Middle East

Previously even fingertip searches in the ash and debris had failed to find as much as a trace of Bilha’s DNA. The couple’s children had long accepted their mother was murdered on the day of the attack, but her death has only now been officially declared “based on a combination …

Not far from the hospital there’s a stunning viewpoint over the city and its thriving port. Out to sea, ships and tankers glide across the water. But Haifa’s proximity to Lebanon – and Hezbollah’s rockets – leaves it vulnerable. Look out over the shipping lanes and you can see the …

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of leader Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement,” a statement from Hamas said. Sinwar currently tops Israel’s most-wanted list. Israel’s security agencies believe he masterminded the planning and execution of the 7 October 2023 attacks, which …

At least 17 Israelis, including 12 security forces personnel, have also been killed in the West Bank, according to a UN tally. Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah condemned the recent violence, as well as alleged torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as the “crossing of all …

Last week, an Israeli air strike killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, in what Israeli officials called an “intelligence-based elimination”. Israeli officials say he was responsible for a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month which killed 12 children …

Security sources told CBS that two Katyusha rockets were fired at the base, and that one had fallen inside the base. “We can confirm that there was a suspected rocket attack today against US and Coalition forces at Al Asad Airbase, Iraq,” said a Department of Defence spokesperson. “Initial indications …

Nine staff members at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA, may have been involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, the United Nations says. All nine have had their employment terminated, said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken …

The failures surrounding Haniyeh’s death, especially on a day marked by intense security, have caused embarrassment for Iran and the IRGC. Dozens of IRGC officers have been arrested or dismissed in the days since Haniyeh’s death, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The paper said the organisation’s intelligence agency …

Gaza, where Asmaa had nurtured her dreams, had been devastated. But it wasn’t the physical changes that were absorbing her the most. Society, she said, had been utterly transformed. The constant shocks of death, displacement and trauma leaving whole neighbourhoods teetering on the brink of disintegration. Tight-knit communities had been …

Israel and Hamas recently resumed tentative, indirect talks to try to reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, though there have been conflicting accounts of progress. At the end of May, Mr Biden outlined what he said were the terms of an Israeli ceasefire proposal. This has become the …

Mohammed Deif was the head of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas movement. He was Israel’s most wanted man for decades, and was killed in an Israeli air strike last month, Israel says. Hamas has not confirmed this. Deif, a shadowy figure, became known to Palestinians …

In Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiya, the stronghold of Hezbollah, large crowds wearing black joined the funeral for Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of the powerful Lebanese militia and political movement, and the most high-profile member to have been assassinated by Israel during these current hostilities. They carried placards with …

Haniyeh, who played an important role in negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed hours after attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran. A senior Hamas official told the BBC the killing took place in the same building where Haniyeh had stayed during previous visits …

A retaliation from Hezbollah is now almost certain. In the past, the heavily-armed, Iranian-supported group has responded to the killings of senior members by firing barrages of rockets into Israel. Shortly before Hezbollah’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a televised speech acknowledging that “challenging days lie ahead”. He …

Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians over the course of the war in Gaza – mostly from Gaza but also from the occupied West Bank and Israel itself. Human rights defenders have raised concerns about the detention facilities some detainees are being held in, with both Israeli whistleblowers and …

We’re beginning to get some idea of how Ismail Haniyeh was killed. Early indications suggest that he and his bodyguards died when a rocket hit the house where he was staying in Tehran. All eyes will inevitably fall on Israel, which vowed to hunt down and punish all Hamas leaders …

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran, hours after attending the inauguration of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Palestinian group has said. Video from Tuesday shows him meeting the president and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel is yet to respond to accusations it was …

The family is among a growing number who have frozen sperm since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a major military operation in Gaza in response, in which more than …

He described it as a “criminal act” in a “series of aggressive operations killing civilians in clear and explicit violation of international law.” In a brief post on social media after the attack, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Hezbollah crossed the red line”. It is not yet clear if …

Thousands of displaced Gazans have returned to the ruins of the southern city of Khan Younis, after a week-long Israeli operation ended. Palestinian health officials said the bodies of 42 bodies of Palestinians killed in incursion into the east of the city had been recovered. The Israeli military said 150 …