Middle East

Rushdi Abualouf Gaza correspondent, Istanbul David Gritten BBC News, Jerusalem AFP Residents of Deir al-Balah have been fleeing southern areas of Deir al-Balah in response to Israeli military orders Israeli tanks have advanced into Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the first time, triggering a fresh wave of displacement among …

Anadolu via Getty Images Smoke rises over western Deir al-Balah during an Israeli offensive on Monday The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israel’s ground offensive in central Gaza has compromised its efforts to continue working, after its facilities came under attack. The UN agency accused Israeli forces of attacking a …

Watch: BBC report from last checkpoint before Suweida city The BBC has been trying to reach the southern Syrian city of Suweida where sectarian clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribal militia have killed hundreds of people. A fragile ceasefire is holding, but the area remains extremely tense. On Monday, …

The UK and 27 other countries have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, where they say the suffering of civilians has “reached new depths”. A joint statement says Israel’s aid delivery model is dangerous and condemns what it calls the “drip feeding of aid and the …

A “cautious calm” has returned to the Syrian city of Suweida after a week of deadly tribal clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin gunmen and government forces, a UK-based monitoring group has said. Residents reported that fighting stopped on Sunday as Syria’s Islamist-led government declared the Bedouins had withdrawn from the …

The Syrian presidency says it will deploy a new force to halt the deadly sectarian clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in the south of the country. Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s office urged “all parties to exercise restraint”, amid reports of renewed fighting near the city of Suweida on …

AFP A medic and other men walk past the bodies of those killed in the fighting at a hospital in Suweida city Over the last five days, Rima says she has witnessed “barbaric” scenes. The 45-year-old Druze woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suweida her whole life, …

The UN human rights chief says his office has received credible reports indicating widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings, during the recent violence in the southern city of Suweida. Among the alleged perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government, …

Reuters The fighting was sparked by a dispute between the Bedouin and Druze communities A monitoring group says 594 people have been killed during the recent violence in southern Syria that took on a sectarian dimension. The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) documented a significant outbreak of brutality …

BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab reports from Damascus, Syria showing the damaged Ministry of Defence headquarters following airstrikes by Israeli forces on Wednesday. Israel’s military struck ministry in Damascus and government forces in southern Syria for a third day on Wednesday, as deadly sectarian fighting in the mostly Druze …

Several people have been injured at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, with some unconfirmed reports that it was hit by Israeli artillery shells. Catholic Church leaders referred only to it being “struck by a raid” in a statement, but Italy’s prime minister blamed Israeli forces. The Israeli military …

Syria’s interim president has said it is his “priority” to protect the country’s Druze citizens, after Israel vowed to destroy government forces it accused of attacking members of the religious minority in Suweida province. In his first televised statement since Israel’s air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Ahmed al-Sharaa also …

Tess Mallinder Heron BBC Monitoring Getty Images A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence has rocked Syria, putting into focus the country’s fragile security landscape as the new government attempts to impose its authority over the fractured territory. On Sunday 13 July, the reported abduction of a merchant from the …

Reuters Syria’s defence ministry headquarters in central Damascus was hit by Israeli strikes The Israeli military struck the Syrian defence ministry and government forces in southern Syria, as deadly sectarian fighting in the predominantly Druze province of Suweida continued for a fourth day. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its …

Authorities in Yemen have postponed the execution of an Indian nurse who is on death row after being found guilty of murder, Indian foreign ministry sources say. Nimisha Priya, who was sentenced to death for killing a local man, was set to be executed on 16 July, according to campaigners …

At least 12 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, a regional governor says. Seven Syrians, including a family of five, and three Lebanese were killed when the Wadi Faara area was hit, Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bachir Khodr wrote on X. The other two deaths …

Israel says it has bombed Syrian government forces around Suweida, as they entered the predominantly Druze city following two days of deadly clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes. About 100 people have reportedly been killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday. Syria’s defence minister announced a ceasefire in Suweida …

Reuters Ten people were killed as they gathered near a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Ahmed says his son, Abdullah, was “searching for a sip of water” when he took the family’s jerrycans on Sunday morning and headed as usual to one of the water …

At least 30 people have been killed in armed clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in southern Syria, the country’s interior ministry says. The violence erupted in the predominantly Druze city in the province of Suweida on Sunday, two days after a Druze merchant was reportedly abducted …

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reportedly slightly injured during one of Israel’s attacks on Iran last month. Iran’s state Fars news agency, close to the revolutionary guard, says that on 16 June, six bombs targeted both access and entry points of a secret underground facility in Tehran where Pezeshkian was …