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Lebanese President Pushes to Extend Ceasefire Ahead of Washington Talks

On the eve of talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Beirut would seek an extension of the 10-day, U.S.-mediated ceasefire, which is set to expire on Sunday. The talks, set to continue on Thursday 4:00 pm EST at the U.S. State Department, represent a diplomatic track that has so far ...

Al-Akhbar Journalist Killed in Airstrike in Southern Lebanon

A Lebanese journalist working for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar News was killed in an Israeli airstrike and another was wounded on Wednesday while they were working near the border with Israel, according to their employer and rescuers. The civil defence agency's press office said rescuers were "able to recover the body of martyred journalist ...

Beyond Mediation: How Washington Is Recasting Lebanon–Israel Negotiations

The U.S. is set to mediate a second round of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials on Thursday as part of the first such series of direct negotiations between the two sides since 1993. These diplomatic engagements come nearly a year and a half after the previous Lebanon-Israel ceasefire framework. In November 2024 under the Biden ...

Iran Hangs Former Nuclear Employee on Spying Charges: NGOs

Iran hanged a man on Wednesday convicted of links to Israel's Mossad spy agency, the judiciary said, with two NGOs based outside the country saying he worked for the Iranian atomic energy organization. The execution of Mehdi Farid was the latest in a number of hangings of high-profile convicts in an accelerating trend that has alarmed rights ...

Israel President Says He Dreams of ‘Driving Straight to Beirut’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Wednesday he hopes Israelis will one day be able to travel freely to Beirut, speaking to foreign diplomats in Jerusalem ahead of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon. Speaking to a gathering that included envoys from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Herzog said Israel was “eager” to help shape a ...

Maritime Incidents Underscore Fragility of Trump-Extended Iran Ceasefire

A series of maritime incidents occurred on Wednesday in and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz, at the heart of the standoff between United States and Iran, highlighting the fragility of the truce unilaterally extended by Donald Trump with Iran. Just hours after the U.S. president announced the extension of the ceasefire, which has been in ...

Israel FM Calls on Lebanon to 'Work Together' with Israel Against Hezbollah

Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday urged Beirut to make joint efforts with Israel to counter Hezbollah on the eve of talks between the two countries set to resume in Washington. It will be the second preparatory meeting paving the way for direct negotiations. "Tomorrow the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will resume in Washington, DC. ...

U.S. Reportedly Blocked $500m Cash Shipment to Iraq Over Pro-Iran Attacks

The United States blocked a plane carrying nearly $500 million in banknotes from delivering the cash to Iraq, US media reported on Tuesday, piling pressure on Baghdad to fight Iran-backed militant groups. The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington has suspended cash shipments to Iraq and frozen funding for security programs following ...

NATO 'Will Always Defend' Turkey: Chief Says

NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday the alliance would do "what's necessary to defend" its members, including Turkey, after intercepting four missiles fired from Iran and heading into Turkish airspace over the past weeks. A member of the U.S.-led defense alliance, Turkey, which borders Iran, has been largely spared the sort of retaliation ...

Syrian Hezbollah Fighter Surrenders to Israeli Army

A Syrian Hezbollah fighter surrendered himself to the Israeli Defense Forces on Wednesday following an attempt to seek refuge in the Christian village of Rmaych, a Lebanese border town currently inside Israel’s 5-10-kilometer forward defense zone, a local official told This Is Beirut. The fighter, Syrian-national Abdullah Ahmad al-Obed, ...

Israeli Strike on Lebanon's Bekaa Kills One

An Israeli strike on Lebanon's Bekaa region killed one person and wounded two others on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, despite an ongoing truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. "One person was killed and two others were wounded as a result of an attack carried out by an enemy drone at dawn on the outskirts of Al-Jabur in West ...

Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire While Maintaining Blockade

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would hold off on new strikes against Iran at the request of Pakistani officials, effectively extending the ceasefire as diplomatic efforts continue. In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said the United States agreed to delay further attacks on Iran following a request from Pakistan’s ...

Sarit Zehavi: We Need a Lasting Peace Agreement, Not Just Ceasefire

In an exclusive interview with This Is Beirut, Sarit Zehavi, president of the Alma Research and Education Center, said Israel’s actions against Hezbollah are driven by security concerns. She emphasized the need to establish a peace agreement rather than repeated ceasefires, arguing that lasting stability depends on building Lebanese state ...

When Aoun Meets Netanyahu

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in the coming weeks, according to President Trump, who said he would invite both leaders. However, Aoun appears poised to follow a political path that will be rejected by Israel. Lebanon has vilified Israel for so long that a Lebanese ...

UN Maritime Agency Urges Help for Seafarers Stranded in Hormuz

The head of the UN maritime agency appealed on Tuesday for help for thousands of seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz as the Middle East war paralyzes the vital shipping route. Around 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships have been stranded in the waterway since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 that triggered the war, according to the ...

IDF Delivers Aid to Christian Border Towns in South Lebanon

Humitarian supplies were deposited by the Israeli Army near several Christian southern Lebanese border towns on Saturday, including Rmeish, Ain Ebel, and Debel, in a cross-border arrangement organized to avoid direct contact with Lebanese citizens, local officials told This Is Beirut. Ayoub Khreish, mayor of Ain Ebel, a border town currently on ...

Israel Says Applying Diplomatic, Military Pressure to Disarm Hezbollah

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that his country's campaign in Lebanon relied on both military and diplomatic pressure to disarm Iran-allied Hezbollah. "The overarching goal of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah and remove the threat to the northern communities (of Israel), through a combination of military and ...

Lebanese President Says Aiming to End Hostilities With Israel Talks

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that planned talks with Israel aim to end hostilities and the occupation in southern Lebanon, even as Hezbollah and its supporters rejected the negotiations. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has sharply criticised the Lebanese government's negotiations with Israel, which are set to enter a second ...

Will Lebanon Finally Break Its Cycle of Inaction?

As Lebanon and Israel prepare to deepen diplomatic contact amid a 10-day truce, attention is shifting to what comes next, including the fate of Hezbollah’s weapons and whether the ceasefire marks a temporary pause or a strategic shift. During the war, both President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam navigated a perilous political ...

U.S., Iran Warn Ready for War as Talks in Limbo

The United States and Iran each warned they were ready for war as the clock ticked down Tuesday on a ceasefire, with uncertainty on talks that President Donald Trump had announced would resume in Pakistan. The White House said Vice President JD Vance was ready to fly back to the Pakistani capital Islamabad, which was preparing for a second round ...

Hezbollah MP Says Group Will Break Israel's 'Yellow Line' in South Lebanon

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Monday that his group would work to break the "Yellow Line" that Israel established in southern Lebanon, adding that no one could disarm the Iran-backed group. Still, he also maintained that his group wanted to see the current ceasefire last, even as he slammed Lebanese efforts to engage Israel ...

U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Issues Security Warning Over Iran-Linked Threats

The U.S. Embassy Baghdad issued a security alert on Monday warning of continued threats against American citizens and interests in Iraq, citing ongoing plans by Iran-aligned armed groups to carry out attacks. The U.S. embassy said that “terrorist militias allied with Iran” are continuing to plan attacks targeting U.S. nationals and ...

A State Decides: Lebanon's Bet on Direct Talks with Israel

For the first time in decades, the U.S. has brokered direct talks between Lebanon and Israel, beginning with a 10-day cessation of hostilities and a commitment to negotiate in good faith. Washington says lasting calm will require the Lebanese state to reassert sovereignty over non-state arms. President Donald Trump said the initiative had created ...

U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire in Lebanon Shows Early Strains

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remains formally in place, but continued military activity, warnings to civilians, and exchanges of fire are raising questions about its durability just days into its implementation. The ceasefire, which came into effect on April 16 under U.S. mediation, allows Israel to take necessary measures in ...

President Aoun Assigns Simon Karam to Head Talks With Israel

The Lebanese presidency announced that upcoming direct negotiations with Israel will be conducted through an official delegation headed by Ambassador Simon Karam, according to a statement attributed to President Joseph Aoun on X. In remarks addressed to a delegation from the “Sovereignty Front,” President Aoun stressed that Lebanon ...

Israel Says Exposed Iranian “Covert Terror Network” Targeting Officials and Strategic Sites

The Israeli government released a statement Monday announcing that its intelligence services have uncovered a secret Iranian-operated network responsible for planning attacks against Israeli officials and strategic infrastructure worldwide. According to a post on X by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has for the first ...

Lebanon Has Another Opportunity of a Lifetime

As Lebanese, Israeli, and American teams prepare for their first-ever trilateral leaders summit, it is time to reflect on this opportunity and lessons from the past.   Most Lebanese have yearned for decades for a restoration of state sovereignty and peace. There are a host of reasons why they have been deprived of what most people around the ...