This is Beirut

Hamas Says 'Lost Contact' with Group Holding Israeli-American Hostage after Strike

This is Beirut, 15/04 18:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Gaza Gaza Hostages United States Benjamin Netanyahu Israel

Hamas's armed wing said Tuesday it had "lost contact" with the group holding Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander following an air strike on their location in Gaza. "We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location. We are still trying to reach them at this moment," ...

UN Says Israel Killed 71 Civilians in Lebanon Since Ceasefire

This is Beirut, 15/04 15:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations Israel Ceasefire Hezbollah Palestine

Israeli forces have killed dozens of civilians in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect late last year, including a number of women and children, the United Nations said Tuesday. The UN rights office reported that Israeli military operations had killed and injured civilians in Lebanon in the four months since the fragile truce between Israel and ...

Netanyahu Tells Macron: Palestinian State 'Huge Reward for Terrorism'

This is Beirut, 15/04 15:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be a "huge reward for terrorism". Macron, meanwhile, posted on X that he had told Netanyahu the suffering of civilians in Gaza "must end" and only a ceasefire in the war with Hamas would free the remaining ...

Syria Leader in Qatar for First Time since Assad Fall

This is Beirut, 15/04 15:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Gulf Israel Joseph Aoun

Syria's new president arrived in Qatar on Tuesday, state media said, for his first official visit to the Gulf state, a key backer of the new administration after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster. The official Qatar News Agency reported Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Shareh on his arrival at ...

Aoun and al-Sharaa Pay Successive Official Visits to Qatar

This is Beirut, 15/04 15:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Hezbollah Israel Joseph Aoun Qatar

President Joseph Aoun arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for a 24-hour official visit at the invitation of Prince Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with bilateral talks centered on Lebanon’s reconstruction efforts in the wake of the October 2024 war with Israel. The visit comes just hours ahead of a separate arrival by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, ...

Nuclear Deal or Not, Hezbollah Must Disarm

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 15/04 15:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Israel United States

The Shia of Lebanon who pledge allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei should ask themselves these questions: Why do they boycott American products when Khamenei invites Americans to invest in Iran and promises Washington $4 billion in contracts? Why do these Shia have to live in tents, erected atop their razed homes, and not surrender ...

Israeli Drone Strike Kills Hezbollah Commander in Targeted Vehicle

This is Beirut, 15/04 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Bint Jbeil

A Hezbollah member has been killed on Tuesday following an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle on the Aitaroun road near the southern town of Bint Jbeil. “A drone attacked the region of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon earlier today and eliminated the commander of a unit in Hezbollah's special operations division,” ...

Hezbollah: No Backtracking on Disarmament

Bassam Abou Zeid, 15/04 12:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Joseph Aoun

The reconstruction of areas devastated by the war between Hezbollah and Israel hinges on two key conditions: the disarmament of the Iranian-backed group and the adoption and implementation of structural reforms. Without meaningful progress on both fronts, Lebanon will remain stalled in paralysis and increasingly vulnerable to deepening political, ...

Aoun Reaffirms Anti-Corruption Drive and State Sovereignty

This is Beirut, 15/04 11:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus European Union Hezbollah Israel Joseph Aoun

President Joseph Aoun conducted a series of high-level visits to key security and military institutions on Tuesday, underscoring his administration’s firm stance against corruption and its commitment to asserting the sovereignty of the Lebanese state. Early in the day, Aoun visited the General Directorate of State Security in Ramlet el-Bayda, ...

Israel Demands Hostage release for Gaza Ceasefire

This is Beirut, 15/04 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hamas Palestine Israel United States USA

Hamas said Monday that Israel has offered a 45-day ceasefire if it releases half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, which the United Nations said is now in the grip of its worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the war. A Hamas official told AFP that Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the ...

Harvard Sees $2.2 Billion in Funding Frozen After Defying Trump

This is Beirut, 15/04 05:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Harvard Donald Trump Israel Palestine

Elite US university Harvard was hit with a $2.2 billion freeze in federal funding Monday after rejecting a list of sweeping demands that the White House said was intended to crack down on campus anti-Semitism. The call for changes to its governance, hiring practices and admissions procedures expands on a list Harvard received on April 3, which ...

Senior Hamas Official Says Israeli Ceasefire Proposal Crosses 'Red Line'

This is Beirut, 14/04 23:46 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Egypt Israel Gaza

A senior Hamas official told AFP Monday that a new Israeli ceasefire proposal crosses a "red line" with demands that the Palestinian militants disarm before any permanent end to the Gaza war. "Hamas and the resistance factions' position is that the resistance's weapons are a red line and non-negotiable," the ...

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