This is Beirut

Morgan Ortagus and the Politics of Soft Power

This Is Beirut, 05/04 15:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banque du Liban Hamas Hezbollah Joseph Aoun Lebanese Forces

The US President's Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, appears to be pursuing a policy of soft power diplomacy in Lebanon, where she began an official two-day mission yesterday. Arriving in Beirut on Friday, the American envoy held talks on Saturday morning with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker ...

Gaza: 30 Killed Since Dawn as Israel Expands Ground Offensive

This is Beirut, 04/04 15:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Hostages Gaza

Israel announced the launch of a new ground offensive in Gaza City on Friday, with rescuers saying military operations had killed at least 30 people across the Palestinian territory since dawn. Israel has pushed since the collapse of a short-lived truce in the war with Hamas to seize territory in Gaza in what it has called a strategy to force the ...

Israel Army Announces New Ground Offensive East of Gaza City

This is Beirut, 04/04 09:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Gaza Hostages

The Israeli army announced it had launched a new ground offensive east of Gaza City on Friday to expand the security zone it has established inside the Palestinian territory. "Over the past few hours... troops have begun conducting ground activity in the area of Shejaiya in northern Gaza in order to expand the security zone," the ...

Israeli Drone Strike in Saida Kills Hamas Official

This is Beirut, 04/04 08:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Hezbollah

Israel said it killed a Hamas commander on Friday at dawn in a strike in Saida that also killed his adult son, Hamza, who was a member of Hamas's military wing, and daughter. “Overnight, the (army and the domestic security agency Shin Bet) conducted a targeted strike in the Sidon area, eliminating the terrorist Hassan Farhat, commander ...

Gaza : 31 Killed in Israeli Strike on School

This is Beirut, 03/04 21:51 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Gaza Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 31 people, including children, were killed in an Israeli strike Thursday on a school serving as a shelter for Palestinians displaced by the war. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that women and children were among the dead, while six people were still unaccounted for in the strike on Dar al-Arqam ...

Israel PM Says 'Dissecting' Gaza to Force Hamas to Free Hostages

This is Beirut, 03/04 09:19 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Hamas Gaza Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the military was "dissecting" the Gaza Strip and seizing territory to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages still held in the enclave. It came as rescuers said 34 people were killed in continued Israeli strikes on the territory, including on a UN building. The military ...

Gaza Rescuers say Nine Children Among Dead in Israel Strike on UN Building

This is Beirut, 02/04 14:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations Israel Hamas Gaza

The Israeli army said it targeted Hamas militants in a strike on a UN building in Jabalia refugee camp Wednesday that Gaza's civil defence agency said killed 19 people, nine of them children. The army said in a statement that it struck the militants "inside a command and control centre that was being used for coordinating terrorist activity", and ...

Israeli Army Dismantle Hamas Tunnel and Rocket Workshop

This is Beirut, 31/03 16:45 - Reading : less than a minute

Israeli Army Israel Hamas Gaza

The Israeli army on Monday dismantled a one-kilometer underground tunnel by the elite Yahalom Unit, a tunnel identified as part of Hamas’ network. This comes as part of an intensification of targeted operations in northern and central Gaza. In addition to neutralizing the tunnel, the troops also discovered and disrupted a workshop dedicated ...

Gaza Rescuers Say Recovered 15 Bodies After Israel Fire on Ambulances

This is Beirut, 30/03 22:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Palestine United Nations Hamas Gaza

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had recovered the bodies of 15 rescuers killed a week ago when Israeli forces targeted ambulances in the Gaza Strip. Bodies of eight medics from the Red Crescent, six members of Gaza's civil defence agency and one employee of a UN agency were retrieved, the Red Crescent said in a statement. It said ...

Netanyahu Emphasizes Military Pressure in Hostage Recovery, Addresses Lebanon Situation

This is Beirut, 30/03 13:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Lebanon Hamas

In a series of statements made earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the effectiveness of military and political pressure in securing the return of hostages, while also addressing the complex relationship with Lebanon and offering a potential pathway forward regarding Hamas. "Military and political pressure is the ...

Hamas Says Agrees to New Gaza Truce Proposal Received From Mediators

This is Beirut, 29/03 21:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hamas Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu Israel USA

A top Hamas official said on Saturday the group approved a new Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by mediators, urging Israel to back it but warning the Iran-backed group's weapons were a "red line". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed it had also received a proposal from the mediators and had submitted a counter-proposal in ...

Hamas Releases New Video of Israeli Hostage in Gaza

This is Beirut, 29/03 19:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Gaza

Hamas's armed wing on Saturday released footage showing an Israeli hostage in Gaza calling on the government to secure his release, the second such video shared by the militant group within days. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group identified the man as Elkana Bohbot, who was abducted from the site of a music festival in ...

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