Nawaf Salam

Saudi FM to Make Landmark Visit to the West Bank

Prince Faisal bin Farhan will become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the occupied West Bank on Sunday, a diplomatic source told AFP, as the Gaza war drags on and Riyadh pushes for Palestinian statehood. The top Saudi diplomat will head a delegation to Ramallah, a Palestinian embassy source said, the first such trip since Israel first ...

Taylor Swift Buys Back Rights to Her Old Music

Pop icon Taylor Swift, who has been publicly feuding with record executives since 2019 over the rights to her early music, now owns her entire catalogue, she said on her website Friday. "All of the music I've ever made ... now belongs ... to me," she wrote, after years of dispute over her first six albums, a number of which she has rerecorded to ...

“Peace will Lead to Normalization”: Salam's Statement Fuel Controversy

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam emphasized on Friday that any normalization of relations with Israel must be preceded by a just and comprehensive peace, following public backlash over comments he made in a CNN interview. During the interview, Salam was asked whether normalization could proceed without a clear path to Palestinian statehood. He ...

Barcelona Ends 'Friendship Agreement' With Tel Aviv Over Gaza War

Barcelona's city council voted Friday to cut institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with the city of Tel Aviv, citing violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians. The motion, supported by the governing Socialist party along with far-left and leftist pro-independence groups, calls for ...

Tensions Mount as Washington Delays and Israel Threatens Iran

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay any potential military action against Iran, in order to give the United States administration more time to negotiate a new nuclear agreement with Tehran. Iran’s nuclear program lies at the center of an escalating diplomatic ...

Presidential Palace Hosts High-Level Security Meeting on Palestinian Camp Disarmament

A high-level security meeting was convened at the Presidential Palace on Friday to discuss the initial steps for implementing the withdrawal of weapons from Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon – a move agreed upon during Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s recent visit to Beirut. The meeting, chaired by President Joseph Aoun, focused ...

Israel Minister Says 'We will Build Jewish Israeli State' in West Bank

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the occupied West Bank, a day after the government announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory. Israeli settlements in the West Bank, seen as a major obstacle to lasting peace, are regularly condemned by the United Nations as ...

UN Warns All of Gaza at Risk of Famine

The UN warned Friday that the entire population of Gaza was at risk of famine, as an Israeli far-right minister urged the use of "full force" against Hamas. Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March following a short-lived truce. Israel ...

The Cost of No Peace: What Lebanon Loses by Staying in a Perpetual State of 'Resistance'

In Lebanon, the word “resistance” has long been romanticized—chanted in songs, woven into political slogans and wrapped in the symbolism of national pride. Yet, behind this idealized notion lies a sobering truth: Lebanon is a nation trapped in a permanent state of conflict, with its sovereignty and future held hostage by Hezbollah’s ...

Israel Targets Southern Lebanon and Baalbek: Weapons Depots Hit in Overnight Strikes

The Israeli army carried out a series of intense overnight airstrikes from Thursday into Friday, targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and the Baalbek region. The attacks focused on weapons depots and rocket launch platforms. According to Israeli broadcaster Channel 14, the strikes hit Hezbollah military infrastructure, including ...

US Says Israel Backs Latest Gaza Truce Plan Sent to Hamas

The White House said on Thursday that Israel had "signed off on" a new Gaza ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas, as the Palestinian militants confirmed they were studying the deal. Negotiations to end more than 19 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March after a brief ...