Spotlight
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Middle East Syrian government and Druze minority leaders announce new ceasefire Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced a renewed ceasefire Wednesday after days of clashes that have thr...
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Middle East Israel bombs Syria army HQ and area near presidential palace in major escalation The Israeli military launched Wednesday rare airstrikes in the heart of Damascus, hitting the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters as clashes in th...
Airstrikes targeting Palestinian militants in a crowded residential area. Armored bulldozers plowing through narrow streets, crushing cars and piling up debris. Protesters burning tires. A mounting death toll.
Israel's large-scale military raid into the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday had undeniable similarities with the second Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s — a period that claimed thousands of lives.

Thousands of Israelis have blocked traffic and snarled movement at the country's main international airport, the latest mass demonstration over Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious planned judicial overhaul that has divided the nation.
The Netanyahu government's push to pass several overlapping reforms to the country's judiciary has plunged Israel into an unprecedented crisis and divided an already highly polarized country.

Jordan's foreign minister has called for international investment into conflict-ravaged Syria's crippled infrastructure to speed up refugee returns.
Ayman Safadi made the remarks during a visit to the capital Damascus, where he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad and his counterpart, Faisal Mekdad.

Israel's biggest military operation for years in the occupied West Bank continued for a second day Tuesday, leaving at least 10 Palestinians dead and forcing thousands to flee their homes as the government said it struck "with great strength" the militant stronghold.
The raid, launched under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government, targeted the northern city of Jenin and employed armored vehicles, army bulldozers and drone strikes.

The armed wing of Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas has put its weapons on public display, in a first open event drawing hundreds of Palestinians including children brandishing rocket launchers for selfies.
Dressed in black balaclavas and tactical camouflage suits, members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades mingled with young men and women at the exhibition in Gaza City's Unknown Soldier's Square.

Israel will buy 25 F-35 aircraft from the United States, the Israeli Defense Ministry has announced, in a deal that increases Israel's arsenal of the stealth fighter jets by 50%.
The F-35 is the world's most advanced fighter jet, and Israel is the only country in the Middle East to fly them. The $3 billion purchase, which increases the Israeli fleet of F-35 jets from 50 to 75, is set to be finalized in the coming months, the ministry said.

Saudi Arabia has summoned Sweden's ambassador to denounce a Koran burning outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked a diplomatic backlash across the Muslim world, state media reported early Monday.
The kingdom -- home to the holiest sites in Islam, in Mecca and Medina -- had already condemned Wednesday's incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Muslim holy book and set several pages alight.

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it was extending a voluntary oil production cut of one million barrels per day, in a bid to prop up slumping prices.
The cut which first took effect for July will continue in August and "can be extended", the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing an energy ministry source.

Israel on Monday began a large-scale military raid including drone strikes and hundreds of troops in the northern occupied West Bank, killing eight Palestinians in what the army labelled an "extensive counterterrorism effort."
The operation under the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the biggest of its kind in years, with bulldozers, armored vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Israel carried out airstrikes on areas near the central Syrian city of Homs early Sunday causing material damage but no casualties, the Syrian military said in a statement.
A Syrian anti-aircraft missile exploded over Israeli territory, the Israeli military said, prompting another round of strikes.
