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

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  UK media proposals raise fears over suppression of independent Palestine reporting

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  A new campaign is urging the British public to oppose government proposals that could give selected news organisations greater prominence on social media, warning that the measures risk pushing independent media further down users’ feeds. NewsCord founder Nima Akram has launched the Say No to Media Censorship⁠ campaign in response to the government’s Green Paper on the future of British media. “The government wants platforms to push state-approved news and bury the rest,” the campaign warns. It is encouraging members of the public to send formal responses to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) before its consultation closes on 31 August. The campaign page allows users send a response to the consultation. NewsCord says the submissions are formal

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  The queryable war: When AI turns ‘could’ into ‘must’

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  The US–Iran war reveals a quieter power of generative AI: it can turn unfolding reports into plausible futures, reshape what citizens expect, what leaders think they can politically afford and what adversaries prepare to resist—without falsifying a single fact. The question “what happens next?” is as old as war. What is new is that almost anyone can now ask a machine to build the answer while reports are still arriving. Ask a web-connected chatbot what would follow another round of US strikes on Iran and it may return several orderly futures: Iranian retaliation in the Persian Gulf, a wider regional confrontation, an energy shock or a negotiated exit. These are not reports of events already established; they are constructed futures.

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  Lebanon banker exposed as major force behind normalisation drive with Israel

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  One of Lebanon’s wealthiest bankers has been exposed as a key figure behind efforts to push the country towards closer ties with Israel, according to an investigation by The Grayzone. Antoun Sehnaoui, chairman of Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), is accused of using his wealth and political connections to support media outlets and figures advocating normalisation with Israel while Israeli forces continue to occupy Lebanese territory. The Grayzone cited reporting by Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today, which has examined Sehnaoui’s political, financial and media influence and described him as one of the country’s most powerful behind-the-scenes figures. The reports come as Lebanon faces intense pressure over the future of Hezbollah and the terms of any Israeli withdrawal from the

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  Energy without borders: Why the Middle East needs an energy Schengen

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  For more than a century, the Middle East has been one of the world’s most important centres of energy supply. Yet a strategic paradox remains at the heart of its energy architecture: a region that exports oil and gas across the world still lacks a coherent framework for exchanging energy within itself. Electricity grids, regulations, markets and much of the region’s energy infrastructure continue to be designed and governed primarily within national boundaries. Meanwhile, the nature of the energy challenge is changing. Rising electricity demand, extreme heat, desalination, rapid solar deployment, the digitalisation of economies and the emergence of hydrogen are creating challenges that will become increasingly difficult to manage solely at the national level. This is where an idea

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  President Ramaphosa meeting IDF soldier’s family raises crucial questions

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  Question doing the rounds is whether meeting the family of a South African citizen serving as an Israeli soldier, as President Ramaphosa did, has undermined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice? Equally concerning is whether the meeting will now be interpreted by South African mercenaries operating and deployed within the settler colonial regime’s military, as kosher and “permissible” despite legislation that prohibits it. Though the official version is that the Perez family had prompted a meeting to thank Ramaphosa for facilitating the release and return of Daniel Peres’s remains, it is silent on who the slain soldier was. From open source information we learn Daniel Perez was a South African-born tank commander and soldier who

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  Israel’s imaginings of forced displacement, and UN culpability

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  The forced displacement of Palestinians is taking up much of the Israeli imagination. From the Yellow Line, to pilot projects instead of reconstruction, the bottom line is that, according to Israel, Palestinians should remained forcibly displaced. The latest perception added to these narratives comes from former Israeli General Giora Eiland, who recommended that Gaza remains destroyed for generations and that Israel should not withdraw from the Yellow Line. As far as not withdrawing from the territory Israel has militarily occupied, the answer has been clear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There are no veneers left; the international community has made it possible for Netanyahu to declare colonial intent without the slightest condemnation, let alone political opposition. What happens next,

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  Israeli checkpoint restricts movement of Palestinians in West Bank’s Khirbet Sarra

  by Mehdi Editor on August 13, 2026

  Around 33 Palestinians living in Khirbet Sarra community, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, face severe movement restrictions due to an Israeli checkpoint and gate controlling access to the community, Anadolu reports. Residents said their daily movements have become dependent on the manually operated gate, while access to farmland that has sustained local families for generations has also been restricted. They said their lives have changed significantly over the past year and a half amid increasing attacks by Israeli occupiers and restrictions on entering and leaving the area. Khirbet Sarra resident Mahmoud Shannar said Israeli forces installed the gate at the entrance to the community and handed its keys to four families living there. Residents must open and close the

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  UK weighs raft of measures against Israel as pressure grows for action to match rhetoric

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  The British government is preparing a series of measures targeting Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, including a ban on settlement goods, further sanctions and possible restrictions on arms exports, according to a report by Middle East Eye. Multiple Whitehall and civil society sources revealed that Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government is expected to announce new policies after parliament returns from its summer recess in September, although discussions remain ongoing and no final package has been made public. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is said to be pushing for tougher measures and has consulted civil society organisations over the government’s approach. Among the options under consideration are sanctions against companies and organisations linked to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as

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  Playing Israel in football is unthinkable right now

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  Ten years have passed since football families in Ireland were given a very clear picture of just how cruel, callous, calculating, and downright racist the Israeli authorities could be when it came to the children of Palestine. Activists and clubs across Ireland had raised funds to bring some of the most talented young footballers in Gaza to Ireland and, for reasons best known to themselves, the Israeli authorities picked out one of the boys and decided he could not travel. The trip was delayed by three weeks and on the verge of being cancelled at one stage because of delays in obtaining permission to travel from the Israeli authorities, who controlled everything that entered and left Gaza in 2016. Eventually,

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  The Gaza peace Trump announced, and the rejection Netanyahu delivered

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  Donald Trump took to social media on Thursday, 30th July, to announce what he called a breakthrough: a phased agreement under the Board of Peace requiring the Palestinian Resistance to disarm and Israel to withdraw. The optics were of a president closing out a genocide he, and his predecessor, enabled for two years. The Palestinian Resistance agreed to the plan. Israel rejected it. Imagine if the Resistance had rejected the fifteen points by reasonably conditioning disarmament on an end to Israeli occupation. We don’t have to imagine Trump’s reaction. He’d have condemned them by nightfall and held them responsible for killing the peace plan. Israel gets a different standard. On Sunday, 9th August, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet:

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  Iran challenges Trump: more than 75% of missile and drone capabilities still ready for use

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  More than 75 per cent of Iran’s missile and drone capabilities remain intact and ready for use despite Israeli and US attacks, an Iranian military official said on Wednesday, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s assessment of the damage to Iran’s military capabilities. Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Brigadier General Ali Reza Sheikh, deputy army commander for executive affairs, as saying that US and Israeli attacks had not been as effective as Washington claimed. “More than 75 per cent of Iran’s missile and drone capabilities remained intact and ready,” Sheikh said. He described Iran’s drone system as having become a “nightmare for the enemy”, in a message aimed at stressing Tehran’s continued ability to use the system despite the strikes.

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  Israeli security source warns: West Bank is a powder keg that could explode at any moment

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  Israeli security and military sources warned on Wednesday that the situation in the West Bank resembles a “powder keg” because of settler violence against Palestinians, while occupation officers are reluctant to take action against the perpetrators for fear of harming their military careers. A senior security source told Haaretz: “The West Bank is a powder keg that could explode at any moment.” He added that the ongoing riots and violence committed by settlers in the area, not only in the town of Qusra [south of Nablus in the northern West Bank], are putting Israeli army forces under extreme strain, and the army is unable to respond to all the incidents. He said the “conduct of the senior military leadership on the

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  Calculated deception: How Israel uses diplomacy to buy time for Gaza’s destruction

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  Last week’s mass funeral of 112 people—including 44 children from two closely related extended families—was not a new tragedy; it was the agonising, delayed accounting of a crime committed nearly three years ago. The victims, all belonging to the Abu Sharia and Al-Hassayna clans, lived in adjacent residential blocks in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood when Israeli airstrikes flattened their homes on 22nd and 23rd November 2023. Entire bloodlines were wiped out in an instant: at least three generations—grandparents, fathers, mothers, siblings, children, and infants—buried side-by-side. Their bodies, recovered only recently from under the rubble after a 17-day excavation or identified from temporary mass graves amid the relentless siege, were finally laid to rest. This grim scene serves as a harrowing

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  White House disturbed over Qusra events in West Bank: Israeli media

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  The US administration has expressed concern over the failure of Israeli security agencies to deal with settlers who carried out attacks in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, Israeli media reported, citing the Israeli public broadcaster Kan. Officials close to US President Donald Trump are concerned that Israel is not taking enough action to halt Israeli settlers’ violence against Palestinian families, according to Kan. White House officials reportedly addressed the events in Qusra on Wednesday. A senior White House official intends to contact the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to request clarifications regarding the reasons preventing security agencies from dealing with the attackers, according to Israeli sources. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir issued

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  B’Tselem warns of accelerating Israeli “ethnic cleansing” policy in the West Bank

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has warned on Wednesday against attempts by extremist settlers to forcibly displace two Palestinian families from their homes in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, and seize their properties, stating that such practices are part of an accelerating Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Citing B’Tselem, Anadolu Agency reported that extremist settlers established illegal outposts in the courtyards of the two homes over the past few days and continue to besiege them, noting that their clear objective is to force the two families to leave their homes and take them over. Anadolu quoted the organisation’s executive director Yuli Novak as saying that the Qusra violations do not constitute “an isolated

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  Katz says Israel to remain in “security zones” in Lebanon, Syria, & Gaza

  by Marwa A on August 13, 2026

  In defiance of the gradual withdrawal agreement previously reached with Beirut and amid international demands for an end to Israeli military presence in occupied territories, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the Israeli military will not withdraw from what he termed “security zones” in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. Katz made the remarks in a video statement delivered from an area occupied by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, near the Litani River. He noted that troops had recently conducted a military maneuver in the area. Kataz claimed that the Israeli military has heroically defeated Hezbollah and seized control of the Beaufort Castle (Qalaat al-Shaqif), which he described as vital for protecting Metula and other northern Israeli towns.

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  Anti-Muslim hate targeting Michigan Senate nominee El-Sayed surged after primary win: Study

  by Marwa A on August 12, 2026

  Anti-Muslim hate speech targeting Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed surged twentyfold following his Aug. 4 win in the Democratic primary, according to a new study. Findings of the Washington, DC-based Center for the Study of Organized Hate, as shared with Anadolu, found that posts naming El-Sayed along with anti-Muslim bigotry averaged 155 a day between June 1 and Aug. 3, then rose to 3,099 a day on Aug. 4-10, soaring 1,895%. Those seven days accounted for 56.7% of all 38,280 Islamophobic posts targeting El-Sayed tracked since Jan. 1, with volume peaking on Aug. 5 at 6,923 posts in a single day. Separately, the center tracked 409,640 posts promoting anti-Muslim bigotry on US social media company X in the country between

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  Germany should change Israel policy amid growing violence against Palestinians: Ex-envoy

  by Marwa A on August 12, 2026

  Germany should change its policy toward Israel amid mounting violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories, former German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert said Wednesday, Anadolu reports. Israel’s settlement policy amounts to “displacement through psychological and physical violence,” Seibert said in an interview with the weekly Die Zeit newspaper. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel had declared Israel’s security to be part of Germany’s national interest. Seibert, who served as Merkel’s government spokesperson, said that commitment applies to Israel within its internationally recognised borders. “But that does not apply to the settlers in the Jordan Valley. Under international law, these are illegal settlements that follow the ideology: ‘This is our land alone; God gave it to us,’” Seibert said. READ: Comparing Israel

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  Lebanon PM rejects Israel’s claim destroyed southern villages were military sites

  by Marwa A on August 12, 2026

  Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Wednesday that Israel’s claim that destroyed southern Lebanese villages are military sites “makes no sense,” Anadolu reports. “The justification for these bulldozing and destruction operations under the pretext of the presence of military installations is refuted by the very nature of what is being targeted,” Salam wrote on US social media company X. “Claiming that entire villages and towns, with their homes, neighborhoods, government buildings, public facilities, places of worship and infrastructure, are ‘military installations’ is illogical and cannot justify their destruction,” he said. Israeli army attacks in southern Lebanon “constitute a grave violation of international and humanitarian law,” he added. Lebanon’s sovereignty, the security of its people and the right of southern residents

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  Solidarity is not enough: Why the world must force accountability on Gaza now

  by Marwa A on August 12, 2026

  It is now official: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flatly rejected the core conditions of the Board of Peace framework, explicitly stating that Israel will neither adhere to a ceasefire nor withdraw its forces from Gaza. During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu stated with unambiguous language: “Israel rejects the 15-point document published by the Board of Peace for Gaza”. In a previous conversation with lead envoy Nickolay Mladenov, Netanyahu set conditions—such as demanding unilateral operational freedom for the Israeli military to strike inside Gaza at will—that render a genuine peace agreement structurally impossible. The Israeli army leadership, under Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, reinforced this posture by outlining three uncompromising “red lines” to the political establishment: complete operational

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  West Bank approaching ‘point of no return’: Russia

  by Marwa A on August 12, 2026

  Russia warned on Wednesday that the West Bank was approaching a “point of no return,” and that further escalation could destabilize the wider Middle East, Anadolu reports. Russian UN Amb. Vassily Nebenzya attributed the trend to Israel’s “creeping expansion” in occupied Palestinian territories. “The West Bank is approaching a point of no return, with risks of deep destabilization of the military and political situation throughout the region,” he said at a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. He urged Israel to refrain from unilateral steps, including settlement activity, that could undermine prospects for a two-state solution. The diplomat also urged Israel to take effective measures to curb settler violence and return to implementing relevant

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  Oman and the political economy of the Strait of Hormuz

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Gulf states have answered Iranian pressure in two very different ways. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates bought protection: air defence systems, advanced fighter jets, protected air bases. Oman bought access instead. It refused to join the Saudi-led war in Yemen, refused to join the 2017 blockade of Qatar, and kept an open line to Tehran throughout. Commentators sum this up with one label: Oman as the Switzerland of the Gulf. The label is wrong in one important way. Switzerland was never bombed by a country it was mediating with. Oman has been. Even so, Oman has come out of the worst year in modern Gulf history with stronger public finances, an intact diplomatic role, and a legal position

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  UK withholds files on Israeli firm accused of meddling in Scottish election, citing national security

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  The UK government has refused to release information relating to an Israeli influence firm accused of interfering in Scotland’s parliamentary election, invoking national security and warning that disclosure could damage Britain’s relations with other countries, according to a report by The National. The Scottish newspaper reported that the Cabinet Office withheld all material requested under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation concerning BlackCore, an Israeli firm linked by France’s foreign interference watchdog to an alleged digital influence operation targeting Scottish First Minister John Swinney and the Scottish National Party (SNP).  The controversy follows findings by Viginum, France’s service for protection against foreign digital interference, which said in June that it had identified BlackCore-linked operations affecting elections in Scotland, France, New York

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  Abraham offered normalisation. Makkah offers security

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  There’s a striking irony sitting inside this year’s diplomacy. Back on May 25, Donald Trump publicly pushed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords en masse — part of a wider attempt to reshape the region while he negotiated an end to the war with Iran. Pakistan pushed back. Saudi Arabia wouldn’t move without progress on Palestinian statehood. The mass expansion Washington wanted simply didn’t happen. Then, less than three months later, something quite different did. On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye — three of the very countries Trump had wanted inside an expanded Abraham framework — met in Makkah and signed a defence pact of their own. Its logic runs almost

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  Pakistan rejects Netanyahu’s opposition to Palestinian state, calls for Gaza pullout

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Pakistan rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state on Wednesday, saying Palestinian statehood is firmly rooted in international law and UN resolutions, Anadolu reports. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi also said any refusal by Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza would be a “serious setback” to commitments made under the Board of Peace plan. Responding to a question during his weekly news conference about Netanyahu’s recent remarks rejecting a Palestinian state and his reported refusal to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza and move to the second phase of the peace plan, Andrabi said Pakistan has taken note of Israel’s position. “This would be a serious setback to the decision taken at the

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  41 nations urge 24-hour advance notice for ballistic missile, space launches

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  A 41-nation coalition has called on nuclear-armed states to strictly observe advance notification protocols for long-range ballistic missile tests, warning that unannounced launches endanger regional peace and global security. In a joint statement delivered at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and released by the US Mission to International Organizations on Tuesday, the signatories highlighted growing concerns over missile proliferation and urged adherence to transparency mechanisms, particularly the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC). “Conducting nuclear-capable ballistic missile tests without sufficient advance notice and detail is dangerous and disrupts the peace and security of relevant nations in proximity to these tests,” the text noted. Highlighting recent unnotified missile testing in the Pacific, the signatories noted that failing

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  Japanese premier urges ‘free and safe navigation’ in Strait of Hormuz ‘without additional costs’

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for “free and safe navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz “without additional costs,” as well as efforts to persuade Yemen’s Houthi group to exercise restraint, during a phone call, Anadolu reports. She emphasized the need to quickly de-escalate the current military tensions and calm the situation, especially as Iran continues talks with relevant countries on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement on Takaichi’s account on the US social media company X. She added Japan’s position is that the US and Iran should hold talks in line with the Islamabad Memorandum and reach a final agreement at an early date, including on the nuclear issue. Takaichi also expressed

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  Political assassinations: Libya’s yesterday and today

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  The killing of Libyan journalist and BBC broadcaster Mohamed Mustafa Ramadan outside London’s Central Mosque in 1980, and the recent assassination of Major General Fawzi al‑Mansouri, head of military intelligence in eastern Libya, as he left a mosque in Benghazi, are separated by nearly half a century. Yet the architecture of eliminating opponents has barely changed. The mindset that governs political violence in Libya remains stubbornly intact, as if frozen in time. Ramadan was a journalist whose voice challenged Muammar Gaddafi’s authoritarianism from London’s airwaves, becoming a familiar presence to Arabic‑speaking audiences. Al‑Mansouri, by contrast, operated within a far more fragmented and combustible landscape: a Libya split between east and west, where rivalry is no longer ideological but existential—rooted in

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  Houthis renew ballistic missile attacks on Yemen’s Mocha port: State media

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Yemen’s Houthi group renewed ballistic missile attacks on the strategic Port of Mocha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait in southwestern Yemen, state media reported Wednesday, Anadolu reports. State-run Saba TV said in a brief report that the Houthis targeted the port with ballistic missiles, without providing further details. Waddah al-Dubaish, spokesman for the government-aligned Joint Forces on the West Coast, said two ballistic missiles struck the port’s marine berth. In a post on US social media company X, al-Dubaish said the strikes occurred at 11.35 am local time (0835 GMT), according to preliminary information. He said authorities were assessing the extent of the damage and any casualties resulting from the attack. READ: Houthi shelling kills 2 soldiers, injures 7 in southern Yemen There

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  Israel Defies Trump as a New Regional Bloc Begins to Emerge | Palestine This Week

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  In this episode of Palestine This Week, we begin with Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of Trump’s Gaza plan and the growing power of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. We also discuss the emerging Saudi-Turkiye-Pakistan security alignment, shifting Gulf politics and Israel’s efforts to manufacture evidence against Iran with the aim of inciting US bombing of the Islamic Republic. The conversation then turns to how Washington’s longstanding alliance with Israel continues to shape US policy in the Middle East, the role of Islamophobia in sustaining that relationship. REVIEW: “The Zionists Who Hate Jews”: a century of evidence against Zionism’s oldest defence   WATCH: The Anti-Klan Law Comes for Trump’s Israel Lobby | Palestine This Week

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  Israeli general who advocated starvation says Gaza should remain ‘destroyed for generations’

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Gaza should remain “destroyed for generations to come,” said former Israeli general Giora Eiland, who advocated using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians. Eliand also urged Israel not to relinquish the territory it has seized behind the so-called Yellow Line. Eiland, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council and former chief of the Israeli army’s Planning and Operations directorates, made the remarks during an interview with Israeli radio station 103FM. His remarks were reported this week in Hebrew-language by Israeli newspaper Maariv under the headline: “Giora Eiland without filters: ‘It is better for Gaza to remain destroyed for generations to come’.”  Discussing the US-backed Board of Peace’s 15-point proposal for Gaza, Eiland described the plan as a

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  Israel begins demolition of 26 Palestinian buildings near Jenin to pave way for illegal settlement

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday boasted that Israel had begun demolishing 26 Palestinian buildings near Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports. Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said on US social media company X that the demolitions began Wednesday morning, paving the way for renewed illegal settlement activity in the area. He claimed the Palestinian buildings were “illegal.” The far-right minister also published photos that he said showed the demolition operation, which comes amid accelerating Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. In late 2025, the Israeli government approved the reestablishment of Ganim and Kadim, near Jenin, as part of a decision to establish or reorganize 19 illegal settlements in the occupied West

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  Palestine says over 4,700 young men, women held in Israeli prisons

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  A total of 4,769 young Palestinian men and women are being held in Israeli prisons, the head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs said Wednesday, Anadolu reports. Raed Abu al-Hummus made the remarks on International Youth Day, observed annually on Aug. 12 to highlight youth issues and their role in building societies. “The number of young male detainees in Israeli prisons between the ages of 18 and 40 stands at 4,713, while the number of young female detainees is 56,” Abu al-Hummus said. He said 41 of the 91 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 2023 were young people. “The bodies of 40 of them remain held by Israeli authorities, along with dozens of bodies of prisoners from different

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  Israel blows up school, strikes religious commemoration site in southern Lebanon despite truce

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Israeli forces blew up buildings in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, including a school, and struck a site used to commemorate Ashura, causing injuries despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported. Israeli forces detonated and destroyed the four-story Sheikh Naim Mahdi School building in the center of Eastern Zawtar, the agency said. They also carried out explosions in the Touline Valley along the Wadi al-Saluki road, it added. During the night, Israeli forces carried out two large explosions in Haddatha, as well as a massive blast in Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district, according to the agency. An Israeli drone directly struck an Ashura commemoration site on the Kafra-Al-Asi road, causing several injuries, the NNA said.

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  US, Iran agree to extend 60-day ceasefire ahead of Aug. 17 deadline

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  The US and Iran have “agreed” to extend a 60-day ceasefire under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as the agreement is set to expire on Aug. 17, Pakistani government sources told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday. “Both sides have conveyed their consent to the mediators to extend the deadline,” a source close to the mediation process said. “However, the two sides are exchanging messages to decide on the extension period,” the source added. The US and Iran agreed to a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire in April and later signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, launching negotiations toward a final agreement. However, the talks later stalled over disagreements on security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of

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  PNPA slams presidential decree as attempt to usurp popular will

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  The Palestinian National Popular Action (PNPA) Forum on Tuesday issued a statement rejecting presidential decree issued yesterday concerning the appointment of members of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) from inside Palestine and abroad. The Forum accused President Mahmoud Abbas of blatantly disregarding the will of millions of Palestinians at home and abroad and infringing upon their inherent right to choose their representatives democratically and freely.  The statement added; “The PNC is the inclusive national framework of the Palestinian people, and its membership, whether from inside Palestine or abroad, must not be determined by appointment or by a decision made by a single authority, apart from the will of our people and their direct participation.” READ: Palestine launches ‘1000 Martyrs Cup’ to

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  Trump says Secret Service ordered switch to different plane during Turkiye trip

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  US President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday that the Secret Service and military directed him to use a “different plane” when departing Turkiye last month following a NATO summit, citing safety concerns, Anadolu reports. “It’s only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they like to do. So I go by the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, equal safety,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after returning from Ohio. “They wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” he said. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot

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  Oman condemns Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Oman on Wednesday condemned Colombia’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, calling it a violation of international law, Anadolu reports. “Oman expresses its condemnation of the decision by the government of the Republic of Colombia to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The decision constitutes a violation of international law and contradicts international legitimacy resolutions, foremost among them UN Security Council Resolution 497 of 1981,” the ministry added. READ: Saudi Arabia condemns Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights Oman renewed its “firm position that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory” and affirmed its support for “the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic over all its

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  Trump claims US has ‘total control’ of Strait of Hormuz, says he does not trust Iran

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he does not trust Iran and claimed that the US currently has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu reports. “I don’t trust Iran. Why — are you saying I trust Iran!? I’m the last person to trust Iran,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland following his trip to Ohio. “They’ve lied to me constantly,” he added. “We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now. They don’t have control. We have total control. We own it,” he said. The Middle East has remained tense since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February. Tehran and Washington have yet to reach a final agreement to end the confrontation, while

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  Ilhan Omar wins Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th District

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Rep. Ilhan Omar won the Democratic primary in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, according to US media projections, Anadolu reports. Omar, a fourth-term Democrat representing a district centered in Minneapolis, captured over 80% of the vote against several primary challengers, according to CBS News. With more than 95% of the votes counted, unofficial results showed Omar leading with 122,640 votes, followed by Julie Trang Le with 10,201 votes and Latonya T. Reeves with 9,131 votes, according to the New York Times. Omar’s opponents in the Democratic primary were Le, a former federal prosecutor; Reeves; Abena McKenzie; and Nate Schluter. In the Republican primary for the seat, John Nagel was projected to win with 52.1% of the vote. OPINION: How Abdul El-Sayed

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  Rezaei: Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until wars in Gaza, Lebanon end

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Iran’s newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is strictly contingent upon Washington meeting Tehran’s core demands, including a complete halt to regional conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. During a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Tehran, Cong Peiwu, Rezaei emphasized that the strategic waterway will remain closed unless the United States changes its behavior and accepts Iran’s stipulated conditions, which have been communicated to Washington through intermediaries. Rezaei reiterated that the U.S. must end its hostile policies, release frozen Iranian assets, and put an immediate end to ongoing wars across the region, specifically highlighting the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Placing the blame squarely on

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  US strikes in Yemen killed 153 civilians last year: Report

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  The Pentagon told Congress this week that US airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen last year killed 153 civilians and injured 243 others, US media reported. According to The Hill, the 12-page report, sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday under a 2018 law requiring annual civilian casualty disclosures, detailed three incidents in Yemen last April. A strike on April 6, 2025, in Sanaa killed five civilians, while an April 17 strike on Ras Isa port killed 80 — an attack Human Rights Watch has said should be probed as a war crime, it reported. A third strike near Saada on April 28 killed 47 civilians, according to the report. The Pentagon reportedly said 15 more incidents remain

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  Israeli forces demolish Palestinian family home in Bethlehem area

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  The Israeli army demolished a three-story Palestinian house in the village of al-Masara, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, on Wednesday, Anadolu reports. Israeli forces used heavy machinery to demolish the building. The house was left unusable after the demolition. Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army and occupiers have intensified attacks across the West Bank, killing at least 1,182 Palestinians, injuring around 13,000 others and arresting nearly 25,000, according to official Palestinian figures. Palestinian officials warned that the escalatory attacks were aimed at paving the way for Israel’s formal annexation of the West Bank, undermining the prospects for an independent Palestinian state envisioned in relevant UN resolutions. READ: Palestinian Land

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  Gaza rescuers begin recovering bodies from rubble of home destroyed in early days of war

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Civil Defense crews in the Gaza Strip began recovering the bodies of 13 Palestinians on Tuesday from beneath the rubble of a multi-story home destroyed by an Israeli strike during the early days of the war, Anadolu reports. The operation is being carried out in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the home of the Gharbiya family in the Al-Katiba area west of Gaza City. Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu Agency that a large number of Palestinians were killed in the strike. Some bodies were recovered at the time, while 13 remain beneath the rubble. The victims include women, children and the elderly, he said. Basal warned that severe shortages of heavy machinery,

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  How Abdul El-Sayed challenged America’s Muslim loyalty test

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Nearly $30 million was spent by AIPAC and its affiliates to stop Abdul El-Sayed. It was enough to flood Michigan’s airwaves, but not enough to persuade Democratic voters that he was beyond the political pale. That matters because El-Sayed was fighting more than an extraordinarily well-funded opponent. As a Muslim who has openly condemned Israel’s war in Gaza and challenged AIPAC’s influence, he confronted a political reflex deeply embedded in post-9/11 America: the tendency to treat Muslim candidates not simply as candidates, but as questions of loyalty, security and belonging. On 4th August, Michigan Democrats answered differently. They nominated El-Sayed for the United States Senate. An Egyptian-American Muslim, physician and former Detroit health director, El-Sayed defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens despite

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  US Senator calls on ambassador to Israel to resign immediately

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  US Senator Chris Van Hollen said that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee must resign, accusing him of repeatedly turning a blind eye to the mistreatment of American citizens by Israeli authorities and becoming an apologist for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist government. “It’s time for our American ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to resign. The job of an American ambassador is to defend and protect the interests of the United States of America. Ambassador Huckabee has failed to do that. He’s become an apologist for the extremist government in Israel,” the Democratic Senator for Maryland said in a video message posted on social media. He added that American citizens have faced arbitrary detention and mistreatment at the hands of

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  Palestinian Land Authority head: 12,000 settlement units approved and 7,000 Palestinians displaced in West Bank this year

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  About 12,360 settlement units have been approved in the occupied West Bank this year, while nearly 7,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from more than 260 communities, Palestinian Land Authority head Alaa Al-Tamimi said. Speaking to broadcaster Cairo News on Tuesday evening, Tamimi said briefings given by UN envoy at the UN Security Council today were important in exposing what he described as Israeli crimes in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as ongoing crimes in the Gaza Strip. He said that since the fragile ceasefire in Gaza came into effect, more than 1,200 Palestinians had been killed, including women and children, while Israeli bombardment and other attacks had continued. READ: Israeli occupiers establish illegal settlement outpost in yard of

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  IOM: 2,500 people displaced by clashes in Sudan’s Blue Nile state

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  About 2,500 people have been displaced from the town of Geissan in Sudan’s southeastern Blue Nile state following clashes there on Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. In a statement, the IOM said its field teams, as part of its Displacement Tracking Matrix, estimated that about 2,500 people, or 500 families, had fled Geissan due to the deteriorating security conditions. It said most affected families had moved to other areas within Geissan, while others had crossed the border into Ethiopia. The organisation said the situation in the area remained “tense and volatile”, adding that it was closely monitoring developments on the ground. READ: Pope Leo voices concern over ‘tragic’ situation in Sudan Earlier on Tuesday, Geissan locality authorities said

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  Israel and Venezuela restore consular relations after 17 years

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Israel and Venezuela have agreed to restore consular relations, 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed. Venezuela, which cut diplomatic relations with Israel 17 years ago over Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, has historically been an ally of Iran. However, its government has moved closer to Washington since the United States detained President Nicolas Maduro last January. Following Israel’s 2008-2009 offensive on Gaza, then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez strongly condemned Israel and decided to sever diplomatic ties with it. According to a statement by Israel’s Foreign Ministry on X, the Israeli and Venezuelan governments said that, following an Israeli delegation’s visit to Venezuela after the 24 June earthquake, and talks between senior officials from both sides, the two countries had

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  Liberman launches fierce attack: Katz should be sacked immediately

  by Mehdi Editor on August 12, 2026

  Former Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman has launched a fierce attack on current Defence Minister Israel Katz, accusing him of harming the Israeli military and undermining Israel’s efforts on the international stage, and calling for his immediate dismissal. In an interview with 103FM radio, Liberman said Katz was not acting as a minister concerned with security, but was putting his political interests and calculations within the Likud party ahead of security considerations. He also criticised what he described as a lack of political support for the military chief of staff. “He should have been sacked this morning,” Liberman said, accusing Katz of serving his personal interests rather than Israel’s security interests. Liberman said the current government’s policies were harming soldiers