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A new Swiss law banning Hamas and related organisations will come into force on 15 May, the government said today, aiming to prevent the Palestinian resistance group from using Switzerland as a safe haven by making entry bans or expulsions easier to arrange, Reuters reports.

The law, which was approved by parliament last December, gives Swiss authorities “the necessary tools to take action against Hamas activities or support for the organisation in…

The Netherlands saw record low asylum applications in the first quarter of this year, largely attributed to the fall of Syria’s Assad regime in December, official data showed on Wednesday.

In the first quarter of 2025, over 4,500 individuals of various nationalities applied for asylum in the Netherlands, plummeting 37 per cent from the previous quarter and approximately half the number compared with the same period last year, as reported by NL Times, citing…

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered troops to deploy on Wednesday to support firefighters battling rapidly spreading wildfires near Jerusalem, calling the situation a “national emergency”.

The country’s Magen David Adom rescue agency reported hundreds of civilians were currently at risk from the fires.

Sixteen people were being treated for minor injuries from smoke inhalation, the MDA said, adding the alert level had been raised to the highest level.

Police closed the main…

Israel asked Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Croatia to help extinguish major wildfires that broke out Wednesday morning in several locations near Jerusalem and along Highway 1 leading to the city as communities along the road were instructed to evacuate. 

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar asked his counterparts in the four countries to send firefighting airplanes and helicopters to Israel, including supertankers.

The villages of Neve Shalom, Beko’a, Ta’oz, Mevo Horon, Mishmar Ayalon and Nachshon…

Israel cannot be forced to allow the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to operate in Gaza, the United States told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today, Reuters reports.

Israel last year passed a law that banned UNRWA from operating in the country.

The United Nations General Assembly in December asked the UN’s top court to give an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is delivered by states and…

A coalition of hundreds of British Muslim organisations, coordinated by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), delivered a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday, urging the UK government to recognise Palestinian statehood immediately and call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The call comes amid growing concerns that the UK itself may be complicit in the ongoing genocide by Israel in the enclave.

In its press release about the letter, signed by a broad…