Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip – According to the Palestinian medical officials at least 16 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday. They said that at least six people were killed in an attack by Israel on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City. According to the … Read more
Beirut – Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, industrial-scale manufacturing facilities for the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon have opened across the country, leading to what experts say is a $10 billion annual global trade in the highly addictive drug. Among the locations used to manufacture the drug were Mazzeh Air Base in Damascus, … Read more
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Two US Navy pilots were shot dead in an apparent “friendly fire” incident over the Red Sea on Sunday, the US military said, marking the first time in more than a year that US troops have been targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. This is the most serious incident of bullying. … Read more
Damascus, Syria – Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, the key figure in the uprising that ousted Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in an interim government, an official source said on Saturday. Abu Qasra, also known by the moniker de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir … Read more
Geneva – As temperatures plunge and seasonal rains flood fragile settlements in the Gaza Strip this winter, aid agencies fear many Palestinians will die, while others will become seriously ill and some will be left permanently disabled. “It is very cold. It has been raining all night. … We’re expecting very heavy rainfall here today, … Read more
Washington — A group of US diplomats was in Syria on Friday to talk with the country’s new leaders and seek information on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, a US journalist detained following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria … Read more
Washington — The Biden administration’s top diplomats are in Damascus on Friday to meet with new Syrian officials led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a State Department spokesman said, marking the first in-person meeting between Washington and Syria’s de facto new rulers. There is an official meeting. , The State Department’s top Middle East diplomat, … Read more
A new report Thursday from New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch, or HRW, accuses Israel of deliberately carrying out genocide by depriving civilians in Gaza of adequate water supplies, likely resulting in thousands of deaths. The 179-page report published on the group’s website shows that since the start of the war between Israel and … Read more
Turkey is among local, regional and global powers seeking to fill the power vacuum following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8. Ankara is poised to become one of the biggest winners in Syria after Assad. Despite being in a military alliance with the United States through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, … Read more
Outside al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus, families study gruesome printouts taped to the walls. The photos are of bodies of prison victims mutilated by years of torture. Everyone in the crowd is looking for someone. Most leave without answering. A young woman wearing a black ponytail runs away from the wall, screaming. “You knew about it. … Read more