Antoine Khoury

Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met Tuesday at the State Department for a fourth round of direct talks, even as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued unabated on the ground.

Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar has launched a pointed attack on Hezbollah, accusing the Iran-backed group of undermining Lebanon's ability to conduct meaningful negotiations with Israel and dragging the country into wars its people never chose.

Syria's Central Bank has extended its currency exchange programme by an additional 30 days beyond its original end-of-June deadline, allowing citizens more time to swap old Syrian pound notes for new ones.

President Donald Trump announced Sunday the appointment of Tom Barrack, the current US Ambassador to Turkey, as Special Presidential Envoy to both Syria and Iraq, a dual role that signals Washington's intensifying diplomatic engagement across the region.

The United States welcomed "constructive" discussions between Israeli and Lebanese military delegations at the Pentagon on Friday, following nine hours of talks aimed at advancing the security track of ongoing peace negotiations between the two countries.

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.