Middle Orient

Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinian militants near the Gaza border fence after one tossed a hand grenade at Israeli troops on Saturday, the military said.

Iran has seized another oil tanker in the Persian Gulf — this one, it says, was smuggling oil to Arab nations — weeks after it detained a British-flagged tanker and attacked several others.

Two weeks after a visit to Tehran by representatives from HAMAS, Israeli media on Tuesday August 6 reported an eye-catching increase in Iran’s financial assistance to this Palestinian group.

The Shin Bet security service says it thwarted plans by Hamas members from Hebron to conduct a bombing attack in Jerusalem earlier this summer, retrieving the three-kilogram explosive device they intended to use.

Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based political party, is facing huge political and financial challenges because of the increased U.S. sanctions against Iran and the party’s military involvement in different parts of the Arab world, analysts told Xinhua.

The Islamic State is far from dead in Iraq and Syria. Despite losing its physical caliphate, the group maintained enough manpower and resources to continue waging an insurgency in both countries. And America’s partners and allies may not have adequate resources to finish off or contain the jihadist menace, as …

The Persian Gulf remains a potential flashpoint as the United States and its allies increase their deployments and Iran strengthens its defense posture. Iran’s seizure of another Gulf oil tanker in early August demonstrates Tehran’s confidence in its strategic position throughout the region.

Funds transferred from accounts in the Qatari-state controlled Doha Bank were transferred to extremist groups perpetrating atrocities in Syria, a claim issued at the UK High Court has said.

Damascus has rejected as “blatant aggression” a recent deal between the US and Turkey on the creation of a so-called safe zone in the northern part of Syria, where Washington-sponsored Kurdish militants have been active to Ankara’s dismay.

Officials say at least 19 killed in assault on the camp in Abyan province, a day after dozens die in attacks in Aden. An al-Qaeda attack on a military camp in war-torn Yemen has killed at least 19 soldiers, security officials said, a day after dozens of people were killed …