Iran Conflict: Military Option Remains on the Table

The week is getting off to a relatively quiet start. The region’s main issues remain temporarily on hold, from the possible resumption of talks between Washington and Tehran to Israel’s withdrawal from two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon. The pause is due in part to the official funeral ceremonies for Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, which conclude Thursday, as well as the NATO summit scheduled for Tuesday, July 7, and Wednesday, July 8, in Ankara. The gathering carries added significance as U.S. President Donald Trump is set to attend following months of tension with America’s European allies.

Ahead of his departure for Turkey, Trump made it clear he is not backing down on Iran. Speaking at a White House press conference, he restated his priorities and renewed his threats against Tehran.

“Either we make a deal or we finish the job. And finishing the job won’t be hard. I’d rather make a deal because I don’t want to hurt 91 million people,” he said, adding that the U.S. military can “knock down Iran’s bridges in one hour.”

He continued in the same threatening tone: “We can knock out their electricity and power-generating plants and I would say a small part of an afternoon, every plant will be gone. And they know that. They don’t have any money now. We haven’t given them any money.”

Trump also reiterated that he’s not looking for “a regime change in Iran, although in reality it is. The first regime is gone. The second regime is gone. I think the third one is more reasonable. We’ll see.”

Donald Trump also reiterated that Washington intends to recover Iran’s nuclear “enriched material,” stressing once again that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Asked about the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran seeks to keep under its control, the U.S. president said it was “a money machine.” The United States, along with Arab states and European countries, rejects any Iranian control over this strategic maritime passage.

The U.S. president also expressed his willingness to help Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bring an end to the war, now in its fifth year. “I think we are much closer to a deal than people realize. President Putin wants this war to end. President Zelensky also wants it to end. We will be going to the NATO summit in Ankara, where this will be discussed. And I think we’re going to be able to bring it to an end.”

Macron in Damascus

The White House confirmed that Donald Trump will meet on the sidelines of the NATO summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was due to host French President Emmanuel Macron in Damascus later Monday evening. Macron is accompanied by a number of French business leaders.

This marks the first visit by a French president to Damascus in nearly 17 years. Relations between France and Syria under Bashar al-Assad began to deteriorate after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, an attack blamed on Damascus. France later severed diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime following the 2011 uprising and an attack on its embassy.

The Franco-Syrian talks are focused primarily on the regional situation, which is also expected to be discussed in Washington during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump. Although the Israeli leader says the meeting has yet to be scheduled, it carries particular weight as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue to progress with difficulty. This is all the more notable given that Trump had, at one point, shown some reluctance to receive Netanyahu at the White House.

A Relative Respite in Lebanon

The diplomatic pause has also reached Lebanon, where, according to the pan-Arab channel Al-Hadath, CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper is expected to return in the coming days to present Lebanese authorities with a proposal for a mechanism for a gradual Israeli withdrawal, in line with the security provisions of the Washington-backed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

In this context, President Joseph Aoun reiterated the importance of redeploying the Lebanese army along the entire southern border, while stressing the need to increase pressure on Israel to withdraw from the areas it still occupies in the south of the country. “The continued occupation undermines the legitimacy of the state, prevents the deployment of the army, and jeopardizes the foundations of a just and lasting peace,” he said during a video conference with representatives of the American Task Force for Lebanon.

He also said that “there can be no civil war in Lebanon,” despite what he described as “attempts by some to rekindle sectarian tensions,” in an apparent reference to Hezbollah.

On the ground, the situation in Lebanon remains volatile. The Israeli military continues demolition operations in several towns in Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, and Nabatieh, as well as carrying out intermittent strikes. An attack on Nabatieh al-Fawqa killed three people on Monday: a school principal, her mother, and their domestic worker.

The Israeli military also said it had uncovered large weapons stockpiles in the village of Haddatha, where it is carrying out extensive demolitions and which it describes as an operational base for Hezbollah. It said it had destroyed “dozens of military installations” in the area and seized more than 150 weapons. It also warned residents of border villages in the south to avoid hosting displaced people from areas it considers Hezbollah strongholds.

In another development, comments by the Israeli prime minister suggesting that some border Christian villages had asked to be “annexed” by Israel for protection from Hezbollah sparked strong reactions in Lebanon. The claims were immediately rejected by municipalities, mukhtars, and local figures from around 15 villages, who described them as “completely unfounded” and reaffirmed their commitment to Lebanese state sovereignty.

Dissolution of Gaza Government

Another major regional development has emerged: Hamas announced the dissolution of its government in Gaza, nearly 20 years after seizing power in 2007, in order to facilitate the transfer of responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a technocratic body established as part of talks preceding the October 2025 ceasefire. The move, which some analysts have received with skepticism, bears watching as it could reshape the Palestinian political landscape.

Hamas said the decision was aimed at “depriving the occupation of any pretext” to continue the war, while reaffirming its willingness to hand over governing responsibilities to the new committee. The head of the NCAG, Ali Chaath, said the body was ready to assume its duties once the necessary resources were in place.

Israel, however, appears unconvinced and is insisting on the disarmament of the Iran-backed group, as set out in the U.S.-brokered peace plan. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move “a ruse” designed to avoid disarmament. “As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will, of course, operate under its directives,” he wrote on X. “Israel insists on full implementation of the Trump plan, whose core principles include the disarmament of Hamas and all other terrorist organizations, as well as the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.”