— 🇫🇷 NEW: French President Emmanuel Macron says Pavel Durov's arrest is 'in no way a political decision' and France is 'deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication.'

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇬🇧/🇮🇱 NEW: U.K. Attorney General Richard Hermer has refused to confirm ban on weapon sales to Israel, tells Foreign Office he will not take action until they say which arms could be used to break international law.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “There is an ongoing review process to assess whether Israel is complying with international humanitarian law.”

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇷🇺 NEW: In his new book, former U.S. National Security Advisor Herbert McMaster writes that he found himself at odds with Donald Trump over the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

• According to McMaster, Trump was influenced by his major donor Sheldon Adelson, whose wife Miriam Adelson is one of Trump's largest donors in the 2024 election. Sheldon Adelson had told Trump that warnings about the embassy move destabilizing the Middle East were 'overblown.'

• Trump had wanted to announce the embassy move during his first foreign policy trip overseas in 2017, but McMaster argued against this, convincing Trump to delay the announcement by 6 months in order to try and extract more concessions from Israel.

• McMaster also recalls warning Netanyahu about his approach towards Putin in 2018, urging Netanyahu to 'reconsider his relations with Russia.'

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸 NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he will fight against the crime of 'chemtrails', refering to the conspiracy theory that planes emit chemical trails to poison the air

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇮🇷 NEW: An Israeli security official said amid fears of an Iranian retaliation against Israel that the country 'can launch a preemptive strike against Iran, but it’s a decision lawmakers have to make'

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇷🇺/🇫🇷 NEW: 'The very serious French accusations against Telegram boss Pavel Durov should be viewed as an attempt to restrict freedom of communication unless backed up with serious evidence' – Kremlin

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸 NEW: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said senior officials in the Biden administration pressured his social media company to censor COVID-19 content during the pandemic, adding that he would push back if this were to happen again

@Middle_East_Spectator

Impossible.

— 🇮🇶/🇮🇱 NEW: The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announce that they targeted 'Haifa' with a drone yesterday.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 BREAKING: White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby says Iran is still 'postured and poised' to carry out a major attack against Israel

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸 BREAKING: Former President Donald Trump will debate Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the 10th of September on ABC News

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇵🇸 BREAKING: The Israeli military has launched its largest operation in the West Bank in 22 years, focusing on resistance strongholds such as Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Tubas.

This large-scale operation involves thousands of IDF soldiers and is expected to last several days. Reports also indicate collaboration between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli forces in abducting and disarming fighters.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇵🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Saraya Al-Quds, Al-Qassam Brigades, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin and Tulkarm have declared their readiness to confront the Israeli invasion in the West Bank, with clashes currently ongoing.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇳🇦/🇮🇱 NEW: Namibia has blocked the 'MV Kathrin', a vessel suspected of carrying military cargo intended for Israel, from docking at Walvis Bay, its largest commercial port.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱 Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that Telegram has posed a 'significant challenge for Israel', just days before CEO Pavel Durov's arrest: “Many tech firms have streamlined mechanisms through which states can reach out to them to censor content, but Telegram is the least cooperative of them all.” They also add that Telegram has failed to remove antisemitic content.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇵🇸/🇺🇳 NEW: An investigation by 'Wired' has revealed that Israel is buying Google ads to discredit UNRWA, with reports showing that Israeli ads appeared 44% of the time in searches related to UNRWA, compared to just 34% for UNRWA USA. Despite complaints, Google has allowed these ads to continue running.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇱🇧/🇮🇱 Lebanese citizens are humorously rating and reviewing Israeli jet sonic booms on a website called 'Jidar Sot,' which is Arabic for 'Sound Barrier.'

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇵🇸 NEW: Israeli forces have reportedly closed all roads leading to Jenin and are planning to cut off electricity to the area.

@Middle_East_Spectator