Lebanon Financial News

The drills, which started on Friday, are ongoing in the western province of Kermanshah close to the border with Iraq to «enhance combat readiness and vigilance,» an armed forces official told IRNA. The drills are taking place as Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's on July 31 in Tehran.

Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry says it's ordered Egyptian airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours on Thursday after a notice from Tehran to do so because of military exercises

The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on a Paraguayan tobacco company for allegedly financing the country’s controversial former president

Iran that escalation in the Middle East is not in their interest, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday, at what Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a «critical moment» for the region. Blinken said Washington was «engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock» to help calm tensions amid fears Iran is preparing a retaliatory strike against Israel. «All parties must refrain from escalation,» Blinken said during a signing ceremony with his Australian counterpart in Washington.

Israel is already in a «multi-front war» with Iran and its proxies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday, as the United States and allies prepared to defend Israel from an expected counterstrike and prevent an even more destructive regional conflict. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Hamas says it has begun discussions on choosing a new leader. Netanyahu said Israel was ready for any scenario. Jordan's foreign minister was making a rare trip to Iran as part of diplomatic efforts, while the Pentagon has moved significant assets to the region.

France on Sunday called on its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country «as soon as possible» amid fears of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah and a broader regional conflict. «In a highly volatile security context, we once again call the attention of French nationals, particularly those passing through, to the fact that direct commercial flights and ones with stopovers to France are still available, and we invite them to make their arrangements now to leave Lebanon as soon as possible,» the foreign ministry said in its travel advice notice for Lebanon.

killed four people in a tent camp housing displaced people inside a hospital complex in central Gaza, while a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Those killings brought threats of revenge from Iran and its allies and raised fears of an even more destructive regional war. A woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man were killed in the stabbing attack, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service and a nearby hospital, and two other men were wounded. The police said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who was «neutralized,» and that a search was underway for other suspects.

Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas's political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war. Israel ally the United States said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments called on their citizens to leave Lebanon — where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement is based — and airlines cancelled flights. The killing this week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah's military chief in Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the so-called «axis of

West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel's army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza and a potential regional escalation. Cease-fire discussions on Gaza continued, with an Israel delegation led by the Mossad chief briefly visiting Cairo, an Egyptian official said. The U.S. has urged Israel to seize the chance for a cease-fire after the shock killing of Hamas' political leader in Iran, which Tehran blames on Israel. That killing and Israel's assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon have the region holding its breath for retaliation against Israel on either front, or both, after Iran and its proxies vowed to act. Hamas said its command had begun discussions on choosing a new leader.

rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel on Sunday (local time), SKY News reported, citing Israeli media reports. Videos showed Israel's Iron Dome defence system being activated over the area. Hezbollah said in a statement that it attacked a new Israeli settlement, Beit Hillel, with rockets. This is in response to Israel's attacks on Palestinian villages in Gaza, which hurt civilians. Hezbollah is supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Palestinian militant group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh was slain in Tehran by a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kg, and vowed severe revenge. Wednesday's assassination has drawn fears of direct conflict between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel's war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.

Iran held funeral processions on Thursday with calls for revenge after the killing in Tehran of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike blamed on Israel.

Indian Embassy in Lebanon has advised Indians to avoid all non-essential travel to Lebanon. They have been advised to exercise caution, restrict movements and remain in contact with Indian Embassy in Beirut.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday morning, an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled further concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.

Gaza Strip, Israel has fought a parallel, slower-paced conflict with Hamas' allies across the Middle East in which all sides have risked major escalation but ultimately avoided dragging the region into a bigger, multi-front war.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the target of the strike, Fouad Shukur, was behind the Saturday rocket attack on the town of Majdal Shams that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights of Syria.Hezbollah, which denied it was behind the Majdal Shams attack, didn't confirm that Shukur was the target of Tuesday's airstrike or that he was killed. If Israel's claim proves true, Shukur would be the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed since 2016, when Mustafa Badreddine, the group's military commander in Syria, died in an explosion in the Syrian capital of Damascus.The Israeli military said that Shukur had directed Hezbollah's attacks on Israel since October 8, after the Israel-Hamas war erupted, and that he was also involved in “the killing of numerous Israelis and foreign nationals over the years." It said Shukur was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets and UAVs.The 62-year-old, secretive Shukur was in charge of Hezbollah's forces in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel as well as being a top official in the group's missile program.He had been a close aide to Hezbollah's top military chief, Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in 2008 by a car bomb in Damascus.

Lebanon on Monday as diplomatic efforts were underway to contain soaring tensions between Hezbollah and Israel after deadly rocket fire in the annexed Golan Heights.

Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Israel is engaged in selective and targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders to avenge the October 7 attack, in which Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israeli citizens and took hostage more than 250 civilians. In the Gaza War that followed the Hamas attack, Lebanon-based Shiite militant outfit Hezbollah fired hundreds of missiles at Israel, killing many civilians. Now, Israel is using drones and different types of missiles, weapons and intelligence-gathering equipment to hunt and kill Hezbollah leaders, reports 'Los Angeles Times'.

Israel Katz said Israel was approaching an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon after a rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed ten people on Saturday, Axios reported.

KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel—On Friday, Israel’s vaunted aerial-defense system tracked 65 rockets fired across its northern border by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, intercepting some and letting the rest fall harmlessly into open areas. That same day, Israel missed a single drone it believes flew more than 1,000 miles from Yemen to explode in the commercial capital Tel Aviv. Israel has a problem with drones.