Middle East

There was opposition to Hamas long before the war, though much of it remained hidden for fear of reprisals. The last time Palestinian elections were held, in 2006, in the party list vote Gazans voted for Hamas in 15 out of 24 seats in the territory – in the other …

Hezbollah says one of its senior commanders has been killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon. Mohammed Nimah Nasser is the latest senior member of the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group to be targeted by Israel during almost nine months of cross-border violence which have raised fears of an …

One person has been killed and another seriously wounded in a stabbing attack at a shopping centre in the northern Israeli town of Karmiel, Israeli officials say. Police said the attacker, a resident of the nearby mainly Arab town of Nahaf, was shot dead at the scene by one of …

Turkey is reported to have closed its main border crossings into northwest Syria after its troops were attacked by Syrians angered by violence against their countrymen in Turkey. Turkish police had earlier announced the arrest of nearly 500 people following attacks on Syrian properties and vehicles in several Turkish cities. …

The joint statement by the former officials says: “America’s diplomatic cover for, and continuous flow of arms to Israel has ensured our undeniable complicity in the killings and forced starvation of a besieged Palestinian population in Gaza.” This is not the first such statement from former officials but it comes …

Palestinians have been fleeing districts to the east of Gaza’s second city of Khan Younis after Israel issued evacuation orders. Overnight and into the morning, witnesses reported multiple Israeli strikes in and around Khan Younis. A medical source and the Palestinian Red Crescent said eight people had been killed and …

For decades, there has been controversy over the role of the ultra-Orthodox in Israeli society. From a small minority, the community is now a million-strong, making up 12.9% of the population. Ultra-Orthodox parties have often acted as kingmakers in Israeli politics, giving support to successive governments headed by Israel’s prime …

Saida Wurie said her parents’ tour group failed to provide basic necessities for the Mecca pilgrimage. Source link

The expected scaling down of Israel’s military operations in Gaza could lead to more troops being deployed to the northern border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said security would be restored “one way or another”, and that the military was “prepared for very intense action”, although some of his recent …

On Monday morning, sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the Gaza border fence, many of which have been evacuated since the 7 October attack. The Eshkol Regional Council later reported that 18 rockets were launched towards areas it governs, according to the Jerusalem Post, external. Most landed in open areas, …

The Israeli human rights group, Btselem, has been tracking the cases. Its spokesman, Shai Parnes, said that since the 7 October Hamas attacks, violence against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and settlers has reached record levels. “It’s more radicalised, it’s more brutalised, it’s more extreme,” he said. …

Yazidi women visiting the UK to sing tell of their concerns as the camps they live in face closure. Source link

The result of the election so far is surprising. Reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian, who had been ahead in earlier results, is now trailing at just over 40%. Mr Pezeshkian, a former heart surgeon and health minister, has promised a different approach, saying the actions of the morality police, who enforce …

That may sound odd, given that the Taliban have imposed their own, extreme version of Shariah, banning women from jobs or even a proper education, as well as reintroducing punishments such as stoning to death. Yet the Taliban and IS are bitter rivals – and after 20 years as insurgents, …

How might the election of a new president affect how the country is run? Source link

Many Iranians have lost hope of any meaningful change being delivered through the ballot box. “I won’t vote this year,” a 70-year old woman in Tehran, who has previously voted for reformist candidates, told the BBC. “I know nothing will change. The economy is in such a dire state and …

Shejaiya residents and Hamas-affiliated Palestinian media reported a series of Israeli air strikes, artillery shelling and helicopter fire on Thursday morning. Later, they said Israeli ground forces had advanced into eastern areas of the district, which is not far from the Gaza-Israel perimeter fence. A video posted on social media …

Whatever happens on Israel’s northern border, the conflict in Gaza, even if at a far lower level of intensity, shows no sign of coming to an end. Moves towards a ceasefire have lost momentum again, with neither Israel nor Hamas appearing ready to fully embrace all elements of the proposal …

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October. The UN says, external 536 Palestinians – members of armed groups, attackers and civilians – had …

Syria has been devastated by a civil war that erupted after Mr Assad’s government responded with deadly force to peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011. The conflict has left half a million people dead and caused half the population to flee their homes, including almost six million refugees abroad. In August …