Described as a farce by opponents, Syria’s upcoming presidential elections are designed to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power until at least 2028. Syrians on Wednesday cast their votes in an election that rights groups and Western governments say is a foregone conclusion. President Bashar al-Assad is all but guaranteed …

The Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip has destroyed hundreds of houses and buildings, leaving many to stuck under rubble that rescuers are ill-equipped to move. Riad Eshkuntana, 42, recalled exactly where he was at 1 a.m. May 15 in his rented apartment on the third floor in the Abu …

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would prefer that a consulate to another entity – the Palestinian Authority – not be on Israeli sovereign territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel opposes the reopening of a US consulate for Palestinians in sovereign Israel, hours before …

Egypt has longstanding relations with both sides in the conflict and played a key role in brokering the Gaza ceasefire after 11 days of violence, in coordination with the United States. Egypt and the United States said they would work together to reinforce a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants …

The occupation narrative is designed to press Israel into always having to take full responsibility for Gaza, which will always be “occupied” no matter what the Jewish state does. In the wake of the recent Gaza war, several narratives have emerged that are preparing the ground for the next war …

A coughing Hezbollah leader called for creation of a ‘new equation’: Any violation of Jerusalem would lead to a regional war Any violations of Jerusalem will cause a “regional war,” warned Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday night, in his first speech since before Operation Guardian of the Walls began …

Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority submitted a resolution on the creation of a fact-finding mission that will be voted on Thursday when the UNHRC holds a special session on the matter in Geneva. The United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to establish a commission of inquiry into Israeli actions …

“We are ready for the great battle, if the enemy commits a great folly in Jerusalem and the holy sites,” Sinwar said in his first speech since Operation Guardian of the Walls. Gaza’s Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar claimed on Wednesday that Hamas has 500 km. of tunnels in the Gaza …

Here is something that can be said with great confidence. It is racist – antisemitic, if you prefer – to hold Jews, individually or collectively, accountable for Israel’s crimes. Jews are not responsible for Israel’s war crimes, even if the Israeli state presumes to implicate Jews in its crimes by …

The three major military powers (the United States, Russia, and China) systematically and consistently engage in inflation of the threats they face. Each side tends to see the worst motivation and the greatest capabilities in assessing its adversaries in order to justify its own actions. This problem was endemic throughout …