Israël

Paris to Host Meeting on Lebanon Next Week

A meeting on Lebanon will be held in Paris next week with the commander of the Lebanese army and U.S. officials, as France and the United States push Beirut to speed up Hezbollah’s disarmament process, four sources familiar with the matter told AFP. “Rodolphe Haykal is expected on Wednesday,” one of the sources said. U.S. Middle East envoy ...

FM Warns of Imminent Israeli Offensive, Slams Hezbollah and Iran

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi told Al Jazeera on Friday that Lebanon has received warnings from various Arab and international sources indicating that Israel may be preparing a large-scale military operation against the country. Raggi said the Lebanese government is intensifying diplomatic contacts to prevent any potential Israeli strikes on the ...

Israeli Army Strikes Hezbollah Training Compounds in Southern Lebanon

A new wave of Israeli airstrikes hit multiple areas in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Friday morning, targeting a training camp and Hezbollah positions in the region. The strikes reportedly focused on the villages of Jarmak, Mahmoudiyeh, Jabal Rafih (Jezzine), Jabal Safi (Nabatieh), the outskirts of Soujoud in Iqlim al-Tuffah, and the ...

Israel says Hamas 'Will be Disarmed' After Group Proposes Weapons Freeze

Israel said on Thursday Hamas "will be disarmed" as part of the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, after a top leader from the Palestinian Islamist movement suggested a weapons freeze. The ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war that began after Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains fragile ...

Amnesty Accuses Hamas of Crimes Against Humanity on Oct 7 and Afterwards

Amnesty International on Thursday accused Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for the first time of crimes against humanity, including extermination, during and after the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza. "Palestinian armed groups committed violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes, and crimes against ...

Hamas Proposes Weapons 'Freeze' in Return for Long-Term Truce

A top Hamas leader told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the militant group is open to a weapons "freeze" but rejects the demand for disarmament put forward in the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza. "The idea of total disarmament is unacceptable to the resistance (Hamas). What is being proposed is a freeze, or ...

Israel’s Power Vacuum Dilemma

On December 2 Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israel Defense Forces soldiers wounded in recent fighting in southern Syria. Their injuries followed a November 26 IDF raid on the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria, an operation that left several Syrians dead and wounded a number of Israeli soldiers. Netanyahu had a ...

Barrack's Glaring Error on Syria and Lebanon

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack keeps warning that Lebanon will be “reabsorbed” into Syria unless Hezbollah is disarmed, a historically unfounded threat from someone who derides the Sykes-Picot boundaries as colonial nonsense yet treats Syria’s borders as sacrosanct. His selective anti-colonialism spares Syria, disregards Kurdish and Druze ...

Al-Qard al-Hassan’s Gold: Hezbollah’s New Financial Scheme

After introducing ATMs, easy-access loans, and clandestine counters scattered throughout the alleys of Beirut’s southern suburbs, al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH), Hezbollah’s financial arm, has taken its operations a step further: direct gold trading. Gold bars, coins, and jewelry are reportedly now being offered to the Shiite community, turning gold ...

US Ambassador: Israel Differentiates Between Lebanon Talks and Hezbollah Conflict

Israel makes a clear distinction between its negotiations with the Lebanese government and its ongoing conflict with Hezbollah, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said following a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by Edward Gabriel, chairman of the American Task Force for Lebanon ...

Israeli Airstrikes on December 8 Expose Hezbollah’s Extensive Tunnel Network in Southern Lebanon

On the night of December 8, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes in the Iqlim al-Tuffah area, north of the Litani River, in a region located north of Nabatiyeh and southwest of Jezzine. The strikes targeted multiple sites, including a training compound belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan Unit and several rocket-launch locations. A report ...

Lebanon Sees Push for Foreign Troops in South Litani Region

Through Jean Yves Le Drian and the French military team in Lebanon, France has informed Lebanon’s political and military leadership that it is ready to take charge of an international force to be stationed south of the Litani River once UNIFIL pulls out at the end of 2026. The message added that Paris is working to rally backing for this ...