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Lebanon Moves Closer to Forming the Government

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam speaks at the presidential palace on the day he meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in Baabda, Lebanon January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam speaks at the presidential palace on the day he meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in Baabda, Lebanon January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon Moves Closer to Forming the Government

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam speaks at the presidential palace on the day he meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in Baabda, Lebanon January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam speaks at the presidential palace on the day he meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in Baabda, Lebanon January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon's prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam is expected to announce the new cabinet in the coming days if the Lebanese Forces party’s demands for a so-called “sovereign” portfolio were met, parliamentary sources told Asharq al-Awsat.

According to the sources, Salam and President Michel Aoun will not reveal the cabinet formation before making their stance clear from the LF’s demand for the Foreign Ministry portfolio.

A tug-of-war over the Finance Ministry post has sparked political tensions in Lebanon, with the LF threatening to boycott the government if Hezbollah and Amal name that minister and other key positions. Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Amal movement, has insisted on nominating lawmaker and former minister Yassin Jaber for the post.

The sources told the newspaper that retired Brig. Gen. from the Internal Security Forces Ahmed al-Hajjar will like get the Interior Ministry portfolio, while the Defense Ministry will be headed by retired Army Maj. Gen. Michel Mnassa.

Jaber is set to head the Finance Ministry while former Ambassador Naji Abu Assi will likely become Foreign Minister unless he was replaced by a Maronite to appease the LF, the sources added.

Salam was nominated on Jan. 13 to form Lebanon's new cabinet. He has spent the last three weeks consulting with political parties to form a government, whose posts are doled out based on sect and political affiliation.

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Arab World

Syria Says Repelled Drone Attack From Iraq on US Base

In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)
In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)
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Syria Says Repelled Drone Attack From Iraq on US Base

In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)
In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)

Syria's assistant defense minister said Sunday that his country's forces had repelled a drone attack from neighboring Iraq targeting one of Syria's last US military bases.

"Earlier today, the US base in Qasrak, located on our territory, was attacked by four drones launched from Iraqi territory," Sipan Hamo said on X, adding that "the drones were shot down without casualties".

"We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability."

The attack came a day after Syria's army said it repelled another drone attack from Iraq aimed at al-Tanf, a base in the southeast which used to house US forces.

Earlier this week, the Syrian military said another base in the northeast was also targeted by a missile attack from Iraq, with an Iraqi official saying a local armed group was behind it.

Iraq has arrested four people in connection with that attack.

Iraq has been pulled into the war since it was sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, with the conflict engulfing much of the Middle East.

Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups.

In recent months, American forces have withdrawn from the al-Tanf base, as well as Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and had begun withdrawing from the Qasrak base, also located in Hasakeh.

Arab World

US Condemns Attack on Home of the Leader of Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
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US Condemns Attack on Home of the Leader of Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)

The United States on Saturday condemned a drone attack on a residence of the leader of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, blaming Iranian militia proxies in Iraq.

"These actions by Iran and its proxies are a direct assault on Iraq's sovereignty, stability, and unity," a statement from State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

"We categorically reject the indiscriminate and cowardly terrorist acts that Iran and its terrorist proxies have unleashed in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and throughout Iraq," he added.

The Iraqi government has promised to investigate Saturday's drone attack that targeted Barzani's second home.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Barzani, on Saturday called the attack "unacceptable" and described the rise in attacks on Iraqi institutions as "worrying."

Since the launch of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran on February 28, Iraq has been drawn into a regional conflict it has sought to avoid.

Pro-Iranian groups in Iraq claim responsibility on a daily basis for drone attacks and rocket strikes targeting the US military presence, both within Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

These attacks have targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad and personnel for an international anti-extremist coalition deployed in Iraq.

Arab World

Israeli Military Says Another Soldier Killed in Southern Lebanon

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Israeli Military Says Another Soldier Killed in Southern Lebanon

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The Israeli ‌military ‌said early Sunday ‌that ⁠one of ⁠its ⁠soldiers ‌was ‌killed during ‌combat ‌in southern ‌Lebanon.

"Sergeant Moshe Yitzchak hacohen Katz, aged 22, from New Haven, Connecticut, a soldier of the 890th battalion, Paratroopers Brigade, fell during combat in southern Lebanon," a military statement said.

Five Israeli soldiers have now been killed in fighting in south Lebanon since Hezbollah began launching rocket attacks against Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

Israel’s attacks continued in Lebanon.

On Saturday, the Israeli military killed three journalists in the south, including Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib, one of the network's most prominent war correspondents, who had covered Israeli attacks on Lebanon for decades.

The Israeli military accused him of operating within Hezbollah "under the guise of a journalist."

Lebanese authorities, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, condemned the killings as war crimes.

Israel also carried out raids in southern Lebanon that killed nine paramedics, according to the health ministry.