This is Beirut

Sami Abi el-Mona Calls for Urgent Humanitarian Mobilization in Sweida

This is Beirut, 24/07 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Sami Abi al-Mona called on Thursday for urgent humanitarian action to support the people of Sweida, who have been deeply affected by recent violent clashes. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Abi al-Mona described a dire situation in the Syrian governorate, pointing to significant civilian casualties and ...

The Middle East: Recalibrations, Fractures and a Coming Storm

Salam El Zaatari, 24/07 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Lebanon Syria Hezbollah Israel

By now, we should know that when the Middle East falls silent, it’s rarely a good sign. As if history itself were pausing for breath, the region today is locked in what I call a “violent pause”—not peace, not war, but something infinitely more dangerous: indecision. The past six months have redrawn the map of alliances and threats, but ...

Saudi Announces $5 Billion in Syria Investments

This is Beirut, 23/07 20:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Syria Saudi Arabia

A Saudi delegation visiting Damascus on Wednesday inked investment and partnership deals valued at $5 billion to help rebuild war-battered Syria, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom announced. Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which seized power after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December ...

Barrack to This is Beirut: There Is a Sense of Readiness in Lebanon Towards Normalisation with Israel

Tylia El Helou, 23/07 14:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Tom Barrack Syria Hezbollah Israel Lebanon

As Lebanon teeters on the edge of another potential war, with Hezbollah’s arms drawing the country closer to full-scale conflict with Israel, a more existential question arises: Why does the Lebanese state continue to abdicate its constitutional responsibilities? Why is the government still unwilling, decades after the Taif Agreement, to assert ...

Why No States for the Druze or the Kurds?

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 22/07 15:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Middle East Druze Kurds United States

Self-determination in the Middle East is inconsistent. For Muslim Palestinians, statehood is seen as an unfulfilled destiny. Yet for religious minorities like the Druze or ethnic groups like the Kurds, pursuing sovereignty is branded as betrayal or capitulation to imperialism. There’s no clear logic to why Israel should be divided into two ...

Israel in Sweida: Motives and Ambitions

Philippe Abi Akl, 22/07 08:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Syria Sweida Bedouin Ahmad al-Sharaa Druze

As heavy clashes enter their second week in Syria’s southern province of Sweida, pitting Druze factions against tribal groups backed by the Syrian Army and security forces, Israel’s quiet but deliberate involvement is raising alarm. Official claims of protecting Syria’s Druze are met with widespread skepticism. The real story lies in Tel ...

Syria Evacuates Bedouin from Druze-Majority Sweida as Ceasefire Holds

This is Beirut, 21/07 21:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Sweida SOHR Ahmed al-Sharaa

Syrian authorities evacuated Bedouin families from the Druze-majority city of Sweida on Monday, after a ceasefire in the southern province halted a week of sectarian bloodshed that a monitor said killed more than 1,260 people. The violence, which followed massacres of Alawites in March and clashes involving the Druze in April and May, has shaken ...

Confusion in Syria

David Hale , 21/07 17:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Iran Hezbollah Israel United States

Recent developments in Syria are causing surprise and confusion. In a bold move, President Trump and his administration acquiesced to requests from the Turkish and Saudi leadership and lifted most sanctions on the Ahmed al-Sharaa regime, his Salafist HTS movement, and Syria itself. It did so without conditionality, without much effort to ...

Syria: Balancing State Authority and Plural Sensitivities

Michel Touma, 21/07 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hezbollah US Secretary of State Druzes Syria

In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s, French author and political analyst Alain Minc published a book with a strikingly evocative title that captured the spirit of the moment: The Revenge of Nations. He argued that decades of highly centralized communist rule had failed to erase the national sentiments of populations ...

The Grammar of a Bungled Transition

Charles Chartouni, 21/07 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Syria Lebanon United States Israel Hezbollah

The interpretation of political events can often lead to misunderstandings and confusion. It is crucial to establish clear communication and guidelines to navigate such complexities effectively. Without these measures, the potential for misinterpretation increases, which can exacerbate tensions and hinder progress. Therefore, fostering an ...

Calm Returns to South Syria after Violence that Killed 1,000

This is Beirut, 20/07 14:46 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Druze Sweida

Calm returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, a monitor and AFP correspondents reported, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups that killed more than 1,000 people. A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals ...

From Empire to Nation

Amine Jules Iskandar, 20/07 09:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Jordan Middle East Iraq

In the Levant, Islam took root in the major Mediterranean coastal cities—Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli, Tartus and Latakia. Surrounded by Christian and Jewish hill communities or overshadowed by dominant Christian mountain ranges, these urban populations never felt isolated. Instead, they saw themselves as fully integrated into the ...

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