War in the Middle East

Fourth Israeli Soldier Dead Following Kerem Shalom Rocket Attack
Fourth Israeli Soldier Dead Following Kerem Shalom Rocket Attack

The number of Israeli soldiers killed in a rocket attack launched from the besieged Gaza Strip towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing has risen to four, the military announced Monday, updating an earlier figure. The military did not specify whether the soldier was among the 12 servicemen wounded in the attack on Sunday. The military said on ...

Hamas to Continue Truce Talks Despite Rafah Evacuation
Hamas to Continue Truce Talks Despite Rafah Evacuation

A Hamas spokesman said Monday that the Palestinian militant group would continue negotiations towards a truce in Gaza, despite Israel's order to begin evacuating people from Rafah in the south. "We will continue the negotiations positively and with an open heart", Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told AFP. He reiterated that an agreement was ...

Israel Begins Rafah Evacuation, Ahead of Expected Invasion
Israel Begins Rafah Evacuation, Ahead of Expected Invasion

The Israeli army Monday called on Gazans living in eastern Rafah to head to an "expanded humanitarian area" in the Palestinian territory, ahead of an expected military operation in the southern Gaza city. "IDF (Israeli military) encourages the residents of eastern Rafah to advance towards expanded humanitarian area," the military said in a ...

Israeli Raids Near Baalbeck, Cautious Calm in the South
Israeli Raids Near Baalbeck, Cautious Calm in the South

Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike at around 1:30 a.m. on Monday on a factory in the town of Sefri, near Baalbeck, which led to the injury of three civilians. The raid also targeted an uninhabited building, the stones of which littered the neighboring Rayak-Baalbek International Road. The border area in the eastern sector of south Lebanon is ...

The Limits of Negotiations
The Limits of Negotiations

  The ongoing negotiations shepherded by the US and Saudi Arabia offer a suitable platform to tackle the equivocations of a deliberately mounted conflict and its self defeating premises. This conflict is intractable by definition and was initially conceived to prevent the possibility of diplomatic intermediation. The offer of a 40-day truce ...

OIC Denounces Gaza ‘Genocide’, Urges Sanctions Against Israel
OIC Denounces Gaza ‘Genocide’, Urges Sanctions Against Israel

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday denounced a "genocide" in Gaza, urging its 57 member countries to impose sanctions on Israel in a resolution adopted at the end of its Gambia summit. The organization called on its members to impose "sanctions on Israel, the occupying power, and halt the export of weapons and ammunition used ...

Gaza Negotiations Stall Again
Gaza Negotiations Stall Again

A Hamas official said on Sunday that the group's delegation to the Gaza truce talks in Cairo was leaving for Qatar after disagreements with Israel over demands to end the war persisted. A meeting in Cairo on a proposed truce linked to the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip ended on Sunday without any concrete progress, while Israel and Hamas ...

Southern Front: Israeli Raids Intensify After Attack on Mays Al-Jabal
Southern Front: Israeli Raids Intensify After Attack on Mays Al-Jabal

Tension on the southern front escalated further on Sunday, with an intensification of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel following the morning raid on Mays al-Jabal, which left four civilians from the same family dead and several others wounded. A salvo of dozens of rockets was fired at Kiryat Shmona from southern Lebanon by Hezbollah ...

War Diary: Day 212
War Diary: Day 212

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 May 5th, 2024.

Washington Blocks Arms Shipment to Israel
Washington Blocks Arms Shipment to Israel

The Biden administration suspended a shipment of US-made munitions to Israel last week, two Israeli officials told the US media outlet Axios on Sunday, May 5. This is the first time Washington has blocked an arms shipment to Tel Aviv since the start of the conflict. A few days earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had told Netanyahu that ...

Israel Bans Al Jazeera, Which Condemns Its Decision
Israel Bans Al Jazeera, Which Condemns Its Decision

Al Jazeera went off-air in Israel Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government decided to shut it down following a long-running feud, a move the Qatar-based channel decried as "criminal". Netanyahu declared on X that the government had "unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel". The ...

Israel and Hamas Trade Accusations Following Cabinet Meeting
Israel and Hamas Trade Accusations Following Cabinet Meeting

Netanyahu and Haniyeh have traded accusations following an Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday, in which Israeli's ban on Al Jazeera was announced. Meanwhile, protestors marched in Jerusalem calling for a Rafah invasion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, during a government cabinet meeting, that accepting Hamas's demand to end the war ...