• Israel backtracks on canceled Rafah talks: US official

    Israel's prime minister cancelled the visit after the US abstained on the UNSC vote, allowing it to pass. But Israel backtracked, after the White House said it was "perplexed" by the move. The U-turn came after Israeli defense minister had "constructive discussions" with senior US officials in Washington.
  • Russia’s central bank holds rates amid high inflation

    MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Russia's central bank held interest rates unchanged on Friday as Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine has led to stubbornly high inflation and labor shortages. The central bank raised rates to 16 percent in a series of hikes last year to cool the pace of price rises. Analysts are...
  • Israel claims to have hit 4,500 Hizbollah targets in five months

    Jerusalem--The Israeli army said Tuesday it hit about 4,500 Hizbollah targets in Lebanon and Syria over the past five months, killing 300 of the group's fighters and wounding more than 750. The targets were hit from the air and from the ground, the army said in a statement, and included...
  • Turkish president Erdogan declares Ankara ‘backs’ Hamas

    Ankara, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Ankara "firmly backs" Palestinian group Hamas. "No-one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization," he said in a speech in Istanbul. "Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them." Erdogan has been...
  • Not entering Rafah means losing war, says Netanyahu

    Speaking at a televised news conference, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that critics exhorting Israel not to lauch offensive in Rafah were telling the Jewish country to "lose the war" against Hamas. He suggested that troops would go in regardless of whether a hostage release is reached.
  • Iran vows revenge after Guards die in Israeli strike

    Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi vowed not to let the "cowardly assassination" go unanswered. Israel has been blamed for intensifying strikes targeting senior Iranian and allied figures in Syria and Lebanon -- backers of the Palestinian movement Hamas -- raising fears that fighting in the Gaza Strip could spread further.
  • First fuel consignment enters Gaza as Israel bows to pressure

    As UN warns of an increasingly desperate situation for 2.4m Palestinians and pleaded for a ceasefire, the first delivery of fuel arrived from Egypt on late Friday. At the same time, Israel carried on its offensive, combing Gaza's largest hospital. It has vowed to "crush" Hamas in response to the...
  • Arab, Muslim leaders summit condemns Israel over Gaza offensive

    Arab and Muslim leaders condemned Israeli forces' "barbaric" actions in Gaza but declined to approve punitive economic and political steps against the country over its war against Hamas. The joint summit in the Saudi capital of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation highlighted regional divisions over how...
  • ICRC chief urges end to ‘catastrophic’ Gaza suffering

    Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the ICRC spoke of her shock at the " intolerable level of human suffering" and called for a de-escalation. She said that it is a "catastrophic failing" that the world must not tolerate as Israel said its war on Hamas had entered a new phase.
  • Evacuating Gaza patients effectively death sentence: WHO

    The UN health agency said in a statement that it strongly condemns Israel's repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 people in northern Gaza. Israel has warned Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas, one week after the deadliest...
  • Israel refuses to give more time for Gaza evacuation

    Jerusalem - The Israeli military said on Saturday that Gaza City residents must not delay their departure before a military offensive starts, as people leaving the north of the territory again jammed roads south. Ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive against Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on October 7,...
  • Classified US-NATO Ukraine war plans wind up on social media

    Senior officials from the Biden administration have confirmed the authenticity of the documents, which have been posted on Twitter and Telegram, a platform widely available in Russia. “We are aware of the reports of social media posts and the department is reviewing the matter,” said Sabrina Singh, the deputy press...
  • 10 oil field workers killed in Syria attack, says state media

    BEIRUT, LEBANON  -  An attack in eastern Syria killed 10 oil field workers, state news agency SANA reported on Friday, a day after Syrian Kurdish-led forces announced an offensive against the Islamic State. In addition to the nearly dozen dead, "two others have been wounded in a terrorist attack that targeted...
  • Turkey air strikes on Syrian border posts leave 17 dead

    Tension spiked between Turkey and Syria after the former launched air strikes on Syrian border posts, killing 17 fighters. It is still not clear if the victims were affiliated with the government or Kurdish forces. The Damascus government has threatened to launch a retaliatory attack against Turkey.
  • Syria Kurds ask Russia, Iran to prevent Turkish offensive

    The commander of US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria on Friday urged Russia and Iran to prevent Turkey from launching a new attack in the country's north, days before an expected Syria summit.
  • Turkey launches new ‘offensive’ against Kurdish rebels in Iraq

    Turkey on Monday said it has launched a new air and ground offensive against outlawed Kurdish militants in northern Iraq involving special forces and combat drones. The defense ministry said the operation was meant to thwart a large-scale attack against Turkey by the PKK.