Source: Reuters & The Hill
Security & Justice
Captured Hezbollah Operative May Have Been Israeli Double Agent, Report Suggests
The alleged senior Hezbollah operative abducted by Israeli special forces last week in Batroun may have been operating as a double agent, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Monday, November 4, 2024
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
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
Wednesday 31 July 2024 21:41:22
White House Says Israeli Strikes in Lebanon and Iran Not Helpful
The White House said on Wednesday it does not see an escalation of conflict as inevitable following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and the US is still working to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking at a daily briefing, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said it was too early to say whether the latest events in the Middle East would affect prospects for a ceasefire agreement.
Kirby said that the Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Iran are not helpful while they seek a ceasefire deal to end the conflict in the Middle East.
“These reports over the last 24, 48 hours certainly don’t help with the temperature going down,” John Kirby, the White House National Security Council communications adviser, told reporters. “We’re obviously concerned about escalation.”
“All of this adds to the complicated nature of what we’re trying to get done,” he said Wednesday during the White House press briefing. “What we’re trying to get done is a cease-fire deal that can get you six weeks in phase one, a lot of hostages, the most at risk, out of there and with their families again. And get some more humanitarian assistance in there.”
“When you have events, traumatic events, violent events caused by whatever, it certainly doesn’t make the task of achieving that outcome any easier,” Kirby added.
“The deal on the table is a good one, both sides ought to accept it, they ought to sit down in earnest and hash out the details … and let’s move forward,” Kirby said.