This is Beirut

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

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

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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 ...

Lebanon, the Unraveling Republic

Charles Chartouni, 04/08 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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American political scientists in the sixties were quite pessimistic when analyzing the cascading political crises befalling Lebanon since the late fifties. Leila Meo used the label of “improbable nation” (1963), and Michael Hudson characterized it as a “precarious republic" (1965). This sense of instability prompted numerous scholars to ...

Israeli Hostage Videos: Standoff Between Netanyahu and Hamas

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

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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 ...

Iran Sets up New Defense Council After War With Israel

This is Beirut, 03/08 21:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Iran's top security body has approved the creation of a new defence council, state media reported on Sunday, more than a month after a ceasefire ended a 12-day war with Israel. "The Supreme National Security Council approved the establishment of the National Defence Council," state television said. The new body -- which will be ...

Israel Says Ground Troops Conducted Raids in Syria

This is Beirut, 03/08 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Israel's military said Sunday ground troops had operated in southern Syria, seizing weapons and questioning individuals suspected of arms trafficking, in the latest cross-border raid since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December. A military statement said that troops had completed overnight "a mission involving on-site questioning of several ...

Welcome Back!

Johnny Kortbawi, 02/08 20:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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As soon as press leaks emerged suggesting that the Lebanese file was being taken away from US envoy Tom Barrack and handed back to former envoy Morgan Ortagus, a certain optimism resurfaced among the Lebanese. This might be explained by the fact that Ortagus is seen as more than just a US envoy; she has indeed become some kind of celebrity in ...

US Envoy Meets Israeli Hostage Families in Tel Aviv

This is Beirut, 02/08 19:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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US envoy Steve Witkoff met anguished relatives of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza on Saturday, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack. Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv before going into a ...

Humanitarian Aid to Gaza: Berlin Says Progress Remains “Highly Insufficient”

This is Beirut, 02/08 16:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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The German government said Saturday that the “limited initial progress” in delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip remains “highly insufficient,” though it has not proposed any sanctions against Israel despite increasingly stern rhetoric. Following a visit by Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to the region on Thursday and Friday, ...

Geagea Accuses Hezbollah of Setting Lebanon “a Hundred Years Back,” Calls for Weapons to Be Returned to the State

This is Beirut, 02/08 10:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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During the annual dinner of Radio Liban Libre, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea delivered a sharp speech against Hezbollah, accusing it of being the primary cause of Lebanon’s political, economic, and institutional decline. “We don’t need Israel to attack us to push us back a century: Hezbollah is already doing that,” Geagea said, ...

Israel Says Intercepted Missile From Yemen

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

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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 ...

From Strategy to Reality: What Will It Take to Disarm Hezbollah?

Natasha Metni Torbey, 01/08 15:30 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

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The question of disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon, long a political taboo, is now back at the heart of both political and diplomatic discussions. This shift comes amid mounting international pressure and a changing balance of power in the region. Although the topic remains deeply divisive within Lebanon’s political class, experts believe there are ...

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