Middle Orient

In-depth: Israel has failed in its objective of destroying Hamas, with the group likely to retain influence in post-war Gaza but not be its sole ruler. After ten months of a devastating Israeli war, Palestinians are increasingly aware that Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the war-torn coastal enclave, will …

Latest Developments On the third day of an extensive military operation in the West Bank, Israel Border Police eliminated local Hamas commander Wessam Khazem in the city of Jenin on August 30. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Border Police forces, acting on Shin Bet intelligence agency information, located Hazem …

Israeli forces killed a local commander of the Islamist movement Hamas in the flashpoint city of Jenin on Friday as they pressed a major operation in the occupied West Bank for a third day, the Israeli military said.The military said Border Police forces had killed Wassem Hazem, who it said …

US and international health officials confirmed on August 29 that Israel has agreed to implement a temporary humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip to vaccinate children against polio.[1] The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office emphasized that the pause is not related to the longer-term ceasefire proposal currently under discussion in Doha.[2] …

On August 25, 2024, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing 340 rockets at air defense facilities in northern Israel and launching a large number of UAVs at IDF bases in retaliation to the killing of Fuad Shukr, the organization’s military commander. Earlier, the Israeli Air Force carried out a pre-emptive strike …

The Iranian president’s ability to implement his electoral program remains limited, given what his previous reformist presidents have achieved, as none of them were able to bring about fundamental changes in Iran’s domestic and foreign policies. Pezeshkian’s presidential program is likely to strongly confront the conservatives who have controlled parliament …

The new Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, spoke with a senior Hamas figure andstressed that Iran would support any agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip that would beacceptable to the Palestinians and the “resistance.” E_187_24Download

Over the past few years, Iran has been increasingly exerting its influence in the Middle East, particularly on Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. How real is Iran’s influence? After the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the commander of the …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the country’s parliament on August 25 that initiatives to revive relations with Turkey had not yielded “any results worth mentioning despite the seriousness and genuine keenness of mediators.” This declaration comes after both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Assad signaled that they were interested …

Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman who was held captive in the Gaza Strip for eight months, has denied reports that she was tortured. Israeli media had reported that she was tortured during her captivity in Gaza, citing her statements. After the news quickly spread, Argamani refuted these claims on her …