Middle East

With so many people unaccounted for, many turn to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for help. It takes detailed information and cross-checks this with sources it can access, such as hospital lists and names of returned detainees. More than 8,300 cases have been reported to the organisation …

“As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Tuesday. “The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and …

“I never thought I would give birth living in a tent, in such cold and freezing conditions, with water dripping on us. Water would leak into the tent, pouring down on us. At times, we had to run to escape the water – for the baby’s sake,” says Nariman. Still, …

“As long as you say, ‘I didn’t do it’, they will keep torturing you and they will take you to another stage in torturing,” he says. “Every minute it’s like you’re dying.” Abdullah says he told officers a false story to avoid further interrogation, and was “lucky” to be released …

The Israeli military said its air strikes targeted Houthi “military infrastructure” at Sanaa International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, as well as infrastructure at the Red Sea ports of Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Kanatib used to smuggle in Iranian weapons. The Houthis’ military spokesman said only …

Reserves and conscripts are the lifeblood of the IDF. Brigadier General Ariel Heimann – also a reservist and a former chief reserve officer – says Israel is too small a country to have a large, expensive, professional, regular army. Without reservists, he says, the IDF wouldn’t be able to fight …

Air strikes are reported to have hit the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and the port city of Hudaydah on the Red Sea. AFP news agency reports that Houthi TV called the strikes “Israeli aggression”. Israel has not commented. The scale of the strikes or any casualties are not clear from initial …

The BBC has not been able to verify the claims made by both sides. Quds Today is affiliated with the PIJ group that took part in the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The unprecedented attack triggered the war in Gaza. In a separate development, five people were reported …

For the second year running, tourists are staying away and public festivities have been cancelled. Source link

In the Bab Touma neighbourhood of Damascus, protesters carried a cross and Syrian flags, chanting “we will sacrifice our souls for our cross”. “If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore,” a demonstrator named Georges told …

Videos filmed by Syrians raiding properties allegedly owned by relatives of Assad show rooms full of pills being made and packaged, hidden in fake industrial products. Other footage shows piles of pills found in what appears to be a Syrian military airbase, set on fire by the rebels. I spent …

In a statement, US Central Command confirmed a “friendly fire” incident over the Red Sea. “The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18, which was flying off the USS Harry S Truman,” the …

“I’m so happy because the Assad regime fell. This is like a dream come true. No-one wants to live under dictatorship. But there is concern. I have to be realistic,” said Youssef Sabbagh, a Christian lawyer. “HTS are here now, and they are an Islamic militia. That’s what they are. …

The men who ruled Syria with an iron fist have fled – and some fear they may evade justice. Source link

“The new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa [the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] made an address, saying he will give everyone their freedom. We also want freedom. We want to leave, most likely for Russia. It’s the only country that will take us.” The camp manager tells us that …

Syria’s rebel leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has dismissed the online controversy over videos showing him gesturing to a young woman to cover her hair before he posed for a photo with her last week. The incident sparked criticism from both liberal and conservative commentators amid intense speculation about the county’s future …

During the last two weeks, I have heard many Syrians say that they want to be left alone to try to rebuild their country. That sounds like a pipe dream. The war destroyed much of the country, but it also drained away Syria’s sovereignty. Bashar al-Assad became a client of …

In a post on X, external, the Israeli foreign ministry’s spokesman said the group was “once more spreading its blood libels… The truth is the complete opposite of HRW’s lies”. The 179-page report says that “since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians’ access to the adequate amount of …

Israel has said its fighter jets conducted a series of attacks against military targets in Yemen belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi movement. An Israeli military spokesman said the targets included Red Sea ports and energy infrastructure in the capital Sanaa. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that seven people were killed …

Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said his country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbours or to the West. Speaking to the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen in Damascus, Sharaa said sanctions on Syria should be lifted and that his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), should …