Middle East

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners in 2024, as well as more than 150 of its own citizens, both figures are the highest in decades, most of the foreigners were from Pakistan, Yemen and Syria and most were convicted of drug-related crimes

Turkey cuts diplomatic ties with Israel and Erdogan vows to hold Netanyahu accountable for Gaza abuses, reiterates calls for international arms embargo, Turkish leader under intense pressure from domestic opinion and opposition to act more forcefully against Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu fires defense minister Yoav Gallant after months of conflict over domestic politics and war efforts, appoints Israel Katz as new defense minister despite limited military experience, while Gallant criticizes the decision and calls it a security risk amid ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon

Likely successor as Hezbollah leader, Hashem Safieddine, confirmed dead after Israeli airstrike, was cousin of leader Hassan Narallah who was similarly killed on September 27

Israel attacks military targets in Iran, according to senior Biden administration official The US believes the operation means an end to the exchange of fire between the countries and states that the US is not involved in Israel's military operation

Fethullah Gülen dead at 83, was Muslim scholar and leader of Gülen movement, previously an ally of Erdoğan he became branded as an enemy and accused of orchestrating 2016 coup attempt, lived in US exile since 1999

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar gets killed by the Israeli Defence Forces as they find him in the Palestinian city of Rafah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says this is not the end of the war but the beginning of the end

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday calls on UN forces in Lebanon to immediately withdraw from the areas where fighting is going on and the UN states that Israeli tanks forced their way into areas where the UN has troops in southern Lebanon

Israel enters Lebanon with ground troops with the aim, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to the Pentagon, to destroy infrastructure at the border to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks like October 7, 2023

Israel launches airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday in which over 500 are said to have been killed and over 1,800 injured, including women and children, Israel is reported to have warned civilians through text messages and the hacking of a popular radio station, and it is unclear how many of the victims was involved with Hezbollah

Nine people die and several thousand are injured when pagers, which Hezbollah ordered instead of smart phones to make tracking more difficult, explode in Lebanon and Syria by displaying an error message and detonating an implanted explosive device when users press it, according to sources Israel got hold on the products early in the production chain

Switzerland reopens its embassy in Iraq's capital Bagdag after a 33-year absence with the justification of strengthening bilateral relations and deepening cooperation in the economy, security and migration, the Swiss government says the security situation has improved after long periods of internal conflict, currently more than 50 countries have embassies in the city

Iran's ambassador to the UN, Ali Bahraini, says Hamas is a libertarian organization that fights for freedom and an independent Palestine and that Israel's killing of Hamas leaders is an attempt to destroy the Palestinian people's inherent right to have an independent state

Yahya Sinwar is named the new leader of Hamas after the former, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed by Israel in the Iranian capital Tehran, he has been the organization's leader in Gaza since 2017 and is considered one of the masterminds behind the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023

US deploys additional warships and fighter jets to Middle East in anticipation of escalation from Iran after Israel kills Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh

Israel kills Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran's capital Tehran and Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr, alias Hajj Mohsin and Muhsin Shukr, in Lebanon's capital Beirut with precision long-range rockets targeting their locations

Israeli airstrikes against the province of Hodeidah in Yemen lead to Yemeni missile attacks against the Israeli port city of Eilat as well as against American ship in the Red Sea, the spokesman for the Yemeni army says the operations were successful and emphasizes the country's full right to defend itself against the aggressors United States, Great Britain and Israel

Masoud Pezeshkian becomes Iran's ninth president after receiving 49.6 percent of the total 30 million votes, a former heart surgeon who is said to be a reformist in relation to theocracy and, among other things, campaigning on reaching out to the West and easing the country's mandatory headscarf law

Site of Hamas attack on partying Israelis on October 7, 2023 is a popular destination for diaspora Jews, mainly from the US, the trips, undertaken by tens of thousands, include meetings with survivors, relatives, emergency service personel, medics, public officials and soldiers

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must for the first time since Israel's founding be drafted to military service after a Supreme Court ruling, they make up 14 percent of the population but 24 percent of those of military age, women is excluded from the draft

Israel's army announces eleven-hour pause in invasion of southern Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to enter after talks with Egypt and pressure from the US

Iran deploys 7,000 police officers to its northern beaches with particular focus on ensuring mandatory hijab compliance, police previously announced an electronic surveillance initiative in the area and says any deviation from the government-imposed norms will be met with legal consequences

Former US Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley writes "finish them" on Israeli shells on Israel's northern border with Lebanon while traveling with former US ambassador Danny Danon

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and seven others dies in a helicopter crash in East Azarbaijan in northwestern Iran on Sunday night, bad weather and lack of spare parts for the Bell 212 helicopter in which Raisi was travelling, said to be the cause

Israel attacks Iran overnight on Friday according to the US, details are unclear and it is reported that Iranian state media is trying to downplay the significance of the attack and that no one was injured

Iran deems the military operation against Israel concluded after drone attack on Israel in response to its deadly airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, according to the Israeli army, it was attacked with 120 ballistic missiles and 200 drones of which 99 percent were neutralized

The Israeli army IDF ends the ground invasion and withdraws from southern Gaza on Sunday, one brigade plus parts of another is kept in central and northern Gaza

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh resigns citing what he says is the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the war, genocide and famine in the Gaza Strip

Moroccan hashish dealers cut off cooperation with Israeli smugglers in protest against the war in Gaza resulting in significant losses, cultivation covers hundreds of square kilometers in the North African country and more than 80,000 families live off the production of the, according to the Cannabis Museum in Amsterdam, highly prized Moroccan hashish

Iran has been sending 20,000 illegal Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan in 15 days, according to border guard chief Majid Shoja', according to Iranian official figures there are five million Afghans in Iran

Syrian media say the country shot down missiles from Israel against Damascus and Iranian media report that Saeid Alidadi, an adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, died in the attack, Israel's military says it does not comment on foreign media reporting

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, with 13,000 staff in Palestine, is firing an unknown number of staff over suspicion of involvement in the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to its Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, US, UK, Canada, Australia and Italy pausing their funding of the organization

Israeli drone attack on Hamas office in Beirut, Lebanon kills high ranking Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri along with three others according to Lebanese media, is confirmed by Hamas but no comment from Israel yet, if true it is the first Israeli attack on Beirut since 2006

More than 100 people were killed in Gaza during Israeli airstrikes late on December 24 according to Palestinian officials, after residential blocks in the Maghazi refugee camp were hit

Iranian general Razi Moussavi is killed in what is said to be an Israeli missile attack in Damascus, Syria, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says Israel will pay for this crime, the Israeli military does not comment on specific attacks in Syria but has admitted to hundreds of attacks in Syria against Iran-supported groups in the last decade

Kuwait's Emir since September 2020, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, dies at age 86, is succeeded by his 83-year-old half-brother, was defense minister when Iraq attacked the country in 1990 and has also been interior minister

The US uses its veto in the UN Security Council to vote down proposals calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani says the US proved once again that it is the main actor and contributor to the killing of civilians and Palestinian citizens

5,000 Israelis injured since October 7 of which 2,000 have been disabled, according to reports by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, and according to the Israeli army, 420 Israeli soldiers have died

55,500 Lebanese evacuated after Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 but could partially return during the ceasefire, the area of ​​southern Lebanon has had to withstand daily rocket and artillery fire and air raids and over 100 people has been killed in country

Israel and Hamas agree to four-day ceasefire and exchange of 50 people held captive by Hamas as well as 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel after mediation by Qatar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that after the ceasefire, the war will continue until they have achieved their goals

Israel occupies Gaza's largest hospital, Al Shifa, and is looking for evidence that the site had a command center for Hamas, hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya says the hospital contains 5,000 refugees, 500 staff and 650 patients and according to the Hamas-controlled health authority 11,400 Palestinians have died since Hamas' attack on October 7

Leaders from Muslim countries attend summit in Saudi Arabia as a result of the situation in Israel and Palestine, among the participants are the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Turkish president Recep Erdogan and Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday ended without public comment, but State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken reaffirmed U.S. commitment to humanitarian aid, the resumption of essential services in Gaza, and that Palestinians must not be forcibly relocated

The United States and Europe have begun discussions with Ukraine about negotiating peace with Russia, according to two high-ranking sources to NBC News, is taking place as a result of, among other things, concerns that the war has reached a stalemate, that Ukraine is running out of men unlike Russia, and that the war garnering less public attention after the flare-up of the war between Israel and Hamas

Israel's Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu says in response to the question of nuking Gaza that is one way and that humanitarian aid should not be allowed on the grounds that it would not be given to the Nazis either, is not part of the cabinet that makes decisions about the war

Turkish President Recep Erdogan says that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer a counterpart for them, that they erased and kicked him out, but adds there can be no such thing as completely severing ties, especially not in international diplomacy, wants a free Palestinian state with the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital

The border between Gaza and Egypt opens up to foreign nationals and injured Palestinians after deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas brokered by Qatar, Britain's Foreign Office expects its British nationals to be able to leave within the next few days

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in a televised press conference that the ground invasion is expanding and that the goal is to defeat what he calls the murderous enemy and says the war is the country's second war of independence

Turkish president Recep Erdogan, speaking to a pro-Palestinian crowd in Istanbul of possibly more than hundred thousand, asks if the West intends create another Crusader War atmosphere, that everyone knows that Israel is a pawn in the game that will be sacrificed when the time is right, and that Turkey intends to brand Israel as war criminal state

Iraq sentences Saddam Hussein's daughter, Raghad Hussein, in absentia to seven years in prison for promoting her father's Baath party, which was banned after the US invasion in 2003, she lives in Jordan with sister Rana and their two brothers were killed by the US in Mosul 2023

Attack on the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza kills 471 Palestinians according to Palestinian authority, Palestine claims Israeli airstrike while Israel claims failed Palestinian rocket launch

Israel gives 1.1 million Palestinians 24 hours to evacuate from Northen Gaza but later deny the alleged deadline, UN says such movement is impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences, the only non-Israeli border still kept closed by Egypt

The only source of the news that Israeli children were beheaded by Hamas in the community of Kfar Aza near Gaza appears to come from Israeli Major David Ben Zion and Israeli journalist Oren Ziv on the ground says he neither saw any evidence on such a thing nor heard any soldier mention anything

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says they are cutting off access to electricity, food and fuel in the Gaza Strip where 2.3 million people live, the current blockade of the area has been in place since June 2007 and Israel controls the airspace, territorial waters as two of three border crossings and Egypt controls the third

Dozens of Palestinian intellectuals and celebrities write an open letter in which they distance themselves from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's statements about Adolf Hitler and the Jews, the 87-year-old president said, among other things, that Hitler did not kill the Jews because of anti-Semitism but because of their social role such as money lenders

Israeli airstrikes hit Aleppo airport on Monday morning, the fifth time in a row since September 2022 and the fourth time this year and the 23rd Israeli air bombardment of Syria this year

Human Rights Watch accuses in report Saudi Arabian border guards of mass murder of Ethiopian refugees from Yemen by means of mortars and shooting of women and children at close range, eyewitnesses and satellite images are considered to confirm the accusations

Islamic State claims responsibility for Pakistan suicide bombing that killed 54 during pro-Taliban rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, a branch of Islamic State accuses the Taliban of not enforcing Islam strictly enough

Eleven dead after Israel's military on Monday begins an operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Palestinian militias have gained a strong foothold, and Palestinians retaliate with attack in Tel Aviv that injures seven people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says during a visit near Jenin that it will continue as long as necessary to uproot terrorism

One of Muammar Gadaffi's sons, Hannibal, on hunger strike to protest his seven-year imprisonment in Lebanon without trial, was kidnapped in Syria in 2015 by Lebanese militants, according to his lawyer Paul Romanos he is serious and he will continue with it until the end

Railway that will link the Persian Gulf with the Mediterranean and pass through the countries of Iran, Iraq and Syria has been planned since 2018, despite signed agreements mixed reactions in Iraq have led to a lack of enthusiasm in moving the project forward

78 dead in Yemen's capital Sanaa after stampede erupted as the poor were to receive roughly $10 during charity event funded by local merchants, panic erupted as armed Houthi rebels in an attempt to control the crowd fired shots that accidentally hit power cables that exploded, the country's deadliest incident in years which is not related to the ongoing war with Saudi Arabia

Prisoner exchange involving nearly 900 prisoners takes place between the Saudi-led military coalition and Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, Saudi delegation traveled last week to Houthi-controlled Sana'a to discuss resumption of ceasefire in Yemen

One dead and six injured in Tel Aviv drive-by attack by father-of-six and janitor Yousef Abu Jaber, 45, who was shot dead by police as he appeared to be reaching for what appeared to be a weapon, the brother says it was an accident but surveillance footage suggests otherwise

Iran hands over 268 imprisoned Afghans to Afghanistan on Monday and the Taliban's foreign minister welcomes the action and believes that such positive steps will strengthen the relationship between the nations, there are currently 6,000 Afghan refugees in Iranian prisons convicted of various

So far in 2023 Israel has, according to Al Jazeera, killed 65 Palestinians, including 15 children, which has been the deadliest start to the year since 2000

Turkish airstrikes in the Syrian city of Azaz kill at least 11 Kurdish fighters, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry, the country has deployed troops in northern Iraq and Syria under the pretext of fighting PKK terrorists and has drawn criticism from Iraqi and Kurdish authorities for

Saudi Arabia jails Wikipedia administrators Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani for 32 and 8 years respectively in bid to control the website content, investigation by parent body Wikimedia finds the Saudi government has penetrated Wikipedia's senior ranks in the region

The Taliban in Afghanistan ban women from universities according to Taliban government spokesman, they are also banned from parks, gyms and most professions

Turkey launches airstrikes over northern Syria and Iraq, targeting Kurdish groups it holds responsible for last week's bomb attack in Istanbul, Turkish defense ministry tweets picture of military aircraft taking off and that the hour of reckoning has come

Protesters in Iran set fire to Ayatollah Khomeini's childhood home, where founder of Islamic republic said to have been born, according to social media, regional authorities deny arson, has been a museum celebrating the late leader's life

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi responds to Joe Biden's statement on freeing Iran by saying during a speech that the country was liberated 43 years ago and is determined not to be occupied by the United States, pro-government demonstrations were held during November 4th, which marks the anniversary of the takeover of The American Embassy in Tehran in 1979

Benjamin Netanyahu is heading towards victory in the Israeli election and towards becoming prime minister for a third time, his Likud party is expected to form a majority in the Knesset together with ultra-Orthodox parties and the far right, including the Otzma Yehudit party with the anti-Arab and nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir as party leader

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun leaves office with no successor in line to replace him, secured the presidency in 2016 and has been adored by many Christians but also accused by critics of enabling corruption and helping Hezbollah gain influence, 89-year-old Aoun says the departure is not the end of his political career

Iran intensifies hijab enforcement, starts using the Basij paramilitary forces as enforcers and increases the the roles of mosques in the enforcement of dress code laws, Iran's Headquarters For Enjoining Right And Forbidding Evil spokesman Ali Khan-Mohammadi stresses that removing the hijab is a legal offence by women and the government's position will not change in this regard

Fire, gunfire and explosions at Evin prison in Iran, four dead and 61 injured, known to house political prisoners

Iraq's parliament votes for the 78-year-old Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as president and who in turn appointed Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister, the first step in forming a new government which has not been successful since the election last October, the vote took place shortly after nine rockets landed in the capital

Agreement between Israel and Libanon on disputed maritime border opens up for offshore energy extraction, final draft from US envoy Amos Hochstein satisfied Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid says it is a historic achievement that will strengthen the country's security, inject billions into the economy and ensure stability on the northern border

Three senior members of the Islamic State group were killed by US strikes in Syria, which has previously carried out raids in the country but Thursday's was the first known operation in a zone held by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, an eyewitness said of one of the attacks that US helicopters landed in the village after midnight, told residents over loudspeakers to stay indoors with lights off, and that the operation lasted several hours without an exchange of fire

83 said killed in Iran during the protests that has been going on for two weeks since the 22 year old Iranian Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini died after being arrested and beaten by the morality police for allegedly violating the country's dress code

At least four Lebanese banks stormed by depositors demanding their trapped savings, all banks in the country to be closed for three days, protest group Depositors' Outcry says more break-ins are to be expected

Israel drops the threshold for cash transactions from USD 3,200 to USD 1,700 in accordance with the Law on Reducing the Use of Cash, tens of thousands of audit-raids on businesses have been conducted by the Tax Authority and 1.5 billion in fines have been collected since the law came into force in came into force in 2019, violations are punished with up to 30% of the transaction for businesses and 25% for private individuals, attempts at splitting payments is a criminal offense punishable by three years in prison

Turkish police detain at least 36 people in Ankara after dispersing a Pride march with teargas and pepper spray, follows last week's detaining of over 300 people during Pride march in Istanbul, widespread hostility towards homosexuality in the country and increasingly tougher police crackdowns on Pride parades which are banned in many cities

More than 100 arrested in Istanbul for participating in a Pride march, journalists' union says many were beaten by police, Pride marches banned in the city since 2015

Iran's state TV hacked to show a salute to Mujahedeen-e-Khalq leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi as well as a death threat to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

Iran asks its population to wear warm clothes to cut gas use the next ten days, the country has the world's second largest gas reserves and subsidizes it heavily, Oil Minister Javad Owji thanks God and the oil industry for the stability so far but emphasizes that further efforts are now needed

Turkish journalist Sedef Kabaş detained for using the Turkish proverb "a bull does not become king just by entering the palace, but the palace becomes a barn" on live television, risks four years prison sentence, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Chief Spokesman Fahrettin Altun says a so-called journalist blatantly insulted the president with no goal other than spreading hatred

Iran agrees to replace damaged cameras at the Karaj nuclear facility after agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA

Turkey investigates 31 Syrians of which 11 is arrested and 7 to be deported on charges of provocatively eating bananas in social media posts, the viral trend began after a Turkish man complained about not affording bananas while the Syrians bought kilos, the arrested are charged with the crime of inciting or insulting the public to hatred and hostility

Israel's decision to label six Palestinian NGOs as terror organizations based on being PFLP fronts criticized internationally, UN Human Rights Office in Ramallah says the decision includes entirely peaceful activities and EU says the funding will continue, at least two of the organizations have denied the allegations

Turkey is building a wall along its border with Iran to prevent a new refugee flow, a 5 km section of the 3 metre-high wall is under construction and Turkey is aiming to build a 295 km-long wall on its Iranian border, beefed up by barbed wires and trenches

Hard-line Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi wins Iran presidential election in landslide victory amid lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history after a panel under the watch of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei disqualifies Raisi's strongest competition

Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid reach deal to form new governing coalition consisting of partners that span the Israeli political spectrum, ending the record-setting 12-year rule of Benjamin Netanyahu, the agreement still needs to be approved by the Knesset

Requests for permits to carry a weapon spike in Israel after the riots in Lod and Ramla, normally, 270 applications are made weekly, but between May 10 and May 16, 1,926 were received, all Israeli citizens can apply for a license to carry a firearm once they reach the eligible age

Israel Defence Forces announce it killed five senior Hamas leaders in targeted strikes, the dead include head of Hamas military intelligence security department and head of the military intelligence counterespionage department, adding "looks like our intel was better"

Israeli police in night-time clashes with thousands of rock-hurling Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday amid potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers, leaving 205 Palestinians and 17 Israeli officers injured

Egypt prepares move to new capital this summer, the unnamed New Administrative Capital is located 45 km from the Nile on virgin land, designed to operate with smart technology and expected to house at least 6 million residents when finished

Iraqi security forces kills ISIS terrorist commander Abu Yaser al-Issawi, who claimed to be the leader of the group in Iraq and its deputy caliph, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi

Saudi Arabia officially bans Turkish products, the Saudi government has been reported to contact individual businesses and order them not to trade with Turkish companies or buy any products made in Turkey, it has also launched a campaign to discourage its citizens from travelling to Turkey

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab set to announce the resignation of his government after the explosion in Beirut which killed at least 163 people and has stirred public outrage and spurred a string of ministers to step down