Middle East

Now a senior source has indicated to Israeli journalists, including those from Haaretz and the Times of Israel, that the total number given by the Hamas health ministry is largely accurate, even though they have not been able to break down how many were combatants and how many died as …

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 71,660 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Since the ceasefire began on 10 October 2025, at least 492 Palestinians have been killed, the health ministry says, as well as four Israeli soldiers. BBC …

As well as the possibility of a civil war, such as experienced by Syria, Yemen and Libya, there is also the risk that in the chaos and confusion, ethnic tensions could spill over into armed conflict as Kurds, Baluchis and other minorities look to safeguard their own people amid a …

But the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has said it has confirmed the killing of 6,301 people, including 5,925 protesters, 112 children, 50 bystanders and 214 affiliated with the government. It is also investigating reports of 17,091 more deaths. BBC News

Soroush Negahdari,BBC Monitoringand Ghoncheh Habibiazad,BBC Persian WANA via REUTERS Iranian authorities responded with lethal force as the protests in Tehran escalated on 8 January “My friends are all like me. We all know someone who was killed in the protests.” For Parisa, a 29-year-old from Tehran, the crackdown by security …

Yolande KnellMiddle East correspondent, Jerusalem EPA/Shutterstock Foreign journalists have only been allowed to enter Gaza on restricted visits accompanied by Israeli forces Israel’s Supreme Court has been hearing a case brought by foreign journalists asking for the Israeli government to end its ban on independent media access to the Gaza …

The Israeli military says it has retrieved the body of the last remaining hostage in Gaza. It had been searching for Master Sgt Ran Gvili since the ceasefire with Hamas began in October. Hamas was meant to return all hostages, alive and dead, within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking …

Israel says it has agreed to reopen the Gaza Strip’s key border crossing with Egypt only after an operation to retrieve the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in the territory is complete. The Rafah crossing has been mostly closed since May 2024, when the Palestinian side was seized …

German police have arrested a Lebanese national on suspicion of being a member of Hamas and planning attacks in Europe. The man, named as “Mohammad S”, was stopped at Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport after arriving from Beirut on Friday evening. Federal prosecutors said that in August 2025 he helped procure 300 …

Nawal Al-MaghafiSenior international investigations correspondent, Yemen Liam weir / BBC One of the sites had several shipping containers with little ventilation, where detainees said up to 60 men were held The BBC has been given access to detention facilities on former United Arab Emirates military bases in Yemen, confirming long-standing …

Getty Images The US plan for “New Gaza” was presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos The US has unveiled its plans for a “New Gaza” that would see the devastated Palestinian territory rebuilt from scratch. Slides showed dozens of skyscrapers stretching along the Mediterranean coast and housing estates …

Hugo BachegaMiddle East correspondent, Beirut AFP Syrian government forces advanced rapidly into north-eastern Syria in recent days President Ahmed al-Sharaa has made significant advances in his efforts to unify a deeply fractured Syria, reclaiming large swathes of territory in the north-east that had been under the control of a Kurdish-led …

Three Palestinian journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza, first responders say. Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said their car was hit in the al-Zahra area and named them as Mohammed Salah Qeshta, Anas Ghunaim and Abdul Raouf Shaath. They are understood to have been working …

Merlyn Thomas,correspondent, BBC Verify, Shayan Sardarizadeh,senior journalist, BBC Verifyand Ghoncheh Habibiazad,senior journalist BBC Warning: this story contains graphic content which some readers might find distressing Hundreds of photos revealing the faces of those killed during Iran’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests have been leaked to BBC Verify. The pictures, which …

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says it has withdrawn from a camp holding thousands of people with alleged links to the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), as clashes with the Syrian government continue despite a ceasefire agreement. The SDF said its forces were “compelled to withdraw” from al-Hol camp …

John SudworthEast Jerusalem Israel Land Authority It is the latest move by Israel against the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, after Israel passed a law restricting where it could operate Israeli demolition teams, accompanied by police, have begun tearing down the headquarters of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, in occupied …

BBC Israeli authorities have ordered the football club to take the pitch apart, or they’ll demolish it A Palestinian children’s football club in the occupied West Bank faces imminent demolition despite an international campaign to save it. Its supporters say it provides a rare sporting opportunity for young Palestinian players. …

Kasra NajiSpecial correspondent, BBC Persian BBC Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his secret hideout these days, knows he is now a marked man. He will not be sitting on his veranda anytime soon. When discussing what the United States might do next to help the protesters in Iran, …

At least two babies have died and more than 50 other babies and toddlers are being treated at Israeli hospitals after they fell ill at an unlicenced day care centre in West Jerusalem. The three-month-old and the other about six months old were pronounced dead at Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital …

Reuters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened a meeting with his top advisers to discuss Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza, after it revealed the US did not include Israel in talks to do with its creation. Netanyahu’s office said it was “not coordinated with Israel and runs …