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Arab World

Palestinian Authority Says It Is Ready to Operate Rafah Crossing 

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid prepared by the Egyptian Red Crescent, which are to enter the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, line up, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, in Al-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, October 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid prepared by the Egyptian Red Crescent, which are to enter the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, line up, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, in Al-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, October 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Palestinian Authority Says It Is Ready to Operate Rafah Crossing 

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid prepared by the Egyptian Red Crescent, which are to enter the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, line up, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, in Al-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, October 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid prepared by the Egyptian Red Crescent, which are to enter the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, line up, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, in Al-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, October 14, 2025. (Reuters)

The Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday it is prepared to operate a key crossing for aid between Egypt and Gaza, while raising concerns about who will pay for the reconstruction of the devastated enclave after two years of war. 

"Now we are ready to engage again, and we have notified all parties that we are ready to operate the Rafah crossing," said Mohammad Shtayyeh, special envoy to President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. 

The Palestinian Authority expects a significant role in post-war Gaza, Palestinian officials say, even though President Donald Trump's plan to end the war sidelines it for now. 

Arab countries have been pushing for the PA to have some role, but there is no approval for that in the ceasefire plan agreed by Israel and Hamas, before the PA introduces reforms. 

The Israeli military in May 2024 took control of the Palestinian side of Gaza's southern Rafah crossing which borders Egypt and which has been central for the delivery of aid and the exit of injured people in the Gaza war. 

Israel resumed preparations to open the crossing on Wednesday after a dispute over the return of the bodies of dead hostages that had threatened to derail the ceasefire deal with Hamas. 

COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza, said "the date for opening the crossing for the movement of people only will be announced later," in a statement to Reuters. Aid trucks rolled into Gaza through other crossings. 

Shtayyeh said an agreement with the EU Border Assistance Mission to help the PA manage the Rafah crossing effectively, which was paused in March as hostilities recommenced, is still valid. 

"The agreement is there, and I think now it's in the final shape of putting all the bits and pieces together for it to function," he told reporters in Geneva on a visit to Switzerland where he met Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. 

GAZA RECONSTRUCTION 

Shtayyeh expressed concern about the reconstruction of Gaza, which could cost at least $70 billion, according to UN estimates. 

"I am a bit worried about the issue of reconstruction. We need to compete with the reconstruction of Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, with many countries," he said. 

"We can teach in tents, but we need water. We need electricity and we need food in order for us to enable our people to stay there," he said. 

Huge swathes of Gaza have been reduced to a wasteland by Israeli bombardment over two years that killed nearly 68,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. 

Britain, France, European Union, Japan and Switzerland have said they are ready to support Gaza's reconstruction. 

"They (Switzerland) notified me yesterday that they will be ready to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza," Shtayyeh said. 

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Arab World

Will Lebanon Be the Biggest Loser After the Ceasefire?

Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)
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Will Lebanon Be the Biggest Loser After the Ceasefire?

Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)

Political sources in Beirut warned Lebanon could emerge as the biggest loser when the current regional war ends, outlining their concerns to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Lebanon is heading toward a severe internal crisis, the sharpest in its modern history with the dispute centering on Hezbollah’s weapons.

The majority of Shiites in the country insists on keeping them, while most other segments say Lebanon’s survival depends on implementing government decisions to limit arms to the state, in line with Lebanese, Arab, and international positions.

The sources noted that Hezbollah has again entered a regional war it cannot influence, risking burdens Lebanon cannot bear.

Hefty price

The war is proving costly for those involved and for countries hit by its spillover.

A ceasefire would likely show Iran suffered heavy damage to its defense, industrial sectors, and infrastructure, potentially setting it back decades. But its size, energy resources, and experience with economic hardship may help it manage the aftermath, unless losses destabilize the system.

Iranian missiles are expected to have caused damage to Israeli institutions and infrastructure, despite a high interception rate. The cost of interception is steep, but Israel appears ready to absorb it, calling the conflict an existential war and relying on strong US support.

Lebanon will struggle the most. Its economy is already near collapse. The country faces a catastrophic situation, with about one million displaced and heavy destruction along the border with Israel.

Israel has said it intends to establish a “buffer zone” inside Lebanese territory, signaling a return of occupation to parts of the country “pending guarantees for the safety of Galilee residents.”

The most dangerous scenario is that Israel’s campaign on the Lebanese front continues even if a ceasefire is reached between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.

The fallout is worsened by a deepening rift among Lebanon’s components, raising the risk of internal conflict.

The role of parliament Speaker Nabih Berri appears diminished as the conflict widens. The current crisis over the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador reflects a deeper divide between the Shiite camp and others over weapons, the war, and Lebanon’s regional role.

Hezbollah described the expulsion as a “sin”, demanding that the government reverse it.

‘Impossible to coexist’

Voices are rising in Lebanon, warning that it was “impossible to coexist” between a “quasi-state” and a “Hezbollah’s statelet.”

Countries that once backed Lebanon’s reconstruction, especially in the Gulf, are now focused on their own losses from Iranian attacks. They have also made clear that they will not help unless the Lebanese state takes full control over decisions of war and peace.

The sources reiterated their warning that Lebanon risks being the biggest loser, especially if Israel expands its ground offensive and internal divisions deepen to the point of questioning the country’s very formula of coexistence.

Arab World

Netanyahu Says Israel Is Expanding ‘Buffer Zone’ in Lebanon

Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)
Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Expanding ‘Buffer Zone’ in Lebanon

Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)
Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his country's forces were expanding a "buffer zone" in southern Lebanon as the military pressed ahead with its campaign against Hezbollah.

"We have created a genuine security zone preventing any infiltration toward the Galilee and the northern border," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"We are expanding this zone to push the threat from anti-tank missiles further away and to establish a broader buffer zone."

Netanyahu said that dismantling Hezbollah "remains central" to Israel's objectives in Lebanon.

"It is connected to the broader confrontation with Iran," he said.

"We are determined to profoundly transform the situation in Lebanon," he added.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Arab World

Strike on Western Iraq Kills Seven Security Personnel

Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Strike on Western Iraq Kills Seven Security Personnel

Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)

A strike on a base in western Iraq killed seven security personnel, the defense ministry said Wednesday, a day after an attack on the same base targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces.

"This resulted in the death of seven of our heroic fighters and the injury of 13 others," the ministry said of the strike in Anbar province, saying it specifically targeted the base's military healthcare clinic.

Rescue operations were ongoing, it added.

The base hosts Iraqi police, soldiers from the regular army and PMF, a security official told AFP.

It was hit by a deadly strike on Tuesday that the former paramilitaries blamed on the United States.

Iraq said late on Tuesday it would summon the US charge d'affaires and the Iranian ambassador after deadly strikes blamed on their countries, as Iraqi authorities granted the targeted groups the "right to respond".

Iraq has been pulled into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the region.

Iraq has long been a proxy battleground for the United States and Iran, and has struggled to balance diplomatic ties with both countries.

Since the war began, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups, including state-linked positions.

In the statement from the prime minister's office, however, Iraq granted former paramilitaries within the official armed forces the right to "respond to military attacks" by drones and aircraft that targeted their headquarters.