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Arab League Starts Preparations for Algeria Summit

Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
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Arab League Starts Preparations for Algeria Summit

Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)

Algeria sent an official invitation to the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to visit and consult on arrangements for holding the thirty-first regular session of the Arab Summit, which Algeria offered to host this year.

Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki received the Algerian ambassador to Cairo, Mohand Ladjouzi, who carried a message from Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum in which he offered to prepare for the upcoming Arab summit in light of current challenges facing the Arab world.

Ambassador Zaki said that the Secretary-General's visit to Algeria is expected to take place as soon as possible.

Media reports indicated that Algeria will host the summit at the end of March as the Secretary-General previously confirmed that it will be held as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the 105th ministerial session of the Arab Economic and Social Council kicks off Thursday at the headquarters of the General-Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo, with the participation of Arab economy and trade ministers.

The Council will discuss preparing economic and social topics for the upcoming Arab summit, in addition to all issues of joint Arab economic and social action.

Assistant Secretary-General and Head of Social Affairs sector at the Arab League, Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, stated that the agenda of the 105th session of the Council includes several important items, namely the economic and social issues of the League’s Council, and follow-up on the implementation of the Arab-African summit decisions issued at its fourth session at Malabo – Equatorial Guinea 2016.

Officials will also prepare the economic aspects for the fifth summit, to be held in Riyadh next March 16 and its theme: “Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) and the developments of the Arab customs union”, along with other economic and social items.

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Arab World

UKMTO: Container Vessel Fired upon and Boarding Attempted by Skiff off Yemen Coast

Patrol boats affiliated with the Yemeni coast guard off the port of Mokha in the southern Red Sea (Saba News Agency)
Patrol boats affiliated with the Yemeni coast guard off the port of Mokha in the southern Red Sea (Saba News Agency)
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UKMTO: Container Vessel Fired upon and Boarding Attempted by Skiff off Yemen Coast

Patrol boats affiliated with the Yemeni coast guard off the port of Mokha in the southern Red Sea (Saba News Agency)
Patrol boats affiliated with the Yemeni coast guard off the port of Mokha in the southern Red Sea (Saba News Agency)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations received a report on Monday ‌that ‌a container ‌vessel was ⁠approached and fired upon ⁠by a small skiff 14 ⁠nautical miles south ‌off the ‌coast of ‌Yemen, ‌with an attempted boarding.

Authorities are investigating, ‌and vessels are advised ⁠to transit ⁠with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO, it said.

Arab World

Lebanon’s Aoun Hopes US-Iran Deal Will Put ‘Definitive End’ to Israel-Hezbollah War

A man walks amidst rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A man walks amidst rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon’s Aoun Hopes US-Iran Deal Will Put ‘Definitive End’ to Israel-Hezbollah War

A man walks amidst rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A man walks amidst rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday expressed hope that a deal between Washington and Tehran to end the Middle East war would put a "definitive end" to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a statement issued by his office, Aoun praised the memorandum's affirmation that "Lebanon's security and safety are an integral part of any effort to consolidate stability in the region".

The Lebanese people "look forward to these understandings transforming into practical steps that put a definitive end to the cycle of violence and establish a phase of stability, security, recovery and reconstruction," the statement added.

Israel’s defense minister said Monday that Israel won’t withdraw from land occupied in Lebanon as the interim deal between Iran and the United States is pending.

Katz said Israel plans to stay “indefinitely” in lands it holds in Lebanon, as well as Syria and the Gaza Strip.

Iran has tied the interim deal over the war to halting Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, two Israeli far-right ministers denounced the deal.

"We must not settle for anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah. We must not withdraw from a single inch of territory that our soldiers have captured and cleared of terrorist infrastructure," National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on his Telegram channel said.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also echoed the sentiment, calling the deal "bad for Israel".

He also called for a stronger campaign in Lebanon.

"We will be judged in Lebanon. This is our war, our soldiers, and the immediate security of our northern residents," he said.

Arab World

Lebanon ‘Not Informed’ of Terms of Iran-US Deal, Says Official

A photograph taken from the southern area of Marjeyoun shows smoke rising from fires reportedly ignited at a site targeted by Israeli artillery shelling in the southern village of Kfar Tibnit on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern area of Marjeyoun shows smoke rising from fires reportedly ignited at a site targeted by Israeli artillery shelling in the southern village of Kfar Tibnit on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon ‘Not Informed’ of Terms of Iran-US Deal, Says Official

A photograph taken from the southern area of Marjeyoun shows smoke rising from fires reportedly ignited at a site targeted by Israeli artillery shelling in the southern village of Kfar Tibnit on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern area of Marjeyoun shows smoke rising from fires reportedly ignited at a site targeted by Israeli artillery shelling in the southern village of Kfar Tibnit on June 15, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanon has not been informed of details of an agreement between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war on all fronts including in Lebanon, an official source told AFP on Monday.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported intermittent artillery shelling in the country's south on Monday but no airstrikes -- a lower level of violence compared to previous days.

Hezbollah has not commented on the agreement, but the Iran-backed group has not claimed any fresh attacks on Monday on Israeli targets.

"Lebanon was not informed of the terms of the agreement or the time of the ceasefire," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Few details have been made public about the agreement announced overnight.

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who acts as an intermediary between the group and the US, praised the deal, thanking the United States and Tehran for their "insistence on including... an essential and binding clause on halting the Israeli aggression on all of Lebanon".

Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since March 2 when the Iran-backed group fired rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes days earlier.

Israel responded with a campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion. Previous ceasefire announcements have failed to stop the fighting.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shebhaz Sharif, whose country has been mediating between Tehran and Washington, said that "both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon".

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that "a permanent and immediate end to the war has been declared on all fronts, including Lebanon".

AFP correspondents on Monday reported a cautious return of some residents to their homes in areas of south Lebanon not occupied by Israel's army.