Category: 2. Middle East

Hamas said yesterday it was studying the proposal it received from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza, adding it will submit its response “as soon as possible”, Reuters reported.

Egypt earlier received an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in the enclave, the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV cited sources as saying yesterday, after talks ended in Cairo without a breakthrough.

Cairo, a key mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks, delivered the proposal to…

The Israeli occupation army closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron to Muslim worshippers today to allow illegal settlers to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover, a Palestinian official said.

“The mosque will remain closed for two days due to Passover celebrations,” Mosque Director Akram Al-Tamimi told Anadolu.

Al-Tamimi said this meant that Palestinian worshippers were banned from approaching the site for two days amid tight…

The UN human rights office is concerned about the protection of civilians in Lebanon as Israeli military operations have continued to kill civilians since the ceasefire came into effect last November, Reuters has reported.

“Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians,” the spokesperson for the UN Office for the High Commissioner of…

Some 234 senior members of organised crime organisations were taken into custody in an international drug operation, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced today.

Of the suspects, 225 were arrested in Turkiye, while the remaining nine were arrested abroad, Yerlikaya said.

“We have seized assets worth approximately 13 billion liras [$341.2 million], including 681 properties, 127 vehicles, shares in 113 companies, and the bank accounts of the suspects,…

Turkiye has launched a landmark restoration project on Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, marking the most extensive structural intervention to the 1,500-year-old monument in over 150 years.

The restoration focuses on reinforcing the main dome and surrounding semi-domes to withstand potential earthquakes. “We have been carrying out intensive restoration efforts on Hagia Sophia and its surrounding structures for three years,” said Mehmet Selim Okten, a construction…

Moroccan Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit discussed ways to enhance bilateral security cooperation on Monday with his French counterpart, Bruno Retailleau. A statement from Morocco’s Interior Ministry reported by the official Maghreb Arabe Press (MAP) said that the two ministers held talks in the capital, Rabat, on the sidelines of the Retailleau’s open-ended visit to the Kingdom, which began yesterday.

During the meeting, the two men discussed issues of…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “an enemy that poses a direct threat” to the occupation state’s security, Anadolu reported former army chief Dan Halutz saying yesterday.

“An enemy that poses a direct threat to Israel’s security, and his name is Benjamin Netanyahu,” Halutz told Israel’s Channel 12.

“The enemy should be subdued or imprisoned, not killed,” he added.

Netanyahu’s Likud Party denounced Halutz’s comments, calling…

Israeli media reported on Monday evening that an investigation is taking place into a sensitive “security case” related to “an incident that occurred during the war on Gaza.” This investigation is being conducted under a gag order, preventing the publication of any additional details about the nature of the incident or its background.

According to brief press reports, the parties involved in the investigation include Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara,…

As Sudan’s devastating civil war enters its third year, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) called on Tuesday for urgent and coordinated global action to address what it described as “one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”

More than 11.3 million people are currently displaced within Sudan, including 8.6 million uprooted since the conflict erupted in April 2023, according to the IOM. Another 3.9 million have fled to…

The Syrian ambassador to Moscow has been reported to have requested asylum in Russia, TASS quoted a source on Monday as saying. The Russian news agency did not provide any details about the request said to have been submitted by Bashar Jaafari, who was appointed ambassador to Russia in 2022, after serving for 15 years as Syria’s permanent representative to the UN.

According to Reuters, Al-Jaafari, 69, could not be contacted, and the Syrian Embassy in Moscow did…