Category: 2. Middle East

Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d’Or top prize at the Cannes film festival on Saturday, using his acceptance speech to urge his country to unite for “freedom”.

The latest film from the 64-year-old, “It Was Just an Accident”, tells the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronting a man they believed tortured them in jail.

The core of the provocative and wry drama examines the moral dilemma faced by people if they are given an opportunity to take revenge on their…

Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who won the top prize at the Cannes film festival on Saturday, is a twice-jailed arthouse cinema veteran whose films are banned in his homeland.

The 64-year-old is a symbol of artistic defiance who repeatedly challenges his country’s strict censorship laws to produce movies about Iran’s social and cultural struggles.

His latest production “It Was Just an Accident” tells the story of five formerly imprisoned Iranians who are confronted with a man they believe to…

The Palestinian group Hamas has condemned Israel for committing a “horrific massacre” on Saturday morning, targeting the home of a physician who works at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, and killing nine of her 10 children while critically injuring her husband, Anadolu reports.

The attack exposed Israel’s dark side and the “deep-rooted vengeful spirit driving (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his gang of murderers,” Hamas said…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Istanbul, Anadolu reports.

Erdogan welcomed al-Sharaa with an official ceremony at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office.

The meeting was attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, head of Turkiye’s Defense Industries Secretariat Haluk Gorgun, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad…

Israeli forces detained multiple Palestinians during military raids Saturday, while settlers escalated attacks on Palestinian properties in separate incidents across the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports.

In eastern Nablus city, troops stormed the Balata al-Balad area, arresting two brothers after raiding their home, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Another youth was detained during a separate operation in the city’s Rafidiya neighborhood.

Simultaneously, illegal…

Israel’s Channel 12 reported Saturday that there is a consensus among the security agencies on the possibility of striking a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hardened his positions and recalled his negotiators from Doha, Anadolu reports.

According to unnamed sources, Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir stated in closed discussions that “military pressure has created suitable conditions” to return the captives, and that…

The fourth and final phase of Lebanon’s municipal elections kicked off Saturday in Lebanon’s southern governorates, amid ongoing Israeli attacks and ceasefire violations, Anadolu reports.

This marks Lebanon’s first local elections in nearly a decade, with the last one held in 2016 before being postponed three times due to political and security crises.

Polls opened at 7 am local time (0400GMT) and will close at 7 pm (1600GMT), followed by vote counting,…

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz will attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation–Arab League (OIC-AL) Gaza Contact Group, to be held in Madrid on Sunday, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources, Anadolu reports.

The meeting will be attended by Gaza Contact Group members, as well as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia, which have recognized the state of Palestine.

The meeting is planned to be held in an expanded format, with many countries supporting a…

The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, denounced on Friday US congressman Randy Fine’s demand to nuke the Gaza Strip as an “incitement to genocide”, Anadolu reports.

“This extremist call constitutes a full-fledged crime and exposes the fascist racist mentality that governs the thinking of some American politicians,” Hamas said in a statement.

The proposal by the Republican lawmaker from the US state of Florida violates international humanitarian law…

Palestinian doctor Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at the Nasser Medical Complex, was devastated by the arrival of the bodies and remains of nine of her children to the hospital where she works. They were burned to death in an Israeli air strike that targeted her family’s home in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to Civil Defence teams, yesterday, Friday, the bombing completely destroyed the family’s home and…