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Lebanon

August 17, 2024

Beirut 4:18 am

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Boys walk on dry bricks to traverse a puddle of sewage water past mounds of trash and rubble along a street in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees, northern Gaza Strip, August 14, 2024.

Analysis

Can progress on Gaza cease-fire talks help US restrain Netanyahu, hold off Iran attack?

A new bridging proposal might allow calmer heads to prevail and lower the temperature in the region.

Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Screenshot from Hezbollah's video of tunnel network released on August 16, 2024

In warning to Israel, Hezbollah shows off massive underground tunnel network

The massive show of force comes as Hezbollah promised a harsh response to the killing of one of its senior commanders in an Israeli strike in Beirut last month.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) walks with France's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Stephane Sejourne ahead of their meeting in Beirut on August 15, 2024, amid regional tensions during the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

French FM to visit Israel after Lebanon amid efforts to thwart all-out war

After meeting with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne continues on to Israel in a bid to prevent the outbreak of a regional war.

STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images

Air France to resume Beirut flights as Lufthansa, Ryanair extend suspensions

The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has international airlines suspending flights to cities across the Middle East.

Latest News

Analysis

Iran, Israel in 'war of nerves' as US applies pressure to reach Gaza deal

rocket fire

Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Gallant clashes with Netanyahu, cautions against Israeli war in Lebanon

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant leaves the State Department after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2024. The White House said Monday it was "perplexed" and "disappointed" by the cancelation of an Israeli delegation's planned visit to discuss US concerns over a possible offensive in southern Gaza. Israel scrapped the visit after the United States abstained from a UN Security Council vote demanding an "immediate ceasefire" in Ga

Analysis

'A chance to stand down': Can US pressure lead to Gaza deal, curb Iran attack on Israel?

A F18 Hornet fighter jet pilot takes off from the deck of the US navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on May 8, 2018.

Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

US says cease-fire talks in 'final stage' as Hamas taps Sinwar to be new leader

Israeli tanks move toward Rafah during the wider military operation in the Gaza Strip, May 29, 2024.

Travelers scramble as airlines cut flights amid fear of Iran-Israel war

Passengers look at the flight board at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Aug. 6, 2024.

Hanna Davis

In Amman, reporting on refugees

Adnan Nasser

In Beirut, reporting on Lebanon

Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

WOODSTOCK, ENGLAND - JULY 18: French President Emmanuel Macron arrives for the European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace on July 18, 2024 in Woodstock, England. At the 4th European Political Community Summit, Europe’s leaders will focus on energy, infrastructures, connectivity, cybersecurity, countering disinformation and migration. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Analysis

France struggles to find its footing, play role in Lebanon-Israel crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron has multiplied his contact with Middle Eastern leaders, trying to prevent escalation in the region, but so far, has not sent his foreign minister to Beirut.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

The coffin of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr is flanked by Hezbollah reservists.

Hezbollah chief vows to respond to Israeli attacks ‘whatever the consequences’

The region has been on edge for the past week after Israeli strikes killed a senior Hezbollah commander and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a suspected Israeli strike.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu's visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Analysis

As US, Israel coordinate, Biden works to curb Netanyahu's response to Iran

Under pressure from the Biden administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly not currently planning a pre-emptive attack against Iran.

Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

11/24/2023 Tehran, Iran. Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are wearing Palestinian scarves and carrying handheld anti-tank grenade launchers as they participate in the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Frantic diplomacy, flight disruptions as Middle East braces for Iran attack on Israel

US President Joe Biden is meeting with his national security team in the White House on Monday as concerns of an attack by Iran and its regional proxies against Israel grow.

US Central Command Cmdr. Gen. Michael Kurilla speaks at the 18th IISS Manama Dialogue, Manama, Bahrain, Nov. 19, 2022.

CENTCOM chief heads for Israel as country prepares for Iran attack

US Central Command Commander Michael Kurilla has arrived in the Middle East in efforts to coordinate with Israel and other countries against an expected attack by Iran.

AARON SCHWARTZ/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Lufthansa, Delta among several airlines to cancel Israel flights

The region is on edge following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Israel’s assassination of a Hezbollah military leader in Lebanon.

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, on July 15, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel runs several scenarios, prepares for attacks by Iran, Hezbollah

Israeli security experts estimate that Iran will opt for a coordinated attack with Hezbollah, but will try to avoid an all-out war.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Hezbollah fighters carry the flag-draped coffin of slain top commander Fuad Shukr during his funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 1, 2024. Hezbollah on August 1 mourned Shukr, whose body was recovered from the rubble of a July 30 Israeli strike in south Beirut that also killed five civilians, three women and two children, and injured dozens, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as fears mounted of a wider conflict in the region. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via G

Hezbollah chief says war with Israel in 'new phase,' vows 'real response' to Shukr's killing

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said the group and its allies will respond to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, warning that the battle has now entered a new phase.

Fuad Shukr in an undated photo

Analysis

Who is Fuad Shukr, senior Hezbollah military official targeted by Israel in Beirut?

The US government accuses Shukr of playing a key role in the 1983 bombing of US Marines in Lebanon, and he was a significant figure in Hezbollah's military apparatus, according to an expert.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

🚨 [#Picture] Photos of the aftermath of the strike on Haret Hreik sent to L'Orient Today by Hassan Chaitani, local resident in the area.

Israel confirms killing senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut strike

An Israeli drone strike hit the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Tuesday, as tensions run high following a rocket strike in the Golan Heights over the weekend.

Smoke billows from a site targeted by the Israeli military in the southern Lebanese border village of Kafr Kila, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, July 29, 2024.

Strikes in south Lebanon, Syria as Israel's northern front heats up

The situation in Lebanon is at a boiling point amid growing fears of an Israeli retaliatory strike to a deadly rocket attack in the Golan Heights that could lead to a wider regional conflict.

Passengers departure from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on July 29, 2024. Airlines suspended flights to Lebanon on July 29, as diplomatic efforts were underway to contain soaring tensions between Hezbollah and Israel after deadly rocket fire in the annexed Golan Heights. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

White House says Lebanon war not 'inevitable' as Israel preps Hezbollah response

US troops in Iraq and Syria are bracing for potential blowback from local militias ahead of anticipated Israeli retaliation against Hezbollah for a lethal rocket attack on a Druze village in the Golan Heights.