Category: 2. Middle East

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, accused on Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “deliberately thwarting” ceasefire- prisoner swap negotiations, stressing that he is “unwilling” to reach any ceasefire agreement.

“Netanyahu is an expert at thwarting one negotiation after another and does not want to reach any agreement” Hamas said in a statement, explaining that the movement’s resistance fighters are “waging a war of…

The Syrian government announced a ceasefire on Tuesday in the southern province of Suwayda, two days after deadly clashes between the local Druze minority and Bedouin clans that left over 100 people dead. 

What happened: Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a “complete” ceasefire in a statement on X.

“To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we announce a complete ceasefire after an agreement was reached with the city’s notables and dignitaries,” he said.

Abu…

The Israeli parliament (the Knesset) failed on Monday evening to secure the majority needed to expel Arab MK Ayman Odeh, following a post in which he expressed support for a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, along with comments backing Gaza.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom, 73 Knesset members voted in favour of expelling Odeh, while 15 voted against.

Odeh, who heads the Arab Front for Change list in the Knesset, can only be removed if 90 out of…

The Israeli army has reportedly stolen hundreds of donkeys from the besieged Gaza Strip, smuggled them to Israel, and transported them to France to prevent their use in reconstruction, Israeli Channel Kan reported. 

According to Kan, the organized looting of dozens of donkeys from the Gaza Strip in coordination with Israeli organisations and the complicity of European institutions, most notably French and Belgian ones.

According to the report, Israeli soldiers…

The Israeli occupation army has escalated its attacks on humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, this time targeting water distribution tankers; the sole lifeline for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, amid the complete collapse of official water networks, Quds Press reported.

In the latest attack, Israeli warplanes bombed a water tanker in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Monday morning, destroying the vehicle and…

The Druze are a prominent religious community of more than a million people spread across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, who for centuries have sought to preserve a distinct identity.

In Syria, Druze fighters have clashed both with neighbouring Bedouin tribes and with forces loyal to the Islamist government, as they have struggled to find their place in the new order ushered in by the December overthrow of longtime president Bashar al-Assad.

Israel’s bombardment of government forces deployed to…

Germany’s highest court on Tuesday threw out a case brought by two Yemenis seeking to sue Berlin over the role of the US Ramstein airbase in a 2012 drone attack, ending a years-long legal saga.

Plaintiffs Ahmed and Khalid bin Ali Jaber first brought their case to court in 2014 after losing members of their family in the strike on the village of Khashamir.

The case has since been through several German courts. But the Constitutional Court on Tuesday ultimately ruled that Berlin is not required…

Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a full ceasefire in Suwayda in southern Syria on Tuesday following negotiations with local community leaders.

“To all units operating within Suwayda city, we announce a complete ceasefire following an agreement with the city’s elders and dignitaries,” he said on X.

However, he specified that Syrian forces would respond only to direct attacks or sources of gunfire from “outlaw groups.”

The minister…