US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank from Sunday to Tuesday to discuss heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians as well as the war in Ukraine with regional leaders, the State Department said. The top US diplomat’s visit was announced just hours…

The US Treasury said, on Tuesday, it was placing sanctions on Lebanese money exchanger, Hassan Moukalled, and his business for alleged financial ties to blacklisted group Hezbollah, Reuters reports. Its announcement said Moukalled was a financial adviser to Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which is also designated by the United States, and carried…

New Israeli guidelines on access to the Occupied West Bank for foreigners threaten to further isolate Palestinians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today. The guidelines came into force in October 2022 and were amended in December 2022, setting out detailed procedures for West Bank entry and residency for foreigners, a…

The Lebanese army declared a state of alert on Sunday after Israeli forces approached “the technical fence” that separates the two countries, Anadolu has reported. “Enemy Israeli forces consisting of two Bucklin bulldozers, a D9 bulldozer, an armoured personnel carrier, and infantry” advanced towards the fence near the Hounin Valley…

Lebanese bankers told European prosecutors they believed that commissions, now at the centre of a graft probe, had been paid to the Central Bank, four sources said, while investigators suspect the cash illegally ended up with the Governor’s brother, Reuters reports. Prosecutors from Germany, France and Luxembourg have been in…

The United States expects Israel, under a visa-waiver deal being discussed between the allies, to enable free passage for Palestinian-Americans into the Occupied West Bank, the US ambassador said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Among territories where Palestinians seek statehood, the West Bank has seen a surge in violence over the…

The ministry of foreign affairs in Paris has called for the immediate release of French-Irish citizen Bernard Phelan who has been detained in Iran since October last year, Anadolu has reported. According to the ministry yesterday, Phelan is one of seven French citizens who were arrested “arbitrarily” by the Iranian…

Sweden and Finland must deport or extradite up to 130 “terrorists” to Turkiye before the Turkish Parliament will approve their bids to join NATO, President Tayyip Erdogan said, Reuters reports. The two Nordic states applied last year to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but their bids must be…