Syria Monitor Says US Strikes Killed at Least Five Islamic State Members

This is Beirut 14:32 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Islamic State Group United States US Army

A Syria monitor said Saturday that five Islamic State jihadist group members were killed in US strikes overnight as Jordan confirmed it participated in the raids after a deadly attack on American troops last weekend. US forces said they struck more than 70 IS targets in what President Donald Trump described as "very serious retaliation" ...

Rubio Urges Hamas Disarmament As Key To Gaza Peace

This is Beirut 19/12 23:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Marco Rubio Hamas Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday urged the disarmament of Hamas but voiced hope for headway on reaching the next stage of a Gaza ceasefire as regional officials met. Top officials of Qatar and Egypt – key mediators of the ceasefire – and regional power Turkey headed Friday to Miami to meet US envoys including Steve Witkoff, ...

Syria Welcomes Lifting of US Sanctions

This is Beirut 19/12 21:56 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump US Congress Syria sanctions Caesar Act

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday welcomed the permanent lifting by the United States of the so-called Caesar sanctions, paving the way for the return of investments to the war-ravaged nation. The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended the sanctions imposed on Syria under Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December last year. The ...

Houthis Detain 10 More Yemeni UN Staffers

This is Beirut 18/12 20:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine United Nations

Several Israelis entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday in defiance of army orders and held a symbolic flag-raising ceremony to call for the reoccupation and resettlement of the Palestinian territory. The army acknowledged the breach in a statement, saying the group had been under constant observation and reiterating that entry into the area is ...

Egypt Says Israel Gas Deal 'Commercial', Not 'Political'

This is Beirut 18/12 18:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Egypt Gaz Agreemet

Egyptian authorities confirmed on Thursday a major deal to import natural gas from Israel, saying the agreement had nothing to do with politics and served a strategic interest for the country. "The deal is a purely commercial transaction concluded exclusively on the basis of economic and investment considerations, and does not involve any ...

US, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt to hold Gaza talks in Miami on Friday: official

This is Beirut 18/12 18:15 - Reading : less than a minute

Israel Palestinians Conflict US Qatar Egypt

PoliticsMechanism Meeting Faces Competing Interests and Agendas

Bassam Abou Zeid 18/12 17:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Lebanon Hezbollah Israel

The mechanism meeting on Friday takes place amid a series of unfolding events, beginning with the Paris meeting that set a preliminary date for the Army Support Conference in February, continuing with army operations in Yanouh in the Tyre district and videos from Toulin in the Nabatieh district, and culminating with the highly anticipated summit ...

Hezbollah’s Ammar Al-Moussawi Makes Secret Visit to Saudi Arabia

This is Beirut 18/12 17:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah Saudi Arabia Lebanon Israel Joseph Aoun

Hezbollah official Ammar Al-Moussawi has been on a secret three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, coordinated through Turkish mediation following his trip to Istanbul for the “Al-Ahd for Jerusalem Conference,” according to Nidaa Al-Watan. Sources cited by the newspaper said the meetings focused on providing “reassurances” regarding the recent ...

US Congress Ends Syria Sanctions

This is Beirut 18/12 08:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

US Congress USA Donald Trump Damascus Democrats

The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation. President Donald Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions in response to pleas from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allies of the new government ...

Netanyahu Announces $35 Billion Gas Deal with Egypt

This is Beirut 17/12 21:32 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Egypt Gas Energy Chevron

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he approved on Wednesday a major gas export deal with Egypt worth nearly $35 billion. "Today, I approved the largest gas deal in Israel's history. The deal is worth 112 billion shekels ($34.7 billion). Of this total, 58 billion shekels ($18 billion) will go to the state coffers," ...

AnalysisFrom Rockets to Reels: Iran and Hezbollah’s Fight for Survival through Propaganda

Salam El Zaatari 17/12 18:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah Lebanon Israel Palestine Iran

After the 2024 Israel–Hezbollah war, Iran and its main regional proxy faced a grim reality. Hezbollah survived the war, but its top leadership had been assassinated, much of its arsenal destroyed, thousands of its fighters killed, and it was forced to retreat from south of the Litani. In response, Iran and Hezbollah have shifted from kinetic ...

Iran Refusing to Allow Independent Medical Examination of Nobel Winner

This is Beirut 16/12 18:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Narges Mohammadi Iran

Iranian authorities are refusing to allow an independent medical examination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi after she was beaten during her arrest last week, her family said on Tuesday. Her brother Hamid Reza Mohammadi, who lives in Norway, told reporters in Paris via video link that she had informed her other brother in Iran in a ...