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Arab World

Lebanese PM Believes Ceasefire between Israel, Hezbollah Possible

Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati addresses the United Nations Security Council during an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024. EPA/STEPHANI SPINDEL
Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati addresses the United Nations Security Council during an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024. EPA/STEPHANI SPINDEL
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Lebanese PM Believes Ceasefire between Israel, Hezbollah Possible

Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati addresses the United Nations Security Council during an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024. EPA/STEPHANI SPINDEL
Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati addresses the United Nations Security Council during an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024. EPA/STEPHANI SPINDEL

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that a ceasefire can be reached soon to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The United States, France and several allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border while also expressing support for a ceasefire in Gaza following intense discussions at the United Nations on Wednesday.

Mikati welcomed the call for a truce but said the key to its implementation was whether Israel, which has been moving troops closer to Lebanon, is committed to enforcing international resolutions.

Asked if a ceasefire could be secured soon, Mikati told Reuters: "Hopefully, yes."

The ceasefire would apply to the Israel-Lebanon "Blue Line," the demarcation line between the countries, and would allow the parties to negotiate towards a potential diplomatic resolution of the conflict, a senior Biden administration official said.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Thursday welcomed the call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire to allow the space for diplomacy to succeed.

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Arab World

Israeli Forces Kill Man in West Bank Raid, Palestinians Say

Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Kill Man in West Bank Raid, Palestinians Say

Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli bulldozers guarded by Israeli soldiers demolish the home belonging to the Palestinian al-Atrash family, citing the lack of a building permit, in the village of Qilqes, a few kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Beit Hagai, just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man during a house raid in a town in the northern occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry, a paramedic and a local resident said.

The health ministry said that the Palestinian body in charge of coordinating with Israeli authorities had notified it of the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Zayed, who was "shot dead by the occupation (Israeli) forces in Yamun".

The ministry added that Israeli forces had kept Zayed's body.

The military told AFP it was looking into reports of the man's death.

Sanad Abu Toul, a local resident whose family owns the house raided by Israeli forces, said the raid occurred around 12:30 pm local time (0930 GMT) and Zayed was killed as he tried to escape the premises the army had surrounded.

"Zayed tried to flee the house, but the soldiers shot him at close range in the yard of the house, even though they could have arrested him," Abu Toul told AFP.

Murad Khamayseh, a Palestinian paramedic who was dispatched to the scene, told AFP that the Palestinian Red Crescent received a call about the raid around 1:00 pm local time, and sent teams who were blocked by the army from reaching the besieged house.

"About an hour and a half after we arrived, we heard gunfire, and then local residents found traces of blood on the ground in the yard of the house," said Khamayseh.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,083 Palestinians since then, including both gunmen and civilians, per an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, according to which 71 people were killed in 2026.

Official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.

Arab World

Israeli Defense Minister Says ‘No US Demand’ to Withdraw from Lebanon

A man walks past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli airstrikes in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
A man walks past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli airstrikes in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says ‘No US Demand’ to Withdraw from Lebanon

A man walks past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli airstrikes in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
A man walks past the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli airstrikes in the town of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the United States has not demanded that Israel withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, a condition set by Lebanon in ongoing ceasefire negotiations. 

"We have announced that in any case we are not withdrawing and, as of this moment -- and this is a diplomatic achievement -- there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon," Katz said in an interview at a convention of local leaders in Tel Aviv. 

When asked if the army would adhere to such a US request if it was made, Katz said he told US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Donald Trump that "we are there to protect the residents of the north" of Israel. 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun rejected Israel's occupation of the south and foreign interference in his country's affairs -- an allusion to Hezbollah's backer Iran -- as a fifth round of Israel-Lebanon talks began in Washington on Tuesday. 

Tehran has also reiterated that peace in Lebanon was a fundamental pillar of reaching a definitive agreement with Washington for an overall end to the Middle East war. 

Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding last week aimed at reaching a permanent settlement between the two countries, following the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran on February 28. 

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. 

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,100 people, which led to the occupation of a 10-kilometer (six-mile) security zone in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel. 

Israeli officials have insisted that the country will retain control of that zone. 

On Monday, Netanyahu said Israeli forces in Lebanon retained "full freedom of action to thwart any direct or developing threat". 

Israel and Lebanon are currently involved in a US-mediated round of talks in Washington to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict and the disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. 

Arab World

Gaza Reconstruction Bodies to Gather in Cyprus

Tents housing displaced Palestinians stand amid summer heat in Gaza City, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Tents housing displaced Palestinians stand amid summer heat in Gaza City, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Gaza Reconstruction Bodies to Gather in Cyprus

Tents housing displaced Palestinians stand amid summer heat in Gaza City, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Tents housing displaced Palestinians stand amid summer heat in Gaza City, June 20, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Representatives of bodies tasked with Gaza's post-war governance and reconstruction will gather in Cyprus next week, Nicosia and an official with the US-backed Board of Peace said Wednesday, with Israeli media describing the meeting as a chance for a "reset".

The committee of Palestinian technocrats who are meant to assume day-to-day governance of the territory will also attend, a committee member told AFP.

Cypriot government spokesperson Constantinos Letymbiotis said the meeting would take place next Tuesday and Wednesday.

A Board of Peace official told AFP that it "regularly holds internal meetings of its component elements" and the "meeting planned for Cyprus is no different".

The board, he added, "is actively preparing measures to advance reconstruction and governance for the people of Gaza".

The Times of Israel reported that representatives of the various bodies operating under the board's framework would reassess their strategy after a "difficult" first six months that produced few results.

The Israeli news site cited an Arab diplomat and a Palestinian official as describing the gathering as an opportunity to "reset" and "recalibrate".

The Board of Peace was established earlier this year as part of a US-backed ceasefire plan for Gaza endorsed by the UN Security Council.

The initiative aims to facilitate a transition away from Hamas rule while supporting the restoration of civilian administration and basic services.

However progress has been slow, and the Palestinian technocratic committee has yet to even enter Gaza.

The member of the committee said the Cyprus meeting would discuss "the committee's transfer to Gaza and the commencement of its work".

Under the stalled second phase of the US-backed deal, Israel was to gradually pull out of the territory and Hamas was to hand over its weapons, neither of which has happened.