As the White House has soured on Israel’s war in Lebanon, Trump has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight Hezbollah instead. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in doing so, but Trump has doubled down: apnews.com/article/leba...

As the U.S. and Iran exchanged escalating strikes on June 11, a plane carrying Qatari mediators was stranded on the tarmac in Tehran. @apnews.com colleagues and I delve into the tumultuous diplomatic process that led to the U.S.-Iran deal: apnews.com/article/us-i...

Mona Khalil, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon’s coastline, was critically injured in the Israeli strike on her home in the village of Mansouri earlier this month and died of her wounds Friday Via @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...

A Hezbollah official told @apnews.com Iran has informed the militant group that Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there apnews.com/article/iran...

Israeli military strikes Beirut suburbs in the lead-up to anticipated US-Iran deal apnews.com/article/iran...

Alleged spy's mysterious disappearance spotlights Israel’s intelligence networks in Lebanon @joudsally.bsky.social and I probe the curious case of an alleged Mossad agent who escaped Hezbollah detention, took refuge in the Ukrainian embassy - and then disappeared again: apnews.com/article/hezb...

Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion and say today's catastrophe is worse Deeply reported and heartbreaking story by Julia Frankel and Wafaa Shurafa apnews.com/article/nakb...

Israeli forces set up a camp in the Iraqi desert during Iran war, officials say With Qassim Abdul-Zahra (WSJ was first to report the existence of a secret Israeli base in Iraq, although according to our sources, it wasn't exactly a base) apnews.com/article/iraq...

War-battered Syria now sells itself as a safe corridor amid regional conflict apnews.com/article/syri...

Some maps cover broad swaths of Lebanon; others show specific buildings. Sometimes there is no warning at all before strikes, which have continued despite a nominal ceasefire Isabel DeBre delves into the Israeli military's warning maps in Lebanon: apnews.com/article/isra...

Lebanon resident recognizes family crucifix smashed by Israeli soldier in viral image Israel and Italy - via its UNIFIL peacekeeping force - both sent replacement crucifixes to Debel. The family opted to keep the Italian one. Via @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...

“They were demolishing it gradually until they reached the main square and now, as you can see, there are no more houses" Israeli forces demolish homes in areas of Lebanon occupied after ceasefire apnews.com/article/leba...

Israeli airstrike kills Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil Rescue workers were fired on by Israeli forces so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, Lebanon's health ministry said Khalil’s body was retrieved at least six hours after the strike apnews.com/article/leba...

Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with Hezbollah We profiled three of the 168 children killed in Lebanon to date and their families. With heartbreaking video by Malak Harb: apnews.com/article/leba...

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah will not abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks in the United States, negotiations it firmly opposes, senior Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa told @apnews.com a day before the talks apnews.com/article/hezb...

It was not the homecoming they had anticipated when they fled to Lebanon six years ago: A Syrian man buries his wife and 4 children killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut Via Ghaith AlSayed and @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...

One of the strikes hit the building where I used to live, and another one hit one block over from my current apartment. Both in very normal residential neighborhoods. Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there: apnews.com/article/isra...

Live updates: US and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire (lots of details still unclear, including how this will play out in Lebanon) apnews.com/live/iran-wa...

Kidnapped American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who had been held by the Kataib Hezbollah militias, has been released, an Iraqi official tells the AP Via Qassim Abdul-Zahra apnews.com/article/jour...

The AP @apnews.com is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Here's why we made that decision: apnews.com/article/iran...

Lebanese fear another occupation as Israel threatens to use Gaza tactics in the south By @chehayebk.bsky.social and Julia Frankel, who have also mapped developments in the war in southern Lebanon with our graphics team apnews.com/article/leba...

Israeli strike destroys a key bridge on the route between the coastal cities of Saida (Sidon) and Sour (Tyre) in southern Lebanon, part of a stepped-up campaign targeting infrastructure and transportation routes youtube.com/watch?v=AvHT...

Israel hopes that this round will finally enable it to defang the threat on its northern border. Hezbollah sees it as an existential struggle. Whatever the outcome, the war will have far-reaching consequences in Lebanon and throughout the region.

What to know about the resurgent war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon apnews.com/article/leba...

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells the AP his country will not be provoked into joining the war in the Middle East.

AP Exclusive: Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks diplomatic efforts as regional war rages Fidan told us that there is no serious initiative to resume negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, but he believes Iran is open to back-channel talks: apnews.com/article/turk...

War has already displaced nearly a million Lebanese, and aid groups warn of a humanitarian crisis Via @chehayebk.bsky.social and Malak Harb apnews.com/article/leba...

Photos of a central Beirut district struck by Israeli bombs apnews.com/photo-galler...

Months before Israel staged a commando operation aimed at finding the remains of a long-disappeared Israeli pilot in Lebanon, a retired Lebanese security officer vanished. His family thinks Israel abducted him as part of the Ron Arad case Via @bmroue.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...

Evidence suggests the deadly blast at an Iranian school was likely a US airstrike Via Julia Frankel apnews.com/article/iran...

Officials with one of the armed Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq told @AP they are not planning an imminent cross-border attack on Iran but would join a ground invasion if the U.S. were to launch one Via Stella Martany apnews.com/article/kurd...

Israel strikes Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing a blanket evacuation order apnews.com/article/leba...

Kurdish dissident groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran with US support apnews.com/article/kurd...

Lebanese civilians fled from the country’s south and from Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, seeking refuge in schools in Lebanon’s capital following a new and deadly escalation between Israel and the Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah apnews.com/article/leba...

Blow after blow to the power of Iran and its allies and proxies in the region set the stage for US-Israel attacks apnews.com/article/iran...

President Donald Trump says the U.S. has begun “major combat operations in Iran” after Israel launched strikes despite ongoing nuclear talks: apnews.com/article/iran...

Public rift erupts between, Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran's last shah, and Kurdish Iranian dissidents With Stella Martany apnews.com/article/iran...

Ramadan in the Arab world is a time of fasting and prayer, but it brings another beloved tradition: the much-anticipated TV drama series shot each year to be aired during the holy month. I delved into Syria's TV industry as it seeks its footing in the post-Assad order: apnews.com/article/syri...

Kurdish-majority neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Syria's Aleppo recovers from clashes with hope for the future apnews.com/article/syri...

Village in southern Lebanon buries a child and father killed in Israeli drone strike apnews.com/article/leba...

U.N. peacekeepers with UNIFIL patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a dramatic surge of “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the last year, including drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire, according to an internal report seen by @apnews.com apnews.com/article/isra...

Lebanon's relations with Syria have made a dramatic positive shift post-Assad, deputy PM Tarek Mitri says apnews.com/article/leba...

Stranded in Egypt for the past two years, Raed Belal has had to watch helplessly as his wife and children in the Gaza Strip endured bombardment, displacement and hunger. Now he finally has hope he might return to them apnews.com/article/rafa...

After months of stalled negotiations, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces lost most of their territory to a government offensive in a matter of days. They may have miscalculated by counting on U.S. support.

Several countries have said they will sign onto Trump’s Board of Peace, while a few European nations have declined their invitations. Many have not yet responded to Trump’s invites. Here is a tally by The Associated Press on what countries are joining, which are not and which are undecided.

Analysts say the SDF miscalculated, taking a hard stance in negotiations with the new leaders in Damascus on the assumption that if a military conflict erupted between them, Washington would support the SDF apnews.com/article/syri...

Kurdish separatist group claims to have mounted ‘armed operations' in Iran to defend protesters With Stella Martany: apnews.com/article/iran...

Syria is on the list but was already under a ban anyway. Lebanon is newly added. Iraq is there as well. (As are many others, clearly, but I'm just naming the ones in my patch. Full list in the story) US to suspend immigrant visa processing from 75 countries apnews.com/article/trum...

Kurdish fighters evacuated from Aleppo after days of violent clashes apnews.com/article/alep...

Civilians flee Aleppo as clashes between Syrian government and Kurdish forces escalate apnews.com/article/syri...