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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will “fulfill the promises” that he had made in the letter that he had recently addressed to Lebanese-American voters, Trump’s Arab affairs adviser Massad Boulos said.
Full StoryFrench Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday in Jerusalem he saw prospects for ending Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president.
"I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since October 7" last year, Barrot told reporters alongside outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, citing Trump's "wish to see the end of the Middle East's endless wars" as well as Israel's recent "tactical successes".
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U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein is expected to return to Lebanon within a week to “continue the initiative he had proposed to Speaker Nabih Berri,” which aims to “find a diplomatic solution between Lebanon and Israel,” informed sources said.
Full StoryIran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says its alliance of militant groups opposed to Israel remains strong despite the killing of many of their senior leaders.
“God willing, the world will see a day when the Zionist regime will be defeated by them,” Iranian state TV reported the leader as saying Thursday.
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Speaker Nabih Berri has said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had “signed a written pledge at Hassan Abbas’ restaurant (in the U.S. state of Michigan) to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon once he wins.”
Full StoryLebanese state media said an Israeli drone strike on Thursday targeted a car on a key road linking the capital Beirut with the Bekaa plain and eastern neighbor Syria.
"An enemy drone targeted a car in Araya," the National News Agency said, adding the road had been cut off by the strike that comes after two cars were targets on the same route last week, including a van loaded with Hezbollah ammunition.
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Health Minister Firass Abiad told AFP on Wednesday more than 2,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel launched intense air strikes on Lebanon more than a month ago.
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The Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired about 120 projectiles across the border from Lebanon on Wednesday, as an AFP journalist reported hearing interceptions over commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Full StoryLebanon's health ministry said 40 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on the country's east including the main city of Baalbek Wednesday, with rescuers still looking for survivors under the rubble.
"The series of Israeli enemy strikes on the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek" killed "40 people and injured 53", the ministry said in a statement giving a preliminary toll.
Full StoryHezbollah claimed a slew of attacks on Wednesday, including two that targeted naval bases near the Israeli city of Haifa and two near Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah fighters "targeted the Stella Maris naval base northwest of Haifa with a salvo of high-quality missiles and a squadron of attack drones," the group said in a statement.
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