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Hezbollah Ends Impasse with al-Rahi, Says No Differences in Positions

Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)
Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)
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Hezbollah Ends Impasse with al-Rahi, Says No Differences in Positions

Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)
Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)

Hezbollah ended on Monday the impasse with Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Head of the party’s political council Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed visited al-Rahi at Bkirki on the occasion of the holidays.

The two parties discussed political affairs, including the presidential vacuum. They did not, however, tackle differences between them, namely al-Rahi's call for Lebanon to remain neutral from regional affairs and for holding an international conference over the country.

No prominent member of Hezbollah had paid a visit to the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate, Bkirki, in nearly two years. Contacts between Hezbollah and Bkirki had, however, remained.

Hezbollah had rejected al-Rahi's call for Lebanon’s “active neutrality” and for holding the international conference.

The party is now keen on reviving ties with Bkirki because “a president cannot be elected without dialogue and agreement.”

Lebanon has been without a president since November when Michel Aoun’s term ended without parties agreeing on a successor. Several elections sessions have been held at parliament, but no candidate has secured enough votes to be declared the winner.

Bkirki has been calling for the election of a president through 86 votes of the 128-member legislature.

Speaking after meeting al-Rahi on Monday, Amin al-Sayyed said the patriarch had expressed his keenness on electing a president as soon as possible.

Parties are demanded to responsibly address the issue because Lebanon is experiencing “difficult circumstances” and the election of a president is a priority, he added.

He stressed that channels of communication between Bkirki and Hezbollah “are always open”, but circumstances, such as the coronavirus pandemic and others, had thwarted a meeting.

Moreover, Amin al-Sayyed underscored that there were no differences with al-Rahi, but the two sides “had exchanged views based on the keenness on electing a new president” who can carry out his duties towards Lebanon.

He added that the election was a “necessity and a priority above all else.”

Furthermore, he called for “real” and “serious” dialogue between parliamentary blocs so that an understanding can be reached over a president who enjoys consensus and enough popular support.

The new president should not be confrontational, he stated.

Amin al-Sayyed also backed parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s call to hold dialogue aimed at reaching an understanding over the new president who would be tasked with helping Lebanon out of its crises.

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Arab World

US-led Coalition Ends Mission in Iraq

The Iraqi government believes the coalition's withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
The Iraqi government believes the coalition's withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
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US-led Coalition Ends Mission in Iraq

The Iraqi government believes the coalition's withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
The Iraqi government believes the coalition's withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP

After more than a decade, the US-led coalition is ending its mission in Iraq, having helped save the country from extremists while causing persistent friction.

Coalition troops deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the ISIS group, which had seized large swathes of both countries and committed massacres and atrocities, AFP said.

The group was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but coalition forces stayed on to battle the group's remnants.

Baghdad and Washington agreed in 2024 to wind down the coalition's mission, and its troops withdrew gradually from bases across the country, restricting their presence to the autonomous northern Kurdistan region.

Their final withdrawal from there is scheduled on Wednesday.

The Iraqi government believes the coalition's withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared that October 1, the day following the coalition's departure, should be celebrated as Sovereignty Day.

It is "a national occasion that affirms the completion of Iraq's path toward sovereignty and consolidates the presence of the state and its institutions", the heads of the executive, legislative and judicial branches said on Monday.

They added that "the presence of weapons outside state authority must be addressed... in line with timelines set by the government, in a manner that strengthens state sovereignty".

- For the good of its people -

Zaidi, who came to power this year with the US's blessing, has vowed to reinforce the state's monopoly on arms and ensure that armed factions hand over their weapons to the state.

His government initially set September 30 as the deadline for factions to disarm, but later withdrew the time limit as talks continued to "regulate" weapons -- an issue that has fueled tensions and is expected to take much longer to resolve.

With several powerful groups refusing to disarm, senior politicians have intervened and are now hoping to work out a compromise deal.

Factions have put forward conditions that include not only the withdrawal of foreign troops, but also an end to American political and economic interference.

The powerful Kataeb Hezbollah group said in a statement Monday that the withdrawal of "the occupation forces... is a start towards achieving full sovereignty".

But the group also threatened Zaidi's government.

"A government that doesn't work for the good of its people will be brought down by all possible means," it said.

During the battle against ISIS, both the US-led coalition and Tehran-backed factions fought the extremists, their common enemy.

But after ISIS's defeat, the presence of the coalition turned into a persistent point of contention between Iraqi authorities and the factions.

Those groups demanded the withdrawal of US troops and began targeting them with drones and missiles, triggering US retaliatory strikes that killed several faction commanders over the years.

During the Middle East regional war, Iran and its allied factions intensified their attacks, targeting US-led troops in the Kurdistan region.

Kurds in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan region, told AFP they are increasingly anxious about who will protect them from drones that have repeatedly targeted their autonomous canton, once the coalition interceptors leave.

The coalition left Syria earlier this year.

Arab World

Syria Says Arrested Hezbollah-Affiliated Cell Planning Attacks

Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)
Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)
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Syria Says Arrested Hezbollah-Affiliated Cell Planning Attacks

Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)
Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)

Syrian authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell in the country's south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, accusing it of planning attacks on unspecified targets.

The new authorities in Damascus, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, are hostile to the Lebanese group, which is a sworn enemy of Israel and fought on Assad's side during the Syrian civil war.

Tuesday's announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections scheduled for late October.

Syrian intelligence services and security forces "thwarted a sabotage plot in the Yarmuk basin in Daraa (province) and arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell composed of three individuals", Syrian state television reported, quoting a statement from the internal security forces.

A suspect detained in the security operation. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)

The Yarmuk basin area, where state media has previously reported Israeli incursions and shelling, borders the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights, as well as Jordan.

"The operation followed careful monitoring of an attempt by the cell to prepare rocket launch platforms with the aim of carrying out attacks to destabilize security and stability," the statement said.

It did not specify the target of the alleged planned attacks and said investigations were ongoing.

Syrian authorities have previously said they dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, accusations the group has denied.

Authorities have also previously announced several seizures of weapons they said were bound for Hezbollah, which lost a key supply route from its backer Iran when Assad was toppled.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz have issued repeated warnings to Iran and Hezbollah promising retaliation in case of any attack.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

Suspects detained in the security operation. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)

The latest war and a previous round of hostilities with Israel in 2023-2024 have weakened the group.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since Assad's ouster and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974.

It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area.

Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, a move only recognized by the United States and Colombia.

Arab World

Settler Attack on West Bank Village Injures Israeli Forces, Drawing Rare Rebuke

A burned-out car stands outside a damaged building in the West Bank village of Jalud, south of Nablus, 29 September 2026. (EPA)
A burned-out car stands outside a damaged building in the West Bank village of Jalud, south of Nablus, 29 September 2026. (EPA)
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Settler Attack on West Bank Village Injures Israeli Forces, Drawing Rare Rebuke

A burned-out car stands outside a damaged building in the West Bank village of Jalud, south of Nablus, 29 September 2026. (EPA)
A burned-out car stands outside a damaged building in the West Bank village of Jalud, south of Nablus, 29 September 2026. (EPA)

More than 100 Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank early Tuesday, drawing condemnation from the US and from the Israeli government after they injured three members of the security forces.

The raid, and attacks on other West Bank villages on Tuesday, came amid mounting international criticism of settler violence, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed last week.

Settlers stormed the village of Jalud in the northern West Bank as the military attempted to accompany a Palestinian family back to their home after they had been displaced by settler attacks two months earlier.

The Israeli military said "more than 100 Israeli rioters" were in the area overnight and soldiers and border police tried to disperse them.

"As a result of the clashes, three Israel Border Police officers were lightly injured," it said in a statement.

One person was arrested and two minors were taken in for questioning, police said.

The military said the settlers had blocked roads, set tires on fire and thrown rocks at security forces, also setting fire to Palestinian buildings and vehicles in the village.

It added that the attack had prevented the return of the family, who had been displaced "following several incidents of (Israeli) nationalist crime against them".

- 'No justification' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and has been accelerating settlement expansion there. Some 500,000 Israeli settlers live among three million Palestinians.

Netanyahu condemned the attack, which he blamed on "a small group of rioters".

Their actions "cause great harm to that community and interfere with our forces as they carry out their mission", he said.

President Isaac Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role, called the attack "a moral stain, an assault on the rule of law and our most fundamental values". Such criticism from Israeli official is rare for attacks in which the victims are Palestinian.

The US State Department told AFP that "we condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank and support appropriate investigations, legal accountability, and judicial processes for those responsible".

Settler attacks against Palestinians including beatings, vandalism and arson averaged six a day in the first half of the year, according to the United Nations.

Recent weeks have also seen high-profile attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, including the shooting dead of a settler by a Palestinian.

Israel has voiced outrage and imposed diplomatic repercussions on several Western countries that imposed sanctions against products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.

- Rising settler ambitions -

Mahmoud al-Toubasi, a member of the family seeking to return to Jalud, told AFP that he and his relatives had left the house more than two months ago, and that it had been occupied by settlers until the attack on Tuesday.

"My wife, my son and I went to the house in the car, accompanied by an army vehicle in front of us and another behind us," he said.

Settlers attacked the group upon their arrival at the house and were pushed back by soldiers with pepper spray, he added.

"We were not physically injured, but we suffered some choking from the pepper spray," Toubasi said.

In a separate attack on Tuesday, dozens of settlers from hilltop outposts raided the Palestinian village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, residents told AFP.

An AFP journalist saw at least five burnt-out cars as a result.

In a separate incident in the town of Beitunia near Ramallah, dozens of settlers came to hold a prayer for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot using loudspeakers, Mayor Ribhi Dawla told AFP.

"This gathering is a dangerous precedent," he said. "There are ambitions for settlements in the area, they placed a caravan in the western part of the town and installed an iron gate."

In another incident on Tuesday evening, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its crews were "treating three people who were assaulted and beaten by settlers in the Jamala area near Ramallah" and taking them to hospital.

Violence has increased in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, with Israeli soldiers or settlers killing at least 1,111 Palestinians in that period, including both gunmen and civilians, per an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry.

Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.