Arab World News

Aoun Says Future Deal Will Not Cede Lebanese Territory, Country No Longer ‘Arena for Anyone’s Wars’

Arab World A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Lebanese Presidency)

Aoun Says Future Deal Will Not Cede Lebanese Territory, Country No Longer ‘Arena for Anyone’s Wars’

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that any future deal reached by the government would not cede any ‌territory or ‌undermine Lebanon's…

Arab World A woman walks next to an ambulance at the site of an Israeli strike carried out before a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, in Tyre, Lebanon, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)

Hezbollah Tallies Its Dead from Israel War, Estimates Exceed 1,000

Hezbollah said its fighters would “keep their fingers on the trigger” hours after a ceasefire took effect between Lebanon and Israel, warning it would not stay…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World A satellite image of Gaza port. (Reuters  file)

Secret Israeli Ministerial Talks under US Pressure Discuss Vision of ‘New Gaza’

Israeli media sources said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two secret meetings of senior officials across several ministries, under US pressure, to…

Asharq Al Awsat (Tel Aviv)
Arab World Komala party members look towards the debris is strewn from mangled structures following drone strikes on the Iranian Kurdish opposition Komala party's Sordash camp, which resulted in the death of a female party member and the injury of two others, some 40 km northwest of the city of Sulaymaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region on April 15, 2026. (AFP)

Strikes Kill 3 Iranian Kurds in Northern Iraq, Says Opposition Group

Drone and rocket strikes in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region on Friday killed three Iranian Kurds, including two women fighters, an exiled opposition group…

Arab World Kosovo Security Forces parade during celebrations to mark the 18th anniversary of independence, in Pristina, Kosovo, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)

Kosovo Lawmakers Approve Proposed Gaza Troop Deployment

Kosovo's parliament on Friday passed a law authorizing the potential deployment of a small number of troops to Gaza as part of a peacekeeping force proposed by…


Arab World A Lebanese army soldier stands next to a destroyed residential building the day after an Israeli airstrike in the Ain Mreisseh neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, 09 April 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Israeli Security Cabinet to Discuss Possible Lebanon Ceasefire, Senior Official Says

Israel's security cabinet will convene on Wednesday to discuss a possible Lebanon ceasefire, a senior Israeli official said, more than five weeks into a war…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A photograph taken from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon shows destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon on April 15, 2026.(Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Hezbollah Escalates Politically and Militarily Over Lebanon-Israel Talks

Hezbollah is responding to direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, under US sponsorship, on two tracks: political and military. Politically, it is…

Soubhi Amhaz (Beirut)
Arab World Displaced children queue to get toys at a shelter in Tyre, south Lebanon, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)

UNHCR Chief Calls for ‘Urgent’ Support to Lebanon During War

United Nations refugee chief Barham Salih on Wednesday called on the international community to provide urgent support to Lebanon, with a fifth of the country…

Arab World First responders and security forces work at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle the Lebanese town of Jiyyeh, south of Beirut, on April 15, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli Army Strikes South of Beirut as Hezbollah Launches Rockets at Israel

Two Israeli strikes on Wednesday hit vehicles south of Beirut, state media reported, while Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, hours after Lebanon and Israel…

Arab World People gather as prisoners from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrive after being released under an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government, in Hasakeh, Syria, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)

Damascus to Take Over Prisons under SDF Control

Syrian authorities are set to take control of prisons run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a government official said, as part of efforts to resolve the…

Asharq Al Awsat (Damascus)
Arab World Middle East Airlines aircraft sit on the tarmac at Beirut's Rafic Hariri airport on April 10, 2026. (AFP)

International Airlines Resume Beirut Flights with US Assurances

Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport began recovering on Tuesday from the fallout of the Iran war, as international airlines resumed flights to the…

Nazeer Rida
Arab World A street in Khartoum. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Khartoum Streets Bear Deep Scars as Sudan War Enters Fourth Year

Sudan’s war enters its fourth year on Wednesday after three years of bitter fighting that have reshaped life for millions, not only in casualty figures but in…

Asharq Al Awsat (Khartoum)
Arab World A convoy carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, after it was reopened by Israel on Sunday for a limited number of people, rides through Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)

For First Time in Two Months, 323 Trucks Enter Gaza in One Day

For the first time in two months, the Gaza Strip has seen a sharp increase in trucks carrying aid and commercial goods, alongside a rise in travelers crossing…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World  A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on April 14, 2026. (AFP)

After Three Years of War, Sudan in Shambles as Donors Gather in Berlin

The vast majority of Sudanese people have been plunged into poverty, with 11 million uprooted from their homes and nearly twice as many facing hunger as the…

Arab World  Israeli military armored vehicles operate in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in northern Israel, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Canada, UK, Australia and Japan Call for ‘Urgent End to Hostilities in Lebanon’

Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan and six other countries condemned the killings of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Tuesday while calling "for an urgent end to…

Arab World US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) speaks during a meeting with Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad (2R) and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (2L) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanon and Israel Hold First Direct Diplomatic Talks in Decades in Washington

Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington following more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran…

Arab World A father holds the body of his three‑year‑old child, Yahya Al‑Malahi, who was killed in an Israeli strike, according to medics, during his funeral in Gaza City, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli Fire Kills Six in Gaza, Including Two Children, Medics Say

Israeli fire killed at least six Palestinians, including two children, in separate incidents across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, local health officials said, in…

Arab World (L/R) US State Department Counselor Michael Needham, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter stand together before meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)

US Hosts Lebanese and Israeli Envoys as Israel Presses War on Hezbollah

Lebanese and Israeli envoys met in Washington on Tuesday as Israel pressed its war on Iran-backed Hezbollah, a diplomatic milestone overshadowed by conflicting…

Arab World US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)

Iraq Hands Over Two Cleared ISIS Suspects to US, Finland

Iraq's judiciary said Tuesday it had handed over two detained foreigners, from Finland and the United States, to their countries after finding that had not…

Arab World Saddam Najwa, a malnourished, 17-month-old internally displaced child reaches out for a cup of water at the paediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel, near Kauda, within the Sudan's People Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) controlled area of the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

UN Official: War Pushes Seven in 10 Sudanese Into Poverty

Around seven in 10 people in Sudan are now living in poverty, a senior UN official told AFP on Tuesday, nearly twice as many as before the war between the army…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World 02 November 2025, Iraq, Najaf: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during a campaign rally of his Reconstruction and Development Coalition in Najaf. (dpa)

Iraq's Coordination Framework Close to Naming Candidate for PM's Post

Iraq's pro-Iran Coordination Framework is leaning towards nominating Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for a second term days after the election of Nizar…

Fadhel al-Nashmi (Baghdad)
Arab World  German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz attends the CDU's leadership meeting at the party's headquarters in Berlin, on April 13, 2026. (AFP)

Germany’s Merz Urges Netanyahu to End Lebanon Fighting

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to end fighting in southern Lebanon and engage in direct peace talks…

Arab World Israeli army excavators demolish buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 13 April 2026. (EPA)

Hezbollah Leader Asks Lebanon to Cancel Tuesday Meeting with Israel

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, reiterating his group's rejection of direct…

Arab World 13 July 1995, Saxony-Anhalt, Karsdorf: French cement manufacturer Lafarge logo pictured in Karsdorf on railroad containers. (dpa)

French Cement Maker Lafarge Found Guilty of Financing Extremists in Syria

A Paris court on Monday found cement maker Holcim's Lafarge unit guilty of charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European…

Arab World A handout photo made available by the Lebanese Presidency press office shows Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaking during a news conference after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 13 April 2026. (EPA/Lebanese Presidency)

Israel Summons Italy Envoy Over Comments on Lebanon Attacks

Israel summoned Italy's ambassador Monday to protest after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemned Israel's "unacceptable attacks" on civilians in Lebanon…

Arab World  13 April 2026, Palestinian Territories, Hebron: Members of Red Crescent surround Palestinian children from Khirbet Umm al-Khair after Israeli settlers blocked the only road to their schools. (dpa)

Israeli Troops Fire Tear Gas at Palestinian Schoolchildren in West Bank

Israeli forces fired tear gas at Palestinian schoolchildren staging a sit-in on Monday in the occupied West Bank, AFP footage showed, after settlers blocked…

Arab World  12 April 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: People and civil defense workers search for human remains amid the debris of a collapsed building following an Israeli air strike at the Beirut seafront. (dpa)

Israel Army Ups Hezbollah Death Toll from April 8 Strikes to Over 250

Israel's military said Monday that a massive wave of strikes in Lebanon last week killed five Hezbollah commanders, as well as more than 250 of the Iran-backed…

Arab World Lebanese Red Cross volunteers inspect the damage to their rescue vehicles at the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted their headquarters in the southern city of Tyre on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

Red Cross Calls Attacks on Medical Workers in Lebanon 'Gravely Concerning'

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned by attacks on medical workers in Lebanon after a deadly strike on a Red Cross center…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Destroyed buildings in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in northern Israel, April 13, 2026. REUTERS/Florion Goga

Israel Presses Assault on Lebanon Border Town Ahead of US-Hosted Talks

Israeli troops launched an attack on Monday to seize a key town in south Lebanon from Hezbollah fighters holed up there, pressing the war on the Iran-backed…

Asharq Al Awsat