Category: 2. Middle East

The Government Media Office in Gaza announced on Wednesday that the Israeli army committed a “bloody massacre” against civilians in the north of the Strip, killing 51 Palestinians and injuring 648 others within just three hours.

According to the statement, the victims were targeted while trying to reach food aid delivered by trucks coming from the Zikim area in the north. They were fired on in the Al-Sudaniya area, amid what the office described as a…

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of the negotiations for a two-state solution but that process must begin now, warning Berlin would respond to “unilateral steps”.

“A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security, and dignity,” he said in a statement issued shortly before his trip on Thursday to Israel and the Palestinian…

When Mohammad Hanif heard Qatar was opening jobs to Afghans, he joined thousands of others to put his name down for a shot to make a living in the gas-rich emirate, his own country wracked by unemployment.

The Taliban authorities announced a deal with Gulf state this month to recruit 3,100 workers from Afghanistan, who started applying on Tuesday at centres across the country.

By Wednesday, more than 8,500 people had put their names down from the capital Kabul and surrounding provinces, labour…

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss ways to end the crisis in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire shortages of food have drawn mounting international criticism.

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported dozens of Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy — the latest in a spate of near-daily incidents of desperate aid seekers being shot.

The…

Israel has threatened to halt aid airdrop operations in Gaza if the air force participating in the humanitarian campaign took footage of the massive destruction inflicted in the Strip, Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported.

The paper said Israel has demanded that participating countries, including Jordan and the UAE, not allow the media to document the targeted areas or photograph the extent of the destruction, in a clear attempt to conceal the truth from…

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian warned against excessive water consumption which he said was untenable for the country and could leave Tehran facing severe shortages by September, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.

Faced with resource mismanagement and over-consumption, Iran has faced recurrent electricity, gas and water shortages during peak demand months.

“In Tehran, if we cannot manage and people do not cooperate in controlling consumption, there…

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A Swedish man was found guilty of serious war crimes and terrorism on Thursday over his role in the murder of a Jordanian air force pilot who was burned to death in Syria a decade ago, the Stockholm district court said in a verdict.

The Swede, identified in court documents as Osama Krayem, was sentenced to life in prison for participating in the execution of Muath al-Kasasbeh, who was burned alive in a cage after being captured in Syria in December 2014.

Krayem, 32, has…

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese said the sanctions recently imposed on her by the administration of US President Donald Trump will have serious repercussions on her life and work.

Albanese is a member of a group of experts selected by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, is tasked with investigating human rights violations in the Palestinian territories.

She has been explicit in…

A resigned US Army soldier who served at an aid distribution point in Gaza, affiliated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has shared a heartbreaking account of the final moments of a Palestinian boy known as “Gaza’s little Amir”, who was shot dead by Israeli forces shortly after receiving a small portion of food.

In his testimony, the former soldier, Anthony Aguilar, recalled the tragic events of 28 May, when the boy Amir was killed while trying…