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Witkoff to Visit Israel Amid Gaza Ceasefire Efforts

This is Beirut, 15:25 - Reading : less than a minute

Israel Ceasefire Benjamin Netanyahu Donald Trump Steve Witkoff Gaza

U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military chief Eyal Zamir, two senior Israeli officials told Reuters on Monday. The trip comes as efforts to advance a Gaza ceasefire continue, despite repeated Israeli strikes and Hamas’s refusal to disarm. Under ...

Israeli Strikes Destroy Hezbollah Weapons' Depot, kill Operative

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

Lebanon Baalbeck Hezbollah Israel Beqaa Tyre South Lebanon

Israel struck a vehicle near Phoenicia University on the Zahrani–Tyre highway in southern Lebanon. Shortly after the attack, the Israeli army said it had targeted a Hezbollah member in the Saida district, north of the Litani River. The raids killed one person and injured eight others. Later in the day, the Israeli army issued an urgent ...

UNIFIL Says Israeli Aerial Operation Disrupted Peacekeeping Activities

This is Beirut, 12:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced on Monday that Israeli forces informed the mission a day earlier of plans to conduct an aerial operation involving the release of what Israel described as a non-toxic chemical substance over areas near the Blue Line. In a press release, UNIFIL said Israeli forces instructed ...

U.S., Iran Signal Readiness for Talks as Mediators Move to Arrange Ankara Meeting

This is Beirut, 12:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Trump USA Khamenei Iran Israel Ankara

The United States and Iran have signaled openness to renewed negotiations aimed at easing escalating tensions, according to officials cited in multiple reports, as regional mediators work to organize a potential meeting in Ankara and Washington maintains a heightened military posture in the Middle East. A senior US official told Axios that ...

A Month of Crisis in Syria and Its Regional Ramifications

Seth J. Frantzman, 01/02 19:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Damascus Donald Trump Israel Turkey USA

Syria has experienced another dramatic transformation. After a month of clashes that began in Aleppo and spread to eastern Syria, Damascus announced on January 30 that it had reached an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for a ceasefire and its military integration. The Syrian transitional government now controls most of the ...

U.S. Approves Major Arms Deals to Israel, Saudi

This is Beirut, 31/01 09:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel SaudiArabia USA Trump ArmsSales Security

The United States on Friday approved multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, at a point of high tensions with Iran. The State Department said it green-lighted a $3.8 billion sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Israel, which has agreed to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. "The United States is committed to the security ...

Israel to Partially Reopen Gaza's Rafah Crossing on Sunday

This is Beirut, 30/01 23:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Gaza Hamas

Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday after months of urging from the UN, humanitarian organisations and ordinary Palestinians -- but only for the "limited movement of people". Earlier on Friday, the Islamist movement Hamas had called for the "immediate transition to the second phase" of the ...

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Areas Near Sidon, Including Nabih Berri’s Hometown

This is Beirut, 30/01 20:20 - Reading : less than a minute

Israel Lebanon Hezbollah Airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes were reported near Mseileh, al-Najjariya, al-Dawoudiya and Wadi Azza in the Sidon district of southern Lebanon on Friday night. According to the IDF, the strikes aimed to destroy Hezbollah engineering equipment. There are also reports on Friday of low-flying Israeli aircraft over the villages of Zahrani. Mseileh is ...

Israeli Strike Kills One in South Lebanon

This is Beirut, 30/01 14:45 - Reading : less than a minute

Lebanon Hezbollah Lebanese Army Israel South Lebanon Tyre

One person was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a car in the town of Siddiqine, in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon. Following the raid, the Israeli army declared that it had eliminated a Hezbollah member. Earlier Friday, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) deployed patrols in the border town of Yaroun after Israeli ...

Trump Confirms Speaking to Iran, Says He Plans to Again

This is Beirut, 30/01 11:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Israel Tehran USA Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday evening that he intends to hold talks with Iran. When asked by reporters about the possibility of talks with Tehran, Trump said, "Yes. I intend that. We have a lot of very large and powerful ships heading to Iran right now, and it would be great not to have to use them.” Asked if ...

From Armed Deterrence to Durable Peace: Rethinking Shiite Security in Lebanon

Marwan El Amine, 30/01 09:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Israel Lebanese Army Shia

Despite failing to instill ideological allegiance to Iran's Wilayat al-Faqih among Lebanon's Shia, Hezbollah has succeeded in forging a sense of collective belonging to Iran’s political project. The party achieved this more consequential outcome by recasting its weapons as a political doctrine and overarching identity, portrayed as superior to ...

Washington Hosts Saudi and Israeli Officials to Weigh Possible U.S. Strikes on Iran

This is Beirut, 29/01 13:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Washington Donald Trump Israel Saudi Arabia US Secretary of State

The Trump administration is hosting senior defense and intelligence officials from Israel and Saudi Arabia for talks on Iran this week as President Trump considers military strikes, two U.S. officials and two other sources with knowledge told Axios. The Israelis came to D.C. to share intelligence on possible targets inside Iran. Israeli military ...

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