Middle Orient

Authorities declare cemetery near Palestinian refugee camp a closed military zone, according to unverified report in Syrian media The Russian military began searches in a cemetery near a Palestinian refugee camp outside Damascus, in attempts to locate remains of two Israeli soldiers missing since 1982, Syrian media reported this week.

The Islamic State (IS) group has launched more than 100 attacks in north-eastern Syria over the last month alone and is terrorising many towns and villages at night. The violence is concentrated in the largely desert province of Deir al-Zour.

Residents in northern and western Iraq say ISIS extremists and the Iran-backed paramilitaries stand to gain most from Washington’s troop reduction.

Emirati sources: Netanyahu’s delay due to COVID-19 understandable but a diplomatic visit now would have been wise For the third time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed his first visit to the United Arab Emirates, in what would have been a milestone event after the normalization agreement between Israel and …

DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS: The US wants to eventually enter a new nuclear deal, Israel wants to avoid this, and Tehran is rushing to defy the old deal as much as possible. Looking at recent statements coming from Israel and the US, it seems as if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US …

Last week, Cohen became the first Israeli minister to visit the African state. Walking into Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen’s Tel Aviv office this week, one can’t help but notice an enormous, long and narrow red padded box right behind the door. The box has a window in its lid, displaying …

“[Biden] is making a mistake in not yet reaching out personally to Israeli and Arab leaders to reassure them that he has their back.” US President Joe Biden’s first foreign policy speech focused on urgent issues, such as the situation in Myanmar and the war in Yemen, alongside several long-term …

The strike follows the killing of IS’ top official for Iraq near Kirkuk last week. Two Islamic State officials who allegedly facilitated last month’s double suicide bombing in a crowded Baghdad marketplace have been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi says.

Some claim that a secret deal between Ankara and Damascus is behind the latest escalation between the Syrian government and the Kurds, but the situation could be more complex than it seems.

Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar’s unique visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region this week was dominated by the subject of the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). A number of his comments to the media, hinting at a rare coordination between Ankara, Baghdad and Erbil against the PKK, …