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Arab World

Abbas to Macron: We Recognize the State of Israel, Want it to Recognize Palestine

French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)
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Abbas to Macron: We Recognize the State of Israel, Want it to Recognize Palestine

French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that Palestine has recognized the State of Israel and its right to exist for 40 years, asking Israel in turn to recognize a Palestinian state and its right to exist.

Abbas received French President Emmanuel Macron in Ramallah, who visited Israel to show solidarity following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

The Palestinian President demanded a "complete ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip and the opening of permanent corridors to deliver humanitarian aid to people in the coastal enclave.

Abbas urged France to use its influence in the United Nations Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza immediately, provide urgent international protection for the Palestinians, hold an international peace conference, and work on a political solution.

Abbas accused Israel of choosing a destructive military option instead of peace, saying Tel Aviv and the countries backing it were responsible for the destruction and deaths in the Strip.

The President rejected displacing Palestinians from their homes and lands, whether they are in Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem.

He warned that military options may lead to a regional or global war.

The Gaza Strip is part of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, said Abbas, asserting his rejection of any partial or security solutions for the enclave.

Moreover, Abbas stressed the commitment of Palestine to international legitimacy and signed agreements, policies of non-violence, and peaceful popular resistance.

The Palestinian leader condemned the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners, and detainees held by both parties.

For his part, Macron focused on an international coalition against Hamas, saying it does not represent the Palestinian people.

He told reporters that "nothing can justify" the suffering of civilians in the Palestinian territory, stressing that civilian lives have the same value, regardless of nationality.

Macron described Hamas as terrorist, telling Abbas there must be a security and peace initiative based on combating all terrorist groups.

In Ramallah, Palestinians protested against Macron's visit, following his positions in support of Israel.

Macron pledged to ensure financial support for the Palestinians in the West Bank and accelerate sending aid to the Gaza Strip.

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Arab World

Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Plans to Deport Palestinians from Gaza

Palestinians look on from the street at the damage to a house that was hit by an Israeli strike following an evacuation warning in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on September 8, 2026. (AFP)
Palestinians look on from the street at the damage to a house that was hit by an Israeli strike following an evacuation warning in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on September 8, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Plans to Deport Palestinians from Gaza

Palestinians look on from the street at the damage to a house that was hit by an Israeli strike following an evacuation warning in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on September 8, 2026. (AFP)
Palestinians look on from the street at the damage to a house that was hit by an Israeli strike following an evacuation warning in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on September 8, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Wednesday that the government does not plan to deport Palestinians from Gaza, after two Israeli ministers this month floated proposals for the mass removal of Palestinians from the coastal territory.

"We are not planning to expel or ‌to deport anyone ‌from (the) Gaza Strip," ‌Saar ⁠told a press ⁠conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

"If someone wants to immigrate (on) his own will, and there is a country which is ready to accept him .... we will not oppose that, ⁠but we will (also) not enforce ‌anyone ‌against (their) will," he said.

Saar is in ‌Slovenia to open the ‌Israeli embassy in Ljubljana.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said on September 2 there was "no real solution for ‌Gaza in the end without this migration" of Palestinians.

Far-right ⁠security ⁠minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on September 3 outlined a seven-year plan for removing Gaza's population through what he described as "voluntary emigration."

The US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said that Israel has no plans to force Palestinians to leave Gaza.

Israel is to hold a general election on October 27.

Arab World

Lebanon Says One Dead in Israeli Drone Strike

This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of al-Hanniyeh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the al-Mansouri village, on September 9, 2026. (AFP)
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of al-Hanniyeh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the al-Mansouri village, on September 9, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon Says One Dead in Israeli Drone Strike

This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of al-Hanniyeh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the al-Mansouri village, on September 9, 2026. (AFP)
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of al-Hanniyeh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the al-Mansouri village, on September 9, 2026. (AFP)

An Israeli strike killed one person in Lebanon's south, the Lebanese state news agency said on Wednesday, in a region where Israel has intensified attacks despite a ceasefire.

An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in Zebdine in the Nabatieh region, killing a man, Lebanon's National News Agency said.

Since announcing last week the capture of the Ali al-Taher ridge, a strategic Hezbollah position in Nabatieh, the Israeli army has stepped up its strikes in the area.

The attacks have killed at least 29 people since Friday, including 12 members of the same family, according to Lebanese authorities and official media.

Fighting in Lebanon had calmed since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon were reached in June.

But Beirut still reports recurring Israeli strikes, which it says have killed more than 4,300 people in total since March, and Israeli forces continue to occupy a so-called occupied "security zone" in the south.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday expressed concern about the Israeli "escalation" in southern Lebanon, according to his spokesperson.

In an online petition posted this week, nearly 400 Lebanese public figures, including legal experts and human rights advocates, called for Lebanon's army to be deployed in Nabatieh.

They also voiced concern over a possible "expansion of the Israeli occupation" toward the city, which is about 11 kilometers (seven miles) from the Israeli border.

"This city does not belong to any political group," added the signatories, referring to Hezbollah, which is well established in Nabatieh.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Lebanese army said its units were "deployed in all areas that Israel does not occupy, particularly in the Nabatieh region".

Arab World

Warehouse Explosion in Northwestern Syria Kills at Least 14

Members of Syria's security forces inspect damaged weapons and munitions at the site of an explosion at what the Defense Ministry said was a warehouse used to store weapons and munitions near Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP)
Members of Syria's security forces inspect damaged weapons and munitions at the site of an explosion at what the Defense Ministry said was a warehouse used to store weapons and munitions near Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP)
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Warehouse Explosion in Northwestern Syria Kills at Least 14

Members of Syria's security forces inspect damaged weapons and munitions at the site of an explosion at what the Defense Ministry said was a warehouse used to store weapons and munitions near Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP)
Members of Syria's security forces inspect damaged weapons and munitions at the site of an explosion at what the Defense Ministry said was a warehouse used to store weapons and munitions near Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP)

An explosion at a weapons warehouse in northwestern Syria killed at least 14 people and injured 11 others, state media reported Wednesday, citing the Health Ministry.

The cause of the blast near the town of Sarmada, in Idlib province, was not immediately clear. Such incidents are a relatively common occurrence in the country, which has been battered by over a decade of war.

The warehouse was used to store weapons and munitions left over from the country's uprising and civil war from 2011 until 2024, the state-run SANA news agency said, citing the Defense Ministry, without providing further details.

Civil Defense and Syrian Red Crescent first-responders are continuing to search for survivors trapped under the rubble. A photographer for The Associated Press at the scene saw bodies being recovered.

Video footage widely circulated after the blast showed a large plume of black smoke, while the sounds of smaller explosions could be heard.