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Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad Leaders Meet over Gaza War

In this photo released on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, by the Hezbollah Media Relations Office, Hezbollah's leader, right, meets with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, center, and the Hamas deputy chief in Beirut, Lebanon. (Hezbollah Media Relations Office, via AP )
In this photo released on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, by the Hezbollah Media Relations Office, Hezbollah's leader, right, meets with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, center, and the Hamas deputy chief in Beirut, Lebanon. (Hezbollah Media Relations Office, via AP )
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Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad Leaders Meet over Gaza War

In this photo released on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, by the Hezbollah Media Relations Office, Hezbollah's leader, right, meets with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, center, and the Hamas deputy chief in Beirut, Lebanon. (Hezbollah Media Relations Office, via AP )
In this photo released on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, by the Hezbollah Media Relations Office, Hezbollah's leader, right, meets with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, center, and the Hamas deputy chief in Beirut, Lebanon. (Hezbollah Media Relations Office, via AP )

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah met top leaders of the Palestinian factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and discussed what their alliance must do to "achieve a real victory for the resistance", Hezbollah said on Wednesday.

Hezbollah has had daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces along the Israeli-Lebanese frontier since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7.

The meeting involved Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala, Hezbollah said in a statement.

"An assessment was made of the international positions being taken and what the parties of the Axis of Resistance must do ... to realize a real victory for the resistance in Gaza and Palestine," Hezbollah said.

Their goal was also to halt Israel’s “treacherous and brutal aggression against our oppressed and steadfast people in Gaza and the West Bank."

"There was agreement on continuing the coordination."

Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that two more of its fighters had been killed, increasing the death toll in its ranks to 40 fighters since the start of the conflict.

Nasrallah has yet to publicly speak about the war in Gaza and clashes along the Lebanon-Israel border. However, other Hezbollah top officials have warned Israel against its planned ground invasion into the besieged territory.

Israeli officials have said they would retaliate aggressively in case of a cross-border attack by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

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Arab World

UK, France, Canada and Others Condemn Israel’s Demolition of UNRWA HQ in Jerusalem

Israeli bulldozers demolish a UNRWA compound in east Jerusalem Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)
Israeli bulldozers demolish a UNRWA compound in east Jerusalem Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)
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UK, France, Canada and Others Condemn Israel’s Demolition of UNRWA HQ in Jerusalem

Israeli bulldozers demolish a UNRWA compound in east Jerusalem Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)
Israeli bulldozers demolish a UNRWA compound in east Jerusalem Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)

Britain and its allies, including France and Canada, on Wednesday strongly condemned the demolition last ‌week by ‌Israeli ‌authorities ⁠of the ‌UN Palestinian refugee agency's (UNRWA) East Jerusalem compound.

The group, in a joint ⁠statement, called ‌on the ‍government ‍of Israel to ‍halt all demolitions.

The statement was published on the British government website on behalf ⁠of foreign ministers from Britain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Portugal and Spain.

Arab World

Putin Hails Sharaa’s Efforts in Restoring Syria’s Territorial Integrity

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)
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Putin Hails Sharaa’s Efforts in Restoring Syria’s Territorial Integrity

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks in Moscow on Wednesday, as the Kremlin seeks to secure the future of military bases vital for its operations in the Middle East.

Russia was a key ally of Sharaa's predecessor Bashar al-Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war.

His toppling at the hands of Sharaa's opposition forces dealt a major blow to Russia's influence in the region and threw the status of its prized military bases in Syria into doubt.

Putin has been working to build relations with Sharaa since, though Russia's continued sheltering of Assad and his wife in Moscow remains a major obstacle to improving ties.

"Much has been accomplished in terms of restoring our interstate relations," Putin said in a televised meeting with Sharaa.

"We have closely monitored your efforts to restore Syria's territorial integrity and I want to congratulate you on the momentum this process is gaining," Putin said, apparently referring to Sharaa's recent offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria's northeast.

Sharaa, in his second meeting with Putin since coming to power, said Russia had a "historic role not only in Syria's unity and stability, but in that of the entire region."

Neither mentioned Russia's military presence in Syria, though Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier he had "no doubt" the issue would come up in their talks.

Russia has two remaining military outposts in the country, the Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

They are Russia's only two official military bases outside the former Soviet Union.

The Kremlin withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria earlier this week.

Syria has expressed a willingness to cooperate with Moscow, though has repeatedly demanded that Russia extradite Assad.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Sharaa as "highly respected" and said things there were "working out very well".

Arab World

Foreign Media Group Disappointed as Israel Court Postpones Gaza Ruling

Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Foreign Media Group Disappointed as Israel Court Postpones Gaza Ruling

Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)

An international media association expressed disappointment after Israel's supreme court again postponed ruling on a petition seeking free and independent press access to Gaza, in a statement sent to media on Wednesday.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, the Israeli government has barred foreign journalists from independently entering the blockaded territory.

Instead, Israel has allowed only a limited number of reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis, on embeds with its military.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) filed its petition in 2024, after which the court granted the government several extensions to submit its response.

The FPA represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and an AFP journalist sits on its board.

Following its latest hearing on Monday, the court once again postponed ruling on the FPA petition, and said it would give an update by March 31.

- 'Behind closed doors' -

"The Foreign Press Association is deeply disappointed that the Israeli Supreme Court has once again postponed ruling on our petition for free, independent press access to Gaza," the FPA said in its statement.

"All the more concerning is that the court appears to have been swayed by the state's classified security arguments, which were presented behind closed doors and without the presence of the FPA's attorneys.

"This secretive process offers no opportunity for us to rebut these arguments and clears the way for the continued arbitrary and open-ended closure of Gaza to foreign journalists," the statement added.

The FPA said there were no security arguments that justify what it called Israel's "blanket ban" on media access to Gaza.

The ban comes "at a time when humanitarian aid workers and other officials are being allowed into Gaza," it said.

In previous submissions, the government argued that allowing journalists into Gaza posed security risks for the military, particularly while troops were still searching for the remains of the last hostage held there.

However, the remains of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli captive, have now been returned to Israel, which the FPA said opens the way for independent media access to Gaza.

"The FPA urges the court to reconsider its decision and stresses the urgency of free, independent access to Gaza," the association said.

Palestinian fighters took 251 people hostage on October 7, 2023, in an attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 others, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 71,662 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

Media restrictions and limited access have meant that AFP and other media have been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover all the violence.