Middle Orient

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner announced Monday that he will join an Israeli delegation on the first direct flight to Morocco to celebrate the U.S.-brokered agreement establishing ties between the two Mideast countries. The flight, set to depart Tuesday, marks the fourth diplomatic pact brokered by the Trump administration …

Vessel said to have surfaced and faced Persian Gulf, in show of force amid threats over killing of nuclear scientist; in similar move, US sub crosses Straight of Hormuz An Israeli submarine openly crossed the Suez Canal last week, in a show of force against Iran, the Kan public broadcaster …

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says embargo not correct strategically since Turkey is NATO member Germany is against Greece’s demands of imposing an arms embargo on Turkey due to tension in the Eastern Mediterranean, the German foreign minister said Tuesday.

Russia has voiced willingness to mediate between Israel and Palestine in its capacity as a member of the Middle East Quartet. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke by phone Tuesday to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Kremlin said in a press release.

Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef paid a historic visit this weekend to the United Arab Emirates, inviting several ministers to visit Jerusalem. Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visited the United Arab Emirates this weekend. The rabbi traveled to the Emirates on Thursday and spent the Sabbath there, …

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s deputy chief of staff outlined why the Kurdish region’s government wants US forces stationed in and around the Fish Khabur border crossing. The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has formally asked the US-led coalition to deploy observers to patrol …

Following the discovery of a motorcycle bomb, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham have set a number of checkpoints and made multiple arrests reports Baladi News. The city of Maarrat Misrin in the northern countryside of Idleb witnessed, on Tuesday morning, an intense security mobilization and a wide spread of security checkpoints affiliated …

A Nasiriyah activist has accused supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr of targeting his home in an IED attack early on Thursday morning. “I had just returned to Habboubi Square when I got a call saying my house had been hit with an IED,” activist Wali Jabar told Rudaw English …

Following recent statements, it is thought that Mazloum Abdi could leave the PKK and that foreign fighters could withdraw from eastern Syria writes Alsouria Net. Mazloum Abdi admitted in recent statements that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are receiving support from the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for military operations …

The eighth batch of displaced Syrians have left the al-Hol camp, as part of ongoing effort to remove Syrians from the camp writes North Press. On Monday, a new batch of displaced Syrians left the al-Hol camp in the eastern countryside of the city of Hassakeh, northeast Syria.