Middle Orient

One year after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, Elliott Abrams examines the extraordinary response of Israel’s government and society; Linda Robinson catalogues the wrenching toll on Palestinians in Gaza; Ray Takeyh surveys Iran’s newly challenged network of regional allies; and Steven Cook explores how much expanding conflict has tested U.S.-Israeli …

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on an underground bunker in Beirut on October 3. The airstrike targeted a meeting of senior Hezbollah officials, including the presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, Safi ed Din.[i] Neither the IDF nor Hezbollah have provided any information on the outcome of the …

Israel has assassinated the leader of Hezbollah and killed many of its members by way of booby-trapped pagers and walky-talkies. After a blitzkrieg bombing campaign, Israel once again invaded Lebanon this week to escalate its campaign against the paramilitary-cum-political party. Meanwhile, it continues to wage war against Hamas in Gaza. …

Israeli conducted strikes near the Syrian coast this morning, with explosions reported in the vicinity of the Russian-operated Khmeimim Air Base, near the city of Latakia. At this stage, it’s not clear if the Russian airfield was actually hit, deliberately or otherwise — which would be a first. Either way, …

And with Tehran threatening to respond to such moves with even greater force, the scope and scale of the looming Israeli operation could determine whether or not the Middle East ultimately slides into an all-out war after a year of tit-for-tat escalations. Sima Shine, a former head of Mossad’s Research …

Analysis: Whether indiscriminate mass bombing, forced displacement, or targeting civilians, Israel is employing the same tactics in Lebanon as it did in Gaza. As Israel officially began its invasion of south Lebanon this week, a sense of déjà vu immediately struck people who have been living through or observing Israel’s …

The Houthis could seek to bolster their status after Nasrallah’s killing, having already played an oversized regional role since Israel’s war on Gaza began. When Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, delivered televised speeches over the past year during Israel’s war on Gaza, Yemenis would watch him transfixed. Listening closely …

Analysis: Israel’s decision to escalate a multifront war has left Iran with a dilemma in how to respond, with the Middle East bracing for what comes next. On 27 September, Israel levelled several high-rise apartment buildings in the Lebanese capital. Felt dozens of kilometres away, these Israeli airstrikes produced the …

If Russia supported the Resistance’s vision for Palestine, then it would undermine its support for its co-ethnics in former Soviet Republics and amount to ethnically cleansing its own people from the Levant. The Palestinian Question is one of the most emotive issues in modern history due to its anti-colonial and …

Israel seems set on liquidating Hezbollah. Beginning with its assassination of the group’s chief of staff, Fuad Shukr, on July 30, the Israelis have been decimating Hezbollah’s senior leadership in rapid succession—culminating in the previously unimaginable assassination of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on September 27. The unceasing blows have put Hezbollah …