Israel-Lebanon Talks in Rome Next Week Reportedly Postponed
Talks between Israel and Lebanon that were scheduled to take place in Rome next week have been postponed and will occur instead in October, Axios reported on Friday, citing a US official.
Jewish holidays, a Paris conference and UN General Assembly preparations meant participants could not convene in Rome, Axios cited a source as saying.
The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors are due to meet in Washington, according to the post on X.
Yemen: Houthi Losses Near 3,000 in Four Days
Losses inflicted on the Iran-aligned Houthis have risen to nearly 3,000 killed and wounded over four days, according to figures announced by Yemen’s armed forces, as fighting continues on several fronts and attacks, infiltration attempts and flanking maneuvers intensify, particularly in Taiz, Lahj and Bab al-Mandab.
The latest toll came after the Yemeni armed forces announced 356 strikes over 24 hours, which they estimated had killed or wounded 476 Houthi fighters and destroyed command-and-control centers, weapons and artillery depots and dozens of military vehicles.
Armed forces spokesman Col. Majed Al-Nuzaili said Sunday evening that 2,316 Houthis had been killed or wounded over 72 hours in 756 strikes on fronts in Kitaf, Al-Buqa, the Alab axis, Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Bayda, Lahj and Taiz.
The figures brought the announced four-day toll to more than 2,792 killed and wounded, before accounting for additional losses reported by other field sources during the same period.
Much of the latest fighting was concentrated in western Taiz and areas linking the province with Lahj and Bab al-Mandab. Government forces battled Houthis in Al-Wazi’iyah, thwarted an infiltration attempt north of Taiz with artillery fire and repelled a flanking maneuver on the Kahbub front.
In Jabal Habashi, government forces said they repelled a Houthi attack on the Bani Bakari front, while clashes and exchanges of fire were reported on the Rasin and Al-Alaqma fronts south of Taiz.
Military sources said government forces carried out air and artillery strikes on Houthi positions and reinforcements in Al-Rubaie, Al-Ja’sha, Al-Zaybiyah and Al-Bahabah, while a Houthi drone was downed over Al-Kadahah.
The Taiz Military Axis Media Center reported 12 Houthis killed and 13 wounded across the axis’s fronts, as well as an armored vehicle and a military vehicle set ablaze in Al-Kadahah and a tank destroyed in Al-Rubaie.
Warplanes also targeted a ballistic missile launch platform on Jabal Oman east of Taiz, while government forces said they eliminated a Houthi group attempting to infiltrate the Air Defense front northwest of the city. Airstrikes also hit the Jalilah camp near Taiz airport in Al-Hawban.
Fighting extended to the Al-Subaiha fronts in Lahj, where Houthis launched simultaneous attacks on the Al-Muhawala and Al-Aghbarah fronts. Field sources said government forces, backed by tribesmen, repelled the advances and captured two Houthi fighters.
The Houthis continued sending reinforcements toward the front lines, particularly around Mawiyah Junction, Rasin and Al-Alaqma, from Sanaa, Amran, Dhamar and Ibb.
Government forces, meanwhile, intensified air and artillery strikes on supply lines and assembly points in an effort to contain Houthi attacks and prevent limited breaches from being consolidated into fixed positions.
After more than a decade, the US-led coalition is ending its mission in Iraq, having helped save the country from extremists while causing persistent friction.
Coalition troops deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the ISIS group, which had seized large swathes of both countries and committed massacres and atrocities, AFP said.
The group was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but coalition forces stayed on to battle the group's remnants.
Baghdad and Washington agreed in 2024 to wind down the coalition's mission, and its troops withdrew gradually from bases across the country, restricting their presence to the autonomous northern Kurdistan region.
Their final withdrawal from there is scheduled on Wednesday.
The Iraqi government believes the coalition's withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared that October 1, the day following the coalition's departure, should be celebrated as Sovereignty Day.
It is "a national occasion that affirms the completion of Iraq's path toward sovereignty and consolidates the presence of the state and its institutions", the heads of the executive, legislative and judicial branches said on Monday.
They added that "the presence of weapons outside state authority must be addressed... in line with timelines set by the government, in a manner that strengthens state sovereignty".
Zaidi, who came to power this year with the US's blessing, has vowed to reinforce the state's monopoly on arms and ensure that armed factions hand over their weapons to the state.
His government initially set September 30 as the deadline for factions to disarm, but later withdrew the time limit as talks continued to "regulate" weapons -- an issue that has fueled tensions and is expected to take much longer to resolve.
With several powerful groups refusing to disarm, senior politicians have intervened and are now hoping to work out a compromise deal.
Factions have put forward conditions that include not only the withdrawal of foreign troops, but also an end to American political and economic interference.
The powerful Kataeb Hezbollah group said in a statement Monday that the withdrawal of "the occupation forces... is a start towards achieving full sovereignty".
But the group also threatened Zaidi's government.
"A government that doesn't work for the good of its people will be brought down by all possible means," it said.
