A senior US envoy visited Beirut on Saturday amid a fragile ceasefire with Israel and mounting US pressure on Lebanon to rein in the militant Hezbollah group, urging the Lebanese army to assert control over all national territory and prevent arms smuggling along the Syrian border. Deputy US Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan…
Israel conducted deadly strikes on Lebanon Saturday in response to a rocket attack from across the border, as militant group Hezbollah denied responsibility for the launch. Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported one girl among two killed in an Israeli strike on the southern town of Touline, amid the largest escalation of attacks since a November 27…
US authorities deported a Lebanese doctor working at an American university after pictures of Hezbollah were reportedly found on her phone, and she said she went to the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, the group’s leader assassinated by Israel. Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old doctor and professor at Brown University, was detained and then deported hours later…
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the situation in Lebanon and the region with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said early on Tuesday. MBS and Aoun “discussed the latest developments concerning Lebanon and the region and the efforts being exerted in this regard. They also reviewed relations between the…
Joseph Aoun said he looked forward to meeting with MBS Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said he was looking forward to reviving bilateral ties between Beirut and Riyadh as he landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday for his first official visit abroad since being elected in January. “I look forward with great hope to talks I…
Tens of thousands of people bid farewell to Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah at a mass funeral in Beirut on Sunday, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a stunning blow to the Iranian-backed group. Carrying pictures of Nasrallah and Hezbollah flags, supporters from Lebanon and other countries in the…
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun told a visiting Iranian delegation on Sunday that the war-scarred country was “tired” of external conflicts playing out on its territory. The high-level delegation was in Beirut for the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Tehran-backed Hezbollah which fought a war with Israel last year that ended in a November…
The Israeli military said it carried out an air strike in south Lebanon Saturday that targeted a senior militant from Hezbollah’s aerial unit, accusing him of repeatedly violating a ceasefire. “A short while ago, the IAF (air force) conducted a precise and intelligence-based strike on a central terrorist in Hezbollah’s aerial unit in the area…
UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon were wounded late Friday night after Hezbollah supporters attacked a convoy carrying the outgoing deputy commander of UNIFIL. The perpetrators blocked Beirut’s airport road for a second consecutive day in protest over Lebanon’s refusal to allow Iranian planes to land. Video footage showed Hezbollah supporters carrying flags and chanting sectarian slogans as…
The Trump administration has accepted the resignation of the US ambassadors to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Al Arabiya English has learned. All ambassadors submit their resignations when a new administration takes office, but these two were immediately accepted. Yael Lempert assumed her position in Amman in August 2023 and Michael Ratney became ambassador to Riyadh…
Lebanese Armed Forces commander, IMF official among favorites Lebanon is preparing for Thursday’s parliamentary session to elect a new president, but it remains unclear whether a new commander-in-chief will fill the two-year-old vacancy despite a flurry of shuttle diplomacy to Beirut in recent days. The country has been without a president since October 2022. Since…
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan has met with US Envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein where the two discussed current regional issues, including developments in Lebanon. The meeting was held at the ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said in a statement early on Monday. The visit comes as Israel and Hezbollah accused…
Israeli troops officially began their withdrawal from occupied parts of Lebanon today and were replaced by Lebanese soldiers, the US military said on Wednesday. “This is an important first step in the implementation of a lasting cessation of hostilities and lays the foundation for continued progress,” the top US military general for the Middle East said. Gen….
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati met the US military general tasked with monitoring the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire on Monday after a truce was agreed last week between the two. US Ambassador to Beirut Lisa Johnson introduced Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers to Mikati during a meeting at the premier’s office. “General Jeffers will advance the ceasefire agreement by assessing…
