This is Beirut - Benjamin Netanyahu

Trump's MAGA Base Defies Conservative Pro-Israel Doctrine

This is Beirut, 30/07 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas

Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base -- where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears. Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in ...

Gaza Civil Defense says Israeli Strikes Kill 30

This is Beirut, 29/07 10:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Israel United Nations

Gaza's civil defense agency said Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and "targeted a number of citizens' homes" in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The ...

Israeli Lawmakers Pass Symbolic Motion on West Bank Annexation

This is Beirut, 23/07 21:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

West Bank Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Palestine

More than 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion on Wednesday urging the government to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, though the symbolic move does not affect the Palestinian territory's legal status. The non-binding vote in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, was backed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, ...

Israeli Far Right Discusses Gaza 'Riviera' Plans

This is Beirut, 22/07 20:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Palestine Hamas Israel Gaza Riviera Benjamin Netanyahu

Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly "riviera", as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory. The meeting, titled "The Riviera in Gaza: From Vision to Reality", was held in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, under the ...

Israel in Sweida: Motives and Ambitions

Philippe Abi Akl, 22/07 08:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Syria Sweida Bedouin Ahmad al-Sharaa Druze

As heavy clashes enter their second week in Syria’s southern province of Sweida, pitting Druze factions against tribal groups backed by the Syrian Army and security forces, Israel’s quiet but deliberate involvement is raising alarm. Official claims of protecting Syria’s Druze are met with widespread skepticism. The real story lies in Tel ...

Israel Orders Civilians Out of Central Gaza Ahead of New Campaign

This is Beirut, 20/07 11:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas

The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants in an area "where it has not operated before". The military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in ...

Cross Our Heart

Fady Noun, 20/07 10:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Damascus Hezbollah

Lebanon faces an existential threat, warns Tom Barrack. He suggests the country could be absorbed into one of those large regional blocs the United States dreams of building for energy, commercial or security reasons. The diplomat likely had a slip of the tongue. He should have read the letter addressed in 1989 by Pope John Paul II to all Catholic ...

Israel PM Voices Regret After Three Killed at Catholic Church in Gaza

This is Beirut, 18/07 09:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret after Israeli tank fire killed three people at a Catholic church in Gaza on Thursday, blaming a "stray" round for the deaths after a phone call with US President Donald Trump. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said 10 others were also wounded in the attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City ...

Syria Troops Quit Druze Heartland After Violence Leaves Over 500 Dead

This is Beirut, 17/07 19:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Damascus Israel Sweida

Syrian troops pulled out of the Druze heartland province of Sweida on orders from the Islamist-led government, following days of deadly clashes that killed more than 500 people, according to a war monitor. The southern province has been gripped by deadly sectarian bloodshed since Sunday, with hundreds reportedly killed in clashes pitting Druze ...

Israel Strikes Near Syrian Army HQ: State TV

This is Beirut, 16/07 19:03 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Syria

An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit near the Syrian army and defense ministry headquarters in Damascus, the state-run Alekhbariya channel reported on Telegram, after Israel's military said it had struck there. AFP correspondents heard a loud explosion echoing throughout much of the capital shortly after a first air strike had targeted the same ...

The Endless Countdown: Lebanon’s Ceasefire Deadlock and the Impossible Disarmament

Natasha Metni Torbey, 16/07 15:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Ceasefire Lebanese Army Benjamin Netanyahu Hezbollah Lebanon Israel

Sixty days—no more! That was the confident, oft-repeated promise declared at the signing of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel in November 2024. This now-mythic deadline was then heralded as the decisive countdown to peace in Lebanon. What followed? Everything but peace: extensions, postponements, shifting timelines and a ...

Hamas Says Netanyahu 'Unwilling' to Reach Gaza Truce Deal

This is Beirut, 14/07 18:15 - Reading : less than a minute

Israel Gaza Hamas Benjamin Netanyahu

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday of not wanting to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza as talks in Qatar entered their second week. "Netanyahu is skilled at thwarting one round of negotiations after another and is unwilling to reach any agreement," the Palestinian militant group said in a statement on its Telegram ...

Benjamin Netanyahu