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Lebanon’s Last Chance: A Turning Point or the Point of No Return?

Caught in the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanon faces a critical turning point. The Lebanese state can no longer claim sovereignty while tolerating an armed militia that unilaterally dictates war and peace. President Joseph Aoun’s assertion that Hezbollah seeks the “collapse of the Lebanese state” and the ...

Trump Threatens More Strikes on Iran’s Main Oil Export Hub

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened additional strikes on Iran’s key oil export hub at Kharg Island as the war between Iran and the U.S.–Israeli alliance entered its third week, underscoring the growing risk of a prolonged conflict that is already disrupting global energy markets and destabilizing the Gulf region. Speaking to NBC News, ...

Israel’s New Manual for Fighting Terrorist Militias

From the ruins of Gaza to the depopulated villages south of Lebanon’s Litani River, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is testing a new doctrine that breaks with decades of conventional wisdom on combating terrorist actors. Rather than applying military pressure to bend governments or populations to its political will, Israel is now waging a war ...

Stocks Rally, Oil Dives as Trump Says War to End 'Very Soon'

Equities rallied and oil tumbled Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said the Middle East war would be over in up to three weeks and his Iranian counterpart said Tehran had "the necessary will" to bring it to an end. The remarks came as the economic impact of the conflict worsens, with average US gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon for the ...

Lebanon Plea: A Peace Initiative or a Lifeline for Hezbollah?

Lebanon’s call for direct negotiations with Israel and its pledge to disarm Hezbollah are being framed in Beirut as historic. But it may instead be a delayed response, too late to stop the war, too weak to change its course, and potentially giving Hezbollah room to maneuver. On Monday, President Joseph Aoun urged an immediate ceasefire and ...

Lebanon’s Government Moves to Rein in Hezbollah, But Is It Enough?

After Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the regional conflict with its March 2 attack on Israel, the Lebanese government signaled increased urgency to assert state authority and seize the militia’s arsenal. The cabinet’s headline-making decisions include banning Hezbollah’s military and security activities, directing the Lebanese Armed Forces ...

Israel Political Unity on Iran War Fractures, Opposition Warns of 'Security Disaster'

Israel's opposition on Thursday signalled an end to the political consensus over the war against Iran — a conflict the military now says requires far more combat troops, particularly on the Lebanese front. "I want to warn the citizens of Israel. We are facing another security disaster," the country's main opposition leader and head of the ...

War Creating 'Largest' Oil Shock in History as Iran Hits New Gulf Targets

The Middle East war is creating the biggest oil supply shock in history, the International Energy Agency warned Thursday, as Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Gulf energy targets that sent prices spiking above $100 a barrel. Images from Bahrain showed thick smoke rising after a strike on fuel tanks in Muharraq, with residents told to ...

The WhatsApp War: How Hezbollah Manufactures Reality

In Lebanon today, the battlefield is no longer confined to the south; it has also moved to WhatsApp, where closed, encrypted groups spread information without scrutiny, and most importantly, without accountability. This is where Hezbollah has quietly built one of its most effective influence machines—not on television, where narratives can be ...

Lebanon Declares Iran's Ambassador Unwelcome, But Can It Make Him Leave?

The Lebanese state has formally expelled Iran’s envoy to Beirut, its latest step to curb Tehran’s influence as the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah intensifies. On March 24, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said he had instructed his ministry to inform Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Lebanon, Toufiq Samadi Khoshkou, ...

Trump Says U.S. ‘Close to Finishing the Job’ in Iran War, Says More Strikes Ahead

Israel said it came under Iranian missile fire on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb the Islamic republic into the "Stone Ages" with heavy strikes in the next two to three weeks. In a speech from the White House, Trump sought to reassure war-weary Americans that the military campaign that began on February 28 was coming ...

Israel Launches Wave of Strikes on South Lebanon, Hits Bridge

Israel said it struck Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Sunday shortly after the military was ordered to destroy bridges used by the Iran-backed militant group across the Litani River. Lebanese official media reported Israeli raids in several areas of the south, while an AFP correspondent saw smoke billowing from a key bridge that was hit ...

In Israel, an Alert System Upgraded with Every New War

Between two wars with Iran, Israeli civil defense has significantly improved its population alert system, relying heavily on technological innovation and artificial intelligence to make life less burdensome for Israelis under the threat of Iranian missiles. Sarah Chemla, 32, lives in central Tel Aviv. Her second child was born in June 2025 in a ...

Is Israel Shifting from Containing Hezbollah to a Resolution in Lebanon?

A historical examination of Israel’s military campaigns in Lebanon against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Hezbollah reveals striking parallels and key differences, while raising the question of whether Jerusalem is moving toward a more decisive strategy against Hezbollah. Israel has regarded both the PLO in the 1970s and 80s ...

Lebanon Will Keep Hezbollah’s Arms, Lose its South

Lebanon has made its choice. Instead of enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and its own cabinet’s decision to disarm Hezbollah, Beirut will allow the pro-Iran militia to keep its weapons but it will lose its territory south of the Litani River. While Lebanon will argue that Israel’s occupation would violate international law, this ...

Gulf Allies Privately Urge Trump to Press War on Iran: Report

Gulf Arab allies are privately urging President Donald Trump to intensify the war against Iran and avoid a premature settlement, even as the White House considers scaling back its military campaign without securing full control over the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report by the Times of Israel. According to U.S., Gulf, and Israeli officials, ...

From Baghdad to Beirut: Tehran’s Strategy to Set the Region Aflame

In December 2017, Hezbollah hosted Iraqi militia leader Qais al-Khazali on a tour of Lebanon’s border with Israel. At the time, Israel was careful not to provoke Hezbollah, and Khazali seemed confident that he could threaten the Jewish state from the frontier. Nearly a decade later, Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have become ...

Israeli Forces Conduct Operation in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in Search for Ron Arad, Clashes Reported with Hezbollah

The Israeli army carried out an operation in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley aimed at uncovering information about the fate of missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad, triggering clashes with Hezbollah fighters overnight.  According to field reports cited by regional media, Israeli troops were deployed near the town of Nabi Sheet, a ...

Smotrich Calls for Occupying Half of Lebanon as Israel Intensifies Infrastructure Strikes in the South

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to occupy half of Lebanon, setting the Litani River as a new boundary, comes as Israel intensifies a systematic campaign targeting critical infrastructure in southern Lebanon, a strategy that is increasingly raising concerns over its military objectives and legal implications. The remarks, made ...

Ghalibaf: Iran's New Strongman Running War Effort

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards, has emerged as the highest-profile political figure in the Islamic republic after the killing of its leaders. A pillar of the Iranian establishment for some three decades and one of the Islamic republic's most prominent non-clerical figures, Ghalibaf, ...

U.S. Complex in Baghdad Attacked Six Times Overnight

At least six overnight attacks targeted a US diplomatic and logistics centre at Baghdad's International Airport, two Iraqi security officials told AFP on Sunday. "Eight separate attacks, carried out until dawn with rockets and drones targeted the US centre," a senior security official told AFP, saying "some rockets landed near the base," while a ...

Israel, U.S. Double Down on War Effort; Lebanon Reiterates Calls for Israel Negotiations

On Thursday, Israeli officials stated that Israel continues to act decisively against Iran and Hezbollah while the Trump administration sought additional funding for U.S. war efforts and called on allies to assist in operations at the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, Lebanese officials reiterated their support to begin direct negotiations with ...

Israel Says Killed Iran Intel Chief, Tells Military to Hunt Down Officials

Israel said on Wednesday its forces had killed another top Iranian official, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, and said its military was authorised to kill any senior figure of the Islamic republic in its sights. The announcement, the day after Iranian security chief Ali Larijani was confirmed killed in an Israeli strike, is part of a ...

Israel Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Beirut After Destroying Bridge

The Israeli military said Saturday it had begun striking "Hezbollah infrastructure" in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group's reinforcements from crossing. An AFP journalist heard two loud explosions in the capital within half an hour early Saturday and saw smoke billowing from one of them. Local ...

Pakistan Hosts Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt for Talks on Mideast War

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey on Sunday held talks about trying to end the war in the Middle East, as Islamabad acts as a go-between between the United States and Iran. The four-way meeting between the top diplomats of the Muslim nations lasted several hours in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Pakistan has emerged as a key facilitator ...

Saudi Arabia Weighs Its Position as Houthis Enter the Fray

For nearly a month, Saudi Arabia has absorbed sustained waves of Iranian missile and drone attacks on its cities and critical energy infrastructure, while maintaining a posture of calculated restraint.  This comes as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement launched its first missile toward Israel on Saturday since the start of the war, ...

What is Israel’s Invasion Calculus in Lebanon?

Israel appears poised to dramatically expand its invasion in southern Lebanon, with troops pushing deeper into the country as officials increasingly adopt rhetoric about establishing a buffer zone. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told local officials in northern Israel that the military was working to expand a “security ...

Israel Prepares for Extended Campaign Against Hezbollah as Iran War Continues

Israeli officials are preparing for a potentially prolonged military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon that could continue even after the current war with Iran ends, according to officials and diplomatic sources familiar with internal discussions. The planning reflects a growing view within Israel’s security establishment that the ...

B‑52 Operations Over Iran Suggest Broader U.S. Control of Skies

The United States Armed Forces has begun deploying B-52 Stratofortress bombers over Iran, signaling a major escalation in its ongoing military campaign and a growing level of control over Iranian airspace, according to a report by Fox News. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine stated that the missions were initiated following an ...