This is Beirut

Syria Working with US on 'Security Understandings' with Israel

This is Beirut, 16/09 21:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Israel Druzes United States Jordan

Syria said on Tuesday that it was working with the United States to reach mutual "security understandings" with Israel, which has demanded the demilitarization of the country's south. The announcement was part of a US- and Jordan-backed roadmap for restoring stability in the south following sectarian violence that drew Israeli intervention, and a ...

Progressive Socialist Party Hails Damascus Agreement on Sweida Crisis

This is Beirut, 16/09 18:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Sweida Damascus Jumblatt Agreement PSP Syria

The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) welcomed on Tuesday the agreement signed in Damascus on the situation in Sweida, describing it as a step that echoes the party’s long-standing proposals and regional outreach. In a statement, the PSP said the deal reflected ideas it had previously advanced in meetings with US envoy Tom Perriello, during ...

ISF Dismantles Syrian Counterfeiting Network in Beirut Suburbs

This is Beirut, 16/09 18:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon ISF forgery Syria network

The General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced on Tuesday that it had dismantled, last August, a network of Syrian counterfeiters specializing in forging official Lebanese and Syrian stamps. According to the statement, the ISF’s intelligence bureau had received information that members of the network were obtaining ...

Syria Announces Plan with Jordan, U.S. to Restore Calm in Druze-Majority Sweida

This is Beirut, 16/09 17:01 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria United States Asaad al-Shaibani Sweida

Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani announced on Tuesday a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly sectarian violence in July. The situation in the province has been tense since the clashes, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said killed more than 2,000 ...

Al-Sharaa’s High-Stakes Test in New York: Iran Wagers on His Downfall

Philippe Abi-Akl, 16/09 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

New York Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Hezbollah Iran Syria

Even as Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government implements the army’s plan to enforce the decision that all weapons be held exclusively by the state—monitoring progress monthly—and follows up on Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons as well as displaced Syrians in preparation for their return, concern over border demarcation remains strong ...

Beirut Blast Suspect Detained in Bulgaria on Interpol Notice

This is Beirut, 16/09 12:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah lebanon Syria August 4 Beirut Port Cyprus Russia

Igor Grechushkin was arrested on September 5 at Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, after arriving from Paphos, Cyprus, on the basis of an Interpol red notice. The news was reported by AFP, citing a Bulgarian judicial source on condition of anonymity. A 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot national, Grechushkin had been identified by the ship’s former ...

Hajjar: Lebanon Seizes Millions of Captagon Pills

This is Beirut, 15/09 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanese Army Beirut Port Internal Security Forces Syria Ahmad Hajjar captagon

Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar announced Monday that Lebanese authorities had thwarted a large-scale drug smuggling attempt involving 6.5 million Captagon pills and 700 kilograms of hashish, destined for Saudi Arabia via Beirut Port. Speaking during a visit to the Internal Security Forces’ (ISF) Information Branch headquarters in Sahet al-Abed, ...

Al-Sharaa Says Syria in Talks with Israel on Security Deal

This is Beirut, 12/09 19:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa CENTCOM Brad Cooper

President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Friday that Syria was negotiating with Israel to reach a security agreement that would see Israel leave areas it occupied after the December overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. As the Islamist-led forces toppled Assad on December 8, Israel deployed troops to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights ...

Israel Says Lebanese Operatives Eliminated Were Tied to Iran’s Unit 840

This is Beirut, 12/09 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Syria lebanon Iran Quds Force

Two Lebanese nationals, Qassem Salah al-Husseini and Mohammed Shuaib, were identified by the Israeli army Friday as key operators of several cells tied to Unit 840, the special operations branch of Iran’s Quds Force. On Friday, the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X that the two men, killed last month in Lebanon, ...

Revisiting History in the Lebanese Mind

Johnny Kortbawi, 12/09 11:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Lebanon Syria Palestinians Bachir Gemayel

In just a few hours, Lebanon will mark the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of President Bachir Gemayel—an event that altered the course of the Lebanese Civil War, establishing a new center of gravity within the conflict. Bachir’s election embodied the balance of regional and international power in Lebanon, from the dynamics of ...

UNGA 2025 and the Middle East

David Hale , 12/09 10:30 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Syria Iran Ukraine United States Israel Palestine

This month brings world leaders together to mark the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly. Their formal speeches in front of the assembly vary in interest, as many contain more pious platitudes than meaty information. The real work of interest often happens behind-the-scenes, as world leaders meet bilaterally or in small groups ...

Lebanon-Syria: Update on Missing Persons and Detainees

Soumia Benmerzoug, 11/09 13:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Syria Detainees Missing Bilateral

The two countries unveiled the creation of joint committees tasked with handling three key files: Lebanese citizens who went missing in Syria, Syrian prisoners currently held in Lebanon, and formal delineation of the common border. The announcement was made on September 1, 2025, during a visit to Beirut by a Syrian delegation composed of former ...

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