Reports surfaced Monday that embattled Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was seeking an additional deadline extension The US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel is expected to be fully implemented by the deadline set for later this month, according to sources and officials familiar with the matter. The original agreement, mediated by the Biden administration, required Israel to…
“Lebanon faces a unique window of opportunity, where Hezbollah is weakened and no longer in a position to derail reform efforts or enforce its will on the country’s decision-making process,” one analyst says Lebanon announced the formation of a new cabinet on Saturday after nearly three years of political paralysis, amid one of the worst socioeconomic crises…
Israel said Monday that it had arrested two Israelis suspected of spying for Iran, including one accused of handing the country classified information obtained during his military service. It marks the latest in a series of detentions in Israel of people charged with espionage on its arch-foe Iran’s behalf since the summer. Israel’s internal security…
US President Donald Trump said Monday he had signed an executive order ridding the military of what he called “transgender ideology,” in a potentially major setback for LGBTQ rights. In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of…
Republican President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has instructed the US military to release a hold imposed by Democratic former President Joe Biden on the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. The move was widely expected. “We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them and they’ve been…
President Joe Biden on Sunday welcomed the ceasefire taking hold between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying the “region has been fundamentally transformed.” “After so much pain, death and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” the outgoing president said, just hours after the ceasefire took effect. Biden was speaking during a visit…
UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Israel’s military operations and “occupation” in south Lebanon must cease, nearly two months after the truce that ended the war with Hezbollah. “The continued occupation by the Israel (military) inside the UNIFIL area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution…
France’s President Emmanuel Macron Friday announced that Paris would in coming weeks host an international reconstruction conference after a war between militant group Hezbollah and Israel. After more than two years of a political vacuum at the top of the small Mediterranean country, Joseph Aoun was elected president on January 9 and chose Nawaf Salam…
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a deal had been reached to release hostages held in Gaza. His comments, made on his Truth Social platform, came after an official said that Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire deal in the Gaza war. “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE…
Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands are extended to everyone, in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post. Salam, nominated by a majority of Lebanese lawmakers on Monday, said he opposed exclusion and supported unity.“This is my sincere call,…
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday picked Nawaf Salam, the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as prime minister following consultations with lawmakers, the presidency said. “The president of the republic called on Judge Nawaf Salam to task him with forming a government, knowing that he is currently abroad. It has…
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati will on Saturday make his first official trip to neighboring Syria since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, his office told AFP. Mikati’s office said Friday the trip came at the invitation of the country’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa during a phone call last week. Syria imposed new…
Lebanon’s defaulted sovereign dollar bonds climbed for a fifth day on investor optimism that a candidate will be picked after a two-year vacuum The candidate backed by Hezbollah and Amal Movement withdrew from Lebanon’s presidential race late Wednesday and announced his support for the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Sleiman Frangieh, a politician from North Lebanon…
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…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Lebanese group Hezbollah on Sunday of not meeting the terms of a ceasefire, warning that if the militants continued to breach the deal, Israel would “be forced to act.” Katz issued his warning after visiting the military’s northern command and it followed a similar accusation against Israel by Hezbollah chief Naim…
