Arab World News

Former Syrian Regime Officer Arrested

Arab World Syrian Ministry of Interior in Damascus (Official Website)

Former Syrian Regime Officer Arrested

Syria's Interior Ministry announced on Saturday the arrest of a former officer in Bashar al-Assad's regime holding the rank of major general and accused of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Damascus )
Arab World Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah Says Message from Iran Shows it 'Will Not Give up' on Group

Hezbollah said Saturday that a message from Tehran showed that Iran would not abandon the Lebanese militant group and that the Islamic republic's latest…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)

South Lebanon Hospital Damaged in Israeli Strikes

Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon on Saturday, hours after overnight raids on the country's south and east, including one that damaged a hospital, its chief…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli Strike Kills Five Gaza Police Officers

An Israeli strike killed five police officers in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, said a hospital and the Palestinian territory's police force, which…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World This picture taken on May 21, 2026 shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Mayfadoun. (Photo by AFP)

Israel Warns of Imminent Strikes on 10 Lebanese Villages

Israel warned the residents of 10 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately to avoid planned air strikes against alleged Hezbollah…

Asharq Al Awsat

Arab World A photograph shows a fire at the site of a drone strike in Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaymaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region late on March 3, 2026. (AFP)

Erbil Stresses it Does Not Want to Get Involved in Conflict with Tehran

A prominent Kurdish security official denied on Monday the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) repeated claims that the Iraqi Kurdistan Region had…

Fadhel al-Nashmi (Baghdad)
Arab World Yasser Abbas, newly-elected member of Fatah's central committee, poses for a picture at his office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on May 18, 2026. (AFP)

Palestinian President's Son Vows to Put 'Gaza First'

The son of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said Fatah would prioritize Gaza and return it "to the fold of Palestinian legitimacy", the day after…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)

Houthis Sentence 19 to Death for Fighting for Yemen’s Legitimate Govt

A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen has sentenced 19 people to death after their conviction for fighting for the legitimate government. Sunday's verdict,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Aden)
Arab World  Judge Sarah Netburn presides as Mohammad Al-Saadi, accused of planning an attack on a synagogue, appears in federal court in Manhattan, New York, US, May 15, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters)

Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Denies Link to Man Charged in US

The Iran-backed Iraqi group Kataib Hezbollah, denied on Monday that a man accused of plotting attacks in the United States and Europe was a member of the group…

Arab World Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Zibdin in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon on May 18, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanon Death Toll Reaches 3,000 in Fighting Between Israel and Hezbollah

The death toll in the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has surpassed 3,000, Lebanon's health ministry said…

Arab World Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents in the Gaza Strip, pictured in January, and conditions remain dire despite the ceasefire. Bashar Taleb / AFP/File

UN Demands Israel Prevent 'Genocide' in Gaza

The United Nations demanded Monday that Israel take measures to prevent acts of "genocide" in Gaza, and decried indications of "ethnic cleansing" in the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh - Reuters

Syria to Join G7 Finance Talks in Paris in Sign of Growing Status

Syria will take part in a closed-door session with G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in Paris on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World FILE PHOTO: Guard standing near an image of Syria's Bashar al-Assad at the fourth division headquarters in Damascus, Syria, January 23, 2025 REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar/File Photo

EU Renews Restrictions on People Involved in former Syria Administration under Assad

The European Union has decided to renew restrictions on individuals and entities linked to the former Syrian administration run by Bashar al-Assad, who was…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (AP - file photo)

Lebanon President Says He Will Do the 'Impossible' to Stop War with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that he would do the "impossible" in order to stop the war with Israel, after a ceasefire and direct talks between…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Boats belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying activists and humanitarian aid, depart for Gaza from the port of Marmaris, Türkiye, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in an attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade. (AP)

Gaza Aid Flotilla Says Israeli Forces Intercepted 28 Boats, Remaining Ships Continuing

The organizers of a flotilla of aid vessels bound for Gaza said on Monday that Israeli forces had intercepted 28 of their boats in the eastern Mediterranean,…

Arab World Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents in the Gaza Strip, pictured in January, and conditions remain dire despite the ceasefire. Bashar Taleb / AFP/File

Carrying Gaza Children's Dreams to the Top of the World

Climber Mostafa Salameh is carrying a kite scribbled with dreams of Gaza's children to the summit of Mount Everest, seeking to raise awareness of the war's…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A woman carries the body of six-month-old Mariam Fahs during her funeral after she was killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Saksakiyeh (AP) 

Is Anger at Iran Beginning to Spread Among Lebanon’s Shiites?

Growing frustration is emerging within Lebanon’s Shiite community, extending beyond the traditional political discourse of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to…

Caroline Akoum (Beirut)
Arab World This handout photograph released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 16, 2026 shows Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) shaking hands with US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack before their meeting at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)

Sharaa, Barrack Discuss Syrian, Regional Developments

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack hailed on Sunday the “remarkable” progress that has been achieved in Syria over the past year…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Arab World  Palestinians attend the funeral of Ezzedine Al-Haddad, commander of Hamas's armed wing, and his daughter and wife in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP)

Israel PM Says Close to Killing All Architects of October 7 Attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel had almost completed a key goal of the war in Gaza -- eliminating all those responsible for…

Arab World 17 May 2026, Lebanon, Tyre: Smoke from an Israeli air raid billows from the village of Zibqin. (dpa)

Lebanon Says Israeli Strikes Kill 7 Including an ‘Islamic Jihad’ Commander

Israeli strikes killed seven people in Lebanon on Sunday, including an "Islamic Jihad commander", Lebanese authorities and state media said, despite a fragile…

Arab World Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of Capt. Maoz Israel Recanati, who was killed in a Lebanese drone attack in southern Lebanon, at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israel’s Army Wants a ‘Political Breakthrough' for Its War in Lebanon

Israel has widened its military operations against Lebanon’s Iran-back Hezbollah group while Israeli media outlets have published leaks from the military…

Nazir Magally (Tel Aviv)
Arab World Mourners carry a body during the funeral of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli strike, according to medics, in Gaza City, May 17, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Israeli Strikes Kill Five People in Gaza

Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, health officials said, as ceasefire efforts meant to end fighting between Israel…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Choukine on May 17, 2026. Photo by Abbas FAKIH / AFP

Israel Strikes Lebanon as Hezbollah Calls Talks 'Dead End'

Israel struck eastern and southern Lebanon on Sunday, state media reported, despite a fragile ceasefire as Hezbollah called US-brokered talks between the two…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with his son Yasser in Ramallah, West Bank, on May 28, 2018 (Reuters file photo)

Palestinian President's Son Elected to Top Fatah Leadership Body

The son of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won a seat on Fatah's top decision-making body on Sunday, as initial results emerged from the Palestinian…

Asharq Al Awsat (Ramallah)
Arab World Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip (AFP)

Gaza Talks Face Fallout from Haddad Killing

An Egyptian source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that mediators were continuing their efforts to implement the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and that…

Mohamed Mahmoud (Cairo)
Arab World A bulldozer clears debris from outside a damaged building after an overnight Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre (AFP)

Lebanon Seeks Real Ceasefire from Early Monday

Lebanon will test before dawn on Monday whether Israel will honor a ceasefire and halt attacks on civilians and civilian facilities, and whether Hezbollah will…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Arab World A photo released by the US Justice Department shows Mohammed Baqer al-Saadi after his arrest (US Justice Department)

Full Story of Al-Saadi’s Arrest; an Iraqi who Coordinated Attacks Across 3 Continents

The arrest by the US authorities of Kataib Hezbollah figure Mohammed Baqer al-Saadi has drawn renewed attention to the faction’s role in cross-border…

Fadhel al-Nashmi
Arab World File photo: Algerian and French flags flutter ahead of the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron, in Algiers, Algeria August 25, 2022. (Reuters)

France's Justice Minister to Visit Algeria amid Diplomatic Thaw

France's justice minister will head to Algeria next week to discuss improving cooperation and the fate of a detained French journalist, his office said…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World TOPSHOT - A photograph taken from the southern area of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the area of Ras Al-Ain on May 12, 2026. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP)

Israel Strikes South Lebanon Day After Ceasefire Extension

Israel launched a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, despite the extension of the truce between the two countries. Israel says it is…

Asharq Al Awsat