Category: 2. Middle East

About 300 Arab Israelis gathered Thursday in the ruins of a village that Palestinians fled during the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel, to commemorate what Palestinians call the “Nakba”, or catastrophe.

As Israel celebrated Independence Day on Thursday, the demonstrators —- men, women, and children -— marched through the ruins chanting, “Your independence is our Nakba”.

The place where the demonstrators gathered was previously the village of Al-Lajjun.

The site, once home to…

WASHINGTON —  White House national security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving the Trump administration, according to CBS and other US outlets. 

The expected departure of Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, comes just weeks after it was revealed he accidentally added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a private Signal chat where military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis were discussed among senior US officials. 

Trump stood by Waltz in the immediate aftermath of what became known as…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will nominate his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, as US Ambassador to the United Nations. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also act as Waltz’s replacement until a new national security adviser is named, Trump said on his Truth Social app Thursday.

“As my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role,” Trump said. 

The post of UN ambassador…

The Palestine Book Awards (PBA) has officially closed submissions for its 2025 cycle, concluding another successful year with over 80 books entered. Now in its 14th year, the Awards continue to grow in stature, serving as a vital platform for literature that centres Palestinian history, identity and resistance.

This year’s submissions come amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Some of the books are written by authors enduring the…

Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri accused the government on Thursday of conducting a “genocidal attack” on his community following days of deadly sectarian clashes that left 101 dead. 

Hijri was referring to the violence between Druze and Sunni Syrians in southern Syria this week as an “unjustified genocidal attack” in a statement. He called for international help to alleviate the situation, saying, “International forces must intervene immediately to maintain…

Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri on Thursday condemned what he called a “genocidal campaign” against his community after two days of sectarian clashes left 101 people dead.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned his country would respond “with significant force” if Syria’s new authorities fail to protect the Druze minority.

The violence poses a serious challenge to the Islamist authorities who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

It comes after a wave of…

Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri on Thursday condemned what he described as a “genocidal campaign” against his community, following two days of deadly sectarian clashes that left 73 people dead.

The unrest poses a serious challenge to the Islamist authorities who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and comes after a wave of massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite coastal stronghold.

In a statement, Hijri denounced the violence in Jaramana and Sahnaya, near…