Syrian presidency announces agreement with Kurds to integrate autonomous institutions | LIVE

Gaza-Yemen

Yemen's Houthi rebels have announced that they will take action as soon as their four-day ultimatum to lift the blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza comes to an end. On Friday, the Yemeni rebel leader said that the group would resume attacks on ships off the coast of the country if aid deliveries to Gaza were not resumed within four days.

Syria

Israel declared that it is “ready to defend Syria's Druze community,” following several days of bloody clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of the former regime in coastal areas of Syria, as well as in the west of the country, with the death toll rising to over 1,450.

Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer described the violence in Syria as a “massacre of civilians” and said that Israel was “ready, if necessary, to defend the Druze,” without however specifying the terms of this defense, reports Reuters.

Syria

The Syrian presidency announces an agreement with the Kurds to integrate the institutions of their autonomous administration into the state.

Syria

Amnesty International has called on the Syrian authorities to allow independent international investigators to look into the deadly violence that has erupted on the country's Mediterranean coast, reports AFP.

“In addition to the government-led investigation, the authorities should grant independent national and international investigators access to Syria, including the coastal regions, so that they can conduct their own investigations,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty's regional director, in a statement.

Lebanon

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), quoting the Lebanese authorities, some 6,078 people (1,336 families, including 40 Lebanese) have arrived in 10 villages in the Akkar region. The majority are Syrian families, with a smaller number of Lebanese having lived in Syria, fleeing the fighting in Syrian coastal areas over recent days and weeks.

UNHCR says that, at the government's request, the humanitarian community including UNHCR, the World Food Program, UNICEF and the Lebanese Red Cross, is “providing immediate assistance in the form of ready-to-eat food, hygiene kits and essential items, including blankets.” Other arrivals are still being verified by the authorities in Tripoli and other regions, according to UNHCR.

South Lebanon

Machine gun bursts were fired from the Israeli site opposite Ramaya in Bint Jbeil, in the direction of the local school, according to our correspondent in South Lebanon.

UNRWA

The Secretary-General of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, has warned that the collapse of the agency would create a dangerous vacuum in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. He stressed that additional support was urgently needed if the agency was to continue its operations.

Since Jan. 30, Israel has banned the U.N. agency from working “on Israeli territory,” accusing it of having played a role in the Hamas attack on its soil on Oct. 7, 2023. These accusations prompted major donors to suspend their funding of the agency. A U.N. investigation established in August that only nine staff members “may have been involved.” The U.N. agency continues to operate in all the Palestinian territories.

Lebanon-Israel

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a meeting with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert that Lebanon needed to free itself from Iranian influence, reports The Times of Israel. “Iran is funneling funds to Hezbollah in Lebanon to rebuild its power. Lebanon has the opportunity to free itself from Iranian occupation,” he added.

Syria

The civilian death toll from the violence in western Syria since March 6 has risen to 1,068, the overwhelming majority of them members of the Alawite minority, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

This is the worst violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December. Most of the civilians killed were victims of summary executions carried out by security forces or allied groups, according to the UK-based SOHR, which has a wide network of sources in Syria.

Lebanon

The Lebanese Army has confirmed that a Lebanese soldier is being held by the Israeli army, without revealing his identity.

The institution reports that contact was lost with one of its soldiers on March 9 and that, after investigation, “it was established that elements of the Israeli forces opened fire on him while he was in civilian clothes in the vicinity of the village of Kfar Shuba.” The army adds that he was wounded and transported “inside the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Gaza

The Israeli army has carried out an air strike against three fighters it claims were burying an explosive device in the central Gaza Strip, where a truce between Israel and Hamas has been in force since Jan. 19.

“Earlier [Monday], three terrorists were spotted near army troops in the Nousseirat area, as they attempted to hide an explosive device in the ground,” the army said in a statement, adding that "the air force carried out a strike and [the] targets were hit."

Gaza

In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of failing to respect the cease-fire agreement concerning the withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor. This corridor runs along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

Gaza

Francesa Albanese, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, says Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza means “no functioning desalination stations, ergo: no clean water," in a post on X.

She added that countries that are yet to impose sanctions or an arms embargo on Israel are “AIDING AND ASSISTING Israel in the commission of one of the most preventable genocides of our history.”

Gaza

The United Kingdom has urged Israel to restore electricity to Gaza after the Israeli government decided to cut power supplies to the Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

“We are deeply concerned by these reports and urge Israel to lift these restrictions,” a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters. “Humanitarian aid should never be conditioned on a cease-fire or used as a political tool,” he added.

Gaza

The Palestinian Authority has denounced what it called an “escalation in genocide” against Gaza’s residents after Israel halted electricity supplies to the territory’s only water desalination plant, AFP reported.

This decision, which comes as indirect negotiations on the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas are set to begin in Doha, constitutes “an escalation in genocide, forced displacement, and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Gaza

An Israeli delegation has traveled to Doha for new indirect negotiations with Hamas on extending the fragile cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official familiar with the matter told AFP.

The delegation is expected to discuss with Qatari mediators ways to maintain the truce and reach an agreement for the release of the 58 people still held hostage in the Palestinian territory.

South Lebanon

Hezbollah has paid a final tribute to one of its fighters killed during the war, Abbas Salameh, in Kounin, South Lebanon, according to our correspondent in the South. Speaking at the funeral ceremony, MP Hassan Fadlallah reiterated the party's appeal to the Lebanese state not to remain “a mere indifferent spectator” in the face of Israeli cease-fire violations, which “only deepens the rift with the citizens.”

Gaza

Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer has condemned Israel’s move to block aid to Gaza and sever power to its water desalination plant, al-Jazeera reported.

The aid blockade has left Gaza “again threatened with a food shortage,” said Deschauer, adding that the electricity cut is “unacceptable and not compatible with [Israel’s] obligations under international law.”

Gaza

Hamas has accused Israel of reneging on the Gaza truce agreement, while an Israeli delegation is expected in Doha for indirect negotiations on the continuation of the cease-fire in the Palestinian territory.

“The [Israeli] occupation continues to renege on the agreement and refuses to begin the second phase, revealing its intentions to block it,” Hamas said in a statement.

Occupied West Bank

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society has released an update on Israel’s arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza.

In February alone, Israeli forces arrested 762 people, including 90 minors and 19 women. Most of last month’s arrests took place in Jenin, where the military had conducted an intensive military operation for more than a month and a half, the group said.

This brings the total number of Israeli arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, to 15,640, it added.

Occupied West Bank

Attacks by the Israeli army and settlers have resulted in the killing of at least 97 Palestinians this year, according to the Health Ministry.

It added that the figure includes 16 minors and three women.

Bekaa

An explosion sound heard by local residents in Qousaya (Bekaa), was the Lebanese Army detonating unexploded Israeli munitions, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa reported.

South Lebanon

Jamaa Islamiya condemned "the Israeli violations of the cease-fire agreement and ongoing attacks on Lebanese territory." The group also called, in a statement, on the Lebanese government to “take action and exert pressure to halt these assaults and ensure the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied Lebanese land."

The group also expressed “concern” over the situation in Syria, particularly the “sabotage attempts by remnants of the former regime, and their potential impact on Lebanon.”

The group called on the Lebanese state to secure its borders to prevent the “infiltration of armed groups and the smuggling of weapons into Syria.”

Syrian Alawite refugees crossing, on foot, the Nahr al-Kabir River to enter Lebanese territory after fleeing atrocities on the Syrian coast, on March 10, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/OLJ)

Iran said Sunday it would consider negotiations with the United States if the talks were confined to concerns about the militarization of its nuclear program.

In a statement posted on X, the country's U.N. mission said: "If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-à-vis any potential militarization of Iran's nuclear program, such discussions may be subject to consideration."

The statement stressed, however, that Tehran would not negotiate away what it says is its peaceful nuclear program.

"However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran's peaceful nuclear program to claim that what Obama failed to achieve has now been accomplished, such negotiations will never take place," Iran's mission said.

Syria

The French right and far right are calling on François Bayrou's government to put pressure on the new Syrian government to protect Christian and Alawite minorities, following the killing of civilians in the west of the country.

Former Prime Minister and right-wing presidential candidate François Fillon appealed to President Emmanuel Macron, “to act on the Syrian government, which cannot take advantage of its relations with France while cynically allowing what could become an operation to systematically eliminate the Alawite and Christian populations.”

Syria

Iran has formally denied any involvement in the violence in Syria in recent days between the new government and minorities, notably the Alawite minority to which ousted President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

“This accusation is totally ridiculous,” said Esmail Baghai, a spokesman for Iranian diplomacy, when asked about press reports to this effect. “Pointing the finger at Iran and Iran's allies is wrong (...) and totally misleading,” he added.

North Lebanon

“We thought we were safe in Tartous. Everyone said the coast was secure. But Ahmad al-Sharaa’s men came to the building where we lived — the one owned by my employer,” said Amira, a newly arrived Syrian refugee who described herself as an agricultural worker.

She recounted to our journalist on the scene how armed individuals, whom she later referred to as “unaffiliated men,” entered the building.

“They searched every apartment, including ours. They were looking for weapons but didn’t find any. They took everything. They held knives to the throats of the owner’s two sons, but they didn’t kill anyone. Then they ordered us to leave,” she said.

North Lebanon

“The security situation in Akkar remains stable for now,” said the region’s governor, Imad Labaki, in comments to NNA regarding the influx of refugees from Syria.

“There is no immediate danger, as local mayors have informed us that most of the displaced fled out of fear for their lives,” he added.

Alawite Syrian refugees in a street in Talbireh, North Lebanon. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)

North Lebanon

In the village of Talbireh, Akkar, at Lebanon’s northernmost border with Syria, Syrian nationals continue to cross into the country via the Nahr al-Kabir River, which separates the two neighboring countries, reports our journalist on the scene.

Amira, 23, arrived at around 10 a.m. with her husband, their 4-month-old baby, her in-laws, and her cousin — part of a group of about 15 family members. Originally from Hama, they had been living in the suburbs of Tartous, a coastal Syrian city about 60 kilometers north of Tripoli, since the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime on Dec. 8.

“I’m exhausted,” Amira said. “We crossed the river. Others were trying to cross too. Once we reached the Lebanese side, a man came to pick us up.”

Syria

The Syrian Defense Ministry has announced the “successful” end of the military operation in west Syria, where fighting with loyalists of the deposed regime and mass executions of civilians have killed over 1,500 people since Thursday.

“We announce the end of the military operation (...) after the success of our forces in achieving all the objectives set,” said ministry spokesman Hassan Abdel Ghani, quoted by the official Sana agency.

Syria

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has declared that “nothing justifies” the violence against minorities in Syria, including the Alawite community to which ousted president Bashar al-Assad, a long-standing ally of Tehran, belongs.

“Nothing justifies the attacks against Alawite, Christian, Druze and other minority communities, which have deeply shocked public opinion both in the region and internationally,” said the ministry's spokesman, Esmail Baghai, at a weekly press briefing.

Syria

Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa vowed Sunday to pursue those responsible for the “civilian bloodshed,” which has killed at least 973 in the west of the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in an unprecedented surge of violence since the fall of Bashar Assad. At least 481 security forces members and pro-Assad fighters have also been killed, the observatory said.

The U.N., Washington and other capitals have condemned the killings, calling on Syrian authorities to put an end to them.

Gaza cease-fire

An Israeli delegation is expected in Doha today for indirect negotiations with Hamas on extending the cease-fire in Gaza, an issue of major dispute between the two parties. On the eve of the talks, Israel increased pressure on Hamas by announcing it would cut the only power line supplying Gaza’s main water desalination plant. The Palestinian group condemned the move as “petty and unacceptable blackmail.”

Hamas negotiators, led by Mohammed Darwish, arrived in the Qatari capital Sunday after several meetings in Cairo. The same day, U.S. special envoy for hostages in Gaza, Adam Boehler, said an agreement for their release could be reached “in the coming weeks,” calling his recent direct and unprecedented talks with Hamas “very useful.”

North Lebanon

Around 10,000 people have fled Syria’s coastal region — where violence and massacres between supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad and the new security forces have killed almost a thousand civilians — seeking refuge in Akkar, North Lebanon, according to local authorities cited by our correspondent

Iran-U.S. Tensions

Iran reiterated that it will not negotiate “under pressure and intimidation” over its nuclear program after Washington revoked a sanctions waiver that had allowed Iraq to purchase electricity from its neighbor.

The United States confirmed Sunday that it had not renewed the waiver, which had been in place since 2018. The move aims to “ensure that we do not allow Iran to benefit from any economic or financial relief,” the State Department said in a statement.

South Lebanon

Contact was lost Sunday midday with Lebanese Army soldier Ziad Chebli as he was driving from Halta (Hasbaya) to the Bastara Farms area (Shebaa Farms, Hasbaya district). He was riding a motorcycle toward the border village of Kfar Shuba to visit his in-laws and was dressed in civilian clothing, according to our South Lebanon correspondent, who noted that the soldier was off duty.

His family reported that they had been informed he was wounded by Israeli gunfire and abducted.

Good morning, thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of the cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon, and the events in the region, namely the violent clashes along Syria's coast.

Make sure to read today's Morning Brief to get caught up with the weekend's key events.