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Palestinian President Abbas Calls First-Ever PLO Parliament Elections

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said elections will be held on November 1 for the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the official news agency Wafa reported Monday. This is the first time members of the council will be elected by direct popular vote, while in the past they were appointed ...

Israel Targets Sites in South Lebanon as Forces Enter Kfar Kila

Earlier on Thursday, Israel struck the town of Yaroun with artillery shelling, along the Lebanese-Israeli border in the Bint Jbeil district. Israeli forces also crossed the border and entered the town of Kfar Kila. Two houses in Yaroun's old neighborhood were damaged, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. In addition, two houses ...

U.S. Designates Muslim Brotherhood Branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as 'Terror' Groups

The United States designated three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations on Tuesday, including on the group’s Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese branches, alleging they pose a threat to U.S. interests. The State Department designated the Lebanese branch as a "foreign terrorist ...

Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements 'Morally Wrong'

Israel reacted furiously on Thursday to a condemnation by 14 countries, including France and Britain, of its approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the criticism discriminatory against Jews. "Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and ...

Turkey to Offer Help Resolving U.S.-Iran Tension When Araghchi Visits Friday: Source

Turkey will offer to mediate between Washington and Tehran during a visit by Iran's foreign minister on Friday, officials said, as Ankara considers reinforcing security along its border should the dispute escalate. Friday's visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi comes after US President Donald Trump threatened a military strike ...

Khamenei Has a Plan to Flee Iran if Unrest Escalates

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has prepared a contingency plan to leave the country if security forces fail to contain protests or begin to defect, according to an intelligence report shared with The Times. The report says Khamenei, 86, would leave Tehran with a close circle of up to 20 aides and family members if he ...

Trump Says Killings in Iran Subsiding

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had received assurances that the deadly crackdown on protests in Iran had come to an end. The U.S. president nevertheless maintained ambiguity over a possible American military intervention, as the international community remains on high alert in the face of a major crisis in the Middle ...

Yoav Gallant: Lebanon at a Crossroads

Former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant wrote an article titled “Written in Ink, Signed in Fire,” in which he offers a description of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, arguing that agreements alone do not produce lasting peace unless they are backed by military superiority that imposes facts on the ground. In the article, ...

Syria Says Talks on Military Integration of Kurds Inconclusive

Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi held talks with officials in Damascus on Sunday on integrating his forces into the central government, but state media said no tangible results were achieved. Abdi signed a deal in March with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to merge the civil and military institutions of the Kurds' semi-autonomous ...

Syria Kurds Chief Says 'All Efforts' Being Made to Salvage Deal with Damascus

Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said Thursday that "all efforts" were being made to prevent the collapse of talks on an agreement with Damascus to integrate his forces into the central government. The remarks came days after Aleppo saw deadly clashes between the two sides before their respective leaders ordered a ceasefire. In March, Abdi ...

Trump Cancels Meetings With Iranian Officials, Tells Protesters 'Help is on Its Way'

President Trump said Tuesday he's canceled talks with Iranian officials amid a protest crackdown, telling Iranian citizens "help is on its way."  Trump did not offer any details about what the help would entail, but it comes after the Republican president earlier this week said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington. "Iranian Patriots, KEEP ...

Hamas Says Search Resumes for Last Israeli Hostage Body in Gaza

Hamas officials told AFP that search operations for the remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza resumed on Wednesday after a two-week pause due to bad weather. Israel has previously said it is awaiting the return of Ran Gvili's body before beginning talks on the second phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas which came ...

Iran Warns of Retaliation as President Orders Restraint on Protesters

Iran's military chief warned on Wednesday that Iran will not stand by and allow itself to be threatened by outside powers, after the United States and Israel backed anti-government protests in which at least 35 protesters have reportedly been killed. "The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the escalation of hostile rhetoric against the ...

Syria Arrests 21 Linked to Assad Rule as Curfew Covers Port City

Authorities in Syria's Latakia province arrested 21 people allegedly linked to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad's rule on Tuesday, state media reported, as a curfew blanketed the provincial capital after sectarian violence the previous night. Monday's attacks in predominantly Alawite neighbourhoods of Latakia city came after three people ...

'One Battle After Another' Breaks SAG Record with 7 Nominations

Paul Thomas Anderson's politically charged One Battle After Another on Wednesday set a record for nominations for the Screen Actors Guild's influential Actor Awards with seven, staking its claim to Oscars frontrunner status. Ryan Coogler's runaway hit period horror film Sinners came in second with five nominations, setting the stage for a ...

Turkish Ministers to Meet Syria's Sharaa in Damascus

Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers held a joint press conference after talks in Damascus, focusing on relations between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkey’s foreign minister said discussions covered ongoing talks with the SDF and reaffirmed Ankara’s support for integrating the group into Syrian forces in a ...

Trump Says US Will 'Come To Their Rescue' If Iran Kills Protesters

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States is "locked and loaded" to respond if Iran kills protesters, after cost-of-living demonstrations in the country turned deadly. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that "if Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come ...

Hamas Says Technocratic Committee Key to Consolidating Gaza Truce

A senior Hamas official on Thursday welcomed the formation of a technocratic committee to govern post-war Gaza, saying it would help consolidate the ceasefire and prevent a return to fighting. Egypt, a mediator in indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, announced the formation of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee that ...

New Israeli Strikes: One Killed and One Wounded in South Lebanon

The Israeli army carried out several airstrikes on Sunday in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing at least one person and wounding another, according to an initial toll. In southern Lebanon, the strikes hit the towns of Kherbet Selm and Kfardounine in the Bint Jbeil district. A hangar that had already been targeted in previous operations was ...

Trump Announces 25% Tariff on Countries Doing Business With Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced fresh tariffs on Iran's trading partners in an apparent response to the rising number of people killed during recent protests. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote that any country "doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran" will pay a 25% tariff "effective ...

Iran Summons EU Ambassadors After IRGC Terrorist Designation

Iran announced on Monday that it had summoned European ambassadors based in Tehran in response to the European Union’s decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that on Sunday and Monday, representatives of all EU member states with embassies in ...

Israeli Drone Strike Kills Three in Southern Lebanon

Israel struck a vehicle in the southern town of Yanouh, in the district of Tyre on Monday. Shortly after the strike, the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said the operation targeted a Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run news agency (National News Agency) said the raid resulted in the death of ...

Yemen Warring Parties to Exchange Bodies as Part of Major Prisoner Swap

Yemen's Houthi rebels and its internationally recognised government said they agreed on Wednesday to recover and exchange bodies as part of a major prisoner swap, sparking hope for families of those missing in the war. A day earlier, the warring sides had agreed to a prisoner swap of nearly 3,000 people -- the largest such exchange in 11 years of ...

Syrian Security Thwarts Weapons Smuggling Attempt Bound for Lebanon

Syrian internal security forces announced on Monday that they had thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of weapons into Lebanese territory, following coordinated operations in central and southern Syria. According to the Internal Security Directorate in the Al-Qusayr area of Homs, acting in cooperation with the Internal Security ...

Trump Announces 'Board of Peace' Formed for Gaza

US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the formation of a Gaza "board of peace," a key phase two element of a US-backed plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory. "It is my Great Honor to announce that THE BOARD OF PEACE has been formed," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding that the members of the body will be ...

U.S. Urges Syria to Support Jihadist Transfer to Iraq

The commander of US forces in the Middle East has called on Syria's president to support the transfer of thousands of jihadist prisoners from Syria to Iraq, the US military said. In a phone call on Wednesday, Admiral Brad Cooper urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to "avoid any actions that could interfere" with the process. The United States ...