By JON GAMBRELL, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
The war in the Middle East spiraled further Monday as Israel and the U.S. pounded Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump said the campaign would likely take several weeks. Tehran and its allies hit back against Israel, neighboring Gulf states and targets critical to the world's energy production. The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iran's supreme leader, and the lack of any apparent exit plan indicated the conflict would not end anytime soon. Israel launched retaliatory attacks in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at it, and an Israeli military official did not rule out another ground invasion.
By FATIMA HUSSEIN and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press
President Donald Trump's administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them. The Treasury and State departments announced the actions Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they say pose a risk to the United States. The State Department has designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe of the labels. This makes it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches are listed by Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas. Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence.
By WAFAA SHURAFA and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD Associated Press
Hospital officials say an Israeli strike in Gaza hit a tent housing displaced people, killing a 5-year-old girl and her uncle. The strike took place in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, wounding two other children. The Israeli Defense Forces said on social media it targeted a Hamas militant planning an imminent attack. It was unclear if this referred to the tent strike. The Gaza Health Ministry reported over 400 deaths in Gaza since an October ceasefire began. The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 71,388, with 171,269 wounded.
Israel has carried out airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon. Thursday's strikes come as the deadline to disarm Hezbollah looms. The attacks happened a day before a meeting of a committee monitoring a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The ceasefire ended the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The Israeli military said that it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure and military sites. Lebanon's National News Agency reported that the strikes stretched from Mount Rihan to the northeastern Hermel region. The U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah in recent weeks.
Pope Leo XIV is embarking on his first foreign trip. His pilgrimage to Turkey and Lebanon would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught given Mideast tensions and the media glare that will document history's first American pope on the road. Leo is fulfilling a trip Pope Francis had planned to make. In Turkey, he'll mark an important anniversary with the Orthodox church. In Lebanon, he'll try to boost a long-suffering Christian community and country still demanding justice from the 2020 Beirut port blast. Leo, who spent 12 years as the global superior of his Augustinian religious order and two decades as a missionary in Peru, says he loves to travel. In recent weeks he has shown diplomatic dexterity in answering questions on the fly from reporters.
A U.S. envoy is reaffirming Washington's support for Syria's new government and telling The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that there is "no Plan B" for uniting the country. Tom Barrack also criticized Israel's recent intervention in Syria, calling it poorly timed and complicating efforts to stabilize the region. Israel last week struck Syrian government targets during clashes in Sweida between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin tribes that left hundreds dead. A ceasefire was announced Saturday. The violence deepened the distrust of Syria's minority religious and ethnic groups toward the new government, which is led by Sunni Muslim former insurgents
By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and GHAITH ALSAYED Associated Press
Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority. Druze leaders and Syrian government officials announced a renewed ceasefire late on Wednesday that was mediated by the United States, Turkey and Arab countries. Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said in an address early on Thursday that some Druze factions and clerics were appointed to maintain internal security in Sweida. However, Israeli strikes targeting government troops in defense of the Druze did not immediately stop. The dayslong fighting has threatened to unravel Syria's postwar political transition and brought in further military intervention by Israel.
By GHAITH ALSAYED and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press
Syria's defense minister has announced a ceasefire just hours after government forces entered a key city in the volatile Sweida province. Tuesday's announcement follows deadly sectarian clashes between Druze factions and Sunni Bedouin tribes that killed over 30 people. That's according to Syria's Interior Ministry. However, fighting and allegations of civilian abuses by security forces continue. Meanwhile, Israel launched airstrikes on Syrian military convoys, claiming to protect the Druze minority near its border. Syria condemned the strikes, accusing Israel of aggression. The United Nations has urged all parties to stop the violence and engage in dialogue as ser escalation. Sectarian tensions remain high.
By TIA GOLDENBERG, FATMA KHALED and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press
Updated
The Israeli military says five soldiers have been killed in an attack in northern Gaza. Health officials in the Palestinian territory say Israeli strikes killed 51 people. The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the White House on Tuesday for talks with President Donald Trump about a ceasefire plan. There was no announcement of a breakthrough from that meeting. But there were signs of progress toward a deal. The soldiers' deaths could add to pressure on Netanyahu to strike a deal in Israel where polls have shown widespread support for ending the 21-month war.
The Lebanese army has condemned Israel's airstrikes on suburbs of Beirut, warning that such attacks are weakening the role of Lebanon's armed forces that might eventually suspend cooperation with the committee monitoring the truce that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war. The army's statement Friday came hours after the Israeli military struck several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production. The Lebanese army said it started coordinating with the committee observing the ceasefire after Israel's military issued a warning and sent patrols to the areas that were to be struck to search them.
