Middle East

The agreement to disarm Hamas envisions a central role for the International Stabilisation Force, announced in October, but which remains unclear after nine months. Israel has only given the green light to 200 soldiers from Morocco, Kosovo, Albania, and Kazakhstan. Indonesia has backtracked.

Saudi Arabia’s entry into the war would have serious consequences for the Land of the Cedars. In the pilot zones, the Israeli withdrawal – with control being handed over to the Lebanese army – is proceeding slowly and fraught with difficulties. Even a large proportion of the Shia population are weary of the war. In Nabatyeh, an entire generation is at risk of being ‘sacrificed’.

Following US-Saudi raids, Moqtada al-Sadr called on the Revolutionary Guards to refrain from dragging the country into a new conflict. He also urged Iraq’s prime minister to reassert state control. According to government figures, the PMFs now number between 200,000 and 238,000 members.

The new excavation campaigns promoted by Saudi Arabia focus on the human, economic, and social environments that characterised the Arabian Peninsula from the pre-Islamic era to the first centuries of the Hijra. They challenge the stereotype of a uniform desert, populated exclusively by nomadic tribes.

Tomorrow a solemn ceremony will raise to the honour of the altars the patriarch who, in 1920, fought for the creation of a pluralist Lebanon, with rare political, economic and ecclesiastical foresight. A message that is more relevant than ever for the Land of the Cedars in today’s context

At the current session in South Korea, the city of Tyre has been listed among the World Heritage Sites at risk. From tomorrow, the emergency nominations submitted by Lebanon and Palestine concerning Beaufort Castle (reoccupied by Israel) and the ancient city of Sebastia will be examined. Netanyahu’s government: “Exploitation of cultural heritage”.

In the first White House meeting with a Lebanese president since 2009, there were many promises, but it is hard to see how they can be kept. On the eve of his trip, Aoun secured the support of the Saudi prince. The redeployment of the Lebanese army to the “pilot zones” in place of Israel is fraught with tension.

Four months after his resignation, the Patriarch Emeritus shares his reflections and hopes with AsiaNews. The tragedy of the Islamic State and the revocation of the patriarchal decree were the hardest moments. The joy of Pope Francis’s visit, and the days devoted to prayer and writing. “A martyred Church that has much to offer the universal Church”.

Among the topics discussed at the General Synod held in York was the Kairos Palestine document, in which the communities of the Holy Land take a stand on the Israeli occupation, peace and justice. Primate Mullally’s visit and the challenge of not allowing oneself to be paralysed by differing sensibilities. Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac: “A step we have been waiting for a long time”.

Some 46 Thai migrants were killed when Hamas attacked on 7 October. Another 31 were abducted, with three dying in captivity in Gaza. In northern Israel, five were killed by Hezbollah rockets. Despite this, most chose to stay and continue to provide an essential service to Israeli agriculture.

A corruption scandal of symbolic significance involving the former deputy minister responsible for oil fields. Following Saddam’s fall, the new political system has encouraged the emergence of patronage networks. The Integrity Commission is working to extradite suspects and recover illicit assets.

The royal amnesty covers 1,971 prisoners, for whom Addis Ababa has begun repatriation procedures. They had been arrested for drug offences, with confessions often extracted by force or deception. Hundreds of migrants sentenced to death remain awaiting execution.