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Israel Set to Approve Thousands of Building Permits in West Bank

Israeli settlers walk past structures that were erected for a new Jewish seminary school, in the settler outpost of Homesh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 29, 2023 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli settlers walk past structures that were erected for a new Jewish seminary school, in the settler outpost of Homesh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 29, 2023 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
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Israel Set to Approve Thousands of Building Permits in West Bank

Israeli settlers walk past structures that were erected for a new Jewish seminary school, in the settler outpost of Homesh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 29, 2023 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli settlers walk past structures that were erected for a new Jewish seminary school, in the settler outpost of Homesh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 29, 2023 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israel's nationalist-religious government on Sunday tabled plans to approve thousands of building permits in the occupied West Bank, despite US pressure to halt settlement expansion that Washington sees as an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.

The plans for approval of 4,560 housing units in various areas of the West Bank were included on the agenda of Israel's Supreme Planning Council that meets next week, although only 1,332 are up for final approval, with the remainder still going through the preliminary clearance process, Reuters said.

"We will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a defense portfolio that gives him a leading role in West Bank administration.

Most countries deem the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as illegal. Their presence is one of the fundamental issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital. Peace talks that had been brokered by the United States have been frozen since 2014.

The US State Department said it was "deeply troubled" by the move, and called on Israel to return to dialogue aimed at de-escalation.

"As has been longstanding policy, the United States opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve and are an obstacle to peace," department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, most deep in the West Bank.

It also amended a law to clear the way for settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated.

In response to Sunday's Israeli decision, the Palestinian Authority - which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank - said it would boycott a meeting of the Joint Economic Committee with Israel scheduled for Monday.

The Palestinian group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, after Israel's withdrawal of soldiers and settlers, condemned the move, saying it “will not give (Israel) legitimacy over our land. Our people will resist it by all means".

Jewish settler groups welcomed the announcement.

"The people have chosen to continue building in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, and that is the way it should be," said Shlomo Ne'eman, mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, using Israel's biblical names for the West Bank.

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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.

Arab World

Police Captain Injured in Car Bomb Explosion in Syria’s Aleppo

A damaged car is seen after an explosion in the city of al-Bab, Aleppo, on Sunday. (Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV)
A damaged car is seen after an explosion in the city of al-Bab, Aleppo, on Sunday. (Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV)
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Police Captain Injured in Car Bomb Explosion in Syria’s Aleppo

A damaged car is seen after an explosion in the city of al-Bab, Aleppo, on Sunday. (Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV)
A damaged car is seen after an explosion in the city of al-Bab, Aleppo, on Sunday. (Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV)

A Syrian police officer holding the rank of captain was among two people injured Sunday when an explosive device detonated inside a vehicle in the city of al-Bab in eastern Aleppo province, according to local media.

Syrian state-affiliated media said the blast occurred near the al-Center roundabout and was caused by a bomb placed inside the vehicle. The explosion wounded two people, who were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

A source told Syria TV that, according to preliminary information, the vehicle was parked near the city’s Grand Mosque when the explosion occurred.

The incident comes amid heightened security tensions across Aleppo province.

Authorities have reported a recent increase in attacks targeting checkpoints and facilities operated by government Internal Security Forces, particularly around the city of Kobani, or Ain al-Arab, in northeastern Aleppo.

Syrian officials have blamed many of the attacks on the Revolutionary Youth movement, a group linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), although the allegations have not been independently verified.

On Friday, Aleppo Internal Security Commander Col. Mohammed Abdel Ghani sought to reassure residents of Kobani, stressing that maintaining security, stability, and public safety remained the authorities’ top priority.

His remarks followed a series of attacks on security personnel and installations, including an incident last Thursday in which unidentified assailants fired RPG rounds at an Internal Security Forces checkpoint near Kobani.

The violence has fueled debate over the motives. A tribal elder from Hasakah described the attacks as an attempt to pressure the Syrian government into making further concessions during the implementation of an agreement with Kurdish forces reached on Jan. 29.

By contrast, an official from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing associated with the SDF, said the incidents were isolated acts carried out by individuals rather than an organized campaign.

Arab World

Lebanon Warns Displaced against Rushing Home after US-Iran Deal

This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 11, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 11, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
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Lebanon Warns Displaced against Rushing Home after US-Iran Deal

This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 11, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 11, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /

Authorities in southern Lebanon warned people displaced by three months of war between Israel and Hezbollah against rushing home on Monday despite a US-Iran deal to end the wider conflict, as Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the south.

Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the conflict between the US and Iran, with thousands of people killed and some 1.2 million people uprooted by an Israeli offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which ‌opened fire on ‌Israel in support of Tehran on March 2.

Pakistani ‌Prime ⁠Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ⁠a key mediator between Tehran and Washington, announced that a deal was struck early on Monday local time, and that the pact called for "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon".

In south Lebanon, where Israeli forces have occupied a self-declared security zone, municipal councils issued statements calling on residents to hold off on returning, the state-run National News ⁠Agency reported.

Mona Mazeh, a displaced woman sheltering in Beirut's ‌Hamra district, had no immediate plans to ‌return to her village near the southern city of Tyre. "Frankly, we are hesitant; ‌Israel cannot be trusted," she said.

ISRAEL IS NOT A PARTY TO US-IRAN ‌DEAL

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country is not a party to the US-Iran deal, said Israel would not withdraw from security zones in southern Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, and that it would retaliate if Iran attacked Israel due to ‌events in Lebanon.

Katz said the security zone in southern Lebanon would be cleared of local residents, and "all terrorist ⁠infrastructure, including houses in ⁠contact villages", in reference to Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has been razing villages in southern Lebanon for weeks, saying it is acting against Hezbollah militants embedded in civilian areas of the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim region.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites are sheltering in other parts of the country.

In Nabatieh, a devastated city in the south, Mohammed Daqdouq said he had returned on Monday morning to check on his home. "We'll need a lifetime to rebuild - to rebuild it again and bring Nabatieh back to how it was," he said.

Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards established Hezbollah in 1982, had insisted that a Lebanon ceasefire be included as part of any broader deal with the United States.