Middle East
Latest stories
UN finds rising child malnutrition in Gaza, Israeli strikes kill 93 people

Malnutrition rates among children in the Gaza Strip have doubled since Israel sharply restricted the entry of food in March, the U.N. said Tuesday. New Israeli strikes killed more than 90 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, according to health officials.

Hunger has been rising among Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. It slightly eased the blockade in late May, allowing in a trickle of aid.

W140 Full Story
Gaza mediators 'intensifying' efforts to reach deal in Doha

Gaza ceasefire talks remain in their "first phase" after more than a week of talks, even as mediators step up efforts to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas, Qatar said Tuesday.

"Discussions on the framework agreement are still ongoing. Both delegations are present here in Doha, and the mediators are intensifying efforts to reach an agreement," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told reporters.

W140 Full Story
Drone attack shuts Iraq oil field run by US company

A drone strike forced a U.S. company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region Tuesday, amid a wave of similar attacks targeting the region's energy infrastructure.

The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling the strike "an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region's vital economic infrastructure".

W140 Full Story
Israel strikes Syrian forces as Damascus declares ceasefire in Druze city

Israel's military said it was striking military vehicles belonging to government forces in the Sweida area of southern Syria, after Syrian state media reported a new strike on the Druze-majority city.

W140 Full Story
Gaza mediators working to bridge 'remaining gaps' in Doha talks

Mediators are pursuing "innovative mechanisms" to bridge the gaps between Israeli and Hamas delegations after a week of Gaza truce talks in Qatar, an official with knowledge of the negotiations told AFP on Monday.

"Mediators are actively exploring innovative mechanisms to help bridge the remaining gaps and maintain momentum in the negotiations," the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

W140 Full Story
Israeli strikes kill 30 in Gaza

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Monday killed at least 30 people, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military meanwhile said it killed a senior Hamas militant last month who had held a hostage in his home.

The 21-month war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack is raging on after two days of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended last week with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release.

W140 Full Story
Search ends for those missing after Yemen's Houthi rebels sink ship in Red Sea

The search for those missing after Yemen's Houthi rebels sank a ship in the Red Sea has ended as at least four people are presumed dead and 11 others remain unaccounted for, the private security firms involved said Monday.

The announcement came as satellite photos show long, trailing oil slicks from where the bulk carrier Eternity C sank, as well as another where the sinking of the bulk carrier Magic Seas by the Iranian-backed Houthis took place.

W140 Full Story
Death toll from Syria Bedouin-Druze clashes rises to 89

At least 89 people were killed in the southern Syrian province of Sweida as clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters raged for a second day Monday, a monitor said.

As the violence escalated, Israel -- which had previously warned that it would intervene in Syria to protect the Druze -- said it struck "several tanks" in Sweida, without providing further details.

W140 Full Story
Israel strikes tanks in Syria's Sweida, scene of Bedouin-Druze clashes

Israel's military said it struck on Monday several tanks in the Sweida province of southern Syria, where dozens have been killed in clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters.

The military struck "several tanks a short while ago in the area of Sami village (in the Sweida region) in southern Syria. To be continued," the military's Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X.

W140 Full Story
Jumblat on Sweida clashes: We reject calls for external and Israeli intervention

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat urged Monday the Syrian government to find a political solution, after dozens of people were killed in fighting between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters in Syria’s Sweida province.

"We reject calls for external protection and Israeli intervention," Jumblat stated, as he hoped for the return of security and stability to Sweida. "We are in contact with the Syrian government," the Druze leader told local Annahar newspaper.

W140 Full Story