This is Beirut - Middle East

US Envoy to Discuss Finalizing Gaza Aid 'Corridor': State Dept

This is Beirut, 22/07 22:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Palestine USA Donald Trump Israel Middle East Steve Witkoff

The United States said Tuesday that it was sending an envoy to the Middle East for talks that aim to finalize a "corridor" for aid to war-ravaged Gaza, where authorities said people are dying of starvation. Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's globe-trotting negotiator, is traveling to the region for new talks, State Department spokeswoman ...

Why No States for the Druze or the Kurds?

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 22/07 15:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Middle East Druze Kurds United States

Self-determination in the Middle East is inconsistent. For Muslim Palestinians, statehood is seen as an unfulfilled destiny. Yet for religious minorities like the Druze or ethnic groups like the Kurds, pursuing sovereignty is branded as betrayal or capitulation to imperialism. There’s no clear logic to why Israel should be divided into two ...

From Empire to Nation

Amine Jules Iskandar, 20/07 09:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Jordan Middle East Iraq

In the Levant, Islam took root in the major Mediterranean coastal cities—Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli, Tartus and Latakia. Surrounded by Christian and Jewish hill communities or overshadowed by dominant Christian mountain ranges, these urban populations never felt isolated. Instead, they saw themselves as fully integrated into the ...

Why Are Airfares to Lebanon So High?

Christiane Tager, 17/07 12:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Middle East Turkey

Since relative calm returned to Lebanon, one might have expected fares to drop. Not quite. Between high taxes, risk premiums, soaring operational costs, and a limited number of flights - not to mention the complete absence of low-cost carriers - travelers are still paying a steep price to fly into Beirut. “Demand hasn’t dipped, driven by ...

Barrack, Greater Syria and Lebanon’s Precarious Future

Johnny Kortbawi, 15/07 09:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Lebanon Hezbollah Israel Middle East

It is remarkable how a single phrase—whether a diplomatic misstep or a calculated message—can ignite such a storm of debate and unease, both in Lebanon and abroad, especially at a moment when the specter of redrawn borders looms once again over the Middle East. Thomas Barrack’s recent remark ...

'Peace:' A Word of War?

Sana Richa Choucair, 13/07 15:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump Middle East Peace

Since returning to power in January 2025, President Donald Trump has multiplied his promises of peace: an end to the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” a global deal in the Middle East, including Gaza. But when Trump speaks of peace, he taps into a long rhetorical tradition where peace often rhymes with order, or even submission. Behind this ...

MEA Goes Low-Cost: Launch Set for March 2027

Christiane Tager, 10/07 18:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Middle East MEA Lebanon economy low-cost Beirut airport airline

Facing soaring fares and near-monopoly on direct routes, Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) is preparing to shake up the market. Led by Chairman Mohamad El Hout, MEA plans to launch a low-cost subsidiary in March 2027, according to insiders. The new airline will start with 4 aircraft and offer tickets up to 30% cheaper than ...

Hezbollah’s Threats to Israel: Can They Still Deliver?

Mario Chartouni, 10/07 17:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Middle East Syria Iran weapons

As tensions persist in southern Lebanon, with Israel carrying out regular targeted strikes, Hezbollah maintains a firm stance toward Tel Aviv. The threats are mounting – yet they never materialize. Now, the group’s Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, warns that the patience of the pro-Iranian party is wearing thin. But behind the rhetoric lies a ...

Hebron's Short-Lived Tribal Emirate Dream

Mario Chartouni, 08/07 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Middle East West Bank Palestinians Tribes

What if the future of Middle East peace lay not in a one-state or two-state solution, but in a network of tribal emirates forging direct ties with Israel? That is the provocative vision reportedly proposed by a group of influential Palestinian clan leaders from the Hebron region in the West Bank—chief among them the powerful Sheikh Wadih ...

Hezbollah’s Last Bargain

Johnny Kortbawi, 05/07 13:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Hezbollah continues to maneuver under the weight of periodic foreign pressure, and the discourse of its remaining leadership around disarmament is beginning to shift. At the outset of the conflict, the party maintained an unyielding stance, categorically rejecting any discussion of surrendering its weapons and insisting that the aggression it ...

IRCAD Lebanon: The Liver and Pancreas Go Robotic

Makram Haddad, 03/07 22:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Middle East IRCAD Antoine Maalouf Robotic Pancreas

Under the luminous ceilings of the Clinique du Levant, IRCAD Lebanon officially launched yesterday its very first international course on robotic liver and pancreas surgery. A first in Lebanon, described by its president, Dr. Antoine Maalouf, as “a quantum leap in regional surgical practice.” “What we are launching here goes beyond the ...

Iran Diplomat Says Open to Talks if US Rules Out Military Action

This is Beirut, 03/07 20:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA Israel Middle East Tehran United States

A senior Iranian diplomat said Thursday his country remains open to diplomacy provided the United States offers guarantees it will not resort to military action against the Islamic republic. The remarks came as US news website Axios, citing two unidentified sources, reported that White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was planning to meet ...

Middle East