This is Beirut, 2024-12-24 17:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
A few hundred worshippers gathered in and around the Church of the Nativity in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christianity, where Christmas celebrations are overshadowed for the second consecutive year by the war in the Gaza Strip. At the Vatican, Pope Francis is inaugurating the Catholic Church's "Holy Year" ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-24 03:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Hamas Israel Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ‘cautiously’ referred to ‘progress’ towards an agreement on the hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian Hamas attack in October 2023, one of the conditions for a ceasefire. Indirect negotiations last week in Qatar between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Doha and Egypt, ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-23 03:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Ceasefire Hamas Israel Palestine Pope Francis USA
Despite growing hopes of a ceasefire, the violence continues in the Gaza Strip, where 35 people have been killed in the last 24 hours according to the Civil Defence of the Palestinian territory, ravaged by more than a year of war between Hamas and Israel. The Islamist movement Hamas and two other Palestinian groups had suggested on Saturday that ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-22 14:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Hamas Palestine Gaza Israel war
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 28 Palestinians, including at one family's home and at a school building the Israeli military said was used by Hamas. On the ground in Gaza, civil agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that at least 13 people were killed in an air strike on a house in ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-22 14:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Israel Palestine Pope Francis war Gaza
Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel's strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing their "cruelty" for the second time in as many days. "And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty," the pope said after his weekly Angelus ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-20 14:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Hamas Israel Palestine United Nations West Bank
Sweden announced plans Friday to stop funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in response to an Israeli ban, but pledged to increase its aid to Gaza via other groups. The government said funding earmarked for Gaza would total 800 million kronor ($72 million) in 2025, but aid to UNRWA, which totalled 451 million kronor in 2024, would ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-20 12:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel Palestine Tehran Turkey
Turkish president Recep Tayyib Erdogan said Friday it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups that posed a threat to Syria's survival, in reference to Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish fighters. "Daesh, the PKK and their affiliates -- which threaten the survival of Syria -- must be eradicated," he told journalists while returning from a ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-20 00:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Banks Hamas International Court of Justice Israel Palestine United Nations West Bank
On Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on Israel's humanitarian obligations towards the Palestinians, at a time when the Israeli government is accused of obstructing access to aid in Gaza. The resolution, submitted by Norway, was adopted by a large ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 19:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel Palestine Tehran Turkey UN Security Council
The leaders of Turkey and Iran called on Thursday for unity in Syria at a summit of eight Muslim-majority countries after the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad. Turkey historically backed Assad's opponents, while Iran supported his rule. The gathering of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as the ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 15:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Abbas Halabi Abdallah Bou Habib Palestine Turkey
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati took part in the opening session of the 11th Summit of the Developing Eight (D-8) in Cairo on Thursday. In his speech at the opening session, Mikati stressed the need for D-8 member states to “focus on action” in order to work for “the public good.” Mikati arrived in Egypt on Thursday for an official ...
Sonia Rizk, 2024-12-19 15:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Amal Baalbeck Hamas Hezbollah Israel Palestine
At a time when all norms in Lebanon and its surrounding regions have been overturned, with one downfall following another — from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Assad regime in Syria — huge changes continue to unfold, provoking reactions from the entire “Axis of resistance.” This axis has collapsed, dragging along those who ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 12:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Amal AUB Hezbollah Palestine Ziad Sayegh
As part of the Partnership between the Good Governance and Citizenship Observatory (GGCO) at The American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Civic Influence Hub (CIH), the two organizations have published a Policy Brief titled " Lebanon in the 'Day After': The Last Chance?" In a press release published on Thursday, GGCO and CIH explain that the ...