Category: 2. Middle East

At least 52,243 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

A ministry statement said that 51 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave in the last 24 hours, while 115 others were injured, taking the number of injuries to 117,639 in the Israeli onslaught.

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

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that American vessels should travel through the Panama and Suez canals without paying fees, claiming that these strategic passages owe their existence to the US, Anadolu reports.

“American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Those Canals would not exist without the United States of…

President Vladimir Putin has offered Iran Russian help in dealing with the aftermath of a blast that rocked the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and has expressed his condolences over the loss of life, the Kremlin said on Sunday,  Reuters reports.

Putin had coveyed his “words of sincere sympathy and support to the families of the victims, as well as his wishes for a recovery to all those injured,” a copy of his message published on the Kremlin website…

The Israeli army has announced the death of an officer and a soldier during battles on Friday in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.

In a statement on Saturday, the army said Capt. Ido Voloch, a platoon commander in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion, and Sgt. Neta Yitzhak Kahane of the Border Police’s Yamas covert unit were killed in the Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood.

Israel has killed more than 51,000 people in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

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News Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com

The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday approved the nomination by President Mahmoud Abbas to appoint Hussein al-Sheikh, the committee’s secretary-general, as his deputy, Anadolu reports.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the appointment was proposed by President Mahmoud Abbas in line with the decision taken by the Palestinian Central Council during its 32nd session held in Ramallah on Thursday.

Abbas…

The third round of indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US in Muscat, mediated by the Omani government, concluded on Saturday, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said this round was “more serious than before,” and the two sides have “gradually entered more technical details” pertaining to nuclear issues.

“We are now gradually moving from general topics into more specialized…

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed…

Turkiye has doubled its number of troops in Somalia this week, in an effort to assist Somali forces in countering the Al-Shabab militant group.

In recent months, Al-Shabab has advanced in its offensive against the Somali government, with the group having captured strategic villages and areas in close proximity to the capital Mogadishu. Those developments have reportedly caused Turkiye – a key ally and security guarantor of Somalia’s government – to grow…

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a thorough investigation Sunday into the causes of a major blast at a key southern port that killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000.

His instructions came after President Masoud Pezeshkian visited the blast scene in Shahid Rajaee Port near the strategic Strait of Hormuz where a fire still blazed on Sunday more than 24 hours after the explosion.

“Security and judicial officials are obliged to thoroughly investigate, uncover any…