This is Beirut - Palestine

Trump Reinstates the Houthi Designation as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization"

This is Beirut, 23/01 09:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to once again designate Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis a "foreign terrorist organization," the White House announced Wednesday. When former president Joe Biden took over from Trump in 2021, he removed the designation that Trump had signed near the end of his first term. Biden's move came in ...

UN Chief Praises Trump's 'large Contribution' to Gaza Ceasefire

This is Beirut, 22/01 15:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Palestine United Nations Ceasefire Banks

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday hailed Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to help secure a truce in the Gaza Strip following 15 months of war. "I will praise the United States, Qatar and Turkey for their efforts for months and months and months to obtain the release of hostages, also to obtain the ceasefire," Guterres said at ...

Fragile Gaza Ceasefire Fraught with Risks

This is Beirut, 22/01 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Palestine Ceasefire Donald Trump Hamas

After months of negotiations, a ceasefire has paused the devastating war in Gaza, but it risks collapsing as a result of deep distrust between Israel and Hamas and the multi-phased nature of the deal. Qatar, which mediated the talks along with the United States and Egypt, has expressed hope the six-week truce and hostage-prisoner exchange will ...

Qatar Says 'Confident' in Deal for Ceasefire in Gaza

This is Beirut, 21/01 14:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Palestine Ceasefire Donald Trump Hamas Qatar

Qatar is confident that the deal it helped mediate for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas addressed all the major issues at stake in the war, the foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday. "We are confident in the deal when it comes to the language of the deal, when it comes to the fact that we hashed out all the major issues on the table", Majed ...

Hamas Official says Four Women Hostages to be Freed Saturday

This is Beirut, 21/01 13:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Hamas Israel Palestine

Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Tuesday that four Israeli women hostages will be freed in return for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, in the second such release under a ceasefire deal. Nunu said the Palestinian Islamist group would release "four Israeli female detainees in exchange" for a second group of Palestinian prisoners. Three ...

Israel-Hamas Truce Holding Though Trump Doubts it will Last

This is Beirut, 21/01 09:39 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Palestine Hamas Israel

US President Donald Trump said Monday he was not confident a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold, despite trumpeting his diplomacy to secure it ahead of his inauguration. Asked by a reporter as he returned to the White House whether the two sides would maintain the truce and move on in the agreement, Trump said, "I'm not ...

Israeli Hostages, Palestinian Detainees Freed on first Gaza Truce Exchange

This is Beirut, 20/01 09:08 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Monday after Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages, completing the first exchange under a long-awaited truce aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in Gaza. The three hostages released Sunday, all women, were reunited with their families and taken to hospital in central Israel where a doctor said ...

Dispute with Iran: The Issues at Stake

Michel Touma, 20/01 08:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine Hezbollah

There are none so deaf as those who will not hear, and none so blind as those who will not see. These adages resonate particularly well when reflecting on the “puppet masters” in both Tehran and the southern suburbs of Beirut, especially in the aftermath of significant geopolitical shifts that have reverberated throughout the Middle East in ...

Restoring The Health System In Gaza ‘Will Be a Complex And Difficult Task’, Warns The WHO

This is Beirut, 20/01 03:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hamas Palestine

Restoring the health system in the Gaza Strip will be ‘a complex and difficult task’ after more than 15 months of war, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Sunday. ‘Meeting the enormous health needs and restoring the health system in Gaza will be a complex and ...

Trump Lays Wreath Ahead of Inauguration

This is Beirut, 19/01 22:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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US President-elect Donald Trump laid a wreath Sunday in a symbolic trip to the most hallowed place for America's war dead, before holding a huge victory rally on the eve of his return to power. Already involved in negotiations to restore the TikTok app at home and in peace efforts in the Middle East, Trump finds himself embroiled in world ...

First Israeli-Hamas Prisoner Exchange as Gaza Truce Begins

This is Beirut, 19/01 20:34 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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The Israeli military said on Sunday that the three released hostages had crossed into Israeli territory accompanied by its troops. "A short while ago, accompanied by IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) forces, the released hostages crossed the border into Israeli territory. The released hostages are currently on their way to an initial ...

UN Races to Feed One Million Gazans After Truce

This is Beirut, 19/01 19:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United Nations Hamas Israel Palestine Humanitarian aid

The UN's World Food Programme said Sunday it was moving full throttle to get food to as many Gazans as possible after border crossings reopened as part of a long-awaited ceasefire deal. "We're trying to reach a million people within the shortest possible time," the WFP's Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told AFP, as the Rome-based UN agency's ...

Palestine