Israel hit a Beirut suburb and killed at least 14 people across southern Lebanon on Thurs⁠day, the day before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations were set to meet at the Pentagon for their first security talks.

• An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in Choueifat — the first strike near Beirut since May⁠ 6 — as Israeli forces also pounded Tyre, killing five women and children and a Lebanese soldier, with dozens wounded, per Lebanon's Health Ministry.
• In Sidon, a drone struck a building housing displaced families, killing five and wounding 21, including five children; in Adloun, a separate strike killed six people — four of them two children and their parents — fleeing in a car.
• Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attacks on Tyre and Nabatiyeh as "collective punishment" and renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal.
• At least 3,269 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the war began, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, with more than 9,800 wounded.

What to watch: Whether Thurs⁠day's escalation hardens or softens each delegation's position at the Pentagon security meeting — and whether Washington can hold the ceasefire framework together while the shooting continues.

Lebanese and Israeli military delegations held security talks at the Pentagon on Fri⁠day, ahead of a fourth round of direct political negotiations on Jun⁠e 2–3, with Washington pressing for concrete proof that the Lebanese Army can actually enforce a weapons-free zone.

• "Test" proposals on the table include the army's full security takeover of Beirut's Southern Dahiyeh — eliminating armed manifestations and raiding suspected weapons depots — as well as a "model zone" (zone pilote) in the South where villages would be completely cleared of weapons and tunnels.
• Under the model-zone plan, a US team would verify the army's work before the process expanded zone by zone, running parallel to a gradual Israeli withdrawal.
• Washington pushed back against Israeli attempts to delay the security meeting, confirming the date after Beirut signaled its delegation had departed and was ready to proceed despite the preceding days' escalation.
• The Lebanese Army delegation, led by Director of Operations Brigadier General Georges Rizkallah, is presenting its existing deployment plan — not accepting shared command or instructions from any outside party.

Zooming out: Military talks can consolidate a truce and draw deployment lines, but the deeper questions — what happens to Hezbollah's weapons, the shape of any peace, Lebanon's place in the regional balance — all wait for the political table on Jun⁠e 2.

Lebanese displaced by the war are living in tents on Beirut's waterfront — something that never happened in any previous wave of displacement, from 1978 to 2006 — and the reason isn't just a shortage of money or shelter.

• In past wars, displaced people were absorbed within days into schools, monasteries, rented apartments, and neighbors' homes across Lebanon; this time, municipalities, property owners, and entire neighborhoods have refused to house the displaced at all.
• A widespread belief that Israel is targeting only Hezbollah's Shia constituency — reinforced by Israeli propaganda that deliberately distinguishes between Lebanese and "Hezbollah's environment" — has hardened a social and political rupture between Shia and other communities.
• The result is a visible split in central Beirut: displaced families in tents along the waterfront, luxury high-rise residents across the street, with the divide reflecting a deliberate political stance rather than mere economic inequality.

The bigger picture: The isolation unfolding in Beirut's streets echoes a pattern Lebanese politicians spent decades trying to prevent — and analysts warn its social fractures may outlast the war itself.

Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Kuwaiti territory on Thurs⁠day, drawing condemnation from every Gulf state and the GCC — a significant escalation at a moment when diplomatic efforts aimed at preserving regional security and stability are already under pressure.

• Kuwait's Foreign Ministry condemned what it called "criminal Iranian attacks" targeting its territory, saying the strikes were a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty and a direct threat to civilians and vital facilities.
• Kuwait's army announced its air defenses had intercepted the missile and drone attacks, telling the public that explosion sounds heard were the result of interception systems, not hits on the ground.
• Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and the GCC secretary-general all condemned the strikes in the strongest terms, affirming full solidarity with Kuwait and its right to self-defense under the UN Charter.
• The GCC's secretary-general described the attacks as "treacherous aggression" and a violation of international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council Resolution 2817 of 2026.

What to watch: How Kuwait responds — and whether the strikes affect the trajectory of US-Iran talks, which have used Gulf diplomatic channels as part of the broader regional negotiation framework.

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the consensus president who led Yemen's internationally recognized government through the Houthi takeover and a decade of war, died Thurs⁠day in Riyadh at 81 — closing one of the most contested chapters in modern Yemeni history.

• Hadi served as Yemen's vice president for nearly 18 years under Ali Abdullah Saleh before being elected consensus president in Feb⁠ruary 2012, following the Arab Spring protests that ended Saleh's rule, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
• In Sep⁠tember 2014, the Houthis swept into Sanaa and placed Hadi under house arrest; he fled to Aden, then to Riyadh, from where he led the internationally recognized government throughout the years of war.
• In Apr⁠il 2022, Hadi transferred all his powers to the Presidential Leadership Council headed by Rashad al-Alimi, then withdrew almost entirely from public life in his final years.

The bigger picture: Hadi's death removes the last president to have led a unified Yemen under full international recognition, leaving his contested legacy — consensus builder to some, too slow to act to others — to be debated as the war continues.

Chinese companies are quietly positioning themselves inside Syria's post-war reconstruction economy — even as Beijing views Syria's new leadership with deep suspicion over its historic ties to Uyghur militant groups that fought to topple Assad.

• Thousands of Uyghur fighters, organized under the Turkestan Islamic Party, played a significant role in Assad's collapse, with their leaders meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa before the offensive that captured Aleppo and advanced toward Damascus, according to Al-Monitor.
• Syria's rebuilding needs are enormous: the World Bank estimates reconstruction costs at roughly $216 billion, while Syria's economy minister said in May⁠ 2025 that full reconstruction could ultimately require more than $1 trillion.
• Chinese telecom giant Huawei is among the most active foreign players in Syria's communications sector; a Chinese-linked firm also signed a 20-year memorandum of understanding to develop more than one million square meters across two Syrian free zones.

Zooming out: With US and European firms still sidelined by sanctions and compliance concerns, China's cautious, state-backed approach is filling the investment vacuum in Syria — security anxieties and all.