Middle East

An Israeli air strike in the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza has killed top Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas official told the BBC early on Sunday. Locals say the air strike killed both Bardaweel, a member of the group’s political office, and his wife. Israeli officials …

When violence broke out in Syria’s coastal area recently, including mass killings of civilians allegedly carried out as revenge for attacks on Syrian security forces, volunteer rescuers quickly came to help. They were part of the Syrian civil defence group known as the White Helmets, which had operated in rebel-held …

At least 55 Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli air strikes in Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defence agency has said. It comes after Israel resumed its bombing campaign and ground operations in the territory this week, with air strikes killing more than 430 people over two days, according to …

A French tourist detained by Iranian authorities for more than two years has been released and returned to France, President Emmanuel Macron has said. Olivier Grondeau, 34, is “free” and with his family, Macron wrote on X on Thursday, adding: “We share his family’s immense happiness and relief.” Mr Grondeau …

Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed responsibility for a missile fired at Israel, which was intercepted. The ballistic missile was fired toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson said in a televised statement. Sirens sounded in several areas of Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces said. No injuries …

A British bomb disposal expert has been injured in an attack on a UN facility in the Gaza Strip, the charity he works for has said. The 51-year-old, who was not named, was one of five people injured in an explosion that also killed a UN worker at the facility …

In Gaza, Palestinians have been burying their dead. At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the south of the Strip, Alaa Abu Hihal stands cradling his baby son Mohammed in his arms. The child’s tiny face peeps out of a white shroud. Mohammed was one of more than 170 children …

More than 400 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel’s military says it’s been hitting “terror targets” across the territory. BBC Verify’s Nick Beake has been assessing footage of the strikes and building a picture of the damage done. Verification by …

Reuters Mourners on Tuesday crying over the bodies of those killed in Monday night’s airstrikes at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al-Balah It had started as a normal night in Gaza, with people up already having their pre-dawn meal in the holy month of Ramadan. After 50 nights of ceasefire, …

A senior Islamic State (IS) group leader in Iraq and Syria has been killed in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister has said. Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifa, also known as Abu Khadija, “was considered one of the …

Early on Friday morning, a group of Syrian men crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights through a UN-monitored buffer zone. With no diplomatic relations between Syria and Israel, Syrians crossing here would normally risk being shot or arrested. This visit, by religious leaders from Syria’s Druze minority, signals the dramatic …

Feras Killani BBC News Arabic, western Syria BBC Dalaal Mahna says fighters killed her son “My only son, just 25 years old,” says Dalaal Mahna, with tears filling her eyes. “They took him right from my side and told me: ‘We’re going to kill him and break your heart with …

Reuters The commission of inquiry alleges that Israeli forces intentionally attacked the al-Basma IVF clinic in Gaza City UN experts have accused Israel of increasingly using sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians and carrying out “genocidal acts” through the systematic destruction of maternal and reproductive healthcare facilities. A report commissioned …

Getty Images Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent figure during the Gaza war protests at Columbia University in the spring of 2024, has drawn global attention after the Trump administration arrested and moved to deport him. The case has raised questions about free speech on college campuses and the legal process that …

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected the idea of negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme, as Tehran confirmed receiving a letter from President Donald Trump. Last week, Trump said the letter proposed talks on a deal that would prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and avert possible …

Yolande Knell Middle East correspondent BBC Markets in Khan Younis in southern Gaza are reporting some food shortages after Israel blocked deliveries 10 days ago The White House’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Qatar to join indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on extending the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. This …

Reuters Alawites fleeing the violence in Syria’s coastal region have been crossing the Nahr el-Kabir river to reach safety in Lebanon Entire families, including women and children, were killed during the recent violence in Syria’s coastal region, the UN human rights office says. A spokesman told reporters that the UN …

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has accused Israel of weaponising humanitarian aid with its blockade of goods and electricity into Gaza. Speaking in Geneva, Philippe Lazzarini warned of a renewed hunger crisis if aid supplies did not resume. Israel stopped the entry of all aid …

At least 6,000 Syrians are believed to have crossed into neighbouring Lebanon in the last few days to escape violence in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus. The area is a stronghold of Syria’s ousted former President, Bashar al-Assad, and hundreds of civilians have been killed there by the …

Israel ordered all of Gaza’s electricity supply to be cut off on Sunday in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining Israeli hostages held in the territory. Energy minister Eli Cohen’s announcement came a week after Israel cut off all aid supplies to the territory, which has a …