Category: 2. Middle East

The head of Israel’s domestic intelligence service said yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bid to sack him followed his refusal to fulfil requests that included spying on Israeli protesters and disrupting the leader’s corruption trial, Reuters reported.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, said that Netanyahu’s March move to dismiss him was not based on professional grounds but was prompted by…

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich drew fire from the families of captives held in Gaza yesterday after saying that the return of their relatives is not the most important thing for Israel, Anadolu reported.

“The families have no words this morning except shame,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement.

The families said that Smotrich’s comments indicate that the Israeli government has “deliberately decided to give up the…

Twelve people were killed and 30 others injured in US air strikes that targeted a market and a residential neighbourhood in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Sunday evening. Three other provinces were hit by air strikes yesterday.

The Ministry of Health affiliated with the Houthi government said the figures were a “preliminary toll” as “ambulance and civil defence teams are continuing to search for victims under the rubble”.

In the early hours of Monday, US…

Seven Muslims have been arrested by Indian police in the town of Narauli located in the Sambhal district of northern India, for distributing posters containing messages such as “Free Gaza, Free Palestine,” according to Indian media reports.

The posters included images of various products that the group called for boycotting in solidarity with Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli military offensive described by many as genocidal.

One of the posters read: “The…

The leader of Israel’s opposition, Yair Lapid, warned on Sunday that Tel Aviv is on its way to “another disaster”.

“Two weeks before the failure of the October vote, I held a press conference in which I warned that we were on the way to war and a security disaster. The government refused to listen. I now want to warn again, this time based on unequivocal intelligence information: We are on the way to another disaster,” Lapid wrote in Hebrew on X.

LONDON: He preferred to be called “Father” rather than “Your Holiness,” and in his simple white cassock, Pope Francis carried a message of humility far beyond Vatican walls. He washed the feet of migrants, embraced the poor and forsaken, and reminded the world that true power lies in service — not ceremony.

From the barrios of…

LONDON: He preferred to be called “Father” rather than “Your Holiness,” and in his simple white cassock, Pope Francis carried a message of humility far beyond Vatican walls. He washed the feet of migrants, embraced the poor and forsaken, and reminded the world that true power lies in service — not ceremony.

From the barrios of…

The Trump administration has named former Senate staffer Merav Ceren to the National Security Council, the White House confirmed to Al-Monitor on Monday, denying a report that Ceren was previously employed by Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

Who is Ceren? Ceren previously served as deputy policy director for the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from May 2023 until February of this year. Other past roles include senior staff member for the House Committee on Oversight…

Two days after a second round of talks between the United States and Iran on a potential new nuclear deal, President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The call focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, including the release of hostages. It was their first conversation since Netanyahu’s visit to the White House two weeks ago, when Trump announced direct talks with Iran.

Israeli Strategic…