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2 weeks ago | 
archive.is | Elizabeth Hagedorn |Adam Lucente |Rosaleen Carroll |Beatrice Farhat
You're reading an excerpt from Al-Monitor Washington, where we break down the latest in US-Middle East diplomacy. To read the full newsletter, sign up here. WASHINGTON — Syria’s new leader, once allied with al-Qaeda, hasn’t ruled out normalization with Israel. Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa told Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) during their meeting in Damascus on Saturday that he is open to joining the Abraham Accords under the right conditions.
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1 month ago | 
al-monitor.com | Beatrice Farhat |Rina Bassist |Rosaleen Carroll
In a significant escalation, Israel launched intensive airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. The Gaza-based Health Ministry said at least 404 people have been killed and more than 500 others injured since early Tuesday, prompting a wave of condemnations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the renewed military operation came after Hamas refused to release the remaining hostages.
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2 months ago | 
al-monitor.com | Adam Lucente |Rosaleen Carroll
The Israeli military conducted strikes on military sites in northwest Syria on Monday amid growing tension between Israel and the new Syrian government. Syria’s official SANA news agency stated Monday that Israel conducted air strikes near the Tartous area, a port city, with no casualties reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France-Presse that an explosion was heard at a military base near the port just as the strikes were conducted.
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2 months ago | 
al-monitor.com | Beatrice Farhat |Rosaleen Carroll
Authorities at Lebanon’s Beirut Rafic Hariri Airport seized $2.5 million in cash allegedly intended for Hezbollah from a passenger arriving from Turkey on Friday. Lebanon’s Finance Ministry said that the passenger, who had concealed $2.5 million in US currency, was detained by the Lebanese Customs Directorate at the airport and will be handed over for investigation by the Directorate of General Security, per instructions by the public prosecutor’s office.
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Feb 12, 2025 | 
al-monitor.com | Adam Lucente |Rosaleen Carroll
Syrian interim president and Russian president Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Wednesday, marking the first contact between the two since the ouster of Russian-backed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December. According to a statement from the Kremlin on Telegram, “Putin wished success to Ahmed al-Sharaa in solving the tasks facing the new leadership of the country." The Russian leader also stressed his support for Syria’s territorial integrity.
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Feb 6, 2025 | 
al-monitor.com | Adam Lucente |Rosaleen Carroll
A high-level US delegation was expected to arrive in Beirut on Thursday night, the first such visit for Trump administration officials, to warn Lebanese officials about Hezbollah’s influence, as talks on the formation of a new government in Lebanon drag on. Reuters reported that Morgan Ortagus, the new deputy special envoy for the Middle East under President Donald Trump, will be meeting newly elected President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
al-monitor.com | Adam Lucente |Rosaleen Carroll
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) leader Gen. Joseph Aoun has emerged as the leading candidate to become Lebanon’s next president, with the vote scheduled for Thursday. The commander's chances saw a boost after the withdrawal of Hezbollah's preferred candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, and endorsements from several key political blocs. What happened: Frangieh announced his withdrawal on Wednesday, endorsing Aoun, who “enjoys the qualifications” for the presidency.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
al-monitor.com | Rosaleen Carroll
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Monday new discoveries made in Alexandria, including an ancient bust that could represent Queen Cleopatra VII. An Egyptian-Dominican archaeological team, led by Dominican lawyer-turned archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, have over the last 20 years conducted excavation missions at the Taposiris Magna (great tomb of Osiris), a city established between 280 and 270 BC during Egypt’s Ptolemaic kingdom.
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Dec 8, 2024 | 
al-monitor.com | Rosaleen Carroll
Syria's Bashar al-Assad and his family are in Moscow and have been granted asylum "on humanitarian grounds," Russian state media outlets reported on Sunday. The news came hours after rebels toppled the 24-year regime of the former president and the over 50-year rule of the Assad family, following a 10-day shock rebel offensive led by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
al-monitor.com | Rosaleen Carroll
Seventeen people are missing Monday after a tourist boat capsized in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. The Sea Story, a four-deck diving boat, sank near the Sataya Reef in the Red Sea south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam, a popular tourist destination in Egypt. The boat reportedly departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday for a five-day trip that would have finished in Hurghada Marina on Nov. 29. A distress call came in at around 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday.
