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Lebanon Denies it Will Import Israeli Gas Through Egypt

Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. (Reuters)
Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Denies it Will Import Israeli Gas Through Egypt

Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. (Reuters)
Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. (Reuters)

The Lebanese Ministry of Energy denied Israeli reports that said Lebanon will be importing Israeli gas through Egypt.

“The Ministry of Energy and Water confirms that the gas supply agreement that is being worked on between the Lebanese government and the sisterly Egyptian government clearly and explicitly stipulates that the gas should come from Egypt, which owns large quantities of it, and consumes within the same country more than a hundred times what it will provide to Lebanon,” a statement issued by the ministry emphasized.

“Therefore, Egypt will provide Lebanon with a small part of its production… [which] will pass through the sisterly country of Jordan, and then to Syria… and a similar amount of gas will be supplied according to the [transit and exchange] agreement from the fields and gas network in Homs to reach the Deir Ammar power station in the North, for additional electricity supply to the Lebanese citizens,” it added.

Lebanon, which is grappling with a deep financial crisis, is seeking to import energy from fellow Arab states to ease an acute power shortage.

Under a plan agreed between Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Syria in September, Egyptian gas would be piped to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria to help boost Lebanon's power output, which now delivers a few hours a day of electricity at best.

Israeli media said the gas will be extracted from Israel's Tamar and Leviathan reservoirs.

They added that US special envoy for energy, Amos Hochstein was behind the agreement.

The Lebanese ministry stressed that the information released by Israel “is totally and completely untrue.”

The US ambassador to Lebanon told the Lebanese government last week it should not fear a US sanctions law over its plans to receive energy supplies from the region.

The plan, which has US backing, aims to pump the gas through an Arab pipeline established about 20 years ago.

However, the plan has been complicated by US sanctions on the Syrian government, under President Bashar al-Assad, prompting Lebanese officials to ask Washington to grant an exemption. Damascus has said it was ready to cooperate.

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Arab World

Syrian Authorities Say Killed Assad-Era Officer After Clash

A member of Syria's internal security forces in Tartus city. (SANA)
A member of Syria's internal security forces in Tartus city. (SANA)
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Syrian Authorities Say Killed Assad-Era Officer After Clash

A member of Syria's internal security forces in Tartus city. (SANA)
A member of Syria's internal security forces in Tartus city. (SANA)

Syrian security forces said on Sunday that they killed an army commander who served under ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad, after he opened fire on them as they tried to arrest him.

In a statement, the forces accused Firas Abdul Karim Hammoud of having taken part in anti-government insurrections that killed security personnel.

Since Assad's fall in December 2024, Syria's new authorities have arrested dozens of security officials from his rule, and trials began in April.

The security forces said they "neutralized Firas Abdul Karim Hammoud... following an armed clash and a raid on his hideout in the town of Safita" in Tartus province in the coastal Alawite heartland.

Hammoud had previously "opened fire on security personnel during an attempt to arrest him", they added.

"During the recent operation, he again opened fire and initiated a firefight with the security forces... necessitating their response."

They said Hammoud served as a commander of the special forces in the so-called "25th Division" under Assad's rule.

They accused him of working under Assad-era general Ghiath Dalla in leading pro-Assad groups on the coast after the former president's fall.

They added that he was involved in "armed insurrection operations" against state institutions that killed security personnel.

Dalla, a former officer in the much-feared Fourth Brigade, had announced on social media last year the formation of a "military council for the liberation of Syria".

The announcement came shortly before deadly violence targeting the Alawite minority, to which Assad's family belongs, erupted on the Syrian coast in March 2025.

Authorities accused armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces in an ambush.

Arab World

Iraq Sentences US-Sanctioned Oil Official to Prison

The sun sets behind apartment buildings in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)
The sun sets behind apartment buildings in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)
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Iraq Sentences US-Sanctioned Oil Official to Prison

The sun sets behind apartment buildings in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)
The sun sets behind apartment buildings in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)

Iraq sentenced a US-sanctioned oil official to seven years in prison after he was arrested as part of a government-led anti-corruption campaign, the country's anti-graft body said on Sunday.

Deputy oil minister for distribution affairs Ali al-Bahadli is among dozens of officials who were detained in June during anti-graft raids that took place in several areas, mostly in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

The Commission of Integrity said in a statement that an anti-corruption court sentenced Bahadli to seven years in prison for "illicit gains".

The ruling requires Bahadli to return to the state an amount equivalent to more than $20 million in ill-gotten gains, in addition to paying a fine of the same amount.

The United States imposed sanctions on Bahadli in May, accusing him of fraudulently mixing Iraqi and Iranian oil as part of a scheme to help Iran avoid sanctions.

At the time, Iraq's oil ministry denied the accusations against Bahadli, who was then arrested during the anti-graft raids.

Iraqi authorities said that the raids were part of new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's campaign to fight the corruption that has plagued Iraq for decades.

But several Iraqi officials told AFP that the raids were also part of al-Zaidi's campaign against funding for pro-Iran armed groups and the smuggling of Iranian oil.

Iraq has been under mounting pressure from the United States to curb Tehran's influence and rein in Iran-backed armed factions, which Washington designates as terrorist groups.

Al-Zaidi, who took office this year with the blessing of the United States, has pledged to ensure the armed factions that emerged after the US-led invasion hand over their weapons to the state.

In Iraq, corruption is especially rampant across public institutions, but convictions typically target mid-level officials or minor players and rarely those at the top of the power hierarchy.

Arab World

US News Agency Says Crew Attacked by Israeli Settlers in West Bank

Israeli settlers look out through a metal fence, as an Israeli flag flutters nearby, on the day of their weekly tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 29, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli settlers look out through a metal fence, as an Israeli flag flutters nearby, on the day of their weekly tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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US News Agency Says Crew Attacked by Israeli Settlers in West Bank

Israeli settlers look out through a metal fence, as an Israeli flag flutters nearby, on the day of their weekly tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 29, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli settlers look out through a metal fence, as an Israeli flag flutters nearby, on the day of their weekly tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 29, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli settlers attacked an NBC crew in the central West Bank Saturday, as they were interviewing a Palestinian woman who said she’d been driven out of her house by settlers, the network said.

NBC’s American correspondent Matt Bradley, two other crew members and the woman they were interviewing were all treated for injuries sustained during the attack, NBC said. There were no further details on their injuries.

The assault was caught on video and shared by NBC, with footage showing masked settlers approaching the crew with sticks and beating the crew’s vehicles.

Israel’s military said it was “aware of reports of Palestinian injuries, including a Palestinian woman who sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment.” It did not comment on the attack on the NBC crew.

It was the latest in a growing wave of violence by West Bank settlers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare condemnation of the violence on Saturday. The Israeli leader has come under heavy US criticism for the settler attacks.

Settlers seized British activist and held him locked in shed

Israeli settlers seized a British activist from a Palestinian village in the West Bank and locked him in a shed before turning him over to police, his lawyer said Sunday.

The lawyer, Inbar Shaked Vardi, said settlers held her client, Finn Joughin, for half an hour Saturday before turning him over to Israeli police. Joughin was set to appear before a Jerusalem court later Sunday, she said.

Video showed two settlers, one armed, restraining Joughin and marching him away from the village.

It was not immediately clear what led to his capture. Settlers say he assaulted a child, accusations Vardi vehemently denied.

Settlers point to a video where the activist uses his body in an apparent attempt to block a settler boy from passing through a fence. Vardi said the video shows he was trying to protect the village.

Police said they were investigating and holding Joughin in custody on suspicion of committing an indecent act against a minor.