This is Beirut - Palestine

UN Declares Famine in Gaza, First Ever in Middle East

This is Beirut, 22/08 12:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United Nations Middle East Palestine Hamas Israel Famine

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in the Middle East, with its experts saying 500,000 people were facing "catastrophic" hunger. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by ...

Israel Vows to Destroy Gaza City if Hamas Doesn't Disarm, Free Hostages

This is Beirut, 22/08 10:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed Friday to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel's terms. "Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas's murderers and rapists in Gaza - until they agree to Israel's conditions for ending the war, ...

Israel PM Orders Start of Immediate Negotiations to Release 'All Our Hostages'

This is Beirut, 21/08 20:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said he had ordered the beginning of immediate negotiations to release the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza. The announcement comes a day after the defence ministry approved a plan authorising the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists to help capture Hamas's last major strongholds in Gaza ...

Palestinian Factions Reject Camp Disarmament, Assert Weapons Will Stay

This is Beirut, 21/08 20:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Palestine Lebanon Camps Factions Refugees Conflict

Palestinian factions in Lebanon rejected reports on Thursday that they were preparing to hand over weapons inside refugee camps, particularly in Burj al-Barajneh. In a joint statement, the groups called the claims “entirely false,” saying the situation in the camp is an internal matter related to the Fatah movement and not linked to ...

Israel Strikes Gaza City After Offensive Gets Green Light

This is Beirut, 21/08 11:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Hamas United Nations Gaza

Israel struck Gaza City and its outskirts overnight, residents said Thursday, after the defense ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip. The newly approved plan authorizes the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, deepening fears the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian ...

Israel Approves Major West Bank Settlement Project

This is Beirut, 21/08 09:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel West Bank Hamas Palestine

Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12-square-kilometre (five-square-mile) parcel known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been ...

Palestinian Authority to Start Weapons Surrender in Lebanon Camps

This is Beirut, 20/08 22:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Palestine Weapons camps Hezbollah Ain al-Helwe

The Palestinian Authority is set to announce the start of a weapons handover phase in Palestinian camps in Lebanon within the next 24 hours, sources told al-Markazia. The plan, reportedly finalized under the direct instructions of President Mahmoud Abbas, comes after the arrival of the new Palestinian Ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad al-Asaad. A ...

Mediators Await Israeli Response to New Truce Offer

This is Beirut, 19/08 12:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Israel Palestine United Nations

Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signalled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. The foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli ...

Hamas Agrees to New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

This is Beirut, 18/08 19:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hamas Palestine Gaza Cairo

Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior member from the group said Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. But ...

US Suspends Visas for Gazans After Far-Right Influencer Posts

This is Beirut, 17/08 02:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Gaza Palestine Israel United States

The US government said Saturday it is suspending visitor visas for Gazans after a far-right influencer with the ear of President Donald Trump complained that wounded Palestinians had been allowed to seek medical treatment in the United States. The announcement came one day after a series of furious social media posts by Laura Loomer, who is known ...

Macron Vows to Punish Antisemitic 'Hatred' After Memorial Tree Cut Down

This is Beirut, 15/08 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron Hamas Israel Palestine

The cutting down of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 stirred outrage in France on Friday, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing punishment over an act of antisemitic "hatred". Politicians across the political spectrum condemned the act as an attack against the memory of Ilan Halimi, who was ...

Israeli Far-Right Minister Confronts Prominent Palestinian Inmate

This is Beirut, 15/08 13:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Palestine

Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Friday in which he confronts the most high-profile Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody in his prison cell. Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the Palestinian Fatah party, has spent more than 20 years behind bars after being sentenced for his role in ...

Palestine