Arab World News

Gaza Ceasefire Enters Phase Two Despite Unresolved Issues

Arab World  Palestinians walk amid buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)

Gaza Ceasefire Enters Phase Two Despite Unresolved Issues

A US-backed plan to end the war in Gaza has entered its second phase despite unresolved disputes between Israel and Hamas over alleged ceasefire violations and…

Arab World A handout photo from Israeli television made available on July 13, 2008, shows a photograph of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who was captured after his fighter jet was shot down in Lebanon in 1986. (Handout / AFP)

Lebanon Charges Four Accused of Kidnapping for Israel’s Mossad

Four people accused of a kidnapping in Lebanon for Israel's Mossad spy agency last month have been charged, a judicial official said on Thursday, after a…

Arab World  Makeshift tents shelter displaced Palestinians stand among buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)

Israeli Strikes Kill Five in Gaza, Say Local Health Authorities

Two Israeli airstrikes killed five people, including a 16-year-old, in Deir al-Balah on Thursday, said local health authorities. The Israeli military did not…

Arab World  Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answers questions from reporters during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)

Türkiye Says Syrian Government Could Use Force Against Kurds

The Syrian government army could use further force against Kurdish militants after a flare-up in violence in northern Syria, the foreign minister of…

Arab World According to the UN, more than 21 million people are now facing acute food insecurity, with two-thirds in urgent need of assistance. (AFP)

Sudan Food Aid Could Run Out as Peace Efforts Stall

Food aid in Sudan is set to run out by the end of March unless new funding is secured, the United Nations said Thursday, raising fears for millions caught up…


Arab World Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a meeting with representatives of the “Quintet” at the Presidential Palace in Beirut (AFP). 

Int’l Momentum Builds for Paris Conference to Support Lebanese Army, Enforce Arms Monopoly

The announcement of a conference to support the Lebanese Army, scheduled to be held in Paris on March 5, has gathered notable international momentum, bolstered…

Nazir Reda (Beirut)
Arab World Palestinian Ali Shaath, the leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Gaza Administration Committee (photo released by his family). 

Ali Shaath Appointed Head of Gaza Administration Committee: What Do We Know About Him?

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye announced on Wednesday the formation of a Palestinian technocratic committee to administer the Gaza Strip, headed by…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Members of Israel’s special reserve unit “Alpine Mountains” during training on Mount Hermon in Syria (Israeli army) 

Israel Seeks to Cement Status Quo of Its New Occupation in Syria

A senior Israeli official has acknowledged that disagreements with Syria remain “very deep,” dismissing what the United States has described as a positive…

Asharq Al Awsat (Tel Aviv)
Arab World Hezbollah members take an oath in front of a monument to Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Beirut in 2022 (AP file photo)

Hezbollah Raises Civil War Threat Over Disarmament Plan

Hezbollah escalated its response to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam over plans to press ahead with restricting weapons to the…

Paul Astih (Beirut)
Arab World Palestinian Ali Shaath, a leading candidate to head the Gaza Administration Committee, in a photo released by his family.

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaza Committee Members to Meet Mladenov at US Embassy in Cairo

Palestinian sources reported that figures nominated to lead a temporary Gaza Administration Committee are scheduled to meet on Thursday with Bulgarian diplomat…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World  A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)

US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

President Donald Trump's envoy said Wednesday that a plan to end the Gaza war was now moving to Phase Two with a goal of disarming Hamas, despite a number of…

Arab World A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon Arrests Syrian Citizen Suspected of Funding Pro-Assad Fighters

Lebanese authorities have arrested a Syrian citizen who is suspected of sending money to fighters loyal to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria,…

Arab World Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Sudan Peace Talks Resume in Cairo as War Nears 3-Year Mark

Sudan peace efforts resumed in Cairo on Wednesday as Egypt, the United Nations and the United States called for the warring parties to agree to a nationwide…

Arab World Mourners hold anti-US and anti-Israeli placards during a funeral ceremony for security personnel killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, 14 January 2026. (EPA)

Diplomats Sought Guarantees from Hezbollah That It Will Hold Fire if Iran Is Attacked, Source Says

Diplomats have sought guarantees from Lebanese armed group Hezbollah that it would not take military action if the United ‌States ‌or ‌Israel …

Arab World A handout photo made available by Egyptian State Press Office shows Egyptian authorities holding talks with a Hamas delegation and representatives of various Palestinian factions, in Cairo, Egypt, 14 January 2026, to select a technical committee for Gaza. (EPA/Egyptian State Press Office)

Egypt Says All Parties Agree on Gaza Technocratic Committee Members

Egypt said Wednesday that all the members of a 15-person Palestinian technocratic committee meant to administer post-war Gaza had been agreed upon by all…

Arab World Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Syrian Military Tells Civilians to Evacuate Contested Area East of Aleppo Amid Rising Tensions

Syria’s military said it would open a corridor Thursday for civilians to evacuate an area of Aleppo province that has seen a military buildup following intense…

Arab World French Special Presidential Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian looks on during a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (not pictured) at the Government Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 January 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon Says France to Host Conference to Support Army

Lebanon said Wednesday that a conference in support of the country's army as it seeks to disarm Hezbollah would take place in Paris on March 5. The…

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Arab World Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrested man, Kazem Hamad, was a threat to national security. (Getty Images file)

Iraqi Officials Arrest Man Wanted by Australian Police as 'Number One Priority'

Iraqi officials have arrested a man wanted by Australian Federal Police as a person of interest in ​the investigation into a spate of firebombings, including…

Arab World A drone view shows the port of the coastal city of Latakia, Syria, March 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria Asks Lebanon to Hand Over Assad-Era Officers

Syrian authorities have asked Lebanese security forces to hand over more than 200 senior officers who fled to Lebanon after the fall of Bashar al-Assad,…

Arab World  Internally displaced Palestinians move between the ruins of destroyed buildings at Al Rashid road in the west of Gaza City on, 06 January 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (EPA)

Israel Army Says Killed Six Gaza Gunmen Despite Ceasefire

The Israeli military said Wednesday it had killed six gunmen in an updated toll from an exchange of fire in Gaza the day before, accusing them of violating the…

Arab World Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive shelter in an UNRWA school, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Source Reveals to Asharq Al-Awsat Names of Some Members of Gaza Technocrat Committee

An informed Palestinian sources revealed that an agreement has been reached on the majority of the members of the technocratic committee will run the Gaza…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World Supporters of Hezbollah hold portraits of its general secretaries on the first anniversary of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. (Reuters file)

Aoun, Hezbollah Ties Cool as Contacts Stay at Minimum

Relations between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Hezbollah have grown visibly strained, with contacts confined to what ministerial sources described as …

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World A general view shows destruction in the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 9, 2026 following Israeli attacks. Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territory killed at least 13 people, including five children, despite a ceasefire that has largely halted the fighting. (AFP)

Palestinian Factions Hold Indirect Talks in Cairo on Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire

A Palestinian source from the Fatah movement told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday that “indirect” meetings among Palestinian factions have begun in Cairo to discuss…

Mohamed Mahmoud (Cairo)
Arab World The Lebanese Central Bank in Beirut (NNA) 

Lebanon Charges Ex-Central Bank Governor Salameh Over Alleged $44.8 Mln Embezzlement

Lebanese prosecutors have indicted former central bank governor Riad Salameh and two lawyers on charges including embezzlement of public funds, forgery and…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Howling Winds Collapse Walls on Gaza Tent Camps, Killing 4, Child Dies of Hypothermia

At least four people died overnight in Gaza from walls collapsing onto their tents as strong winds lashed the Palestinian coastal territory, hospital…

Arab World Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)

Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Syria's army told Kurdish forces on Tuesday to withdraw from an area east of Aleppo after deadly clashes in the city last week, as a senior Kurdish official…

Arab World Security personnel inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs following a bombing . (AFP)

Syrian Interior Ministry Details Results of Security Campaigns in Latakia, Damascus Countrysides

Syria’s Interior Ministry has announced the results of a series of security operations carried out in recent days in Homs, Latakia, and the Damascus…

Asharq Al Awsat (Damascus)
Arab World Displaced Palestinians stand beside a pool of rainwater amid makeshift shelters at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza (AFP). 

Gaza Deal: Cairo Talks Aim to Settle Sector’s ‘Administrative Committee’

Cairo is hosting renewed consultations on the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which entered into force on Oct. 10, following the arrival of a delegation from Hamas…

Mohamed Mahmoud (Cairo)
Arab World Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and ambassadors of the quintet countries meet at the Grand Serail in Beirut. (Lebanese government's press office)

Lebanese Govt Vows to Carry out Second Phase of Plan to Impose State Monopoly over Arms

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed on Monday that his country is determined to carry out the second phase of imposing state monopoly over weapons…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)