Middle East

Centcom Chief Visits Israel After Beirut

The new head of the US military's Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, concluded his first visit to Israel in the role on Saturday, the Israeli military said. "The visit focused on the operational cooperation between the IDF (Israeli military) and the US military, maintaining regional stability in both nearby and distant arenas, and ...

The Guardianship Syndrome

Lebanon’s modern history has been shaped by successive forms of foreign tutelage, beginning with the proclamation of Greater Lebanon 105 years ago. Over the course of half a century, the country experienced various mandates and occupations: 23 years under the French Mandate, 30 years under Syrian domination, alongside repeated Israeli invasions ...

Bolton: Disarming Hezbollah Is Key to Middle East Peace

In an article to the Telegraph on Sunday, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned that Lebanon faces an existential choice: emerge from decades of war or again fall into civil conflict and terrorist domination. He argued that Israel’s strikes against Iran and its proxies following Hamas’s October 7 attack give Lebanon a chance ...

Hope and Hate: How Migrant Influx has Changed Germany

Men sit outside shisha bars and women in hijabs push strollers past Middle Eastern restaurants and pastry shops in Berlin's Sonnenallee, a wide avenue which has become a symbol of how much Germany has changed in the last decade. Many came during the huge migrant influx of 2015, when a million people arrived in a matter of months -- mostly from ...

Hezbollah: The Voice of Its Master

Hezbollah and its weapons, a never-ending tale. Same story, on repeat. Giving up the arsenal? Never. Without it, there is no arbitrary power, no rent to collect. And like any loyal client, Hezbollah clings to its dealer: Iran. Each time an Iranian leader takes the stage or embarks on a “diplomatic” tour, the pattern is predictable. Days ...

UN Declares Famine in Gaza, First Ever in Middle East

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in the Middle East, with its experts saying 500,000 people were facing "catastrophic" hunger. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by ...

Leon XIV to Visit Lebanon 'by December,' Pending Official Confirmation

The announcement quickly sparked a media storm in both Lebanon and Italy: Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Lebanon “by December.” According to Patriarch Rai, the trip would mark the Pope’s first journey outside Italy since his election. “We are waiting for the Vatican to announce the exact date of the visit,” he told ...

Iraq-Lebanon Dismantle Major Captagon Factory

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Tuesday that, in coordination with Lebanese authorities, one of the largest Captagon factories in the Middle East has been dismantled. In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the ministry said that “close security and intelligence cooperation between Iraq’s General Directorate of ...

Private Generators in Lebanon: The Toll of a Profitable, Highly Polluting Industry

On Wednesday, the Lebanese government announced a crackdown on one of the most visible symbols of the country’s failed public electricity sector: private generators. During a ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, operators were given a maximum of 45 days to comply with legal and environmental standards. After that ...

Arab and Muslim Nations Condemn Israel's Plan for Gaza City Takeover

Several Arab and Muslim countries on Saturday condemned as a "dangerous escalation" Israel's plan to take control of Gaza City. Some 20 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, said the plan constituted "a flagrant violation of international law and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli... in ...

Can Hezbollah Still Claim Resistance With Its Arsenal Depleted?

Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, warned on July 30 that any withdrawal of the group’s forces from south of the Litani River would be “a gain for Israel,” insisting that the party’s weapons remained “a domestic Lebanese matter.” Speaking at a memorial ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of senior Hezbollah ...