Middle East

An Israeli court has acquitted a Jewish man who attacked a nun in Jerusalem, in an incident caught on CCTV which drew widespread condemnation. Jerusalem Magistrates Court said Yona Schreiber was experiencing a psychotic episode when he pushed over and kicked the French nun in the Old City in occupied …

Mansour was born in the village of Birzeit in British Mandate Palestine in 1947 – a year before the State of Israel was established, and the advent of the first Arab-Israeli war. During the conflict, more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes or fled in what is known …

Israeli security forces have seized and closed a training college run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), the last of its facilities that was still operating in occupied East Jerusalem. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned the incursion of the Qalandia Training Centre, the latest move to …

Israeli settlers have been besieging Palestinian family homes in the occupied West Bank since Sunday, with the families saying their supplies were running out and rights groups urging the authorities to step in. After the Palestinian homeowners made their initial report to the Israeli army, the first soldiers who arrived …

The Israeli military has confirmed for the first time that it opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was killed along with six relatives in Gaza in 2024. BBC News

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, announced an “economic D-day” against Iran, with further sanctions on the regime and countries doing business with it. Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Tehran was “fully prepared” for the sanctions, which he said would lead to “another defeat” for the US. Iranians …

A far-right member of the Israeli parliament has badly damaged a Palestinian memorial with a sledgehammer in the occupied West Bank while under military escort. The incident has drawn strong criticism from Palestinians and across the political spectrum in Israel. Video footage showed Zvi Sukkot, a member of the far-right …

US President Donald Trump has said that the US Navy has removed or detonated all mines in the Strait of Hormuz – the vital waterway which Iran has largely closed since the beginning of the war in the Middle East. “Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing …

Amal Abu Khater, 10, was hit by a bullet in her back while eating in her tent in the central al-Sattar al-Gharbi area of Khan Younis on Monday, according to her family. They rushed the girl to hospital but medics told them on arrival that she had died of her …

Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan told the court that Hassoun’s case was examined against the background of events that began when the regime crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising against Assad in 2011 with lethal force, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million …

It was already in deep trouble before the war, with high inflation and a rapidly weakening currency, and has deteriorated further since the fighting began with US and Israeli air strikes on 28 February. The weakening of the Iranian currency, the rial, is felt sharply and widely. Imports cost more, …

Four kites were found in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which is about 800m (2,620ft) from the Gaza border, on Friday and Saturday. Several more were found elsewhere in southern Israel last week, according to local media. The Israeli reports cited military sources as saying they believed Hamas was behind the kites …

In its statement on Wednesday, the IDF said the presence of an armed guard with the convoy had not been flagged to it before the convoy set off, and that he was falsely identified as a Hamas fighter. It also accused the convoy of deviating from the route co-ordinated with …

Samer is partially blind and has a leg injury that makes moving difficult. “Fear dominates everything. We are completely defenceless,” he said. “All of them have weapons. I’m bringing concrete blocks to close off this side of the house because I’m afraid for my children.” Samer has watched settlements – …

The Iranian economy has long been struggling under the weight of decades of international sanctions, which left it in tatters. Earlier this year, Iran experienced weeks of protests due to the spiralling cost of living and inflation – with everyday Iranians blaming the regime for their difficulties. Official figures show …

Verified videos show the aftermath of Tuesday and Wednesday’s strikes in Gaza City which show several injured people, including women and children. The Hamas-run health ministry said multiple Palestinians had been killed. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas commanders and that it had taken measures to mitigate harm …

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state – during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. Despite the fierce international opposition, …

The United States has issued a rare rebuke of Israel after reports emerged it struck a Syrian military airbase near the Turkish border, calling the attack an “unnecessary escalation”. Eight airstrikes hit the Abu Duhur airport runway and storage facility on Tuesday, according to Syrian state TV, although there were …

Whilst in Egypt, Kushner also met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to Israeli media reports, Kushner, Mladenov and Blair will meet Netanyahu on Monday with the aim of advancing Trump’s plan. The Israeli prime minister has said he wants a full Hamas disarmament first in order to implement the …

Activists have tried to delivered supplies to Palestinians whose homes in the occupied West Bank have been besieged for days by Israeli settlers. The group left water and food near one of the houses in Qusra where two Palestinian families have been trapped since Sunday, with their power and water …