Category: 2. Middle East

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry reprimanded Tehran’s ambassador to Beirut on Thursday over comments alleging that plans to disarm Iran-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah, were a “conspiracy”, Reuters reports.

Hezbollah is under mounting pressure to relinquish its arsenal after a 2024 conflict with Israel badly weakened it and left much of southern Lebanon in ruins.

President Joseph Aoun is expected to begin talks with the group on disarmament, seen for years…

In another illustration of the genocidal mania gripping sections of the pro-Israel support base, an anti-Palestinian commentator has openly declared he is willing to see “as many dead kids as it takes” for Israel to achieve its objectives in Gaza.

In the latest example of this mania, a viral tweet from a prominent pro-Israel supporter writing under the tag “Misfitpatriot” — hiding behind the cloak of anonymity — has sparked widespread outrage for…

Iran will have to stop enriching uranium under any deal with the United States and could only import what is needed for a civilian nuclear program, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said ahead of talks between Tehran and Washington on Saturday, Reuters reports.

However, Iran has already made clear that its right to enrich uranium is not negotiable. When asked about Rubio’s comments, a senior Iranian official, close to Iran’s negotiating team, again said…

The Sudanese army said today that its forces had killed 60 militants from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan.

A military statement said its forces and allied groups repelled a violent attack by RSF forces west of the city yesterday, killing 60 militants and injuring 52 others.

According to the statement, five civilians were killed and 40 others injured, including women, in RSF artillery…

In a major blow to Israel’s regional dominance, the US has rebuffed demands by Tel Aviv to maintain a larger military presence in north-east Syria, a decision which will have a significant impact on the occupation state’s strategic ambitions in the region. Reports in Middle East Eye and the New York Times indicate that the administration of President Donald Trump has proceeded with plans to reduce US troop numbers in Syria. The move poses serious concerns for…

An Israeli air strike has forced a children’s hospital out of service in the Gaza Strip as Tel Aviv continued its genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave, the Health Ministry said today.

A ministry statement said Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital in Gaza City is now out of service after it sustained damage in an Israeli air strike yesterday.

The ministry said an Israeli missile hit the hospital’s upper building, damaging the intensive care unit and…

Israel’s president said in Poland on Thursday the return of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza was a “universal moral imperative” and called on the international community to help end “this horrific humanitarian crime”.

Isaac Herzog spoke from the southern city of Oswiecim, the site of the former Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, on the occasion of the annual March of the Living to commemorate its victims.

Auschwitz was the largest of the extermination camps built by Nazi…

Germany is offering up to €4,000 ($4,555) per family to encourage Syrians to return to their homeland, with more than 460 people having taken advantage of these incentives in recent weeks, according to the government.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has supported the voluntary return of 464 Syrians since the new Syrian government took power in Damascus, German authorities told local media today.

Under the programme, adult returnees receive up to…

Israeli firefighters have extinguished bushfires that raged in central Israel due to soaring temperatures and high winds.

The Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority said today that nine people were injured, including seven firefighters, and 10,000 dunums (2,500 acres) were destroyed in the fires.

It said the flames were brought under control after a 20-hour struggle.

The situation “is now under control…[and] will be over in the coming hours,” the authority…