Writing for the Guardian in Beirut.https://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lcplvyo4xc2yMoammar has been searching for his brother for 39 years, arrested by Syrian soldiers in Lebanon when he was 18. He hadn’t heard anything from him since. Until Thursday, when his brother emerged from Hama prison as an old man, 39 years later. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/07/syria-grief-mingles-with-joy-as-loved-ones-released-from-assad-prisons07 Dec 2024 11:31 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcplvyo4xc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lbqxcldxxs25Breaking- A Guardian investigation can reveal Israel used a US munition to target & kill 3 journalists in south Lebanon on 25 Oct, a potential war crime. Israeli surveillance tech & use of precision bomb means it likely knew it was targeting journalists. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/25/killing-of-journalists-in-israeli-strike-could-be-a-war-legal-experts-say25 Nov 2024 07:02 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbqxcldxxs25https://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lboqlapabk2tA Lebanese soldier killed and 15 wounded in an Israeli strike on a checkpoint btwn Tyre and Naqoura. Israel’s stated war is against Hezbollah — not the Lebanese state — but strikes have repeatedly killed Lebanese army. This comes as Israeli troops begin to encircle Naqoura.24 Nov 2024 09:56 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lboqlapabk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lbifonddvc2w40 killed and 50+ injured in Israeli air strikes on Baalbek alone today. Now that US envoy has left, the drones are back in Beirut, the bombing in Dahiyeh has resumed and the number of dead is rising once again. As both Israel & Hezbollah said, negotiations will occur ‘under fire.’21 Nov 2024 21:25 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbifonddvc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lbafh3cmrs2rThe sound of two strikes in central Beirut, just now. The third strike in Beirut in two days after weeks of calm in the capital city. This comes as Lebanon objects to certain provisions of Israel’s ceasefire draft.18 Nov 2024 17:00 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbafh3cmrs2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lba7ntkn5s2oAn Israeli strike on a civil defence center outside of Baalbek on Thursday left medics grasping for answers. For two months, Lebanese medics in the south were subject to Israeli bombing — now it seems to be Baalbek’s turn. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/18/lebanon-civil-defence-reels-after-deadly-israeli-strike?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other18 Nov 2024 15:16 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lba7ntkn5s2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lb7wotbq4i27An Israeli airstrike hit the water company in the city of Tyre, one of dozens of strikes on civilian infrastructure in south Lebanon which have rendered the region near uninhabitable. Tyre’s Mukhtar — a municipal official — was also killed in the strike.18 Nov 2024 12:36 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lb7wotbq4i27https://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lb6exjoo4k2yIsrael’s military claims that Mohammed Afif, the head of Hezbollah’s media unit it assassinated today, helped plan military operations. This seems meant to counter what others are calling an escalation by Israel — by killing a senior non-military Hezbollah official today.17 Nov 2024 21:46 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lb6exjoo4k2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lb5cj67tvy2dIsrael just struck the headquarters of the Ba’ath party in Ras Al Nabaa, Central Beirut. It is the first strike in Beirut proper in over a month. Unclear why Israel struck the Ba’ath party, whose role in the Israel-Hezbollah war has been negligible.17 Nov 2024 11:29 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lb5cj67tvy2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/willchristou.bsky.social/post/3lb3sti6r7d2gIsraeli airstrikes have killed 200+ rescue workers in Lebanon since the Israel-Hezbollah war started a year ago. Thursday, a strike on civil defence in Douris killed 15 rescuers. “What did we do? What sins did we commit, what did my friends do to deserve this?" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/15/israeli-strikes-kill-civil-defence-rescue-workers-lebanon16 Nov 2024 21:16 +0000at://did:plc:jpp36ercnveo6xwd7vfgjagp/app.bsky.feed.post/3lb3sti6r7d2g