Search : 500 result(s)
Syrian Government, SDF Announce Four-Day Truce as SDF Pulls Guards from Al-Hol
This is Beirut 20/01 16:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced a four-day truce on Tuesday while SDF guards monitoring the Al-Hol camp retreated from their posts. Just before the truce, SDF personnel guarding the Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria withdrew from their posts to be redeployed to other cities in the ...
Aoun Hails State Control of Arms and Pledges Continued Reforms
This is Beirut 20/01 13:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Lebanese Army Emmanuel Macron Lebanon Internal Security Forces Joseph Aoun South Lebanon United States Qatar France Egypt
President Joseph Aoun stressed on Tuesday that the Lebanese government last year took a historic step by endorsing a plan aimed at confining weapons to state authority and extending state control over Lebanese territory exclusively through its own forces, calling the move a major turning point despite the challenges of implementation. Addressing ...
Iran FM Says Davos Appearance Cancellation Based On 'Lies'
This is Beirut 20/01 13:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Israel United States USA Iran WorldEconomicForum IranProtests
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi hit out at the World Economic Forum in Davos for cancelling his appearance over a crackdown on recent protests, saying the decision was based on "lies and political pressure". Protests in Iran sparked by economic strain in late December exploded into the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years, ...
Israel Won the War, So Why Is the Muslim Brotherhood Winning the Peace?
Hussain Abdul-Hussain 20/01 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Israel Iran Hezbollah USA Muslim Brotherhood
The new regional order taking shape appears to be a haunting inversion of the post-9/11 era. At the time, the U.S. smashed Sunni powers, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, incidentally empowering Iran and its sprawling proxy network. Washington even called Shia Islamism the more “reasonable” alternative and partnered with Tehran against ...
Talks Between Damascus And Kurdish-led Forces "Collapse"
This is Beirut 20/01 12:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Donald Trump Turkey USA Kurds SDF
Negotiations have collapsed between the Syrian president and the chief of the country's Kurdish-led forces, a Kurdish official told AFP, as the army deployed reinforcements to flashpoint areas in the north. President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were meeting to discuss a ceasefire ...
Israel Begins Demolitions at UNRWA Headquarters
This is Beirut 20/01 11:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel United Nations Gaza UNRWA
Israeli bulldozers began demolitions at the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, in what the organization called an "unprecedented attack". UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said in a statement to AFP that Israeli forces "stormed into" the compound shortly after 7am (0500 GMT) and ousted security ...
Netanyahu Draws Red Line on Gaza Postwar Plan
This is Beirut 20/01 11:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Benjamin Netanyahu USA Donald Trump Hamas Israel Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday that Turkish and Qatari forces would not set foot in Gaza, days after the White House announced that officials from the countries would sit on a key committee set to oversee the Strip’s postwar management. Speaking during a parliamentary session in Jerusalem, Netanyahu acknowledged a ...
Iran Orders Protesters in ‘Riots’ to Surrender Within 72 Hours
This is Beirut 20/01 10:05 - Reading : less than a minute
Turkey Warns "Won't Tolerate Provocations" Over Syria Unrest
This is Beirut 20/01 09:45 - Reading : less than a minute
Turkey warned Tuesday it would not tolerate any "provocations" over the events in Syria as its Kurdish community called for protests over a government offensive targeting Kurdish fighters. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X that Turkey was "meticulously monitoring the developments in Syria and all movements along our ...
The Middle East Will Not Heal Until Iran Is Free
Rawan Osman 20/01 09:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Iran Tehran Protests Lebanon Syria Israel
As Iranians flood the streets in mass demonstrations, demanding freedom at extraordinary personal risk, a fundamental truth has become impossible to ignore. The Middle East cannot heal until Iran is free from the Islamist regime that has poisoned the region for nearly half a century. I came to this conclusion from lived experience, not ideology ...
Former Iranian Minister Meets Pahlavi During Protests
This is Beirut 19/01 23:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Israel Channel 14 reports that former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif secretly met multiple times with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during Iran’s recent protests and later briefed Iran’s former President Hassan Rouhani on the encounters. During his 2013–2021 tenure as foreign minister under Hassan Rouhani, Zarif oversaw ...
Shelling Near North Syria's Raqqa City Despite Ceasefire
This is Beirut 19/01 21:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
A monitor said clashes erupted on Monday evening between government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Monday near northern Syria's Raqqa city, a day after the sides agreed a ceasefire. The AFP correspondent in Raqqa reported the sound of heavy bombardment, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported ...
Iran says Internet to 'Gradually' Return to Normal
This is Beirut 19/01 17:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Internet access in Iran will "gradually" return to normal this week, a senior Iranian official said Monday on the 11th day of an unprecedented shutdown. Iran earlier this month imposed a nationwide communications blackout amid huge anti-government protests. The shutdown of communications accompanied a brutal government crackdown ...
Why Lebanon’s Shia Opposition Sees Opportunity in the 2026 Elections
Claudia Groeling 19/01 15:41 - Reading : 11 minute(s)
Hezbollah Amal Lebanon Elections Parliament Opposition
Lebanon’s upcoming parliamentary elections are shaping up as a test of Hezbollah’s political standing at a moment of vulnerability, after the group suffered a major military blow in the 2024 war with Israel and faces mounting pressure from the Lebanese government’s pledge to disarm it nationwide. Since the 1992 parliamentary elections, the ...
Israel Strikes Southern Lebanon
This is Beirut 19/01 12:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Lebanon Hezbollah South Lebanon Israel South Lebanon Beqaa
Israel struck southern Lebanon on Monday, shortly after the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, announced that Israeli forces were striking Hezbollah targets in the area. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that one was wounded in the airstrike in the town of Zabqin in the Tyre district. According ...
Israel Pushes Back as Trump Unveils ‘Board of Peace’
This is Beirut 19/01 11:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Donald Trump Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Ceasefire GazaWar Gaza
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for Gaza on Monday, calling it “bad for Israel” and urging a full reoccupation of the enclave. Reportedly, as Washington promotes a post-war governance plan for Gaza, Israel has been signaling resistance not only diplomatically ...
Iraq Announces Complete Withdrawal of U.S.-Led Coalition From Federal Territory
This is Beirut 19/01 09:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
UN Security Council United Nations United States USA Washington
Iraq said on Sunday US-led coalition forces had finished withdrawing from bases within the country's federal territory, which excludes the autonomous northern Kurdistan region. "We announce today... the completion of the evacuation of all military bases and leadership headquarters in the official federal areas of Iraq of advisers" of the US-led ...
CEO of Iranian Telecom Operator Fired for Failing to Block Internet
This is Beirut 19/01 09:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The chief executive of Irancell, Iran's second-largest mobile phone operator, was dismissed for failing to comply with the government's decision to shut down the internet, the Fars news agency reported Sunday. In an unprecedented move, Iran cut off all communications on January 8 without warning, as calls intensified for anti-government protests, ...
Syria's Leader Agrees Truce With Kurds After Govt Troops Advance
This is Beirut 19/01 09:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country's north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes ...
Khamenei Accuses Trump of "Incitement, Destruction"
This is Beirut 17/01 20:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Donald Trump Tehran United States
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday alleged U.S. President Donald Trump was responsible for the slaughter of protesters in Iran, saying "We see the president of the United States as a criminal, because of the deaths, destruction and incitement he has committed against the Iranian nation.” “We do not intend to lead the country to ...
Naim Kassem Slams Lebanon’s Foreign Minister
This is Beirut 17/01 20:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassem on Saturday sharply criticized Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, accusing him of “acting against the presidency, the government, the Lebanese people, and the resistance.” In a speech during a religious ceremony, Kassem said the absence of an effective foreign minister had ...
Syria Army Takes Territory East of Aleppo After Kurdish Forces Withdraw
This is Beirut 17/01 14:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Syria's army said Saturday that its forces had taken control of swathes of the region east of Aleppo city after Kurdish forces agreed to withdraw following recent clashes. The advance comes a day after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a "national language" and granting the minority official recognition in ...
Trump Invites Foreign Leaders to Join Gaza 'Board of Peace'
This is Beirut 17/01 14:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Donald Trump Palestine Turkey USA
U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to join the so-called Board of Peace that will oversee post-war Gaza, Turkey said Saturday. Erdogan received the proposal in a letter sent Friday by Trump inviting him to "become a founding member" of the board, Turkish presidential communications director ...
Gaza Governance Committee Begins Work
This is Beirut 16/01 23:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Gaza Palestine Israel Hamas Fatah
The Palestinian committee set to govern post-war Gaza has begun its work in Cairo, a member told AFP on Friday. Formed on Wednesday as the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, the committee is made up of 15 technocrats charged with administering the Palestinian territory after the Hamas-Israel war. The ...
Exclusive: Trump States U.S. Decision Not to Attack Iran Due to Cancelled Executions
This is Beirut 16/01 22:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Donald Trump Iran United States Protests
Speaking to the press on Friday, President Trump stated that his decision not to attack Iran was not influenced by Arab and Israeli officials, but rather due to Iran cancelling the mass-execution of 800 protesters. When asked why he made this decision, he stressed that “nobody convinced me, I convinced myself. [Iran] had yesterday scheduled ...
Syrian Army Issues Warnings Ahead of Strikes East of Aleppo
This is Beirut 16/01 21:40 - Reading : less than a minute
Syria's army issued warnings on Friday ahead of strikes on Deir Hafer, east of Aleppo, saying it will target the positions of Kurdish forces and urging civilians to stay away. In several warnings, the Syrian military announced it will target specified areas of Deir Hafer, which it said Kurdish forces were using "as a launching point for their ...
Syrian President Makes Kurdish a 'National Language'
This is Beirut 16/01 21:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree on Friday declaring Kurdish a "national language", in an apparent gesture of good will towards the minority following clashes in past days. The move came as the Syrian army warned of new strikes east of Aleppo, despite a meeting between the US-led coalition and Kurdish forces seeking to ...
Syrian Financial Conduit of Assad Regime Detained in Lebanon
This is Beirut 16/01 19:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Syrian national Ahmad Dunya, who was collaborating with former affiliates of the Bashar Al-Assad regime plotting to destabilize the new Ahmad al-Sharaa regime, was arrested in Lebanon on Friday. Since December 2025, Syrian and Lebanese officials have engaged in discussion over the status of over 200 exiled members of the Assad regime who fled to ...
Who are the Shia Opposition Seeking to Break Hezbollah’s Stranglehold?
Claudia Groeling 16/01 19:29 - Reading : 9 minute(s)
Lebanon Shia Opposition Hezbollah Amal Disarmament Israel
Lebanon’s upcoming parliamentary elections, coming on the heels of the 2024 Hezbollah–Israel war that devastated the organization and its core constituencies, have reopened the question of Shia political representation. For decades, Lebanese political discourse has treated the Shia community as a unified political bloc, electorally ...
Gaza Governance Committee Holds First Meeting in Cairo: Egypt State-Linked Media
This is Beirut 16/01 16:30 - Reading : less than a minute
The Palestinian committee set to govern post-war Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo on Friday, Egyptian state-linked channel Al-Qahera News reported. Formed on Wednesday as the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, the committee is made up of 15 technocrats charged with administering the Palestinian territory ...