This is Beirut

Mediators Await Israeli Response to New Truce Offer

This is Beirut, 12:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Israel Palestine United Nations

Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signalled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. The foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli ...

Hamas Agrees to New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

This is Beirut, 18/08 19:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hamas Palestine Gaza Cairo

Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior member from the group said Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. But ...

Terrorists' Brinkmanship

Charles Chartouni, 18/08 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Gaza Syria Hamas Hezbollah Israel

The riddled negotiations taking place in Lebanon and Gaza and the equivocations of the Syrian transition are quite compelling since they convey the ambiguities undermining political stability in these different environments. Nonetheless, they illustrate the difficulties of political transitioning in countries partially or totally controlled by ...

Mass Rally in Tel Aviv Calls for End to Gaza War, Hostage Deal

This is Beirut, 17/08 16:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Gaza Hamas Hostages

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv to call for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages, one of the largest demonstrations in Israel since the start of the fighting in October 2023. The rally was the culmination of a day of nationwide protests and a general strike to pressure the government to ...

At Least 18 Killed in Gaza as Israel Prepares Major Offensive

This is Beirut, 17/08 14:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Gaza Israel Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Sunday, including seven people shot dead while waiting to collect food aid. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that seven people were killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a hospital courtyard in Gaza City, in the territory's ...

Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Fire Kills 39

This is Beirut, 16/08 19:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Gaza Hamas Israel

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 39 people on Saturday, as the Israeli military hinted at an approaching call to push civilians from Gaza City ahead of a new offensive. The latest toll comes more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture the Palestinian territory's largest ...

UN Says at Least 1,760 Killed While Seeking Aid in Gaza Since Late May

This is Beirut, 15/08 20:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations Hamas Israel Gaza humanitarian aid

The UN human rights office said Friday that at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a jump of several hundred since its last published figure at the beginning of August. "Since 27 May, and as of 13 August, we have recorded that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid; 994 in the ...

Macron Vows to Punish Antisemitic 'Hatred' After Memorial Tree Cut Down

This is Beirut, 15/08 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron Hamas Israel Palestine

The cutting down of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 stirred outrage in France on Friday, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing punishment over an act of antisemitic "hatred". Politicians across the political spectrum condemned the act as an attack against the memory of Ilan Halimi, who was ...

Gaza Civil Defense Says 17 Killed in Israel Strikes

This is Beirut, 14/08 18:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine Gaza

Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 17 people were killed Thursday in Israeli strikes as the military intensified its bombardment of Gaza City. The dead included six civilians who had been waiting for humanitarian aid, said civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal. "The Israeli occupation forces are intensifying their raids in the Zeitun ...

Foreign NGOs Say New Israeli Rules Keep Them From Delivering Gaza Aid

This is Beirut, 14/08 12:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine NGO

New Israeli legislation regulating foreign aid groups has been increasingly used to deny their requests to bring supplies into Gaza, according to a joint letter signed by more than 100 groups published Thursday. Ties between foreign-backed aid groups and the Israeli government have long been beset by tensions, with officials often complaining the ...

Israel army intercepts missile, Houthis claim attack

This is Beirut, 14/08 09:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hamas Houthi Israel Palestine Yemen

The Israeli military said Thursday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where Houthi rebels have regularly launched attacks, they say are in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza. "A short while ago, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF," Israel's army said on Telegram, referring to the air ...

Israel Military Says Approved Plan for New Gaza Offensive

This is Beirut, 13/08 12:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Hamas United Nations

The Israeli military said Wednesday it had approved the "framework" for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza City. Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir "approved the main framework for the IDF's operational plan in the Gaza Strip," a statement released by the army ...

Hamas