Middle Orient

Described as a farce by opponents, Syria’s upcoming presidential elections are designed to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power until at least 2028. Syrians on Wednesday cast their votes in an election that rights groups and Western governments say is a foregone conclusion. President Bashar al-Assad is all but guaranteed …

The Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip has destroyed hundreds of houses and buildings, leaving many to stuck under rubble that rescuers are ill-equipped to move. Riad Eshkuntana, 42, recalled exactly where he was at 1 a.m. May 15 in his rented apartment on the third floor in the Abu …

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would prefer that a consulate to another entity – the Palestinian Authority – not be on Israeli sovereign territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel opposes the reopening of a US consulate for Palestinians in sovereign Israel, hours before …

The occupation narrative is designed to press Israel into always having to take full responsibility for Gaza, which will always be “occupied” no matter what the Jewish state does. In the wake of the recent Gaza war, several narratives have emerged that are preparing the ground for the next war …

A coughing Hezbollah leader called for creation of a ‘new equation’: Any violation of Jerusalem would lead to a regional war Any violations of Jerusalem will cause a “regional war,” warned Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday night, in his first speech since before Operation Guardian of the Walls began …

Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority submitted a resolution on the creation of a fact-finding mission that will be voted on Thursday when the UNHRC holds a special session on the matter in Geneva. The United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to establish a commission of inquiry into Israeli actions …

“We are ready for the great battle, if the enemy commits a great folly in Jerusalem and the holy sites,” Sinwar said in his first speech since Operation Guardian of the Walls. Gaza’s Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar claimed on Wednesday that Hamas has 500 km. of tunnels in the Gaza …

Here is something that can be said with great confidence. It is racist – antisemitic, if you prefer – to hold Jews, individually or collectively, accountable for Israel’s crimes. Jews are not responsible for Israel’s war crimes, even if the Israeli state presumes to implicate Jews in its crimes by …

The big problem, though, with Mr Biden’s commitment for the US to work with the Palestinian Authority in Gaza is that the ability of Mr Abbas’s organisation to exercise any influence over Gaza is virtually negligible. While Mr Abbas continues to indulge in the fiction that he is the legitimate …

Hamas’ popularity has risen sharply, but this doesn’t help them much with the outside world. An understanding with Fatah is key to any potential role in regional diplomacy. If the relationship between the PLO and Hamas was on shaky grounds after President Mahmoud Abbas canceled the legislative elections, they are …