MIDDLE EAST

South African President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday said that Israel is defying global powers and “undermining” the prospects of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by continuing with its settlement policy on occupied territory. “The reality is that the overwhelming majority in the world agrees with the position of two states living side by side in peace, but we …

The United Arab Emirates shocked many western charities by placing them on its blacklist of “terrorist groups”, alongside radical groups like Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda. The list, released earlier in the month, was topped by the Muslim Brotherhood, but also included organizations like Islamic Relief UK, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and large Muslim associations in Sweden, Norway, Finland …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday faced thinly veiled pressure over missing the deadline for the nuclear deal and a seven-month extension, with hardliners denouncing the diplomatic stalemate. The failure to seal the deal on a final agreement with the world’s leaders dominated Iranian newspaper headlines, with many editorials viewing further dialogue as worthless since talks have not yielded results …

Several Syrian regime airstrikes on the city of Raqa, the self-proclaimed capital of extremist group Islamic State (IS), on Tuesday caused the death of 63 people, over half of whom were civilians. The airstrikes were the deadliest attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s air force on the city since it was seized by the IS last year. “Among the 63 …

Twenty-eight cement trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in the second delivery of building material for the private sector since the 50-day war. Raed Fatuh, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official responsible for the entry of cargo into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel, confirmed that 28 trucks carrying 40 tons of cement each crossed into Gaza. The …

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the French parliament would be making a “grave mistake” if it chooses to recognize the state of Palestine when it votes on the matter on December 2nd. “Do they have nothing better to do at a time of beheadings across the Middle East, including that of a French citizen?” he said, …

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged the Israelis and the Palestinians to take a step back and return to negotiating terms before time runs out. “The Israeli and Palestinian people face a shared fate on shared land.  There is no erasing the other”, he told a UN committee on Palestinian rights. Ban also called “on the parties to …

Monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday said that Kurdish fighters battling extremists from Islamic State (IS) were able to gain ground in the Syrian border town Kobane overnight. The town has become a symbolic battleground in the fight against the IS, with the global coalition launching airstrikes almost every day to aid the Kurdish fighters. According to …

Human rights groups and NGOs have accused Israel of supporting a shoot-to-kill policy after several recent Israeli police incidents with Palestinians. A Jerusalem court on Sunday arraigned a border policeman after he shot and killed a Palestinian during a demonstration in the West Bank in May. Many argue that the manslaughter charge was not strong enough; furthermore, Israeli Public Security …

Extremist group Islamic State (IS) on Thursday claimed a suicide car bomb attack in the city of Arbil, the usually secure capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. In an online statement, the IS boasted that it had “breached all the security checkpoints of the agent Kurdistan government and reached the heart of the city of Arbil”. It also …