Middle Orient

Israel has escalated pressure on Hamas and Hezbollah by moving deeper into both Gaza and Lebanon and killing two successive leaders of Hamas’ military wing. Israeli leaders view the combat as increasing their leverage before finalization of a U.S.-Iran peace agreement that reportedly will require Israel to halt its operations …

As Trump weighs peace deal, Iranians face inflation and unemployment from sanctions and a U.S. blockade. The U.S. and Iran are in the midst of intense negotiations over a Memorandum of Understanding that could end the current war, while lifting the blockade on Iran and gradually resuming global maritime access …

Although disarming the group is still crucial, negotiators need to realize that they will never really break Hezbollah’s hold on Lebanon so long as it retains Iranian support and key political allies and government posts in Beirut. With Israeli and Lebanese negotiators scheduled to meet again starting next week, they …

Selon des informations en hébreu, la frappe sur Beyrouth a été validée par Washington qui autorise Israël à mener des raids aériens “ciblés”. La dernière frappe sur Beyrouth remonte à début mai. Les forces d’occupation ne parviennent toujours pas à s’implanter dans la ville stratégique de Zawtar al-Sharqiya, au sud …

Analysis: Long empowered by Tehran with advanced drone capabilities, Iraqi militias are creating a dilemma for Baghdad as regional pressure grows Even after a ceasefire officially halted the US-Israel war with Iran on 8 April, the Gulf states have endured drone attacks originating from Iraq. Furthermore, there are growing indications …

With few war goals achieved in Gaza, targeted killings change little strategically but send a political message to the Israeli public ahead of elections After years of pursuit, Israel killed the commander of Hamas’s armed wing, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, in Gaza last week. Describing him as a key architect of …

Tehran seems just as enthusiastic about the new prime minister as Washington—a telling sign that the militia-dominated status quo in Baghdad will be difficult and slow to change, if it changes at all. On May 14, U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack congratulated Iraq’s new prime minister Ali al-Zaidi on the …

A senior commander from Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed faction, was killed and his aide seriously wounded on Thursday when an explosive device detonated in their vehicle. Iraq finds itself at a new crossroads. Will it rein in Iranian-backed militias, or let them continue to hollow out the …

In diplomatic practice, there is an unwritten but strict rule: the weaker a state is economically and politically, the more delicate the tone of any external player must be if they genuinely want reforms—not chaos. Lebanon today is a classic “fragile sovereignty.” After the 2020 Beirut port explosion, the subsequent …

As European officials moved to normalize relations with Damascus and ease years of sanctions on Syria this week, Russian cargo ships continued docking at Syrian ports carrying the oil and military support that still help keep the Syrian state afloat. The contradiction has become the defining feature of Syrian President …