This is Beirut - Nawaf Salam

One Year After Nasrallah’s Death, Hezbollah Struggles to Rebuild

This is Beirut, 2025-10-20 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah Hamas Hashem Safieddine Iran

A year after the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike on Beirut on September 27, 2024, Hezbollah is quietly attempting to rebuild its shattered leadership and reassert its influence. According to a detailed report by Le Figaro correspondent Georges Malbrunot, the Shia militia now operates in a state of ...

Kushner and Witkoff Reveal How the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Was Brokered

This is Beirut, 2025-10-20 09:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Ceasefire Hamas Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu

In a high-profile interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff – President Donald Trump’s envoys – defended their role in brokering the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and responded to criticism over potential conflicts of interest tied to their extensive business dealings in the ...

Trump says Gaza Ceasefire Still in Force after Israeli Strikes

This is Beirut, 2025-10-20 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Gaza Palestine Hamas Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that a ceasefire in Gaza was still holding after Israel carried out deadly strikes on the territory over alleged truce violations by Hamas. The dozens of strikes Israel carried out on Hamas positions in southern Gaza Sunday came after it accused the militant group of targeting its troops in "a blatant ...

The Jeopardized Peace

Charles Chartouni, 2025-10-20 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Gaza Hamas Donald Trump Hezbollah

The significant progress toward peace achieved by the Trump administration presents a valuable opportunity if key obstacles can be overcome. None of the earlier, ill-conceived attempts to end the cycle of violence compare with the outstanding diplomatic achievement of the American administration. The humbug of the French president has faded away, ...

Hezbollah and the “Reality Principle”

Michel Touma, 2025-10-20 08:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hezbollah Middle East United States

Major developments are unfolding rapidly in the Levant, placing the region before what increasingly seems like an urgent reality: Hezbollah’s leadership, and more broadly its Iranian backers, need to align their political conduct with the so-called “reality principle.” In psychoanalytic terms, the “reality principle” means facing facts ...

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Delicate Position of Iran’s Jews

Marie de La Roche Saint-André, 2025-10-19 19:10 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Middle East Palestine Tehran

With around 10,000 members, Iran’s Jewish community is the second largest in the Middle East. Its presence is discreet but tangible in a nation marked by pronounced hostility toward Israel, most recently expressed during 12 days of open conflict last June. The Jewish presence in the lands of present-day Iran dates back to the eighth century ...

Israel and Hamas Accuse Each Other of Breaching Gaza Truce amid Strikes and Clashes

This is Beirut, 2025-10-19 15:57 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Gaza Hamas Rafah

Gaza's nine-day-old ceasefire came under strain Sunday after the Israeli army said it launched air strikes in the territory's south in response to attacks it claimed were carried out by Hamas militants against its forces. Hamas, however, maintained it was adhering to the truce, with one official accusing Israel of devising ...

Israel Returns 15 Palestinian Bodies to Gaza

This is Beirut, 2025-10-19 14:25 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Gaza Hamas

Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total number handed over to 150, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said. Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned. Hamas returned the remains ...

US Says ‘Credible Reports’ Hamas Planning Attack Against Gaza Civilians

This is Beirut, 2025-10-19 02:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United States Gaza Hamas Israël

The US State Department on Saturday said it had "credible reports" that Palestinian armed group Hamas was planning an imminent attack against civilians in Gaza, a move Washington said would be a "ceasefire violation." "This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and ...

US Vice President JD Vance to Visit Israel as Trump Administration Pushes Gaza Ceasefire Implementation

This is Beirut, 2025-10-18 20:25 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Palestine Ceasefire White House

US Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Israel on Monday as part of efforts by the Trump administration to accelerate the implementation of the agreement ending the recent Gaza war, Axios reported Friday, citing US and Israeli sources. While US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was initially expected to lead the delegation, the White House ...

Israel Says Rafah Crossing Reopening Depends on Return of Hostage Bodies

This is Beirut, 2025-10-18 19:31 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Gaza Rafah Rafah Crossing

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the Rafah crossing would reopen only after Hamas hands over the bodies of all deceased hostages still held in Gaza. "Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed that the Rafah crossing remain closed until further notice," the statement read. "Its reopening ...

US Envoy Witkoff Felt 'Betrayed' by Israeli Attack on Hamas in Qatar

This is Beirut, 2025-10-18 19:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United States Qatar Steve Witkoff

US envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's chief negotiator on the Middle East, has said that he felt "betrayed" when Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas negotiators in Qatar last month. In a CBS interview alongside Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who worked with Witkoff on the brokering of a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and ...

Nawaf Salam