Category: 2. Middle East

France on Tuesday ordered the expulsion of 12 Algerian diplomats and consular officials and recalled its ambassador in the latest escalation between the two countries.

The measure, announced by President Emmanuel Macron’s office, came after Algeria on Sunday ordered 12 French officials to leave within 48 hours in response to the arrest of an Algerian official in France.

The Algerian officials in France have also been given 48 hours to leave.

Macron’s office called Algeria’s actions…

Hamas said Tuesday that after an Israeli strike it had “lost contact” with the captors of an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza, whose release takes centre stage in Israel’s latest proposal for a renewed ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza on Tuesday, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on March 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire.

“We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan…

The presidents of Syria and Lebanon arrived in Qatar on separate visits Tuesday, the first official trips by both leaders to the wealthy Gulf state since taking office.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha, the Qatari leader’s office said in a statement.

Qatar has been a key backer of the new administration in Damascus after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December.

The talks between the Qatari and Syrian leaders “covered the…

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, is set to travel to the United States on April 21 for a weeklong visit, in his first official trip abroad since joining the current Netanyahu government in December 2022. 

Ben-Gvir and his colleague, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the far-right Religious Zionism party, were both shunned by the Biden administration, which even contemplated imposing sanctions on them. While Ben-Gvir’s trip is…

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee a camp for internally displaced persons in Zamzam in Sudan’s North Darfur state since Sunday amid an increase in violence and insecurity, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

According to the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), initial reports indicated that between 60,000 and 80,000 households were displaced on Sunday and Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Most remain within…

The UK Police, on Tuesday, launched an investigation into what is being treated as an Islamophobic hate crime after 85 graves, many belonging to babies and young children, were desecrated in the Muslim section of Carpenders Park Lawn Cemetery in Watford.

Hertfordshire Police said the criminal damage, discovered by a grieving family during a visit to the site, has caused profound shock and distress across the local Muslim community, Anadolu Agency reports.

Extra…

Six hundred Israeli architects and urban planners have signed a petition demanding the return of captives from the Gaza Strip by immediately halting the war on the Strip.

The Hebrew news site the Times of Israel reported today that “600 architects, engineers, and urban planners signed a petition demanding the return of the hostages without delay, even at the expense of an immediate cessation of hostilities.”

This petition preceded a similar move by 970…