A Palestinian girl carries a bag full of humanitarian aid that she collected after aid was dropped, walking in the Al-Mawasi area in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (AFP).

Here are the top news on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.

An-Nahar headline: A rapid American breakthrough to stimulate government decisions; Barrack and Ortagus confirm ‘step-by-step procedures’.

Although it was the shortest, most intense, concise, and rapid visit, the fourth visit of the American envoy Tom Barrack, accompanied this time by former envoy and US Deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus, who gained special significance by her ‘return’ to the American team responsible for the Lebanese file, seemed like raising the level of US support for Lebanese legitimacy, especially for Presidents Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, to a very high level following the Cabinet’s two pivotal decisions regarding the exclusivity of weapons in the hands of the state and the approval of the goals of Tom Barrack’s paper.

The UN Security Council discusses the fate of the peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

The UN Security Council began discussions today, Monday, on a French-drafted resolution to extend the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and indicated its intention to eventually withdraw this UN force.

Syrian Foreign Ministry: No restrictions on aid entry since the crisis began in southern Syria.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates held a meeting today with UN leadership in Syria as part of joint efforts to raise the level of humanitarian response in the southern provinces, especially in Sweida and Daraa.

Embassy reports on Hezbollah movement.

Reports from embassies operating in Lebanon indicate that Hezbollah’s preparations suggest it is heading towards a new war, more than just political tension at this critical stage.

Trump: Arrangements underway for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

US President Donald Trump described his meeting today, Monday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European partners as ‘very good,’ and said he had started arrangements for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky after a subsequent call with Putin.

Observatory: Israeli incursion in Quneitra countryside… gunfire and house searches.

Selected articles for you today:

Written by Samih Saab: Netanyahu summarizes Cairo negotiations with a single clause: no truce without Hamas disarming.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not indicated any interest in the ongoing negotiations in Cairo between Hamas and mediators, which focus on reviving the two-month truce and the movement’s withdrawal of demands to amend points related to Israeli army positions.

Written by George Issa: Why did Trump leave the Alaska summit ‘exhausted’?

She thought of triggering a fire alarm or claiming a medical emergency to end the situation.

This was recounted by former US President Donald Trump’s Kremlin affairs advisor Fiona Hill when she described her experience with the press conference following the 2018 Helsinki summit. At that time, Trump supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position when he said he did not interfere in the 2016 presidential elections.

Written by Radwan Aqil: Barrack to the presidents: Trump is interested in Lebanon and Hezbollah does not believe his flirtation with the Shiites.

In the fourth stop of US envoy Tom Barrack in Beirut, he was more reassured about his administration’s demand to confine Hezbollah’s weapons to the state after the government decided to implement this task regardless of the outcome, as the path will not be paved for the army while awaiting the plan he will present to ministers in early September.

Written by Sabine Owais: Assurances from Aoun and Berri dispelled Qassem’s threats but did not eliminate risks.

Between President Michel Aoun’s statement that exaggerating civil war fears is unjustified, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s position that there is no fear of civil war, there are common denominators that cannot be overlooked in the current delicate circumstances, as they carry messages to those trying to undermine civil security and internal stability.

Written by Samir Al-Taqi: Vast difference, neither Umayyads nor the lamentable!

I do not delve into religious matters, as I am still a student. I do not claim to be knowledgeable enough to be worthy of what I consider true Islam; I do not take faith lightly but exalt it from any demagogic degradation.

However, at a pivotal moment for Syria, it is supposed to adhere to a comprehensive national approach within a modern and critical national vision. It may be useful to remind that the Umayyad state was far from sectarianism, extremism, and doctrinal, religious, and intellectual exclusivity.