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Blinken to Meet Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman in New York

Yemen's Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr, Rashad Al-Alimi poses for photographers as he arrives for talks with the German Chancellor at the Chancellery in Berlin on September 13, 2022. (AFP)
Yemen's Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr, Rashad Al-Alimi poses for photographers as he arrives for talks with the German Chancellor at the Chancellery in Berlin on September 13, 2022. (AFP)
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Blinken to Meet Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman in New York

Yemen's Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr, Rashad Al-Alimi poses for photographers as he arrives for talks with the German Chancellor at the Chancellery in Berlin on September 13, 2022. (AFP)
Yemen's Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr, Rashad Al-Alimi poses for photographers as he arrives for talks with the German Chancellor at the Chancellery in Berlin on September 13, 2022. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet the Yemeni Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi in New York on Monday, the State Department said on Sunday as world dignitaries arrive for the UN General Assembly.

Blinken and Alimi had last met in July during US President Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

At the time, they discussed the importance of extending the UN-led truce “to ease the suffering of Yemenis and of pursuing meaningful action” by the Iran-backed Houthi militias to improve access to the besieged city of Taiz.

The Houthis have yet to reopen routes to Taiz, a key demand in the truce.

Blinken had also welcomed the Yemeni government’s “bold leadership on the truce, which has had a tangible impact on the lives of Yemenis across the country,” said a State Department statement.

Blinken highlighted the opportunity for the truce to result in a nationwide, permanent ceasefire and the launch of an inclusive, comprehensive political process under UN auspices.

He noted that “only a political agreement between the Yemeni parties, which also meets Yemenis’ calls for justice and accountability, can bring true peace and durable prosperity to the country. “

He reiterated “full support for the Presidential Leadership Council and its initiatives to improve services and daily life for Yemenis.”

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Arab World

Israel Re-Establishes Evacuated West Bank Settlement

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, (3rd-L), Yossi Dagan, Head of the Shomron Regional Council (4th-L), and Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (4th-R) stand for the national anthem as they attend the resettlement ceremony of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, (3rd-L), Yossi Dagan, Head of the Shomron Regional Council (4th-L), and Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (4th-R) stand for the national anthem as they attend the resettlement ceremony of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Re-Establishes Evacuated West Bank Settlement

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, (3rd-L), Yossi Dagan, Head of the Shomron Regional Council (4th-L), and Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (4th-R) stand for the national anthem as they attend the resettlement ceremony of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, (3rd-L), Yossi Dagan, Head of the Shomron Regional Council (4th-L), and Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (4th-R) stand for the national anthem as they attend the resettlement ceremony of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli ministers on Sunday officially reopened Sa-Nur, a settlement in the occupied West Bank that was evacuated 20 years ago, marking the occasion with defiant declarations against Palestinian statehood and calls to resettle Gaza.

Several cabinet members and lawmakers attended the ceremony near a cluster of white prefabricated homes arranged in rows on a hilltop.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.

"On this exciting day, we celebrate a historic correction to the criminal expulsion from Northern Samaria," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, using the Israeli biblical term for part of the West Bank.

Sa-Nur's settlers were evicted in 2005 as part of Israel's so-called disengagement policy that also saw the country withdraw troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.

The policy promoted by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon was framed as a security measure intended to reduce Israel's civilian and military footprint in densely populated Palestinian areas.

Israel's current government, considered one of the most right-wing in the country's history, approved the reconstruction of all four northern West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005.

Authorities have approved 126 housing units in Sa-Nur alone.

"We are cancelling the shame of the disengagement, burying the idea of a Palestinian state and returning to the settlement of Sa-Nur," Smotrich said.

Smotrich, a far-right minister in the ruling coalition and a settler himself, also called for the resettlement of the Gaza Strip as a "security belt" for the State of Israel.

Israeli media reported that 16 families had moved into the re-established settlement in recent days, adding that the new residents included Yossi Dagan, head of the northern West Bank Settlements Council.

Dagan was among those evacuated from Sa-Nur in 2005.

"For me, this is both a national and a personal closing of a circle," Dagan said after cutting the ribbon at the ceremony.

"No more uprootings, no more retreats. We have returned to stay."

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and since then settlement expansion has been a policy under successive Israeli governments.

But it has accelerated significantly under the current coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

More than 100 settlements have been approved since the government came to power in 2022, according to activists and authorities.

Arab World

France’s Macron to Meet with Lebanon’s PM in Paris on Tuesday

16 February 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is pictured during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office. (dpa)
16 February 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is pictured during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office. (dpa)
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France’s Macron to Meet with Lebanon’s PM in Paris on Tuesday

16 February 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is pictured during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office. (dpa)
16 February 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is pictured during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office. (dpa)

French President Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris, his office announced, amidst a fragile 10-day truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The visit highlights Macron's commitment to seeing "full and complete respect for the ceasefire in Lebanon" as well as France's support for Lebanon's "territorial integrity", the president's office said on Sunday.

Israel and Lebanon on Thursday agreed to a 10-day ceasefire to give time to negotiate an end to six weeks of fighting between Israel and the group.

The visit was announced a day after France blamed Hezbollah for an ambush on UN peacekeepers which left one French soldier dead and three others wounded.

Macron is to urge Lebanese authorities to "shed full light on the incident" and "identify and prosecute those responsible without delay," his office added.

An initial assessment by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) found the attack was carried out by Hezbollah, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"UNIFIL soldiers, who are carrying out their missions in difficult conditions and supporting the delivery of humanitarian aid to southern Lebanon, must under no circumstances be targeted," the Elysee said.

Hezbollah -- which strongly opposes to the planned Lebanon-Israel talks -- denied involvement in the attack that killed the French peacekeeper.

The fighting in Lebanon has seen UNIFIL positions repeatedly targeted by Israeli and Hezbollah forces.

Arab World

Israel Says to Use ‘Full Force’ in Lebanon Despite Truce if Soldiers Face Threat

Smoke rises over the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil near the border as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, on April 17, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises over the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil near the border as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, on April 17, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Says to Use ‘Full Force’ in Lebanon Despite Truce if Soldiers Face Threat

Smoke rises over the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil near the border as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, on April 17, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises over the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil near the border as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, on April 17, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that the military had been instructed to use "full force" in Lebanon -- even during the ongoing ceasefire -- should Israeli troops face any threat.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the Israeli army to act with full force, both on the ground and from the air, including during the ceasefire, in order to protect our soldiers in Lebanon from any threat," Katz said at a function in the occupied West Bank.

He said that the military had also been ordered to demolish any structure or roads that were "booby-trapped" and threatened soldiers.

The aim is "to remove the houses in the villages near the border that served in every respect as Hezbollah terror outposts and threatened Israeli communities," Katz added.

An Israeli soldier was killed in southern Lebanon on Friday -- the day a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect -- when he entered a booby-trapped building, the military reported.

Katz has repeatedly said Israel would demolish houses along the border as part of efforts to establish a security zone in southern Lebanon.

On Saturday, Israeli forces carried out demolitions in the town of Bint Jbeil, the scene of intense fighting with Hezbollah prior to the recently agreed ceasefire.

"The overarching goal of the campaign in Lebanon is the disarmament of Hezbollah and the removal of threat to northern communities, through a combination of military and diplomatic measures," Katz said.

"If the Lebanese government continues to fail to uphold its obligations -- the army will do so through continued military action."

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in support of Iran.

Israel responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and an invasion of southern Lebanon.