This is Beirut - Damascus

March 14: 20 Years Later, Revisiting a Defining Moment

Sana Richa Choucair, 14/03 15:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

UN Security Council Damascus Middle East United Nations US Congress

On March 14, 2005, a human tidal wave flooded Martyrs' Square. Lebanese people of all faiths gathered around a single cause: rising up against the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, one month after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. It was a first in the history of independent Lebanon. Today, the 20th commemoration has a new ...

Kurds of Syria Celebrate Agreement with Damascus

This is Beirut, 13/03 20:05 - Reading : less than a minute

Damascus Syria Kurds SDF PKK

The Kurds of Syria celebrate the agreement reached between the new Syrian government and the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are primarily made up of Kurds.

Israeli Air Strike on Islamic Jihad's Headquarter in Damascus

This is Beirut, 13/03 14:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Israel Islamic Jihad

Israeli Air Force conducted on Thursday an airstrike in Damascus, targeting headquarters of the Islamic Jihad group. Israel's military spokesman, Avichaï Adraee, said the attack had targeted a "terrorist command center" in Damascus, belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which fought alongside Hamas in Gaza against Israel. "The ...

Syrian Druze Plan First Israel Pilgrimage

This is Beirut, 13/03 13:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Israel Druze Syria Lebanon

A delegation of Syrian Druze clerics is planning to visit a pilgrimage site in Israel on Friday for the first time since Israel's creation in 1948, a source close to the group said. "A delegation of dozens of Druze clerics will visit Israel on Friday," the source said, adding that it follows an invitation from the Druze community in Israel. "The ...

Dissident Former Diplomat Shot Dead in Southern Syria: Monitor

This is Beirut, 12/03 12:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Syria

A former Syrian diplomat who defected from his service under the administration of toppled president Bashar al-Assad was shot dead alongside his brother in the country's south, a war monitor said on Wednesday. Armed men on Tuesday night entered the home of former diplomat, Noureddine al-Labbad, in the town of Al-Sanamayn, some 50 kilometres (30 ...

Youssef Rajji: Lebanese Stability Depends on Syrian Stability

This is Beirut, 10/03 14:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Syria Youssef Rajji Damascus MOFA

Minister of Foreign Affairs Youssef Rajji stressed that “stability in Syria is very important for stability in Lebanon”. He also pointed out that a number of “common issues with Syria need to be addressed, including border demarcation, arms and drug smuggling, and terrorism”. Rajji's remarks came at the close of a meeting of Syria's ...

Violent Clashes in the Mazzeh Neighborhood of Damascus

This is Beirut, 10/03 12:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus

The Mazzeh neighborhood in Damascus was, on Monday morning, the scene of violent clashes between Syrian security forces and armed elements from the previous regime, marking an unprecedented development since the beginning of the confrontations last Thursday. According to “Al-Araby Television Network”, based in Qatar, an armed group attacked ...

Iran Rejects Claims of Involvement in Syria Violence

This is Beirut, 10/03 12:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Tehran

Iran on Monday rejected media reports accusing the Islamic republic of involvement in the violence in Alawite areas of Syria, which has left hundreds of civilians dead. Fighting erupted on Thursday between Syria's new security forces and loyalists of the former government of toppled president Bashar al-Assad, a long-time Tehran ally. War monitor ...

Subversion in Syria: The Extent of Iran’s Involvement

Michel Touma, 10/03 11:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump UN Security Council Damascus Hezbollah Israel

The main pieces are being put in place… A likely diplomatic showdown — or, if diplomacy fails, a military confrontation — between the Iranian axis and the Western camp is clearly taking shape, both in Lebanon and across the regional landscape. Several clear signs of this looming standoff have surfaced in recent days amid an increasingly ...

Partition of Syria, the 'David Corridor'… What’s Really at Stake?

Élie-Joe Kamel, 04/03 17:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Banks Damascus Gulf Hezbollah

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel has ramped up its operations in Syria, seemingly seeking to assert itself as the dominant player against Turkey, which is trying to fill the vacuum left by Iran’s retreat. It has carried out strikes on military positions of the former regime and pro-Iranian militias, expanded its presence in ...

Syria Forces Deploy in Damascus Suburb After Deadly Unrest

This is Beirut, 02/03 22:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Damascus Jaramana Druze

The forces of Syria's new authorities deployed Sunday in a Damascus suburb following deadly clashes with Druze gunmen, state media said amid tensions after Israeli demands to protect the minority group. Jaramana, a mostly Druze and Christian suburb of the capital, saw a fatal shooting at a checkpoint on Friday, followed a day later by clashes ...

PKK Declares Ceasefire with Turkey after 40 Years of Armed Struggle

Paul Guillot, 01/03 17:08 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Middle East Turkey United States

Outlawed Kurdish militants on Saturday declared a ceasefire with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle. It was the first reaction from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Ocalan this week called for the dissolution of the group ...