Antoine Khoury

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter has outlined Israel's vision for a negotiated resolution with Lebanon, in an interview with This is Beirut.

Syria issued a warning Thursday over rising water levels along the Euphrates River, following floods in the country's north and east caused by heavy rainfall and increased water flows from Turkey.

Israeli forces struck the southern Lebanese city of Tyre in the early hours of Thursday, hours after warning residents to evacuate and declaring all territory south of the Zahrani River, some 40 kilometres from the border, a "combat zone."

The Israeli military has ordered the entire city of Tyre, along with surrounding Palestinian camps, villages and neighbourhoods, to evacuate immediately, publishing a detailed map alongside the order on Wednesday.

The Israeli military ordered the full evacuation of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, ahead of strikes targeting Hezbollah. 

The most forceful response to Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem's threats against the Lebanese government came not from Beirut, but from Washington.

Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Béchara Raï used his Sunday homily to call for the success of ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, renewing his longstanding plea for Lebanese neutrality and urging "collective responsibility" in the face of chaos and poverty gripping Beirut.

Lebanon is facing threats to both its unity and territorial integrity, French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Thursday, pointing to Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory in the south and Hezbollah's grip on the rest as twin threats to the country's survival as a coherent state.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam delivered his sharpest rebuke yet of Hezbollah on Friday, urging the Iran-backed group to abandon what he called "absurd adventures in service of foreign interests" and stop dressing up "deaths, destruction and displacement" as victories.

The United States delivered a pointed assessment at the UN Security Council Thursday, accusing the Assad regime of having "permitted or turned a blind eye" to Hezbollah's activities and captagon trafficking networks, allowing the Iran-backed group to "sow destruction in Syria and across the region."

As the first session of government-level Lebanon-Israel negotiations opened Thursday in Washington, Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Raggi moved quickly to define what Beirut is, and is not, sitting down to discuss.

The United Arab Emirates has added 16 Lebanese individuals and five entities operating in Lebanon to its terrorism list for their alleged links to Hezbollah, the official WAM news agency reported Tuesday.