MIDDLE EAST

The UN World Food Program on Tuesday warned that food aid being provided to millions of Syrians will run out in the next two months unless it receives more funds for its humanitarian effort. Last month, the UN’s food agency provided food to about 4.1 million Syrians but food rations have been reduced so that they can reach out to …

Volunteers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) operating in Gaza gave testified to witnessing execution of Palestinians by Israeli troops during the 50-day war at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine last week. Revered journalist Max Blumenthal provided the testimony to leading civil society members and jurists, saying that the executions were meant to humiliate. “Dan Cohen and …

The Syrian regime will not begin talks on ending the Syrian civil war as long as extremists are tearing through the country, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday. “We cannot start any political solution while terrorism is still rampant in Syria”, he said. His statement has seemingly ended the prospects for resuming peace …

The US-led coalition against extremists in Syria late on Sunday struck down the most important gas plant in the country, subtly warning militants from the Islamic State (IS) to abandon to establishment, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The international coalition has for the first time struck the entrance and prayer area of the Coneco gas plant. It is under …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday indicated that Turkey’s will play a more active part in the international coalition against extremist group Islamic State (IS), following the release of several Turkish hostages nabbed by the group. For the past few months, Turkey has frustrated global powers with its rather inactive participation in the coalition, but it has insisted that …

Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmoud Abbas on Friday demanded an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, and told the United Nations that it was time for Palestinian independence. He also promised to seek prosecutions for war crimes committed by Israel during the 50-day “war of genocide” in Gaza. Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas …

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine in its session on Operation Protective Edge held in Brussels on Wednesday found evidence of crimes against humanity, crimes of murder, war crimes, termination and persecution and incitement to genocide. The tribunal’s proof comes on the heels of claims made by rights groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch and …

Several senior Islamic scholars and Imams have written an open letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of extremist group Islamic State (IS), spelling out how the actions of the Islamic State (IS) are forbidden under Islamic scripture and Islamic law. In the letter several scholars explain the teachings of the Quran and the Hadiths of the Prophet Mohammed must …

On Thursday, the United Nations denounced the public execution of Iraqi Human Rights lawyer Samira Saleh Al-Naimi in Mosul. She was reportedly killed by the IS in a kangaroo court after being found guilty of apostasy. “By torturing and executing a female human rights’ lawyer and activist, defending in particular the civil and human rights of her fellow citizens in …

On Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized Western powers on their blunders in the Middle East, but signaled Iran’s commitment in securing an agreement on its nuclear program. Speaking at the UN headquarters only days after the US widened its aerial campaign against Islamic State (IS) extremists from Iraq to Syria, Rouhani said that regional moderate forces with international backing …