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UN to Meet on Lebanon After Israel Takes Beaufort Castle

Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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UN to Meet on Lebanon After Israel Takes Beaufort Castle

Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting Monday on the fighting in Lebanon after Israel's military took over the medieval castle of Beaufort in Lebanese territory, diplomatic sources told AFP. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to push deeper into Lebanon and called Sunday's operation a "dramatic shift" in the campaign against Hezbollah. 

A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17, but has never been observed. Both sides accuse each other daily of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by the other's alleged breaches. 

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the United Nations Security Council would hold an emergency meeting Monday over Israel's expansion of its offensive in the country. 

The meeting was requested by France, whose President Emmanuel Macron said "nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon", calling for an end to fighting. 

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader. 

Israel hit Lebanon over the weekend, with eight people killed in a strike on Deir Zahrani in southern Lebanon on Sunday including three women, according to the Lebanese health ministry. 

The Iran-backed group, meanwhile, said it targeted Israeli forces near the fortress as well as army positions and infrastructure in Shlomi and Nahariya in northern Israel, while air raid sirens blared in the Acre area. 

A senior US official told AFP on Sunday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing diplomatic negotiations and asserted that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks. 

"To advance those talks, the United States proposed a clear sequence: Hezbollah must stop all attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about the conversations between the three leaders. 

Military delegations from Lebanon and Israel held security talks in Washington on Friday and more US-brokered negotiations are planned next week. 

In a video statement released after the military took Beaufort, Netanyahu said "we have returned united, determined and stronger than ever". 

"Now my directive is to deepen and expand our hold in places that were under Hezbollah's control. The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading." 

Israeli forces used the Beaufort castle, also known as Qalaat al-Sheqif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. 

Shelling was audible and smoke rose from the surrounding area as AFP saw the Israeli flag above the castle. 

- 'Impossible to return home - 

In a shelter for the displaced in Sidon, southern Lebanon's largest city, Zeinab Fakih, from Nabatieh, told AFP "we are afraid". 

"It is impossible for us to return to our home, because the city is in great destruction," she said, adding that the arrival of Israeli forces at the castle was "tragic". 

The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border. 

An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre wounded 13 staffers, the Lebanese health ministry said. 

A few thousand people remain in Tyre's small old city, spared from Israeli evacuation warnings, some sleeping in their cars. 

In Sidon, an AFP photographer saw civil defense teams from the Tyre region reach the city after Israel's military called them to evacuate. 

Ali Safieddine, civil defense head in Tyre city, said they have "temporarily relocated to Sidon". 

The Israeli army said a Hezbollah explosive drone killed one of its soldiers Saturday, bringing to 25 the number of Israeli military deaths in Lebanon since early March. 

It added that "since the start of the ceasefire, 900 Hezbollah terrorists have been eliminated". 

Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,412 people since early March. 

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Arab World

Banque Misr in UAE Targeted by US Sanctions

Banque Misr’s main branch in the UAE. (Banque Misr on Instagram)
Banque Misr’s main branch in the UAE. (Banque Misr on Instagram)
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Banque Misr in UAE Targeted by US Sanctions

Banque Misr’s main branch in the UAE. (Banque Misr on Instagram)
Banque Misr’s main branch in the UAE. (Banque Misr on Instagram)

An Egyptian banking source and an economic expert downplayed the impact of the US sanctions against Banque Misr’s UAE branch on the Egyptian banking sector and the broader economy, stressing that its fallout remains limited.

The source confirmed that the impact is confined to certain transactions of the UAE branch and does not extend to Banque Misr's operations within Egypt or its other international branches.

The US Treasury Department had on Friday said that “under Operation Economic Outcast, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule that would revoke Banque Misr UAE’s correspondent banking access to US financial institutions.”

“We are taking the first step in holding it accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

An official Egyptian banking source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decision will prevent the bank's branch from making any US dollar transfers outside the UAE without undergoing financial monitoring in Washington and obtaining its prior approval.

This measure is designed to ensure that funds do not reach individuals or institutions subject to US sanctions or ban orders, he explained.

The source noted that the decision applies strictly to the US dollar and no other currencies, as intercountry dollar transfers between banks are routed through a US intermediary bank or US intermediary transfer companies known as correspondents, allowing US authorities to track the movement of their currency.

He continued: "Previously, these transfers were carried out routinely under the supervision of the US banking sector alone. However, following this decision, they are now subject to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) - a department of the US Department of the Treasury, which is the primary US institution that monitors and blocks dollar transfers to entities and individuals listed on sanctions schedules."

The same source stressed that Banque Misr’s UAE branch is an entity independent of the Egyptian banking sector and falls within the scope of the UAE banking sector, though it is fully owned by the state-owned Banque Misr of Egypt.

He noted that "the US decision will not affect any bank inside Egypt in any way," adding that it is a reviewable measure that is highly likely to be canceled following coordination with the US.

Economic expert Abdel Nabi Abdel Muttalib said the US measure will not affect the rating of Banque Misr or the Egyptian banking sector, as the decision was not directed against Banque Misr or its UAE branch directly.

Instead, he explained that the measure targets the "correspondent" service, which is typically provided by US companies or banks to Banque Misr, particularly in countries where the bank does not have direct access to the banking system.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdel Muttalib said that the ban does not apply to all currencies, but rather strictly to the US dollar.

He added that even dollar transfers cannot be completely halted, as some transactions are carried out, for instance, in UAE dirhams and received on the other end in dollars.

Furthermore, he noted that many transfers are executed in various other currencies but are delivered in other countries in US dollars, given its status as the most widely used and globally available international currency.

He continued: "US authorities frequently implement broad precautionary measures and include institutions as a safeguard; subsequent reviews and audits then prove that certain entities were wrongfully targeted, leading to the cancellation of measures against them."

In a statement on Saturday, Banque Misr said was reviewing the US Treasury notice, adding that its branch in the UAE continued to provide banking services to its customers in line with applicable rules and ⁠procedures.

The bank stressed that the measure is strictly limited to Banque Misr’s UAE branch and does not extend to its operations in Egypt or any other country where it operates.

Arab World

Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: UNIFIL Alternative Is Another Force Operating under UN Banner

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during a parliamentary session on August 11, 2026. (EPA)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during a parliamentary session on August 11, 2026. (EPA)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: UNIFIL Alternative Is Another Force Operating under UN Banner

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during a parliamentary session on August 11, 2026. (EPA)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during a parliamentary session on August 11, 2026. (EPA)

The United States' persistent refusal to renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) demands a search for an alternative UN peacekeeping force that has both European and American backing to operate in southern Lebanon, Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Berri warned that without such a force, there would be no legal basis to maintain an international presence.

This international role remains essential as the sole framework supporting the Lebanese Army's efforts to deploy and extend state sovereignty over all its territory, which is conditioned on a full Israeli withdrawal to the international borders, he went on to say.

Berri stressed that bilateral agreements between Lebanon and Israel are not an alternative to an international presence in the south, so long as Tel Aviv refuses to implement what the two countries reached under the US-sponsored "Framework Agreement."

This agreement committed to implementing the first "pilot phase" and establishing a mechanism to verify the army's deployment in the covered towns.

Berri noted that despite his rejection of the agreement, he had proposed expanding it by applying it on the district level, based on the administrative divisions of the south, rather than restricting it to the occupied town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and incorporating liberated towns into it.

The December 31 expiration of the UNIFIL mandate in southern Lebanon, driven by Washington's insistence, has raised deep concerns among the Lebanese public regarding the loss of an international presence that can monitor the Israeli withdrawal.

While Israel pushes for bilateral agreements in place of the UN force, an approach broadly rejected in Lebanon, alternative proposals include forming a European force under a UN mandate if the Security Council extension is blocked.

This shifts the responsibility to the United States to consider Lebanon's position, especially since President General Joseph Aoun has called for a UN-backed European force as an alternative if Washington blocks Lebanon's official request to temporarily extend UNIFIL’s mandate.

Arab World

Baghdad Says Committed to Completing US Troop Withdrawal by End of Sept.

A soldier from the US-led anti-ISIS coalition. (AFP file)
A soldier from the US-led anti-ISIS coalition. (AFP file)
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Baghdad Says Committed to Completing US Troop Withdrawal by End of Sept.

A soldier from the US-led anti-ISIS coalition. (AFP file)
A soldier from the US-led anti-ISIS coalition. (AFP file)

Baghdad remains committed to the upcoming September 30 deadline to end the military presence of international coalition forces in Iraq, sources said.

Media reports, meanwhile, said that the United States and its partners intend to scale down their military mission and transition to a bilateral security framework with the Iraqi government instead of a complete withdrawal.

An official Iraqi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that reports about the continued presence of US and foreign forces in Iraq after September "contradict what was agreed upon between the previous Iraqi government and the US administration." However, the source added that "it is premature to comment on press reports that are not based on an official US source."

Reports on Saturday cited an unnamed US official, whose identity or position was not disclosed, stating that the US and its coalition partners will scale down their military missions in Iraq by the upcoming September 30 deadline.

The source said that the move is in execution of directives from President Donald Trump.

According to statements attributed to the official, the reduction of the mission reflects what they described as a shared success in fighting ISIS. The official noted that it represents a transition toward a permanent bilateral security partnership between Baghdad and Washington, in accordance with US interests, the Iraqi constitution, and the Strategic Framework Agreement between the two countries.

The official explained that the move does not mean the end of the international coalition against ISIS, but rather the transition of its military mission into a more traditional format within a bilateral framework.

Coordination between the Iraqi government and coalition member states will continue to ensure a "responsible and smooth" transition, he added.

In September 2024, Iraq and the US announced a plan to end the military mission of the Washington-led international coalition against ISIS in Iraq and to gradually transition to a bilateral security relationship.

Under the plan, the first phase of the mission concluded in September 2025, while forces remained in the Kurdistan region to support counter-ISIS operations in Syria, with the final phase scheduled to end in September 2026.

Sabah al-Numan, the military spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, said that the upcoming September 30 will be like an "Iraqi celebration," confirming Baghdad's commitment to completing the withdrawal of coalition forces on schedule.

Al-Numan added that the government is also proceeding with regulating weapons, restricting them to the control of the state, and integrating armed factions into legitimate state institutions.

The official Iraqi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government "is committed to what was agreed upon between Baghdad and Washington," and that Iraq no longer needs foreign forces on its territory for any purpose.

Baghdad is keen to ensure that a continued US presence, should it occur, does not provide a justification for armed factions to back track on the initiative to restrict weapons to the custody of the state, he stressed.