Free Republic

Recognizing Iran’s ability to influence Hezbollah in ways that Lebanon can’t, US and Qatar broker truce through Tehran, rather than Beirut, after 47 Lebanese killed in response to killing of 4 troops Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, a US official said, after another flare-up in southern Lebanon that saw four Israeli soldiers and dozens of Lebanese casualties. The renewed truce appeared as fragile as ever, as it didn’t see Israel pull out of the large buffer zone it established in southern Lebanon — one that Hezbollah has used to justify continued attacks on troops stationed...

(Screenshot: Israel Defense Forces) A series of Israeli airstrikes last week killed Muhammad Sinwar, the de facto commander of Hamas in Gaza, according to reports on Sunday that said his body was found in a Khan Younis tunnel. Muhammad Sinwar was the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF in southern Gaza last October. According to a separate report, Zakaria Sinwar, another brother, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday night. The strikes that reportedly killed Muhammad Sinwar on Tuesday targeted an underground command compound below the European Hospital...

Attack said to kill 2 members of terror group, as 3 more commanders killed in Lebanon; 5 drones, some 60 rockets fired at north, most intercepted, while troops in Lebanon press on.In a rare acknowledgment, the IDF confirmed launching airstrikes in Syria on Monday, targeting what it said were infrastructure and assets of Hezbollah’s intelligence division, as strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon killed at least three of the terror group’s commanders, according to the military.Meanwhile, dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon at the north, and the army said it shot down several drones, including two apparently launched from Iraq.The...

Moscow condemns "vicious provocative" attacks; both runways in Syrian capital hit three times; Israel has accused Iran of using civilian flights to transfer weapons to Hezbollah In an unusually bitter condemnation, Russia lashed out at Israel Friday following a pre-dawn strike blamed on Israel at Damascus Airport. An Israeli satellite intelligence firm published images showing significant damage to the the runways, which it said disabled the entire airport. Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday evening condemned the "vicious practice" of Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure, which it said were "provocative" and "in violation of the basic norms of international law"...