Middle East

Israel rejects US-backed Lebanon ceasefire plan, hits Beirut again

By Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel rejected global calls on Thursday for a ceasefire with the Hezbollah movement, defying its biggest ally in Washington and pressing ahead with strikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and heightened fears of an all-out regional war. Despite Israel’s stance, the U.S. and France sought to keep prospects alive for an immediate 21-day truce they proposed on Wednesday, and said negotiations continued, including on the sidelines […]

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Blinken says US, partners working tirelessly to avoid full-blown war in Lebanon

By Humeyra Pamuk NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the risk of escalation in the Middle East was “acute” and that Washington and its allies were working tirelessly to avoid a full-blown war between Israel and Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. “With regard to Lebanon, we’ve been working tirelessly with partners to avoid a full-blown war and to move to a diplomatic process that would allow Israelis and […]

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Israeli warplanes hit Lebanon again as Hezbollah takes aim at Tel Aviv

By Maya Gebeily and Ari Rabinovitch BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and shot down a missile that the armed group Hezbollah said it had fired at the Mossad spy agency near Tel Aviv, ratcheting up the conflict between the two arch-foes. The Iran-backed Hezbollah claimed to have targeted the Mossad headquarters with what it described as a ballistic missile – the first time in nearly a year of warfare that […]

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At least 31 dead in Iran coal mine blast

DUBAI (Reuters) -A gas explosion in a coal mine in Iran’s South Khorasan Province killed at least 31 people and injured 16, the country’s interior minister Eskandar Momeni told state media on Sunday. Local media had reported earlier in the day that 51 people were killed following the accident they said was caused by a methane gas explosion in two blocks, B and C, of the privately-owned mine operated by the Madanjoo company. Momeni added […]

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Israeli troops raid, order closure of Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau

By Andrew Mills DOHA (Reuters) -Israeli forces raided the bureau of media network Al Jazeera in the West Bank city of Ramallah early on Sunday morning, issuing it with a military order to shut down operations, the network and the Israeli military said on Sunday. The Qatar-headquartered channel aired live footage of Israeli troops entering the office with their weapons drawn and handing a military court order to Ramallah bureau chief Walid al-Omari forcing the […]

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Hezbollah, Israel exchange heavy fire in ‘new phase’ of fighting

By Timour Azhari and Miro Maman BEIRUT/HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) -Hezbollah and Israel exchanged heavy fire into Sunday, as the Lebanese militant group sent rockets deep into northern Israeli territory after facing some of the most intense bombardment in almost a year of conflict. Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told mourners at the funeral of one of the group’s commanders killed last week in Beirut: “We have entered a new phase, the title of which is […]

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Taiwan questions head of pager firm linked to Hezbollah blasts

TAIPEI (Reuters) – The president and founder of a Taiwanese pager company linked to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon was questioned by prosecutors late into the night on Thursday, then released. Taiwan-based Gold Apollo’s president and founder Hsu Ching-kuang has said it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that they were made by a Budapest-based company BAC which has a licence to use its brand. Images […]

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Japanese company denies making Hezbollah’s exploding walkie-talkies

By Tom Bateman OSAKA (Reuters) -The Japanese maker of the brand of walkie-talkies linked to explosions targeting the Hezbollah armed group that killed 25 people in Lebanon and injured hundreds of others said it could not have made the exploding devices. “There’s no way a bomb could have been integrated into one of our devices during manufacturing. The process is highly automated and fast-paced, so there’s no time for such things,” Yoshiki Enomoto a director […]

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U.S. warns all parties against escalation in the Middle East

By Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday warned all parties in the Middle East against escalation as tensions between Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah and Israel remained high, saying Washington’s priority is to find a diplomatic solution. “We will continue to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself, but we don’t want to see any party escalate this conflict, period,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a regular briefing. […]

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Israeli security services arrest Israeli man over alleged Iranian-backed assassination plot

By James Mackenzie JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli security services said on Thursday they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting prominent people including the prime minister. A statement said the person was a businessman with connections in Turkey who had attended at least two meetings in Iran to discuss the possibility of assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant or the head of the Shin Bet […]

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Lebanon bans pagers, walkie-talkies from flights

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week. The Lebanese civilian aviation directorate asked airlines operating from Beirut to tell passengers that walkie-talkies and pagers were banned until further notice. Such devices were also banned from being shipped by air, the Lebanese state news agency […]

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Hezbollah devices explode again in Lebanon, raising fears of wider Israel conflict

By Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) -Hand-held radios used by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon’s south, further stoking tensions with Israel a day after similar explosions hit the group’s pagers. Lebanon’s health ministry said 14 people were killed and about 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut’s suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday’s explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured. Israeli […]

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