Category: 2. Middle East

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…

Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa discussed bilateral relations with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani on Tuesday as he embarked on his first official visit to the Gulf country.

A statement by the Emiri Diwan (Office) said that discussions between the two leaders looked at ways of developing such relations, especially in the political and diplomatic fields. They also reviewed key regional and international developments and exchanged views on…

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Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, marking the third day of the Jewish religious holiday of Passover, a Palestinian official has reported.

The official from the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said that at least 1,220 illegal settlers have entered the flashpoint site under the protection of Israeli police since this morning. Witnesses said that the settlers entered…

French President, Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday stressed the urgent need to open all humanitarian aid crossings into Gaza, calling it a “vital necessity” for the civilian population, as the humanitarian crisis in the enclave continues to worsen, Anadolu Agency reports.

“I have just spoken with (Israeli) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” Macron said on X.

“I reiterated France’s support for Israel’s security and its people. The release of all hostages…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party today accused the head of the domestic intelligence agency of turning parts of the service into “a private militia of the Deep State” and called for him to go, amid a deepening political crisis around the agency, Reuters has reported.

The accusation against Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who is resisting an order for his dismissal, followed the arrest of an agency official on suspicion of leaking…

The British government yesterday sanctioned what it said was a Swedish-based criminal network and its leader, citing the group’s role in attacks carried out on behalf of Iran against Israeli and Jewish targets across Europe, according to Reuters.

Britain imposed an asset freeze on the group known as “Foxtrot Network” and an asset freeze and travel ban on Rawa Majid, who the government said was in charge of the network.

“The UK has targeted this criminal…

The Maldives will no longer allow entry to Israeli passport holders, President Mohamed Muizzu announced on Tuesday, citing the country’s opposition to Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza, Anadolu Agency reports.

The decision follows the ratification of the Third Amendment to the Maldives Immigration Act, which was passed by the People’s Majlis on 15 April, according to a statement from the President’s Office.

In a Facebook post, Muizzu described the…

Amna Hussein didn’t stop when the bullet hit her hand. She kept on running as paramilitaries attacked Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the dead of night.

“They entered Zamzam and started shooting at us,” she told AFP in the small town of Tawila, 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of the huge famine-stricken camp, which by Sunday had fallen to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“I tied my hand with a cloth to stop the blood and we kept running,” the 36-year-old said, her…

The European Union and Britain today pledged to increase aid for Sudan, ahead of a conference in London marking the second anniversary of a conflict that has displaced millions and devastated the country.

Britain said the conference aimed to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, although Sudan’s government criticised the gathering because no representative from either side of the conflict was invited.

The war in Sudan erupted in…