World

Israel Mentions ‘Progress’ Towards An Agreement On Hostages In Gaza

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 03:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ‘cautiously’ referred to ‘progress’ towards an agreement on the hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian Hamas attack in October 2023, one of the conditions for a ceasefire. Indirect negotiations last week in Qatar between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Doha and Egypt, ...

Rights Groups Urge Protection of Evidence of Assad’s Abuses

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 22:46 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Bashar al-Assad Human Rights Watch Amnesty International ADMSP

Three rights group on Monday appealed to Syria's new rulers to urgently preserve evidence of atrocities committed under former president Bashar al-Assad. Such evidence -- including government and intelligence documents as well as mass graves -- will be essential for establishing the fate of tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared, ...

Israel Acknowledges It Killed Ex-Hamas Leader Haniyeh in Tehran

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 22:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Israel Katz Houthi Movement Ismail Haniyeh

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz acknowledged that Tel Aviv had killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, as he warned the military would "decapitate" the leadership of Yemen's Huthi rebels. "We will strike hard at the Huthis... and decapitate their leadership -- just as we did with Haniyeh, ...

Erdogan Reaffirms Turkey’s Stance on Syria’s Territorial Sovereignty

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 20:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey Syria

Ensuring the protection of Syria's territorial integrity is an unchanging line for Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. "Protecting Syria's territorial integrity and unitary structure under all circumstances is Turkey's unchanging line. We never step back from this," he said after remarks warning Israel that it would be "forced" to ...

France's Macron Announces Fourth Government Of The Year

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 20:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

France Emmanuel Macron Francois Bayrou

French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government Monday evening, putting together a team under Francois Bayrou, his fourth prime minister of the year, to drag the second-largest EU economy out of political crisis. Macron named former prime minister Elisabeth Borne education minister in a new cabinet under centrist Bayrou, the presidency ...

Netanyahu Aims to 'Dramatically Change' Region With New Peace Accords

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 19:01 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Houthi Movement Gaza

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Monday that Israel's war in Gaza had offered opportunities to sign new peace accords with Arab nations and "dramatically change the face of" the Middle East. "Moderate Arab countries view Israel as a regional power and a potential ally. I intend to seize this ...

Syrian Medical Staff Claim They Were Coerced Into False Chemical Attack Testimony

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 18:13 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Syria Chemical Weapons

Two Syrian doctors and a nurse told AFP in a series of interviews over the weekend that Bashar al-Assad's government coerced them into providing false testimony to international investigators after a deadly 2018 chlorine attack. The three, who treated the wounded at a field hospital in the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus after the ...

Op-edWhat Next?

David Hale 2024-12-23 15:05 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Syria Lebanon USA Donald Trump Iran Turkey

So many Syrians and Lebanese are celebrating the downfall of the Assad regime, whose last decade of rule came courtesy of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. The proximate cause of the final collapse is debatable; some attribute it to the inability of Russia to come to Assad's defense, while others cite Israel's decimation of Assad's Hezbollah ...

Germany Says Turkey Must not Wage War on Syria's Kurdish Groups

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 14:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Turkey germany syria kurds

Germany on Monday warned Turkey against stepping up military action against Kurdish armed groups in the north of Syria, two weeks after Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups that posed a threat to Syria's survival, namely the ...

Saudi Delegation Meets Syria's New Leader

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 13:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Saudi Arabia syria meeting

A Saudi delegation has met Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, a source close to the government told AFP on Monday. The delegation joins a list of visitors to the Syrian capital since the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, led by Sharaa, spearheaded the toppling of president Bashar al-Assad on December 8. The "Saudi senior ...

Jordan Foreign Minister Hold Talks With Syria's New Leader

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 12:58 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus European Union Middle East United Nations USA

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed his country's support for Syria's reconstruction in a meeting with its new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday, in the latest visit to Damascus by a high-profile delegation since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow. It was the first trip to Syria by a senior Jordanian official since Assad's ...

Iran Affirms Support for Syria's Sovereignty

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 11:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Tehran Syria Iran

Iran affirmed its support for Syria's sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become "a haven for terrorism" after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Tehran ally. "Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future ...