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U.S. Delegations Meet on Lebanon-Israel Front as Karam Floats Tel Aviv Talks

The U.S. ambassadors to Lebanon and Israel convened in Jordan on Monday to discuss the steps needed for a sustainable peace between the two countries as former ambassador Simon Karam expresses further willingness for direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.  The meeting in Jordan underscored a renewed commitment to diplomacy on the ...

Qassem Warns Hezbollah May Intervene If Iran Is Attacked

Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, delivered a speech amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran on Monday, stating that any attack on Iran would also target his group, and warned that any new war on the Islamic Republic would ignite the region. On the question of Hezbollah’s engagement in a conflict scenario, Qassem left ...

Qatar Pledges Continued Economic and Political Support to Lebanon

During a visit to Beirut, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi announced a new aid package for Lebanon, including $40 million dedicated to the electricity sector, alongside development, and humanitarian initiatives. President Aoun reaffirmed the importance of Qatar’s support and expressed gratitude for ...

Khamenei Issued No Mercy, 'Shoot to Kill' Orders

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Iran's Supreme National Security Council to suppress the protests on January 9 by using "any means necessary," The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing two officials familiar with the matter.  According to the officials, security forces were then deployed to the streets with ...

Syrian Security Thwarts Weapons Smuggling Attempt Bound for Lebanon

Syrian internal security forces announced on Monday that they had thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of weapons into Lebanese territory, following coordinated operations in central and southern Syria. According to the Internal Security Directorate in the Al-Qusayr area of Homs, acting in cooperation with the Internal Security ...

Heavy Israeli Airstrikes Hit Southern Lebanon

Israel carried out a significant military escalation in southern Lebanon late Sunday and early Monday, launching a series of airstrikes it said targeted Hezbollah military infrastructure, as tensions along the border continued to rise. At dawn on Monday, Israeli fighter jets struck the Aqmata–Louaize heights in the Iqlim al-Touffah region. ...

Rubio Praises Iraq’s Detention of ISIS Members, Warns Against Iranian Influence

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday praised the Iraqi government’s “initiative and leadership” in accelerating the transfer and detention of ISIS terrorists to secure facilities inside Iraq. According to a U.S. Department of State press release, Rubio held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani in light of recent ...

U.S. Launches Regional Air Readiness Drill in the Middle East

The United States will conduct a multi-day air readiness exercise across the Middle East, aimed at demonstrating the ability to deploy, distribute, and sustain combat air capabilities throughout the region, according to a statement issued Sunday by U.S. Central Command, as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the region ...

After Maduro: The Challenge of Dismantling Hezbollah in Venezuela

After U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on January 3, Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed that Washington would uproot Hezbollah and Iranian influence in the South American country. “We are not going to have a country like Venezuela in our own hemisphere, in the sphere of control and the crossroads for ...

New Israeli Strikes: One Killed and One Wounded in South Lebanon

The Israeli army carried out several airstrikes on Sunday in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing at least one person and wounding another, according to an initial toll. In southern Lebanon, the strikes hit the towns of Kherbet Selm and Kfardounine in the Bint Jbeil district. A hangar that had already been targeted in previous operations was ...

Iran May Have Slaughtered 30,000 Protesters in Intense Crackdown - TIME

As many as 30,000 people may have been killed across Iran during a two-day crackdown on January 8 and 9, TIME reported on Sunday, citing two senior Health Ministry officials and a separate compilation of hospital data shared with the publication.  The figures have not been independently verified and far exceed numbers publicly cited by ...

Why Hezbollah’s Base Is Battling the President Digitally

If Lebanon were a normal country, the presidency would be the one place where politics slows down, where disputes are processed through institutions, where crises are turned into decisions, and where the state, at minimum, performs statehood. But Lebanon is not a normal country. And that is why the recent surge of pro-Hezbollah campaigning ...

2026 NDS: America First Ushers in a New Era of Selective Engagement in the Middle East

The newly released 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) marks a dramatic pivot in American foreign policy, embracing what officials call “pragmatic realism” while fundamentally redefining U.S. engagement in the Middle East. Under an “America First” framework, the strategy moves away from large-scale military interventions in favor of ...

Hezbollah-Affiliated Al-Akhbar to Scale Back Due to Funding Cuts

The Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar is carrying out widespread terminations and restructuring amid funding cuts, according to Beirut Time News. According to the report, the financial changes were announced suddenly and without prior notice, as departments were reorganized and employees received cuts in their salaries and ...

More IS Detainees Heading to Iraq from Syria: Iraqi Officials

Hundreds of Islamic State group detainees were being transferred from Syria to Iraq on Saturday, the second batch since the US announced plans to relocate the jihadists there, two Iraqi security officials told AFP. "The prisoner transfer operation is ongoing, with US forces transporting detainees by land and air," an Iraqi security official said, ...

Qatar Pledges $480 Million and Plans to Rebuild Three Destroyed Villages in South Lebanon

Qatar has decided to allocate $480 million to fund projects and investments in Lebanon, while preparing to rebuild three destroyed villages in the south, according to information obtained by daily An-Nahar. The initiative is reminiscent of Doha’s role in post-war reconstruction following the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. The ...

Salam, Macron Discuss Lebanese Sovereignty, Security and Reforms in Paris

On Friday evening, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to discuss Lebanon’s internal reforms and consolidation of state control.  Salam reiterated that the Lebanese state is committed to its goal of confiscating all non-state weapons on Lebanese territory. Macron stated that France will ...

U.S. to Sanction Iran’s Shadow Fleet as Details of Protest Crackdown Surface

On Friday, the U.S. announced that it had imposed sanctions on nine vessels and eight entities that are part of Iran’s shadow fleet, according to a press statement from State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott. The imposition of sanctions on Iranian shadow fleet vessels is a move of U.S. escalation against the Iranian ...

Salam Says Lebanon to Expand State Control as International Confidence Grows

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday that Lebanon has full operational control over southern Lebanon and will expand operations north of the Litani river as international engagement with Lebanon increases.  Salam outlined a two-part policy driving the Lebanese state’s governance goals: institutional and ...

UN Rights Chief Urges Iran to 'End Brutal Repression'

The United Nations rights chief decried Friday that "thousands" of people, including children, had died in Iran's crackdown on nationwide protests and urged the authorities to "end their brutal repression." Speaking at the start of a UN Human Rights Council urgent meeting on the situation in Iran, Volker Turk urged the authorities in Tehran "to ...

Yoav Gallant: Lebanon at a Crossroads

Former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant wrote an article titled “Written in Ink, Signed in Fire,” in which he offers a description of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, arguing that agreements alone do not produce lasting peace unless they are backed by military superiority that imposes facts on the ground. In the article, ...

Israel Strikes Northern Bekaa as South Sees Escalation

Israel struck the northern Bekaa Valley on Friday, causing material damage but no reported casualties. The first strike hit the public road linking Majdaloun and Baalbek with two missiles, while the second targeted a site near Dar Al-Amal Hospital in Baalbek. Local reports said the Baalbek strikes were aimed at a military official affiliated with ...

Netanyahu Joins Gaza Board of Peace Despite Misgivings

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to take part in the U.S.-led Board of Peace overseeing postwar Gaza, despite mounting unease within Israel’s leadership over the structure and membership of the body, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Thursday. The decision, the official said, reflects the reality of Israel’s ...

U.S. Weighs Full Military Withdrawal From Syria

The United States is considering a full military withdrawal from Syria, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, which said Washington is reassessing its presence amid rapidly changing conditions on the ground. The newspaper reported that internal discussions within the Trump administration are exploring multiple scenarios to reduce, or ...

Trump Says U.S. Still Watching Iran, Fleet Sailing to Region

President Donald Trump said Thursday a US naval "armada" was heading toward the Gulf, maintaining pressure on Iran, although he has recently downplayed the prospect of imminent military action. Last week, Trump pulled back from a threat to strike Iran over its deadly crackdown on anti-government protests after the White House said Tehran had ...

Kurdish SDF Fighters Leave North Syria Prison Under Govt Deal: State Media

Syria said early Friday that government forces had begun transferring Kurdish fighters from a prison in the north where they had been holding Islamic State group detainees, as part of a weekend agreement. An AFP correspondent in Raqa saw buses and cars heading away from the Al-Aqtan prison on the city's outskirts overnight, escorted by ...

Iraq Says to Start Legal Proceedings against IS Detainees Moved from Syria

Iraq's judiciary said Thursday it would launch legal proceedings against Islamic State group detainees transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation. "The Iraqi judiciary will begin standard legal proceedings against the defendants who are received and placed in the relevant correctional institutions," the Supreme Judicial Council ...