Category: 2. Middle East

Hamas said Tuesday that after an Israeli strike it had “lost contact” with the captors of an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza, whose release takes centre stage in Israel’s latest proposal for a renewed ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza on Tuesday, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on March 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire.

“We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan…

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, is set to travel to the United States on April 21 for a weeklong visit, in his first official trip abroad since joining the current Netanyahu government in December 2022. 

Ben-Gvir and his colleague, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the far-right Religious Zionism party, were both shunned by the Biden administration, which even contemplated imposing sanctions on them. While Ben-Gvir’s trip is…

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee a camp for internally displaced persons in Zamzam in Sudan’s North Darfur state since Sunday amid an increase in violence and insecurity, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

According to the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), initial reports indicated that between 60,000 and 80,000 households were displaced on Sunday and Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Most remain within…

The UK Police, on Tuesday, launched an investigation into what is being treated as an Islamophobic hate crime after 85 graves, many belonging to babies and young children, were desecrated in the Muslim section of Carpenders Park Lawn Cemetery in Watford.

Hertfordshire Police said the criminal damage, discovered by a grieving family during a visit to the site, has caused profound shock and distress across the local Muslim community, Anadolu Agency reports.

Extra…

Six hundred Israeli architects and urban planners have signed a petition demanding the return of captives from the Gaza Strip by immediately halting the war on the Strip.

The Hebrew news site the Times of Israel reported today that “600 architects, engineers, and urban planners signed a petition demanding the return of the hostages without delay, even at the expense of an immediate cessation of hostilities.”

This petition preceded a similar move by 970…

Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student and Palestinian activist facing deportation following his arrest on campus, has submitted evidence challenging the US government’s allegations, according to an NBC report.

In the deportation case against Khalil, the government submitted extensive documents, but his legal team responded with evidence such as his residency application, media coverage and work history, while highlighting flaws in the…

Jordan said on Tuesday that it had arrested 16 people, thwarting a plot that threatened national security, involving rockets, explosives and a factory to make drones. According to a security source, the suspects are connected to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement.

Hamas has been accused of instigating anti-government street protests in Jordan, which has a large Palestinian population, even though the movement has always confined its resistance activities…

The United Arab Emirates is under growing international pressure following a leaked UN report that casts new doubt on the Emirates’ involvement in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

According to the confidential document obtained by the Guardian, UN investigators tracked a series of suspicious cargo flights from the UAE to Chad — many of which appeared to intentionally avoid detection.

The report, compiled by a UN panel and submitted to the Security Council’s…

Jordanian authorities announced on Tuesday that they detained 16 people in connection with a Lebanon-linked “sabotage” plot that included manufacturing drones and rockets.

The General Intelligence Department said it had “foiled plans aimed at targeting national security, sowing chaos and sabotage within Jordan.” A total of 16 individuals were detained after being monitored since 2021, the official news agency Petra cited the department as saying.

The plans, authorities said, relate to…