https://www.scmp.com/rss/522324/feed Hezbollah: A prominent Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group, headquartered in Beirut. Formed in 1982, its primary mission initially focused on resisting Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. The organisation operates across political, military, and social spheres, providing extensive welfare services while maintaining a significant armed wing. Recognised for its strong ties with Iran and its substantial influence within Lebanese politics, Hezbollah has also played a... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The United States and Iran both warned they were ready for war as the clock ticked down on a ceasefire on Tuesday, with uncertainty over whether talks that US President Donald Trump had announced would resume in Pakistan. The White House said US Vice-President J.D. Vance was ready to fly back to Islamabad, which was preparing for a second round of talks on ending the war that has engulfed the Middle East and shaken global markets. However, Tehran’s government declined to confirm that it would... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350796/us-and-iran-warn-they-are-ready-war-pakistan-ceasefire-talks-limbo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350796/us-and-iran-warn-they-are-ready-war-pakistan-ceasefire-talks-limbo?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:18:55 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday that planned talks with Israel aimed to end hostilities and the occupation in southern Lebanon, even as Hezbollah and its supporters rejected the negotiations. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has sharply criticised the Lebanese government’s negotiations with Israel, which were set to enter a second round on Thursday. After the first round of talks last week, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day truce pausing more than six weeks of war... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350795/lebanons-president-aoun-says-aiming-end-hostilities-israel-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350795/lebanons-president-aoun-says-aiming-end-hostilities-israel-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 22:46:50 +0000 Agencies Agencies Israel on Monday told residents of south Lebanon ⁠to stay out of a belt of territory running the length of the border and not to approach the area of the Litani River, entrenching its grip over southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. The US-mediated, 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday, largely halting the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that spiralled out of the ‌conflict between the United States and Iran. But it remains fragile, with Israeli troops... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350658/israel-says-military-use-full-force-lebanon-despite-truce-if-soldiers-face-threat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350658/israel-says-military-use-full-force-lebanon-despite-truce-if-soldiers-face-threat?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:35:39 +0000 Mark Magnier Mark Magnier In an apparent sign that Tehran blinked first in the blockade showdown between Iran and the US, the two sides announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was open and operational after nearly seven weeks that have seen hundreds of ships blocked and sent energy prices soaring worldwide. “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!” US President Donald Trump said on social media, using an unofficial name for the strategic waterway. Iranian... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350530/iran-us-say-strait-hormuz-fully-open-commercial-vessels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350530/iran-us-say-strait-hormuz-fully-open-commercial-vessels?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:51:26 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon unveiled by US President Donald Trump on Thursday was the final turn in the diplomatic maze leading to a breakthrough in Pakistan-mediated peace talks between Washington and Tehran, analysts say. Arranged by Pakistan with help from Saudi Arabia, the 10-day cessation of hostilities in Lebanon was a key Iranian condition for a second and potentially conclusive round of talks in Islamabad on a date yet to be set. Marathon talks between high-powered... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350522/lebanon-becomes-key-iran-us-peace-talks-amid-fears-israels-hegemony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350522/lebanon-becomes-key-iran-us-peace-talks-amid-fears-israels-hegemony?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:00:07 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon appeared to be holding on Friday, a breakthrough that could provide critical relief to Washington’s strained temporary truce with Tehran Announcing the ceasefire, which came into effect at 5pm EST Thursday (5am Friday Hong Kong time), US President Donald Trump said it followed what he described as “excellent conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. “These two Leaders have agreed that in order... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350372/israel-and-lebanon-agree-10-day-ceasefire-us-pushes-broader-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350372/israel-and-lebanon-agree-10-day-ceasefire-us-pushes-broader-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:32:37 +0000 Reuters Reuters Lebanon’s president will not speak to Israel’s prime minister in the near future, Lebanese officials said on Thursday, dealing a blow to US efforts to expand contacts between the enemy states as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war. The US-Israeli war with Iran spilt into Lebanon on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon just 15 months after the last major conflict. “Peace in Lebanon is essential... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350251/trump-says-israel-and-lebanon-leaders-hold-talks-thursday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350251/trump-says-israel-and-lebanon-leaders-hold-talks-thursday?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:39:54 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israel’s security cabinet ⁠will convene on Wednesday to discuss a possible Lebanon ceasefire, a senior Israeli official has said, more than five weeks into a war with Hezbollah that spiralled out of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet would meet ‌at 8pm local time, the official said. Senior Hezbollah official Ibrahim al-Moussawi told Reuters that diplomatic efforts by Iran and other regional states could produce a ceasefire soon, saying... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350220/israeli-security-cabinet-discuss-possible-lebanon-ceasefire-senior-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350220/israeli-security-cabinet-discuss-possible-lebanon-ceasefire-senior-official?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:40:18 +0000 Dewey Sim,Khushboo Razdan Dewey Sim,Khushboo Razdan Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare face-to-face talks, facilitated by Washington, on Tuesday, with all sides agreeing to launch “direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue”. “Israel expressed its commitment to engage in direct negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues and achieve a durable peace that will strengthen security, stability and prosperity in the region,” as per a readout issued by the US State Department. The statement said that Lebanon called for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350092/israel-lebanon-talks-rare-historic-moment-amid-hopes-conflict-resolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350092/israel-lebanon-talks-rare-historic-moment-amid-hopes-conflict-resolution?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:41:04 +0000 Asad Ullah Asad Ullah The conventional indictment runs like this: blinded by ideology and captured by special interests, the US and Israel have blundered into a region they never understood, sowing instability they neither anticipated nor desired. It is a damning argument. It also happens to be, in one important respect, too generous. The more unsettling possibility, supported by two decades of observable behaviour, is that these policies produce not disorder as a side effect but something far more useful: a conflict... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349970/who-profits-most-us-israel-iran-stalemate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349970/who-profits-most-us-israel-iran-stalemate?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with its foe. Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war. The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349959/hezbollah-leader-asks-lebanon-cancel-meeting-israel-washington?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349959/hezbollah-leader-asks-lebanon-cancel-meeting-israel-washington?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:34:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Sunday he was working to stop the Israel-Hezbollah war, even as Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in south Lebanon that the fight there was far from over. The Lebanese Red Cross said in a statement that one of its paramedics had been killed in the south. They said its teams had been “directly targeted by an Israeli drone” while on a humanitarian mission, even though “the ambulances and their crews bore the protective Red Cross... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349819/israels-netanyahu-south-lebanon-says-threat-invasion-removed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349819/israels-netanyahu-south-lebanon-says-threat-invasion-removed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:10:38 +0000 Reuters Reuters Wrapped in bloodied bandages, seven-year-old Aline Saeed barely survived the Israeli strike on her home in south Lebanon last week. She was there to bury her father as hopes of a truce spread across the region, but a new strike killed her infant sister and other relatives. The strike on the Saeed family home in the village of Srifa took place on Wednesday, the first day ‌of a US-Iran ceasefire that many in Lebanon hoped would apply to their country, too. Instead, Israeli strikes killed more than... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349814/israeli-bombardment-kills-infant-lebanon-during-fathers-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349814/israeli-bombardment-kills-infant-lebanon-during-fathers-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:41:20 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fuelling the US-Israel war on Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace. Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica on the same day the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held. History’s first US-born pope did not mention the United States or President Donald Trump in his prayer, which was planned before the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349769/pope-leo-slams-delusion-omnipotence-stoking-us-israeli-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349769/pope-leo-slams-delusion-omnipotence-stoking-us-israeli-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 03:25:35 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Friday marks six months since Gaza’s ceasefire deal took effect, a milestone largely lost in the confusion over the new and even more fragile ceasefire in the Iran war. The ravaged Palestinian territory of 2 million people has seen the most intense fighting stop between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants. But most of the ceasefire work remains to be done, from disarming Hamas and ending its two-decade rule to deploying an international stabilisation force and beginning vast reconstruction.... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349651/gaza-marks-6-months-ceasefire-does-it-offer-lessons-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349651/gaza-marks-6-months-ceasefire-does-it-offer-lessons-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:14:41 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbours. Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will keep... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349596/israel-plans-talks-lebanon-violence-imperils-iran-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349596/israel-plans-talks-lebanon-violence-imperils-iran-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2026 02:55:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon on Thursday, putting the Middle East ceasefire in further jeopardy after the biggest Israeli attacks of the war on its neighbour killed more than 250 people and threatened to torpedo US President Donald Trump’s truce. In Pakistan, authorities locked down the capital Islamabad in anticipation of the war’s first peace talks, cutting off all access to a 3km (2-mile) zone around the five-star luxury Serena Hotel. Both the US and Iranian delegations are expected... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349538/no-let-israeli-attacks-lebanon-us-iran-ceasefire-teeters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349538/no-let-israeli-attacks-lebanon-us-iran-ceasefire-teeters?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:40:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli strikes hit busy commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning on Wednesday, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the US-Israeli war with Iran. A total of 254 people were killed and over 1,100 ‌wounded across Lebanon, the country’s civil defence service said. The highest toll was in Beirut, where 91 people were killed. The health ministry gave a toll of 182 dead across the country and said it was not a final figure. All up, it was the deadliest day in the latest... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349447/israel-hammers-lebanon-strikes-killing-and-wounding-scores-deadliest-day-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349447/israel-hammers-lebanon-strikes-killing-and-wounding-scores-deadliest-day-war?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 01:59:37 +0000 Agencies Agencies Israel renewed its strikes in southern Lebanon and urged residents in parts of Beirut to evacuate on Wednesday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the US-Iran truce does not extend to the war against Hezbollah. Israel hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut on Wednesday afternoon. Israel’s military called it the largest coordinated strike in the current war, striking more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349405/israel-says-battle-lebanon-continues-despite-iran-war-truce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349405/israel-says-battle-lebanon-continues-despite-iran-war-truce?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 11:12:54 +0000 Reuters Reuters The Iran-aligned Iraqi armed ⁠group Kataib Hezbollah ⁠has released abducted US journalist ⁠Shelly Kittleson, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. Officials from the Pentagon, the FBI and the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council were among the people who assisted in ‌securing Kittleson’s release, Rubio said in a statement. She was abducted in late March in Baghdad. “We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” he added. Kataib... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349310/pro-iran-group-says-will-release-us-journalist-kidnapped-iraq?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349310/pro-iran-group-says-will-release-us-journalist-kidnapped-iraq?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:54:50 +0000 Reuters Reuters An Israeli air strike on Kfarhata, a village in south Lebanon, killed seven people on Sunday, including a four-year-old child, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement. Another Israeli attack on the Jnah neighbourhood in Beirut killed four people and injured ‌39 others, the ministry added. The strike on Kfarhata followed an overnight evacuation order by the Israeli military instructing residents to leave the village. As Lebanese Christians, who make up roughly a third of the population,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349099/israeli-strikes-kill-11-lebanon-israel-announces-security-buffer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349099/israeli-strikes-kill-11-lebanon-israel-announces-security-buffer?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:14:58 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun striking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group’s reinforcements from crossing. Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday, with smoke billowing from one of them. Local media reported two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349021/israel-targets-iran-backed-hezbollah-sites-lebanon-fresh-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349021/israel-targets-iran-backed-hezbollah-sites-lebanon-fresh-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 05:16:02 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with the Hezbollah militant group began. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive. The Israeli military said on Friday it had killed about 1,000... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348961/israel-strikes-over-3500-lebanon-targets-month-says-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348961/israel-strikes-over-3500-lebanon-targets-month-says-military?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:26:29 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced confidence on Monday that Iran’s Islamic republic would eventually fall, though he again said that was not the objective of the US-Israeli war on the country. “I think this regime will collapse internally. But at the moment, right now, what we’re doing is just degrading their military capacity, degrading their missile capacity, degrading their nuclear capacity and also weakening them from the inside,” Netanyahu told conservative US broadcaster... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348461/irans-islamic-republic-will-collapse-internally-says-netanyahu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348461/irans-islamic-republic-will-collapse-internally-says-netanyahu?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:36:53 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A man who crashed his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue earlier in March was carrying out an attack inspired by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah and had sought to inflict as much damage as possible, the FBI said on Monday. Ayman Ghazali made a video before the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, saying he wanted to “kill as many of them as I possibly can”, said Jennifer Runyan, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Detroit, who announced new information more... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3348458/fbi-says-man-who-crashed-his-truck-michigan-synagogue-was-inspired-hezbollah?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3348458/fbi-says-man-who-crashed-his-truck-michigan-synagogue-was-inspired-hezbollah?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:00:41 +0000 Reuters Reuters Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in ⁠southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medical staff were killed in Israeli strikes. Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast. Earlier, another Indonesian soldier... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3348348/indonesian-killed-lebanon-while-un-peacekeeping-mission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3348348/indonesian-killed-lebanon-while-un-peacekeeping-mission?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:40:26 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”. There were no immediate... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:59:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports “belonging to allies and supporters of the Zionist-American enemies”. “This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities … were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy,” the Guards said on their... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348177/iran-says-hormuz-closed-shipping-and-enemy-ports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348177/iran-says-hormuz-closed-shipping-and-enemy-ports?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:48:54 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, an area Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday described as a “security zone”, spelling out for the first time Israel’s intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a 10th of the country. At a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani,” a river that meets the Mediterranean about 30km (20 miles) ‌north of Israel’s border. Lebanon’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347801/israels-military-occupy-swathe-southern-lebanon-amid-widening-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347801/israels-military-occupy-swathe-southern-lebanon-amid-widening-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:48:04 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran targeted countries across the Middle East with a fresh volley of missiles on Wednesday, hours after US President Donald Trump signalled tentative progress in diplomatic efforts to end the war. Tehran said on Wednesday it fired a volley of cruise missiles at a US aircraft carrier. Iran’s military said its cruise missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had “forced it to change its position”, warning of “powerful strikes” when the “hostile fleet” comes into range. The conflict that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347776/israeli-military-warns-inbound-missiles-iran-says-anti-missile-defences-active?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347776/israeli-military-warns-inbound-missiles-iran-says-anti-missile-defences-active?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 23:42:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A series of strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday and early Tuesday, the first attack on the Hezbollah stronghold in days, as Israel’s military said it captured two members of the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon. An earlier Israeli strike hit the upscale, predominantly Christian area of Hazmieh near Beirut, with Israel saying it targeted a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm. AFPTV’s live broadcast showed clouds of smoke over the capital’s southern... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347646/israel-strikes-south-beirut-claims-it-captured-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347646/israel-strikes-south-beirut-claims-it-captured-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 23:24:05 +0000 Reuters Reuters Less than 48 hours before the US-Israeli strike on Iran began, Prime Minister Benjamin ⁠Netanyahu spoke by phone to US President Donald Trump about the reasons for launching the kind of complex, far-off war the American leader once had campaigned against. Both ⁠Trump and Netanyahu knew from intelligence briefings earlier in the week that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his key lieutenants would soon meet at his compound in Tehran, making them vulnerable to a “decapitation... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347640/trump-approved-iran-operation-after-netanyahu-argued-joint-killing-khamenei?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347640/trump-approved-iran-operation-after-netanyahu-argued-joint-killing-khamenei?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:59:46 +0000 Fan Chen Fan Chen Iran’s leadership is likely to prove resilient despite US-Israeli decapitation tactics, analysts say. Dozens of senior Iranian officials, including the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and national security chief Ali Larijani, have been killed since the start of the bombing raids on February 28. Tehran has argued these changes do not matter. “Of course, individuals are influential, and each person plays their role – some better, some worse, some less – but what matters is that the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347624/not-venezuela-why-iran-likely-survive-us-israeli-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347624/not-venezuela-why-iran-likely-survive-us-israeli-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:15:30 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel’s military said it was investigating whether its own fire killed an Israeli civilian near the Lebanese border on Sunday, after Hezbollah claimed an attack in the same area. Israeli emergency workers said earlier on Sunday that a man was killed in a “direct hit” on his car by a rocket from Lebanon. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group said after the incident that its fighters had attacked Israeli soldiers in the same area. But the Israeli army later said it was “conducting a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347503/hezbollah-claims-rocket-killed-one-israeli-army-demolishes-houses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347503/hezbollah-claims-rocket-killed-one-israeli-army-demolishes-houses?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 14:54:27 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Three weeks into the Iran war, tit-for-tat escalations on multiple fronts have dragged the Middle East to the brink of the region-wide conflict that its governments have repeatedly warned about – and tried to avert – since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. Israel has launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in recent days, after Hezbollah entered the conflict in response to the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iraq has been turned into a shooting range, as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347363/iran-war-nears-3-front-tipping-point-gulf-energy-hubs-burn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347363/iran-war-nears-3-front-tipping-point-gulf-energy-hubs-burn?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 04:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An explosion was heard in Baghdad early Wednesday, an Agence France-Presse journalist said, as Iraqi officials reported a drone and rocket attack targeting the US embassy. The latest explosion came hours after multiple blasts were heard across the Iraqi capital, where a witness said he saw detonations likely caused by air defences intercepting projectiles over the embassy. Diners at a restaurant in the city seemed undisturbed by the initial sounds of the blasts. Another witness saw a fire on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346936/fire-us-embassy-baghdad-security-official-reports-drone-and-rocket-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346936/fire-us-embassy-baghdad-security-official-reports-drone-and-rocket-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 18:59:00 +0000 Agencies Agencies Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Iran’s powerful national security chief Ali Larijani was “eliminated last night”, along with the commander of Tehran’s Basij paramilitary force, General Gholam Reza Soleimani. “I have just been updated by the chief of staff that Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the Basij – Iran’s central repression apparatus – [Soleimani], were eliminated last night,” Katz said in a statement released by his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346898/irans-ali-larijani-basij-paramilitary-head-eliminated-tehran-strike-israel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346898/irans-ali-larijani-basij-paramilitary-head-eliminated-tehran-strike-israel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 10:03:58 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, while a strike killed four people at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisers, security officials said, pulling Iraq deeper into the Middle East war. Black smoke was seen rising after an explosion in the embassy complex, as well as air defences intercepting another drone. The strikes came hours after air defences thwarted a rocket attack at the embassy and a drone sparked a fire at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346809/drone-strikes-luxury-hotel-baghdads-green-zone-home-us-embassy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346809/drone-strikes-luxury-hotel-baghdads-green-zone-home-us-embassy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:36:48 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The brother of the man who attacked a Michigan synagogue last week, who was killed earlier this month in an Israeli air strike, was a Hezbollah commander, Israel’s military claimed on Sunday. Ibrahim Ghazali was killed in Lebanon along with three other of the attacker’s relatives on March 5 - a week before authorities allege Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove his car into a major synagogue outside Detroit and killed himself after security fired at him. The FBI’s Detroit office, which is investigating... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346686/brother-michigan-synagogue-attacker-was-hezbollah-commander-israeli-military-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346686/brother-michigan-synagogue-attacker-was-hezbollah-commander-israeli-military-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 17:12:51 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Turkey expressed deep concern on Saturday over Israel’s ongoing strikes on Lebanon, voicing fears it could commit “a new genocide” under the guise of fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. “We are frankly concerned [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is moving toward a new genocide under the pretext of fighting Hezbollah,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference. “The international community must act as soon as possible in the face of the crimes that Israel continues to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346629/israel-may-commit-new-genocide-lebanon-using-iran-war-pretext-turkey-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346629/israel-may-commit-new-genocide-lebanon-using-iran-war-pretext-turkey-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:40:47 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran’s right to defend itself against Israel and the United States. In a rare appeal, Hamas also urged the international community to take steps to end the war that has gripped the Middle East since it began on February 28. “While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346608/hamas-calls-iran-avoid-targeting-neighbouring-countries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346608/hamas-calls-iran-avoid-targeting-neighbouring-countries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 11:30:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Fatima Nazha slept on the streets for two days after she and her family fled their home in Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli mass evacuation order. All of the schools the government turned into shelters were full, and the family could not afford a hotel or a flat, so she and her husband eventually moved into a tent in the country’s biggest stadium while their children and grandchildren found shelter near the southern coastal city of Sidon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346600/aid-groups-warn-humanitarian-crisis-lebanon-nearly-1-million-displaced-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346600/aid-groups-warn-humanitarian-crisis-lebanon-nearly-1-million-displaced-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 09:50:46 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Explosions rocked Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Saturday after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a “key figure”, security sources said. The strikes are the first in the heart of Baghdad to kill Iran-backed fighters since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, which has not spared Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the US and Iran. “At 2.15am, a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah,” said a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346576/strikes-iraqi-capital-kill-2-iran-linked-kataeb-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346576/strikes-iraqi-capital-kill-2-iran-linked-kataeb-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 03:35:28 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israeli strikes and mass evacuation orders have seen nearly 700,000 people flee their homes in Lebanon in just over a week, with more than 100,000 fleeing in 24 hours, the UN said on Tuesday. “Lives have been upended on a massive scale,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the representative in Lebanon of UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. In just over a week since the new escalation in Lebanon, Israeli air strikes and evacuation warnings to residents of dozens of villages “forced families... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:22:42 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman, hospitals said, on one of the war-battered enclave’s deadliest days since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October. The United States is trying to push the deal forward and implement its challenging second phase. Among the dead were three Palestinian journalists who were killed while filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, a camp... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340870/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-children-and-journalists-gaza-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340870/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-children-and-journalists-gaza-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:07:02 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes and said Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it fails to disarm in Gaza, as he presented a united front with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Speaking at a news conference with Netanyahu in Florida, Trump threatened to “eradicate” any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear programme or ballistic missile arsenal following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year. Trump also played down reports of tensions with Netanyahu... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3338079/trump-calls-hamas-disarm-he-meets-netanyahu-florida-discuss-gaza-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3338079/trump-calls-hamas-disarm-he-meets-netanyahu-florida-discuss-gaza-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:55:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump is expected to ‌push for progress in the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for talks ‍that will include Israel’s concerns over Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran. Netanyahu said this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes to establish transitional governance and an international security force for the Palestinian enclave. It will be Netanyahu’s fifth visit to see Trump in the United States... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3337962/trump-and-netanyahu-discuss-next-phase-gaza-ceasefire-plan-us-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3337962/trump-and-netanyahu-discuss-next-phase-gaza-ceasefire-plan-us-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Dec 2025 23:42:35 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on ‍Monday he will discuss Iran’s nuclear activities during his visit next week with US President Donald Trump. Speaking at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was aware Iran had been conducting “exercises” recently, without elaborating. Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media reported Iran had held missile drills in various cities... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337396/netanyahu-discuss-irans-nuclear-activities-next-phase-gaza-plan-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337396/netanyahu-discuss-irans-nuclear-activities-next-phase-gaza-plan-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:33:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters Iraq will remove Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis from an asset-freeze list, officials said on Thursday, after the Iran-aligned groups were mistakenly included in an earlier government publication, prompting confusion and criticism. The Justice Ministry’s official gazette last month published a list of groups and entities whose funds would be blocked, naming both militant groups, a move that would likely have been welcomed in Washington and increased pressure on Tehran. A letter from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335239/iraq-removes-iran-aligned-hezbollah-and-houthis-asset-freeze-list-after-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335239/iraq-removes-iran-aligned-hezbollah-and-houthis-asset-freeze-list-after-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:07:43 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades on Wednesday under the auspices of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism, though Lebanon’s premier cautioned the new diplomatic contact did not amount to broader peace discussions. The two sides met at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Lebanon’s Naqura near the border with Israel, where the guarantors of the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah regularly convene. Lebanon and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335094/first-direct-lebanon-israel-talks-decades-spark-hopes-peace-amid-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335094/first-direct-lebanon-israel-talks-decades-spark-hopes-peace-amid-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 12:46:36 +0000