Hussain Abdul-Hussain 03/02 09:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Middle East Lebanon Bahrain Damascus Gulf
The Middle East has finally arrived at the grim reckoning long barreling toward it: a ruinous collapse of oil revenues that renders government deficits utterly unsustainable. Among the wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, four are running persistent annual budget deficits that are eroding their sovereign wealth reserves and plunging ...
This is Beirut 03/02 09:00 - Reading : less than a minute
Lebanon Hezbollah Middle East Washington
At 10:00 a.m. EST, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa will convene a hearing titled “U.S. Policy Toward Lebanon: Obstacles to Dismantling Hezbollah’s Grip on Power” to assess the political, security, and institutional challenges confronting U.S. policy in Lebanon. The hearing will feature ...
This is Beirut 02/02 21:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority PLO Palestine Elections
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said elections will be held on November 1 for the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the official news agency Wafa reported Monday. This is the first time members of the council will be elected by direct popular vote, while in the past they were appointed ...
This is Beirut 02/02 18:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Jordan signaled its position on a U.S.-Iran conflict scenario, stating on Monday that it would not take part in hostility against Iran and it would not allow use of its territory for launching attacks. Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated on X that “Jordan will not be a battlefield for any party in any regional ...
This is Beirut 02/02 16:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Syrian government security personnel on Monday entered Hasakeh city, a stronghold of Kurdish forces, under an integration deal agreed with the Kurds last week, an AFP team reported. The two sides reached a comprehensive agreement on Friday to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state, after Kurdish ...
This is Beirut 02/02 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 ...
Amal Chmouny 02/02 14:00 - Reading : 8 minute(s)
Amal Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah Lebanon Joseph Aoun
When Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met with Joseph Aoun on January 23, at the height of Hezbollah’s rhetorical campaign against the president, the gesture spoke volumes. As Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem rejected disarmament and warned of civil war, Berri moved to restore communication channels, differentiating his Amal ...
This is Beirut 02/02 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 ...
This is Beirut 02/02 12:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus United States ISIS Syria Iraq
Iraq’s judiciary announced on Monday that it has begun investigations into more than 1,300 suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) group who were recently transferred from Syria as part of a U.S.-led operation. In a statement, the judiciary’s media office said investigative proceedings had started against 1,387 members of the “Daesh ...
This is Beirut 02/02 12:00 - Reading : less than a minute
Iran announced on Monday that it had summoned European ambassadors based in Tehran in response to the European Union’s decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that on Sunday and Monday, representatives of all EU member states with embassies in ...
This is Beirut 02/02 11:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
GazaWar Gaza RafahCrossing Isreal
Gaza's key Rafah border crossing was reopened to Palestinians on Monday, an Israeli security official said, but Egyptian state-linked media said only 50 people would be allowed to cross in each direction in the early days. The resumption of operations comes after Israeli forces seized control of the gateway to Egypt in May 2024 during the war ...
This is Beirut 02/02 11:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Syria Damascus Hezbollah MezzehAirport PostAssad
Syrian authorities said on Sunday they had detained a group responsible for a series of rocket attacks targeting the Mezzeh military airport in the capital, adding that investigators traced the weapons used in the strikes to Hezbollah. In a statement, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security units arrested all members of the group after weeks ...