Middle Orient

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will continue with its goal of eliminating all Hamas brigades, including those in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Commenting on his statements, a Hamas spokesperson told Al Jazeera that this calls into question the purpose of the ongoing negotiations in …

Senior Iranian military officials have continued to suggest that they will carefully calibrate Iran’s response to Israel’s killing of senior IRGC commanders in Syria. This careful approach aims to avoid a direct war with Israel. Iranian Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri said on April …

This past week Hezbollah continued its attacks on northern Israel, attacking military and civilian targets 43 times. In response, the IDF attacked Hezbollah facilities along the border and in Ba’albek. in one of the attacks a senior operative in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force was killed. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah secretary general, delivered …

In the Syrian village of al-Baghouz, in the eastern Deir Ezzor province, the last battles between the Islamic State organization and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by the International Coalition Forces, took place on February 9 and ended on March 23, 2019, marking the end of the organization’s geographical …

Latest Developments The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on April 5 passed a resolution that calls upon all states “to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel.” It further calls for an existing UN Commission of Inquiry to report on these …

The Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip has pushed many of its residents to the edge of death from starvation and disease. Only a prolonged ceasefire accompanied by a massive aid operation can improve the situation enough to avoid a horrific toll. What’s new? The Israeli offensive after the …

How the Islamic Republic Is Remaking the Middle East The Israel-Hamas war—and the possibility that it may explode into a wider conflagration—has upended the determined efforts of three U.S. presidents to pivot American resources and focus away from the Middle East. Immediately after Hamas’s October 7 attack, U.S. President Joe …

Iran’s apparent restraint in the face of Israeli aggression should not be mistaken for weakness. Tehran steadily applies pressure on Tel Aviv through its own methods, setting the stage carefully for Israel’s unravelling. A strategy in asymmetrical warfare is expressed by the “boiling frog” theory: Legend has it that a …

Israel withdrew most of its forces from the Gaza Strip on April 7. Israeli officials and media sources have framed the withdrawals as part of their preparations for conducting a clearing operation into Rafah. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced on April 7 that Israeli “forces came out” of the …

Amid the continuing destruction in Gaza and the surrounding global fallout, one thing becomes ever clearer. Even as Israel’s war stutters, Iran’s broader campaign against it, and by extension what we might call the American-led order, is growing in strength. Six months on from October 7, it’s hard to see …