Source: Agence France Presse
Security & Justice
Lebanon’s Probe into Israeli Raid Expected to Take Days as Security Officials Weigh Theories
Lebanese authorities are ramping up investigations into an Israeli commando raid last week in the northern coastal city of Batroun, during which Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official, was snatched.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Watch: Israeli Army Blows Up Village Near the Border
The Israeli army is still blowing up entire villages or neighborhoods, especially those near the border.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:08:05
Blinken Heads to Egypt on Gaza Truce Push
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Egypt Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire as he pushes Hamas to accept a deal.
Blinken, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, will afterward head to Qatar, which along with Egypt is brokering negotiations for a truce in the 10-month Gaza conflict.
His departure from Tel Aviv came as an Israeli kibbutz community announced the death in captivity in Gaza of 79-year-old hostage Avraham Munder, underlining the urgency of a truce and hostage release deal.
Kibbutz Nir Oz said Munder had endured “physical and mental torture for months” and called his death “murder.” There was no immediate comment from his captors.
The top US diplomat flew to El Alamein, the Mediterranean city famous for a World War II battle in 1942, to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at his summer palace.
He will then head to meet Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha, the scene of ceasefire talks last week.
At the Doha negotiations, the United States presented proposals to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas and seal the May 31 ceasefire blueprint laid out by President Joe Biden, who has faced growing domestic criticism over the war.
Blinken said Monday that Israel has accepted the US proposal and that he would speak to Egypt and Qatar to gauge the reaction of Hamas, which has no direct relationship with the United States as it considers the militants a terrorist group.
“There is, I think, a real sense of urgency here, across the region, on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible,” Blinken said Monday in Tel Aviv.
“The United States is deeply committed to getting this job done, to getting it done now.”
Blinken said on Monday that the ceasefire proposal could be the “last chance” as he raised pressure for a deal.
He played down a public rejection by Hamas of the modifications in the latest proposal and said Israel was ready to send a delegation to new talks later this week, which the United States previously said would take place in Cairo.
A series of reports, however, say that Israel has raised new conditions in recent talks, including insisting on control of the Gaza border with Egypt that Israel seized from Hamas.