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On Tuesday, the sharply-divided Iraqi parliament elected its speaker and moved that much closer to forming a new government, which has already been delayed for a while. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, and several world powers, had pressured Iraqi MPs to set their differences aside and work together as they face a militant offensive which has overrun …

US Secretary for State John Kerry is headed to the Middle East on Tuesday to try and bring a diplomatic end to the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas. The punishing Israeli air campaign has taken the lives of 177 Palestinians so far, and shows no sign of stopping. Most Arab nations have demanded an immediate end to the campaign, …

On Monday, Palestinian movement Hamas said that no serious effort for a truce deal had been made, and that it will not agree a truce deal without concessions made by Israel. “Talk of a ceasefire requires real and serious efforts, which we haven’t seen so far”, Hamas legislative member Mushir al-Masri said. He added that Hamas will only negotiate if …

The ongoing Israeli air campaign against Gaza has till Monday caused the deaths of 177 Palestinians so far; a UN official reported that over a quarter of the deceased were children. The victims of the latest round of strikes included a 37-year-old man in the city of Khan Yunis; according to Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for emergency services, a missile had …

On Monday, the Arab League, ahead of a meeting of foreign minister of various countries, called on global leaders to end Israel’s air campaign on Gaza and protect Palestinians. It called on the international community for an end to the campaign in a report which will be submitted at the ministerial meeting, as the Israeli air campaign entered its seventh …

The Israeli air bombardment of Gaza entered its fourth day on Friday, and has now claimed a total of 103 lives, as Hamas and Israel exchanged rocket fire and Washington offering to help broker peace. 11 Palestinians, including a seven-year-old and a woman, were killed in separate Israeli strikes on Gaza on Friday, taking the death toll for the past …

On Friday, the United States said that it was willing to leverage its ties with several countries in the Middle East to bring about a truce between Hamas and Israel. A day earlier, US President Barack Obama called Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, to offer to mediate for ceasefire talks which can bring an end to the rocket fire. …

The UN’s refugee agency on Friday said that Europe has hosted only a “miniscule” number of Syrian refugees, and needs to do more the help Syria’s neighbors shoulder the refugee burden. “We’re calling on European countries to strengthen their response to the Syrian crisis.We’re urging states to ensure access to their territory, we’re urging states to ensure fair and efficient …

Hamas on its YouTube channel posted a Hebrew version of its popular battle song “Shake Israel’s Security”, taunting Israel in an act of psychological warfare to go with the physical conflict in Israel.  The Arabic version of the song has for long been an anthem of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing. The Hebrew translation posted on the …

The Gaza Health Ministry has so far confirmed the deaths of 82 Palestinians in Gaza due to Israeli air strikes which started on Tuesday. The deadliest strikes happened on Tuesday and on Thursday, both causing eight deaths – Tuesday’s strike tore down a house in southern Gaza, while Thursday’s strike took out a home in Khan Younis. Of the 82 …