Middle East
Latest stories
To secure Gaza ceasefire, dealmakers overcame enemies' deep distrust

Inside a lavish clubhouse on Doha's waterfront, tensions strained by months of fruitless back-and-forth weighed on negotiators as the hour neared 3 a.m.

On the first floor, a Hamas delegation whose leader had once evaded an Israeli airstrike that killed seven family members combed through the details of yet another proposal to halt the war in Gaza. On the second floor, advisers to Israel's intelligence chief, who had vowed to hunt down those responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, did the same.

W140 Full Story
Al Jazeera says Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters

The Al Jazeera news network says the Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters after preventing him from covering an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.

The Qatar-based news network reported Thursday that its reporter, Mohammed al-Atrash, was arrested from his home.

W140 Full Story
Commercial flights between Turkey and Syria resume after 13 years

Commercial flights between Turkey and Syria resumed Thursday after 13 years with a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Damascus.

Turkish media showed Syrian families draped in their national flag singing pro-opposition songs and cheering as they prepared to board flight TK0846 to Damascus. Passengers continued their celebrations inside the plane, singing the uprising anthem "Hold your head up high, you are a free Syrian." One man sobbed while waiting for takeoff.

W140 Full Story
Israel says killed 2 Palestinian militants who carried out West Bank bus attack

Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month.

The Israeli military said Thursday that the two men barricaded themselves in a structure in the West Bank village of Burqin and exchanged fire with Israeli troops before they were killed overnight. The army said a soldier was moderately wounded.

W140 Full Story
Hundreds leave Jenin camp in West Bank on Israeli evacuation order

Hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank's Jenin refugee camp have started leaving their homes Thursday after Israeli forces issued an "evacuation order" during a large-scale raid, a Palestinian official said.

"Hundreds of camp residents have begun leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp," where Israel's military launched an intense military operation this week, Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.

W140 Full Story
Chief US diplomat vows 'unwavering support' for Israel

The United States' new top diplomat Marco Rubio reaffirmed the country's "unwavering support" for Israel, days into a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank.

As Israel pursued its deadly operation in Jenin, Rubio assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Washington's continued backing.

W140 Full Story
Why did Israel launch deadly operation in West Bank after Gaza truce?

In the days since a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged through two Palestinian towns.

The violence comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces domestic pressure from his far-right allies after agreeing to the truce and hostage-prisoner exchange with the Hamas militant group. U.S. President Donald Trump has, meanwhile, rescinded the Biden administration's sanctions against Israelis accused of violence in the territory.

W140 Full Story
Saudi crown prince tells Trump kingdom intends to invest $600 bn in US

Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip.

Trump's 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a tradition of U.S. presidents first heading to the United Kingdom as their first trip abroad. It also underscored his administration's close ties to the rulers of the oil-rich Gulf states as his eponymous real estate company has pursued deals across the region as well.

W140 Full Story
Yemen's Houthis say freed detained ship's crew after Gaza truce

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Wednesday they had released the detained crew of the ship Galaxy Leader, held since November 2023, after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect.

The Houthi supreme council "has announced the freeing of the crew of the Galaxy Leader, who were arrested on November 19, 2023 during the campaign in solidarity with Gaza", the rebel Saba news agency said, adding that the release came "in support of the ceasefire" in Gaza which began on Sunday.

W140 Full Story
Israel says will keep control of Rafah crossing with Egypt

Israel says it will maintain control of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas.

A statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian Authority would control the crossing.

W140 Full Story