Category: 2. Middle East

The Houthis have reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea for all parties “except Israel and those who support it,” just hours after the United States reported casualties among the crew of a vessel attacked by the group.

In a statement released on Tuesday evening by the Saba news agency, Houthi political leader Mahdi Al-Mashat said, “We are committed to the freedom of navigation for everyone, except the Zionist entity…

More than 30 percent of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region now has 24-hour state electricity, authorities said Thursday, with plans to extend full coverage by the end of 2026.

The northern region of Kurdistan has long promoted itself as a haven of relative stability in an otherwise volatile country.

Despite Iraq’s vast oil wealth, the national grid struggles to meet demand, leaving most areas reliant on imported energy and subject to frequent power cuts.

“Today, two million people across the…

Israel’s foreign minister on Wednesday voiced confidence about reaching a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in war-torn Gaza, despite no immediate signs of a breakthrough in ongoing talks with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Gideon Saar maintained that Israel was serious about wanting to reach a deal to end the 21 months of bitter fighting in the devastated territory, and believed it was “achievable”.

“If a temporary ceasefire is achieved, we will negotiate on a permanent ceasefire,” he…

Saudi Arabia played a key role in stopping a US plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Hebrew-language news site Walla.

Citing Israeli sources, the report said that US President Donald Trump abandoned the plan after his visit to Riyadh, where he signed strategic agreements with the Saudi leadership.

In February, Trump publicly promoted what he called a “voluntary migration plan” for Gaza. He…

Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said on Tuesday that Gaza will not surrender, and it is the resistance that will set the terms, not Israel.

In a statement on his Telegram account, al-Rishq described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent remarks — about securing the release of all hostages and the surrender of Hamas — as a reflection of “psychological defeat and delusion, not battlefield realities.”

He added that “after the enemy’s…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he discussed efforts to release hostages held in Gaza and the ongoing military campaign to defeat Hamas during talks at the White House with US President Donald Trump.

The meeting on Tuesday was the second in 24 hours between the two leaders, as Trump intensified pressure on Netanyahu to reach a deal that could end what he called the “tragedy” of the war in Gaza.

In a statement, Netanyahu said he reaffirmed Israel’s objectives during the talks.

“We…

The US is overseeing a sprawling military construction initiative in Israel, with projects valued at more than $1.5 billion, funded entirely through American aid, Haaretz has revealed citing newly surfaced documents from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The massive infrastructure programme includes the construction of airbase runways, helicopter hangars, ammunition storage, command centres, and a new headquarters for Israel’s elite naval commando unit, Shayetet…