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Hezbollah Dampens Mood in Lebanon-Israel Marine Border Talks by Slamming US

US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, second left, sits next to US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, first left, as they meet with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, third left, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, center, and Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, right, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (Dalati & Nohra)
US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, second left, sits next to US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, first left, as they meet with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, third left, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, center, and Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, right, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Hezbollah Dampens Mood in Lebanon-Israel Marine Border Talks by Slamming US

US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, second left, sits next to US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, first left, as they meet with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, third left, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, center, and Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, right, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (Dalati & Nohra)
US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, second left, sits next to US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, first left, as they meet with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, third left, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, center, and Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, right, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (Dalati & Nohra)

Hezbollah dampened the positive mood that prevailed during US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein's meeting with Lebanese officials over the demarcation of the marine border with Israel, by criticizing Washington and accusing it of preventing Beirut from extracting its offshore gas and oil.

Hochstein had paid a two-day visit to Lebanon on Sunday and Monday where he met with senior officials over the demarcation of the contested border.

At the conclusion of his trip, he said he remained optimistic about making progress towards a deal and looked forward to returning to the region to make a "final arrangement".

He then traveled to Tel Aviv by land through the Naqoura border crossing in Lebanon.

A senior Lebanese government source said Hochstein had passed on an Israeli proposal that provided Lebanon with "nothing south of Line 23" - a maritime line that was originally Lebanon's demand during negotiations.

Additionally, Israel would allow Lebanon to explore the entire Qana Prospect, an area with the potential to hold hydrocarbons which crosses beyond Line 23.

Lebanon informed Hochstein it was seeking guarantees it could commence exploration in its southern Block 9 in an area already awarded to a consortium led by French oil major Total as soon as an agreement is signed, the source said.

The United States in 2020 stepped up long-running efforts to mediate an agreement. Tensions over the issue escalated in June as Israel moved towards extracting hydrocarbons while Lebanon's exploration process remained paused.

Lebanon and Israel are located in the Levant Basin, where a number of big sub-sea gas fields have been discovered since 2009. Israel already produces and exports gas.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah party has threatened military action if Lebanon is prevented from exploiting what it deems to be its offshore rights. But it has also said it will respect the decision of the Lebanese government.

Hezbollah kept up its rhetoric by accusing the US of preventing Lebanon for 12 years from exploiting its offshore wealth.

Hezbollah MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan said the US has been barring Lebanon from "extracting its oil and gas when it is in most need of them to help it overcome its economic crisis."

"By siding with the Israeli enemy, the Americans have prevented European companies from drilling in Blocks 4 and 9," he alleged.

Hezbollah’s opponents dismissed the criticism.

Democratic Gathering MP Marwan Hamadeh said: "We are presented with a rare opportunity to demarcate the border. This opportunity may not happen again for reasons that go beyond [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah’s threats."

The Americans presented advanced ideas about the demarcation and have improved Lebanon’s conditions, he added.

Hochstein "did not bring maps with him, but he brought ideas," continued Hamadeh.

He informed Lebanese officials that Israel was ready to discuss offering the entire Qana Prospect in return for Lebanon to offer concessions related to Line 23.

Lebanon demanded its full rights in Blocks 8, 9, and 10 and Qana , said the MP.

"The devil is in the details" regarding Lines 23 and 29, he added.

Moreover, Hamadeh ruled out the possibility of a war erupting over the border "from now until the end of August."

"We must seize the opportunity provided to us to demarcate the border. This is the first time the mediation and Lebanon are this serious. Israel, Europe and the world are in need of gas," he stressed.

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Arab World

Damascus, in Cooperation with Baghdad, Foils Plot to Smuggle Drugs Abroad

Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA
Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA
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Damascus, in Cooperation with Baghdad, Foils Plot to Smuggle Drugs Abroad

Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA
Quantities of Captagon prepared for smuggling abroad- SANA

Syrian authorities said they have thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of drugs out of the country.

The Syrian Narcotics Directorate said on Wednesday it seized approximately 400,000 captagon pills, weighing about 65 kilograms, during an operation in Homs province in central Syria.

The drugs would have been smuggled to other countries, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Two suspects were arrested on suspicion of managing a drug-trafficking network operating across borders.

The operation was carried out in coordination with Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control, SANA quoted a Syrian Interior Ministry statement as saying.

Earlier this month, the Syrian Narcotics Directorate conducted a joint security operation with the Iraqi authorities targeting an international drug-trafficking network, and seizing about 300,000 Captagon pills. Two people were also arrested.

Arab World

How Gaza Armed Gangs Recruit New Members

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
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How Gaza Armed Gangs Recruit New Members

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)

As Hamas moves to strike armed gangs operating in areas of the Gaza Strip under Israeli army control, the groups are responding with defiance, stepping up efforts to recruit young men and expand their ranks.

Videos posted on social media show training exercises and other activities, signaling that the gangs remain active despite pressure from Hamas security services.

Platforms affiliated with Hamas security say some members have recently turned themselves in following mediation by families, clans and community leaders. The gangs have not responded to those statements. Instead, they occasionally broadcast footage announcing new recruits.

Among the most prominent was Hamza Mahra, a Hamas activist who appeared weeks ago in a video released by the Shawqi Abu Nasira gang, which operates north of Khan Younis and east of Deir al-Balah.

Mahra’s appearance has raised questions about how these groups recruit members inside the enclave.

Field sources and others within the security apparatus of a Palestinian armed faction in Gaza told Asharq Al-Awsat that Mahra’s case may be an exception. They described him as a Hamas activist with no major role, despite his grandfather being among the founders of Hamas in Jabalia.

His decision to join the gang was driven by personal reasons linked to a family dispute, they said, not by organizational considerations.

The sources said the gangs exploit severe economic hardship, luring some young men with money, cigarettes and other incentives. Some recruits were heavily indebted and fled to gang-controlled areas to avoid repaying creditors.

Others joined in search of narcotic pills, the sources said, noting that some had previously been detained by Hamas-run security forces on similar charges. Economic hardship and the need for cigarettes and drugs were among the main drivers of recruitment, they added, saying the gangs, with Israeli backing, provide such supplies.

Resentment toward Hamas has also played a role, particularly among those previously arrested on criminal or security grounds and subjected to what the sources described as limited torture during interrogations under established procedures.

According to the sources, some founders or current leaders of the gangs previously served in the Palestinian Authority security services.

They cited Shawqi Abu Nasira, a senior police officer; Hussam al-Astal, an officer in the Preventive Security Service; and Rami Helles and Ashraf al-Mansi, both former officers in the Palestinian Presidential Guard.

These figures, the sources said, approach young men in need and at times succeed in recruiting them by promising help in settling debts and providing cigarettes. They also tell recruits that joining will secure them a future role in security forces that would later govern Gaza.

The sources described the case of a young man who surrendered to Gaza security services last week. He said he had been pressured after a phone call with a woman who threatened to publish the recording unless he joined one of the gangs.

He later received assurances from another contact that he would help repay some of his debts and ultimately agreed to enlist.

During questioning, he said the leader of the gang he joined east of Gaza City repeatedly assured recruits they would be “part of the structure of any Palestinian security force that will rule the sector.”

The young man told investigators he was unconvinced by those assurances, as were dozens of others in the same group.

Investigations of several individuals who surrendered, along with field data, indicate the gangs have carried out armed missions on behalf of the Israeli army, including locating tunnels. That has led to ambushes by Palestinian factions.

In the past week, clashes in the Zaytoun neighborhood south of Gaza City and near al-Masdar east of Deir al-Balah left gang members dead and wounded.

Some investigations also found that the gangs recruited young men previously involved in looting humanitarian aid.

Arab World

Israel Permits 10,000 West Bank Palestinians for Friday Prayers at Al Aqsa

Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
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Israel Permits 10,000 West Bank Palestinians for Friday Prayers at Al Aqsa

Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer

Israel announced that it will cap the number of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank attending weekly Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem at 10,000 during the holy month of Ramadan, which began Wednesday.

Israeli authorities also imposed age restrictions on West Bank Palestinians, permitting entry only to men aged 55 and older, women aged 50 and older, and children up to age 12.

"Ten thousand Palestinian worshippers will be permitted to enter the Temple Mount for Friday prayers throughout the month of Ramadan, subject to obtaining a dedicated daily permit in advance," COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry agency in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement, AFP reported.

"Entry for men will be permitted from age 55, for women from age 50, and for children up to age 12 when accompanied by a first-degree relative."

COGAT told AFP that the restrictions apply only to Palestinians travelling from the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

"It is emphasised that all permits are conditional upon prior security approval by the relevant security authorities," COGAT said.

"In addition, residents travelling to prayers at the Temple Mount will be required to undergo digital documentation at the crossings upon their return to the areas of Judea and Samaria at the conclusion of the prayer day," it said, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

During Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed in a move that is not internationally recognized.

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, the attendance of worshippers has declined due to security concerns and Israeli restrictions.

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said this week that Israeli authorities had prevented the Islamic Waqf -- the Jordanian-run body that administers the site -- from carrying out routine preparations ahead of Ramadan, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.

A senior imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad al-Abbasi, told AFP that he, too, had been barred from entering the compound.

"I have been barred from the mosque for a week, and the order can be renewed," he said.

Abbasi said he was not informed of the reason for the ban, which came into effect on Monday.

Under longstanding arrangements, Jews may visit the Al-Aqsa compound -- which they revere as the site of the first and second Jewish temples -- but they are not permitted to pray there.

Israel says it is committed to upholding this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.

In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.