united nations

UNIFIL Says Israeli Aerial Operation Disrupted Peacekeeping Activities

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced on Monday that Israeli forces informed the mission a day earlier of plans to conduct an aerial operation involving the release of what Israel described as a non-toxic chemical substance over areas near the Blue Line. In a press release, UNIFIL said Israeli forces instructed ...

World Food Program Terminates All Staff Contracts in Rebel-Held Yemen: UN Official

The World Food Programme is ending the contracts of all 365 staff in Houthi-controlled Yemen, a UN official told AFP on Thursday, effectively ending operations in a zone gravely afflicted by hunger. The United Nations agency suspended work in rebel-held areas in late August after the Iran-backed Houthis detained 38 employees in a series of raids, ...

Trump Wants to Create Conditions for ‘Regime Change’ in Iran: U.S. Sources

U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces and leaders to inspire protesters and wants to create conditions for “regime change”, multiple U.S. sources familiar with the discussions told The Times of Israel.  To do so, he was looking at options to hit commanders ...

Heavy Israeli Airstrikes Hit Southern Lebanon

Israel carried out a significant military escalation in southern Lebanon late Sunday and early Monday, launching a series of airstrikes it said targeted Hezbollah military infrastructure, as tensions along the border continued to rise. At dawn on Monday, Israeli fighter jets struck the Aqmata–Louaize heights in the Iqlim al-Touffah region. ...

Iran May Have Slaughtered 30,000 Protesters in Intense Crackdown - TIME

As many as 30,000 people may have been killed across Iran during a two-day crackdown on January 8 and 9, TIME reported on Sunday, citing two senior Health Ministry officials and a separate compilation of hospital data shared with the publication.  The figures have not been independently verified and far exceed numbers publicly cited by ...

Iraq Says to Start Legal Proceedings against IS Detainees Moved from Syria

Iraq's judiciary said Thursday it would launch legal proceedings against Islamic State group detainees transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation. "The Iraqi judiciary will begin standard legal proceedings against the defendants who are received and placed in the relevant correctional institutions," the Supreme Judicial Council ...

Trump Launches 'Board of Peace' at Davos

US President Donald Trump kicked off his new "Board of Peace" at Davos on Thursday, with a signing ceremony for a body with a $1 billion membership fee and a controversial list of invitees. A group of leaders and senior officials from 19 countries, including Trump allies from Argentina and Hungary, gathered on stage with Trump to put their names ...

Israel Begins Demolitions at UNRWA Headquarters

Israeli bulldozers began demolitions at the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, in what the organization called an "unprecedented attack". UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said in a statement to AFP that Israeli forces "stormed into" the compound shortly after 7am (0500 GMT) and ousted security ...

Iraq Announces Complete Withdrawal of U.S.-Led Coalition From Federal Territory

Iraq said on Sunday US-led coalition forces had finished withdrawing from bases within the country's federal territory, which excludes the autonomous northern Kurdistan region. "We announce today... the completion of the evacuation of all military bases and leadership headquarters in the official federal areas of Iraq of advisers" of the US-led ...

UN Force Says Israeli Tank Fired Near Peacekeepers in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired near its peacekeepers on Monday, and warned that such attacks were becoming "disturbingly common". UNIFIL has repeatedly reported Israeli fire near or towards its personnel in recent months, and less than two weeks ago said gunfire from an Israeli position hit close ...

Syria Tells Civilians to Leave Aleppo's Kurdish Areas

Syria's military warned civilians in two besieged Kurdish neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo to leave on Thursday, as it prepared to conduct a fresh wave of strikes targeting Kurdish positions. Thousands have already fled the area following clashes between the army and Kurdish-led forces that have killed more than a dozen people. The violence ...

Monitoring Mechanism Meets in Ras Naqoura

The Mechanism for Monitoring the Cessation of Hostilities convened on Wednesday in Ras Naqoura, with participation limited to the committee’s core military members. The meeting brought together representatives of the Lebanese Army (LAF) and the Israeli Army, alongside American and French officers and the commander of the United Nations Interim ...