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Abbas, Blinken Hold Talks in Ramallah

Abbas and Blinken meet in Ramallah. (AFP)
Abbas and Blinken meet in Ramallah. (AFP)
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Abbas, Blinken Hold Talks in Ramallah

Abbas and Blinken meet in Ramallah. (AFP)
Abbas and Blinken meet in Ramallah. (AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah on Sunday.

He stressed that the priority should always be towards finding a political solution that would end the Israeli occupation of Palestine along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He called for resolving all permanent status issues, including those on refugees and the release of all prisoners under the supervision and sponsorship of the Quartet (United States, Germany, Britain, and France), according to international resolutions.

Blinken had arrived in Ramallah following a visit to Israel where he met with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other Israeli officials.

He is on a tour of the region, which also includes Morocco and Algeria, to consult with partners on a range of regional and global priorities.

According to the US Department of State, Blinken will discuss the Russian government’s war on Ukraine, Iran’s destabilizing activities, the Abraham Accords and normalization agreements with Israel, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and preserving the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among other issues.

Abbas discussed with Blinken means of reviving the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, reopening the US Consulate in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) headquarters in Washington.

Talks also tackled the resumption of US financial support to the Palestinian Authority, which was suspended by former President Donald Trump.

He stressed that no party is holding Israel accountable for its actions, noting that “it acts as a state above all law.”

Blinken, for his part, stressed that the US is committed to rebuilding its relationship with the PA and Palestinian people.

He said the American administration has been focused on concrete ways to help improve the lives of Palestinians, including rejoining UNRWA and providing half a billion dollars in humanitarian assistance since April 2021, economic support to the Palestinian private sector and small businesses, job training for young people, and support for food-insecure families in the West Bank and Gaza.

“We’re focused on advancing Palestinian civil and human rights, supporting civil society,” he added.

Blinken said he spoke with Abbas and his team about the importance of responsive, responsible governance.

At the heart of all of this is an ongoing, enduring commitment to the basic principle of the two-state solution, he remarked.

“Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve to live with equal measures of freedom, of opportunity, security, of dignity, and we believe that the most effective way, ultimately, to give expression to that basic principle is through two states.”

However, he pointed out that the two sides are very far apart in this regard, noting that the US will continue its work to try to bring them closer.

“We’ll work to prevent actions by either side that could raise tensions,” he noted, including settlement expansion, settler violence, home demolitions, evictions, payments to people convicted of terrorism and incitement to violence.

Blinken underscored the need to have a peaceful Ramadan, Easter, Passover, all of which come together in a month’s time.

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Arab World

Palestinian Factions Uncover Israeli Espionage Devices in Gaza

Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)
Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)
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Palestinian Factions Uncover Israeli Espionage Devices in Gaza

Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)
Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)

Palestinian armed factions in Gaza are intensifying their operations in search of Israeli espionage devices that were planted in the enclave during the latest war.

Sources from the factions told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel managed to plant them through field agents or when its military was active in some parts of Gaza.

The devices include advanced cameras and listening devices that can record sound at distances as far as 500 meters that allow Israel to analyze the voiceprint of wanted suspects.

Up until recently, the factions used to secretly operate to uncover the devices. Last week, one of the devices went off without warning after being discovered by one of the factions inside a displacement camp in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Hours later, an Israeli jet fired two rockets at the location.

Sources from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions told Asharq Al-Awsat that their members have discovered several such devices in recent months.

Some were uncovered during the war, after the assassination of some field operatives, and others after the ceasefire took effect.

The sources explained that the devices are built to self-destruct after they are discovered, or they send their users a warning or signal that they have been discovered so that they can be destroyed.

The majority of the devices that have been discovered so far were sending information, images or recordings to Israeli drones.

Some of the devices were uncovered in hospitals that the army had raided during the war, such as Al-Shifa Hospital and others.

One source said searches uncovered devices placed in hospital furniture. They carried cameras that can shoot distances of at least 800 meters. Other devices were used for recording sounds, which likely allowed users to recognize the voice of wanted suspects.

Some devices were discovered after rainfall. One source explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that flooding in Khan Younis unearthed devices that were likely planted by collaborators with Israel. Some devices were placed inside wooden boxes that were concealed in rocks.

Factions also concluded that Israeli drones would drop espionage devices in “dead security zones” where they can be picked up by collaborators who would plant them in specified locations in Gaza.

Devices have been discovered in the streets and inside destroyed houses. They were likely used to detect the movement of members of factions.

Israel has long planted espionage devices in Gaza, preceding the October 2023 war.

One of the sources said devices were discovered inside offices of the factions and even the houses of their members.

The devices would have entered Gaza concealed in trade goods allowed into the enclave and received by collaborators in various ways.

In May 2018, six members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed when an espionage device they were inspecting blew up.

Investigations soon after discovered major security breaches inside the Qassam that allowed Israel to spy on them. The discovery thwarted the spy operation, the Brigades said at the time.

Arab World

Israel Military Says Four Soldiers Killed in South Lebanon

Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /
Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /
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Israel Military Says Four Soldiers Killed in South Lebanon

Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /
Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /

The Israeli military said on Tuesday four soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon where its forces are clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

A military statement named three soldiers from the same battalion who "fell during combat" and a separate statement said another soldier, who had not yet been publicly named, had died in the same incident.

Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, according to the second statement.

Israel is trying to push Hezbollah militants, who have fired rockets and drones across the border, out of southern Lebanon in a campaign that Israeli officials suggest could become a prolonged occupation.

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.

Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded near one of the group's positions close to the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr. Another peacekeeper was critically injured at the time.

The death on Sunday was the first among the UN's peacekeeping force in the new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah which erupted on March 2.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah fired rockets ‌at Israel in solidarity with Tehran, two days after Iran was attacked by Israel and the United States.

Hezbollah's attack prompted ‌a new Israeli ground and air offensive. More than 1,240 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.

They include more than 120 children, nearly 80 women and dozens of paramedics.

Arab World

Indonesia Urges Respect for International Law After Peacekeepers Killed in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Indonesia Urges Respect for International Law After Peacekeepers Killed in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)

Indonesia urged warring parties in the Middle East "to respect international humanitarian law" after three of its peacekeepers were killed in Lebanon.

"The safety of peacekeeping troops must be the top priority. All parties to the conflict are urged to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the security of peacekeeping personnel," defense ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait said in a statement.

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.

Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded near one of the group's positions close to the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr. Another peacekeeper was critically injured at the time.

The death on Sunday was the first among the UN's peacekeeping force in the new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah which erupted on March 2.

"These are two separate incidents and we are investigating them as two separate incidents," said UNIFIL's spokesperson Kandice Ardiel.

In response to the first death, Indonesia's foreign ministry said on Monday ‌the deceased peacekeeper ‌was one of its citizens and that three others were injured by "indirect artillery fire".

Indonesia condemned ‌the ⁠incident and said ⁠any harm to peacekeepers is unacceptable, while reiterating its condemnation "of Israel's attacks in southern Lebanon."

The country's Foreign Minister Sugiono called on Tuesday in a post on social media website X for an emergency UN Security Council meeting and "for a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation" into the "heinous attack" after speaking with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Israel's military said early on Tuesday it is aware of the reports regarding the two incidents and they are being reviewed thoroughly to determine whether they resulted from Hezbollah or the military's activity.

Guterres said attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.

"We strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents - peacekeepers must never be a target," the UN peacekeeping chief ⁠Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters in a briefing on Monday.

PARAMEDICS, JOURNALISTS KILLED

UNIFIL is stationed in southern ‌Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel - an area that is at ‌the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah fired rockets ‌at Israel in solidarity with Tehran, two days after Iran was attacked by Israel and the United States. Hezbollah's attack prompted ‌a new Israeli ground and air offensive.

More than 1,240 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. They include more than 120 children, nearly 80 women and dozens of paramedics.

More than 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since March 2, according to two sources familiar with Hezbollah's count. The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings to residents of six villages in Lebanon's western Bekaa region on Monday, in the first such ‌warning for those areas.

The military said the warning was prompted by what it described as militant activity in the area, without providing further details.

Fresh airstrikes hit several towns in southern Lebanon ⁠on Monday and at least one ⁠strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Israeli military said strikes in Beirut targeted commanders responsible for coordination between Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups. At least 10 paramedics were killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Three journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their car on Saturday.

The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah operatives of posing as Lebanese paramedics, and has said that some journalists it killed were part of the group's intelligence or military wing. It has not publicly provided evidence to support those claims.

Lebanon's health ministry has denied that any ambulances or health facilities are used for military purposes.

Lebanon's presidency has said that targeted journalists are "civilians performing a professional duty."

Israel has said it intends to control a buffer zone up to the Litani River, which runs about 30 km (20 miles) north of the Lebanese border with Israel.

Its ground troops have been pushing into Lebanese border towns and demolishing homes in the area.

Israel's military said on Monday that a sixth soldier had been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon. Lebanon's armed forces said that a Lebanese soldier had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. At least nine Lebanese soldiers have been killed by Israel.

Lebanon's army has not been fighting Israeli forces.