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Lebanese Stance on Border Dispute with Israel Enables More Talks, US Mediator Says

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, center, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, February 9, 2022. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, center, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, February 9, 2022. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)
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Lebanese Stance on Border Dispute with Israel Enables More Talks, US Mediator Says

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, center, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, February 9, 2022. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, center, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, February 9, 2022. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)

Indirect negotiations to resolve a maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Israel will be bolstered by a proposal Lebanese officials presented to a US mediator in Beirut on Tuesday, Washington's envoy said.

"I think that it will enable negotiations to go forward," mediator Amos Hochstein said in an interview with US-based Al-Hurra TV, responding to a question about the Lebanese government's position.

Hochstein landed in Beirut on Monday at the invitation of Lebanon's government, which had objected to the arrival of a vessel operated by London-based Energean (ENOG.L) off the Mediterranean coast on June 5 to develop a gas field known as Karish.

Israel says Karish is in its exclusive economic zone, but Lebanon says the field is in contested waters and should not be developed until the two countries conclude talks to delineate their maritime boundary.

"We're in a delicate place to try to get the sides to narrow the gaps and get to a place where they can reach an agreement," Hochstein said after meetings with Lebanon's president, parliament speaker and caretaker prime minister.

"I think that's crucial for Lebanon and quite frankly crucial for Israel," he said, adding he would take Lebanon's proposal to Israeli officials and then circle back to Lebanese authorities once he had a response.

Maritime boundary talks hit an impasse last year when Lebanon expanded its claim further south from a boundary known as "Line 23" to "Line 29," adding around 1,400 square km (540 square miles), including part of Karish.

Hochstein suggested a line that would create an S-shaped boundary - partly along Line 23, and partly to the north of it - instead of a straight line, but Lebanon did not officially agree to the proposal.

The proposal would have given all of Karish to Israel and most of the so-called Qana prospect - an area with the potential for a commercially-viable gas find - to Lebanon.

Lebanese officials were going instead to ask for Line 23 plus a bit more to the south, three Lebanese officials with knowledge of the talks told Reuters on Monday.

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Arab World

Incubator Shortages, Premature Births Strain Gaza's Hospitals

The war in Gaza has devastated the territory's healthcare system, leaving premature babies even more vulnerable. BASHAR TALEB / AFP
The war in Gaza has devastated the territory's healthcare system, leaving premature babies even more vulnerable. BASHAR TALEB / AFP
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Incubator Shortages, Premature Births Strain Gaza's Hospitals

The war in Gaza has devastated the territory's healthcare system, leaving premature babies even more vulnerable. BASHAR TALEB / AFP
The war in Gaza has devastated the territory's healthcare system, leaving premature babies even more vulnerable. BASHAR TALEB / AFP

As monitors beep and doctors consult near them, two tiny newborns lie silently side-by-side, sharing a single incubator in a southern Gaza hospital running short on space and supplies.

Gaza's youngest already face an extremely precarious entry into the world, given the dire humanitarian situation in the war-shattered territory that borders Israel and Egypt, reported AFP.

But for babies needing specialist care, such as those born prematurely, the road ahead is even more perilous.

"The situation is dire: there is no oxygen available for them, nor is there any spare incubators in the hospital," said Hatem Dhahir, head of the neonatal department at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

"We're trying to transfer them to other hospitals, but they're always full and the situation is very bad. Most of the children need oxygen and are very underweight, and things are going from bad to worse," he told AFP.

The war between Israel and Hamas has devastated the Palestinian territory's healthcare system, with many medical facilities rendered completely or partially unusable.

Ongoing Israeli restrictions on goods entering the Gaza Strip mean medical supplies and specialist equipment are also running low.

Israel says it is preventing the entry of items that could also have military use as it accuses Hamas -- which carried out the worst-ever attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 -- of plotting further violence.

Dhahir said Nasser hospital had seen a significant increase in the number of premature births in recent months, as well as twins and triplets.

The influx was forcing staff to place two or even three babies in each incubator, he said.

In March, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said that one in three pregnancies in Gaza were high-risk and 70 percent of newborns were premature or underweight.

Incubator sharing significantly increased mortality risks, it said.

- 'No room' -

Nearly the entirety of Gaza's population was displaced at least once during the devastating war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The fighting flattened swathes of the territory, left hundreds of thousands of people living in tents and temporary shelters and shattered vital infrastructure such as sanitation and access to safe water.

Despite a US-backed ceasefire declared in October 2025, the Israeli military continues to target Palestinians it says are militants.

A UN-mandated inquiry published in June said that severe shortages of food, medical supplies, fuel and the collapse of healthcare services had an enormous impact on maternal health.

"Against this background, rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, low-birthweight infants and congenital defects have increased," the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry said.

Heart conditions were among three types of congenital defects to have particularly increased, the commission said, citing medical practitioners.

In southern Gaza, Mona Ahmad was accompanying a baby taken to Nasser hospital in late August and diagnosed with a serious congenital defect in which the heart's two main blood vessels are switched in position.

"We received a final report stating that the baby was suffering from transposed arteries and needed to be transferred, as there was absolutely no treatment available for her here," Ahmad told AFP.

"The baby spent a full week in the neonatal unit and was discharged because there was no room for her there," she added.

In a bid to revive Gaza's neonatal care system, the UN children's agency UNICEF has scaled up its work to supply medical equipment such as incubators, ventilators and monitors to hospitals.

Including work that began before the ceasefire, UNICEF has supplied 93 incubators to six facilities across the Gaza Strip.

But challenges remain immense and more needs to be done, said Toby Fricker, chief of advocacy and communications for UNICEF Palestine, following a visit to a neonatal intensive care unit in the territory.

For now, "through the pure... resilience of the doctors, of people, things are working," he said.

Arab World

Fidan Says Turkish President to Visit Syria Soon

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani holds a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus, Syria, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani holds a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus, Syria, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Fidan Says Turkish President to Visit Syria Soon

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani holds a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus, Syria, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani holds a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus, Syria, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would visit Syria soon, saying the two countries will hold intense and comprehensive meetings covering political, economic and military issues.

Fidan made the announcement during a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani in Damascus.

Fidan described Erdogan’s upcoming visit as an important step during which decisions and measures taken by the Joint Higher Committee would be reviewed, reported Syria’s state news agency SANA.

The committee would be jointly chaired, meet regularly and operate through a permanent secretariat, with specialized sectoral committees supporting its work, he added.

Its agenda would include energy, refugee returns, education and culture, he went on to say.

Al-Shaibani noted that Syria had developed a comprehensive program for organized refugee returns, providing housing, employment and transportation services under Syrian management and linked to reconstruction projects in areas of origin.

He said Syria was close to reopening its embassy in Ankara, describing it as an important step in strengthening relations.

Fidan stressed that Syrian-Turkish relations had made significant progress and that Syria’s stability was important not only for the Syrian people but for the wider region.

Türkiye viewed Syria’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity as essential, he stated, adding that all armed elements should integrate under state institutions.

Moreover, Fidan described the decision regarding the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an important step, saying positive developments in Syria would contribute to regional stability.

Al-Shaibani said the press conference, held days after talks between the two sides in Ankara, reflected the rapidly expanding partnership between Syria and Türkiye and the strategic direction pursued by both countries.

He said Türkiye was among the first countries to reopen its embassy in Damascus and border crossings and supply lines following the ouster of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024, adding that Ankara also played a leading role in international forums calling for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the Syrian people.

Al-Shaibani said Türkiye’s position at a pivotal moment would remain part of Syria’s national memory, adding that Damascus and Ankara had advanced their partnership through dozens of meetings at presidential and ministerial levels.

He said the two countries had signed 40 agreements and memoranda of understanding and established an institutional network linking 22 Syrian ministries and agencies with their Turkish counterparts.

He said Syria and Türkiye aim to increase bilateral trade from nearly $4 billion last year to $10 billion through production partnerships, local content, Syrian employment and joint industrial zones along the border.

The minister said the two sides were also working toward a comprehensive energy strategy covering gas, electricity and power-grid interconnection.

Fidan said Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat’s recent visit to Damascus and Aleppo with a delegation of businesspeople focused on increasing investments and expanding trade, particularly in the energy sector.

He said Syria would play a pivotal role in connecting Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries and Iraq with Türkiye and the Mediterranean.

Arab World

Iraq Border Crossings with Iran Reopen

Stranded Iranians and Iraqis wait at the Iraq-Iran border following the Iraqi government's decision to close the Shalamsheh border crossing in the southern Basra province on September 12, 2026. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP)
Stranded Iranians and Iraqis wait at the Iraq-Iran border following the Iraqi government's decision to close the Shalamsheh border crossing in the southern Basra province on September 12, 2026. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP)
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Iraq Border Crossings with Iran Reopen

Stranded Iranians and Iraqis wait at the Iraq-Iran border following the Iraqi government's decision to close the Shalamsheh border crossing in the southern Basra province on September 12, 2026. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP)
Stranded Iranians and Iraqis wait at the Iraq-Iran border following the Iraqi government's decision to close the Shalamsheh border crossing in the southern Basra province on September 12, 2026. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP)

Iraqi authorities said passenger traffic had resumed at key border crossings with Iran after being closed Saturday following drone attacks launched from Iraq that closed Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline.

Baghdad acknowledged that the attack had originated from Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had ordered specific dates to be set for reopening three border crossings with Iran: Shalamcheh, Mandali, and Al-Sheeb, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said.

The three border crossings are located in the provinces of Basra, Maysan, and Mandali.

The attacks against Saudi Arabia were carried out from near the Al-Sheeb border crossing in Maysan province, prompting the prime minister to dismiss the commander in charge of Maysan and place the heads of its security agencies under his direct command, while referring them for investigation.

Analysts said the border closures amounted to an unprecedented “warning message” to Iran, as Iraqi authorities tightened security and launched investigations into violations at the crossings.