Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure Friday, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to attack key facilities and kill top generals and scientists — a barrage it said was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon. The ongoing military and intelligence operation…
As calls for Lebanon’s Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes. US-backed President Joseph Aoun, who vowed when he took office in January to establish a state…
Deputy US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Morgan Ortagus has called for the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, comparing the Iran-backed group to a “cancer” within Lebanon that must be excised if the country is to have any hope of recovery. In a Special Interview on Al Arabiya News presented by Hadley Gamble, the senior…
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…
Increased fighting between Hezbollah and Israel poses a significant threat to Lebanon’s “fragile stability” and the political progress seen after Joseph Aoun’s election as president in January. According to the annual threat assessment by the US intelligence community, a resumption of sustained Israeli operations in Lebanon could trigger a sharp rise in sectarian tensions, weaken Lebanese security…
Lebanon’s Hezbollah denied in a statement that it had “any link” to rocket launches from southern Lebanon on Saturday and reiterated its commitment to a US-backed ceasefire. Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon after Israel said it had intercepted rockets fired from across the border, endangering the shaky truce that ended a year-long war…
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…
Iran said Turkey’s criticism of its foreign policy risked worsening ties between the neighboring countries, after an opposition coalition allied with Ankara ousted Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. In an interview in February, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Iran risked plunging the Middle East into “disorder.” Iran leads the so-called “axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes Hamas…
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 Hezbollah is preparing for a massive turnout for the funeral on Sunday of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, an opportunity for a show of strength by the Iran-backed group after a bruising war with Israel. Nasrallah’s death nearly five months ago in a huge Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs left Hezbollah supporters in disbelief…
The US president singled out Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for hosting talks between Washington and Moscow US President Donald Trump thanked Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for hosting talks between Washington and Moscow last week, calling the Kingdom a “special place with special leaders.” Speaking at the opening of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute,…
Lebanon official media said Israeli aircraft carried out three strikes Sunday in the Bekaa Valley in the country’s east, two days ahead of a deadline in a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. “Enemy warplanes carried out two strikes on the outskirts of the town of Harbata and a third strike on the town of…
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…
