Hezbollah is facing its most serious financial challenges in years after Israeli attacks damaged financial institutions, exchange offices and fuel stations linked to the group’s revenue. Iran reportedly provides roughly $700 million of the group’s estimated $1 billion annual budget, but even increased wartime support has not covered its costs. The fall of Syria’s Assad regime also eliminated important smuggling revenues. Iran has sought alternative funding routes through Beirut airport, Lebanon’s cash-based economy and gold sales, while pressure from the United States and restrictions on Iranian flights have made financing more difficult.

Political scientist Anders Persson says Benjamin Netanyahu is appealing primarily to right-wing Israeli voters by rejecting parts of a 15-point Gaza proposal associated with Donald Trump's peace council and insisting that Israeli forces will remain until Hamas is fully disarmed. Persson believes Netanyahu's statement may have been coordinated with Trump and does not necessarily undermine the broader peace effort, since Israel has accepted other elements of the plan, including reduced attacks, reconstruction in Rafah and international security forces in Gaza. A return to full-scale war is considered unlikely, although attacks could intensify and diplomacy could stall if Netanyahu and Trump fail to narrow their differences.

Iraq and Syria signed declarations of intent in July to rebuild the Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline, which was damaged during the 2003 Iraq War. The roughly 900-kilometre route could transport around 2 million barrels of crude per day to the Mediterranean, giving Iraq an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz and offering Syria a role as a regional energy corridor. The project would not replace Hormuz, but could reduce dependence on it during conflicts and shorten Iraqi oil shipments to Europe. Experts stress that reconstruction would require enormous, long-term investment and faces risks from instability in Syria, the Islamic State threat, tensions in Iraq, and the possibility that a new US-Iran agreement could reduce its commercial value.

Funding cuts are threatening education services for Syrian children in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp, where more than 27,000 children live among approximately 65,000 refugees. Economic pressure has pushed many students out of school, with Syrian children recording far higher dropout rates than Jordanian peers. UNICEF has reduced its programs in the camp from 13 to 8 and closed activities including theater, arts, environmental education and English-language learning, while remaining services face shortages of supplies and reduced hours. Staff and students say these cuts are damaging motivation and limiting opportunities. UNICEF and local educators attribute the crisis to declining donor support, rising needs inside Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, and competition for scarce resources. Although 178,000 refugees have returned from Jordan to Syria, educators say demand in Zaatari remains high. A sustainable response requires both sufficient support for refugees who remain in Jordan and safe, dignified conditions for those who may return.

A 16-year-old Swedish boy, Saher, is trapped in Gaza when a bomb hits his apartment on October 7, 2023, the day the Israel–Hamas war begins. Following Hamas’ attack on southern Israel, conditions rapidly deteriorate for civilians in Gaza, including Swedish family members unable to leave as the conflict escalates.