Middle Orient

The Case for Early Elections After more than four months of war in Gaza, two starkly different but equally accurate portraits of Israel have emerged. On the one hand, the war has showcased the tactical prowess of the Israel Defense Forces, inspired a high degree of unity among its troops, …

IRGC Quds Force Commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani said on March 6 that Iran’s proxies and partners have taken a more “offensive stance” in the Israel-Hamas war, which frames the war in terms consistent with Iran’s regional military doctrine.[i] Ghaani issued this statement during a speech to the Assembly of …

An attack from Iran-aligned forces that killed U.S. service members near Jordan’s border with Syria risks direct U.S.-Iran conflict in a region already embroiled in widening violence. The January 28 drone attack that killed three U.S. troops near the Jordan-Syria border follows more than one hundred attacks by Iran-backed militias …

Latest Developments Hezbollah fired 30 rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on the evening of March 5. Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepted 13 of the projectiles, while 17 fell in open areas. One rocket fell in the yard of a house in a community. The …

One Israeli was killed, and eight others were wounded in a shooting that occurred Thursday morning near the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, east of occupied East Al-Quds/Jerusalem. According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, Palestinians opened fire on Israeli vehicles, killing one Israeli and injuring eight others, two of whom …

Israeli Minister of Social Equality May Golan said she is “proud” of the destruction caused by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. Speaking during a session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on Wednesday evening, Golan threatened Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, with beheading or arrest. “We are …

The United Nations (UN) has announced that “there is no safe place” in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been carrying out its attacks for over four months, and they have reported that 153 facilities in the region have been hit. “Nowhere in the Gaza Strip is safe during military …

Hamas has completed ceasefire negotiations in Cairo and is now waiting to see what the mediators will bring over the weekend in talks with Israel, a Palestinian group official said on Friday, in what appears to be the most serious effort after weeks of negotiations to halt the fighting. Mediators …

Iran reportedly requested Sudanese permission to establish a permanent naval base on the Red Sea coast, which would support Iranian out-of-area naval operations and attacks on international shipping. The Wall Street Journal reported the Iranian request on March 3, citing a senior Sudanese intelligence official.[i] Ahmad Hasan Mohamed—an intelligence adviser …

Israeli security personnel last month arrested four Palestinians planning Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks against troops in Judea and Samaria, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police cleared for publication on Monday afternoon. The four suspects, named by the Shin Bet as Murad Marqatan, Hasin Marqatan, …