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Do Syria’s Former Regime Networks Really Command 168,000 Fighters?
This Is Beirut 03/01 00:05 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Syria Lebanon AssadRegime AhmadAl-Sharaa
As Syria tries to stabilize after years of devastating war, a new and unsettling narrative has emerged: claims that remnants of Bashar al-Assad’s former regime command an armed force of up to 168,000 fighters, allegedly preparing for renewed confrontation. The figure, revealed through leaked documents and intercepted communications obtained ...
LAU Medical Center – Rizk Hospital: A Century of Medicine at the Heart of Beirut
Makram Haddad 2025-12-09 15:10 - Reading : 7 minute(s)
LAU Lebanon Achrafieh Hospital Rizk Hospital
A hundred years ago, a young surgeon just back from Paris put up a sign near the Nasra tram stop in Sodeco: “Dr. Toufic Rizk Clinic.” Twelve beds, three nurses, one passion: practicing modern surgery in a Lebanon still finding its way. At the time, no one could have imagined that this small beginning would grow into a full hospital in 1957 ...
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 ...
Iran Protest Movement Subsides In Face Of "Brutal" Crackdown
This is Beirut 16/01 14:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Iran HumanRights United States Donald Trump protests manifestations
The protest movement in Iran has subsided after a crackdown that has killed thousands under an internet blackout, monitors said Friday, one week after the start of the biggest protests in years challenging the Islamic republic's theocratic system. The threat of new military action by the United States against Iran has also appeared to have ...
Erbil Set to Host New Syria-Kurdish Talks as Ceasefire Strains in the North
This is Beirut 22/01 16:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Ceasefire Damascus USA Kurds SDF Erbil
A new round of negotiations between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is set to take place in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Kurdish sources cited by Al Arabiya, as efforts intensify to salvage a ceasefire and revive talks over the future of northeastern Syria. The planned meetings come just days after ...
Lebanon Must Become Independent of Saudi Arabia Too
Hussain Abdul-Hussain 05/01 12:35 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Lebanon Saudi Arabia Lebanese Army Hezbollah Israel
If Lebanon’s Shia are to finally divorce Iran and reclaim patriotism for their nation, other sects must also place Lebanon’s national interests above the diktats of foreign patrons. That means the Sunnis, the Christian Lebanese Forces, and Walid Jumblatt’s Druze political bloc must end their humiliating dependence on Saudi Arabia. For too ...
U.S. Launches Regional Air Readiness Drill in the Middle East
This is Beirut 26/01 10:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
USA Middle East Donald Trump USMilitary USNavy Iran
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 ...
Teetering on the Edge: Escalation Along the Lebanon–Israel Border
Amal Chmouny 2025-12-08 14:00 - Reading : 9 minute(s)
Lebanon Israel United States Hezbollah
The Israeli-Lebanese border is now one of the Middle East’s most volatile fronts, where a “low-intensity” conflict feels less like crisis management and more like a dress rehearsal for an imminent war. U.S. and Israeli officials are no longer debating whether fighting will erupt again, but how quickly and extensively it could escalate, ...
The IMF Sets an Example Through Lebanese Depositors: Unpacking One the Most Dangerous Laws in the Country’s History
This is Beirut 2025-12-21 15:40 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Lebanon Banque du Liban International Monetary Fund economy banking system banks
What the government presented as the ‘Financial Gap Law’ is not merely a piece of financial legislation; it is a text that lays the foundations for the post-adoption economic order. It does not conceal its objective but states it calmly: ending a crisis that has lasted for years instead of resolving it, writing off deposits instead of ...
Iraq Says to Start Legal Proceedings against IS Detainees Moved from Syria
This is Beirut 22/01 22:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
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 ...
Israel Prepares to Seek New Security Pact With U.S., Report Says
This is Beirut 27/01 10:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel USA Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu DefensePolicy
Israel is preparing to enter talks with the administration of President Donald Trump on a new decade-long security agreement, signaling a strategic shift in how it seeks to secure American support, one that prioritizes joint military projects over direct financial aid, according to a report by the Financial Times on Tuesday. The discussions, ...
Ahead of 2026, Washington's Tougher Terms for Lebanon
Amal Chmouny 2025-12-31 17:10 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Lebanon Washington Donald Trump Lebanese Army Amal
Heading into 2026, U.S. engagement in Lebanon has become explicitly conditioned on measurable progress toward Hezbollah’s disarmament, marking a clear break from the strategic ambiguity that long defined Washington’s approach. The aftermath of the 2024 Israel–Hezbollah conflict, alongside Lebanon’s deepening economic and political crises, ...
UAE Rules Out Use of Its Territory as Region Braces for Possible Attacks on Iran
This is Beirut 26/01 20:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
United Arab Emirates Iran Gulf
The Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement asserting the United Arab Emirates’ position on a U.S.-Iran conflict on Monday, stressing that it will not allow its territory to be used for any attacks on Iran. The release states: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has reaffirmed the United Arab Emirates’ ...
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 ...
After the Vote: Exposing the Gap Law’s Broken Promises
Claudia Groeling 2025-12-29 19:30 - Reading : 7 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam International Monetary Fund Lebanon Banque du Liban Gap Law Banks
Lebanon’s cabinet on December 19 approved one of the most controversial pieces of legislation since the country’s financial collapse in 2019, adopting the so-called “Gap Law” in a narrow vote that has reignited public anger and raised serious concerns among economists, legal experts, and international observers. Backed by 13 ministers ...
LAF Completes First Phase of Weapons Plan, Israel Deems Efforts “Insufficient”
This is Beirut 08/01 08:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Lebanese Army Israel Lebanon LAF Hezbollah
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) announced on Thursday the official end of the first phase of the weapons control plan, which aimed to bring all weapons south of the Litani River under state control by the end of 2025. According to the statement, the first phase focused on “expanding the Army’s operational presence, securing vital areas, ...
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 ...
Brooklyn Man Sentenced in Iran-Linked Plot to Kill Exiled Journalist
This is Beirut 29/01 12:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Iran PressFreedom IranProtests USA HumanRights
A Brooklyn man was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian journalist and critic of the Islamic Republic, in a case U.S. authorities say was directed by Iran’s elite military and intelligence apparatus. Carlisle Rivera, 50, pleaded guilty to conspiracy ...
Aoun Urges Hezbollah to “Act Rationally”, Reaffirming State Monopoly on Weapons
This is Beirut 13/01 08:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Lebanon Hezbollah JosephAoun LebaneseArmy Israel
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun delivered one of his clearest and most direct statements to date on Hezbollah’s arms on Sunday, urging the militia to “act rationally” and fully integrate into the Lebanese state. In a televised interview marking the second anniversary of his election, Aoun laid out his vision for restoring state ...
Iran at the Edge: Uprising, Exhaustion, and the Fate of the Islamic Republic
Salam El Zaatari 08/01 23:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Iran Protests Tehran Donald Trump United States Pezeshkian
Amid growing protests, Iran’s rulers face one of their most dangerous moments since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with the pillars that have long sustained the regime now visibly cracking. Protests that erupted in late December 2025 over imploded living conditions have evolved into a nationwide revolt against the ruling system itself, fueled by ...
Trump Launches 'Board of Peace' at Davos
This is Beirut 22/01 15:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu UN Security Council United Nations Davos
US President Donald Trump kicked off his new "Board of Peace" at Davos on Thursday, with a signing ceremony for a body with a $1 billion membership fee and a controversial list of invitees. A group of leaders and senior officials from 19 countries, including Trump allies from Argentina and Hungary, gathered on stage with Trump to put their names ...
ABL Secretary General Warns Against Risks of Unrealistic Implementation of the Gap Law
This is Beirut 29/01 13:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
ABL Banks Banque du Liban Lebanon Central Bank of Lebanon
The Secretary General of the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), Fadi Khalaf, warned against the risks of an unrealistic implementation of the Gap Law in the introduction of the ABL’s January 2026 monthly report. According to Khalaf, this draft law, which aims to unlock the issue of bank deposits, can only succeed if the liquidity required ...
IDF: Israel Ready on All Fronts if U.S. Strike on Iran Triggers Retaliation
This is Beirut 26/01 10:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel Donald Trump USA Gulf Hezbollah
IDF Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo said Sunday that the military is preparing for the possibility that a U.S. strike on Iran could trigger Iranian retaliation against Israel. “We don’t know where this is heading,” Milo said in remarks broadcast by Channel 12 News. “We see the force buildup the Americans are ...
Could the IMF’s debt plan for Lebanon unintentionally bolster Hezbollah?
Ian Talley 2025-12-09 17:50 - Reading : 10 minute(s)
Lebanon International Monetary Fund Hezbollah Amal Banque du Liban
The International Monetary Fund risks unintentionally reviving a war-weakened Hezbollah by insisting Lebanon push heavier losses onto the banking sector than critics say is necessary — a move they argue would entrench the cash economy that Iran’s terror-designated proxy thrives on. At issue is how the IMF wants Lebanon’s ...
Iran Dismisses Trump’s Claim He Prevented 800 Hangings
This is Beirut 23/01 13:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Donald Trump Israel Middle East Tehran Ukraine
Iran's Attorney General said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump's allegations that Tehran stopped the execution of 800 detained protesters because of his intervention are "absolutely incorrect.” According to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency, Mohammad Mohebi said, “This claim is entirely ...
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 ...
Rubio Vows to Eliminate Hezbollah from Venezuela After Maduro Capture
This is Beirut 05/01 09:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Lebanon Hezbollah Israel South Lebanon
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday that Hezbollah will no longer have operations in Venezuela after elite U.S. forces captured wanted narco-terrorist and former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," Rubio said, "It's very simple, OK? In the 21st century, ...
After Khamanei: What the Fall of Iran’s Regime Would Mean for the Region
Hussain Abdul-Hussain 12/01 16:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Benjamin Netanyahu Lebanon Hezbollah Israel USA Iran
The fall of Iran's Islamist regime would mark one of the most seismic shifts in Middle Eastern geopolitics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought it to power. As massive protests grip the country, sparked by economic collapse and hyperinflation, the prospect of regime change grows more tangible. Unlike the 1979 revolution, which ushered ...
Financial Gap Law: Farewell to a Lifetime’s Savings… Where Is Karim Souhaid?
This is Beirut 2025-12-20 15:55 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Lebanon Banks Banque du Liban Gap Law
The draft Financial Gap Law, also known as the Financial Regularization Law, is set to be discussed at the Cabinet table on Monday. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has praised the project, presenting it as the first comprehensive legal framework to recover deposits and address the financial gap in a systematic and fair manner, within available means, ...
Egypt-Lebanon Gas Deal: Israeli Gas at the Heart of the Agreement
Claudia Groeling 09/01 12:50 - Reading : 83 minute(s)
Lebanon Benjamin Netanyahu Donald Trump Hezbollah Israel Syria Egypt
Two eastern Mediterranean natural gas deals announced twelve days apart highlight shifting energy dynamics amid dramatic geopolitical transformations in the region, with Lebanon aiming to benefit. On December 17, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a $35 billion gas deal with Egypt, describing the agreement as ...