Senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein is expected to visit Beirut on Thursday, a US official said late on Wednesday, as part of US efforts to ease tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border. Washington fears Israel’s war in Gaza could spread violence across the region, with armed groups backed by Israel’s arch-rival Iran launching solidarity … Read more
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati told a senior United Nations official on Tuesday that his country was ready for talks on long-term stability on its southern border with Israel. Mikati’s office said in a statement he met UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix in Beirut to reiterate “Lebanon’s readiness to enter negotiations … Read more
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, both on trips to the Mideast, warned on Saturday against the Israel-Hamas war escalating into a regional conflict as hostilities increased following the killing this week of a top Hamas official. “It is absolutely imperative to ensure Lebanon is not drawn into … Read more
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israel on Saturday in retaliation for the targeted killing of a Hamas leader in Beirut this week amid mounting fears of a larger regional war, according to media reports. Hezbollah said in a statement Saturday that it targeted an Israeli air surveillance base in northern Israel with … Read more
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah warned that his movement “cannot accept” the alleged Israeli assassination of deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, stressing that remaining silent would cause more harm than “any risks that may come from responding, in a speech on Friday afternoon. “I tell you with certainty that this will not go without a … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe. Back in November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the far-right and religious nationalists in his coalition government to pipe down and “be careful with their words” when talking about their desired outcomes for the war … Read more
Iranians hold portraits of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani during the commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of his killing in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 3, 2024. Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images Deadly blasts that killed at least 84 people in southern Iran has added to growing international concerns about the … Read more
For the past 90 days of the war, Hezbollah got used to playing fiddle. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Hezbollah began to carry out attacks on Israel, and while there were initial concerns in the region and Washington that this could escalate, Hezbollah appeared to prefer daily small attacks to a larger … Read more
The United States does not have any reason to believe that Israel assassinated Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday. “The US was not involved in any way, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous,” he told reporters in Washington. “We have no reason to believe … Read more
The United States “disturbed the regional balance” in the Middle East, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Wednesday, after the targeted killing of Hamas’s deputy leader outside of Gaza, Saleh al-Arouri, along with at least five other people in an alleged Israeli drone strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut. “We will … Read more
