Middle Orient

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, announced today, Friday, February 20, the return of Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp in the countryside of al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria. The camp has housed families of Islamic State fighters alongside displaced civilians for years. UNHCR Representative in Syria Gonzalo Vargas …

Excerpt On February 11, Turkish lawmakers came to blows on the parliament floor over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to appoint new justice and interior ministers. Cabinet reshuffles are routine in Erdogan’s Turkey, serving as a calculated mechanism to purge insufficiently loyal officials and replace them with figures willing to …

Despite the SDF’s integration deal and peace talks with the PKK, Turkey appears set to maintain a long-term military presence in Syria and Iraq Despite the recent setback for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a renewed peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkey shows no signs …

Recent threats from Hamas’s armed wing against Israeli-backed militias in Gaza have heightened concerns that tensions will escalate into open confrontation Recent threats by Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, against Israeli-backed militias operating in Gaza have raised fears about the possibility of an impending armed confrontation. A complex network …

Recent clashes between government forces and French-speaking fighters in northern Syria have rekindled concerns about military and social integration Damascus, Syria – A group of Uyghur men laughed uproariously over a Syrian friend’s seemingly vain requests for a waiter to take better photos of them together, as they shared food …

The second convening of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington on February 19 was intended to highlight progress toward a post-war vision for Gaza. The event featured detailed presentations on reconstruction, governance mechanisms, and timelines. Yet two core issues remained conspicuously vague: how Hamas will be disarmed, and …

The kingdom is still on its long, self-interested road to moderation, and the ‘embrace of Islamism’ narrative collapses under the facts Has Saudi Arabia truly abandoned moderation and embraced Islamism – or even antisemitism – as some have recently alleged? The short answer is no, and the reality defies the …

L’arme nucléaire, étant la plus puissante arme offensive de destruction massive, est simultanément un facteur clé de dissuasion. Cependant, le dilemme de savoir qui doit la posséder et qui ne le doit pas reste l’une des questions centrales de la politique mondiale. Quelle est la situation dans le cas de …

Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, deadly state repression across Iran halts protests, and violence escalated between state forces and the SDF in northern Syria. Gaza: Violence escalates amid the US launch of phase 2 of the Gaza peace plan Violence intensified in Gaza in January, with the …

The first Friday Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire have revived the Third Temple debate. Here’s why Jerusalem’s Temple Mount keeps the world on edge. An image plastered across dailies this Saturday morning showed thousands of Muslim devotees offering their prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan at …