Arab World News

Iraq on Verge of Restructuring Popular Mobilization Forces

Arab World Members of Saraya al-Salam attend a ceremony in Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their integration into Iraq’s security forces. (AFP)

Iraq on Verge of Restructuring Popular Mobilization Forces

The military wing loyal to Sadrist movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr handed over responsibility for security in Samarra to the Iraqi army on Thursday, in a…

Hamza Mustafa (Baghdad)
Arab World The Lebanese and Israeli delegations, along with US State Department representatives, attend the latest round of negotiations in Washington.(AFP)

Israel, Hezbollah Dash Hopes for ‘Last-Chance’ Ceasefire Deal

Israel and Hezbollah have dashed hopes for a “last chance” ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, with Tel Aviv insisting it will continue military operations until a…

Nazir Rida (Beirut)
Arab World Smoke rises near the Beaufort Castle, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 29, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Why Lebanon, Israel Chose Beaufort Castle as Pilot Zone

The ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel provides for the creation of “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army would assume…

Nazeer Rida (Beirut)
Arab World Destroyed buildings resulting from Israeli shelling on Beirut's Southern Suburb, where a Hezbollah flag is raised (EPA)

Hezbollah Rejects Latest Ceasefire Agreement as Israeli Strikes Kill 4 in Lebanon

Hezbollah on Thursday rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government, and the militant group demanded a complete…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A photograph taken from a land corridor that Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 settlement project, near the Arab town of al-Tur in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, shows camels belonging to Bedouins gathered on a hill overlooking the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim (background) on May 31, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Israel Plans Major Settlement Push Across Occupied West Bank

Israel's hardline finance minister announced on Wednesday a major expansion by more than 2,000 homes of three Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank that…

Asharq Al Awsat

Arab World A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy maneuvers within southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 02 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

UNIFIL Peacekeeper Killed in South Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Thursday that a peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded when shelling hit their base in the country's…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World (L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)

Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Deal: Complete Cessation of Hezbollah Attacks, Creation of Pilot Zones

Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday agreed to a new ceasefire following talks mediated by the United States. Under the agreement, Hezbollah is to stop all attacks…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Netanyahu Faces Plunging Support in North Israel as Voters Demand Tougher Lebanon Stance

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces plunging support in the electorally vital north where Hezbollah rocket fire has been heaviest, a new poll has…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World (2L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)

Katz: Israel to Continue Operations in Lebanon for Now Despite Ceasefire

Israel will continue its operations on the ground in southern Lebanon for the time being and Lebanese residents forced from their homes by Israel would not be…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A Palestinian man stands at the site of an Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza City, June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

9 Killed in Strikes in Gaza Overnight, Hospital Says

At least nine Palestinians were killed overnight in strikes in Gaza, according to local hospitals, even as much of the world’s attention was focused on the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Lebanon State Media Reports Israeli Strikes after Conditional Truce Announcement

Lebanese official media reported Israeli strikes on the country's south on Thursday morning, hours after an announcement that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A photograph shows the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in the Burj al-Chamali area near the southern city of Tyre, on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

Israel Far-right Minister Slams Ceasefire with Lebanon as 'Serious Mistake'

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticized on Thursday a ceasefire deal with Lebanon brokered by Washington, calling it a …

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World The Lebanese delegation participating in the Washington talks on Tuesday (Reuters) 

Lebanon’s Shiite Duo Drops Israeli Withdrawal Demand in Ceasefire Talks

Recent statements by Lebanon’s Shiite duo - the Amal Movement and Hezbollah - indicate a tacit acceptance that Israeli forces could remain in Lebanese…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World Members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq take part in a Quds Day march in Baghdad on July 1, 2016. (AP)

Iraq Faces Delayed Showdown with Factions Rejecting State Arms Control

Observers in Baghdad say a long-delayed confrontation may be looming with factions that reject the principle of “placing arms under state control,” a move…

Hamza Mustafa (Baghdad)
Arab World From right, Qassam Brigades leaders assassinated by Israel in separate attacks: Mohammad Odeh, Rafe Salama, Abu Obeida, and Mohammad Deif, in a photo released by the Israeli military. (Israeli military)

Tunnels or Voiceprints: Why Israel Is Killing Qassam Leaders Faster

Throughout Israel’s war on Gaza, from October 2023 until a fragile ceasefire was announced two years later in October 2025, Israel’s pursuit of the leaders of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World People attend a protest in memory of dentist and former chess champion Rania al-Abbasi, her husband, and their children, after National Commission for Missing Persons (NCMP) reports confirmed that her children were killed in Syrian government detention facilities during the rule of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, in Damascus, Syria, June 1, 2026. (Reuters)

Syrians Mourn a Former Chess Champion as Her Death Is Confirmed 13 Years Later

Hundreds of people flocked to a tent in Damascus on Wednesday to mourn a former national chess champion who went missing 13 years ago along with her husband…

Arab World Mourners react during the funeral of brothers Saqer and Moamen ‌Khalil Abu Karim, who were killed in an Israeli strike, according to medics, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, June 3, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli Strikes Kill Three People in Gaza, Medics Say

Israeli strikes killed ‌three Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials said, and the Palestinian group Hamas said an end to such attacks was…

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Arab World This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the village of Arnoun on June 3, 2026. (AFP)

Netanyahu Says He and Trump Share Goal to Disarm Hezbollah, Demilitarize Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he and US President Donald Trump are aligned on the goal of disarming Hezbollah in order to…

Arab World Lebanese soldiers gather near a car hit by an Israeli drone in the Khaldeh area at the southern entrance to Beirut, Lebanon, 03 June 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Israel Carries Out Deadly Strikes Near Beirut, Across Southern Lebanon

Lebanon said an Israeli strike hit a target near Beirut on Wednesday while a medical source told AFP six people were killed as Israel pounded the country's…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World The Coordination Framework expressed its support for government efforts to impose state monopoly over weapons. (X)

Iraq Moving Forward with Imposing State Monopoly over Weapons

Iraq is stepping up its measures to impose state monopoly over weapons with some Shiite armed factions declaring that they were dismantling their military…

Fadhel al-Nashmi (Baghdad)
Arab World President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed the centrality of coordination and consultation between Egypt and America (Egyptian Presidency)

Egypt Stresses Importance of Strengthening Political, Economic Ties with the US

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has stressed Cairo’s “appreciation for the strategic relations binding Egypt and the United States” and called for enhancing…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Arab World Tunisia's Ennahdha party chief Rached Ghannouchi after leaving court. File photo

Tunisia: Ennahdha Leader Ghannouchi Handed Life Imprisonment

Several officials of Tunisia's Ennahdha party, including its chief Rached Ghannouchi, were handed jail sentences on Tuesday ranging from 10 years to life in…

Asharq Al Awsat (Tunis)
Arab World An aerial view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows smoke rising, after Israeli strikes following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanon Launches Safety Audit of Middle East Airlines Amid Pilot Groups’ Complaints

Lebanon's aviation regulator has launched a safety audit of Middle East Airlines (MEA) as pilot groups raised concerns that crews were being asked to fly close…

Arab World 01 June 2026, Syria, Deir Ezzor: A view of the war-damaged buildings in Deir Ezzor. (dpa)

Syria Hopes for Terrorism Delisting to Spur Economic Recovery

The Syrian government is betting that removal from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation in place since 1979, will clear the biggest…

Souad Jarous (Damascus)
Arab World Members of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces parade of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq, participate in a Quds Day march in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, July 1, 2016. (AP)

Iraq’s Asaib Ahl Al-Haq Says It Will Start Handing Its Weapons to the State

One of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed armed groups said Tuesday it would begin putting its weapons under government control, a major step in the new…

Arab World  Rescue workers use excavators, as they search for victims under the rubble of a building that was hit Monday in an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP)

Lebanon’s Berri to Guarantee Hezbollah Respect for ‘Global’ Truce with Israel, Says Adviser

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, will guarantee the Iran-backed group's adherence to a "global ceasefire" with Israel, his…

Arab World Palestinians inspect a vehicle hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP)

Israeli Fire Kills Three People in Gaza, Medics Say

Israeli ‌fire killed at least three Palestinians in separate incidents across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Gaza health officials said. Medics said at…

Arab World An Israeli strike hit near a hospital in south Lebanon's city of Tyre. KAWNAT HAJU / AFP

Israel Kills 8 in Lebanon, a Day After Trump Said Israel and Hezbollah Will De-Escalate

Israeli drone strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed eight people, including two children and their father, a day after US President Donald Trump said…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Families leave Beirut’s southern suburbs after Netanyahu ordered strikes on the area in Lebanon (Asharq Al-Awsat) 

Lebanon Prioritizes Genuine Ceasefire, Ready to Consider a Security Agreement

For the second time, Lebanon’s negotiators are heading to Washington with one primary demand at the top of the agenda: a ceasefire with Israel. The second…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)