Middle Orient

The United Nations’ human rights office on Friday updated the death toll from Syria’s civil war for the first time since August 2014. The United Nations has counted more than 350,000 deaths from Syria’s ruinous civil war, a figure the UN human rights chief acknowledged on Friday is a major …

The investment of SoftBank in Israel and the appointment of former Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen as its representative in the country might signal Saudi interests in Israeli technology. The entry of the Japanese SoftBank, considered one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, to direct activity in Israel …

Iran may return to the table in a few weeks, but expect it to continue waiting for the United States to make concessions. Anyone hoping for quick progress in talks to restore the Iran nuclear deal would find little reason for cheer in the posture adopted by Iranian Foreign Minister …

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey still intended to buy a second batch of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, a move that could deepen a rift with NATO ally Washington and trigger new U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported. According to the report Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its …

A delegation of Palestinian clerics from Gaza, South Lebanon and Syria has been visiting Iraq in the recent days to attend the “Call of Al-Aqsa Procession”, organized by the Iraqi “Call of Al-Aqsa” (Nida Al-Aqsa) organization. The procession is held as part of the “Arba’een Pligrimage” march from Najaf to …

On September 24, 2021, some 300 Iraqi notables, both Sunnis and Shi’ites, held a conference in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, calling for Iraq to join the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic ties with Israel. They also called to abolish the law criminalizing contacts between Iraqi and Israeli citizens. The …

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned on Friday evening that any attack by Israel on Lebanon will be met with a response, and that its weapons are ‘locked and loaded.’ Any attack by Israel on Lebanon will be met with a response from Hezbollah, Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said …

At Erbil conference, participants also urge rebuilding ties with the country’s dispossessed Jewish diaspora; normalization remains a crime under Iraqi law In an unprecedented plea for regional reconciliation, over 300 prominent Iraqis called for their country to normalize ties with Israel on Friday night. “We demand full diplomatic relations with …

‘The Palestinian people are in need of this money, especially our great people under siege in Gaza,’ top Abbas adviser says The Palestinian Authority has called on Sudan’s government to hand over assets that it seized from Hamas as part of a recent crackdown on the terror group. Hussein al-Sheikh, …

2 soldiers wounded during overnight clashes likely hit by friendly fire; IDF chief says raids prevented ‘significant terror attacks’ within Israel Members of a Hamas cell that was targeted in a series of raids on Sunday night and Monday morning are likely still on the loose, though the Israel Defense …