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Israel Escalates Lebanon Strikes, Taiwan Arms Sale Stalls, US Stockpiles Run Low

The AP UFC dome is regrettably being held up by producer Jake’s HOA

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

June 1, 2026

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre as Israeli forces continued to expand their invasion in south Lebanon.(Stringer / Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

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Israel Escalates Lebanon Strikes, Taiwan Arms Sale Stalls, US Stockpiles Run Low / American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

The AP UFC dome is regrettably being held up by Producer Jake’s HOA. In this week’s news: an update on the U.S.-Iran talks and U.S. airstrikes near Bandar Abbas (1:11); Trump demands new Abraham Accords signatures and threatens Oman over Strait of Hormuz fees (4:46); Israel escalates attacks and pushes displacement further north in Lebanon (11:39); Israel kills Hamas commander Mohammed Odeh (14:38); Gaza’s Board of Peace lacks pledged funds (15:31); Trump pauses a Taiwan arms sale due to the Iran war depleting stockpiles (16:43); the RSF prepares an offensive in North Darfur, plus Sudan’s military prepares an offensive in Blue Nile (18:37); U.S. airstrikes kill civilians in Somalia (20:28); Russia threatens new strikes on Kyiv (22:03); Bolivia faces a protest crackdown (24:18 ); Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence (26:12); and Derek speaks to Anthea Gordon, GiveDirectly’s country director for the Democratic Republic of Congo, about the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo and the challenges complicating the response (28:56).

Help Ebola-affected families in the DRC.

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The AP UFC dome is regrettably being held up by Producer Jake’s HOA. In this week’s news: The US and Iran may talk and the US strikes near Bandar Abbas (1:11); Trump demands new Abraham Accords signatures and threatens Oman over Strait of Hormuz fees (4:46); Israel escalates attacks and pushes displacement further north in Lebanon (11:39); Israel kills Hamas commander Mohammed Odeh (14:38); Gaza’s Board of Peace lacks pledged funds (15:31); Trump pauses a Taiwan arms sale due to the Iran War’s depleting stockpiles (16:43); the RSF prepares an offensive in North Darfur, plus Sudan’s military prepares an offensive in Blue Nile (18:37); US air strikes kill civilians in Somalia (20:28); Russia threatens new strikes on Kyiv (22:03); Bolivia faces a protest crackdown (24:18 ); Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence (26:12); and Derek speaks to Anthea Gordon, GiveDirectly’s country director for the Democratic Republic of Congo, about the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo and the challenges complicating the response (28:56).

Help Ebola-affected families in the DRC.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/subscribe.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Ethiopian Forces Near Eritrea, Israel Demolishes Southern Lebanon Towns, Two Commercial Ships Attacked Near Hormuz / American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

Metallica says they stay out of politics, so Danny and Derek are reassessing their approach to the show. In this week’s news: Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize, angering Trump (3:51); Ansar Allah strikes Saudi airports and oil facilities (7:58) while fighting continues on multiple fronts in Yemen (11:35); attacks on commercial ships escalate near the Strait of Hormuz (13:45), and the U.S. prepares a new bombing campaign against Iran (15:59); Israeli forces kill at least eight people in Gaza on the first anniversary of the “ceasefire” as the Palestinian Authority postpones elections until at least September 2027 (19:12); in southern Lebanon, Israeli forces demolish dozens of towns and villages (22:22); China’s trade surplus grows at a record pace (24:04); Egyptian drone strikes kill at least 72 gold miners in Sudan (25:43); Ethiopian forces advance toward the Eritrean border (28:20); former Congolese president Joseph Kabila forms a new rebel coalition with M23 (31:38) as the country’s Ebola outbreak surpasses 9,000 confirmed cases (33:27); Trump suspends sanctions on Russian diesel exports and clashes with Zelensky (34:24); Trump declares a Russia-Ukraine energy ceasefire that fails to take hold as Ukraine reports several days without Western intelligence on Russian airstrikes (37:40); Ukrainian forces report temporary restrictions on Starlink service (38:52); and the U.S. seeks control of frozen Russian assets held in Europe (43:07).

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More of Danny’s work at Imperialist Realism.

More of Derek’s work at Foreign Exchanges.

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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is a historian of US foreign relations and is the author of, among other books, Imperialist Realism.


Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.


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