Thousands of people took to the streets of Albania to protest plans for luxury tourism developments linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over the weekend.

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Demonstrators gathered in the capital, Tirana, and at the protected Vjosa-Narta lagoon on the country’s Adriatic coast, where campaigners say a project threatens one of the Mediterranean’s most important biodiversity hotspots.

Waving Albanian flags and carrying inflatable pink flamingos — which have become the symbol of the movement — protesters chanted “Cancel the project!” and marched under banners reading “Ivanka go home” and “Albania is not for sale”.

But what exactly is Kushner Island, where is it, and why has it become such a political flashpoint?

What is the history of Sazan Island?

“Kushner Island” is an unofficial nickname for Sazan Island, a largely uninhabited Albanian outpost in the Mediterranean at the centre of a controversial luxury resort development backed by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

The term has been popularised by critics and activists who argue that the scale of the project could fundamentally transform the island.

The island has a long military history. During the Ottoman period, it was largely uninhabited, but its location made it an important naval outpost. Following Albanian independence in 1912, control of the island became the subject of competing claims by regional powers.

In 1914, Italy occupied Sazan, known to Italians as Saseno. The island was formally ceded to Italy after the First World War and became a heavily fortified military base. During Benito Mussolini’s reign, Italian forces built military installations, barracks and coastal defences there, using the island to control access to the Adriatic Sea.

Following the Second World War, the island was returned to Albania and became one of the country’s most secretive military sites under the communist regime of Enver Hoxha.

Covering about 5.7 square kilometres, it is Albania’s largest island and is known for its rugged coastline, abandoned tunnels and hundreds of Cold War bunkers.

What is Jared Kushner’s involvement in Sazan Island?

Jared Kushner is backing the development through his investment firm, Affinity Partners. The proposed project, valued at around €1.4 billion, would transform part of Sazan Island into a high-end resort featuring hotels, villas, apartments, a marina and other luxury facilities.

The project has sparked opposition from environmental groups and local campaigners, who argue that it threatens sensitive ecosystems and lacks sufficient transparency.

Supporters, including Albania’s government, say it will create jobs, attract foreign investment and boost tourism. The project has been marketed as a high-end “eco-resort” aimed at wealthy international visitors.

Where is Sazan Island?

The island is located off Albania’s southwestern coast at the point where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea, near the city of Vlorë. It sits along the Albanian Riviera, one of the Mediterranean’s fastest-growing tourism destinations and opposite the heel of Italy.

For much of the 20th century, the island served as a military base and was largely closed to the public. Its strategic location made it an important outpost during both the Italian occupation and Albania’s communist era.

Why do protestors carry images of flamingos?

The pink flamingo has become the symbol of opposition to the Kushner-backed development. Protesters carry flamingo placards, costumes and banners to draw attention to concerns about the environmental impact of large-scale tourism projects along Albania’s coast.

The symbol first emerged during demonstrations against resort developments in the sensitive coastal wetlands around the nearby Narta Lagoon, an important habitat for flamingos and other migratory birds. Activists later adopted the flamingo more broadly as a symbol of environmental protection and resistance to what they see as unsustainable coastal development.

As protests against the Sazan Island project grew, the flamingo became the movement’s defining image. Demonstrators have staged rallies carrying giant pink flamingos and wearing flamingo-themed costumes, leading some to describe the campaign as Albania’s “Flamingo Revolution”.

For supporters of the movement, the bird represents both the protection of Albania’s natural heritage and opposition to developments they believe prioritise luxury tourism over environmental conservation and public access.

Additional sources • AFP, AP

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on sites it described as Hezbollah command centers in Beirut’s southern suburbs Sunday, hours after Israeli officials said Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility.

The escalation came days after the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed conditional ceasefire framework requiring Hezbollah to halt fire and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon. It also followed the release of IDF footage that Israel said showed troops dismantling a Hezbollah explosives facility, where an outside expert said components appeared consistent with anti-personnel shrapnel devices designed to wound or kill people on foot.

The strikes mark a major cross-border escalation days after the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed conditional ceasefire framework requiring Hezbollah to halt fire and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the military action was direct retaliation for the group’s violation earlier in the day.

HEZBOLLAH FIRES BARRAGE OF ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL AFTER IDF TARGETS HEZBOLLAH COMMAND CENTERS IN BEIRUT

Concurrently, footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed troops locating and dismantling a hidden, booby-trapped explosives warehouse.

The multipurpose assembly hub appeared to contain materials that could be used in makeshift shrapnel and propane tanks to create a distributed, lethal network.

Nick Reese, an adjunct professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and a former U.S. national security adviser, told Fox News Digital that the captured weapons cache suggests a deliberate emphasis on personnel casualties, which could be military or civilian targets.

“Given the current situation, they probably targeted more military personnel. Shrapnel bombs are intended to hurt and kill people on foot,” Reese said.

“The video cuts between the IDF entering the building and showing the contents. It’s at this moment that they probably cleared any booby traps,” Reese added. “It would be standard practice to look for and disable any booby traps in a facility like this before going inside and before filming anything.”

“It’s possible the booby traps could be using shrapnel methods, but I can’t see evidence of that in the video. It shows what appears to be a shrapnel bomb, but it is not hidden so likely not a booby trap unless the IDF disarmed it off camera,” he said.

HEZBOLLAH ‘HUMAN SHIELD’ STRATEGY BEHIND LEBANON AMBUSH, BOMB DETONATION – MACRON DRAWN IN

Among the items found in the raid was a container filled with nails and other sharp objects, which Reese noted are specific indicators of anti-personnel targeting.

“This video shows what appears to be a container with nails or other sharp implements in it,” Reese noted. “This is likely for creating shrapnel bombs intended to kill, wound, and maim targets.”

“Such devices are both effective and cause significant fear among the population, which was likely the intent,” Reese continued. “The method is not particularly sophisticated but shows that they were targeting humans, not simply hardware or infrastructure.”

“Making shrapnel bombs also tends to be cheap, easily concealed, and effective, especially against personnel. These types of bombs would likely have been in significant use.”

“The video shows a variety of materials that could have been used to create bombs, from makeshift shrapnel to what appears to be a propane tank,” Reese explained.

“These components would be used for very different purposes, so the location seems to have been a central general-purpose explosives-making facility.”

“Propane tanks would be used for larger targets like tanks or buildings, while shrapnel would be used against infantry or in public places,” Reese said.

US, ISRAEL ANNOUNCE TARGETED KILLINGS OF TERROR LEADERS IN SYRIA AND LEBANON

The dismantling of the factory follows a high-profile decapitation strike against the leadership running these hidden networks.

The IDF announced Friday that an airstrike in Lebanon killed Hezbollah’s chief explosives engineer, Abed Harb, the commander of Hezbollah’s engineering unit, after he “attempted to harm” Israeli soldiers.

The military said Harb was a veteran commander responsible for “numerous attacks against IDF soldiers” over the decades.

When considering the expertise required to manage such operations, Reese observed: “Over a 20-year career, this is difficult to say. Given Iran’s well-known funding and support to Hezbollah and its experience fighting the Israelis in multiple conflicts, he likely had a mix of internal and external training combined with combat experience.”

“Harb was targeted as part of an effort to disrupt Hezbollah’s war-making infrastructure and limit its ability to continue to plan and execute large bombing operations against the IDF and civilian targets.”

“The loss of Abed Harb by Hezbollah is not just a loss of leadership but of institutional knowledge,” Reese added.

“His two decades of battlefield experience were significant to Hezbollah not only because of his bomb-making abilities but because of how he understood the IDF, Hezbollah, and the junior ranks.

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“As a member of Hezbollah since 2006, Harb likely had significant skills in making and disguising bombs over a 20-year career, which will be a blow to Hezbollah’s operational capabilities and infrastructure,” Reese said.