This is Beirut

After the War: Why Lebanon's Shia Must Be Freed from Tehran

Marwan El Amine, 20/03 12:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Unlike the June 2025 conflict, the current U.S.-Israeli military campaign against the Iranian regime is poised to reshape the region, with significant consequences for Tehran’s proxies, foremost among them Hezbollah. The fates of Iran and Hezbollah have become defining questions of the regional war. Hezbollah did not hesitate to open a front ...

Israeli Reservist Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for Iran

This is Beirut, 20/03 12:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Israeli police said on Friday they had arrested an army reservist who served on the Iron Dome air defence system on suspicion of passing secrets to Iran. The arrest comes as Israel and the United States are locked in a war with Iran that has spread across the Middle East. “Raz Cohen, a 26‑year‑old resident of Jerusalem who served in the ...

Israel Says Struck Syrian Army Camps After Druze 'Attacked'

This is Beirut, 20/03 11:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Israel's military said on Friday it had struck Syrian army camps in response to what it called attacks against the Druze community in the southern Sweida province. The latest flare-up between the neighbouring countries comes as war roils the Middle East after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. "Overnight, the IDF struck a ...

Syrian President Says Working to Keep Country out of Regional War

This is Beirut, 20/03 10:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Friday he is working to keep his country away from conflict, against the backdrop of the Middle East war, stressing that his government is on good terms with all regional countries. In a speech delivered after the Eid al-Fitr prayer in the presidential palace in Damascus, Sharaa said: "We are calculating our ...

Israel, U.S. Double Down on War Effort; Lebanon Reiterates Calls for Israel Negotiations

This is Beirut, 20/03 06:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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On Thursday, Israeli officials stated that Israel continues to act decisively against Iran and Hezbollah while the Trump administration sought additional funding for U.S. war efforts and called on allies to assist in operations at the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, Lebanese officials reiterated their support to begin direct negotiations with ...

Netanyahu Says Iran 'Decimated,' Tehran Targets Gulf Petro-Facilities

This is Beirut, 20/03 01:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran is being "decimated" and it is unclear who is in charge, even as the Islamic Republic kept up attacks on Gulf oil and gas targets that have jolted global markets. Nearly three weeks into the Middle East war launched by Israel and the United States, Netanyahu said Tehran ...

Lebanese President Calls for Truce While Receiving French Foreign Minister

This is Beirut, 19/03 20:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday renewed his call for a truce and the opening of negotiations with Israel to stop the war between it and Hezbollah, during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. Lebanon was brought into the regional war on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to the killing of ...

Lebanon’s Last Chance: A Turning Point or the Point of No Return?

Amal Chmouny, 19/03 12:55 - Reading : 7 minute(s)

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Caught in the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanon faces a critical turning point. The Lebanese state can no longer claim sovereignty while tolerating an armed militia that unilaterally dictates war and peace. President Joseph Aoun’s assertion that Hezbollah seeks the “collapse of the Lebanese state” and the ...

Roots of Radicalization: The Lebanese Immigrant Behind the Michigan Attack

Claudia Groeling, 19/03 12:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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A Lebanese immigrant to the U.S. last Thursday drove a truck laden with explosives into a synagogue in Michigan, as Israel fought a war with Hezbollah thousands of miles away, a group to which the assailant’s brother reportedly has ties. The FBI described Ayman Ghazali’s attack as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” ...

Limited Passage Resumes at Gaza-Egypt Border Crossing

This is Beirut, 19/03 11:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Gaza's border crossing with Egypt reopened on Thursday for a limited number of people, Palestinian and Egyptian officials told AFP, for the first time since Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran. An Egyptian Red Crescent official, speaking anonymously to AFP, said the Rafah crossing had reopened in both directions to allow a ...

Israel Strikes Bridges Over Litani

This is Beirut, 19/03 10:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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As the ground offensive continues, Israeli strikes have begun targeting bridges over the Litani River, with IDF army spokesmen citing Hezbollah smuggling routes and the need to isolate enemy movement. Two retired Lebanese Army Generals believe the move is also a concerted pressure campaign directed at the Lebanese state. On March 13, the IDF ...

Pro-Iran Iraqi Armed Group Says Will Stop U.S. Embassy Attacks, Under Conditions

This is Beirut, 19/03 03:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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An influential pro-Iranian armed group in Iraq pledged early Thursday to stop attacking the US embassy for five days, subject to several conditions including that Israel stop strikes on parts of Beirut. AFP reported no drone or rocket attacks so far on the US embassy in Iraq's capital Baghdad between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The ...

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