Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with Hezbollah Of more than 2,000 people killed in Lebanon since Israel's current war with Iran-backed Hezbollah began, 168 are children.

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:

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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
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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

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Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut without warning, causing panic. Wednesday's strikes came after Israel said the ceasefire announced in the U.S.

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 Iran says it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war, and will negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s pulling back on his threats...

This is certainly going to complicate things:

Israel says ceasefire with Iran doesn’t include war in Lebanon against Hezbollah apnews.com/live/iran-wa...

Live updates: US and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire Iran says it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war, and will negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s pulling back on his threats...

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...

American journalist Shelly Kittleson has been released, an Iraqi official tells the AP American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released. That's according to an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation.

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

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AP is calling Israel's attack on Lebanon an invasion. What does that mean and why does it matter? The Associated Press is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Israel has moved thousands of troops across the border into Lebanon, although it won't say how many.

The AP @apnews.com is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Here's why we made that decision:
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Lebanese fear another occupation as Israel threatens to use Gaza tactics in the south Israel is trading fire with Hezbollah, calling for mass evacuations and sending ground troops deeper into Lebanon.

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

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Israel destroys a bridge in Lebanon over strategic Litani River YouTube video by Associated Press

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

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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 Israel and Hezbollah are rapidly escalating a new war that is hitting Beirut and pushing toward a wider ground fight.

What to know about the resurgent war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon
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AP Exclusive: Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks diplomatic efforts as regional war rages Turkey’s foreign minister says diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran is stalled, but he thinks quiet back-channel talks remain possible.

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 Turkey’s foreign minister says diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran is stalled, but he thinks quiet back-channel talks remain possible.

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:

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War has already displaced nearly a million Lebanese, and aid groups warn of a humanitarian crisis Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon have fled their homes since Israel issued mass evacuation orders and ramped up its airstrikes on the militant group Hezbollah.

War has already displaced nearly a million Lebanese, and aid groups warn of a humanitarian crisis

Via @chehayebk.bsky.social and Malak Harb

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Photos of a central Beirut district struck by Israeli bombs BEIRUT (AP) — Israel's military bombed a busy residential and commercial district in central Beirut after issuing a warning for residents to evacuate, saying it was targeting Hezbollah sites.

Photos of a central Beirut district struck by Israeli bombs

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A retired Lebanese security officer vanishes and his family thinks it was a covert Israeli abduction A retired Lebanese security officer has gone missing and his family says Israeli operatives kidnapped him to get information about a long-missing Israeli airman.

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

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Evidence suggests the deadly blast at an Iranian school was likely a US airstrike Satellite images and videos of an Iranian girls school damaged by large explosions at the start of a U.S.

Evidence suggests the deadly blast at an Iranian school was likely a US airstrike

Via Julia Frankel

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Kurdish Iranian dissidents in Iraq deny attack plans but say they would join a US invasion of Iran Officials with one of the armed Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq say they are not planning an imminent cross-border attack on Iran but would join a ground invasion if the U.S. w...

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

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Israel strikes Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing a blanket evacuation order Israel launches strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs after ordering residents to evacuate, as fighting with Hezbollah intensifies.

Israel strikes Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing a blanket evacuation order

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Kurdish dissident groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran with US support Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the U.S. has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials hav...

Kurdish dissident groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran with US support

apnews.com/article/kurd...

Families take shelter in schools as Lebanon’s government calls Hezbollah’s strike on Israel illegal Lebanon is seeing civilians fleeing their homes in the south as Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah stepped into the the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

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
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Blow after blow to the power of Iran and its proxy militias set the stage for US-Israel attacks As Israel unleashed a sweeping military response to the brutal assault by Hamas on October 7, 2023, it aimed punch after punch at Iran, the militant group’s longtime sponsor, and its proxies.

Blow after blow to the power of Iran and its allies and proxies in the region set the stage for US-Israel attacks

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Trump says the U.S. has begun 'major combat operations in Iran' President Donald Trump says the U.S. has begun “major combat operations in Iran” after Israel launched strikes.

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

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Public rift erupts between son of Iran's last shah and Kurdish Iranian dissidents Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi is clashing with Kurdish Iranian dissident groups, exposing splits in the Iranian opposition.

Public rift erupts between, Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran's last shah, and Kurdish Iranian dissidents

With Stella Martany

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Syria's TV dramas are testing Ramadan series' boundaries after Assad's fall Syria's well-known TV dramas are returning to Ramadan screens as the industry tries to rebuild after years of war and the fall of the Assad dynasty.

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...

A Kurdish-majority neighborhood in Syria recovers from clashes with hope for the future A month after violent clashes in a Kurdish-majority neighborhood in Syria's Aleppo, tens of thousands of residents have returned.

Kurdish-majority neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Syria's Aleppo recovers from clashes with hope for the future
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Village in southern Lebanon buries a child and father killed in Israeli drone strike Mourners in southern Lebanon have buried a father and his young son killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a Hezbollah member.

Village in southern Lebanon buries a child and father killed in Israeli drone strike

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UN peacekeepers in Lebanon allege surge in Israeli violence toward them U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon say they have faced increased violence from Israeli forces over the past year.

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

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Lebanon's relations with Syria have made a dramatic positive shift post-Assad, deputy PM says Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri says relations with Syria have improved significantly since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Lebanon's relations with Syria have made a dramatic positive shift post-Assad, deputy PM Tarek Mitri says

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