Dion Nissenbaum
Reporter for The Wall Street Journal based in DC. Formerly based Istanbul, Kabul, Jerusalem. Author of A Street Divided: Stories from Jerusalem's Alley of God.
Last synced from Twitter 934d ago
WSJ News Exclusive | A Secret U.S. Rescue in Yemen Played a Role in Mideast Peace Deal
The U.S. military helped rescue U.A.E. soldiers after a 2017 military helicopter crash, building a reservoir of trust that also helped pave the way to the recent Abraham Accords.
WSJ News Exclusive | Top White House Official Flew to Syria for Talks to Free U.S. Hostages
A top White House official recently traveled to Damascus for secret meetings with the Assad regime, marking the first time such a high-level U.S. official has met in Syria with the isolated government in more than a decade, according to Trump...
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Dion Nissenbaum
Exclusive: Top Trump White House official recently traveled to Damascus for secret talks with Assad regime:
wsj.com/articles/top-w… w/@jmalsin
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Dion Nissenbaum
Semi-official Syrian newspaper confirms @wsj reporting and says White House official and Trump’s point man on hostages met with Syrian intel chief. Paper says US officials have made repeated trips to Damascus in recent months.
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WSJ News Exclusive | Two Americans Held Hostage by Iran-Backed Forces in Yemen Freed in Trade
U.S. and Saudi Arabian officials say Americans held by Houthi militants in Yemen were liberated as part of a U.S.-backed trade that will return more than 200 of the group’s loyalists to the fractured Middle East country.
The Family Scars Left by the Beirut Blast
After an Aug. 4 explosion rocked Lebanon’s capital, a reporter wonders if he made a mistake by bringing his daughter into harm’s way.
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Dion Nissenbaum
Our four-year-old daughter will forever have scars from the Beirut blast imprinted on her body. People say we’re heroes for protecting her that day. But are we? Will she ever forgive us for taking the risk to move to Lebanon?
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Broken Glass, Blood, and Anguish: Beirut After the Blast
I turned back to the injured girl. Never in my medical career had I ever left a patient in need. I have been in war zones, from Afghanistan to Gaza to Iraq, but never with my four-year-old daughter. The reality of the situation was swimming into...
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Dion Nissenbaum
Beirut After the Blast: @SeemaJilani writes eloquently about having to put her war zone medical training to use on our 4-year-old daughter after the explosion ripped through our apartment. nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/… via @nybooks
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WSJ News Exclusive | U.S. Prepares Sanctions Against Hezbollah’s Allies in Lebanon
The Trump administration is preparing to impose anticorruption sanctions against prominent Lebanese politicians and businessmen in an effort to weaken Hezbollah’s influence in the aftermath of last week’s explosion in Beirut’s port, according to...
Beirut Explosion: WSJ Reporter Relives the Moment in His Shattered Home
WSJ’s Dion Nissenbaum returned to his apartment in Beirut to assess the damage from the deadly explosion that injured his daughter and ripped through his neighborhood. In this video, he shares what he went through and reports on the aftermath....
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Dion Nissenbaum
As Beirut began to clean up today after the deadly blast, I returned home to see what happened to our neighbors. Our neighbor across the hall took the full brunt of the blast in his face. Here's a look at life in one of the hardest hit neighborhoods
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Cash in the Bank? Lebanese See Sports Cars, Ski Chalets and Italian Sculptures as Safer Investments
In a desperate attempt to preserve their life savings, many well-off Lebanese are sinking money into Land Rovers, ski chalets and expensive artworks, triggering an unlikely boom at the top end of the luxury market.
U.A.E. Flies Coronavirus Aid for Palestinians in First Known Commercial Flight to Israel
A United Arab Emirates commercial airline flew its first publicly acknowledged direct flight from its capital of Abu Dhabi to Israel, a milestone in relations between two Middle East nations with no formal diplomatic ties.
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Dion Nissenbaum
UAE's @etihad Flight 9607 took off last night from Abu Dhabi and landed in Tel Aviv, the first publicly acknowledged commercial flight between the two countries. It carried aid for Palestinians, but had larger symbolic importance: wsj.com/articles/u-a-e… pic.twitter.com/Uhw11PrI0m
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Pompeo Leaves Afghanistan Unable to Settle Dispute Impeding U.S. Exit
Secretary of State Pompeo left Kabul without a breakthrough in the political divide undermining efforts to pull all American troops out of Afghanistan.
U.S. Forces Strike Taliban in Response to Attacks on Afghan Troops
The U.S. military in Afghanistan carried out an airstrike against Taliban militants, the first since the Trump administration signed a deal with the militant group aimed at extricating America from 18 years of war.
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Dion Nissenbaum
Hours after Trump said he had a "good chat" with a Taliban leader, the US military accused the group of "squandering" an opportunity for peace by resuming major attacks in Afghanistan. The uptick in violence is imperiling a four-day-old US-Taliban deal
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Officials Feared U.S.-Taliban Deal Could Collapse Up Until the Last Minute
A deal between the U.S. and the Taliban was more than a year in the making, encountering obstacles all the way up until its approval Saturday.
U.S., Taliban Sign Deal Meant to End America's Longest War
The U.S. and the Taliban signed a historic deal meant to end America’s longest war and pave the way for Afghan factions to bring 18 years of costly fighting in their country to an end. President Trump says he will meet personally with Taliban...
In Strategic Shift, U.S. Draws Closer to Yemeni Rebels
The U.S. has formed ties with Houthi rebels who seized control of Yemen’s capital, in the clearest indication of a shift in the U.S. approach there as it seeks to maintain its fight against a key branch of al Qaeda.
U.S. Weighs Response After Iran Hits Back With Limited Strike
Iran demonstrated its willingness to directly confront American military might in the Middle East, with a pre-dawn attack on U.S. forces in Iraq that appeared calibrated to avoid further escalation and presented Washington with a decision about how...
WSJ News Exclusive | U.S. Drones Appear to Show Turkish-Backed Forces Accosting Civilians in Syria
U.S. military officials watched live drone feeds last month that appeared to show Turkish-backed Arab gunmen targeting civilians during their assault on Kurdish fighters in Syria, attacks the Americans reported to their commanders as possible war...
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Dion Nissenbaum
EXCLUSIVE: US forces watched drone feeds with alarm as Turkish-backed forces in Syria appeared to target civilians. The reports of possible war crimes went to top US military and diplomatic leaders in DC, where Trump meets Erdogan tomorrow.
wsj.com/articles/u-s-d… w/@glubold
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Hundreds of U.S. Troops Leaving, and Also Arriving in, Syria
Once the comings and goings are done, the number of U.S. forces in Syria is expected to reach about 900 — close to the 1,000 troops on the ground when President Trump ordered the withdrawal.
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Dion Nissenbaum
Three weeks after Trump again ordered a withdrawal of all US forces from NE Syria, the US now plans to have basically the same number of troops it had in that area before the chaotic US withdrawal unfolded:
nytimes.com/2019/10/30/wor… via @EricSchmittNYT @helenecooper
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Popular Protests Rattle Arab Leaders
Waves of sustained protests have shaken entrenched Arab rulers from Algeria to Iraq, injecting a new sense of euphoria among activists across the region as more leaders succumb to demands for change.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: I am increasingly optimistic we can have historic solutions in Syria
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham weighs in on Syria's invasion of Turkey, a State Department report finding hundreds of violations in Hillary Clinton's email scandal and the Trump-Ukraine controversy.
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Dion Nissenbaum
Sen. Graham says US is looking to launch a joint-venture with the Kurdish forces in Syria and run the oil fields together. Also says US wants a DMZ between Turkey and Kurds, patrolled by international forces, with US air support
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‘Get the Hell out of Syria. It’s Sand and Blood and Death’: Inside America’s Chaotic Retreat
President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops left thousands of Kurdish allies alone and outgunned, upended Middle East policy and empowered Washington’s adversaries.
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Dion Nissenbaum
When Kurdish families turned up at main US base in Syria seeking sanctuary from Turkish invasion, soldiers turned them away. Inside Trump administration’s attempts to avoid its Fall of Saigon moment in Syria. @IsabelColes @nancyayoussef
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