Twenty people were killed across southern Lebanon on Wednesday, hours after Lebanese and Israeli officials met face-to-face in Washington for the first time since 1993. The diplomacy and the destruction arrived in the same 24-hour window. Both felt like a statement.

As conflict escalates across the Middle East, governments are using national security as justification to arrest journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens for speaking out. The UN warns of a systematic crackdown on freedom of expression.