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Iraq's government on Thursday retracted a terror designation for Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Yemen's Houthi rebels, just weeks after imposing the measure it now says was a mistake. The government's retraction came hours after reports first circulated about the designation, which was an error made before reviewing," according to a statement. The initial decision, published in the official Iraqi gazette on November 17, had placed the two groups both allies of Iran and also Iraq's Shiite militias among 24 organisations targeted under a national asset freeze order, accusing them of participating in committing a terrorist act. Iraq is under increasing pressure from the United States to clamp down on local Iran-backed militias. Baghdad is also struggling to balance its relations with Washington and Tehran, amid fears of a new Israel-Iran war that could spill over into neighbouring countries. The names of Hezbollah and the Houthis will be removed" in a corrected publication o
Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon's capital for the first time since June, saying it killed Hezbollah's chief of staff Haytham Tabtabai and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war. The strike in Beirut's southern suburbs killed five people and wounded 25 others, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. Hezbollah did not immediately comment. Earlier, it said the strike, launched almost exactly a year after a ceasefire ended that Israel-Hezbollah war, threatened an escalation of attacks just days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his first foreign trip. We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian did not say whether Israel informed the US before the strike, saying only that Israel makes decisions independently. Israel did not issue an evacuation ...
Lebanon's president said Monday that his country and Israel should negotiate to solve pending problems between them since war didn't lead to any positive results. The comments by President Joseph Aoun came after U.S. counterpart Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the more than two-year war, which started when the Palestinian militant group led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. A day after the Israel-Hamas war began, Lebanon's Hezbollah started attacking Israeli military posts along the border in what it called a backup front for Gaza. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict intensified into full-blown fighting nearly a year later, during which the Lebanese group suffered heavy losses and many of its political and military commanders were killed. Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon that left .
Israel carried out intense airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Saturday, killing one person, wounding seven and briefly cutting a highway that links Beirut with parts of south Lebanon, the Health Ministry said. The pre-dawn airstrikes on the village of Msayleh struck a place that sold heavy machinery, destroying a large number of vehicles. A vehicle carrying vegetables that happened to be passing by at the time of the strikes was hit, killing one person and wounding another, according to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV. The Health Ministry later said that the one slain was a Syrian citizen, while the wounded were a Syrian national and six Lebanese, including two women. The Israeli military said it struck a place where machinery was stored to be used to rebuild infrastructure for the militant Hezbollah group. Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended in late November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes killing dozens of people. Israel accuses .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he welcomed the Lebanese cabinet's momentous decision earlier this month to work towards the disarmament of Hezbollah by the end of 2025 and it could lead to Israel's troops withdrawing from the country. He said that if Lebanon takes the necessary steps to disarm Hezbollah, then Israel will respond with reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction of the Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon. Since the Israel-Hezbollah war ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes that have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members. Beirut is under US pressure to disarm the group that recently fought a 14-month war with Israel and was left gravely weakened, with many of its political and military leaders dead.
The Lebanese government asked the national army on Tuesday to prepare a plan in which only state institutions will have weapons in the small nation by the end of the year, a move that aims to disarm the militant Hezbollah group. The announcement by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, after a nearly six-hour Cabinet meeting, came shortly after Hezbollah's leader said his group would not disarm and warned that the Iran-backed faction would resume missile attacks on Israel if military operations against them intensify. Salam said the government asked the army to have the plan ready by the end of the month for discussion and approval. The government's move came as Beirut is under US pressure to disarm the group that recently fought a 14-month war with Israel and was left gravely weakened, with many of its political and military leaders dead. The decision followed a July visit by US envoy Tom Barrack, who called for a more decisive policy to disarm the Iran-backed group. On Tuesday afternoon,
The Israeli military struck several sites in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production Thursday, on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday. The strikes, which hit eight buildings at four locations, marked the first time in more than a month that Israel had struck on the outskirts of the capital and the fourth time since a US-brokered ceasefire agreement ended the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in November. Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon since then, which Lebanon has said are in violation of the ceasefire deal. Israeli officials say the strikes are intended to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping after a war that took out much of its senior leadership and arsenal. The Israeli army said in a statement that Hezbollah was working to produce thousands of drones under the guidance and financing of Iranian terrorist groups. Hezbollah used dron
Argentina's President Javier Milei is headed to Israel. Milei was awarded the $1 million Genesis Prize in January in recognition of his support of Israel. After he postponed a planned visit in March, he is now set to receive the prize in a ceremony at Israel's Knesset on June 11 and deliver a speech to the Israeli parliament. Organizers say Milei will donate the prize money to launch an initiative aimed at improving diplomatic relations between Israel and Latin American countries and fighting antisemitism in the region. Prize organizers say they recognized Milei for reversing Argentina's long history of anti-Israel votes at the United Nations, designating the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups as terrorist organisations and reopening investigations into the bombings of Jewish and Israeli targets in Argentina in the 1990s. Milei also has pledged to move Argentina's embassy to Jerusalem joining a handful of countries, including the US, to recognise the contested city as Israel's .
Israel's latest airstrike on what it called a Hezbollah missile storage facility in Beirut's southern suburbs came during increasing pressure for the Lebanese militant group to disarm. The disarmament of what has been the region's most powerful non-state armed group has come to look increasingly inevitable. Hezbollah is severely weakened after a war with Israel in which much of its top leadership was killed, and after losing a key ally with the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a conduit for Iran to send arms. Israel and the US are pushing for swift disarmament, but when and how it will happen - if it does - is contested. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has said he is committed to bringing all arms in the country under state control, but that it will happen through discussions around a national security plan and not through force. Many fear that an attempt to force the issue would lead to civil conflict, which Aoun has called a red line. Hezbollah officials have said
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group called on the government on Monday to work harder to end Israel's attacks in the country a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a suburb of Beirut. Naim Kassem said in a televised speech that Hezbollah implemented the ceasefire deal that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war in late November. But despite that, Israel is continuing with near-daily airstrikes. Kassem's comments came as the Israeli military said it carried out more than 50 strikes in Lebanon this month saying they came after Hezbollah violated the US-brokered ceasefire. On Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck Beirut's southern suburbs after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November. The Israeli military said it struck a precision-guided missiles facility. "The resistance complied 100 per cent with the (ceasefire) deal and I tell state officials that it's your duty to guarantee protection," Kas
The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group said on Friday that its fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force regularly violates Lebanese air space. Naim Kassem addressed supporters in a speech broadcast on Hezbollah's television station. Kassem took over Hezbollah after Israeli airstrikes killed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, his successor Hashem Safieddine and other top Hezbollah figures last year, decimating the group's leadership. Kassem said Hezbollah had implemented its commitments related to the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the fighting in Hezbollah's latest, 14-month war with Israel. Since the ceasefire went into effect in late November, Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of people in Lebanon including civilians and Hezbollah members. Israel says it's targeting Hezbollah holdouts in southern Lebanon. On Tuesday, the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights said that at least 71 civilian
The Israeli military struck a building in Beirut's southern suburbs early Tuesday, saying it targeted a member of the Hezbollah militant group. The airstrike came without warning days after Israel launched an attack on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday for the first time since a ceasefire ended fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group in November. The Israeli military then had warned residents in the crowded suburbs before the attack after two projectiles were launched from southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah denied firing. The Israeli military said in a statement the latest strike targeted a Hezbollah member who had been helping the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip in attacks against Israel. It said the attack was under the direction of the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency. Hezbollah did not comment on the strike. There was no immediate word on casualties. Photos and videos widely shared on local and social media showed the top .
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group warned Saturday that if Israel's attacks on Lebanon continue and the Lebanese state does not act to stop them, the group will eventually resort to other alternatives. Naim Kassem's comments came a day after Israel launched an attack on Lebanon's capital for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. The strike on Beirut came hours after two rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel and Hezbollah denied it fir Preview ed them. There was no immediate response from Israeli officials. Kassem was supposed to give his speech on Friday to mark Jerusalem Day that is usually held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. However, it was postponed because of the Israeli airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon including a suburb of the capital. Jerusalem Day is an annual international day launched by Iran's first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 in which Iranians and many of ..
Israel has launched an attack on Lebanon's capital for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Associated Press reporters in Beirut heard a loud boom and witnessed smoke rising from an area in the city's southern suburbs that Israel's military had vowed to strike. It marked Israel's first strike on Beirut since a ceasefire took hold last November between it and the Hezbollah militant group, though Israel has attacked targets in southern Lebanon almost daily since then. Israel's army said it hit a Hezbollah drone storage facility in Dahiyeh, which it called a militant stronghold. The strike came after Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields, warned residents to evacuate the area. The area struck is a residential and commercial area and is close to at least two schools. Israeli officials said the attack was retaliation for rockets it said were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. They promised strikes on Bei
The cost of reconstruction and recovery for Lebanon following the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war is estimated at $11 billion, the World Bank said in a report on Friday. The report by the World Bank's Lebanon Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment covered damage and losses in 10 sectors nationwide between October 8, 2023, and Dec. 20, 2024. It estimates that of the $11 billion in reconstruction and recovery needs, $3 billion to $5 billion will need to be publicly financed, including for infrastructure sectors. Private financing is required for about $6 billion to $8 billion of the costs, mostly in the housing, commerce, industry and tourism sectors. Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on October 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September. A US-brokered ...
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Beirut early Sunday to attend the funeral of Hezbollah's former leader, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital. Hassan Nasrallah was killed when Israel's air force dropped more than 80 bombs on the militant group's main operations room. His death was a major blow for the Iran-backed group that the late leader transformed into a potent force in the Middle East. Nasrallah was the group's leader for more than 30 years and one of its founders. He enjoyed wide influence among Iran-backed groups in the region and was widely respected in the so-called Iran-led axis of resistance that included Iraqi, Yemeni and Palestinian factions. Officials from around the region including Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were expected to attend the funeral at the Lebanese capital's main sports stadium. Lebanese officials including the parliamen