Middle East

Iran has released a Marshall Islands-flagged fuel product tanker that its forces seized in the Strait of Hormuz five days ago, according to the vessel’s manager. Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement said all 21 crew members of Talara were “safe and in good spirits”, and that the vessel was “free to resume …

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman faced questions over his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi while visiting the White House. Donald Trump, hosting the prince, claimed thats Mohammed bin Salman “didn’t know” about the murder, contradicting a 2021 US intelligence report that said the de …

Yolande Knell,Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem and Wahiba Ahmed,Jerusalem BBC Children and families will perish, warns Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council Aid agencies have reiterated calls for Israel to allow more tents and urgently needed supplies into Gaza after the first heavy winter rainfall, saying more than a quarter …

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of a US-drafted resolution, which endorses Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza. Included in the plan is the establishment of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), which the US says multiple unnamed countries have offered to contribute to. The resolution was backed by …

The UN Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution backing Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. The text, submitted by the US, would give a mandate for the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) and to set up transitional governance there. The US says multiple unnamed …

Lucy WilliamsonMiddle East correspondent, West Bank ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images Israeli security forces inspect the Hamida Mosque after it was vandalised by Israeli settlers The marks of the attack on Hamida Mosque, near Deir Istiya in the occupied West Bank, are still scattered on the ground outside. Charred furniture, …

David Gritten and Sebastian Usher,Jerusalem Reuters Donald Trump has repeatedly asked for a pardon for his close ally Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has received a letter from US President Donald Trump formally urging him to “fully pardon” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has been standing trial for the …

Yolande KnellMiddle East correspondent, Jerusalem EPA The warehouse in Beit Lid was attacked, with lorries set on fire Dozens of Israeli settlers launched arson attacks targeting a Palestinian warehouse, a Bedouin village, and farmland in the north of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Several Palestinians were injured. The incidents …

Benedict Garman,BBC Verify and Barbara Metzler,BBC Verify BBC Israel has destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in areas of Gaza that have remained under its control since the ceasefire with Hamas started on 10 October, satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show. The new photos – the latest of which was …

Hugo BachegaMiddle East correspondent , Jerusalem AFP Hamas wants its fighters in Rafah to be given safe passage, which has so far been rejected by Israel (file photo) US President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, returned to Israel on Monday, as mediators face a new obstacle in their …

Yolande KnellMiddle East correspondent, Jerusalem EPA Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir handed out sweets after the bill’s first reading was approved Israel’s parliament has passed the first reading of a bill proposing the death penalty for those it deems to be terrorists acting against the state – a requirement …

Orla GuerinSenior International Correspondent in Syria BBC/Goktay Koraltan Adnan Al Ezzeldin says people are being killed for being Alawites The killer came by night – a masked man on a motorbike who struck without warning and then sped away. It’s become a familiar pattern in some corners of the new …

A former Israeli hostage who was released last month has told Israeli TV that he was sexually assaulted during his two years in captivity in Gaza. In an interview with Channel 13’s Hazinor programme, Rom Braslavski, 21, described being stripped naked and tied up by members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad …

Four people have been detained by French police after protesters set off flares during a concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris on Thursday night. Clashes broke out in the auditorium during one of three disruptions to the performance by conductor Lahav Shani and pianist Sir Andras Schiff. The …

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of a US resolution to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ahead of his White House visit next week. Sharaa was named transitional president after leading a rebel offensive that ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, ending 13 years of civil …

Iran has released two French nationals who were detained there for more than three years, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. Cécile Kohler, 41 and her partner Jacques Paris, 72, have been released from Evin prison, Macron said on Tuesday, with France’s foreign minister later confirming they were “safe” at …

Hamas has handed over to the Red Cross in northern Gaza a coffin containing what the Palestinian group says is the body of a deceased hostage, according to the Israeli military. The remains will be transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to the National Centre of Foreign Medicine …

IDF Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned on Friday, admitting her role in leaking the video The former top lawyer in the Israeli military has been arrested, as a political showdown deepens over the leaking of a video that allegedly shows severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers. Maj …

The Israeli military’s top lawyer has resigned after saying that she was responsible for the leaking of a video that purportedly shows soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee last year. Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military advocate general, had been on leave since a criminal investigation was launched by police …

Hamas has handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza two coffins which the Palestinian group says contain the bodies of hostages, according to the Israeli military. They will be transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification. Hamas’s armed wing …