• Geopolitical unrest generates an onslaught of DDoS attacks

    NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. released findings from its 2H2023 DDoS Threat Intelligence Report that dissects trends and attack methodologies adversaries use against service providers, enterprises, and end-users. The information cited in the report disseminated data on DDoS attacks from 214 countries and territories.  NETSCOUT observed more than 7 million DDoS attacks...

  • Israel says forces carrying out ‘offensive action’ in south Lebanon

    Israeli forces are carrying out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday without specifying whether ground troops had crossed the border. He also claimed that "half of Hizbollah's commanders in southern Lebanon have been eliminated" in months of violence.

  • Israel pummels Gaza after US approves military aid

    US-Israeli relations been strained by Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's determination to send troops into the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where 1.5 million people are sheltering, many in makeshift encampments. Fears are rising that Israel will soon launch an assault on...

  • Israel thanks US Senate for approving military aid

    Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday thanked the US Senate for approving $13 billion in military aid that he said sent a "strong message" to the country's enemies. "I thank the US Senate for passing the Israel aid package tonight with an overwhelming bipartisan majority," Israel Katz posted on social media...

  • Lebanon’s Hizbollah launched ‘dozens’ of rockets at Israel after civilian deaths

    Hizbollah fighters fired "dozens of Katyusha rockets" at northern Israel "as part of the response to the Israeli enemy's attacks on... civilian homes, specifically the horrific massacre in Hanin and the killing and injuring of civilians," the group said in a statement.

  • Rockets fired from Iraq at US-led coalition base in Syria

    Rockets were fired late Sunday from northern Iraq at a military base in Syria housing a US-led coalition, according to Iraqi security forces. In response, the Iraqi forces launched a major search operation in northern Nineveh province and found the vehicle used in the attack, they said in a statement....

  • Iran, Israel appear to pull back from brink as US approves military aid

    Iran downplayed Israel's reported retaliation for its unprecedented drone and missile attack, tamping down fears that escalating attacks between the arch enemies could tip over into a broader war in the Middle East. However a deadly blast at an Iraqi military base underlined the persisting tensions in the region.

  • Calls for calm after reported Israeli strike on Iran

    An unidentified Israeli official told The Washington Post the "strike" was retaliation for Iran's drone and missile barrage and was intended to signal that Israel was able to hit inside Iran. Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing "informed sources", denied that Iran had been attacked from outside.

  • G7 nations oppose ‘full-scale military operation in Rafah’

    Ministers from Italy, the UK, US, France, Germany, Japan and Canada also slammed the "unacceptable number of civilians" killed in Gaza during Israel's military offensive.

  • Israel strikes Syria again following overnight ‘retaliatory’ attack on Iran

    Israeli strikes on Friday targeted a Syrian army position in the country's south, a war monitor said, as US media reported Israel had carried out hits on its arch-rival Iran. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes, which he attributed to Israel,...

  • Explosions in Iran, US media reports Israeli strikes

    Iran's air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country's official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan.

  • Lebanon’s Hizbollah targets Israel base, wounding 14 soldiers

    Hours after the strike on Arab al-Aramshe, an Arab-majority village in northern Israel near the border, Israeli forces hit targets in eastern Lebanon, a Hizbollah source told AFP. According to the source, the strikes targeted a warehouse in Iaat, a residential area near Baalbek, and "lightly" wounded one man.

  • UN Security Council to vote this Thursday on full Palestinian membership

    Against the backdrop of the grinding conflict in Gaza, a city largely devastated by more than six months of war and a siege on its 2.4 million people, the Security Council is expected to take up the matter of full Palestinian UN membership this Thursday, several diplomatic sources told AFP....

  • US, EU to impose fresh sanctions on Iran following recent missile attack on Israel

    The United States announced Tuesday that it was preparing new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone program after last weekend’s attack on Israel, and the EU's foreign policy chief signaled the bloc would levy new punitive measures as well. Iran has characterized its attack on Israel as an act of...

  • Putin talks to Raisi, expresses hope for restraint in Middle East

    Moscow, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, discussed the latest escalation in the Middle East in a conversation on Tuesday, the Kremlin said, reported by Russian news agency TASS. On April 1, Israel carried out an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus and on...

  • Jordan says won’t become ‘theatre of war’ between Israel and Iran

    If the Gaza war raging since October 7 has created tough challenges for Jordan, it now faces the additional threat of being stuck in the middle of a widening Israel-Iran conflict.

  • Equities sink, oil rallies on fears of Iran-Israel conflict

    Stock markets fell and oil prices climbed Tuesday on growing fears of a wider war in the Middle East after Israel's army chief vowed a response to Iran's unprecedented attack on his country at the weekend. The selling came after Wall Street's three main indexes tanked in response to forecast-beating...

  • ‘Bad for business’: Gulf states scramble to avert wider war

    Gulf states are grappling with the widening Middle East conflict as hostilities between Iran and Israel threaten their security and ambitious plans to reshape their economies. Leaders of the resource-rich Gulf monarchies engaged in a rapid round of diplomacy after last weekend's Iranian drone and missile strikes on Israel raised...

  • Iran closed nuclear facilities in wake of Israel attack: IAEA chief

    Tehran, Iran Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over "security considerations" in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog said Monday. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy...

  • Palestinian officials say Israeli settlers kill two in West Bank

    The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since early last year, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza on October 7. At least 468 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since October 7, according...

  • GCC nations express deep concern over Iran-Israel skirmishes

    In light of the military escalation and developments in the Middle East region, the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council held its 44th extraordinary meeting on April 15, 2024, at the headquarters of the Qatari Embassy in Tashkent

  • Hezbollah claims attack on Israeli troops who had crossed border

    It was the first time Hezbollah claimed such an attack in six months of near-daily cross-border clashes between the Iran-backed group and Israel since the Gaza war broke out.

  • Kremlin, the world, urge restraint following Iranian strikes on Israel

    The Kremlin on Monday called for a de-escalation in the Middle East after Iran's unprecedented weekend attack on Israel. "We are extremely concerned about the escalation of tensions in the region and we call on all countries in the region to exercise restraint. Further escalation is in no one's interests,"...

  • Stocks hit by Iran-Israel fears, containment hopes stem losses

    Saturday's bombardment of more than 300 ballistic and cruise missiles and attack drones -- which were mostly repelled by air defenses -- compounded worries about the outlook for US interest rates following more forecast-beating inflation and jobs data.

  • Iran top security body: Response to Israeli aggression based on Article 51 of UN Charter

    Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) says the Iranian armed forces’ attack on the Israeli regime was carried out based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Under UN Chapter VII's 'Action with respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the...

  • Israel urges Iran sanctions as world warns against escalation

    Iran's UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, retorted that the Islamic republic was exercising its "inherent right to self-defence" and "had no choice" but to act. He insisted his country did "not seek escalation or war", but would respond to any "threat or aggression".

  • Thousands gather in Iran in show of support for attack on Israel

    Iran's attack came in retaliation for an April 1 strike that levelled the five-storey consular annexe of the Iranian embassy in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals. Tehran has since vowed to avenge the strike which was widely blamed on Israel.

  • Call for restraint grows as Iran warns of ‘stronger response’ if attacked

    As expected, Iran retaliated early Sunday by firing more than 200 drones and missiles toward Israel in response to Israel's covert attack of Iran's diplomatic office in Damascus that killed nine people.

  • Israel pounds Gaza as Iran attack threat puts region on edge

    The latest bombardments in Gaza came after Israel said it had strengthened air defences and paused leave for combat units, following a deadly April 1 air strike that destroyed Iran's consulate building in Damascus. Iran blamed its arch foe Israel, which has stepped up strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria...

  • Defence minister says Israel ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with US on Iran

    "Our enemies think that they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is true -- they are bringing us together," Gallant said, after the two discussed Iran's threats of retaliation for a deadly air strike on its consulate in Syria.

  • Israel on alert after Iranian threat as Gaza war grinds on

    Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Wednesday that Israel "must be punished and will be punished", days after one of his advisers said Israeli embassies are "no longer safe". Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz swiftly replied on social media site X that "if Iran attacks from its territory, Israel...

  • Israel slams Irish PM for not mentioning Gaza hostages

    Israel's foreign ministry denounced Ireland's new prime minister for not mentioning the hostages held by fighters in Gaza during a speech to the Irish parliament.

  • Hamas leader’s family killed in Gaza strike as truce talks drag on

    The strike came as talks in Cairo aimed at a ceasefire and a hostage release deal dragged on without signs of a breakthrough. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, suggested the strike was an attempt to shift Hamas's negotiating stance, but insisted it would not work.

  • Biden says Israel making ‘mistake’ in handling of Gaza war

    Biden urged Netanyahu "to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country"

  • Israel strikes Gaza as US says Rafah attack ‘not imminent’

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had no indication of an "imminent" Israeli assault on the city, the last in the Gaza Strip yet to be the target of a ground invasion and where around 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.

  • Turkey imposes trade restrictions on Israel over Gaza war

    The new measures come a day after Turkey said Israel had blocked its attempt to airdrop aid to Gaza. "This decision will remain in place until Israel declares a ceasefire immediately and allows adequate and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza," the trade ministry announced on social media.

  • Israel deploys C-Dome defence system for the first time

    On Monday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported an alert in the area of Eilat, which was targeted in February by intercepted ballistic missile fire from Yemen's Houthi rebels, allies of Palestinian Hamas. "The target was successfully intercepted by the 'C-Dome' naval defence system," it said.

  • Iran foreign minister in Syria after consulate strike blamed on Israel

    Amir-Abdollahian is set to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad during the visit, while Syria's information ministry said he was to inaugurate a new Iranian consular section. Syria's pro-government newspaper Al-Watan said the officials' talks would be "mainly focused" on repercussions of last week's strike.

  • Six months of bloodshed: the Gaza war in numbers

    At least 33,175 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory in Israel's campaign of retaliation for the October 7 attack, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. At least another 459 Palestinians have been killed in violence in the occupied West Bank.

  • Iran offers no response to Israeli strike, if US-secures Gaza truce: report

    The Damascus airstrike targeted the Iranian consulate, resulting in the death of IRGC commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and several other IRGC officers. Since then, Iran has issued threats of a "harsh response" against Israel.

  • Trump increasingly ambiguous on Israel amid Gaza war

    At the start of Israel's war with Hamas in October, Donald Trump loudly presented himself as the key US ally's ultimate champion. But six months and more than 33,000 deaths in Gaza later, he has become increasingly vague on the intensity of that support. Trump has halfheartedly commented on the...

  • Israelis rally against Netanyahu as Gaza war reaches half-year mark

    Organizers said about 100,000 people converged at a Tel Aviv crossroads renamed "Democracy Square" since mass protests against controversial judicial reforms last year. Chanting "elections now", protesters called for his resignation as the war in Gaza enters its seventh month on Sunday, AFP correspondents reported.

  • Israeli strikes target eastern Lebanon: source close to Hizbollah

    Israel and Hizbollah have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the Palestinian group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering the war in Gaza. Hizbollah targets Israeli positions close to the border, while Israel retaliates with raids that go deeper and deeper into Lebanese territory.

  • UN agency chief laments Gaza war as ‘betrayal of humanity’

    United Nations - Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has escalated into a "betrayal of humanity", the United Nations' humanitarian chief said on Saturday. In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the war, Martin Griffiths, the outgoing under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, called for...

  • Hamas to stick on truce conditions amid renewed Cairo talks

    "The demands ... are complete ceasefire, withdrawal of the occupation forces from Gaza, the return of the displaced to their residential areas, freedom of movement of the people, offering them aid, shelter, and a serious hostage exchange deal," Hamas said. Its insistence came as US President Joe Biden urged an...

  • Iran vows to make enemy ‘regret’ killing of revolutionary guards

    Tehran, Iran - Iran on Saturday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country's enemies will "regret" the killings. Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday's air strike on the Syrian capital it blamed on its arch-enemy Israel,...

  • Biden exhorts Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas on hostage deal

    US, Egypt and Qatar have been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip. Biden, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, "made clear that everything must be done to secure the release of hostages, including...

  • Iran’s response ‘inevitable’ after consulate strike, says Nasrallah

    Monday's strike in the Syrian capital levelled the five-storey consular annex of the Iranian embassy and killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals. Nasrallah, whose fighters have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since the Gaza war began in October, said the strike on the Iran consulate...

  • UN chief troubled by reports Israel using AI to identify Gaza targets

    According to a report in magazine +972, Israel has used AI to identify targets in Gaza -- in some cases with as little as 20 seconds of human oversight. Guterres said that he was "deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military's bombing campaign includes Artificial Intelligence as a tool...

  • CIA chief to arrive in Cairo for Gaza hostage talks

    According to reports in US media, Burns would meet in the Egyptian capital with Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel. The talks in Cairo would focus on freeing hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas fighters.

  • Israel says Hamas fighter was at target instead of Gaza aid workers

    Israel said it was targeting a "Hamas gunman" when it killed in Gaza seven aid workers whose deaths caused an international outcry, with its military admitting violations of its own rules of engagement. The drone team who killed them made an "operational misjudgement of the situation", an internal Israeli military...