Middle East

Mass breakout of ISIS fighters from prision in Syria

Syria's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Islamic State detainees escaped from Shaddadi prison, after the Kurdish website Rudaw reported that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic…

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Israel sees spike in PTSD and suicide among troops as war persists

Israel is grappling with a dramatic increase in post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide among its troops after its two-year assault on Gaza, precipitated by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack…

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US launches phase two of plan to end Gaza conflict, including creation of transitional authority

Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff has announced the launch of phase two of the plan to end the conflict in Gaza. It includes disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory…

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US carries out strikes in Syria

The United States conducted extensive strikes against ISIS targets in Syria on Saturday. This was part of an ongoing operation referred to as “Operation Hawkeye Strike.” According to a statement…

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Somalia condemns Israeli minister’s Somaliland visit

Israel's foreign minister is the first official to visit Somaliland following Israel's controversial recognition of the breakaway region as a sovereign state. Gideon Saar met Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi…

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Suspected Islamic State facility in Syria targeted in joint operation between UK and France

The British Ministry of Defence announced its joint operation with France on Saturday night. They targeted an underground facility in Syria. This facility is believed to be used by the…

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Israel says it will halt operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza starting in 2026

Israel said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration…

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Trump warns Iran of possible strike

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States could support another major strike on Iran were it to resume rebuilding its ballistic missile or nuclear weapons programs and…

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Islamic State embraces AI to produce fake content and recruit new members

Islamic State-linked groups began experimenting with artificial intelligence soon after tools such as ChatGPT became widely available, and their use of the technology has since grown more sophisticated, according to…

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Israel Signals Tough Stance on Hezbollah as Ceasefire Anniversary Approaches

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US envoy for Lebanon affairs Morgan Ortagus amid rising tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border. Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Intelligence Chief Maj.…

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Pope urges Middle East to reject ‘horror of war’ at end of first overseas trip

In a country still grappling with conflict, economic collapse and the trauma of the 2020 port explosion, Pope Leo XIV used the final moments of his Middle East visit to…

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Netanyahu requests presidential pardon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon, marking a rare step in the country’s political and legal history. Herzog's office said Sunday that…

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Lebanon, Cyprus sign maritime demarcation deal, paving way for possible energy exploration

Lebanon and Cyprus signed a long-awaited maritime demarcation deal on Wednesday, paving the way for potential exploration of offshore gas fields and energy cooperation in the Mediterranean. Lebanese President Joseph…

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Hamas attack victims sue Binance for allegedly allowing payments to militant group

Victims of Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel sued Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, accusing them of facilitating millions of dollars in payments to the group and other U.S.-designated…

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Israel kills Hezbollah military leader in Beirut strike

Israel killed militant group Hezbollah's top military official in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday, the Israeli military said, despite a U.S.-brokered truce a year ago.…

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UN Security Council backs Trump’s peace plan in key vote

The U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S. resolution to authorize an international stabilization force for Gaza and back the Trump administration’s peace plan on Monday, a significant early step toward…

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Hamas quietly reasserts control in Gaza

From regulating the price of chicken to levying fees on cigarettes, Hamas is seeking to widen control over Gaza as U.S. plans for its future slowly take shape, Gazans say,…

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France to help Palestinians draft constitution for future state

France will help the Palestinian Authority draft a constitution for a future state, President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris. A number of major…

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Five European countries call on imports ban from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine

The Netherlands is drafting legislation to ban imports from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, despite pausing broader sanctions on Israel after last month’s Gaza ceasefire, Foreign Minister David van Weel…

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White House, Palestinian officials disagree on aid reaching Gaza

The White House has claimed that nearly 15,000 trucks carrying commercial goods and humanitarian aid have entered Gaza since October 10, averaging 674 per day since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire began.…

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Hezbollah rejects negotiations with Israel

Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that the militia group had "a legitimate right to resist (Israeli) occupation", adding that it would support the Lebanese army. Hezbollah also said that, while…

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US may ask UN to mandate international force in Gaza for two years, document shows

The United States has drafted a United Nations resolution that approves a two-year mandate for a Gaza transitional governance body and an international stabilization force in the Palestinian enclave, according…

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Not enough tents, food reaching Gaza as winter comes, aid agencies say

Far too little aid is reaching Gaza nearly four weeks after a ceasefire, humanitarian agencies said, as hunger persists with winter approaching and old tents start to fray following Israel's…

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Israel carries out new strikes in Gaza after asserting commitment to ceasefire

Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas in eastern Gaza on Thursday, Palestinian residents and witnesses said, a day after Israel said it remained committed to a U.S.-backed ceasefire despite launching…

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Netanyahu orders ‘forceful’ strikes in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to conduct “forceful” airstrikes in Gaza, his office wrote on social media, putting new pressure on a weeks-old ceasefire agreement with Hamas.…

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Israel Weighs Foreign Troop Role in Gaza Ceasefire as Red Cross, Egyptian Teams Enter to Recover Hostage Bodies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help secure a fragile…

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Israel’s parliament gives initial nod to occupied West Bank annexation

A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of land which Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel's parliament on…

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UK sends army officers to monitor Gaza ceasefire

The U.K. has sent military personnel to Israel to help oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, as the U.S. tries to shore up a fragile truce brokered by Donald Trump. They…

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Trump threatens Hamas amid push towards next steps of Gaza truce

The U.S. increased pressure on Hamas on Tuesday to disarm in the next phase of an already fragile Gaza ceasefire as President Donald Trump pushed to cement an end to…

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Israel says it will return to ceasefire after Gaza strikes

The Israeli military has said it will resume enforcement of the ceasefire in Gaza after launching air strikes on Sunday in response to what it called Hamas's "blatant violation" of…

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Hamas says it needs more time to recover bodies of dead hostages

The United States has downplayed concerns over the Gaza ceasefire after Hamas stated it requires additional time and specialist equipment to recover the remaining bodies of Israeli hostages. Under the…

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One of four bodies returned to Israel by Hamas last night doesn’t match any of hostages, IDF says

Israel's military has said the fourth body handed over by Hamas on Tuesday night doesn't match any of the hostages. In a statement, the IDF said Hamas is "required to…

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Trump says Hamas must disarm or be disarmed, perhaps violently

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had communicated to Hamas that the militant group must disarm or it will be forced to. On Monday, Hamas freed the…

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Trump declares end of Gaza war as last Israeli hostages swapped for Palestinian detainees

Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza on Monday under a ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as U.S. President Donald Trump declared the…

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The Gaza peace plan – what comes next?

On 29 September, US President Donald Trump alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new plan to address the war in Gaza. Commonly referred to as Trump’s 20-point plan,…

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Hamas deploys armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza

Hamas has started deploying armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza in an apparent attempt to reassert authority in the devastated Palestinian territory after the ceasefire deal agreed with…

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UPDATED: Hamas hands over all remaining hostages to Israel

-o- Hamas freed the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal, a big step towards ending two years of shattering war in Gaza as President…

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Israeli cabinet approves Trump’s plan for Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages

Israel’s cabinet approved early on Friday US President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, after a deal was…

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UPDATED: Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza ceasefire and return of hostages

Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end a war in Gaza that…

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Hamas says it handed over list of Israelis and Palestinians for swap deal

Hamas said on Wednesday it had exchanged a list of the names of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released under a swap deal and that it was optimistic…

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Hamas says it’s ready to reach Gaza deal, but conditions remain

Hamas said it was ready to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza based on President Donald Trump's plan but still has demands, as Qatar's prime minister and…

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UPDATED: From October 7 2023 to Today: Two Years of Conflict and Consequence

Hamas led a series of surprise attacks on Israel in the early hours of 7 October 2023, initially firing rockets into Israel before launching a ground operation which saw almost…

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Europe has essentially become irrelevant: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

Europe has been absent from a ceasefire plan between Israel and Hamas because it has "basically caved in to Palestinian terrorism (and) radical Islamist minorities," Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

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Hamas readies for Gaza talks that US hopes will halt war, free hostages

Hamas officials arrived in Egypt on Sunday ahead of talks with Israel that the U.S. hopes will lead to a halt in fighting and the freeing of hostages in Gaza,…

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Israel intercepts last boat in Gaza flotilla

The Israeli military intercepted the last boat in an aid flotilla attempting to reach blockaded Gaza on Friday, a day after stopping most of the vessels and detaining some 450…

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Israel stops 13 Gaza aid boats

Israeli forces have stopped 13 boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza, but 30 boats are continuing to sail towards the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, flotilla organisers said on…

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Trump secures Netanyahu’s agreement to Gaza deal but Hamas support in question

President Donald Trump secured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's backing for a U.S.-sponsored peace proposal to end a nearly two-year-old war in Gaza, but questions loomed over whether Hamas would…

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Italy warns of dangers challenging Israeli naval blockade

An international aid flotilla that paused for several days in Greek waters for repairs has set sail again for Gaza, where activists aim to challenge Israel's naval blockade and deliver…

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‘Time to stop’: Trump vows Israel will not annex West Bank

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over…

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Spain, Italy sending warships to protect Gaza aid flotilla

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will join Italy in sending a military warship to protect an international flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza after it was attacked…

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22 people die in major Israeli attack on Gaza

Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City today killed 22 people, including nine children. The attack struck the Souq Firas area, where video footage showed children’s bodies being pulled…

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Syria to hold parliamentary elections on October 5

Syria will hold its first parliamentary election under its new Islamist-led administration on October 5, state news agency SANA reported. The new assembly is expected to lay the groundwork for…

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Sharaa to become first Syrian leader to attend UN meetings since 1967

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in New York to attend meetings of the UN General Assembly, the first participation of a Syrian president since 1967, the state news agency reported…

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Four major Western nations recognise Palestinian state, to fury of Israel

Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution,…

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What would wider recognition of Palestine mean for Palestinians and Israel?

About 10 countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada are expected to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state on Monday at a summit before the annual leaders' gathering at the…

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Reports Greta Thunberg left the leadership of global flottila over of internal disagreements

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has stepped down from the steering committee of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a mission seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, citing disagreements over the group’s…

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US casts 6th veto at United Nations over war in Gaza

The United States vetoed on Thursday a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would have demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel lift all…

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