News Digest — 2/23/26
US, Iran to hold talks Thursday as Tehran claims ‘good chance’ of diplomatic solution
The next round of talks between the United States and Iran will be Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s foreign minister said Sunday, as Tehran expressed hope that a nuclear agreement could be reached that would avert a looming US attack.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said on social media that he was pleased to confirm the development “with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal.” Oman previously hosted the indirect talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and facilitated the latest round in Geneva last week.
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who will hold the talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff, told CBS in an interview aired Sunday that a “good chance” remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue, adding that it was the only matter being discussed.
The Trump administration has been pushing for concessions from its longtime adversary and has built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades.
(read more at timesofisrael.com)
US evacuates workers from Lebanon; Aircraft Carrier Gerald Ford near Crete
The US embassy in Lebanon evacuated dozens of its employees today (Monday) via Beirut International Airport, amid regional developments and concerns that the attack against Iran could begin in the coming days.
According to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), there are already more than 200 American fighter jets in the Middle East, and over 300 if including those in Europe. Among them are 36 F-15 jets and at least 48 F-35 stealth aircraft. In the UK, 12 F-22 stealth jets are stationed, and there are also 36 F-16 aircraft in the region.
In addition to the fighter jets, U.S. forces in the region include more than 100 refueling, command and control, intelligence, and transport aircraft.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has postponed his visit to Israel from Saturday evening to next Monday.
The USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, has reportely been spotted near Crete after being dispatched to the region.
(read more at israelnationalnews.com)
Hamas terrorists released into Egypt create security threat for region, Europe, expert tells ‘Post’
There is concern that terrorists released into Egypt as part of the final ceasefire-hostage deal will create new cells on Israel’s border in a similar fashion to those seen in Lebanon, Arab affairs expert Ruth Wasserman Lande, the former deputy ambassador to Cairo, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Palestinians were known to do that in Lebanon, in Kuwait, in Tunisia, which was inside all three places,” she told the Post, also confirming there was a concern that the terrorists could radicalize the local Egyptian population further.
Bringing some reassurance, Lande said, is the “that the Egyptian intelligence and security are very, very strongly vigilant of every Palestinian, specifically those who were in Israeli prisons because they obviously committed some kind of terror act… They are very, very vigilant. They’re wary of the presence of any Palestinians in the country, and I have little doubt that they will be monitoring every step.”
(read more at jpost.com)
Antisemitism going mainstream in China, report warns
A new report published on Monday by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) warns of a worrying trend in China suggesting that antisemitism is gaining mainstream acceptance.
The JPPI warned that the expression of antisemitic views has risen significantly in recent years in China, appearing in state-linked media discourse, universities, and social media in a development the authors describe as unusual for a country long viewed as largely free of traditional antisemitism.
The study analyzes Chinese media content, statements by influencers and academics, social media activity, and the geopolitical context surrounding China’s public discourse.
According to the report, antisemitism in China is not confined to fringe spaces and at times is echoed—or indirectly encouraged – within mainstream channels.
A central theme, said the report’s author, Dr. Shalom Salomon Wald, is the repeated blurring of distinctions between Israel, Jews, and Judaism across not only mainstream social media pages but also from officially sanctioned sources, ranging from academia to state media.
Universities in particular were identified as a major vector for radicalization, with increasingly extreme anti-Israel sentiments being openly expressed, sometimes crossing the line into overt antisemitism.
(read more at worldisraelnews.com)
Tehran campuses erupt as students torch Islamic Republic flags
Protests flared for a third consecutive day Monday at universities across Iran, as students returning to campus for the start of the semester intensified their public challenge to the regime in Tehran. In parallel, Lebanon’s LBCI television network reported that the US Embassy in Beirut evacuated dozens of staff members via Beirut’s airport earlier in the day.
he demonstrations, which began at Sharif University of Technology and Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran and have since spread to other institutions nationwide, mark the most significant open opposition to the regime since the brutal suppression of the January protests, during which thousands of demonstrators were killed by security forces.
Footage circulated on social media showed students at the University of Tehran setting fire to the flag of the Islamic Republic. On the same campus, Iran International, an opposition-affiliated satellite channel, reported chants of “Death to the child-killing regime.”
According to an Amirkabir University student organization operating outside Iran, regime supporters affiliated with the Basij militia attacked students at the University of Tehran campus. The Basij is a paramilitary force subordinate to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
(read more at israelhayom.com)
