War in the Middle East

Global Support for Lebanon’s Move to Control Weapons

This is Beirut 08/08 20:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Sovereignty Weapons United Kingdom Spain Arab League

The Lebanese government’s announcement of a national plan to restrict weapons possession exclusively to state security forces has received strong international endorsement, with Arab and European officials supporting the move. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit welcomed the decision, stating that the monopoly of arms by the state ...

Israel Prepares to Take Control of Gaza

This is Beirut 08/08 17:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a Thursday interview on Fox News that Israel intends to take control of the Gaza Strip, though it does not plan to directly govern or maintain long-term control. He said the goal is to eventually transfer authority to Arab forces who would pose no threat to Israel and ensure a decent quality ...

Gaza: Israel Approves Controversial Military Plan, International Community Reacts

This is Beirut 08/08 16:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Israel Palestine United Kingdom UN

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday asked Israel to reconsider its plan to take control of Gaza City, which he branded as "wrong". "This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages," he said, warning that it "will only bring more bloodshed". The ...

Op-edLebanon’s Moment of Truth: Disarm or Disintegrate

Salam El Zaatari 07/08 10:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Lebanon Israel United States Hezbollah

There’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot in Beirut lately. It's whispered between sips of Turkish coffee, murmured across newsrooms and tossed around military circles like a live grenade: “Either we get our country back, or we become a geography with a flag.” And this week, for the first time in nearly two decades, the Lebanese government ...

SpotlightJoseph Aoun’s Courageous Stand: A Historic Turning Point for Lebanon’s Sovereignty

Tara B. Moussallem 06/08 15:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Israel Hezbollah Joseph Aoun

Yesterday, an exceptional Cabinet session was held at the Baabda Presidential Palace, lasting nearly six hours and marking a major political turning point in Lebanon’s modern history. Under the presidency of the Head of State, General Joseph Aoun, the government adopted a bold and unprecedented decision: to set a deadline for the disarmament ...

Lebanon Sets Year-End Deadline for Militia Disarmament

This is Beirut 05/08 22:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Disarmament Hezbollah Militias Politics Government

Lebanon has set a deadline of the end of this year for the disarmament of all militias, based on a disarmament roadmap to be prepared by the Lebanese Army and submitted to the Cabinet for review before August 31. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam following a nearly six-hour cabinet session held at the Baabda Presidential ...

Can Hezbollah Still Claim Resistance With Its Arsenal Depleted?

Mario Chartouni 05/08 14:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Middle East Syria Iran weapons

Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, warned on July 30 that any withdrawal of the group’s forces from south of the Litani River would be “a gain for Israel,” insisting that the party’s weapons remained “a domestic Lebanese matter.” Speaking at a memorial ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of senior Hezbollah ...

Israel PM Says to Instruct Army on Gaza War Plan this Week

This is Beirut 04/08 16:45 - Reading : less than a minute

Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he would convene a cabinet meeting later in the week to decide on how to proceed in the war in Gaza. "Later this week, I will convene the cabinet to instruct the [army] on how to achieve the three war objectives we have set," he said at the opening of a government meeting. He ...

Israeli Hostage Videos: Standoff Between Netanyahu and Hamas

This is Beirut 03/08 22:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Palestine European Union Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday to aid hostages in Gaza, as outrage built at videos showing two of them emaciated. The premier's office said he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and "requested his involvement in providing ...

Iran Sets up New Defense Council After War With Israel

This is Beirut 03/08 21:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel UN Security Council United States

Iran's top security body has approved the creation of a new defence council, state media reported on Sunday, more than a month after a ceasefire ended a 12-day war with Israel. "The Supreme National Security Council approved the establishment of the National Defence Council," state television said. The new body -- which will be ...

Renewed Sectarian Clashes in South Syria Kill Four

This is Beirut 03/08 17:41 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Syria Sweida SOHR

Renewed sectarian clashes in southern Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province killed at least four people on Sunday, a war monitor said, in the first deadly incident since a ceasefire last month. The province witnessed deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins in July that drew the intervention of government forces and tribal ...

Israel Says Ground Troops Conducted Raids in Syria

This is Beirut 03/08 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Syria

Israel's military said Sunday ground troops had operated in southern Syria, seizing weapons and questioning individuals suspected of arms trafficking, in the latest cross-border raid since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December. A military statement said that troops had completed overnight "a mission involving on-site questioning of several ...