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Abby Sewell

@sewella.bsky.social
3.4K followers 184 following 231 posts

News director for Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Turkey at the Associated Press. Contact asewell @ap.org

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Reposted by Abby Sewell
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 10h
Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad group have agreed to form an unlikely electoral coalition with a former top Fatah official who has close ties to the United Arab Emirates, Israel’s closest ally in the Middle East, Palestinian officials told The Associated Press.
bit.ly
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and an ex-Fatah official form an unlikely Palestinian electoral coalition
Islamic Jihad and Hamas have agreed to form an electoral coalition with a former top Fatah official who is close to the United Arab Emirates.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and powerful ex-Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan have formed an unlikely electoral alliance to challenge Fatah's dominance of the PA - if Palestinian legislative elections go forward as scheduled in November, which is a big if: apnews.com/article/pale...
apnews.com
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a powerful ex-Fatah official form an unlikely electoral alliance
Islamic Jihad and Hamas have agreed to form an electoral alliance with a former top Fatah official who is close to the United Arab Emirates.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and powerful ex-Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan have formed an unlikely electoral alliance to challenge Fatah's dominance of the PA - if Palestinian legislative elections go forward as scheduled in November, which is a big if: apnews.com/article/pale...
apnews.com
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a powerful ex-Fatah official form an unlikely electoral alliance
Islamic Jihad and Hamas have agreed to form an electoral alliance with a former top Fatah official who is close to the United Arab Emirates.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Tensions flare in Syria’s Kurdish northeast as government integration deal moves forward With Hogir Al Abdo: apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
As the last US troops pack up in Iraq, militias signal their weapons will stay Qassim Abdul-Zahra and I look at the twin deadlines looming on Sept. 30 apnews.com/article/iraq...
apnews.com
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Israeli airstrikes on a village in southern Lebanon kill 12 people, including 2 children apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Israeli airstrikes on a village in southern Lebanon kill 12 people, including 2 children
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israel’s air force carried out two strikes early Monday on a southern Lebanese village, killing at least nine people, including children.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel is released and handed over to Lebanon apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
A Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel is released and handed over to Lebanon
A Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel has been released, marking the first such handover since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict began six months ago.
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Reposted by Abby Sewell
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 31/08/2026
Lebanon’s school year begins Sept. 15. But thousands of people displaced by war are still sheltering inside public schools. Officials say they have a plan to accommodate both students and displaced families. For parents, uncertainty over what comes next is growing.
bit.ly
School starts soon in Lebanon but thousands still shelter in them during war
Families sheltering in a school in Lebanon's city of Tyre are some of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Lebanon's school year starts Sept. 15, but thousands of displaced people still shelter in public schools. We visited a shelter in Tyre where about 200 families remain, with no political solution in sight that would allow them to go home. apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
School starts soon in Lebanon but thousands still shelter in them during war
Families sheltering in a school in Lebanon's city of Tyre are some of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A year after Israeli strikes killed journalists at a hospital - including Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who worked for @apnews.com and others - no one has been held accountable Via Sam Mednick: apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com
A year after Israeli strikes killed journalists at a hospital, no one has been held accountable
A year after Israeli strikes on a Gaza hospital killed 22 Palestinians, there are still major questions about the rationale for the attack.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The death of Mohammad Ghamira, a former White Helmets volunteer suffering from hemophilia who was arrested and allegedly beaten in a Syrian jail, has stirred up dark memories of torture and abuse in detention centers under the Assad dynasty’s rule apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com
A detainee’s death revives Syria’s memories of torture and abuse in prisons
The death of a young man with hemophilia days after his arrest has sparked outrage in Syria. He was allegedly beaten by security forces and died shortly after his release from jail.
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Reposted by Abby Sewell
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 29/07/2026
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border.
bit.ly
Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria to try to claim land for a Jewish outpost
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria to try to claim land for a Jewish outpost Who are the "Pioneers of Bashan"? apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com
Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria to try to claim land for a Jewish outpost
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Trump says US-Lebanon flights can resume after meeting with Aoun Meanwhile, pilot zones got off to a rocky start. Lebanese army said Israeli soldiers opened fire as they were deploying. Unclear whether Israeli troops actually withdrew from any territory apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Trump says US-Lebanon flights can resume, pledges help for that country after meeting its president
President Donald Trump has pledged significant support for Lebanon during a White House meeting with Lebanese leader Joseph Aoun.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
For now, there are no signs of threats turning into violence — because the deal is deadlocked. “There is no schedule for the withdrawal or anything else,” said a Lebanese military official. @bmroue.bsky.social and I on the tensions around the Lebanon-Israel deal: share.google/DEKkqwnRGn4I...
share.google
How a push to disarm Hezbollah is deepening divisions in Lebanon and raising fears of civil war
A deal reached between Lebanon and Israel was billed as paving the way for peace. In Lebanon, it is deepening divisions, and raising fears of political paralysis or even a return to civil war.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
As the White House has soured on Israel’s war in Lebanon, Trump has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight Hezbollah instead. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in doing so, but Trump has doubled down: apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Trump presses Syria to take on Hezbollah, raising alarm in Lebanon and Israel
The White House has soured on Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight the Iran-backed militant gro...
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
As the U.S. and Iran exchanged escalating strikes on June 11, a plane carrying Qatari mediators was stranded on the tarmac in Tehran. @apnews.com colleagues and I delve into the tumultuous diplomatic process that led to the U.S.-Iran deal: apnews.com/article/us-i...
apnews.com
Mediators worked through threats and strikes to broker the US-Iran deal, and challenges remain
The interim peace agreement reached between the United States and Iran last week was the result of weeks of tough diplomacy repeatedly threatened by outbreaks of violence.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Mona Khalil, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon’s coastline, was critically injured in the Israeli strike on her home in the village of Mansouri earlier this month and died of her wounds Friday Via @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Mourners gather in Beirut to pay respects to Lebanese conservationist who died after Israeli strike
Mourners have gathered in Beirut to honor Mona Khalil, a Lebanese conservationist who died last week.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
A Hezbollah official told @apnews.com Iran has informed the militant group that Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there apnews.com/article/iran...
apnews.com
US-Iran talks to begin Sunday in Switzerland as Tehran closes the strait over Lebanon fighting
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, citing Israeli attacks in Lebanon and U.S. "bad faith" in their interim agreement on the war.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Israeli military strikes Beirut suburbs in the lead-up to anticipated US-Iran deal apnews.com/article/iran...
apnews.com
Israeli military strikes Beirut suburbs in the lead-up to anticipated US-Iran deal
The Israeli military has launched strikes on Beirut targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. Smoke has been seen rising over the capital.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Alleged spy's mysterious disappearance spotlights Israel’s intelligence networks in Lebanon @joudsally.bsky.social and I probe the curious case of an alleged Mossad agent who escaped Hezbollah detention, took refuge in the Ukrainian embassy - and then disappeared again: apnews.com/article/hezb...
apnews.com
Alleged spy's mysterious disappearance spotlights Israel’s intelligence networks in Lebanon
A man accused by Lebanese officials of being part of an Israeli intelligence plot took refuge in the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut over two months ago.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion and say today's catastrophe is worse Deeply reported and heartbreaking story by Julia Frankel and Wafaa Shurafa apnews.com/article/nakb...
apnews.com
Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion and say today's catastrophe is worse
Millions of Palestinians are marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba. That's Arabic for “catastrophe,” referring to the mass expulsion and flight of some 750,000 Palestinians from what is now Israel...
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Israeli forces set up a camp in the Iraqi desert during Iran war, officials say With Qassim Abdul-Zahra (WSJ was first to report the existence of a secret Israeli base in Iraq, although according to our sources, it wasn't exactly a base) apnews.com/article/iraq...
apnews.com
Israeli forces set up a camp in the Iraqi desert during Iran war, officials say
Israeli forces set up a temporary post in the Iraqi desert during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to officials.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
War-battered Syria now sells itself as a safe corridor amid regional conflict apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com
War-battered Syria now sells itself as a safe corridor amid regional conflict
Syria was once a battleground, enduring 14 years of civil war. But now the country offers relative peace in a region wracked by turmoil.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Some maps cover broad swaths of Lebanon; others show specific buildings. Sometimes there is no warning at all before strikes, which have continued despite a nominal ceasefire Isabel DeBre delves into the Israeli military's warning maps in Lebanon: apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com
With mass evacuation warnings, Israel upends lives and reshapes south Lebanon
The warnings to flee come suddenly: Texts pinging thousands of phones, automated calls from strange numbers, hard-to-read maps shared on social media.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Lebanon resident recognizes family crucifix smashed by Israeli soldier in viral image Israel and Italy - via its UNIFIL peacekeeping force - both sent replacement crucifixes to Debel. The family opted to keep the Italian one. Via @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Lebanon resident recognizes family crucifix smashed by Israeli soldier in viral image
A resident of a Christian village in southern Lebanon says he was shocked to see an Israeli soldier smash a crucifix in his garden.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
“They were demolishing it gradually until they reached the main square and now, as you can see, there are no more houses" Israeli forces demolish homes in areas of Lebanon occupied after ceasefire apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Lebanon decries Israeli demolition of homes in areas occupied after ceasefire
The Israeli army has been destroying homes in areas of southern Lebanon it has occupied since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Israeli airstrike kills Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil Rescue workers were fired on by Israeli forces so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, Lebanon's health ministry said Khalil’s body was retrieved at least six hours after the strike apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed in Israeli strike on a house where she took cover, paper says
Rescue workers say a Lebanese journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper says its reporter Amal Khalil was killed on Wednesday in the southern vil...
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with Hezbollah We profiled three of the 168 children killed in Lebanon to date and their families. With heartbreaking video by Malak Harb: apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with Hezbollah
Of more than 2,000 people killed in Lebanon since Israel's current war with Iran-backed Hezbollah began, 168 are children.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah will not abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks in the United States, negotiations it firmly opposes, senior Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa told @apnews.com a day before the talks apnews.com/article/hezb...
apnews.com
Hezbollah official says the group won't abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks in the US
A senior Hezbollah official says the Lebanese militant group will not abide by any agreements made in upcoming direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in the United States.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
It was not the homecoming they had anticipated when they fled to Lebanon six years ago: A Syrian man buries his wife and 4 children killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut Via Ghaith AlSayed and @joudsally.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
A Syrian man buries his wife and 4 children killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut
A Syrian man has buried his wife and four of his five children after Israeli strikes hit Beirut earlier this week.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
One of the strikes hit the building where I used to live, and another one hit one block over from my current apartment. Both in very normal residential neighborhoods. Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there: apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com
Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there
Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut without warning, causing panic. Wednesday's strikes came after Israel said the ceasefire announced in the U.S.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Live updates: US and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire (lots of details still unclear, including how this will play out in Lebanon) apnews.com/live/iran-wa...
apnews.com
Live updates: US and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire
Iran says it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war, and will negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s pulling back on his threats...
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Kidnapped American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who had been held by the Kataib Hezbollah militias, has been released, an Iraqi official tells the AP Via Qassim Abdul-Zahra apnews.com/article/jour...
apnews.com
American journalist Shelly Kittleson has been released, an Iraqi official tells the AP
American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released. That's according to an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
The AP @apnews.com is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Here's why we made that decision: apnews.com/article/iran...
apnews.com
AP is calling Israel's attack on Lebanon an invasion. What does that mean and why does it matter?
The Associated Press is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Israel has moved thousands of troops across the border into Lebanon, although it won't say how many.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Lebanese fear another occupation as Israel threatens to use Gaza tactics in the south By @chehayebk.bsky.social and Julia Frankel, who have also mapped developments in the war in southern Lebanon with our graphics team apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Lebanese fear another occupation as Israel threatens to use Gaza tactics in the south
Israel is trading fire with Hezbollah, calling for mass evacuations and sending ground troops deeper into Lebanon.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Israeli strike destroys a key bridge on the route between the coastal cities of Saida (Sidon) and Sour (Tyre) in southern Lebanon, part of a stepped-up campaign targeting infrastructure and transportation routes youtube.com/watch?v=AvHT...
youtube.com
Israel destroys a bridge in Lebanon over strategic Litani River
YouTube video by Associated Press
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Israel hopes that this round will finally enable it to defang the threat on its northern border. Hezbollah sees it as an existential struggle. Whatever the outcome, the war will have far-reaching consequences in Lebanon and throughout the region.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
What to know about the resurgent war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
What to know about the resurgent war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon
Israel and Hezbollah are rapidly escalating a new war that is hitting Beirut and pushing toward a wider ground fight.
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Reposted by Abby Sewell
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 14/03/2026
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells the AP his country will not be provoked into joining the war in the Middle East.
bit.ly
AP Exclusive: Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks diplomatic efforts as regional war rages
Turkey’s foreign minister says diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran is stalled, but he thinks quiet back-channel talks remain possible.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
AP Exclusive: Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks diplomatic efforts as regional war rages Fidan told us that there is no serious initiative to resume negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, but he believes Iran is open to back-channel talks: apnews.com/article/turk...
apnews.com
AP Exclusive: Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks diplomatic efforts as regional war rages
Turkey’s foreign minister says diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran is stalled, but he thinks quiet back-channel talks remain possible.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
War has already displaced nearly a million Lebanese, and aid groups warn of a humanitarian crisis Via @chehayebk.bsky.social and Malak Harb apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
War has already displaced nearly a million Lebanese, and aid groups warn of a humanitarian crisis
Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon have fled their homes since Israel issued mass evacuation orders and ramped up its airstrikes on the militant group Hezbollah.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Photos of a central Beirut district struck by Israeli bombs apnews.com/photo-galler...
apnews.com
Photos of a central Beirut district struck by Israeli bombs
BEIRUT (AP) — Israel's military bombed a busy residential and commercial district in central Beirut after issuing a warning for residents to evacuate, saying it was targeting Hezbollah sites.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Months before Israel staged a commando operation aimed at finding the remains of a long-disappeared Israeli pilot in Lebanon, a retired Lebanese security officer vanished. His family thinks Israel abducted him as part of the Ron Arad case Via @bmroue.bsky.social apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
A retired Lebanese security officer vanishes and his family thinks it was a covert Israeli abduction
A retired Lebanese security officer has gone missing and his family says Israeli operatives kidnapped him to get information about a long-missing Israeli airman.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Evidence suggests the deadly blast at an Iranian school was likely a US airstrike Via Julia Frankel apnews.com/article/iran...
apnews.com
Evidence suggests the deadly blast at an Iranian school was likely a US airstrike
Satellite images and videos of an Iranian girls school damaged by large explosions at the start of a U.S.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Officials with one of the armed Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq told @AP they are not planning an imminent cross-border attack on Iran but would join a ground invasion if the U.S. were to launch one Via Stella Martany apnews.com/article/kurd...
apnews.com
Kurdish Iranian dissidents in Iraq deny attack plans but say they would join a US invasion of Iran
Officials with one of the armed Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq say they are not planning an imminent cross-border attack on Iran but would join a ground invasion if the U.S. w...
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Israel strikes Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing a blanket evacuation order apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Israel strikes Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing a blanket evacuation order
Israel launches strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs after ordering residents to evacuate, as fighting with Hezbollah intensifies.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Kurdish dissident groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran with US support apnews.com/article/kurd...
apnews.com
Kurdish dissident groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran with US support
Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the U.S. has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials hav...
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Lebanese civilians fled from the country’s south and from Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, seeking refuge in schools in Lebanon’s capital following a new and deadly escalation between Israel and the Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah apnews.com/article/leba...
apnews.com
Families take shelter in schools as Lebanon’s government calls Hezbollah’s strike on Israel illegal
Lebanon is seeing civilians fleeing their homes in the south as Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah stepped into the the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Blow after blow to the power of Iran and its allies and proxies in the region set the stage for US-Israel attacks apnews.com/article/iran...
apnews.com
Blow after blow to the power of Iran and its proxy militias set the stage for US-Israel attacks
As Israel unleashed a sweeping military response to the brutal assault by Hamas on October 7, 2023, it aimed punch after punch at Iran, the militant group’s longtime sponsor, and its proxies.
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