This is Beirut, 22/07 15:37 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A Syrian committee investigating sectarian violence in the country's Alawite heartland said Tuesday it identified 298 suspects implicated in serious violations that left at least 1,426 Alawites dead in March. The violence unfolded over three days in early March on Syria's predominantly Alawite coast, where government forces and allied ...
This is Beirut, 20/07 20:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Lebanon is nearing completion of its official response to the US proposal addressing the disarmament of Hezbollah. According to reports by “Al-Jadeed” TV, the tripartite presidential committee convened Sunday evening at Baabda Palace to finalize the Lebanese remarks before handing them over to US envoy Tom Barrack. Barrack, for his part, has ...
Fady Noun, 20/07 10:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Damascus Hezbollah
Lebanon faces an existential threat, warns Tom Barrack. He suggests the country could be absorbed into one of those large regional blocs the United States dreams of building for energy, commercial or security reasons. The diplomat likely had a slip of the tongue. He should have read the letter addressed in 1989 by Pope John Paul II to all Catholic ...
This is Beirut, 20/07 05:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
United States Syria Washington Damascus
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday called on the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres" in the conflict-stricken south of the country. "If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria... they must ...
This is Beirut, 19/07 12:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
In a televised address this morning, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa described the recent clashes in the Sweida province as "a dangerous turning point in Syria’s security and political situation," while accusing foreign powers of fueling instability. The president stated that "the violent clashes between armed groups nearly spiraled out of ...
This is Beirut, 17/07 20:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus Israel Erdogan Druze Syria Sweida
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Israel of using the Druze minority in Syria as a pretext for expanding into the war-torn country. "Israel, using the Druze as an excuse, has been expanding its banditry into neighboring Syria over the past two days," Erdogan said in a televised speech after the weekly cabinet meeting. "I ...
This is Beirut, 17/07 19:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Benjamin Netanyahu Damascus Israel Sweida
Syrian troops pulled out of the Druze heartland province of Sweida on orders from the Islamist-led government, following days of deadly clashes that killed more than 500 people, according to a war monitor. The southern province has been gripped by deadly sectarian bloodshed since Sunday, with hundreds reportedly killed in clashes pitting Druze ...
This is Beirut, 17/07 17:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A Kurdish official on Thursday urged Syria's new authorities to rethink their approach to the country's minorities following deadly clashes with Druze fighters in the south. Syrian government forces withdrew from the Sweida province overnight on Wednesday following deadly clashes with Druze militants. Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in ...
This is Beirut, 17/07 09:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Israel Saudi Arabia Turkey
The Syrian government announced Thursday that local leaders would assume control over security in the city of Sweida in an attempt to end violence that has claimed hundreds of lives and prompted Israel's military intervention in support of the Druze minority. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and eyewitnesses told AFP on Thursday ...
This is Beirut, 16/07 19:03 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Damascus Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Syria
An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit near the Syrian army and defense ministry headquarters in Damascus, the state-run Alekhbariya channel reported on Telegram, after Israel's military said it had struck there. AFP correspondents heard a loud explosion echoing throughout much of the capital shortly after a first air strike had targeted the same ...
Mario Chartouni, 16/07 19:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Israel Syria Sweida Druzes
The majority-Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria has been thrust into an unprecedented spiral of violence since Sunday, as fierce clashes between the Syrian army, backed by Bedouin militias, and local Druze armed groups have escalated dramatically. The fighting has been marked by intense combat, summary executions, a deepening humanitarian ...
This is Beirut, 15/07 23:16 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Syrian authorities were accused on Tuesday of carrying out summary executions of civilians in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida, where Israel said it had launched strikes against government forces in defense of the religious minority. Damascus deployed troops to the area after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes killed ...