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Shaibani Says Agreed with Salam on Ending Suffering of Syrian Detainees in Lebanon 

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani addresses the 34th Arab League summit in Baghdad on May 17, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani addresses the 34th Arab League summit in Baghdad on May 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Shaibani Says Agreed with Salam on Ending Suffering of Syrian Detainees in Lebanon 

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani addresses the 34th Arab League summit in Baghdad on May 17, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani addresses the 34th Arab League summit in Baghdad on May 17, 2025. (AFP)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Sunday he has reached an agreement with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam “on the need to speed up ending the suffering of Syrians held at Roumieh prison.”

They pledged to take practical steps to that end, the FM wrote on X after meeting with Salam.

Shaibani underlined the Syrian government’s “absolute keenness on resolving this file as soon as possible,” warning however that some of the consequences of the Syrian war could persist “for some time”.

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Arab World

Palestinian Technocratic Committee Says Ready to Govern Gaza

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Hamas militants stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Hamas militants stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
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Palestinian Technocratic Committee Says Ready to Govern Gaza

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Hamas militants stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Hamas militants stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo

The Palestinian technocratic committee set up by the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump said Monday it was ready to govern the Gaza Strip after Hamas announced it had dissolved its ruling body.

"We affirm that the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza is fully prepared to assume its national responsibilities as soon as the necessary resources and capabilities are available," Ali Shaath, head of the committee, wrote on X.

Later on Monday, Hamas announced it had officially dissolved its de facto government in Gaza and signalled it was ready to hand over to the group of Palestinian technocrats, as it presses Israel to honor other parts of a stalled US-backed peace plan.

The group's promise to end the body overseeing ministries — which has run for more than a decade — was a key part of the plan for a post-war Gaza set out by US President Donald Trump after the start of a fragile ceasefire with Israel in October.

Hamas said the ministries themselves and the staff it had appointed would stay in place and it would still oversee security and policing in parts of Gaza left under its control following the US-brokered truce.

Arab World

Lebanese President: Israeli Occupation Prevents Army Deployment in the South

This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) /
This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) /
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Lebanese President: Israeli Occupation Prevents Army Deployment in the South

This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) /
This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) /

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday that the continued Israeli "occupation" of southern Lebanon is preventing the deployment of the Lebanese army, as the two sides prepare to implement a framework agreement providing for a gradual Israeli military withdrawal followed by the phased deployment of Lebanese armed forces.

Aoun stressed, according to a statement carried by the presidency, "the importance of pressuring Israel to withdraw from the areas it occupies in Lebanon," adding that "the continued occupation undermines the state's legitimacy, prevents the army's deployment, and obstructs the foundations for achieving a just and lasting peace."

Lebanon entered the war on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, saying the attack was in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the first US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Israel responded with an extensive bombing campaign and a ground offensive while intensifying calls for the evacuation of large areas of southern Lebanon.

Under a framework agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel in the United States on June 26, the Lebanese army is to reassert its authority across southern Lebanon, provided Hezbollah is disarmed, beginning with "pilot areas" from which Israeli forces will withdraw.

Arab World

4 People Killed in Israeli Strike in South Lebanon’s Nabatieh

This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
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4 People Killed in Israeli Strike in South Lebanon’s Nabatieh

This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows an Israeli army tank being positioned along the Israel-Lebanon border, on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Four people were killed when an Israeli drone ⁠targeted a vehicle ⁠in ⁠Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's state news agency.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes days earlier.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops still occupy swathes of territory near the border.

At the end of June, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a US-backed framework aiming to pave the way for a permanent end to hostilities.