Category: 2. Middle East

Israel charged Thursday that Hamas was “weaponising suffering in Gaza” after a US and Israeli-backed charity accused the Palestinian militant group of killing five of its aid workers in the territory.

The distribution of food and basic supplies in the blockaded and war-ravaged Gaza Strip has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory’s deep hunger crisis.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near the southern city…

President Donald Trump said US personnel were being moved from the potentially “dangerous” Middle East on Wednesday as nuclear talks with Iran faltered and fears grew of a regional conflict.

Trump also reiterated that he would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, amid mounting speculation that Israel could strike Tehran’s facilities.

Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.

A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in…

A former CIA analyst who leaked top secret US intelligence documents about Israeli military plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran was sentenced to 37 months in prison on Wednesday, the Justice Department said.

Asif Rahman, 34, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency since 2016 and held a top secret security clearance, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia in November.

In January, Rahman pleaded guilty at a federal courthouse in Virginia to two counts of willful retention and transmission…

Israel is to expel by the end of the week four French nationals held after security forces intercepted their Gaza-bound aid boat, France’s foreign minister said Wednesday, as an Israeli NGO said one of the French campaigners was briefly put in solitary confinement.

The announcement came as France’s prime minister accused activists aboard the boat — who hoped to raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza — of capitalising on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for…

The US is evacuating diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, a State Department official confirmed to Anadolu Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

“President Trump is committed to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad. In keeping with that commitment, we are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies,” the official told Anadolu in a statement. “Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce our Mission in…

BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities arrested Wednesday former Minister of Economy Amin Salam on charges of forgery, embezzlement and misuse of public funds, in a rare move against a high-ranking official in Lebanon.

What happened: Attorney General at the Court of Cassation Judge Jamal Hajjar ordered the arrest of Salam following a three-hour interrogation over his alleged involvement in forgery, signing suspicious contracts and misappropriation of funds.

The case under which Salam was arrested…

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has called for the dissolution of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The rights organisation said the circumstances and timing of the Foundation’s creation, outside the UN framework, and in close coordination with the Israeli army and security agencies, clearly indicate that its purpose is not the delivery of aid.

A statement by the AOHR said that it has now become clear that the real…

WASHINGTON — The United States is evacuating diplomatic personnel from Iraq, a State Department official told Al-Monitor, amid threats from Iran to strike US bases in the region. 

“President Trump is committed to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad. In keeping with that commitment, we are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies. Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our mission in Iraq,” the State Department…

At least four of the 12 activists aboard the Gaza-bound aid boat seized by Israeli forces have returned home, while a Turkish national awaits deportation and others are expected to appear in court.

The vessel, Madleen, was intercepted in international waters on Monday as it attempted to deliver a small shipment of aid to Gaza and draw attention to the worsening humanitarian crisis there. The activists were arrested following the seizure. Israel has continued to enforce a blockade on Gaza amid…