Antoine Khoury

The gradual return of normalcy to Lebanon is gaining momentum. Flydubai, Dubai's second largest carrier after Emirates, has announced the resumption of its flights to Beirut on April 18.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has signaled his country's desire for full normalization with Lebanon, just ahead of a key round of peace talks scheduled in Washington.

Speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square following his traditional Sunday prayer, Pope Leo XIV said he felt "closer than ever" to the Lebanese people "in these days of pain, fear and indestructible hope in God." 

Syria's Interior Ministry announced Saturday that its counter-terrorism directorate, in cooperation with the internal security command around Damascus, had thwarted a bomb plot targeting a religious figure near a Maronite church in the Bab Touma district of the capital, and has linked the cell to Hezbollah.

Lebanon's cabinet took a landmark step Thursday, formally tasking the army and security forces with establishing a monopoly on weapons in Beirut, with the explicit goal of declaring the capital a "Hezbollah-free weapons zone."

The Israeli army announced Thursday the elimination of Ali Youssef Horchi, personal secretary, adviser and nephew of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, in a strike on Beirut's Tallet el-Khayat neighbourhood.

Israel launched a massive surprise assault on Hezbollah across Lebanon on Wednesday, striking what Defence Minister Israel Katz described as "hundreds" of the group's members in command centres throughout the country. 

In the hills and valleys of southern Lebanon, in the districts of Bint Jbeil, Marjeyoun and Hasbaya, something unexpected is happening. 

One month into the resumption of open warfare between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam delivered a frank admission: his government is intensifying diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, but the war goes on.

In a precise overnight strike, the Israeli Navy has eliminated Haj Youssef Ismail Hashem, commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front, in the Jnah neighbourhood of southern Beirut. 

Lebanon has formally notified the United Nations that its government considers all military activities by Hezbollah to be illegal.

Bahrain has arrested three individuals accused of forming a Hezbollah-linked cell involved in espionage, coordination with foreign actors, and financing operations threatening the kingdom's security, the latest in a wave of Gulf states dismantling Iran's proxy network on their soil.