This is Beirut

Hamas Officials Say 'Ready' for Negotiations on Phase Two of Gaza Truce

This is Beirut, 03/02 17:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hamas is ready to begin talks on the details of a second phase of the ongoing truce in Gaza, two officials from the Palestinian militant group told AFP on Monday. "Hamas has informed the mediators, during ongoing communications and meetings held with Egyptian mediators last week in Cairo, that we are ready to start the negotiations for the second ...

Israel Army Says It Killed and Detained Suspected Hezbollah Operatives

This is Beirut, 03/02 12:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanese Army Baalbeck Hezbollah Israel Lebanon

The Israeli army said Monday it has set ablaze many homes between the towns of Odaisseh and Rab El Thalathine, eliminated several Hezbollah operatives, and arrested others, during ongoing military operations in southern Lebanon. In an official statement, the Israeli army confirmed that “its defensive activities continue in southern Lebanon ...

Mitigated or Stifled Transitions?

Charles Chartouni, 03/02 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Gaza Iran Israel USA

The transitions in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza are still controversial, and their actors are undecided about their outcomes. Observers ask whether the various actors are genuinely interested in the transformative courses and to what extent. The newly set dynamics that have taken place throughout the Near East have not yet been relayed by steadier, ...

Israeli Military Says 50 Killed in Weeks-Long West Bank Operation

This is Beirut, 02/02 19:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israeli Army Israel West Bank Hamas Islamic Jihad

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had killed at least 50 militants during more than two weeks of operations in the occupied West Bank. "As part of the operation to thwart terrorism, the [military] recently destroyed several buildings in Jenin," the military said in a statement, adding that the structures "were used as terrorist ...

Criminal Probe Launched Into Israel PM's Wife

This is Beirut, 02/02 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Sara Netanyahu Netanyahu

Israeli police are conducting a criminal investigation into Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the state attorney’s office said in a letter made public on Sunday. "A criminal investigation was opened" into suspected criminal offenses, the office said in a letter to an Israeli opposition lawmaker who had ...

Naim Qassem: The Lebanese State Must End Israeli Violations of the Ceasefire

This is Beirut, 02/02 17:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah Israel

In a recorded speech, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, addressed several issues, including the security situation in southern Lebanon, Israeli violations of the ceasefire and the details of the funerals of Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine. On the security front, Qassem emphasized that "the Lebanese state is ...

Netanyahu Heads to US for Pivotal Trump Talks

This is Beirut, 02/02 14:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel United States Donald Trump

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Sunday for the United States, where he will become the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump since the US president returned to office. His visit comes as a fragile truce holds between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both militant groups are backed by ...

Netanyahu appoints Major General Eyal Zamir as Israel's new army chief

This is Beirut, 01/02 22:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Hamas Palestine

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed retired Major General Eyal Zamir as Israel's new Chief of Staff on Saturday, following the resignation of his predecessor last month, who took responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas's October 2023 attack. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have agreed this evening ...

Hamas and Israel Complete Fourth Hostage-Prisoner Swap Under Gaza Ceasefire

This is Beirut, 01/02 19:59 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Gaza Hamas Israel Gaza Ceasefire

Hamas freed three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for more than 180 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli custody, marking the fourth such swap under a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza. Hostages Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas were paraded on stage by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in the ...

Gaza: 50 Patients Left Through Rafah Crossing to Egypt

This is Beirut, 01/02 14:42 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Gaza Israel Hamas Rafah Crossing Rafah

The health ministry in Gaza said 50 Palestinian patients went through the Rafah crossing to Egypt on Saturday, as the key gateway reopened as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel. Egyptian state-linked channel Al-Qahera News showed footage of the first of 50 evacuees and 53 companions, including a child with an autoimmune disease, crossing the ...

Three Buses of Freed Palestinians Arrive in Gaza's Khan Younes

This is Beirut, 01/02 14:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Gaza Israel Hamas

Three buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of a ceasefire deal arrived in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younes on Saturday, an AFP correspondent reported. The prisoners, many wearing gray prison uniforms, were greeted by hundreds of Gazans who gathered around the buses as they approached the city's European ...

Are We on the Brink of Another Bloody Sunday in the South?

Fady Noun, 01/02 14:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel South Lebanon

A new call has been issued for Sunday to reclaim villages where Israel maintains a presence. The impulse driving Southerners back to their villages could be seen as undeniably noble—if it were spontaneous. It carries a moral legitimacy, rooted in their deep attachment to the land and the duty to honor civilians whose bodies remain buried beneath ...

Israel