In-depth: Since January, Operation Iron Wall has brought unprecedented, Gaza-style violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, paving the way for annexation From a Palestinian home illegally turned into a military base in Tulkarm, occupied West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared last week he had ordered his army …

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” observed Joan Didion. Yet politicians are different. They tell stories not so much to live, but to survive. Stories give leaders an aura of purpose and control, imbuing their decisions with great meaning; ushering in new beginnings and, of course, new ends. …

Cyprus has been unlawfully detaining Syrians for years. With the EU’s support, it started deporting them too. For Abu Iskander Alshami the question of returning to a post-Assad Syria is fraught with uncertainty. “My situation is similar to 90% of Syrians – undecided,” he told The New Arab. We spoke …