A Man of no Importance.

Israel and Hezbollah clashed overnight again despite US president Donald Trump’s angry call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his military’s escalation in Lebanon and reports both sides had agreed to halt fighting ahead of US-hosted talks. Israel’s military took over the medieval castle of Beaufort in Lebanese territory this week, as Netanyahu vowed to push deeper into Lebanon. The move prompted French president Emmanuel Macron to call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Tehran has demanded that Lebanon be included in any peace deal with Washington, fuelling speculation that Trump’s anger at Netanyahu’s latest actions in Lebanon may be due to fear it may impact his negotiations with Iran. Axios reported that in a phone call to Netanyahu, Trump said “you’re fucking crazy” and “everybody hates Israel because of this”. “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now,” he allegedly said.

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Moldova will consider reunification with neighbouring Romania if its path to EU membership is obstructed or blocked, Eugen Osmochescu, the country’s deputy prime minister told Euractiv in an interview. Osmochescu, who took office in November last year, described unification with Romania as a possible option if Moldova’s EU accession process were to stall after 2028. “That’s Plan B,” he said. His remarks come as Chişinău pushes for the opening of its first membership negotiating ‘cluster’, implementing alignment with EU law and seeks to maintain momentum amid mounting Russian pressure. Osmochescu however insisted Moldova’s objective remains signing an EU accession treaty by the end of 2028. Only if that process were to stall would political leaders seriously consider alternatives. Asked whether Moldova risked being held back by its accession bid being tied to Ukraine’s, Osmochescu stressed that enlargement should remain merit-based but said Chişinău urgently needed tangible progress from Brussels. “We need [to send] a signal to the population,” he said, pointing to continued Russian hybrid operations aimed at undermining support for EU integration.

...deeply troubling trend in French behaviour in recent years. France has banned the display of Israeli offensive weapons at the 2026 edition of the Eurosatory international defence and security trade fair, the organisers told AFP on Monday. "Only Israeli exhibitors showcasing anti-ballistic and anti-air defence systems will be allowed," said Charles Beaudouin, president of COGES Events, in response to a statement by the Israeli Defence Ministry protesting against the restrictions. "This is a decision taken by the French government, by the Defence Council," Beaudouin added. "There is no room for ambiguity: if an exhibitor also manufactures rockets, they will not be allowed to display them. This rules out any offensive weapons," he said. "We have set a clear framework, namely an exhibition limited to Israeli equipment and systems related to air defence and missile defence," the French Armed Forces Ministry told franceinfo. "Israeli exhibitors who comply with this framework will be able to showcase their companies' equipment at Eurosatory."

The UK government has let the Palestinian people down and failed to make it economically impossible for Israel to continue to act with impunity in the West Bank and Gaza, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, has said. She accused her own government of lacking ambition and wringing its hands on the Palestinian crisis, and she also chastised Donald Trump for declaring a ceasefire in Gaza and then walking away, leaving Gazans to live in rubble. Thornberry has never been this critical of the government’s Middle East policy before and her remarks may find resonance in a potential Labour leadership contest that has so far included little mention of foreign policy. She said the significant decision taken more than eight months ago to recognise Palestine as a state should have been only the first step of many but nothing further had been done since to help bring about a two-state solution. Thornberry said: “We knew and we have to remember that recognition was only the first step. Where is the second step, where is the tenth step, what are we doing? “Anyone who believes that what Gazans have right now is a genuine ceasefire has to look at what the truth is. They need to look at the pictures of the children who have been bitten by rats as they sleep in displacement camps in mountains of rubble. “More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed, but we also know that the death toll continues to rise during this so-called ceasefire. Over 700 have been killed in Gaza since Donald Trump proclaimed ‘the greatest moment in humanity’.” Pointing out that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had announced last week that Israel intended to take over 70% of Gaza, Thornberry said: “The sense of impunity is staggering.”