Arab World News

Hamas Armed Wing Says Disarmament Calls Are Unacceptable

Arab World 25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)

Hamas Armed Wing Says Disarmament Calls Are Unacceptable

Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday discussing the group's disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire was an…

Arab World This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on April 5, 2026 shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Zelenskyy in Syria to Discuss Security Cooperation with Sharaa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to work for enhanced security in talks on Sunday with his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa, as Kyiv seeks to…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, on April 5, 2026. (AFP)

Israel Renews Lebanon Strikes, Forces Syria Border Crossing Closed

Israeli strikes on south Beirut and its suburbs killed at least four people on Sunday, a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon's main border crossing with…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Palestinians inspect a vehicle targeted by an Israeli strike in Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on April 4, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli Fire Kills Four Palestinians in Gaza, Medics Say

An Israeli airstrike ‌killed four Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health authorities said, in the latest violence to overshadow a…

Arab World  Members of the clergy make their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for prayers on Palm Sunday, following restrictions on gatherings in large groups, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem's Old City April 5, 2026. (Reuters)

Easter in Jerusalem Disrupted by War and Restrictions at Holy Sepulchre

In the usually lively alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City, silence reigned on Easter Sunday, with the holiday overshadowed by war and restrictions on access to…


Arab World This picture taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun on March 29, 2026 shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the outskirts of the village of Yohmor. (Photo by AFP)

Lebanese Soldier Killed in Israeli Strike on Checkpoint

An Israeli strike has killed a Lebanese soldier at a checkpoint in the country's southern Tyre region, Lebanon's military said Monday. "An Israeli attack…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World A view of the Iranian Embassy complex in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 October 2023. (EPA)

Iran Says Its Expelled Ambassador Won’t Leave Lebanon as Political Tensions Soar

Iran on Monday defied Lebanon's expulsion order for its ambassador by saying he would stay, further increasing tensions in a country in the crosshairs of the…

Arab World People inspect the site of a destroyed wheat warehouse following the downing of drones near the US base in Qasrak, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in the Hasakeh countryside, Syria, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)

Syrian Army Reports ‘Large-Scale’ Drone Attack on Bases Near Iraq Border

Syria's military said a large-scale drone attack targeted its bases near the border with Iraq on Monday, the biggest such incident since the start of the…

Arab World Relatives mourn the death of a loved one who was reportedly killed in an overnight Israeli strike, during the funeral of several victims at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Israeli Fire Kills Four in Gaza and the West Bank

An Israeli air strike killed at least three people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, local health officials said, in the latest round of violence since a US…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 

Türkiye Signals Possible Intervention in Northern Iraq over Kurdish Role in Iran War

Türkiye has signaled it could launch a military intervention in northern Iraq similar to its operations in Syria if Kurdish militants join ground fighting…

Saeed Abdulrazek (Ankara)
Arab World Israeli security forces work at the site of an Iranian missile strike, in Beersheba, southern Israel Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

Israel Army Withdraws West Bank Battalion after CNN Journalist Assault

Israel's military said Monday it had pulled a battalion out of the West Bank after a soldier assaulted a CNN photojournalist last week in a village in the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Fighters of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they search for the bodies of Israeli hostages alongside Red Cross workers in Al Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of the Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 05 November 2025.  (EPA)

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Qassam Field Commander Abducted in Gaza

Unidentified gunmen abducted a field commander in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, on Sunday evening in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World Israeli military vehicles on the Lebanese side of the border (EPA)

Israel Opens New Incursion Route from Syria into Lebanon via Mount Hermon

The Israeli army said Sunday that it carried out a cross-border operation from the Syrian side of Mount Hermon toward the “Rous” mountain area inside Lebanese…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 10 March 2026. (EPA)

Strike Hits Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Warning

A strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, AFPTV footage showed, after Israel issued a warning for people in the Hezbollah stronghold to leave. The…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Houthi supporters shout slogans during a rally in solidarity with Iran in Sanaa, Yemen, 27 March 2026. (EPA)

Yemen Govt Condemns Iran’s Escalation after Houthis Join Regional Conflict

The legitimate Yemeni government expressed on Sunday its categorical rejection of Iran’s destabilizing regional policies, accusing Tehran of seeking to drag…

Asharq Al Awsat (Aden)
Arab World 10 March 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with representatives of youth from various initiatives and sectors at the People's Palace in Damascus. Photo: APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Syrian President to Talk War, Migrants on Germany Visit

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is visiting Germany on Monday for talks on the Middle East war, rebuilding his country and Berlin's efforts to send back…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Sudanese refugee children from el-Fashir stand at sunset in the Tine transit camp amid the conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Army, in eastern Chad, November 23, 2025. (Reuters)

RSF Attack Kills at Least 14 in Central Sudan, Group Says

An attack by Sudanese paramilitaries and their allied rebels in the central region of Kordofan killed at least 14 people, including five children and two women…

Arab World United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP)

Indonesian UN Peacekeeper Killed, Some Injured in Southern Lebanon

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said a peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Iranian Ambassador to Syria Mohammad Reza Sheibani, shows his ink-stained finger as he votes in the first round of the Iranian presidential election on June 14, 2013 at the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus. (AFP)

Report: Iran’s Ambassador Won’t Leave Lebanon Despite Expulsion

Iran's ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source told…

Arab World Israeli army soldiers walk next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (AFP)

Netanyahu Says Israel Will Widen Its Invasion of Southern Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called…

Arab World A satellite image shows Bab el-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, February 27, 2026. (2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters)

France Condemns Houthis for Entering Middle East War

France condemned on Sunday two attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants on Israeli targets, accusing them of escalating tension in the Middle East by entering the…

Arab World Egyptian former Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy. (Asharq Al-Awsat file)

Arab Foreign Ministers Name Nabil Fahmy as Arab League Chief

Arab foreign ministers on Sunday appointed veteran Egyptian diplomat Nabil Fahmy as the head of the 22-member Arab League, at a time the Middle East is plunged…

Arab World People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)

American University of Beirut Moves to Online Learning After Iran Threats

The American University of Beirut on Sunday said it would operate remotely over the next two days, following the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' threat to target…

Arab World  Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, sits inside the Church of All Nations on the day of a prayer service to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem on March 29, 2026, following the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives amid restrictions on gathering in large groups and the US-Israeli war on Iran. (AFP)

Israeli Police Prevent Catholic Leaders from Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at Jerusalem Church

The Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass on the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday for the…

Arab World A woman stands amid Hezbollah flags on March 29, 2026, in the Choueifat area on the outskirts of Beirut during the funeral of journalists killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon. (AFP)

Funerals Held in Lebanon for Three Journalists Killed in Israeli Strike

The funeral took place on Sunday in Lebanon of three journalists killed by an Israeli strike on the south the previous day, an attack which Beirut called a …

Arab World  Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual casts his vote in the 1997 parliamentary elections. (AFP)

Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual Dies

Algeria announced three days of national mourning on Sunday after the death of 84-year-old Liamine Zeroual, the former soldier who served as the country's…

Arab World UNICEF says the war has left almost half a million students out of school in Lebanon. Anwar AMRO / AFP

Lebanon Kids Struggle to Keep Up Studies as War Slams School Doors Shut

In a classroom turned shelter for displaced families, teenager Ahmad Melhem follows a recorded lesson on a tablet as the war between Hezbollah and Israel…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Israeli soldiers aboard a military vehicle at the Lebanese border (Reuters). 

Israel and Hezbollah Shift to Multi-Dimensional Warfare

The ongoing confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah is taking on a new character, with both sides moving beyond the largely conventional fighting seen in…

Youssef Diab (Beirut)
Arab World In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)

Syria Says Repelled Drone Attack From Iraq on US Base

Syria's assistant defense minister said Sunday that his country's forces had repelled a drone attack from neighboring Iraq targeting one of Syria's last US…