Category: 2. Middle East

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian negotiators are flying to Turkey for the first peace talks with Ukraine in more than seven weeks, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.

State agency TASS said talks would take place later on Wednesday in Istanbul.

Data from tracking site Flightradar24 showed the plane used by Russian delegation chief Vladimir Medinsky to fly to previous talks in Istanbul had taken off from Moscow.

The warring sides held two previous rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and…

By Heba Fouad

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) -From her ninth-floor balcony over Alexandria’s seafront, Eman Mabrouk looked down at the strip of sand that used to be the wide beach where she played as a child.

“The picture is completely different now,” she said. The sea has crept closer, the concrete barriers have got longer and the buildings around her have cracked and shifted.

Every year 40 of them collapse across Egypt’s second city, up from one on average a decade ago, a study shows.

The…

By Ezgi Erkoyun

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey and Britain signed a preliminary deal allowing Ankara to operate Eurofighter Typhoon jets on Wednesday while Germany approved the delivery of 40 jets, which Turkey has sought to bolster defences in an increasingly volatile region.

NATO member Turkey has leaned on its own defence industry projects, including domestic jets, and foreign acquisitions to ramp up deterrence. Beyond the Eurofighters, it is in talks with Washington to buy 40 F-16s. …

Al Jazeera Media Network has today issued an urgent call for the journalistic community, press freedom organisations, and relevant legal bodies to take decisive action to halt the forced starvation and crimes against journalists and media professionals in Gaza.

A press release by the Network said; “For over 21 months, the Israeli bombardment and the systematic starvation of the nearly two million people of Gaza have pushed an entire population to the brink of…

The Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that humanitarian workers are facing increasing restrictions when reporting atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

Lazzarini noted that the Israeli authorities are increasingly refusing to renew visas for UN staff, creating a serious obstacle to ongoing humanitarian work and field monitoring.

“All UNRWA international staff have not been granted…

Israel’s Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir has urged for a long-term truce in the Gaza Strip, acknowledging that Hamas has not been fully defeated.

Speaking at a meeting held at the Gililot military base, attended by the General Staff and senior operational commanders, General Zamir gave his first comprehensive assessment since the 7 October war began. He stated that the army requires an “operational pause” after nearly two years of continuous fighting….

BERLIN (Reuters) -The German government has cleared the way for the delivery of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Turkey following a positive decision by the federal security council, the Spiegel news magazine reported on Wednesday.

Turkey has been in talks on buying Eurofighter Typhoon jets, which are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by companies Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.

Germany’s federal security council, whose approval is required for arms…

The Knesset is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a statement supporting the imposition of Israeli “sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank. The vote will take place at the end of its final session before the summer recess.

The move comes under a “proposal on the agenda” submitted by right-wing Knesset members Simcha Rothman, Orit Strock, Dan Illouz, and Oded Forer. The Knesset presidency approved the proposal on Monday, despite its politically sensitive…

By Humeyra Pamuk and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Europe this week for meetings on Israel’s war in Gaza and a range of other issues, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, adding Witkoff will continue pushing for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

Axios reported that Witkoff is expected to depart for Rome on Wednesday and arrive on Thursday for a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic AffairsRon Dermer and…

More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading in Gaza ahead of the US top envoy’s visit to Europe for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor.

Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.

The UN said on Tuesday…