Mena Today

Following the announcement that it had achieved "operational control" of the Ali Taher ridge, the Israeli military is reportedly preparing to reduce troop levels in southern Lebanon and shrink the footprint of its occupied "buffer zone," according to several Israeli security officials cited by Israel's Channel Kan 11.

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack called Saturday for restraint in the southern province of Sweida, a Druze-majority region, following tensions between local figures.

The Israeli military said it was striking southern Lebanon early on Sunday in retaliation for Hezbollah firing two drones at Israeli soldiers stationed in a part of the region it has declared a security zone.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for around three hours in the Kremlin on Saturday, telling them at the start of the talks that the situation in Ukraine was "difficult."

Tunisia did not stall. It receded. The country that once sold itself as the only successful child of 2011 now lives under a presidency that concentrates power, criminalizes dissent, and cannot keep the lights on. 

Fighting between Yemen's pro-government forces and Iran-controlled Houthi rebels killed more than 60 people Saturday, including civilians, bringing the death toll to nearly 200 since Thursday, the deadliest fighting in years in a country already devastated by war from 2014 to 2022.

 U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran's key oil export hub. 

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday said there was no plan to force Palestinians to leave Gaza after two Israeli ministers this week floated proposals for the mass removal of Palestinians from the coastal territory.

A Tunisian judge on Saturday ordered the detention of prominent journalist Mohamed Yousfi, an outspoken critic of President Kais Saied, hours after police arrested him in what critics said was an attempt to stifle dissenting voices.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that the United States may hit Iran's Pickaxe Mountain very soon.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Friday in New York, by a vote of 164 in favor, titled "Correct the Map: Rebalancing World Cartographic Representation and Promoting an Equitable Representation of the World's Regions, in Particular Africa." 

For four decades, Tehran’s strategy for regional deterrence relied on building an impenetrable "ring of fire" along Israel’s northern border, with Hezbollah serving as its central pillar.