Category: 2. Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Donald Trump announced he will lift sanctions on Syria ahead of his expected meeting in Saudi Arabia with the country’s new leader. 

“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said in remarks at a Saudi-hosted investment forum on Tuesday evening. 

Trump reflected on “the misery and death” experienced by Syria during its nearly 14-year civil war.

“There is a new government that…

Hundreds of international film stars have condemned what they described as “silence” surrounding the genocide in Gaza, in an open letter published in today’s edition of the French newspaper Libération, coinciding with the opening of the Cannes Film Festival.

The letter stated, “As artists and cultural players, we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza,” adding: “We are ashamed of such passivity.”

More than 380 international…

Israel received “American support to open the gates of hell on Gaza,” far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said yesterday.

Speaking to the press, Ben-Gvir said that defeating Hamas is “the main objective”, adding: “We must stop hesitating and launch a decisive attack to crush the movement and encourage migration from the Gaza Strip, rather than bringing aid into the territory.”

“We will free our hostages by force,” he claimed.

His…

Rights groups and NGOs took the UK government to court on Tuesday accusing it of breaching international law by supplying fighter jet parts to Israel amid the war in Gaza.

Supported by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and others, the Palestinian rights association Al-Haq is seeking to stop the government’s export of UK-made components for Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.

Israel has used the US warplanes to devastating effect in Gaza and the West Bank — both Israeli-occupied Palestinian…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) yesterday lifted its ban on the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and its staff in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The suspension, which had come into place in January, was justified by the PA on grounds of what it called “repeated violations of Palestinian laws and regulations.”

Al Jazeera had faced criticism from the Palestinian Authority and the ruling Fatah movement, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, for what they viewed as biased reporting and…

More than 550 former officials from Israel’s security establishment have urged US President Donald Trump to use his visit to the Middle East to help end the war on Gaza and secure the release of captives held in the Strip.

The appeal came in a letter sent on Sunday by Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group that includes hundreds of former senior figures from the Israeli occupation military, intelligence agency (Aman), the Mossad, and internal security…

Hamas yesterday slammed Israeli settlers who attempted to slaughter a lamb in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover, and described it as a “dangerous escalation” that calls for mobilisation, Anadolu reported.

Earlier yesterday, Al-Aqsa Mosque guards prevented Israeli settlers from bringing a lamb into the mosque for slaughter.

Hamas described the settlers’ attempt as a “flagrant violation” of Islamic sanctities which calls…

Israel yesterday claimed to have intercepted a missile coming from Yemen, after Tel Aviv launched a series of air strikes on the Red Sea city of Hudaydah, Hebrew media outlets reported.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that “the missile launched from Yemen fell before reaching Israel.” There was no comment from the Houthis on the Israeli claims.

The missile came hours after the Houthis announced that Israeli aircraft had launched a series of air…

A months-long Israeli blockade is worsening acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, medical charity Medecins du Monde warned on Tuesday, accusing Israel of using hunger as “a weapon of war”.

Israel halted all aid from entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on March 2, days before resuming its offensive triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe for the roughly 2.4 million people…