This is Beirut, 12/05 20:46 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023 on Monday, ahead of a regional visit by US President Donald Trump. "The (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Zionist soldier and American citizen Edan Alexander, following contacts with the US administration, as ...
David Hale , 12/05 18:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Donald Trump Saudi Arabia Gulf United States Normalization Israel
It is no surprise that President Trump's first major foreign trip (not counting the late Pope's funeral) since returning to office will be to the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia was also his first stop in 2017. It is only natural: the center of power in the Arab world rests in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. And the Saudis, Qataris, and Emiratis are his ...
Sana Richa Choucair, 12/05 17:15 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Hamas Donald Trump US Gaza Israel Hostages
Edan Alexander, 21, is the only American national still held alive in Gaza. After moving from New Jersey to Israel in 2022, he joined an elite unit of the Israeli army and was taken by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack. In a statement released on Sunday, the spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said: “The ...
This is Beirut, 12/05 17:10 - Reading : less than a minute
Israel Gaza Hamas Benjamin Netanyahu US
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would send mediators to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the release of hostages held in Gaza after Hamas announced the release of US-Israeli Edan Alexander. Following a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff and ambassador Mike Huckabee, "the Prime Minister instructed to send a negotiation ...
This is Beirut, 12/05 15:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Israeli President Issac Herzog will visit Germany on Monday to mark 60 years of relations with the country that perpetrated the Holocaust, at a time when ties are complicated by the Gaza war. His German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier will then visit Israel with Herzog, to emphasise Germany's historic responsibility as one of its staunchest ...
This is Beirut, 12/05 12:09 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Benjamin Netanyahu Ceasefire Hamas Israel
Hamas's armed wing said it would release on Monday a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023, even as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of an "intensification" of fighting in the war-ravaged territory. The Palestinian militant group on Sunday said it would release US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, ahead of a visit by ...
This is Beirut, 12/05 09:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Pope Francis Hamas Israel Ukraine
Pope Leo XIV launches his first full week as leader of the world's Catholics on Monday, with journalists, diplomats and top Vatican officials all set to meet the newly elected pontiff. Pomp and prayer marked the initial days of the pontificate of the former Robert Francis Prevost, the US pope first introduced to the world from the balcony of St ...
Bassam Abou Zeid, 12/05 09:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Political sources reported that Lebanese officials have been repeatedly and directly informed by multiple parties that the only viable way to resolve the ongoing issues with Israel, including the withdrawal from occupied territories, an end to ongoing violations and the resolution of disputes along the Blue Line, is through direct negotiations ...
This is Beirut, 11/05 22:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Hamas USA Ceasefire Israel Gaza
Hamas said it would release a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza as the group revealed it was engaged in direct talks with the United States towards a ceasefire in the war-battered territory. "Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, a dual US national, will be released as part of efforts towards a ceasefire" and the reopening of aid crossings, the ...
This is Beirut, 11/05 15:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Gideon Saar Israel Palestinian Statehood
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state would force Israel to take "unilateral actions," following announcements by several countries that they plan to take such a step. "There have been talks about an initiative to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state... any ...
This is Beirut, 11/05 11:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The Israeli army said Sunday that the body of a soldier missing for 43 years had been found in the "heart of Syria" and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency. "In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and ...
This is Beirut, 10/05 23:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of the two men calling to end the 19-month-long war. The pair were identified by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were kidnapped during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on ...