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Israel Strikes Litani Bridges to Pressure Lebanese Government

As Israel presses its ground invasion of south Lebanon, it has destroyed several bridges spanning the Litani River, saying Hezbollah was using the crossings for military purposes. Analysts told This Is Beirut that the strikes also form part of a broader pressure campaign on the Lebanese state. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the bridges ...

Blurring the Lines: How Hezbollah Obscures Civilian and Combatant Deaths

Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 1,268 dead in Israeli strikes as of March 31, but offers no breakdown between civilians and Hezbollah fighters, leaving the real human toll shrouded in uncertainty. Dr. Joseph Helou, head of the Medical Care Directorate at the Ministry of Public ...

On the Streets of Tehran: Teenagers Armed With Machine Guns

In the security crackdown ordered by Iranian authorities since the start of the war, an unsettling new sight on the streets of Tehran has put residents on edge: teenagers armed with machine guns. During the first weeks of the war against the United States and Israel, checkpoints sprang up around the capital, often comprising police or military ...

Yemen Claims Joint Strike with Iran and Hezbollah on Southern Israel

Yemen’s armed forces on Wednesday announced a new round of attacks targeting what they described as “sensitive Israeli positions” in southern Israel in coordination with Iran and Hezbollah.  The operation, described as the third phase of an ongoing military campaign, involved the launch of ballistic missiles, according to a ...

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 ...

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 ...

Iran FM Says Not Responded to U.S. Plan, 'No Negotiations'

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there were no negotiations with the United States and that Tehran had not responded to a reported 15-point proposal from Washington to end the war. "We receive messages from the American side, some direct and some through our friends in the region, and whenever necessary we respond to these messages," ...

Iranian Missile Barrage Hits Israel, Reports Indicate Use of Cluster Munitions

Israel reported renewed missile launches from Iran on Wednesday targeting central and northern areas, causing multiple casualties and damage across several sites, with reports indicating the possible use of cluster munitions that pose long-term risks to civilians. The military stated it had “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the ...

Lebanon Says Israeli Strikes on Beirut Area Kill 7

The Lebanese health ministry said Wednesday that Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and a nearby town killed at least seven people, as Israel's military said it had targeted senior Hezbollah members. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel to ...

U.S. Defense Secretary Warns of Intensified Strikes Against Iran

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a press conference Tuesday at the Pentagon alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, providing an update on the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran. Hegseth described the campaign as a “laser-focused, maximum authority mission” employing overwhelming ...

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 Will Occupy Swathe of South Lebanon After War: Defense Minister

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday said Israel's military would occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the end of the current war against the Hezbollah armed group. "At the end of the operation, the IDF will establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon, on a defensive line against anti-tank missiles, and will maintain security ...

Army Withdrawal Sparks Anxiety in Southern Border Villages

Residents of the predominantly Christian southern villages of Rmeish, Debel, and Ain Ebel are experiencing growing anxiety following the sudden withdrawal of security forces and the closure of local police stations on Tuesday, according to local officials and community leaders. Concerns intensified after units of the Lebanese Army redeployed from ...

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, ...

Iran Executes Two More Convicted of Links to Banned Opposition

Iran executed two men on Tuesday convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and plotting to overthrow the Islamic republic, the judiciary said, a day after two others were hanged on similar charges. "Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi... were executed by hanging on Tuesday after legal procedures were completed and their sentences ...

Senior U.S. Official to TIB: ‘The United States Supports the Sovereignty and Authority of the Lebanese Government’

In an exclusive statement to This is Beirut, a senior U.S. official conveyed support for the Lebanese government’s authority and expressed concern for Iranian infractions against Lebanese sovereignty.  The official said that “the United States supports the sovereignty and authority of the Lebanese government to make decisions ...

Leavitt Says U.S. Talks with 'More Rational' Iranians are Ongoing

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke on the status of U.S. operations in Iran in a press conference on Monday She said that talks with Iranians are ongoing and making good progress. Remnants of the regime are inclined to negotiate. The U.S. is currently speaking with “more rational” Iranians to reach an ...

Israel Maintains High Pressure in West Bank Amid Iran War

As war with Iran and its proxies touches most of the region, Israel maintains pressure in the West Bank as violence mounts, while the Knesset approved a bill setting the death penalty on charges of deadly acts of terrorism.  On Monday, 2 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents, according to ...

Southern Front: Israel’s Push Toward the Litani River

The Israeli military is conducting a methodical ground campaign in southern Lebanon, advancing slowly but steadily along three main axes as Jerusalem seeks to establish a buffer zone. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had ordered the military to “further expand the existing security strip” in Lebanon, signaling ...

Iran Says Not Seeking Nuclear Weapons but Non-Proliferation Treaty Under Review

Iran said on Monday it was not seeking nuclear weapons but the issue of whether to remain part of the non-proliferation treaty was under review in parliament. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought and does not seek nuclear weapons," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing. "Regarding membership in this ...

UNIFIL Says Peacekeepers Wounded in Multiple Incidents in South Lebanon

UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon were wounded in an incident near the Lebanese-Israeli border, a spokesperson for the force said Monday, without specifying the nature of the incident. "There has been an incident involving peacekeepers near Bani Hayyan, and we have injuries," Kandice Ardiel told AFP. Bani Hayyan is a Lebanese town near the border ...

Beirut Port Explosion Investigation Concludes

Judge Tarek Bitar, the judicial investigator in the Beirut port explosion case, has concluded his investigations and referred the entire file to Deputy Public Prosecutor General Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar for review, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Monday. The refered defendants, all of whom have been questioned since early 2025, ...

Iran Confirms Death of IRGC Navy Commander Following Israeli Airstrike

Iran confirmed on Monday that Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ navy (IRGCN), had been killed, days after Israel announced it had targeted him in an airstrike. A statement published by the Guards’ Sepah News website said Tangsiri “succumbed to severe injuries” from the attack, according to AFP. Israeli ...

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 ...

Power Outages Hit Tehran After Strikes on Energy Infrastructure

Parts of Tehran and the neighboring Alborz Province were plunged into temporary darkness on Sunday night after strikes damaged elements of the local electricity grid, according to Iranian state media and international reports. The disruptions followed a new wave of airstrikes attributed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), targeting areas in and ...