Category: 2. Middle East

Global news agencies, including AFP, AP, Reuters and BBC, on Thursday voiced concern over the safety of their journalists in Gaza, urging Israel to ensure their safe entry and exit, Anadolu reports.

In a joint statement released on social media, the media outlets said: “We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. For many months, these independent journalists have been the…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States will not attend an upcoming conference on an Israel two-state solution, State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday.

A conference regarding the two-state solution is scheduled to take place later in the month at the United Nations.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Chris Reese)

Gazans are in desperate need of essentials after more than 21 months of war, but efforts to get aid into the Palestinian territory — and to its hungry residents — face major obstacles.

UN agencies and aid organisations cite Israeli restrictions, safety issues and the establishment of a US- and Israeli-backed mechanism that has sidelined the humanitarian system in place.

Israel says international organisations have failed, and that the previous UN-led system had allowed Hamas militants to…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday that the Trump administration has decided to bring its team home from Gaza ceasefire talks for consultations.

“We have decided to bring our team home from Doha for consultations after the latest response from Hamas, which clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” Witkoff said in a post on X. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home.”

(Reporting by Jasper Ward and…

Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said Thursday that his government is “racing against time to wipe out Gaza and its Palestinian population,” adding that the territory will become “entirely Jewish.”

“The government is racing to wipe out Gaza. We are eliminating this evil. We are eliminating its residents,” Eliyahu told Israel’s Kol Barama radio.

“Gaza will become completely Jewish.”

Eliyahu, a member of the ultranationalist…

(Reuters) -Columbia University’s agreement to pay over $200 million to the U.S. government in a settlement with President Donald Trump’s administration to resolve federal probes and restore most of its suspended federal funding ends a period of “institutional uncertainty,” the university’s acting president said.

Trump has targeted several universities since returning to office in January over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year.

“The resolution…

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday killed one person in the southern Lebanese town of Aita al-Shaab, marking the latest in a series of ceasefire violations along the Israel-Lebanon border, local media said, Anadolu reports.

According to the state news agency NNA, the drone targeted a pickup truck in the town, resulting in the driver’s death.

It also reported that Israeli forces dropped flares over the border towns of Ain Arab and Wazzani.

Earlier in the day,…

Detainees from the Gaza Strip held in Israeli prisons have reported severe physical and psychological abuse, including being forced to drink alcohol and subjected to burning by boiling water, two Palestinian rights groups said Thursday.

In a joint statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Society and the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs said their legal teams collected testimonies during visits to multiple Israeli facilities in July, including Ketziot, Ofer, Sde…

Mining licenses in Saudi Arabia surged by 144% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 as the kingdom pursues precious metals that will help power the climate transition.

What happened: Some 22 new permits were issued in the first half of 2025, compared to nine in the first half of last year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources released Thursday.  

Investment in minerals exceeded 134 million Saudi riyals ($35.7 million) in the first half…