Middle East
Lebanon urges DNA tests to identify missing in Israel strikes
Lebanese authorities on Monday urged the families of people who went missing in Israeli strikes to conduct DNA tests at specialised centres to identify the remains of loved ones
Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen, killing four people
Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday in response to missile fire by the Iran-aligned militants at Israel over the past two days, marking another front in fighting in the Middle East
Who is Nasrallah?
Slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, whose death was confirmed yesterday by his Iran-backed movement, wielded great power in Lebanon but led a life in hiding to avoid assassination by his group’s arch-enemy, Israel.
Khamenei moved to a secure location
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location inside the country with heightened security measures in place, two regional officials briefed by Tehran told Reuters.
12 dead in air strikes on pro-Iranian fighters in Syria
Twelve pro-Iranian fighters have been killed in air strikes of unknown origin in eastern Syria, a war monitor said yesterday, adding that a large number of people were wounded.
Tens of thousands protest against Lebanon 'bloodbath' in Iran, Yemen
Tens of thousands protested in Iranian cities and in the rebel-held Yemeni capital on Friday to condemn Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, AFP journalists and state media reported
Israel hits Hezbollah HQ in Beirut with heavy airstrikes
The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs yesterday in an attack that shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.
Over 30,000 crossed into Syria from Lebanon
Well over 30,000 people, mainly Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 72 hours, the UN refugee agency said yesterday, amid an escalating conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon.
‘Mass death’ imminent in Gaza
Food shortages in parts of the Gaza Strip have already far exceeded famine levels, and mass death is now imminent without an immediate ceasefire and surge of food into areas cut off by fighting, the global hunger monitor said yesterday.
Israeli PM vows to invade Gaza’s Rafah
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to send ground forces into Gaza’s southern Rafah city despite international fears for the fate of Palestinian civilians sheltering there.
Drop Rafah invasion plan ‘in name of humanity’
The head of the World Health Organisation appealed to Israel “in the name of humanity” not to launch an assault on Rafah, where most of Gaza’s population is sheltering.
21 dead in bus collision with tanker in Afghanistan: provincial official
Twenty-one people were killed and 11 injured in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province on Sunday when a bus collided with a tanker and a motorbike, a provincial official said
Gaza truce efforts revived as first sea aid unloaded
Efforts towards a truce in the Israel-Hamas war appeared to rekindle yesterday after a new proposal from the Palestinian militant group which also called for more aid into Gaza, where the first food shipment by sea reached shore.
Netanyahu okays plan for Rafah ground assault
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office yesterday said he had approved the military’s plan for an operation in Rafah, where most of war-battered Gaza’s population has sought refuge.
Aid efforts intensify for famine-stalked Gaza
Efforts yesterday grew to get more aid into the war-devastated Gaza Strip, where the UN warns of famine and desperate residents have stormed relief shipments.
UN warehouse struck amid race for Gaza aid
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said one of its warehouses in war-ravaged Gaza was hit yesterday, amid mounting efforts to bring food to the besieged Palestinian territory.
First aid ship sails to Gaza as famine looms
A Spanish charity ship taking food aid to Gaza left the Mediterranean island of Cyprus yesterday in hopes of opening a maritime corridor to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
No Ramadan relief for Palestinians in Gaza
The first day of Ramadan arrived yesterday like others for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza: stalked by famine and disease, shivering in tents and threatened by bombs more than five months into Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.