Israel

Israeli Army Fortifying Positions in South Lebanon

One year after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli army still maintains five positions in south Lebanon, with fortifications and widened access routes. The November 27, 2024, truce, which sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, required Israel to fully withdraw troops from ...

Egypt's Foreign Minister Presents De-Escalation Proposal to Lebanon

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed Cairo’s “full support” for Lebanon’s efforts to assert exclusive state control over weapons during an official visit to Beirut on Wednesday. After talks with President Joseph Aoun, Abdelatty underscored Egypt’s backing for the president’s latest Independence Day initiative, under ...

Body of One of Last Three Hostages Held in Gaza Identified

Israel announced Wednesday that a body handed over by Gaza militants was that of Dror Or, one of the last three deceased hostages held in the Palestinian territory. The Islamic Jihad militant group located the body on Monday in the central Gaza Strip and on Tuesday transferred it to the Red Cross, acting as a neutral intermediary. The coffin was ...

Israeli Army Announces New Operation in Northern West Bank

The Israeli military on Wednesday announced a new "counterterrorism" operation in the north of the occupied West Bank. The military and internal security service said in a joint statement that they "began operating as part of a broad counterterrorism operation in the area of northern Samaria", using the Israeli biblical term for part of the West ...

Lebanon–Cyprus Agreement: Strategic Breakthrough or Maritime Concession?

As the debate over border demarcation in Lebanon reopened widely following the maritime agreement with Israel and ongoing efforts to define both land and sea borders with Syria, Lebanon has reached a final agreement with Cyprus on the maritime boundary. The move comes after the government approved the draft agreement and referred it to the ...

Israel Army Says Red Cross Received Body of Gaza Hostage

Israel said the Red Cross had on Tuesday handed over the coffin of a hostage held in Gaza, adding that the remains would soon be taken for forensic identification. Prior to this latest handover, the remains of three deceased hostages were still being held in the Gaza Strip, two Israelis and one Thai national. Hamas and its allies have been ...

The Clock Ticks on Lebanon's Empty Promises

One year on from Lebanon’s signing of the November 27, 2024 Cessation of Hostilities with Israel, Beirut’s agreement to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and disarm Hezbollah looks less like a commitment and more like theater. Lebanon has announced deadlines, staged symbolic troop deployments, and assured the world that Hezbollah’s ...

South Lebanon Ceasefire: One Year On, Life in Limbo

One year after the ceasefire, south Lebanon remains a land fraught with tension. Even when the strikes seem to ease, the shadow of war lingers. Israel’s sporadic bombardments never truly stop, and each moment of calm feels like a brief pause in an invisible countdown. Life here is fragile, shaping a population caught between the urgent need ...

Israel Says Islamic Jihad's Delay of Hostage Body Handover a Ceasefire 'Violation'

Israel said on Tuesday that a delay by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in handing over a hostage body, which the group said it had located on Monday during search operations in central Gaza, constituted a "violation" of the fragile ceasefire. A source in Islamic Jihad, who requested anonymity, confirmed the body belonged to one of ...

Israel Says Killed Man Responsible for West Bank Ramming Attack

Israel's armed forces announced late Monday that its personnel had killed a man they held responsible for a ramming attack in the occupied West Bank last year. "After a pursuit of a year and a half," the officers killed Ala Raouf Shetiyya, Israel's army, police, intelligence, and counterterrorism forces said in a joint statement. "The terrorist ...

Is Peace Now Possible Amid Collapse of Iran’s Imperialism?

The epilogue of the cascading wars that have taken place since October 7, 2023, was quite promising since the destruction of Iran’s regional proxy network was a good omen. For the first time, the region was able to imagine the possibility of extracting itself from the tight clasp of Iranian Shiite imperialism. Nonetheless, however bright the ...