoric that incites conflict. Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable chasm. There are no ‘distant’ conflicts when human dignity is at stake,” he said after reciting the Angelus prayer in front of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass on Corpus Christi Day in St. John Lateran Archbasilica, in Rome, Sunday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

“War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples which take generations to heal,” he added.

The U.S. strikes came nearly two weeks after Israel began attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and its military infrastructure. Iran’s health ministry has said at least 430 people have been killed so far as a result of Israeli missiles, with Israel saying 24 people have been killed from Iranian strikes.

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President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on Sunday morning was met with muted approval from European allies and Arab states.

While China predictably teamed up with Iran, Russia, and Pakistan to condemn the U.S. action, European leaders were surprisingly vague in their response, urging ‘all parties’ to show restraint and find a diplomatic solution.

Arab states, fearful of seeing a nuclear-armed Iran, called for ‘de-escalation’ and more ‘diplomacy.’

China led the condemnation of the U.S. targeting of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. In its first statement following the strikes, Beijing claimed the action “seriously violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law and exacerbates tensions in the Middle East.”

China singled out Israel as the aggressor, calling for a “ceasefire.” “China calls on all parties to the conflict, especially Israel, to cease fire as soon as possible,” the statement added.

The South China Morning Post reported China’s reaction:

China condemned the United States for its weekend attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, describing them as serious violations of international law.

In a brief statement on Sunday night, the Chinese foreign ministry said the bombing of the facilities, which were under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, seriously violated the United Nations Charter and its principles.

It called on all parties, especially Israel, to cease fire as soon as possible, ensure the safety of civilians and start dialogue.

“China is willing to work with the international community to uphold justice and restore peace and stability in the Middle East,” the ministry said.

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Democratic Socialist and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani slammed the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities Saturday, calling it an “unconstitutional military action” and warning it could “plunge the world deeper into chaos.”

Mamdani, a state assemblyman and vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy, released a statement on X after President Donald Trump’s address to the nation, in which Trump said the strikes aimed to “destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity” and neutralize “the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror.” (RELATED: How The US Crippled Iran’s Nuclear Program In One, Clandestine Attack)

“Donald Trump ran for president promising to end wars, not start new ones,” Mamdani wrote. “Today’s unconstitutional military action represents a dark, new chapter in his endless betrayals that now threaten to plunge the world deeper into chaos.”

Mamdani added that the “political establishment” prioritizes “endless wars” and military spending over domestic needs like poverty alleviation and peace-building. The progressive candidate is currently polling second behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary.

Brad Lander, New York City comptroller and fellow Democratic mayoral candidate, also condemned the bombing. “Trump’s reckless & unconstitutional strikes against Iran are a dangerous escalation of war — and threaten countless Iranian, Israeli & American lives,” Lander posted on X.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who once claimed to be Israel’s “guardian” in Congress, put out a statement late Saturday night opposing President Donald Trump’s airstrike on Iran’s nuclear sites.

After a delay of several hours, and long after his colleagues — Republican and Democratic — had reacted, Schumer issued a statement criticizing the attacks and backing legislation to limit Trump’s war powers.

The criticism from Schumer and other Democrats echoes their criticism of his successful airstrike on Iranian terror general Qasem Soleimani, when they again cited constitutional limitations on the commander-in-chief.

In reality, Trump’s actions are constitutional, provided that he complies with deadlines established by the existing War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to conduct war, provided that he report to Congress within 60 days. Few Democrats objected when President Barack Obama used his war powers — even in excess of those allowed by the War Powers Resolution, as Breitbart News has noted in the past:

[F]ew Democrats raised objections when President Barack Obama went to war — often exceeding the boundaries of his legal authority as president. The most notorious case was the Libya War, which President Obama launched in March 2011 without congressional authorization. He continued the war effort beyond the War Powers Resolution’s deadlines because, the administration argued, the U.S. was not engaged in “hostilities” but “leading from behind.”

Some on the left bent over backwards to defend Obama’s unconstitutional war. Former Yale Law School dean Harold Koh was once “one of the country’s foremost defenders of the notion that the president of the United States can’t wage wars without the approval of Congress,” the New York Times noted, but later became “the administration’s defender of the right to stay engaged in a conflict against Libya without Congressional approval.”

Later, when Obama was mulling military action against Syria, an administration that came to power by arguing that the Iraq War had been waged “without strong international support” argued that war against Syria would have been justified even without the backing of the United Nations Security Council because there was no way to win Russian support regardless, and because the threat of weapons of mass destruction against civilians was dire. Few objected.

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Israel is placing strict limits on video that news organizations can take at the scene of Iranian missile attacks.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced the policy, which requires prior approval from “the Israel Police, the Government Press Office (GPO), and the military [Israel Defense Forces] censor,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

“In accordance with new zero-tolerance enforcement measures led by the national security minister and the police commissioner, any transmission — live or recorded — from areas under missile fire must receive explicit clearance from the IDF censor,” GPO Director Nitzan Chen said.

The new policy was enacted after missile attacks in Beersheba, Holon, and Ramat Gan.

In those incidents, footage was appearing on Al Jazeera. The Jerusalem Post report said CNN and The New York Times were targeted by the new rule in addition to Al Jazeera.

Although some photographers said they represented other outlets, Israeli officials said the footage was used by Al Jazeera, regardless of who might have recorded it.

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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) increased his criticism of President Donald Trump’s decision to enter Israel’s war with Iran.

Massie and other members of Congress have criticized Trump for circumventing congressional approval for war as outlined in the Constitution. The president can only authorize strikes if there is an imminent threat to the United States, but Massie said such a threat did not exist.

“There was no imminent threat to the United States which would authorize that,” Massie said.

He said the administration “misinterpreted” the War Powers Act.

“Congress was on vacation when all of this was happening. We haven’t been briefed, they should have called us all back [from House recess], and, frankly, we should have debated this War Powers Resolution that Ro Khanna and I offered,” he said.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) Iran War Powers Resolution highlights that the Constitution grants the power to declare war to Congress. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) had introduced his own version of the resolution in the Senate.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz after the United States attacked three of the country’s nuclear facilities on Saturday.

Rubio claimed that while the U.S. would be affected, the impact would be greater on the rest of the world, most notably China.

“It would be a suicidal move on their part because the whole world would come against them if they did that,” Rubio said on CBS News’s Face the Nation.

In this image provided by the White House, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in foreground, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio sit in the Situation Room, Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the White House in Washington. (The White House via AP)

The strait, which is about 100 miles long and 21 miles wide, is shared between Iran and Oman and connects the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It handles about a quarter of the world’s oil trade, and disruptions in the supply chain there would likely increase oil prices globally.

Rubio said a move to close the strait would escalate tensions and prompt a response from the U.S., saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”

<b>Exclusive: Israel blasts EU report accusing it of breaching human rights in Gaza</b>- <i> www.euronews.com</i>

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Israel has blasted the EU-Israel Association Agreement (EUSR) review, saying “this report and its conclusions should not be taken seriously or used as a basis for any future actions or conversations”, in a letter from the country’s foreign ministry to the EU seen by Euronews.

”Decency would dictate addressing the report’s shortcomings and dismissing it in its entirety,” the letter, sent to the Commission and External Action Service, concludes.

The EU-Israel Association Agreement review released on Friday said that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip indicate a breach of the human rights provisions contained in its Association Agreement with the European Union. The issue is set to be considered by foreign ministers meeting on Monday.

Citing a collection of findings by independent international organisations, the highly anticipated review from the bloc’s diplomatic service said it found “indications” that Israel breached its human rights obligations with actions in Gaza.

<b>Iran Injures 86 Israeli Citizens After Missile Strikes</b>- <i> dailycaller.com</i>

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At least 86 Israeli civilians were injured early Sunday morning after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles into the Jewish state in what is being described as a furious retaliatory strike following the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times of Israel reported.

The Israel Defense Forces said 27 ballistic missiles were fired at the country in two waves, according to The Times of Israel. The first included 22 missiles, followed by a second wave of five, striking at least 10 locations across northern and central Israel. (RELATED: JD Vance Says US ‘Not At War’ With Iran)

<b>Israel-Iran war live: Trump says key nuclear facilities ‘obliterated’ by US; missiles hit Israel after Iran launches retaliatory strikes - The Guardian</b>- <i> news.google.com</i>
<b>Israel says 21 people wounded as Iran fires dozens of missiles following U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities</b>- <i> www.cbsnews.com</i>

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Tel Aviv, Israel — Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel on Friday morning, wounding at least 21 people — four of them seriously, paramedics said — after the U.S. joined Israel’s week-long attacks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.

Iranian missiles made impacts in four sites across Israel: in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Be’er Yaakov and Nes Ziona, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency response service.

Searches were underway for people believed to be trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building in Tel Aviv, local media reported.

The Israel Defense Forces told CBS News that Iran had launched about 30 missiles at Israel.

<b>Iran launches wave of missiles at Israel following US bombing of nuclear sites</b>- <i> www.euronews.com</i>

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Iran launched a wave of more than 40 missiles at northern and central Israel, leaving at least 86 people injured. The attack came just hours after Israel and the United States launched a coordinated attack on Iran, which included the bombing of three of its nuclear sites.

Israel’s health ministry reported that of those who arrived at hospitals, two people were moderately wounded and 77 others were in good condition.

Israeli local media reported residential areas in Tel Aviv and the central town of Nes Ziona being struck. Tel Aviv’s Deputy Mayor Haim Goren said that hundreds of homes were damaged in the attacks.

Meanwhile in the northern city of Haifa, an IDF spokesperson said an Israeli air defence interceptor malfunctioned and crashed during the Iranian attack, causing damage and lightly wounding several people.

<b>EU officials hold talks with Iran as conflict with Israel rages - National</b>- <i> globalnews.ca</i>

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Israel and Iran exchanged strikes a week into their war Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump weighed American military involvement and new diplomatic efforts got underway with Iran’s foreign minister arriving in Geneva for talks.

Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. He said he’ll decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in the war given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Britain’s foreign secretary said he met at the White House with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the potential for a deal that could cool the conflict.

Before flying to Geneva for meetings with the European Union’s top diplomat and counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was “not seeking negotiations with anyone” as long as Israel’s attacks continued. He also accused the U.S. of collaborating with Israel, noting that Trump regularly used “we” in social media posts and interviews talking about the attacks on Iran.

<b>Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 60, half near aid centres</b>- <i> www.channelnewsasia.com</i>

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Similar incidents have occurred in that area regularly since late May, when the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened its distribution centres, as Israel eased a two-month aid blocakde.

The privately run foundation’s operations in Gaza have been marred by chaotic scenes. United Nations agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Elsewhere in the territory on Friday, Bassal said 14 people were killed in two separate strikes in and around the central city of Deir el-Balah, and 13 others in three Israeli air strikes in the Gaza City area.

One of those strikes, which killed three people, hit a phone charging station in the city, Bassal said.

In southern Gaza, two people were killed “by Israeli gunfire” in two separate incidents, he added.

<b>Israeli forces recover remains of three hostages from Gaza | World News</b>- <i> news.sky.com</i>

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Israeli forces have recovered the remains of three hostages from the Gaza Strip.

The military identified the remains as those of Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19.

All three were killed when Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, an act which ignited the ongoing war.

The militant group still holds 50 hostages, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive.

“The campaign to return the hostages continues consistently and is happening alongside the campaign against Iran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israel’s military did not provide any details about the recovery operation.

China Warns: ‘World Will Not Be at Peace’ if Middle East Unstable– time.com
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Iran’s friends don’t like the war decimating Tehran, but they’re not ready to join the fight against Israel and potentially the U.S.

Instead, Russia and now China have urged deescalation, emphasizing the dangerous consequences the escalating conflict could have on the whole world.

“If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday. “If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly.”

“The warring parties, especially Israel, should cease fire as soon as possible to prevent a cycle of escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war,” Xi added.

Xi’s comments came in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which both leaders called for a ceasefire, according to a readout by China’s foreign ministry. Earlier this week, Russia warned that Israel’s attacks have brought the world “millimeters” from nuclear calamity, and Putin urged Trump against attacking Iran, as the President is mulling direct U.S. military engagement in the war that has already killed hundreds in Iran and dozens in Israel.

CNN Steps In for Demolished Iranian State Media HQ, Carries Story of Popular Anger and Threat of Revenge– freebeacon.com
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‘There’s actually someone’s lunch at their desk standing here, which they probably would have been wanting to eat until they had to evacuate the building,’ correspondent Frederik Pleitgen says while holding up a melted spoon

CNN reporter Frederik Pleitgen toured the Iranian state-controlled broadcasting headquarters that Israeli warplanes struck, pointing out the regime’s destroyed tech and food remains as he noted that the attack had sparked calls for “revenge.”

“You can see the damage is absolutely massive. I‘m standing in the atrium right now, but if you look around this whole area has been completely destroyed,” Pleitgen, a CNN senior international correspondent, said as the camera panned over the demolished office.

“All of the offices, all of the technology that they have inside here, the broadcast technology, everything has been rendered pretty much useless,” he added. The screen showed phones, keyboards, computers, and other tech that looked decades old.

A hijab-clad presenter was reading regime propaganda on the state-run Akharin Khabar network when it was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Monday. The anchor quickly ran off screen as others shouted in the background.

Watch: Alleged MN Shooter Performs Unhinged Dance As He Gets ‘Excited About Jesus’– crooksandliars.com
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The man suspected of killing two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was caught on video dancing as he said he was “excited about God.”

In a 2021 video unearthed by Blue Georgia, Vance Boelter could be seen giving a speech to a church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“And I’m just as excited about Jesus!” Boelter shouted. “And when I get excited, and when I get excited, I want to dance. I want to dance. And what Jesus did for me, Oh, Jesus is God! Almighty God! He saved my life! Woo!”

“I’m excited about God!” he continued. “Oh, I want to want to love God. Because he’s coming again and he’s excited. And he’s got plans. He has plans and purposes. And the design for each one of you. And for me!”

Speaking on Meet the Press on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) linked the shootings to Boelter’s religious ideology.

“It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some through line with abortion because of the groups that were on the list and other things that I’ve heard were in this manifesto,” she said.

Watch the video below.

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By targeting senior Iranian government and military officials, eliminating top nuclear scientists, and crippling critical components of the regime’s nuclear weapons infrastructure, Israel has forced the mullahs into a position they likely never imagined possible before the strikes. Through superior intelligence gathering and a meticulously executed military strategy, Israel has dealt a catastrophic blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Yet, much like a newt can regrow its tail after losing it to a predator, Iran’s regime may still attempt to rebuild its clandestine nuclear program — especially if its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant remains intact.

Built deep beneath a mountain, the Fordow facility is impervious to all but the most powerful American-made bunker-busting bombs. While some believe Israel may have the capability to destroy the complex, most assessments conclude the task remains beyond its reach and that only the U.S. can finish the job.

As PJ Media’s Stephen Green recently explained, “There is literally only one bomber and one bomb to make the big badda-boom that could destroy Iran’s last remaining nuclear enrichment plant from the air.”

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On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) stated that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon and this is closer than they ever were before.

Co-host Sara Sidner asked, “Netanyahu, for more than a decade now, has said Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. This time, he said Iran was fast approaching that goal. Trump is siding with that assessment. But U.S. intelligence sources told CNN this week that their assessment is that Iran was at least three years away from being able to make and deliver a nuclear weapon. You are on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. What do you know? Where do you stand when you see these two conflicting assessments?”

Krishnamoothi answered, “Well, I don’t want to get into classified information, but what I know is that the Iranians are a lot closer now than they have ever been, and they have enough enriched uranium to basically build a weapon should they choose to do so.”

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Washington — President Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Fordo, Iran’s most secure nuclear site, and his mindset is that disabling it is necessary because of the risk of weapons being produced in a relatively short period of time, multiple sources told CBS News.

“He believes there’s not much choice,” one source said. “Finishing the job means destroying Fordo.”

The president approved attack plans on Iran on Tuesday night, but has not made a final decision on whether to strike the country and formally join Israel’s air campaign, a senior intelligence source and a Defense Department official told CBS News on Wednesday. Mr. Trump held off on deciding to strike in case Tehran agrees to abandon its nuclear program, the sources said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president will make a decision on whether to order a strike within the next two weeks.

“Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Mr. Trump said in a statement read by Leavitt at the White House press briefing.