Middle East

Lebanon’s judge Tarek Bitar, who is probing the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion, has unexpectedly reopened the blast’s case, charging eight top officials with roles in the tragedy. Bitar reopened the case on Monday before charging Prosecutor General Ghassan Oueidat and seven other ranking personalities with, what he has called, …

Russia has warned that foreign-backed terrorists are preparing to stage a series of acts of sabotage and terror attacks in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib to implicate Syrian and Russian military forces and fabricate pretexts for military action in the war-ravaged Arab country. Major General Oleg Yegorov, the deputy head …

Iran on Wednesday announced sanctions against 34 individuals and entities from the European Union and the United Kingdom, days after Brussels and London imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Iranian officials and organizations. The ministry said the individuals and entities were designated because of “supporting terrorism and terrorist groups, …

At least 20 others were injured with live ammunition during a large-scale raid on the Jenin refugee camp. Israeli troops have killed at least nine Palestinians in one of the deadliest days in the occupied West Bank since Israeli raids intensified at the start of last year. The Palestinian Ministry …

Iran’s foreign minister has censured the European Parliament’s “visceral” vote calling for the designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terror group, warning that such conduct would be “costly” for Europe. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the correct path for Europe would be rather to concentrate on diplomacy, constructive …

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian man during a raid near the West Bank city of Ramallah, as tensions continue to escalate across the occupied territories. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the death of 42-years-old Palestinian man, identified as Tareq Odeh Maali, who was killed after Israeli forces stormed …

Turkey has called off a visit by Sweden’s defense minister against the backdrop of a planned ‘Qur’an burning’ event in Stockholm by a right-wing extremist whose anti-Islam conduct sparked riots in the European country last year. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday, “At this point, Swedish Defense Minister …

Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinians during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, as tensions continue to escalate across the occupied territories. Palestinian media outlets reported that Israeli military forces stormed the camp on Thursday morning, triggering violent confrontations with local residents. The …

Turkey is set to deliver an undisclosed number of armed drones to Kuwait in a contract worth $370 million, Turkish defense firm Baykar said on Wednesday. International demand for Baykar’s TB2 drones soared after they featured in conflicts in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan and interest in them increased further following …

American “occupation troops” stationed in Syria are “looting” the country’s resources, Beijing has claimed China has blasted the United States for its “banditry” in Syria, claiming that Washington’s years-long military occupation and the “plundering” of Syrian resources have placed the country on the brink of a “humanitarian disaster.” Addressing reporters …

On Saturday, Iraq, and Jordan revealed that the electrical grid connection project and building a pipeline from Basra to Aqaba between the two countries would be launched soon. In a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Ahmed Al-Safadi, the Iraqi parliament speaker, Muhamed Al-Halboosi, said that the Jordanian delegation …

Israeli military forces have shot and killed two young Palestinian men during a raid on a village near the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, only a few hours after another young Palestinian died from injuries sustained when Israeli troops opened fire in another part of the occupied …

Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halboosi received his Jordanian counterpart Ahmed al-Safadi and his accompanying delegation in the parliament headquarters in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Wednesday. According to a readout issued by his office, al-Halboosi discussed with his guest the bilateral ties between their respective countries, cooperation and coordination prospects, …

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian gunman on Wednesday, both sides said, and in a separate incident in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was shot while carrying out what Israeli authorities described as a stabbing attack on a Jewish settler. The West Bank, among areas where Palestinians seek a state, …

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has called for the expansion of ties with Iran after the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the country’s ambassador to Tehran to protest the use of the name for the Arab Gulf at a regional football competition. Sudani described the Baghdad-Tehran relations as deep-rooted and …

UN Security Council members have underscored the need to maintain a decades-old status quo at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of al-Quds after the recent Israeli desecration of the holy site. The move was prompted on Thursday after a contentious visit by far-right Israeli minister Itamar …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed the possibility of meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in forthcoming talks with Russia to discuss peace and stability in the region and in the Arab country. Erdogan said on Thursday that a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers from Turkey, Russia, …

Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian youths during a nocturnal raid on a village near the city of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian medical sources said the fatalities were caused as the regime’s forces stormed the village of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin. They identified …

ISIS said Saturday that it carried out a deadly attack on an Egyptian police checkpoint in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia the previous day. “A cell of soldiers of the caliphate managed to attack an Egyptian police roadblock… with a machine gun,” the terrorist group’s Amaq news agency said. …

Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, the most right-wing in the Israeli regime’s history, is facing opposition even from regime officials in the occupied Palestinian territories who hold fascist views, according to a political commentator. Sa’d Nimr, professor of political science at Birzeit University, made these remarks in an interview aired on Thursday. …