Middle East

Syrian security forces are alleged to have killed hundreds of civilians belonging to the Alawite minority group in continuing violence along the country’s coast, according to a war monitoring group. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said some 745 civilians had been killed in around 30 “massacres” targeting …

Leading EU nations have said they support an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion (£41 billion) and avoid displacing Palestinians from the territory. The plan, drawn up by Egypt and endorsed by Arab leaders, has been rejected by Israel and by US President Donald …

Lucy Williamson Middle East correspondent Oren Rosenfeld / BBC Michal is one of the festival-goers who believes MDMA helped her during the attack As dawn approached on the morning of 7 October 2023, many of the partygoers at the Nova music festival near Gaza’s border took illegal recreational drugs like …

Syrian security forces are alleged to have executed 52 people belonging to the Alawite minority in the coastal province of Latakia, according to one war monitoring group. Footage seen by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights shows dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled up in the garden of …

Hugh Bachega BBC Middle East correspondent Reporting fromBeirut, Lebanon Getty Images In January, days after the first-month anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime in a lightning Islamist-led rebel offensive in Syria, a group of young men – some of them armed – were gathered, checking their phones in …

Syrian forces loyal to the new government in Damascus have engaged in heavy fighting with remnants of the ousted Assad regime in a coastal area in the country’s north-west. At least 13 soldiers have been killed in the clashes in Latakia province, close to a Russian-controlled airbase, according to state …

The US is holding talks with Hamas over the hostages held in Gaza, the White House has confirmed. Washington has until now avoided direct engagement with Hamas, and there is a longstanding US policy against having direct contact with groups it lists as terrorist organisations. The White House press secretary …

Reuters The UN says more than 90% of homes in Gaza are destroyed or damaged The US and Israel have rejected an Arab plan for the post-war reconstruction of the Gaza Strip that would allow the 2.1 million Palestinians living there to stay in place. The proposal, endorsed by Arab …

The first 29 of an estimated 2,000 children in need of medical treatment have arrived in Jordan from Gaza. Among the evacuees are war wounded and children suffering from diseases like cancer and rare blood conditions. Among them is six-month-old Niveen Abu Daqqa, who has a heart condition, and her …

Caroline Hawley BBC News Reporting fromAmman, Jordan Rami dreams of one day playing football like Cristiano Ronaldo Rami Qattoush’s mother beams with pride, as her nine-year-old son tentatively kicks a football for the first time since his injury. It is a huge milestone in his recovery, since he travelled to …

BBC The domestic worker was the caregiver of the infant she was convicted of killing An Indian woman who worked as a domestic helper in Abu Dhabi has been executed after she was convicted for killing her employer’s baby. Shahzadi Khan was executed last month in Abu Dhabi, according to …

Paul Adams BBC News, Jerusalem Getty Images Jabalia, in northern Gaza, was once a bustling and tightly-packed refugee camp Jabalia, viewed from the air, is breathtaking. A Hiroshima-like wasteland stretches as far as the eye can see. The mangled carcasses of buildings dot the churned-up landscape, some leaning at crazy …

Lyse Doucet Chief International Correspondent Reuters Israel blocked food and fuel from entering Gaza after the ceasefire’s first phase expired on Saturday night The testing second stage of Gaza’s ceasefire was always in doubt; now it seems to be dead at the moment it was meant to start. Concern is …

Christal Hayes BBC News, Los Angeles Watch: Israeli filmmaker takes dab at current political climate An Israeli journalist has said US foreign policy “is helping to block” a path towards a political solution in the Middle East as he picked up a best documentary Oscar for No Other Land, a feature set in …

EPA About 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israeli communities, military bases and a music festival on 7 October 2023 Israel’s military has published its first official account of the mistakes that led to its failures during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, which triggered the Gaza war. The report …

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdish separatist PKK, has called on his movement to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. His statement, read out in a letter by MPs from a pro-Kurdish party, was aimed at ending four decades of armed struggle in south-eastern Turkey in which …

Mahjooba Nowrouzi BBC Afghan Service, Kabul BBC Thousands of cameras are now being used to monitor the movements of Kabul residents In a crowded control centre, surrounded by dozens of TV screens, the Taliban’s police force proudly shows off its newly-acquired network of 90,000 CCTV cameras – used to watch …

Paul Adams BBC News, West Bank EPA The month-long operation has displaced about 40,000 Palestinians from four camps in the West Bank “The army forced us out. Me, my wife and family. We took nothing with us.” Alaa Ofi is trying to figure out how to manage his drastically changed …

Yolande Knell Middle East correspondent Reuters Thousands of Israelis holding flags and orange balloons lined highways to watch the funeral procession In a display of deep public grief, thousands of Israelis, many with orange balloons and Israeli flags, lined the roads of southern Israel for the funeral procession of three …

The mother of a British-Egyptian activist imprisoned in Cairo has been warned by her doctor that her life is at risk if she continues a hunger strike she began almost five months ago to press for her son’s release. Laila Soueif, 68, the mother of Alaa Abdel Fattah, was admitted …