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UN nuclear chief heads to Iran for crucial talks

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi is set to visit Tehran on Wednesday for crucial talks on Iran's nuclear program, warning just ahead of his trip that room for maneuver is narrowing.

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Five killed in Israeli strike on Aley's Baalshmay

An Israeli strike hit a villa in the mountains east of Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least five people, in a rare attack outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.

The Israeli strike hit a house between Dhour al-Abadiyeh and Baalshmay in the Aley district.

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Saudi-hosted summit says Mideast peace requires end to Israeli occupation

Arab and Muslim leaders have demanded that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition for regional peace, while denouncing "shocking" Israeli crimes in war-ravaged Gaza.

A summit meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday gave the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's 57 nations a chance to speak with one voice on turmoil engulfing the region, more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

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Israel strikes south Beirut after sending mixed signals over Lebanon ceasefire

At least ten strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs Tuesday morning, less than an hour after the Israeli army called for residents of several neighborhoods in the Hezbollah bastion to evacuate.

AFPTV footage showed plumes of grey smoke rising from the area. Witnesses told AFP gunfire could be heard in the area ahead of the strikes -- warning shots by residents for people to leave following the evacuation call.

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At least 28 dead or hurt in Israeli strike on Akkar town

Lebanese state-run media said Israel struck a house in the northern Akkar region on Monday, one of the farthest attacks from the border in its war against Hezbollah, killing and wounding at least 28 Syrian citizens, displaced Lebanese and town residents.

Lebanese Red Cross chief Georges Kettaneh meanwhile told LBCI television that at least seven people were killed and 14 others wounded in the strike, as TV networks said the strike had been preceded by the bombing of a car near the building.

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Seven killed in Israeli strike on Saksakiyeh in south Lebanon

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike on the southern town of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven people on Monday, with state media reporting women and children among the dead.

The ministry said that an "Israeli enemy strike on Saksakiyeh... killed seven people and injured seven others in an initial toll", with Lebanon's official National News Agency saying the attack "targeted a house" and killed "mostly women and children", adding that rescuers were searching for missing people under the rubble.

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Iran condemns Israeli assassinations as 'organized terrorism'

"The world is waiting" for Donald Trump’s incoming U.S. government to "immediately" end Israel’s wars with Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref told a summit of Arab and Islamic countries on Monday.

"The American government is the main supporter of the actions of the Zionist regime (Israel), and the world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon," Aref told the joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit.

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Mikati urges support 'for state not groups' amid 'existential' crisis

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday warned that his country was suffering an "unprecedented" crisis that threatens its existence, as Israel says it is waging war on Hezbollah.

"Lebanon is going through an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future," he told a joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh.

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Saudi crown prince demands immediate Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire at Arab summit

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler called for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon at a joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit that will renew calls for a Palestinian state on Monday.

Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in Riyadh, more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war and regional escalation, in what is seen as a chance to send a message to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

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Israel top diplomat says Palestinian state creation not 'realistic'

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem Monday that the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state was not "realistic".

"I don't think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic," the newly appointed minister said in response to a question over the creation of a Palestinian state state in exchange for normalization with Arab countries, adding that a Palestinian state would be "a Hamas state".

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