israel

Blinken Urges All Sides in Mideast to 'Refrain From Escalation'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged all sides in the Middle East to avoid "escalation," his spokesman said, as fears grew of an imminent Iranian counterattack on Israel. "It's important that all parties take steps over the coming days to refrain from escalation and calm tensions," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told ...

War Diary: Day 304

From Gaza to Lebanon, This is Beirut brings you a daily recap of the war between Hamas and Israel and its repercussions on the region. Here are the main highlights for August 5th, 2024.

UN Says Nine Employees 'May Have Been Involved' in October 7

The United Nations said Monday that nine employees of its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) "may have been involved" in the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which sparked war in Gaza, and have been fired. "We have sufficient information in order to take the actions that we're taking, which is to say, the termination of these ...

New Wave of Foreign and Arab Nations Urge Citizens to Leave Lebanon

A number of foreign and Arab countries have called on their citizens to immediately leave Lebanese territory amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, with an anticipated response from Tel Aviv. On Monday afternoon, Royal Jordanian Airlines announced operating three flights on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to transport ...

France's Macron Calls for 'Restraint' in Middle East

France's President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and all three had urged "restraint" to avoid an escalation in the Middle East. "I have spoken to President Mohamed bin Zayed and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the situation in the Middle East. We call on all actors to be ...

Israel Orders Seizure of $26 Million of Palestinian Tax funds

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ordered the seizure of 100 million shekels ($26 million) of tax funds intended for the Palestinian Authority (PA), saying it would be used to pay for Israeli victims of terrorism. In a statement issued late on Sunday, the Finance Ministry said the confiscation of funds was "part of measures ...

The UK Takes Center Stage in the Middle East

The Middle East is now the stage for heightened tensions, pointing to an ever-increasing possibility of war. Indeed, the friction between Israel and Iran, along with its proxies such as Hezbollah, has reached unprecedented levels. In this particularly volatile environment, the role of major global diplomatic powers, especially that of the United ...

Shifting Paradigms

The concomitant assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and Fouad Shukr is a major turning point in the surrogate war which opposes Iran and Israel. This came at the heels of a deadly attack on Israeli territory, whereby the children of Majdel Shams, a Druze town in the Golan Heights were deliberately targeted by Hezbollah. The sudden attack pinpointed ...

Scenarios for Iran’s Retaliation: Will Hezbollah Attack a Settlement?

Military sources are exploring numerous scenarios regarding Iran’s retaliation as well as its proxies’ in the region in response to Israel's assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr. According to these sources, this time around, these players are not seeking a merely ...

War Diary: Day 303

From Gaza to Lebanon, This is Beirut brings you a daily recap of the war between Hamas and Israel and its repercussions on the region. Here are the main highlights for August 4th, 2024.

Hezbollah Bombards Beit Hillel for the First Time, Israel Responds

Reports from various media outlets indicate that approximately 50 rockets were launched on Sunday from southern Lebanon, targeting Kiryat Shmona and Beit Hillel in northern Israel. "We have added the new settlement of Beit Hillel to our list of targets and bombarded it for the first time with dozens of Katyusha rockets," Hezbollah said in a ...

War Diary: Day 302

From Gaza to Lebanon, This is Beirut brings you a daily recap of the war between Hamas and Israel and its repercussions on the region. Here are the main highlights for August 3, 2024.