Middle Orient

Only a few months ago many Western, Israeli, and Arab policymakers and analysts had incorrectly concluded that the Arab world had moved past the issue of Palestine. Some commentators saw the Arab trend toward normalisation with Israel as the future. These voices were convinced that it was only a matter …

A U.S. strike in Baghdad that killed a commander of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group this week highlighted the ambiguous status of the country’s Iran-allied armed factions. Some operate simultaneously as a part of the official security forces and outside of state control. That has put the government of …

The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces warned Thursday there’s been a “spike” in ISIS activity in Syria recently, as ISIS tries to take advantage of tensions in the Middle East. Gen. Mazloum Abdi Kobane, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, told reporters in a Zoom briefing Thursday that …

A New Pan-Islamic Front May Be America’s Biggest Challenge The war in the Gaza Strip is clearly no longer limited to Israel and Hamas. On December 25, an Israeli airstrike killed a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard official, Sayyed Razi Mousavi, in the Shiite-controlled Sayyida Zaynab neighborhood of Damascus. On January …

On 18 January, Israel presented to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) allegations that twelve of its roughly 13,000 employees in the Gaza Strip had participated in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israeli towns led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. …

Latest Developments An Israeli drone strike in Lebanon on February 8 seriously wounded a Hezbollah commander identified as Abbas al-Debes. A second senior member, identified as Ali Karaki, escaped before Israel struck the vehicle, according to a Sky News Arabic report. The Israeli strike came in response to an anti-tank …

On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 3, local time, US warplanes bombed facilities used by Iranian forces and Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq, in retaliation for the death of 3 US service members in a Jan. 28 drone attack on Tower 22, a US military base in northeastern Jordan …

Northern Gaza Strip: Palestinian fighters are continuing to infiltrate previously cleared areas.Southern Gaza Strip: The Israel Defense Forces 98th Division continued to conduct clearing operations in Khan Younis.Political Negotiations: Israel reportedly proposed to the United States exiling the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, in exchange for …

Latest Developments Iran on January 29 hanged four prisoners falsely accused of planning to sabotage a Defense Ministry factory and having links with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Iranian state media reported that the judiciary charged the four men with “collusion with the Zionist regime” and “disrupting national security by establishing …

There are, of course, alternatives less than all-out war, and more than attacks on proxies. They involve the bombing of military targets inside Iran. These include sites used for Iran’s nuclear program, its naval bases and ships, its military drone production, its oil and gas facilities and its command centers. …