Category: 2. Middle East

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said on Saturday that the claims suggesting overflight permission was granted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane are not true, Anadolu reports.

Keceli made a statement regarding the allegations that overflight permission was given to Netanyahu’s aircraft.

He said: “The claims that overflight permission was granted to the Israeli Prime Minister’s plane are absolutely untrue. No such…

Syria is seeking foreign investment across its energy sector, from exploration to mining, and welcomes Turkish companies to take part in the country’s post-war reconstruction, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir told Anadolu.

“Syria is open to investments in all segments of the energy sector,” al-Bashir told Anadolu on the sidelines of the Istanbul Natural Resources Summit.

“These include opportunities in exploration, drilling, refining, and…

Israel escalated its military campaign in Syria by launching air strikes in the Damascus countryside and issuing threats against the Syrian leadership, citing unrest in Druze-populated districts earlier this week, Anadolu reports.

The attacks, which Syria said killed civilians including Druze residents, came Thursday after violence erupted Tuesday and Wednesday in the Ashrafiyat Sahnaya and Jaramana areas near Damascus.

According to Syrian officials, the clashes…

Yemen’s Houthi group claimed on Saturday that US forces carried out eight air strikes targeting areas in the northern provinces of Sanaa and Al-Jawf as tensions continue to rise, Anadolu reports.

According to the group’s Saba News Agency, a local source reported that one of the strikes hit the Bani Hashish district in Sanaa province.

The source added that the remaining strikes targeted the Khab wa Ash Sha’af district in Al-Jawf province but did not provide…

At least 52,495 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, Anadolu reports.

A ministry statement said that 77 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave in the last 48 hours, while 275 others were injured, taking the number of injuries to 118,366 in the Israeli onslaught.

“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it…

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Friday with Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in Damascus amid tensions and Israel’s repeated attacks in Syria under the pretext of protecting the Druze community, Anadolu reports.

Syrian state news agency, SANA, said the meeting took place in the presidential palace, without providing details.

Jumblatt left the palace without making a statement, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

His visit follows violence Wednesday…

UN officials believe the killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip is probably deliberate and the enclave is one of the deadliest places in the world for reporters, said Ajith Sunghay, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Sunghay answered Anadolu’s questions about Israel targeting journalists in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, for World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.

Emphasising that…

A man in Illinois was sentenced on Friday to 53 years in prison for a 2023 hate crime that resulted in the death of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadee Alfayoumi, according to US media reports, Anadolu Agency reported.

Wadee’s mother, Hanan Shaheen, was also stabbed in the attack.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crimes after attacking the Palestinian American family days after the Oct….

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate demanded on Friday ending Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, urging immediate international action to protect media freedom, Anadolu reports.

The group accused Israel of carrying out “the most horrific media genocide in history” against Palestinian journalists in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on May 3.

The syndicate reported that…

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) delivered its legal argument Friday before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), demanding immediate action to protect a UN agency’s humanitarian operations in Palestinian territories, Anadolu reports.

A hearing came at a critical moment as the Gaza Strip faces catastrophic hunger and Israel continues an assault on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and…