Middle East Monitor Latest news from the Middle East and North Africa

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  12 Palestinians killed, 20 injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza amid ceasefire violations

  by Marwa A on July 9, 2026

  At least 12 Palestinians were killed and 20 others injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours amid ongoing violation of a ceasefire in effect since last October, Anadolu reports. In a statement, the Health Ministry said eight people were killed and 17 others injured in Israeli attacks across the enclave over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll from Israel’s genocide since Oct. 8, 2023, to more than 73,118. The ministry did not provide details about the circumstances of the deaths and injuries. The ministry said a number of victims remain trapped under the rubble and on roads, as ambulance and civil defense teams are unable to reach them. Two more Palestinians were

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  Security situation in southern Lebanon remains ‘fragile,’ UN peacekeeping mission says

  by Marwa A on July 9, 2026

  The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stated on Thursday that the security situation in southern Lebanon remains “fragile” despite a decline in “violence” since late June. “The recent reduction in violence has enabled its peacekeepers to gradually increase operational activities in southern Lebanon,” UNIFIL said in a statement. “As families begin returning to their villages, peacekeepers are expanding their presence to help consolidate the relative stability achieved in recent weeks,” it added. The mission said its peacekeepers are helping repair damaged roads and other infrastructure, contributing to recovery efforts and improving access for its operational activities. “While the level of violence has decreased since late June, the situation remains fragile,” UNIFIL said, stressing that dialogue, coordination and a sustained

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  Report exposes pro-Israel network pushing Germany to defund UNRWA

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  A coordinated network of Israel-aligned organisations working to pressure Germany into cutting support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has been uncovered by a new report.  Commissioned by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and written by German-Israeli researcher Alon Sahar, the report maps a transnational advocacy ecosystem that has worked for more than a decade to discredit UNRWA and weaken the Palestinian right of return. It argues that the campaign intensified after 7 October, 2023, when Israel accused UNRWA staff of links to Hamas, triggering a wave of donors suspending ties to the UN refugee group.   Germany is a critical target for the campaign. After the US halted contributions to UNRWA

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  Statement from the National Commission for Palestinian Popular Action on upcoming elections

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  The National Commission for Palestinian Popular Action has followed the recent publication in the Palestinian Official Gazette of the electoral system governing the Palestinian National Council, as well as the decree-law amending Decree-Law No. (1) of 2007 concerning Palestinian general elections and its amendments, along with reports regarding the imminent issuance of a presidential decree setting a date for holding Palestinian legislative elections in the coming period. While the Commission affirms that the renewal of national legitimacy through democratic mechanisms and free and fair elections is an indispensable principle in Palestinian political life, it believes that any electoral process cannot be separated from the national, political, and historical context that the Palestinian people are experiencing at this pivotal stage in

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  Funding failed paradigms for Palestinians in Gaza

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Humanitarian aid is a failed paradigm, be it the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees or the Board of Peace’s scheming. UNRWA has always faced funding problems and it was never structured to deal with ongoing colonial expansion. The Board of Peace, on the other hand, has failed to generate funds for its alleged humanitarian concerns in Gaza and the reason is because it was never designed to truly meet humanitarian needs. The Board of Peace exists to facilitate Israel’s expulsion of the Palestinians from Gaza, so why should countries fund its humanitarian paradigm? US Ambassador to the UN Jeff Bartos begs to differ, it seems. Speaking at the UNRWA annual pledging conference, Bartos’s appeal to UNRWA’s donors

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  Hossam Abu Safiya; when a hostage sounds the alarm on behalf of thousands of detainees

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  At certain moments, a person transcends the self, and their voice becomes the voice of an entire community. This is precisely what is happening today with Dr Hossam Abu Safiya. The man who dedicated his life to saving the sick now stands, while in the grip of his captors, as a living witness to the ordeal endured by thousands of Palestinian hostages within Israeli detention centers. His recent cry for help, conveyed by his lawyer following a visit, is not merely a personal plea; it is an alarm bell ringing on behalf of all those hidden behind walls, and for all those whose humanity is being stripped away day by day, far from the world’s gaze. As the coordinator of

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  Gaza: On The Ground with Motasem A Dalloul | Week 08 July

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  MEMO spoke to Motasem A Dalloul, a survivor of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in the first of a new series of regular updates from the ground. Dalloul describes the daily struggle to survive: hunger, cold, the collapse of healthcare, and ongoing Israeli violations despite the so-called ceasefire. WATCH: Gaza: On The Ground with Motasem A Dalloul | Week 22 Jun

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  Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says hit US command center, Jordanian air base with 10 ballistic missiles

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday it launched a missile strike targeting the US command-and-control center in West Asia and the Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan. In a statement carried by Fars News Agency, the IRGC said its Aerospace Force fired 10 ballistic missiles targeting the two sites, claiming the attack “destroyed” the two facilities. “If the aggression of the US terrorist army is repeated, other US bases in the region will not be spared from our heavy fire,” it warned. Jordan earlier said that its air defenses intercepted and downed eight missiles launched from Iran toward the kingdom. READ: CENTCOM says it completed another round of strikes on Iran

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  Abbas sets Nov. 28 for 1st Palestinian legislative elections in more than 20 years

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree setting Nov. 28, 2026, as the date for legislative elections, the official WAFA news agency reported Thursday. The decree calls on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to participate in free and direct legislative elections to choose members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Issued under Decree-Law No. 1 of 2007 on general elections and its amendments, the decree marks the first legislative vote since January 2006. WAFA said the date for presidential elections, planned for the first quarter of 2027, will be announced in accordance with the law. Abbas, who has been in power for 21 years after taking office in January 2005, was elected to a four-year

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  The 4th of July: Tehran’s Funeral and Trump’s Birthday

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  The  meticulously disorganised  250th  anniversary of American  independence was  branded as the dawn of a new ‘golden  age ’, with the largest fireworks and miliary aerial pageantry display in history, along with a presidential address from Mount Rushmore. It was Trump’s ultimate vanity project,  a celebration of American exceptionalism designed to dazzle the world. Instead , the world watched Tehran. The broader ‘Freedom 250’celebration dissolved into a shambolic spectacle on the National Mall, where sweltering heat and power cuts left acres of exhibition fields humiliatingly thin.  Reports indicated Trump grew furious after seeing aerial photos of the sparsely populated fields during his separate D.C. campaign-style appearances. The calculatedly designed celebration is a reminder of how quickly spectacle can become farce.

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  India’s Israeli mirror

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Nations do not usually commit suicide in one spectacular act. They do it by acquiring a taste for poison and calling it policy. They rename moral vandalism realism, isolation autonomy, and borrowed brutality strength. Israel has performed this degeneration with almost obscene clarity. Modi’s India now appears less like a critic than an apprentice. The tragedy is not that India has interests. Serious states have interests. The tragedy is that India now mistakes interests for genuflection before a collapsing moral order. Once, India spoke in the idiom of Bandung, anti-colonialism, non-alignment, Palestinian freedom, and Global South dignity. It was never immaculate, but it had stature. It understood that power without ethics is only barbarism with a flag. Today, that inheritance

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  US strikes strategic railway bridge linking Iran to China, Russia

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  On the second straight day of its renewed strikes on the country, the US struck a strategic railway bridge in northern Iran linking it to China and Russia, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported Thursday. The cruise missile attack targeted the Ogtay Khan railway bridge in the northeastern Golestan province on Thursday morning, the agency added. The agency described the bridge as a strategic point on the railway corridor connecting China, Turkmenistan, and Iran. The reported strike came as Iran suspended passenger rail services between Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad after what locals described as a US-Israeli attack on a section of the line. Iranian state railway said repair crews were sent to the site and that stranded

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  Chief Rabbi leads calls to block Church of England discussion of Palestinian Christian genocide report

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Leading Zionist groups and figures in the UK have come out in force to suppress discussion within the Church of England over a report by Palestinian Christian groups about genocide in Gaza. Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who has a son serving in the Israeli army, has warned the Church of England’s General Synod that it risks damaging Christian-Jewish relations if it proceeds with a motion encouraging engagement with A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide, a document published by Kairos Palestine, also known as Kairos II. The General Synod, the Church’s legislative body, is due to consider the motion at its annual gathering in York. The motion does not ask the Church to endorse the document,

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  CENTCOM says it completed another round of strikes on Iran

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced late Wednesday that it “completed an additional round of strikes against Iran,” hitting approximately 90 military targets, Anadolu reports. “US forces struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline. The latest strikes follow successful execution of offensive strikes in Iran the night before,” CENTCOM wrote on the US social media platform X. CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.” Earlier Wednesday, CENTCOM said that American forces had begun a new round of strikes against Iran. “At the direction

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  How Israel and American Zionists are canceling First Amendment

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  While the world’s attention has been consumed by the Iran war, the fragile Lebanon ceasefire, and Trump’s reality show — AKA the “Board of Peace” — in Gaza, Israel has been executing a methodical, largely unreported Jewish apartheid program in the West Bank. It is ethnic cleansing in slow motion: intentional, documented, and normalised by journalists too timid, media outlets too embedded, and editors too biased to cover it honestly. The numbers tell the story that Zionist-managed Western media outlets will not. The West Bank is experiencing its largest forced population transfer since 1967, according to a recent briefing to the UN Security Council. Israeli-enabled Jewish-mobs, sweeping movement restrictions, home demolitions, and race-based military repression have triggered the worst wave

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  Amnesty International calls for investigation into Israeli air strikes on Lebanon as ‘war crimes’

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Amnesty International on Thursday called for an investigation into three Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon carried out in March, saying they may amount to war crimes after killing 24 civilians. In a report published on Thursday, the rights group said the three Israeli strikes “killed 24 civilians, including 12 children, and wiped-out entire families”, adding that they “must be investigated as war crimes”. The strikes targeted homes in the cities of Tyre and Nabatieh, as well as the town of Erkay near Sidon, between 6th and 13th March.    Kristine Beckerle, the organisation’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “Within the space of just a week – the Israeli military obliterated entire families, including a dozen children, in Lebanon, demonstrating a callous disregard for

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  Qatari and Iranian foreign ministers discuss regional tensions and Strait of Hormuz

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi discussed the latest regional developments during a phone call on Wednesday, with both sides emphasizing the importance of preventing further escalation. According to a statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the two ministers reviewed developments across the region, with particular focus on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. The ministry said the two officials stressed the importance of using diplomatic channels to address regional challenges and underscored the need to maintain communication and coordination to prevent further tensions. The conversation took place amid heightened instability following recent exchanges between the United States and Iran after attacks on commercial vessels in

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  Former Pakistani Air Force official says Israel does not want US-Iran agreement to succeed

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  A former deputy chief of the Pakistan Air Force, Muhammad Aryan, has said the success of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran will depend primarily on the willingness of both governments to fully implement its provisions. Speaking in an interview on Egypt’s Cairo News Channel, Aryan said Pakistan continues to support diplomatic engagement with both Washington and Tehran but stressed that responsibility for resolving the dispute ultimately rests with the two sides. He argued that military action cannot resolve the crisis, saying previous US strikes against Iran had failed to produce a lasting solution. Aryan also suggested that statements by US President Donald Trump should be viewed cautiously, arguing that the president’s positions can shift rapidly

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  Oil prices rise following new US strikes on Iran

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Global oil prices rose sharply after the US Central Command announced additional military strikes against Iran, heightening concerns over the security of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy transit routes. Brent crude settled at its highest level in two weeks, rising more than 5 percent to close at $78.02 per barrel after briefly trading above $80 during the session. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also gained, climbing to around $73.50 per barrel. The increase was driven by growing market concerns over potential disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following attacks on three commercial vessels in the strategic waterway. Iran has denied responsibility for the attacks. Tehran has also condemned the

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  Hezbollah leader rejects Lebanon-Israel Framework Agreement, says ‘not a single clause will pass’

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Wednesday rejected the framework agreement signed between Lebanon and Israel, declaring that it would not be implemented and urging the Lebanese government to abandon it. Speaking during a public address held alongside memorial events for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Qassem argued that the agreement serves Israeli interests and lacks legal and national legitimacy. “Not a single clause of this agreement will pass, and you will be powerless to stop it,” Qassem said, addressing Lebanese authorities. He credited Hezbollah’s military resilience and Iran’s support with securing the ceasefire in Lebanon, describing them as the two pillars behind what he called the resistance’s achievements. Qassem also reaffirmed Hezbollah’s strategic relationship with Iran, saying the

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  How Ankara rewired Syria’s future

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  The Trump–al‑Sharaa summit in Ankara was not diplomacy. It was a structural detonation—one that has dragged Syria out of humanitarian paralysis and into a NATO‑designed reconstruction matrix where sanctions relief, refugee repatriation, militia demobilisation, Gulf capital and digitised property courts fuse into a single Western‑Turkish governance engine. Ankara has become the Middle East’s new diplomatic capital.  NATO has mutated from a military alliance into a state‑building architecture. And Syria’s sovereignty is being rewritten through external intelligence systems, population engineering frameworks and civil society compliance regimes. The Levant’s future is no longer negotiated in Brussels, Washington or Damascus.  It is being co‑authored in Ankara’s corridors—where the West, Turkey and Syria are assembling a post‑Assad order that is part security pact, part

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  Lebanon conditions participation in Rome talks on Israeli withdrawal from two areas in the south

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Lebanon is conditioning its participation in the next round of negotiations with Israel on an Israeli withdrawal from two designated areas in southern Lebanon, according to a diplomatic source familiar with the talks. The source, speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity, said Beirut is insisting that Israel withdraw from the two “pilot” or “experimental” areas specified in the framework agreement before negotiations scheduled for 15th–16th July in Rome can proceed. “Lebanon is demanding Israel’s withdrawal from two experimental areas as a condition for participating in the negotiations,” the source said. The Lebanese government has not yet publicly confirmed its official position. The Rome meeting follows five rounds of US-mediated negotiations held in Washington, which culminated late last

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  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan College of Health Sciences holds graduation ceremony in Mogadishu

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  The Recep Tayyip Erdoğan College of Health Sciences celebrated the graduation of a new class of students on Wednesday during a ceremony held at its campus in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The event was attended by Somali Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services Ali Haji Adan, Minister of Culture and Tourism Abdifatah Qasim Mahmoud, officials from the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu, Commander of the Turkish Task Force in Somalia Sabahattin Kalkan, representatives of Turkish and Somali civil society organizations, academics, students, and family members. Addressing the graduates, the college’s dean, Professor Rashid Kondo, encouraged them to apply their knowledge in service of the country. “Today you are graduating, and tomorrow you will work throughout the country in the health sector,

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  Ultra-Orthodox Jews storm Israeli military base in protest over draft evaders’ arrests

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters stormed an Israeli military base on Wednesday evening in protest against the arrest of young men accused of evading compulsory military service. The Israeli military said the protesters, from the Haredi community, broke into the Beit Lid military base, which houses the Neveh Tzedek military prison and military courts. In a statement carried by Israel’s Channel 7, the military said the protest began outside the base before turning violent, with demonstrators forcing their way into the facility. It added that military police removed all the intruders from the base. According to the military, the protest was triggered by the arrest of Haredi youths wanted for compulsory military service after allegedly evading the draft. READ: Ultra-orthodox Jews protests disrupt

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  Israeli Knesset approves freezing more Palestinian clearance funds

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  The Israeli Knesset on Wednesday approved in its first reading a bill that would allow additional Palestinian Authority clearance funds to be frozen, a move expected to increase financial pressure on the authority. Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the bill would authorise the freezing of additional Palestinian Authority funds. Under the proposal, submitted by Moshe Passal of the Likud party, Israel would freeze each year an amount equal to the funds transferred by the Palestinian Authority to Gaza during the previous year. According to Haaretz, the frozen money would be used to pay compensation to people affected by what the bill describes as terrorist acts originating from Gaza. READ: Israeli air strikes, shelling and home demolitions continue across Gaza Strip The

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  Sudan: Crowds celebrate in Damazin after army retakes Kurmuk

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Thousands of people celebrated in the city of Damazin, the capital of Sudan’s Blue Nile State, on Wednesday after the army announced it had regained control of the strategic town of Kurmuk from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). Thousands of residents took to the streets chanting slogans in support of the army and praising Sudan, while vehicles sounded their horns in celebration of what they described as the armed forces’ victory in Kurmuk, Anadolu correspondent reported. Blue Nile State Governor Ahmed Al-Omda and Commander of the Fourth Infantry Division Major General Ismail Al-Tayeb toured the city’s streets in an open-top vehicle, where they were welcomed by cheering crowds. Addressing the gathering, Al-Omda

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  Podcast by Jasim Al-Azzawi with Richard Boyd: A Voice of Freedom on Behalf of an Oppressed Nation

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  WATCH: Podcast by Jasim Al-Azzawi with former CIA analyst Larry Johnson & Ray McGovern

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  Deferring a Crisis: The Iran-US Ceasefire Cracks

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Ceasefires in the Middle East seem especially susceptible to revision, alteration and contradiction.  Missiles still get fired; airstrikes initiated.  Destruction to infrastructure, and death, follows.  Yet despite the misunderstandings, the sniping and the harrying, these odd understandings are often described by those funny political coves as “holding”.  In the case of the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, articulated with some fanfare with a Memorandum of Understanding, only the most piously delusional would claim it was holding in any way. The June 18 MoU stipulates from the outset that the US, Iran and their allies “declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertaken from now on not to initiate any war or any

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  Israeli air strikes, shelling and home demolitions continue across Gaza Strip

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Israeli forces have continued military operations across the Gaza Strip, with ongoing reported violations of the ceasefire agreement through artillery, air and naval attacks, targeting residential areas, displacement camps and shelters, alongside the demolition of homes and military movements on several fronts. On Thursday morning, new Israeli attacks were reported in different parts of the territory. Artillery shelled areas southeast of the Maghazi refugee camp while military vehicles opened fire. Israeli forces stationed northeast of the Bureij refugee camp also continued firing towards nearby areas. In Gaza City, military vehicles and drones opened fire near Al Hashimiya School in the eastern Tuffah neighbourhood as bulldozers advanced and expanded areas under Israeli military control. Drones also opened fire in the Sabra

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  Rights groups, UN experts warn over world’s silence on crackdown in Tunisia

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Rights organisations and UN experts have warned that the continued silence of the UN Human Rights Council and UN member states over developments in Tunisia is allowing the authorities to continue suppressing civil society and undermining the rule of law. The warning came during the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, which concluded on Wednesday in Geneva, where UN experts and civil society representatives expressed deep concern over what they described as the worsening human rights situation in Tunisia. Human Rights Watch, which documented the UN statement, said “the continued silence from UN member states all but signalled a free pass for Tunisian authorities to continue escalating their crackdown on civic space.”       On Tuesday, the organisation said: “Five

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  Lebanon’s Faustian bargain: The mirage of the trilateral framework

  by Mehdi Editor on July 9, 2026

  Can Lebanon extract a genuine, equitable peace from the 26th June Trilateral Framework Agreement (TFA)? The simple answer is yes, but that “yes” comes at a devastating cost. Marketed by Washington as a breakthrough, the framework is fraught with severe imbalances. As Lebanese political figures and civil society groups have already pointed out, the agreement demands sweeping internal concessions under the shadow of occupation, threatening to ignite internal conflict rather than resolve a regional war. What are Beirut’s realistic chances of normalising ties with Israel while still under occupation? Does Lebanon hold any actual leverage to extract meaningful concessions from an occupying power while it declares war on Hezbollah? The reality is that by signing this text, Beirut is being

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  Vice president says US will respond if Iran attacks shipping in Strait of Hormuz

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the US would continue military strikes against Iran if it resumes attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Tehran had violated an agreement to halt the actions, Anadolu reports. Speaking to reporters during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Vance said the US agreed to lift its naval blockade after Iran pledged to stop targeting ships in the strategic waterway. “The basic deal that we cut was we’ll lift our blockade if you stop shooting at ships, but if you shoot at ships, we’re going to punch back, and we’re going to punch back harder than ever before,” he said. Iran resumed attacks on ships about a week after the agreement

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  US returns refueling aircraft to Middle East amid escalation with Iran

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  The US has begun returning aerial refueling aircraft to its bases in the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, as Israeli officials believe Washington would give a green light for Tel Aviv to resume attacks against Tehran, according to Israeli media on Wednesday. “It is estimated that the Americans will give the green light to an Israeli response in Iran,” the public broadcaster KAN said. Channel 12 said Israel’s defense establishment is closely monitoring the situation following an exchange of attacks between Washington and Tehran on Wednesday. According to the outlet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a security consultation this evening with Defense Minister Israel Katz to discuss developments related to Iran. READ: Trump says US

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  Iran threatens to completely close Hormuz strait in response to renewed attacks

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  Iran threatened on Wednesday to completely close the Strait of Hormuz in case of renewed attacks against its territory amid rising escalation with the US, Anadolu reports. “The Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed to all maritime traffic” following any strike against Iran, an informed security source told Press TV. The source added that Iran will also strike “enemy targets at a ratio of at least two to one, meaning that for every Iranian target hit, at least two enemy targets will be struck in return.” US President Donald Trump earlier said that the US will “probably” hit Iran again on Wednesday night, following overnight US strikes in retaliation for attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump

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  Israel debated: Why Palestine is rewriting the rules of domestic US politics

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  A major showdown on the House floor seemed imminent. An amendment, advanced by the Rules Committee, was poised to force a rare and telling record vote on stripping Israel of $3.3 billion in annual US military aid.  Brought forward by Republican Representative Thomas Massie and drawing support from key progressive Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Greg Casar, the measure was set to put every lawmaker’s stance on unconditional foreign assistance under a public microscope. However, the high-stakes vote never actually happened. On 30th June, the entire legislative package collapsed under the weight of Washington’s internal political warfare. In a dramatic procedural twist, a coalition of Democrats and disgruntled conservative Republicans voted down the mandatory ‘rule’ required to even begin debating

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  9 Gazans killed by Israeli fire in latest ceasefire violation

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  At least nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, in the latest violation of an ongoing ceasefire agreement, medical sources said, Anadolu reports. A Palestinian was killed and two others were injured when an Israeli drone struck a civilian vehicle west of Gaza City, a medical source told Anadolu Agency. One Palestinian was killed and another injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting a gathering of civilians on Al-Oyoun Street in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. A six-year-old child also died of wounds he sustained from Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighborhood south of Gaza City. In southern Gaza, four Palestinians, including a father, his son, and a child, were killed and

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  Arab League chief says Israeli officials barred his planned visit to occupied Palestinian territories

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy said Wednesday that Israeli authorities had prevented his planned visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, Anadolu reports. “The Palestinian authorities have informed the General Secretariat of the Israeli refusal to permit a visit that Mr. Nabil Fahmy intended to make to the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday,” his spokesperson said on the US social media company X. He said the visit was aimed at supporting the resilience of the Palestinian people and meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Fahmy “chose the visit to the occupied territories to be his first foreign destination due to the centrality of the Palestinian cause and to emphasize that it will remain at

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  Syria makes major achievement with US sanctions lift, support from Turkiye, Gulf nations: President

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday Syria has made a major achievement in unifying the country during the last year and a half, thanks to the lifting of US sanctions and support from Turkiye and Gulf nations, Anadolu reports. “In the past year and a half, we have achieved a great accomplishment in unifying the country and setting it on the right path,” Sharaa said during a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkish capital Ankara. “This is thanks to the strong Syrian people and to the historic decision made by Trump to lift the sanctions on Syria. “It is also thanks to the help of all our friends in

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  Trump says US will ‘probably’ hit Iran ‘hard’ again Wednesday night

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  The US will “probably” hit Iran again on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump warned, after US strikes against Tehran following attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu reports. “We hit them very hard last night, very, very. Probably hit them hard again tonight. I’ll give him a little warning. We’re going to hit him hard tonight,” Trump said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara. Trump reiterated that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. Earlier, Trump said the memorandum of understanding signed last month with Iran to end the conflict was “over.” “It’s a very interesting question to me. I think it’s over,” Trump said when

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  Rights group says Israel tried to kill Palestinian detainee in Negev prison

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  Israeli prison forces attempted to kill Palestinian detainee Ghassan Ibrahim Zawahreh by shooting him three times with rubber bullets inside Negev prison, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said Wednesday. In a statement, the nongovernmental organization held Israeli prison authorities fully responsible for Zawahreh’s life. Zawahreh, from the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank, has been subjected to degrading strip searches and severe beatings since being transferred from Ganot-Rimon prison to Negev prison on June 8, according to the group. It said an Israeli special unit known as Metzada carried out an operation inside the prison on June 17, during which officers fired rubber bullets at detainees. Zawahreh was first shot in the thigh before Israeli prison

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  UN commission urges Israel to release arbitrarily detained Gaza hospital director

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  A UN commission on Wednesday called on Israel to immediately release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, and all Palestinian medical personnel held in arbitrary detention, expressing concern over reports that he has been subjected to “severe abuse” while in custody, Anadolu reports. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel issued a statement expressing grave concern over credible reports that Abu Safiya has been subjected to ongoing abuse since his detention by Israeli authorities in December 2024. The commission called for his “immediate, unconditional and safe release” and urged Israeli authorities to provide him with immediate independent medical care. It said the continued arbitrary

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  Israeli forces raid Syria’s Daraa countryside

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  Israeli forces raided the Wadi al-Raqad area in the western Daraa countryside in southern Syria on Wednesday, opening fire before withdrawing from the area, Syrian state media reported. Syria’s Alikhbariah TV said Israeli forces entered the Wadi al-Raqad area, opened fire and later withdrew. There were no reports of casualties or material damage, and Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the raid. The incursion came a day after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa condemned continued Israeli violations that he said undermine regional security and called on Israel to withdraw from areas it has occupied in southern Syria. Southern Syria has witnessed repeated Israeli raids and attacks in recent months, including search operations, arrests and the establishment of military checkpoints. The

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  Concentration Camps Inside a Concentration Camp: Israel’s New Plan for Gaza | Palestine This Week

  by Marwa A on July 8, 2026

  In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine Hamas’s decision to dissolve its government and the wider implications of Trump’s so called peace plan, as Israel moves ahead with proposals for “controlled humanitarian zones”. We also discuss whether Hamas remains a major threat or has become a convenient justification for continued Israeli domination, before turning to new claims about 7 October, debates over just war theory, Zionism’s erasure of Palestinians, Mike Huckabee’s remarks in Jerusalem and reports that US officials feared Israel was plotting to kill Iranian negotiators.   WATCH: Podcast by Jasim Al-Azzawi with former CIA analyst Larry Johnson & Ray McGovern

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  Israeli military demolishes Palestinian home in West Bank village

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  The Israeli military on Wednesday, demolished a newly built Palestinian home in the West Bank town of Idhna, west of Hebron, citing a lack of Israeli-issued construction permits, Anadolu reports. Local resident Hamza Batran told Anadolu that Israeli forces accompanied by heavy bulldozers raided the village before sealing off the site. Troops then demolished a 160-square-meter (about 1,720-square-foot) house and an adjacent water well belonging to his cousin, Muhammad Batran. According to the family, the owner had spent his life savings over the past 12 years to construct the property and was finalizing preparations to move in. The military had previously issued stop-work and demolition notices to the family on the grounds that the structure was built without a permit. READ: Israeli

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  American Jews favour Mamdani over Netanyahu as 30% say Israel committed genocide

  by Marwa A on July 8, 2026

  A new AP-NORC poll has revealed a sharp erosion of US public support for Israel, with around one-third of American adults saying they believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The survey, conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research between 11 June and 17 June, found that about 30 per cent of US adults believe Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide. Around 20 per cent said they do not believe Israel has committed genocide, while nearly half said they did not know enough to say. Read: Poll shows majority of Americans oppose aid to Israel The findings mark a major shift in American public opinion after decades of bipartisan support for Israel, and

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  Million-strong crowds fill Najaf streets for Khamenei funeral as Iraq declares public holiday

  by Marwa A on July 8, 2026

  Million-strong crowds filled the streets of Iraq’s holy city of Najaf on Wednesday as funeral ceremonies for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, began. His coffin will be taken to Karbala before returning to Iran for burial in Mashhad, bringing to an end a week-long farewell. Iranian leaders sought to reflect Khamenei’s status during the ceremonies. He led the Islamic Republic for nearly four decades before being killed in US-Israeli strikes on his residence in Tehran on 28 February, attacks that marked the start of the Middle East war. Khamenei’s funeral in Iraq coincided with renewed tensions between Iran and the United States over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which was a major flashpoint during the regional conflict. The US

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  Ireland approves ban on imports from Israeli settlements

  by Marwa A on July 8, 2026

  The Irish parliament approved a bill on Tuesday banning the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, as Dublin moves towards adopting one of the toughest trade measures in Europe on the issue. The legislation bans the import of goods from “certain Israeli settlements” located outside Israel’s internationally recognised borders, covering products linked to housing, agriculture and commercial activities. Ireland is the first European Union member state to move ahead with such a ban. Spain began enforcing restrictions on imports from Israeli settlements in October. The centre-right coalition government said the legislation was based on the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which concluded that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem

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  Palestinian survivor of the Gaza genocide wins gold at São Paulo Math Olympiad

  by Marwa A on July 8, 2026

  Fifteen-year-old Palestinian student Tala Mohammed Awad, a survivor of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, has won a gold medal in the second phase of the Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, known as OMASP 2026. Tala secured the top honor after excelling in the statewide public school competition, marking a major academic achievement for a student who arrived in Brazil after enduring displacement and the devastating impact of the war on Gaza. Since arriving in Brazil, Tala has quickly learned Portuguese and adapted to a new school system and community. Her academic success highlights both her resilience and her commitment to education despite the severe challenges she has faced. According to posts

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  Podcast by Jasim Al-Azzawi with former CIA analyst Larry Johnson & Ray McGovern

  by Mehdi Editor on July 8, 2026

  WATCH: Podcast by Jasim Al-Azzawi with Ronnie Chatah: Will The Big Boys Squeeze Lebanon?

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  Lawyer fears for life of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya after severe beating in Israeli jail

  by Marwa A on July 8, 2026

  The lawyer for detained Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya has warned that he fears for his client’s life after seeing him severely beaten during a prison visit at Israel’s Rakefet interrogation facility. Nasser Odeh said he visited Abu Safiya last Thursday and struggled to recognise him because of the extent of his injuries. “He nearly lost consciousness several times,” Odeh told the BBC, adding that the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza had told him he was subjected to severe violence inside the prison, particularly on the day of the visit. Odeh said bruises covered Abu Safiya’s face, including around his eyes, neck and ears, and that visible signs of beating and torture were clear. He added