SpotlightDisarming Hezbollah: A Time-Sensitive Approach

Amal Chmouny 2025-05-03 16:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Joseph Aoun United States America

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's statement that Beirut will not forcibly disarm Hezbollah is reverberating through Washington, sparking debates about Lebanon's political future and the role of the heavily armed militia. Aoun aims for a dialogue-driven strategy, attempting to persuade Hezbollah to relinquish its arms instead of engaging in a ...

Syria: UN Envoy Denounces Israeli Strikes and Calls for De-escalation

This is Beirut 2025-05-03 15:37 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Damascus

United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen on Saturday urged Israel to immediately stop its attacks on Syria, after strikes including one near Damascus's presidential palace, which followed sectarian violence this week. Fresh overnight strikes were reported, coming as Israel has repeatedly said its forces were ready to protect the Druze ...

Jumblatt Condemns Israeli Strikes on Syria, Urges Support for Political Resolution

This Is Beirut 2025-05-03 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Druze

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt strongly condemned the latest Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory, including areas near Damascus, calling them a “flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty” and warning that they “do not contribute to the political resolution” currently underway with Syrian President Ahmad ...

Iran Says 'Has Every Right' To Enrich Uranium, Dismissing US Concerns

This is Beirut 2025-05-03 11:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Iran USA Abbas Araghchi Nuclear

Iran defended on Saturday its "right" to enrich uranium despite growing Western concern that Tehran may be seeking nuclear weapons and as talks with the United States were delayed. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that "Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle," citing Tehran's ...

Gaza Rescuers Say Three Babies Among 11 Killed in Israel Strike

This is Beirut 2025-05-03 11:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Gaza United Nations

Gaza's civil defense agency said Saturday that an overnight Israeli strike on the Khan Yunis refugee camp killed at least 11 people, including three babies up to a year old. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported 11 killed "after the bombardment of the Al-Bayram family home in the Khan Yunis camp" in southern Gaza at around 3:00 am (0000 ...

More Than 20 Israeli Strikes on Syria's Territory

This is Beirut 2025-05-03 02:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Syria Strikes Conflict

Israel launched more than 20 air strikes inside Syria late Friday, a war monitor said, following up an attack near the presidential palace in Damascus which was condemned as a "dangerous escalation" by the country's Islamist rulers. The strikes came amid Israeli warnings to the Damascus government not to harm the Druze minority, ...

Syria Slams “Dangerous Escalation” After Israeli Strike in Damascus

This is Beirut 2025-05-02 22:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Damascus Benjamin Netanyahu

Syria's Islamist rulers on Friday denounced an air strike near the presidential palace as a "dangerous escalation", as Israel called it a "clear message" not to harm the Druze minority. The dawn strike came hours after senior Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to Damascus and rejected any call for secession. They also ...

Germany: Eight Injured After SUV Plows Into Crowd in Stuttgart

This is Beirut 2025-05-02 22:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

A car drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Stuttgart Friday injuring eight people, emergency services said, but police said there was "no indication" it had been an attack. German security services have been on high alert following several deadly car-ramming attacks in recent months, including in the eastern city of Magdeburg and in ...

Syria: Drone Strike Kills Four Druze Fighters in Sweida

This is Beirut 2025-05-02 21:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Damascus United Kingdom

Four Druze fighters were killed on Friday in a drone strike targeting Syria’s southern province of Sweida, a stronghold of the Druze minority, according to a rights group, which did not specify who carried out the attack. “Four Druze fighters were killed on a farm in Kanaker in an explosion that coincided with the overflight of a drone,” ...

AfD Designated as "Far-Right Extremist": Is a Ban on the Party Coming ?

This is Beirut 2025-05-02 20:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Europe USA

Germany's domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the rising far-right party AfD as an extremist group, handing authorities greater powers to monitor it and fuelling calls for it to be banned. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) swiftly slammed the move as a "heavy blow" to democracy, just months after they won second ...

Joumblatt Meets Al-Sharaa, Calls for Accountability Over Tensions in Syria

This is Beirut 2025-05-02 20:45 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Walid Jumblatt Syria Druze Jarmana Sahnaya

In a surprise visit to the Syrian capital on Friday, former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace. The private meeting marks a notable shift in regional political dynamics and comes amid rising tensions in southern Syria. Joumblatt left the palace without making any ...

Q&AWho Are the New Security Forces in Syria ?

This is Beirut 2025-05-02 19:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus

Deadly sectarian violence in Syria this week between security forces and Druze fighters follows massacres of Alawites in March, with government forces and affiliated gunmen involved in both outbreaks. Many questions have been raised on the identity of fighters in the country's new security forces, and the interim government's ability to control ...