This is Beirut

Iran FM Says Davos Appearance Cancellation Based On 'Lies'

This is Beirut, 13:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi hit out at the World Economic Forum in Davos for cancelling his appearance over a crackdown on recent protests, saying the decision was based on "lies and political pressure". Protests in Iran sparked by economic strain in late December exploded into the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years, ...

Israel Won the War, So Why Is the Muslim Brotherhood Winning the Peace?

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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The new regional order taking shape appears to be a haunting inversion of the post-9/11 era. At the time, the U.S. smashed Sunni powers, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, incidentally empowering Iran and its sprawling proxy network. Washington even called Shia Islamism the more “reasonable” alternative and partnered with Tehran against Sunni ...

Israel Begins Demolitions at UNRWA Headquarters

This is Beirut, 11:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Israeli bulldozers began demolitions at the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, in what the organization called an "unprecedented attack". UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said in a statement to AFP that Israeli forces "stormed into" the compound shortly after 7am (0500 GMT) and ousted security ...

Netanyahu Draws Red Line on Gaza Postwar Plan

This is Beirut, 11:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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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 ...

The Middle East Will Not Heal Until Iran Is Free

Rawan Osman, 09:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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As Iranians flood the streets in mass demonstrations, demanding freedom at extraordinary personal risk, a fundamental truth has become impossible to ignore. The Middle East cannot heal until Iran is free from the Islamist regime that has poisoned the region for nearly half a century. I came to this conclusion from lived experience, not ideology ...

Israel Strikes Southern Lebanon

This is Beirut, 19/01 12:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Israel struck southern Lebanon on Monday, shortly after the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, announced that Israeli forces were striking Hezbollah targets in the area. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that one was wounded in the airstrike in the town of Zabqin in the Tyre district. According ...

Israel Pushes Back as Trump Unveils ‘Board of Peace’

This is Beirut, 19/01 11:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for Gaza on Monday, calling it “bad for Israel” and urging a full reoccupation of the enclave. Reportedly, as Washington promotes a post-war governance plan for Gaza, Israel has been signaling resistance not only diplomatically ...

Naim Kassem Slams Lebanon’s Foreign Minister

This is Beirut, 17/01 20:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassem on Saturday sharply criticized Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, accusing him of “acting against the presidency, the government, the Lebanese people, and the resistance.” In a speech during a religious ceremony, Kassem said the absence of an effective foreign minister had ...

Gaza Governance Committee Begins Work

This is Beirut, 16/01 23:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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The Palestinian committee set to govern post-war Gaza has begun its work in Cairo, a member told AFP on Friday. Formed on Wednesday as the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, the committee is made up of 15 technocrats charged with administering the Palestinian territory after the Hamas-Israel war. The ...

Who are the Shia Opposition Seeking to Break Hezbollah’s Stranglehold?

Claudia Groeling, 16/01 19:29 - Reading : 9 minute(s)

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Lebanon’s upcoming parliamentary elections, coming on the heels of the 2024 Hezbollah–Israel war that devastated the organization and its core constituencies, have reopened the question of Shia political representation. For decades, Lebanese political discourse has treated the Shia community as a unified political bloc, electorally ...

Israel Kills Hezbollah Operative: South Lebanon

This is Beirut, 16/01 14:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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The Israeli army announced on Friday the assassination of a Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon following strikes in the area on Thursday and Friday. Spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that the Israeli army launched a strike in the eastern Zawtar area in the Nabatieh district on Thursday and "eliminated a Hezbollah ...

Mossad Director Visits U.S. for Iran Consultations, Axios Reports

This is Beirut, 16/01 13:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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The director of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, arrived in the U.S. on Friday morning for talks on the situation in Iran, according to an Israeli source and another source with knowledge of the meeting. Barnea is expected to meet in Miami with White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who is managing the direct channel of communication ...

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