This is Beirut

Israel Seeks Control of Gaza, Won't 'Keep it': Netanyahu

This is Beirut, 07/08 19:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Palestine Hamas Gaza

Israel intends to take full control of Gaza but does not want to keep or govern it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ahead of a security cabinet meeting on Thursday. "We intend to," Netanyahu replied, when asked in a televised Fox News interview if Israel will take control of "all of Gaza." Fox News said the interview occurred just before ...

Israeli Security Cabinet to Hold Talks Over Future Gaza War Plans

This is Beirut, 07/08 12:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Hamas Israel

Israel's security cabinet is expected to meet later Thursday to discuss future military plans in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports, amid speculation of a full takeover of the besieged Palestinian territory. The planned meeting comes as international outrage over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza has ratcheted up pressure on Israel, ...

Israel Poised to Order New Gaza War Plan

This is Beirut, 05/08 11:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Gaza Hamas Israel Palestinians Conflict

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared Tuesday to unveil an updated Gaza war plan designed to destroy Hamas and secure the release of dozens of hostages, with Israeli media reporting he would order the total occupation of the Palestinian territory. Netanyahu was expected to meet security chiefs in Jerusalem to issue new orders, even ...

Israeli Ex-Security Chiefs Urge Trump to Help end Gaza War

This is Beirut, 04/08 10:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Israel

Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have urged US President Donald Trump to pressure their own government to end the war in Gaza. "It is our professional judgment that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media ...

Security Council to Meet on Gaza Hostages: Israeli Ambassador

This is Beirut, 04/08 09:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

UN Security Council Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Hamas

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on the hostages in Gaza, Israel's ambassador said Sunday, as outrage built over their fate in the war-torn enclave, where experts say a famine is unfolding. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday said he wants the issue of hostages held in Gaza at the "front and center" ...

Israeli Hostage Videos: Standoff Between Netanyahu and Hamas

This is Beirut, 03/08 22:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Palestine European Union Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday to aid hostages in Gaza, as outrage built at videos showing two of them emaciated. The premier's office said he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and "requested his involvement in providing ...

Israel Says Intercepted Missile From Yemen

This is Beirut, 01/08 21:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hamas Houthi Israel Palestine

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Friday, which the Iran-backed Huthi said they had launched. "Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," the Israeli military said. The Huthis targeted Israel's Ben ...

Hamas Armed Wing Publishes Video of Gaza Hostage

This is Beirut, 01/08 19:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine Gaza Hostages

The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas released a minute-long video Friday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza looking weak and malnourished inside a narrow concrete tunnel. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades video showed an emaciated and bearded man that AFP and Israeli media identified as Evyatar David, seized on October 7, 2023. AFP ...

Trump Expresses “Discontent” Over Plans To Recognize a Palestinian State

This is Beirut, 31/07 23:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Donald Trump Hamas Israel Palestine

Donald Trump “expressed his discontent and disagreement with the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada” over their plans to recognize a Palestinian state, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. The U.S. president has thus somewhat hardened his stance on the matter. While he had already sharply criticized ...

UAE Begins Pipeline Project to Ease Gaza Water Shortage

This is Beirut, 30/07 18:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Arab Emirates Palestine United Nations Hamas Israel

The United Arab Emirates has begun construction on a major pipeline to carry desalinated water from Egypt to southern Gaza, according to multiple sources. Technical teams sent by the UAE have started transporting equipment needed for the project, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Wednesday. The nearly seven-kilometer (4.5-mile) ...

US Envoy Witkoff to Visit Israel on Thursday

This is Beirut, 30/07 17:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel USA Donald Trump Hamas Witkoff

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, will visit Israel on Thursday to "discuss next steps" on Gaza, an American official said. Witkoff has been involved in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza. The discussions broke down last week when Israel ...

Trump's MAGA Base Defies Conservative Pro-Israel Doctrine

This is Beirut, 30/07 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas

Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base -- where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears. Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in ...

Hamas