Category: 2. Middle East

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition.

Nearly two years on from Hamas’s unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where…

The Dutch captain of a Gaza-bound ship carrying activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg said Wednesday future missions could still be in the works as he returned to the Netherlands.

Mark van Rennes arrived back at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, greeted by dozens of supporters, some carrying Palestinian flags and banners reading “Free Palestine.”

His ship, the Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the aim of delivering aid and challenging…

The use of the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute food in the Palestinian territory is “outrageous”, the head of a UN inquiry said Wednesday.

Navi Pillay, who chairs the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the Palestinian territories, joined a growing chorus of criticism of the GHF’s operations, and cited its US links.

“In every war, the siege and starvation surely leads to death,” the former UN rights chief told journalists.

“But…

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Wednesday that any direct US involvement in the conflict with Israel will have “irreparable consequences,” Anadolu reports.

“The Zionist entity (Israel) has made a grave mistake and will face consequences,” Khamenei said in a televised speech.

He said that Iran will not forgive the violation of the country’s airspace or the blood of its “martyrs.”

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump called for…

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday condemned Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the country’s stated objective to take control over the entire territory and the forced displacement of its civilian population are in direct violation of international law, Anadolu reports.

In a session requested by the Left Group, Israel’s actions in Gaza were described as “genocide” for the first time in a European Parliament debate…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated his demand for the “unconditional surrender” of Iran, speaking in increasingly stark terms while remaining opaque about whether he would authorize US military strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities.

The comments were the president’s strongest since he suggested yesterday that US intelligence knows the location of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but would refrain from killing him for now.

Asked by a reporter…

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Iran’s UN ambassador in Geneva on Wednesday slammed US President Donald Trump’s recent comments on Israel’s conflict with Iran as “completely unwarranted,” warning of consequences if a red line is crossed.

In response to Anadolu’s question, Ali Bahreini said: “We are monitoring the remarks by United States officials, including the president of the United States. We consider them irresponsible.”

His remarks came during an Association of Accredited…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday addressed the conflict in the Middle East, emphasizing support for Iran’s right to self-defense against Israel, Anadolu reports.

“It is entirely natural, legitimate, and lawful for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s banditry and state terrorism,” Erdogan said during the Justice and Development (AK) Party Parliamentary Group Meeting in the capital Ankara.

His remarks came amid growing Israeli strikes…

President Donald Trump said he was considering whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran Wednesday, as he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations.

Speaking as he watched installation of a new flagpole at the White House, Trump added that his patience “had already run out” with Iran and repeated his call for the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender.”

“I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters on the…