War in the Middle East

Syria Evacuates Bedouin from Druze-Majority Sweida as Ceasefire Holds

This is Beirut 21/07 21:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syrian authorities evacuated Bedouin families from the Druze-majority city of Sweida on Monday, after a ceasefire in the southern province halted a week of sectarian bloodshed that a monitor said killed more than 1,260 people. The violence, which followed massacres of Alawites in March and clashes involving the Druze in April and May, has shaken ...

Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Fire Kills 73 Aid Seekers

This is Beirut 20/07 19:24 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Gaza Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting to collect humanitarian aid in the territory's north on Sunday, killing 73 people and wounding dozens more. Further to the south, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to leave Deir el-Balah, in the center of the Strip, before launching ...

Pope Urges Immediate End to 'Barbarity' of Gaza War

This is Beirut 20/07 15:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Pope Leo XIV Vatican Gaza

Pope Leo XIV slammed the "barbarity" of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the "indiscriminate use of force," just days after a deadly strike by Israel's military on a Catholic church. "I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict," Leo ...

Calm Returns to South Syria after Violence that Killed 1,000

This is Beirut 20/07 14:46 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Druze Sweida

Calm returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, a monitor and AFP correspondents reported, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups that killed more than 1,000 people. A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals ...

Israel Orders Civilians Out of Central Gaza Ahead of New Campaign

This is Beirut 20/07 11:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas

The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants in an area "where it has not operated before". The military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in ...

Ceasefire Order Fails to Halt Fighting in Syria's Druze Heartland

This is Beirut 19/07 17:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Sweida Druze Israel United States

Syrian Bedouin and their allies fought Druze fighters in the community's Sweida heartland for a seventh day Saturday despite a ceasefire ordered by the government following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention. AFP correspondents reported clashes in the west of the provincial capital as Druze fighters battled ...

Crisis in Sweida: Syrian President Denounces Foreign Interference

This is Beirut 19/07 12:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Druzes Syria

In a televised address this morning, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa described the recent clashes in the Sweida province as "a dangerous turning point in Syria’s security and political situation," while accusing foreign powers of fueling instability. The president stated that "the violent clashes between armed groups nearly spiraled out of ...

Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Attacks Kill 26 Near Two Aid Centers

This is Beirut 19/07 11:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Israel United Nations USA Gaza

Gaza's civil defense agency on Saturday said Israeli attacks killed 26 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centers in the south of the Palestinian territory. Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that 22 were killed near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another center northwest of Rafah, blaming "Israeli ...

New Clashes Rock Syria's Druze Heartland as Tribal Fighters Reinforce Bedouin

This is Beirut 19/07 00:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Sweida Syria Druze SOHR

Armed tribes supported by Syria's Islamist-led government clashed with Druze fighters in the community's Sweida heartland on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure. The United Nations called for an end to the "bloodshed" and demanded an "independent" investigation of the ...

Hamas Armed Wing Says Israel Blocking Ceasefire and Hostage Release Talks

This is Beirut 18/07 19:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Hamas Gaza

The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday accused Israel of blocking a deal in talks for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza. Negotiators from both sides have been in indirect talks in Qatar since July 6 to try to agree on a 60-day truce in the conflict, which would see 10 captives freed. But after ...

Top Holy Land Clerics Visit Gaza after Deadly Church Strike

This is Beirut 18/07 19:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Gaza Israel Hamas Pierbattista Pizzaballa Theophilos III

Two of the most senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem made a rare visit to Gaza on Friday, a day after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation. The Roman Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, ...

Sweida: Druze and Sunni Religious Authorities in Lebanon Issue Joint Call for Unity and Restraint

This is Beirut 18/07 13:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Druze Sunni Sweida Unity Sectarianism

In a joint appeal for unity and restraint, Sheikh Akl of the Druze community, Sheikh Sami Abi al-Mona, and Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, emphasized on Friday the importance of preserving national and intercommunal harmony amid the escalating violence in Syria’s Sweida region. In a phone conversation, the two ...