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Israeli Defense Minister Says Lebanese President is 'Gambling' Country's Future

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz met with UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, on Monday, telling her that "if the Lebanese government continues to shelter under the shadow of the Hezbollah terror organization, fire will burn the cedars of Lebanon."  Earlier in the day, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon ...

Russia Tells Iran Will Do 'Everything' to Restore Peace in Middle East

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia would do “everything” to help restore peace in the Middle East, during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saint Petersburg. “For our part, we will do everything that serves your interests, and the interests of all the peoples of the region, so that peace can ...

Israeli Army Strikes Bekaa Valley as Targets Expand

The Israeli military said it was “currently striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley” on Monday, marking the first time since the Israel–Lebanon ceasefire began that it has hit targets outside southern Lebanon.  Like the south, the Hermel and Baalbeck areas of the eastern Bekaa Valley are predominantly Shia areas and a ...

U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Information on Iraqi Militia Leader

The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Haydar Muzhir Ma’lak al-Sa’idi, a militia leader accused of orchestrating attacks against U.S. and allied targets in the Middle East. In a post published on X , the ...

Lebanese President Aoun Accuses Hezbollah of National 'Betrayal'

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of “betrayal” and openly challenged the group’s decision to take Lebanon to war, asking whether it had secured national consensus before doing so. “Did you have national consensus when you went to war?” Aoun questioned, in a direct message to Hezbollah, as ...

Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem Rejects Direct Talks, Vows to Maintain Armed Resistance

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Monday rejected direct negotiations with Israel, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to armed resistance, and sharply criticized the Lebanese government’s recent political course in a statement addressing the latest developments in the country. In a written statement, Qassem said Hezbollah ...

If Boycotting Israel Requires a Law, Is It Truly Popular?

Hezbollah and its global Intifada allies claim that the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, Arabs, and people of conscience view Israel as pure evil, a cancer to be eradicated. Yet if this hatred is truly so deep and universal, why does Lebanon still need to enforce its heavy-handed law boycotting Israel? The statute criminalizes any contact with ...

Arrival of Third U.S. Carrier Marks First Triple Deployment in Middle East Since 2003

For the first time since the 2003 Iraq War, the United States has deployed three aircraft carrier strike groups simultaneously to the Middle East, marking a major escalation in its military posture in the region, according to the United States Central Command. The latest deployment follows the arrival of the USS George H. W. Bush strike group, ...

Oil Rises Over 1% as U.S.–Iran Talks Stall

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday as stalled U.S.-Iran talks and ongoing disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz tightened global supply, according to Reuters. Last week, Brent and West Texas Intermediate gained nearly 17% and 13%. This marked ​the biggest weekly gains since the start of the war. Tensions in the Gulf have ...

Lebanon Says Israel Strikes Kill 14 in Deadliest day Since Truce

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country's south on Sunday killed 14 people, the deadliest day since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war came into force over a week ago. It came as Israel and the Iran-backed group traded fresh accusations of breaching the fragile truce, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the ...

Iran Executes Man Over Membership of Jihadist Group, Armed Rebellion

Iran on Sunday executed a man convicted of membership in the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl and involvement in attacks on security forces in the southeast, the judiciary said. Amer Ramesh was arrested during a counterterrorism operation in the Pirsahrab area of Chabahar county in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the judiciary's Mizan Online ...

New Strikes Reported in Lebanon After 6 Killed in South of Country

Lebanese state media reported a series of new Israeli strikes in the country's south on Saturday night, after attacks earlier in the day killed six people despite a recently extended ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah The new attacks followed orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to "forcefully ...

Parking Dispute Involving Shia Residents Escalates into North Beirut Church Incident

According to Lebanese media reports, a confrontation broke out Saturday in Fanar’s Ras el-Rouissat area in north Beirut between a municipal police officer and two individuals from the Shia neighborhood of el-Rouissat over a parking dispute. A local witness, identified as M. Hanna, told This is Beirut that the two men assaulted the officer ...

Beirut State Security Raid Met With Protests, Investigation Ordered

A violent clash in Beirut’s Saqiet al-Janzir, a sunni majority area, on Saturday triggered public outrage and a wave of protests across the capital, following a controversial security operation targeting a private generator owner identified as Hassan Itani. According to a security source, the case dates back four days, when a complaint was ...

Gulf States in Limbo as US-Iran Crisis Drags On

After weathering unprecedented attacks from Iran, the wealthy Gulf states are now stuck between war and peace as talks stall and the vital Strait of Hormuz remains all but closed—threatening economic recovery. Iran has hit Gulf energy exports with its Strait of Hormuz blockade, while its attacks have caused damage to energy infrastructure ...

Will Lebanon Repeal Its Law Criminalizing Contact With Israel?

As Lebanese and Israeli officials conclude their second round of U.S.-brokered talks in Washington, a contradiction is becoming harder for Beirut to ignore. The state is now negotiating with Israel, while its citizens can still face prosecution for far less. Following Thursday’s meeting between Lebanese and Israeli envoys at the White House, ...

Israeli Army and Hezbollah Clash in Bint Jbeil

Israeli Army spokespeople said six Hezbollah fighters were eliminated in a firefight in Bint Jbeil on Friday, over a week since Israel said it had encircled the town on April 13, and just a day after a Lebanon-Israel ceasefire was extended by three weeks. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army continues to hold a forward ...

Netanyahu Lauds Opportunity for 'Historic Peace' Between Israel, Lebanon

A day after the second meeting of direct negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli Ambassadors in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “begun a process to achieve a historic peace” between the two countries. The Prime Minister’s pre-recorded video on ‘X’ comes after talks in ...

Six Decades Without the State: Southern Lebanon’s Long Shadow of Militias

For nearly 60 years, the Shia of southern Lebanon have known only the rule of militias. This reality dates to 1969, when the Lebanese state ceded part of its sovereignty to Palestinian armed groups, allowing them to launch attacks against Israel. Since then, the region has fallen under a succession of armed actors, culminating in the firm ...

IDF Exposes Hezbollah’s Use of Ambulances and Civilian Sites for Military Operations

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Friday that the Israeli military identified what it described as new evidence of Hezbollah using ambulances and civilian infrastructure for military purposes in southern Lebanon.  In a series of posts published on X, Adraee alleged that Hezbollah has “repeatedly and systematically” used ...

Hezbollah-Linked Suspect Extradited to Panama in Long-Running Terror Investigation

The U.S. Embassy in Panama announced a major breakthrough in the decades-long investigation into the 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901, stating that suspected Hezbollah-linked operative Ali Zaki Hage Jalil has been extradited to Panama to face trial. The announcement described the move as the result of coordinated efforts between the ...

UN Peacekeeper Dies Weeks After Injury in Southern Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Friday announced the death of an Indonesian peacekeeper who was critically injured last month following a projectile explosion at a UN position in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of peacekeepers killed in the war to six. Corporal Rico Pramudia, 31, succumbed to his injuries on 24 April ...

Hezbollah’s Global Financial Network Exposed in European Study

An investigation by the Documentation Center Political Islam (DPI) shed light on the extensive global financial networks of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, including its operations across Europe.  The report draws on publicly available sources such as court records, corporate registries, and government documents. It highlights how Hezbollah combines ...

Oil Extends Gains, Stocks Sink as Peace talk Hopes Fade

Oil prices extended gains Friday, and stocks struggled as investors worried about a lack of progress in ending the Middle East crisis, with Tehran keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and the US maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports. A week that started with hopes the two sides would eventually hold peace talks was set to end on a negative note, ...

U.S. Weighs New Military Plan in Strait of Hormuz

Senior U.S. military officials are developing new operational plans targeting Iran’s strategic capabilities in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN. The proposed options focus on a more aggressive and geographically concentrated military approach, particularly emphasizing ...

U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Leader of Iraqi Armed Group

The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information on the leader of the Tehran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), which Washington designates as a terrorist organization. US officials said in a social media post Thursday they were seeking information on KSS leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, also known ...

White House Hosts Second Round of Direct Lebanon-Israel Talks

On Thursday afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio convened with Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter in the second round of talks in the first series of direct Lebanon-Israel dialogue since 1993. The talks were planned to take place at the State Department, but prior to the ...