Suggestions for U.S. success in the Middle East
An aide-mรฉmoire to Secretary of State Marco Rubio from a former adviser to Tony Blair.
An aide-mรฉmoire to Secretary of State Marco Rubio from a former adviser to Tony Blair.
The country’s new administration, the first since 2022, comes after an unusually direct intervention by the United States which said any Hezbollah involvement would be a ‘red line’.
Skeptical senators ruthlessly questioned Trumpโs national security director nominee ahead of confirmation voteUS politics live โ latest updatesTulsi Gabbard, Donald Trumpโs nominee for national security director, refused to call the whistleblower Edwar…
Israel argues that the Lebanese army has not fully deployed to the area to prevent Hezbollah’s return. Meanwhile, the Lebanese army says it can’t deploy until Israeli forces withdraw.
Israelis are supportive of the deal, but they canโt help but ask why it was necessary for additional hostages, soldiers and civilians to die before leaders finally took action?
War is a magnifier of the best and worst of human behavior, and itโs often those already vulnerable who suffer most.
French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Beirut on Friday for meetings with Lebanon’s president, prime minister, and speaker of parliament as the country attempts to recover from the devastating 14-month-long Israel-Hezbollah war. Macron’s vis…
We have failed to pass on the memory and lessons of the Holocaust to younger generations โ the very future of our world.
While in Syria, Turkey is taking the place of Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, while the latter, along with Hamas and Hezbollah, is registering defeat after defeat at the hands of Israel, writes Le Monde’s columnist Alain Frachon.
This past year reordered domestic politics. 2025 will remake the worldโs geopolitical map.
Out with the old, in with the … old. Familiar trends characterized a year of elections and bloodshed.
Hamas is to blame for raising last-minute obstacles, per White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
OPTICS 2024: A year in pictures Photos by: Jalaa Marey, K M Asad, Miguel J. Rodriguez, Carrillo, Andy Buchanan, Bashar Taleb, Jeff Pachoud, Cristina Quicler, Luis Acosta, Thomas Kienzle, Theo Rouby, Bakr al Kassem, Gagan Nayar, Giorgi Arjevanidze, Anselmo Cunh, Luis Tato/AFP & Peter Nicholls, Kate Green, Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Israeli foreign minister denounces the Irish for “extreme anti-Israel policies” in a move that follows Irelandโs recognition of Palestinian statehood and its accusations of genocide in Gaza.
The appetite of the former president’s son now extends beyond the small screen, with a book due in April and politics on the horizon.
Lโappรฉtit du fils de lโancien prรฉsident dรฉpasse dรฉsormais le petit รฉcran, avec un livre en avril et la politique pour horizon.
Instead of igniting a war that would destroy Israel, the militant group lit the fuse that set much of the region on fire, burning its own allies above all.
The scale of the Israeli strikes echoed a similar wave of attacks in southern Lebanon in September that destroyed a significant quantity of Hezbollah’s missile stocks.
The post Israel says its air strikes destroyed most of Syria’s strategic weapo…
With 42 days left in office, Biden avoids unscripted moments or press questions.
POLITICO รฉvalue les perspectives des principaux acteurs, au Moyen-Orient et au-delร , aprรจs la fin du rรฉgime du dictateur syrien.
Turkey gave approval for the offensive and now appears to be Syria’s most powerful external player, with troops on the ground and access to the rebel leaders.
After meeting US president-elect, Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautions that Ukraine needs a โjust and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few yearsโ. What we know on day 1,020See all our Ukraine war coverageDonald Trump has called for an imme…
โThere should be no doubt โ we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute,โ a top general said.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu says “hostile forces” will not be tolerated near border, but offers “hand of peace” to Syrians who want peace with Israel.
US pounds ISIS camps in Syria after Assad flees
Across the region and beyond, POLITICO assesses the prospects of key players after the ouster of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Some regional leaders appear inclined to unveil key initiatives under the next president, giving him the glory.
Was the astonishing implosion of Bashar Assadโs regime exclusively the result of its rottenness or did elements inside his government coordinate with rebels?
President Bashar al-Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination.
In this episode, host Giada Santana talks to Middle East experts Bilal Saab and Julien Barnes-Dacey about the terms of the shaky ceasefire agreement amidst Washington and Brusselโs diplomatic efforts in the region.
Surprise attack injected fresh uncertainty into a region that has been convulsed by wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The exchange of accusations highlights the fragility of the ceasefire, which was brokered by the United States and France to end the conflict.
Israel and Hezbollah ceasefire in jeopardy after southern Lebanon attacks
Comments made after nuclear inspectorate board passed motion censuring Iran for building uranium stockpileThe nuclear debate inside Iran is likely to shift towards the possession of its own weapons if the west goes ahead with a threat to reimpose all U…
For good or ill, Trump is already shaping the calculations of combatants in the region, but much depends on how Hezbollahโs bosses in Tehran proceed.
New sanctions package closes one of the last conduits of hard currency to Moscow.
The US, the EU, the UN and G7 had all pushed for a halt in the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah after more than a year of violence.
While the Israeli Cabinet could vote to reject the deal, it is generally expected to approve it.
โItโs clear theyโre scared,โ said one former Trump administration official who worked on Middle East issues.
The Israeli leader lost no time in hailing Trumpโs victory as โhistoryโs greatest comeback.”
Tensions have been rising between Israel and France over strikes in Lebanon and the war in Gaza.
Civil war veteran Samir Geagea hopes the Shiite militia will be pressed into a position where it has no choice but to disarm.
One of the country’s biggest exasperations is Western policymakers trying to strong-arm them into hasty political reform.
Some 70 government delegations and 15 international organisations met in Paris to help Lebanon, but a low-level US presence and its looming election dimmed prospects for a swift halt to fighting.
Israel wants ‘to set sectarian groups at each others’ throats’ says the spiritual leader of the Druze community.
Unable to bring the fighting to an end, Macron also focused on condemning attacks by Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli-led offensive in Lebanon.
International delegates have gathered in Paris to help the war-ravaged country.
Conference convened by French president raises $800m in humanitarian aid and $200m to strengthen Lebanese armyMiddle East crisis โ live updatesEmmanuel Macron has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that โcivilisation is not best defended by sowing barbarism our…
Kamala Harrisโ campaign is facing deep skepticism from Arab American voters in Michigan, many of whom are appalled by President Joe Bidenโs handling of the war in the Middle East and remain undecided about whether to back a candidate who supports his policies. With early voting already underway, Arab American voters say they are disappointed [โฆ]
French President Emmanuel Macron will open a conference aimed at raising funds and mobilising humanitarian aid for embattled Lebanon on Thursday, amid Israel and Hezbollah’s ongoing conflict. Israel and Iran, Hezbollah’s primary backer, will attend th…
“Franceโs strategy today is to try to capitalise on Hezbollahโs weakening to push for change. But the reality is that Paris lacks strong local support,” David Khalfa tells Euractiv.
The Israeli military said Hashem Safieddine was killed in a strike carried out three weeks ago in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The top US diplomat is also visiting Jordan and Qatar.
This is the US Secretary of State eleventh visit to the region since Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October, triggering the Gaza war.
The French president’s mixed signals on Israel and Gaza are undermining his approach to the region.
The Israeli attacks came after some 70 rockets were launched at Israel from Lebanon, as hopes to see the situation in the Middle East de-escalate fade.
Diplomats and other sources say that with US elections approaching, Israel is seeking to use intensified military operations to try to shield its borders and ensure its rivals cannot regroup.
A project to supply Turkey with Eurofighter jets, spearheaded by Britain, is still in its early stages, German Chancellor Scholz said.
Former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker says what he most fears is Israeli overconfidence following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The account might be settled with the Hamas leader, the debt paid โ but the war is not over. This is just the beginning of the end.
French president goes on attack to try put lid on brouhaha that sparked row with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urged Israel to wrap up its military operations in Gaza, arguing that a key obstacle to a cease-fire and hostage release deal has now been eliminated.
Israeli forces have eliminated other Hamas and Hezbollah chiefs in recent months.
Lebanese officials denounced the incident, which also wounded more than 50 people in Nabatieh, a provincial capital, saying it was proof that Israel’s campaign against the Hezbollah armed group was now shifting to target the Lebanese state.
Ambassador to the U.K. Prince Khalidย bin Bandar Al Saud criticized Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct in Lebanon as well.
Doha has long held a close relationship with Hamas and is widely seen as a key figure in the mediations.
U.S. officials stress that the latest moves arenโt linked to Novemberโs election; but the vice president could benefit.
Tensions rise between the two leaders over Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
The Israeli military has in recent weeks carried out strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs without advance warnings, or issued a warning for one area while striking more broadly.
London is reluctant to cut ties with Tehran “at a time when Iran is causing such danger in the world.”
Tensions between France and Israel have been on the rise as the situation deteriorates in Lebanon.
PM calls actions by Israeli forces a “blatant violation” of UN resolution calling for end to hostilities.
In 1996, I witnessed the horror as the Israeli army fired on UN positions. Now history is repeating itselfTom Clonan is an independent senator in the Irish parliament and a retired Irish army officerThe Irish armed forces have participated in UN peacek…
Even staunch Lebanese opponents of Hezbollah, who have long hoped to see the back of Iranโs most important regional ally, are recoiling at a military campaign thatโs triggered the countryโs biggest population displacement in over four decades.
Austria says its troops will remain in the UN mission in Lebanon, asking Israel to stop the “unacceptable” attacks.
Despite being caught in the cross fire, the Lebanese people overwhelmingly reject both Iranโs imposition of conflict and Israelโs bombardment. They stand abandoned by a caretaker government beholden to Hezbollah.
The move โunderscores the United Statesโ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel,โ a Pentagon spokesperson said.
At least five members of UNIFIL peacekeeping mission have been wounded in south Lebanon in recent days.
Israel has stepped up its ground offensive in Gaza as it expands its invasion across the border in Lebanon.
MED9 leaders pledge support for Lebanon’s army in bid to stop Israel-Hezbollah conflict
French Ministry for Foreign Affairs says Israel’s targeting of UNIFIL troops was “deliberate.”
The Israeli Prime Minister is mounting an unlikely comeback. Could he win again?
The 30-minute call was the first known chat for Biden and Netanyahu since August and coincides with a sharp escalation of Israel’s conflict with Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
“We have to help this country. We have to use this opportunity of Hezbollah’s weakness to strengthen Lebanon’s political structures, and we have to bring about a ceasefire in the region,” EU’s top diplomat said.
To date, the EUโs Iran policy has been ineffective and seriously flawed. And the bloc’s leaders need to wake up to the security threat Tehran poses.
EU should exploit ‘Hezbollah’s weakness’ to secure ceasefire, Borrell saysย
Israel’s military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight and said it killed a senior Hezbollah responsible for the group’s budgeting and logistics.
Lebanon could well turn into a quagmire for Israel, and its belief that it can achieve โtotal victoryโ is premature. However, there can be no doubt that Iran and Hezbollah are on the back foot.
Haim Regev said his country would “prevail and win” militarily during an exclusive interview with POLITICO, but fretted about Israel’s “legitimacy war” on the global stage.
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feuds with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Security forces were on high alert across Israel, the military and police said, anticipating possible Palestinian attacks planned for anniversary of 7 October 2023.
Current and former officials say the US has long struggled to collect intelligence on Hamas.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were marching in cities across the globe to demand an end to the conflict.
Escalated bombings come on eve of anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel last October.
The strikes came after days of bombing by Israel of Beirut suburbs considered strongholds for Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and possibly his potential successor.
The demand comes in response to an Israeli ground operation into Lebanon, launched at the end of September to take out Hezbollah positions close to the Israeli border that has killed and displaced thousands.
Iranโs Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visits Beirut as Israeli airstrikes continue to target top Hezbollah commanders.
It has been one year since Israel suffered its worst ever terrorist attack, with Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups killing more than 1,000 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostage. Israel’s response has devastated Gaza, displacing most of the …
As Israel weighs its options after its arch-foe Iran launched its largest ever assault on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden was asked whether he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities.
Many in Lebanon are desperate not to let Israel’s attack and economic hardships reignite sectarian divisions.