Abby Sewell
@sewella.bsky.social
News director for Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Turkey at the Associated Press. Contact asewell @ap.org
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border.
Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria to try to claim land for a Jewish outpost
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border.
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Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria to try to claim land for a Jewish outpost Who are the "Pioneers of Bashan"? apnews.com/article/isra...
Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria to try to claim land for a Jewish outpost
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border.
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Trump says US-Lebanon flights can resume after meeting with Aoun Meanwhile, pilot zones got off to a rocky start. Lebanese army said Israeli soldiers opened fire as they were deploying. Unclear whether Israeli troops actually withdrew from any territory apnews.com/article/leba...
Trump says US-Lebanon flights can resume, pledges help for that country after meeting its president
President Donald Trump has pledged significant support for Lebanon during a White House meeting with Lebanese leader Joseph Aoun.
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For now, there are no signs of threats turning into violence — because the deal is deadlocked. “There is no schedule for the withdrawal or anything else,” said a Lebanese military official. @bmroue.bsky.social and I on the tensions around the Lebanon-Israel deal: share.google/DEKkqwnRGn4I...
How a push to disarm Hezbollah is deepening divisions in Lebanon and raising fears of civil war
A deal reached between Lebanon and Israel was billed as paving the way for peace. In Lebanon, it is deepening divisions, and raising fears of political paralysis or even a return to civil war.
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As the White House has soured on Israel’s war in Lebanon, Trump has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight Hezbollah instead. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in doing so, but Trump has doubled down: apnews.com/article/leba...
Trump presses Syria to take on Hezbollah, raising alarm in Lebanon and Israel
The White House has soured on Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight the Iran-backed militant gro...
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As the U.S. and Iran exchanged escalating strikes on June 11, a plane carrying Qatari mediators was stranded on the tarmac in Tehran. @apnews.com colleagues and I delve into the tumultuous diplomatic process that led to the U.S.-Iran deal: apnews.com/article/us-i...
Mediators worked through threats and strikes to broker the US-Iran deal, and challenges remain
The interim peace agreement reached between the United States and Iran last week was the result of weeks of tough diplomacy repeatedly threatened by outbreaks of violence.
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Mona Khalil, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon’s coastline, was critically injured in the Israeli strike on her home in the village of Mansouri earlier this month and died of her wounds Friday Via @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
Mourners gather in Beirut to pay respects to Lebanese conservationist who died after Israeli strike
Mourners have gathered in Beirut to honor Mona Khalil, a Lebanese conservationist who died last week.
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A Hezbollah official told @apnews.com Iran has informed the militant group that Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there apnews.com/article/iran...
US-Iran talks to begin Sunday in Switzerland as Tehran closes the strait over Lebanon fighting
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, citing Israeli attacks in Lebanon and U.S. "bad faith" in their interim agreement on the war.
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Israeli military strikes Beirut suburbs in the lead-up to anticipated US-Iran deal apnews.com/article/iran...
Israeli military strikes Beirut suburbs in the lead-up to anticipated US-Iran deal
The Israeli military has launched strikes on Beirut targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. Smoke has been seen rising over the capital.
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Alleged spy's mysterious disappearance spotlights Israel’s intelligence networks in Lebanon @joudsally.bsky.social and I probe the curious case of an alleged Mossad agent who escaped Hezbollah detention, took refuge in the Ukrainian embassy - and then disappeared again: apnews.com/article/hezb...
Alleged spy's mysterious disappearance spotlights Israel’s intelligence networks in Lebanon
A man accused by Lebanese officials of being part of an Israeli intelligence plot took refuge in the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut over two months ago.
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Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion and say today's catastrophe is worse Deeply reported and heartbreaking story by Julia Frankel and Wafaa Shurafa apnews.com/article/nakb...
Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion and say today's catastrophe is worse
Millions of Palestinians are marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba. That's Arabic for “catastrophe,” referring to the mass expulsion and flight of some 750,000 Palestinians from what is now Israel...
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Israeli forces set up a camp in the Iraqi desert during Iran war, officials say With Qassim Abdul-Zahra (WSJ was first to report the existence of a secret Israeli base in Iraq, although according to our sources, it wasn't exactly a base) apnews.com/article/iraq...
Israeli forces set up a camp in the Iraqi desert during Iran war, officials say
Israeli forces set up a temporary post in the Iraqi desert during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to officials.
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War-battered Syria now sells itself as a safe corridor amid regional conflict apnews.com/article/syri...
War-battered Syria now sells itself as a safe corridor amid regional conflict
Syria was once a battleground, enduring 14 years of civil war. But now the country offers relative peace in a region wracked by turmoil.
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Some maps cover broad swaths of Lebanon; others show specific buildings. Sometimes there is no warning at all before strikes, which have continued despite a nominal ceasefire Isabel DeBre delves into the Israeli military's warning maps in Lebanon: apnews.com/article/isra...
With mass evacuation warnings, Israel upends lives and reshapes south Lebanon
The warnings to flee come suddenly: Texts pinging thousands of phones, automated calls from strange numbers, hard-to-read maps shared on social media.
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Lebanon resident recognizes family crucifix smashed by Israeli soldier in viral image Israel and Italy - via its UNIFIL peacekeeping force - both sent replacement crucifixes to Debel. The family opted to keep the Italian one. Via @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
Lebanon resident recognizes family crucifix smashed by Israeli soldier in viral image
A resident of a Christian village in southern Lebanon says he was shocked to see an Israeli soldier smash a crucifix in his garden.
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“They were demolishing it gradually until they reached the main square and now, as you can see, there are no more houses" Israeli forces demolish homes in areas of Lebanon occupied after ceasefire apnews.com/article/leba...
Lebanon decries Israeli demolition of homes in areas occupied after ceasefire
The Israeli army has been destroying homes in areas of southern Lebanon it has occupied since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
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Israeli airstrike kills Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil Rescue workers were fired on by Israeli forces so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, Lebanon's health ministry said Khalil’s body was retrieved at least six hours after the strike apnews.com/article/leba...
Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed in Israeli strike on a house where she took cover, paper says
Rescue workers say a Lebanese journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper says its reporter Amal Khalil was killed on Wednesday in the southern vil...
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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: apnews.com/article/leba...
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.
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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 apnews.com/article/hezb...
Hezbollah official says the group won't abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks in the US
A senior Hezbollah official says the Lebanese militant group will not abide by any agreements made in upcoming direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in the United States.
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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 apnews.com/article/leba...
A Syrian man buries his wife and 4 children killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut
A Syrian man has buried his wife and four of his five children after Israeli strikes hit Beirut earlier this week.
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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...
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.
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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...
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...
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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 apnews.com/article/jour...
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.
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The AP @apnews.com is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Here's why we made that decision: apnews.com/article/iran...
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.
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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 apnews.com/article/leba...
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.
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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 youtube.com/watch?v=AvHT...
Israel destroys a bridge in Lebanon over strategic Litani River
YouTube video by Associated Press
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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.
Abby Sewell@sewella.bsky.social · 5mo agoWhat to know about the resurgent war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon apnews.com/article/leba...
What to know about the resurgent war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon apnews.com/article/leba...
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.
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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.
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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: apnews.com/article/turk...
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.
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