Abby Sewell
News director for Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Turkey at the Associated Press. Contact asewell @ap.org
- Lebanon's relations with Syria have made a dramatic positive shift post-Assad, deputy PM Tarek Mitri says apnews.com/article/leba...
- Stranded in Egypt for the past two years, Raed Belal has had to watch helplessly as his wife and children in the Gaza Strip endured bombardment, displacement and hunger. Now he finally has hope he might return to them apnews.com/article/rafa...
- Reposted by Abby SewellAfter months of stalled negotiations, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces lost most of their territory to a government offensive in a matter of days. They may have miscalculated by counting on U.S. support.
- Reposted by Abby SewellSeveral countries have said they will sign onto Trump’s Board of Peace, while a few European nations have declined their invitations. Many have not yet responded to Trump’s invites. Here is a tally by The Associated Press on what countries are joining, which are not and which are undecided.
- Analysts say the SDF miscalculated, taking a hard stance in negotiations with the new leaders in Damascus on the assumption that if a military conflict erupted between them, Washington would support the SDF apnews.com/article/syri...
- Kurdish separatist group claims to have mounted ‘armed operations' in Iran to defend protesters With Stella Martany: apnews.com/article/iran...
- Syria is on the list but was already under a ban anyway. Lebanon is newly added. Iraq is there as well. (As are many others, clearly, but I'm just naming the ones in my patch. Full list in the story) US to suspend immigrant visa processing from 75 countries apnews.com/article/trum...
- Kurdish fighters evacuated from Aleppo after days of violent clashes apnews.com/article/alep...
- Civilians flee Aleppo as clashes between Syrian government and Kurdish forces escalate apnews.com/article/syri...
- Syrian and Israeli officials set to resume US-mediated talks in Paris apnews.com/article/syri...
- List of aid groups working in Gaza that Israel is suspending. They include some of the world’s most prominent and outspoken aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders: apnews.com/article/gaza...
- Hundreds mourn in Syria's Homs after deadly mosque bombing apnews.com/article/syri...
- Reposted by Abby SewellTerribly sad story about the attack on a small congregation in June. Three men died jumping on a suicide bomber. In total, 25 died. Thana al-Masoud, widow of hero Boutros Bechara: “There’s no holiday, neither this year nor next year nor the one after it." “Our Lord chose them to be saints."
- Syrian church marks Christmas and reaffirms faith months after deadly attack apnews.com/article/syri...
- Syrian church marks Christmas and reaffirms faith months after deadly attack apnews.com/article/syri...
- Clashes erupted between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters Monday as top Turkish officials visited Damascus ahead of a deadline to implement a deal between the government and the #SDF apnews.com/article/turk...
- Israeli military raids in Syria raise tensions as they carve out a buffer zone Via @chehayebk.bsky.social apnews.com/article/syri...
- The man who killed three U.S. citizens in Syria had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a security guard two months earlier and was recently reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with the Islamic State, a Syrian official told the @apnews.com apnews.com/article/syri...
- Since the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria a year ago, dozens of women from the Alawite religious sect — to which Assad belonged — have been subjected to kidnappings and sexual assault. @bmroue.bsky.social e spoke with survivors, family members and rights groups: apnews.com/article/syri...
- On anniversary of the fall of Bashar Assad, Syrians and their country struggle to heal apnews.com/article/syri...
- US raid allegedly killed Syrian undercover agent instead of Islamic State official The case of Khaled al-Masoud, the apparent result of lack of communication between the US-led mission and Damascus, showed the limits of increased security coordination: apnews.com/article/syri...
- Iraq’s government imposed and then retracted a terror designation for Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, saying was a mistake. Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Stella Martany report on the highly awkward situation the Iraq state has found itself in: apnews.com/article/iraq...
- Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Wednesday that his country was “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel, despite a move toward direct negotiations between the two countries aimed at defusing tensions apnews.com/article/leba...
- Pope Leo XIV’s visit highlights Christian resilience in Lebanon despite regional turmoil Via @bmroue.bsky.social apnews.com/article/pope...
- Israeli forces raided a Syrian village and opened fire when they were confronted by residents on Friday, killing at least 13 people, Syrian officials said, in the deadliest Israeli attack since its troops seized a swath of southern Syria a year ago. apnews.com/article/isra...
- To many Lebanese, it feels like divine intervention is the only solution for their country. @chehayebk.bsky.social and I spoke to port blast survivors and Christians from the war-battered south about their hopes for Pope Leo XIV's upcoming visit to Lebanon apnews.com/article/leba...
- An Israeli airstrike Sunday struck Beirut for the first time since June, days ahead of a planned visit by Pope Leo XIV. Israel’s military said that it targeted Hezbollah’s chief of staff, without giving further details. Hezbollah has yet to comment apnews.com/article/isra...
- Thieves steal ancient Roman-era statues from the national museum in Syria Via Ghaith AlSayed and @bmroue.bsky.social apnews.com/article/syri...
- Two decades ago, Ahmad al-Sharaa was held in a U.S.-run detention center after joining al-Qaida militants fighting against American forces in Iraq. Few would have predicted that he would become the first Syrian president to visit Washington since the country’s independence: tinyurl.com/4f3uajpk
- Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials apnews.com/article/isra...
- Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the 2020 Beirut port blast in his first foreign trip. A visit to southern Lebanon is not on the agenda, however. apnews.com/article/pope...
- Israel still fires on Lebanon almost a year after a ceasefire. Some predict the same for Gaza My look at the Lebanon "lessfire" model, with interactive map courtesy of the @apnews.com graphics team apnews.com/article/leba...
- The Syrian government and the main Kurdish-led force in the country’s northeast have agreed in principle on a plan to merge the U.S.-backed force as a cohesive group into the national army, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi told Hogir Abdo for @apnews.com apnews.com/article/syri...
- An AP photographer from Gaza shares the stories behind her images of the war apnews.com/article/gaza...
- A breakthrough deal to halt the war in Gaza has been reached. But will it lead, as U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed, to “a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace”? @sammymagdy.bsky.social and Lee Keath on next steps: apnews.com/article/gaza...
- Minorities had hoped to break into Syria's new political order in the weekend vote but few succeeded We followed minority candidates from Latakia, Jaramana and Afrin in Syria's parliamentary elections apnews.com/article/syri...
- How Syria’s first elections since Assad’s ouster are expected to unfold apnews.com/article/syri...
- A year after losing its longtime leader, Hezbollah is beginning to regroup @bmroue.bsky.social and I take a look at where the organization stands one year after it took a series of blows in its most recent war with Israel, culminating in the killing of Nasrallah apnews.com/article/leba...
- Lebanon's ex-central bank chief accused of corruption, Riad Salameh, released on $14 million bail apnews.com/article/leba...
- Lebanese village mourns children and father killed in Israeli strike apnews.com/article/leba...
- Israeli drone strike kills 5, including 3 children, in southern Lebanon Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the children and their father were U.S. citizens Via @chehayebk.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
- An Israeli strike on a meeting of Hamas officials in Qatar has cast a cloud of growing concern across Turkey that it could be the next target With @andywilks61.bsky.social apnews.com/article/hama...
- Reposted by Abby SewellThe worst drought in decades is threatening Syria's fragile recovery from years of civil war Most experts agree that Syria and the broader region appear headed toward worse climate shocks, which they aren't prepared to absorb. @sewella.bsky.social
- Evidence indicates the camera in question belonged to a Reuters video journalist who routinely covered his equipment with a white cloth to protect it from the scorching sun and dust. The journalist, Hussam al-Masri, was killed in the initial strike. Via @sammymagdy.bsky.social and Sam Mednick
- The worst drought in decades is gripping much of the region. It's particularly dire in Syria, where rainfall has been declining for decades, and after a 14-year civil war that left millions impoverished and reliant on foreign aid. Our deep dive: apnews.com/projects/syr... apnews.com/projects/syr...
- Alawite families flee Damascus suburb after violence and eviction threats apnews.com/article/syri...
- US diplomat apologizes for using the word 'animalistic' in reference to Lebanese reporters apnews.com/article/tom-...
- Four journalists were killed by an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital today, including Mariam Dagga, a freelancer with the @apnews.com. She has a 12-year-old son, who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war. She was a true hero, like all of our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza. tinyurl.com/3cn5c9vb
- Israel targets and kills Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif as toll worsens on Gaza journalists apnews.com/article/mide...
- Survivors of the pager attack are easily identifiable, with missing eyes, faces laced with scars, hands with missing fingers. The AP interviewed six of them — offering a rare glimpse into the human cost of the attack Powerful work by @bmroue.bsky.social @seldeeb.bsky.social @hassanammar.bsky.social
- The Iraqi PM has kept his country on the sidelines amid regional wars, balancing Iraq’s relations with two countries vital to his power and enemies with each other: the U.S. and Iran. Qassim Abdul-Zahra and I interview PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for @apnews.com: apnews.com/article/iraq...
- Lebanon mourns iconic composer Ziad Rahbani as mother Fayrouz makes rare appearance apnews.com/article/fayr...
- Ziad Rahbani, Lebanese composer and son of iconic singer Fayrouz, dies at 69 apnews.com/article/fayr...
- Lebanese pro-Palestinian communist militant Georges Abdallah arrived in Lebanon Friday following his release after more than 40 years in detention in France apnews.com/article/abda...
