Middle East
Middle East
40 dead and over 800 injured after explosion at the Iranian Shahid Rajaei port outside Bandar Abbas, Iran has not offered an explanation regarding what caused the blast but private security firm Ambrey comments that the fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles
Jordan outlaws the Muslim Brotherhood and confiscates its assets after arresting 16 of its members for plotting attacks involving rockets and drones on targets inside the kingdom, also attributes a foiled plot in 2024 to the Sunni organization which is outlawed in most Arab countries
At least 80 dead and 150 injured after US airstrikes on Houthi-controlled Ras Isa oil port in Yemen, US Central Command comments that the action was taken to degrade the economic source of power of the Iran-backed terrorists, more than 100 Houthi attacks launched on vessels since November 2023
Widespread electricity shortages in Syria, two hours of electricity available per day and 90% of the population live in poverty according to UN
1,133 people detained in Turkey after five nights of protesting due to Istanbul's mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu being arrested on corruption charges, İmamoğlu was also to be Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's main opponent in the presidential election, 123 police officers injured in the protests where the police deployed water cannons and tear gas at the protesters who threw stones and shot fireworks
More than 1,000 people dead after two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and Assad loyalists, 745 civilians killed mostly in shootings from close distance according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, electricity and drinking water cut off in large areas around the city of Latakia, Alawite homes looted and burned with thousands of people having fled, the government says it has been responding to attacks from Assad's forces and blames individual actions for the violence
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not allow any Syrian troops south of Damascus, adds that Israeli forces will stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period and that no threats to the Druze community will be tolerated
Three empty buses explode in succession and two additional explosive devices found on buses in Bat Yam and Holon in central Israel during Thursday evening, no injuries reported, police officially classify the incident as a terrorist attack and estimate that the attackers intended for the explosive devices to detonate at 9:00 a.m. but mistakenly set them for 9:00 p.m.
Egypt announces the discovery of King Thutmose II's tomb, is the last of the lost tombs of the kings of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty and the first royal Egyptian tomb to be discovered since King Tutankhamun's in 1922, the entrance and main passage were discovered in 2022 and internal excavations have been ongoing since
Syria's Minister of Justice Shadi Al-Waisi criticized for video showing him sentencing two women charged with "corruption and prostitution" to be executed on a street in Idlib in 2015, anonymous senior Syrian official says the procedures were carried out in accordance with the laws in effect at that time but they now have new rules guaranteeing justice and the rule of law, the video has been verified by Syrian fact checker Verify-sy
Critics fear Islamist slant in Syria’s school curriculum as "path of goodness" has been changed to "Islamic path" and "those who have are damned and have gone astray" to "Jews and Christians", the word "martyr" also changed from someone who died for the homeland to someone who sacrificed themselves "for the sake of Allah" and chapters including the origins and evolution of life removed entirely
The Syrian Baath party is collapsing and many of its leaders have gone into hiding or fled the country, the former party headquarters in Damascus has been turned into a center where former army and security forces members register their names and hand over their weapons, the socialist party whose aim was to unify Arab states in one nation ruled Syria between 1963 and 2024
Taliban bans windows overlooking women's areas to avoid inciting obsence acts, government spokesman says relevant departments will monitor construction sites and that homeowners will be asked to build walls or otherwise obscure views so that there are no windows through which for instance the kitchen or the neighbour's well are visible
Syria's rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says organizing elections in Syria could take up to four years as a comprehensive population census is required and that drafting a new constitution may require three years, confirms that the administration is in talks with the US-backed Kurdish forces and that Kurds are an integral part of the country's fabric, says Hayat Tahrir al-Sham will be dissolved and hopes that Donald Trump's administration will lift the sanctions on Syria
Israel bombs the Sanaa Airport, 3 killed and 16 injured, Houthi Foreign Minister Jamal Amer condemns the airstrike as targeting and disregarding the UN as the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was at the airport, oil port in Al Hudaydah and power stations also targeted – Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns the Houthis that they will learn the same lessons as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and others
14 interior ministry troops killed and 10 wounded during arrest of former Saydnaya prison officer outside Assad stronghold Tartous, overnight curfew in Homs following unrest over a video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine, protests across the country over the burning of a Christmas tree in Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah
Taliban say Pakistani airstrikes targeting four locations in eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people of which mostly women and children, uptick in militant attacks against Pakistan in recent months where at least 16 Pakistani soldiers were recently killed in a Tehreek-e-Taliban attack against a checkpoint, the Taliban denounce the airstrikes and promise retaliation
Pakistani travellers to the United Arab Emirates will need to be vetted and verified by police after UAE discontent with increasing number of Pakistani beggars, UAE has also increased the declining of visas to Pakistanis after checking that they have enough money to be genuine visitors
Iran announces closure of offices and schools in many provinces due to energy shortages, the country has the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and third-largest proven oil reserves but has been forced to ration electricity in recent weeks due to a lack of gas and fuel for its power plants, several unexpected power cuts in recent days, President Masoud Pezeshkian urges citizens to use two degrees less heating
Turkey offers military training to the new Syrian administration, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler says the rebels have announced that they will respect all government institutions as well as the UN and other international organisations and thus deserves a chance, says Turkish military presence in Syria will be discussed with the new Syrian administration when necessary conditions arise and that elimination of the US-backed Kurdish YPG militia remains their priority
Six Druze villages in southern Syria propose annexation to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights fearing the new jihadist Sunni-dominated leadership, Benjamin Netanyahu recently met with Israel's spiritual Druze leader Mowafaq Tarif to discuss the Druze safety and Israel has deployed forces to Hader on the Syrian side
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani announces new morality police force, unit to be led by clerics and mullahs and punishment will involve physical discipline when deemed necessary, concern among Syria's minorities where approximately 90,000 primarily Christians and Alawites have fled to Lebanon after the fall of Assad
Israel confirms attack on Syria's naval fleet and says the operation was a great success, hundreds of Israeli airstrikes carried out across Syria including on Damascus after the the fall of the Assad regime, IDF confirms it has troops operating beyond the demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the Golan Heights to prevent weapons falling into the hands of extremists
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
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
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
US deploys additional warships and fighter jets to Middle East in anticipation of escalation from Iran after Israel kills Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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